Celebrity

[touchedinthehead]

Aldaras lets the university have hold of the necklace again so they can finish learning everything about it. He'll start molding it when the Dean's learned all of its quirks - trying it now could accidentally make some aspect of it worse. Besides, it takes time, it's not like he can manage any progress in the time that it'll take for the Dean to identify anyway. Best to know where he's going when he starts going there.

News spreads pretty quickly about the knife's new location at the bottom of the ocean. Aldaras and Sintre become celebrities, along with being rich. Sintre is nigh-impossible to find in his hermithood. Aldaras - is not. The necklace is his. The mission to go encase the knife in concrete was organized by him. He's now deemed to be an important person, and as bewildering as that is, he works to roll with it.

He ends up invited to a party. It's the type of party with lots of important, famous people attending. He can bring one guest with him.

Right, he knows who he wants to bring, but first he has to ask her. Time to go find Annie.

Comments

[touchedinthehead]

"It's okay," he assures, gently. He steers the box towards her hand, and - and then she touches the necklace. It feels like nothing at all.

[keep_busy]

She clenches the strand and then lets go.

She flops back in her chair.

She takes a deep, shuddering breath.

And says, "I don't seem to have had to look at you."

[touchedinthehead]

"Oh."

(Don't kiss her, don't kiss her, don't you do it, Aldaras, don't you do it.)

[keep_busy]

She nudges her cardigan off her head and unties its sleeves and puts it back on.

And she looks at Aldaras, and she smiles, just a little.

[touchedinthehead]

He manages a little sad smile back.

"What do you want to do?" he asks, softly.

[keep_busy]

"I dunno, is your sister home?"

[touchedinthehead]

He opens his mouth, and then closes it. "... Yes, I can shoo her?"

[keep_busy]

"...I mean, unless you had something planned for nowish that makes progress on the - catching the thimble person, because - that should probably be a higher priority, but - um."

[touchedinthehead]

"I didn't have any plans for it, I'm - a bit stuck, honestly, I'm really built more for organization and setting other people up to chase down a thimble-snatching terrible person." Pause. "I'll go shoo her."

He gets up, opens the door to Zevaia's room, and calls, "Zevaia, can you - shoo for -" Pause. He looks at Annie. "... A while?"

[cut_and_dried]

"A while?" wonders Zevaia, as she gets up to leave. "How specifi-"

She sees Annie. She looks at the obviously open necklace case. Oh.

"... Right, leaving for a while now, bye."

[touchedinthehead]

"Bye," he says, and then the door closes behind her and she's officially out of the apartment.

[keep_busy]

Annie kisses Aldaras.

[touchedinthehead]

For a few delicious, wonderful seconds, all he does is kiss her the hell back. And then his head is annoying and gets in the way. He carefully extracts himself from the kiss, breathing heavily, and murmurs, "How - close are your preferences and thoughts now in comparison to before...?"

[keep_busy]

"How much detail do you want about my previous thoughts?" wonders Annie in a murmur.

[touchedinthehead]

Oh this is going to be difficult. "I. As much as - whatever you'd like to give me...?"

[keep_busy]

She giggles, then shakes her head and says, "Mostly intact apart from the obvious. And it's not like I didn't like you before. And what would you do if I were wildly different, kick me to the curb?"

[touchedinthehead]

"No. No, I don't think I could manage it," he admits.

Right. Mental morality checklist?

- She said before she was touched to just - roll with what she wants after.
- Her personality and preferences are 'mostly intact' aside from being in love with him.
- He offered other options and she went with this one despite his genuine efforts to convince her otherwise.
- She kissed him before she was necklaced.
- He is not, actually, capable of breaking up with her and trying would only cause pain and torment to them both.
- She is right there, she just kissed him, and between the two of them he's pretty sure he technically has less consent than she does, considering.

Fuck it. He's good.

He kisses her. Like he's drowning and she's his air, like he's starving and she's his sustenance, like he is fucking touched by a really thorough love necklace and he's been resisting it for ages and doesn't have to anymore.

[keep_busy]

She is entirely on board with this project. Well, insofar as trying to move it along a bit past Step 1 counts as being on board as opposed to something else.

[touchedinthehead]

Ha!

Aldaras is totally fine with this development and is pretty happy to help.

[keep_busy]

How fortunate that his sister is no longer home.

[touchedinthehead]

Almost like they did that on purpose.

They are not going to be able to make it to any sort of bed, are they.

[keep_busy]

...Maybe after round one?

[touchedinthehead]

Maybe. If they're lucky and try really hard and believe in themselves.

[keep_busy]

They're both very talented people and can probably manage it.

[touchedinthehead]

But do they care, is the question.