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[rosepaean]

INBOX text / audio / video / action un: SugaredBlossom

"Sometimes we don't know what we're waiting for
And that's the time to be the first one on the dance floor." art credit code credit

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[unwisely]

Will burst through the door, accompanied by a rush of cold winter air that he closed out behind him. The fire was already burning in the hearth, so the bard took that to mean that Kris was home. Good, that was what he was hoping for. His cheeks are flushed from the chill outside and, perhaps from something else.

Something like excitement.

"Blossom? You home? I might have done something a little crazy..."

That was really par for the course for Willow Harper, so it likely wasn't surprising. But there was a certain energy buzzing in his voice, all anticipation.

[rosepaean]

There was a fire burning in the hearth however Kris was in the kitchen as could be determined by something that suspiciously carried the aroma of freshly backed sugar cookies; the sweet indolent aura of sugar and spice that seemed to cling about and was starting to adopt that which could be associated with the word 'home'. He called from the kitchen, "I am in the kitchen, Will." and then a few moments he followed.

Predictably, wearing a bright pink apron with little turquoise flowers on them. He was wiping his hands on cloth, and there was flour-- there always was flour where Kristophe was concerned. Flour, flowers-- they both tracked for the Eladrin. "Do you realize that when you say that you did something crazy, I automatically think that you may be running from something or someone?" he murmured, though his eyes were filled with fondness.

"It could be from a monster, or the law-- it could also mean you ran at something? Likely at high speed." he was doing a quick check of Will's form, but all he could see was flushed cheeks. "C'mere.." and then he opened his arms so Will could run into them.

[unwisely]

The scent of fresh baked cookies and the sweetness of sugar lingering in the air were everything that he associated with the cleric, with warmth and safety and yet with home. Willow was heading in the direction of that voice, unable to keep the grin from stretching over his face at the sight of the Eladrin in his element, streaked with flour and wearing that apron.

Those arms opened and Will was moving towards them like caught in the pull of a magnet, pulled right to where he belonged.

"I mean, if we're being honest all that's decently likely. But not this time." He wound his arms around Kris, pressing his face into the taller man's neck to breathe him in greedily. He let himself linger and indulge a moment before leaning back to look up at him, a playful light glinting in his eyes. "I found something. Easier to show than tell, if you're up for a little fieldtrip. It's not far."

[rosepaean]

As long as Will was going to take him then surely it was not so bad. There was something absolutely effervescent about the other man, full of life and vitality. Never had Kris understood the true charisma of a bard until he had seen that open smile looking up into his. For all the darkness that Willow proclaimed to have in him, in equal parts there was a sweet lightness and Kris loved them both.

"Well, I suppose your wish is my command, so lead on however hopefully you will not draw too far away?" he thought he would still want his arm wrapped around Will's shoulder, pulling him close enough that they could make the journey safe together; but truth was that Kris did not want his bard to go so far away from him.

"You have been busy then?"

[unwisely]

"Not planning on it." Even before they'd worked out that they were both harboring feelings for one another, Will wanted to linger near Kris, a butterfly drawn to this stunning flower of a man. Now that they were openly in love with one another, he was all too happy to spend as much time as possible in the cleric's arms.

He leaned up, up on tiptoe. Willow was far from short, but Kris was taller still, but that suited the bard just fine. On tiptoes he could catch those full, soft lips with his own before dropping down flat on his feet once more. Shifting, he settled himself under Will's arm, slipping his own arm behind him.

"You know me. I'm not good at staying idle. Come on, baby. I'm dying to find out what you think." He was being mysterious. Sort of. For a man with a dark, mysterious past, he was terrible at secrets sometimes, especially secrets like this.

[rosepaean]

Butterflies needed to be in perpetual motion, from flower to flower-- except that Kris was all of the flowers in the field and he would allow Will to rest upon him whenever the mood or fancy struck. The soft press of lips which had him almost leaning forward in the most disgustingly in love way before finally he settled in close, wrapping an arm around that shoulder while he leaned in close. His voice was conspiratorially and his eyes danced playfully and in shades darker than his apron.

