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umbry-fic · 4 years ago

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A Palette Full of You (3)

Summary: Glimpses into Colette and Lloyd’s lives as they grow up together, learn who they are, and fall in love with each other.

(Written for Colloyd Week 2021)

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia Characters: Colette Brunel, Lloyd Irving, Sheena Fujibayashi, Zelos Wilder Relationships: Colette Brunel/Lloyd Irving, Colette Brunel & Lloyd Irving & Sheena Fujibayashi & Zelos Wilder Rating: G Chapter: 3 of 6 Word Count: 6896 Mirror Link: AO3 Original Post Date: 11/06/2021

Chapter Title: Race Into the Night

Chapter Summary: Lloyd, Colette, Zelos and Sheena visit the carnival to have a night of fun after the end of exams. Lloyd and Colette end up riding the Ferris wheel alone, where...

(Colloyd Week Day 3: Confession/First Kiss)

Notes: Chapter 3 of my multi chapter Colloyd week fic! Featuring much fluff and sap. Zelos is non-binary in this and uses they/them pronouns.

Chapter title from Yoasobi's song.

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~~~

18-years-old

"There is no way I'm ever going on that thing. You can't make me."

"Come on, you promised that if I scored better than you at darts you would ride the Riptide with me! Gonna go back on your word now, Sheena?"

"Stop smirking at me, Zelos! You clearly cheated! That game was rigged!"

"All carnival games are rigged. That's common knowledge."

"I don't care. You still cheated!"

"Cheated how? You were watching me the whole time!"

Colette giggled, watching her two friends have a go at each other as they inched closer to each other with each word they spoke. All three of them were leaning against the cold metal railing, though Colette was careful to keep a safe distance from Zelos and Sheena. When they were engrossed in arguing with each other, there was a safe zone, and a not-safe zone where one was liable to get smacked by a wildly gesturing arm or two.

Surrounding them were various stalls staffed by people who were enthusiastically calling out to potential customers, hoping to receive more coupons in the final hour before the carnival closed. There were pop-up game stalls featuring the classics like ring toss and soccer, food stands selling carnival staples like candy floss and popcorn, and even thrill rides like the aforementioned Riptide, a roller coaster that paled in comparison to USS' coasters but certainly had the most twists and turns of anything offered at the carnival. Adorning everything was bright neon lights and colourful decorations, and noise came from every angle, lending to a cheery atmosphere that could get a tad overwhelming at times.

Despite the late hour of 9 pm, there was still quite a crowd - mostly consisting of young adults like them, the majority of families having gone home for the night. She had bumped into quite a few classmates in the past three hours, who had come here with the same idea of having a fun night out with friends after the end of A-levels. A lot of pictures had been taken, until her cheeks hurt a bit from smiling so much, but it had been great fun.

She, Lloyd, Zelos and Sheena had managed to visit almost every booth, using up all of the coupons that they were sharing amongst each other. But even with their combined efforts, they had only managed to win one prize: the adorable Siberian Husky plush she was currently hugging. Though they'd certainly snacked on their share of popcorn, sharing one large carton between the four of them until their fingers were sticky with kernels.

"Colette, back me up!" Sheena begged, turning to face Colette. Despite the biting words that were leaving her mouth, her true emotions were betrayed by the smile playing at the corner of her lips. Sheena's hair was tied up into her trademark high ponytail, the ends of her hair swaying slightly in the weak wind.

"What, me?" Colette exclaimed, rather surprised she was being pulled into the conversation. Zelos and Sheena tended to retreat into their own world whenever they got into this state, forgetting anyone else existed.

"Uh, well..." Colette muttered, sheepishly smiling. "Sorry to disappoint, Sheena, but I have to give this one to Zelos."

"See? Even Colette agrees!" Zelos placed their elbow on the railing, leaning closer to Sheena, smirking.

Sheena didn't even spare Zelos a look, just shoved their face away with a hand, ignoring Zelos' sputters of protest. "How could you, Colette? How could you side with the idiot?" Sheena cried in mock betrayal.

"Well, I and Lloyd were both there, and we both saw Zelos win fair and square. And a deal's a deal," Colette replied, shrugging. Zelos did seem more insistent than usual, but she couldn't discern why.

"Just think of it as a date!" Zelos waved a nonchalant arm in the air, that smirk never fading as they took hold of Sheena's arm.

"Screaming in abject terror is not my idea of a date," Sheena hissed through gritted teeth, though she didn't free herself from Zelos' hold. "Besides, we're supposed to ride the Ferris wheel together once Lloyd comes back!"

"Eh, we won't make it before the carnival closes if we catch the Ferris wheel. Don't worry, I'll treat you to ice cream afterwards! And if that isn't enough to appease you, surely some Ajisen will." Zelos turned to Colette and winked, leaving Colette utterly confused. Was there an underlying meaning to all of this she was supposed to be catching?

"If you drag me on that damn thing, Zelos Wilder, I swear I will never forgive - GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME! STOP!" Sheena shrieked as Zelos began to drag her by brute force towards the snaking queue of the Riptide. Colette gaped, watching Sheena struggle wildly, digging her feet into the ground and hurling curses that got steadily fouler at Zelos, who didn't seem to be affected at all.

"I'm back with the drinks!" Lloyd's happy voice came from behind her as he walked up to her, holding two cups with steam venting from their tops, hair adorably ruffled from the day's hectic events, woefully unaware of everything that had occurred in the time he was gone. "Wait, what's... Happening...?" he asked, only now spotting the gradually diminishing silhouettes of Zelos and Sheena.

"I... Uh, Zelos and Sheena are going to ride the Riptide," Colette said, explaining the situation as succinctly as she could. How else could she word it, anyway? There was no explaining the antics of those two.

"Alright." Lloyd shrugged, accepted her explanation and passing one cup over to her. She pushed the plushy into the crook of her elbow, freeing up a hand to accept the cup and still managing to almost drop it. She closed her fingers around the plastic cup, soaking in the warmth it emanated.

"It's hot chocolate," Lloyd explained between gulps as he practically downed the whole cup in half a minute. "They're out of hot milo. Sorry."

"It's alright. Any hot drink would have done." Colette finally took a sip, feeling the sting from the heat and sticking out her tongue.

"Should we wait for them to come back or go queue for the Ferris wheel?"

Colette sighed. "We should just go. The queue for the Riptide is really long... They know to meet up back at the MRT at 10."

The original plan was to take a group photo at the peak of the revolution of the Ferris wheel, but that didn't look like it was going to happen now.

So it would just be her and Lloyd riding the Ferris wheel. An activity that could be seen as romantic. The pamphlet for the carnival had even advertised it as a ride of love. When they'd walked past it just now, she'd seen that the Ferris wheel was decked out with a ton of wire hearts that lit up in multiple colours.

It was just ten minutes. It would be over in the blink of an eye! Totally!

"Then, let's go," Lloyd said, grabbing her hand and giving her a minute heart attack, causing her bravado to crumble into dust.

Nope. There was no way this could end well.

The two of them joined the short queue for the Ferris wheel, having thrown their empty cups into a nearby dustbin. Only eight people were waiting for the next empty carriage to descend to ground level and open its doors. Five of them - three children and two adults - belonged to one family, while the rest were a group of three girls, enthusiastically talking to each other. It wouldn't take long for their turn.

A bout of shivers overcame her as the wind picked up, the warmth of the drink already a memory. She wrapped her free arm around herself, gaze dropping to the floor as she once again regretted forgetting to bring out her favourite dog-ear hoodie. It was always hanging on her clothes rack, and it would have been so easy to just reach out a hand and swipe it on her way out. But no, she just had to wake up late and stumble out of the house still half-asleep.

She'd forgotten how cold the nights could get. Especially for her, someone who couldn't even handle the lecture theatre air-conditioning. Forgoing a long-sleeved T-shirt for her kiwi bird-print tee was not helping matters.

"Here." Something warm and soft was draped around her shoulders, and she looked up to find herself draped in Lloyd's familiar jacket, his face hovering close to hers. "You should have told me you were cold," Lloyd muttered, his breath tickling her neck. "I would have given you my jacket earlier."

His jacket smelt like him, a safe, comforting blanket that reached to her thighs. It held his body heat, too, slowly seeping into her.

Colette flushed, turning her face away so she didn't have to look into those russet eyes. For there was concern there, as well as the ever-present kindness, but there was also more. There was no way to hide her blush, not when he was right here, but she still had to resist the urge to hide her face behind the plushy.

Why was she still trying so hard to hide, anyway? It's not like it was of any use. She was so obvious. As Zelos had told her, it had gone far past the point of being funny.

"Though I guess you're always cold," Lloyd said, tearing his gaze away from her and taking a hurried step back. Perhaps the words were meant to be teasing, but they fell flat with the out-of-place laughter attached to the end.

"I - I mean, it - it was my fault for not bringing a jacket in the first place," she stuttered, the words stumbling over each other in her mouth in her hurry to answer. Now Lloyd would know she was nervous too. She was doing really well, wasn't she? “But thank you.”

"The next carriage is here," the attendant called out, voice flat and expression terribly bored. He was staring at them with a barely veiled expression of disinterest, waving his arms to direct them into the next carriage, doors wide open.

"Come on." Lloyd grabbed her hand, the smile returning to his face. The Ferris wheel was lit up to the nines, throwing soft purple light onto everything around her and illuminating half of Lloyd's face. Beautiful. He was always so beautiful, but it was moments like these where it made her heart hurt, wanting so desperately to reach out and touch his face.

Heart pounding in her chest, she took her seat, Lloyd sitting directly on her left, their legs close enough to brush.

She placed the plushy in her lap, resting her chin on it and trying her best to slow her racing heart, knowing it would be of no use. Here, in this carriage that was slowly rising into the sky and gently rocking, it was just the two of them in this little space, cut off from the rest of the world.

It was hard to tell herself she was imagining the intense way Lloyd was staring at her, like she was the only thing worth looking at, even though the beautiful night scenery was right outside the glass. Nor was it possible to imagine the tension, sharp as a knife, that had arisen between them for the past half a year or so. Almost everything was the same: they were still incredibly close, but there was a hesitance there now - in the way Lloyd’s fingers sometimes curled away from hers, in the way she sometimes stopped before throwing an arm around his shoulder to embrace him.

Neither of them had spoken up about that tension, dancing around each other like fools. Even if he did return her feelings… Love wasn’t enough to bridge the impossible distance between them. She could never fully comprehend all that he felt, just as he could never fully comprehend the absence of what she felt. She could never give him what others could, not with her extreme revulsion towards anything sexual in nature. She’d be willing to try, for him, simply because her love for him knew no bounds, but… she couldn't say where her limits would be. Likely not very far from where she would start.

Even though Lloyd had been nothing but supportive of her, that didn’t mean he was willing to take a chance that could very well end in failure and heartbreak. She might not be enough for him when it came to a relationship. If that was the case, she could understand. Neither of them had done anything wrong. If they were incompatible from the start, then she could keep her silence. She’d be perfectly happy to remain as friends, even if these nebulous feelings would never leave her chest. She didn’t want to lose them.

"Um, do you, uh... like the plushy?" Lloyd asked, his voice cutting through her anxious thoughts. Awkwardness radiated off of him in spades as he shifted in the seat, turning his head away to stare down at the floor. At least she wasn't the only one that was nervous. He was repeating the exact question he’d asked her when he’d given her the plushy.

"I love it. It's soft, and it's cute. Thanks for giving it to me." The same answer she’d given him before.

