( Seizing upon the opportunity, Pahja slides into the room without a second wasted -- she doesn't want him to change his mind and shut the door in her face now that she's piqued his interest. It could happen, she knows he's prone to ill-temperedness. But apparently his desire to entertain her questions also remained unchanged and that, of course, is comforting.
Giving him a small, thankful smile, she makes herself comfortable in one of the chairs in the room before he can gesture her to take a seat. Presumptuous, yes, but again -- the quicker she entrenches herself in this space the more difficult she hopes he'll find it to remove her. )
Everything. ( It comes more breathless than she'd like, her eagerness overtaking her as she leans forward, a hand going to grab an apple slice. The action is second nature -- she is used to being in charge, in the center of the room. ) You once told me I would like Amaurot. But for all that I experienced it in your recreation, I want to know what it was really like. What do you do for fun? How does one relax? Do you have theater?
( Pahja clears her throat awkwardly. )
Or you could tell me about yourself. I know your name, I've-- ( Here she waggles her eyebrows, because she really can't help herself. ) Seen you transformed, and we hardly know anything about each other!
[ She is painfully presumptuous, this strange little future creature that swans into his room and settles in as if it is her own. It's not as though Emet-Selch is particularly unaccustomed to the idea of people taking advantage of his limited patience; he is friends with Hythlodeaus still, after all, despite the obvious frustration he causes.
Making his way back across the room, he takes his own seat, leaning back and regarding her for a long moment. It is clear she has some authority, some sense of her own power, and he cannot fault her for that. Confidence is not an unattractive feature in a fellow; he could say the same for himself, knowing his own strength as he does. ]
Everything. We might be here for day upon day. [ She is excited, especially as she continues, and the notion of her seeing him transformed makes his face twist in dissatisfaction. He is Hades and the Emet-Selch both, but he is comfortable enough with this shape. ] You are offering the notion that the two of us were somewhat close. For me to tell you these things and show you them...
[ The waggle of her eyebrows makes her sigh softly. ]
( It's strange, sitting across from him like this. Not that she hadn't wanted to since the first time they met -- he was brimming with knowledge, with things he kept so out of her reach while offering her the truth with his other hand. But she expected to sit across from Emet as he appeared then, not this straight-backed individual with severe bedhead. It's charming given how much the man seemed to like sleeping even when she knew him. )
Oh, no. You transformed before you tried to kill me.
( She says, as a matter of fact. Although in fairness she wouldn't mind seeing him transform in other circumstances. But one question at a time -- Pahja can do that and swallows her bite of apple slice. )
Tell me about yourself, then. What do you like to do when you're not busy... Selching.
( The grin she's giving him can only be described as "shit-eating". )
[ Emet-Selch leans back in his chair, resting his chin on his hand as he stares at her. It's rare that someone actually wishes to know more of him, to push and needle to find out about the heart of him - only people like Azem or Hythlodaeus ever dare. It makes sense, he supposes, if she already knows the worst.
There's no need for him to eat or drink, but he does nudge the table with apples closer to her with the edge of his foot. Bitterness need not mean rudeness.
( She laughs. Not at his misery but his frankness, and the sound that bursts from her takes her by surprise, so much so that it's clear on her face. When was the last time she's laughed? Before Garlemald, surely, before Zenos's takeover squashed the white magic within her and she picked up a scythe instead of her rapier.
If she continues to laugh he'll think her madder than he already does, so she quiets, still amused. )
Aye, you wouldn't be the first to say so. And not the last. Hopefully.
( Depending on how things go in her time. )
Is that all? No... theater? No going for long walks?
[ He has no reason to dance around the topic nor to avoid; there's no need for dishonesty when he has little that he feels he aught to hide. If she truly knows him from the future - and judging by her knowledge of him, the connection she has with Venat, she must - then he imagines that she must know him better than he could know himself. ]
Hopefully? Your expectations for yourself continue to be dismal at best, I see.
[ A shake of his head, a wave of his hand, but it is not as if he can do anything to change that. Her future is hers, and he doubts any changes she makes here will impact what has already taken place. ]
I have been taken for both, yes. I am simply a busy man.
