Anarion

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Giriel steps out from the backstage, carefully leading the noblewoman by the shoulders. She wants to prevent her from losing her composure. Things will be okay, after all, they've got a good team. She gives her a gentle pat of reassurance around her shoulder, it will be fine.

They exit to find themselves facing a roaring wind, the demonic arrow wind, Kalmanka, as the castle shakes and many things appear to be happening in many places. Giriel has just the presence of mind to close the door behind her, fully completing her travel spell, and then throws her current ward to the ground as fast and as hard as she can, using all of her bulk to shield her. She turns then, arm upraised and fingers together in a warding sign, hoping she can manage a chant before they're all killed only to see the dragon waitress (Piripiri, she had to keep the name straight in her head instead of just thinking of her as the waitress) holding out her umbrella and singing.

And such a song. A tale of becalming against the arrow wind, and of change and travel! In divinations, change and travel were often synonymous, a change of scenery being literal as opposed to metaphorical being one of the most difficult distinctions for the diviner to make. Considering they had just come out of a portal in a new place, the symbolism of the entire room shouted instability as loud as it could. Whatever was happening now, things would not stay as they were. It make Giriel a little worried. An optimist might simply assume that they were about to defeat a bunch of demons, but symbolism like this (and Han going on a full and wondrous rampage) made it just as likely that the symbolism was telling her that the entire castle would topple down around them before this was over.

Still, Piripiri was succeeding, her channeled essence through her song and her umbrella shielded them. So, Giri rose and offered a hand to the noblewoman she had so unceremoniously tackled as they entered. And as she lifted up the girl, she turned to the slowly coalescing wind, and spoke: "Kalmanka, the Arrow-Wind, I name you. Lady of battle, armored in arrows, the black wolf and the silver swan."

And then she is silent. For now, at least, Giriel has no request for this being, but in naming her, she has offered that she may, or perhaps that her companions may now that they are not being assaulted. Let one of them fill the silence first. Piripiri, perhaps, deserved that for saving their lives from the assault.

Sunshards

Chen is flying full tilt, summing wind against the doors and then suddenly there's Ysel issuing commands like it's nothing. She pulls up suddenly, her momentum too great to stop, so she diverts upwards instead, shooting into the air and stopping herself, coming to rest with a wide puff of her dress and her sword above her in an impromptu but almost elegant defense.

Her frustrated grimace ruins the landing though. "I was coming here to save you, Mommy!" She pauses, tries to take a breath, tries to give herself some focus to an entire jumble of emotions all bubbling and boiling inside her. "I rushed here, leaving my new best friend to go face Qiu, and my new handmaiden somewhere in the city to make sure you were okay! And you were, what sitting in your palace getting everyone lined up for my arrival?"

Chen gestures with her sword at the assembled cavalry. "What are they going to do, exactly, huh mommy? Are you planning a charge down the middle of the city against a demon circus? Are they going to go toe to toe with Yin's knights right up until she turns them all into...into opossums? When was the last time you even saw Qiu? She wants a duel, mommy! She's overthrowing your entire kingdom just to get a good duel! If you throw an army at her, she'll drop them in a...a giant sand pit!"

This was easier than any other reaction. Chen couldn't take it all in otherwise. She'd rushed to the palace, heedless of anything else to protect her family and she finds this? Her mother doesn't even say hello! She doesn't ask about her daughter at all. Her daughter who's been gone for months with no cell reception (she probably got a note from Keron, but still!) who she hadn't even seen for a while before that, who just crashed her way like a meteor from heaven through the city to get here. Not a single comment. No I missed you, no wow, good job, no look how you've grown, not even a moment to hug her and have some kind of actual reunion. How was she supposed to handle that, huh? Hi Chen, get in line, knew you'd be here, earn your shard now. It...it wasn't fair. It wasn't fair that her mommy was like this, it wasn't fair to her or Hestia or...or even Ysel herself!

