daemonized | RECOLLE IC CONTACT.

And how can I say no, when the opportunity to dance with you arises?

[Not to mention it sounds wonderful; further reason for him to stay near her, on the dance floor. He wants to stay as close as he can to her, for as long as this day lasts.]

You know I can't resist. Besides, we are already dressed for it.

Then let me act as guide and you can pretend to be amazed at my memory while I pull up directions on a map.

[which she can do with ease, though the fact that they have to let go in order to get in the car is something Grell takes with exaggerated dramatics, drawing it out and only moving away slowly before they get in, at which point they're right next to each other again.

after they park, before anything else, she comes over to kiss him. it's the only way she can think of to keep her heart from bursting in her chest. she's too uselessly fond for anything else, and while normally she can't care if someone sees them in public, today she'd be almost glad. let them see. let them bear witness. she is in love, and the whole world can know it and how beautiful it is.]

[The car is parked and she’s leaned over to give him a kiss; Ardyn is more than eager to return it. More than eager to lose himself in it, in the entirety of this day, just the two of them — it’s all he wants to focus on, all he wants to see and hear. Just Grell.

And when he pulls away, he leans his forehead against hers, muttering low-]

…We can just return home, and be like this for the rest of the evening. This, and more.

[He wants to dance with her, but he wants to be this close, this intimate with her for as long as time will allow. Temptation, pulled in two ways.]

[terrible. utterly terrible. if she didn't have her resolve, she might consider saying yes. there's enough time, though, for them to stay close, even now.]

You make a very attractive offer, but I've already committed myself to the path we're on. Ask me again in a while, and my answer might have changed.

[she kisses him again, briefly, before being the one to lead the way inside. what it looks like barely matters, aside from them being able to get a small table - she used to come here with Elizabeth, for the music and for being able to have time away from worries. but the moment something slower starts, she doesn't care about sitting, she wants to pull Ardyn out to dance with her.

not many people want to be out this evening, so it's perfect - they have quite a bit of space to themselves, and don't have to care about anyone else. meaning she can lean in close and whisper.]

Love you.

[In the end, he will adhere to what she wants. Dancing is keeping her close, and all he needs -- and later, he certainly won't forget to ask her again about their eventual return home.

But for now, he's led inside, and he doesn't have time to sit before she takes him by the hand and leads him to the dance floor. The music is slow, swaying, perfect for holding her close and indulging in the moment.

She can still manage to incite that little thrill running down his spine when she whispers in his ear. Even after all this time.]

And I, you.

[His grin is soft and sincere, but something in his eyes shine bright.]

Mrs. Izunia.

[there's no way to contain the smile on her face when he says that. no way to stop herself from quietly laughing, full of joy. she wants to hear him say it over and over, to make it something that she doesn't go breathless at hearing, but it also just solidifies that she made that choice. that now, her name is entirely hers, chosen because she wants it, and that she's somewhere in her life that she never thought she'd be, when she came to Recolle. never imagined that someday, she'd be looking someone in the eyes and the world, with all its flaws and faults and terrible things, would be something she'd thank.]

Mr. Izunia.

[it reminds her of the day they first kissed, when they were dancing around the concept of even being attracted beyond a surface level, when she had such control on how long she'd had interest he'd not known at all. when marriage was only a joke, with a list of requirements attached. and the happiness she'd felt then pales to what she feels now.

for right now, no one else exists. not in this room, not in this city. it doesn't matter, though it might come crashing down later. just this. just the feeling ]

Husband.

[He hopes he can always make her laugh like that, her eyes full of bliss because of something he's said. If he can manage that, with growing success, then he can live happily knowing that he's providing the same contentedness for her -- the kind she grants him every day.]

I love to hear you say that. I could hear it but a hundred times more and never tire of the word.

[Husband. Her husband, and he wonders how he ever managed to be this fortunate in life to be called that by someone like her. His wife, his luminous, beautiful wife.

