[ Hei does his best to ignore the stupid dog. Lets Korra curl against him instead, his body a warm bolster to fit herself against. He exhales, his breath tickling through her hair. Dips his head, melting into her kiss, and whispers against her parted lips, ]
All right.
[ The raspy words vibrate with a quiet trepidation, which he tries to force down. He lays a hand on her body, under her breasts; not a silent demand for anything more. Just for the contact. Listening to the steady cadence of her heartbeat, a strange thrill pulses through him, a peculiar closeness seeming to crackle darkly in the air between them, palpable even though he can't see Korra's face. He knows he ought to be wrapped around Pai, right now, sleeping the sleep of a well-fed, well-fought soldier. But for the past week, sleep has advanced and receded many times and finally pulled him down into a tense, trapped alertness. His dreams are grisly, phantasmagoric -- his mind containing fantastic netherworlds of bloodshed and sadism. They seep out in disturbing ways. Some night he awakens to find his hands curled loosely around Pai's neck, like she's an enemy. Other times, his eyes flutter open to find himself wrapped too-tightly around her, as if trying to protect her from a mortar blast. ]
[ He knows, with the secrecy of a premonition, that his nightmares are worsening. He's not sure why. But he doesn't tell Pai about it. Better to give her one less Hei-issue to puzzle out. ]
[ He won't sleep here, either. He knows that. Too risky. But it's enough to have Korra closeby. To scooch nearer, entwining their legs, and to parse out the tiny chemical changes fizzing around her, as she drops away in his arms. ]
no subject
All right.
[ The raspy words vibrate with a quiet trepidation, which he tries to force down. He lays a hand on her body, under her breasts; not a silent demand for anything more. Just for the contact. Listening to the steady cadence of her heartbeat, a strange thrill pulses through him, a peculiar closeness seeming to crackle darkly in the air between them, palpable even though he can't see Korra's face. He knows he ought to be wrapped around Pai, right now, sleeping the sleep of a well-fed, well-fought soldier. But for the past week, sleep has advanced and receded many times and finally pulled him down into a tense, trapped alertness. His dreams are grisly, phantasmagoric -- his mind containing fantastic netherworlds of bloodshed and sadism. They seep out in disturbing ways. Some night he awakens to find his hands curled loosely around Pai's neck, like she's an enemy. Other times, his eyes flutter open to find himself wrapped too-tightly around her, as if trying to protect her from a mortar blast. ]
[ He knows, with the secrecy of a premonition, that his nightmares are worsening. He's not sure why. But he doesn't tell Pai about it. Better to give her one less Hei-issue to puzzle out. ]
[ He won't sleep here, either. He knows that. Too risky. But it's enough to have Korra closeby. To scooch nearer, entwining their legs, and to parse out the tiny chemical changes fizzing around her, as she drops away in his arms. ]