Lloyd had been the one who won a carnival game - the ball toss, to be specific. He'd managed to down all the cans with a single ball and gotten the choice of any of the first-place prizes. Zelos had raised an eyebrow and asked him how he'd gotten past the unfair odds. Lloyd had sheepishly scratched the back of his head and said it was a lucky accident, one that he couldn’t repeat, which proved to be true in his later attempts.

Lloyd had taken one look at the prize pool, pointed out the Siberian Husky plush to the staff, and then stuffed it into her hands the moment he'd gotten it, proclaiming that it was a gift for her. Zelos had been outright snickering, while even Sheena had looked like she was holding back laughter, shoulders shaking.

Lloyd's hand found hers in the little space between them, his thumb rubbing the skin of her palm just below her fingers. It was a repetitive, soothing motion, helping to calm her down.

She hoped that, no matter what, they would always stay together. Whether as friends or more. Just the two of them.

"I'm glad you like it." Lloyd's voice was getting progressively quieter with each syllable his lips formed, slowly shifting right along the seat towards her.

“Can - can I…” Lloyd asked timidly, turning to face her and leaning closer. Her field of vision narrowed to just his face, barely lit by the scant light that reached them from the carnival grounds and the spokes of the Ferris wheel. Everything else was slowly turning into a blur. “Can I kiss you?”

The carriage had reached the top of its revolution. Through the window, she could see the sparkling lights of the high-rises in the distance. Silence suffused the air as no one spoke, the world itself seeming to hold its breath, neither she nor Lloyd moving a single part of their bodies as they stared at each other. His eyes were wide, filled with such incredible emotion, built up over years and spilling over at this very moment.

Her breath caught in her throat, a current of warmth making itself known in her heart at the fact that he’d actually bothered to ask. She’d expected Lloyd to - the kind, considerate soul that she’d come to know and love, but somewhere in the back of her mind was tucked the irrational fear that there would never be anyone who respected her boundaries, simply because she wasn't worth it.

She took a deep breath, preparing her answer. It wouldn’t be “normal”, that was for sure. It wasn’t a simple yes or no, but rather…

“Is it fine if it’s on the cheek?” were the quiet words that left her mouth, shattering the expectant silence as her grip tightened on the plushy. Maybe one day, she wouldn’t mind a kiss on the lips, but not today. She wasn’t up to it yet.

She doesn’t know what answer she expects. Probably a no. It’s perfectly understandable for Lloyd to just step away.

“Of course,” Lloyd replied instantly, the gentle smile on his face once again shattering all the preconceived notions she’d constructed in her head, absolutely terrified of rejection but huddling herself into a corner in the belief that that was all she could possibly receive. There had been no hesitation behind that statement, no hint of reproach or anger or irritation towards her.

“Yes.” The word slipped out without any thought, for she herself had yearned for so terribly long. The desire she had always held to love, and to be loved, despite everything - to experience it all with the boy that had always been part of her life and that she hoped could continue to be there for the rest of it.

She turned her head to the side, and it didn't take another moment longer before Lloyd pressed his lips against her cheek, one hand still holding hers while his other arm wrapped around her shoulder, the plushy trapped between them. He was nothing if not gentle, bringing up her earliest memories of being kissed on the cheek by her mother, before she had left her life forever. It was through that gentleness that the force of his love was truly impressed on her - for there was passion there, in the very act of holding himself back. Love, gentle like a warm flame, but not any lesser for it, for his love was just as impregnable as a brick wall, unyielding and unbreaking.

She could feel his warm breath against her cheek, his lips softer than she could have thought, his hair close enough to run her hands through as she’d always wanted. So she did, letting the strands fall through her fingers like melted chocolate.

Was he… smiling? It sure felt like it.

It wasn't a magical moment like people always said the first kiss would be like. After all, theirs was nowhere close to conventional, but it was an experience that belonged only to them. No sparks were flying in the air, nor did time stop. It was just the two of them, fitting together perfectly like puzzle pieces in the way they always had, and she couldn't ask for anything more.

Lloyd moved away, his arm dropping from her shoulder, hand joining the other to clasp her limp one. His eyes were shining with joy, the same joy that filled her heart and made it feel like it might take flight at any time. Everything had finally fallen into place.

Her whole face was now on fire as she turned away, leaning forward over her legs. Her hair fell by the side of her face like a veil, letting only tiny glimpses of Lloyd through.

“You’re sure?” she asked, knowing that she needed to clarify. Even if his actions had been the shining light that burned away most of her doubts, some still remained. Lloyd really, truly needed to understand what he was getting into. She would not let him mindlessly enter into a relationship with her without knowing about all the ups and downs, all the complications that would come with it. That would only end in them hurting each other, and then they might never be able to stand the sight of each other again. It was the dreaded future she never wanted to come to pass. “It’s not going to be easy."

“I know,” he replied, squeezing her hand, his russet eyes focussed on hers. “But all relationships have challenges, don't they? We'll figure it out together, just like always. And if it doesn’t work out, then we’ll stay as friends, forever. I just want you to know that I love you.”

There is nothing but burning conviction behind his words, and a determination that reached deep into her soul and lit a flame of hope.

There would be many more difficult conversations that needed to be had, candid discussions that would need to take place. But for now, she didn't say anything more, hoping the unspoken “I love you” from her side could be understood, clear as day. She still couldn’t make herself say it, the final lingering doubt that she suspected would never fully go away holding her back: that romantic love had to go hand in hand with sexual attraction, and that one could not exist without the other.

She simply closed her eyes, leaning against him and enjoying the gentle rocking of the carriage for the remainder of their time on the Ferris wheel.

~~~

25-years-old

"Remember this Ferris wheel?" Lloyd teased Colette, squeezing her hand as they stood in front of the Ferris wheel at the reopened carnival. It wasn't the exact same one they’d ridden at the age of 18, for that one had been deconstructed years ago. But it was a near-perfect replica, down to the purple lights that lit up the spokes, though the hearts were gone. Even the bored attendant who was barely paying attention to her duties was right!

"How could I forget?" Colette laughed, her trademark bright smile on her face. Even after knowing her for twenty years and dating her for seven of those years, the sight of her smile never failed to light a spark in his chest.

At least this time Colette was dressed appropriately for the colder night, in a pencil skirt and a long-sleeved collared blouse with a few frills. She looked a lot more put-together than him, who was just wearing plain old jeans. He had picked her straight up from work before driving them here, after all.

All that was missing was the staff pass that she’d removed from around her neck and left in the car. Her smart-casual image, however, was completely shattered by the pair of grey dog ears poking out of her hair, attached to the headband sitting behind her ears. They even felt furry to the touch, though it wasn’t real dog fur.

A pair of brown ears sat on his own head. Colette hadn’t managed to win a grand prize at the game stalls like he once had out of dumb luck, but she'd managed to do pretty well at the ring toss, scoring almost all of her tosses onto the red-rimmed bottles. That meant she could redeem a few mid-tier prizes, so she'd gotten two headbands with dog ears attached, one for her and one for him that he could wear if he wanted to. He'd put it on immediately. Now they matched! He needed to take a picture of them sometime - Sheena and Zelos would appreciate the cute image.

More like Sheena would strangle him over digital space if he didn't send cute photos.

The carnival had finally returned after four years of absence, and he and Colette had jointly decided to return almost immediately upon hearing the news. It was small and honestly not that impressive compared to other theme parks they’d been to, but it still held precious memories. And it would make for a fun date, which it certainly had so far!

They'd retraced their steps from years ago, though unfortunately, they were lacking Zelos and Sheena. First riding the pirate ship, Colette’s hair going wild in the air as the ship swung from side-to-side, then visiting the game stalls, laughing at each other’s absolutely horrendous attempts, then buying and sharing a stick of cotton candy between them, taking turns biting from the fluffy substance and having their tongues curl from the overload of sweetness, before finally arriving back here at the Ferris wheel.

"I know I've said this already, but thanks for planning this all out," Colette said, linking her arm with his and smiling up at him as they joined the queue. The queue was much longer today, amounting to more than 40 people, by his rough estimate. It was still quite early in the evening, half of the sun still peeking over the horizon, the sky painted in a pink that would soon be darkening to orange. It was just as noisy as in the past, perhaps even noisier, for the families hadn't gone home yet. "There were quite a few kerfuffles with the system at work today, and this really helped."

"That bad?"

"Mm. We had a new intern come in today, and then the old system just decided to crash. Not the intern's fault, she's the sweetest girl. But it was still a headache to deal with."

"Well, I'm glad it helped. Though I'm just happy to spend more time with you."

If everything went according to plan, then he'd be seeing a lot more of her in the future.

He shoved his hand into his pocket, checking that the all-important box was still there. It was the crux of this whole operation, and he could not lose it.

Colette laughed, a sound that inevitably made him smile. "I'm sorry I haven't been free for the past few weeks. It's a busy time for the company."

"It's alright. I'll be starting work soon too, after all. Besides, we still stay two floors apart. There's pretty much no way we don't see each other every week, silly."

"Sorry, sorry. Shouldn't be a downer; you're right. Anyway, since tomorrow’s a public holiday, want to spend it over at my place?”

“Netflix and chill?” Lloyd answered, well aware that he was probably getting some weird looks from people close enough to overhear him. He wasn’t even sure if Colette knew of its double meaning - she was generally completely clueless about the world of euphemisms. Over time, they’d just started co-opting the phrase. After all, their time together at each other’s place was mostly spent… watching shows while curled up together on the couch, creating dishes that were more like unrecognisable disasters in the kitchen while attempting not to set the whole place on fire, or Colette playing video games at the foot of the bed while he tickled her neck with his toes. In terms of risque activities, they so rarely happened - and only after he checked, double-checked and triple-checked that Colette was feeling up to it and not forcing herself for his sake.

“I don’t mind, but we haven’t finished that card game we started last month. The card piles are still sitting untouched on my bay window. Wanna do that instead?”

“Sure!” He replied enthusiastically. Board games or card games always promised a good time, if infuriating when nothing would line up and Lady Luck was decidedly not smiling on him. Colette seemed to get all the luck in these party games. Maybe it was consolation for tripping all the time.

“It’s such a shame that Zelos and Sheena aren’t here,” Colette said, pulling out her phone. “I know they went on the Ferris wheel the year after we did, but we still haven’t gotten that group photo we were supposed to.”

“One’s in Europe and one’s in Australia. There’s no way they could join us on such short notice.” The last he'd heard from them, both were doing well for themselves and very happy in their long-distance relationship.

“True. I guess I can add them to the photo afterwards with the power of Photoshop. Oh, and Zelos sent me this really weird message...” After a few swipes of her finger, Colette shoved the bright phone screen under his nose.

Zelos Wilder: Looking forward to the good news ;)

“Do you have any idea what they mean?” Colette asked, cocking her head to the side in confusion. “They haven’t been replying to my question!”

Lloyd could feel his fingers twitching. Zelos Wilder wasn’t here, but if they were, Lloyd would have strangled them already. Trying to spoil the surprise, were they?

“It’s probably nothing! You know how they are. Always trying to cause chaos.” Lloyd shrugged, hoping he wasn’t being too obvious, as he tended to be.

“I suppose that’s true… What good news?” Lloyd could hear Colette repeating that question to herself under her breath, not quite soft enough for it to escape his notice. She didn’t seem to have noticed that anything was up with him, thankfully.

“It’s our turn! Come on, let’s get on!” Lloyd declared, just loud enough to startle Colette and cause her to nearly drop her phone. She hurriedly stuffed it back into her pocket, following Lloyd to the open carriage. She hadn't realised the space before them had completely cleared.

The attendant lazily waved them onto the open carriage with barely a glance at them, a mumbled: “Have a nice ride” leaving her mouth.

Lloyd was the first to scramble on, turning around to give Colette a helping hand - only to find her falling straight into him, having tripped over the raised step. With a shocked “Oh!” falling from her lips, Colette crashed into him, nearly knocking him flat onto the carriage seat. With a shocked yelp, Lloyd braced himself against the glass window of the carriage, barely maintaining his balance. Years of practice at stopping Colette’s sometimes fantastical falls over obstacles that weren’t visible to him had honed his reaction times to near perfection, giving him ample preparation for this situation.

The attendant continued to ignore them, gaze fixed not so discreetly on the phone sitting in her lap. The doors of the carriage slid smoothly shut, and with a jolt that nearly knocked them off balance again, the carriage set off on its journey.

"Um, sorry..." Colette apologised from her position pressed flush against Lloyd's chest, arms entangled in his. She slowly extricated herself from the mess, stumbling a few times but managing not to fall again, even with the gentle swaying of the carriage floor. He tried his best to steady her without falling over himself. She sheepishly smiled. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine.” Lloyd adjusted her headband, setting the ears that had been knocked crooked back into their rightful place. He’d told her multiple times that she didn’t need to apologise for tripping, but she still did, the habit too ingrained to break. It was endearing, though. “You?”

“I’m fine!” Colette smoothed out her skirt (though there weren’t any noticeable wrinkles in it from the fall,) and sat down to rest her weary feet, giving Lloyd the cue to sit down as well. “Thank goodness I wasn’t wearing heels…”

Lloyd did not want to imagine what would have happened if she was - she might have twisted her ankle, or worse. She rarely wore heels due to her clumsiness, but when she did, all sorts of accidents tended to happen.

He stuffed his hand into his pocket again, fingers feeling the velvet texture again.

It’s still here.

"What's still here?" Colette’s confused voice broke through his relieved thoughts. Her hands were resting in her lap and she was leaning forward, eyes shining with a curious light. The usual white lights of the new condominiums close to the carnival grounds shone, a few glimmers of pink visible as people celebrated Pink Dot. It was at this very moment that the Ferris wheel's lights turned from purple to pink, the spokes emanating soft pink light that washed over Colette, making her hair glisten - almost like an ethereal fairy with imaginary wings that shimmered, having come to visit him on this mortal plane. The dog ears only added to that image, somehow. Even now, the sight of her was enough to make him feel dizzy, both out of love and awe, even if he no longer blushed like an embarrassed schoolboy. Awe that she could get more beautiful every time his gaze landed on her. And awe that such an incredible person had chosen to trust him and stay with him.

He was so enraptured by the angel before him that it took a few seconds for her words to process in his mind, after which he froze in horror.

OH NO, HE’D SAID IT OUT LOUD. A thousand alarm bells were ringing in his head. Some days he was reminded that he was an adult now, and other days he was reminded that he was as much an idiot as he used to be. Some things just never changed.

“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to,” Colette said, a teasing lilt to her voice as she rested her chin on her palm, an amused smile playing on her lips.

He could just play it off - he knew Colette wouldn’t pursue it any further if he gave off the signals to drop the topic. She was just like that: the most considerate person he knew.

But…

The original plan had been to do it on the Ferris wheel. It even had Zelos' approval. This, right now, was the perfect chance to just let the cat out of the bag. And he would grasp the opportunity in hand before it could escape him.

For he could think of no future happier than one spent Colette’s side.

Taking a deep breath, he pulled the purple box out of his pocket with a shaking hand, dropping to his knees on the surprisingly clean carriage floor, devoid of the usual spilt drinks and crumpled up tissues.

He could tell the exact moment Colette gleaned the true intent behind his actions, the blank, confused expression on her face morphing into one of shocked disbelief, eyes widening and hands flying up to cover her mouth.

Damn it, he’d completely forgotten the script he’d written with Zelos’ assistance in a back-and-forth over messages, Zelos alternating between giving actually good advice and being extremely annoying, though Lloyd had gotten them to shut up by asking them when they planned to propose. The two of them had both struggled to find the right words, since neither of them had done super well in English. But Lloyd had persevered, wanting to get his feelings across eloquently.

But now that he was staring into Colette’s blue eyes, all the words were sprouting wings and flying mockingly out of his head, leaving only blank space for him to reach uselessly for.

The one piece of advice Zelos had given him that continued to stick in his head was this: speak from the heart, and surely she would understand.

He couldn’t keep her waiting forever.

“I… ” He couldn’t help but start off slow, struggling against the block in his mind but determined to push past it. The words then seemed to just come to him, progressively faster as time went on, stumbling out of some unknown part of his mind - or perhaps it would be more accurate to say his heart. Somehow, throughout it all, he didn't drop the box despite his trembling hands. “Colette, you’re the most amazing person I know. Your compassion, your gentleness, even your clumsiness, they’re all vital parts of my life that I wouldn’t give up for anything. You are my shining star in the sky, the one that gives me hope, that inspires me to be the best version of myself. If I had the choice to relieve my life from the start, I wouldn't change a thing, because meeting you on that playground all those years ago was the best thing that has ever happened to me. All my years spent with you have been incredible, and I would like to spend many more by your side. So, just like years ago, Colette, I have something I need to ask you, right here and right now.”

“Will you… Will you marry me?” He finished, voice drifting off into silence as he flipped open the box to reveal the two plain, thin metal rings he’d bought. Colette wasn’t the type to go for flashy diamonds or colourful gems. She’d appreciate something simple like this.

He waited, the few seconds of deafening silence seeming to stretch out into eternity, broken only by the sound of blood rushing past his ears. This wasn’t the first time he’d asked this very question, if in a different and less dramatic form. He’d already received her answer once. But he would respect whatever answer she gave now, and most of all, they would keep the promise they had made at this very place: that they would always remain friends, no matter what.

