that was love and its an ache i still remember... He had thought of a honeymoon, planned one even when they were together first time around. Now, however, he dared not think ahead, although that was far more easily said than done. Ideas drifted by him, prompting thoughts on locations and occasions. Yet there was no guarantee that a year down the line, or even a month, that they would still be together. The planned and talked as if they were, with their ‘if we are still together’ pieces added on the end as an awkward afterthought. Were they running into this? Were they as blind as they had been before? Were they worse even? After all, was it not possible that they were even more blind? Buoyed by the belief that they had learnt from their errors and it would not happen again. Ophelia’s comments on honeymoons roused him from his darker thoughts and he watched her with a small smile upon his lips. Maybe they were running too fast, careening out of control even but now they knew how to pick up the pieces if they crashed. Would crashing even be so detrimental? Would they learn from their mistakes, find amusement in it or were they able to talk now and navigate their way through life far more effectively than ever before. Maybe it was an amalgamation of all those things… ”So no partying then? Shall I cancel my order of fluorescent part balloons and face paint?” His eyes met hers and he let her honeymoon comment drift unanswered. Yet while Ophelia’s words died in the air, they planted seeds within his mind. His earlier thoughts allowed for these premature ponderings to seep deeper. Quietly the ideas were stowed away, held beside the dusty boxes that had once been their relationship. Her slender fingers against his scalp roused him from a mind filled with rings and chapels. ”Did I?” He questioned, his eyes melodramatically wide as he toyed with the brunette before him. ”Well, luckily for you I have never shied away from a cougar.” He snickered as his fingers reached out to snag her wrist as she withdrew and bring her wrist to his lips. He inhaled the scent of her perfume that she sprayed lightly on the inside of each wrist before allowing her to draw her hand away. He had caught the subtle floral fragrance at both the party and the dates they had recently been on. Today the scent was so faint, yet it stirred something within him, a memory maybe from when they had prepared to go out together in this very house. ”So much has changed, yet everything remains the same still.” He murmured thoughtfully, black eyes holding hers in a moment that was so much heavier than he had ever anticipated or intended. Fingers twitched to hold her, lips tingling with memory and his body complaining of the scant distance between them. The moment gone, he releases her hand, once again leaning back against the counter for he had barely realized that he had moved forwards, closer to her and where she had been stood against the counter also. Doormat. She had never been a dormat, not to him at least. His thoughts do not focus upon the part of her that may feel she ever was, but rather the new found spirit she possessed. He had been witness to her arrival when Ophelia had all out refused his challenge and instead laid down her own. It had shocked him for a moment, yet when the seconds fluttered away they left in their wake a keen desire. Had Cronus’ arrived moments later, he would not have found Danny or Ophelia as their presence would have instead been occupying the nearest staff room. To say that the spirit Ophelia finally decided to release agreed with his inner Rajput was an understatement of generous proportions. ”I never thought you were a doormat, Fee, but I hope you are right because I want to see more of that girl from the party.” His smile was sinful, feral even, the Rajput within him finally making an appearance even in the quiet time they spent together. ”What makes you think I like it now?” He murmured, his voice petulant as he thought of each evening when they managed to pry themselves from one another and go home like teenagers with curfews. They had been so good, yet already things were beginning to crack, their resolves quaking with each stolen kiss before they parted and fracturing as one weakly suggested spending the night. Aside from stolen touches they had been so very good, yet their strength, even in the dawn of an impending holiday, was wavering. ”I want to take you to the North Pole then. To see the Aurora Borealis.” There was no humour to his tone or light mockery. ”It has something about it, a romanticism, plus it’s Nature’s answer to what you did the other night.” He finished dryly, dark eyes watching her form as he gauged her reaction closely. It seemed they were racking up quite the list of destinations. You can get addicted to a certain kind of sadness Like resignation to the end, always the end image from Deviant Art