the deepest secret nobody knows

occurs directly after this thread

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From the warriors' fête, the two lovers absconded. They left without apology or explanation; Tiberius and Olive simply coalesced into the background of the noise and the celebration, and then, they were out of sight. Her healer's heart felt a pull towards those wounded in her name, but as much as she felt an obligation to give back to those who had given so much, she was much more a liability than an actual asset.

— she was still reeling from Boomba's sudden and macabre demise, reckoning with the new life that had been thrust upon her. Mentally, she felt fractured and as if she, out of all those gathered, was most ignorant of all the events in past weeks, kept in isolation upon an ice floe. She had so many questions, but it was difficult to keep any sort of thoughts straight, and she flitted in and out of disassociation from one moment to the next. The only grounding force to which she clung, and the only thing she felt she could trust at that moment, was Tiberius.

So the pale woman and shadowed man retreated into a private room of their own making, looking frightful, dressed in blood and gore as they were — but when the icy ground of the frozen tundra took on brown and green hues, she could perceive the thaw in the earth through her aching, frostnipped feet. The brush of new greenery felt divine, (had the seasons turned while I was imprisoned? she wondered), and the air was soft and sweet with the scent of buds, blooms and bugs. All things she had thought she'd never enjoy again.

The endorphins of the battle waned and Olive felt just how truly tired she was. It was an exhaustion that went far deeper than her musculature; she felt empty and weak, as if she hadn't been nourished (in mind, soul, or body) in a long time. Almost every part of her throbbed as if bruised beneath her pale, worn pelt. In places, the purplish blush of mishandling shone through; for walruses were not well-known for being gentle. With a shuddering breath and small whine, she passed Tiberius a look that told him she needed to rest.

Despite the pain in her body, the smile on her maw was ever present. "I'm still in disbelief," she huffed as she placed her hips on the earth, and then paddled out her front legs until she was in full repose. Let the earth hold her weight; for she could no longer. "I truly never thought I would see you again," Her throat tightened at the simple possibility of the reality she had once resigned herself to. "or, anyone..." Olive shut her eyes, mind still swimming. Should she be embarrassed, at how she had been made a slave? Should she begin offering up an explanation? Tell him exactly what had happened, and how Boomba had stolen her humanity from her?

— how was @Tiberius feeling now, looking upon his prize?

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He had been deaf and blind to all else in the end, his attention only on Olive. He had been thankful to notice that @Kuhn, @Thraximundar and @Uriel had been still alive and kicking and later, he would seek them out to thank them and ensure that they knew how he owed them. He had been unable to satisfy himself on how he felt towards @Valmúa given her decision to help and though it was not because she wanted to help him, the titan held honour. The titan would decide later on what to do when it came to the gremlin and instead, he focused solely on the waif at his side as he directed them away from where it had all happened. From where she had been held captive, from the horrors she had left. Tiberius knew that he should have sought medical attention for her and idly he had thought about bringing her to @Reiko but it was unlikely that the little Empress would favour bringing Olive into the territory. Especially given how she had reacted last time and he had nixed the idea quickly.

For now he focused on getting her away. He could not bear the sights of her form, ordinarily so pristine even with the scarring on her flank, now she looked tired, worn and in places the evidence of her capture glared openly at him. Tiberius knew she was likely feeling the aftermath of the victory and he would keep them touching as best as he could, unwilling to leave her to hold up her own weight. His wounds were unimportant when she were harmed and at his side. Her whine had his heart clenching, his blood pumping and had the bastard not already be dead, Tiberius would have sought his blood all over again. Thankful that the snow had turned into soil and grass, Tiberius would seek out an area where they could settle.

She spoke and his heart sung, glad to hear her again when it had been all but silent rage as his company since the day she had been taken. Across the way he could see flower beds and rolling hills and he spied a little alcove of flower beds, high grasses and a collection of boulders -- soon he would take them towards there but for the moment she needed to stop. He would remain standing as she lowered herself to the ground, allowing her body the rest it so required and he drew his head down to press his nose into her crown and heavily he inhaled, drinking her in. "I's never gonn' let anyone but yaself take yah from me, angel," he swore, promised into her fur and bone and hoped that she understood the severity of his words.

