Morning Rise [Day 8, LM, Closed]

[Wu Ko]

Despite the wonder of the night, the sleep Ko received was far more troubled than she would have ever imagined. Waking with a sudden start from the nightmare. No scream, but a panicked breathing as she was soaked in fresh sweat. Hands reaching out to cling to whatever was nearest. Eyes darting about the room through messy strands of hair. Body painted from the night prior, the careful markings covering most of her body as the greater proof that at least not the entire night wasn't some fever dream, and the better part at that.

[Yuzuru Hiroya]

She was not the only one whose night was filled with strange dreams. Her grasping hands would reach a fitfully sleeping Hiroya who would be awoken by it. He seemed less frantic but clearly troubled.

Seeing her distress an arm came around her in comfort a gentle pressure to pull into a hug if she wanted it but not so pressing she couldn't easily fight it if she needed space "I had them as well. Dark dreams. Just dreams though. You're ok."

[Wu Ko]

Ko's eyes were busy darting around the room. However, soon as she felt his arm reach for her, her head stops mid-frantic scanning around. It wasn't a person she feared, so it didn't startle her. Quickly as he opened himself to a hug she buried her full body against him and held tightly. Soft sobbing against his shoulder, the hair an uncomfortable mess against his skin. Heart pounding in her chest, he could just about feel it against his with how tightly she held herself to him. Both arms wrapping around him underneath his own, one across and one over so that her hand rested with a strong grip on his shoulder.

[Yuzuru Hiroya]

As she pressed against him his arms went around her tight, securing her, trying to make her feel safe. "It's OK Ko. Your safe. I got you." It was uncertain if it was the intimacy they had shared or just the emotional crisis at hand but Hiroya had none of his usual uncertainty about him, he seemed practiced with this or something like it.

As he held Ko he kept speaking small reassurances softly to her one hand gently running her hair as she sobbed into his chest. He made no move to dislodge her, she had all the time she needed.

[Wu Ko]

As he spoke there was a renewal to her grip, the slight brush of her arms as she found those slightly shifted holds on him. In their space they shared there was time and Ko would use much of it. About five minutes in she settled, the sobbing quieting and another renewed hold on him. This one with less strength put into it but ultimately still tight. Ten minutes later she finally stirs enough that her face comes up from being buried against him. Chin resting on his shoulder with the sound of a soft sniffle in his ear. Eyes wandering around the room another minute or so, maybe two, as she comes to reclaim her bearings on where she is.

Finally, she stirs from him enough to lean back and see him. Hair wild, some strands clinging to her cheeks, one along her jaw. Face, eyes reddened still from the release. Looking to him, finding his eyes, she holds his gaze for a moment. Lips parting to speak but no words forming her eyes shy away.

[Yuzuru Hiroya]

His own hair was not much more tame, long and unfettered it framed his face as he looked to her. As she leaned away from him his arms had loosened from around her and fell down to her hips but one hand came up and brushed some hair away "It was a bad one I take it." It was simple commentary the answer obvious in how she awoke "do you wish to talk about it?" He asked in the same soft, comforting tones as before.

[Wu Ko]

Ko's own hands resting more on his sides gently a few inches just under his armpits. Subtle shifts her eyes focus on different parts of his face, following the strands at first but then just looking to him. A brief and strained smile rises when he brushes hair from her own. A furrow of her brow at the question her gaze shifts a little, considering. Shaking her head as she focuses back on him.

"You spoke before," she says, her voice soft and just as strained as her earlier smile was. "You had a terrible dream as well?"

[Yuzuru Hiroya]

He nodded smiling back at her more tired and resigned than strained "Yes though I had their like before, this one was....different." He looked pensive the smile turning into a small frown as he thought. He shook his head "It was unpleasant."

His hand cupped her cheek briefly and then trailed down to her shoulder "yours seems to have been much worse. Do you get nightmares often?"

[Wu Ko]

"I do not. Not for many years," she says, regarding him with a focus that she did not usually have. When he'd cleared his arm from the space between them she brings one of her own arms back, reaching up with a gentle hand she slowly starts brushing hair off of his face. With a diligence to the task, a soft sigh with a rising sound to it.

"I am-" she hesitates. Meeting his eyes again there's a subtle shakiness to her, that fear still gripping her. "Would you tell me of yours?" she asks, focusing more on his gaze with a need she did not convey intentionally.

[Yuzuru Hiroya]

Hiroya smiles as she brushes the hair from his face at one point catching her hand and giving her fingers a soft kiss. As she asks about his dream he takes a big breath and frowns a little but he nods "It was not entirely dissimilar from dreams I've had in the past." He began his tone reluctant but pressing on "I am sitting at dinner with my family they are all talking but are ignoring me acting as if I am not there. When I speak no one responds and they speak about me as if I am not there." He takes another breath "my mother speaks of how much a burden I am and my father talks about how useless I am and how I can't do things my younger sister can do. This goes on for a time and no matter how many times I ask them to stop they continue again and again to treat me as if I were not there." As he recounts the dream a mixture of sadness and anger come to his eyes which take on a glassy appearance but do not quite yet look wet.

