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riverviewlogs2018-04-01 07:49 pm
- !mod post: holiday,
- !mod post: monthly mingle,
- almost human: dorian,
- devilman crybaby: ryo asuka,
- dragon age: dorian pavus,
- halo: forward unto dawn: chyler silva,
- httyd: hiccup haddock iii,
- legend of zelda (botw): zelda,
- logan: laura,
- magnificent seven: billy rocks,
- marvel (616): bucky barnes,
- marvel (616): steve rogers,
- marvel (mcu): bucky barnes,
- marvel (mcu): gamora,
- marvel (mcu): loki,
- marvel (mcu): peter quill,
- marvel (mcu): steve rogers,
- marvel (mcu): tony stark,
- once upon a time: victor frankenstein,
- original: aeacinos ixocia,
- original: shigeru miyata,
- rivers of london: peter grant,
- star trek (aos): james kirk,
- star wars: cassian andor,
- star wars: finn,
- star wars: jyn erso,
- star wars: poe dameron,
- the black tapes: alex reagan,
- vikings: gyda ragnarsdottir,
- ✖ angel sanctuary: alexiel,
- ✖ dc comics (preboot): cassandra cain,
- ✖ dc comics (preboot): stephanie brown,
- ✖ dc comics (preboot): tim drake,
- ✖ dc comics (rebirth): damian wayne,
- ✖ dc comics (rebirth): jason todd,
- ✖ dctv (flash): cisco ramon,
- ✖ ffxv: ignis scientia,
- ✖ fullmetal alchemist (03): edward elric,
- ✖ fullmetal alchemist (manga): riza hawk,
- ✖ fullmetal alchemist (manga): roy musta,
- ✖ gundam 00: tieria erde,
- ✖ kuroshitsuji: ciel phantomhive,
- ✖ kuroshitsuji: undertaker,
- ✖ kuroshitsuji: vincent phantomhive,
- ✖ marvel (mcu): stephen strange,
- ✖ marvel (tv): jessica jones,
- ✖ marvel (ultimates): tony stark,
- ✖ mutant x: brennan mulwray,
- ✖ mutant x: shalimar fox,
- ✖ my hero academia: toshinori yagi,
- ✖ original: christian fischer,
- ✖ original: freya vaughn,
- ✖ original: orion luis,
- ✖ osomatsu-san: ichimatsu matsuno,
- ✖ persona 3: makoto yuuki,
- ✖ persona 5: makoto niijima,
- ✖ shadowhunter chronicles: alec lightwoo,
- ✖ star wars: kylo ren,
- ✖ the finder: willa monday,
- ✖ vikings: ivar ragnarsson,
- ✖ yuri on ice: otabek altin
monthly mingle: FLOWER FESTIVAL
what: monthly mingle: flower festival
when: The month of April.
where: Anywhere around the city.
warnings: please put any necessary warnings in the subject lines
In the days leading up to April 1st, residents new and old will notice preparations beginning, a flurry of activity getting the city ready for the upcoming celebration: The Flower Festival. Celebrating springtime, beauty, joy, and togetherness, the festival heavily features floral themes and dancing. The advertising mentions that on April 9th, a paid holiday, there will be a Blossom Picnic, as well as lists of various public dances at clubs or other open venues, the River Spirit Procession, and Flower Exchange.
The Flower Festival's main event is the Blossom Picnic on April 9th, but it also features traditions of sharing food and drink, and dancing that span over the course of the whole two weeks. There are a large variety of events going on throughout the city, from dancing lessons in any wide variety of traditional dances, to old-fashioned sock hops, to adult raves complete with mild party drugs. Feel free to use the prompts below or create your own event at any point during the festival, and if your character creates an event and hosts it in a top-level, you can submit that thread for extra bonus points.
i. blossom picnic
The main event that kicks off the second week of the Flower Festival is the Blossom Picnic on April 9th. A relaxed and low-key event, it draws several thousand people every year to the spacious Riverview Central Park, where there is a generous lawn lined with various blossoming trees, and families, found families, lovers, and groups of friends are encouraged to lay out a picnic blanket and share food. There will be live bands playing (but not loudly enough to distract from conversation and peacefully watching the petals flutter in the wind), a variety of demonstrations of traditional cultural dances from many different realities and planets, and a ton of ice cream vendors. This is an excellent festival not only for celebrating togetherness with the people who are already important, but for mingling and making new friends.
