crescentview | ⛄️ winter catchall

Right? That's how goddesses work.

[ He feels so validated. Even if he knows full well that he was the one in the wrong then. Well, he had his own reasons at the time too. He lets her take his hand, his fingers flexing just a little nervously.

He can't wholly put it past the goddess that maybe it won't fit or something, just for a last second surprise. ]

...Yeah. I tried to do it properly first, with an offering and everything. But when I thought she was going to say no, uh...

[ Well. He wolfed. And tried to fight a goddess for her, impotently as it was. He's glad she missed that part — it wouldn't have made him look cool at all — but he gives her question a smug little grin. ]

You're going to marry me. [ Apparently!!! ]

[ Several things slot into place in that moment. Firstly, that the ring fits M-21's finger just as well as Ori's ring does on hers. Second, that M-21 wolfed out because... He was worried that the goddess would refuse. She can read into that, right? She can believe that it was out of a fervent wish to ask her to marry him, just like him getting fired up at the auction was out of a fervent wish to be the one to take her out on that date? Of course she doesn't know how the fight really went, but...

The fact that there was a fight at all, for these... She presses their hands - now freshly adorned with matching rings - together and simply stares at them before her gaze finally lands on that smug look on his face. Gods. She offers a hopelessly smitten look back. ]

I am, you're right...

[ She laces their fingers together. ]

I love you.

You... you do?

[ M-21 blinks, staring for a long moment at their joined fingers and the rings sparkling faintly in the light together before he looks up at her expression again. It's unfair how soft she can always look, or the way she can still steal the breath from his lungs with a smile or a few words.

She loves him? She loves him? She did agree to marry him, but...

The recollection of everything he'd said to the goddess crashes over him all at once. "Tell me how much you love her as much as your love can allow"... and he hadn't even really thought twice about it. Now he's blushing in earnest as he looks down again quickly. He's already said it in front of the goddess. It can't be that impossible for him to say it again. ]

...It's the same for me. I mean... I love you, too.

[ Ori levels a bemused look at him for his initial reaction. Of course she loves him - she just said that she wants to be his wife, didn't she?

But... She also knows how hearing those words can shake one's world to its core, how wonderful it can be to hear it for the first time. Ori knows this, because it's exactly how she feels in this moment, too.

And for M-21, who lacks memories from his life before he became an experiment, wouldn't that hold especially true?

He fumbles a little bit on his words, but she knows before he corrects himself what he means. Perhaps she knew well before this moment. Maybe she'd known it even back then, when his friends talked to her at the auction. Maybe the two of them have been expressing their love for one another not so much in words but in actions, especially in the last few weeks.

Still... it feels right, to say it now. She pulls their joined hands towards her and kisses his knuckles fondly before letting go. ]

...We should get you inside. I won't have my husband-to-be getting sick!

[ How does M-21 take to being the princess carry-ee for a change? Because Ori is leaning back a bit to cast an Enhance Ability spell on herself, bolstering her strength before she tries to pick this werewolf puppy up to carry him into their house. Strangely enough, his second time being carried at the whims of a powerful woman today! ]

Hah. What are—

[ Quote from man princess carried: "what are you gonna do? pick me up?"

He gives a tiny yelp of surprise and winds one arm reflexively around her neck as he's lifted to her (admittedly still not very staggering) height. He feels like he should probably be indignant about this one. But actually, hm.

Maybe it's landing in the same category as watching her club pirates with a staff. ]

I'm not gonna get sick just from this...

[ But he's not wiggling, except to maybe lean himself a little closer. It's not his first time being carried, by a long shot. But this is a pretty big improvement over the way he's usually getting unceremoniously slung over someone's shoulder. ]

Of course not, because I'm taking you inside before you can catch a cold.

[ Is it strange for her to find this large werewolf man so adorable? Ah, it doesn't matter. She just does. He just is. From the way he just willingly lets her carry him like this, and even leans into it a little, to that little yelp. Now it's Ori's turn to look smug, her lips pressed into a curve and just barely suppressing a giggle. She can't help it - she's so happy.

She's going to be a wife! His wife. M-21's wife. And he's going to be her husband. They're going to get married... ]

Could you get the doorknob, honey?

[ Which is why she wastes no time in dropping the pet names, now. Why not? They're going to be husband and wife, soon.

Once the door is open, Ori carefully ushers them through and then closes it behind them with her tail. From there, it's a short trip to where the fireplace, where she lets M-21 back down onto his feet. ]

You know, I was surprised to see you transformed earlier, but now I'm even more shocked now that I know you did that for the feather...

