ᴀʟɪsᴀɪᴇ "ғɪᴛᴇ ᴍᴇ" ʟᴇᴠᴇɪʟʟᴇᴜʀ (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
fearlessly) wrote2019-09-08 05:43 pm
fearlessly) wrote2019-09-08 05:43 pm
batb part two: electric boogaloo
[ alisaie is not afraid of the woods.
truthfully, alisaie is not afraid of much at all - not the things that most are afraid of, at least. she does not fear the dark, or wolves, or bandits. she does not fear loud storms or knives in the dark of faerie tale monsters stalking haunted forests. what she fears is being along. grieving. losing those she loves.
and that is why she is here. alisaie has ridden tirelessly through the night, driving baptiste hard over the hard, wintry earth, her breath frozen in her lungs, the frigid wind stinging her cheeks and ears and eyes. alphinaud is her entire world. he is all that she has, all of her family that remains, and the thought of living her life without him, moving forward alone..
she would rather not move forward at all.
and so she will find him, regardless of he consequence, heedless of the potential danger, for without him, she has no life at all.
baptiste remembers the way, and though she can feel the tension and fear in the body of the horse beneath her, still they press on, hooves slamming hard into the earth, empty branches pulling at her hair, whipping over their heads. the forest seems to go on and on, deeper and deeper into darkness and mist, until at long, long last the space opens up, and a dark castle looms ahead, its twisted spires climbing into the gray sky, its gloomy edifice frowning down as she approaches the wrought iron gates choked with decayed vines.
alisaie is not afraid of much, yet still the sight of it sends a chill down her spine.
what is this place? she's heard of no such estate as this - a castle, so close to the village? how have there been no stories? no history? she has ridden less than a day to find her brother, not far from home at all, and yet.. there is nothing in their books about this great castle, no tall tales, nothing at all. it is a phantom. still, somehow it feels familiar to her.. like a memory of a dream's dream.
exhaling a shudder, alisaie slides from baptiste's back, leading him to an icy, overgrown brook for a drink, looping the reins over a strong, bare branch before at last she approaches the castle. it's silent, sinister, but she.. she has no choice. if this is where alphinaud is, then she must press forward. the rusted gates groan, splitting the silence, and alisaie approaches the great doors, the old rotten oak swinging beneath her weight as she slips carefully into the great, dark foyer. ]
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her arrival in town is timely indeed, for to her horror it is her home at the center of the blaze, the home she shared with her brother a crackling, hungry inferno. thank the gods he has escaped it, but her things are gone, her memories burned away - but alphinaud overjoyed to simply see her safe. he had tried to rally the village to her cause again and again, to convince them to storm the woods in her defense, and each time he had been laughed out of taverns or homes or halls until at last the townsfolk began to find him more wearisome than entertaining. he was raving mad, going on about monsters in castles and enchanted furniture, and it was only a matter of time before someone found him more dangerous than amusing, and attempted to take matters into their own hands. clearly he must have killed his own sister, his own twin, and family. what else would have led to her vanishing? and his unbelievable story?
alisaie's sudden reappearance certainly throws a spanner in the works, and her defense of her brother is adamant, but how can she verify his wild claims about an enchanted castle without placing prompto in jeopardy? it grows more and more difficult not to shout the truth in their spiteful faces, and in time it becomes clear that they are no longer as welcome here as they once were. she will give them no explanation as to where she has been, no reason for her prolonged disappearance; how can they trust her?
but where could they go? must they start all over again? and can she leave this town behind, knowing who else she must leave behind with it..?
she must visit, even if it is the only time, even if she must soon leave - she cannot simply vanish from his life - their lives - forever, without an explanation. and so one morning she sets out early, when the frosty dew still clings to the grass, and she rides back to the castle, picking her way down the secret paths that seem to open themselves up to her without challenge as if the very woods remember her presence and welcome her.
at last alisaie draws up to the gates, and the castle towers above her again, silent and dark and sad. even in the few weeks she has been gone the gardens seem to have overgrown, the many windows that had twinkled with light now mostly dark. her throat constricts. she should have offered them a better explanation, but there had been no time..
