My heart

[Lovely]

May 9, 2008


He was teaching and she was learning. Venge was on his human legs today, teaching Raven how to listen for the sounds of men versus the other creatures in the woods around Morte's abode. His own steps were different than most men, his bones being lighter and more hollow as his bird form commanded, but he walked as heavily as he could and carried her on his shoulder for the extra ounces to laden his steps. He stopped suddenly, hearing steps that weren't his, expecting Deacon was out to break up their fun and haul him back to his appointed chores early. He turned at the sound, about to utter a remark about Deac's usual poor timing, only to be silenced by the form of a stranger. Automatically his hands rose to coddle Raven closer, inviting her down off his shoulder to curl next to his chest with quiet sputtering clicks. He looked up at the stranger, questioning his intent with only the tilt of his head and a steady stare.

The stranger was hidden beneath a cloak which curled around her and she sank into it's shadows. Venge had something that belonged to her and she was intent on getting it back. She hardly seemed to notice Venge at first, her gaze intent and fixed on the bird, she licked her lips as if hungry but in truth seemed lost.. but desperate, haunted.. perhaps. "That's mine. You need to give it back." She demanded of him in a voice that was soft and kind but also firm. She stated the truth and felt there should be no issue with this man giving her back what was hers.

"Really?" He nearly laughed, shocked by the demand. Hers? He held onto Raven protectively and reassuringly. "What could you possibly give me in return for such an amazing... magical.. creature? Whatever it is, I won't trade her. She belongs here with me."

So he would not return that which belonged to her and he'd force her hand.. "Why should I give you anything? You've obviously stolen something that is mine... I think it should be, what I don't do to you if you give it back, now." She eyed the bird which he held with a slight smile, making a small chirping sound which caused Rave to flutter and start to struggle against Venge's hold. "See.. it knows.." The 'bird' knew it's true owner as it should and it knew where it belonged, which was with her of course, not this man who claimed to own it.

He was offended on Rave's behalf, being called 'it' as if she were only a shiny toy. "It... is a 'she'.. And she is loved by me. She's not a mere bird, not any longer." His words were clipped and quiet. He felt Rave squirming, perhaps scared of the stranger and her tone. If she wished to fly away, he'd let her seek comfort in the branches overhead.

"SHE was never a MERE BIRD!" It was hissed and nearly spit at him with anger and rage that was close to boiling over. The cloak the woman wore rustled with her movements as she lunged toward him, trying to grab Rave, though strangely she seemed gentle toward the bird. "I NEED it back!" The hood slipped from her head to reveal the silken brown waves and the full face of the distraught girl who was intent on getting Rave from Venge.

Venge's wing slipped between the woman and Raven. "Fly! Go!" He spat at the dark-haired half-girl as he took the force of the woman's rage. He spun under the force, grabbing the woman's cloak about her throat with his still-human hand. "Who are you?!"

Something moved beneath the back of the woman's cloak rustling it more in her anger and desperation to get Rave though she was caught by this.. creature who had become it's protector. It made her laugh coldly as she watched the 'bird' flutter up but not go farther then a branch in the tree above them. "I am who I am.. Why do you protect it so?" If her cloak shifted just an inch to the left or he looked just right he'd see the blood on her blouse and the gaping hollow hole in her chest where her heart was missing.

"I have always protected her. Since I found her... alone, I might add. Where were you to be so concerned then? Ha? She was starved, I fed her. She was cold, I gave her shelter. She was changed and given to me. I've never seen you. What... are you then?"

"It...she was stolen from me!" It was like she screamed in a whisper, her eyes lit with things she could not express or even feel properly. Tears shone in her eyes, unshed restrained as much as the girl seemed to be in many ways, she pressed against the hand gripping her throat as if daring him to close around it tighter. The woman looked up at the bird perched in the tree above them watching them, the woman then glared at Venge. "You haven't -always- protected her." She whispered as her hand lifted to hold the cloak around the left side though the blood on her shirt would still be seen as she shifted the right side of the cloak back to reveal black feathered wings -exactly like the ones Rave had in her halfling form. "I am a creature who is missing something very important and dear to me." She explained, looking back up at the bird in the tree, who's wings fluttered as she watched the winged woman.

[Lovely]

"More than a year, nearly two? For a bird, that's a lifetime enough for her to be mine in her heart, hm? And her in mine." He saw the wings and blood and let go. They were not the wings of a demon, but of a creature much like himself, a creature separated from the world of humans but so much a part of it as well. "You have a name?" His query was soft, nearly timid though not apologetic. There had to be others like him in all the world though he'd not found them. For all he knew she could be his mother, or a nest mate long forgotten.

The woman stumbled back a step, her lips trembling as if in shock over what he'd said. "No.. it can't have been that long.. days.. " Her head shook as she gazed at him, confused, her hand brushed against her shirt, it was her own blood which was nearly the same as Rave's, the blood had seemed fresh to her though dried and making the shirt stiff. "Her heart?" Her head shook again. "What could you possibly know of such things?.. I told you.. she's not a bird.. " She laughed again, though it sounded hollow. "Did you name it.. did you give her a name? Hmm what do you call such a thing?"

"No, she's not a bird, she's a darling woman in a cloak of feathers who chose her own name, Raven. S'what she appears to be, but even for me, she's much more." He tutted to the creature overhead, offering her his arm to come down and join the discussion. She wasn't afraid of the woman, which meant something, though he wasn't sure yet what. "Raven, like me, The Corvid. Venge Corvid, thank you. No mere bird or cloaked stranger, myself." His wing arm crossed his chest as he bowed his greeting before the feathers retreated to reveal his strength of bare arm.

