saveourearth | Today we weed the park all SANTA BABYYYYYY

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Today we weed the park all SANTA BABYYYYYY

Date: 1.12.2018
Characters: Open!
Note: Like all welcome mingles, this is a SoL free-for-all mingle meant to get new characters involved by centering around something relevant to them. Without further ado, please welcome Runar!

While the poppies were significantly less creepy than the spiders, they still posed a problem - namely, that there were way too many of them. So after a few weeks of having discussed what to do about them, everyone living in the Mossgate Council area has been requested to help with cleaning up the environment and helping prepare things for the winter. A community clean-up day has been announced for the first Saturday of December, and everyone is requested to volunteer.

Mostly, this means weeding poppies down to a reasonable amount, but it also involves general clean-up and some raking of fallen leaves.

Volunteers are equipped with baskets and tools and sent out into the Greens, onto the beach, and into all other public areas the poppies have sprung up in. The zoo and the Manor house are also happy about anyone who wants to help with clearing their grounds.

And in the evening, the Christmas illuminations at the High Street light up. As is traditional, a children's choir sings for this occasion, and the Mayor takes one of the choir children with him to switch the lights on. At the same time, the Christmas market - really just a few food stalls and a handful of arts and crafts stalls, as well as a little stage where singer-songwriters and childrens' entertainers perform on weekends - opens.

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Sadie happily takes Ben's hand, time to leech Ben's warmth for her own. "They must be glad to have you on hand to help. Speaking of colds...I picked one up earlier today when clearing poppies and, well, I think somewhere I got magic because whenever I sneeze I cause a shower of sparks to appear around me."

"...I also set a poppy on fire..." She grumbles, tucking her nose down into her scarf.

A little chilled himself, he still managed to keep his hands warm in his front hoodie pocket on the way from the warehouse with his cheap cloth gloves. He shrugs his shoulders with a small smile regarding the matter of his presence being significantly beneficial, but that expression shifts to concern as she describes her own affliction. One that causes sparks and flames.

He blinks as she hides in her scarf, and he smiles again with a squeeze of her hand, voice lowered to a whisper, “...at least it wasn’t a fireball.“ He considers the situation for a few seconds before he suggests, “Perhaps we should get a hot drink? And do the sparks appear all around or..?”

Edited 2018-12-09 22:53 (UTC)

"...True..." She acquiesces to his point as he manages to coax a small smile to her face. "Hot drink sounds best, there's a stand on the way home that does hot chocolate. As for the sparks, the sparks just seemed to appear in the air whenever I sneeze. I don't know if they appear more in one place or another yet though."

"Is there anything you want to check out before we head back, you only just got here after all?" She smiles up at him, she honestly doesn't mind hanging around a little longer if he does want to look.

Happy to see her smile come back so soon, he thinks about some options they have to learn more about the sparks. Inducing sneezes could trigger them in a controlled setting to study from a distance and possibly temporarily record it so that they can review the process. Then, she can attempt to trigger it consciously after they study it. Otherwise, prevention will be the necessary focus in the short term.

"Hot chocolate sounds great, and we'll figure it out," he replies. When asked about looking at the stalls he shakes his head softly, "Not particularly. I'd rather get both of us back in someplace warm. Besides, I figured out holiday gifts last month. I'm already making yours."

Guiding Ben to the hot drinks stand takes next to no time as she chats away.

"You're way ahead of me on the Christmas presents game, I swear you help keep me organised half the time." Her eyes widen, and she starts to blush. "You're making my present?" Well, that requires a hug and a kiss delivered gently to mask-covered lips. "Thank you. If you're making it I know I'll love it no matter what."

Drinks obtained, Sadie links their arms once more and threads their fingers together. "Dad's making beef and ale stew with sweet potato and dumplings today, there are few better ways to thaw out your inside with the way the weather is at the moment. So apart from that, we have the rest of the evening to relax and for you to sleep, you've been so busy recently I'm going to make sure we have a lie-in in the morning."

Edited 2018-12-11 20:56 (UTC)

Benjiro is glad to leave it to Sadie to guide him to the stand for hot chocolate.

Pleased to be cited as a source of organization for Sadie, he smiles at the compliment only to raise his brows a little in mild surprise at her enthusiasm over the promise of a crafted present. All too happy to hold her close in the hug, his own face warms at the kiss that lands its mark in spite of the cover, and he chuckles softly in bashful delight, “It’s nothing too creative, but I think you’ll enjoy it.”

