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[adlantisag]

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[adlantisag]

[ She listens, quiet. If the guilt that washes over him isn't enough to soothe her ire, the apology does it--because it's unexpected, because it shifts her perspective. In increments, her shoulders unwind, and her arms relax, spear lowering in a slow tilt towards the ground. ]

She loves you, did you know? You really are as a brother to her.

[ It's embarrassing to recall their little prison theatre, but it's a fair point nonetheless. It's a transparent truth to Kida, at least. It's visible, bursting from the girl each time she looked at Masamune's prone body, when they'd brought him in, all but trembling with grief. She remembers what Sieglinde had told her, about her life before. Masamune's right, it had been torn away, making the new connections she'd forged all the more important. Neither of them fights alone, now. She thinks of Pearl, Riza, Sieglinde, Masamune, Hellboy, Loki, Clarke, even Gilgamesh--these are all indelible marks on her life, now. Wherever she goes she will carry their influence with her.

She considers Masamune, still on the ground, now with his head bowed.

She'd challenged him to a fight. But in truth--she hadn't wanted to fight him, had she? She'd wanted to hit him. And she had. Suddenly, he's not the only one feeling guilt. She'd done the same thing to Hellboy--set him up to fail. He presents her with humility when all she's given him has been anger. And that anger is hard to pinpoint--she doesn't think of herself as a violent person. But increasingly, she's been angry. Not in the productive sense, either--just a consuming, bottled-up rage.

That anger sucked out of her, she lets herself slide to the ground, on her knees facing him. She owes him at least to look him in the eye. ]

You had lost your senses, though I was too angry to see it, then. You attacked me. I worried for you. I worried for Sieglinde, who worried for you. And not because I am her mother, or your wife--because you are my friend. I care for you.

[ She had thought she'd feel a prickle of embarrassment at saying it, but no--she's not ashamed of that emotion, of caring. Caring makes her strong. ]

I am only glad you are here. I accept your apology.

[ A beat. She lifts her eyes to his, and now it's her turn to be apologetic. The shadow of a smile ghosts over her face. ]

Call me Kida, yes? You have suffered enough for it.

[inroad]

[ no, he didn't. He hadn't really considered anything at all because he's never been around in someone's life like that. Time slips away when you're still interested in living your life alone and not being held down and whether by a partner or a sibling or child. He's not that good at reading things concerning such because he has little experience and little need for it.

Still his expression softens a little which of course is not so great when she comes to crouch down and talk face to face. As much as he appreciates it he can only look at her and listen for a few moments before he has to glance just slightly to one side bringing a hand to cover his mouth in order to prevent it from easily being seen that his face feels a bit hot thinking about her words. She says she cares and he is a friend and all these actually really meaningful things with such a strong and steady yet simple tone that it's just so easy to catch him in surprise and make it hard to control his total reaction.

Still even though he can't quite get his reaction in check when she says she accepts his apology and offers the nickname, he has to glance back to her. ]

...I'm really glad to be allowed to call you a friend, Kida. You're amazing and I don't want to lose you, either. ...especially not to my own mistakes.

[ he closes his eyes a moment a now giving a slight clearing of his throat before slowly removing his hand. It's not perfect, he still looks a little soft and affected by such simple and few words but it's fine so long as he doesn't look like an embarrassed or infatuated child still. ]

I'd give you something back as a sign of mutual earnings but I'm pretty sure everyone calls you that already so it's not as special.

[ he's teasing though, a gentle smile barely touching his lips before he reaches into his jacket to be able to take something out ]
I know you said you didn't want anything from our expedition but I was told a gift might make my apology more sincere. Luckily you went for my important crap to break rather than something like my ribcage or it'd been ruined.

