victory_road | [closed] February Catch All

[Sylvain is quiet, considering Felix's words. He's never had a reason to doubt the man. He certainly doesn't now, not when he knows that Felix has no reason to lie.]

Okay. Fine. But. [He holds up a single finger.] You have to let me treat you while you're here. Full spoiling. No exceptions.

[He has an idea. Maybe a stupid one, but the ring weighs heavily on his mind. He won't get a better opportunity than this.]

Sylvain...

[He sighs, long-suffering. But...if Sylvain is distracted with this, he won't be thinking about the snow. Besides, it might present the perfect opportunity for Felix to...do the thing.]

Fine. Just this once.

Mm. You won't regret it, promise.

[He leans in to steal a kiss. And then a second, just because he's greedy and knows that Felix won't argue.]

I love you.

Ha. We'll see.

Felix definitely does not argue. If there's one thing he will almost never argue about, it's kissing Sylvain.]

I love you, too.

[Then he gives the man a Look.]

But I won't have you making a habit of 'spoiling' me.

Oh, we'll see about that.

[If Sylvain has his way, he'll continue to spoil Felix for a long time to come. For now, though, he'll settle for the few days they have alone together. Later that evening, Sylvain makes reservations for another hotel, one closer toward downtown. He finds a nice restaurant with limited seating and puts reservations in for that too. Then a number of other restaurants, one for each night they're due to stay.

He'll spoil Felix every night if he can.

-

It's on one of those nights that Inda goes rustling through Sylvain's bag. She knows exactly what she's looking for -- Sylvain had brought her with to pick it up. She's heard enough gossip from the other Pokemon about Felix's ring. It's her turn to show off.

She brings the blue velvet box over to the assembled creatures, and sets it in the middle of them.]

Stee-Stee! [Translation? Isn't it beautiful?]

Hmph.

[That's all the protest Felix will give for now, but he intends to show Sylvain just how much he's loved in return. He just has to figure out how.]

-

[Thus far, Varley and Alexandre have told all the others about Felix's ring, but Varley hasn't yet had a chance to get her paws on it because Felix usually carries his gym bag around with him, and the box is tucked away in an inner pocket. Tonight, though, he's off being adorable with her favorite of Felix's boyfriends, and he did not bring that bag to dinner.

She purrs, peering at the box in Inda's hands with a certain gleam in her eyes. Pretty, the purr says, before Macneary whaps her lightly with her leek.]

Far. ['No stealing.' Varley looks at Inda with an extremely innocent face. She wasn't going to steal anything!! Promise! She purrs again, asking when Sylvain is going to hurry up and marry Felix already so she can get treats all the time--oops, she means, because they're in love! Obviously.]

[Ah, the worst of questions. Inda is barely familiar with human romantic customs, after all. As far as she's concerned, the two should have been married before. Or were already married, anyway. The concept of parenthood is bizarrely foreign to most pokemon speices, but she's pretty sure they're her dads, anyway.

She shakes her head, leaves atop her head drooping in the slightest. They're too busy dancing around each other to do it. It'd be cute, if it weren't her parents and also extremely annoying. Especially when it's denying her very best friend Varley treats!

Inda starts to say more when there's a beep at the door. Inda shoots a panicked look at the other pokemon, before snapping the ring case closed with a crack.]

All I'm saying, Felix, is that I don't need to train every day. Or even every week. You see these muscles? They're totally permanent.

[Jose yawns deliberately and pointedly, as if to say he's wasting away here while the humans make up their minds. Varley nudges the identical blue box she pilfered from Felix's bag over toward Seteth with her nose, since of all of them, he's the only one with digits that could easily open it.

It's just when Seteth picks up the box that the door opens and his eyes go wide. Not knowing what else to do, he clutches the box in his talons and dashes over to duck under the desk. It is not subtle, nor does the desk actually hide him in the least.]

That is not how muscles work, Sylvain, and you know it--

[Felix's words die on his tongue when he sees Inda and the box. He doesn't notice the Hawlucha under the desk before he glances at Sylvain with poorly disguised panic and then rushes over to crouch in front of the fruit baby and hold out his hand, trying to put himself between her and Sylvain as much as possible to hide what she has.

Hey. Inda. Give that to me. Please?

