The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes--
The life still there, upon her hair--the death upon her eyes.

---

Porphyria drew back and for a moment Nova's heart swooped, she assumed in relief at the suggestion that Porphyria might be getting up, but there had been a suspicious twinge of something else that seemed quite the opposite of relief. Either way, it seemed she wasn't going to get off of her after all. At least she hadn't been in some way offended about the waist touching, perhaps she really hadn't noticed? She couldn't quite dare to hope it, not when she could still feel the palm of her hand tingling with the knowledge of where it had so recently been.

And then her tingling had was all but forgotten. With one syllable and one eyebrow, Nova felt icy terror shoot through her. She was an insect caught in a spider's web. Would Porphyria Dempsey drink her blood and leave her for dead in a graveyard? She spoke again and it was as though her gaze penetrated every inch of her to find her precise weaknesses. Like the cylinder of a lock, every few words she felt the lurch of each pin as it was overcome. By the last, she could hardly bear it.

This was true suffering, whatever it was. Porphyria couldn't know what lurked in the darkest depths of her even though her words, her gaze had seemed to penetrate her so thoroughly, as if she did. But she couldn't. Could she? No, no it wasn't possible. Even Nova hadn't known it was there until mere moments ago, oh how she wished she could unknow it! Like a creature possessed, Nova uttered a mortifyingly loud, guttural whine. Nestled somewhere in the long string of sound had been the word 'both', although she had no recollection of it as she basked in the horror of the noise she had so involuntarily made.

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Outfit | Tag: Porphyria Dempsey | Notes:

The following 1 user Likes November Malfoy's post:1 user Likes November Malfoy's post
   Porphyria Dempsey

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That was a reaction – a tormented reaction if ever there was one, and yet she had intimated both, hadn’t she? Phyri had enjoyed toying with her thus far – and if she had thought about it harder, she might have decided she had not been at all averse to November’s grasp on her waist, either.

She was not entirely thinking straight, at this point in time. “You wouldn’t be able to make so much sound if you were drowning,” Phyri countered, half to herself: by all rights, November ought to be breathless and gasping for air. A thought lit in her eyes – she was determined to make the sensation more real, more extreme, as if she were underwater. So Phyri leaned forwards to close the gap between their faces, her mouth meeting November’s in an experimental kiss, which seemed – the easiest and most emphatic way to stop her from speaking.

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The following 5 users Like Porphyria Dempsey's post:5 users Like Porphyria Dempsey's post
   Cassius Lestrange, Don Juan Dempsey, November Malfoy, Philomena Sprout, Rosalie Hunniford

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a sublime set by Lady! <3

The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes--
The life still there, upon her hair--the death upon her eyes.

---

She might have flushed with mortification as Porphyria acknowledged the ungainly sound she'd made if she hadn't already been so flushed in the face. As it was her insides seemed to squirm in a thrill of embarrassment that caused her whole torso to twitch. She did want Porphyria to get up now, she did, her mind was overwhelmed and she needed a chance to process and collect her thoughts. But not all of her wanted that, some mad part of her wanted to keep running towards the danger, because this was danger.

Then all thoughts ceased the moment she felt Porphyria's lips on hers. The whole world, in fact, seemed to stop. For a few short seconds that felt like minutes, the only thing that seemed to matter was the feel of Porphyria's mouth - not at all like that of Gaius - and her cognizance of their closeness in microscopic detail. The peace and tranquility of the moment was rudely shattered by a sudden gut-twisting realization that she had started to kiss her (back?). She immediately froze. Somehow she was feeling lightheaded again despite being thoroughly horizontal.

Nova had to believe the kiss for Porphyria was purely platonic, it was all for the romance of the moment, not romance towards her - how could it be otherwise? Her fingernails scraped through dirt as she balled her hands into fists, hoping dseperately that Porphyria had either not felt her kiss back or had thought nothing of it. Nova's eyes were welling up without her realizing. She would have to carry the burden of her untoward feelings alone or risk losing her friend, if it wasn't already too late.

The notion of drowning in a bog no longer seemed a romantic fantasy but an urgent necessity.