~~~

Colette still couldn’t quite believe her ears, gaze flitting between Lloyd’s face and the box he was holding up towards her, the two rings housed snugly within reflecting pink light.

Marriage had crossed her mind many times. She had learned over the years that it wasn’t a penultimate goal that had to be reached to prove her relationship successful, and she’d told Lloyd as much when he’d asked her two months ago if she’d be willing to get married.

But still, even if she had managed to break free from most of the notions the fairytales of old had implanted into her head, able to just enjoy them as sweet stories now, she couldn’t quite rid herself of the dream of having a fairytale wedding. One that was perfectly planned, with family and friends present to stand witness to their union.

She’d told him yes. That she would be willing to tie the knot with him, the one she loved. The expectation of a proposal had been simmering in the back of her mind ever since, often going forgotten. She had not expected the time would be now. Lloyd had been more fidgety than normal, constantly checking his pockets while disguising the action as keeping his hands in his pockets. She’d known something was up, but his true intentions had escaped her detection until just moments before, when she’d been taken off guard. All she’d thought when he’d pulled out the box was that it resembled the ring boxes in the dramas Sheena was always recommending to her, the ones that appeared in all the emotional proposal scenes, until the realisation had hit her in the chest like a truck.

Once again, like years ago, they’d reached the top of the revolution. The silence remained unbroken as Lloyd patiently awaited her answer, not pushing her towards one. And so events repeated, mirrored across time.

Colette slowly stretched out her arm, eyes shimmering with unshed tears as a smile graced her face. She nodded, her throat blocked by all the emotions that swirled in her chest, unable to say ‘yes’ out loud even as she screamed it over and over in her mind, the tears finally breaking free of whatever barrier was holding them back to spill down her face.

Lloyd broke out into the most beautiful smile she had ever seen, radiating pure joy as he slid one of the simple, elegant, silver bands onto her ring finger. It fit. Perfectly. When had he even learned her ring size?

She picked up the other ring that was meant for Lloyd, marvelling at how her hand could somehow remain stable as the rest of her body trembled in barely contained emotion. The ring was so tiny, held between her thumb and index finger, and yet it held such significant weight as she slid it onto his ring finger, the skin of his hand rough against hers and the metal cold.

Lloyd jumped to his feet, pulling her into an embrace and pressing a kiss to the top of her head (his nose bumping the dog ears), holding her close, his happy laughter rumbling through his chest. Even now, when he must have been bursting with joy, he was still mindful of her boundaries, refusing to do anything that would cross the line. Heart filled with warmth, she pressed herself impossibly closer, intending to just melt into his arms forever -

"Please get off the carriage."

The deadpan voice that belonged to neither her nor Lloyd broke through the peaceful bubble that had been constructed around the two of them. She froze, feeling Lloyd stiffen around her as well. Looking to the left yielded the view of solid ground, and the same uninterested attendant gesturing towards it.

Ah. They'd reached the bottom without even noticing. This was… embarrassing, to say the least.

Thankfully, no one seemed to be in the queue at the moment, allowing the two of them to escape from the Ferris wheel without much attention. It appeared that only the attendant had borne witness, and she couldn’t seem to care less, having returned to the booth.

Their interlocked hands swung in the air, the matching rings glinting under the bright neon lights of the carnival as she wiped away her happy tears, both of them grinning uncontrollably.

"I love you," Lloyd said, the words leaving his lips with ease, as they always had. "Shall we go home?” he asked.

Home was with friends and family and Lloyd, the one who held her heart.

Colette squeezed Lloyd’s hand. She felt light as a feather, like she could somehow fly with wings that she didn't have.

"I love you," she replied, the words coming so easily now. "Let’s.”

~~~

The attendant shook her head, scoffing as she returned to scrolling through Twitter.

“I suppose love does make the world go round.”

~~~

Next chapter

#fanfiction #multi chapter #tales of symphonia #colloyd #colloydweek2021 #day 3: first kiss/confession #colette brunel #lloyd irving #sheena fujibayashi #zelos wilder

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darkhymns-fic · 5 years ago

Text

Wolf Bite

Most people might say it's not advisable to make friends with a werewolf, but Lloyd gave Colette nothing to be afraid of. That, and her weakness for fluffy doggy ears had won out over her caution.

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia Characters/Pairing: Lloyd Irving/Colette Brunel, Kratos Aurion Mirror Link: AO3 Notes: Based off this pic by @frayed-symphony! And others! This was meant to be written for Halloween, but now it's a few days late and it's not exactly spooky scary, but hope it's enjoyable anyway!

---

"And where are you off to at this late hour, young one?"

Colette turned with a quick half-step, nearly tripping over herself on the hem of her red cloak. But luckily the weight of the basket she carried seemed to offset her tumble, righting her balance again. "Oh! Mr. Huntsman! I'm sorry, I didn't see you there."

The huntsman made no obvious expression, instead moving up from the pathway to be more visible in the moonlight. His leather boots crunched against the gravel on the ground, his felt hat nocked perfectly over his rather wild hair. Colette noticed his hunting rifle slung over his right shoulder, his hand near it for an easy reach. "My name is not actually Huntsman, you know…"

"Ah right, sorry! Good evening, Mr. Kratos." Colette waved to the man. They had crossed paths numerous times before in the forest, it being so close to town. He was always so kind and would tell her when the roads were safe to go through! But she was surprised to find him here at dusk, especially when she had been trying to not be found herself…

"Do you not usually visit Phaidra much earlier in the day?" Kratos asked, all while keeping an eye on the dense foliage around them. The leaves, usually so bright underneath the midday sunshine, seemed to soak up all the shadows that the coming night gave. Even more so now that autumn had come, turning the once bright green to lustrous shades of red and yellow. "I would expect she would be asleep now."