"Usually it stays there they ignore me and make fun of me as if inwerent there.. This dream got worse though." He says clearing his throat "this time as I yelled something my father looked at me and his eyes..." Hiroya shuddered "there was nothing but contempt and hatred in them. He grabbed me and drug me too my room where he called on the spirits of fire and set my paintings ablaze. The whole time telling me how I was worthless, useless, powerless." A tear rolled down his cheek as he spoke.

"but then I heard a voice, a voice offering me power, offering me a gift to never feel that way again, to give me the ability to do that which I longed for. As I stared into the flames of my art and in that moment I agreed. Suddenly I felt the spirits around me, I could talk with them, make requests of them. I stood up to my father, rescued my paintings and proved I was not worthless." His voice was a little rough "but while it felt good it also felt wrong in some way. Sickening." He took a deep breath and squeezed her hand gently.

[Wu Ko]

Ko's eye's constantly regard him as he tells the story, a softness for him apparent through their set gaze. As he hurts in the telling of the story it reflects in a brief frown, an uncomfortable look, but each time she encourages him forward again with the softness inherent in her gaze. At the mention of the fire which burned his paintings he can see her gaze go distant, a paleness encroaching which she steels herself against. Forcing herself to maintain composure enough for his sake as he tells the rest of the tale. Wrapping her hand with his, working her way to interlock her fingers following his squeeze. Her free hand from his side coming up to brush away the tear with a thumb across the cheek. Deeply looking into his eyes she nods, sits with him for a minute and just holds to this awareness and feeling of him, his story.

After some time of sitting with him, the reassurance of joined presence, she starts with a shaky quiet to her voice, "I was trapped in a forest fire. When I was younger. I was.. afraid," she says, glancing down. "I have never felt alone like that. Trapped. Doomed," she adds with a sadness, one reserved for old wounds not healed. "My mentor saved me from the flames. I could not escape myself, they hard surrounded me," she shudders a little, shaking her head as she works her way toward the present.

"My nightmare, it resembled this. A lightning strike in a dry grass. Fire spreading quickly. Surrounding me. Trapping me. I was alone, I could do nothing but- a voice spoke through the flames. It was dark, and terrifying, but.. I knew not what to do. It offered salvation I-" she shakes her head, "I do not know if I accepted it. I remember feeling I must escape, I hoped- I hoped I would be saved again, by anyone, in that moment," her voice turns heavier, a pit welling up in her stomach. "I was saved. There was, a gift? I could control the flame, it would respond to my desire. It was.. I liked it more than I should have. It felt wrong," she says, looking to him and meeting his eyes to convey that shared bit of the experience. Shaking her head, "It was.." she hesitated, looking down, ashamed.

[Yuzuru Hiroya]

He listened to her story with the same attention she had given him When she looked down he leaned forward kissing her forehead "you have nothing to be ashamed of. You were terrified, you were looking for a way out. If your dream was like mine, if it felt so real you had no way to know you weren't dreaming, no one can fault you for that. And enjoying it? Of course you enjoyed having power especially power over that which you feared." A hand rubbed her arm idly while he spoke to her "You didn't do anything wrong Ko. Your actions were perfectly justifiable."

Hiroya leaned in to wrap her in another hug "that sounds terrifying though. I understand why you woke in a panic. We're OK now though." He says leaning back from her again.

[Wu Ko]

Readily accepted she wraps her arms around him. Laying her head into the space between shoulder and neck, the somewhat less messy hair still brushing roughly against his cheek. Holding him there for a minute, maybe two, she let his words settle in and resonate with her a while. That warmth both physical and emotional giving her something to relax into. A soft pleasant sigh finally emanating after those two minutes. Pulling back from the hug she looks to him silently. Regarding him from his brow, to his nose, down to his lips and then his chin. One hand coming and placing itself on his bare chest over his heart.

Eyes focusing on her hand, her fingers spreading out to cover more of the surface of his chest over his heart, "Even if that were true. Your dream? Even if your father would have done such a terrible thing. Said such terrible things. They could never be true," she says with that confidence that seemed most natural and assured about her. Looking to him, meeting his eye with a seriousness in the determination, a look which she hoped would help her discern truth from lie, "You know that is true, yes? You need nothing more. You are worthy. You are- you are important."

"And your art," she smiles, briefly and bashfully. Leaning back a little to show off the lines across her bare form. Ko's gaze looking to them, lingering on their presence with a warmth to how she appraised them, a glow to her. "Your art is beautiful."

[Yuzuru Hiroya]

Hiroya smiled back softly "thank you." His voice was quiet but there was a Sincerity to his eyes, a warmth and appreciation as he looked to Ko.