[Sylvain hardly notices Inda. His eyes lock on the Hawlucha and the box clutched in his talons. Sylvain's already clambering after him, positioning his body so that he's between Felix and the bird. He smiles at it, but it's a little tight.]

Hey, big guy. When did you get sticky fingers? You know, if your namesake found out about it, he'd have you writing lines for weeks! Trust me, I know.

[Behind him, Inda goes wide-eyed. She looks to Sylvain, then to Felix. She holds the box just a little tighter, backing up a few feet as she does. Her eyes go wide, looking terribly close to crying. She's already going to be in trouble for having the box in the first place. But if she gave Felix the wrong box, it'd be so much worse.]

[No no no, don't cry... Felix has no idea what to do about crying. He tries to smile reassuringly at her, but he probably just ends up looking kind of freaked out and talking a little too fast instead.]

Don't worry. It's fine. I'm not angry. Just...just give me the thing. All right?

[In the meantime, Seteth has decided that perhaps he can just...pretend there never was a box to begin with! Yes, Sylvain will most certainly be fooled. He whips his talons behind his back and carefully drops the box onto the floor, and then...sits on it. See? No box here! Just bird. As you were, human.]

stee..... ['You don't understand!" is what she tries to say. But she knows her Papa well enough to know that he won't understand. Instead, and with large, shimmering eyes, she hands the box over. She doesn't look at Felix as she runs to bury her face against Sylvain's side.

Sylvain who is -- currently trying to lift up a Fight Bird and reach beneath him. Give him the box, dang it!]

Inda -- sweetie, just a second. [He doesn't see her expression through his own blind terror.]

[Felix relaxes immediately and sighs quietly in relief, tucking the box away into his jacket's inner pocket before straightening up and turning to watch Inda run away and maybe cry? What is the matter with her? She should know Felix isn't going to be mad at her...

...wait, what is Sylvain doing over there?

The two-foot-tall Hawlucha puffs up his chest and tries to look intimidating while scrabbling with his talons at the floor in a futile attempt to prevent getting picked up.]

Cha! [He's putting his foot down, this box is not for you, Sylvain!...but alas, Sylvain is not listening, and the bird ends up relinquishing the box against his will. And then he sulks about it. He's not coming out from under this desk for at least five minutes.]

[Sylvain is also not coming out from the desk. Not right away at least. He reaches out to ruffle the feathers atop Seteth's head, before leaning back just enough to have halfway decent use of his hands. He flips the top of the box open just to make sure the ring is safe.

And promptly closes it again.

Behind him, Inda makes a miserable sound. He turns to her, just in time to see the cascade of tears start. As she bawls, shedding tears that are way too big for her little face, she points to Felix. Sylvain can only follow her stubby gestures with an expression that's somewhere between humiliated and horrified.]

Felix? What's in your pocket?

Edited 2021-02-05 04:04 (UTC)

[Oh no, she's bawling. Oh no.]

I didn't...do anything, she just...oh.

[A pause.]

Nothing.

[At Felix's denial, Inda wails louder. She tugs on Sylvain's sleeve. Stunned as he is, he's relatively boneless, and so his arm tumbles outward. There's a box in his hand. It's not the box that he bought, now that he's looking at it.]

Felix?

[Inda doesn't wait. She scurries back over to Felix and begins pulling on his pantleg. Please, Papa, she's already in so much trouble!]

Wha--

[Felix stares at Sylvain, and then at Inda, and then at Sylvain.]

...Sylvain. What...is that.

[This is... a mess. And it's made all the more embarrassing by the fact that Sylvain is still half-hunched under the desk.

First things first -- he clambers out from beneath said desk. The box is still in his hand -- that hand is held out to Felix rather limply. By now, his skin has turned bright red, the shade vibrant enough to match the color of his hair, really.]

It's not mine. [He turns his wrist over, then uses his thumb to flip it open. He'd envisioned being that smooth about the motion. The only problem is that the ring in the case is definitely not the one he'd ordered. And he'd checked five times over to be sure it had been right before leaving the store.]

Felix. I'm gonna ask again. What's in your pocket?

[As soon as Sylvain opens the box in his hand, Felix's face turns the same color. He slowly reaches into his pocket and pulls out its contents, afraid to open it now. But he holds it up to show Sylvain the unopened box.

He clears his throat.]

You're wrong. That...that is yours.

