Continued from “Last Tango in Daravin I”
The double bass began its heavy tune as the dancers appeared to be arranged across the ballroom as the soothing symphony remedied the room’s mood. It appeared to be calming to most people, but for Salen there were still some questions in his mind. Desire appeared to be one of the reasons why someone would take interest in him from afar; the way Salen notices the glances that Andre snook from time to time, staring at his figure for which he proceeded to question him.
Out in public, they could only stare at the forbidden fruits of the objects they desired, in this case Salen was seemingly available as an reward he was to be claimed, but he never saw himself as either of those things. He had free will as did everyone, so why was he being objectified in this way. It was a deeply discomforting feeling that he had endured, but he had learnt to weaponize it. Salen sighed through his nose as he appeared to be displeased, the pucker of his lips and his scowling look already told him that there was a sense of complete dread.
“What’s with that look? You don’t seem joyful…”
“Do you think I’d be? The way you stare at me as if I’m some kind of trophy…”
“You don’t like to be idolized?”
Salen raised both his eyebrows as he glared at the man who was much taller in stature, compared to the half Sil’Norai who stood around about five-foot eight inches.
“You call that idolizing? Staring at me as if I am nothing but a piece of meat?”
“I won’t stare then…”
“If you were idolising, you’d have the courage to walk up to me and say what you thought of me that way, isn’t that how you deal with things?” He tilted his head for a moment as he chuckled to himself, before grabbing his drink and slugging it down as fast as he could. “Oh I forgot, you’re Entente you don’t know the definition of direct approach.”
“I don’t invent the societies’ rules…”
“Who invented the societies’ rules, hmm?”
Andre grunted in pain as he shrugged “I didn’t expect this to get political…”
“You started it…”
“Do you want me to finish it?”
Salen turned his head to make eye contact with Andre once more, before he tilted his head as he smirked “Alright, lets play a game… I’m going to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer as truthfully as possible…” He said with a raise of an eyebrow.
“Go on…” Andre smirked.
“If I were a Treveyn… Which of the four would you say I was much alike…”
“Brilan Ald…” He said without no delay in his answers “She has her secrets and so do you… She has some dark secrets…”
“Interesting you’d pick someone of great sovereignty…”
“Perhaps you’d share those dark times with me…” He asked with a sudden breeze of thought as he watched Salen intensely. He seemed distraught for a moment as he shook his head “If… You’d excuse me.” He said as he walked away; the air wafted his scent as he stormed off. Andre could only close his eyes and take in the fragrant aroma of orange blossom, woods and the strange scent of leather. The arousal on his face would seem like there was more than a romantic attraction, but a deep wanting to inflict carnal pleasures onto him. It seemed predatory and yet it was becoming an obsession.
An unhealthy obsession.
Salen had taken a trip to the bathroom, away from the smothering sensation of Andre’s advances, so much that the romantic gesture he inflicted upon him was nothing more than an urge to cultivate carnal sin; as much as his urges were forcing him to give into temptation, there were hidden doubts and eye contact with any Corvae was the way to gain access to the dark bridges of desire. He looked at the reflection of the mirror provided as he began to look at his reflection once more, only remembering what he was before and what he had become. The progression from undesirable to extremely desirable baffled him as he knew that there would be many other encounters that would enforce all eyes on Salen.
He was about to become the center of gravity of all events and it appeared to be something that bothered Salen deeply, especially when it came to controlling obsession. The truth is that people could never be truly controlled, only consoled to be dissuaded by right and wrong. Every choice had a consequence and every obsession also had a choice. The choice whether to repress their inner urges or give into temptation. The time that Salen had spent gathering his thoughts would arouse suspicion, forcing him to leave the bathroom and return to Andre at the bar; he would once again prowl over him predatorily, he would make direct eye contact with him once again as they appeared to look at each other, mesmerized by how opulent and flawless their complexions were as they both contrasted each other. Andre’s rugged masculinity complimented Salen’s fluidity in both masculine appearance and feminine glamor.
Appearance wasn’t everything, looks can be deceiving as one would say, for it would be difficult to pinpoint any form of relationship with him. He lacked trust and did not hold his hand out so easily for fear that he would be deceived.
“Everything alright?” Andre asked.
“Yes, everything’s fine…”
“Don’t lie…” Andre spoke abruptly as he was aggravated by Salen’s antics of walking around a point and not being direct with him “You said you wanted a direct approach and yet you appear to be unable to let go of the past, is that it?”