This was why she'd nearly had a meltdown the first time. Once Chen had started on the sword, once she'd shown some talent, Ysel and Hestia both simply had a place for her. She'd felt this way about Qiu too. There had been that moment of affection, but then when she was hurting, she just wanted a hug and Qiu wasn't able to do that. She had a role she wanted Chen to play, everybody had an idea for her. It was...it was what made Rose and Yue so special, wasn't it? How they actually saw her. How they thought about what she wanted and made her want to think about them.

She wanted to slap Ysel and hug her. She wanted to breathe a sigh of relief and scream all at once. She wanted to fly off and save her friends and she wanted to keep her family and her people safe all at the same time! The only thing she knew for sure she didn't want to do was get into the cavalry line, which was laughably stupid.

Sunshards

The hug comes when Yue is working on the flight spell, hands trembling. It's all the speed Chen has to muster, wrapping herself around her friend and holding her tightly. "You've got this" she whispers up to Yue's ears, and her hands are so warm and soft as they cup Yue's trembling hand until it steadies and she can properly draw her flight runes. "We'll come join you as soon as we can, and then we'll have the best Ysian chai in the whole city." Chen smiles as Yue departs, and even manages a little wave.

It's only when Yue's gone and out of sight that Chen starts pacing the hill, taking in the scene. She's thinking quickly, her steps sharp and agitated. Her eyes dart over the scene, taking it in. She looks at the sunset glow of the radiant knights of Yin betraying Mommy Ysel like it was nothing. Her eyes snap to the menagerie of great cats and wolves and all manner of beasts flung aside by the Pyre of Inspiration in a great demonic parade. Then her gaze falls to the battlements, covered with assault ribbons as soldiers climb up ladders unopposed.

Damn it. Damn it this is her home, those people are her friends! Qiu didn't have to do this! Tears well in her eyes. For the briefest moment, she just wants to throw herself upon Rose and cry until her sweet, wonderful girlfriend takes her away from it all. This was all too much. All the weight of power being thrown around here, the mixing of the old world and the new all under Qiu's banner, all to ruin a bastion against her and, Chen understood at some level after her talks with Jessic, all to force the conflict that Qiu couldn't get for herself. It was awful and unhealthy and it wasn't fair that this had to be Chen's problem!

But then that instant passes. Because...ah, Yue, you're not here to see it and that's a pity. You'll just have to let Rose regale you later. But Chen doesn't give up because that fire of Princesses the world over is burning in her heart. She wants something for herself. She wants to save her family and her friends and push out Qiu and seize her own shard and see her dreams become reality. She's learned a lot about how to do that right, how to do it in a way that doesn't hurt other people the way that Qiu and Yin are doing right now. She doesn't claim to know how to do it all just right, but she knows how to try. And what matters is that the dream, that insistent little voice, is in her and it won't let her leave no matter how big it all seems in the moment.

Before she leaps into action, there's one other little nagging thought. Where was Ysel? Where was her mommy?! Shouldn't she be leaping to the battlements or roaring out from the palace in her tricked out car to slam straight into the pyre of inspiration music blaring? Well, if she wasn't coming, Chen would have to go to her.

Chen blinks back her tears and looks straight at Rose, those sparkling wet eyes earnest and serious, "Keep up, Rosepetal."

Chen draws her sword, metal gleaming in the twilight, and she's off like a flash. She's first falling and then flying as she works spells in motion, the magic of her training and her sword work. On a section of wall, a sudden streak of brilliant light cuts every soldier free of battle ribbons and drops every ladder. And then Chen strikes the battlefield exactly like a dazzling comet. A block of Qiu's soldiers, all standing in formation for their turn at the walls scatters apart in a crack of thunder and Chen is already moving again. A sudden tornado of blades and skirts smashes the radiant knights holding the gates, sending them flying away to land dazed on their backs. Even the Pyre's circus slows as a blazing sword bursts among the lesser demons bringing up the rear of the procession and they break and flee from the main body.