( Oh, that's too good of an opening, and Pahja jumps on it. )
You don't know, perhaps I shall exhibit some sudden bout of seriousness as a result of being shoved full of your aether.
( She's just saying. Leaning back in her chair, tucking her feet under her and curling her tail around them, Pahja considers this. A busy man, huh? Well, that much didn't seem to have changed over the thousands of years at least. )
But you live in paradise. Why wouldn't you want to go out and experience it more than just being shackled to your job? I know I wouldn't want to miss a second of it, no matter how long of a life I had.
You wound me! ( Clutching her chest, Pahja gives him an exaggerated hurt look. Still, he has been somewhat forthcoming and extremely indulgent, so Pahja doesn't mind confiding in him a little. After all, she's been wanting to reach for him again ever since he vanished before her eyes. ) What, and find myself mired in the muck of despair, weighted down by the hopes and dreams of the people who rely on me, unable to do anything but slowly walk forward?
( That... might have been too on the nose for the both of them, and Pahja winces as soon as she says it, her expression turning sympathetic. )
I wouldn't survive. Not as me, anyway. ( He knows that, surely with all that she's told him he understands. ) And it's hard to think of anything serious when there's something new to delight everywhere I look. Or of familiar things that I've known all my life just newly made.
That sounds much akin to what I would expect from what you have told us of the future. Am I to imagine that this is somehow not the case and I have been led astray by your tales of enchantments and such things?
[ He waves his hand, looking away and trying not to think about what said future holds for him. What she has told him is more than enough and his stomach knots as he thinks about it, worried for Amaurot, for his people, his paradise, his friends.
All things he is unsure he would be able to change, people he cannot protect. His failings piling higher than him, Hades, standing tall.
A sigh, then. ]
Then go and enjoy it. I cannot be so interesting that I distract you from Elpis itself. I would believe that Hythlodaeus himself would be far more suitable company.
You, ( She says, very pointedly. ) won't be rid of me so easily. I'd be lying if I said you weren't the most interesting thing to me here, beyond what I came for.
( Not through any doing of his own, mind you, but because she has always wondered what he was like before Zodiark. Before everything. The glimpses she had seen while on the First were tantalizing, they were enough to keep her from running, from mistrusting and doubting. Which did her in at the end, fine, but it wasn't as if up until that point he hadn't been honest with her.
Her hands flex as she bites back the urge to reach for him. )
Not getting to know you in my time -- I wish it could have been different. I want to know you.
Of course I am trying to be rid of you. I was attempting to work in peace, but it seems as though I will be denied on that front wherever it is that I end up.
[ Between her, Azem and Hythlodaeus there will be no rest for the wicked. Emet-Selch rather wishes he could go back to the peace and quiet of before, despite how painfully comforting all of this company is in the end of all things. He wants to keep as much of paradise to his chest as possible, especially if it might be torn from him.
The notion of him being interesting, however, makes his eyebrows raise. ]
You tell me I am not enjoying the most that Elpis has to offer and yet you choose to know me? I think you may need a healer sooner rather than later.
( Is he going to make her explain it? Pahja sighs, chewing on her lip and flashing a small fang at the same time in the face of his adorable exasperation. She'd thought before that was just the weight of thousands of years before, but it is far more reassuring to know he has simply always been like that.
It does get a laugh out of her, a hand coming up to run through her hair -- a sure sign of her exhaustion. Pahja is so very tired, but restlessly so. A bone deep weariness that somehow is lightened by the mere act of talking to him. )
Maybe. My friends back home would agree with you. ( She can just imagine Thancred's face. ) But I thought-- I mean, back when you liked to pop in and editorialize my progress there was more to you and I than the fact we were at odds.
( She thought there was something there, foolishly so. A shrug, conveying her obvious misinterpretation of the situation. )
Even after being corrected I just couldn't stop thinking about what I didn't get to know about you, about where you come from. Who you were.
Then perhaps you might listen to your friends more and speak less of me.
