return to paradisa

[secondchances]

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[secondchances]

She grins.

"I'm glad, but given that it's likely just the two of us and we wouldn't be going far from one another anyway, something was gonna happen. Sooner or later."

She knows herself. And him.

[assassino]

“If I hadn’t told you, maybe I would have woken up to you crawling into my bed,” he teases. “Incapable of resisting the siren call of my warm body...”

[secondchances]

Taking this very seriously as they walk along streets that haven't seen anyone in a long time, Steph rolls her eyes.

"Like we wouldn't be sharing a bed to begin with. One of us would totally suggest it's safer and warmer to share one bed."

[assassino]

“You, of course. I would politely refuse at first, for the sake of your honour, but temptation would overwhelm me,”

[secondchances]

No denying that. Still.

"Refuse me? That's not in character. You'd welcome me with open arms, glad to cuddle up!"

[assassino]

He grins, eyes hidden under that hood.

“It’s just to tease you, dolcezza.”

Maybe he’s a little used to the flirting, pretending he’ll back off just to come on stronger later. Girls like that, in his experience — the plausible deniability of having succumbed to some baser urge.

[secondchances]

"I consider the last... however long it was as the teasing."

Teasing that's lasted longer than her actual relationships, but she's trying not to think of those.

"We're practically an old married couple, you and I. No surprise personality traits to discover five months into dating that ruins everything."

[assassino]

He laughs.

"I'm glad you've changed your mind on getting married," he says. The teasing continues.

[secondchances]

"See, I can joke about it because if it's just the two of us, a marriage is impossible anyway, right?" She laughs, but. There's the threat of a blush returning. "Unless you happen to be a priest or whatever."

[assassino]

"Impossible?" he grins. "Dolcezza, is marriage merely a legal arrangement for you? Is it not enough for me to call up to your window, and for you to put flowers in your hair and meet me in some pretty place so we can swear ourselves to each other for eternity?"

[secondchances]

Aaand there's the blush, but she laughs.

"Seriously? That's it?"

[assassino]

Victory!

"You want more than eternity, mia cara?" he teases again.

[secondchances]

"Oh my god, leave me alone," she says, still laughing, and shaking her head. "Maybe an eternity and a half. Sounds good to me."

[assassino]

"What happened to being right where you want to be?" he asks, but he'll leave it there; he knows where she wants to be. Hell, he tugs her gently to walk a little closer to his side.

[secondchances]

She's more than happy to do so.

"Keep teasing me, and maybe you'll change my mind."

Except that's unlikely, given that she likes the teasing. She's got a sense of humor, after all.

[assassino]

"I'm going to keep at you until you want two eternities," he replies. "Perhaps three."

Her sense of humour is one of his favourite things about her.

[secondchances]

"Or, maybe, I don't want to scare you off by saying all of them."

She's been known to come on a little strong.

[assassino]

"It takes more than that to scare me," he murmurs, giving her a squeeze.

[secondchances]

She looks over at him, smiling, and maybe forgetting that they're in what could be a scary situation.

"What would scare you?"

[assassino]

That's a good question. It has an immediate answer: you dying. He doesn't say it out loud, but he's not made of stone. His smile flickers.

"I'm fearless," he says, pleasantly. "It's a man's job to be fearless for his woman."

[secondchances]

"Okay, for one, that's not gonna fly," she says, nudging him. "Secondly, everyone has something they're afraid of.

[assassino]

He smiles even as nudged.

"Too chauvinist for you, bella?" he teases.

[secondchances]

"Yep. Got it in one. You don't need to be fearless for your woman." Steph rolls her eyes.

"Besides, you've always been able to talk to me. Now we can get into the really deep and personal stuff."

[assassino]

In some way, he will never understand why future-women respond so poorly to what sounds lovely to him, being safe and protected by a capable man. It is what it is.

"Well," he says, pausing to shrug. Lightly: "The only thing worse than not having a family of my own would be to lose more of what family I have."

[secondchances]

"Was that so hard to admit?" She asks, kindly. He lost his brothers and his father. Of course he'd be afraid of loss.