daemonized | RECOLLE IC CONTACT.

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.

[she can't speak, just nods at his half of a question. it had been something that seized her heart, an idle consideration that had sealed itself into reality when she'd saw this one. understated, but elegant, more for the reminder than anything else. something to touch, if fate forces them apart again. the same fate that had guided both their paths, the fate she doesn't believe in but would acknowledge all the same.

taking his ring in her hand, she sets the box aside, extending her left hand. smiling, but she can feel the tears beginning to fall. joy and relief and wonder, all melding together into feeling that is too much for her to contain.]

[It’s an automatic motion, and yet he’s oversensitive to everything right now — the feel of the curve of the ring as he holds it, the softness of her skin as he takes her hand. He slips off the engagement ring that sits there first, only to replace it with the wedding band. And then the engagement ring is returned to the same finger, resting atop the band, so that the latter remains the closest to her heart. Traditional, but he cares less for tradition than he does the symbolism, the romanticism behind it all.

Only then does he look up at her, his eyes searching. Seeing those tears fall, he brings up his hand to gently wipe one away with his thumb. A gentle touch, precious as she is.]

My luminous one. The ring is almost as beautiful as you.

[there's something that feels like it settles in her as she watches him, feels the ring in its proper place. something that is private and sacred and just for them, more meaningful than putting on a ring in front of others. looking at him and crying almost without realizing, overcome with the weight of how much he cares, that all this happened, that a year ago she couldn't have imagined herself here, feeling surrounded by love so strongly that it was in every breath she took.

close to her heart. it doesn't escape her.

she can only smile, laughing a little through the tears, at his words. a matter of opinion, surely. and her, she'd say the ring exceeded her beauty, for all it meant to her, all that it would mean. the commitment and the support and the emotion that is blinding in its intensity, inevitable when two souls that feel so strongly meet.

moving to take his hand in hers, she gently slips his ring on his finger, feeling a touch of relief that it fits as well as it does. his band, where it belongs. she doesn't let go yet, admiring how it looks, and then is inspired. bending her head, Grell kisses the ring, whispering one word when she's done.]

Forever.

[It isn't opinion to Ardyn. It is solid fact, unshakeable and true. She is radiant, she is what makes him feel this way, so close to her that his spirit may be hers, as well, since his heart certainly is already neatly nested in her chest. He loves her. He loves her so much that he would do anything for her. Calling her beautiful is so easy, when she's so much more than just beautiful.

The ring that she gives him is a perfect fit, and this action alone may as well overcome him. They are bound now, irrevocably. He belongs to her, he trusts her, with his entire being.

But then she kisses his ring, and he can feel the brush of her lips against his skin. Forever, she says, and the word envelops him. Surrounds him wholly, and he grins, but his eyes -- so keen with brightness -- begin to mist ever so slightly.]

Forever.

[He squeezes her hand, letting that promise resonate between them.]

I love you.

[He could say it a hundred times, a thousand times, and it would never be enough.]

And I you.

[when she looks at him again, she doesn't resist pulling him into a tight hug, breathing in and just holding on. bound together, so tight that no one could try to break them apart. no past life, no future event. if he is willing to take her, in all the imperfections that make her human, she will have him, and no force there was could stop her.

loosening enough that she can look at his face, she feels at once perfectly content. a feeling that's only happened twice before in her life, where everything is simply right, something she couldn't describe in words except that he's made it so.]

You know I don't believe in star signs, or fate, or any of those things, really, but whatever holds the responsibility for me meeting you, that started everything, that let me fall in love with you...that has all the gratitude in my soul. Because by now, I can't picture my life without you in it.

[He holds onto her as if she might slip away, even though the rings the both wear say otherwise. He takes in her scent, her warmth. So often he anchors himself in her presence, whether she realizes it or not. He does so now, and the culmination of their connection blossoming into something more, into marriage made reality, has him reeling in every possible way — a beautiful feeling, one he could get lost in forever.

He’s blinking away the mist in his eyes, though the emotion cannot be tamped down so easily. A breathless laugh at her admission.]

Then whatever it is that’s brought me to you has my gratitude as well. Though… I think, after everything, I may start to subscribe to the idea of fate, after all.

[How else can two people exist, so painfully perfect for each other? They fit together as if made for one another.]

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