By the Silvery Moon {LUNA}

[HENRY ♥ TAYLOR]

He was only vaguely aware that she was watching him. Even if he had noticed, Henry probably wouldn’t have minded. He was fascinated by her, drawn in by the essence that had forever bonded them together. Whether she liked it or not, she was perfect to him. Something in her genetics was strong enough to snag him and keep him loyal to her and hopefully their future family. It was a small detail he was sure he’d keep from her, because he doubted any sane person would be able to swallow such a finite existence off the bat. That, in a nutshell, was the hard part about being a werewolf. Imprinting on another wolf or pack oriented human was easy, because the two of them understood how it worked and future planning was easy. When you moved outside of that… people didn’t like the idea of being bonded to someone without choice. So the patience game began.

“What? Snot soup doesn’t sound good to you?” He teased. “If not I can always make Angel cake…” Henry gave her a little win, but shook his head. It was in his nature to be silly and light hearted. Not many really understood the method behind his madness, but Henry dealt with a lot of broken hearts on a daily basis. The girls, boys and adults who came into his office had been hunted, rejected and broken down. Often times their spirits were so beyond lifting. They didn’t want sympathy, they wanted to forget. That’s what Henry provided. He gave them comfort and a chance to forget. It was the way he treated everyone, because he knew even he wanted a life without the anguish of a painful past. “Don’t worry I don’t use actual Angels. I think that would be frowned upon.”

He laughed, a quiet laugh that occasionally brought back memories of silent laughter that rocked the ribcages and hurt the stomach. There were a lot of those moments at home with the boys. They were always laughing about something whether it was a prank they played or a failed pickup of some pretty girl. The Taylor household never filled itself with negativity because they never wanted to regret the last moment they had together. “Mama kept the doors open to everyone so we had a lot of boys under one roof. Most of the time it was rough housing and the rest of the time it was playing pranks and chasing girls. We were trouble I tell ya.” A small chuckle passed his lips. “She was always yelling at us to sit still and quit making the girls blush. Boys… always trouble.”

“Well Miss Luna, I wouldn’t mind giving you a few cooking lessons.” He still had a bit of an outstretched hand as she extended her wings and when her feathers made contact with her hands he couldn’t help, but marvel at the softness of them. “Do you spend a lot of time trying to fly?” He asked her curiously. As a werewolf he spent a lot of his time shifting. He loved being a wolf. The power and the feel of the wind through his fur was unlike anything else. He knew that while he embraced his nature, not many others did the same. “Alright beautiful, seafood gumbo it is with crepes for dessert.” Luna was in for a treat. Henry had spent a lot of time cooking gumbo and with the Atlantic Ocean surrounding Elysium it would be very easy to get the freshest and the best seafood there was to offer. After the slightly spicy and savory meal, she’d get a taste of Madame Taylor’s legendary crepes. The mixture of chocolate and French vanilla, topped with fresh sweet fruit. It was definitely something Henry was sure she’d love.

[LUNA ♥ MELIAE]

"Can't imagine 'Angel cake made with real angels' would taste any better than 'snot soup'." Her tease was just as light hearted as his, and she chuckled a little as her wings stretched back out behind her. "I can see why; wings would taste horrible beaten with egg and sugar and flour and baked... Don't you agree?"

As Henry spoke of his mother and what it was like living in the Taylor home, Luna's thoughts flashed back to cold, quiet days in the Meliae household, talking only to her parents on occasion, being friendlier towards the cook and the maids than the people who raised her. of course, she loved her parents dearly, and always would... but they hadn't always been there for her. She looked up at the offer of cooking lessons, and she smiled appreciatively before shifting so she could press her fingers into the wood of the pier, fingernails scraping gently over the textured surface. "I can see you being a trouble kid; chasing after girls just to tease them with silly jokes to make them blush... And thank you for the cooking offer; that would be nice. I'll be cooking authentic Southern dishes in no time..."

Again she lost herself in his eyes as she looked up at him, in the sound of his voice, in his accent, in the gentle touch of his fingers against her wings. Humming low in response, she ducked her head in a nod, one wing flicking slightly as if to agree. "Yeah, I've been practicing since I first got them. I'm pretty okay at it now, of course I can't fly long distance... and I don't like heights so I try not to go up too high. Do you... want to see?"

Seafood gumbo. She had only ever had seafood chowder in England, a thick, lemony concoction with prawns and fish and mussels and fresh crusty bread, but she knew that gumbo was different, spicier, and she couldn't wait to try it already. Then the mention of crepes. As if to accentuate her love of sweet pastries, her stomach growled a little and she flushed with embarrassment, a hand pressing to her stomach as she laughed.

"Oh, wow... That was embarrassing; crepes are one of my favorite types of food. Especially if they're piled with chocolate and fruit. I think you might have just sold me on dinner, Mr. Taylor. No backing out now."

