Zi'da 49, 717
Venora Charity Gala, Bellesoir, Venora
This song. Ugh.
"I don't fucking care." - Caiusquote™
But, of course he does. Mmm.
'Cause I have hella feelings for you
I act like I don't fucking care
Like they ain't even there
'Cause I have hella feelings for you
I act like I don't fucking care
'Cause I'm so fucking scared
I'm only a fool for you
And maybe you're too good for me
I'm only a fool for you
But I don't fucking care, at all, oh
But, of course he does. Mmm.
They'd been seen together most of the evening, Caius for once in a long time far from embarrassed to be noticed if only because of the lovely blonde Venora by his side. Aware of the thoughts their proximity sparked in the minds of his noble kind, he in his typical form could care less. More than willing to fan the flames with touches and smiles, his intentions were not veiled from view. Rumors be damned, he was more than comfortable with the implications, perhaps because he'd considered the endpoints of all possible paths more than once already. Far more often than the average person, if only because the young Gawyne was both far too academic and far too much of an insomniac for a moment of true mental peace. As much as he told himself it was far too soon for decisive conclusions, unions had been arranged in far less time for far less valuable reasons than actual feelings.
Not that he was entirely ready to make such final decisions this moment, this trial, this season perhaps, but he also wasn't a sarding idiot and he knew that his time of freedom to make his own choices was slowly running out. More than that, he knew himself and he knew his feelings, somewhat caught off-guard by how the delicate pianist had managed to turn him inside out in so short a time as it had been since the pre-dawn breaks of their first meeting.
Not that things had at all been easy between the two of them, either, for Caius was certain that Darcyanna still held some lingering distrust after his lengthy deception, after he'd held back from her everything he'd revealed to Oliver when he'd first met her brother or how the two of them had conspired their intervention not because of Pythera but because of her choice of how to deal with the trauma, her addiction. Their short time together had bordered on the tumultuous, should the young Gawyne's perspective not been so sarding clouded by an ardent and furious infatuation.
Bogs.
What a glorious mess, whatever the cost.
Achingly stunning in her dress and her shoes, Caius felt perpetually distracted, her presence at his side enough to tie his tongue in even the simplest of conversations with others at the Gala. Her smile changed the tempo of his pulse and her hand on his arm was the most righteous act in all of Idalos for this one evening.
Still, as it all wore on, the northern noble grew restless, far too introverted for the entirety of the event and yet obligated to endure. It stretched him thin and he had little interest in drinking the edge of it softer, both because he knew he'd just get sleepy anyway and because he already barely held onto the few wits that he seemed to have at all when standing anywhere near the delicate pianist. Finally, the young Gawyne needed something else, and he waited for a lull in the conversation, for a moment when there weren't as many curious eyes on the pair together, drawing their welcomed conclusions,
"We should dance." Caius declared, leaning to whisper his suggestion, leaning for the excuse to brush warm lips against Darcy's ear, sarding unconcerned if he lingered inappropriately for a trill or two, "Would you honor me with a dance, Lady Venora?"
❦


