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Stina wasn’t kind. She wasn’t sweet or generous, she didn’t say please or beg or forgiveness-- stars, she probably wasn’t ever the first to apologize for anything ever. And she was fine with that. She could live in her empty heart and drink from her shallow personality. There wasn’t much the world offered her anyway. What was the point of giving when all the world ever did was take?
Or so her pessimistic side declared, doing its usual job of fortifying her iron defenses and standing guard. Always on alert, always focused.
The truth was Stina did actually care. She cared too much and it was a growing problem.
“Stina, can you please put the imparter down?” Dex’s obnoxious voice spoke from both her imparter and beneath her as Stina stopped walking on the walls. She paused right above the door frame and looked to her right, staring down at the top of Dex’s head. He tilted his head back and looked up at her before backing up a few steps.
“You really are going up the walls,” He muttered. Stina frowned and gave him a glare that would remain in his soul for generations.
Yes, she was walking up the walls but to be clear she wasn’t stepping on them. She was simply using the excess energy that had been spilling out of her spirit to create a cover of telekinetic energy that wrapped around her body allowing for anti-gravitational pacing. It was actually very relaxing, thank you very much.
“I told you not to come.” Stina scowled as she walked towards the tall bookshelf by the door, stepping around the painting of Eternalia, and flipping forwards. Launching herself off the wall as the energy around her spiraled and softened her landing. Stina flicked her hair over her shoulder as Dex raised a brow and leaned against the pentagonal meeting table. The Animus Sanctum was a stupid building of excessive extravagance given to Team Valiant by the Council as an ‘official’ building for meetings, training, or the discussion of top secret plans. The only good the building had in it was the privacy it sometimes offered.
Sometimes.
“Since when do I ever listen to what you tell me?” Dex asked, crossing his arms after pocketing his imparter. Stina’s frown only deepened as a small voice in the back of her mind reminded her that- as little as she cared about other people’s opinions on her appearance -she was getting a semi permanent furrow to her brow.
“Never, and that's the problem,” Stina scoffed. Dex was as stubborn as he was short and obnoxious. Whenever she had any sort of comment to say, Dex was always there with a rebuttal or his own snappy quip. If she had a subject she excelled at over him, he had a different one he held over her. Over and over again their worlds collided and scrapped against one another. Never at peace but not quite as at war as they used to be. They were just stuck in a catastrophic collision. Breaking apart…yet coming together.
“What’s bugging you?” Dex asked, his eyes shifting from their usual smarmy stare to something softer, lighter. Something reserved for someone who should definitely not be her.
Stina leaned against the bookshelf behind her and crossed her arms, “Nothing.”
Dex raised a challenging brow but Stina ignored his attempts at diving past her defenses and reached out with her talent. Empathy was a relatively useless talent if you didn’t go into a more medical or political field. Though there were tough dangers in both. Sure, as a unicorn rancher it was an extremely helpful talent but to the world of the Lost Cities she was at best, a lie detector.
But there were some perks here and there. One double edged thorn in her side was Sophie Foster. Her emotions were potent, lively and crackling like electricity in the air, humming at an annoying frequency that only got louder the closer she got within a certain range. But there was no humming and if she leaped here Stina would’ve definitely noticed.
Biana was an obstacle in the sense that she could stand still the the corner of a room and the only hope Stina ever had of finding her was saying something that made her pop out of invisibility, or reaching past her timer. Considering she had been here pacing for over fifteen minutes Stina considered that worry clear too. That only left Wylie but between Stina and the universe, she doubted Wylie wanted to be in her proximity as much as she did.
“Close the door.” Stina sighed as she pushed herself off the wall and to her seat. It was across from his but technically they were all across from one another at that table. The five evenly spaced seats left no room for an official ‘front’ point though, emotionally, Sophie’s seat was considered the top of their star. To Stina’s right was Wylie and to her left was Biana. They’d planned it just so that, in the case of extreme anger, Stina would be forced to jump across the table if she wanted to strangle Dex. A clever precaution really. The desire to wrangle his neck was strong and often.
Like now for example.
“Stina--”
“Dex.” She cut off. He frowned at her but kept his reservations to himself as she walked past Lovise and shut the door. Somehow, the stifling energy around her had lessened once she believed them to be alone and out of sight.