[ The notion of her knowing so much of him has him on edge, a sharpness to him that has him wanting to lash out. She had been so small once, barely physical until he had been the one to give her Aether, and while he does not regret it... Some part of him wishes that he had forgotten to give her a tongue to speak with.
He sighs, leaning back in his chair and letting his eyes drag over her. She is a mystery indeed, this strange little being, and he cannot find it quite within his means to dismiss her entirely. Not when she knows so much, not when she is, in her own words, here to find knowledge, succour and guidance. Hythlodaeus would have his head for denying her anything.
Opening one eye, he looks over at her. ]
If you are so determined then, please. Consider me a book for you to peruse at your will, strange little hero.
( Where would be the fun in that, listening to her friends and ignoring him? If she had, Pahja doubts they would have ended the way they did -- she doesn't listen to anyone, really, and so far it's turned out alright for her in some way or another.
That her determination yet wins him over is a victory in of itself, and her ears perk up in obvious approval. )
Oh, Most Eminent Emet-Selch, how kind of you. ( A pause, and then: ) Let's start somewhere easy -- why did you accept the seat of Emet-Selch in the first place?
[ He rolls his eyes, but at least he means to answer her question. It's a thoughtful one to say the least; few would question why anyone might become one of the Fourteen these days, with their power and wisdom. It is his reason for being here, after all, to urge another to come to the seat.
A hum. ]
I wished to protect Amaurot. Who would not? I am aware I was not their first choice, but I saw no reason to refuse the role.
( A noble goal, one she understands. And how it could twist given enough time and grief into a desperation to bring it back. Would she not do the same? Was she not trying to insure her world's safety?
Her face sobers, giving him a small nod of acknowledgement. )
From the little I saw, I can see why. It... it might have been lesser than it was in life, but it was gorgeous. I would have liked it, I think. You said as much too, once.
( She would have loved to have seen it, bright and full of life. )
You must have liked specific parts of it more than most -- tell me of those.
You would. I cannot imagine a single person who would not find something to enjoy about the place.
[ He is genuine in that, it seems, voice soft as he thinks on it. The notion that his world might soon come to be destroyed, that so many ill things will happen to those he cares for, makes his heart ache somewhere deep inside of him. He wants not to think of it, but some things cannot be undone.
The questions come and he answers each, careful and honest, until he is waving his hand and rubbing his eyes. ]
Surely you are bored of me now. Is there nothing else you that might be a better use of your time? Spend it well, for it seems we've not long left of it.
( It's a small tease, for she knows she's taken up enough of his time -- especially since he's one for resting at every chance given. Pahja slips off her chair, about to make her way out, before an idea hits her. )
Aye, I think there's one thing left undone. Forgive my indiscretion, oh Emet-Selch, but I have wanted to do this for ages now. ( Which is to say she uses his seated position to her advantage to kiss him briefly on the lips, grinning as she does. Quick for she doesn't want to upset him overmuch but she's only going to have this one chance and she doesn't want to waste it. ) There. Curiosity satisfied.
I have an eternity. I am sure, given time, your opinion will change.
[ It's not as though he is bothered particularly; he has nothing else that he might have been spending his time doing. Hythlodaeus is far away from him now and Hermes is busy trying to make a decision for his future.
Emet-Selch may as well entertain their little familiar hero.
His thoughts are dug out when she leans forward and kisses him, his eyes widening briefly, almost panicked, before he leans down to look at her properly. ]
( She laughs at that, though not meanly. Apparently Emet is far thicker headed than she'd thought, although she wisely keeps that assessment to herself. One final judgement she can keep tucked close to her heart to make her smile in darker times. )
Because I rather like you. And I wanted to, ever since you asked me if I knew how to whistle. ( Emet won't understand, but that's alright. He doesn't have to. Shrugging, Pahja continues. ) It might be my last and only chance to see what it was like.
[ His eyes narrow a little as she laughs, as if there's some kind of ploy or game to be undone - but she continues, and some of that tension fades away.
It's rare that people show an interest in him, that people show any kind of desire towards him, Emet-Selch as he is, and his hesitation is clear. ]
Are you planning on dying some time soon? You have time. It is I, I think, that does not.
