i hear the hounds in the woods [raf]

[FELICITY ELAINE WAKEFIELD]

it had been a long time since felicity had stayed in one place for very long. as time wore on, it seemed more and more apparent to her that very few places felt like home, or even comfortable - she was growing more and more restless, as if a time of great reckoning was drawing nearer, but what that was, even she wasn't sure. she would venture it might be just a restlessness that comes with age; perhaps there was a certain time that a vampire began to feel as if she had seen everything, been everywhere, and all that. unfortunately, when she tried to use that as an explanation, it didn't sit well; it didn't fit into the gap that implied her distress.

she tried to ignore it, the best she could. she tried to keep the melancholy feeling down; she could feel the tension riveting her body, leaving her lips pressed into a thin line when she wasn't even consciously making the motion. felicity had always been a woman that controlled her emotions well, so the idea that she was losing that grasp on herself left her feeling even more out of place in the world, like her limbs were too crooked and uneven to fit in the places they had before.

now, as the blonde stepped into their new home - our new home, she thinks with a certain delight that, even despite her mood, puts a smile on her rosy lips - she glanced around at the warm greecian home and tried to quell the turning of her stomach. what was it, precisely, that was leaving her in such a poor mood? tucking a lock of flaxen hair behind her ear, she pressed her lips into that thin line that seemed to be more and more prevalent these days, inspecting the view their deck area had over the ocean.

putting a soft smile on, one that thinly veiled her emotional turmoil, she looked back at rafael and beckoned for him to take her hand with a flutter of her lashes and an outreached hand.

i know what it is, she thought absently. today's the day i almost killed rafael, instead of turning him. today's the day i had his life in my hands. she studied her counterpart carefully, giving him a small smile. she had never told him that his joining her had not been her first choice - she had kept that part of her tucked away, for good measure.

normally, it wouldn't have bothered felicity so much. in the past years she had hardly noticed as the dates went by; those that stood out to her had been the sequential deaths of her children, mostly, but for one reason or another, the realization that she had almost killed rafael and spent her entire life without him left her feeling melancholic.

"how is greece's climate treating you so far, darling?" she asked him with a warm, amused glitter in her roasted-gold gaze, letting their fingers interlace easily, companionably. "i think i could get used to it. at the very least, i could get used to this beautiful home."

ooc://it's rushed because school BUT HOPEFULLY THIS IS OKAY

[rafael adalfieri navarrete]

Rafael Navarrete knew enough to tell when Felicity was troubled. The ability to read her had come with much time, and much experience, but nowadays, even the faintest flickering of her eyes, the slight downturn of her mouth, was enough to make him watch her more closely, his dark eyes monitoring every move even as his mind quietly catalogued each expression; every small twitch which, though not a physical twitch, was similar in manner to the small, involuntary jerks given by humans that Rafael thought the comparison justified in using. Yes, that was what Felicity's "twitches" were: involuntary expressions, ones she made when she didn't realise it, or the conscious choice to relax herself that Rafael could see every time, the one that would result in her shoulders inching down as the tension was forced away. Once upon a time, Rafael hadn't been able to tell these things apart from her normal behaviour, but that had changed.

Now, he could see every invisible line of tension as if they were tight strings pulled around Felicity's skin, marring the flawless white of her skin. It was partially why he stayed back as she walked through the entryway of their new home, eyes flickering down to her feet and then back up as she moved, and though he could feel a warmth in his chest at the sight--it was a nice warmth, one that pushed away at the darkness he felt within, and he had long since become accustomed to it--it still provoked a spark of worry in him.

Ever since he had known her, Felicity had always been a master at hiding her emotions, as he was, in his own little way. It was part of their respective human lifestyles carrying onto the next, and also the result of constantly having to lie about what they were to anyone who inquired of them, which had also dated back to Rafael's human life, back when he had carried a lesser name and been known as a lesser part of society, simply because of his parentage. It had made his blood burn as he got older, before that anger had turned cold, and he had been determined that he would not just be the de Luján bastard; the unwanted sibling; the irrelevant son. Of course, his plans had never had the chance to bloom into their full fruition, but Rafael often thought that Felicity far outweighed any of the burning desire for revenge he might have still felt otherwise.

Up ahead, Felicity stood just inside their house, and when she turned around and beckoned him forward it was almost second nature to step forward to her side. It wasn't a blind obedience inspired in him, for he was his own person, and could easily make his own decisions, but rather a conscious choice. It would always be his choice to stand by Felicity; his conscious mind that willed him to do so. And so, therefore, he did, sliding his hand into hers as he stepped forward, eyes flickering around the interior of their new home, the moist air gliding over his skin before it was abruptly cut off by the shelter the house provided.

"Yes," Rafael told her, glancing down as she laced their fingers together. "I have never doubted your ability to find us beautiful homes, my dear Felicity. But then again, wherever you are is home enough for me."

ooc: sorry it's so short. i also wrote it in a rush before my class finished xD