Member
Noctis
wintersoldier
PrinceAlexus
Dezuel
c3p-0h
Snowdrops
Echotech71
The Muse
Ti
ShiningAshEsmii'nesta'taware
Thank you @Force and Fury for letting me do this collaboration.
A Date with Sven
Mittria 22nd
It was a chance meeting, beneath that peach tree at the edge of the arboretum on the way to class. Sven saw a girl sitting there and they talked. It became something of a tradition between them: Esmii, coming from the yasoi rooms in the Ever Tree and he, from his quarters in the northeast quarter of the city. It was at that place where their paths always seemed to cross and, after some time, perhaps by unspoken mutual agreement, they decided to stop pretending that it was a coincidence.
Those morning meetings soon turned into evening meetings as they made their way back from classes. The peaches were in season and the trees’ branches heavy with them. Fruit dragons fluttered about and small arboreal mammals skittered among the leaves. More than once, Esmii released Sage and Newt into the canopy. Sven climbed and plucked peaches and tossed them to her. He couldn’t climb like a yasoi, of course, but he wasn’t half-bad.
Perhaps it was inevitable, then, that feelings of more than simple friendship might develop between them. Esmii, however, proved the bolder of the two, or at least the less oblivious. She managed to pluck up enough courage to ask him out on a date, the part of her mind that had always feared instead of hoped certain that he would turn her down. He’d seemed… close with Ingrid. Instead, he said yes.
Esmii decided on something that they both would enjoy, but she wanted it to be something big, not just around the city. That would take money, and money was… in somewhat short supply. While she remembered that Jocasta had the ability to transport people through teleportation, the tethered usually only did so for payment. Esmii wanted… a favour: to bring Sven and herself to a dragon sanctuary, or a place where dragons migrated. It was a relentless barrage of pleading, cajoling, and small favours. Eventually, Jocasta caved. “Far be it from me to get in the way of young love,” she grumbled. “Just… don’t be late. I’m doing another pickup in the area. You can piggyback. You tell anyone I gave you a freebie, though, and I leave you there. Understood?” Esmii nodded and smiled sweetly and Jocasta rolled her eyes.
It is a warm Victendes morning in Mittria when Esmii waits with Jocasta for Sven to turn up. She fidgets nervously, adjusting her collar or sleeves or hair a half-dozen times. Her outfit is nothing special, but she wants to make the effort to look nice - nice by yasoi standards, but mostly yanii ones. After all, she's never been on a date before. Sage is left with Zarina so she can spend time with Nibbler. Newt remains in her dorm room, but she asked earlier Casii to look in on him. Esmii twirls her thumbs round one another, waiting. "I hope he'll enjoy this date." she mumbles to herself. “Ypti please.”
Sven appears in front of her - seemingly from thin air - with a deep purple rose in his mouth. Plucking it out with a theatrical flourish, he grins and holds it out to her. “My lady,” he offers.
Startled at first by his sudden appearance, eventually she relaxes. "Thank you kind sir," she says, sweetly playing along, while blushing. She takes the Rose from his hand and gives it a little sniff. It smells as lovely as it looks. Not wanting to lose it, she attaches it to a part of her outfit. Once it's properly secured, she looks at him with a big smile, "How does it look? she asks him, trying her best to make conversation with him, to help her feel relaxed.
“Like you’ll get eaten by a dragon before I do,” Sven teases. “Jusht… make sure to wear it.” He twists to greet Jocasta with a little bow. “Thanksh for thish. We appreciate it.”
“I own you now,” Jocasta half-jokes, and there’s an intake of Temporal energy. After a moment, a portal appears: a swirling tear in the fabric of reality. It stabilizes and, on the other side is a spectacular mountain vista, picked out by the tethered for its romantic qualities. “Don’t run through or you’ll go splat,” she warns.
Then, Sven grabs Esmii’s hand and grins. “Last one through goes splat!” he teases.
She smiles gleefully, squeezing his hand tightly before glancing towards Jocasta. "Thank you so much for this.”, she then looks to Sven "Shall we?" walking ahead of him, they enter through the portal together, the date has officially begun.