"You may colour me intrigued." he murmured this as he followed Willow out the door. Once on the threashold of the steps, he made a movement to lock the door and keep it secure from the more prankish fae denizens. The darkness of Will was just as beautiful as his crisp bright lightness, much like an apple at harvest laden with sweet cinnamon sugar; his boyfriend was like such a taste-- refreshing but with a hint of cinnamon to it.

"Now you do have me curious, Sinnamon." he murmured as he then gave the shoulder a soft tug, a hint that he was ready to start the walk to whatever it was that Willow had to show him, he trusted the man, and would give him the world-- anything. Most importantly, he would follow him to the ends of the earth.

[unwisely]

"Intrigued is a good color on you," Will teased gently as they stepped out into the streets, waiting long enough to make sure that Kris had their little cottage safely secured. He'd been telling the truth; his little surprise was not far away at all.

It was chilly out, but he was tucked under that warm arm, and really in no hurry for this stroll. In fact, the arm around Kris's waist, that hand took its time, sliding lower until he could slip it right into the other man's back pocket of his trousers.
He'd just keep that there for a while.

Eventually his steps slowed, coming to a stop in front of a small shop front. The sign above it was empty and blank, the large glass window showing an empty store. Inside though, there are glass cases, the type one would expect to find in a bakery. "Here we are, Sugar. What I wanted to show you... the place I just bought. For you. ...for us."

He glanced at Kris out the corner of his eye, as if nervous to see how the Eladrin would react to this extremely impulsive action.

[rosepaean]

They were absolutely that type of couple who would linger their hands in back pockets; the sort who would be so disgusting that even the gods envied them. Right now they would not have to worry about it for the FaeWild would only be perplexed and nothing more; there would be no grand pull to separate the two of them from each other, But also Will's hand was warm and absolutely wanted precisely where it was and if Kris had not had his arm around that shoulder, he would certainly allow his hand to do exactly the same.

Once there, his eyes drew in the direction that Willow had pointed and then his breath caught.

He recognized it for what it was, the layout-- the cake stands, empty right now, the blank sign with no lettering on it, the coziness of it even within it's blankness for it captured so perfectly. Kristophe Fallon was at a loss for words, but then he was never as glib as Willow was. He turned to look down at Willow. "This.. it is a Shoppe? A bakery? Well it feels like it will be a bakery.. " he was reaching for words with the wonderment that he felt. They had a home, but this also felt like home and his heart gave a squeeze.

"Willow.. how did you?"

[unwisely]

"It is. Is it all right? I know I probably should've asked first, but I saw it and it just felt... well, kind of perfect." It would be something for them to build and work on together, while they were in this place, and Will found the idea thrilling. He also loved seeing Kris in his element, and one of those elements was a kitchen with flour and sugar smeared across his handsome face.

So Willow had taken that leap, and here they were and he was looking up Kris with an expression brimming with hopefulness as he tried to puzzle out what he was seeing on the cleric's face. It was good, right?

[rosepaean]

This was the sweetest gift that anyone has given him; how he had missed having a space for himself for baking, but not only that a way to share it with others. It had never been about a bakery, it had always been about helping people, providing a service and also community. So many nuances set adrift on a sea of emotions. Finally he dragged his eyes away from the bakery and then once again looking down at the high elf, however this time his eyes were brimming with such a soft emotion.

"This is.. this gift is amazing and I do not understand how I truly deserve someone like you, so very thoughtful and sweet." there was Kris, always seeing that vein of good within the other man. "I.. it will be a lot of work so I hope that you will partner with me to help make it a success."

Right now the way that he said partner, it could've been innocent, right? He leaned down and then pressed his lips right against that forehead where he could taste ripe winter berries and spice, like home wrapped up in a bubble of rightness. "I love you..." deep inside his pocket he could feel the ring burn, something he'd tucked away for Willow and right now he was attempting to chase the perfect moment.

"Take me inside? Do you have the keys?"

[unwisely]

Willow was not quite holding his breath, but he was close to it, waiting and watching, until those beautiful cherry blossom eyes turned his way and he saw the emotion writ there, saw acceptance of what he'd done there. Relief rushed through him, and he was starting to smile even before the other man spoke.

Kris really did see too much of the good in him, but gods Will appreciated that. Sometimes it was impossible for Will to see it in himself. But most importantly, Kris liked this. Willow's smile brightened. "Of course. I'm with you in everything, Kris." He was no baker, but he was a good hand at cleaning and chores, so he'd find a way to put himself to use.