Colette had anticipated this, so with a twiddle of her fingers against the handwoven handle of her basket, she prepared her little lie. Hopefully, Kratos wouldn't be able to tell…

"I'm taking care of grandmother's doggie!" she proudly stated.

Kratos' expression...didn't change still. But his voice held some disbelief. "So, she got herself a pet?"

"Yeah! Just recently. A stray she found in the forest. She took it home but she gets tired very easily. So, she's asked me to feed it and take it out for walks when she’s unable to."

Another pause. "This late?"

"Yes! He's more of a night-owl type of doggy, hehe."

"Hm." Kratos turned away for a moment, considering. "I have not come across any lost dogs during my travels in the forest."

"Well, maybe he just got here," Colette helpfully suggested.

"...I suppose so."

Trying not to let the relief show on her face, Colette arranged the red cloak she wore, as well as fit the hood better atop her head. Her long hair sneaked out from its confines, but she would worry about fixing that later. “I should be going now. The doggy gets a little fidgety when hungry…”

Kratos looked around the woods once more, down the tree-lined pathway, where the night birds sang from out of sight. "I believe I should come with you."

"Oh no! Um, I mean.." she hastily tried to recover. "He gets scared very easily. It even took him a while to start warming up to me." That part was very true indeed.

The huntsman raised an eyebrow. “And your father is okay with you traveling out so late?”

She nodded quickly. Well, one more little lie wouldn’t hurt! “Yes. But I won’t stay out for too long.” She smiled. “Don’t worry. I have it all planned out!”

Maybe that was too self-assured there, but the basket felt heavy in her arms. She would really like to get going now!

“If you’re certain…” Kratos said, and she nodded her head quickly. “Just remember to get some rest then when you arrive, and don’t overdo it.”

“I promise!” she said, and just when she was about to leave, Kratos still had more to say.

"Colette, I must warn you of one thing however, if you insist on traveling. A creature has been sighted in these woods recently. It's been scaring the townsfolk, with reports of food being stolen and the like. It could be dangerous."

"Ah, I'll be careful!” Though while she knew this was a risk, still she asked. "What...does this creature look like?"

Kratos looked straight at her, seeming to assess his own words before saying them aloud. "From the few sightings reported, this creature appears to be… dog-like."

She knew for sure who he meant then.

---

Colette hadn't been lying exactly when she said was taking care of a certain dog.

The woods were truly much darker at this hour, but she would press on, hurrying down the path she would take each day to visit her grandmother. Except this time, her basket was laden with more food than usual, full of prepared roast beef sandwiches and the like, instead of the usual sweet cookies and gels she’d take, although she had plenty of those too! It was just her grandmother didn’t typically eat this much, but her new friend however…

There was a bend in the pathway that led her away from the direction towards her grandmother’s house, and instead much further into a thicker grove, enough so that the hem of her bright cloak would sometimes catch onto the brambles that lined her way.

Not seeing her friend right away, and hoping the huntsman wasn’t near, she called out. “Hey! I brought some- oops!”

Of course, she was falling again, this time down a slope, the fallen leaves making her descent more slippery.

A pair of arms quickly caught her around the waist, lifting her up easily.

“Whoa! Are you okay?”

His breath was warm against her ear, and she felt the familiar fur fringe from his coat tickle her neck. She giggled. “I’m okay, Lloyd.”

“You need to be careful! You almost fell down this steep hill…”

Colette still couldn’t help but smile, falling against his hold like he was a big fuzzy blanket, something she genuinely liked after the chill of the ending day. “I’m sorry, but I came by just like I promised!” With reluctance, she stepped out of her friend’s hold, holding up her basket to him. “See? I brought some food!”

Within the dim glow of the sky, she could still see him clearly. His brown hair was painted with streaks of gold from the setting sun, doing the same with his great furry ears that extended from each side. Colette kept herself from reaching out to pet them, even though instinct kept telling her to! It didn’t help that Lloyd also had a cute fluffy tail, one that kept wagging behind him… Oh! Did that mean he was happy to see her?

“Oh really? You didn’t have to do that…” But Lloyd smiled wide, sharp teeth gleaming white. Maybe to another person, it would have looked scary, but Colette could only find adorableness in each of Lloyd’s features. Clawed hands that had held her just moments ago now fidgeted, looking ready to take the basket from her hands.

With a grin, Colette held out the basket. “It’s for you though! And my arms are a bit tired from carrying it actually…”

Lloyd blinked, finally seeing into the basket. “Did you carry this much?! It’s not like…well, okay. I would probably eat everything…”

At that, Colette could barely contain her excitement anymore. “Not just that! Look, look!” Reaching into the basket, underneath a heaping of sandwiches and apple gels, she pulled out the item she had seen in the local shop window earlier that day and knew it would be perfect for her new friend. “Isn’t it so cute?”

Furry ears flicking, Lloyd stared at what she held. “Did… you get me a collar?”

“Uh huh! I even put in a nametag for you. See?” She pointed out to the bright, jingling tag, shaped like a bone. Sure enough, it said, ‘Lloyd’ on it!

“Um…” Lloyd’s tail drooped. “That’s uh…”

Colette, seeing Lloyd not as excited, felt her own hopes falter. “Oh… you don’t like it?”

“It’s not that! I… think it’s really cool!” Lloyd perked up, grinning again. “Heh, it’s even red…”

Colette’s mood brightened once more. “Yeah! I remember you saying it was your favorite color. And see here?” She pointed to the back of the tag which stated, ‘If found, return to Colette Brunel.’ “That way, if you ever get lost, someone can help you come back to me!”

Lloyd blinked. “I’m not sure if people will hang around me long enough to read that though…”

"Well, it's good for just in case! That way you always have a home to go to."

Lloyd grinned at that, tail wagging again, scratching the back of his head with just a bit of shyness. "Heh, thanks, Colette. Um, I'll wear it after I eat! I'm kinda starving…"

And just as they had done since she first met the werewolf, Lloyd and Colette sat on the leaf-covered ground, ready to share their meal together.

Colette had seen many odd things in her venture through the woods, but the werewolf boy she had come upon had been quite new to her. Like a stray, he had been hungry and very lost, his fur and hair a little matted, his clothes ragged, and his eyes a bit wary as she moved closer. Maybe if it had been someone else, she would have been frightened, but she felt that he was more scared himself…

---

Colette heard something shuffling in the brush next to her. On her way from leaving her grandmother's, the day was nearly ending, the dusk painting a soft, melancholy glow over the trees. The leaves color were fading, blending with the fierce red of the sunset.

She heard nothing afterwards, but that only pulled at her curiosity even more, making her venture from the safe roads towards the thicket. Branches reached out to snag her cloak, her hair, and her confidence. But then she found a boy her age, his back turned to her. He looked like any normal person… until she got closer and noticed the now obvious fluffy tail he sported.

It was hard not to audibly squeal at the sight. Instead, she cleared her throat, then call out, "Hello? Are you okay?"

Something about his eyes then had been so striking, a russet brown that matched his fur (he had fur!) along with pointed furry ears that stuck out from the depths of his wild hair (and that hair seemed familiar too?). He turned to her with tension in his shoulders, claws gripping onto something.

It was...a sandwich? Had he been trying to make one? But it seemed to be missing a few ingredients…

"I didn't - I only, I just took a little bit!" The boy growled out, and she had to think on that word a bit. Growled. She saw the sharp teeth bared, like a scared puppy who only wanted to feel safe again. "I'm not hurting anyone…"

Someone else might have fled at the sight of his teeth and his claws, the way his eyes caught the setting sun's light. But Colette, seeing the lunch her grandmother could not finish, held out her basket to him.

"Would you like some cookies? I have some fruit sandwiches if you'd want that!"

The boy stared, teeth no longer as bared, but his ears moving at her voice. He looked to the attempt of a sandwich in his hands. The low timbre of his voice was still there, but soft instead of rough this time. "You can put fruit in these…?"

Colette tried to take a step forward, but the other noticed and scurried backwards on the ground. The poor sandwich had fallen the ground in his haste. She could then more clearly see the black claws that took the place of his fingernails. “Hey!”

“Sorry! I’m not going to hurt you…” With her experience of treating scared animals before, Colette then knelt on the ground, so that they could be on equal grounds. The boy still seemed on edge, his fur bristling, his eyes seeming to even glow from the sunlight reflecting off them. She then reached into her basket and held out the fruit sandwich. “Do you want a bite?”

The sandwich had left her grip in a flash. The furry boy was still some distance away from her, but she could see him chewing at his food, tail wagging. It was much too cute, she realized.

"What's your name?" she asked, hoping he was calmer now to tell her. Did he have one? Maybe she could give him one, just like she always did with the stray doggies… She brushed that thought aside. He was not a doggy! Maybe… It was hard to think differently with those ears and tail.

The boy looked to the side, munching on that fruit sandwich, red coloring his cheeks. "Well… give me your name and I'll give you mine."

So she did.

---

That had been a few weeks ago, and now the boy’s fur was fuller, and his clothes of much better quality after Colette sneaked some from her home. His ears would perk up as she spoke to him, and his tail was as fluffy as ever! (She made sure to groom it on the other days she had come by to visit him). Lloyd’s smile was always so bright now too. It was hard to see him as the same scared creature that she first met.

Lloyd's tail was wagging at rapid speeds as he chowed down on feast presented to him. "There's so much roast beef!" he was exclaiming while he was chewing on the sandwich at the same time. "This is great!" Then his eyes swiveled to something else that Colette was eating. "Is that a tiny cupcake?"

"Yeah! They're like gels but way tastier!" Finishing her own, she reached into the basket and held up another, it's fruity frosting so bright, matching her cloak. "Here. Since your hands are full, I can feed it to you?"

Lloyd had more than one foodstuff in his hands (or claws? Which was more accurate?), consisting of half a sandwich, a gel or two or three, and even some of the cookies. Colette wondered how he carried it all so effortlessly while eating. "Oh. Yeah I guess that makes sense." His tail was wagging again, but she could already see in his sharp-toothed smile that he was happy. "I bet I can eat it in one bite!"

"They're not that tiny!" Colette warned, holding up one of the sweets in her hand. "Or maybe I can throw it and you can catch it!"

"Hey, I'm not ready for that!" And before Colette could say she was only joking, Lloyd leaned forward with an 'Ahh' and quickly took the cupcake from her fingers.

She hadn't expected the suddenness, or the warmth of his mouth over her fingertips. Colette only flinched slightly - but didn't pull away.

Lloyd only seemed to realize what he did after he'd gobbled up the cupcake from her hold. "Uh, o-oh, sorry! I… was really hungry!"

"Hehe, it's okay," she reassured. “I guess you did eat it in one bite!” Looking back to the basket, she felt a sudden feeling take hold. "I can feed you more!"

"Huh? Well, I can just set this stuff down and -"

"No, it’s okay! Let me! Please…"

About a dozen or so cupcakes later, most of the food Colette had brought over was gone. She felt Lloyd sit next to her, his face so bright from all the food he got to eat. She hoped he really didn't mind on her insistence on feeding him…

"You really didn't have to bring me so much stuff, Colette. Even though it was really good!" His right ear flicked as if by its own accord. "It was probably hard to scratch my ears while feeding me too, so you so you didn't have to…"

"It's okay!" Colette quickly reassured. She sat up straighter, eye straying to those furry ears. "But, do you still want me to now?"

