View Flat HTML
View Metadata
Search Post
The next morning, Charlie leaves late for work so he and Bella can have breakfast together, but then he does go.
Bella sees him off.
And heads for the lair, humming, all nerves.
+ Show First Post
self_composed
self_composed
Bella bends to plant a kiss on his forehead, and keeps climbing. She makes sure to have half an eye on the affect around his thoughts, though.
edgeofyourseat
Bright white almost without exception, certainly around both the pain and Bella wherever they may appear. He tips his head back and smiles up at her without opening his eyes.
self_composed
Climb, climb, climb. Bella expects a star based on this pattern right... about... now.
edgeofyourseat
Alice is back to squirming; also, breathing raggedly.
The star appears right on schedule. He almost feels that same transcendent immersion from yesterday, but not quite.
The star appears right on schedule. He almost feels that same transcendent immersion from yesterday, but not quite.
self_composed
"There's a star," Bella murmurs, petting his hair. "Want to keep going?"
edgeofyourseat
"Yeah," he sighs, leaning into her hand again. He loves her. He really, really loves her.
self_composed
Up and up and up. She kisses his forehead again; she's not completely sure he won't flinch at some point and bite her if she kisses his mouth instead.
She lets herself feedback-loop a little, on the emotion-blob and the affect around the lightning bolt and on the love, but pays strict attention to his face and everything else he's thinking. In case.
Up-up-up...
She lets herself feedback-loop a little, on the emotion-blob and the affect around the lightning bolt and on the love, but pays strict attention to his face and everything else he's thinking. In case.
Up-up-up...
edgeofyourseat
If he had room in his head for that much analysis, he would be surprised that he isn't more aroused. He is, but in a very gentle, undemanding way. Not like yesterday, when it hurt like hell and flooded him with glorious want.
This time it hurts like heaven.
Without noticing exactly when it happens, he drifts into a state very like yesterday's. It's different, though. Calmer. More passive. He feels like he could stay this way for a long time. He leans into Bella whenever she touches him, although he can barely feel her through the pain.
And then he can't.
He has no connection to the world around him, to the past, the future, to his own thoughts, to any sense but pain. No words populate his thought-stream, magically generated or otherwise. There is nothing in him but the ecstasy of intense experience tangled with boundless adoration, and a massive lightning bolt surrounded by spotless crystalline white.
This time it hurts like heaven.
Without noticing exactly when it happens, he drifts into a state very like yesterday's. It's different, though. Calmer. More passive. He feels like he could stay this way for a long time. He leans into Bella whenever she touches him, although he can barely feel her through the pain.
And then he can't.
He has no connection to the world around him, to the past, the future, to his own thoughts, to any sense but pain. No words populate his thought-stream, magically generated or otherwise. There is nothing in him but the ecstasy of intense experience tangled with boundless adoration, and a massive lightning bolt surrounded by spotless crystalline white.
self_composed
Bella pauses there (16,050 triangles). She's not sure what would happen to him if she kept going.
But she doesn't back off either.
But she doesn't back off either.
edgeofyourseat
He has also stopped generating stars. He doesn't have the attention left to drag the pain across his mind.
Slowly, though, he acclimates. His breathing steadies. He leans toward Bella slightly, like a flower seeking the sun.
Another star appears on his necklace and slides down to join the others with a soft click.
Slowly, though, he acclimates. His breathing steadies. He leans toward Bella slightly, like a flower seeking the sun.
Another star appears on his necklace and slides down to join the others with a soft click.
self_composed
Bella twines her fingers into his hair. Whether he'll be able to hear her, she's not sure, but she says anyway: "More?"
edgeofyourseat
He hears her. He recognizes that there is a sound; after a moment, he even correctly attaches her voice to the target of all this love he's feeling, to the same source as the distantly perceptible sensation of her hand in his hair. But he stops short of perceiving the word as a word; by the time he's done observing that he loves the person who said it, it's passed out of working memory, too far for him to retrieve.
self_composed
That's really interesting.
She leaves it where it is. Pet-pet-pet.
And she watches his face.
She leaves it where it is. Pet-pet-pet.
And she watches his face.
edgeofyourseat
A slow, slow smile touches his lips. Completely involuntary, because right now he is not working on a voluntary level.
Another star clicks down on top of the rest. Definitely a lot slower than he could be making them.
His eyelashes flutter slightly.
Another star clicks down on top of the rest. Definitely a lot slower than he could be making them.
His eyelashes flutter slightly.
self_composed
So this isn't optimal coin-generation, but she can't use stars yet anyway.
She decides he's not going to bite her. She kisses him right on the smile.
She decides he's not going to bite her. She kisses him right on the smile.
edgeofyourseat
Alice shivers. He doesn't quite kiss back, but he recognizes the kiss and responds with affection and a little thrill of I-can't-believe-this excitement.
self_composed
Hee.
She starts creeping it up again. Little little bits at a time, two or three triangles per second, paying very close attention.
She starts creeping it up again. Little little bits at a time, two or three triangles per second, paying very close attention.
edgeofyourseat
He shivers some more. It's been steady enough for long enough that each tiny increase is almost a separate sensation in itself, like someone brushing their fingertips across all his nerves at once.
self_composed
And on and on and on...
This might be a long morning.
Bella doesn't mind.
This might be a long morning.
Bella doesn't mind.
edgeofyourseat
His tongue flicks out over his lips, once, then again. He runs his hand slowly along the arm of the chair—the one Bella isn't sitting on.
self_composed
Bella wonders why he's doing that. Does he even know?
Up up up...
Up up up...
edgeofyourseat
He doesn't. It's a physical sensation he is capable of perceiving; it satisfied a vague and undirected urge to... feel... something. There might be more to it, that he would understand if so much of his attention was not still taken up with hurting.
self_composed
Bella decides that unless something radically different happens she will stop at 15,000. This is a nice round number. It will take a few minutes to get there.
She's still petting him, still marinating in borrowed emotions.
She's still petting him, still marinating in borrowed emotions.
edgeofyourseat
And he is still leaning into her hand, and now he is leaning into it a little more.
Something is changing.
His fingers curl against the armrest; he digs them into its cushiony surface, feeling the resulting pressure. His breathing, quiet for a long time, becomes louder again. He shifts a little in his seat, stretching his legs out on the floor.
The gentle undercurrent of sexual arousal becomes a flood across his internal universe, almost as strong as the pain. He clings to the armrest and whimpers, suddenly feeling very much like yesterday, caught in a sensory hurricane and wanting nothing more than to ride it out to the end.
Something is changing.
His fingers curl against the armrest; he digs them into its cushiony surface, feeling the resulting pressure. His breathing, quiet for a long time, becomes louder again. He shifts a little in his seat, stretching his legs out on the floor.
The gentle undercurrent of sexual arousal becomes a flood across his internal universe, almost as strong as the pain. He clings to the armrest and whimpers, suddenly feeling very much like yesterday, caught in a sensory hurricane and wanting nothing more than to ride it out to the end.
self_composed
She holds where it is when she first notices that (14,209) and watches, ready to back down or cut off the pain entirely if that seems appropriate. And she pets his hair. And she watches his face...