WHEN: 1944 APRIL 16; afternoon
WHERE: Roesler's airship
WHO: Dinah Windgrace and Niles Roesler
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[12:13] Dinah (dollihead) hadn't really thought too hard about the 'jealousy' day in any particular depth since it had happened. Her thoughts had more predominantly focused on much of the immediate aftermath to it than pondering the direct words that had been said as the Song had been creeping up to her. Today, things were clearer. Things were more...stable, and she had found herself playing the conversation over and over in her mind.
Then paused.
Then chose to frown.
Something that had been said... she tried to wrack her brains and decide if she HAD heard the word she thought she heard. Whether she had imagined it, or misheard it, or something else...
she'd pored it over and over and over in her mind and had found herself standing on the balcony and in the air rocketing towards the airship before she even considered it properly. Now, she was landing herself down onto the deck with a thud, eyes wide
[12:16] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently): The airship was aflutter with activity. Warmer weather meant a scramble to be out on deck for those that enjoyed the sun, the more nocturnal of the doctor's staff relegated to indoor duties as appropriate. The doctor himself stood on deck with a hand in his pocket busying itself with a small emerald stone, the other pointing at various parts of the ship as couriers delivered crates and packages of supplies.
Niles didn't need Risley to announce Dinah's approach. As much a force of nature as she still was, their blood bond announced her impending arrival long before she landed amidst the commotion and the doctor quickly waved the crew about their business distributing the shipment of goods so he could attend to her. "What an unexpected but pleasant surprise," he said brightly, smiling wide as he closed the distance to settle a hand on each side of her waist. "...although I think I feel you're a bit distressed. Is something the matter?"
[12:20] Dinah (dollihead) remained wide eyed and silent as he approached, though her smile ghosted across her lips, and as his hands found her waist, she reached to rest her hands against his chest. It was only then she noticed the commotion, glancing around as if she'd wandered into something before looking back up towards his face
"Distressed?" was she? the emotional link was definitely thrumming with something, nervous energy, or stress, or something like an uncertain mix of all of the above.
"Distressed.. no. Maybe? something like it, perhaps. No..." she drew in a breath, studying his face. "I am a little... confused. I think. When I came up last time. what did you say?" her voice hushed a little towards the end, staring at him with that same fixed intensity she got on some of her...less lucid days, albeit with none of the otherworldly sharpness
[12:28] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) raised a brow. His eyes roamed her face and tried to read the little twitches of emotion there but whatever he saw didn't seem to worry him. He patted her sides and gestured with an arm towards the door to his quarters, the other sliding to ring around her waist. "Come inside. Wouldn't do to have any sort of meaningful discussion interrupted by boxes and bags of food, would it?"
Navigating the crewmen, he steered her towards the door before tossing a request over his shoulder for someone to fetch them some wine and a couple of glasses from his office. It was where he kept the better bottles, rarer vintages he didn't tend to waste on just any guest, patient, or client that might visit the airship. "You were very confused that day. Less so now it seems," he said as he opened the door for her. "Though I have to wonder if you're so rattled because something you remember has upset you."
[12:33] Dinah (dollihead) was easily steered, ever pliable to the direction as he shifted her to his room and she nodded mutely, stepping alongside him as his arm came around her. She murmured a quiet "yes" when he mentioned her being confused, and another little nod, worrying her lip with her teeth.
"Not...upset. no. I don't think I am upset about it. I just...want to be sure I am remembering correctly. things can be a little...patchy these days" she disentangled herself just enough to look up towards his face again, one hand removing itself from his shirt to gesture to his bed. "we were there. When I was astride you. you were talking about...people I could trust to do things that was needed."
[12:37] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) paused as they came abreast the fancy four-poster and its luxurious red bedding. He turned them as she pointed at it, his smile creeping wider when she recounted little bits of the event without touching the topic directly. He knew - she could tell from even a cursory read of his mind - exactly what she referred to. "Well we can't have you running off to any old wretch off the streets for help anymore, can we?" he replied and tugged her a little closer to his side. Leaning down, he nudged strands of hair away from her ear to ghost his lips over the uppermost curve. "And what do you recall that I said about those people?"
[12:43] Dinah (dollihead) dipped her chin and gave him an almost reproachful look at his words of the 'wretch', though her hand still at his shirt buried her fingers into it, curling herself against his side at his invite. She sucked in a sharp breath at his lips whispering against her ear and she nodded, silvery eyes studying him from beneath her lashes.
"People that love me" she murmured. her voice trembled a little, and she reached for his mind, trying to See as much as she could, as much of her perception turned onto him to study his reaction. "That was what you said. wasn't it?"
