knightsoflegend | italy ♔ a promise lives within you now

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italy ♔ a promise lives within you now

WHO || Rafael, Buffy [Closed]
WHAT || After months apart, Rafael and Buffy celebrate the end of his tour with a private trip to Italy
WHERE || Italy
WHEN || /truck drives by, blaring horn
HOW || Actionspam.

It hasn't been an easy few months, but then again, it hasn't been an easy few years. Following the night of the Grammy's, Rafael's returned to his tour, aspiring to use his concerts as a chance to try and warn people of the dangers inherent in listening to Blade and company's music, even at the risk of looking like a crazy person. It wouldn't be the first time the world thought it, alright. Meanwhile, Buffy's been dealing with the fallout of what the Mind Master did to Finnick, and by extension, Myri, trying to be there for her friend in every way she can. It would be easier for both of them if they had each other to lean on through it all, but they had to rely instead on numerous phone calls and memories of one night that finally offered them both some hope just when everything had started to seem more impossible than ever.

They also had the promise of this to look forward to: a planned trip to Italy that Rafael insisted be just the two of them, once he was finally free again. He's arranged to meet her at the Galileo Galilei International Airport in Pisa, and when she gets out, there's some Italian chauffeur guys holding a sign that says "Summers".

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[ ♬ if i lose myself - onerepublic

he licks his lips slightly, now turning his gaze outward, thoughtful ] I find it hard to imagine myself not returning to the land I have bled so much for.

But I imagine that will depend on a great many things.

Things like what?

[ A wisdom check of 11 is not picking up what he's laying down. ]

[ wow he crit failed again. twice now. he looks back at her, squeezes her hand softly, and stares at her with the intensity of a thousand suns, apparently, prepared never to look away again for the rest of time. that sounds about right. ] ... Such as where you will be.

[ gay seal .mp4 ]

[ Somehow (probably by way of the Rafael Giovanni school of wisdom checks being a sexually transmitted disease in line with Buffy's previous sexual experiences), that answer doesn't even occur to Buffy as a possibility until it's out of his mouth.

She manages to limit her reaction to stunned silence, but mustering a real answer still takes her a moment. Swallowing thickly, she smooths her thumb over the back of his hand in a soothing gesture. The real problem comes in the form of her inability to promise that she'll be anywhere but dead, of course. All the same, a smile bravely tugs over her lips. ]

With you, I hope.

[ Beyond hope, there is no certainty. Wherever that is, though, she can't imagine she'd be unhappy. ]

Don't get me wrong, I can imagine friendlier retirement spots, but something tells me we'll never be the type for crocheting and golf.

No, I do not think so. [ his quiet laughter conceals the very pleased look that comes over him at her response. ] There will be much time to figure out where that does leave us, carina. We need not think about it now. Know only that what matters to me is to have this.

Mmm. Good point. I'm starting to doubt we'll ever be off this mission.

[ Though her voice is wry, she's only … slightly joking. Given that this mission has been three years long. Nothing but time. Anyway, it helps her to control her flush as he waxes poetic over how much his relationship with her means. ]

Getting away from it all feels kinda surreal. I don't know how Des is pulling it off so long-term.

Perhaps for him, it is easier to compartmentalize. The whole of both our lives is bound into this mission, it often seems.

More and more.

[ She nods along. ]

Fate's kind of a bitch.

[ On the other hand, if she's going to ascribe their entanglement in this mission to fate, then so too was their meeting so. Pros and cons or sth. You know what's not a bitch? Espresso and pastries. Espresso and pastries would never try to shoot at her. ]

[ well good cuz here they are. rafael looks up with a small smile at the waiter, murmuring a thanks in italian, and releases her hand to grab his napkin and set to eating ] It has its moments, I think.

[ As he sets about eating, she regards him fondly. A moment's silence passes, her chin propped in one hand, before she agrees. ]

Every once in a while, it gets it right.

[ Accompanied by moon-eyed stares, she nods to agree, straightening up to join him in sipping at her coffee and tearing off pieces of croissant. ]

Mmph. Speaking of work. [ She reaches in her purse for her phone. ] I still have to let Wynn know you're coming back with me. [ Except her phone is sadly yelling at her to charge it. She makes a face at the screen's sad flashing battery sign as it's like fEED ME. Eyebrows raise, and—nose crinkling her dismissal—she slips it back in. ] Well. I'm sure he'll figure it out.

