What moves the earth around the sun - Ry / Anna
Oct. 19th, 2008 07:40 pm![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
shadows-sun.livejournal.com posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
darker_londonRy held the note that Jocelin had left in his hands. Even after reading it seven times over, the contents hadn't changed.
"Bloody hell," was all he muttered, but it was without heat because Jocelin had, of course, included the one excuse that Ry was legitimately able to both understood and accept within his two line explanation.
He was torn between calling Chloe and leaving things be; torn between one very good friend and another.
The thing that decided him in the end was Anna's presence in the living room with him. She'd been more than polite, waiting without speaking while he'd poured over the few words extensively. He looked up to her now and gave a brief smile.
"Sorry," he said.
Anna's smile came instinctively in response. She'd seen him pour over texts before, even if usually they were, well, longer.
"It's okay," she said genuinely. There had been no other sound in the house since they had arrived there. She'd already glanced around curiously, but as though to punctuate the thought, she looked around again. "So, we're alone here, then?"
"It appears that way." Breaking eye contact with Anna, Ry walked from living room into the doorway of Jocelin's room. Even without Jocelin in the house, he had respect to go no further than that. He didn't know what he was expecting to see. The note had told him he wasn't home, and yet he'd almost expected to see him there anyway.
Justine's room was empty, of course. Not of all of her stuff. The few belongings that remained in her room acted as her flimsy excuse for her fiance's family to continue her rent here since she had moved to Austria. Ry missed her. She managed to call often enough and, from Jocelin's awareness of those calls, even when he apparently did not listen, Ry imagined Jocelin missed her too. Just a little bit.
"I'm sorry." Ry dropped the note on Jocelin's floor even as he called back to Anna. His movements followed his voice back to her and he took her fingers lightly before dropping them. "Are you hungry? Can I get you something to eat?"
Anna eyed him with bemusement as he wandered from her towards his kitchen, turning on a couple of house lights on the way. She didn't speak until he looked up again, dark eyes questioning beneath brown curls that by sheer luck didn't fall in the way of his vision.
"What?" he asked, plainly not getting the bemusement he saw behind her eyes.
"You don't have to offer me food everytime... you know," she said, another smile playing around her lips.
Ry had the grace to look bashful, whether he actually intended it or no. A moment later, he'd managed to regather some of his cool. His movements were slightly more languid, less edgy. Anna kinda loved the half smile that lifted up the right corner of his lips, especially those times when he didn't realise anyone was watching.
They'd first started their all-night conversations after one night at a bar when their conversation hadn't wrapped up till around 3am. Although Ry had been open to the idea of biking it home, Anna had offered him a place to crash. They'd just slept in her bed, and then gone from there to uni in the morning. Ry had been the perfect gentleman.
That had somehow turned into a habit whenever they were both free. They weren't going out. It was as though he was somehow afraid of giving too much of himself away to one single person.
"So, you're not hungry then.." Ry asked, stepping out of the kitchen and meeting her eyes again.
"No.." Anna replied, with the same amount of almost coy side-stepping around an issue. Ry again took her fingers, and this time he didn't let them go until they both sat together on the couch.
He'd told her that she was the only person he'd willingly told about the supernatural world, about his being a vampire. She couldn't remember which conversation he'd told her that, but she held it close, an unspoken remembrance of affection. And he didn't even talk about his vampirism, when it came up, as though it were a rare form of a disease that disgusted him anymore.
As it happened, the first time between them had occurred with a kind of curiosity on both their parts. They'd first talked about it -mostly online, where they didn't need to look at each other, or even acknowledge it when they saw each other in person- but on that night, there had been something there between them, a remnant from their most recent conversation, and not so easily put aside.
Charlie had been in London that weekend. Anna had had her house to herself, much like Ry had his to himself tonight, but they had ended up in Anna's room anyway.
"Habit," Ry had said, a little self-deprecatingly, when they'd both looked at each other in the realisation that they could be anywhere in the house that night. When she'd eased the bedroom door shut behind her, a nervous smile had taken her at the thought that, in any other situation, the charged atmosphere in the room would have been a prelude to sex.
Although Ry had sat on her bed, it hadn't looked as though he was presupposing anything, any more than every other night they had lounged in here by lamplight. In fact, as Anna joined him, she observed that they may very well have done nothing at all if she hadn't directed the conversation in a particular way.
