WEEK THREE MINGLE

[potatomance]

ᯓ⭐ WEEK THREE MINGLE

Happy third week, lovebirds! Here's to hoping you're riding high on the wave of success of one whole pair being correct! Surely you must have an idea by now how to win this thing!

Probably?

The good news is that you're not going to have to find yourselves in any weird clothes this time around, except maybe that just leads to a strange sense of foreboding for a future scenario...? Who knows. You can't quite brace yourself for it this time.

But don't worry, it's not like there's nothing happening. On the contrary!

For the entirety of this week, you'll find yourself feeling... clingy. It's going to start feeling very strange if you're not leaning on someone, holding their hand, cuddling with them, sitting in their lap, stealing a kiss, or engaging in some other form of affectionate physical contact. And if it's someone you're already feeling fond of OR someone you actually can't stand, guess what?

That feeling is doubled!

You may realize this is an unusual feeling, but so what? Trying to ignore it is only going to make it feel stronger and do you really want to make yourselves feel miserable?

Shut up, masochists.

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[cosmoid]

[ she respects him too much, let him be carried like the fish he is. ]

Then you'll have to show me after I show you the sea. Though for now...

[ given their positions and everything else he is, uroko gestures instead of explaining himself. come here, the action implies, where here is cuddling up against him.

he might be up to something or maybe he's succumbed to that itch of wanting close contact. maybe both? ]

[hearthwarming]

For now...?

[ Ah. He wants to cuddle. Ori is only too happy to oblige, sinking back down onto the blanket fully to cuddle up against him, taking care not to accidentally bonk him with her horns.

Maybe it would be considered "easy" of her, to have leaned into things like this with Uroko even before this week, but... Isn't that what they're supposed to do, here? Isn't that why they're now all being magically made to seek this kind of contact, now? How confounding...

Well. She doesn't have to think about it now. ]

[cosmoid]

For now—this. [ he does want to cuddle, yes. but he also wants to do something else.

there's no warning like there was with the moat, but this requires no effort on her part; in a blink they're no longer on the grounds but on top of one of the towers of the castle, blanket and all (a flat part, so there's no worry about sliding down).

teleportation is also in his repertoire, though it's one he tends to keep close to the chest. ]

A little closer [ in every sense of the word, as he shifts to cuddle her properly in return. ] to see the stars.

[hearthwarming]

[ Ori's no stranger to teleportation, yet it's different when one has to take a step through a portal or take a step in general to get from one place to the other. All of a sudden, they're now laying on the roof, blanket and all, and it startles her enough that she only finds herself clinging all the more to him before her nerves calm down and she realizes what just happened. ]

Hah— [ she can't help but laugh. ] A little warning next time, please?

[ And now, as they hold each other in earnest like this, Ori also can't help but lean in to press her lips to the line of his jaw ever so softly. ]

[cosmoid]

If your request is made like this, I couldn't possibly refuse it.

[ ah, he's looking down at her instead of up at the stars. well, it's not like it's a real contest anyway.

mmmn. he tilts his head to give her more access if she would like, though he doesn't voice his greediness for once. he might not be able to actually, but he doesn't mind. ]

[hearthwarming]

[ She watches as he angles his head, availing himself to her, and her eyes narrow at him in turn. ]

You're supposed to be gazing up at the stars, aren't you?

[cosmoid]

[ it takes him a moment, where he's caught up in the gold of her eyes before he answers, but with certainty he replies. ]

I would say I am looking at one.

[hearthwarming]

Really... I made that too easy for you, didn't I?

[ She gazes at him through fanned lashes, amused and flattered in equal measure. Rather than kiss him, she gently reaches with a hand to brush his long, white hair away from his eyes. ]

Look again.

[ His answer will remain the same, she suspects. ]

[cosmoid]

[ easy, huh. he closes his eyes when she touches him again, taking a long breath. the scent of the grass they were laying on moments ago, the faint smell of flowers she was handling earlier—laying still like this is far from easy.

he opens his eyes again, solely focused on her, pupils contracted into slits but voice gentle. ]

Oriphi, I'm beginning to think you're teasing me. [ it doesn't sound like he minds at all. ]

Does that make you a bad girl and me a good scale?

[hearthwarming]

Am I?

[ She huffs, quiet and soft and tinged with amusement, as her hand stills on his face. ]

I do have fiendish blood in me, you know. And it does count for something. Maybe we're lucky you didn't see my worse memories.

[cosmoid]

Mmn, not in that way. [ his use of the word "bad" was purely playful, but maybe this wasn't a terrible thing to voice. ]

I don't think it would change how I feel about you, but you're welcome to tell me more if you like. I told you that I like you for more than your beauty did I not?

One of those reasons is your heart, whether it has "bad" blood in it or not. "Bad" in that sense doesn't apply to me, for it is a human designation.

[hearthwarming]

[ ...Well, she supposes she didn't expect anything less from someone so closely associated with a god. ]

I know you didn't mean it like that. [ Sighing, she turns her head, nuzzling into his side a bit, her eyes falling to the swatch of scales on his arm. ] I could be bad in that way, too, just so you know...