"No, she is not at all what she appears to be.. all this time.. you've had the most precious and fragile part of.." Her words brought her towards him in slow steps, though she stopped as her words paused. ".. thing in your hands and you never knew.." She watched as Rave flew down to land on his arm, though for a moment it seemed as if she would land on the woman's shoulder. "Raven.." She whispered like a quiet echo. "Alessandra Ravenart.. Aless for short.. or just Al will do.." She bowed slightly to him, her eyes on the bird, watching carefully as it perched, trusting him it seemed.

He turned a kiss to the fragile creature, tiny affectionate noises uttered for her to come closer to his shoulder and his kiss. "Precious and fragile... I think I did know, but you have something more to say... Alessandra?" He watched her intently himself, waiting for her to lunge again or even try to kill him for what she wanted.

She almost smiled as she watched him with Rave, how caring and tender he was. This close she could almost feel it again and a tear slipped free, sliding down her cheek. "If only the one who had it before you had cared and protected it like you do..." Al whispered, her hand lifting toward the bird slowly as if to simply stroke it's feathers.

Rave didn't move up on his shoulder, she seemed torn between moving closer to the mysterious woman or further up Venge's arm to his shoulder for the kiss he offered.

"No question, she knows you. She trusts no one, but she trusts you. Curious, isn't it?" He tutted to the fluttering creature. If the woman had meant to harm her, either of them, she would have already. "Go for a visit. It's alright, I'm right here," he coaxed, letting Rave decide. "Treats later, so come back," he cautioned, hoping she'd return.

"Curious to you, not to me." Al looked up to his face, his eyes and smiled sadly as the bird hopped from his arm to her outstretched hand. "I'm sorry." She meant it sincerely, her head shaking slightly. "She won't be back... not the way you know her now." Her hand brought the bird toward her, Rave's wings fluttering softly as did Al's. Her hand moved and let go of the cloak which slid away to reveal the wound in her chest.

"Raven...? Fly... fly now..," he cautioned sternly, looking at the woman as if he feared she'd devour the creature to saite the loss of nourishing blood that was spilled over her. "What demon are you?" He hissed, stepping forward to get the bird from her.

Raven did not heed his warning but started to hop her way up the woman's arm to get closer to the wound on her chest, drawn there.

"I am no demon.. though what did this to me was. He cut out my heart Venge, because he couldn't have it, I wouldn't give it to him freely so he stole it. I'm grateful that you found it.. and took such good care of it. But I do need it back, now."

[Lovely]

"Your heart?" His shock was a hoarse whisper as he watched the bird and woman together. "I saved her more than I realized. She was drawn to me." Did that mean, if this was the woman's "heart", that she was drawn to him as Raven alone had been? Understanding now, he reached for his companion. "Please, let me?" He'd taken her heart, not knowing. He wanted to release it to her properly. From his pocket, his hand produced a small glowing vial he was to take back to Morte. "Raven, just a small sip. She needs it to restore who she was. You understand?"

"My heart." She repeated in a whisper to confirm his realization. Alessandra watched him, she and her heart had good reason not to trust but he'd taken such good care all this time and her heart had chosen to remain with him this long. Her hand trembled as she held it out to let the bird come back to him, "Thank you."

Raven looked back to the woman and then to Venge, giving a small happy sound as she hopped down to him, wings fluttering as she dipped to take the offered sip from the vial he held.

"For the life you've lost, this will heal you both. Ah, not too much. There you are. Now go before I change my mind. Go on. I'll still be here," he smiled sadly, not sure what would happen next, but hoped for the best as he cupped his hand around Raven to let her return 'home'. "You're free," he said, almost silently as a tear slipped down his own cheek.

Much like the incident with Morte, the bird went into a frenzy in his hands and then burst from them like a shot. A flurry of wings and feathers dove at Alessandra and lodged itself into the hollow hole in her chest. The girl screamed as the bird tore and clawed it's way inside her, fresh blood pouring where she was ripped. Al fell to the ground, rolling and arching as the bird disappeared into the hole, it was probably just as painful now as it had been when the heart was taken. The light sparkled within as the bird shifted and changed, becoming part of her again, the wound slowly closing. Al was left with tears running down her cheeks, gasping but whole again.

The vial in his hand was capped and put away, an empty one produced in case the life given was not enough to save them both. Venge squatted down, patiently waiting through the event as he watched, hopeful but aware of his place not to interfere in the process. Hopefully Morte knew or would understand what had become of his special prize as well since he'd be returning without her now. Confident she would survive, his job was finished here. He was no longer needed and put the vial away. "You'll live. Make the best of it," he said, standing and starting to head home on foot with no will to fly with the weight in his own heart.

"Venge!" The cry that came from the girl's lips as he started to walk away was much like one he'd hear from Rave. "Don't leave me..." It was quieter, confused but filled with longing and need as the girl shifted up on her arms, still weak and laying where the ordeal had left her. Tears ran freely down her cheeks as she watched him move away from her.

He stopped and turned, his eyes black and tear-filled. "You're home. Where you belong now. You're free. You're fr-.." He repeated it in a whisper as he fell to his knees, anguished and uncertain what to do. He had no right to keep her captive. The girl she was to him was now a stranger - a stranger in a shell so much like his own. He couldn't deny the beauty of the woman, and grace to come all this way to find him and retrieve her.. ".. broken heart," he scoffed out loud to himself, to the ground before him where he realized he was drawing in the leaves and nettles with his hand. "What would you have me do?" He asked to any force that could tell him.

"But I love you.." She whispered, watching him.. this man whom she did not know -yet her heart did and "..it will break if you can't love it anymore.. if you can't be with us.." Finding strength enough to stand and stumble to where he was, she fell to her knees in front of him. "I do not have the face of the girl and I have confusing memories of her time with you.. I know it is so much to ask.." She reached for his hand to bring it to her chest where he could feel the heart within her now, her other hand brushed his cheek softly. "..my heart is within me again, but it is still yours.. Love me?"