Perhaps. ( And perhaps she needs to spell it out for him. Pahja takes a moment to settle herself -- straddling his lap, since he has made no move to put space between them -- before continuing on. ) But when I say that you are dead to me, I am not speaking in poetic terms. I killed you, Emet-Selch, because that was the only way forward.
( Her head bows, forehead softly thunking against his as she rests them together. )
I wanted to know what kissing you is like. Not just anyone, but you. Emet-Selch. Hades.
Ah. [ He isn't sure if he should be offended or not, if he should somehow be upset or dismayed that he dies at her hand. If there was anyone who had the strength to kill him then it would surely be her, coloured as Azem and someone he is more than a little desperate to keep close.
His heart aches a little, and his stomach feels as though it is in knots.
Head turning, still resting on hers, he sighs. ]
And how was it, kissing the honourable Hades as he is?
I've been told that, for an accurate conclusion, you must attempt an experiment more than once.
( Which does mean that she will attempt to kiss him again, her hand coming up to cup his cheek while the other snakes across his shoulders to hold him. There is a gentle curiosity in the way she kisses him but also a sharp, desperate ache to her grip, her touch.
She wants to remember this, to have this, even with she will have nothing else. )
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Giving him a small, thankful smile, she makes herself comfortable in one of the chairs in the room before he can gesture her to take a seat. Presumptuous, yes, but again -- the quicker she entrenches herself in this space the more difficult she hopes he'll find it to remove her. )
Everything. ( It comes more breathless than she'd like, her eagerness overtaking her as she leans forward, a hand going to grab an apple slice. The action is second nature -- she is used to being in charge, in the center of the room. ) You once told me I would like Amaurot. But for all that I experienced it in your recreation, I want to know what it was really like. What do you do for fun? How does one relax? Do you have theater?
( Pahja clears her throat awkwardly. )
Or you could tell me about yourself. I know your name, I've-- ( Here she waggles her eyebrows, because she really can't help herself. ) Seen you transformed, and we hardly know anything about each other!
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Making his way back across the room, he takes his own seat, leaning back and regarding her for a long moment. It is clear she has some authority, some sense of her own power, and he cannot fault her for that. Confidence is not an unattractive feature in a fellow; he could say the same for himself, knowing his own strength as he does. ]
Everything. We might be here for day upon day. [ She is excited, especially as she continues, and the notion of her seeing him transformed makes his face twist in dissatisfaction. He is Hades and the Emet-Selch both, but he is comfortable enough with this shape. ] You are offering the notion that the two of us were somewhat close. For me to tell you these things and show you them...
[ The waggle of her eyebrows makes her sigh softly. ]
Ask one question at a time, if you please.
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Oh, no. You transformed before you tried to kill me.
( She says, as a matter of fact. Although in fairness she wouldn't mind seeing him transform in other circumstances. But one question at a time -- Pahja can do that and swallows her bite of apple slice. )
Tell me about yourself, then. What do you like to do when you're not busy... Selching.
( The grin she's giving him can only be described as "shit-eating". )
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[ Emet-Selch leans back in his chair, resting his chin on his hand as he stares at her. It's rare that someone actually wishes to know more of him, to push and needle to find out about the heart of him - only people like Azem or Hythlodaeus ever dare. It makes sense, he supposes, if she already knows the worst.
There's no need for him to eat or drink, but he does nudge the table with apples closer to her with the edge of his foot. Bitterness need not mean rudeness.
Until she says that. ]
Selching? Gods, you are truly a menace.
[ He looks miserable. ]
I read. Study. Learn.
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If she continues to laugh he'll think her madder than he already does, so she quiets, still amused. )
Aye, you wouldn't be the first to say so. And not the last. Hopefully.
( Depending on how things go in her time. )
Is that all? No... theater? No going for long walks?
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Hopefully? Your expectations for yourself continue to be dismal at best, I see.