[ "Honey"? M-21 is still staring at her for a few seconds, although luckily his body still responds to Ori requests on autopilot, and he opens the door while his brain is still looping on that one. She gave him a pet name? He's the kind of person who has a pet name now? So this is what it feels like.

...She looks so smug about it. Cute.

M-21 snorts softly, settling one hand on her shoulder for balance when she sets him down. He probably should go get changed into something dry, but just stretching out in front of the fireplace is sounding pretty tempting right about now. ]

The goddess is a lot stronger than she looks. I couldn't've done anything untransformed.

[ That was definitely the part that was surprising, right. Also he is diligently ignoring the part where he didn't achieve anything werewolf'd, either. ]

What made her change her mind, hm..?

[ Stretching out in front of the fireplace does sound quite lovely, especially together, newly affianced as they are... And to that end, Ori makes no moves to the contrary, not even when her better senses are telling her he needs to get changed. And even more to that end, she conjures a mote of flame and aims it at the fireplace to get the fire going.

Though Ori is totally imagining some kind of intense showdown where M-21 had been wolfed out, fighting that giant water werewolf and the goddess, and looking very cool. ]

If I had to guess... She wanted you to prove yourself, somehow?

[ M-21 shoots her a quick glance of admiration — her magic does that, too? — and then back at the fire before he gives in to the first impulse and settles himself down on the rug next to it. He reaches for the throw from the couch and gives her a hopeful little look of invitation.

She might get a little damp snuggling now. But there's a blanket, and the fire, so... ]

You know her pretty well. I guess... [ if he's being charitable, because now he's in a very good mood ] she wanted to know that I was serious. ...To prove how much I meant it.

[ Consider that invitation taken. A little discomfort from dampness never hurt her. She'd have made a poor adventurer otherwise. Ori joins him on the rug, snuggling in close and resting against his shoulder, taking care to position her head such that her horns aren't in the way. ]

She asked you if you were serious about marrying me and to prove it... And then you got into a disagreement and fully transformed to fight, instead. And then it worked.

[ She doesn't sound upset or disappointed this time. In fact, she sounds... amused. Fondly so, and it's in the way that she chuckles, too. ]

That sounds just like my friends from home, honestly... You're ridiculous, and I love you.

[ Hope he doesn't get tired of her saying it. Because she's going to keep saying it from now on. ]

[ M-21 relaxes just a little smugly when she settles in beside him, wrapping his arm around her to settle her against his side. He turns his head to rub his cheek just a little against one of her horns. ]

Heh. She wanted to see serious, she got it. And it worked.

[ Was it stupid of him? Maybe a little. But much as he'd rather bite his own tongue than admit it, he's been cautious around the goddess since the first day she kicked his ass. ]He wouldn't have jumped to a fight for anything less than this.

If the tiny smile he sneaks down at her is any indication, he's nowhere near tired of hearing her say that yet. ]

...What do you want, after this? To go back to them?

[ Oh. She blinks a bit at that gesture. He has no idea how much it makes her heart swell, does he? She's so used to making sure her horns aren't in the way or aren't offending anyone, somehow, but here he is rubbing his cheek affectionately against one...

So his tiny smile is met with an appreciative one of her own, at least until she hears that question. ]

I...

[ She's been thinking about it, even without knowing whether or not she and M-21 would end up getting married. Trahearne had told her that he and Syrlya are planning to go back to their world. An easy choice, when they both came from the same place. But she and M-21 don't - their worlds must be quite different if he has things like... phones, appliances, technology... But more than that... While she has less qualms about leaving her old lifestyle behind, she has people depending on her at home, like her friends and her sister. And M-21 has his memories to recover, doesn't he? And not to mention his own team, too... ]

...I don't know. To be honest, I actually really like living here... Especially with you. We have a nice little home, and our farm, and our animals. [ yes, including Mikan-Avolyn ] But my friends need me. And my sister, too...

Yeah. It's been... peaceful.

[ Which is maybe a strange word to use for it, all told. There's been weird interference from the goddess, death by cow, pirates, the chaos of the auction, being kidnapped in the first place. But even with all of that, he's never really felt like he was in danger here. Or like she was.

He lets out a little huff and leans into her a tiny bit more. ]

I've been thinking about it, too. Back when I first got here, I figured if I was gonna get married, it'd be to get home.

[ Well. So much for his plans there, on a number of fronts. He'd thought about asking the goddess if they could choose different worlds, things like that. He hadn't factored in meeting someone that he actually wanted to stay with. Or making friends here that he'd like to be able to see again if he can. ]

I've got people back home that I still owe things to. But no one there that needs me. If I can get word back to them... that'd be enough.