[Lovely]

Instincts told him one thing but his eyes told him so much differently. The words and tone were Rave but this woman wasn't. The flutter in her stained chest told him it was still Rave, but he hesitated. "Can I? Do I even know you?" So this was what it was like, he realized, when the humans lose those they love, when he and Deacon took their souls. The rebirthers took those same souls and put them in new shells, to grow and be loved again, but how often did the old love return into that soul's new life? Venge looked around the woods. Where was Morte and was he watching? Laughing? "Is this a test?! Ha?! Why do you test me!!?" He stood with fierce defiance to the powers around them, wondering whose work this was. "Come forward! Hasn't she suffered enough? What do you gain from this game?"

"You are the only one who can answer that.." She started to answer him, feeling the cold absence of him already as he pulled away and stood, railing at unseen forces he was convinced were testing him. The tears slid down her cheeks not only for her own suffering but now for his, for what he had to lose and what he now felt because of her and what had happened to her.

The breeze was Venge's only answer, a warm soft rustle of the leaves and branches 'pushing' him with it's subtle force back toward the girl. Kiefer wasn't sure appearing was a wise idea at the moment, though she came at his call. She was not testing him, but there because he needed her. "Look at her, feel her.. she is more than a shell as was the girl you knew before. You loved her heart so well how can you deny that you still do?"

Venge felt the breeze and heard the whispers that were more in his mind than his ears, moving his feet back toward the woman he'd just met. Her heart... it was true he'd loved and still did, but could he adore this form as well? Knealing before her, it was clear he intended to find out, reaching forward to slip the cloak away and help her take the demeaning stains from her form. "Show me and I will show you as well as my heart will guide me. If you are as you say and feel as you say, then no words or thoughts can affirm it for either of us."

Alessandra started to reach up to prevent him from taking the cloak, her hand going to where the wound had been on her chest, feeling the smooth freshly healed skin instead, her hands let him take the cloak and her shirt from her as well. She nodded to his suggestion, agreeing that words would do them little good at the moment. Her hand reached to brush over his cheek again, he was so very beautiful, dark, handsome, she could nearly feel how passionate he was, like vibe ebbing from his form. Her other hand stroked over his bare arm, her smile starting to twitch her lips as she felt the tight muscles beneath her fingers. She felt drawn to his mouth and brought a sweet kiss to offer him as a begining.

The blackness of his eyes eased though the golden rims remained, watching intensely still as if peering within her to find the girl he'd lost. The coverings over his form, illusion and mist, faded to reveal his whole true form without his concentration to appear other than he was... a man, alive in the presence of beauty. This wilderness was his home and he was comfortable to be himself within it, and just as comfortable to take the offered kiss, letting his instincts guide him where his mind failed him. Venge closed his eyes to that confusion, feeling his way out to find the woman and her heart together.

Her wings fluttered in delight as the kiss was taken and slowly wrapped around him then shifted back to disappear, leaving just the girl leaning in to deepen the kiss. His lips were more bliss than she'd known in her life and she felt as if she could go on kissing him always. The feeling in her chest, her heart, was such a beautiful thing that she could hardly believe such a feeling existed, she'd never known such a thing before.

[Lovely]

With his eyes closed he could feel her and find her in the darkness with her kiss, the same girl who'd entrapped his heart. Venge moved his legs out from underneath himself, sitting back and drawing her with him, gently reclining to the forest floor with her in his arms. He listened for the wind and its whispers as he continued kisses and his soft embrace.

She tumbled slowly with him, her body the blanket over his form though the breeze warmed rather than cooled. So this is what they mean by falling in love, she thought with a soft smile against his kiss as she stretched over him, held in his strong arms but gentle embrace. All the pain she'd endured was wiped away, here and now as she felt his kiss against her mouth, she's been searching for her heart and all the while it had been right here waiting for her. It didn't matter that she'd never met him before tonight, it did not matter that she knew nothing about where he came from -her heart knew him, trusted him, loved him.. her heart was his even if he chose to deny her. Each moment that passed made her hope more that he wouldn't turn from her, that he would accept what she was and what he'd had wasn't lost but was within her and he could still have it. Her lips whispered silent promises to cherish him with the tender kisses which were slowly deppening and growing more passionate.

"What does your heart tell you?" He asked as he kissed her neck - a new scent, a different touch than he was familiar with but something familiar remained. His embrace kept her from falling as his knee nudged hers to the side, letting her rest atop him, settled comfortably where she could feel him.

"Can't you hear it?" She whispered back, nuzzling softly to his ear and neck as he kissed hers. "It sings the sweetest song.. it tells me where you are is where I belong.." She closed her eyes, smiling against his shoulder as she shifted to kiss it. She could feel him beneath her, around her and for the first time in what suddenly felt like an eternity she felt "..safe... protected... adored.. things I've never known before.. all here with you."

"Then you know all I taught her," he considered, since Raven didn't know or understand human men, or men at all and he'd shown her and taught her about them gradually, but every moment he had the opportunity. All that should be new was how he felt to her now in this form. "Remember for me," he hummed, moving beneath her.

The woman above him gasped near his ear, her nails digging ever so slightly into his skin with their sharp points as she clung to him in pleasant surprise. Releasing the grip with her fingers but not the one below, which tightened a little. Her eyes closed so that she could savour this moment and sensation awhile longer.