He's not even sure he hears the music any longer. Ardyn only sees her, and for once, there's nothing in the whole world that could change this. All the bad memories of a thousand lifetimes could not bring him down, could not distract him. He loves her fully, and he's never been more sure of it than today.]

Call me your husband every day; be so kind as to remind me that this is reality, and not a dream. That I really am so closely bonded, so very in love, with a woman that can only ever exist in a perfect dream.

Every day, if it keeps you here with me.

[for Grell refuses to even think of this as a dream - it has to be reality, she won't settle for less. she refuses to give up the way she feels to but a thought of it being a dream. refuses to yield one drop of this love. she has married someone with a romantic soul to match her own, the impossible made possible.

she loves him, and she'll say it to a judge, in front of their friends and family, to anyone. but most of all, she'll say it to him. dancing together, the music hardly gets through. they're together, that's the important part.]

...If I could tell my past self anything, I'd tell her to be kinder to you - we didn't know what we had in store.

[All the better if this is something he will not wake up from in the middle of the night -- wanting and wishing that it were real. Knowing that this is reality, that her touch is warm and fond because it very much exists, stills all time around him.]

Oh? [He chuckles lightly.] You were never unkind to me.

I never was overtly kind either. Maybe if I had been, we wouldn't have had over two years of not knowing.

[but then again, what if that had changed things? what if they had tried, downplayed it, made the wrong choices? they'll never know.]

Still, it truly did work out for the best.

[He looks endlessly amused at that.]

Two years of pining, of feelings swept aside because they had been labeled as lost causes. What a shame.

[It's painfully obvious there's no sorrow or regret in his eyes at all. That this "shame" is just him lightly joking.]

I suppose I might forgive you for it, since you did agree to marry me. Since we are married now.

Only might? The marriage itself wouldn't be enough of a deed to earn your forgiveness for certain? I never thought your heart to be that hard, my dear.

[jokes for jokes, and she'll hardly cease being dramatic in public once they've started, even if it's quietly just in his ear.]

I possess a cruel and cold heart. You know this, surely.

[Dramatics are something that neither of them will let go of at any given time. It exists in their very lifeblood, and if they must whisper it to each other, then so be it.]

I suppose I can forgive you if I try hard enough -- under one condition.

Tell me. What will overcome your nature, and find me in your good graces?

[honestly, it's probably only going to get more dramatic now. as much as they can get away with.]

Something quite simple, really.

[It has the potential to get very dramatic. Even if the slow sway of the dance doesn't change in the interim.]

You accept what I have to give you, when we return home. But I shall not tell you what it is; you must hold on tight to your increasing curiosities until then.

For you, I'll do anything. Accepting the unknown will be easy.

[already she's curious, though, and he'll know it - that it'll be hard to not ask for a hint or try to make any guesses. still, that was his so-called condition, and so she'll try, to keep up the game.]

Consider it a promise.

[He can only imagine how curious she is. He will admire her willpower for not asking, because he knows that by saying as much, she'll probably keep wondering at what it is until they return home.

Ardyn will not ruin the surprise.]

A promise that I will hold you to, Grell. Accepting the unknown, though you not even hope to fathom what it is.

[Though that does sound a bit like what they have to go through with Retrospec. Accepting whatever is thrown at them, knowing that they would be resilient enough to survive it. To not allow it to break them. Next to her, dancing like this, he feels nearly invincible; as if she provides him with enough strength to face anything in his path. In their path.]

...I know you're strong enough to do so, after all.

In truth, only as strong as the support at my back.

[she punctuates this statement with a soft kiss to his cheek. though they were speaking lightly, she means it in truth - the ones she cherishes hold her up as much as she might hope to brace them against what comes. him, especially.]

But I like being surprised more than curiosity eats at my mind.

[The kiss on the cheek makes something warm blossom in his chest. He loves all manner of them, small pecks and the passionate ones, for they all remind him of the same thing -- that she is his, and he is hers.]