"I's so sorry," Tiberius rumbled as he settled down to his rump but kept himself touching against her as he drew his muzzle down her crown to drape his head around her nape and draw her near. "Never again," he pleaded and he so wanted to keep her by him for eternity now, almost unwilling to relent on anyone seeing her ever again. "Please," Tiberius whispered, shutting his eyes tightly as he fell silent, giving her the floor if she needed to scream, shout, curse or to just... talk and tell him of her capture. Whatever helped her, he would do it.

Tiberius felt his heart thrum, the feeling something he had been feeling grow since he had met her. Now... it simply blossomed into something addictive. ^^

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Now that they had stopped in the pursuit of a safe and private locale, and now the Olive was becoming more cognizant of the events that had transpired, the woman found herself looking upon Tiberius and cataloguing the many parts of him in a different way. Oh, his face — as haggard as he was (when was the last time this man slept?!), Olive could not help but see him as something painted anew. Quite literally, painted with blood, but figuratively, as if he was composed of bronze.

She watched him, as his lips and mouth moved as he spoke, and how his eyes emoted with her every word — and then her attention ran down his neck, memorizing the sheer density of his fur and the scent he kept trapped within it, and his shoulders, and forelegs — he was warm, and real, and more beautiful than anything she had ever seen in her short life, yet to grow longer still. The shivering waif felt him, too, in ways she had never experienced before. Then again, how often did one's lover? boyfriend? savior? romantic interest? come though to ensure that life, love and liberty would persist, when one's own Gods failed and fell silent? Before, Tiberius was a man who definitely stood out from the crowd; that she perceived as honest and truthful and hardworking.

Now, to her, he was so much more.

She leant her head into him, no longer aware of how it throbbed. If their bodies were bleeding and bruised, it was made better by the small pit of deep warmth that glowered between them, and Olive hoped that Tiberius could feel it too; for a man who ran so hot to be able to cool enough to glimpse the balance that was inherent between them, like two sides of the yin-and-yang that had been growing ever-closer with every step (or misstep) they took. "Oh..." Her internal pleasure eeked out from between smiling lips. Not to be outdone, she quickly followed it up by murmuring "There aren't any words for this," and returned to emanating sort of soft, rolling purr that she had learned from benry, after all this time together.

As easy as it was to melt into Tiberius's presence, her mind began to still, which left space that her anxious mind desired to fill. Thoughts of earlier that day began to intrude, and she remembered it primarily though her senses — the smell of the walrus's blood as it flooded across the ice, the sounds of an entire menagerie doling out and receiving pain, the feel of jostling bodies all trying to shepherd her away from danger. She recalled seeing Tiberius upon Boomba, and how he had been frenzied enough to take on the strength and abilities of two wolves, perhaps even three.

"I've never seen you like that before," she commented without great inflection, wanting to hear his response and gauge his own feelings about the events that had transpired here. Yet, she braced against him harder still, to let him know that she was here for him, a hellhound overtaken by vengeance and violence, just as much as he was here for her, a broken, half-dead thing dragged from the bottom of the sea ♥

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He could only think about the ways to avoid this ever happening again. Of how to avoid anything happening to her. Short of keeping her locked away in a den, Tiberius knew he could not will it his way. They would part again, their homes in different territories but he felt the ache in his chest at the thought of it. The titan grew tired of saying goodbye to her until they met again. His heart pulled harshly at her being alone, unprotected as she had been in the first place to have gotten kidnapped. His jaw ticked as he grit his crimson tainted teeth together, furious that he could not just drag her back to Shiroshika. It was unlikely that the once-loving Empress would have allowed Olive entrance regardless, given how cold she had been previously.