*********************************************


She'd taken back her heart and in turn he'd taken something else, or hopefully earned it at least as far as trust went. That in itself was rare for him and he assumed for the rest of his kind, meaning her. He hadn't frightened her. He hadn't repulsed her. She hadn't tried to gouge out his heart in return for her own suffering. She seemed not to suffer at all in his care, but what was it truly that he felt? Raven, the girl he'd known and loved so openly, so dearly, was gone. But was she really? Every breath was anguished with her loss but soothed with knowing she was now part of this girl that proved she wasn't gone at all. Elation, comfort... did he still love? Venge lay beside the girl Alessandra, learning her form, her scent and what made her sigh so perfectly like Raven how could they not be in fact the same? He closed his eyes and saw them both as one, slowly seeing Raven smile and fade into the shadows where he lived, but in the light shone the face of the girl he curled in his arm. He felt the same as he had and he warred with it still - the same but not the same... Was it horrible of him to forget her as she was? He stirred and turned to look at the beauty he held, content to watch her, quietly studying how the light played down through the trees of this magical wood and danced over them - moonlight, sunlight, stars or the powers themselves, they were held in a glow he understood. He did still love and smiled softly, wondering if she was awake still.

Her eyes were closed to her thoughts and feelings which tumbled within, gently stirred by the man who held her and had been with her so passionately and tenderly at once. She rested quietly feeling safe in the arms which held her beside the man who her heart had fallen in love with while she'd been searching for it. Alessandra felt his gaze on her, watching her, her eyes fluttered open and slowly lifted to meet his, a small sweet smile curving her lips as her hand rested against his chest. A strange thought came to her which made her smile brighten more, warm and content here with him.

[Lovely]

"A sweet smile? I'm not the most horrible creature ever you laid eyes on?" He grinned, teasing her somewhat, but for what he'd done to her, a stranger yet not to her heart, he was concerned she'd loathe him. "I'm not blessed with seeing into the thoughts of others. Tell me."

"You are the most handsome and wonderful creature I have ever laid eyes on." Her words were spoken.. from her heart, not as a seperate entity from her but as her, from her, within her. "I find myself having a strange thought but one that is true and beautiful in a way..." She began trying to find the way to best express what it was she felt and thought, her lips turned down in a sad expression as she became more trouble for a moment, her face a mirror of her inner turmoil. "The creature who did this.." Her hand lifted to pull his gently over the light mark on her chest where the scar was healing. "..the one who seperated me.. it also.. took something else from me.." Alessandra's eyes drifted lower away from his gaze. ".. it was nothing like what we have shared.. it was brutal and painful and.. " A tear ran down her cheek at the remembered horror. "..but you.. you were so.. I have never known anything so amazing and.. " Her eyes lifted up again, shy in a way as she finally told him what she was thinking. "In my heart youll always be the first.. the only to have shared such things.."

He chuckled, remembering fondly the first time Raven had been shown the differences of the male form he had as a walking man, not the bird she was familiar with. "As long as there are things that don't bear repeating or explaining again. You won't mistake things for large worms in the dark," he laughed.

She didn't understand the meaning of what he said or what it had to do with what she'd just told him, she was confused More so by his laughter, what was it that was funny? "What things...?"

"I will always think of myself as her first for showing her... you... what makes me different than most any other creature. She hadn't known what it was like to walk or have feet with all her toes forward, or arms with hands that could...," he broke off, seeming to get a pleasant chill of remembering how curious she'd been about learning how to use her hands, and when. "And that male creatures are so very different. What horrors you faced are no laughing matter and I'm sorry. But how your heart seemed to know none of it - I'm ... mmm.... grateful?" He smiled again, his eyes filling with mists of pleasant memories as he curled her closer. "The things that make me laugh are the playful moments of your heart to be curious and learn. I'm hoping that the whole of the girl is no less open to discovering more firsts."

"He took my heart first and then.. it was quite a traumatic night for me.. all things considered. Though.. I suppose I should be grateful for order in which it was done." She smiled softly and leaned up closer to him, kissing his lips ever so lightly. "My heart will never know or feel such terrible things.. it will not be burdened or held back by fear.. it only knows what you have shown it.. We are one again but neither of us are the same as we were before. My heart was never it's own seperate entity before, and I was without it for so long. To have that experience and then to come together as one again.. Everything is a first.. " Alessandra felt her self laugh softly, excited at the thought of experiencing the wonders of the world anew. "You.. are my first kiss, my first.. man.. my first delight, my first wonder.. my first love.. I am whole again.. I am new again.. I am everything.. because of you.. I want to discover life again with you.. share more firsts with you.. " She leaned as if to kiss him again. "..and seconds and thirds... if you'll let me..?"

He hummed against the welcomed kisses, smiling more with each, pulling her back above him like a winter's blanket. "What was the question exactly? Let you? I may insist. You have an awful lot of catching up to do."

Each kiss lingered a little longer between their banter and delighted her more and more as he accepted her as she now was. Her hands slid over his form, caressing and exploring, learning more of him as he pulled her over him again. His mouth was a temptaion she didn't want to resist and she continued to kiss him softly. "Show me more.. I want you to insist.. I think I'm ready for seconds.."

His fingers tangled up into her hair as she sought his kiss and he sought to feed the eager creature. "Fourths, twelfths... The thing about eating like a bird they say, is our ability to go back again and again and again all day. Probably all night, too since we don't fear the dark or feel the need to cling to tree branches for comfort. I prefer this type of clinging much more, don't you?"

She most definitely preferred clinging to him rather than a tree and the things she desired now a tree could not help her with. The giggle was soft, excited, pleased and her kisses deepened, her form sliding smoothly along and over his to feel his skin against hers. "Again.... and again... and again.... and again.." Each repetition was parted by a kiss and caress as she let him know how fully she agreed with his suggestion.