Characters may either pack their own lunches or they can purchase pre-packed Blossom Festival lunches. Stores and street markets are carrying a wide variety of specialty food that is only available at this time of year - predominantly pastries, an assortment of types of candies, and ice cream treats all in various floral flavors, as well as a sort of ambrosia salad based around a sweet rose-flavored cream and a native fruit that is bright green and tastes like a combination of peach and citrus.
ii. dancing lessons and dances
Starting on April 2nd, there will be dancing lessons offered almost everywhere you look! From partner dances to group dances to line dances; sexy and sensual or innocent and childlike - almost any type of dance you can imagine is represented, from any reality or planet that has people in Riverview Quarantine.
Additionally, the Riverview Central Community Center has multiple rooms blocked off so anyone who knows a dance from home can teach it to others in their community - sharing is caring, after all. Characters are welcome to block off one of these rooms and offer lessons in any dance they happen to know from home (and these sorts of thread starters would be eligible for the mingle AC Point bonus)!
As for the Flower Festival dances, they're pretty straightforward - in almost every club, community center, or other public space, there will be dancing at almost all hours of the day or night, formal and informal. Musicians bring out their instruments and play in the street for demonstrations of cultural dances and music at the same time as clubs are offering VIP cover charges for exclusive dances, and you can find anything in between.
Grab a partner, a group of friends, or just cruise and mingle the various dancing events.
Characters may also notice that most of the street markets and clothing shops are offering clothing that features floral patterns, flowers as accessories, and that show a lot of skin - for men, women, and anyone in between!
iii. flower exchange
During this year, there's been an influx of people from a dying reality consisting mostly of living plant people, and they've really taken the Flower Festival as a great opportunity to introduce one of their most honored traditions to the people of their new adopted world. The tradition involves sharing various types of flowers with strangers, with each type of flower having a different meaning and effect on both the giver and receiver - the bond of the exchange can spark emotion as well as physical responses that function in a unique way that affects almost everyone that participates, whether animal, plant, or even android.
Any characters exchanging the flowers with other characters, whether friends or strangers, will experience emotional/psychological effects, physical effects, or both once the exchange is complete. Effects can last for as short or long a time as the players involved want, and are as follows:
● Baby Blue Eyes - Trust/Healing the Inner Child
Emotional Effect: Either an inexplicable trust in the person the flower was exchanged with, or a generalized paranoia.
Physical Effect: De-aging. Characters can become a younger version of themselves, physically, mentally, or both. Whether or not their normal selves are of age, de-aged characters may not participate in adult prompts unless they're de-aged to something above 18.
● Chamomile - Peace & Harmony/Animal Support
Emotional Effect: A desire to make peace with one's enemies, or an inexplicable urge to push away loved ones.
Physical Effect: Both participants in the exchange will wake up the next morning with an animal companion that represents their soul/personality. Whether the companion can speak is up to player discretion.
NOTE: Animal companions from this event can be kept for a total of 300 Points. If you wish to keep them, just submit a request under your name on the Activity Bonus Rewards Page. For new players ONLY (players apping/reapping their first character in April) who wish to keep the animal companion but do not yet have points, feel free to submit and I will credit 300 points to be submitted once you have them.
● Rose - Friendship/Beauty
Emotional Effect: Openness and a desire to make new friends, or excessive competitiveness.
Physical Effect: A temporary glamor that makes both participants in the exchange appear as the most beautiful possible version of themselves, and improves their charisma.
● Crepe Myrtle: - Inspiration/Enduring Partnerships
Emotional Effect: New and creative ideas to solve life issues, or finding oneself averse to change.
Physical Effect: As soon as the exchange is complete, the two characters involved will be bound by an invisible tether that keeps them within three feet of each other. The tether won't affect anyone but the characters involved (no, you can't clothesline your enemies with it).
● Valerian: - Relaxation/Heart-Opening
Emotional Effect: A near-complete erasure of anxiety and stress, or a dramatic inexplicable increase in it.