alisaie does not hear the men behind her, men in dark clothes and cloaks and soft, soundless boots, men who had followed her. she rests a hand to the gates, pushing them open before her, and then she sees no more.
they have seen the castle, now, its dark spires and far reaching gardens, its high windows lit with a presence. the boy's wild ravings were true all along. they have seen the castle, and now.. they will come. ]
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And so they gather in the woods beyond the gate, and the sentries burst in on Prompto's solitude in the west wing, something they have never, ever done before. But he can't even summon up the ire to send them away. He can only turn his head to hear their message, and once he does...
Oh. Oh, no.
He asks them only one question, how, to which they tell him, they followed her.
...She wouldn't have led them to this place willingly. No, no, he can't believe that of her. But if they followed her without her knowledge, and she meant to return for whatever reason...oh, gods.
All of his worst fears align at once as he springs to his feet, surging forward calling orders to the guards, telling them to organize all the castle's denizens and to prepare for a fight. Gods, what can they do against the might of men with weapons and torches? And yet they must defend their home, he must defend it, it was his solemn duty to defend this castle —
They will be ready for them, even if that hour comes sooner than he would have expected. The men move on the castle soon, and while he doesn't want to hurt them, he will do what he must. They are simple fools, but so is he.
They wait in the foyer, armed as best as they can manage, while Prompto holds the line until the villagers break through the doors. Then all hell breaks loose, and he fights like the demon they believe him to be. Yet in his ferocity, one question remains above all else:
Where is Alisaie? ]
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when alisaie wakes, her head is heavy and pounding from the hard blow that had knocked her out cleanly in one hit, and it is her brother's voice that she hears first. they are together, but where? there is movement all around her, the squeak of wooden wheels - a carriage?
oh, gods. it floods back quickly and suddenly - how could she have been so foolish to think that they would not care to follow her? she had underestimated their suspicion. had thought that, if she and alphinaud were to leave, they would be content enough with that, to be rid of them, but no. alisaie sits up in a rush, accosting alphinaud for answers, which he gives with choked surprise, but no hesitation. the scouts returned with her unconscious body, and the town was quick to rise up in defense when presented the irrefutable proof of a small, struggling.. teacup of all things, which was quick to bite the thumb of the man who held it and scurry off into the shadows.
dread fills her heart. they must escape this place.
her weapons have been confiscated, but they clearly underestimate the ability of two powerful mages - even without their weapons to focus their energy through, it is easy enough for them to concentrate their energy and call the land around them to respond. roots rise from the earth, birds dive from the skies and the wind kicks up into a wild storm around their carriage, roots trapping its wheels, the howls of wolves terrifying the driver into fleeing on foot down the road, back toward the town.
she cannot waste a moment. they burst from the carriage and free the two horses that had pulled it, alphinaud riding back toward the town to retrieve their weapons, but alisaie will not wait for her blade. there is no time. what could be happening at the castle? this is her fault.
riding hard down the path, the horse is lathered and exhausted by the time she reaches the castle, pushing past terrified men who barely recognize her in the chaos. the castle's denizens might not have been well equipped for an attack, but an angry mob is hardly an organized, disciplined military unit, and they were not prepared for what they would face - more than half of them seem terrified of what must surely be the dark and evil magicks that control this place.
but where is he? ]
Prompto!
[ she calls in a panic as she sprints down the halls, her muddied skirts in her hands, her hair wild and her face white with fear. up and up she climbs, higher into the spires and towers of the castle. ]
Prompto, where are you!
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But some of the villages are more tenacious than others. They see the unnatural magic of the castle as something dark and incomprehensible, the sort of thing that must be snuffed out just because it is obviously wrong in their eyes. Not many men are a match for Prompto's brute strength, but three of them realize what a threat he is, and coordinate their efforts to take him down. It is the only way they can, and they must. They must dismantle this unholy abomination and remove his stain from upon this world.