"So, have you... eaten today?"
Ry had given her an odd look, as though trying to discover why she would pick such a random comment for the sake of conversation.
"A full three meals today," he answered. "You?"
"That isn't what I meant." Anna had said it with a small shake of her head.
Ry had looked at her for a bit longer. Then he'd twigged onto what she was really saying.
"Oh," he'd replied. But he hadn't continued with anything more. He'd looked away but then, a though some other compulsion drew him, his eyes had turned back to hers again.
Maybe he'd been looking for her to start a different topic of conversation. Under his stare, Anna had just licked her lips. The silence that stretched out between them had seemed full of the conversations and observations readily made online, but never spoken of in person.
Predictably, it was Ry who'd been the one of them to break eye contact first. "Anna..." he'd started, at the very same moment as Anna herself had started, "You know, you can... you know."
They'd both resumed looking at each other silently again, both cut off by each others words. Ry had opened his mouth to speak first again after that, but only after first looking to make sure Anna hadn't been about to do the same.
She'd nodded almost imperceptably.
"I don't... have any ways of making it not painful." It was a new tangent on the discussion, spoken of for the first time in person between them. Ry had looked at her intently, willing her to take note of his words and not just romanticise the notion of vampirism. He'd wanted her to hear him very seriously, to understand, and all of that had only made her heart soften for him all the more. "I don't even know if there are ways of making it not hurt."
"I can stop you, if the hurt is too bad." Anna had bitten her lip lightly, unconsciously, thinking through her words before she said them. "It's not like you'll turn into an animal. You've never said it was like that."
"No, it's not anything like that," Ry agreed. "But I've never... not to someone I liked. I don't want to hurt you. Or take too much." Still, there'd been no denying the temptation. Anna had been able to see that by the way his eyes had kept moving over her, not sexually, but contemplatively, seeming to ask the question... Could he?
Anna had lifted her chin. Everything she'd said had been true. She could stop him if it hurt too much. And he'd said himself that he didn't want to hurt her. She'd been able to hear that he was bringing up valid concerns as well. She'd also long since come to understand the difference between the vampire Ry was, and that of something written by Anne Rice... or Joss Whedon. Which was why she hadn't offered her neck. Or even her wrist.
First, she had gotten up from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. Anna had felt the confusion coming off of Ry as she had left the room, but when she'd returned, it had been with a razor in hand. Without speaking, she'd run the razor over the pad of her finger. Nothing had happened, then. A layer of skin had merely come away, but she had done it entirely too gently for any further damage. The second time, there was some blood, when she squeezed. The third time, blood dribbled from the wound.
Anna had met Ry's eyes. With the first dribble of red against pale skin, Ry had become mesmerised. The curiosity was then there with full, palable force, backed suddenly by passion, or something very akin to lust. Anna had done nothing more in the following moments than let Ry know that he could, if he chose. And then, as though with some release from himself, he had.
Lowering his dark head, Ry had taken her hand in his. The contact between them had been nothing short of reverent, with him lifting her hand to his lips, and once kissing the finger that bled, before ever taking the blood that was offered. Then he'd bit, worrying the skin between his teeth, encouraging the flow to become more.
For Anna, the sensation had been completely divorced from times when she'd cut her finger and nursed the sore in her mouth. Afterwards, thinking about it, she'd decided that that was most like what she'd expected to experience when first she'd extended her hand out to him. There was a very real sensuality just in the way his tongue licked over the skin, and rather than being revolted at the pulling for more, Anna felt overjoyed that she'd been able to go through with it.
It was a feeling she re-visited every time they'd done this since. Not too often. Ry was still terrified that they would do it too often for her health. But she was enough to keep him from craving. The last time she'd gone into his fridge, she'd noticed that there was an absenec of blood packs hidden in the vegetable compartment, and she'd quietly smiled to herself.
When they finished on the couch that evening, Ry slowly -regretfully- put her hand aside from him. It was always like that, a sense of bittersweet regret, but also of fulfilment. Still holding her hand in his as though loathe to let go, he said only one thing, the same thing he said every time, with all the intensity behind his poet eyes that he could summon.
