escordvi | closed ⚡🪶 and forevermore, i'll be chasing the storm we had.

[Oh.

That's definitely heat, hotter than than the Dhalmekian deserts, and he frowns with a grimace as he feels it. And as he glances at her, he awkwardly rubs the back of his neck.]

Uh...

[And that's enough of an answer of yes he has not.]

Will you be able to handle the flight through this heat? Wouldn't want to make you work more than you need.

How do you think I got home and back so quickly?

[Benedikta slows and turns a little more to him, before she gives his hand a firm tug, pulling him right up to her.]

I'm offended that you would even ask.

[Hm...

He'll look her over a moment before he lets out a small breath to accede.]

Very well, then. Just don't squeeze too tight.

[She laughs, the sound a low, wispy thing in his ear as she holds him tighter to her.]

No promises.

[With that, there's the familiar burst of aether, and the brush of her winds, and rather than work to push him away from her like they had done before, they draw him closer, forcing them together as she pulls back, a smirk finding its way all the way up into those shimmering, bright blue eyes that now stare at him before she's kicking off the ground in a single beat of her wings... with him in her arms.

A feat she certainly could not pull off without her semi-primed state.

But as they fly over Nogard, she will make sure that he gets a good view of the dragon that's now clinging onto one edge of the island, of the volcano, and of Eltrut and Elah on the opposite side, as well as the mountain and the hot springs to which they are headed. She might even tease him with a few sudden, fast rolls through the air before diving down to the resort which seems... awfully quiet.

It isn't until she lands in front of it that she sees the sign:

TEMPORARILY CLOSED DUE TO FIRE DRAKES. Please come back in a few hours.

As her aether fades away, Benedikta finally releases him just before her feet touch the ground, and she swears under her breath.]

Un-fucking-believable.

[Admittedly, it's always a strange feeling to have Benedikta carry him like this, but he's just going to enjoy the ride as it is, knowing that she normally wouldn't do it like this. Though he will behave and not ham it up like he normally would.

Until she tries to pull those rolls. Then he'll start making those quips and pretending a damsel in distress (this may not really help matters). Even so, he does take in the view, marveling a little at how their leviathan moved to just latch onto this side of the island. Granted that it seems dragonesque, seems fitting.

Once at the resort...

Feet now back on the ground, he walks up closer to the sign to read it over again. Then he'll peer beyond it before he hears the sound of shouting, and hissing.]

...Sounds like they're still at it, too.

[A wince at what sounded like something getting destroyed. Oof.

Running a hand through his hair, he turns to Benedikta. Really, he feels more sorry for her, having flown all this way carrying him, and he gets the feeling she might have been looking forward to the springs, too. But then his eyes catch sight of the sky lifts...

Hmmmmmmmmmmm.]

But there's a winter lodge up on the mountains, isn't there? Since we're here, might as well try our luck there. Would help us get out of the heat for a bit, at least.

[She was looking forward to the hot springs. What gave it away? The clear disappointment that transforms her face into a full scowl? The tension that sets right in between her shoulders? The wind that blows through and rattles the sign like she's trying to blow it over?

Benedikta hears the drakes, and she has half a mind to leap over the dividers and take care of them herself, and then maybe they'd have a few hours of the springs to themselves before everyone decided to come back...

...

....

But Cid's voice draws her back, the promise of something chillier than that god-awful heat a tempting prospect...]

What's at the lodge?

[Her eyes follow his up to the gondolas that look to be carrying people up the side of the snow-capped mountain.

At any rate, she's already walking in that direction, taking him by the hand again, the other adjusting the bag at her shoulder.]

No idea.

[But he'll tighten his fingers around hers before tugging her closer to him, as if trying to help soothe her disappointment.]

But there might be something we can try. At the very least we can take a walk around, and if we feel a little cold, well.

[A more playful, roguish grin.]

I'm sure we can find ways to warm each other.

[She falls back a step until she's walking tucked right at his side, close enough that she can see that pesky grin of his that only gives her one of her own.]

... Well I was looking forward to the hot springs keeping me warm.

[She really was, and she's still annoyed, but she gives a playful roll of her eyes, and an equally dramatic sigh anyway.]

But I suppose the other ways will have to do. A fire, perhaps. Or some nice blankets. A cup of coffee? You do like that.