Still... he did not want to part from her, not again. What did that make her? To him, she was... everything. It confused him but he did not fight it, knowing that he had never experienced this before and now that he held it in his grasp, her in his grasp, Tiberius did not want to see it go. To see her go. Her words warmed his ears, his molten gaze peering down to her with emotion he still could not place a name to. Over and over she surprised him, he had been waiting for logic to hit her and she would be repulsed by him. That she would see his torn visage and know that he was too damaged and broken for someone such as her. Yet she didn't, she melted into him like he was her home and Tiberius couldn't help but feel addicted to the feeling.

To her touch, to her voice, her scent.

To her.

Olive's comment had him swallowing, her throat dry despite it having been in a flurry of saliva and blood not too long before. He felt her, the way she braced against him and kept him grounded, his skin tingling wherever she touched. The only other being that he would have gone so frenzied for was Lana but somehow he thought that even now, he might not have been as bad and for entirely other reasons. "I's been furious an' protective, maybe sum bit possessive but I's ain't ever felt tha' scared," the titan revealed in a rumble, touching his nose to her crown to breathe her in. "Yer were gone, taken from me an' I's couldn't... I 'ad ta come fer yer," so rarely did his voice wobble with tell-tale signs of emotion.

"Yer deserve much more than ta be treated tha' way, Angel. I couldn't leave yer ta a fate like tha'," Tiberius swallowed, his throat bobbing as he couldn't help but feel the fury all over again. "I said I'd figh'a any beast fer yer an' I'd do it again, I swears it ta yer," he stated feverously. No matter what stood in his way, he would always come and find her. ^^

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It was funny, how natural her sudden freedom felt when being bolstered by the inkdark knight. The truth of what lay on the battlefield was difficult to accept, but here, with him, it all seemed to gather into an idea that was just as mystifying, but made sense and was much easier to welcome into her heart. Her muscles, ever-taut, began to warm and loosen at simply being held and caresses with a loving hand; the stress of not knowing one's survival became more diluted with every moment that passed. Olive listened to his rollicking tones, recounting his frustration and innate desire to protect what he loved, and even further she melted — wait,

to protect what he loved?

Those hadn't been Tiberius's words exactly; he nearly said everything but. With a rush, Olive could suddenly read between the lines of his words & could understand what energy lay behind the moniker 'angel.' Just as suddenly, she understood why everything else in her life felt like a confusing, fleeting mess, but she innately trusted her relationship with Tiberius and did not question it — because love was a mess, but a beautiful mess, and it was confusing, but it was such a splendid confusion. Love was something that had always been there, when she first found him at the river's edge; and to call it anything less than what it was, felt silly.

So lost on an inner diatribe was she that she didn't notice how fast her heart was beating, or that her breath was coming in short, bird-like puffs at the top of her chest. All at once, there were so many words that needed to be said, so many things she wanted Tiberius to understand as she understood them, and Olive felt as thought the world has stopped turning until they could, together, keep it spinning. But, how to say such a thing? At this, Olive was utterly virginal, and she attempted to piece it together in words.

The wild woman, smeared with blood and entangled with plant matter, spirited away from him only a pace or two, suddenly feeling hot and needing to get the words out of her heartspace before she entered cardiac arrest. Eyelashes fluttering over emotional, ivy eyes, the woman turned to face the prince that had saved the princess, and stood tall with the heels of her forepaws touching, gathering herself as if to make a proclamation. Despite her stance, her voice quavered just as his had moments before

"At risk of sounding cliché," she began, barely able to select her words before they left her lips, or hear her voice over the blood pulsing in her ears. "I have something to say." Olive paused to swallow and lick her lips, and she wondered why she was so nervous — wasn't it utterly obvious that Tiberius returned her feelings? No, it wasn't nervousness; perhaps this was simply an emotional she had yet to feel before, and now she was feeling at full-force. Or maybe it was still the lingering adrenaline from the massacre that had taken place only moments before. Maybe a mix of it all? "Tiberius," her ears at first pressed back, but the next moment they craned open & forward, her tail exuberant and lifted.

"I am in love with you," she said. "If you have sought to win me, body and soul..." her silvered lips pressed together in a knowing smile, "You have won."

