Always And Forever

Story 2: A Good Place To Rest


The mild breeze cooled her hair, warm from the afternoon heat she had to adjust to during her visits to Daventry. But as nice as the breeze was, as much as it reminded her of Kolyma's for a moment it also frustratingly lifted strands in the corner of her eye and had her page corners flipping.

Vee didn't want to set the book down again, but she also was content with the spot even with the king himself resting on her shoulder drowsy from the contents of the book. The story here certainly wasn't as lively as the stories Neese gifted from her own collection.

If Vee was being honest, she couldn't compare deep and thought-provoking work to fairytales because she could read both. If the tables hadn't turned and had her concerned about maintaining dignity to not throw Graham off, maybe she could reach for the fairytale book currently poking from the middle of the two published research journals and ask if he wanted to read. If he wouldn't be taken aback learning she liked to narrate and make voices when she set aside logic and got into the story.

This proper courtship was meant to give them chances to know each other deeply, after all. Decide if they were truly meant to pursue commitment on their own, not just because of a mirror.

Did she mess up today? Vee tucked the hair back in place with extra force, not caring about the pull at the roots. She couldn't stand the idea of failure, but especially failure all the way around: loosening up where it was encouraged, letting Graham see he didn't need to feel pressure to downplay his expressive behavior in front of her and picking the appropriate book to lead to prolonged interaction.

But this all went back to the sad reality... She was, she decided after thinking back to past interaction with one or two suitors, merely five percent more knowledgeable at romance than Graham himself.

The breeze seemingly wanted to add to her stress, the large tree they seat beneath not doing anything to shield from its attack. She eventually got sick of it, dropping the book on her other side and grabbing the entire left section of her hair and holding it irate until it passed.

A nose brushed the side of her face then, a small distance from her ear. Vee was sure her heart was already beating faster from the stress of all this but this no time to play dumb; she anticipated lips finding their way to her cheek. She licked her own briefly, suddenly caring if they were smooth. She didn't enjoy the waiting part because it had her mind racing, debating and plotting. She wished she could just only focus on the senses, because he did give a lot of those.

Just like the weight that was him falling on her lap gentle as an avalanche.

She tensed, blinking down at him for a long moment while her mind processed. From a distance, him face down in her lap might look inappropriate. When she realized that, she was hastier turning him around so that the back of his head balanced on her thigh, and she saw that he was indeed asleep. She leaned down, whispered his name and jabbed a fingertip into his forehead and cheek but that only had his eyes flutter once. Otherwise, his face was so peaceful. Nearly angelic.

It was either an inconvenience to have been turned into a human pillow, or encouraging he was comfortable enough to be this vulnerable in her presence. Vee's irritation drained the moment Graham's eyes fluttered, she felt herself smiling like a fool as the rest of her fingers joined to caress the side of his face. It felt so... Domestic. Domestic, but right.

It didn't seem like a good move to plant a kiss on his lips in this state, but she couldn't help the whim to lean closer and peck his forehead. She took her time reeling, finding his breathing calming to focus on for a moment. When she finally pulled back, she was stunned how her face was blazing and her heartbeat jumped at the thought he'd ask what was going on any second. It didn't happen, but she was rigidly readjusting her position and being composed for real this time.

She could have left him on the cold ground anytime, by the way. His upper body would take slightly more effort to move, but she could deal.

She reached for the fairytale book and spent the remainder of his nap psyching herself up for how to organically lead into bringing it up. She might have also stroked his head and traced meaningless patterns on his hand.

Failure, excuse you? She wrote this up in her mind as a total success, as if her ability to create romantic atmosphere was ever in doubt.