"Thank you."
Anna smiled, and one day soon, she knew she was going to respond to that tone in his voice with, 'I love you.'
"Bloody hell," was all he muttered, but it was without heat because Jocelin had, of course, included the one excuse that Ry was legitimately able to both understood and accept within his two line explanation.
He was torn between calling Chloe and leaving things be; torn between one very good friend and another.
The thing that decided him in the end was Anna's presence in the living room with him. She'd been more than polite, waiting without speaking while he'd poured over the few words extensively. He looked up to her now and gave a brief smile.
"Sorry," he said.
Anna's smile came instinctively in response. She'd seen him pour over texts before, even if usually they were, well, longer.
"It's okay," she said genuinely. There had been no other sound in the house since they had arrived there. She'd already glanced around curiously, but as though to punctuate the thought, she looked around again. "So, we're alone here, then?"
"It appears that way." Breaking eye contact with Anna, Ry walked from living room into the doorway of Jocelin's room. Even without Jocelin in the house, he had respect to go no further than that. He didn't know what he was expecting to see. The note had told him he wasn't home, and yet he'd almost expected to see him there anyway.
Justine's room was empty, of course. Not of all of her stuff. The few belongings that remained in her room acted as her flimsy excuse for her fiance's family to continue her rent here since she had moved to Austria. Ry missed her. She managed to call often enough and, from Jocelin's awareness of those calls, even when he apparently did not listen, Ry imagined Jocelin missed her too. Just a little bit.
"I'm sorry." Ry dropped the note on Jocelin's floor even as he called back to Anna. His movements followed his voice back to her and he took her fingers lightly before dropping them. "Are you hungry? Can I get you something to eat?"
Anna eyed him with bemusement as he wandered from her towards his kitchen, turning on a couple of house lights on the way. She didn't speak until he looked up again, dark eyes questioning beneath brown curls that by sheer luck didn't fall in the way of his vision.
"What?" he asked, plainly not getting the bemusement he saw behind her eyes.
"You don't have to offer me food everytime... you know," she said, another smile playing around her lips.
Ry had the grace to look bashful, whether he actually intended it or no. A moment later, he'd managed to regather some of his cool. His movements were slightly more languid, less edgy. Anna kinda loved the half smile that lifted up the right corner of his lips, especially those times when he didn't realise anyone was watching.
They'd first started their all-night conversations after one night at a bar when their conversation hadn't wrapped up till around 3am. Although Ry had been open to the idea of biking it home, Anna had offered him a place to crash. They'd just slept in her bed, and then gone from there to uni in the morning. Ry had been the perfect gentleman.
That had somehow turned into a habit whenever they were both free. They weren't going out. It was as though he was somehow afraid of giving too much of himself away to one single person.
"So, you're not hungry then.." Ry asked, stepping out of the kitchen and meeting her eyes again.
"No.." Anna replied, with the same amount of almost coy side-stepping around an issue. Ry again took her fingers, and this time he didn't let them go until they both sat together on the couch.
He'd told her that she was the only person he'd willingly told about the supernatural world, about his being a vampire. She couldn't remember which conversation he'd told her that, but she held it close, an unspoken remembrance of affection. And he didn't even talk about his vampirism, when it came up, as though it were a rare form of a disease that disgusted him anymore.
As it happened, the first time between them had occurred with a kind of curiosity on both their parts. They'd first talked about it -mostly online, where they didn't need to look at each other, or even acknowledge it when they saw each other in person- but on that night, there had been something there between them, a remnant from their most recent conversation, and not so easily put aside.
Charlie had been in London that weekend. Anna had had her house to herself, much like Ry had his to himself tonight, but they had ended up in Anna's room anyway.
"Habit," Ry had said, a little self-deprecatingly, when they'd both looked at each other in the realisation that they could be anywhere in the house that night. When she'd eased the bedroom door shut behind her, a nervous smile had taken her at the thought that, in any other situation, the charged atmosphere in the room would have been a prelude to sex.
Although Ry had sat on her bed, it hadn't looked as though he was presupposing anything, any more than every other night they had lounged in here by lamplight. In fact, as Anna joined him, she observed that they may very well have done nothing at all if she hadn't directed the conversation in a particular way.
"So, have you... eaten today?"
