Celestial Fragments

Something stupid....

Angelique had frozen in place, holding her breath, while following his reflection with her eyes. He stopped. Why did he stop?! Almost as if he heard her, Aellioah sat up and wrapped his arms around her, covering almost half of her body with his massive arms. His nose buried in her hair, his face hiding completely, as he simply stood there, his chest vibrating with the low purr like sound, his hold tightening only when he could feel her shudder against him.

"What happened?" Angelique muttered, her eyes narrowed with confusion and wonder.

The purr slowly faded and Aellioah pulled his face away from her hair, his jaw tensed and his eyes cold and distant as he stared at her reflexion, focusing on her face. His arms unwrapped from around her and he turned around.

"Put something on and get ready for dinner." he hissed at her between his teeth, not even bothering to look back once.

What?

Aellioah made it out of the bathroom and slammed the door behind him, giving her privacy, and getting him away from her intoxicating scent. He opened the chest at the end of the bed and grabbed a coat, before storming out of the room, before Angelique could start making a scene. But Angelique didn't plan to. While she felt at ease about being left alone, her mind stormed with intrusive thoughts of anger, disappointment and frustration.

Who does he think he is?! a low husky voice, that sounded like a growl echoed through her mind, making Agelique take a long look around to see who it was.

But there was no one. And if there had been, it left because nothing else was heard.

***

Dinner was very different than what Angelique had expected. This time, the room was filled with new faces, women of different races of the universe, all gathered together with their partners, or sitting in small groups by themselves. The atmosphere was quite lively, but nevertheless, there was tension all over and within Angelique.

"You need to tune down." Kephry muttered as she picked up another snail-looking thing with her fingers and slurped it with a wet sound. "The chances of him actually showing up are slim. These are non-formal dinners that the staff of the palace puts together to hang out. This is no fancy diplomatic meeting." she muttered, licking one of her fingers before looking down at Angelique, who sat with her plate still full in front of her, still scanning the lively room.

Kephry sighed and rolled her eyes, waving her hand in front of Angelique to get her attention. "You need to eat!" she pushed the palate closer to the human woman. "You need some meat on those bones of yours."

Angelique took a long pensive look at her plate and then at Kephry. "Maybe I can starve myself to death rather than sharing the room with him one more night..." she hissed, leaning back into her chair.

"Hah! As if anyone would let that happen. I'll force feed you myself, if needed." Kephry smirked and continued her meal.

"Huh! So you do like me!" Angelique smiled, amused, taking another look at her plate.

"Maybe I do, even if you're small, bony and you kinda smell-" she wrinkled her nose.

"Are you sure you're not smelling that thing you're eating?" Angelique teased before picking something from her plate to eat.

"So, what got you this upset with your prince charming?" Kephry smirked, looking at her with the corner of her eyes.

"Prince charming?!" Angelique revolted a little too loudly, a few faces turning at her .

Kephry suppressed her laughter while Angelique cursed under her breath for the unwanted attention.

"He's far from my prince charming!" Angelique explained, whispering between her teeth.

"Did he not fulfill your desires?" Kephry pressed the matter with a skittish smirk on her face.

"He what?" muttered Angelique, confused, but before it hit her, the door opened and Aellioah walked in, silencing everyone with his mere presence.

Azrael followed right behind him, his eyes just as distant and holding the same disgust and coldness as always, while behind them were a few others she had seen at the previous dinner.

Angelique Got ready to get off her chair, but before she could, Kephry stopped her sharply. "This room is full of people who idolatry him. Don't do anything stupid!" she hissed at Angelique.

But with her back straight and confidence written all over her figure, Angelique yanked her arm free from Kephry's hand. The alien woman sighed and sunk in her seat as if she wanted to hide in embarrassment.

Angelique marched her way towards Aellioah, meeting him in the middle of the room. Without her heels on, she barely reached under his ribcage, but nevertheless, she got on her toes and slapped him across his cheek as hard as she could, the sound of the impact echoing throughout the silent room. A few shocked gasps, a few drawn swords and Angelique's words were the only things that followed.

"The next time you lay your hands on me, will be the last time you have hands!" she hissed at him, her words filled with venom, her eyes turning a bright red, filled with anger and frustration.

Aellioah didn't even know how to react. The slap was too sudden, her words too bitter and the change in her eyes was breathtaking by itself.

Angelique expected him to counter her, but he said nothing. Her other hand lifted and she was about to strike him a second time, but before she did, his hand grabbed her wrist, his eyes pinned on her with fascination written all over. The moment they touched, the bright red hue vanished, replaced by the deep dark blue.

Aellioah tensed and for a moment, Everyone thought he was about to strike back, but he simply let go of her hand and reached his to cup her cheek, stroking the dark circles he only now noticed under her eyes. The fascination slowly vanished, replaced by ... worry?

He looked up at Kephry then around the room, only now noticing how everyone completely stopped what they were doing.