Chen surges past them all, a blur flying through city streets, over low roofs and around old buildings and hodgepodge construction stacked one atop another to whims of a thousand competing architects. She traces a perfect route to the palace, moving among the chaos with a speed and comfort that comes only from long years of familiarity. The grand palace gate, inlaid with desert rubies to catch the glittering reds of the sun so often on the horizon, she blows open before her with a wind from her blade, not stopping her flight nor slowing her speed as she races full tilt for the throne and what's become of her Mommy!

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Maidens above this was so stupid. It wasn't hard to follow Uusha's reasoning. There weren't many dragons in the flower kingdoms, this one probably worked for Red Wolf, it wasn't exactly a secret that something was up when the waitress at the tea house drops a demon sword on your table. But that was the point, damn it! The waitress at the tea house could have been spying quietly, but she cared enough to drop that sword and help them. It was the same with Red Wolf letting Giriel know about the spirits of the honored dead being misued (by Uusha, let's remember). If Giriel had found out about that from a wandering shepherd, of course she would have gone and stopped it. It dishonored their ancestors! The fact it came from Red Wolf and maybe she served people who had long-term designs to hurt the flower kingdoms didn't mean you ignored a real problem that was happening now. And you didn't turn down allies who obviously wanted to help with your local demon problem!

In different circumstances, Giriel would have given Uusha a piece of her mind here. She still might. But this was a crisis and the conflict was over. She was already panicking, who starts a fight in the middle of a magical transportation spell through another dimension? What if the Rakshasa had been there, huh? What if they'd attracted attention on their trip? The spell helped them stay safe, but it was still supposed to be quickly in and quickly out, no guarantee of that next time! So, she didn't agree with Uusha, but she did agree with ending the fight and getting out of there and she wasn't about to stop that for anything.

The poor noblewoman though. Giriel sighed. "We'll fix it later, Uusha's a fool, but her heart's in the right place." She put her strong, thick arm around Azazuka's shoulders and guided the girl towards the exit. "What's important now is getting where we're going and sorting this whole demon thing. Then we can deal with all this business of politics and kingdoms."

And with that, she gave Azazuka a push out the exit and leapt through herself.

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Uusha a Rakshasa? No that wouldn't make any sense. She was here still as she was, and it was hardly surprising that she had attacked a daughter of dragons once revealed. It wasn't hard to reach the same conclusion Giriel had: that the mostly likely reason for such an exalted presence here was as a spy for the Red Wolf. Starting a fight here, as Giriel was traveling them through the stage was incredibly stupid though. Just so stupid. They needed to complete their circuit and get back in to the castle quickly. This wasn't a safe place!

But what could she do? Giriel stood there and seethed as the fight came through in earnest, but she was a witch. A witch already in the middle of working magic no less. She wasn't stupid enough to throw herself in between the Stag Knight and a trained martial artist with draconic powers. They'd mash her, probably by accident!

No, if there were a Rakshasa, there was a chance that Giriel's spell would have surprised it. A Rakshasa in disguise might have been unprepared to come into its own realm. It might have-

Wherever Giriel's train of thought was going, it was utterly derailed by an explosion of fiery essence. Was that...Han? It was, but she was lit up like a beacon, outshining everything else around them, diving for another destination out in front of the curtains. Had she found her own route? This was beautiful. This was incredible. This deserved studying. And Han's symbolism! Giri was starry eyed. A beacon of essence like this spoke of the bonfire, a great light in the darkness, a sign of power, safety, and reveling, though sometimes also of chaos, excess, and orgy. And the way she moved, like wind and flame and some great snake in the corner of the eye, that had yellow symbolism, the color of Mercury for journeys and messages sped swiftly and safely. Oh, this was incredible, amazing, Giriel could spend a day just writing notes about this moment and what it might mean.

