Valentine's Day }{ Open post

[asap]

WHO || Characters in the log [open or closed]
WHAT || VALENTINE'S DAY
WHERE || ALL AROUND THE CASTLE
WHEN || 2/14
HOW || DO WHAT YOU WANT

It's Valentine's Day! All around people are happily snuggling up with their loved one or drowning their feelings in booze and/or ice cream. Give out cards or chocolate or commiserate with other single people! Whoo Valentine's Day!

Comments

belle & gold ♔ closed

[untethered]

[ spending more time in the dragon's fire library or sulking in his room hasn't gone unnoticed by belle, so here she is, knocking on his door this evening in backdated land.

so much coincidence, the date. really. she has books in her hands, ok. this is business. ]

[undealt]

[Gold deeply considers ignoring the knocking, but curiosity gets the better of him, and boy is he glad it did. He's honestly surprised to see Belle.] Belle.

[He blinks and then notes the books, because clearly it is all business. No ulterior motives at all. What day is it even? He doesn't own a calendar.

However, Belle's appearance does give him pause. Who dresses up for research parties?? CLEARLY SHE DOES. His wisdom check sucked.] Did you find something?

[About Amara. About curing Veilnesia. About life, the universe, and everything. GOOD NEWS WOULD BE NICE.]

[untethered]

[ the moment he opens the door, color floods her cheeks a bit, and she finally rips her eyes away to drag to the floor, where they are just gonna stay for a little while. oh my god, this was the worst idea. no wait she can look down at the books, those are safe. thank god for books. she places a hand on top of the short stack. ] I-- I happened across a couple of volumes that seemed to reference the citadel we visited last month. I thought they might answer some of our questions regarding the history of the place, and seeing as how you'd discovered that magical altar there, I-- well, I thought perhaps there might be something of interest for you in them.

[undealt]

Oh right, yeah. [He smiles awkwardly.] I'd almost forgotten there was something worthwhile down there. [FOR ALL THE GOOD IT DID.

He pauses and he is... very obviously not staring at the books. He pushes the door open a bit.] Would you like to come in?

[untethered]

[ !! ] I-If I'm not interrupting anything. [ it's not the first time she's been in his room, since that's where they held their secret team cursebreaker meeting, but it's sure the first time she's been alone! with him there. so she'll duck inside with a shy little smile, looking around. ]

[undealt]

Of course not. [Well, the room is still... pimplike, although there's now stacks of papers on the desk and some general disarray. He's been busy.] I've just been doing some research on my own... and debating whether or not it's time to promote my squire.

[Emma clearly doesn't need his guidance and he failed to follow through on their deal. It's not as if he doesn't believe her capable, but...

OH HEY, HERE'S A WISDOM CHECK FOR YOU... as he finally takes in what she's wearing and realizes Something Important Is Happening. (wis 22) It's enough to make him stop thinking about Emma.] You look lovely this evening.

[untethered]

[ an involuntary, pleased smile curves up her cheek a bit at that as she takes a few steps in behind him and pauses to put down the books. of course, without the books, she can only fiddle with her hands. ] Thank you. That's very kind of you. [ she looks around for about .5 seconds before looking back at him again. which is impressive, because how can you not stare at that hot mess of a room. ] I was just... well -- considering that it is Valentine's Day, I thought-- [ she gestures at her outfit as if that's explanation enough. you know how it is, single on valentine's day, better LOOK DAMN HOT. but then she adds: ] I was going to spend the evening shelving new arrivals, but it seemed rather silly, for anyone to spend Valentine's Day alone when-- [ she loses all confident steam for a second, gesturing at him as she searches for a careful way to phrase this ] -- when one has friends to spend it with. [ that does not sound like... what she was going to say. but it's what came out. ]

[undealt]

[He rolled an eight, so clearly that was exactly what she meant to say, as far as he's concerned, and the puppy dog joy that was starting to creep into his expression deflates a bit.] Ah, well... [he chuckles] I suppose that's better then the alternative.

[He folds his hands over his cane, still lingering near the door.] So who are you heading out with?

[IT WAS THAT BAD.]

[untethered]

[ AWK. WARD. ] Well. I-- [ you just made this so much harder, gold. ] Thought we might... [ SHRUG?? ]

[undealt]

[!!!!] Oh, you meant you and I-

[He swallows. Awkward, indeed, but he got a 21 to get his head around the idea.] Well, I hope you weren't planning to spend it locked in this room all night.