I would apologize for distracting you before you could plug it in last night, and yet-- [ utterly unrepentant, he smirks around the edge of his cup ]

That face you're making? Is illegal in at least seventeen countries.

[ Said matter-of-factly as she lifts her gaze to meet his. Rather than scowling, she's fighting to suppress her own smile. ]

It's probably in the Geneva Convention somewhere.

You would think by now that you would recognize how willing I am to skirt the law, for the right cause. [ just sayin ]

And would this be the "never leaving the bedroom" cause?

[ It does occur to her a moment later that bedroom is more restrictive language than need be buT SHE IS A LADY. And not correcting that. ]

As causes go, not a bad one.

You certainly cannot blame me. Not after such a night. [ he's such a pest. good thing there's no one sitting nearby to overhear his shamelessness. ]

[ She has shame enough for both of them. A poor will save has her biting her lip, ducking her head and fiddling with her cup. ]

It was a really good night. [ She admits with total reluctance, hedging quickly to dampen the significance of it in some instinctive humbleness. ] But you've had — [ She gestures to him loosely as she stumbles for a beat over her phrasing. ] Good nights before.

Good is not the word I would use. Perfetto, more like. [ he gives her a pointed look, raising one eyebrow at her ] And none such nights with you, carina, which does tend to make this one stand out. In many, many ways. [ slayers tho. ]

[ weLL IF SHE WAS RED BEFORE.

She doesn't doubt his words for a moment, which perhaps explains the stunned silence as she watches him over her coffee cup, fingers absently fidgeting with the ceramic rim. Finally, expression fluttering as she draws a breath, she glances away, a shy smile starting. Honestly, even if it flusters her, there's something soothing about hearing him say it, as if it address some unrealized and positively baseless worry that she might not measure up, might not be any good at all. ]

Well. [ She sets her coffee cup down, drawing a breath as if her nerve to sass back lies within it. ] With a showing like yours, there's plenty more where that came from. I'm not the only one who knows how to leave an impression. [ Too much nerve. Too much. She should have stopped there, but she doesn't realize it until halfway through the next sentence. ] I mean, I didn't even know tongues could — [ And there's the filter, a moment too late. Her eyes flash wider, briefly, and she lifts her coffee cup to hide her flush behind it. ]

[ he laughs brightly, sets down his cup to lean back, chewing on that for a second. unlike her, there's no flush to his expression, not a hint of embarrassment over the subject, despite her candor. he easily tosses back: ] ... That they can. And gladly will again, when given the chance. [ he lifts his last bite to his mouth, because i guess he went to the cher horowitz school of flirtation, tossing her a wink as he finishes up, before reaching for his cup again. ]

[ That casual affirmation lifts her gaze away from her coffee just in time for her heated stare to flicker between his eyes and his mouth, arresting her breath. Jesus take the wheel. ]

Oh boy. [ It's said 100% of the tone of someone who needs Jesus, for the record, not some weird giddy enthusiasm. This is the "oh boy" of someone who is in the danger zone. Cuing in that he's done with his food, she sets her coffee aside to finish hers, happy to have the distraction from her impotent lust. ]

[ he just leans back with a grin, waiting for her to be done and casually looking off the balcony at the city, clearly pretending he doesn't notice. while making it obvious he totally notices. ]

[ Well I'd call that a shit-eating grin but I don't think that's what he's eating.

Though she appears to do a good job acting stubbornly ignorant of his smug disposition, when she finishes off her food, downing the last bite with a gulp of coffee, she's still wearing a stupid, bubbly smile that she simply can't help. Something about how breezy and unburdened he is just makes her glow, even when it means teasing the hell out of her.

After wiping buttery pastry flakes off her fingertips onto a napkin, she reaches out to take his hand. ] Perfect's a good word for it. [ She'll double back to agree to that. It's worth doubling back to (and reiterating in English while waving an American flag with a backdrop of a cawing eagle). ]

[ he scoots forward so that he can lift her hand in his and kiss the back of it lightly. ] Shall we, mia cara?

[ Doe eyes soften as his lips brush her hand, pure adoration. ]

We shall. [ She agrees, moving to stand. Without ever truly letting go of his hand, she shifts her grip so she can twine her fingers in his, picking up her suitcase. ] What do you think: bags in the car first?

That is what I was thinking, yes. [ he takes his own case, and together they head back through the lobby, making their way for the doors. ] In case something happens, and we must leave quickly, for one.

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