---

Outfit | Tag: Porphyria Dempsey | Notes:

The following 2 users Like November Malfoy's post:2 users Like November Malfoy's post
   Cassius Lestrange, Porphyria Dempsey

---

She let the moment spool out until it felt like she was drowning too – her body weighted down by gravity, her ribcage crushed against November’s, November kissing her back until she couldn’t breathe, until she was bewildered by it.

November had reacted. Phyri wouldn’t have imagined that. No, what she had imagined was pinning her down more thoroughly, curling her hands around her pale wrists, at letting her mouth wander down that pale throat – but of course before she could, November had frozen.

With a sharp inhale, Phyri finally released her, abruptly finding it safer to sprawl beside her on the ground and angle her face to the sky, rather than have to get up and look at her directly, have to carry on as ordinary. (Well, as if any interaction they had ever had could be mistaken for ordinary –) But never mind November Malfoy at all: Phyri would perhaps rather lie here in the dirt than have to stand up and face herself, to decide just what she had ever been trying to achieve in that.

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a sublime set by Lady! <3

The life upon her yellow hair but not within her eyes--
The life still there, upon her hair--the death upon her eyes.

---

She squeezed her eyes shut tighter against the brightness of the sky as Porphyria moved away. Nova was certain she'd anticipated Porphyria's departure before there'd been any discernable sign of it, before even the intake of breath. The anticipation of it seemed to make the reality all the more alarming. Of course she wanted Miss Dempsey off of her, she wanted to be stood on her feet and clean of any dirt or other signs of dishevelment. These were all logical and proper things that she wanted and should want. But there was something sharp and stabbing in her chest and a roiling in her stomach that challenged logic. She'd ruined it all. The weight of Porphyria might have left her but something altogether more heavy and oppressive now bore down on her and it was hers alone. Who was there to share this with that wouldn't be appalled?

Merlin, she hadn't even considered the betrayal of Gaius in all of it. It was a betrayal, wasn't it? If she hadn't tainted a chaste moment with her impure feelings it would've been different. What had she done? Somehow the betrayal of her husband felt trivial next to... She formed the start of an apology on her lips several times and never found the will to utter any of it. As long as she said nothing there was a small shred of hope that Porphyria hadn't noticed anything untoward. Even as she regretted her behavior and hoped it had miraculously passed unnoticed, even now to her horror did she want to kiss her again.

A goodbye kiss.

But hell, weren't they sprawling on the ground in a cemetery in plain sight? How had she so thoroughly forgotten? What if someone had seen? Surely they would've heard some shocked bystander if there was one, but perhaps they'd shocked someone into muteness? The longer they were on the ground, the more likely they were to be discovered and though they were no longer in a highly abnormal set up, it wasn't much better for them to be seen rolling in the dirt.

She sat up abruptly and started trying to tidy herself. I- We- I... Ought to go. Her words were small and restrained as usual but seemed to be on the verge of running into each other. Now that her eyes were open again she was well aware of her watery eyes and now even that seemed a shame that needed to kept from her. Looking in the opposite direction from Porphyria, Nova got off the ground and continued brushing herself down whilst also stealing glances around the cemetery for signs of other people. Mercifully, it seemed to be just the two of them.

Her heart leaped into her throat as she realized there was a good chance the back of her dress bore suggestions of what had transpired. Merlin, what was she going to do? What if Gaius saw before she could change? What if her maid asked questions or simply gossiped? She felt herself sway dangerously before she forced herself to get a grip - wasn't that how this had all happened, anyway? But panicking about everything else was easier than dwelling on the friendship that was probably about to end now. Maybe it wouldn't, maybe Porphyria hadn't noticed anything and it was all fine, but how was Nova supposed to forget like all was normal? Suppose Porphyria kissed her platonically again and Nova revealed herself? She dared to steal a glance down at Porphyria and regretted it immediately. She'd thought Porphyria was someone she could be herself around but she'd ruined it for herself. She had been too free. She hadn't even known she had that level of freedom to be, but she had, and it had been a mistake.

I am sorry, she murmured, voice barely more than a whisper. Her instinct was to disapparate right then and there, but that felt hopelessly rude. She took a few steps away from Porphyria. Please forgive me. She made to disapparate and then felt an overwhelming regret seize hold of her, only to then remember that splinching was in fact a thing and in her panic, followed through and disappeared. Sans the very tip of her left pinky finger.

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Outfit | Tag: Porphyria Dempsey | Notes:

  

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