Once they have purchased the hot chocolate drinks, he interlocks his fingers with her own and ventures a ginger squeeze. He has been practicing to maintain control of pressure he applies, and he hasn’t broken anything at all for nearly two weeks. A brief venture back to the junkyard with Sadie had let him push his new limits, and ever since he has felt more confident knowing the range of his veiled strength. He hums with anticipation of a good meal and a chance to rest with his girlfriend, “Mmmmm….that sounds amazing.” The skin under his eyes has become a little darker, but he only has a little while longer to go before the holiday break at school.

“Do you want to watch something before bed tonight?” Ever since they started the couples baking classes, he’s been really enjoying baking shows a lot more.

Her aim for landing kisses on Ben when he is wearing his mask is impeccable, although she has been able to practice quite a bit which was also entirely pleasurable. "You're making it, that's pretty bloody creative if you ask me. Your present isn't so unique but I think you'll like it."

Sadie swings their clasped hands as they walk, Ben, her puffer jacket, and the hot chocolate contributing to creating a bone-deep feeling of warmth as the walk through the cold. "Sure! We've got some Nadiya's Kitchen and Jamie Oliver's Italy to catch up on, or we can see if there are any decent movies on at the moment." She reminds him, beaming. She was going to sleep well tonight that was for sure.

About ten minutes later Sadie and Ben arrive at her house, the rich, warm, welcoming smell of stew wafts out the open door. Shoes wiped on the doormat and removed once inside, Sadie calls into the house.

"WE'RE HOME! DINNER SMELLS LOVELY DAD, HOPE YOU MADE LOADS!"

“Then allow me to rephrase. The design is not of my own making,” he clarifies. It should not give her any real hint as to what it happens to be, but the statement should eliminate things like the keyboard he made for Walter and his own motorcycle. Sometimes, simple is better.

Arm relaxed as Sadie swings their linked hands, he smiles in anticipation of the choices she lists, “Any one of those sounds good. We’ll check the topics if there aren’t any movies on to see which is better for tonight.” One thing that Benjiro has started doing during the shows is following the chemistry of the ingredients from when they are mixed into a bowl to the actual cooking process itself as different reactions occur at different temperatures. Carmelization is one such process that can alter the taste of a chocolate chip cookie.

Hot chocolate polished off minutes before they arrive, Benjiro follows suit with wiping his shoes and shedding them. After Sadie announces their arrival, he’ll lean to place a peck of a kiss to her cheek with his facemask pulled down briefly to do so, “I’ll go put my things upstairs and clean up from work. I won’t be long.” With that, he’ll head up to drop off most of his things in the guest room before hurrying through a shower. When finished, he changes into lounge clothes and heads back down to join everyone.

Sadie lights up at Ben's maskless peck on her cheek, grinning at him in return. "See you in a mo."

As Ben disappears upstairs, Sadie makes her own way into the kitchen to help serve out the food. Greeting Ben with another peck on the cheek once he returns, the table is set and a somewhat chatty family dinner commences. Sadie and James spend some time brainstorming Christmas presents for their parents whilst Sadie's Mum and Dad enquire about Ben's new job.

Once dinner is finished and cleared away it is time to move to the living room to relax by the TV, having claimed her favourite sofa and blanket, Sadie pats the cushion beside her for Ben, snuggling in close once he's sat down and pulling the blanket up over them.

"Dibs on Jamie's Italy!" She insists and is met by a groan from James in return.

Pausing for the kiss to his cheek, he smiles to her before thanking the family for waiting for him. He settles into his seat and carefully fields the questions about his job at the warehouse - not in guarding his words but keeping his teeth out of view. Chewing at least is not as needed with the delicious stew. The job is rather dull and repetitive, but it is keeping him active when he cannot go swimming as offen, and he does not have to interact directly with customers. Although he won’t mention it, his facemask had clearly been an issue at other places he had applied, but out of sight, the warehouse values his strength over his appearance.

Benjiro assists with matter of clearing and cleaning dishes, facemask put back in place during the process. Afterward, he walks straight over to join Sadie on the couch where she pats the cushion, and immediately lifts his arm out of the way to let her get as near as she wants. Smoothing the blanket with his other hand, he cannot help but chuckle at the groan from her brother, “You do realize these shows give her ideas, and that means more baking. A sourdough loaf would have complimented dinner tonight for example.” As Sadie settles, he wraps his arms around her loosely to hold.

James responds to Ben's suggestion in the only way a mature eighteen year old can; by flicking him a very disgruntled 'V' from across the room, which sends Sadie into a fit of giggles. There was no-way James was going to win, not with her parents also being big fans of the show.

With the lights off, settling in tucked up next to Ben is easy. Perhaps a little too easy, as Sadie has to start consciously fighting down the urge to purr.