“I’m not about to bring that up when there are eyes and ears, Andre… And if you brought me out just to talk about that, I think you should’ve arranged something that isn’t as glamorous…” He retorted in his direction with a somewhat venomous seriousness to his tone. The words almost cut as if the tension was clearly being hung, drawn and quartered. Andre appeared to be stunned by Salen’s directness that he couldn’t say another word, as if he had been winded by the brutal force of his words, so long that he didn’t let the tension rise up anymore, he decided to have the courage to speak once again, but this time it was much more comforting compared to the obsessive and forceful nature of his demeanor.
“I’ve not been a wordsmith myself, Salen but… I will tell you something though; I care for you, not because you’re grieving but because I feel as if there’s something between us… I can feel it in my gut and it’s aching inside me, like it hurts when I’m by your side, but when someone else is with you, I feel… Envy…”
Salen listened to his plea, narrowing his eyes in intrigue as he looked downwards on the floor once again “I don’t believe words are sufficient, Andre…” He said as he turned towards him, giving a cold glare at him, before he walked up to him and stepped up to him, making eye contact once again, knowing that the boundaries of desire for Corvae were broken by the utter of a simple demand; Salen had the power now, but was he going to use it to see if Andre’s feelings are deeply genuine?
“I believe actions speak louder than words, Andre.'' He spoke with such sternness as he circled him like a shark once again before stopping at his front as he began to speak again “If your feelings are genuine, you would be showing me by now every possible urge you have, you show your patience, your courage and your resilience to stand up for one another… Love might be abstract, but it’s a rare thing in this world and until anyone can prove it, I will be nothing more than a lone wolf in my story, because it is I who sails my ship… It is I who controls the urges of my body and it is I who is in control, so unless your feelings are genuine I suggest you show me every last breath that you have and only I will decide if it’s enough…” He paused as he took a deep breath, calming himself down as he appeared to be in some kind of distress when giving the speech to Andre “I’ve been disappointed and let down by society long enough, that I will make my own way if I need to…”
Andre was so baffled by the strength and charisma of Salen’s speech that he appeared to be in deep awe for a moment; he was speechless and could not say another word, but the biggest question was…
What will Andre do? What does he have to say and will he invoke the boundaries of his love?
To be Continued
The double bass began its heavy tune as the dancers appeared to be arranged across the ballroom as the soothing symphony remedied the room’s mood. It appeared to be calming to most people, but for Salen there were still some questions in his mind. Desire appeared to be one of the reasons why someone would take interest in him from afar; the way Salen notices the glances that Andre snook from time to time, staring at his figure for which he proceeded to question him.
Out in public, they could only stare at the forbidden fruits of the objects they desired, in this case Salen was seemingly available as an reward he was to be claimed, but he never saw himself as either of those things. He had free will as did everyone, so why was he being objectified in this way. It was a deeply discomforting feeling that he had endured, but he had learnt to weaponize it. Salen sighed through his nose as he appeared to be displeased, the pucker of his lips and his scowling look already told him that there was a sense of complete dread.
“What’s with that look? You don’t seem joyful…”
“Do you think I’d be? The way you stare at me as if I’m some kind of trophy…”
“You don’t like to be idolized?”
Salen raised both his eyebrows as he glared at the man who was much taller in stature, compared to the half Sil’Norai who stood around about five-foot eight inches.
“You call that idolizing? Staring at me as if I am nothing but a piece of meat?”
“I won’t stare then…”
“If you were idolising, you’d have the courage to walk up to me and say what you thought of me that way, isn’t that how you deal with things?” He tilted his head for a moment as he chuckled to himself, before grabbing his drink and slugging it down as fast as he could. “Oh I forgot, you’re Entente you don’t know the definition of direct approach.”
“I don’t invent the societies’ rules…”
“Who invented the societies’ rules, hmm?”
Andre grunted in pain as he shrugged “I didn’t expect this to get political…”
“You started it…”
“Do you want me to finish it?”
Salen turned his head to make eye contact with Andre once more, before he tilted his head as he smirked “Alright, lets play a game… I’m going to ask you a few questions and I want you to answer as truthfully as possible…” He said with a raise of an eyebrow.
“Go on…” Andre smirked.