Physical Effect: Forced honesty. Both affected characters become incapable of lying. Whether they're compelled to blurt the truth or if they can keep their mouths shut or talk around the truth is up to player discretion.
[Flower meanings used in this prompt come from this site.]
iv. river spirit procession
The River Spirit Procession is a yearly tradition in the Quarantine where a (usually small) contingent of people walk along the edges of the river carrying candles and dressed as river spirits, and offer sweets and blossoms or petals by tossing them into the river. The offerings are intended to appease the river spirits and guarantee safety from flooding, storms, and to ensure a good growing season. With the flooding that's still affecting the river, the turn out this year is much greater than usual, with a large number of residents entering the processions that happen throughout the month, usually on weekends.
During the processions, residents dress as river spirits, which is a relatively broad description and can be taken in a wide variety of ways and leaves a lot up to interpretation. They enter the procession at the place where the river enters the walls and follow the banks of it carrying candles, and often whispering or quietly speaking their gratitude for the river's plenty and their wishes for the year to come. Many residents also bring baskets of young blossoms or petals from flowers, and small sweets such as candy or tiny pastries and throw them into the river to appease the spirits. They carry along the river for as long as they wish to.
ACTION PROMPT: This year, with the flooding, the monsters, and the heavy turnout, the river spirit procession is a little more dangerous an undertaking than usual. After the first procession on April 1st resulted in several residents being swept away in the rising flood waters, and several others being attacked by a loose crocodile, the trouble becomes painfully evident. The Perimeter Guard will be sending out extra detachments and calling in reserve members to help keep the processions safe, and any extra hands to protect those who choose to participate will be more than welcome.
v. roommates or wildcard
Feel free to use this prompt to meet new roommates, for the purpose of getting to know each other, or hit up the mod-posted prompt to create a Communal Housing floor mingle. Or, if you have an idea for a prompt that isn't in this list, set during the Flower Festival, feel free to write it up!
Credit: image i: unknown, found on pinterest; image ii: Steven Kent Lomtong; iii: Ryan Talbot; iv: Toru Nishimura
You know what.
This, however, is something he can get behind. It's almost like Wintersend, the Thedosian celebration of winter dying and coming into spring. Except there are no presents, unless one counts all the flowers everywhere. Everything is made of flowers. He's found some rather pretty ones that he would like to give to a certain Dalish woman, if he can find her. It's the least he can do to thank her for her thoughtful gift to help his affliction.
When he finds her, already decorated and beautiful, he smiles.]
You seem to have found your element, Inquisitor.
[He hands her a bouquet of pretty pink flowers of varying shades.]
I thought you might appreciate these to take with you.
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I suppose I have.
[The bouquet catches her by surprise, and she blinks up at him, startled, before reaching out and taking the flowers from him, fingers brushing against his as she does.]
I... thank you. They’re beautiful.
[Oh Creators. He brought her flowers.]
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But the moment the flowers are out of his hands, he feels oddly relaxed in a way he hasn't in a very long time.]
Not...as beautiful as you.
[Maker, why did he say that aloud?]
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What comes out instead is far different.] I wish you wouldn’t say such things. It makes it all the harder to keep my distance. Because I -
[There’s a twisting, wrenching sensation in her stomach as she realises what it is she’s said. And what it is she was ABOUT to say before she bit back the words. Because I like hearing you say that far too much.]
Andraste’s TITS.
[She has absolutely no bloody clue why she said that out loud. But she did, and because she is a mature, reasonable adult she does what any mature, reasonable adult would do... and that is turn and make to flee his company. At least until she can figure out what it is that’s going on.
Why she’s suddenly unable to do anything but be honest with him. Painfully, frustratingly honest.
Only she get's three feet away and can't go any farther. No matter how hard she bloody tries.]
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When she says that his heart seems to fall down a mountain into his boots. He'd been more than willing to go forward with the consequences of such a blatant remark, even if it had meant rejection. He just hadn't thought it would hurt so much after so short an acquaintance.]
I apolo-
[And then she says about the last thing he would expect any Dalish elf to say. They're far more likely to curse Fen'Harel. He takes a deep, painful breath before watching her turn her back on him and then get pulled up short, over and over.]