"You're far too comfortable," Sadie whispers ever so quietly to Ben, "I keep almost purring...thats definitely one advantage to watching in private."

As the show continues Sadie continues to frequently whisper back and forth with Ben; from exclamations of how yummy a certain dish looks, to theories about what would happen to the taste and feel of the dish if the ingredients were alters slightly or cooked a different way, to gushing over the beautiful landscapes and noting down places that would be perfect holiday material. Eventually Sadie starts to drift more and more towards dozing, her head resting on Ben's chest and a purr that is more vibration than noise stopping and starting as she cycles between napping and waking. She may not be as tired as Ben but she's also not use to late nights like he is.

It may be time for the two to retire to bed before Sadie slips and starts purring loudly, as tends to be her default when with Ben.

A helpless shrug is all he can offer in turn to the gesture, and the sound of Sadie giggling gets him snickering softly as well. At least this show has more variety than the baking competitions.

Lights going down to enhance the entertainment, Benjiro relaxes back against the couch with Sadie nestled in close under the blanket. Her first whisper makes him smile, and he replies equally soft, “That can’t be helped, but I’ll try not to encourage you until we head up.” That simply means he stays still with her, rather than indulging in small touches like an occasional nuzzle or brush against her arm.

Grateful to have a full belly as the tantalizing dishes come up one after another, he happily carries on with her in whispers. The changes in preparation or ingredients suggested would be carefully considered on a chemical level before he gives his thoughts, but each of them have great potential. That is one quality he likes about baking and cooking; it follows strict rules, yet has play in how it can remain delicious for different qualities. The landscapes are similarly captivating, and toying with the idea of travelling to Italy sometime is intriguing.

As the show continues on, he notices that Sadie is succumbing to the urge to sleep more quickly than himself with the vibrations carrying into his chest through their close contact. One time dozing is alright, especially while she is fighting off a cold, but the second time she slips out, he decides to take her upstairs to bed. Slowly moving, he carefully slips one arm to cradle around her shoulders to keep her head leaning at his chest, and tilts to scoop the other under her knees. Grabbing at the blanket with his toes to anchor it, he lifts her to his lap to make a small adjustment in the cradled hold, then tugs the loosened blanket off completely with his foot towards the side on the cushions. Voice hushed but loud enough over the momentary music in the program, he excuses them, “I think we’re going to head up to sleep. Sadie’s not going to remember this segment and I’m beat. Have a goodnight!” He stands up with her in his arms fluidly, and steps on around the couch to carry her out to the hall and up the stairs.

The transition from the lounge to the bedroom stirs Sadie back to some semblance of wakefulness by the time they make it to the first floor landing, and she taps his arm to be let down once they make it to her room.

"Contacts," She reminds him with a yawn and makes her way over to her dresser where she opens her underwear draw and pulls out the contact cases. "Oh that's so much better," She rubs at her eyes, "They suck up moisture like no-one's business." And seeing as she was by the dresser...Sadie shimmies out of her trousers and shirt, turning her head to wink at Ben, an effect which is ruined by an impromptu sneeze and a shower of blue sparkles shimmering into existence around her.

Sighing and shaking her head, Sadie throws on a large cotton sleepshirt, a small pair of shorts, and removes her bra by the time the sparkles start to fade. "Good job that didn't happen downstairs."

Whether from the change in temperature without the blanket or the vestibular input, she rouses despite his efforts, and honestly for the better. Once at her door, he nudges it fully open with his foot and steps in only to feel the tap at his arm. The one word reminder is met with a nod, and he puts her down to her feet then moves to close the door gently behind them.

As she takes out her contacts, Benjiro switches the lighting to her bedside and walks over to stand by the foot of her bed. Sympathetic, he feels very fortunate his eyesight does not require correction, “An unfortunate property.” Thoughts regarding the use of eye drops in the day to alleviate discomfort are halted in an instant when Sadie starts to shed her clothes. Normally he’s better able to anticipate when she needs to change and looks away to be polite, but caught off guard, his whole face reddens. That is awfully revealing even from behind and he finds it extremely difficult to do anything but stare dumbfounded.

Until that cute sneeze interrupts with a small light show.

Blinking at the glittering sparks, he remains stationary as he quickly assess their positions, any movement, size, and coloration. Blue is far hotter than the yellow flame he had estimated previously, so he watches as she manages to slip on more clothing without catching anything on fire. An impressive adaptation on her part to say the least. Her comment is met by an understanding smile, “Probably not the best way to introduce the Numbers to your parents. Maybe we should take some time tomorrow and see if you can figure out how to create that on purpose. See what the trigger may be.” Hopefully one that she can control.

