Ethereal

Arthur stood before her, in front of the altar. He was shirtless, barefoot, clad only in white linen pants. He smiled at her, then closed his eyes and spread his arms out at his sides. Then gingerly and very slowly, as if not to shock her, he exhaled deeply and his wings began to unfurl.

They came gradually, starting at the base of his shoulders, two white shoots extending from his back, growing, higher, wider, thicker as they spread back and up and out. Olivia eyed the scalloped edges, yearning to trace then with her hands. The inside of his wings began to glow with velvet iridescence. Just like in her dream. Only now, when it as finally coming true, she could look at his wings for the first time without feeling woozy, without straining her eyes.

She could take in all of Arthur's glory. He was stilling glowing as if lit from within. She could still clearly see his violet-grey eyes and his full mouth. His strong hands and broad shoulders. She could reach out and fold herself in her love's sight. He reached for her. Olivia closed her eyes at his touch, expecting something too otherworldly for her human body to withstand. But no, it was simply, reassuringly, Arthur. She reached around his back to finger his wings. She reached for them nervously, as if they could burn her, but they flowed around her fingers, softer than the smoothest velvet, the plushest rug.

"You're so...beautiful", she whispered into his chest.

"Does it scare you?", He whispered," Does it hurt to look?".She shook her head.

"I thought it might", she said thinking back to her dreams,"But it hurts not to"