Is there something wrong, Mistress Lavellan?
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She tries one last time to leave his company and she is drawn to a halt as if on a bloody tether.] I can’t leave.
[She’s stuck. Here. With him. And no matter how much she might enjoy his company... it doesn’t change the fact that she’d already confessed something to him that she’d had no intention of saying when she opened her mouth. And she doesn’t know why. She can taste all the unsaid words on the tip of her bloody tongue, longing to be spoken.]
It seems I’m... not going anywhere.
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Why she thinks that necessary is what he wants answered. And even if he ends up hurt, he deserves an answer of some sort.]
I had no idea that being in my presence gave you such difficulties. When you said that we are friends, I was under the impression that you were amenable to being so here as well.
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And I am amenable. We can be friends and I can still keep my distance. It would be for the best. Because I want –
[Yeah, she’s going to choke back the rest of that sentence before she can embarrass herself any further. He does not need to know how much she wants to kiss him.]
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[He's been called many things before now. Most of them have been unpleasant and more than a few warranted.
He wants to comply with her words. Friends is better than nothing and he has no friends other than Dorian. Except, that's not what he wants at all.]
I can't do that. [The words feel as if they're ripped and pulled from him. They're far too real, too honest. He would like to be able to say this all different, but he's unable to stop himself. It's not a feeling he likes, despite the veracity of what one statement.] Why would you feel the need to keep a distance? You find the idea of friendship amenable and you've gone out of your way to speak with me on more than one occasion. [He doesn't trust himself not do something more embarrassing than talking.] I sincerely hope that I haven't insulted you in some way.
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Why not? [The question is all but torn from her throat. She feels trapped. Caged. And she is a hairsbreadth away from pacing to the end of her invisible tether.] Why is that so impossible? We’re practically there already. [It’s not what she wants, not truly, but what she wants.... is complicated, and not possible. And why she wishes that she could manage more than three feet’s distance from him.] Because it’s safer. [SHIT.] Keeping my distance would be safer.
And you haven’t insulted me [His name, his personal name is on her lips and she swallows it. No. She’s not ready for that, here, with everything else. It’s bad enough he alternates with annoying frequency between the two in her thoughts. With her thinking of him as Cullen more and more frequently.] Far from it.
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[He runs his hand through his hair in frustration, upsetting his coiffure quite a bit. He wants very much to walk away, but one step back lets him know that he is also prisoner to this barrier trap, whatever it is, and he can't go back to the barracks and hit things with his sword until he can't lift his arm again.]
No, we're not. We might not be from the same exact version of Thedas, but we are from the only anomaly appears to be which Lavellan hunter gets sent to the Conclave. It's ridiculous, but it's not safer.
[Instead of attempting another step back, he goes forward and closes the distance, dropping his voice as he goes. It's strained and heated, but he really hopes that someone will come and break this spell they're trapped under and knowing it's probably impossible now. The words spill out anyway.]
And nothing is safe about this when no matter I do, you're the the first woman I've thought about kissing in over a decade. Iona.
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And then he says that.
Iona’s eyes go wide and she goes very, very still, looking up at him in shock. He can’t... it’s not... but it is the truth. Everything she’s said has been the truth, whether she’s wanted it to be or not, no matter how hard she’s tried... so she has no reason to assume the same isn’t true for him. He’s just... he wants...
The same thing she does. He’s thought about the same thing she has...
And he’s used her name. Her given name. Not her title, or her clan name... For the first time since their meeting, he’s used her given name. And it makes her heart pound as much as the rest of his words do. She shouldn’t like the way he says her name so much.
It’s all overwhelming and she doesn’t know what to do. She’s torn between putting distance between them and stepping even closer and grabbing him and kissing him the way she’s wanted to for far too long.]
That’s why distance would be better. [Her hand lifts, settling on his chest and she’s not quite sure whether she intended to pull him closer or push him away, but she does neither, her hand instead resting gently over his heart.] Because the more time we spend together the more I want to kiss you.
[The words come, no matter how much she wishes they wouldn’t.]