Sadie snorts, "Probably not, although at least I didn't set anything fire this time." Walking to Ben and linking their fingers once again, because she can, she leads him over to the bed to finally settle down for the night and make good on her promise of a lie-in...

Only to sneeze once more, this time the blue sparkles bursting into existence between Sadie and Ben, close enough to touch. The blue sparkles aren't hot, mearly pleasently warm, and they appear more like glittering lights than flames. The area around them seems to almost hum with energy, and touching them provides a warm tingle that causes hair to rise and goosebumps to form.

Sadie reaches out for one, light glowing and reflecting off of her eyes as her hand passes through one, the movement of a solid object through it doing nothing to obstruct the light.

"It would be nice to learn how to do this on purpose, they're kind of pretty."

His hand drawn to hers, he follows the few steps to her bed and onto it after her. Mindful of space, he lies down half turned on his side to face towards her as he pulls the covers up enough to keep them comfortable while sharing the bed. Barely able to lay his head down, Benjiro freezes briefly when she sneezes a new spread of sparkles into the air. The close up view of the magic is revealing, both in that he feels only warmth instead of broiling heat, and so near, he can see the resemblence is closer to electricity than flame. That alone makes him adjust his hypotheses around them, let alone how the illumination persists even as her hand passes through one.

Caution set aside, he reaches hand up to touch with his fingertips, and holding his hand there, he feels the tingling and the contraction of the smooth muscle in his skin in his hand and into his forearm with sustained contact. Lowering his hand down, he intends to respond to her comment, he really does, but he finds himself at a loss for words when he looks at her face and sees the blue light shining in her eyes.

Rather than speak, he lifts his hand again not to the sparks, but to reach out and brush his fingertips into her hair only to sweep the strands back behind her ear. That touch glides forward to brush the backs of his fingers delicately against her cheek, breath slipping out in a sigh.

Ben's gentle touch draws Sadie's attention away from the motes of aether, and she smiles at him with a questioning raise of her eyebrows.

Before he thinks, before that ever busy brain of his can get in the way, he tilts his head forward to close the distance between them to touch his forehead against her own, and speaks quietly, only to her, “I love you, Sadie.”

Edited 2018-12-15 21:36 (UTC)

Everything in that moment stops. Sadie's brain splutters and stops as Ben's words sink and pull the air from her lungs. There was no way to miss hear that, no way to not believe he means it from the bare look of love in his eyes made glimmering by the lights.

Amber eyes widen, firstly in shock, secondly in sheer delight, and unfortunately finally in horror as her heartbeat starts thumping louder and louder between her ears, the feeling of being adrift, disconnected, falling as her stomach drops out from under her.

Sadie's digs her fingers into Ben's shirt, as if the action of anchoring herself to him could halt what was about to happen.

"Ben..." His name falls from her lips, intense and almost desperate as she's whisked away into a memory...

The gold gilding of the goblet in her hand seems to burn with an intensity befitting the atmosphere within the private drawing room. Aymeric had been behaving oddly all throughout their dinner together, and even now the older Elezen shifts and fidgets in his seat as a burning red blush stains his pale skin all the way to the ends of his delicately pointed ears that stick out from beneath his tousled, wavy ebony hair.

"Ser Aymeric, is something the matter, you are behaving most unusually?"

She cannot help but grin as the blush seems to brighten and he coughs, clearly embarrassed at her noticing.

"I suppose you could say that something is vexing me." He admits, voice soft in the hush of the room. "'Tis something that has vexed me for awhile when I think more upon it."

Standing up, he moves to sit on the sofa next to her, his long, calloused fingers reaching out for hers." I have been thinking on our acquaintance, these years that I have known you and your brave family,but most especially you Q'uila."

Colbolt blue eyes hold her gaze as he looks down at her, "And I have come to realise that I have something of great import that I must muster the courage to tell you... Q'uila Sunrise, my dearest... I love you."

Her breath hitches, and her vision swims as-

-Tears slowly roll down her cheeks.

"Ben!" Sadie chokes as she moves from where their heads rest together to Bury her head in his neck,tears still flowing freely.

Edited 2018-12-15 22:30 (UTC)

As soon as he uttered the confession, his heart rate accelerated and his awareness narrowed to them. So as close as he is to her when those words expose something so raw, he watches every detail in her beautiful face. The way her eyes widen, and the dialation of the pupils within, seems promising before a familiar shadow overcasts the moment. That look is one he knows, and as her hand digs into his shirt, he cups his hand to her cheek, the way she says his name urging every part of him to intervene when he is left behind.

