escordvi | closed 🪶⚡ all i really, really ever want is under the mistletoe

Oh...?

[With a curious arch of her brow, she slides the rest of the rings on and lifts her hand to the candle...

With her fingers hovering near it, she waits for something to happen, but when nothing does...]

Am I supposed to do something to activate this trick?

[He chuckles and taps against the candle.]

Touch it with the ring.

[Well, that just piques her curiosity more. There is a bit of tentativeness, her ringed fingers reaching out for the candle but stopping just short of touching it. She glances at him again to be sure before she lets her fingers graze the wax, and she gets as far as brushing her fingertip against it before it suddenly jerks and then...]

What—!?

[She pulls back, visibly startled, when it vanishes and she casts a quick look around.]

Where did it go?

[He laughs at her reaction and nods to the table.]

Tap the ring anywhere on the table.

[And when she does, the candle will tumble out as if from thin air.]

[Narrowing her eyes at him, Benedikta does just that. She picks a spot on the table away from where the candle had been, at the other end, and gives the rings a most cautious tap against the edge. One second it wasn't there and in the next, it tumbles out of nowhere in particular and rolls across the table, and she catches it before it can get too far.

She has to blink once, twice, a few more times to make sure that she isn't hallucinating because of the wine, but no, the candle is here and real and it was gone just a few seconds ago.]

How did...? What sort of magic is this? The rings simply took it.

[He has such a smug grin at that.]

That's exactly that. I heard these were on the market and thought these might prove more useful than trying to hide everything in your dress.

[A light smirk.]

It does have limits. One item per ring at a time and can only be about a foot tall.

Only about a foot tall?

[She scoffs an amused laugh at that and tests it out again with one of his bags of coffee, tapping it with the ring once and then twice, and then marvelling at how it disappears and reappears right where she wants it to. She is far too amused about this, giggling with red in her cheeks, and she'll do it again just for good measure.]

Is this because I was making you carry all of those things out of that party the other week?

Perhaps.

[A wry but amused grin as he watches her.]

[This time, she snorts under her breath and lifts her fingers to him, just barely touching his nose.]

A good thing that it has a size limit.

[And she boops him before she pulls her hand back to look at the rings on herself again, admiring the craftsmanship as well.]

So it is like... a magical pocket?

[He just rolls his eyes before he sits in closer to her.]

Something like that. They called it a "dimensional pocket," but don't ask me how it works.

How did you know my next question...

[Slowly, she slides the rings off before she accidentally "pockets" anything else and sets them aside.]

They will certainly come in handy should we ever have another job like that again. Or... handy in general.

[As expected by now, she leans forward and kisses him again in gratitude. Despite its softness, there is a hint of mischief in her eyes, the gears turning in her head on all sorts of things she could use this for.]

They are just what I needed. Thank you.

[Oh he can see those pretty little gears turning, but he knew they would and he just chuckles.]

I hope I don't come home to a new "nest" of treasures or I'll hhave to start calling you my little "crow."

[She hums thoughtfully before she shakes her head.]

Mm, does not have quite the same ring to it. Though, crows are quite clever. Besides...

[There's a brush of her nose against his.]

Would you really say no to a nest full of treasures?

[It's going to happen. Just you wait.]

Well I am looking forward to some kind of nest.

[A playful smirk as he looks into her eyes. He couldn't help himself to make the little "nesting" joke here.]

[She smacks him on the arm.]

Enough of that.

[It's embarrassing, and doubly so when she is three (or was it four???) glasses of wine into the night, and she will shove his next gift—the box—into his arms.]

[He just laughs at that and takes the box.]

Who knows, maybe this time next year I'll need to buy for more—

[She breaks those words off with another firm but playful kiss, her cheeks flushing deeper and her heart fluttering at the thought of that.]

Or you can continue to spoil me.

[But she motions to the box one more time.]

Now open it.

[Another chuckle as he can't help but smirk at her a little before he gives the box a little shake before starting to open it.]

I wonder what it could be...

[As he gives that box a shake (though nothing will wiggle inside) and starts to open it, Benedikta's entire demeanour shifts. She may not have gotten him much this year, but this is the bread and butter of her gifts, and she had not realized how nervous she was feeling about it until he had started to tear away that wrapping paper. Her shoulders are tense, her back straight and stiff, her face reddening still as she watches his fingers.

While he does that, she picks up the velvet satchel that's sitting beside her and holds it between her own hands.

When he pulls off the lid of the little black box, inside of it will be a handcrafted knife made of steel in the shape of a feather, the hilt of it black, with a silver button at the end of it. Embedded inside the blade is a small, green crystal that shimmers lightly.]

[Cid wasn't sure what to expect, but it certainly wasn't this. He marvels at the blade as he carefully picks it up and turns it over.]

Is this a real knife?

[And that button doesn't go unnoticed, but he's looking over everything.]

It is.

[Her voice has suddenly gone quiet, but she watches him anyway through her lashes, her fingers fidgeting with the cords of the satchel on her lap.]

I had it crafted at the Starmetal Forge.

[She knows he knows Darin, so she needn't explain more on that.]

And there is a reason it looks like that. [The feather, she means. It is not exactly his sort of "motif", so to speak. Likely something she would choose for herself, yes?] The crystal inside can be imbued with a certain kind of magic. And I suppose you could guess simply by looking at it what magic that might be...

[His eyes widened at that, surprised that she mentioned Darin's forge for a number of reasons. But at her mention of the magic, he looks it over again and takes a guess.]

...Wind?

[She gives a small nod, one corner of her lip quirking slightly, and while she does not say anything, she demonstrates. She brushes her fingers over the blade, touching the crystal, and allows some of her magic to trickle out from her fingertips. The metal shimmers around its edges, and it all coalesces into the crystal at the blade's center, its glow brightening as it stores more of that magic.]

My wind.

[Of course it could hold the magic of others, but she would very much prefer it if it were only hers that it drew from and that he would use. It is her gift to him.]

So that you always have a little of it in your pocket.

[He's left traces of his own magic with her, primarily with the music box that even now he recharges when it's running low. But for her to give her her wind and in a form of a weapon... Even if it's a knife, it's clear what messages she is trying to send, and he can only look at her with a bit of wonder as his fingertips run over the crystal. He's half-tempted to add his own in there, but there is something to having it just be purely hers.]

I'd say I would treasure it, but that would defeat its purpose. So instead I will be sure to use it well, and come back to you should I ever need more of your wind.

[Ideally he should never have to, but there could be uses that aren't necessarily from dire circumstances.

So he smiles and leans in to kiss her softly on the lips.]

Thank you, Benna.

[She can see the understanding in his eyes, and she feels it in the softness of that kiss he presses to her lips. It is a beautiful blade, and it would look wonderful on a mantle or on the edge of his desk, but he is right. It would defeat the purpose of it. It is meant to protect him when she is not there to do so herself. And should he have it on him, so too will he keep a piece of her with him as well. Something for him to utilize alongside his magic should he even need it is the hope.

Her fingers caress his face as she returns the kiss, but before he can move on to the next gift, she pulls back from him just far enough that she can look down.]

There is one more thing.

[The velvet satchel on her lap that she hands him. And when he opens it, there will be another knife in there, although this one is carefully wrapped in silk. Unlike his, this one is more jagged—in the shape of a lightning bolt, with its hilt more decorative, carved with leaves around it. A more feminine knife.

Only this one has a purple stone in the blade, but it is missing its magic.

Surely he can take a guess as to what this is, and she looks up at him, hopeful.]

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject