Prunella Lestrange

       he backed away from the bar again, though he remained at a comfortable distance while she pointed out the others in the room. sycamo combed his fingers through his hair, pushing it back from his forehead — the fidgeting merely a distraction. “there are many evident things in this room, is beauty the only evident thing you choose to acknowledge?” he chose to sip the drink then and avert his gaze elsewhere, the taste completely new to him but it was quite nice compared to his usual firewhiskey. with a grin returning to his mouth, he met her eyes for a second before walking away to the spot by the window again — he really just assumed she would follow. it was mainly to avoid the often reoccurring conversation he always happened into. 

he took in the surroundings before he followed along, the smile he wore never fading. that is, until she spoke up to the bartender. sycamo furrowed his brows in confusion and couldn’t help but shift his eyes between he and her for a moment. “i’ll have what she’s having…” he muttered with a wave of his hand, looking to her with a small shake of his head before pushing back from the bar and deciding to explore a tad longer. better to walk away then make something of it, really. sycamo found himself over at the tall windows that looked over the sea, a wave of jealousy hitting him now that he had stopped. of course, it wasn’t a feeling he was necessarily used to so he couldn’t shake it so easily. sy only waited a few seconds longer before he returned to grab his drink, eyes on prue but the following directed to the bartender, “thanks handsome.” he pointed his finger at prue and narrowed his eyes, “you, i can’t take you anywhere. what is this? why’d you call him handsome? he’s not… that… handsome…” he wrinkled his nose, keeping his voice low and lifting the drink to his mouth. “please just not around me…” he sighed, eyeing the drink before taking a small sip, “unless the end goal is to get free drinks…”

his cheeks burned a soft red when she mentioned he had become her cuore — whatever that meant — too. now he had a hope that its meaning was deeper than she would outwardly admit, and that this special thing between them really was mutual. “okay,” he accepted the reminder with a nod and, for a moment, tried to remember how to say the word, a small smile on his lips, “my cuore.” sycamo ran his fingers through his hair and diverted his gaze to the floor, knowing he was wanting to push his limits with this — with her, and so he took a small step away from her but didn’t lose the doting glint in his eyes. “join me for a drink?” he offered, motioning to one of the ship’s restaurants just behind him. “wouldn’t be opposed to a dance either,” sy raised his brows in a mischievous way, turning then to at least give it a once over if she didn’t want to.

“and what does that word mean?” sycamo asked with the raise of a brow, studying her face as he awaited her response. “if that’s what i’m to call you, i should at least know what i’m saying,” he grinned then, assuming it was something that easily declared how smitten he was with her — even though he couldn’t show it. “as much as i admire the reputation you’ve got going on, i do believe the world deserves this prue,” sy whispered through a playful smile, drawing closer to her without taking much notice, “but i am great at keeping secrets, you should know that by now. have i ever broken one of your rules?“

he wouldn’t push it, not again. but he understood her retreat even if it did disappoint him every time. he just couldn’t shake what he was feeling for her, so he’d just conceal it the best he could. “not even for a minute,” sycamo stated through a dramatic release of his breath, stepping backward into the lift to head down to the next deck for them to walk along. “don’t worry, ella. you’re undeniable and i’d be the biggest fool to replace you. besides, i’ve stuck by you this long… no point trying to find that somewhere else, as tempting as it is,” he laughed a warm laugh — it were moments like these that he wouldn’t trade for anything. “such a sweet and attentive side to the queen serpent herself. seems like i should be the one calling you tesoro.“

he frowned at the laugh and smile that carried something less than humor, his eyes settling on hers to try to sympathize with her rather than respond with words. “you never have to apologize to me,” sycamo stated after easily catching the sincerity in her voice but not lingering on what he was feeling for long, as that would normally get him in some sort of trouble with her. “please, i am a fantastic third wheel,” his hand left the comfort of his arm for a moment to brush his chest with pride, lifting his chin up to further the short lived demeanor. “i’ll go to transylvania when you go. merlin knows i’d never make it out alive on any of those tours without you there to protect me,” sycamo chuckled and continued forward to a nearby lift, “but that’s just my own desire, pay no mind to it. perhaps i can coax another to join me, though my safety would not be certain.”

sycamo, being sycamo, raised his brows at her response and slowly began to shake his head. he admired her devotion to her family but sometimes it infuriated the lad — especially when she would subtly admit it was something she too wanted but couldn’t because it was frowned upon. however, instead of trying to fight past the enormous wall she always had up, he inhaled a deep breath and put on his best smile, “you ever get to do something that you want to do? i mean, come on, it’s just a trip with a friend. we can invite more people if that’s too much for you—your mother, I mean…” sycamo crossed his arms over his chest and turned to her with a more sincere smile, “what about something more populated, like diagon alley or something? surely your mother wouldn’t believe much of it and i know it’s really nothing special but…” he paused and pursed his lips, “i’m sure there has to be at least one vampire of some sort lurking around in secret. perhaps just a half-vampire or something… but it’s the thought that counts…” he laughed, “and it’s no castle in transylvania but… that wasn’t my main reason of going anyway.”