thecapitol | I could show you what you want to see

Who| Meulin and Kurloz
What| Surprising her boyfriend for his birthday
Where| D4 House and beyond
When| Kurloz's birthday
Warnings/Notes| Nothing yet

The morning is not quite morning yet. The sky has lightened but the sun has yet to make it over the horizon. Meulin tends to sleep later than most of the household but even at this utterly inhuman hour, she's sipping her coffee with bright eyes. There's too much to do to get a late start and at least part of her plans is time dependent. Oh yes, She has plans, plans for the start of the day. Plans to have Kurloz to herself. Like most days she has to brave the cold, she's already bundled tight in layers, with a scarf and hat sitting by the door. The best surprise is one that is well prepared for and she has been planning this for a week.

Carefully balancing a cup of coffee with a helpful straw in hand, she taps on his door. She gives it to a count of three, then pushes the door open. Regardless of his status, awake or asleep, clothed or half naked, she bounces over and nudges his shoulder with one hand and drops the coffee onto a nearby surface with another.

"Come on, I have something to show you."

She drops a kiss on his cheek and walks to the closet to find him something warm to wear. Her head tilts at the sheer variety, like it always does, and she finds herself at a loss. She pulls out one sweater, then another and compares the two. Her dear Capitolite boyfriend, dressing for style and not utility. Whatever shall she do with him?

"It's a surpurrise."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

His eyes say is all really. Wonder and awe. Just what she's hoped. His hand blindly seeks her own and she slips her fingers between his. It feels like one of those quiet mornings. She can't confirm it, but it feels like one. It's the chill in the air, the way people seem to get up late in the Capitol, and the solitude of the little lookout in the park. Behind them, the frozen park is still mostly cast in shadow. Here, up high, the light touches them first. She stares out over the lake, silent for some time as she lets him take it in. Her head rests against his shoulder. It's a few minutes before she speaks and when she does, it's soft.

"Happy Birthday Kurloz. I've something else for you too."

She doesn't offer it yet, though her other hand is toying with something in her pocket.

It does feel like one of them softer morns. Perhaps its the sight before him. Perhaps its the warmth of her fingers contrasting to the biting cold all elsewise, and the light pressure of her head on his shoulder, making him want to lean right on back. It's one of them mornings where nothing needs to be said, really, and not just because of his stitches. This is peace.

His attentions are pulled away from the scene ahead as she speaks. He turns his head slightly to see her better. He watches her reach about her pocket and looks at both it and up at her face with unrestrained curiosity.

A second gift? After all this? A generous one his shipkitten was.

A bright smile meets his curiosity. Her fingers taps the package in her pocket, teasing him with its existence but keeping it hidden from view. It's tempting to keep it and give it to him later but she'd already told him. It seems a little too mean to make him wait.

She pulls out a little green velvet box, though too big to be a ring. It wasn't that she hadn't contemplated rings but this had seemed better. Something fitting. Something for them. The pearl she'd kept around her own neck was gone with Mollusc, perhaps alive, perhaps not, but he could have one of his own. The box is held out for him to take. When it opens, the carved pearl is attached to a thin silvery chain and nestled on a pretty bed of black.

"And that's a happy birthday for every one I missed."

He'd certainly make a huff if he were made to wait after such a cruel tease as she deigns to give, but then, he has been forced into patience for many things, for much longer spans of time. He could probably wait. He is delighted he doesn't have to.

He is surprised by what he sees even before he truly sees it. Some article of jewelry? He was fond of it, but he wouldn't have thought it a thing he'd be given. He tries to think what it could be, the time racing down as he takes the box, gives her one last glance, then opens it for himself.

He had guess wrong. His breath pulls in and a hand lifts to cover his mouth. No one would question the skull being something of his style, but it is the piece from which it's made that really holds him. A pearl. Like the ones they used to search for on the shores.

His heart aches so sharply and suddenly then. He can do nothing but close the box, keeping it held safe in both hands, as he leans in to kiss her.

Meulin watches him so very eagerly. The quick look before he opens it makes her wonder. Does he think she's proposing or something? It's a giddy interesting thought that she'd not prepared for. Not yet, she decides, not right now. She wants the peace that will surely come, the ability to stay with him and not have to worry. It doesn't occur to her that a peace might not come or that they might not be able to stay together. Another thought intrudes, the one that rattled around her head since she'd had it made. Was it the right gift, was it something he'd want? His immediate reaction soothes that. Hand raised in the age old gesture of gratitude, eyes focused on the single shimmering pearl. He sees it and knows everything unsaid by it. It was perfect.

There had been a promise to wear it to extract from him, but she's immediately and pleasantly distracted. His kisses don't always throw every thought out of her head but it's lovely when they do, like a stolen moment of peace. It's all too easy to linger sweetly in it and let her hands find his sweater and grasp it tight. She pulls back just barely, breathless and smiling. Another kiss is stolen quick from his lips and yet one more pressed soft to his jaw.

"It was almost late. I thought it might not come in time."

His girl. His sweet precious kitten. His dearest love and family. She lets him in so easily, like he's not a ruinous thing, like he's just right, fit perfect with her right here and now, like nothing's ever changed and never could.

And she gifts him with an article telling exactly that. A beautiful piece of history, of her, of home. Carved into something Capitol, no, something him. Bones. The aftermath of something harsh, true, but nevertheless bringing something precious out. A cruel but necessary beauty, one that needn't be cruel always ultimately.

His smiles grow greater and softer both, expression near bashful as she kisses his jaw. He looks down at her starry eyed. It's a mix of surprise and happiness to know the plan came about correct. At last, he opens the box again to look at it. The pearl is pulled out carefully, dangled upon the chain. The box is closed and tucked into a pocket. He looks to see if she would like to put it on him, or if not, prepares to do it his ownself.

His face shows something, to borrow his words, miraculous. All that sweetness in his eyes, his smile. It's a side not so often seen. It feels all her own, the moment feels all her own here out in the early morning light.

She takes the pearl with eager fingers, running her thumb over the little pearl skull. It's beautiful. It came out just as she hoped. Even up on tiptoe, he is made to duck so she can get the clasp. Perhaps she should have picked a less fiddly one but it was something made to last. It may take her some time and awkward reaching but when she pulls back and centers it nicely, it's well worth the effort.

"Purrfect."

She bounces on the balls of her feet, hands clasped tight as she takes in the effect. Perfect was right. Small and not too obtrusive, perhaps not to Capitol's usual flamboyance, but she thinks it suits him. Something only the Capitol could bring him in something a little more like Four. Something a little like them.

He doesn't mind having to bend to allow her to string the thing together. It gives him the excuse to get right close to her, to just barely miss the warmth she offers but to feel nevertheless in her careful fingers. His eyes are on her the whole time she works.

He glances away only to observe the result, the necklace secured on him. A little like them. Yes, he agrees.

He moves then, while still close, to kiss her once more, a wordless note of agreement. Purrfect.

I could show you what you want to see | Closed

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