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Post by Nephele on Jun 5, 2023 0:49:59 GMT -5
“I firmly believe that anything can be translated, whether that be language or movement.” Nephele responded sagely. “Whilst magic does not appear to be a part of your vernacular in your realm, that doesn't mean it cannot be modified. That skill will follow you wherever you go, unless you were to magically stop. A little to the left.” She added on, her headaches slowly subsiding as the time passed.
“A sword dance that involves meditation… that I have to see.” Nephele said, curious what that could entail. It was probably because she was basically inept at sword fighting, but the idea of coupling it with meditation really piqued her interest. It sounded almost impossible for herself, but she would love to watch C’Leena. If she was convinced enough, she could probably try it for herself.
Nephele let out a sound akin to a scoff and a gasp of mock disbelief. “How rude, I deserved nothing of the sort!” She harrumphed, crossing her arms and straightening her back, her voice almost sounding offended had C’Leena not known her better. “You were quite mean, in fact I believe you were too mean. Nearly toppled me right over, could have broken something you know.”
She relaxed after a moment, dropping her hands to her lap and kicking her feet. “In all seriousness, it was a beautiful day. You taught me the basics and something about forms? Whatever it was I unfortunately couldn't retain, I'm sorry. Let's see…” Nephele hums to herself, picking out her nails and thinking. “There was a lot that happened that day, I'm surprised you barely remember... I think that was the first time I actually flirted with you, well, other than that time in the poppy field.” Nephele nearly cringes at the memory. It was a brief moment when they first met, when she accidentally called C’Leena pretty offhandedly during a regular conversation. It was a complete accident, but luckily C’Leena didn't remember.
“Everything else however, well I'm sure you remember.” Nephele left it open-ended, quite certain that C’Leena could recall what happened towards the tail end of their night. Whether she was talking about the panic attack or what happened after, she was 98% sure if nothing else she remembered that.
At C’Leena's question, Nephele did a very fast mental checklist. Her head didn't hurt anymore, thankfully, and she felt amazing now. “Much better, you don't have to keep going, thank you so much.” Nephele reached behind her to stop C’Leena’s ministrations, grabbing her wrists and scooting back on the bed to drape her arms around her waist.
“Alright, how are you feeling?” Nephele asked, leaned against C’Leena's chest so she could listen to her clockwork heartbeat. It was one of her favorite sounds, ever since she first met her.
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Post by C'Leena Thomas on Jun 5, 2023 2:12:28 GMT -5
C'Leena nodded but remembers that Nephele can't actually see her nodding. "Oh without a doubt. It's just that adding magic is a lot easier than removing it from a style. Although as I said, I don't exactly plan on returning to earth for long enough that it'll be a problem. You're home, now, petal." C'Leena shifts her ministrations to the left as per Nepheles request as she speaks.
"Aye. It's called 'Dance of the Sword Fairy'. I don't know where the name came from - it has nothing to do with fairies. It's actually rather tranquil, and used as a meditative thing back on earth. Just minus the Magic Bullshit that happens here." Despite the term, C'Leena is eternally grateful for Nephele showing her the meditation. When C'Leena has time to burn, she'll generally try to use that time to meditate and work on her sensation. Over time, the intensity and duration have been slowly building, but compared to Nepheles sense of touch, she's hardly feeling a thing.
C'Leena snorts at Nepheles feigned offense. "Well there's your problem, Neph: You flirted with me and didn't expect me to repay you in kind. I totally did the mommy voice, didn't I?" She laughs, almost certain that she did, in fact, do the mommy voice. Everything that Nephele said wasn't exactly new information. The details are all new, but there is a certain feeling of familiarity, even if it's muddled. "And what, you calling me pretty? I'd hardly call that flirting, petal. It was very much appreciated, though. Still is, beautiful."
C'Leena laughed once again, remembering the events after that. A lot of the night is foggy, but she remembers what happened after. "As if I'd forget. You would too, in my position." She says, smiling widely. Once Nephele said that she was feeling better, she stopped the pressure and allowed Nephele to take her wrists. C'Leena wraps her arms around Nephele as she scoots back into C'Leena, resting her head on her chest.
