#characterdrivenmanor

"Zola? Is everything alright?"

Jennsen was trapped in an alley, surrounded by brick walls. There was nowhere for her to go, no way out. And the man continued to approach her. She could beg, she could plead, she could cry - and she had. For her mom’s life. Begging them to just take her instead, to spare her mom. But her mom knew what the end result would be, the type of danger it would not only put her daughter in, but potentially the world. So she sacrificed herself so that Jennsen could get away. And she hadn’t stopped running for months since. Now, as she curled in on herself, waiting to see what the man would do, she couldn’t help but wonder what the point had been. If her mom’s sacrifice had been in vain.

“Hey—” Dee turned from the wares he was perusing, looping his arms around the other’s neck. It made it easier to whisper against a figure as tall as Cain—plus, it was just cosy. This particular market ran on an honour system, so there was no vendor to overhear their secret.

“I told the innkeepers we were married… The people around here are just so gosh-darn—” He dusted the other's lapels, fussing to fill the silence of his own embarrassment. “Old-fashioned,” he finished, unintentionally hypocritical as the local vernacular had clearly rubbed off on him.

“I didn’t put too much thought into it when I said it, because… well, it’s not exactly a lie—minus the ring and the cringy ceremony.” A beat passed as he studied the lines of his lover's face. “I just did what I hoped would protect you from the consternation of a bunch of fishermen and timeshare… sharers. We're already trying to keep the public's eyebrows under control from the whole otherworldly thing…”

A true multitasker, Dee held up a shirt to Cain’s chest to check the fit. Seemingly satisfied, he tucked it back into his bags without comment, never taking his eyes from Cain’s.

"You belong to me." - Gordon

@characterdrivenmanor

"Is that Gordon speaking or the God of Chaos making claim?" He asked with a cocked brow.

@characterdrivenmanor

Cara took in a deep breath, wiping away the remnants of the tears that had threatened to fall from her eyes, before correcting her posture as she insisted, “I don’t have the luxury of not being okay, I don’t have the time to dwell on - let alone to speak about - anything that might be upsetting me. I have to push forward, to get on with my next job.” She paused, her tone softening as she added, “But I do want to apologize again. If anything, I’m embarrassed. That’s not me. I don’t do that, I don’t just pick up the phone whenever I...” She trailed off. Because, before Cain, she hadn’t had anyone to pick up the phone and speak with. Now she did, and going to him... “...It was just instinct. Still, I should’ve stopped myself, and you’ve come all this way for nothing... I’m sorry...”

“I’ve made friends with the plants since you’ve been away… The more I thought about it, the more I saw myself in them. They put up a big fight,” Dee closed one eye mischievously, pressing his lips together momentarily. “Ah, but the way they flourish under your love and care…”

Would you as opposed to 'will' you. A good sign, where Dee was concerned. "Already breaking tradition, I see." Dee blinked his eyes, trying to keep any tears at bay. It might've come off as a dismissive eye roll, but he trusted Cain wasn't the type to assume the worst about him.

He sighed, taking a seat on the god's leg, since it happened to be free. He put his arms around the other's neck, figuring it was the best place to rest them. He tilted his head, looking his soulmate over.

"I like to just look at you from time to time... See if anything's changed..." He scrunched his face slightly, clear that it was a soft joke and about the other's immortality. Dee looked at Cain some more, playfully keeping quiet about what sorts of things he'd learned by reading his face.

"I've been married to you, body and soul, for a good while... I don't want you to think all this time I haven't been... That's really what's been bothering me, Cain... Having a ceremony this deep in seems kind of... unceremonious? Hell, the last time we made love, I literally saw stars..." He hadn't said anything about that before, so it seemed like something he should whisper in Cain's ear. Then he assured him, "Stars don't hurt, I promise..." He nodded his head, laughing and crying simultaneously.

"Our union is signed, sealed, and delivered. And me raging on your chaos wasn't even my best example." He kissed Cain on the cleft of his chin (as both a treat for himself and to help keep both their courage up) and then resumed speaking to him.

"If you're using marriage as a metaphor for eternity, then I absolutely would-slash-will marry you, come heaven or high water... You've given me the greatest gift a mortal could ever have and that's to love life... Every part of it... I've always had a strong will to survive, okay? Some people might say too strong... You turned that basic instinct into something that sometimes I feel insufficient to even carry around with me... I'm not scared to be fragile anymore because being fragile has never stopped me from feeling connected to you in any way..."

Cain was cute to Derward in a way he could not possibly describe in a coherent context. Maybe someday he'd attempt to do so, but not now. Maybe if he actually married the guy, that would speak for itself? He was kind of hopeful, anyway.

"So I just get over that—and now I'm not afraid to be immortal either!" He tugged at Cain's lapel area, guilty that he'd just glossed over a LOT of emotions. To that effect, he continued, "Maybe we could make the wedding ceremony also a, um, me becoming immortal ceremony?" He grinned, somehow embodying the duality that was a man expecting great things without great expectations.

"I don't have parents or anything like that... I guess you could say my humanity's been that for me... So... maybe humanity can give me away to you?" Dee winced, then full-on shrugged while still perched on Cain's leg.