` WAYWARD

Iseul was blushing something fierce as she smiled from ear to ear. Her parents would be delighted to hear she was dating and happy, but more than that, they would be glad to hear that Hal was someone intellectually intriguing. Iseul had always been slow to open herself up to people, but Halcombe had sparked her interest immediately. The kiss to her forehead made her heart skip a beat and she caught herself leaning forward, chasing the older woman's lips. "Perks? What perks will there be on our next date?"

A shade of light pink painted the younger woman's cheeks, and what a lovely force it cast, sending ripples through Hal's dusky world and making her feel somehow lighter about where they stood. "The gestures will get more grand, I'm afraid, and the gifts only more lavish─" She could not help but tease, this playful side only coming out around Iseul. Her lips quirked upwards as her fingertips traced a route to her companion's collarbone. "Really, I've been stifling inklings to myself, unsure how to express them to you, even if it's just a flower in a park I want to show you. Let's see, I'll be able to hold your hand, guide you around the farmer's market, and lean in to press a kiss to your forehead, or your lips when I want, and hold you, ever so close." For good measure, the older woman pulled Iseul into a warm embrace, her face buried in the crook of her neck. This intimacy was imported to the dormant agent since it had been some time since she had held someone in such a tender manner.

Iseul's heart skipped a few beats at Halcombe's proclamation. Her brown eyes looked up, surprised that Hal was apologizing. "I just, I've never dated or been with anyone. I thought you were just the sweetest woman I'd ever been around and... I was scared of telling you I was interested. I didn't want to ruin our friendship because I'm not straight." Nibbling on her heart-shaped pout, her lips eventually cracked into a shy smile. "I've wanted you since that night in the bar, too." Iseul's cheeks were ten shades more pink, her skin warming a few degrees and her fingers twisted together as she caught the sincerity in Hal's eyes. "Did I do okay? Could we keep dating?"

Now that the mutual feeling was out in the open and they had put a name to it, Hal felt a tad better since she had debated whether she should confess to Iseul this trip or perhaps the next time they saw each other. However, all this did not lessen how much her heart could swell when she met those crisp brown eyes, repaid with a favourable look since Iseul's second disclosure; that she had not seen many people or anyone, only seemed to comfort Hal. In part, because it meant the younger woman trusted her enough to tell her something such as this, and deep down, the more selfish part of her knew that she couldn't fuck it up as much as had in the past since Iseul had little to compare it to. "You did wonderful Iseul, thank you. Yes, of course, we can keep dating. And you know, since we both know it will be a date now, that does come with certain perks." She teased, planting a peck on the other's forehead. "It's okay if you have never been with anyone, in truth, I haven't been with many beyond a few nights. But with you, I'm willing to try... We can take it as slow as you want."

These hands that used to hold people's lives in them, that had only killed (for the sake of their agency) ─ take could only take take take ─ held Sohee with such reverence, unable to resist the urge and quenching it with a chaste kiss on the other's shoulder blade. "Then I guess you are the second to attest to it, you can't take it back now. Maybe I missed my calling as a hand model?" Téa smiled behind Sohee's back, arching a curious eyebrow. "So that means you were thinking of me huh? Guess it's a good thing I yanked all the wires out of my car," The older woman joked. It was a divine notion, that someone could ever think of her in such a manner, she felt it had been ages since she returned to society and it was easy to get caught up in the feelings.

What Nari had said about Cheongju reminded Thomasin of some of the places back in Scotland, frozen in time, it was like stepping back into her youth which for her was not necessarily the best hour. "Timeless, I like that. I'd like to see it, one day, maybe next time I'm there I'll check it out. I get how that can feel, but sometimes slow is good, and maybe when you go back you'll appreciate that slowness, if only for a bit." For various reasons, the teacher did not want to be known, not as a regular to any café or gym, and she did not attend when the other teachers invited her for post-work dinner and drinks, so when Nari asked, Thomasin felt an inherent need to be seen. As something other than the shell of a person she had been living as. "I worked for this group for a fair bout of my life, 'erm natural preservation, and all that," Being careful with her wording, Thomasin progressed on, "And it took me to South Africa, a town called Limpopo where Kruger National Park is. And Komodo, Indonesia, Plitvice Lakes, Croatia, and Corcovado, Costa Rica to name a few. I think my favourite place is Indonesia, the soil is so rich, you could grow anything. I had a garden there, every type of flower you could imagine native to the land, I planted. When I left, I entrusted it to the care of this old lady who helped me tend to it in the spring, since I got way over my head."