Those lips fell against his forehead and his eyes shut, expression melting. "I love you too, baby."

But right! The keys! He fished into his pocket and produced the keys, pressing them into Kris's hands. "You unlock the door. It's for you."

[rosepaean]

Touching sweetness in the moment and then as they both started toward the door and the keys were pressed in his palm, he could feel his heart overwelling and overflowing with gratitude that he was blessed with this moment. His Will, his beautiful Dark Prince who was going to give him everthing-- was this what Persephone felt when her husband offered her the entire world at her feet in exchange for her love? Not that Kris needed it, but the fact that Willow would go to that level was not lost on the Eladrin.

"Indeed, we can go inside and make plans-- see it through the eyes of all the possibility." he removed his arm from around Will enough so that he could insert the key in lock and then give it a twist. It was not a silent movement, but there was the creek of door that would likely alert him to the fact that someone was entering.

The door creak coupled with the ring of a tiny bell? Perfection.

"I am.. I miss home, you know. I miss the bakery back home and my mother. But this? It feels like a slice of that back, a way to have something like this for myself and I am glad you are at my side." Willow was at his side in a way that he understood that Thiero could never have been which made this moment all the sweeter.

Once over the threshhold, he took both of the High Elf's in his own and gave it a slow and steady squeeze.

[unwisely]

Willow knew it too, that somehow, Kristophe had given him his heart freely, without wanting or needing anything in return save Will's own heart, which had already been his for quite some time. But that knowledge alone, it only made him more determined to give Kris everything, to do anything in his power to make sure that the other man was happy.

"It needs some polish and elbow grease, but between the two of us, I think we can really make it something special."

He followed the taller man inside, looking around before turning his gaze up to Kris's once more. "I'm so glad you like it. You always seem so happy when you're making something sweet, when you get to share it with people. I love seeing you happy." Nothing better in the world, so far as Will was concerned.

He let his hands be taken, squeezing back.

[rosepaean]

The gift of Will's heart was immeasurable and he cherished what that meant, that the other man trusted him; he was automatically soft to him, and his fingers tightened around the other elf's reflexively as if he could protect him through all the storms and all the seasons. Not even understanding that sometimes he would need to be the one that was protected. And those touching words just seemed to cement it, the sincerity in those eyes and then he removed one hand.

"You know, there was a long time when I thought I would never love again." he brought one hand up so that he could press a kiss against the knuckles as if paying tribute. "But you taught me that my heart needn't be in the depths of winter forever, you were the force that helped me thaw and showed me spring again."

Slowly with his free hand he removed something from his pocket and then finally he held out his palm and revealed a intricately crafted ring woven of threads of gold, twining together- it was not a fancy ring, but it was meant with love. "Willow, will you be my partner.. just not in this bakery but for as long as we both walk this earth?"

[unwisely]

Will felt his cheeks heat as Kris went and wove romance with words and actions. The touch of those lips to his knuckles, the sweet things he was saying. If he'd helped at all bring this beautiful, gentle, incredible man some help in finding his way back into the warmth of love that Kris deserved. Gods Kris deserved so much, and Will didn't know how he was so lucky as to be the one to give it to him.

He started to speak, to tell Kris that he'd always be there to remind him how loved he was, but the eladrin kept talking and Willow found himself looking at the little golden ring. His eyes went wide as saucers as he looked from the gold band to Kris, the words that the cleric was saying registering with him all at once.

"Me?!" Wait, no. That was not how he wanted to respond here at all. So he very quickly amended, "Of course I will! Kris, that's... that's all I could ever want. To be with you. To be yours."

[rosepaean]

"Of course it is you, it has been you for a while now." Kris said as he picked up that hand and then very slowly slid the smooth metal band up onto the finger it was intended for; he'd gotten the size right. A warm smile before he pressed a kiss to the ring so as to home it there where it would grow around the digit, would weave as if it was made to be caught against the pale skin therein. "The funny thing about this ring is that I have had it for a while-- you know the jeweler in Juniper Springs? I had it crafted there-- it was just a whim and I never though I would ever give it to you, just that.. well-- perhaps deep in my heart I thought one day."