[HENRY ♥ TAYLOR]

When he had gotten a fill of touching her feathers, Henry let himself trace a trail back up to her shoulder and down her arm until he found her hand. Carefully he played with her hand, examining her fingers as if they held some secret he was trying to solve. Really, Henry just wanted to hold her hand and as he held her soft fingers between his, he let the unique quality of her voice lull him into his daydream. She was beautiful and every part of him was already settled on spending the rest of his life with her. Of course she didn’t know that, she couldn’t know that. Carefully he brought her hand up to his lips, pressing them lightly against the smooth of her knuckles before bringing them back down to the pier.

He took a moment to let their hands linger together before he left her hand alone figuring he might have pushed a little boundary between them. It was going to have to be a constant reminded from now on that while he was fully prepared to be some romantic idiot, she might fight him tooth and nail to keep him at a distance. “Actually believe it or not my brothers were the real trouble. Mom used to chase them around yelling at the top of her lungs that they needed to quit messing with the girls in town before someone got pregnant.” A chuckle left his lips at the thought of them. It was always fun to be the one kid who was never in trouble. While he was mama’s favorite, there was a good reason for it. He was his father’s spitting image and while all his other siblings, children of his stepfather turned out human, Henry took right after his mother and father continuing the lineage of proud werewolves in the family.

“Honest to God, I never gave mama too much trouble.” With a bit of a smile Henry drew a cross over his heart. “I was too busy being in love with this girl name Shelby. We were childhood sweethearts and I was head over heels for her.” Shelby had been the love of Henry’s life. He often looked back on their memory with fondness wondering what would have become of them if they had chosen to get married and defy the rules of imprinting. While he missed her at times, he now didn’t regret their decision. For children they calculated correctly and knew that no matter how hard they fought it a werewolf was still a werewolf and that somewhere out there, there was a soul mate to imprint on. “I was too busy doting on her than chasing other girls.”


A quick shrug of his shoulders signified he wasn’t really affected by the loss. “Don’t worry I’m not fretting. You see werewolves do this thing called imprinting. When we run into our soulmate, it’s literally love at first sight and we’re bonded to them. We’d do anything for them. It’s irrevocable and we can’t fight it.” As he looked at Luna he didn’t regret not having a choice, he didn’t want to fight it. It was right, it felt right and no matter how much he had hated the idea before, it seemed so perfect now. “I never imprinted on Shell. We were together for years and one day we both just realized it would never happen and we agreed we’d rather break up than break her heart with me imprinting while I was still with her.”

It was a sad story. There were always sad stories when it came to imprinting. It was a messy process and not everyone could be lucky to meet their soul mate as a child. Yet, no matter how messy it was, it always worked out in the end. That was all part of the master plan as Henry liked to think, a big puzzle that knew what pieces it belonged to, but had to be put together before you could see the big picture. “I’m awful with heights…” He said with a scrunch of his face. “Sad, but true. Do you have any other powers besides flight?”

There wasn’t much that Henry knew about Angels, but from the few students who saw him he knew that they had other powers that ranged from light play to even controlling the elements like some elementals. “Me back out of dinner? Pfft, you’re crazy Miss Luna.”

[LUNA ♥ MELIAE]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,padding-left:5px; padding-top:5px; padding-right:5px; padding-bottom:5px; background-color: #575757; border-radius: 100px 0px 100px 0px;] luna meliae "Im nothing more than a chalk outline" Luna closed her eyes at the sensation of his fingers tracing her shoulder and down her arm. When his fingers found hers, she smiled secretly, eyes still on the water as he poured every ounce of his attention on her hand, before she felt the brush of his lips against her knuckles. Looking up at him in shock, she couldn't stop the color from rising to her cheeks, and her smile widened as a way to avoid the embarrassment that she'd been caught off guard by his simple affectionate gesture. When he spoke of his family, she felt a twinge of something close to jealousy spark within her, but she pushed the sensation back down as soon as it had emerged. It would do her no good to feel jealous over others who had had the chance to grow up in a happy family. Trying to hide her momentary discomfort, she smiled again and shifted forward just enough on the pier that her feet were once more dipping into the just cold enough water. It was nice to hear of his family, of his obviously strong and proud mother who kept the Taylor boys in line, an image that made her giggle just a little. "I never had any brothers. I can only imagine what it was like living in a big family like yours," she spoke softly after a moment, when he'd gone silent. Her head tilted and she looked up at him as he drew a cross over his heart. The next he spoke, it was of a girl called Shelby, a girl he'd been childhood sweethearts with. That thought made Luna's smile falter just a little - but it was more because she'd never had that growing up, never had the big warm family, never had the childhood sweetheart - before she pressed her lips together in thought. He spoke next of imprinting. While she hadn't really known many werewolves or weres growing up, after coming to Elysian her life and her views on the rest of the world had changed. She knew that imprinting meant there was one person in all the world that was right for you, sort of like a predestined moment in time. Luna looked up at Henry as he explained imprinting, her eyes on his as she wondered if he had imprinted on anyone yet. The girl who was his would be very lucky indeed. "I guess we can be awful with heights together..." she said with a tease, lips pulling into a wide smile as she held up her hand, palm up, to show him her other skill. Her skin began to brighten as she watched him, until pure golden light shone from her fingertips and palm. Soon enough, it hovered just above her hand in a small orb of brilliant light, and she grinned at him as she held it closer. "Light manipulation. Meaning I'm a night light for people when they lose their dorm keys in the middle of the night." The look she gave him, and the laugh, suggested that such an incident was in fact true, and she wiggled her fingers a little so the light remained hovering between them as she dropped her hand back down to the pier. "Yes, guess I am, having dinner with a stranger. Unless you'd call that adventurous." Tags: henry | Words: -- | Credit: 156zcm of Caution Notes: In their own line