Lloyd immediately knelt closer to her, his tail thumping against the ground. "Yeah! If you don't mind? It just feels really nice."

Colette was experienced in petting furry ears for many years! Sometimes dogs would just instantly trot up to her, sitting at her feet, ears – from the pointed variety to the long, floppy ones – would lift, waiting for Colette’s famous pets. She made note of Lloyd’s own (pointed and really, really fluffy) and got to work on giving him the best ear scratches he ever received in his life.

Lloyd fluttered his eyes shut, facing her still as both her hands dug through his hair, fingers gently massaging his scalp, and then massaging his ears. “Hehe…” he chuckled, and Colette knew she was definitely doing something right.

Just one thing though – her arms were a bit tired. She wasn’t used to doing this for someone taller than her! “Ah, Lloyd, do you think…”

“Huh? Oh! Right, sorry. I forgot…” With that Lloyd promptly laid his head on her lap, sharp teeth so bright in his grin, his russet hair splayed against her red cloak. “Better?”

“Much better!” Colette answered, and so with no more pressure in her arms, she scratched behind his cute fluffy ears again. His tail was thumping against the ground again, his happiness so plain for her to see, giving her confidence in her touches.

This is what they did on most days she visited Lloyd. It wasn’t always at the same place, Lloyd moving around the woods – for reasons she was beginning to suspect. But when they found each other like now; they’d have snacks, or chat, or just lay like this on the ground, her hands so eager to make Lloyd as happy as he was now.

And in such a moment like now, she felt she had to ask. “Lloyd…” she said, hands still entwined in his hair.

“Hm?” Lloyd answered. His eyes were closed, his face so peaceful. “What is it?”

“Do you… do you already have a home to go to, Lloyd?”

Off in the distance, she heard the soft calling of birds, the wind rustling the leaves on the ground. But from Lloyd, she heard nothing. His tail had stopped moving.

She thought he would get up to leave the reach of her hands, but instead he turned his head to the side, his eyes open but looking away. “Why do you wanna know?”

In the short time they had known each other, Colette realized she had never asked Lloyd this, remembering the scared boy from her first encounter. Maybe it was invasive to ask, maybe it was rude. But underneath the darkening sky, with the sunlight shining on his cheek, it seemed now that….

"I'm sure your family must miss you,” she said, thinking she must have been quiet for too long.

Lloyd stayed still in his current position. She couldn’t see his expression too clearly. “My family didn't want me… and I can't make trouble for the one person who did." He paused, the coming dark casting shadows against his hair. "It was my fault anyway. I didn’t use to always be like this, you know.”

There were so many questions in her head – it was hard to just pick one. But in her eagerness, she probably went with the worst one she could ask. “You mean you didn’t use to be so fluffy?”

“Huh?”

Colette panicked. Oh, that was so dumb to say! “S-sorry! I meant–”

“Wait, shh.” Lloyd turned his head back towards her, his pointed ears now perked up sharply. Eyes darted around. “Someone’s coming.”

“Wh-” Again, Colette didn’t have much time to respond. Because suddenly, Lloyd was hugging her. Not just catching her as she fell, as she tended to do so much, but embracing her so fiercely. She felt the fur fringe of his coat against her face, the soft growling reverberating in his chest. He took her further into the grove they had previously had their picnic in, then hid them both among the brush.

Colette kept quiet. It seemed like Lloyd wanted her to. But also, she felt if she said anything, she’d no longer feel this closeness again.

She finally heard the footsteps. Kratos? she thought. Was he looking for her? She even tried to hold her breath, though Lloyd’s scent surrounded her completely.

It seemed to last much too short – Lloyd’s arms soon relaxed, though his hands remained on her shoulders. His voice was against her ear. “That was close…” She felt the turning of his head. He didn’t let go, she noticed. “Sorry. I think someone’s… hunting me, if that makes any sense.”

Colette nodded. “It’s okay. N-not about the hunting part! Just…” She bit her lip, staying close. “Does this happen a lot?”

She could feel him weighing his answer in his head, poised on his tongue. “I guess so…”

The image of a scared Lloyd in the forest came back to her, so strong and so sad.

And again, she wanted to know more where he came from, how he came to be how he was now. Had Colette ever met Lloyd before his time as a werewolf? Should she secretly be grateful that such a thing happened, or she never would have met him in the first place? That’s so selfish of me.

Lloyd still didn’t let go of her. Maybe because she hadn’t moved away yet. “Ah, I’m probably in your way. I can just…” Her hands had been pressed against his chest. She lifted her head, and just then couldn’t help but look at him.

There was something about the way his hands held her, the way he stared at her. The setting sun reflecting off his eyes got Colette entranced. She couldn't help it if she leaned in just a little, enough to see the hidden tiredness in his face. Lloyd was so very tired, living out here in the woods alone. One day, could she bring him back home? Sneak him in through her window like she'd do with the strays in the village before her Father said they could not keep them? But Lloyd was…

When he kissed her, she felt his breath, rapid and warm. Her tongue brushed against the sharp edge of his teeth. But he didn't hurt her. He never would. She knew he would never hurt anyone, but he had been living all alone, in fear that people would think he did.

Lloyd broke the kiss quickly, blinking at her. Colette felt guilty suddenly.

"Oh! Sorry… I've never kissed anyone, so it probably wasn't very good, was it?" She said it with a soft giggle, even if her own words pierced her sharply.

Another fierce embrace from him. His warmth was everywhere. Again, like a big fuzzy blanket she could fall into. "Don't be stupid," he said, the growl in his voice sending vibrations throughout her entire body.

Perhaps things were meant to go a different way. If they hadn’t been interrupted, maybe Lloyd would have stayed closed off, but she could feel the beating of his heart against her own chest. He was so warm.

They stayed like that for a while.

---

The sky was getting so dark. The sun hidden behind the trees, leaving only its glow of soft pink against the edges of the clouds overhead. Far later than when she would visit her grandmother. But both Lloyd and Colette remained seated on the ground, his arms still around her. She hadn’t wanted him to let go.

“My dad’s a woodcutter,” he was telling her, his voice back to being lively and eager. “He makes a lot of cool stuff, like these figures and even swords! He lives in this forest too, but I haven’t gone back to see him.” A worried fidget, his hands placed over her own as they laid in Colette’s lap. “I don’t want to cause any trouble for him.”

“But, it’s not your fault you’re like this though!” she argued, turning to him. “You couldn’t have known that person you were trying to help would bite you…”

“Yeah, I guess so… Man, it really hurt!” Lloyd frowned at the memory. “They looked like a normal person to me… but I just look like this all the time instead. It doesn’t make sense!”

Colette considered this, remembering the legends of werewolves. “Maybe each werewolf is different? Or he bit you really hard and that made the difference?”

“He did bite me hard…” Lloyd whined.

“I bet you could bite him back!” she said with her full support.

“I don’t really want to bite people though…”

But he was laughing, looking as happy as he did when they had their picnic. But Colette made the mistake of looking up at the sky, mentally noting the hour it must be.

"I… should probably go back.” She only said it because she felt she had to, only that. Her words were faint, too drawn by the fuzzy softness that Lloyd’s body offered.

“Oh.” Something held in the air – his voice struggling. “I didn’t know it was already this late.”

Colette tapped her fingers over his claws. “Were you… going to ask me something?”

His hands were still around her, along with the scent of leaves dried out by the sun only to soak in the night's shadows. She could see the dark claws on his hands, entwined among her fingers, but they had never frightened her. In Lloyd, she always saw someone so kind and pure, even in their short time knowing each other.

When he finally asked the question she could see he was struggling with, it was almost like a beg. "Can you stay tonight?"

The leaves were so soft underneath them both. Even the chill of the wind didn’t bother her so much, not with him holding her. It made her remember the days she would nap outside when she was younger.

Lloyd seemed to realize the note of desperation in his voice, trying to brush it away with a laugh. “Ah, that’s… kind of a weird thing to ask, yeah?” She could see his tail to the side, the tip brushing against the ground methodically.

“Well… I think it would be okay if I stay for a little while?” she said, leaning away from his chest, but only so she could smile up at him. “We just ate so… we should let the meal settle!” She wondered if that made any sense, actually.

But Lloyd was grinning down at her, those teeth so sharp, and already finding herself wanting to kiss him again. How had that happened before? Had she just imagined it? “Yeah! Okay, for just a little while then.”

She nodded, then dared something else. She felt too shy to kiss him but maybe… “It’s probably easier to settle if we laid down?”

Lloyd didn’t even hesitate. “Right! That’s smart, Colette.”

“Heh, thanks!”

So, it felt so easy to lean into his hold, to lower themselves to the ground, the sunset-colored leaves all around them. The sky took up her vision, so close to nightfall. Sometimes the woods could be eerie at this hour, but she felt Lloyd hug her still, feeling comfortable. And always warm.

“I forgot to bring a blanket…” she said, turning towards him so she could lean into his chest. “I’m sorry… But your fur is really…”

“Hm? You trailed off, are you-?” Lloyd blinked, turning towards Colette who was already fast asleep. He smiled, cuddling more to her. “Heh… thanks for staying, Colette.”

The wind ruffled the leaves, Lloyd’s fur, Colette’s red cloak, and then, “It’s okay�� if you bite me…”

“Huh?”

But she still seemed to be asleep. Lloyd wondered if he had just imagined that. “Dork…” he muttered, already feeling too sleepy himself to question it.

Neither ever felt the chill of the autumn winds all night.

#tales of symphonia #lloyd irving #colette brunel #colloyd #tales of #halloween #fanfiction #one shot

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tasariel · 6 years ago

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Tagged by @fireolin - Thank you!!! Sorry it took me so long to get around to actually doing this. Anytime I'm fixated on an art project, other things tend to fall by the wayside...

Rules: answer these questions then tag 20 blogs you’d like to know better

Nickname(s): Tasare

Zodiac: Libra | Dragon

Height: 5′ 9.5″

Time: 3:56 p.m.

Favorite band/artist: Anberlin

Song stuck in my head: “I’ll Fly with You” by Gigi D’Agostino

Last movie I saw: Ready Player One - It was okay but nothing special in any way

Last thing I googled:I think it was "Titanic novel similar" I was looking for Futility aka Wreck of the Titan. Something I saw on tumblr last night made me think of it. The novel, which predates the Titanic's maiden voyage by fourteen years, describes a ship, named Titan, very similar to the build of the yet non-existent Titanic and also described as "unsinkable." The fictional ship strikes an iceberg and sinks under circumstances uncannily similar to that of the Titanic, right down to the date and location of the disaster.

Other blogs: nope

Do I get asks: Rarely

Why’d I choose my username?: Tasare was taken. In retrospect, I probably should have done “tasare-art” or something simpler like that.

Following: 241

Average amount of sleep: 6-7 on a good night. Some nights are more like 3-4 though.

Lucky number: I don’t think I have one

What I’m wearing: Jeans and tshirt

Dream job: I know this will sound lame but, I’d really love to work at a Wild Birds Unlimited or similar store. Since childhood, I’ve had a passion for backyard bird watching. I used to keep a journal monitoring nests and documenting the types of birds I’d see at my feeders, how often they’d visit and how many at a time- things like that. Before I was allowed to have my own bird feeders, you could find me hanging out in the yards of various neighbors who did have bird feeders. I'm always excited to meet other birding enthusiasts and share stories and experiences.

