Victorian 18k Gold Banded Agate And Black Enamel Ring

Victorian 18k Gold Banded Agate and Black Enamel Ring

Title Page for Act V, from Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream by W. Heath Robinson (1914)

dolasach watches rafayel closely, the worry in her eyes a stark contrast to the mischief in his. ordinarily, his laughter would coax a smile out of her; but right now, it only serves to cause confusion to mixed with concern as he brings himself ever closer.

“your… motive?”

instinctively, she holds onto his shoulders even tighter as he pins her down on the couch. here, there was nothing to look at but him, even more so as he makes her meet his gaze. despite the intimacy of their position and the tenderness with which he handles her, a deep dread settles in her gut as the dots begin to connect.

she could almost see the words form themselves in rafayel’s mind as she stares into his sunset eyes. they were words that only served to send a chill deep into her bones;

to hear them spoken out loud renders her heart frozen, breath caught as her eyes widen and search his for any hint that he was kidding. for a hint of mirth that came before he’d reveal that it was all to mess with her, to see how she’d react.

but this was about his people now, about vengeance. and that was something she knew rafayel never took lightly. not when he’s lost his people to the cruelty of humans who cared only for the advancements of their own kind; cared only for power, for influence, for wealth gained with little care for those who they siphoned blood and harvested scales from, maimed and tortured for the sake of ‘science.’

all the more that in sent her on the verge of spiraling.

“no, i… my parents? to your people?” her voice is quiet; she’d shout if she could, but hushed tones were all she could muster as he beginnings of this revelation stiffened her tongue and lips.

her eyes were pleading for him to just tell her the whole truth as vague, distorted memories of her time in with her parents began to surface.

“there’s—… how? rafayel, what have they done?”

❦ 𝐵𝑖𝑟𝑡ℎ𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝐵𝑎𝑠ℎ

a closed starter | @vibinsane

the marker of yet another year of existence passing; dolasach's birthday draws near. it looms around the corner, the date a week from now.

she doesn't think it to be a celebration.

each day closer to the day brings forth old memories, unearths feelings buried beneath six feet of repeated retrospection. how annoying, she thinks, to be so bogged down by something so... asinine.

she quietly takes a deep breath and smooths out the crease between her brows.

relax.

this isn't the sort of headspace she should be in if she's going to be hanging around mo art studio. the last thing she wanted was for her boyfriend to catch her in her melancholy.

(even though by now, deep down, she knows he's noticed the shift in her demeanor for the last few days)

it's sunny today. the sun blesses them with its warmth and the clouds are gorgeous. the surrounding sea meets and parts with the shore of whitesand bay over and over, the resulting waves providing calming white noise that filled the silence.

it would've been nice if her mind mirrored the mood outside.

her eyes drift towards rafayel. his back is turned to her, something that can't be helped as he works on yet another painting too large to be mounted on an easel. it works to dolasach's favor; if he wants to look at her, he'll have to turn around.

she'll see it if he does.

and it'll give her the chance to put on a happier face.

she thinks it's a simple plan, but as she falls back into her thoughts while watching rafayel paint, her troubles make themselves known on her features.

dooooola. are you doing anything today?

is it with rafayel?

sucks for him, i'm going to steal you away for today and tonight.

i'll deal with him later, i promise.

be ready in like... an hour or so? maybe two. actually, just tell me when you're ready, but if it's more than four hours, i'm in your walls.

love you! see you later. 🩶

@irisirens

> to atropurpurea: huh? why the sudden...?

> to atropurpurea: well. just so i won't have to dig you out of raf's walls, sure. i'll spare you the trouble of having to deal with him though.

> to atropurpurea: give me a couple of hours and i'm all yours.

And sure enough, a little over an hour later, Dolasach was all dressed for a day out and ready to go. Comfort was the priority for today's outfit, with Rafayel's signature cardigan worn over a loose dress and sneakers. It was a minimal makeup day too, bare except for a bit of liner, mascara, and tinted lip oil.

She lounged on the large expensive sofa in the Rafayel's studio as she waited, the sea breeze coming in proving to be as healing as it always was. Truthfully, she wasn't quite in the headspace to really want to be out, but she knew she couldn't hide at home forever.

Maybe seeing a friend and touching some grass will invigorate her?

> to atropurpurea: ready! feel free to drop by any time now.

> to atropurpurea: you're not planning anything crazy, right? it's kind of been a wild time lately...

A split second of hesitation left her open enough for the puck to barely care that she'd grazed it with her mallet, only slightly shifting course while sliding into her goal. Jeremiah's lead increases to three, and Dola's left groaning at her misfortune.

"You really don't want me to ask you whatever you think I'm going to ask you, don't you?"

She lets out a chuckle followed by a sigh. There isn't much time, and by now she figures the lead's too big to catch up to, if she's lucky enough to even manage that.

Still, she isn't giving up. She sends the puck flying towards him with a serve loud enough that it had a few people looking towards them in surprise.

"You must really be dreading that little bit of honesty, hm?"

(RE?)connecting; @jeremiahofphilo

Wednesday night. Cool, moderately windy, with the moon mostly blocked by the clouds.

Half an hour earlier than the agreed upon time, Dolasach arrived at the arcade—a flashy building with three floors of entertainment that ranged from the classic crane game, to a newly installed interactive holographic setup ‘that brought VR into IRL.’ Rolling up the sleeves of the beige and navy cardigan that her pouty lover insisted she wear lent her, she made her way deeper inside with a goal in mind.

Recalling that Jeremiah mentioned that he couldn’t figure out some of the machines, she made it a point to take some time to scour the place for anything that either looked like something Jeremiah would know about, or seemed like the right level of complexity for it to still be fun to figure out. Or maybe they could have fun with something they could both figure out together?

It crossed her mind that this was probably way more busywork than Jeremiah could’ve ever expected from her, but after how… Awkward? Some of their last meeting went, she just wanted to try and make sure things go relatively well. Or at least, they wouldn’t have that much dead air if it did get awkward again.

She pulled out her phone and quickly sent Jeremiah a text once she was satisfied with her findings, the time hitting close to their rendezvous.

->Mr. Philo-dendron: Let me know when you’re here, will meet you at the entrance. Take your time btw! No rush :>

Huang Yong Ping: 'Serpent d’océan' (2012) 130 meter aluminum sea serpent skeleton sculpture