Treble Heart

-

Lara had been very content to just sit there and fill up their time with idle chit chat. It didn’t matter to her, for Josephine had a very melodic speaking voice, and it was hard for the pixie to look away, or to think of anything else when she was with her. It didn’t matter what they were speaking about. 

However her eyes kept flickering to the basket, because she was well aware that she had a favorite snack of the other woman, which meant that she wanted her to see them, mostly so that she could see the reaction of the other when she saw that Lara had indeed listened and remembered.

“Of course I did.” The pixie smiles as she reaches into the bag and pulls out a little cream horn. “How could I forget your favorite treat?”

Oh, Josephine certainly had a wonderful friend in Lara, so much that she didn’t know what she would do without her. It was nice to surround yourself with the likes of the pixie, so happy and bright, come rain or shine. It was like a breath of fresh air. 

It took a shaky breath, for Lara to be able to do this, she was going to need something to hold, so she chose it to be Jo’s hand. Gently taking her hand, she gives her a soft smile, looking a her. “Jo, I need to ask you something, please don’t be mad at me. I will take whatever you say as the truth, and I am not going to change my opinions on you, no matter what.” She lightly squeezes her hand before she continues. 

However, as her hand was taken, she grew stiff. The air had changed and she wasn’t entirely sure if she could stand the thickness of it. It had become considerably harder to breath and, worsening the feeling in her chest, her stomach dropped when Lara spoke. Although the pixie had been respectful, kind and patient, wanting to make sure that Josephine was comfortable and knew that she wasn’t mad, anxieties would always take over.

She grew quiet.

Her heart was in her throat.

Swallowing, thickly, Josephine found that she was at a loss for words. Instead, tears began to rise and she found her throat had tightened.

THIS IS MY IDEA

❝  I can’t believe I’m stuck with her/him all summer.❞ 

❝  What a total bummer.❞

❝  If I get lucky I’ll get chicken pox.❞

❝  So happy you could come.❞

❝  So happy to be here.❞ 

❝  This is not my idea of fun.❞ 

❝  I think we’ve got a deal.❞ 

❝  This is my idea of a match!❞ 

❝  We’ve tired all summer but we just can’t lose her/him!❞

❝  You’d think s/he’d take a hint and learn to read.❞ 

❝  I think you really sort of like her/him fess up.❞

❝  For as long as I remember we’ve been told we’d someday wed.❞

❝  I can do much better I am sure.❞ 

❝  I see him/her smiling and my knees start buckling.❞

❝  I see inside him/her and my doubts are gone.❞

❝  TIl now I never knew it is you I’ve been dreaming of.❞ 

❝  This is my idea of love.❞

PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE

❝  We are a band and not a band of animals! ❞

❝  This masquerade is more than I can bear!❞ 

❝  There goes my reputation, it’s awful this humiliation.❞

❝  Day after day all the prince/ss ever does is practice, practice, practice.❞

❝  Thinking of her/him and the way that it was.❞

❝  S/he’s not happy til s/he’s attacked us.❞

❝  If we refused then he would have sacked us.❞

❝  So we face a life of target practice.❞

FAR LONGER THAN FOREVER

❝  If I could break this spell I’d run to him/her today.❞ 

❝  Somehow I know he/she’s on his/her way to me.❞

❝  ___, you and I were meant to be.❞

❝  Far longer than forever, I’ll hold you in my heart.❞

❝  It’s almost like you’re here with me although we’re far apart.❞

❝  Far longer than forever, as constant as a star.❞

❝  I close my eyes and I am where you are.❞

❝  Sure as the dawn brings the sunrise, we’ve an unshakable bond.❞

❝  Destined to last for a lifetime and beyond.❞

❝  I swear that I’ll be true.❞

❝  I’ve made an everlasting vow to find a way to you.❞

❝  Far longer than forever, like no love ever known.❞ 

❝  Far longer than forever, much stronger than forever.❞

❝  With your love I’ll never be alone.❞

NO FEAR

❝  We’re off on a mission!❞ 

❝  No Fear!❞

❝  There’s danger around us.❞

❝  They’d hurt us if they found us.❞

❝  We have all the courage we require.❞ 

❝  Try your luck, our plan will fly!❞

❝  This plan if applied’ll be simply suicidal!❞

❝  You’ll be a sitting duck!❞

❝  Suppose that I do this who knows if will live through this?❞

❝  How about a kiss for luck?❞

❝  We will take any dare that the other side’ll dare to dream up.❞

❝  We’ll fight tough, we’ll play fair but we’re sure to win because we’ll team up.❞