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She was smart, she had been since the day he had met her alongside the river and of course she would find what he had meant to say minced amongst the words he did say. It would only serve that she would put a name to the emotion that he had felt for her, the one that had been drawing on his heartstrings. When he heard her breathing, he felt fear for thinking that the entire ordeal was coming to reality for her and that she was about to relive it all, terribly and torturously. Olive was on her paws within seconds and Tiberius jerked forward, as if he had gone to reach for her but he remained, molten gaze wide and remaining on her as he braced himself on thick, bloodied paws -- awaiting a que to give her someone to lean on.

Olive turned to him like a vision. Her fur, ordinarily delicately ash and cream in colour was now draped in crimson and what was left of plants. Her stance, strong and facing him, not cowering away or looking like she was about to relive her torture. He blinked, confusion lining his marred features as he watched her, concern clutching at his heart. He feared then that she would see him as the monster he had been proclaimed to be and prepared himself for the turn away. Yet no demand for him to leave came, only her wobbled vocals that touched his ears in a tingle and he blinked rapidly, confused still. Tiberius nodded, both not trusting his words and not wanting to jolt her out of whatever path she found herself in. Cliche? He wasn't sure she could ever be as such. Original, unique and otherworldly, certainly but never cliche.

He would never get used to the way his name rolled off of her tongue, the shiver up his spine addictive. Just like her. Once more he blinked, his throat suddenly dry as at first her words didn't register. I am in love with you. She was -- she was what? Tiberius felt the shock crack down on his chest, the wonder on how she could be in love with the likes of him but he thought then that never had she ever made him feel lesser. Always did she make him feel strong, important -- like he meant something more than a war-torn soldier, always did she make him feel accepted, excited and quietened his demons. She made him feel as if he could be on top of the world and if he were, he had known he would want her right there with him. 

Had anyone ever told him that they loved him before? No, definitely not yet here she stood, so beautiful and warm telling him she was in love with him. Tiberius felt his heart clutch in his throat and rapidly did he breath before moments later it settled. Calm did his heart feel because that's what she did to him, always -- she soothed his worries, his pain and his demons. "Olive," the titan breathed as he stood, standing himself up to his full height as he faced her. A smile drew up on his missing, marred lips as he breathed her name like a prayer. 

"I's not ever been told I's loved before an' never 'ave I ever wanted ta feel it so much as I's do wit' yer," he rumbled, revealing his truths as he stepped closer to her. Lowering his head to her level did he touch his nose gently against her own, it wasn't ever easy for him to touch base with his emotions yet she taught him with each interaction. "I's in love wit' ya, Angel. I's didn't know wha' love meant 'till I met yer," the titan revealed quietly to her, molten gaze unrelenting as they washed over her features. "Will yer be mine, Angel? An' I's will be yers," it was likely the ballsiest thing he would ever do.

Fighting, killing, protecting, hunting? They had nothing on this moment. They had nothing on her. She could have him for however she wanted but Tiberius hoped that she wanted him forever and past. ^^

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When the words left her lips and entered the ether, Olive felt utterly feral in a way she had never felt before; as if the future and all its potential happiness hinged on this one moment, and she couldn't control it — she could only trust it, and trust Tiberius, and trust that sharp brain of his wouldn't let him pass something like this up. Her gaze probed his, hoping to scry and eat up every iota of his initial surprise and shock, as he was perhaps not so familiar with the idea that passionate rage and passionate love could exist so close to one another, as if different sides of the same coin. The shivering waif could show him; wanted to teach him so many things, if only he would open his life to her and give her access to him that (she assumed) no other had before —

Before he spoke, the titan rose and strode closer to her, and Olive did her best to memorize how she could feel the thumpthumpthump of his every step on her heart as if he was walking directly on her chest, and that delicious look in his eye as her words drew him nearer; and in that half-second between the utterance of her name and when he touched his nose to hers, she realized (for perhaps the second or third time) that it was all requited, all things they realized now and the things they had to realize yet. The prophet had finally met her match in face of the scarred warrior, though she longed to hear him speak and say the words, they weren't necessary for her to understand his exact meaning.