Such forethought the cleric had.

"I only wish that my mother and sister could meet you;' my mother would adore you. But, when we return-- that will be one of the first things I do." he was not thinking that they would return with no memories, but he could not fathom going back and not being together. "You will come back to Blue Kukao and meet my mother, and my sister. This I definitely promise."

[unwisely]

Willow watched in reverent awe as the ring was slid onto his finger, the metal settling in perfectly -- even more perfect once it had been blessed by the cleric's lips. Will's breath catches in his throat, a hitch, like he's forgotten how to breathe, or maybe like he's half choking back tears. The fact that Kris had this with him since they were back in Juniper Springs made his heart clench in his chest. They really had been both been yearning in parallel and gods they'd finally collided.

And speaking of collision, Willow launched himself at Kris, arms around the taller man's neck, holding tightly.

"I love you so much. I want to spend the rest of my days with you. I want to meet your mother and your sister. I want to see where you're from, all of it." A laugh, a bit watery, but ebullient nevertheless. "...my family is... it's complicated. But I'll introduce you to my sister."

[rosepaean]

It felt good to have Willow in his arms and thus his arms wrapped securely around the waist, drawing the man close so that he was a steady rock upon which his fiancé could rely on. Fiancé.. he was his, he could barely contain his own happiness even as he warmly wrapped him up, so that Will did not have to escape if he did not want to. "I love you too, I have loved you I think since the first time I heard your songs.. I could feel the green start to touch me."

Such romantic drivel, but then he was a born romantic. "And I will meet whomever you want me to meet, Cinnamon-- your sister, your anyone-- just know that my family is your family and we are a bit unconventional, but there is love there and my mother is fond of adopting people, she will adopt you gladly."

That Will did not have to worry about family members who could be problematic? Well all that Kris had was Will's and would be until they both cease to exist.

[unwisely]

There would be no prying Will out of Kris's arms for a good long while this time. Held close and wrapped up in those arms, he was absolutely enveloped in the feeling of being home, of being exactly where he belonged. He shut his eyes to bask in those words. "Ever since that night I saw you across the room, I haven't been able to see anyone else but you."

He pressed his face into the eladrin's neck, breathing in greedily. Kris really wanted him, to keep. Gods knew he didn't deserve it, but he had it and he wouldn't take a moment, a single centimeter of it for granted.

"I'm sure I'll adore them. If they are where you came from, there's no way I couldn't."

[rosepaean]

Kris does not think that Will understands how precisely happy that makes him; even if he knew he was not at his best with his sad eyes and his white hair, touched by winter and still feeling the cold therein. Though the song that Willow had sang reached him, caused a few tears which was perhaps the first indication that perhaps Winter would not last forever like he had thought.

He stroked lovingly and gently through Will's locks of hair, swaying in those arms in the empty little bakery shop. There was so much possibility there and yet here they were and this was a new beginning. It also meant that together they would be able to something of this, building something that was both of thers.

This business was another way to denote they were family, it was something they could do together and he hoped that when they went back, that they would have something like this again, that it was not merely a feywild dream. "Once I heard your songs, I only had eyes for you."

[unwisely]

How could Willow not have been drawn to those sad eyes, this gentle, beautiful man and to even the first hints of what would turn out to be that breathtaking smile? But to know that they were both lost in each other from so early on, well, it made a few things make sense. Looking back, perhaps they'd both been a bit oblivious.

How many nights had he curled up close to Kristophe 'for warmth' or 'because of space' or some other thin-as-hell excuse?

It didn't matter now. Not now that they were in one another's arms properly. This was a new beginning. He leaned back to seek out Kris's eyes with his own. "I had a thought about a name for the bakery."

[rosepaean]

Kris's perception and insight had failed him when it came to Will and perhaps it still would've if not for that song that had resonated so deeply within him but now there was no uncertainty or doubt within them and they had this time for each other-- but he'd accepted those touches as Will's excuses, grateful for those excuses.

Willing to tender his own excuses in response.

Now they need not labour underneath such pretenses any longer. "Oh yes, you know I would love to hear it. My own families bakery is named "Bread and Butterflies" but I think that I do not want that name for our bakery, and perhaps I am not as creative as you are." his mother had been a poet before a baker so that name had tracked.