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It's difficult to not cave when he's repressed so much of his sexual appetite over the years between his duties and his extremely particular specifications. He's free to be his own man after fourteen years of commitment to the Templar Order and then four years to the Inquisition. He doesn't regret those decisions, but he hasn't found someone that has piqued his interest until he laid eyes on her.]
Distance seems more than a little impractical, considering our positions.
[Her hand is on his chest, the only thing separating the feel of her bare skin on his the fabric of his shirt. It's easy to ignore that they're not alone when she's so close. And as much as he wishes he could stop talking and separate from her to let them both retain some dignity, he can't really move. Nor does he want to.]
Maker help me, but I don't want to keep distance.
[Before he can second guess himself, he leans in to brush his lips over the vallasin that covers her forehead.]
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Impractical how?
[She is grasping at reasons why distance would make sense, to try and persuade him that she’s right, even if the thought of succeeding bothers her more than it should. It’s so bloody complicated. And what she wants doesn’t correspond with what she should do. What she thinks might be for the best.]
There’s no Inquisition, here. We’re not... we’re not anything. We’re not even...
[She’s not his Inquisitor. She’s a stranger, despite their building friendship. Distance shouldn’t be impractical. It should be simple. Easy. Other than the fact that she doesn’t want it. And neither does he. Neither of them wants to keep their distance and she doesn’t know what to do with that. She knows what she wishes to do, and she knows what she probably should do.
He brushes his lips over the vallaslin on her forehead, and her eyes flutter closed for a moment. It’s just a kiss on her forehead. She shouldn’t... it shouldn’t affect her so bloody much.
Her other hand lifts, coming up to slide along the line of his jaw, her thumb brushing his cheek as her own gaze drops to his lips for a moment.
This time she doesn’t quite manage to swallow the use of his personal name.] Cullen.
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And while what she's saying is true—they both know it very well—it's not the end of things. And neither of them are keen on letting it, despite their words.]
I'm not speaking about the Inquisition. As important as it is on Thedas, you're right that it means little to the others here. It has only incidentally brought us into one another's view.
[He turns his face towards her fingers, kissing the palm of her hand lightly before he allows himself to reach out and touch her arm.]
And I know that we have complications, many more than we should, would it be any more than if we were from completely different worlds?
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She bloody yearns to. And her ability to resist is weakening the longer she’s unable to leave his company.]
No. Yes.
[It’s both. The complications of their being from completely different worlds would be less... involved. Less fraught. She wouldn’t know him. There wouldn’t be the knowledge that the Cullen here, the one she’s spoken to and working to get to know, to earn his trust all over again, isn’t the one she knows, isn’t the Cullen she will return to in Thedas.
It’s complicated.
In a way that their being from completely different worlds wouldn’t be.
It doesn’t change how she feels; it doesn’t change the attraction she feels. An attraction that is reciprocated. Which only makes it worse, she thinks. Makes it worse and makes it better, all at once.]
Our being from completely different worlds would be simpler, in some aspects.
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And if he goes back to his own Thedas, she will never have existed.]
You're right. It would be simpler if we were somehow from the same world like you and Dorian or if I was from this Earth that seems to be a popular world to be from.
[His smile is almost painful with wanting her and knowing that this, whatever is between them, could be as doomed as anything else.]
I don't know about you, but I've never had things go 'the easy way'. Not once. I've fought and earned everything I received in my life. I can't imagine things will suddenly be easier because I wish them so.
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If she returns home she will forever be separated from him. The Cullen who she’s shared this with. It’s complicated and confusing and it doesn’t make her want him any less. It just makes her... torn. Tangles everything up.
She laughs, low in her throat.]
‘The easy way’. I have been thrust into a role I never asked for and positions of power I am painfully unqualified for. Easy hasn’t been in the cards for me since the Conclave. Since long before it.
[She’s an elf. In a world that carries a great deal of prejudices and dislike (amongst other things) for her people. Easy hasn’t had much to do at all with most of her life experience.
Despite herself, despite knowing that it’s better if she moves away from him, takes advantage of their three feet of allowed distance, she instead presses closer, a question she doesn’t mean to ask slipping from her lips.] Are you saying you’re fighting for... this, too?
