sixthiterationlogs | i'm just a station on your way (closed)

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i'm just a station on your way (closed)

WHO: Raleigh Becket
WHERE: The Corydon #36
WHEN: 2 December, early morning
OPEN TO: Sansa Stark
WARNINGS: None at this time
STATUS: Locked post.

Raleigh still doesn't sleep well even after having lost Yancy years ago and, that being said, he's only in a light sleep when the knocks start on his door. He's not really the type to get visitors. In the whole while he's been in the village, he thinks this might be the only one he's had other than when the earthquakes had been happening; those knocks had been to see if he'd been all right, not for something friendly.

As far as he knows, this is something else. The world seems quiet enough in the way it always does when there's no cars around and there's fresh-fallen snow and he shimmies into his scrub pants and some socks before shouting out that he's on his way. Depending on what it is, he might end up needing to grab a coat before heading back out but if it's just something that's only going to take a few minutes, he's not bothering with getting dressed.

Yuki's meowing loudly and winding around his legs and he knows she wants to be let out. At least this is going to serve more than one purpose, opening the door. "I'm coming! I just need to get dressed!"

After what feels like an eternity (an eternity with background music scored by the yowling of his cat), Raleigh opens the door to reveal someone he didn't exactly expect. Oh. Sansa Stark. His face melts into a smile and he opens the door a little wider, motioning for her to come inside if she wants. As he does, Yuki rubs up against her legs, eager to mark the new person as her own.

"Morning, Sansa."

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"Yeah? Well, if you want to kiss me again, I'm not exactly saying no," Raleigh says, grinning at her. He reaches for her hands, taking them in his and squeezing tight.

"You can kiss me any time you want to, Sansa. I'm not going to tell you no."

"Would it be appropriate to kiss you that much?" She asks, curling her fingers around his when he reaches out to take her hands. She has been told that men don't have much willpower when it comes to such things, so she finds herself suddenly worrying about tempting him too much.

"I don't want you to be....uncomfortable." She trips over her words before pressing her lips together, blushing again.

"Why would I be uncomfortable?" Raleigh asks, frowning a little. He reaches out and runs his fingers along her cheek, stroking the place where it colored.

"I love kissing you, Sansa. I want to kiss you as much as you want to kiss me. I'm not going to turn down the opportunity to kiss you."

Sansa's lips part and then press together again as she thinks about the things Shae told her. She doesn't know how to tell those things to Raleigh, though, especially not when he is looking at her like he doesn't understand what she isn't getting at.

"I had a se...friend who would tell me things about men." She still doesn't know to this day how Shae knew so much but there is no way she can ask the woman now. "She said that men need to find release quickly..."

And there she goes falling silent again, her cheeks red as she wishes that she was better skilled at this sort of thing. Playing the game was one thing but this was another thing entirely.

"Sansa. Look. I'm not an idiot. I know you're probably a virgin," Raleigh says, looking at her face. It's not something he's said before out loud but it's plain in how she reacts to his kisses, to the innocent touches to her cheeks and hair. He isn't going below her shoulders and she's as red as her hair; he thinks she's inexperienced and it's not much of a stretch.

"I've been with women. I can kiss you as long as we both want and if I can't take it anymore, I can excuse myself for a few minutes and come back and kiss you some more. It doesn't have any bearing on you and you don't have to feel obligated to do anything or say anything or be anything but yourself. Just do what you're comfortable with, all right? I don't have needs or anything."

While most women might look flustered at being outed as a virgin, Sansa looks relieved that he seems to know the truth. Yes, she blushes a little bit but her gaze is surprisingly steady as she meets and holds his. Yes, she gets flustered while kissing him but she figures that will ease in time.

And to go from someone who threatened her with rape to someone who promises to never force her, Sansa can't put what she is feeling into words. She wants to tell him what it was like so he will know why she is so unsure of herself but she doesn't bother. He is sweet but she doesn't want to make him unsure of touching her either.

Smiling softly, she considers how to respond before deciding there is nothing to say at the moment. Instead, she leans forward to kiss him. It's soft and sweet, saying more than what she could with words to let him know she appreciates everything that he just said.

He kisses her again, a little more intense this time but Raleigh keeps it light enough not to frighten her. He cares about her and he doesn't want to push her too far or too fast. When the kiss breaks this time, he pulls away and brushes his thumb against her lower lip.