Ry had given her an odd look, as though trying to discover why she would pick such a random comment for the sake of conversation.
"A full three meals today," he answered. "You?"
"That isn't what I meant." Anna had said it with a small shake of her head.
Ry had looked at her for a bit longer. Then he'd twigged onto what she was really saying.
"Oh," he'd replied. But he hadn't continued with anything more. He'd looked away but then, a though some other compulsion drew him, his eyes had turned back to hers again.
Maybe he'd been looking for her to start a different topic of conversation. Under his stare, Anna had just licked her lips. The silence that stretched out between them had seemed full of the conversations and observations readily made online, but never spoken of in person.
Predictably, it was Ry who'd been the one of them to break eye contact first. "Anna..." he'd started, at the very same moment as Anna herself had started, "You know, you can... you know."
They'd both resumed looking at each other silently again, both cut off by each others words. Ry had opened his mouth to speak first again after that, but only after first looking to make sure Anna hadn't been about to do the same.
She'd nodded almost imperceptably.
"I don't... have any ways of making it not painful." It was a new tangent on the discussion, spoken of for the first time in person between them. Ry had looked at her intently, willing her to take note of his words and not just romanticise the notion of vampirism. He'd wanted her to hear him very seriously, to understand, and all of that had only made her heart soften for him all the more. "I don't even know if there are ways of making it not hurt."
"I can stop you, if the hurt is too bad." Anna had bitten her lip lightly, unconsciously, thinking through her words before she said them. "It's not like you'll turn into an animal. You've never said it was like that."
"No, it's not anything like that," Ry agreed. "But I've never... not to someone I liked. I don't want to hurt you. Or take too much." Still, there'd been no denying the temptation. Anna had been able to see that by the way his eyes had kept moving over her, not sexually, but contemplatively, seeming to ask the question... Could he?
Anna had lifted her chin. Everything she'd said had been true. She could stop him if it hurt too much. And he'd said himself that he didn't want to hurt her. She'd been able to hear that he was bringing up valid concerns as well. She'd also long since come to understand the difference between the vampire Ry was, and that of something written by Anne Rice... or Joss Whedon. Which was why she hadn't offered her neck. Or even her wrist.
First, she had gotten up from the bed and disappeared into the bathroom. Anna had felt the confusion coming off of Ry as she had left the room, but when she'd returned, it had been with a razor in hand. Without speaking, she'd run the razor over the pad of her finger. Nothing had happened, then. A layer of skin had merely come away, but she had done it entirely too gently for any further damage. The second time, there was some blood, when she squeezed. The third time, blood dribbled from the wound.
Anna had met Ry's eyes. With the first dribble of red against pale skin, Ry had become mesmerised. The curiosity was then there with full, palable force, backed suddenly by passion, or something very akin to lust. Anna had done nothing more in the following moments than let Ry know that he could, if he chose. And then, as though with some release from himself, he had.
Lowering his dark head, Ry had taken her hand in his. The contact between them had been nothing short of reverent, with him lifting her hand to his lips, and once kissing the finger that bled, before ever taking the blood that was offered. Then he'd bit, worrying the skin between his teeth, encouraging the flow to become more.
For Anna, the sensation had been completely divorced from times when she'd cut her finger and nursed the sore in her mouth. Afterwards, thinking about it, she'd decided that that was most like what she'd expected to experience when first she'd extended her hand out to him. There was a very real sensuality just in the way his tongue licked over the skin, and rather than being revolted at the pulling for more, Anna felt overjoyed that she'd been able to go through with it.
It was a feeling she re-visited every time they'd done this since. Not too often. Ry was still terrified that they would do it too often for her health. But she was enough to keep him from craving. The last time she'd gone into his fridge, she'd noticed that there was an absenec of blood packs hidden in the vegetable compartment, and she'd quietly smiled to herself.
When they finished on the couch that evening, Ry slowly -regretfully- put her hand aside from him. It was always like that, a sense of bittersweet regret, but also of fulfilment. Still holding her hand in his as though loathe to let go, he said only one thing, the same thing he said every time, with all the intensity behind his poet eyes that he could summon.
"Thank you."
Anna smiled, and one day soon, she knew she was going to respond to that tone in his voice with, 'I love you.'
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}