Time moved achingly slow, even as he did speak and worked to pull forth the words to represent exact the journey he was on, with her. Ashen eyelids slipped closed as she let the words drip over her brain, like soothing, cooling honey — it was something exquisite and oh-so reassuring to know that one was (they were) not alone to face the world. Whatever cruelties and deep joys life had for them, it was the ultimate placation to know that there was another to see, celebrate, and cry with them. Another soul, amongst a sea of so many other, that saw and held you as something unique and special.  Who would save you, when you needed to be saved.

"Will yer be mine, Angel? An' I's will be yers," he asked.

The woman drew a step closer, her nose pushing past his and up the side of his face, past the scars old and freshly new, and found the crook where the size of her muzzle fit against his, and she said all there was to say. "I've been yours for longer than you've known," she admitted sotto voce, and she thought of every time she had encountered the titan. They were of two different packs, and lived far apart. Two wolves, each shouldering a great responsibility, that every now and again would indulge in something that was not of piety nor duty. How their relationship had grown, and taken wings of its own, existing and enduring despite having so little to feed on.

"I thought about you every day—" she tried, but emotion rose in her throat, as anything prior to Boomba felt as if it were another lifetime; another Olive. She took a quivering breath, and continued. "I thought about the things I wanted to say to you, but never thought I'd have chance," Oh, the regrets she had! Over so many things; but letting Tiberius live his life not knowing how truly he was adored by her was the most egregious. It was a sad story indeed, but thankfully, not one that had come to pass. "Now I have endless chances," she added eagerly, with a cheeky grin and a sway of her tail and hips. "and not because of the will of the Gods," she felt it was necessary to clarify. "because of you."

Olive wanted to pull back and take in the full view of him; but even as splendid as the warrior was to look at, it was nothing like the feeling of having him close. The shrouded seraph pushed forward again, check to cheek. "I won't waste any opportunity to tell you how incredible you are, ever again."

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It was likely that he would never see her as anything other than a vision. Had he believed in luck and in fate, he would have thanked his lucky stars for having her step into his path. She drew near, her delicate nose touching his before it slid past, coursing through his fur and scars to where she fit her face to his so warmly. A sound almost glutaral left him as she divulged herself to him in a soft purr, his spine once more buzzing with excitement. Could anything she say ever not make his spine tingle? He hadn't meant for any of this to happen, he hadn't ever thought he would be worthy of love yet here he was, honoured to be loved by the most brilliant woman that could ever exist. He rumbled his approval lowly, drawing his tongue from his mouth to swipe over the base of her ear with affection.

When she spoke he could do nothing but hang onto her words, his heart thumping quickly in his chest and his blood rushing in his ears. He stepped to her closer then, when she spoke of thinking about him every day with the emotion holding on with it's iron grip. She had thought she would never see him again, that her kidnapping had been the rest of her life and it made him furious to know she had gone through the mental torment that she had done. "Yer not need ta worry anymore," the titan declared in a promise, wholeheartedly as he breathed her in. She wanted to remind him continuously that she thought him incredible and his heart wanted to burst.

He leaned into her touch, happy and eager that she was here, with him, and had declared her love for him. "Yer 'ave given me everythin' I's never thought I's would 'ave or be worthy of," he divulged in a rumble, shutting his eyes as he moved to bury his nose within the fur on her neck. "I's not... ever been loved," not by his mother or his siblings and his father had been dead before he had even been born. "I's... gonna need yer ta guide m'through," it felt weak to express his inexperience but with her, he wanted to bear all. ^^

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Was there anything as delicious as the warmth and confidence of a man who knew his worth, as he sidled up and purred his satisfaction in ones ears? Olive might had said anything in that moment to prolong the experience of his closeness; would have professed her love a thousand times, and promised the shaded warrior anything he wished to hear. Thankfully she did all of this with a fully willing heart, and she did so easily and endlessly, allowing the halo around to heart to expanded and encompass his own, feeling the strength of his spirit through the gentle rubbing of their breastbones against one another's.

