Payments Due

[Taiylor Wallace]

Rogal shed the shirt and tossed it aside before his hands returned to her back, untying the laces of her dress. He let the cloth slip away before he pressed back further, laying her back on their bed. He kissed her lips again, and whispered in her ear, "I love you..."

[Rose Swan]

Amelia smiled. His breath felt hot on her ear, and she knew he meant it. She leaned in and whispered in his ear as well "I love you too."

The night was perfect. He was great with her. She enjoyed every second of it. Amelia woke the next morning with her head on his chest, right over his heart. She was tangled in the soft white sheets and his arms. She didn't want to get up, ever. She was too happy and content.

[Taiylor Wallace]

Rogal was still fast asleep when she woke, which was unusual. He was normally awake long before her, and it was mid-morning. But within the half-hour, his emerald eyes opened halfway, unfocused a moment til he truly came to. With a deep, content inhale, she felt his arms encircle her just a little tighter. A soft smile came to his lips, and he brought a hand up to her cheek. "Morning, love..." His voice was deeper than usual from sleep. This was the first time she was able to begin to feel the magicks within him awakening. It seemed that her subconscious, once it realized she was a witch by birth, was beginning to tap her into magic itself, to the point that she could feel it emanating from anyone else who'd recently come in contact with it, or held it within themselves.

[Rose Swan]

"Good morning." Amelia stretched up to kiss his cheek for a moment, then settled back down where she was. As she felt his magic wake up, she smiled a little more. "I can feel all of your magicness in you. It feels nice. And it amuses me." she giggled softly.

[Taiylor Wallace]

"Magicness? Remember to tell the librarian to add that to the dictionary," Rogal teased. "If only you could feel your own like I do. You think I'm amusing..." He brushed her hair back and then slowly sat up, the sheets falling away from his bare chest and arms. She'd never known til that night the extent of his scars, nor his tattoos. She'd become aware of a huge, greatly intricate tattoo on his back that extended up from the small of his back and fanned out up and over his shoulderblades, then ended at his neck in symbols she couldn't read. Long, flowing elemental tattoos swirled about the undersides and sides of his arms, and his shoulders carried more magical symbols. More could be found on his legs and such, but the most impressive were on his front. His chest was decorated with a black sun, inside of which were images of the four elements, and in the center was a vine-wrapped dagger, whose significance she didn't understand. But the most striking tattoo, she'd never seen before because he always wore high collars. On the left side of his neck, a tribal dragon that seemed to nearly glow. She didn't know what that one was for either. Though his tattoos were many, it was clear that they were all related to magic, and they suited him well.

[Rose Swan]

Amelia sighed sadly as he sat up. Way to kill the moment. She propped her head up on her elbow and just took a long look at all his tattoos and scars. The tattoos were all beautiful, not that she really understood a lot of them, and she recognize some of the scars. There were the lashes he got one of the first days after they had met from his almost execution, along with many more underneath. On his chest she could see where he had been stabbed by the damn assassin. "Are you saying I have a very large amount of untapped magic or a very small amount?" she asked.

[Taiylor Wallace]

"A lot of very eager untapped magic." Rogal looked down at her, then smiled, "Disappointed that I moved? I'm not going anywhere." He laid back down, shifting onto his side. His emerald eyes caught hers, studying them even though he'd long since memorized them. "I love you," he couldn't wipe the smile off his face.

[Rose Swan]

She was a lot more satisfied when he laid himself back down, and she snuggled into his chest happily. "I love you too." Amelia's finger began tracing some of the tattoos he had on his chest. "What do all of these tattoos mean, anyway?" she asked again. She seemed to be in a very inquisitive mood this morning. She'd seen them all before, but hadn't asked about their origins until now.

[Taiylor Wallace]

"Magical symbols, energy storage, mastery of the elements... Most of them are either to help me control unstable magicks I've come to control, or to protect me from recoil when I use more powerful spells. They kick back, and when they do, I don't get hurt beyond bruising or headaches. And in case of backfires, these symbols protect me from myself. This one on my chest protects me to a certain extent from backfires and weaker spells from other witches."

[Rose Swan]

"Well, I like those tattoos more now. Will I have to get any of those?" If she did, she had no idea how she'd manage to get them on. Only Rogal was supposed to see her like she was right now, and tattooing things on her chest just seemed like a bad idea.