And for all he continues to fight and does not tire, they do begin to overwhelm him, pushing him on the defensive, until he is forced to retreat to higher ground. On and on they press the attack, smacking him with their hammers and axes, denting and chipping his frame, loosening and damaging his bolts. He batters them in return with his enormous fists, but when he has the chance to land crippling blows, he...doesn't take them. He can't kill these men, misguided as they may be, even as they tear him apart. He can't do it.
So he continues to retreat, because it's all he can do, until they knocking him out onto the parapet of the highest tower, a storm sending ice cold rain down from the sky, a mirror of the tumult in the castle this night.
He isn't looking for her. Not anymore, but that's...okay. It's a comfort that Alisaie was not among the number of villagers who raided the castle, and though he worries for her safety, he knows she can handle herself. And if she intended to return, perhaps...perhaps she can look after the castle's denizens after he's gone, or at the very least, get them...organized. Or perhaps if he's destroyed, the curse will be broken regardless. It isn't the first time he's considered it, but this is the first time he's truly felt as if he were in danger.
Perhaps he will still persist, even if these men dismantle him and destroy every bit of him. Or perhaps he will at last know rest, after years and years of his drawn out, pale existence. And at least...
At least if this is to be his end, he was able...to know her before he went. ]
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but she does not see prompto. why is he not here, with them? why is he not fighting too? fear clutches at her heart, and they are quick to direct her further up the stairs as she passes them, up and up until at last there are no more to guide her, and she is alone in the halls. still she does not see him. ]
Prompto! Please, answer me!
[ her only answer is a crash from above, the sound of wood giving way and the muffled shouts of men. blind with fear she races to the tower, up and up the winding stairs that seem without end, until at last she reaches the peak where three men crowd around a hole crashed through the window. beyond it, through the sheets of rain she can see him, the hulking mass of his body, while the men draw in near, clubs raised. ]
No!
[ the winds answer her call immediately, buffeting all three men back through the broken window, slamming them brutally into the wall behind, and though they are dazed she takes no chances. the wood answers her now, the vines that climb the tower heeding her great need, winding through the window and around the men, squeezing them tightly, binding their arms and legs and weapons.
but they are of no consequence. not now. swiftly she moves, leaping through the broken window and onto the slippery parapet, falling to her knees beside him, leaning over him, finding his face with her hands. ]
Prompto?
[ he will be fine. she can repair him. rebuild him. he's still here with her, he must stay with her.. ]
I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I did not - I did not mean..
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But before darkness closes over him, Alisaie is suddenly there, there, right at his side, touching his face with her warm, soft hands, peering at him with worried blue eyes. It takes no small amount of concentration for him to focus on her, and even then, his gaze is hazy, his smile weak.
But he does smile, because Alisaie came back. She came back. She's with him...at the end, and that alone can bring him peace, the knowledge that she's here, and will no doubt see to it that the castle is taken care of. She's so good, so wonderful...
Reaching out, he feebly brushes his fingertips across her cheek, mumbling as he tries to speak. ]
A-Ali...saie...you came back.
[ His eyes fall shut heavily for a moment. It's so, so very hard to stay here in this moment. ]
I-I'm so glad...I got to see you...one more t-time.
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[ her words sound deafening in her ears, but in truth her voice is soft and weak and pleading, her grasp on his face tightening, urging him to stay with her. she is so very tired of losing those important to her, those dear to her heart - she has withdrawn so far, kept everyone who would be near at arms' length, but she had let him in, she had allowed herself to love him and now it feels like a mistake, for she is feeling this familiar panic, this aching pain again. she could not protect him, she cannot protect anyone. tears flood her vision, hot and thick and rolling down her cheeks, lost in the beating rain, obscuring her vision. ]
Pl-please.. don't leave me..