In a quick flash, the anger is gone, replaced with a thin mask but still traces of warmth linger as they walk out into the gardens, enclosed by dead greenery that is dusted with a cover of white. Elizabeth appears so soft against this scenery, glowing from the street lamps and as pretty as the snowglobes inside as she pulls the other closer in a guise to shield her from the winter. "It's cold out here, let me know if you get too chilled and we will go somewhere else, alright? I've always enjoyed the winters, the sun goes down early yes, but nights can be so exciting, hm?" She expects the young heiress to know nothing of nightlife, but perhaps she could teach her some time. They could even chalk it up to a "business" meeting and Sherine would show her all the thrilling nocturnal pleasures this city had to offer.

If it's possible, Maeve is as stunning as when Mercer left her a year and a half ago, which it is, because the nurse is tangible proof and somehow even more so as she is greeted with those brown doe-like eyes that make her go weak in the knees. She chalks it up to her "accident", or her mother's as she tears her look away and clears her throat in order to cut some of the tension she feels falling over them.

Shaking her head 'no' Iseul smiled at Hal. "I just want to see whatever you'd like to show me. If you're feeling nostalgic and want to show me the places you went with your siblings, that's fine too." There was a genuine sincerity as she smiled at the older woman. Iseul had continuously been intrigued by Halcombe. Her heart rate only skyrocketed with the gentle lifting of her chin. She blinked at her with wide eyes and flushed cheeks, her gaze falling to Hal's lips. When the woman leaned in only kissed her cheek Iseul turned in just a little, a pout on her lips as Hal pulled away. It was hard not to be disappointed, but she wasn't sure what Halcombe wanted from her and Iseul was too shy and naive to know how to ask for more.

No matter the time or place, leaves would fall to the ground in a hazy fashion, and for no other reason than the seasons changing or so Hal thought since any trace of romanticism evaded her entirely. How had it been that she had not considered perhaps that they fell just to be closer to Iseul? It was tough to believe any organism on this earth would not want to bask in the light that was the younger woman, and now here she was, right in front of the retired agent asking to be let into her own little world. She was certain Iseul's words would replay in her mind well into the night, reverberate in the unconscious part of her that now felt somehow active.

It would only be nice because she'd have Citra as company, but she didn't voice that specific opinion. Despite her less than sunny disposition, the other woman did happen to soften Edie around the edges when they were around. Others around town were bound to notice, but none of them dare say anything to the P.I.'s face, not unless they wanted a biting remark in return. Her hands go up in surrender motion. "Okay, okay. You have me convinced to go. At least this once."

An eternal spring unfolded between them, a new beginning, and Citra could not be more pleased with what was once a bad habit (her mother saying she could get anyone to agree to anything, as long as it would get her to be silent), into getting Edie to spend some time with her. By nature, the tile setter was affable, enclosing herself with a sea of people to distract from the silence in her head, but Edie was one that she felt drawn to and so very curious about. No longer did the silence bother her in Edie's presence, a venture she was learning to appreciate. "Yes, just this once." Citra repeated. "And then I will have to think of ways for next year."

Her gaze lowered to the glass in her hands for a second before glancing back towards her neighbor. Despite the woman's rejection, it didn't necessarily feel like one. Something about the way Dallas looked while she spoke just didn't give Noah the impression that it was a topic that shouldn't be brought up again. But she did fear pushing it too far would leave the pair of them unable to be around each other any longer.

The shambles of her marriage were not some well-guarded secret amongst those close to her, but that it seeped its way into her neighbour's purview was almost flustering if it weren't for the fact that Noah was trying to remedy the situation by suggesting an affair. However, she would be a fool to deny that something hadn't been occurring between them all this time, whether she was fully aware or not, she had already confirmed flirting with the young woman. "Happiness, at this age, is a very relative term, I'm content, marriage isn't supposed to be some fairytale ending─" She was being too harsh, there was still time for Noah to find someone and work for that life; if she so chose, the way Dallas used to want to work on her union. "He has his schedule, I have mine, we make it work."