They emerge onto a promontory looking out over a vast and verdant valley. In the distance, loom great, snow-capped mountains. Wherever they are, it appears to be sometime in the late afternoon. Amid the whistling of the wind at high altitude, they can hear the nascent chirping of crickets and cicadas in the tall hillside grass. The two of them come to a stop, Sven brave enough to walk right up to the edge and peer down into the valley beyond. “Echo!” he shouts, his voice bouncing back to him. He twists and grins at Esmii. “Thish place ish aweshome!” he exclaims, “though… maybe a bit colder than I thought. Now, I wonder where the dragonsh -”
He’s so busy talking at Esmii that he misses the first sighting of them: a small family of colourful Yitsaumin taking off from a hilltop and gliding down through the valley. Esmii spots them, though.
She giggles at how sweet he is being. From the big smile and how he was acting, it seems he's enjoying himself so far. Spotting the Yitsaumin, she points to them. "Sven, over there. There's some right there." She says with glee. She moves closer to him, her finger tracking them as they glide down the valley. Hopefully he'll notice them before she loses track of them.
It takes him less than a second to turn on the spot. Sven’s eyes widen. “Hey shmall fry!” he teases, “How can you even shee anything? Come ‘ere for a lift!” He rushes up behind her.
Esmii smiles at him, letting that small fry comment slide. When he offered her a lift, she was curious about what he was planning to do, so she nodded to "Ok." she says, bracing herself to be picked up by him."Just don't drop me." she teases.
That was more or less an invitation to tease her further and Sven did not pass it up. “Oopsh!” he pretended to stumble, but then he was all wonder. She sat on his shoulders for a bit and they gazed out across the epic vista as late afternoon gave way to sunset. They hiked down from their lookout point and then across to another just on time to see a great flock of Thunder Kites take off from their mountainside nests, heading for the distant coast and their dusk hunting grounds.
Sven pulled out his picnic basket and soon they were enjoying jelly toast, fruits, and salted cold cuts. The evening’s usual insects came out and, with them, the bats and dragons that were known to feed on the pests. “You know,” he announced, between bites, “I’m pretty sure we’re actually in Callanasht. Theshe shpeciesh aren’t native to the Twin Continentsh…” They paused to watch a Licksplitter dart in and snag a crane fly with its long tongue, but then there was a splash in the water as the first of the Thunder Kites dived in, searching for its natural prey of Asperic Carp. Sven’s eyes widened. “Shune, I wanna get down to the beach! I wouldn’t be able to… convinche you, would I?”
Esmii grabs his hand with her own. Snuggling into the side of him. "Sure, we can go down to the beach for a bit. I'm sure Jocasta wouldn't mind us if we are a bit late." she says to him. The two walk along the beach, the crisp breezes set a pleasant atmosphere for this nice stroll, both looking out to the water, the sun resting on the horizon. Feeling bold she wraps one of Sven’s arms around her shoulder, while wrapping hers around his waist. Fish jump out of the water, some were plucked at the peak of their jumps by Thunder Kites. Both point in awe on how nice the sunset is."I've really loved this, spending time with you like this." she says holding onto him.
Sven nods eagerly in agreement, eyes darting between her and the ocean, where the dragons dart and dive in the burgeoning darkness, their electric tendrils spreading and spidering across the water’s surface, stunning fish. It’s quite a beautiful light show and he finds himself entranced. The waves crash and moan, washing in and out. The light of three moons glistens on the ocean, full and bright and there really can’t be a better moment. Sven leans in, brushes a lock of hair from her eyes, and kisses the girl.
Esmii embraces the kiss and falls into it, placing a hand on his face. To the two of them, this was pure bliss. Time came to a standstill, to them they were lost in this moment that only may have happened for a few moments. With the kiss ending she pulls away from him, her face pure crimson. All she could do at this moment was smile at him. Looking at how late it has gotten. At first she struggled to even form a sentence due to being so flustered from Sven kissing her. Then she managed. "It’s getting pretty late. We should head back, so Jocasta doesn't become inpatient and leave us here." holding his hand.
Sven winked. “Would that really be such a bad thing?” The waves washed in and out. The dragons circled, and the moons glowed. When all was said and done, they made it back just fine.