[Lovely]

**************************

Hours had passed, spent wrapped in the arms and tangled around the man who'd been keeping her heart in his tender care. They'd shared quite a bit physically and he'd shown her many reasons why her heart had chosen to stay with him rather than wander on and why she should chose to remain with him now. The violence of the 'beast' which had cut her heart out and forced itself on her had been washed away by Venge's tender affections in the hours they'd spent laying among the leaves. She sat now on a log, her cloak beside her as she twisted a bit of her hair in her fingers and looked down at her bloody garments. "I need a new dress." She spoke softly, with a pout, how is it she'd worn it all this time and never changed?

Pulling and straightening the feathers of a half-winged arm, he looked up from beside the tree he lounged against. The feathers faded away to pale dusty skin he brushed off, pleased with how the nettles and debris had gotten there. He frowned at the dress and offered a shrug, pushing himself from the ground. "I wouldn't say you need a new one... or one at all really. Clothes are for sissy humans who need them for comfort. We really don't. But... a different one without these memories, yes - that you need. Where would you like to shop?" Venge's idea of shopping was one her heart knew well - dumpsters and heaps of forgotten refuse, and the shinier the buttons, the better.

"You would suggest that I wear nothing at all? That I walk about bare all the time?" Her head tipped to the side as she regarded him with a curious smile. "You speak of clothing as useless and for sissy humans, yet you cover yourself from time to time.. you were covered when I first came upon you. Why?" She let go of her hair, brushing it over her shoulder and moving closer to him. "What is shop?"

"Strictly for PR purposes. Collectors are go-betweens.. that also means we're ofter in-between... partly between the human world, in some guise that whatever human we deal with finds appealing and can understand, and the demon world that sees us as we really are. Out here, I never know which side I may come across," he explained, picking at the fibers of the stained fabric of the dress she wanted gone. He shrugged a little again, sitting a nearby stump. "That and Deacon's the fashionista... more just a diva in his own way and since I work with him, I have to put up with his sniveling about "image". It's quite stupid really, but it's a game he enjoys. I have my own games," he winked, folding his arms and watching her, trying to explain the rest. "But shopping... is a little easier to explain than him on most any given day. Shopping... is looking for and acquiring something in particular from some other place. It's an adventure with me, though. Think inside for a few moments.. the swooping, darting, plucking... shopping for clothes is one thing, but shopping for gems... ooo, my favorite," He spoke now in some distance, salivating over the thought of shiny new baubles.

Alessandra seemed to ponder what he'd told her as she drifted closer to him again, kneeling down in front of him as he sat on the stump. "I think I understand." She smiled, her eyes sparkling with her pleasure at not being more confused about things. "You wear clothes to appease others, though you prefer to be bare and because of this, you think I might also prefer it?" Her hands reached to rest on his thighs above his knees as she leaned up to share a taste of her delight with him. "You like shiny things too? I love things that sparkle." Her excitement made her own eyes dance and catch the light as if they were dark gems themselves. "My buttons! This dress has the prettiest buttons.. would you like them? I'd like to give them to you when we find another dress for me." She turned slightly and lifted her hair to show him the row of buttons.

"Not quite the shine you hold," he said quietly, but considered the idea as he looked them over. Venge leaned closer to look at them, whispering at her ear, "I want more than the baubles and you having a new slink to slip on."

His voice at her ear, sent a shiver through her and she reached back for him, turning her head slowly to try to capture his kiss. Her hand sliding to the back of his neck to try to hold him should he decide to try to dart away. "What more do you want?" She whispered in return.

"Your heart..," he smiled, knowing he had some part of it, and it was only a part of her. Fleeting moments in the forest were just that and not promises and permanence. "You, your heart... with or without the dress or its exquisite buttons."

It was the sweetest thing that anyone had ever said to anyone -ever, at least to her it was and her smile showed just how his words melted her. She turned slowly, wrapping her arms around his shoulders and facing him. "You have it.. Oh Venge... I am yours.. you have me, all of me." Her eyes shone with tears that were a mix of happy, frightened, and sad. "I don't want to be without you.."

"Then don't be. I should show you the palace.. how, where we live." A tremor of something strange rippled through him and he pulled back to himself, seeming lost a moment. "If he understands. He might not."

[Lovely]

******************

A few more hours had passed in quiet exchanges, sighs and whispers, tangled limbs and her dress twisted, even ripped further to accomidate their passion. Alessandra had never before felt so consumed by anything or so connected to anyone. They had shared several times before she finally rested quietly against his shoulder, her eyes heavy as she drifted in an euphoric state.

It had been some time since he'd engaged so thoroughly and greedily... ravenous, he chuckled to himself giddily behind his own heavy eyes. Venge turned to the girl who owned the heart that he'd looked after so well and wondered about Raven's soul, if it was also part of Aless, built upon her own, or if somewhere within this girl it was a quiet piece all its own listening to the love shared. His mind couldn't wrap around it. If there were an extra soul in her now, which was an odd thing to consider anyway, Morte would likely want to skim off the excess and keep things in order. Venge fought hard not to collapse into restless sleep with that sort of consideration. Instead he grinned gently and moved to sit up. He didn't want to sleep out here in the woods. He'd grown accustomed to his quarters and his pets weren't expecting him to be gone long. His hand sought the rips of her dress and the warmth of her skin beneath. "Comfort won't stay here long," he warned with a soft voice so he wouldn't startle her. "Nor will safety. Not in these woods."

"Comfort is where you are." She whispered in an equally quiet voice, lifting her gaze to his face and the wild spikes of hair that seemed to go whichever way they wanted. "I have been wandering... lost for so long, that I am not sure which way is home. Perhaps now I could find it.." She shifted so she was sitting up more on her own as he sat up, the movement brought his fingers more firmly against her skin and she sighed softly. "Where would you like to go?"