And those two oafs were missing it. Damn fools. "Follow the light! Hey, idiots, we need to get out of here, this is a travel spell, it's not safe! Hey, hey! Stop killing each other for one damn minute and follow the light!"

[Giri will spend her string on Uusha to get her, at least, to pay attention and stop the fight until they can get out of this space (and she's hoping cooler heads will prevail at the demon castle, but no promises on that one]

Sunshards

Do you know how hard it is sitting and watching a really good duel? It's sooo hard! You've got to have laser focus and you need to manage to stay in your seat even though you're so into it that you're swinging and swaying and gesturing for a move and trying for a parry and thinking about what openings there might be! And if your little butt leaps out of the seat and maybe you swing your arms in a cutting gesture that very nearly takes the wide-brimmed straw sun hat right off the head of the poor traveler sitting next to you as you let out a "woooo!" well, hopefully you can be forgiven because they understand just how hard it is to sit there.

Chen's watching this duel like a hawk. Eyes darting back and forth to the combatants. They're not evenly matched, but they are evenly paired, if that makes sense? Like, if Chen sat down to explain it to you, it's like, this is a duel where it's obvious who's got the sword winning happening, but the conversation of the fight is extremely close, edge of your seat tension. And not just like the words part of the conversation (that too though, Chen tenses when Yue brings up her parents, but of course she does need to think about them). But like, the flow of the fight. It's a conversation about how Yue's coming along, and how Rose wants to present herself, and how Yue pulls Rose into letting herself go, and how Rose shows off those thick, sweaty, gleaming muscles (Chen swoons a little, who wouldn't, come on).

For a minute it's really going Rose's way. You can see her playing with Yue, stringing her along, matching the pace, speeding up the pace, really giving the crowd her show as the powerful and controlled handmaiden. But then, Yue lands the killing blow...emotionally! And Rose is stammering and thinking and you can see how she lets herself go. Chen's watching the moves, watching Rose forget herself and be more free and a part of her brain is thinking about what to call Yue's secret technique as Rose starts stammering and moves with her snake instincts, grace and flow and beauty unleashed for everyone to devour with their eyes (and for Chen to devour later with other body parts). It's so good, it's incredible. Yue's caught and pinned and reduced to meeps and squirms of the best sort and she looks like she's having the best time. And on top of that, the whole time, Chen is thinking to herself what name she might give Yue's secret technique. It needs to be cool, but also Yue style (Yue style, Chen has decided, is two parts sunshine, one part floof, one part frizz, and five parts goofy earnest joy).

So, when Rose makes her big presentation, the first thing out of Chen's mouth is "Secret Technique: Irresistible Emotional Support Giggle Questions!" and then she blushes and giggles herself because that part of her brain was running so far ahead of everything else happening that there was no catching it. Again, being a good spectator is really hard!

She looks down, smooths out her dress, and meets Rose's eyes again. "That's, uh, Yue's technique name, I think. What it should be. As for my offering, well." And here she grins, Yue. The most wicked princess grin you've ever seen out of Chen, who reaches out and up up up on her tipptytoes (despite Rose bowing) to give Rose a good girl pat on the head. "Well, my sweet handmaiden, I think Yue is already spoken for, so I command you to make a present of her to Hyra. I'm confident..." here she only slips slightly as she thinks of her parents, though it's not because of you Rose, don't think that for a second, "I'm confident that word of this duel and the rumors of our plans will be a better gift for my mothers than any present we could offer up to them. But as for this little gift, well she needs to be a proper present, she's not nearly well-prepared enough for presentation to her lady. I'm going to need you to prepare her as...hmm yeah I like your dancing girl suggestion, Petal. Good girl!" and she gives Rose another pat. "Yes, prepare our prize as a proper dancing girl, with wolf accessories given who you're giving her to and then present her as a gift from the Princess Chen and her loyal handmaiden to Hyra of the Wolves to do with as she pleases." And Chen is trying to look just a little imperious, but she's grinning soooo wide. She's just gonna have to own that, the only way she can manage is to lean into her fun.