Stina dragged a hand down her face before planting both of her palms on the gemstone table, glaring at the foggy reflection of herself. She shut her eyes and tried to count but really that never helped calm her nerves. Her whole body was made up of traps and triggers, all of them set to go off on the slightest hint of movement. When her mind couldn’t sit still enough those wires were too exposed, too sensitive.
“Stina.” His voice called to her.
She let out a breath and tried to stay steady against the temptation to look. But something about his voice, about the emptiness of the building, the shut door; it was all too delectable of a forbidden fruit.
The reflection of the table revealed his ghost as his gaze seemed focused on her. He walked past the chair that sat between them and waited by her side. Not too close but just far enough that something in Stina’s blackened chest ached. He was making things difficult. Maybe he knew and didn’t care. Maybe he wasn’t aware of the effect he had on her. Or at least, how potent it was.
“Please, talk to me,” He whispered and Stina brought up a hand to cover her eyes as she grit her teeth.
“Don’t.” She hissed. “Don’t speak to me that way.”
I don’t deserve it.
Dex didn’t even say a single word. He didn’t have to. His presence alone was too much to hold her own against which sounded ridiculous, impossible even. She’d spent nearly her whole life battling against him and fighting to the teeth to level the playing field time and time again but now? She was a wrecked fool.
“You asshole,” Stina cursed. Dex let out a small half-hearted laugh as she lifted her gaze to his.
“What’d I do now?” He asked, arms crossed casually as he leaned against Biana’s chair. Stina stood up straight and frowned, reaching for him and pulling him toward her side of the table. It was unreasonable but she glared at the chair for good measure. She might not deserve him but he was hers.
Dex must’ve misunderstood her irrational jealousy however, because he wrapped his arms around her. Stina’s spine went rigid and her hands froze mid air. Burning heat started to rush up her neck and to the tips of her ears as she looked down at Dex and then across the room at Lovise.
There was amusement in those dark eyes of hers as Lovise gave a bow and took her leave. Stina wanted to smash her head through a wall. But…it was a nice hug.
It was completely pathetic the way Stina melted into the gesture. She hated to pander to people and entertain any facades, though she wore many a mask. It drained her. The feeling of a secret was heavy in her heart and was causing issues in her talent and energy levels. Nothing was wrong per say but it was just this. These shut doors and whispered words. Their secret.
Despite all odds…Stina and Dex were seeing one another. Dating, actually. For quite some time now. Quite a lot of time. And it was something they were taking small steps in. Really small steps. Minute if Stina was being honest.
Forgiveness was a tricky thing, guilt was a slippery slope. Stina would live in her numerous regrets for a very long time but if even a fraction of that time were spent here, in Dex’s arms, mauve, just maybe, she could be fine. If only for a moment.
Energy surged forth like a wave as it crashed over her shoulders. Tentatively, her arms wrapped around Dex, hands meeting in the middle until they moved against one another as Stina leaned down. Protecting him from the storm in her mind. The fabric of his tunic bunched up in her hands as Stina shut her eyes and breathed in the moment. The slightly coppery smell about him, the sweetness of whatever he put in his hair, the wrinkles of his clothes.
“Darling?” he whispered and the ocean waves that crashed into them exploded on her back, splashing the floor around them and leaving the room drowning in a foot of rising water. The things this guy did to her.
“Have I ever told you how much you annoy me, Dexter?” Stina huffed, an uncontrollable smile crept its way onto her lips.
“Oh, plenty.” Dex laughed, that stupid, joyous sound. She could feel the vibrations of it in the palms of her hands. “But that’s what I do best.”
“You’re the worst.”
“That’s not what I remember you saying last time.”
“Oh?” Stina challenged, remembering very well what happened last time they were alone. She recalled their usual banter, a wall, Dex pinned beneath her, her lips on his. “That’s not how I remember it.”
Dex let out a laugh as the infectious joy radiating off of him slipped past her guards and straight into her heart. He tilted his head up and Stina moved back slightly so she could look into his eyes. Maybe she let her gaze lower slightly towards his lips and that handsome dimpled smile.
Stars, if her younger self could hear her now. She’d have her own head.
“So,” Dex said, dragging out the word. “You gonna tell me what’s bothering you?”