[The ‘for us’ goes unspoken. Whatever this is between the two of them. And then, before he can actually answer, she decides that no matter what the future brings, no matter what might happen between them, no matter how doomed it might be or how complicated it is... she wants this one moment. Longs to have at least this one moment with him.
Before she can overthink or second guess or stop herself, Iona rises up on tiptoe and kisses him.]
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Is it really so wrong to want to kiss a beautiful woman that makes his heart ache and his pulse race? Is it?
When she comes closer, he can feel what little space that had been between them dwindle to nothing. And he has to answer her question. Even if he could lie, he's not sure he would. She deserves to know if she's going to ask.
And then she kisses him and he can feel whatever resistance he'd been trying to use snap. He pulls her close with one arm and cups the back of her head as he turns his head just a little to deepen it. How it feels to be able to finally act on the attraction that had been between them since their first meeting is indescribable. He feels relief—sweet, painful relief—to be able to do this.
There are, of course, other natural reactions that happen when the object of one's lust kisses you and Cullen is no exception to that. With great reluctance, he pulls away from her lips, but keeps his hands on her hip and head. To ground them both in the moment.]
Yes. If I have to fight to be able to kiss you again like that, then that's what I'll do.
[Taking a page out of her book, he kisses her again before she can stop him.]
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She has wanted to do this for far too long and even though there’s a logical part of her in the back of her mind that is sure she’s made a terrible mistake... right now, in this moment she doesn’t bloody care. All she feels is relief and desire, radiating from the warmth of his hand on her hip, the press of his lips against her, the hand cupping the back of her head.
The kiss has to come to an end eventually, and she feels the loss of his lips against hers keenly, as reluctant as he for it to end. Of course, then he proceeds to stun her speechless.
Oh. That’s...
Oh.
She stares up at him, lilac eyes wide as she searches his face. He’s telling the truth. He has to, same as she. But she hadn’t expected... that. Oh, Creators she’s already in too bloody deep with him. Wants him too much. Wants this, with him, too much. Whatever this is between them
Lips parting as she opens her mouth to say... she’s not quite sure what... only there’s no chance for her to say anything at all before he’s kissing her again and her hand is tightening in his hair as she responds in kind.]
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His tongue slowly, tentatively, touches hers. And he's fighting with himself to figure out what the hell is going on. He's wanted to kiss her since he met her, but the reality of it is making it hard to remember why they should take it slowly. Because he doesn't want to anymore.
And that's why he lets his hand slip from her hair and uses the one on her hip to give them both distance. It's difficult, but it's the right thing to do.]
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And it scares her a little. It all scares her, how very much she wants this. Wants him.
The kiss breaks as his hand slips from her hair and the hand on her hip presses them apart, gently, leaving her a little breathless and feeling the loss of him keenly. Her own hands loosen from his hair, but she can’t quite help how she gently caresses his cheek.]
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He gives her a half-cocked smile that is only broken by the feel of her delicate fingers across his stubble. That makes him close his eyes for a heartbeat before he goes back to smiling down at her.]
You've dropped your flowers, my Lady Iona.
[He's only said her name once aloud to her, but he likes the way it fits in his mouth, likes the effect his saying it has had on her. So, certainly, he's going to start doing so more often.]
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That half-cocked smile of his is... Creators, she is in too bloody deep with him.
And he’s using her name again. She really wishes he wouldn’t, and she really hopes he doesn’t stop. It’s complicated. The smile she gives him is amused, and fond, and very, very warm.]
I suppose I have. I’m sure I have no idea how that happened.
[Teasing him, naturally. And herself, really, given that she’s the one that had kissed him first. Her thumb brushes against his cheek, before she reluctantly breaks contact to carefully scoop up the flowers he’d given her, dropped amidst their... everything.]
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I'm sure I haven't the faintest myself, but it's a good idea to rescue them before one of the others walking around here trample them underfoot.
[Which would be a shame, considering he's half-certain that they might be the reason they've been stuck together and forced to tell the truths they've been keeping buried. He feels the loss of her hands once they're gone and he suddenly feels much colder all of a sudden.
Once she's rescued the flowers and is holding them again, he steps forward to take her hand and press his lips to the back of it. If he lets her go, he's not sure that she'll be back despite her confession.]
I hope that I get to see you again soon.
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