[ he removes a very strange flower to offer to her now, looking down at it thoughtfully. ]

It reminded me of Moonflowers. In a world where the night doesn't end a moonflower would not exactly be able to last long so this probably something those winged bugs did with their snot powers [ ah he means the faeries and yes he just had to use the word to describe it. ] but I thought it would be a reasonable I-owe-you stand-in until we end up somewhere I can show you the real thing. There are legends of certain Moonflowers that only bloom once a year for a night and wilt by sunrise. They are also said to be connected in pairs. If you pick one, their partner also dies along with it.

I figure, if I promise to take you to see something like that so unpredictable and rare, it might help you have a little more faith in me that I really am not planning on failing you again.

[ he offers it out to her, his expression maybe looking a little embarrassed because ah cheesy things like what he's about to say usually are usually only worth picking women up or if you're really campy with poetry.

still... it does really mean something here no matter how lame it sounds. ]

So, also... let's be like that and stay connected. I won't die and neither will you because regardless of what is going through our heads at a critical moment, if nothing else we owe it to one another to live, yeah?

[ a pause before quietly he adds sheepishly, a small 'aheh' and mumbled. ] It's not a pickup line or a date this time, okay? Just in case that needs clearing up.

[adlantisag]

[ His teasing only makes her roll her eyes. ]

Many people call me Kida--but you are the only one here to have earned it.

[ It's more weighty than he'd think. He made the effort--one of the only ones. That he doesn't give a nickname back doesn't bother her. Perhaps he doesn't have one, or doesn't use one. Maybe he's just taking his time.

Instead, he gives her a flower.

She thinks at first that it might be just the adrenaline draining out of her, but the more he speaks the more aware she becomes of the chilled grass beneath them, the lantern-light enveloping them, the moon overhead. His face is flushed; even his hand can't hide the stripe of pink that creeps up his nose. But he's looking right at her, his single eye solid and steady, his voice low. A moonflower, he says; something from his homeland. Rare and precious. He gives her a promise.

It's--ah. Oh, you silly man, she thinks, half-fond and half-furious, redness touching her cheeks. How can you say such things?

When was the last time anyone had spoken like that to her? With care and sweetness. She's not immune to his charm, he must know it. Idly, she turns the flower in between her fingers, its fragrance wafting into the night air. Had he brought this here, even knowing they would fight? He'd gone deep into the fairy forest to retrieve it for her. This was--almost to-the-last--a courtship gesture.

The feeling that wells up in her chest is bittersweet. Why could we not have met another way? she thinks, knowing where his loyalties would forever reside. She could not take him from Oushu, if ALASTAIR would even allow it, nor he take her from Atlantis. Impasse.

And yet--Kida isn't the type to deny herself. She tucks the flower behind her ear, pushing back her hair. The dark blossom contrasts sharply against the paleness. ]

Masamune...

[ His name is velvet on her tongue. She leans forward on her knees, one hand reaching for his jaw, her fingers gliding over his skin. The other hand lands on his knee, stabilizing. She closes the distance.

It's not a chaste kiss. She lets the adrenaline and the affection that suffuse her pour out, her mouth sliding over his. She thumbs his cheekbone, right beneath his eyepatch, close enough to feel the warmth from his body. She draws it out, tastes him, tastes the night and the cold air. Then she pulls back, her expression bright with mischief, and more than a little desire--but her gazes slides away even as her body tilts back, gets ready to stand. ]

The next time you kiss me, you really must do better.

[ Implying, of course, that there very well might be a next time. ]

[inroad]

[ if someone told him that's exactly how this would go down if done step by step from how this started to know he never would have believed them for a second (flat out laughing at them would be quite likely as well

and yet here they are.

Masamune isn't going to complain, not in the least, either. The samurai manages to be able to do much else, either. Damn if he doesn't regret it a missed opportunity to give back proper, leaving him a little bit stunned.

Kida's voice is enough to catch his attention and get him to answer her. he can't say he actively recalls moving as he does to grab her arm to prevent her from getting up, leaning forward himself rather than pulling her any which way back towards him. When he has his mouth near her ear is when he stops, words calm albeit to be such is incredibly difficult to manage.

but, restraint is crucial right now. the first time while he had absolutely different intentions than now, he finds it exactly for that reason he can't take her kiss as it being fine to initiate another. ]

And 'next time' can't be right now? Just checking. [ Even he understands enough that if that situation left anything particularly hurt or otherwise sour he needs to even further demonstrate respect now that was not there before, himself or not.