The ticking and light whirring of her heart is just as audible as it usually is. The beats are slow, but powerful. Her lung also whirrs, emitting a deeper sound than the heartbeat as it's accompanied by a hiss that is vaguely reminiscent of pneumatics with each breath in and out. C'Leena turns the two of them to where C'Leena is leaning against the head of the bed with Nephele in the same position on her chest as she leans back slightly. A hand goes up to Nepheles hair where C'Leena gently combs through her hair with her fingers, primarily focused around her scalp.
"Happy. Loved.. Optimistic." She lists softly. As she speaks, her lung emits a different hiss as it restricts airflow slightly. "No longer in pain - well, from my head, at least. Arm is causing me some trouble, as ironic as that sounds." It's been happening for a few minutes now - her phantom limb deciding to act up now and cause her an aching pain. It can be ignored easily enough, however.
"Why do you ask? How are you feeling?" She asks in turn. Not that she's against Nephele checking up on her, just that her wording almost feels like she's planning something. She's been wrong before, though. She continues lightly combing and almost petting through Nepheles hair, finding the act awfully therapeutic.
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Post by Nephele on Jun 5, 2023 12:19:03 GMT -5
Nephele found the idea of meditation being purely a practice of tranquility rather than magic back where C’Leena was from was fascinating. A sword dance sounded complex but oddly beautiful. She also didn’t fail to note C’Leena referring to her as her home now, with her eyes flicking to the side as she smiled shyly.
“'Mommy' voice? Gods that is…certainly a name for it.” Nephele laughed, pretending a stray crack in the wall was the most fascinating thing on the planet. “You must understand that most of the time I am not purposefully flirting, especially back then. I simply speak my mind and it comes out weird, unfortunately. Common isn't my first language!”
The shift of position is comfortable, having Nephele huddle a little closer to C’Leena. The stark contrast in temperature in C’Leena’s body was soothing, feeling secure within cool arms and a warm chest. She listened to C’Leena list how she felt, her smile widening. She made a promise a while ago to help her fiance feel, and to overall make her feel loved. It seemed like she was successful. Nephele nearly closed her eyes at the fingers through her hair, practically crooning at the sensation.
“Do you want to stretch your legs? It could help…” Nephele mumbled contrarily to her tone, drawing patterns into C’Leena’s stomach slowly. She was one impulsive thought away from poking her and starting a vengeful tickle fight, but she just repressed the thought with a ghost of a mischievous smile. Later, perhaps. At the thought, Nephele’s hands stopped for half a second as every thought showed on her face, before her hand twitched and went back to her ministrations.
“I feel much of the same, a bit disoriented.” Nephele said after a moment. “Would you like to do something today or am I holding you hostage?” In complete honesty, Nephele was fine with C’Leena playing in her hair for the next few days if she were honest. There was something about it that she found blissful.
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Post by C'Leena Thomas on Jun 5, 2023 13:21:35 GMT -5
"I didn't name it! People where I'm from are weird. I knew someone who couldn't handle it one bit and I'd always tease the fuck outta him with it. I just take advantage of my skills, darling." Truthfully, it's not something she actively practiced. It's more of a thing that she found out she had and just took advantage of it.
"Common.. English? Shit that's what is called here? Shit, man.," She says with a frown. It speaks volumes on how little C'Leena knows, even after all this time, when she didn't even know the name of the language she was speaking. "Well, if you're just speaking your mind, then perhaps you really are a flirt at heart." She says, pausing for a moment to lightly flick an ear before continuing with Nepheles hair. Frankly, it looks like it needs to be combed at some point soon, but that can wait. C'Leena is more than happy to remain here for the next week if this is all they do.
"You know I don't need to stretch my legs, dear. They aren't real, last I checked. Actually, hold on," C'Leena leans forward slightly, holding Nephele against her chest as she does so. She slides up a pant-leg and sees the metallic, disillusioned surface. "Dammit. Maybe next time." She slides down the leg again and leans back, returning to the previous position.
