"I can hold my breath."
Val blushed, and let out a blissful smile. She took the chains of the swing and began to rock back and forth gently. Ravus got up and sat on the ground, leaning against the fence behind them. Val stopped swinging, remembering that the troll could not touch the steel. She sat beside him and leaned against his shoulder.
"I..." Ravus began, then stopped.
Val waited for a moment, before nudging the troll. "You...what?"
"Never mind." He said quietly, shaking his head. "Oh, I just remembered something!" He straightened his back and looked down at Val. "I'm going away tomorrow. Just for the night. To the Ball of the Courts. I've been once or twice in the past, before I was exiled." He stroked her hair gently with his thin fingers. "Will you come?"
Val sat bolt upright, and looked straight into his gold eyes. "Really?"
"Could I lie to you?" He said seriously, for it was true: He was unable to lie.
"Of course!" Val embraced him tightly, and gave him a soft kiss. "But...what about my mother? She'll think I've run away again. She's so jumpy these days...You're lucky I'm out here now."
"Tell her you're going out with your..." He stopped himself.
"With my what? With my lover?"
It was Ravus' turn to blush. "You think of me like that?"
"Of course. Don't you?"
"I suppose."
"Anyway, I'm not introducing her to you. Not after what happened between her and my ex, Tom." Val said darkly, scowling ever so slightly. Ravus had the tact not to ask. "But I suppose if I lie and say I'm with Ruth, and she checks up on me..." Val looked up at him.
"Don't forget," Ravus told her, having the sense to guess what happened last time, "I can't betray you."
"So true...Okay. You can meet her."
"And anyway, why would she go for a grotesque green monster like me?" He chuckled.
"You are not a monster!" She told him seriously.
"You humans and your lies!"
"I'm --"
Before Val could snap back, her mobile started to jangle.
"Crap. Hang on..." She said, clicking the green button. "Hello? Yeah, I'm fine, mom. With a friend. No, not Ruth. A boy. I know mom. You're meeting him tomorrow. Of course I trust you, mom! Can I go to a party with him? Mom! I'm not going to run away again, okay? I don't know. He'll walk me home. Yes, he's safe. I'll be home later. You don't have to wait up - I have a key. Love you mom, bye!" She clicked off.
"So, you can come?" Ravus asked.
Val sighed. "Yes, but do you mind wearing some glamour? Just for your skin. Me coming home with a green boyfriend right now won't be best for her "
"Sure. Anything for you."
"Well, I better get going, before she has a panic attack." Val lifted herself from the ground. Ravus got up too.
"What time will you be escorting me to the party, good sir?" She said, in a deep, posh voice.
"Anytime your majesty wants, madam." Ravus played along.
"Surprise me." She said, and wrapped her arms around his neck to pull him into a kiss. When it was over, she whispered, without thinking, in his ear: "I love you."
A slightly awkward silence spread over them for a few moments, enough time for Val to wonder why she had said it.
"I love you too." Ravus said at last, and she knew it was true.