The man desolved and confided into her that the emotions that rose up in him were new and foreign, never having experience anything like it before — and for a moment, the bliss that engulfed them took on an chiaroscuro aspect, and Olive was able to see the darkness that clouded her knight, not only in pelage but in mind; she felt the pain that he experienced, perhaps so strongly in this moment because it was the first time he realized what he had lacked for most of his life.

“You are a man made to be loved,” the pale sylph braced herself stoutly against him, as if to support him (though in all reality her physicality could never {would never} hold the true heft of him), but it was more a metaphorical act, of one lost soul embracing and holding another, for all the things they were, and all of the things they lacked. “and I believe that I am the one made to love you," the woman said, more self-assured now, because she understood that Tiberius did not make grand, sweeping declarations of love not because he didn't feel it, but because he had no way to recognize it and give it a name. Tiberius's love was proclaimed more by action: through protection, and whole-hearted loyalty, and preservation of life itself. In the end, were these not the things that mattered most?

With this notion dancing as a smile upon her lips, she continued to speak her small diatribe into the burly scruff of his neck, attempting to share what the idea of 'love' meant to her. "and to support you through all things in life," she clarified, "the beautiful as well as the macabre."  because if life were all sunshine and roses, what would love amount to on that scale? If it was one beautiful thing amongst a sea of beauty, who could appreciate the fire that burned between them?

To that end, the great Boomba had stolen her humanity, and kept her as a farm animal to be bred and murdered. Was there anything worse than that? Perhaps the only gift, the only silver lining that she could glean from all of this, was now she had that much more ability to understand the extremity of emotions. Even now, standing there entirely doused in the blood of the very soul who had imprisoned her, she did not feel the hot, intense hatred that she had seethed for her captor. Instead, she felt equally as hot and intense, only at the entire other end of the spectrum.

Her ability to feel and to know what she truly wanted had been increased a thousandfold. So did her ability to hate, and so did her ability to love.

The emotions that had threatened to overtake her in moment prior simply could be held back no longer. The bubbled up her throat in a hiccup, and then subsequently a wave of hot tears that wet both of their furs. “You saved me, Tib.” she uttered into him, wondering if he understood the gravity of his actions she she did; perhaps he saw this as exactly what he was trained to do: to give life and limb for those he pledged to. But, it was more than that. “…and not only from the walrus king,” the shewolf took a short, sharp breath. “from a live spent half-lived, and a heart that has only ever half-loved.”

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It was easy to get lost in everything that was Olive yet with the recent events, he still kept his ears on alert for anything that may come their way. He had failed her when he had not been there at first to keep her safe... he wouldn't do it again. How could he have failed her in such a way? Olive had gone through hell on Earth and for what? For what? Tiberius felt the clogging in his throat, the raw fury and sadness at the wonder of what she had been thinking and feeling in her inner-most self when it had all happened.

He could not help the way his cheeks warmed to her words, thinking that his mother and siblings might have something to say in disagreement to her words. Yet in reality, they didn't matter. They hadn't mattered for a long time, so why would he bother comparing what they would think of him to her? Her thoughts of him mattered, theirs didn't. If he was made to be loved and his chosen was Olive, Tiberius thought he would never find room for complaint. He rumbled an approval as he dipped his head, seeking to run his tongue over her crown. "Lucky," he rumbled, "m'lucky." He struggled to divulge his emotions properly, never having been the type to do so yet he wanted to try as much as he could.

For her.

Olive may as well have announced her loyalty then and there, despite already telling him that she was his if he so wished, she told him that she would be there for him, no matter the weather. Rain, sunshine, life or death -- Olive would love him through it all. Had anyone declared such a thing to him, for him? No, no they hadn't -- the closest had been Lana yet Barbosa's little spawn had been enough for the Crane to turn tail. Had it been that way, though? The titan had been left confused when Lana and Vala stormed away, leaving him confused in the clearing as to what the fuck had gone wrong -- then he was here.