He was being infuriating and adorable as he tilted his head to the side slightly and Stina, without thinking, mimicked his motions. He probably had a good idea what was on her mind and the cause of her discomfort, he shared the feeling with her but it just wasn’t time. Not yet. The world was cold and unforgiving, theirs especially. She was a Heks. There would never be a scenario where people wouldn’t question why Dex wasn’t tempted to date anyone else, do better than his current low standards. Maybe date a certain perfect princess. Their world wasn’t one of fairy tales and happy endings. She didn’t get the boy and the boy could do far better than her.
No one would bother to try and understand that, despite her numerous flaws and fuck-ups, he’d chosen her. Logic be damned.
So Stina went with a slightly easier answer.
“I want to kiss you but I can’t.”
“Why not?” Dex scoffed, arching a brow high. She could feel the slight disappointment shifting through his emotions but their secret would just have to stay hidden for another day.
“Because you have to go help your family and I have reading to do.” Stina pointed out, poking Dex’s empty head.
Dex rolled his eyes and swatted her hand away, “It’s a slow day and you’re a fast reader.”
“I’m not fast, you’re just slow.”
“I read just as many books as you did.”
“Those were instructional scrolls and thus, don't count.”
“They counted on my reading chart.”
“They’re mostly pictures and so no, they don’t count.” Stina stubbornly declared, leaning in a little more as Dex did the same.
“Counts.” He said in a sing-song voice he knows irritated her. His hands rested on her hips as Stina’s moved up to the collar of his shirt.
“Doesn’t,” She mused as his eyes glanced down for a moment. They’d have to address the issue sooner or later but it seemed like later was getting pushed back some more as Dex leaned in.
The meeting of their lips was soft yet arrogant in a way. They were still competing, still pushing each other’s buttons. The first to kiss the other was a sign of weakness, temptation winning out over the need to be right. But there were more battles ahead as Stina pulled him in closer. Dex had gotten taller sure but Stina would always remain above him in stature. In cases like these, he’d be doing her a favor by wearing wedged boots.
“Damnit Stina,” Dex whispered against her lips. “You--”
“Shh.” Stina smiled, kissing his dimple and feeling embarrassed by the gentle gesture soon after. Dex pulled away slightly to look into her eyes as Stina’s hand moved back and gently threaded into his strawberry blonde curls. The energy surrounding them was bursting at the seams, breaking the rules of reality as they lifted slightly off the ground. Finally at eye level with one another as Dex’s eyes widened with surprise.
“Your telekinesis--”
“Can hold us both.” Stina assured him as Dex raised a brow.
“You’ve been known to get distracted.”
“Meh,” Stina shrugged as her lips tilted in a smirk. “I’m pretty focused right now.”
Dex’s eyebrows nearly flew off his forehead as he scoffed and pulled her close, “Oh we’re fixing that.”
Stina poked his chest as the world around them spun like the gravity had been turned off. And in a way it had.
“Then prove it,” She whispered.
Dex’s smile was contagious as they met in the middle once more. Lips greeting each other after a brief parting before rising and falling like the waves that crashed below. Her fingers were in his hair, his hands moved from her hips to her sides to her back. Teeth caught skin, hushed whispered and gentle gasps left parted lips. Stina only had these precious moments of privacy, where the world was washed away and all that was left on the shore were their footsteps before it would be hidden away once more. A secret she and the waters shared. Messages in the sand written where light won't reach it.
She was all his. Any act he needed her to perform to earn that forgiveness he’d given her too easily, she’d do. No matter what mission they had to face, no matter how many months they were held apart, no matter how many buttons they pushed, she was his. Endlessly. Entirely. Eternally.
Metal clattered on the table. Dex kicked off his cape. Stina rested her arm on the table as they touched down on Earth, lips locked in a never-ending war. When she broke apart for a quick gasp of air he’d undone the ribbon holding up her hair as the dark curls came cascading down. His fingers mused with her hair, a privilege given to only a select few. Numbers they’d never thought he’d be a part of.
His periwinkle eyes danced with a light like a star as he smiled and she cupped his chin. Placing a kiss on his dimple once more. It was no less embarrassing but she’d somehow earned this privilege, just as he had earned his.