[ she can fix him, she can mend him, she can, she must. he is bolts and cogs and steel, and magic, she can repair him if only he fights to stay with her, beside her.
but already the light is fading from his eyes, his features falling slack, and alisaie wails like an animal in agony, leaning her entire boy over him as if somehow that can shield him, as if she can keep his spirit here and with her if only she clings tightly enough. her brow touches his and she sobs, despairing, brokenhearted, her mouth moving over his while she begs for him to stay, whispering, pleading, desperate. ]
Please.. I need you.. I love you..
[ she cannot lose him, she is so very, very tired of grieving. ]
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She...loves him? Even after everything? She...loves him?
He wants to fight it, wants so desperately to stay with her, to stay alive and live. He wants it in a way that he hasn't for so very, very long, but he can't leave her now, not when at last, at last he has found someone he loves who loves him in return, who makes him feel whole, important, wanted. Someone who fills in all his missing spaces.
He loves her too, completely and fully, and though he does his damnedest to tell her, to at least speak those words to her before he fades, he can't get them out. He is too weak, his gears and bolts too damaged, the magic that sustained him no longer enough to hold his consciousness to this body.
In the end, he only falls slack in her arms, the light fading from his eyes, and the soul from his body, leaving her utterly alone on the rain-sodden rooftop. And for several long moments, things remain that way. His body slack and lifeless, the rain cold and unforgiving, the only thing accompanying the sound of her sobs as she clings to him. It would seem that it is over, that the curse has gone unbroken, the rain continuing to beat down on the castle and the enchanted staff that watch from beyond the window. This is the end, and the Knight is dead.
...But then things begin to change. Slowly, so slowly at first, but then more quickly — points of light seem to gather from thin air, before they are absorbed by Prompto's body, lighting him up with a brilliance parallel to the sun. Soon it encompasses all of him, absorbing his whole body in light, until he is no longer visible from the brightness of it. Beams of light penetrate the sky, forcing back the clouds, and as it continues to grow, he begins to...change. If she is still holding him, she will be able to feel it, the way his metal plates and gears give way to soft, yielding flesh, how bones knit to muscle and sinew where bolts were before. And then as the light recedes, she will begin to see him: Prompto as he truly is, much smaller and softer than his mechanical form would suggest, with a shock of pale yellow hair loose and messy on his head.
The rain recedes, the skies have cleared, and at last, he opens his eyes, those same blue eyes, to peer up at her, like he is in a dream. ]
Alisaie...?
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she was too late. she is always too late, too weak, too powerless. there is nothing to be done for it but to sob, her broken heart pouring from her lungs, from her eyes, and a pain like this cannot be consoled. the entire castle mourns, the sky mourns, the very clouds weeping with her torment, the castle's many occupants, her dear friends, watching on in somber helplessness.
and then.. there is a change. there is movement beneath her, and a great blinding light, and magic, great, powerful magic that she can feel tingling in her bones like static energy. she jumps back in both surprise and fear, gasping sharply, but there is little she can do but watch on in aghast wonder as he.. changes. the body that she knows melts away, steel giving way to yielding flesh until..
until he is there, someone different, someone foreign, but with a voice and eyes so familiar. something like dread clutches at her heart, and a numbing disbelief. he was gone, she watched him die, she felt it when he grew slack in her arms, and yet here is this.. this boy who wears his eyes, who calls her name in his voice. ]
I..
[ she starts, her white-knuckled hands grasping hard at her sodden cloak, her red-rimmed eyes wide and wild with disbelief. ]
.. Prompto?
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But this...isn't death, is it? It is exactly the same as the scene he just left. Alisaie is bent over him, looking at him in disbelief, uttering his name...
He loves it when she says his name.
Reaching up, he frames her face with his hands, his warm, trembling, human hands, his thumbs smoothing over her cheekbones as the tears that have spent so many years unshed well up in his eyes at last. ]
...I-I love you, too.
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You -
[ she starts, choking around the word.
.. and then she's drawing back, punching him hard in the arm, and pummeling his chest with her fists. ]
H-how dare you do that to me, frightening me like that you - y-you absolute beast!