"Is it just me or is it really warm in here? I feel like my skin is really warm."

The intensity behind this kiss causes her to shiver and press closer as she enjoys the heat sliding through her like a whisper. Sliding her hand up around to the back of his neck, she kisses him back with equal fervor even though she knows that he is still holding back.

When the kiss breaks again, she draws in a little breath before focusing on his words. Touching her tongue to her lips, she looks down to where her other hand is pressed against his chest. "You're very warm. Isn't it normal?"

Then she eases back, suddenly concerned. "Are you feeling okay?"

Raleigh breaks the kiss and steps away, not wanting to be sick on her if it's illness that has him feeling like this. As he does, he notices that there's fire along the edge of his fingertips and he blows rapidly to put it out, panicking a little and flinging open the door to stick his hand in the snow.

"I think...I think the village must have done this," he says, looking at his hand once it's been extinguished. "I'm not burned but, I'm warmer than I ought to be and I definitely just created some fire."

Sansa follows his gaze to the sight of actual flames dancing along his fingertips, sucking in a breath as she quickly steps back just to make sure he doesn't touch her with them. She is right on his heels as he hurries outside to stick his hand into the snow, her eyes wide as she watches him.

"Has it ever done something like this before?" She tries not to look as alarmed as she feels but she has never seen someone with their fingers on fire before.

"No, never," Raleigh says, looking at his hand. It's still warm, still steaming a little from the contrast of cold snow on heated skin but he's no longer on fire. It's strange but maybe it's just something that is temporary.

"Sorry, Sansa, I never...I've never seen anything like this before. Still, though, I think it'll be all right. I won't ever hurt you. You know that, right?"

Her eyes flicker to his hand again as she moves to close the distance between them, her own hand reaching out as she tries to brush her fingers over his just to make sure that he is okay. She doesn't even seem to consider that she might get burned herself.

"I do." She finds herself answering him honestly, lifting her eyes back to his again. "I know you wouldn't want to."

She also knows that he may never really understand how much that means to her or what a big thing it is to trust him.

"Don't want to hurt you with this," Raleigh says, pulling her hand up to his lips to kiss it lightly. He isn't on fire anymore so he doesn't think there's an immediate danger but it's still something he definitely wants to look into before risking her with it.

"I would never forgive myself if I hurt you, Sansa. You know that, right? That I wouldn't ever want to hurt you?"

"You won't hurt me. Even if you did, I could deal with it." She leaves it unsaid that she can deal with it because she has had worse. But she does understand his hesitation and worry that he might call forth the flames again and touch her with them, so she takes a small step back to try easing that worry.

"I know that you wouldn't want to." She repeats. "And that means more than you can realize. That is why I feel safe with you which is something I haven't felt for a long time."

"I don't know where the flames are coming from but I don't feel them now," Raleigh says, reaching out and taking her hands in his once again. He squeezes them tight, draws her hands up to his lips so he can brush kisses against her knuckles.

"I just feel warm. I won't hurt you with it. I think I can control it as long as I'm actively thinking about it, all right?"

Curling her fingers around his own, she studies his hands before giving him a gentle squeeze. "And it didn't hurt at all? You're sure?"

She can't imagine that the village would give him the power over fire just to have it hurt him but she can't say that with any sort of certainty either. All she knows is that she doesn't like the idea of him in pain.

"So, you're saying that I shouldn't distract you?" She asks suddenly, the corners of her mouth twitching till she pressed her lips together and shot him an innocent look.

"I think you want to distract me anyway," Raleigh says, smirking at her. "I think it's going to be okay, though, as long as I can actively think about it. Now that I know I can do it, I know how to keep it from acting up."

He thinks, anyway. It bears a little further investigation and Raleigh doesn't want to do that inside his house. He's going to have to finish getting dressed and go check the lines and, when he does, he can play around with his fire.

"If you'll let me go get dressed I can get outside and check the lines and try to make sense of the fire. Maybe meet you for breakfast later?"

"You are far more confident than I would be in your situation." Sansa isn't sure that she would have reacted so calmly to being able to produce and control fire like that. Maybe it's a good thing that she didn't have it and she hoped she never would.

Nodding as he comes up with a new idea, she smiles. "I would like that. I'll save you a seat."

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i'm just a station on your way (closed)

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