A Holiday by Decree
~~Day 11~~
The ride back to the manor somehow seemed faster than it had out in the morning. By contrast, the rockiness of the bump-filled ride remained no less noticeable and disruptive. Perhaps a little more used to it though, Tyrion and Sansa did manage to relax into contented window-watching after their initial self-effacing laughter died down.
But Tyrion began to sense that something between them had changed since they had kissed by the tree. Particularly, by the time the wheelhouse re-entered the jungle canopy that represented the last leg of their trip, he was fairly certain he was not making it up; he caught Sansa's deep-blue eyes looking his way again through the wheelhouse's dark, velvet-green shadows.
It was especially in the little ways that Tyrion would suddenly catch Sansa glancing at him, as he had just then. He would look her way, and they would lock eyes until she would almost-laugh and look away again - at least until he caught her looking at him smolderingly once again.
On any other woman, that look would be clearly described as "come hither" eyes, and it would be forced and coquettish, as Tyrion knew it was on the whores he had had before - but, with the way he knew Sansa Stark normally was, he had to believe this was different.
With her, it was real.
Truly, the whole thing was enough to turn his insides to absolute mush - even without the bumpy ride.
He remained defenseless to stop it even if he wanted to after they returned back to a perfectly romantic candlelit dinner at the manor. They sat adjacent to each other at the grand dining table, while the golden candle flames danced in the soft blue-grey and peach cream light of the setting sunlight. The staff served them wine that Tyrion and Sansa toasted each other with, soft smiles happy, as the staff placed a large platter of fresh-smelling, whole seafood served on the shell between them.
They did not talk nearly as much as they sometimes did over meals but instead seemed caught up in the magic of the ocean calling below and watching each other in this new, clearly heated way that was between them.
With each pearlescent shell that Sansa put to her lips to eat the small, rich serving inside, Tyrion felt the tension that they had laughed off earlier mounting again and catching him up.
Helped by all the sun that they had that day and the wine in his blood, Tyrion was relaxing dreamily into reminiscing the sweet and spicy thrill of Sansa's lips on his own when Adil approached to ask if they wanted to use the pipe that evening.
To Tyrion, that sounded fabulous, but still sensing that they were teetering on some sort of precipice, he still hesitated to seem quick.
It was Sansa who replied though.
"Yes, it would be lovely, if the area poolside was prepared as well, thank you," she said.
Meanwhile, Tyrion's pulse thrummed.
