writing snippets

as you've loved me from the start (nelle & kingsley)

the sand and dust of the decayed wastes are not something that nelle will ever get used to. she always seems to find so much in her shoes and pockets when she gets home from her trek through them to the city and it's honestly a pain. dumping sand out from her boots and shaking out her coat is practically muscle memory when she approaches the back entrance to her home.

it's been a while since she's been back. she travels periodically, often during the summers through the end of fall. she stays for the winter, the cooling of the desert is a nice change and one she finds pleasant and preferable. the spring is nice too, though it tends to warm quicker. either way, the winter season is beginning to creep over the decayed wastes once more and that is what calls her home. this and him.

she's quiet as she moves through the living quarters of the palace compound. her shoes are tied together and slung over her shoulders so she pads through the halls quietly. it's about midday so everyone is probably out anyway, but she doesn't want to disturb the peace that's settled here so she goes about settling down quietly.

she opens the door to their room and it's just as she remembers. though she notices a bigger stack of kept letters and a few new trinkets lined along the shelves of the desk in the corner. she huffs a soft laugh and hangs her bag on a hook by the door and sets her boots down in their place. the shades are closed shut so she pulls them open to let the noon sun shine through and give the place a more spacious feeling. that's better. she muses and begins to change.

nelle had grown used to wearing layers over the years but adjustment to the desert has required her to wear less and she feels that it's good she does. layers only ever suited her so she could hide and she's trying to be better about that. there's no reason to hide anymore. there was never any reason to hide. she does stick to her tendency of wearing gloves but they only pull over her hands now and no longer go up her arms shielding her skin from the eyes around her.

she's let her hair grow out too. much longer than she's ever let it get and it still startles her when she runs a hand through it and it goes down to her mid back rather than stopping at her shoulder. it's long and gets knotted way too easily but she likes it. she likes the feeling of it against her back and even if it's a pain she enjoys the rhythm of brushing it. she finds herself lost in that rhythm now, running a comb through pink hair to remove knots that formed in the braids she had in.

she sits on the window seat as she does, lost in the repetitive motions and in her head. it's sometimes off putting to acknowledge that she is not the same as she was a few years ago. not to say she's entirely different but she's...happier. healthier. she's working at her faults and she's being open. she doesn't think she has much to show for her efforts especially because she's gone half of the year but the people around her would tell you different. nelle has changed drastically in her approach to her relationships with people and how she handles herself. though it's not unheard of for her to lapse back into old habits it's better than still living that way, isn't it?

nelle watches the garden outside as she thinks about this. she doesn't enjoy analyzing herself but she does it anyway. it's easy to overlook things in the moment so going over them is good, it helps her to learn. it's while she's doing this someone else enters the room. she doesn't notice, too lost in herself to hear the door creak open and a surprised noise come from the same direction.

a kiss to the top of her head is what gets her attention. she turns, surprised and then delighted and then carefully calm. "you surprised me."

kingsley scrunches his eyes the way he does when he's grinning. "thought i would." he sits down across from her and he's in casual clothes, as casual as you can get anyway when you're a prince who is essentially doing the job of a king. but it's all semantics says kingsley. nelle always rolls her eyes when he says that and doesn't press it. "did you just get back?" he slides a socked foot on either side of hers so they're sandwiched together.