Good luck you two, she can't wait to see how you end up.

Sunshards

It’s an odd experience for Chen coming into all this. She’s spent a lot of her life moving in the top Princess circles, shown off by her parents when she was younger, the hope of the Princess Alliance against Qiu, a point of dispute when Hestia and Ysel split up, and now having been completely missing for a season (though she assumed the sky castle must have sent some word to broadcast their victory and it was possible that Jessic, Keon, and Qiu had even worked together on letting her stay there with no grief considering how everything had gone down).

But now she’s reappearing with a new handmaiden and a highly unusual entourage. She had thought that perhaps people wouldn’t recognize her. After all, aside from her frillier maid outfits (which to be crystal clear, she is not wearing right now) she isn’t particularly strong or memorable in her choice of dress. She’s a short little princess who dresses in cute and sometimes bold colors and styles that change depending on where she’s staying. She hasn’t even worn her distinctive long scarf in months! That isn’t to say she was against looking pretty (and she certainly enjoyed special clothes quite a lot) but just that her personal style wasn’t especially unique and she’d always aimed to stand out for her skills and her movements more than her looks.

But, people do recognize her! Maybe it’s because word spread of their group exploits at the Sky Castle and the duel with Keron and Jessic? Or their confrontation with Qiu even if it wasn’t a winning one? Or maybe they just know her better than she had realized. Or maybe…

“Um…i-is it true that your new handmaiden picks you up and carries your around on her shoulders all the time?” Asked a brave girl who had stepped forward despite the timidity in her voice and who seemed to have a glow of iron about her? And Chen had to nod and blush in front of several onlookers gathered around an old-fashioned covered wooden wagon because of course that was something Rose had done in every town they’d entered since coming down from the Sky Castle. In fact, she’d made quite the point of parading her Princess about for all to see. A gentleman wearing an old-fashioned style suit with the most silly accent chimed in that he’d heard it too, and suddenly there was a small crowd surrounding Chen as she sat on the end of the wagon all coming up and asking her all about her new handmaid and what they did together, and what different ways Chen liked being carried around! She really couldn’t do anything but squirm in place on her perch, blushing and nodding, as the crowd was having the best of times speculating how she’d found the new handmaiden with a relationship like this.

It was about when the crowd was on their third round of ideas, this one being that Rose had been assigned by Keron as Chen’s minder to kidnap her again if she ever spoke ill of the Sky Castle, that a few different voices started coming up. One tall woman with blue skin and long white hair falling over a spear strapped to her back walked up near Chen and put a gentle hand on her leg as she asked quietly: “I heard you actually fought Qiu once and you’re going to try again.” Another woman with a mystical air about her, dressed in a scarlet evening gown like she was ready for a ball came up among the crowd too and stood in front of Chen as she added, “I heard you fought Princess Qiu because she tried to recruit you and you refused.” Another, a young man wearing a suit and a snow leopard print hoodie and tail, stepped in front of them like a barker and added “I heard Princess Chen was supposed to have the winning dance in Qiu’s contest last season, but she revoked it after they fought and she wouldn’t dance with anyone!” He grins a feral grin and turns to give Chen a kiss on the back of her hand as the rumors start spreading through the audience that somehow Chen is taking a stand against Qiu, that there’s going to be a big showdown or a grudge map, or maybe some kind of group fight, or even a boss gauntlet for Qiu to take on to wear her down, with Chen and her new entourage near the end of it.

Chen finds herself the center of attention of the crowd, blushing scarlet in equal parts taking in praise and wishing she could sink into the ground and disappear forever as rumors swirl. At least until Yue, the most beautiful and perfect salvation in girl form to have ever existed, taps Rose’s blade with her own and Rose responds with her own blade leaping out to become a Ysian scimitar (which would also have made Chen blush if she weren’t in it so bad already!) to signal that a duel will be happening.