That all sounds good to me... Especially that coffee.

[A rub of his chin as he continues to lead them over to the gondolas, already with quite the crowd given how everyone is having similar ideas.]

Reminds me I haven't had one since this morning.

[... Is he doing that on purpose?]

How many cups of coffee do you need?

[Founders, Cid. Is one cup in the morning not enough? It's barely past noon.]

[Just going to you know—]

Looks like a large group comin', better hurry up if we don't want to get caught in it.

[—dodge the question as he pulls her forward quickly through the crowds.]

[Uh huh... she's going to eye him with doubt arching her brow.

But he's right.

It's definitely crowded. Too crowded for Benedikta's tastes... She doesn't like crowds, and she hates people, so the quicker they get through this, the better.

...

Which is why Cid will feel a tug on his hand, and then several people calling out in surprise as a violent gust blows them back and out of the way so that she can shove their way to the front and onto the gondola without being noticed. And she stakes out a spot near the back by the window.]

[He feels that tug, and he could guess what it meant. So he just laughs when the wind bursts through, allowing them to quickly get onto the gondola and into prime position.

But of course, while they got there early, that means everyone else is packing in—and they're clearly going to try and reach the limit here. He was already sticking close by standing next to her, but as more people arrived and shoving in, he moves so that he's in front of her, arms hands braced on either side as he faces her with a loose grin.]

Well if we have to be stuck cramped like this, might as well give each other a better view, aye?

[Still too many people, and Benedikta shifts uncomfortably, squirming closer into the corner, when one man gets a little too close before Cid's arms brace on either side of her.]

... Yes, well. I'm sure the view out the window will be spectacular. If you can manage.

[She doesn't catch his true meaning yet, not quite looking up at him as she watches more and more people filter in through the door, and her hand wraps around his arm as if he is a means to support her as she presses right up against the window.]

[....Hmmmmmmm.

Just a languid smile before he dips his head closer to her so that she can't watch the people so easily and is forced to look at him instead.]

Not the view I was thinking.

[She brings her eyes up to look at him then, his scent hitting her before the rest of him does, and the doors slide shut just as they connect. There's a whirring from the ropes above and then a lurch of the gondola as they start to ascend slowly.

And she would look outside like all the others who are in awe of the way the ground disappears beneath them... if she weren't so suddenly caught up in him, and the way that smile of his sits so easily on his lips. Lips that look so goddamn kissable in the sun.

Yeah. Definitely a different sort of view.

In a low, all-too-breathless voice, one that only he can hear:]

Which, then?

Well......

[A low, long drawl as he steps closer to be more pressed against her, face lowering a little more as his voice lowers to where only she can hear, the whirring of the cables and chatter of other people helping to mask his words.]

The one I'm seeing has some beautiful greens right now...

[Closer still he drifts, the warmth of their breaths filling the small space.]

Framed by a splash of white gold catching in the sun...

[And then his eyes move to her lips as he somehow manages to keep that small gap between them.]

And soft red petals blooming on a field of snow.

[Now... here is the Cidolfus she knows.

The one whose eyes twinkle with mischief, the one whose lips wear that roguish smirk, whose words and warmth finds its way through her skin and sinks right into her aether, knowing their way because they've been there a thousand times before. Whose breath tastes of cigars and confidence. The one that makes her face warm and pink, and her eyes caught up in his.

She doesn't even say anything, her own breath caught in her throat as she stares up at him, so close—close enough that she could kiss him if she moved just an inch. And no one would know... no one on this gondola would have any idea that she had with him caging her like this...

And that want is there, that longing that she's been stamping out all morning for his sake, when her eyes flit to his lips and then back up.

Damn him...]

Edited 2024-01-09 15:35 (UTC)

[Despite being in a very public, very crowded place, it's clear Cid doesn't care if he shows this kind of affection towards her. Show off their intimacy while hiding it at the same time. There is a special little thrill that comes with it, as well as a bit of arrogance and confidence as if to show off and say, "Yes, she is mine and I am hers, so back off." Especially the former part on his end, his arm positioned in just the right way to obscure her face from any who may glance their way. Even the reflection off the glass won't show much, only his own whose eyes are focused on her and only her. Even the landscape that pass beneath them is lost from his periphery, seeing only her and his own image reflected in her eyes.