[ A shake of his head, a wave of his hand, but it is not as if he can do anything to change that. Her future is hers, and he doubts any changes she makes here will impact what has already taken place. ]
I have been taken for both, yes. I am simply a busy man.
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You don't know, perhaps I shall exhibit some sudden bout of seriousness as a result of being shoved full of your aether.
( She's just saying. Leaning back in her chair, tucking her feet under her and curling her tail around them, Pahja considers this. A busy man, huh? Well, that much didn't seem to have changed over the thousands of years at least. )
But you live in paradise. Why wouldn't you want to go out and experience it more than just being shackled to your job? I know I wouldn't want to miss a second of it, no matter how long of a life I had.
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I highly doubt that is the case. I do not imagine it is within your powers to give even a single thing the seriousness it is due.
[ She curls up like a kitten and it makes his eyes drag over her briefly before he sighs. ]
I am not shackled. I enjoy my work and I am able to visit paradise whenever I wish.
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You wound me! ( Clutching her chest, Pahja gives him an exaggerated hurt look. Still, he has been somewhat forthcoming and extremely indulgent, so Pahja doesn't mind confiding in him a little. After all, she's been wanting to reach for him again ever since he vanished before her eyes. ) What, and find myself mired in the muck of despair, weighted down by the hopes and dreams of the people who rely on me, unable to do anything but slowly walk forward?
( That... might have been too on the nose for the both of them, and Pahja winces as soon as she says it, her expression turning sympathetic. )
I wouldn't survive. Not as me, anyway. ( He knows that, surely with all that she's told him he understands. ) And it's hard to think of anything serious when there's something new to delight everywhere I look. Or of familiar things that I've known all my life just newly made.
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That sounds much akin to what I would expect from what you have told us of the future. Am I to imagine that this is somehow not the case and I have been led astray by your tales of enchantments and such things?
[ He waves his hand, looking away and trying not to think about what said future holds for him. What she has told him is more than enough and his stomach knots as he thinks about it, worried for Amaurot, for his people, his paradise, his friends.
All things he is unsure he would be able to change, people he cannot protect. His failings piling higher than him, Hades, standing tall.
A sigh, then. ]
Then go and enjoy it. I cannot be so interesting that I distract you from Elpis itself. I would believe that Hythlodaeus himself would be far more suitable company.
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You, ( She says, very pointedly. ) won't be rid of me so easily. I'd be lying if I said you weren't the most interesting thing to me here, beyond what I came for.
( Not through any doing of his own, mind you, but because she has always wondered what he was like before Zodiark. Before everything. The glimpses she had seen while on the First were tantalizing, they were enough to keep her from running, from mistrusting and doubting. Which did her in at the end, fine, but it wasn't as if up until that point he hadn't been honest with her.
Her hands flex as she bites back the urge to reach for him. )
Not getting to know you in my time -- I wish it could have been different. I want to know you.
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[ Between her, Azem and Hythlodaeus there will be no rest for the wicked. Emet-Selch rather wishes he could go back to the peace and quiet of before, despite how painfully comforting all of this company is in the end of all things. He wants to keep as much of paradise to his chest as possible, especially if it might be torn from him.
The notion of him being interesting, however, makes his eyebrows raise. ]
You tell me I am not enjoying the most that Elpis has to offer and yet you choose to know me? I think you may need a healer sooner rather than later.
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It does get a laugh out of her, a hand coming up to run through her hair -- a sure sign of her exhaustion. Pahja is so very tired, but restlessly so. A bone deep weariness that somehow is lightened by the mere act of talking to him. )
Maybe. My friends back home would agree with you. ( She can just imagine Thancred's face. ) But I thought-- I mean, back when you liked to pop in and editorialize my progress there was more to you and I than the fact we were at odds.
( She thought there was something there, foolishly so. A shrug, conveying her obvious misinterpretation of the situation. )
Even after being corrected I just couldn't stop thinking about what I didn't get to know about you, about where you come from. Who you were.
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[ The notion of her knowing so much of him has him on edge, a sharpness to him that has him wanting to lash out. She had been so small once, barely physical until he had been the one to give her Aether, and while he does not regret it... Some part of him wishes that he had forgotten to give her a tongue to speak with.