Which, well, everybody knows that a duel is the most important thing for everybody’s attention to be on compared to anything else. So Chen has the honor and privilege of being allowed to catch her breath and have a little space as the crowd (and Chen!) all turn their attention to Rose and Yue. In fact, helping the rumors not even the slightest, Chen gives a squeak and a little clap of joy when she sees Rose rise to the challenge. This is going to be so good, she’s already got a huge grin on her face and she’s forgetting her embarrassment, mostly. She can’t wait to watch!

[I rolled a 13 on Don’t you Know Who I Am? I’m applying it to several individuals within the group speaking with her, which I hope is okay. I am also, after all this time, invoking the Chosen’s Destiny with Arch-nemesis as Chen’s return and rumors about her are painting her in that role and bringing her destiny closer, probably soon reaching her parents and/or Qiu.]

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

Giriel loves stories of all kinds! As an aspiring sorcerer, you learn a lot of stories. They’re good teaching lessons. Some of them are horror stories about witches who didn’t follow the right precautions and got dragged down to the hells (yes well, that had seemed a lot less likely until the last few days), sometimes they were fascinating stories about obscure spirits and deities and how they moved in the world, and other times they were thrilling, seat-riveting stories about the wonder and miracles that happened around people every day.

Then there were the stories that you learned by doing the work. Banal stories about backaches and old war wounds, about warts and rashes and all sorts of ailments. Stories about harvests and rivers and trees. About local families, ancestors, gods and spirits, and about respect and disrespect. The movements of everyday life and religious life, and all the little interactions that people have and need help fixing when they make mistakes they didn’t intend.

But, if Giriel is being honest, her favorite stories are the romances. That’s right, she’s something of a sap. But the Flower kingdoms are full of them, and they come in all shapes and sizes! Some of them are so tiny and so real: people who come to her just because they want a potion to make their hair look nice and their skin healthy to meet someone special. Others are so big, weddings that fill an entire village with flowers, or tales of lost loves kidnapped. Some are the work of high fantasy like the stories of knights and damsels fighting off the hells themselves to be together, defying the strands of fate themselves, and the distant stories of gods long past who could rewrite reality and yet railed and screamed and clashed in the throes of their feelings for the loves they could not have.

Giriel loves these romances, big and small. She loves any part she gets to play in them, and she loves dreaming about them on her travels.

[The Astral dance is a 13]

TSL: The Excess of Flowers

There are a lot of snakes. Giri doesn't even have a good metaphor for a wave. She didn't visit the ocean much, it was far away from the mountains and dangerous, Dominion vessels and pirate vessels. Later she was just busy. Maybe this was an avalanche of snakes then. If it was an avalanche, you waited it out, found a safe place, let the dust settle, tried to move past it. You had to be careful, an avalanche might stop and leave everything still loose, more motion could set it off again, so it was better to find a way around it and past it.

The jungle's so hot, and sweat is beading on Giriel's forehead and around her arms. It's tense work catching the demon snakes. She could have made herself an island, but that wasn't good enough. No, it wasn't even just her and Uusha, there was a whole party, scattered now. And Han and the waitress, Piripiri was it, and that noblewoman? And that little priestess, where'd she get off to? A bead of sweat drips off Giriel's forehead and plops against a long frond of a fern as she steps forward, her vine lasso ready for the next snake. Everybody always wanted a witch's services. Knowing about things made you so valuable, you'd think they'd be more respectful.

Well, Uusha had been at least. She breathed, once twice and snared another snake. Had that been shame on the knight's face when she came back down? No way she was embarrassed at the thought of Giriel's touch, but maybe...she'd at least realized she overreacted. That was probably it. But still, but still, she was cute when she...when she glanced her eyes down like that, and her face forgot about its scowl. And those strong muscles.

It made Giri want to do something more. And she could. She could! She hadn't tested it yet but, she'd been thinking about how they'd gone through the hells and, well that wasn't the only way to travel, there was the astral and the elsewhere where the rakshasa came from as well. If she managed the trick right, she could move them through faster.

