Page 61 of Monsters in Love: Lost in the Stars

Neamhaí was so relieved. They had found their being, right here, unharmed. How they had managed to fall into this specific garden was beyond Neamhaí, so they accepted it was a sense of gratitude.

"You've been… watching me?" The being asked, incredulous. They still hadn't given Neamhaí their name.

"What can I call you, goddess?"

His being's eyes went wide, and Neamhaí felt a pang of regret at causing her what he could only assume was fear.

"My name is Dorinavasya, and I am a woman. Or, rather, a goddess. Though, I'm not really anymore, I…" she stopped herself, and her brow furrowed again. Her eyebrows were bold and dark, and Neamhaí loved the intensity they brought to her beautiful face.

Despite her newfound mortality, she was everything Neamhaí had thought she would be. Her silky black hair fell to her waist, with a section of silvery white that framed her face on one side. Her eyes were almost luminescent, the irises a pale silver beneath her dark lashes. She had pale, creamy skin and perfect soft features, and she was the most breathtaking being in all the vastness of the universe.

"Dorinavasya," Neamhaí repeated, her name like a prayer on his lips.

"You can just call me Dorin, though," she said, regaining some of her composure.

"As I said, Dorin, I used to watch you when we were both…" he gestured toward the sky again. "But then I noticed you were gone, and you had never been gone before, so…" they trailed off.

"So, you followed me here?" Dorin finished, her expression looking less than impressed.

"I did, yes. To protect you." Neamhaí straightened, attempting to look intimidating. Dorin looked even less impressed.

"I fell almost two years ago, in mortal time," Dorin answered. "And we've never even met, how did you expect to find me?"

"I would know you anywhere, Dorin," Neamhaí answered, and he meant it. "I believe I was meant to love you, worship you; why else would I have fallen right here, where you've made your home?"

Dorin rolled her eyes, and Neamhaí found himself smiling at her. She was full of fire, his moon goddess.

She opened the door to her cottage and Neamhaí peered inside.

"You can come in," Dorin said with a sigh, gesturing for them to follow. Neamhaí couldn't help but notice the curve of her hip as she walked. They wanted to feel her body pressed to theirs. They had loved her for so long from afar, but being near her, in this different body, they… wanted things they'd never wanted before.

Neamhaí took in the small main room of the cottage as Dorin moved to the tiny kitchen to unload her bag. The room was comfortable, with a hearth on one wall that lay dormant, potted plants on every available surface, and a small bed piled with patchwork quilts in shades of greens and blues.

Other than the plants, there were tiny signs of the life Dorin had started to build here nestled onto a shelf in the corner of the room: a rock broken open to reveal a crystal inside, a dried rose, a set of drawing pencils. When Neamhaí sought out his elder to send him here, they'd given him the ability to understand many things about how the mortals lived, things he’d never needed to know before. Now he was glad that he understood all these objects that should have been foreign to him.

"Put this on," Dorin's voice pulled Neamhaí from their thoughts. She tossed them a billowy linen shirt.

"Oh, right. Mortals don't like nudity, do they?" Neamhaí said with a chuckle. "Do I…" they turned the fabric in their hands, attempting to make sense of it.

"Here," Dorin came over and gathered the fabric in her hands. "You put your head through here," she reached up and slipped the largest opening over his head. "Then, your arms go in each of the sleeves."

When she finished, she didn't immediately move away. She was so close, they could smell her. Space didn’t have many smells to experience, but hers was the most pleasant he’d encountered. He didn't have a name for it, but an image flashed in his mind of a white, night-blooming flower.

He couldn't believe she was here, standing right in front of him. She studied him, and her hand drifted up to his cheek, brushing her fingertips across his face. He smiled at her softly. Now that he was here with her, he never wanted to leave.