"I'm in no rush to go anywhere, but if there's something you want to do or if you think it's time for us to move on, then we can do exactly that." C'Leena chuckles at the 'hostage' term. "If you're holding me hostage then shit, I might just have Stockholm Syndrome. I ain't complaining." She pauses for a moment. "Is there something I can do to help with the disorientation?"
"Oh! And I wanted to ask: Are you serious about the whole 'Settling down' thing? I know you're a wanderer at heart and if it's not something you want to do, we don't need to." She pauses, formulating the words before she says them. "It's just that I'm sitting on a pretty decent amount of money. I could very easily get us a place somewhere and maybe even to what we'd want if you're keen for that."
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Post by Nephele on Jun 5, 2023 18:49:32 GMT -5
Nephele supposes she shouldn't be too surprised that C’Leena is so clueless… and weird. These were traits that she found endearing though. “It is simply my nature.” She responds to the flirting bit, winking exaggeratedly and laughing at herself.
Realizing she made a minor error, being as C’Leena couldn't stretch her arms or legs for that matter, Nephele found her eyes opening a little wider. “Ah right, sorry. I don't know how I forgot about that.” She apologized quickly. Her eyes immediately flew to the still metallic leg under C’Leena’s pants, mentally slapping herself.
“Oh dear, I think I just need to move around a bit.” Nephele responded to C’Leena asking about her disorientation. “My body isn't used to getting more than four hours of sleep, much less after a hangover. We should take a walk.”
Although she says this, Nephele has completely relaxed in C’Leena’s grasp, her will pliant. Her eyes stretch it up to look at C’Leena 's face though, blinking at the inquiry. She wasn't expecting that to come up, though she couldn't say that she was mad about it. Suddenly Nephele's face was tucked out of C’Leena’s sight, an uncontrolled smile on her face. “I… oh dear.”
She took a moment to respond, pretending that she wasn't flustered. It was an interesting thing to get flushed over, but every now and again Nephele’s mind tricked her into thinking that what she had between her and C’Leena was a dream. When she was reminded it wasn't, she would randomly burst into weird, quiet strings of giggles. “Sorry. Of course I was being serious. I suppose it's just a matter of where but...ahh, I can't!”
Nephele's hands raised up to cover her face, feeling it burning against her palms as she laughed. Nephele didn't know if C’Leena knew this or not, but this was huge for her. The fact that she could even consider staying in one place and being content for a few days before walking around again was unheard of for her. She couldn't believe that she could be so happy with the thought.
“I mean, what would we do? What does one do when they have a home like that?” Nephele asked in wonderment.
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Post by C'Leena Thomas on Jun 5, 2023 19:58:12 GMT -5
C'Leena laughs alongside Nephele, both at her exaggerated wink and her minor blunder when it comes to C'Leenas artificial limbs. "Nah, you're all good. If you want to take a walk, we can take a walk.. in about 5 more minutes - this is nice." C'Leena plants a kiss to the top of Nepheles head, still idly playing through her hair.
C'Leena notes the surprise on Nepheles face as she brings up settling down, and then her promptly hiding her face away. Now, with everybody, there is a certain tone change when someone is smiling widely. C'Leena has learnt the pitch that Nephele goes to when she's smiling like that, and hearing it in this context makes C'Leena smile widely herself.
C'Leena knew that settling down was a unique concept for Nephele - or at least used to be. She doesn't know that it's such an alien concept. For C'Leena, not settling down was alien to her, but it's something she's more than happy to do if it means she stays with Nephele. "Well, it's a place to call your own. Somewhere that you don't have to pay nightly to sleep, where you can have true privacy." When it comes to rooms in an Inn, the sense of privacy isn't quite missing, but it's something that bothers you if you focus on it.