He shifted, moving around the table uncomfortably as Stina moved her hand pavement to lift him slightly. A soft “woah” left his lips and Stina’s chest filled with pride. That’s right, she was stronger than he was. Able to hold him up like this, push him around, tug him towards her. Occasionally it was annoying to be so much bigger than all their friends but it was times like these, where Stina’s hand undid the tucked knot of his sash and unraveled the fabric, where she appreciated her differences.
She tore at his clothes, being slow, careful, a few loosened buttons here, a tossed sash there. All within her expressed permissions. She trailed her kisses down his jaw and then his neck, searching for that sweet spot that made his voice sing.
And it wasn’t like Dex was some pure soul. His hands were doing much of their fair share of exploration. Felling every curve of her body, her hips, the muscles on her back. His fingers seemed especially delighted to hug her sides as they glided back down to her hips.
Occasionally she’d take a small pause in her meticulous work to ask if it was alright, if he wanted less, or more. He’d always pant breathlessly for more and it drove Stina wild. The humming of energy around them was practically a symphony in her ears as she sank her teeth into his skin, biting, then softening the mark with a kiss. He’d dragged down to collar of her shirt to do the same himself, sitting up to find the right spot as Stina’s eyes went wide and a new buzzing filled her ears as he pulled away, pride in his eyes. For a split second when their eyes met he’d looked worried, like maybe he’d crossed a boundary of sorts. Stina wasn’t sure what expression she was making.
“Was that too far?” He asked, cheeks ablaze with color, eyes dancing across her face. Stina shifted on his lap as she took his face in her hands, her fingers trembling.
“More,” She whispered. Hunger in her tone and in her eyes.
“What?” Dex breathed, flabbergasted. He took in a breath as Stina’s eyes trailed down his flushed cheeks and swollen lip, to his neck filled with marks she’d have to cover before they left this room. She let a nail trail down her work, her masterpiece. And Keefe said he was the only artist. Stina scoffed at the thought.
“I said,” Stina said in a low tone, looking at Dex through her lashes as her fingers danced on his exposed chest and the pounding heartbeat she could feel encasing the room around them. “More.”
Dex’s fluttering excitement hummed through the tips of her fingers and up her arm as he moved to push back her shirt once more. His lips dragging down her neck and shoulder, trying to find just the right spot. Or tease her. Stina was betting on the latter as he started to take his sweet time.
“Dexter.” She snarled and her frustration only grew when he chuckled.
“I’m finding it.” He muttered into her skin.
“You’ll find your head across this room if you--” Stina started to say but was cut off by the gasp that had involuntarily escaped her lips as he found his mark. Her hands gripped the fabric of his tunic as she sucked in a breath through her teeth. Moving her hands up to thread her fingers through his hair, messing up those obnoxiously adorable curls.
“You asshole.” Stina chuckled as Dex pulled away and laughed.
“You know, we can’t all just bite all over the place.” Dex challenged, raising a brow as Stina scoffed and looked at his neck.
“It’s not all over the place,” She argued, gently pushing him back down on the table, hand on his chest. Carefully, she moved the fabric of his open tunic to reveal more skin, show her what was hers, what she adored. His flush, freckled chest, the slight scars from their many battles, all of this, all of him was hers to love and cherish. And love she would, until he decided he didn’t want her. But even then, a part of her would always want him.
“It’s art.” She whispered.
“Art?” Dex huffed. “You hate drawing.”
“This is different,” Stina shrugged one shoulder. Leaning down to place a delicate kiss on his lips. “This is love.”
“Is that so, Darling?” He hummed.
“You know it, Dexter.” She whispered against his lips, ready to show him just how much more of her love she was willing to give when a foul scent reached her nose. Something Stina should’ve noticed sooner as shock and embarrassment slammed down on her. Stina’s head snapped up and her eyes met icey blue and a warm golden brown as Sophie and Keefe stood at the open doors. Lovise winced, her hand stretched out to knock.
Beneath her Dex squirmed and twisted until he could see upright at what was denying him of his well deserved kisses. His eyebrows shot up as his cousin looked at him, completely at a loss for words.
“Oh,” Keefe muttered in the thick silence of the room. Slowly reaching for the handle as his other hand held Sophie’s tightly.
“Looks like this one’s occupied,” He chuckled. He started to close the door and Stina sighed and dropped her head.
Just her damn luck.