Distance widening between them, he speaks to her as he waits for her to pull back together, “Sadie, it’ll be okay, I’m here...! I’m right here.”

Like always, the moment ends sooner than it feels, and the sight of tears welling into her eyes plucks at a taut cord in his chest painfully. Again, his name is spoken with audible pain and he lifts his arm as she curls to tuck down to his neck. Unable to tolerate doing so little, he scoops his arms around her upper half and shifts to sit them both up in the bed where she can better burrow against his front as his arms encircle her.

“Sadie...Sadie, talk to me. What happened?” his voice kept even despite the urgency he feels.

Edited 2018-12-15 23:20 (UTC)

Sadie latches onto the feeling of Ben moving them both upright to wrench herself from the emotional shadow of the Echo. Tears borne originally of that other person's overwhelming happiness shift, with a matching furrow growing on Sadie's brow, to an anger and frustration that not even the safety and comfort of Ben's embrace can fully erase.

"She was drinking in some sort of study with a man. An...elf; tall, pale, wavy black hair, bright blue eyes, soft-voiced, and long, calloused fingers. Ser Aymeric, she called him. He seemed...very nice." Sadie admits, through somewhat gritted teeth.

"She was teasing Ser Aymeric for behaving strangely when he went and sat next to her. He-he took her hand and told her that something had been on his mind for a long time and that he had to tell her..."

Sadie takes a deep breath and wipes the tears on her cheeks away, she doesn't want to say it outloud, not to Ben, not in this moment. But she has to, she won't ever go back on their promise.

"He said, 'Q'uila Sunrise, my dearest... I love you."

Edited 2018-12-16 08:35 (UTC)

No attempt is made to coax her away from his front to see her as she begins to explain, and instead hearing her frustration leak into her words, he tightens his grip by an increment to steady her. He gleans more information about the world and the person to whom Sadie is tethered; that other races coexist with the people who have cat features, that she was close to someone named Ser Aymeric, and even the name of that feline female. He also realizes the connection the memory holds to the moment it interrupted as Sadie repeated the confession of Ser Aymeric.

Having been looking down towards Sadie while she relayed the memory, his gaze flickers off towards a wall in her room instead as his shoulders sag, “Oh...” His thoughts scramble in awkward circles as he feels a different kind of anxiety sweep under him. A hollow and weak chuckle comes out as he struggles to turn humor against it, “Heh... Figures someone with class would confess right after me.”

Curled up against Ben as she is, she feels the movement of Ben's shoulders sagging. She pushes away from his chest, sitting upright and her stomach plummets as she can better see Ben's expression. The self-depreciation adds more kindling to the angry burning in her chest.

"No! Ben. Ben look at me." Sadie rests her left hand on his cheek in a near mirror-image of the way he had before the Echo and waits for Ben's eyes to meet her own. "I don't want that memory. I hate it. You-" She places her right hand over where his heart is, "You are the one who confessed to me, not whoever that man was. You."

His arms give without dropping as she puts pressure backwards to sit tall and on level with him, however, it isn’t until she commands his attention that he manages to turn his gaze back to her. That gentle touch at his cheek that mimics the moment between them before the interruption repulses the nervous edge enough for him to meet her eyes within a couple attempts. Once met, his gaze is locked.

That she loathes the memory is surprising, but he dare not interrupt to question it with more than a raise of his eyebrows. Her hand over his heart finds the organ beating too hard and too fast, and yet he brings his own hand from behind her to lay over it to hold there in pledge, “...I stand by what I said. I meant it and nothing will change that.”

"Ben...I don't know this 'Ser Aymeric' from any other Tom, Dick and Harry out there. One memory of him from this Q'uila isn't going to change anything. Fuck, seven million memories wouldn't change it. Because whoever he is, I haven't chosen him and he hasn't chosen me. He and Q'uila can have each other but me, Sadie?"

She bumps their foreheads back together, sealing the last bit of mimicry to Ben beforehand, "I have been wonderfully blessed to have been chosen by this guy who is kind, gentle, intelligent, who has a passion for knowledge, who challenges me to challenge myself, who delights in cooking, and playing with my cats, and loves his little sister. Who has trusted me, and who valued me far before anything to do with these Numbers came into the picture."

"I will treasure what you said and I hate that that memory interfered, because I love you too."

Today we weed the park all SANTA BABYYYYYY

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when it takes two hours to write one sentence

Then you should probably be heading to bed

Surprise 0345ish reply

A beautiful surprise

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Fade out?

Fade out \o/