As she spoke of his art his eyes followed hers down to his work from the previous night, wonder filled his eyes "I merely added to what was already there." Color started rising in his pale cheeks once again "I could never create something as beautiful as you are Ko. Though I am honored you allowed me to do this." His fingers traced down a line that wound down her neck and almost the length of her body going over some sensitive areas. He gave her a playful smile.

[Wu Ko]

Ko's smile grew, feeling his fingers against her skin. However, his words distracted her gaze so that it drifted away from him. Brow furrowing in thought the smile formed into a frown instead. Reaching for the hand as it traces along her body she takes a hold of it, weaving her fingers in with his. Looking up to meet his eyes again, that sincerity returning, a hesitation of uncertainty in her voice, "I do not like it when you say such things. When you compliment me by limiting yourself. It is.. a small thing, but you discount yourself as important often, your worth," she shakes her head, "I do not like this."

Bringing his hand up she places it against her chest, over her heart, "I am glad you would do this for me. I am glad you find me beautiful. I am happy when you say such things," a soft shake of her head, glancing down with the shake. A sigh felt in the shift of her body, a raising and lowering of the shoulders.

[Yuzuru Hiroya]

His smile becomes more uncertain a touch of self consciousness to it now that she points it out "I am sorry Ko." He gives her hand a squeeze "it is an old habit. I will say it was not meant to be a comment limiting me or my ability. I-i believe the work I have done on you is amazing." He says a little halting as it was always uncomfortable for him to praise himself, he looks up moving to kiss her gently "I had excellent inspiration." He cleared his throat "but rather I don't believe any artist could make something that would be able to outshine your beauty Ko." From another it would be a line, but the look in his eyes, the Sincerity there, the warmth and affection it was quite clear that he meant it.

[Wu Ko]

Ko's gaze was naturally wary, even as he leans in, but when he left a kiss that wariness faded into a warm smile. Still glancing away a moment, collecting her thoughts after everything. Focusing back once he cleared his throat. Hand with his still against her chest, she brought up the other and cupped his hand between the two. Covering his hand as it were, she gently laid the joined hands in her lap. Looking down she opened them up, turning his hand over, and with one remaining as the surface it was laid upon she drew circles with the first two fingers of the other in his palm.

"I had spoken with.. Doji Hikaru, the day after I met you. We spoke of beauty. Though we spoke of nature when we spoke of it, I think I decided then that beauty is not the most important thing. It is good. Good to find it in what you cherish. But I think some things can be beautiful, but also hollow. Like a beautiful garden. Only existing for beauty. That beauty I think is sad," she says, her tone light and with that semi-distance as it went to a topic of importance. Looking up from the brushing of the palm of his hand she meets his eye. That hopeful look she'd given him a couple of times now once more hoping, yearning.

[Yuzuru Hiroya]

Hiroya nodded "Beauty is not the most important thing. Like you said, it is nice, it can inspire, it can draw but at the end of the day it usually fleeting. In nature and in people. If you are talking just of physical beauty."

He gently closed his hand around hers giving it a squeeze "Your physical beauty is stunning, I swear last night I hadn't seen a more beautiful sight." He smiled warmth and maybe a bit of hunger in his eyes at the memory of the night before he shook himself from the reverie. His hand went back to her heart "but the beauty here," he leaned in and kissed her forehead "and here. Are more incredible than any sight. Your beauty is not just in how you look Ko but in who you are." His smile brightened "In one random morning you changed my life a bit, you made me feel valued. You didn't even know me but you felt the need to help me even if you didn't see it that way or mean to that's what happened."

His hand goes back to hers in her lap "You are kind Ko, a genuine kindness. You care deeply, fiercely for those close to you. I know this just from how you talk of Satsuki." He gives her hand a slight squeeze "and the way you see the world is so unique I want to be able to just talk with you about the world forever. To see the world how you see it." He shakes his head "no Ko the kind of beauty you hold is the furthest thing from hollow."

[Wu Ko]

Ko listens to the declaration with bright smile, wide eyes, and a gentle side to side rocking from her waist. An inhale, the beating of her heart when his hand touched. When it left a hand to greet it on the return, a gentle squeeze to match the one he gives her. Feeling more seen by one who was a stranger but days ago than she'd ever experienced in her life. One hand occupied the other comes up to rest on his thigh, supporting herself as she leans into him. Meeting his lips she gives an affectionate kiss, parting the kiss but not backing away. Lips barely brushing against his, "No one has ever said such things," she says, kissing him again and breaking just as before. "No one has.." she couldn't find the right words, leaning in fully to lock him into a much deeper kiss than before.

[Yuzuru Hiroya]

Hiroya for his part accepted the kisses with a passion to match her own each break a breath a half constructed thought before the assault on his lips, and therefore his heart, resumed. His arms slipped around her as she kissed him deeply. They had had plenty of time to learn this sort of dance the evening before and Hiroya was a quick study. For a moment locked there with her in that embrace, the world melted away. The nightmares, his family, winter court. It all faded away the only thing that mattered was this wild, beautiful, incredible woman in his arms.