(no subject)

[never_promised]

The conversation with Teja has had at least one outcome worth noting: Harry's remembered his fondness for football. He's scrounged up a ball from the gym, and has been kicking it up and down the hallways all day.

Probably making a nuisance of himself, in fact.

Comments

[livinginmyglass]

"O, but 'twas a cruel provocation!" It is her turn to sound only slightly petulant as she adds, "'twas just at my ear."

[never_promised]

"Not the ear! 'Tis the most dire place for it; let me see thy perilous wound. A king hath a healing touch."

[livinginmyglass]

Viola laughs and comes back over. She tilts her head, still laughing, to present her ear to him.

[never_promised]

It's...it's inevitable, right? That he should duck his head to kiss the corner of her jaw, just below the ear?

Anyway, it's just a kiss.

[livinginmyglass]

It's awfully strange, how one can be kissed on the cheek one's whole life and think nothing of it, and then move maybe two inches over and down and-- if she'd been expecting it, she wouldn't have expected it to feel quite like that.

She looks up at him, startled by-- well, all of it.

[never_promised]

She can't really be startled, can she? Well--maybe. Hal raises his eyebrows. "--Art gravely wounded still?"

[livinginmyglass]

Viola has spent the past few months pining for Orsino, she'd practically forgotten that sometimes things do-- happen.

"No." Her voice sounds funny to her own ears, does it sound that way to him? "A healing touch indeed."

[never_promised]

That's a good sign, then. He grins, and ducks in again, this time for a proper kiss.

[livinginmyglass]

Oh no oh no oh no says her brain, but somehow the rest of her has missed this memo, and she rises up onto her toes to match his height.

[never_promised]

Brains don't know what they're talking about, anyway. But it doesn't take very long before some practicalities present themselves. Such as: "--Thou'rt soaked from this snow and ice; thou shalt freeze."

[livinginmyglass]

"Um," says Viola while her brain attempts to reset from its current combination of !!! and this is a terrible idea. "Ay, we-- we should-- in."

[never_promised]

He glances briefly over his shoulder at the tavern building, which is so far away. "The stable is near; 'tis warmer there..."

[livinginmyglass]

Oh, God, is she going to be tumbled in a stable like some kind of shepherdess?

"I--" What would her brother think, to see her now? And what about Orsino? She loves him, doesn't she? So-- "--I must-- I ought to--"

[never_promised]

"Nay, but--"

...

......Ahem. Is this really how kings behave themselves? Leading girls with no family astray in the stables? He steps back, just a little, not recoiling but giving space to breathe.

"--heh. Thou must--do as it please thee."

[livinginmyglass]

"I-- 'tis passing cold." And her body, finally deciding to toe the party line here, obliges with a well-timed shiver. She folds her arms over her chest. "I shall go in. With a cold I should be fair poor company!" Ha ha! We're joking and everything is totally fine, right?!

[never_promised]

"'Tis dangerous to catch a cold--near as mortal as to take a bit of snow just by thine ear, a perilous thing, surely fatal to one so young."

He sketches a little bow, looking--well, faintly rueful. "If it please you, I will to the stable, to see to my horse."

[livinginmyglass]

Viola nods, then hastily returns the bow.

"Well-- well! I-- we-- well!"

That was a sentence, right?

Yeah, she's gonna start to go.

[never_promised]

"'Tis well, 'tis very well."

He watches her, just a little moment longer, before scooping his football and heading into the privacy of the stable, where he can--collect his thoughts.