And when I first got here, I thought I would just end up stuck here forever...

[ Marrying simply for the convenience of going home was never an option for her. She would have rather resigned her fate to this place. She knew she would make friends, and even thought she would probably end up with unrequited feelings for someone, but she never could have guessed that someone would fall in love with her back.

Despite all that, somewhere in the back of Ori's mind, she had thought this conversation, if it happened at all, would play out differently. She would say what she'd said, and M-21 would say that he needs to go home, too. And then somehow, they would get married, and then... Go their separate ways, like a pair of star-crossed lovers.

But... That's not what he's just said, isn't it? Not quite. She presses in close, too, and remains quiet for a long, contemplative while. ]

I'm sure your team needs you more than you're saying. Rai, and Frankenstein, and Tao... [ Of course she remembers every name he's told her from his home. ] Would you really be alright with that, M-21? Whether it's to stay here, or... or to go back with me?

[ He glances down at her in half-surprise before a little flicker of a smile tugs at the corner of his mouth. Of course she'd remembered the names and the people he's talked about. She's always turning her attention outwards like that—

A tiny moment of panic follows on the heels of that thought. What if he scrambles the unfamiliar names from her home? "Valphi" was enough like hers, he can manage that one. What about the paladin guy? Is he going to need a crash course from her before they go anywhere? How does he admit if he forgot something? ]

...I don't want to leave them hanging and not knowing what happened to me. But...

[ He starts to shrug before he pauses, not wanting to dislodge her. After a moment's thought he covers her hand with his instead. ]

I don't know. Rai, Frankenstein — the difference between their strength and mine is like between me and the goddess. They took care of me. But there's not a lot I can do for them. ...Besides dishes.

[ He thinks Rai would tell him to go, honestly. Well... Rai would give him an opaque and serene look until he stumbled his way to what he wanted to do anyway. And the rest of the M-series? There's a weight of guilt there, but he can just picture the goofy smiles on their faces if he told them he'd met someone. Damn but he wishes they could have met Ori. ]

[ Ori casts him a sidelong look, tinged with a bit of skepticism. She thinks he's being awfully hard on himself. He worked as a guard, didn't he? And a knight? Surely the people whom he was protecting will miss him. (She doesn't know that it would mostly be schoolgirls who were crushing on him, okay.)

But, selfishly, what he says gives her a bit of hope. Hope that she can't help but cling onto. Maybe... They'll get married, and actually get to have the kind of married life she'd always dreamed of, but never thought was in the cards for her. She turns her body slightly so that she can properly gaze into his eyes. ]

We won't leave them hanging. I promise we won't. If the magic here, that the goddess has... If it's powerful enough to be able to bring us all here in the first place, then I'm sure we can find a way to let people at home know. We... We can stay until we know for sure that we can do that.

[ She's assuming that the goddess won't just, like, kick them all out at the end of the month if they're married. But she also doesn't know that they'll eventually be able to just visit other worlds like it's nothing, so. ]

Yeah. She must have a way. ...She might even tell us.

[ She might tell Ori, at least. He knows full well that the goddess doesn't like him. But in the end, she did give him the feather. And Ori... it's not surprising that Ori is patient enough to wait.

The swell of affection that overtakes him when he looks down to see her looking up at him can still catch him by surprise. He's not sure he'll ever be able to say that "I love you" as easily as she seems to. But as he leans in to press a brief kiss to her forehead, he thinks he'll at least find ways to make sure that she never doubts it. ]

That'll be enough. Might have to keep your friends waiting for just a little bit. And then we can figure out what to do with this place. Pretty sure Mikan-Avolyn is going with you no matter what.

[ Which M-21 is prepared to be gracious about, considering he won that contest for Ori's affection in the end. What are they going to do with the animals if they leave their home here behind? Well, one thing at a time. ]

[ Ori has been too busy with her shop and with being a busybody with other farmers that she has, admittedly, not been able to spend any time interacting with the Harvest Goddess.

Now, though? Maybe once the other farmers have departed to return to their homes... the Goddess will have no choice but to be paid regular visits by this tiny, tiefling druid. But that's all for later - right now, as M-21 leans and kisses her forehead, he really is her entire world. Maybe it's not the same as hearing him say "I love you," but every gaze and gesture of affection fills her heart just as well. ]

I don't think they'll mind waiting a bit.