She just needed a minute here. She wanted to show Uusha and the others and getting Han to his little priestess sooner, that would be good too. Haven't you ever imagined that you'd see an avalanche and just be able to pop! right to the other side of it and look down from above it? Well, the snakes were coming from somewhere and that meant they were going the right way, so she just had to speed things up a little bit.

There was a flash in the dark, moonlight gleaming off knives. Both girls had come off Han's shoulders and, that was the waitress wasn't it? Explained a lot about how she'd gotten out of a demon castle in the first place. She didn't have Giri's training, but her store of magic was quite a bit stronger, moving like that. You could tell, she was someone who had reserves and a lot more even than she was letting on here. Well, that made for a couple of dragons in the group. All the better really. Maybe Han would like her.

Giri stepped around the snakes and she pulled her sword out and started dancing with it. She waved it in the air, undulating her hips, sweat trickling down her face now. Every few steps, she let the sword lower and drag a line along the ground. That was the key to making the travel quick, she thought. Carve out the route and make the motion first. She thought it should be a dance, it just felt right that it should be a dance and with magic that was half the game: symbolism and power. Lean into the motion, exert the effort, and cut the route through the earth and then she could move them somewhere else that would take it and speed them along. Uusha would probably think her a fool even if it worked though. Not like Peregrine with her mind going at warp speed just making things happen. No, Giri was the one who took her time. She'd never get Uusha that way though, not when the Dominion was here already, not when Uusha wanted her to commit to something Giri didn't believe. Not when she was already marked for Red Wolf for that matter. She didn't want to think too hard about that conflict at all. So she danced, her feet stepping carefully as her sword swung up and over her head and then down again to cut another line in the earth as snakes broke around her.

Just a little longer now.

[Giri is setting up for an astral dance. She is also smitten with Uusha, who gets a string on her. The what will Uusha dislike is in the body post.]

Sunshards

This little group had traveled together before, but when everybody is dating it's just different, you know? So many stories spend all their time just teasing and showing missed opportunities. Chen would know, she'd just watched a bunch of anime that hadn't been willing to show a full on kiss even though the characters were perfect for each other. But, there's something special about being together when everyone knows you're together.

It's the little things. It's the way that Hyra puts her hand possessively around Yue's waist when they're standing and looking over the hill they just hiked up in the late afternoon to look at the terraced lake. It's the way that Chen plays with one of Rose's curls that falls into her face as they stare at the sunset, absent-mindedly twirling it around her finger because it's there for her. It's the way that Rose holds out her arm and lets Chen snuggle into the space by her side and rest her head with the hair draping over that arm like it's the safest place in the world.

These things are the magic of being in love, the magic of happily ever after even if it's not actually ever after yet. And it's an infectious kind of magic. See how Chen and Rose grin when they catch Yue and Hyra sneaking a kiss? It's like being in on the joke. Look at the way Hyra and Yue's eyes sparkle and their cheeks rise in laughter when Rose sweeps Chen off her feet entirely and puts her on her shoulder to get a better view of the sunset and then insists on keeping her on the shoulder all the way back down the hill.

When they get down and go for dinner at the only little inn at the nearby town, they smile and lean in close to each other. They get to enjoy a gentle fire and the manic contrast of the inn's small radio, playing some old world CDs with high energy girl group music that doesn't seem appropriate for a relaxing dinner after a hike. But it also must be the only songs the place has or that can be found for miles and so they have a special quaintness to them. They get to try each other's food and share a special custard that's the innkeeper's custom recipe that she won't give out no matter how much Chen begs to be able to take it back to the kitchens of Ys.

For a little while on a date like this, everybody gets to be free. To be more themselves than maybe they've ever had the chance to be, and to not have to worry about what anyone else thinks at all. It's even all the sweeter for knowing that there's more to do after it as they hold the whole of the world at bay to make time for each other.