"Home," he reitereted with a smile and a generously massaging stroke over her hip as she sat beside up beside him. He leaned toward her for a new kiss. "Comfort is where there's food and I'm starved," he exclaimed with smiles.

She enjoyed the kiss but his next wors made her pout slightly and she nipped at his lower lip. It was only a passing frown that was replaced with a small smile as she arched her hip a little beneath his fingers. "Your home? You would take me there?"

"You've been there. It's your home too," he reminded, though only part of her knew the way. "It is... will be yours also. Of course. We should go soon. I'm sure I'm not the only one hungry right now."

"Mmm.." She nodded and her hand rose to the gape in the top of her dress where she could feel the beating of her heart like the flutter of small wings. "When you say home.. I feel it here.. I know and it feels very good." She smiled sweetly and rolled up onto her knees, her hand rested against her chest for a moment longer before she nodded and her arms reached out as her wings spread behind her and she stretched leisurely. "Hungry.. mmm yes.."

"Not all about you that feels good," he teased, catching his lip in his teeth a moment as she stretched beneath the tatters that fell so loosely around her. They'd done quite a bit of damage to what she'd had left but he could scarcely care. "And not all what I'm hungry for," he hummed, as he let go of the lip and reached to help her to stand and brush the nettles away.

[Lovely]

"Ohhh you're sweet and .. so naughty.. like chocolate!" She giggled as the thought popped into her head and out of her mouth, her eyes bright and sparkling. She let him brush her off and she reached for her discarded cloak to cover the tatters of her dress and then reached for his hand.

"Ever have chocolate covered crickets? You may be the only one I can share those with," he said, realizing that was a treat he'd not shared yet with Raven. His heart still stung a little for the memory of the girl that had been, still having trouble with his mind tying up the package neatly now though as she held onto his hand, it helped to settle his worries.. she was still there, just changed.

Her mouth opened in a slight gape, delight washing over her face and the sparkle of excitement making her eyes shine even brighter. "Ohhh that sounds... delicious! There is really such a thing? We could share it.. Ohhh Venge you're wonderful!" She bounced with the joy of that thought and of how much she loved him, she practically threw herself into his arms and covered his neck in kisses.

"Is there re-... Of course there really is! They are delicious and they're just a little bit crunchy, like peanuts. Oo, those sound good. I am famished," he said, leaning under the kisses he wasn't intending to stop her from bestowing other than feeling he could start chasing after worms at their feet any moment which surely would ruin that mood. "You... are wonderful and I will bring you some, but we need to get home. I'm not sure I can... well I'm sure I'm in no possible condition to fly."

Aless pulled away from him to look him over, wondering at a different method of travel for them. "You are hungry.. very hungry? I have made you.. ahh I understand and I feel it too. It is so strange the way my memories are now, things come back to me in slivers and shards." Her fingers played with the hair at the back of his neck. "Do you travel through shadows?"

"Hah. I very much enjoy traveling in your shadows," he murmured, reaching to play his tongue lightly over her lips.

She grabbed at his tongue with her lips, suckling at it a little and trying fight the urge to throw him down on the ground again. "Mmm and how I enjoy you there."

He stood wrapped in full attention on her lips and form, steeped in a caress. He knew the method of travel she intended but usually took part only in short hops through walls and doors to reach the dead and dying quicker, not as a means to go large distances. "While... stamina.. may not be a tremendous issue in those shadows," he murmured over her lips, peering now sharply and deeply into her eyes. "I should trust your energy and will to get us there from here, or we walk."

"You are very..." She kissed him again, more deeply this time, leaning into the caress and the attention, he was so tempting and she found it incredibly hard to resist. "Trust me." She whispered, sliding her hands over him and wrapping herself around him, there was a shadow cast by the tree they stood near and she nudged him to take a step back into it.

He stepped back into the cast of darkness and waited for the flood of it to fill his senses. He knew the direction and would push them off that way, hoping nothing else in the shadows met them along the way.

She felt like she'd been living in shadows, no.. not living - existing in shadows for a long time. Her life had been so different before that as it would be different now, not back to what she'd been but on to something new. Feeling Venge in the darkness with her, she knew it was something better than the shiny but empty life she'd had. Letting him and her heart lead her, she propelled them quickly through the shadows and to the place Venge called home and what would become hers.

[Lovely]

Emergening again, he took a deep breath at her neck as if he'd been drowning. It was like flying without his wings and was usually disorienting. He'd stick to keeping the jaunts to room-to-room hops if he could help it. A moment later he nipped her shoulder and chuckled. "We're there, or nearly. Inside there," he indicated, nudging her to look at the place where he lived and worked.

She sighed as she felt him take a breath at her neck, shivering a moment later as he nipped at her shoulder. "Good gracious.. how does anyone do anything but you?"

"How d'you mean?" She'd confused him, but he snickered with satisfaction as she shivered under his breath.

She ran her hands down over his arms and then back up to grip near his shoulders. "With you near.. how do other resist.. how can they think of doing anything?.. you make me tingle and I feel amazingly happy when I am with you. I want things.. I have all these urges and desires, like I never felt or even imagined before. Doesn't everyone feel like this when you are close?"

"Ah.. no. If Deacon had designs on me, he'd be the last to know it, but if he showed it, his wife might well rip my wings off... or at least kick his balls. Honestly, it's not true. No one but Ra-... well... Raven, you, Alessandra. Girls now and then, but nothing like you," he explained with a shrug.

"Deacon's wife.." She seemed to ponder that a moment, perhaps searching for a memory that escaped her. "Will you.. do things like you have with me, with other girls.. now and then?"

"What? Oh... no, nono. I have no intent and no... certainly no need, but no desire for other girls. And absolutely not with Deac, although he does have very pretty eyes, charming enough even for me, but no," he defended, pulling her toward the mansion one slow step at a time.

