[ the cursed mask. aemond has had to fight with his own, seeing as it trapped his hair in places that felt uncomfortable. good that he had the sense to not wear his eyepatch under the mask, because the pinch of the mask and the stress of the strap would have made him even worse-tempered than he usually is.
but now the sapphire is clearly visible, the polished surface winking when the light glances over it. he wants to take the stone out, as it presses against bone painfully with the mask pushing it down, but there isn't a way to pull it, no way to ease it.
pain within. and now, pain without. not because pierce is speaking to him to hurt him, or that his words find their aim true and cutting into his affections. this closeness stings on the heels of tim laughlin's rejection of him, of the way he expresses his fondness. he doesn't understand how tim would refuse him but pierce would give him this, how easily it is for both men to pull him in separate directions by simply talking to him.
aemond breathes lightly, draws a breath through his teeth. catches one of pierce's wrists in a fine-boned hand and holds him in place. ]
No one man should be accused in absence. They behave cravenly and shamefully, giving your name and birthright as if they command it.
You make my blood rise, Strickland. But I do not mislike you. [ with his other hand he cradles pierce's cheek. digs his thumb hard against the slope of his cheekbone. ] Why is that?
why do i only see typos when i can't edit
but now the sapphire is clearly visible, the polished surface winking when the light glances over it. he wants to take the stone out, as it presses against bone painfully with the mask pushing it down, but there isn't a way to pull it, no way to ease it.
pain within. and now, pain without. not because pierce is speaking to him to hurt him, or that his words find their aim true and cutting into his affections. this closeness stings on the heels of tim laughlin's rejection of him, of the way he expresses his fondness. he doesn't understand how tim would refuse him but pierce would give him this, how easily it is for both men to pull him in separate directions by simply talking to him.
aemond breathes lightly, draws a breath through his teeth. catches one of pierce's wrists in a fine-boned hand and holds him in place. ]
No one man should be accused in absence. They behave cravenly and shamefully, giving your name and birthright as if they command it.
You make my blood rise, Strickland. But I do not mislike you. [ with his other hand he cradles pierce's cheek. digs his thumb hard against the slope of his cheekbone. ] Why is that?