Private Tales A Softer Side

[Livia Quinnick]

Artesto. It made her smile, it breaking into a grin as she curled her arms tighter around him. "Then it is a good thing I have brothers to continue this family name." Livia rolled onto the tips of her toes to close the distance to his lips, leaving him with a soft brush of a kiss.

"From now on... I will wait to tell you." It was a promise she needed to make after seeing the hurt and frustration cross his face earlier. "At least try to. I do not expect to kill anyone else in the near future..." The guilt had been too much for her to bear, to simply do what she did best and sweep her emotions under the rug. Tell Arran was in the past now, many months gone now and it had not changed things between herself and the Initiate she had bedded with hours before their own near deaths.

Liv leaned her head so that it rested at Silas' shoulder, her breath tickling his neck. "You know there is no one else that I feel for the way I do for you? No one else I would go ahead and introduce to my family? I am always going to choose you, Silas... you." And she kissed his neck once, smiling.

A knock came at the door, and Okko's voice could be heard. "You are both not pashing are you? Mother's carriage is coming through the gates, if you would like to make your way to the dining room, Livs." And the sound of his footsteps receding came next.

Livia took a deep breath in. "In all honesty, I think she will like you. It would be hard to show, but I know she will. You grew up in the guard, your parents were guards, were they not? Mother will respect that foremost."

Silas Artesto

 

[Silas Artesto]

Silas closed his eyes and smiled against the brief touch of her lips against his. Until tonight, he hadn't considered the idea of marrying Quill to be a viable one, at least not so soon. This, though, the two of them in one another's arms, talking about it so naturally... It felt right. Like he'd be wrong not to wed her.

Gods know how many people spend their entire lives looking for a connection like theirs... Why shouldn't he seize it while it was in front of him? As Livia rested her head on his shoulder and breathed the warmth from her lungs into the skin of his neck, he felt the tension in his body melt away, the stress in his gut leaving him in a sigh.

"We're Dreadlords, Quill... Initiates, at least. Killing people comes with the job..." It wasn't an easy part, granted, and Livia seemed to take it harder than a lot of them. Now, he understood where that disdain for killing came from. It had been instilled in her since her youth when her hand had been forced against her own flesh and blood. Soft lips pressed against his neck, and Silas shivered underneath her touch. "I don't think there's anybody out there who makes me feel the way you do, Quill... I've checked."

A knock on the door interrupted them, and Silas pulled his head away from hers, a bit worried about being walked in on by her Mother, of all people. Thankfully, it was Okko giving them fair warning to ready themselves. Given what was coming next, Silas wasn't sure how much better that made him feel, though.

Stepping back away from Livia, he brushes himself off and does the best he can manage of fixing his tousled hair. He nodded to Liv's assurances and offered his arm for her to loop hers around, still a bit flushed in the face despite her comforts.

"Respecting my folks and respecting me are different things, though..."

Livia Quinnick

 

[Livia Quinnick]

She hushed his worries and words with another kiss before pulling him beside her. Guiding him through the halls of her home, Livia and Silas arrived to the dining room that she had spent many dinners and parties in growing up. Her seat had always been on the right side of her father, who sat at the head of the table, but relief fell over her when she saw the setting had been reserved for Bannon. To Bannon's side, their mother.

"We are to sit on the left side, as guests." She was not sure if she should read into that detail more than needed, but decided that she had been away from home for over three years now. Bannon was heir, not their father's favourite.

Livia did not sit down immediately. Hand still wrapped around Silas', she took one last moment to look up at him. "You truly do look handsome... let that not distract us later when I intend to show you more of my home. Promise?"

Silas Artesto