Valley of the Shadow | @iamvictor-roth

iamvictor-roth:

iamthefirechild:

iamvictor-roth:

“Yeah. Yeah, sure.” Summer pulled away, rubbing her hands over her face. “The glasses are in the cupboard next the fridge, top shelf.” She dropped into the couch heavily, still feeling the weight of it. 

Victor gave her another kiss on her forehead then went to get cups for them. He brought the wine glasses back and opened the bottle then poured some for the each of them. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her back so that she could be close to him if she wanted. “What’s his name, love?”

“Buddy. William Edward Rainault, Jr.” Summer settled herself back into Victor’s arm, needing the warmth of him — why was he warm, as a vampire, the part of her mind trying to just run away wondered — and stared at the wine in her glass. “I don’t know where Buddy came from, but I know why it stuck, because it was just the most literally perfect description of his personality. He was everyone’s buddy. I never saw him angry. I almost never even saw him not smiling — I couldn’t look, at the viewing, because they’d made his face without that little smile, that crinkled the corners of his eyes. It wasn’t him, there.” Abruptly she drank half the glass.

He was a little concerned by the way she had downed half the glass and rubbed his thumb in circles on her shoulder. “They should’ve made him with that smile of his since that’s how he was in life. He sounds like he was a very nice person though, it’s always hard when someone like that moves on from our lives.” Victor paused a moment then twisted his body so that he was facing her a bit more. “Cheers, to Buddy and may he find more happiness wherever he is now.”

“To Buddy,” Summer echoed, draining her glass. She didn’t even ordinarily drink much, but nothing was as bitter as the taste of her sorrow, of the family’s sorrow that she could already feel leaching into her. The bonds of family were unlike other empathic bonds, but they still carried emotion, and she carried it all. She curled over, around the empty space where her sense of her grandfather had lived, and rocked silently. “I’ll have to go down there tomorrow,” she murmured into her knees.

Charity Ball | @shoottothrillindustries

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iamthefirechild:

shoottothrillindustries:

iamthefirechild:

Summer lifted her drink, starting to laugh. “All right, all right. I can take a hint. No more questions. How can I help you stop thinking, Mr. Stark?” She tried her best to look seductive, feeling very awkward. “After all, you dragged me away from the dancing, the least you can do is make use of me.”

Tony looked up from the glass now on his hand and paused. Logically, he knew Summer was still across the bar from him, but it suddenly felt like that distance was much shorter. His pulse did a surprised double take. He swallowed half his drink in one go and set it down on the counter.

“Because… you looked like you were enjoying the dancing so much,” he replied sarcastically. It came out a bit late.

He circled the bar to her side, mulling her words over. Summer certainly was beautiful. If this was the least he could do… Tony brushed his fingers over her hair.

“Nobody asked me,” she riposted. “I’d’ve enjoyed it more if someone had bothered to ask me to dance.” Then he was right /there/, right beside her, charming and handsome and touching her braids, and her pulse felt like it was choking her. The stool was tall enough to let her look him in the eyes. And maybe she was a little drunk, maybe she was giving in to the taste of him in her mind, maybe this would be a disaster after.

Carefully she set her glass down, proud that the hammering of her heart didn’t make her hand tremble. Green eyes locked to whiskey-amber, she reached up to pull a rhinestone hairpin from under his hand, and another. Another, until the braids slipped from their coil around her head and down her back. “What would you like to do with me?”

“Let me think about that,” he said quietly. His body leaned forward on its own accord, framing hers against the bar. With an unsteady, hopeful breath, Tony closed the gap and brushed his lips over Summer’s. He started slower, flicking his tongue out experimentally over her lips, almost kissing her carefully. A subtle, electric tingle crawled up his spine.

Tony smiled, “You are far too beautiful to resist, did you know that?”

He wove his hands into the braids, unravelling them further. All the while, he was unable to draw his eyes from her lips for more than a few seconds.

Oh, gods. Tony Stark was kissing her, and it was /glorious/. He didn’t rush, he didn’t overwhelm, it was almost polite and far from chaste. All Summer could do was stare at him, breathing hard through parted lips while he sank his hands into her hair. “I didn’t quite catch that,” she murmured, before leaning forward to initiate a kiss of her own, a little shy, a little delicate. It had been a very long time since her last kiss, after all.

Valley of the Shadow | @iamvictor-roth

iamvictor-roth:

“Yeah. Yeah, sure.” Summer pulled away, rubbing her hands over her face. “The glasses are in the cupboard next the fridge, top shelf.” She dropped into the couch heavily, still feeling the weight of it. 

Victor gave her another kiss on her forehead then went to get cups for them. He brought the wine glasses back and opened the bottle then poured some for the each of them. He sat down next to her and put his arm around her back so that she could be close to him if she wanted. “What’s his name, love?”

“Buddy. William Edward Rainault, Jr.” Summer settled herself back into Victor’s arm, needing the warmth of him — why was he warm, as a vampire, the part of her mind trying to just run away wondered — and stared at the wine in her glass. “I don’t know where Buddy came from, but I know why it stuck, because it was just the most literally perfect description of his personality. He was everyone’s buddy. I never saw him angry. I almost never even saw him not smiling — I couldn’t look, at the viewing, because they’d made his face without that little smile, that crinkled the corners of his eyes. It wasn’t him, there.” Abruptly she drank half the glass.