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He reels back, hands dropping away from her face to defend himself — or at the very least, to catch her fists. He isn't used to human hands having such an impact on him, and it hurts, but mostly it makes him laugh, a joyful, unfettered sound, free of the tinny reverb that had occupied his voice in his previous form. ]
H-hey, wait, I-I didn't mean to —
[ But then before he can think better of it, he's surging upward, grasping at the front of her coat, pulling her in for a messy, feverish kiss, as if it has been waiting upon his lips for the very moment to be free.
It's so sweet and warm and perfect. He never knew his heart could be this full, this healed. ]
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a sound of protest struggles against his mouth, but its soon lost in a soft, needful whine that issues from her very core, and all the pain is forgotten, melting away beneath the warmth and pressure of his kiss. all at once her hands release the fists she had been holding and her arms snake around his shoulders, wrapping tight, her head tilting and her lips parting until she can feel nothing else but the heat of his body and the touch of his mouth against her own. gods, how long she has wanted this, waited for it.. even before this moment. she would have kissed him as he was, she would have loved him as he was, his shape and form hardly mattered.
though this is.. certainly nice, to feel him so warm, to taste his mouth and not feel cold steel and the sharp flavor of metal. he tastes.. sweet, and good, and somehow familiar, his skin smells wonderful, his body feels so warm and solid against her own..
the kiss breaks only so she can breathe, her inhale sharp against his lips, her fingers drawing along his jaw. ]
You're so..
[ she whispers, her lips still pressed to his. ]
.. blonde.
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She came back for him...
He whimpers against her mouth, fingers sinking into her hair without fear of pinching it in his massive joints, and breathes her in, the rush of feeling to his head and his heart so very overwhelming, but he cannot get enough of it. Was feeling always so much?
Eyes still shut fast, he huffs a breathless laugh, his heart racing against his ribcage as he tips his brow against hers. ]
What, don't you like it?
[ She better like it...he missed having hair so much!!! ]
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alisaie laughs softly against his mouth, nudging her nose alongside his own. tears still slip down her cheeks, she cannot stop them, this day has been an absolute tumult of emotion - prickling fear and ripping panic, anxiety and despair, crushing grief and at last, relief and incredible, impossible joy. he had slipped through her fingers so quickly, yet at her lowest moment he had returned to her, whole and full, laughing, smiling. she does not know the true nature of his curse, and the magic that had bound this entire place, but he is.. free at last, his joy palpable, infectious. ]
I suppose I can get used to it.
[ she murmurs through a smile, her fingers lifting to sift through his soft hair, her fingernails dragging gently against his scalp. ]
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And the woman who loves him.
His arms move around her more fully then, winding tight and secure around her back, palms pressed against her to not allow any more space between them then absolutely necessary. He kisses her jaw, the corner of her ear, her temple — every inch of her that he can, his breath still rushing with excitement and emotion as he chuckles yet again. ]
Good answer.
[ And then he falls silent for a moment, just to hold her and appreciate this moment, to appreciate how right and good it feels, and how perfectly she fits up against him, snug and perfect like she was formed to be there. ]
...Thank you for coming back.
[ It means more than he can say, obviously, because if she hadn't...her undoing the curse wouldn't have called him back from the brink of death. He wouldn't be here, and the castle would be doomed. Whether she did so intentionally or not, she...saved them all. ]
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alisaie is not normally such an openly affectionate creature, there are very few she displays it for at all to begin with, her touch reserved only for those dearest to her heart and event then, only for times alone and rare. yet prompto's arms squeezed tight around her feel natural and welcome, holding to him is as easy as breathing; after having so very nearly lost him for good, all she wants to do it cling to him, to hook herself into him, pressing right to his bones, breathing him in. ]
Of course I came back..
[ she murmurs, at last drawing back enough to look into his face. both of her hands are up, her fingers exploring his new shape, tracing his nose and brow, his freckled cheekbones, the bow of his lips and the hard line of his jaw to his chin, rough with stubble. down the column of his throat they go, one hand resting between his collarbones, her palm pressed to the steady beat of his heart, the other lifting again, touching his soft lips, feeling the heat of his breath flow between them. ]
I always meant to. How could I leave you behind?