No one had been so... for him than Olive. He knew he would return the sentiment no matter what, that nothing could stop him from choosing her. Loving her. Wanting her. Defending her. She had taught him enough that he felt as if he had become a new man, though certainly did the darkness of his past lay beneath the surface and even still, she was teaching him.

Emotion seemed to clog her and if possible, the man would bring her closer as her tears wet both their furs. Whatever was left of his mending heart seemed to weep with her, sad and furious that she was crying because of it all. The titan would seek to clean whatever he could off of the fur he could reach, his tongue sweeping across her fur as his worried brow furrowed, listening to as she spoke. "Olive," he rumbled against her fur, using his teeth to pluck what he could from whatever the fuck the walrus had embedded in her soft tresses. "If anythin', yer saved me," Tiberius would promise her, his molten gaze showing a particular twinkle that was saved only for her. Had she ever called him Tib before?

"King... 'e was a bastard," the titan almost spat, his nose flaring in thought that he would have been a self-proclaimed King. Kings didn't do what he did, but then really, what did he know about royalty? Royalty would likely see him and spit, thinking he was more barbaric than most. "If lovin' yer is all I's gonn' do in this life, then I's does it 'appily. Wit' 'onour," he rumbled warmly, his chest filled with warmth for the Angel. "Yer 'ad a long day, Angel," Tiberius rumbled, "I's gonn' be 'ere. Maybe try an' sleep," she likely need more cleaning but she had been through hell and back, she could afford to have some sleep.

He would be here. Nothing would get her, not when she was clasped tightly against him. ^^

^^ [/narrow]
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She wept freely because Tiberius was there to catch every tear upon his tongue; did her cheeks even become wet, from her crying? Without tears, it was almost as if there was no reason to cry, for neither could she procure the dark emotions that usually accompanied such an action. It was more like a discharge of emotions; ones that had been long-kept and even forgotten, and now easily overwhelmed her. Tiberius bolstered her as her flame roared and sparked;

but eventually she was drawn down and made calm once more. The more she focused on the pleasurable tickle of the titan plucking through her ragged fur, the more the tears subsided, and the more she listened to him speak, the more she understood. She sighed deeply, coming back to center, which lay someplace equidistant between their two parts. "I know it's not possible," she wished to the Gods who were clearly listening to her endless list of wants and wishes, "but I wish for us to never be parted again." If her life had been restored, and her love with Tiberius solidified, what more was this one tiny thing?

Tiberius encouraged her to rest and Olive could do nothing but utterly obey him; she paddled her forelimbs away from her body and her chest sunk slowly to the ground, hips to follow. Her tail curled around to cover her delicate, still-shivering paws, and the curve of her spine created a convex space the simply begged to be filled by the concave curves of her lover. The sylph tipped her chin upwards to look at him, baiting to him to come cover with several bats of toilsome lashes.

"I once learned of a concept called Ishvara Pranidana," she began, when she felt the warmth of him close once more. "It speaks about how all things end, by choice or by force.... in some way, by some means." In the hierarchy of tantric spiritual concepts, this was one of the last that students were tasked to learn. It required the highest degree of maturity to comprehend, as no one liked to think of the fact that they (and everyone they love) would one day be dead. However, with this great understanding, came great freedom.

"It says we must make a choice, in every moment, to live loudly despite knowing that all is fleeting," the woman explained, looking over her shoulder, her eyes rooting amongst his, searching for feedback — perhaps it wasn't normal to speak of death when declaring heartfelt ardor, but it was for Olive. Life and death were always hand-in-hand, as she saw it. Anywho, she eventually found her point. "So I want to taste the sweetness of every moment that the Gods gift us together. We must live with intention. We can't let anything pass us by," Olive planted a kiss upon whatever part of him she could reach, and leaned her head down to rest upon her pointed forepaws.

"I haven't slept in many days..." the waif admitted. "I think sleep might evade me still." Glancing over to him, tail twitching a few inches away from her face, she murmured quietly "Will you just hold me, tightly?"

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