Giadesstrin - The Devil Makes Us Sin

14-15-16-17/? pictures of Emilia Clarke

Oxford was a winter wonderland.  A freak storm had left the place a blanket of white and, while it seemed to terrorize most of the native inhabitants, Gia reveled in it.  She’d missed the gentle touch of snow on her cheeks and the crunch of it beneath her feet - not to mention as a white wolf, it was the one and only time she had any actual camouflage in wolf-form.  The winter weather made her think of the old days - snuggling up with Braylin by the fire with hot cocoa, or sitting closer than entirely necessary with the good old excuse of trying to keep warm.

Every once in awhile, she wondered what might have been.  If she’d stayed, they’d be married.  Maybe they’d have pup or five running around, terrorizing the town and ensuring New York would never be the same again.  Gia wasn’t blind to what she owed him: together, they’d discovered exactly what it meant to be a werewolf, how to conceal it, how to use it…Everything.  And he’d been good to her, unselfishly good to her - the first person to show her some kindness without any need to do so, and one of the few people who’d never let her down.  It’d been Gia who’d done them wrong; not him.

It was easy to think of him, somehow, today.  For half a second, she’d almost thought his scent was in the breeze, but that was ridiculous.  The snow had put a damper on scents, anyway, and she was sure she was just imagining it…at least that’s what she told herself.  Everett had mentioned to her that there was a new Packmaster in town, who’d arranged a meeting, but that had been just before Gia took a weekend trip to visit Devon, and she’d only just returned late the previous night. 

When she awakened, her first thought was coffee.  She’d stayed up much too late every night with Devon and then, again, with Everett - not that she regretted either decision, but coffee remained a must.  Dragging herself into the kitchen…she came to the harrowing discovery that she was out of the substance.

As soon as she’d gotten herself dressed and together, the first thing Gia did was head into town in search of caffeine.  It was too late to go to the grocery store to make it herself: by then her need was much too urgent.  Besides, Gia would always be Gia and stepping into the heart of Oxford was a sublime opportunity.  Though she’d once come here a total stranger, Oxford was now much more her home than anywhere else had ever been and she felt relieved to walk back into town and see all the familiar faces.

Seeing her need at once, at Oxford Barr, they were blessedly quick in serving her, but that wasn’t what she would later remember about this particular venture, later.

It was him.

She could hardly believe her eyes, the first moment, and almost wondered if the glass between them had half-obscured the man’s face till, given that she’d been thinking of him, he looked to her like Braylin.  All at once, though, she knew the truth.  He looked at her like a dream and she half-wondered if she were seeing a ghost of a future she might have had.  Words clung to the back of her throat and guilt fanned her cheeks into a blush. 

It was true that, from time to time, she felt guilty for being happy.  Particularly, for being happy with someone else.  She’d run away - after he’d proposed - because she thought she couldn’t handle that responsibility, because she’d been afraid of ruining everything and hurting him…and that’s exactly what she’d done, in the process.  She wondered, knowing what she did now, if she’d stayed, could they have made it work?  Or was Everett the only one who was patient enough to make it work with a girl like her?

Gia swallowed hard, the spell broken when he said her name.  “I think I grabbed the wrong kind of drink,” she tried to joke, but then she was in her arms.  Wrapping her own around his neck, she hugged him tightly and for a moment, just a moment, buried her head in his neck as she went on her tiptoes.  When she pulled away, it wasn’t too quickly, but wasn’t too slowly either.  He’d have smelt Everett on her, she knew: she didn’t have to tell him that, but she knew she still should.  She just couldn’t figure out how.  For a moment, she looked up at him before cracking a bright smile.  She realized she was guilty in something else.  She should’ve picked up the phone, she should have reconnected, said something, anything.

"Wow, I-" Gia shook her head, swallowing hard.  The words she was searching for were all wrong.  Somehow sorry seemed more a slap in the face than saying nothing at all and she brushed her hair from her face.  “It’s been so long,” she shrugged, but she smiled.  “We have so much to catch up on!  Um, why don’t we grab a seat?  Or do you wanna take a walk?” she shrugged.  “It’s,” her smile was warm.  “It’s honestly so great to see you.  What, um, what brings you to Oxford, of all places?”

It didn't occur to her, until too late, that he probably wanted to ask her the same question.

I Fell Heavy Into Your Arms || Gia & Braylin

Braylin had caught scent of her here and there. The first few times, he’d simply brushed it off as his mind playing tricks on him. But then it kept happening. Every time he went through the main part of town, he’d catch wind of her. For his first week in town, he did his best to ignore it. After all, he was here on important business, to find the packmaster of this town’s pack. He was rather shocked to find that the packmaster was also the mayor of this town; but nonetheless made it easier to get hold of him. But then - much to Braylin’s chagrin - he’d found that the packmaster was covered in the scent of Gia.

Gia. His Gia.

It had taken him nearly two days to shake the mood it had put him in. It had taken all of those two days for him to convince himself that he just needed to go find her. But even as he stepped out into the brisk January wind, he brushed his hair back in exasperation. Was he really going to do this? Go looking for the girl he’d told himself he had to let go? As his nose caught scent of her and his feet moved forward of their own accord, he knew he was. If there was a chance he could see her again, that was all that mattered. It was all the plagued his mind as he followed the trail to her.

He lost the scent in the plethora of people that milled about in the square. His blue green eyes gazed around as he stuffed his hands into the camel colored jacket he wore. Being from New York (and a werewolf, he supposed) meant he was hardly even cold here in the forty degree weather that these southerners found to be so chilly. But his usual attire of thermal shirt covered by flannel plaid shirt and then jacket hardly changed, even in the heat of summer. He was a lumberjack through and through.

Sure that he’d lost his trail to Gia, he turned and headed down the sidewalk to the small local cafe. He reached for the door and pulled it open just as someone was about to walk through; and it all hit him at the same time. The smell of coffee, the smell of Gia, and then Gia’s eyes were on him, as wide as if she’d just seen a ghost. Braylin’s usually quiet demeanor (and her apparent shock) left them standing there staring at each other through the glass of the door as he held it open. For all he knew, they stood there for a month before he finally found his vocal chords, “Gia…”

Braylin might be quiet; but that didn’t mean he was slow. He had put two and two together. A packmaster (who, admittedly, was good looking) covered in the scent of Gia obviously meant that he and she were something more than friends. He hadn’t missed the picture of them together on Everett’s desk. But even being the good man he was, he couldn’t help himself. Propping the door open with his knee, he reached forward and pulled Gia’s 5’2 frame into his 6’ body. He wrapped his arms around her and buried his face into her hair, just like he always had when they were young. He couldn’t find any words to say, but just held her there in his arms, completely awestruck that he was once again holding the woman he’d never stopped loving.

Emilia Clarke

You’re in love with him, and he’s in love with you, and it’s like a goddamn tragedy, because you look at him and see the stars, and he looks at you and sees the sun. And you both think the other is just looking at the ground. But god, just notice you’re both looking at the sky. (x)