[ she wanted to taste freedom, yes, to see her brother, to feel the great open sky above her head and walk the forests she knows so well, but not at the cost of abandoning him and the others forever. she could never leave for good. ]
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Against the brush of her fingertips, he murmurs, the texture of the pad of her thumb against his lips exquisite. He forgot how very nice it is to simply be touched. ]
I...
[ But of course she came back. She loves him, and she loves this castle. Born out of unpleasant circumstances as her time here may have been, things have changed. If that weren't irrevocably true, then he would not be here right now. ]
I was a fool for ever thinking you wouldn't. [ He tips his face against her own, nose nuzzling to her cheek. It's all so very good. ]
You...saved us all.
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Me?
[ to say that she looks incredulous would be an understatement. alisaie's brow knits tightly, and she's quick to shake her head. ]
I did nothing more than lead a dangerous mob to your doorstep. They've made such a mess of the castle.. and you.. you were..
[ almost killed. her expression tightens painfully, her gaze dropping in shame. ]
I put you all in great danger.
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[ While yes, she might have led the mob to this place, she did not do so intentionally, and things might be different if the castle's inhabitants hadn't fought off the intruders so valiantly, but they did. And though it might be a twisted way to look at it, if Alisaie hadn't returned and done this, perhaps the spell would still be unbroken.
As he has done before, he curls his fingers beneath her chin to lift her face back up towards him. His fist is much, much smaller than it used to be, but it still...fits nicely beneath her jaw. Even at this size, they seem to fit so well together. ]
You broke the spell. I...I wouldn't be here if you hadn't.
[ But the will of her heart was so strong that it broke through the very enchantment that bound them all to their cursed forms, and now...they are free, they are whole. ]
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What? What in the world are you talking about?
[ she pulls his hand from her chin with both of her own, threading her fingers through his own. there had been whispers before, about breaking the spell, shattering the enchantment, but the staff had never given her so much as an ilm when she pressed them. they were always open and honest with her, kind and giving, but when it came to the history of the castle and the nature of the magic holding sway over them.. they would not budge. ]
But I did nothing. I used no magic. Believe me, I tried more than once.
[ the sheer complexity of the spell had daunted even her, which is certainly saying something, but she had not been able to so much as fray an edge of the enchantment's weave. not without risking those caught in its skein, at least.. ]
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He squeezes her fingers within his own, before pulling her hand to press against his heart. He may have no doubts now about the nature of her feelings for him...but he's still a little bashful about it, talking about what she as brought to pass. ]
It wasn't your magic. It was...y-your love. You...showed me what it means to truly love someone.
[ And so he is here now, alive and well, whole again, because of the strength of her love, and everything it has taught him. ]
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alisaie's eyes flicker wide with surprise, but then she.. laughs, butting her nose playfully to his, her brow knocking gently to his own. her love. how very simple. she never would have suspected, and that is perhaps for the best, for how could she have fallen in love with him naturally, organically, if she had known the truth of it? the pressure would have spoiled it all, the expectation. magic based in emotion is a rare enough thing. ]
What is this, some sort of faery tale?
[ she jokes, lampshading this entire au because she's meta like that.
but then her mouth finds the corner of his lips, and she kisses him again, slow and sweet, just to feel it once more, to savor his taste, the texture of his mouth, this moment. ]
I am glad to have been of service. I suppose there is much to be done.
[ she wants to meet all the furniture people in their human forms!! ]
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So he kisses her in return, fingers gliding along her jaw, his heart so impossibly full that it threatens to burst. How swiftly things have changed, and all for the better.
But Alisaie is right; they do have much to do, and so he pulls back a moment later, but only just. ]
There is...I have so many people to introduce you to. Properly, anyway. [ A pause, as his expression turns a bit sheepish. ] And...I'd like to apologize to your brother, if...if it's okay.
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alisaie smiles wryly. ]
Well you hardly need to ask my permission.
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