But as long as we're being honest... Yes, you've definitely made that clear. You really listened to what I had to say that time, and... it does mean a lot, Uroko.

I only said that because I've... been through a lot in my own life, and I wouldn't say that I'm proud of some things, but I have made peace with it. My life is going to be much too long for me to spend it with only my regrets... All of those things you said that you like about me, I don't doubt them, and I know these are my strengths. But... I have my weaknesses, too.

[ Self-doubt being one of them, chiefly, and obviously. ]

[cosmoid]

Not even Gods are perfect, Oriphi. Your weaknesses, such as stopping me from eating all the vegetable cuttings [ he still steals one here or there mind, and here he steals a quick kiss, pressed to her forehead. ] are part of you, just like mine are.

But it's those things that cause ripples and waves. Sometimes for the better, sometimes for the worse, but always moving forward.

[hearthwarming]

[ She laughs, at that. He's right, and she knows it, and maybe... she's running out of reasons to keep a safe distance, when it comes to her heart. ]

The wisdom of a God... or even his scale, huh... I've never met anyone like you, Uroko. Truly.

[cosmoid]

I might have gotten jealous if you had met another scale besides me. [ teasing, mostly.

(...) ]

Is it lazy if I steal your line? [ that's never stopped him before, but he pauses just slightly before continuing. ] You are the same for me, Oriphi, and I don't just mean your looks. That is why—

[ he's made an effort, despite himself. he knows what these feelings are even if usually he's looking in a mirror at them. but even though he is not a god, he is born of one, prone to whimsy and wants even if he does know better. the freedom the land brings is intoxicating, but that's not all of it. neither is the few years of isolation he's had before now. ]

I have done things for the first time in centuries with you.

[hearthwarming]

[ He has made an effort, and she would be remiss to be blind to it, when it's exactly what she'd asked of him when he first made such crass comments towards her. Though she has always been close with nature's elements, from wind to earth to fire to water, the forest has always been her home. She hadn't expected someone, anyone here to so thoroughly open her eyes to another of nature's realms she'd not given much consideration to in the past.

She'd thought her adventurous spirit snuffed out for a long while, now, but... because of everyone here, she's beginning to think that maybe that isn't quite so. A long while for her, however, has been a decade or two— but Uroko speaks on the magnitude of centuries, understandably so, but for that she must look at him in awe.

For the first time in centuries. With her. ]

What... do you mean? What things?

[cosmoid]

I wonder if you'll tease me for it. [ again, mostly a joke. but he says these stupid things (and she might have started to catch on), as a cover for something else. but he's not a coward, so once more, he states clearly: ]

Kissing. And...hmm, these might have been my first dates. Divinity doesn't usually have a need for courting. [ ...now she knows he's been winging a lot of the time they've spent together. All the high school romance he's seen have been good(?) sources of inspiration for their outings. ]

[hearthwarming]

[ ...Oh. ]

...Oh. Really?

[ The Really? truly just tumbles out of her mouth dumbfoundedly. Of course, she'd never bothered to ask until this moment, but... Well, she supposes that gods and their like truly wouldn't have need for courting, when worshippers do enough of that towards them, albeit in a different way.

She can't help but chuckle, maybe a bit teasingly after all, though there's a bit of fondness there, too. She can scarcely believe this is happening... Oh, Oriphi, what have you gotten yourself into now...? ]

No, I- I won't tease you for it, but you understand why I find it a bit surprising, right?

[cosmoid]

Because I'm lazy? [ though he's more slothful really. he guesses it's probably not that though, as she didn't know him well enough when they first met to make that assumption. ]

You are different than any woman I've met before, and though I am not the Sea God—we do share a desire to pursue when someone catches our eye.

[ ...more than eye really as he's said, but he figures he doesn't need to explain that any further and. this is being more open than he's used to on matters of his own heart. his fingers thrum lightly against her skin, not seeking a reaction but more of an energy he needs to express. ]

[hearthwarming]

No, but... as you'd said, you've lived for a very long time.

[ She'd made the assumption, then, that at some point along his lifetime... he must have...

Ori takes a deep breath in, then looses it in something that's an exhale, a laugh, and a sigh all at once. ]

I wonder if you would find me so unique if your world were more like mine. Where there are many tieflings, adventurers, and so on...

[cosmoid]

Oriphi. If you're trying to convince me that I shouldn't like you, you'll have to do a much better job.

[ not to mention he is either incredibly lax or incredibly stubborn with no in between. he pokes her cheek. ]

Or would you rather I not?

[hearthwarming]

[ poke. Her cheeks puff up a little in response. ]

I'm not! I'm just... wondering out loud, is all. Does this mean I have more... romantic experience, between the two of us?

[ lol. lmao even, ]

[cosmoid]

Hoh, maybe. Shall I let you take the lead then?

[ if she doesn't resist, he'll roll her on top of him. ]

[hearthwarming]

[ He'll meet no resistant on her end, and as she settles over him, she hums thoughtfully... for only a moment, before she brings herself down onto her forearms and touches the tip of her nose to his. ]

You're letting me take the lead, hm?

[cosmoid]

[ the sound he makes is part chuckle, part hum, reverberating from his chest. ]

Even a fish out of water has its dignity.