Honey wherever you go, I know
The puff of her exhale along his neck sends a shiver straight through him. The fine hairs lift in quiet response and his shoulders scrunch upward in a half-hearted shield. He twists his head enough to shoot her a narrow, accusing side-eye, "you’re doing that on purpose!" Without warning, he drops.
Only a few inches, a quick bend of his knees like the ground has suddenly disappeared beneath him, just enough to jolt her. It's enough to earn himself whatever startled noise she makes before he straightens again, laughter spilling out, satisfied with the revenge.
Still grinning, his grip shifts on her legs, thumb absentmindedly tracing along her calf while he keeps thinking through their perfect phrase. Her suggestion makes him slow a step, his head tipping slightly toward hers, considering it properly while the soft glow of the Celestine slides past around them. As he's carried them, the air has begun to shift from the ember-lit rock and heat of the volcanic habitats, giving way gradually to cooler shadows and the thick hush of greenery. The path curves beneath taller canopies, leaves whispering overhead as the twilight glow filters through layers of branches and moss.
"Flora, will you marry me? —Kaisel," he repeats slowly, testing the shape of the words while they move deeper into the forest zone. It shouldn't sound so breathless when they've got matching band on their wrists and a vow overseen by a god, yet his heart sways as if it means to let each exhale carry it straight out of his chest. Nearby, something rustles softly through foliage, the elephant beetle exhibit dictated beside them with a sign and the steady reveal of the lumbering creature.
A grin begins to spread across Kaisel's face as he stops there. “Then!" he whispers with all the drama of a stage and it's attentive audience. "The stars explode with A THOUSAND TIMES YES!" He laughs, not with amusement, but with a raw delight. "That’s actually pretty good." The idea rolls around in his head for another moment, trying to find an alternative just to ensure they've thought it through completely.
"I know what we have to do," he decides, and crouches like a horse that's decided to roll its rider right off. "We gotta lie down here, and practice imagining it written up there." Like squinting to see the image a cloud makes in the sky, they'd rehearse the message in the stars by tracing it out.
Only a few inches, a quick bend of his knees like the ground has suddenly disappeared beneath him, just enough to jolt her. It's enough to earn himself whatever startled noise she makes before he straightens again, laughter spilling out, satisfied with the revenge.
Still grinning, his grip shifts on her legs, thumb absentmindedly tracing along her calf while he keeps thinking through their perfect phrase. Her suggestion makes him slow a step, his head tipping slightly toward hers, considering it properly while the soft glow of the Celestine slides past around them. As he's carried them, the air has begun to shift from the ember-lit rock and heat of the volcanic habitats, giving way gradually to cooler shadows and the thick hush of greenery. The path curves beneath taller canopies, leaves whispering overhead as the twilight glow filters through layers of branches and moss.
"Flora, will you marry me? —Kaisel," he repeats slowly, testing the shape of the words while they move deeper into the forest zone. It shouldn't sound so breathless when they've got matching band on their wrists and a vow overseen by a god, yet his heart sways as if it means to let each exhale carry it straight out of his chest. Nearby, something rustles softly through foliage, the elephant beetle exhibit dictated beside them with a sign and the steady reveal of the lumbering creature.
A grin begins to spread across Kaisel's face as he stops there. “Then!" he whispers with all the drama of a stage and it's attentive audience. "The stars explode with A THOUSAND TIMES YES!" He laughs, not with amusement, but with a raw delight. "That’s actually pretty good." The idea rolls around in his head for another moment, trying to find an alternative just to ensure they've thought it through completely.
"I know what we have to do," he decides, and crouches like a horse that's decided to roll its rider right off. "We gotta lie down here, and practice imagining it written up there." Like squinting to see the image a cloud makes in the sky, they'd rehearse the message in the stars by tracing it out.
Kaisel
I'd give up half of forever, just to be with you
Wearing a watery blue, faded and stretched-out sparkling hair tie on his left wrist