[Sylvain's stomach twists. It twists, then flips, then twists again. Each shift sends thrills through his body -- electrifying the tips of his ears, toes and fingers. His mouth feels dry, too dry to figure out how he's supposed to make words come out of it, at least.

The ring isn't his. But it is. Some part of his mind knows exactly what that means. The rest of him simply cannot comprehend it. He looks up, struggling to meet Felix's eyes. He's bashful, afraid to hope, even after everything they'd talked about with one another.

His voice is soft when he speaks.]

What does that mean, Fe?

[Felix doesn't respond right away. Instead, he braces himself and opens the box he's holding. A few seconds later, he even finds the will to look down and see what's inside.

...it's...not a surprise, necessarily, but suspecting and seeing it are two vastly different things. He swallows hard. Did Sylvain...? That can't be right, can it? Maybe this is something else. Felix isn't good at all this...romance tradition stuff. Maybe he's got the wrong idea completely. He doesn't know.

Just in case, though...

He marches up to Sylvain with a sudden determined expression and takes the box out of Sylvain's hand, apparently just so he can thrust it back toward him. The ring, now facing Sylvain properly, looks like this.]

I want you to marry me. That's what it means. Obviously.

Edited 2021-02-05 04:48 (UTC)

[The ring is... perfect. That's really all there is to say about it. The alignment of the stones reminds him of a slashing blade, of all the times that Felix had stepped in to protect him. And the color...

The words Sylvain Fraldarius flash into his mind. His heart flutters, like he's some simpering school girl being charmed by someone. He decides, very quickly, that it's not an unpleasant feeling by any stretch of the imagination.

He realizes he's giving Felix a wide-eyed, dumbstruck expression. His mouth is even hanging open. Upon this realization, he snaps it shut, and quickly sticks his lower lip out into a pout.]

Aw, but Felix --

[This time, it's his turn to snatch the ring out, and his turn to thrust it right back. He angles it just a little, so the light of the room catches the ring just so.]

I wanted you to marry me.

[Yes, Felix was sort of expecting this, and yes, he's seen the ring already, but. BUT. But he hasn't seen it like this. And his brain might have been expecting it, but his heart hadn't really been convinced. So he stares down at it, watches the light play over the stones...they're very familiar colors. Colors he's loved all his life. And the more convinced his heart becomes, the harder it pounds in his chest.

Eventually, he looks up at Sylvain again, trying his hardest not to smile. Or cry. Or whatever it is his face is trying to do. Because he has a point to make first, dammit.]

No. I asked first.

[Sylvain huffs. He tries his best to be stubborn in the face of Felix's insistence. But the way his face looks -- the amount of emotion Sylvain can process on his face and just how shocking that lone is -- he can hardly do more than stick his lower lip out just the slightest bit further.]

Yeah, but -- Save the best for last? [It's a lame attempt and Sylvain knows it. In the end, he just shakes his head before leaning forward. Their foreheads press together, while Sylvain's free hand finds Felix's wrist.]

What if we married each other? No first or last?

[What if we married each other? Somehow, the way Sylvain says it drowns out everything else, makes it real. Drives home the fact that Sylvain was planning the same thing, that without knowing what Felix was doing he wanted this just as much. That...that Sylvain brought him here to this fancy hotel to do this. Of his own volition. Sylvain said yes before Felix even got the chance to ask. (Or demand. Whatever. Same thing.)

His hands tremble the tiniest bit, but his voice is steady.]

All right. We'll marry each other.

Okay. [When he tells the story later, to their Pokemon, to their friends, or to newcomers to this world, he'll let everyone know that Felix asked first. The caveat to that, however, is the fact that Sylvain would be the first to put a ring on Felix's finger.

Even if his hand is shaking a little, and his vision is starting to blur. At their feet, Inda has finally stopped crying, and is instead staring up at them with wide, pleased eyes. Which can only mean her crocodile tears have transferred to him.]

Dammit. [Sylvain speaks through a wide, pleased smile.] Hold still.

[Finally, he manages to slip the ring from its case. He holds it out for Felix to see, for him to read the inscription.

Stick Together, Die Together. It is, very notably, in Sylvain's handwriting. Nothing but the best for Felix.

Once he's certain that his partner, his fiance, has had a good look, he slips the ring on.]

[closed] February Catch All

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