She smiled at his answer and stepped up her pace a little as he led the way into his home. "No need and no desire for other girls.. that also makes me happy.. and makes me want you again.. hmmm interesting." She pondered over the host of emotions and sensations she was experiencing now that she was whole and perhaps even improved from the things her heart had learned while in the form of Raven.

"Again? You stopped?" He pouted momentarily, then the wickedest of grins crossed his sweet lips. "Won't let that happen again, c'mon. Fooood then where the night takes us!"

"I did not stop wanting you. I only mean ... that I want to..." She looked over at him with a playful curve to her lips as they hurried along. ".. tear your clothes off and have you again.. right now."

"Right now? Good thing you and I can manage fast food and leftovers." He was thinking anything that they could find to scavenge on the way in and down the lengthy cooridor past his pets to his room. "Ha! I know the thing. Should be very ripe and tasty now, too!"

She giggled and hopped a little almost like a bird would but it was due to happiness that bubbled out of her. "You don't object to my.. eagerness?" Somewhere a distant memory echoed that she'd been punished for being eager and excited.. she didn't get a clear image and the feeling passed.

[Lovely]

"I most definitely do not," he said, shaking his head and smiling still. He wasn't sure what she was used to, he realized. He hadn't known others so similar to himself though Raven had been close in her other form. Perhaps his manners weren't up to par or his tastes. "D-... do you like day-old rabbit? How about lizard?"

"Lizards are crunchy." Her face crinkled up a little but not at all in a bad way, it was more amused and as if lizards were like a snack food for her. "Rabbit is good.. day old is delicious. mmm I love your tastes. I have never met anyone who liked the things I did.. strange that I know that when my memory seems so cloudy but I do know it." She laughed it off with a wave of her hand and then spun herself in front of him, twirling until she was facing him and pressed against his chest. She continued to walk, letting him guide her as she gazed adoringly at him. "Do you know what else I like? That you like me just how I am.. that you don't object to my eagerness." She leaned to nibble at him in a light affectionate way. "It makes me want you even more.." Now she giggled. "..it makes me more eager for you!"

"I'm a dead man," he said in such a way it was clear that he was looking forward to becoming lifeless in her care if only a short while. "I have just the thing for you, a little chewy with a sprinkle of crunchy and for dessert...," he chuckled deeply with promises and ideas, tugging her along inside now at a hurried pace. It would be just like the others to detain them, he knew.

She shifted beside him so they would not stumble as he hurried her down the halls, her soft laugh was like a whisper and echoed strangely and quietly off the walls. She knew this place was home because of what she felt from her heart but she did not know the layout the way Venge did so she allowed him to lead her to his rooms.


***************************


"I owe Deacon a debt of thanks for leaving well enough alone and giving us time without interruption. Hm. Makes me wonder what he's plotting now, actually," Venge muttered, stretching happily and peeling himself down from the windowsill he'd perched his bare human form on a few moments to smell the air outside and listen for the sighs of soon-to-be customers crying out in the wind. He came back to the tossed and tumbled bedside, stretching out alongside Alessandra again a moment. The few hours that had been solely theirs to spend had left the room in a beautiful disarray in their wake and he almost felt compelled to leave it as it was, but had taken a few moments to at least move their clothing from the doorway and the hall outside it. He hummed still as he curled a bit of her hair around his fingertip, looking over the creature that embodied the soul and heart of the woman he so adored, finding her becoming one and the same, though so less violently and far more passionately than she'd reclaimed the being he'd known. He'd not lost her at all. "Mmm not at all," he muttered, letting his thoughts escape through a whisper as he kissed her cheek.

She'd been drifting between sleep and awake in a comfortable state of blissful exhaustion, her gaze following him as he perched and then her eyes slipped closed. He spoke and moved again, causing her eyes to open and her gaze to follow him again as he brought himself closer. Aless smiled softly, stretching herself slightly as he settled beside her, she wasn't sure what his last mutter meant but the way he tenderly kissed her cheek and played with her hair, she couldn't interpret it as anything ill. "Deacon?" She asked, curious and quiet, her smile shining out adoringly at Venge. "Do I like him?... I think I do.. but the memories are like whispers and faded dreams that mix with those of... far less enjoyable things.."

He grinned and shook his head. "No, you don't. You live to torment him as do I, especially when we do this," he teased, stealing another kiss. He actually had a deal of respect for the man who was as close to a brother as he'd ever known. "The whispers should tell you he is a friend and a loyal one," he recanted quietly.

[Lovely]

Aless giggled softly as he told her about Deacon, her heart fluttering with the amusement and she knew that she did like the man as Venge describe when he spoke again. He was a friend.. no he was family too, in a different way than Venge. "Mmm.. but not nearly as kissable as you." She demonstrated by leaning to brush sweetly charged kisses over his mouth.

He chuckled and laid back to tumble her above him, or simply tangle more. "No, not nearly as kissable. He's always so... sour," he grimaced briefly, mimicking the man's stoic and stale expression. "I should warn you though. It's only a matter of time before there is a knock. Our work never rests idle long."

"Our work?" She asked again with a tilt of her head as if she remembered something but wasn't sure of what it was. She softly chuckled at the thought that bubbled up and out past her lips. "I'd much rather kiss you than work.."

"Mmm... a woman after my heart. Though it's not exactly a choice," he grinned, rubbing her arms. "I heard a few of them out there in their final throes. They'll probably expire within the hour. Can't leave them for the rebirthers. It wreaks too much havoc and doubt. Soooo, whatever it is we wish to do... we best do it right now," he suggested.