Dream trip: Italy! But Japan would be awesome too, and I wouldn’t mind going back to the Caribbean again either.

Favorite food: Not sure. I love Italian food though. However, the smoothies my husband makes for me are a m a z i n g

Play any instruments?: I can play the piano, though I have not had the means to practice for about ten years now.

Eye color: Brown

Hair color: Medium Brown

Languages you can speak: only english

Most iconic song?: Hmm… I’ll go with “One Winged Angel”

Random fact: I have mild grapheme-color synesthesia and attribute specific colors to numbers, letters, words, etc.

Describe yourself as aesthetic things: I don’t know how to do this, so I guess I'll play "these are a few of my favorite things"... Summer sunsets fading into twilight, meteor showers, starlight on a cold, clear winter night, fireflies, bare feet, dew on the grass, hummingbirds, leaves and vines and trees, rolling hills, cornfields, the scent of cut grass, the sound of cicadas, silver, overflowing bookshelves, warm blankets, hot tea, low and warm lamp lighting

20 blogs is too many, so I’m just going to tag @oooodlesofnooodles, @kigamin, @dean-colette, @your-jellyfish-senpai, @trashsketch, and @crowsintheforest.

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atelier-leaf · 3 years ago

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2022.05.29 ABIRU shoegazer fes. 2022

2022/5/29(日) @ 札幌BESSIE HALL http://bessiehall.jp/

open/start 17:00/17:30 adv ¥2,000 / door ¥2,500 (+1D)

Burst Blue my bird warms a blanket for Colette hlghland park 空中分解 Happy Ever After 右鉤拳撃 Atelier in the leaf

DJ:ラモーン鉄男

#schedule

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therumbellehappyendingaward-blog · 6 years ago

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Chapter 5 writer: @mariequitecontrarie

PROMPT: TRUTH

AO3: HERE

“Mr. and Mrs. Gold. And Gideon.” Surprise wrinkling his forehead, Mr. Dove stepped out of the doorway. He waved a meaty hand, ushering them through the open door, into the sparse, white living room of a modest home.

Gideon shifted and shook his head. It felt like they were in the center of the Doctor Strange movie, when the Sorcerer had used the time stone. They’d stepped in the front door, Mr. Dove had smiled and hugged him, and it had felt like being wrapped in a warm blanket. But now they were walking in the front door again? His head hurt and his throat felt scratchy. This wasn’t right.

“Is anything wrong, sir?” Dove asked Papa in a quiet voice. “Did I forget to water the hydrangea bushes?” Mr. Dove turned to Mum, his gaze lowered to the floor. “Mrs. Gold, I’m sorry, your father isn’t here and I’ve not seen him.”

What the …? Gideon stared at Mr. Dove in open-mouthed shock. Those were the most words he had ever heard him speak at once. Also he was confused. Why was he talking to Papa about watering plants? Didn’t Mr. Dove own a candy shop now? Just the other day, Papa had bought him a bag of his favorite red licorice whips and a half pound of chocolates for Mum. Or had it been caramels for Mum and sour worms for him? Suddenly he couldn’t remember. Thinking was making his head pound.

Mum took a deep breath, her shoulders shaking. She was nervous, Gideon realized, but she was going to be brave anyway, like the hero she’d named him after. His tummy jumped with expectation. He loved the idea of having more grandparents.

“Dove, I need to ask you a question,” Belle said, searching the other man’s eyes. “Are you my father?”

Gideon blinked. Mr. Dove ran a hand over his bald white scalp and for a moment the white continued down the front of his body, replacing Mr. Dove’s somber black suit with a stark white coat. Gideon rubbed his eyes and the white coat went away, the entire room turning reassuringly brighter in return.

Mr. Dove shook his head. “That’s not why you’re here.”

“It is,” Mum insisted, glancing at Papa. Papa took a step closer to her and put a reassuring arm around her shoulders, and she leaned into his embrace. “I need answers. We all do. Blue said…”

“The Blue Fairy? And you believed her? Fairies are liars, Mrs. Gold.” Mr. Dove’s eyes grew huge, black and beady, like the bird he was named after. He laughed shrilly, the high-pitched sound an unnatural contrast to his quiet, rumbling voice. “You of all people should recognize the truth of that. You’re a fairy, too,” he said, his dark, piercing eyes pinning Papa and then Gideon. “You’re all fairies!” he cried.

Mum bit her lip. “Please, Dove... who will teach me to fly?”

Frightened, Gideon backpedaled toward the door and covered his ears to block out the terrible shrieking sounds Mr. Dove was making. He clenched his eyes closed, wishing he was young enough to believe that if he couldn’t see them, he could be somewhere else—anywhere else. An image of a cage flashed into his mind and bile rose in his throat. Mr. Dove’s shrieks sounded like black rage, or gut-wrenching sobs, or maybe it was his mother crying? Gideon forced his eyes open. Papa stood as still as a statue with his head cocked, watching Mr. Dove taunt Mum and laugh in her face. Why wasn’t he throwing a fireball or casting a spell? Anything to stop those horrible noises!

Gideon pressed himself up against the wall and tried to think. If only he could remember one of the spells Papa was teaching him, he could end this. He jammed his forefingers into his temples and tried to concentrate, but nothing came out of his mouth but silent cries.

He was frozen; he couldn’t move, he couldn’t scream. He wanted to call out to his Papa, to beg for help, for Papa to make everything better like he always did but he couldn’t make a sound. The world swirled, the edges of the room turning fuzzy.

“Liars!” Dove screeched again.

Liars, liars, liars, liars....

xoxo

Gideon struggled against the darkness, desperate to open his eyes.

He couldn’t seem to wake up. His eyelids felt like they were glued shut with the thick, sticky lanolin Papa used in the shop for waterproofing. The pungent odor of antiseptic pinched his nostrils. At last he pried his eyes open, blinking up at a cracked white ceiling. “Is the asparagus burned?” he blurted. “Did I ruin dinner?”

Every muscle in his body complained and his breath rushed out in a whoosh. His lungs felt tight, like the day he’d fallen from the top of the bleachers at the park and had the wind knocked out of him.

“Asparagus?” Papa’s face swam into view. Dark circles wreathed his eyes; he looked like he needed a nap. “Son, that was two days ago.”

Black and grey whiskers covered the lower half of his father’s face and Gideon blinked again. “When did you grow a beard?”

An amused glint entered Papa’s eyes, banking the worry lodged there. He scratched at his hairy cheek. “Welcome back to the land of the living, Rip van Winkle. You gave us quite a scare.”

“What?” Gideon struggled onto his elbows, sending pillows careening to the floor as he tried to sit up. “Where’s Mr. Dove? I thought he would hug me and smile at me, but instead he was mean.”

“Lay back, Gideon,” said a familiar, no-nonsense voice. Mum. Her smile was strained but gentle as she leaned over him from the opposite side of the bed. She pressed a cool cloth to his forehead, the soft fabric soothing against his damp, prickly skin. “Don’t try to talk all at once.”

He glanced around the room noting the television mounted on the wall opposite the bed, instead of shelves lined with bookcases. Nope, this was definitely not his bedroom at home.

“Where are we?” he managed to ask.

“Storybrooke General Hospital,” Mum said, and he felt her slight weight dip the edge of the mattress as she sat on the corner and smoothed the blankets. “After we finished making dinner the other night, you ate three bites and went straight to bed. You were burning up during the night and Doctor Whale said we should bring you here. You’ve been asleep for almost two full days.”

“Let’s have Doctor Whale check you out, then how about some ice cream?” Papa asked with a smile.

xoxo

“Now, what’s all this about Mr. Dove?” Mum asked, after a nurse with Dalmatian puppies all over her shirt had checked his temperature, listened to his breathing, and examined his eyes.

While licking a cherry popsicle—his third—Gideon revealed the entire bizarre dream, from Papa and Mama proving they were his parents, to Grandma Colette losing her fairy wings, to confronting Blue, to the three of them showing up on Mr. Dove’s doorstep demanding to know if he was Mum’s father.

At the mention of fairy wings, Mum and Papa shared a glance and Gideon felt color rise in his cheeks. It sounded silly when he said it out loud, especially because he knew Papa and fairies didn’t mix. He hadn’t meant to have such a weird dream! He didn’t know why he had. The cloying sweetness of the popsicle was suddenly too much and his stomach roiled.

“Dove owned a candy store?” Papa mused, pacing up and down the foot of Gideon’s hospital bed. “Strange. I can’t picture him chatting up children and selling Pez dispensers and chocolate bars.”

“So none of it was real?” Crestfallen, Gideon looked between his parents, the unappetizing popsicle dripping down his hand. His heart hurt, a bit like when he was hungry and his tummy was empty. He felt like he’d lost something, like there was a hole inside him. The dream had been so vivid and he’d been convinced that he, Mum, and Papa were working together to solve a great mystery … and find more family. “Grandpa Moe really is your father?”

“Well, the part where Robin Mills was unable to keep her mouth shut and mind her own business happened,” Papa said wryly and crossed his arms. “Like mother like daughter. As for the rest of it? No. I’m sorry, son.”

Memories flooded back to Gideon. Robin calling him a bastard, and the other kids in his class laughing at him, calling him Giddy the Green Giant and saying Mum and Papa were long-lost dwarves. He remembered running home in a blind rage and locking the door against his parents and Papa trying to coax him downstairs with cookies. After that, everything was fuzzy.

Mum’s smile was full of understanding. “Mr. Dove is a kind man,” she said, whisking away the melting popsicle and offering him a sip of water. “When we don’t feel confident in who we are, it can be tempting to look elsewhere for answers. Maybe you imagined Mr. Dove was your grandfather because you know there’ve been difficulties between Grandpa Moe and Papa and me. Dove is someone Papa has worked with for years. He trusts him—we all do—but he’s definitely not my father.”

“Robin Mills.” Papa was still grumbling to himself and pacing the length of the room. “Who does she think she is, anyway? As if the circumstances of her peculiar birth and parentage are anything to take pride in?”

Mama’s brows drew together in a warning glance, and for once it wasn’t directed at him. “Rumple,” she said crisply, “that’s for Robin’s mother to discuss with her. It’s not our place, and two wrongs don’t make a right, do they?”

Even he knew Mum wasn’t looking for an answer to her question.

“Hmmph,” Papa said, leaning on his cane with a smirk.

Their lighthearted bickering comforted him and he giggled.

“There’s a welcome sound,” Papa said. He leaned over to ruffle his hair, and Gideon grinned.

“I do love Grandpa Moe. I don’t even mind when he makes me spread smelly mulch in the garden or make boring rose bouquets in the store,” Gideon said. “But he doesn’t like you, does he, Papa? It’s nothing he says or does,” he rushed to assure his parents. “I can just tell and it makes me sad. How can you care about someone and still not like their choices?”

“You have such a tender, loving heart, Gideon,” Papa said. “Like your mother.”

“Oh, Gideon. There are times I struggle with Grandpa Moe being my father,” Mum confessed. “He’s hurt me and he’s been unfair to your Papa. I’ve forgiven him for his mistakes, but forgetting is another matter. But if he ever does anything to hurt you, I want you to tell us right away, all right?”

Gideon twisted on the damp pillow. His neck felt sweaty. “It’s more than that,” he insisted. He knew his father’s parents, Malcolm and Fiona, were evil and he’d heard the stories of how Papa had done away with them for good. But Grandma Colette had died long before Papa and Mum had even met. He thought of the framed black and white photograph of her that Mama kept on her bedroom dresser. Sometimes he would go in his parents’ room and run his fingers over the silver frame and wonder what it would feel like to have a grandmother. The empty feeling inside came rushing back. Was it possible to miss someone you’d never met? “What about Grandma Colette? We never talk about her. Why?”