❝  S/He’s freaking, frankly speaking.❞

❝  We’re heading for disaster!❞

❝  I would be fine if one of us know how to steer!❞

NO MORE MR. NICE GUY

❝  Gosh,it’s such a hoot to see them quaking.❞ 

❝  When I’m king/queen they’ll treat me with respect.❞

❝  I can’t wait to watch their poor hearts breaking.❞

❝  Up til now I’ve pulled my punches.❞

❝  I intend to eat their lunches.❞

❝  No more Mr. Nice Guy.❞

❝  If you think that I’m hard-hearted well let me by, i haven’t even started!❞

❝  Soon as my witchcraft has zinged them I’ll gain control of the kingdom.❞

❝  I’m going back to that old black magic.❞

❝  Good behavior is so much duller, time to show my one true color.❞

❝  Baby, Mr. Nice Guy’s history.❞

❝  Vengeance is what I believe in.❞

❝  I don’t get mad, I get even.❞

❝  I’m so good when I’m rotten.❞

❝  I’ll become that nasty, naught, petty, spiteful, wicked, wayward, way delightful, bad guy I was born to be!❞

❝  No more Mr. Nice Guy, that’s not me.❞

PRINCESSES ON PARADE

❝  Every single prince/ss on the planet prayed to be invited to the ball.❞ 

❝  Most would swim the moat to be here, just to be at this historic gala.❞

❝  Rumor is that at this joyous scene tonight the prince/ss will likely choose his/her future king/queen tonight.❞

❝  This is the likely occasion where the heir to the throne picks a wife/husband.❞

𝒲𝒾𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝓃𝒹 𝒟𝑒𝒸𝒶𝓎, 𝐸𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝒾𝓈 𝒟𝑒𝓈𝓉𝒾𝓃𝓎, 𝐵𝓇𝑒𝒶𝓀 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓈𝑒 𝑒𝒶𝓇𝓉𝒽𝓁𝓎 𝒸𝒽𝒶𝒾𝓃𝓈, 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓈𝑒𝓉 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓉 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒. 𝒯𝒽𝑒 𝓈𝓅𝒾𝓇𝒾𝓉 𝒻𝓇𝑒𝑒.

‘she dreams of the ocean late at night

mythology; sirens ~ she swore vengeance on all men with dark hearts

-

They raised their eyebrows in surprise. “It’s yours, then? I have to say it’s quite  a lovely location.” They took the book gratefully. Indeed, the building was perfect for reading. “Well, while I’m here, do you have any other recommendations? I’ll be in the area for about a month and I don’t think just this will quite cut it for my free time.” They smiled softly and waved the relatively small book back and forth a few times. Right, that reminded them: “Oh, I’ll also need a library card.”

A hand on her heart, Josephine showed bashful appreciation for the compliment given; of course, she could not take all of the credit for the place. Its owner before had taken such good care of the place and built it lovingly with their own hands. Josephine saw herself as simply the caretaker. She had promised, after all. 

“Thank you,” she smiled, as she idly began to twiddle with some of her hair, “oh- well, we could be here for years if I’m recommending anything- though I would certainly urge you to have a look at the Utopian Novels selection at the back there.” She pointed with her delicate finger, adding softly, “there is quite the collection, if I do say so myself, some of them have been kindly donated whereas others have been finds by myself! Utopia is certainly a good place for novels, especially if you’re hunting for a more futuristic or modern feel.” 