It's clear, however, that while he'll wait he would really rather not. While he doesn't know that he was the first person to kiss her in longer than what his entire lifetime will be, she really absolutely deserves something better to reference back to. ]

[adlantisag]

[ Flirting is nice, easy; she likes as much as any other woman to feel desired, a winsome smile, handsome shoulders. Masamune is pretty, yes, but ambitious, driven, strong. Attraction for him settles low in her belly, pooling there stubbornly. His mouth is close to her ear, his voice a rumble in the dark. She can smell him, feel the warmth from him. The lines of trees extend past the line of his shoulder, and it's all she can do not to nose into his hair.

But there's an intensity to Masamune that remains foreign to her, however. In Atlantis she'd never really entertained a proper suitor. None brave enough to court the princess, and her too occupied by seeking the respect of her warriors rather than a man's love. Of course it had bothered her: she was the last of her lineage, and Atlantis' heir. But she had bigger worries then, and even bigger ones now.

She turns her head in increments. Her nose skims his cheek. She feels tethered to him by his hand upon her arm, keeping her close. She wants--wants to push him down into the grass, fall with him, laugh into his mouth like a giddy adolescent and let only the darkness be privy to the hunger that lives within her. But she can't. ]

If kisses are what you want, Masamune, then I can provide.

[ Her mouth is a curve, her body arched towards his, an invitation despite herself. That is all I can provide goes unsaid; he is a lord. They both know the stakes, and how the rules may differ between them. She kisses the shell of his ear, trailing back languidly along his jaw, knowing he'll meet her partway. ]

[inroad]

[ he understands well enough the limitations of what she is offering to him but she's still giving him more than he hoped for. Of course she thinks clearer than he and had it been his responsibility alone to lay the limits down they would have ended up severely close before he would have put a stop to it (if at all). But it's not all unfamiliar, either, and if he's honest with himself... these sorts of limited enjoyment can be better than the rest. ]

I accept, then. [ the volume of his voice is uniquely low but his tone is powerful enough to convey he's more than happy with the offer, even if his lust is going to have to go unfulfilled. His other arm moving to slip around her waist now that she's presented herself in a manner that gives him the permission to, he pulls her closer. Once she's in range he lets go of her arm guiding it just past his shoulder, tilting his head to be able to catch her lips with his own. It's a simple kiss, at least until he pull hers forward flush against him, and then it escalates to something far less innocent. He's careful not to be forceful but he is insistent in being able to taste her as fully as possible from a kiss alone.

Masamune always works to make the best of any opportunity. If it's just kissing he can work with it; but he's going to make sure to get absolutely everything possible there is to be had within his limits. It's not just this so much as his nature in general to get everything he can out of something. Really, he thinks more people should be like that anyway.

Plus, he really does have a lot of making up to do to her in more ways than one, already forgiven or not. ]

[adlantisag]

[ She grins wickedly into his kiss when he pulls her against him, her hands unabashedly winding into his hair, tight against his skull. The kiss is unhurried, her open mouth slanting over his, kissing his top lip and bottom lip, sucking it in between her teeth.

She loses track of how long they stay like that, entwined in the grass. Her in his lap, moving against one another, sharing heat and breath. By the time they part, laughter light between them, the lantern is almost dead. From this close, his eye is bright like a silver coin, like the moon. She kisses his nose, his cheeks, suffused with affection. Her every nerve stands on end, and it's almost--almost enough to ward off the chill.

They need to head back.

Taking his hand in her own, she pulls him to his feet. She collects her lantern, her spear, her cloak. Her step is light. If she walks diagonally a bit to 'accidentally' press against him on their walk back to town, well. She knows he won't mind.

She keeps their fingers laced the whole way. ]