He sighs, leaning back in his chair and letting his eyes drag over her. She is a mystery indeed, this strange little being, and he cannot find it quite within his means to dismiss her entirely. Not when she knows so much, not when she is, in her own words, here to find knowledge, succour and guidance. Hythlodaeus would have his head for denying her anything.
Opening one eye, he looks over at her. ]
If you are so determined then, please. Consider me a book for you to peruse at your will, strange little hero.
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That her determination yet wins him over is a victory in of itself, and her ears perk up in obvious approval. )
Oh, Most Eminent Emet-Selch, how kind of you. ( A pause, and then: ) Let's start somewhere easy -- why did you accept the seat of Emet-Selch in the first place?
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[ He rolls his eyes, but at least he means to answer her question. It's a thoughtful one to say the least; few would question why anyone might become one of the Fourteen these days, with their power and wisdom. It is his reason for being here, after all, to urge another to come to the seat.
A hum. ]
I wished to protect Amaurot. Who would not? I am aware I was not their first choice, but I saw no reason to refuse the role.
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Her face sobers, giving him a small nod of acknowledgement. )
From the little I saw, I can see why. It... it might have been lesser than it was in life, but it was gorgeous. I would have liked it, I think. You said as much too, once.
( She would have loved to have seen it, bright and full of life. )
You must have liked specific parts of it more than most -- tell me of those.
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[ He is genuine in that, it seems, voice soft as he thinks on it. The notion that his world might soon come to be destroyed, that so many ill things will happen to those he cares for, makes his heart ache somewhere deep inside of him. He wants not to think of it, but some things cannot be undone.
The questions come and he answers each, careful and honest, until he is waving his hand and rubbing his eyes. ]
Surely you are bored of me now. Is there nothing else you that might be a better use of your time? Spend it well, for it seems we've not long left of it.
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( It's a small tease, for she knows she's taken up enough of his time -- especially since he's one for resting at every chance given. Pahja slips off her chair, about to make her way out, before an idea hits her. )
Aye, I think there's one thing left undone. Forgive my indiscretion, oh Emet-Selch, but I have wanted to do this for ages now. ( Which is to say she uses his seated position to her advantage to kiss him briefly on the lips, grinning as she does. Quick for she doesn't want to upset him overmuch but she's only going to have this one chance and she doesn't want to waste it. ) There. Curiosity satisfied.
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[ It's not as though he is bothered particularly; he has nothing else that he might have been spending his time doing. Hythlodaeus is far away from him now and Hermes is busy trying to make a decision for his future.
Emet-Selch may as well entertain their little familiar hero.
His thoughts are dug out when she leans forward and kisses him, his eyes widening briefly, almost panicked, before he leans down to look at her properly. ]
Why?
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( She laughs at that, though not meanly. Apparently Emet is far thicker headed than she'd thought, although she wisely keeps that assessment to herself. One final judgement she can keep tucked close to her heart to make her smile in darker times. )
Because I rather like you. And I wanted to, ever since you asked me if I knew how to whistle. ( Emet won't understand, but that's alright. He doesn't have to. Shrugging, Pahja continues. ) It might be my last and only chance to see what it was like.
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It's rare that people show an interest in him, that people show any kind of desire towards him, Emet-Selch as he is, and his hesitation is clear. ]
Are you planning on dying some time soon? You have time. It is I, I think, that does not.
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( Her head bows, forehead softly thunking against his as she rests them together. )
I wanted to know what kissing you is like. Not just anyone, but you. Emet-Selch. Hades.
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His heart aches a little, and his stomach feels as though it is in knots.
Head turning, still resting on hers, he sighs. ]
And how was it, kissing the honourable Hades as he is?
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( Which does mean that she will attempt to kiss him again, her hand coming up to cup his cheek while the other snakes across his shoulders to hold him. There is a gentle curiosity in the way she kisses him but also a sharp, desperate ache to her grip, her touch.
She wants to remember this, to have this, even with she will have nothing else. )
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tsundere baby time
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