Mum ducked her head and bit her lip. “We should talk about this when you’re feeling better, Gideon.”

"Muuuuum," Gideon whined. “I hate when you guys keep secrets.”

Papa nudged her. “He is dreaming about it,” he said, “and dreams are of course manifestations of what is going on in the subconscious.”

“Yeah,” said Gideon, crossing his arms over his chest. “Besides, there’s no such thing as being too sick to hear the truth.”

“I hate when you both are right,” Mum muttered, but she was smiling again as she said the words. Then her smile faded and her eyes brimmed with tears. “I suppose I don’t talk about my mother much because I don’t like to think about my grief or my failings. I’ve always blamed myself for her death in the Ogres War. For a while, I couldn’t even remember how she died. I’ve tried to recover my memories from that day, but sometimes looking for answers costs more than learning the truth is worth.”

“I’m not trying to make you sad,” Gideon pleaded. He hated when Mum cried. “I just want to know what she was like.”

Mum scooted backward on the bed and put her arm around him. He leaned against her, letting her take his weight, and sighed. Papa pulled a chair closer to his bed and sat down.

“Mother was a fine scholar,” Mum said. “Smart, confident, and bookish.” Mum tapped his nose with her index finger. “You remind me of her, you know. She always taught me to be brave, and I always tried to follow her example.”

He lifted his head from her shoulder. “Like Gideon in Her Handsome Hero?”

A tear rolled down Mum’s cheek. “Yes, it was the first book she ever read to me.”

“And you decided to name me Gideon?”

She laughed, a low wet sound, and smiled at Papa. “A few other things happened before that. I had to meet and marry Papa first.”

“It doesn’t matter what the circumstances of a person’s birth is, Gideon,” Papa said. “After my mother cut me off from my destiny, I had to learn this truth myself. And after hundreds of years—and a lot of help from your mother—I finally did. Parenting has little to do with our DNA or a piece of paper declaring our bloodline.”

“Listen to your father.” Mum nodded. “It doesn’t matter if someone grows up in the care of biological parents or adoptive ones. And as for Storybrooke, it doesn’t matter what Robin Mills or anyone else believes about our family. All that matters is the love we share and the family we create. That’s all the proof of parentage you need.”

“Yes, Mum,” he said, resigned. They were right, he knew. Mum and Papa loved him and he didn’t have to prove it to anyone.

“Cheer up, Giddy,” Mum said, “You’re going to be out of the hospital tomorrow morning. Her eyes began to dance with excitement. “We haven’t gone on any adventures in a while, have we Rumple?”

“No, you’re right, sweetheart. We haven’t.”

“Once Gideon is completely well, perhaps we should return to our travels and visit my homeland in the Enchanted Forest? Gideon could continue his studies with me and we could learn more about Grandma Colette and her life.”

Gideon’s heart leapt. He loved visiting new places and getting to see where his Mama grew up was like a dream come true. Papa’s brow furrowed and his Mum shrugged, a light blush dusting her cheeks.

“Belonging,” Mum said, as if that answered everything. His Papa nodded, the lines between his eyebrows smoothing, but now it was his turn to be confused. Mum squeezed his hand. “You’ve grown up in this realm but you’ve always known your Papa and I came from the Enchanted Forest. We’ve told you stories, but it’s not the same as seeing the place for yourself.”

“I think it’s a fine idea, Belle,” Papa said. “Gideon, what do you say to a new adventure?”

“Please!” Gideon blurted, his mind racing. “Will we get to ride horses? Henry says all knights ride horses.”

“So you want to be a knight, do you?” Mum teased.

Papa’s smile was indulgent. “I’m sure we can manage something. After you get some more rest.”

Gideon yawned and pouted in annoyance. He did not want to go to sleep again. His eyes were growing heavy but he’d only woken up a few minutes ago. It wasn’t fair! His tummy twisted. Now that he was wide awake, the dream seemed silly but those helpless feelings were still there. He didn’t want to feel that way ever again. He bit his lip and fixed his eyes on his parents—his heroes.

“Where’s Cal?” he asked, giving into the pull of sleep. Mama had given him Cal, his teddy bear, when he was born. Cal was short for Excalibur because it protected him when Papa wasn’t home. “Will you get him from my room? And stay with me while I sleep?”

“Of course.” Papa snapped his fingers and Cal appeared in a puff of red smoke, then Papa tucked the tattered little brown bear under the covers.

“Can I hear the story again?” Gideon asked, his eyelids drooping. “The one where you met.”

Mum pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Once upon a time, a beast took a girl prisoner…”

THE END

#mariequitecontrarie #rumbelle #group purple #finish this

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emmarose-sapporo · 6 years ago

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Live

2019.6.15 (sat)

『Familiar Voice』

＠SOUND CRUE

open 18:00/start 18:30

ticket:adv1,500(+1drink500)

act:unome(室蘭)/Fly High/かわうそproject(函館)/ポレポレブラザーズ/my bird warms a blanket for Colette/エマローズ

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idornaseminary · 7 years ago

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Chapter One-Hundred Twenty-One: Enzo/Mel

Enzo awoke the next day with a start, a dream about Chantal Williams hunting him down in the Gladur still reeling in his mind. He blinked a few times, and for a moment - a glorious moment - he forgot where he was. But when he noticed the fireplace in front of him, and his uncomfortable position in the chair, he sighed.

He looked over to the bed where Melanie was encased in blankets, sleeping soundly. He stood, his neck and shoulders crying in pain as he straightened his back and grabbed his wand. He aimed it at the fireplace, silently casting an ‘incendio’ to light a very small fire, now that the room had grown cold.

He slipped on his shoes, quietly walking out of the room and closing the door behind him, letting Melanie get a few more hours of rest before she had to speak to Maxime again.

It was the early morning, the sun barely breaking over the horizon now. Enzo headed towards the kitchen, having to cast ‘aguamenti’ into his glass to fill it with water seeing as his father did not have any in the fridge.

He took a quick shower, changing into a sweater and jeans before heading back into the living room. He saw Gilly there, polishing a few of the lamps that sat around the several sofas in the large room. He never noticed until he spent time in his apartment in Lille - which was not small, by any means - that this room was simply too large, even for a family of three. Now that only Maxime lived here, along with Gilly, it almost seemed insane. Not a far cry from my father, I suppose.

Enzo and Gilly exchanged typical morning greetings before Enzo heard the door upstairs slam shut. Maxime came down, dressed just as well as he did the night before. He doesn’t look like he’s dying, that’s for sure, Enzo thought, but he decided it was best to keep to himself.

“Gilly,” Maxime called. “Leave the boy alone and go put on some tea for the three of us.”

“Oh, yes, Master Bellerose. Right away, sir!” she said, bowing her head and scurrying away to the kitchen.

“You don’t need to speak to her like that,” Enzo said, speaking his native tongue now, glad to be able to rest his English. He turned, sitting on one of the sofas.

Maxime scoffed, sitting on the couch opposite Enzo. “She is a House Elf, Enzo. It’s what they do.”

Enzo ignored the comment, placing his right foot on his left knee and leaning back, taking in the sight of Chateau Bellerose. It really had not sunk in yet - how magnificent this place was. He had a hard time telling if he missed it or not.

“It misses you, you know,” Maxime said after a few moments of silence, as if he read Enzo’s mind.

“What?”

“The manor.”

Enzo shook his head, rolling his eyes.

Maxime licked his lips, folding one leg over the other. “You don’t believe me? Look at the grounds, Enzo. They’re rotting away.”

“That’s due to the fact that the staff either quit or you fired them,” he said back, thinking of the dozens of gardeners and housekeepers who once tended to this place.

“Chateau Bellerose is not a mundane home,” Maxime replied. “It can feel when a presence has been lost. It affects those still inside. The staff quit not long after you left.”

“Most likely because there was no one else likeable left to work for.”

“Why do you do that?”

“Do what?”

“Always have something vile to say hidden in your back pocket,” Maxime explained, leaning forward. “Since you were a boy, you have always kept insults tucked away for when you needed them. How long have you been sitting on these?”

“A while.” Enzo’s eyes narrowed, not enjoying how his father was able to read him so easily. It had been years since he saw him; he should not have any hold over him whatsoever.

“And how many friends do you have?” Maxime asked, his finger tapping against the sofa. Enzo caught sight of his wedding band. He still wore it, after all this time.

“I have enough,” Enzo said, thinking of Andre and even his unlikely company.

Maxime almost laughed as Gilly returned, holding a tray of tea. She poured Maxime a cup, hands trembling slightly before she came over to Enzo, who simply put his hand up in refusal, his eyes still trained on his father.

“Do these friends really exist?”

“Yes.”

“And do they like you? Do they actually like you, Enzo?” he said, loudly sipping his tea.

Enzo shot his eyes down to the floor, his eyebrows furrowing as he thought about the question for a moment. He knew Andre liked him. Or he could just be playing nice because he is my roommate. And Melanie liked him. Or she just feels bad after what she did. And the others… did they? Beatrice was nice to him, but she was nice to everyone. Calix disliked him - that was not hard to gleam. Natasha hated everyone, he thought, but she seemed to look at the others in a more tolerable way.

“I assume so,” Enzo decided on saying.

Maxime smiled. “Of course. I am sorry for questioning that. Especially when I do not have many fans as of now.”

“Mhm.”

Maxime thought for a moment, his eyes scanning Enzo from head to toe. Enzo hated that, the way he looked at everything like it was a rotting carcass and he was a starving vulture. He took a deep breath before speaking again. “You like this girl, don’t you?”

Enzo looked back up, tilting his head to the side. “Of course I do. Like I said, she is a friend.”

Maxime waved his hand in front of his face, chuckling deeply. “Enzo, you are a man now. This isn’t like when you had a crush on Carolina Dreves when you were in Beauxbatons. You like this girl, I can tell.”

“How?”

“Because I know who you are, Enzo.” He spoke calmly, as if talking about the weather. “I know how reserved you are, and how you would never dare to allow someone to see your disgrace of a father unless you truly trusted them.”

Enzo shook his head, not wanting to think about the topic any longer. He could not say for certain that he trusted Melanie. After that night in the Den…

Maxime chuckled. “Not a bad choice for a woman, you know. I could do without that tattoos, but still.”

“Good thing they don’t concern you.” Enzo was slightly grateful that Maxime did not notice that he, too, had a tattoo. Enzo often forgot it was there.

“She looks like your mother.”

Enzo knitted his eyebrows together, chewing the inside of his cheek before he spoke. “No, she doesn’t,” he said firmly, Maxime’s words like nails on a chalkboard. However, when Enzo thought about it, he could see where Maxime was coming from: Blonde hair, large brown eyes, sharp tongue.

“Makes sense that you would want to fill the gap,” Maxime said nonchalantly.

Enzo shook his head, not dim to his father’s mind games. “Do you get some kind of satisfaction out of this?”

“Possibly.”

Enzo sighed. “How long do you want me here for?”

Maxime shrugged. “If I had it my way, I would have you here forever, Enzo. But seeing as that is a futile request… Maybe a week. I just want to get to know you again. Can you manage that?”

Enzo sighed, huffing loudly as the sun began to beam in through the windows. “Yeah, I guess so.”