“If I were a Treveyn… Which of the four would you say I was much alike…”
“Brilan Ald…” He said without no delay in his answers “She has her secrets and so do you… She has some dark secrets…”
“Interesting you’d pick someone of great sovereignty…”
“Perhaps you’d share those dark times with me…” He asked with a sudden breeze of thought as he watched Salen intensely. He seemed distraught for a moment as he shook his head “If… You’d excuse me.” He said as he walked away; the air wafted his scent as he stormed off. Andre could only close his eyes and take in the fragrant aroma of orange blossom, woods and the strange scent of leather. The arousal on his face would seem like there was more than a romantic attraction, but a deep wanting to inflict carnal pleasures onto him. It seemed predatory and yet it was becoming an obsession.
An unhealthy obsession.
Salen had taken a trip to the bathroom, away from the smothering sensation of Andre’s advances, so much that the romantic gesture he inflicted upon him was nothing more than an urge to cultivate carnal sin; as much as his urges were forcing him to give into temptation, there were hidden doubts and eye contact with any Corvae was the way to gain access to the dark bridges of desire. He looked at the reflection of the mirror provided as he began to look at his reflection once more, only remembering what he was before and what he had become. The progression from undesirable to extremely desirable baffled him as he knew that there would be many other encounters that would enforce all eyes on Salen.
He was about to become the center of gravity of all events and it appeared to be something that bothered Salen deeply, especially when it came to controlling obsession. The truth is that people could never be truly controlled, only consoled to be dissuaded by right and wrong. Every choice had a consequence and every obsession also had a choice. The choice whether to repress their inner urges or give into temptation. The time that Salen had spent gathering his thoughts would arouse suspicion, forcing him to leave the bathroom and return to Andre at the bar; he would once again prowl over him predatorily, he would make direct eye contact with him once again as they appeared to look at each other, mesmerized by how opulent and flawless their complexions were as they both contrasted each other. Andre’s rugged masculinity complimented Salen’s fluidity in both masculine appearance and feminine glamor.
Appearance wasn’t everything, looks can be deceiving as one would say, for it would be difficult to pinpoint any form of relationship with him. He lacked trust and did not hold his hand out so easily for fear that he would be deceived.
“Everything alright?” Andre asked.
“Yes, everything’s fine…”
“Don’t lie…” Andre spoke abruptly as he was aggravated by Salen’s antics of walking around a point and not being direct with him “You said you wanted a direct approach and yet you appear to be unable to let go of the past, is that it?”
“I’m not about to bring that up when there are eyes and ears, Andre… And if you brought me out just to talk about that, I think you should’ve arranged something that isn’t as glamorous…” He retorted in his direction with a somewhat venomous seriousness to his tone. The words almost cut as if the tension was clearly being hung, drawn and quartered. Andre appeared to be stunned by Salen’s directness that he couldn’t say another word, as if he had been winded by the brutal force of his words, so long that he didn’t let the tension rise up anymore, he decided to have the courage to speak once again, but this time it was much more comforting compared to the obsessive and forceful nature of his demeanor.
“I’ve not been a wordsmith myself, Salen but… I will tell you something though; I care for you, not because you’re grieving but because I feel as if there’s something between us… I can feel it in my gut and it’s aching inside me, like it hurts when I’m by your side, but when someone else is with you, I feel… Envy…”
Salen listened to his plea, narrowing his eyes in intrigue as he looked downwards on the floor once again “I don’t believe words are sufficient, Andre…” He said as he turned towards him, giving a cold glare at him, before he walked up to him and stepped up to him, making eye contact once again, knowing that the boundaries of desire for Corvae were broken by the utter of a simple demand; Salen had the power now, but was he going to use it to see if Andre’s feelings are deeply genuine?
“I believe actions speak louder than words, Andre.'' He spoke with such sternness as he circled him like a shark once again before stopping at his front as he began to speak again “If your feelings are genuine, you would be showing me by now every possible urge you have, you show your patience, your courage and your resilience to stand up for one another… Love might be abstract, but it’s a rare thing in this world and until anyone can prove it, I will be nothing more than a lone wolf in my story, because it is I who sails my ship… It is I who controls the urges of my body and it is I who is in control, so unless your feelings are genuine I suggest you show me every last breath that you have and only I will decide if it’s enough…” He paused as he took a deep breath, calming himself down as he appeared to be in some kind of distress when giving the speech to Andre “I’ve been disappointed and let down by society long enough, that I will make my own way if I need to…”
Andre was so baffled by the strength and charisma of Salen’s speech that he appeared to be in deep awe for a moment; he was speechless and could not say another word, but the biggest question was…
What will Andre do? What does he have to say and will he invoke the boundaries of his love?
To be Continued