[12:45] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) chuckled against her ear in the face of that reproach. He pulled away just enough for her to see his face clearly when he got the impression she needed to, returning the stare from the beneath the slightly curled sprawl of bangs as he listened. There was no deceit in his mind when he answered; instead she found images of the moment in question replaying as well as the rather intimate moments that followed. His smile widened to a little grin and he tipped his head downward a little towards hers. "I'd say you remember it to the letter," he answered.
[12:49] Dinah (dollihead) exhaled slowly as he confirmed her memory, and she turned, resting her hands on her knees, staring at the tops of them for a moment. She swallowed, thinking hard for a few moments, before peering up towards him again.
"you counted yourself amongst that number" she added quietly, fingers flexing where they rested on her lap. "what...does that mean to you, that sentiment?" she hadn't quite relaxed yet, still tense, but at least the worry that it had been something her mind had conjured out of dreamspace and madness had been assuaged for now.
[13:04] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) let a little peal of amusement flash across his mind as she turned away though - not mocking, simply chuffed by how she happened to be taking the news. "I did," he answered when she looked back at him again. At the question both hands spread before dropping to his sides. "I suppose it means Dorian will have that much more reason to punch a hole in me," he said with a little laugh. His face settled into a smaller smile and a gentler upturn of the brow when he closed the distance to her again. This time both hands moved to cup the sides of her face, thumbs smoothing briefly over her cheeks. "...If you want me to explain in-depth what it means to love you this may be a winding and lengthy conversation," he said quietly after a pause of thought. "The long-lived have strange and twisted ways about it evolved from ages of loss and growth and... evolution. I think you understand that. And I think..." he paused to lean down and press a kiss to her lips unless she stopped him. "...that you just want to hear me say 'I love you' more directly."
[13:09] Dinah (dollihead) huffed a soft laugh at Dorian having the excuse to punch another hole in him and she shook her head "like he'd ever want for an excuse, if he wanted one he'd find one sharpish enough" she added in a mutter, though as his hands met her cheeks she stared at him, eyes owlish.
"I want to know what it means to you" she nigh squeaked out "it might just be...a casual turn of phrase to you, for someone that is just... you are fond of, or... people say that for so many reasons now, for varying degrees of seriousness and.." she stopped herself rambling as he kissed her and she tilted her lips in to his, but as he said the words again, and more directly, she did utter another little squeak, balling her hands up into fists
"I... no one has ever said that to me. Outside of the family. No one has ever been inclined to say that. or lived long enough to.."
[13:17] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) scrunched up his face in response to the request to explain and the distaste for coming up with words for such things was clear enough in his mind for her to read. "Actions, not words," he replied. When he went on each statement was punctuated with a kiss - to her neck, her temple, the notch of her collarbone. "It means connecting us by blood so I might always feel you. Delving into your mind to dredge you up from the grip of the many gods vying for control of your soul. Weathering whatever blows your brother might levy at me in retaliation." A stronger grip clutched at her waist and he moved to lift her and hold her against him, little nudges of telepathy urging her legs to settled where they naturally might around his waist as if to dissuade any notion of fighting the effort. "It means however many attempts at ending my very long life, I'll always find my way back. It means, mein liebchen, that you would have to try exceedingly hard to get rid of me and even then, I can't promise you'll succeed."
[13:23] Dinah (dollihead) nodded, assuaged by the thought of actions, not words. One was far easier than the other. Each kiss had her tilting her head towards him, and as he lifted her, she did pull her legs around his waist, her arms wrapping over his shoulders to burrow her own face against his neck.
"you are very persistent" she agreed, voice soft, still somewhat obviously shellshocked by it all, and she rested her cheek against his shoulder. "I suppose...I had never expected it." the fingers over his shoulders curled up to stroke across the hair at the nape of his neck. "i suppose with everything...it had not been something I had expected at all" she sagged, sighed, relaxed herself against his chest. "so I thought it might have been something my brain had conjured."
[13:35] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) scoffed and stepped over to the piano, seating her not on the bench but atop the wooden cover that sat closed over its inner workings. Bracing his hand against the wood on either side of her he bent his head to eye-level, staring at her as reprovingly as she had him when he spoke of gutter wretches. "Never expected? Dinah... you're cleverer a woman than that. And besides, even doubting me... would you question one of your patrons spitting me out at your feet after you murdered a facsimile of me?" He chuckled and leaned his forehead against her own. "With everything... I'd think you wouldn't expect anything less."
[13:43] Dinah (dollihead) gave him another reproachful look, and she sighed, smiling although somewhat wearily. "Cleverness has very little to do with emotions, I find, and I am literally awful at the latter. hadn't you noticed?" she shook her head "It wasn't that I doubted you as such" she settled herself on the piano's case, removing her hands from him to trace across the woodgrain. "I wasn't sure you were particularly...sentimental with that regard" she shook her head at the question. Far be it from her, especially nowadays, to question the will of the gods. "as I said. Noone has ever said that to me. Not outside of the family, and even then, I only see it as sincere from the two of them." she pressed her brow against his. "I...am not sure what to think. What I expected." she drew back again, running her hand across the pelvis of the bones she was sat beside.