"It's a place you can ensure will be there when you return. Personally, I want to get a piano put in somewhere. I love playing it, and you seem to love hearing it if the last time is anything to go by." She knows she's kind of gone off the question, but the idea of settling with Nephele just sounds.. wonderful. It probably won't be something they live in all the time, as she does want to continue wandering Charon with Nephele.
"Why are you so giggly about this idea? It's adorable, don't get me wrong." She asks, looking down at the flustered Nephele. The temptation to pry her hands off her face and see the wide grin is overwhelming, but she pushes it to the back of her mind for now. C'Leena hasn't stopped playing in Nepheles hair, finding a certain catharsis in doing so, despite not being able to feel what she's doing. The gentle, repetitive movements being the source of calm for her instead.
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Post by Nephele on Jun 6, 2023 0:00:23 GMT -5
“This is nice.” Nephele agreed, sighing through her nose. She could honestly sit here for hours, but then again she couldn't; her antsiness wouldn't allow it. Was that even a term? Well it was now.
It was strange, Nephele knew she was engaged, but it was times like these but she was very much reminded that the woman she was laying with in bed would be spending the entirety of their lives together. Hell, they hadn't even discussed a wedding. How long did it take for most humans to discuss weddings? Oh goodness, did C’Leena even want a wedding?
“I think,” Nephele paused to properly formulate her thoughts, trying to fight down the flustered look on her face. “I think that I'm just letting it sink in. You… you're going to be my wife. And I yours.” Nephele said, slowly as if she was putting it together in her own mind. “I think that wherever we go, we should get our house wherever we get married. Married… C’Leena we're going to get married.”
Nephele finally removed her hands from her face, moving to her cheeks as her eyes positively sparkled. Her mind raced with millions of possibilities, and in turn many many stars began to streak through her eyes. Some were so fast that C’Leena couldn't see, but it looked almost as if they were tiny little fairies flitting through the dimension in her eyes.
“And we're going to settle down somewhere and… you'll be able to play piano.” The next few words were said in such quick succession that half of them were unintelligible, but the strange phenomena in her eyes persisted. Hundreds, maybe thousands by this point. “And whenever we want we can leave, we can leave and know that it will be there when we get back. And inside we can, we can do whatever we want. We can sing, we can dance, we can learn, we can do absolutely anything! Can you imagine that? Not having to pay for a place to stay, I could barely get used to not sleeping in open fields or in trees before you but that wouldn’t matter, would it? Cee, I would have your last name! I don’t think I’ve had one of those before! A-And you want to share it with me?”
Nephele shook her head, her hands trembling as she slowly began to process everything that had happened and the past two days alone. And then in the past week, then month, then six months. The sigh she exhaled was shaky, as if completely floored by reality. Her next words are melancholy in nature, but her voice is astonished and gleeful. Hopeful. “I’ve made so many mistakes… and you want to do all of that with me? Still?”
It was like Nephele couldn't believe her own words, and she stared up at C’Leena with wonder. The shooting stars had stopped by this point, but the replicant of the North Star continued to glow. And even as someone without pupils, it seemed like this star was staring directly up at C’Leena has Nephele awaited an answer.
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Post by C'Leena Thomas on Jun 6, 2023 0:35:48 GMT -5
C'Leena smiled as Nephele agreed with her. This really was nice. She looked down at her when Nephele began speaking again, a curious look in her eyes. She lightly shifts her weight on the bed, trying not to jostle Nephele too much. Watching Nephele allow everything to sink in is a beautiful experience.
It only got better when Nepheles eyes began to light up like a Christmas tree. An attempt was made to count them, but the sheer number made that effort impossible. It had to be something like, fifteen stars a second or something of the sort. She keeps that in mind for some math afterward. C'Leena was about to say something before she began speaking again. C'Leenas eyes are wide, eyebrows raised and a smile is on her face that grows wider with each word Nephele speaks.