The rest of their morning on the first real day at Chateau Bellerose was calm. Enzo watched like a hawk for any signs of Maxime’s odd behavior around Melanie, and although he was his usual, strange, arrogant self, he remained relatively calm around her, which Enzo appreciated, at least.

As his father attended to work on the Oasis cooperation up in his study, Enzo took Melanie to the back of the house, overlooking the wide lake. The pair dressed warm, leaning against the railing of the balcony as the frozen lake stared back at them. It was quiet, not even the screeching of a bird in the great forest that lined the banks of the water could be heard. The December air wasn’t as harsh as it was in Canada, and the sun shone down against their skin.

Mel sighed, staring at the frozen lake. The quiet winter air amplified any slight sound for miles, it seemed - from a creak in the manor all the way to snow falling from a branch in the distance.

“It’s peaceful here,” she said. “It’s a shame you don’t have great memories of this place. It really must have been beautiful in its prime.”

“It was,” Enzo chided, looking down at the lake.

He supposed that the bulk of his childhood was pleasant. He did not like to think of his parents in a positive light, but before Colette was found out, the three of them lived well. Maxime was often busy and Colette was never much of a hands-on mother, but they loved each other. At least, that is how it felt.

He dared to look to the far right of the frozen lake, to where a now vacant, snow filled garden sat. Colette was always in that damn garden, working away at something or other. It was a shame, too; if she were still here, she could have been his first supplyer for potion ingredients…

Shaking his head, he knocked the thought loose, looking to Melanie. “Hey, question,” he muttered lowly.

“Hmm?” she murmured, eyes still fixed on the lake.

He looked at her passive glare at the ice. “Do you skate?”

Mel snorted, giving him a chastising look out of the corner of her eye.

“Enzo Bellerose, what kind of Canadian would I be if I didn’t?”

Within minutes, Enzo and Mel had walked the path down to the lip of the lake, sitting on the small bench overlooking it. Enzo drew his wand, aiming it at his feet and concentrating. He was never the best with transfiguration, but he could manage simple spells. Within seconds, his boots had morphed themselves into a pair of ice skates.

Mel mimicked the action, the skates feeling right at home on her feet. She didn’t wait for Enzo to lead; she simply took off across the lake, gliding away from him.

Enzo chuckled to himself as Melanie took off, as if the movements were as natural as breathing. It took him a moment of sliding his blades across the ice to get a grasp for it again, but once he started moving, it was like he was a child again. The feeling was second nature.

“You’re not so bad on a pair of skates!” Mel called out to him. She began to show off, skating circles around him before coming just in front of him, skating backwards as she faced him.

“I think people who like to show off say those kind of things,” Enzo called out as she came to a brief halt in front of him before backing away. He followed her, hands in the front pockets of his jacket as he glided along the ice.

She waved her hand, circling around so that they were instead side by side.

“A show off? Me? It’s like you don’t know me at all.”

Enzo laughed, tilting his head back slightly so that the small flakes of snow peppered his cheeks and forehead. He sighed, feeling his elbow brush up against Melanie with every sway of his skates. It was nice, to be able to relax, even in a place like this.

That was when he heard the familiar screech, and he looked forward, over the treeline. Can’t be… not after all this time. He slowed to a glide on his skates, waiting to see if he would make an appearance.

Sure enough, not long after, Enzo spotted a pair of brilliant, white wings flapping just above the forest, and soon, the Hippogriff came into sight.

Mel’s jaw dropped open in awe. “Is that a Hippogriff?”

Enzo smiled, looking at her awestruck expression. “Yes,” he replied. “He has always lived in the forest past the lake.” The beast circled overhead, yelping down to the pair on the ice. “I do not think he is domesticated, though. I used to sneak into the woods to play with him when I was younger.”

“No way,” she breathed, subconsciously gliding forward a few paces. “Do you think he remembers you?”

“Can’t tell,” Enzo said, watching the Hippogriff near the roof of the chateau, flapping its wings until it came to a rest, sun-bathing just above Enzo’s childhood bedroom. “I like to think so, though.”

“It must have been so different growing up in a wizarding home,” said Mel. “You probably stopped being impressed by this stuff ages ago, but it never ceases to amaze me.”

Enzo looked back down to Melanie now as they slightly turned on their skates, nearing the corner of the lake. He never thought about how different her childhood must have been, save for a few of Gavin’s stories. “Must have been hard in Ilvermorny,” he said. “Not knowing magic prior.”

“There was a learning curve,” Mel agreed, reflecting back on her time there. It was hard to forget the difficulty she had adjusting - being oblivious about the magical world, stuck up purebloods acting like they were better than her. She gave him a rueful smile. “I must have done something right though, to end up at Idorna. Man, I wish I could rub it in those bitchy purebloods’ faces without, you know, dropping dead on the spot.”

Enzo smiled, a few laughs rumbling in his throat as he watched Melanie speak about her time in Ilvermorny. “I know what you mean,” he said, taking wide strides so sollalam back and forth on his skates when the neared the middle of the ice. “There are a few people I’d like to tell, as well…”

He pushed the thought of Maxime away, turning his attention back to his skating partner, and the snow began to drizzle down a bit harder now. “Tell me if I am crossing a line,” Enzo said, backing up. “But your mother… Have you ever had word on where she is? Or who she is, for that matter?”

Mel shrugged, her expression neutral. “None. Dad likes to joke that she’s a mermaid he met at sea, but after learning what they really look like…” She jokingly shuddered before staring off into the treeline.

“Dad was a big player. He probably slept with loads of women before he lucked out and got saddled with me. I guess it’s possible a witch slipped through the cracks somehow, so to speak.”

It wasn’t something she often thought about. Gavin had always been enough for her. She never found herself pining for her lost mother or anything of the sort. Curiosity was as far as her pondering ever reached.

Enzo noticed nonchalantly Melanie spoke of her mother - or lack thereof - and wondered why. He could not imagine not knowing who is mother was, even if it was nothing good.

“What about you?” she asked softly. “It always seemed like a sore spot, so I never asked, but...well, now that I’m here, I think we’re past that. What happened to your mother?”

Come clean. Just do it. It’s not like she is going to judge you… like everyone else did.

Enzo shrugged. “She died, I think I said once upon a time,” he muttered, continuing to press ahead. “When I was thirteen. She worked as an Auror, and she just never came home from work one day.”

Coward.

Mel stared at him. She knew it was a lie. A selfish part of her felt hurt that he still didn’t trust her enough to share the truth with her, but she pushed that thought down. It must have been hard for him, whatever it was.

“I see,” she said finally, clearing her throat. “I’m so sorry, Enzo. That must have been hard.”

Enzo nodded, feeling like an ass for lying to Melanie when she was always so open with him. Still, trust was hard with something like this… with someone like her. “It was at the time, but it’s not something I think about often.”

“Well hey,” she said, forcing a smile. She raised an imaginary wineglass. “Here’s to the future. Hopefully it’s not as fucked up as the past.”

Enzo laughed, grabbing the hand she raised in his own, knocking it away playfully in an almost secondhand embarrassment. “Tell me, why are you popular again?”

She shrugged. “You mean besides my stunning good looks, sharp wit, amazing talent with all things musical and magical..” She waved her hand as if to demonstrate that the list went on.

“Ah, yes,” Enzo said as they neared the chateau again. “That’s why.” They skated around a little more, idle talk passing back and forth between them before Enzo spoke up once more. “I missed this a lot.”

“Me too,” Mel admitted. “Though I never would have expected you to say something like that.”

Enzo looked at her, slowly down his pace. “There are a lot of things that I wouldn’t expect to happen as of late… But it looks like this year is full of surprises, hm.”

“Surprises indeed,” she said, sighing happily. “Between murders and possessions, I still think seeing you smile at me again is the most surprising.”

Enzo raised a single eyebrow at her. “I’m not that grumpy.”

“Of course not! You’re just...stoic.”

“Mhmm…” Enzo grumbled, shaking his head, unable to suppress a grin. “Well, you have changed a lot, too.”

She gave him a curious look. “Have I?”

Enzo tilted his head back and forth. “You have. You can sit still for more than five minutes without getting bored of me. Or does death have to be in the picture for that to be a reality?”

“Harsh,” she said, laughing as she feigned a look of hurt. “But maybe you’re right. Maybe all this doom and gloom has put some things into perspective for me.”

“Oh?”

She shrugged again. “I dunno. We had a good thing, didn’t we? But I was too shallow to realize it back then.”

Enzo nodded idly, thinking back to freshman year. “Yeah, it was nice,” he said. “But you were not the only one to blame. I was kind of impossible to work with.”

“Please,” said Mel, rolling her eyes. “I was a total diva. You were far too patient with my...antics.”

Enzo laughed, whole and hearty. When he finally came down, he nodded. “Well, I’m glad I didn’t have to say it,” he muttered, and in that moment, he could feel his breath slowly getting short, a strange feeling like an cord wrapping around his lungs.

Mel noticed a shift in his expression. “What is it?”

Enzo hesitated for a moment, but decided on skating in front of her, coming to a halt. He stared into her eyes, and he almost hated how wide they were, how expressive. He could almost hear everything she had to say without her even moving her lips.

They were close now, not even a foot in distance. “Did you... “ he started, but had a hard time finishing the statement.

Her eyes lingered on his lips, suddenly so close. “Did I what?”

Speak, you idiot.

“Did you ever feel strongly about me?” he asked, his voice growing lower with each passing word. “Back when we were together, I mean. Was I… more than just a distraction?”

“Enzo…” Involuntarily, her gloved hand rose to rest on his cheek. A storm churned in her gut. “You were never just a distraction. I just...I didn’t know how to…” For once, she couldn’t find words.

Enzo’s entire body shuddered as she placed her hand against his skin, and he had a hard time staying stable. He watched as snow peppered her blonde locks, falling brilliantly against her shoulders, framing her gentle face. Her words sounded sincere, and Enzo couldn’t shake the feeling that he was going to shatter.

Still, with all of the negatives pulling at his sensibility, he placed his left hand on her waist, sliding her in so their hips touched. He cupped her cheek with his right hand, using his thumb to tilt her chin up slightly, and leaned in, pressing his lips against hers, and even in the cold Winter, it felt as if the world began to melt away.

It was like shattering a barrier. Mel fell into him, her arms wrapping around his neck. Years of tension evaporated in that single kiss, her heart soaring in her chest.

Enzo moved his lips against hers lightly, feeling like a weight had been lifted when she returned the kiss, her body seeming to fuse into his. His arms snaked around her waist, holding her tightly against his chest before he slowly pulled his head back.

“I’m sorry,” he said, not knowing what came over him.

She shook her head, her voice escaping in a shaky breath. “No apologies.”

“Aha!” Enzo heard snap behind him, and he pivoted on the ice, Melanie still encased in his arms. Gilly stood on the balcony of Chateau Bellerose, overlooking the lake. “Master Bellerose, there is no getting around me, see! I knew she was your wife!”

Mel jumped away from him, erupting into a fit of giggles. Face flushed, she gave Gilly a small wave.

Enzo laughed as he watched Melanie leap away, and looked at Gilly. “You have incredible timing,” he said, folding his arms over his chest, only mildly annoyed at her presence.

“I’ve been told!” she hollered back, smiling wider than he had ever seen her smile before. “Lunch is being served now, so you two better come in before you catch a cold, see!”

Enzo looked at Melanie, wanting to say so much more, but he opted to holding out his hand for her to take. “Madame.”

She slipped her hand in his, beaming. “Enchanté.”

#Script #Enzo #Mel #EnzoxMel

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