A beat, “though if that’s not your thing, we have some lovely tales of Treowan myths and legends, which can be found over by the five-islands history bookcase.” 

An affirmative nod finished her utterance, only to lead to her blinking owlishly. 

“Library card?” Oh yes, of course. 

-

He nodded. “Ah, gotcha!”

Alfred looked around at the library again, taking in the shelves and rows upon rows of books. He wasn’t much of one for reading unless it was one of the awesome action-y stories, but was curious as to what Treowan books were like. Maybe they had some epic tales, too. “So, what kind of books do you have here?”

Ah, a topic Josephine could talk about for years. Of course, she would remember that the gentleman, before her, had a life of his own and, thus, would remember herself and remain at least a little sophisticated.  

Though one could not deny the energetic light that shone in her eyes, as she urged him to come to take a seat nearby; she wasn’t one for making someone stand for any amount of time, especially if she was now treating them as a guest. 

“Well, regarding that I’m a little bit of a collector,” Josephine began, a small but radiant smile tugging at her lips, “I have many books from all around the five islands. I have stories, folklore, myths and legends, history- though that more for the conservative readers, I do believe, and I do have quite the collection of novels from Utopia; some fantastic ideas for the future in some of them, believe me. I was reading one only a few days ago- oh what was it called?” 

Tapping her temple in thought, Josephine took a few moments though ultimately ended up losing the name of the book from the tip of her tongue, “ah, it’s gone. I’ll remember at some point.” 

He wasn’t quite sure what he was doing here. When he saw that the village was hosting ballroom dance classes in the Town Hall, he’d shrugged it off and ignored it. It took him walking past the poster three times before he even thought of signing up. On the seventh walk by, he gave in and signed up. But now that he was actually standing in the hall, he couldn’t help but feel incredibly awkward. The class had yet to start and people were easily mingling, chattering about anything and everything. Once upon a time, small talk had been Arthur’s forte. He could natter away for a millennia about nothing in particular but nowadays he just couldn’t bring himself to do it. Instead, Arthur opted for the perfectly respectful choice of trying his best to blend into the wallpaper and look busy fiddling with shirt.

It wasn’t until the class had started and they’d been paired off that Arthur became really nervous. He never was one for women, but he wasn’t blind. The woman he’d been paired with was absolutely beautiful, almost ethereal. She was all soft lines and delicate features, though she towered over him. In fact, he wasn’t even quite sure why they’d been paired up; she had to be at least a foot taller than him. Nonetheless, he held out his hand, determined to not let his manners slip.

-

Her reassurances did do something to help calm his nerves, even if it was just a little bit. He was supremely grateful that he’d been paired with someone who didn’t seem to be mean-spirited or judgmental. Or at least, she didn’t appear to be that way.

“I should hope so,” Arthur returned, showing part of what could become a genuine smile. “Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I was quite the dancer in my youth.”

“In that case then, shall we begin?” He asked, holding out his hand for Josephine to take. The couples around them were beginning in a similar fashion, as the instructor started up on his lesson.

With a warm smile, Josephine placed her hand in his, as the two came together and readied themselves, “of course~”

 To begin with, they moved slowly, simply getting a feel for how each other worked and danced to the music. Josephine had to admit that Arthur was exceptional. One could certainly tell he had been a good dancer before, as even though he appeared rusty in some areas, he made the dance together enjoyable and smooth. 

-

He’d barely memorized his section of Utopia, frequently getting lost if he’d stopped paying attention to where he was going. Being able to memorize an entire island and know it that well was fascinating. He traced the outline of Treowa with his finger, trying to picture her running around the island with her eyes closed.

“Oh man.” Alfred chuckled, folding up the map to tuck it under his arm. “How long did it take you to memorize the entire island?”

She watched him carefully, following his finger with her eyes. Of course, she may have been a little overdramatic as running laps around the islands with her eyes closed would leave her with many bruises and few too many falls than she would want. 

Though, she definitely knew the island as though she had been raised there.