The sheer excitement coming from Nephele was almost overwhelming, forcing C'Leena to focus everything onto Nephele, blocking out all other stimulus in an effort to keep her composure. As Nephele rants, and seemingly without her noticing, C'Leena holds Nephele closer and tighter, still gently running her fingers through her hair. As the thoughts race from Nepheles head and to her mouth, C'Leena marks this as her favorite moment with Nephele. The proposal is a close second, with the piano a third.
As Nephele asks her question and looks up to C'Leena, she's quiet for a moment. Shock, glee and love are all prominent on her face at the same time. Once her mind catches up, she does some quick math in her head. "..Nine Hundred and Thirteen. I couldn't count, but I assumed about fifteen stars a second." She says, looking at Nephele. The stars have stopped, but the glimmer in her eyes is just as beautiful.
"Nephele, we've both made plenty of mistakes. Mistakes aren't what define people; it's how we move and learn from them that does. Petal, you've become an amazing woman despite everything. You've had the literal world against you from the beginning and you've made it through and become who you are today. Not even I have that strength, Nephele.
"From the beginning, I've known that you were the one. That road out of Thunderhoof Village where we danced? That's when I allowed myself to believe it. But the moment you approached me, something in my mind simply knew." C'Leena raises her hand from Nepheles waist to her cheek. "Want to know something? The very moment you said 'Yes', you have been Ms. Thomas. It might not be legally changed yet, but who cares about that? I certainly don't.
"So, Nephele Thomas. Yes, I do want to marry you. I do want to settle down somewhere - somewhere we can call home where we can sing, dance, learn and do anything we want. Our own bed we paid once for, and a piano where I can play for you and even teach you to play if that is something you want to learn.
"I want a life with you, Nephele. If I didn't, I wouldn't have proposed, now would I?" C'Leena idly rubs Nepheles cheek with her thumb, still looking at the shimmering star in Nepheles eyes. "There is not a single thing you can do that will change my mind. I want a future with you, if you'd like a future with me, too."
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Post by Nephele on Jun 6, 2023 12:07:24 GMT -5
Nephele doesn’t quite register the number that C’Leena says out loud, blinking a few times as she tries to comprehend what she was talking about. When she finally realized what she was talking about, Nephele had to hold back a laugh, still amazed that her fiance was still counting them. She wanted to be surprised, but when it came to C’Leena it seemed that almost anything was possible.
Whatever words she wanted to say died in her throat, too overwhelmed to properly articulate her feelings. She leaned into C’Leena’s touch, basking in the coolness of her hand against her cheek, her smile wide. C’Leena was right, as always.
Her name sounded perfect beside C’Leena’s surname, and even if she had a last name, Nephele wouldn’t have it any other way. “Nephele Thomas…” She repeated, reaching her hand up to hold one of the hands on her cheek. It made her grin wider still. “I would love nothing more.”
It took a moment for Nephele to move from C’Leena’s gaze, smitten and practically melting into the embrace. The two stay there a while, wrapped in each other and snuggled together, but eventually Nephele does decide that she needs to stand. She stands to stretch, declaring with a giddy smile that the two go for a walk around the city. The day goes by, with the two swapping tales and discovering things about their surroundings and each other. The night concludes with Nephele requesting for her hair to be braided again, staying up with C’Leena until she fell asleep.
Nephele smiled, sitting in the bed and crossing her legs while her fiance slept. She often found herself braidning tiny braids into her hair, most of the time unbraiding them but leaving a few behind for C’Leena to discover in the morning. Eventually though, she decided to lie down, huddling into the warmth of C’Leena’s body. She probably wouldn’t sleep, but it was always good to find reprieve.
Nephele stared at the ring on her finger in the darkness, the dull fire in the fireplace having petered out almost completely by this point. And then with a small smile, Nephele let herself close her eyes, falling into a blissful dream without worry and full of love, with the woman she held a primary character in every scene. Everything was perfect at last. They would grow together, and Nephele for one could not wait to make that a reality.
A gust of sourceless wind blows out the dying fire, and with it carried a slurred, haunting voice that carried something with it, something melancholic:1 “Stay safe.”
And with that, the room returned to silence.
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