diamond heart

sasha rolled his eyes at his fiancée, more than likely an awful move on his part. sasha kept the second of annoyance off his face and instead kissed her cheek tenderly. he knew she was just worried as they both (hopefully) were falling for the other, sasha could say he was. “I am well,” he whispered to her, and he was not lying. “some days are better than others, today is a good day.”

he looked to the plane, an evil grin on his face as he turned back to her. “it is a surprise.”

the eye roll did not go unnoticed, earning a rather slanted expression in turn. instead of reacting to the kiss she focused more on what he was saying. her head tilted, the righting itself when she nodded. “good. good days are...good.” clearly she still wasn’t doing well with it all. she caught the mischievous grin and pushed herself back at arms length away from him now, not finding herself deserving of so many surprises in one day--or at all. “you don’t have to do that.”

sasha closed his eyes, loving the feeling of her lips against his cheek. it was clear, his skin the chemo long ago taking away his stubble. he placed his hands on her hips, wanting to keep her there for a moment longer before he dropped his hands. “I must say I am amazed,” he whispered, taking her in.

“I am kind of amazing.” she shrugged and closed the space between them again, draping her arms over his shoulders. “how are you feeling?” illyana swayed on her feet, her eyes scanning his face for any indication that he wouldn’t be up for whatever trip he had planned. “what’s the plane for anyway?”

sasha was feeling weak this day. because it would be a four hour flight and then the russian crown prince would be getting down on one knee in one of the grandest ballrooms russia had to offer to ask for her hand in marriage. and it was a huge deal to him because she not only would be a grand duchess to russia but one day its empress (well if you know…)

“would that be a bad way to go though?” sasha asked the princess, bowing to her before taking her hand and kissing it gently. he looked up to her next, his white teeth sparking and his eyes gleaming with mischief.

illyana smiled, her stress dissolving with her hand now in his. this was the man she was going to marry, a romantic funny man who spoiled her behind her back. though anything he dealt she knew she could deal back. she was known for spoiling her loved ones. “it wouldn’t be the worst, I suppose.” her lips collided with his cheek before she took a step back to show off her dress. “you did well, does it look as nice as you’d imagined?”

The dress her fiancee had so sweetly gotten delivered to her was a chore to get in to on her own, eventually getting it slipped onto her body where she was surprised to find that the measurements fit snug and comfortably. A great accomplishment for someone who was still getting to know her. After finding a pair of heels to match the dress she made her way to the planned spot, approaching a plane that she could only assume was waiting to take her somewhere absolutely absurd.

“Sasha you will be the death of me.” She exclaimed, huffing a breath as she looked at the plane.

Lilya didn’t hesitate as she stood up and went to the bathroom to locate the cream she had in mind before returning to her soon to be sister in law as she sat back down tenderly taking her hands into her own. “So when we were children there was this story that was told around the palace. Supposedly me and Sasha could not sleep in different cribs. If we were even out of eyesight of each other we would scream at the top of our lungs until we were reunited,” she spoke as she rubbed the cream into the burned skin as cautiously as she could until she was certain her skin was covered.

Illyana stayed where she was until the duchess returned with the cream. She relaxed into the touch, listening to the story with a smile on her face. “That’s so sweet. I wish I was that close with my brothers.” Truthfully she was close with them, but neither in the way that Lilya seemed to be with Sasha. “How do you manage now? It must be awful knowing you won’t be living together--” Illyana paused. “You’ll visit often, yes?”

illyana: am i supposed to wear the dress on the plane?

sasha: please x

sasha: are you up for a plane ride?

illyana: so i am being reminded at the minute

sasha: did they not make you a good dress?

illyana: i thought we were just talking. i should have expected ulterior motives from you

illyana: it's an amazing dress

Lilya had wanted to bond with Illyana for so long but now that they were and she was hurt she had no idea what to do as she tenderly took her hand into her own. “Can you give me a moment let me go get some cream and it should help.”

The searing burn was becoming numb and she locked her eyes on the woman. “Yes.” She nodded. “You’re the best.” She’d been worried that bonding with Lilya wouldn’t be easy, having not grown up around many girls, but she wanted to know her.

sasha rose an eyebrow. he was sitting on the vanity inside her small apartment, surprised, still, that that got on so well. he was sure he would somehow end up with someone who was far too submissive for his liking. he looked up from his phone and reached out seeing her hand. “черт возьми,” he whispered, bringing it up to his lips to kiss softly. “should I call someone?”

“it’s not like I wanted to burn myself.” illyana retorted as a reply to the language she didn’t quite understand. learning another language wasn’t as easy as she’d initially thought. she winced when his lips met her hand, pain still evident. “I have a first aid kit, unless you think this could be worse than it looks. you could just wrap it up for me, please.”

Cyrus: yes ik there's chocolate here but it's not the boxed chocolates from HOME it's not the SAME and that's WRONG !!!

Illyana: i'm just saying, if you're already getting some for yourself, I'm all in to share in that

it took sasha a moment to gain his strength but got to his feet as well. he was happy he did not get another who didn’t share his same sense of adventure into the unknown. “oh but my dear,” he started, taking her hand into his. “you have no idea what you are getting yourself into.”

her fingers laced through his, a gentle tug pulling herself to his side. “quite the cocky one, aren’t you?” illyana found it amusing, the tone he took before they had even left the room. “I can take care of myself, darling.” she quipped and gave his hand a squeeze, the feeling new but not unwelcome.

“Outdoing my first Valentine’s gift? I’ll have to step it up for next year. You’ve just single-handedly started a war.”necklace below the cut