"Ohhh... well then..." She gave him a wicked smile and giggled as she leaned to kiss his neck, trailing light nibbles down his abdomen. She dipped below his waist with a special kiss that she took greedily over him. She followed his direction happily and eagerly, her hungry mouth seeking to get and do what she wanted 'right now'.

He sighed delightedly, tucking his wrists beneath his head for the moment. He tried to fill his mind with ideas that had next to nothing to do with filling vials and everything to do with filling his time with more of this woman had he not heard the sobs of anguish in the air. He set one hand free to tangle into her hair as she delighted him further. "Hmm... yes quite, quite well, in fact," he hummed out, trying to prolong their playtime as much as he could.

She responded with whispers over him and more attention to delight him, she was thoroughly enjoying languishing over him. Aless was in no rush to stop but still very eager to give him pleasure before they might be called away.

The pounding was unfortunately not from either of them but from the flat of a hand against the door. At least there was a thread of respect for not simply walking through the door as Deacon's ethereal form would normally manage in his impatience. "Rise and shine, sweetheart," he called to the man inside, though the girl could assume he meant her as well.

Venge looked up at the door and then promptly thumped his head back. "Hate him," he muttered, pleading gently with his fingers to have her finish their play. If Deacon bothered to knock, there was still a moment or two.

"He's terrible.. we should be very mean to him." She giggled, her mood far too happy to truly be cross, though she didn't welcome the interuption. Her mouth moved over Venge with renewed vigor, working wantonly to to bring him to the desired finish, his fingers in her hair encouraging her in ways she'd never known before to do things she'd never wanted to do before.

[Lovely]

Her insistence was cheerfully rewarded along with a proud, crowingly satisfied whoop. Let the man interrupt them now, he didn't care, and could scarcely breath though he felt he could laugh for days.

"Venge, you're a sick man. Get your pants on and let's go!" Deacon called out, ticking away the seconds in finger taps against the door where his palm rested. He really did not want to walk in on them right at this moment, but he was sorely tempted.

"Don't wear pants.." Aless suggested with a giggle once she was able to speak and slid herself up to kiss his shoulder. "We don't have to wear clothes do we? I don't have a new dress yet.. and I don't want to wear the other one."

"Lucky for us, we don't need to. Too bad for him, hah?" He turned to her for one more soft kiss and slithered slowly, achingly toward sitting up. "We'll meet you outside!" He called out to the man at the door with a slight sneer for the interruption and for the bit of remaining ache that made sudden movements instant reminders of their glorious few hours alone. "Spoilsport," he murmured, then chuckled, reaching to help her up beside him if she needed it.

Deacon's hand slipped like a wisp of smoke through the door and flipped them both a generously sharp gesture. He chuckled though and withdrew his fingers before they were nipped at like worms. "Fine, make me carry the vials. Hurry it up then, or I'll pluck a feather for every minute you make me wait."

She seemed tickled that they didn't need to get dressed and took his hands as he made his offer to help her get up, she didn't really need the help but the gesture was what counted. Aless stretched and let her wings unfurl to shake the stiffness from them, she wrapped one arm around Venge's shoulders. "I would like to get a new dress eventually.. I did like the one I had.. before it was ruined."

"We'll find you a new one or have one brought. Mmm... perhaps we could pay a visit to a most hospitable neighbor at some point. She fancies beautiful dress and quite the variety of... very... shiny... things...," he suggested between sweet kisses that he wished to bestow further, but stopped, admiring the billow of her elegant feathers. His shifted a little to allow his own plumage to stretch and glimmer in mirror of hers. "Gorgeous. Probably wise, anyhow. Not sure I'd want to walk far," he chuckled, stretching the pleasant aches away as he readied to complete his transformation and return to the window ledge when she was ready.

She had no idea who the neighbor was that he spoke of, she searched and struggled with Raven's memories but could find nothing. She shook her head as she bit her lip, but the expression was brief after he stopped kissing her to stretch. "Wings are very handy when one doesn't want to walk." She chuckled softly, looking to him for guidance as this was not familiar to her as it had become for Raven, though in an odd way it was. "..and thank you." His compliment made her blush and she felt the tiny flutter of her hear in response to it as well.

"Deserved," he said softly, but sternly, insisting that she believe it and understand how much he truly meant it. From the small bird he'd taken care of through each transformation, he continued to insist and affirm just how much he admired this creature. He seemed to feel the echo of the heart flutter and he shied away a moment. "It is time. Before I show you again, rather than simply tell you just how much it's deserved and sincere, we should go. To the ledge, then down to the path where he'll be waiting. Ready?"

She understood on some level and was amazed by him on others, flattered that he thought she deserved such praise and trusting him enough to accept it. "Ready." She nodded with a soft smile pulling his fingers up to a kiss before her form melted and then took off soaring and a flurry of feathers and a soft almost playful squawk as if saying 'tag' to him. She sailed out the window and down the path as he'd instructed, circling so she did not go off too far without him.

He laughed as she slipped away and in a clap of inky feathers, he was out the window behind her, circling opposite her and angling down toward Deacon's head. He let out a loud caw and buzzed close enough to lift the man's hair lightly on the top of his head.

Deacon had started down the path, not waiting, but still walking slowly for the moment. He heard the flap of wings, then jumped a little at the close proximity of Venge's call. He swatted at the breeze of feathers as the bird brushed past him, nearly grasping a handful of tail feathers, making the jacket he wore clink softly with the vials he carried for the three of them. "Be glad I don't carry a rifle with buckshot," he spat with a grin.

She watched but didn't join in the interaction, her fear being that Deacon would notice the difference even in this form, Venge now accepted her but at first... she didn't want the same or a worse reaction from others who had known her heart. The clinking of Deacon's jacket made her curious but she fought the urge to investigate and flew closer to Venge as he moved away from Deacon.