[..... shit.] As opposed to spending the evening out. I- [give him a second.] I'll get my coat.

[WHAT A GOOD SAVE.]

[untethered]

[ you know what she doesn't even seem to notice that, or she's really smooth at playing off that she didn't, and instead she just looks very pleased by his response, stepping aside to wait with a little smile. ]

I've missed seeing Milah around the library. [ only belle would miss the crocodile. ]

[undealt]

She's been rather put out since Scotland. [He glances towards the bathroom door, which is open just a crack, as he goes to the closet.] Erky did what he could for her illness, but I think the emotional toil it took on her will take a bit more time.

[Yes, the crocodile is depressed. She's a familiar. It happens.]

[untethered]

[ belle wanders over that way, pushing the door aside very gently just to take a glance at poor milah. ] They say a familiar's well-being is linked to the spellcaster it's bonded to.

[ she glances back at him with an encouraging smile. ] Perhaps a pick-me-up for her owner will do wonders for her.

[undealt]

[Poor Milah is lying on the leather couch. She gives Belle a plaintive look. Hi, lady.

Meanwhile, Gold pulls on his coat.] I haven't exactly been at my best since that ordeal either.

[Sheepish.] It could have ended much worse, but... I had hoped it would have gone much better.

[untethered]

I think discovering what we did in that grove put all of us off balance. [ she moves to his side as he finishes putting on his coat, and places a hand on his arm to make him look at her. ] You kept us alive all the way down there - destroyed that Shadow all but single-handedly. We couldn't have done it without you.

[undealt]

I should have- I set the mission. And given the fact that not a single person I contacted knew a thing about the grove itself, I should have known nothing good could have come of it. I can handle a... lack of clarity. It's the fact that we came back no better off than we started, aside from gaining a cleric. And possibly the debt of a few Kobolds.

[untethered]

I don't think any of us expected helping Amara to be easy. But that doesn't make any of our attempts worthless.

I'd say it was important for us to learn what we are or aren't willing to do, to see this through.

[undealt]

Well, that is important. [His expression brightens a bit and he offers her his arm politely.] But I think discussing business is no way to spend a holiday. Shall we?

[untethered]

[ she glances at his arm, and seems to practically glow as she tries to keep her smile tempered and fails all over town. she wraps her own through his snugly. ] A little difficult to avoid, when our work overlaps with the rest of our lives in so many ways. [ but she sounds like she's mostly teasing. ]

[undealt]

You mean to tell me you don't have anything outside the library. [He's equally teasing, as they step out into the hallway, arm in arm. Awww.] Nothing that doesn't come back to the Knights?

[untethered]

There's always the Desrosiers - the family who helped me when I first came to this world. We still keep in touch.

But I don't mind that most of what I have revolves around the Knighthood. After all, what we do encompasses so much. [ she offers him a sly look ] I don't spend all my time in the library.

[undealt]

Oh, you don't, do you? [No, he knows damn well she doesn't. He has probably come in there a few times to find she wasn't there and gotten all sad panda about it.]

What were they like? This family that took you in. [He returns her sly smile.] We know so little about one another, and I'm inclined to think it's because we know so little about ourselves. Any little bit helps.

[untethered]

Sinira and Henri. [ there's a unmistakable light in her eyes as she talks about them. ] They were an older couple living near Chartes. I wasn't the first they'd taken in, but I was the first in years.

People often looked at them as a bit... strange. She was from the Shadow World herself and while he was born here, his legal guardians were gnomes.

He actually took in their footsteps, becoming an inventor. His 'father' taught him things about mechanical creations that were very... odd to most human eyes. [ yeah you see what i did there ]

[undealt]

Did you learn anything from him?

[He's interested now, as they stroll down this hallway. YOUNG LOVE. Or halfway young love. It's love, okay. ] I'm curious to know if there's some shed out back with mismatched inventions I ought be steering clear of.

[Dopey smile. His charisma check was only a fourteen, so he tried. He tried so hard.]

[untethered]

[ yeah with her 18 will save, she is oblivious to his attempts over here. ] Sometimes I'd sit with him while he worked, because I enjoyed his passion about it, hearing him explain what this or that was for. [ she shrugs, admitting: ] But sitting and tinkering with wire and metal has never held much appeal to me, personally.