"It should probably come as no surprise that I am more surprised it wasn't drystan." she admitted with a quiet laugh, shaking her head "you continue to baffle me at every turn, don't you? Even when I begin to think I have a grasp on you, you upend it all over again"
[13:53] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) affected a look of shock. "You? Emotions? I hadn't noticed," he said before laughing and stealing another kiss to placate her before she showed too much offense. He hummed as she continued on, shoulders lifting in a slight shrug. "Sentimentality might look a little off from the norm in my case but it certainly exists, even if I am rather particular." Invisible fingers tickled across the piano keys beneath the wood that covered them, a brief arpeggio playing in a major key. The high C it ended on repeated itself once or twice before quieting as the doctor hummed thoughtfully. "...I suppose you aren't entirely wrong to doubt. I won't pretend I haven't used the facade of sentiment as means to an end. I have played people like I would any of the instruments you might find on this ship but you? You're far above that." He moved his hands from the wood to her thighs, sliding upward but stopping before they roamed too close to areas that might be too distracting. "I'd offer you the chance to run if it bothered you but I'm afraid the offer wouldn't be genuine."
[14:00] Dinah (dollihead) feigned a dramatic sigh, shaking her head "I know it might come as some shock" she agreed "just in case it's something you ought to be concerned about" she continued to watch him, looking thoughtful as he spoke. She watched him as he played, and she shifted, half slouched so she could reach the keys of her own and add a few little trills of her own as he finished.
"if it is any consolation I would doubt it from anybody. I certainly hope you aren't offended that I was so confused about...well. All of this" the dangling hand waved vaguely, and her fingers played across the keys again before she pulled herself back to seated as his hands moved to her legs.
"and of course, my first instinct is to ask what makes me so damned special, but I shan't, so I will spare you that repetition again" she laughed quietly, reaching to tangle her fingers in some of the curls at the front of his hair. "is this because I let you chew on my heart again?" she teased "I don't think I would run. Certainly no inclination to, at least"
[14:12] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) shifted so they could both sit on the bench comfortably though he gave her no more room than she strictly needed to sit down. Moving to wrap his arms around her he guided her hands to the keys, to play a chord. "Hardly a consolation," he contended. "I'm not just anybody. But I'll forgive it if you promise to play a duet with me at the Cabaret sometime." He slid his fingers to the lower octaves, the slender digits pausing a moment as he stared at the keys. "I haven't played one in a very long time," he mused with a note of nostalgia.
[14:17] Dinah (dollihead) giggled as he made room for her and she wriggled back so she was against him, fingers running across the keys from the adjusted angle. "True. you're not just anybody. if you were just anybody you'd have been twice dead by now. or i'd have laughed in your face the first time anything even remotely like this was discussed" she conceded. She gave him a sidelong grin though and she nodded, spreading her fingers across the keys to play; just a little, of bach's prelude in C major.
"I haven't ever played a duet but I would be glad to learn some good duet pieces. most of what I know is a little...vintage for a cabaret I suspect."
[14:26] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) listened for a moment before improvising a lower accompaniment to her chosen piece. "Just as well that I'm not," he agreed. "I'm afraid I don't take too well to being laughed at." He paused his playing and settled for keeping his hands on her hips as she tinkered with the keys. "I'm sure we could find a fitting collaboration," he assured her with a kiss to the side of her neck. "I happen to think we work very well together."
[14:30] Dinah (dollihead) chuckled in her throat, turning a little in the seat to face him "that surprises me, actually. I wouldn't have thought it would bother you that much. most everything just seems to flow right off you, except the presence of the dead boy. Even take casual assaults in your stride from darling dorian" she returned to playing, tilting her head to shift her hair away from her neck as he kissed her again. She smiled, mentally reaching up to turn the pages of the music sheets and starting to play. "I think you are right, you know. gracious, if you've managed to last this long and still agree, who am I to argue?"
[14:36] Niles Roesler (ohsoincoherently) chose this time to blithely ignore mention of the Jikininki for the sake of not spoiling the momen, even if the little spike of annoyance at it skittered across the surface of his mind. He didn't respond aloud at least, instead teasing the hint of a bite against her skin before pausing to say, "You, my dear are Dinah Windgrace and could argue most anything you'd like to... except for this. In this particular matter I'm not to be swayed." He kissed her again, gentle as the whisper that urged her to "Keep playing" as his fangs pressed down to pierce her pale skin.