[ ...Okay, they might a little bit actually, but would any of them hate her for it when they see how happy M-21 makes her? She hopes not. ]

Mikan-Avolyn might like Philostenes. He's a cat wizard. [ Is she going to elaborate? Nope. ] And if we're staying here for a bit, you'll have some time to prepare for, um... Well. Val might try to test you, somehow. And some of the others... But they're all really nice, I promise! They're going to love you!

A... what? A wizard that works on cats?

[ That seems kind of like a narrow specialty to him, but what does he know? It's really sinking in just how much he needs to learn about her world. This isn't just going to be like a little trip to Lukedonia, is it? They won't have phones, or convenience stores, and there are real dragons that like to eat people.

It's not exactly intimidating. It's just a lot to take in. ]

Wait. What do you mean by "test"? ...Combat?

[ Oh no. He has more questions by the minute, and it's threatening to become a barrage if he thinks too hard about it at all. Maybe he can take her friends in single combat. What about as a group... ]

[ There's a not-small part of Ori that entertains the thought of not answering M-21's question, if nothing else for the payoff of him seeing that Philostenes is a literal cat who is a wizard whenever it is that they'll meet...

But he did just propose to her, and they're talking about their future. She realizes from his response, too, that this is certainly a lot to take in - a fact that is only highlighted all the more when she looks at his face again and sees the way a million questions are cropping up in his werewolf brain. ]

Um... Maybe? My younger sister can be a bit... intimidating. Here— I'll be right back.

[ It is with a great deal of reluctance that Ori pulls away from M-21 to get back up to her feet and retrieve something from their bedroom. When she returns after a short moment, she has a small keepsake box with her, which she carefully sets down on the floor next to her as she settles back in beside him again. From inside the box she pulls out a magically-produced portrait of herself and her younger sister, and then another of Ori and her friends. ]

That's Valphi. I know, I know, we don't really look alike... And these are my friends - the Alchemighty! The tallest one is Cibark. This one in the red coat is Dae, then next to him is Aerie, then Mellon, Sian, and... Colin. [ Was that a meaningful pause as she points out the handsome half-even man next to her in the portrait? Maybe. ] And then me. And the cat is Philostenes. See? Everyone looks friendly!

[ M-21 leans over, very casually wrapping his arm around her again to snuggle her back against his side where she'd been before she moved. Pictures?

Maybe it should have occurred to him to try to get something like that of his friends back home. Part of him might be more accustomed than he wants to admit to the idea that some memories inherently were fleeting. ]

...Huh. She doesn't look that tough.

[ She does kind of look that tough, but he's plenty prepared to bluster. The contrast to Ori — well, she already said, she knows. He flicks a glance sidelong at her, visibly comparing the two, and reaches over to tuck a strand of her hair back behind her ear again. ]

You said your wizard friend named the group. That's the cat? [ Or more of them were wizards. But mostly the question is a camouflage for what he's really wondering, his interest snagged on that tiny pause. ] Who's Colin?

[ Is it his imagination that she looks happy to be standing next to him there? Hm. ]

[ That comment about Val widens Ori's eyes, causing her to return that sidelong glance with a clear skepticism as her brows knit together - before the gentleness of him tucking her hair behind her ear dissipates what surely would have been something vaguely scolding.

Well, as long as he doesn't say anything like that where Valphi can hear him... He'll probably be fine(?). She'll just have to make sure he understands that her younger sister is incredibly clever and talented and has no problems stepping on people.

To his question, she shakes her head, and moves her fingers across the group portrait to point at Dae. ]

That was Dae. He's a wizard, too. He and his family used to make up the Alchemighty, but everyone else retired, so he sort of... Recruited the rest of us in, when we crossed paths.

[ And as for the next question... The tiny pause from earlier pales in comparison to the longer, thoughtful pause she now gives. Where does she start? How much should she say, to the man she's just agreed to marry? It was never her intent to keep M-21 from knowing about Colin, but she could never find a proper way to bring it up. It would be better for her to just say it all now. Especially if she's hoping for him to come back home with her, after some time. He deserves to know. ]

Colin is my oldest friend. Val and I met him while I was still a mercenary, so we've known each other for a long time. A traveling bard... Then we ran into each other again and ended up in this adventuring group together, when I was trying to find Val.

[ That about covers the half of it. The other half... ]

He told us he was from a noble family, but then we found out he's, um. A prince. [ A whole prince. ] And we, um... We were together for a while, but it didn't work out in the end. But it's okay - we ended things mutually! We're still friends, and everything's fine. [ Ahem. ] And now I'm here. With you!

⛄️ winter catchall

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finally these regains come in handy

YESSSS HE GETS THE LORE

the deep wife lore...