sistine smiles at the text from alcide for minutes after she receives it, with no one to see her beam. he calls it his place- the address he sends her. not thera’s, nor lucas’, though that hasn’t been a thing for quite a while. it’s his. it sits tenderly in her chest as she awaits seeing him the following day, a soft glow of affection and pride sitting on the apples of her cheeks. that morning, she wakes up in her own bed, tucked in as snugly as she remembers. not a crease in the sheets- perfect. it was perfect. a perfect night, to bring a perfect day.

        she arrives at his door with the same smile, warm and happy to see him.  “ hi, ”  she says, as he comes to greet her. sistine means to make some kind of small talk about the location, or the view, or even his front door- but, instead, she bleeds genuineness without regret. better, than, just to be honest. sistine takes his hands, squeezing.  “ look at you! i’m really proud of you, for making the move. ”

nonverbal prompts, accepting!  ˎˊ˗

        sistine's blessed to have the people in her life that she does. her talent is her gift from god, but, more than that, it's those that surround her that are truly precious. alcide, of course, is who she's thinking of in this moment. sistine's especially grateful for him, and that they'd already planned to go out today, together. but, instead, he's wrapping gauze around her foot.

        she's used to his healing hands, their precise and gentle nature. that's not what's disturbing her. rather, it's the manner of how she'd gotten the injury in the first place. sistine's sleepwalking, again. this time, she'd made it out of her apartment. this time, she'd managed to step on broken glass or rolled her ankle or traversed over rocks- leaving bruises and cuts for alcide to tend over. lying is a sin, god doesn't need to tell her for her to know that- but sistine wishes she could tell him it was a dance injury, instead of the result of something she doesn't understand.

        sistine prays, she tries to give over her concern to god. everything happens for a reason, because he wills it so. still, the uncertainty sticks with her, unnerving and disruptive. it makes it harder to simply enjoy alcide, and share the space with him. through that, though, she feels guilty. speaking to his career, he's used to taking care of people. sistine has always worried that perhaps there's no one taking care of him. god knows about that, too.

        " i'm ... i'm sorry. " sistine's apologizing, repenting before she even realizes. she muses, instead, lightening the mood with as much grace as she can muster in the softness of her smile. " i really was looking forward to today. you were going to show me around your city, i was going to meet your friends ... you know, we'd swap stories and sit at whatever your favorite cute spot is so we could people watch. " sistine tilts her head against one knee that she has pulled up to her chest, watching alcide work on the other leg. " guess it wasn't meant to be. "

They slowly walk towards the Crow and Chalice, a store they've passed numerous times before but have never stepped foot in, but it's neutral enough ground for this initial meeting.

Magic tickles their nose, making it wrinkle, and Arte stands awkwardly just inside the doorway to wait. Their phone was dead, or else they would check the time to make sure they weren't late. (They were early actually).

"Um... h-hello?" / @alcidelaroux