[HENRY ♥ TAYLOR]

Time was passing and the night was growing heavy. Henry had lost track of it all in the enjoyment of his conversation with Luna. There was a moment of recognition as he glanced at his watch finally breaking through the delightful illusion. While they were in their own world, there was still the world around them moving at its pace and reminding them that they’d have to come with eventually. He decided to delay it for a moment and there was still a bit of a trek back up the small hills and onto the actual campus grounds. “No sisters either?” He asked with a small sympathetic smile. “You don’t have to answer if it hurts. Elysium is a great place, but the reasons people come here are pretty dark and horrible, I understand no matter what you choose to tell me.”

He offered that little bit of solace. Henry had been working as the guidance counselor for over three years now. Every story, every nightmare and every dream and hope, lost or won by coming to this island was heard. It was the only heartbreaking part of the job. People so young and old alike came to this place because they lost everything and the world had been cruel enough to rub it in like salt in a wound by trying to take the refuge away from them. Luckily the unpleasant thoughts were come and gone as a light shone in the darkness. It was a literal light emanating from the delicate palm of Luna’s hand. A small smile broke across his lips. He was aware that some angels were capable of interesting things, but he had never quite witnessed their abilities at first hand. “It’s beautiful, but I expected no less from you.”

A small laugh left his lips before he sighed. A sudden pang of dislike rang through his body as he spoke. “It’s getting pretty late.” He stood up standing at the end of the pier making sure that he had everything. In his eyes was a look of disdain emphasizing that he hadn’t wanted to leave, but he had work and work was always an early start when there were children trying to avoid class and come to him for comfort. It was evident to himself that he it was certainly uncomfortable parting with her. “How about I walk you back? I would still love your company.” Henry wasn’t sure where she lived. Students had an array of choices for dorm rooms. They could choose a single gender dorm or mixed gender floors and the college students who belonged to frats and sororities could choose to live in those houses.

The greek houses were a new thing on campus. They were built after Henry had graduated and he was still getting used to the idea. He had learned that the difficult way upon taking Sura home a late night after catching up. She belonged to Alpha Phi Gamma, but he had assumed she lived in the dorms until she carefully corrected that they had to make the trek past the dorms and across rushing square to the quaint little white and pink house she called home. It was better to let her lead the way than have himself get lost and looking like an idiot for assuming she lived in one place or another.

[LUNA ♥ MELIAE]

[atrb=border,0,true][atrb=style,padding-left:5px; padding-top:5px; padding-right:5px; padding-bottom:5px; background-color: #575757; border-radius: 100px 0px 100px 0px;] luna meliae "Im nothing more than a chalk outline" "No sisters, either," she replied in a soft voice, the usual bright lilt to her words gone as she stared out at the rippling water, the reflection of the moon starting to vanish as the night came to an ever constant close. "I was an only child. Both my parents were only children as well, so I don't have any aunts or uncles or cousins." She'd grown up in a tiny family of her mother and her father, and occasionally a couple of maids and the cook. While there had been a friend... before everything had changed... she'd had no one else and had only had her own thoughts to entertain her. Things, of course, had changed after she moved out of the hospital and into the school on Elysian. She'd forced herself to become more sociable, to make friends and to be happy. For the most part, it had worked. But she was often reminded that she was alone, especially when she was left alone during the holidays when other students visited their family. Dragged from her overly depressing thoughts by Henry and his standing up, she looked up and followed suit, her dress rustling around her as she straightened and then brushed herself down. "An escort home would be lovely," she replied with a little bit of a giggle, before she turned away from the lake. "I live in one of the new Greek houses; actually... I'm the president of Delta Chi Omega." Not that it was something to be proud of, right? The sorority wasn't even all that full yet, as many of the girls in the dorms hadn't decided to join a sorority, but it was still hers to take care of. She turned a little towards Henry, the moon illuminating her red hair and lighting her green eyes as she smiled up at him. "Think you can handle a sorority girl, Mr. Taylor?" Tags: henry | Words: -- | Credit: 156zcm of Caution Notes: In their own line