As harsh as I am, even I won't let curiosity gnaw at your thoughts for much longer. Soon, Grell.

[But for now, only the two of them, dancing and holding each other close. The surprise can wait for that long, for the surprise is of the romantic kind. Its affect will be even more appreciated, the longer they live in each other's world.

It's still a while yet before they return home, but eventually they must. And when in the living room proper, Ardyn removes his black blazer (clothes that fit him still feel so... restricting, even if he didn't seem to notice it on this day), tossing it on the couch with a flourish. Penny lightly walks up to Grell, little collar jingling, tail in the air. The other cats are content to continue sleeping.

Ardyn turns on his heel to look at her, his smile wide.]

I hope you didn't forget about your surprise?

How could I? I can barely restrain my questions.

[she hasn't forgotten, but she's smothered her curiosity with the joy of being close, with dancing and holding to one tradition at least - though she knows, when they have a ceremony, she'll make him dance with her after as well.

he throws off his jacket (Grell resisting commenting on how much it must have pained him), and she bends down to take off her shoes, petting Penny in the bargain, who is quite interested in wherever they have been, sniffing before winding her tail around a leg. all is well, in Penny's view.

how wonderful and strange to think that tonight, she'll go to bed, and wake up still married. still Grell Izunia.]

[His grin remains on his features, and has no sign of faltering any time soon. Despite how "unforgiving" he had pretended to be, that entire facade has left him in favor of seeming particularly excited about presenting her with this gift.

He walks backwards into a nearby hall, dramatic as he is.]

Then wait here, if you will.

[And he disappears into a room -- his study. It doesn't take long before he comes back out, approaching her with his hands behind his back.]

And now close your eyes.

[she straightens up when he returns, chuckling at how excited he is about whatever he has planned. it makes him delighted - more than enough reason to close her eyes as instructed and wait, and she won't even try to peek or consider it. that would ruin half the fun.]

[The gentle sound of rustling cloth, a brief passing moment of silence. And then-]

All right. Now open them.

[And when she does, she will see that he holds out a small black box towards her, housing a ring inside. It is silver, to match her engagement ring, dotted with diamonds along its band. The curves of this band entwine upon itself near the top, reminiscent of flowing water, or gently curving vines, or the sign for eternity.

It glitters brightly, like so many stars, caught in the light.]

A wedding ring for a wedding day.

[for a moment, she's silent, staring at it quietly, before she looks up at him. her eyes have the telltale shine that she's tearing up, caught off guard by this.]

Ardyn.

[it's all she can manage to say, though her face betrays that she has so many questions. when, how, was he so moved by planning this that he thought so far ahead. it's beautiful. and then she recovers for a second, only to say-]

...Wait.

[she goes to their room, walking quickly, almost stumbling over herself in her haste. and when she returns, it's with a different small box in her hands, one she opens in front of him. the ring inside this one is much simpler, just a band of silver metal that does not glitter with anything, but it's there, resting against the velvet.

this hadn't been how she had planned on giving this to him, but it was what it was.]

[He’s watching her expression, her eyes, when he reveals the ring to her. Emotion, running over at the edges — but he cannot read it for much longer, not when she breathlessly tells him to wait, and disappears moments later.

When she returns, revealing another ring — a wedding band, for him — all of Ardyn’s words stick in his throat. All tangled up in knots, and he can only manage-]

Grell, you…

[Did they have the same idea, then? Were they operating on that same, gregariously romantic wavelength? When did she purchase that? Did she feel the same streak of excitement in her at the idea of marriage, like a flash of lightning lancing through her?

It’s almost too perfect, how the two of them aligned. As if fate itself had dictated it happen like this, and it’s overwhelming in a beautiful way. He has to glance to the side, not because of embarrassment or shame, but only because he is so overcome; he should laugh at this, but affection strangles it away.]

Here. [He finally lifts his gaze, moving towards her, removing her ring from the velvet and pocketing the little box.] Give me your hand.

RECOLLE IC CONTACT.

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