Eyes that tell him all he needs to know, of that same want and longing they always have towards each other, one that has grown significantly in their time here. And one he wants to lose himself in so that he no longer feels those unwanted, somber pangs of loneliness and regret that has crept in over the past few days. To reaffirm his original thoughts that he needs to make every moment count with whatever time they have. And to reaffirm his goal of changing their fates to they can have all the time they want. It's already enough to worry about one's own natural life, they need to have to worry about being suddenly taken by a force they have no control over.

Yet he cannot do so just yet. All that can be done is the usual push and pull, of that gradual building until they can't take it any longer.

Instead he just smirks as she's rendered speechless and breathless, and he leans in just a little closer.]

And? What about you? What kind of view do you see?

[Just a little closer is enough, and Benedikta finds herself pressing up further against the large glass window, as if she's trying to flee lest she just take what should be hers...

His question has her own gaze deepening, a darker, honeyed green bleeding into the amber, pupils widening as if to take in as much of the view in front of her as possible. Cheeks flushed, lips parted, she's tempted to simply just press them to his and shut him up, a punishment for making her say anything of the sort. For making her think and speak such tender, warm things about him that might make her knees collapse under her.

That has never changed. In all the years they spent together and then apart, it's those eyes of his that have always drawn her in, and then threatened to drown her. And she's pushed herself away from it, distanced herself from them for far too long.

...

Her eyes come up to meet his, her own voice low, even a little husky when she feels the air catch in her throat.]

Drops of water after a long journey through the Velkroy.

[She holds his gaze a moment... almost like she's parched and drinking them up.]

An oasis...

[There's a small, sharp clear of her throat before she allows her eyes to drop to his lips, her own parting with a longing sigh.]

... And a waiting, snaring trap.

[A trap that is clearly ready to set off as he listens and watches, his gaze deepening, unable to resist the natural attraction they forge between each other. In this moment, it's as if there's no one else but them, and if they really were alone...

He doesn't answer at first, and she can clearly see and feel the tension as he restrains himself. How the heat simmers in his eyes, a gaze that carries far too much than it should. Just like back on the boat, he has this overwhelming almost crushing feeling towards her, a tide he has to contain because there's nowhere for any of it to go. Not yet, anyway.]

...Hmmm, not bad...

[And then a slightly more mischievous smirk.]

Do you want a closer look? See what's in that "trap"?

[Oh, she does indeed spot it. It's hard not to notice when it's all she's ever used to, and all she's ever sought from them. She knows that there is plenty on his mind, and so she stokes the fires because that is all she knows. Platitudes have no place between them and they never have, but what she lacks in comforting words she more than makes up for in easy distractions.

And she's only so good at it because it is what she would need, too, were their roles switched.

But it is always more than just an easy distraction between them. It's this natural attraction, a wanting that they both have to restrain, as Benedikta's fingers press against the glass, nails digging in to stop herself from simply grabbing him by his hair and closing the rest of this laughable, pathetically small distance between them. When this fire has nowhere to spread...

Her voice lowers even further, to a whisper.]

Mm, perhaps... but I think I have a good idea of what awaits me there...

And what do you think?

[He quiets his voice to match her own, and a hand drifts closer to her so idly play with her hair, tugging a longer strand to twirl it around his finger.]

[Her head tilts ever so slightly, closer to the hand that finds her hair. She always did like it when he played with it, twirled it, brushed it... tugged it.

What does she think awaits her in that trap, he asks? She pretends to mull over the answer, and at the same time trying to stem the warmth that bleeds into her cheeks as she feels his gaze bear down on her. She stares at his lips, though whether she realizes how hard she is staring at them is anyone's guess—perhaps she's not even aware that she's staring at all.

It's only when a thoughtful hum escapes her throat that she tears her eyes away and connects with his again, and while there is that shadow of heat within them, they soften.]

A fire that burns too hot... [A fire that she could and would turn to ash in.] Something far too dangerous for me.

[There's a slight widening of his eyes at her answer... Before they soften, almost a little rueful—somber.]

And if it's not that?

[Slowly his fingertips brush against the skin near her eye.]

...If it's something warmer? Safer?

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