he thinks the first time she says it, it will be littered with pomp and circumstance, for why else would she hold out so long?
perhaps she will say it when she first admits her feelings for him, nervous and anxious and swan-like as ever.
perhaps she will say it in the throes of passion, begging for release as he shows her how much he loves her again and again.
perhaps she will say it when she declares him a hero in front of the whole town.
he has dreamt of the moment over and over, each night in his lost year without her a multitude of killians.
she says it when it is quiet - when she thinks he will not notice, but it is there. a subtle acknowledgment of all he has done for her, of his year spent finding her, she does what he always and never expected.
ever the gentleman, he acts as if he has not heard it. but now that he has found his swan, his life is freshly invigorated. his new challenge is not to have her scream his name in bed, or to whisper it in his ear, but to say it quietly.
to act as if it is the most normal thing in the world.
as if he is the most normal thing in the world.
and from that moment on, there's not day that goes by that she doesn't call him killian.