Graceful Descent

[Victor Steiner]

Scenarios raced through his mind, some of passion, others of a more bloody nature, he watched her gaze into him and in return he drank in her dark elven features. The veil of possibly was so thin he could step across with but a thought, how easy it would be to simply throw caution to the wind and follow his desires into whatever rabbit hole awaited. So tempting to allow himself a moment of passion, a short fleeting joy he longed to feel once more. He didn't care if he was being played, it didn't matter that she was what she was.

He was so close to it, so ready to surrender his mind and body, perhaps even his soul, yet something stopped him. An impossibly small voice cried out from inside him, raging against his wishes and illusions of fantasy. This strange, elusive creature sitting across from him was a predator, she was perfectly calm, so calm it was almost out of place. Did she know what she was doing herself? Was she as tempted as he was? Pulling back from the brink if only for a moment he smiled at her. A warm and broad smile that reflected his own thoughts in ways words could not.

My darling Sapphire he said softly, still beaming at her with open honesty, his heart missing a beat as a light wind kissed her hair causing it to flutter ever so gently My dreams could never come close to the reality. They all pale in comparison. And so, this...must not be real. His dreams had never manifested the way that he wanted or expected, why should this be any different? Either she had somehow realized her true feelings somehow, or it was a lie. Still, hope sprang eternal, but now tempered by reality.