Captured Sea [1x1 private]--Story Complete

[ZahraMoon]

☦Ҟȃʑυҝɨ Ⱦѳφȃʑ☦

ʛoɗ oʄ ℭɧɐoϨ and ℳɩȿϲɧɩeʄ

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂ ☠☠☠ ▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

Long lost words whisper slowly to me.
Still can't find what keeps me here.
When all this time I've been so hollow inside,
I know you're still there.

Kaz nodded back but honestly wasn't quite listening to what Adrienne was actually saying even though he had heard her words. His mind was too preoccupied with the next step of his plan to really focus. As she stopped speaking he snapped out of his thoughts and shifted a bit in his chair while clearing his throat which was suddenly a lot more dry, "Oh alright, I guess that's a good thing then." he says back, but didn't answer her question to how things were going back in his own realm. Only part of his brain had even heard the question let alone registered it. Instead he stood up and glanced around the room feeling a bit like this environment was closing in on itself, he shook his head, "This place is suffocating." he admits before pulling out his locket, "We haven't been to that world in the lockets for a while, let's go there." he explains figuring it was better any since it was more personal.

As he pulled out his locket and held it out for Adrienne to connect to her own another hand reached to grasp the basket again by his feet just to be sure that it didn't get left behind in the transport. He was sure that he had never been so on edge before, not for anything. He hadn't really expected himself to be this nervous about this situation either, however, the closer it came to actually speaking with his girlfriend the more nervous he was becoming. Idly he wondered how well he was really holding up on the outside, and finally decided that it was impressively well considering that inside of his body he felt like a cowardly wreck. Anxious, nervous, fidgety and definitely tongue-tied and yet he had no idea exactly why, the entire situation was beginning to irritate him if not a little.

Falling in the black
Slipping through the cracks
Falling to the depths can I ever go back
Dreaming of the way it used to be
Can you hear me?

[RubyMoon522]

Adrienne
Nerissa, Goddess of the Sea

Adrienne was continuously baffled by his behavior. She'd never seen him like this before and that was saying something. He seemed disoriented, not paying attention to the answer to a question he'd asked her, and most of all, uncomfortable. When he stood and glanced around, deeming the room they'd shared for the last fifty years "suffocating," she knew something was entirely off. Looking down at his locket when he held it up for her, she leveled a searching glance at him before sighing with a bemused shake of her head and moving forward. Her eyes caught on the basket she'd not seen before as he checked it and her brow creased a bit as speculative eyes roved away from the basket and toward his locket as she pulled hers from under her shirt as well.

Clicking the two open, she connected them and closed the lids, the familiar six notes ringing out before the darkness swirled around them, soon fading into brilliant streaks of color, the lullaby echoing throughout the space. Disconnecting them once the transfer was complete, Adrienne closed her locket and let it fall against her chest before asking, "Kaz, what's going on?" He looked like a nervous wreck and she had no idea why. It was driving her slowly insane.

Dressed in this.

[ZahraMoon]

☦Ҟȃʑυҝɨ Ⱦѳφȃʑ☦

ʛoɗ oʄ ℭɧɐoϨ and ℳɩȿϲɧɩeʄ

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂ ☠☠☠ ▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

Long lost words whisper slowly to me.
Still can't find what keeps me here.
When all this time I've been so hollow inside,
I know you're still there.

Kaz watched as Adrienne connected the two lockets together for them and then their surroundings began to change. Surprisingly enough, it wasn't actually often that they had traveled to this suspended piece of space and spent quality time with one another. They had arrived at this destination a lot before the children were born, however, after their son and then their daughter visits became less and less frequent and far shorter in duration even though time was at a stand still when they were in this place. It was perhaps because of parental nerves but neither of them had liked the idea of leaving their infant alone in the crib at night while they left even if only a second would've passed in real time. Even as the children grew up the anxiety remained up until Zeke pursued his own dream of pirating and was on his own ship and their daughter, Nora, getting married and making them grand parents. Looking around at the timeless place which hadn't changed at all since the very first time they had come here he couldn't remember the last time they had spent any significant amount of time together in this peaceful place. They were going to have to make it more of a point in the future.

Not even a minute later upon arrival Adrienne turned on him and demanded answers to his behavior. Kaz hesitated in surprise for a moment before realizing that he wasn't as 'cool and calm' as he thought he was being. Scowling to him, he snorts and rolls his eyes, "You're just imagining things." he says slowly instead of actually answering her question. Looking down at his basket he kneels beside it and opens it up, "Anyway, you're hungry right? We can just have dinner here." he says beginning to pull out what was within the basket. Even though he was trying to act like this was no big deal the dinner prepared told a completely different story as he laid out a white silk blanket and lite some candles. With a bowl of strawberries in the middle, he also placed twoplates with roast as the main dish. Remaining in the basket were two cups of lemon cheesecake. With the spread completely laid out he sat down noting with some dissatisfaction that there wasn't a table and chairs which could've made this easier. Glancing up and seeing Adrienne still standing up he blushes and the growls in frustration, "Keep standing like that and I might mistake you for a statute. Are you going to eat or what?" he snaps in his embarrassment.

Falling in the black
Slipping through the cracks
Falling to the depths can I ever go back
Dreaming of the way it used to be
Can you hear me?

[RubyMoon522]

Adrienne
Nerissa, Goddess of the Sea

Adrienne pursed her lips as she waited for an answer, noting his surprise which quickly transitioned into a scoff and a roll of his eyes. At least that seemed more like him... Her temper flared up a bit as he told her she was "just imagining things." Even as she started to get mad, the spark died away for two simple reasons. Firstly, she found it difficult to be legitimately mad at Kaz. She just loved him too much and while they bantered back and forth, she was rarely actually mad at him. Especially by now, they both knew very well what specifically made each other angry. Secondly, the fact that he definitely knew what made her angry made her fuse extinguish; if he was that "out of it" that he said that without realizing it was one of the most perfect ways to tick her off, then something really was going on.

Deciding to wait and see what he said afterward, she was a little surprised when he knelt down by the basket he'd brought, nonchalantly mentioning dinner with his usual muttered edge of annoyance whenever he was miffed at her. Adrienne's eyes fell to the basket and when he started pulling out the contents, she was a little at a loss, her eyes widening very slightly. Her brow creased as he pulled out candles, setting them atop the white swatch of silk he'd spread out for them. As he lit the candles, she watched him, noting how he was acting like this was all so casual, so unimportant when he'd clearly planned this out carefully. She melted a little inside as he set a bowl of her favorite fruit (strawberries) out carefully and Adrienne felt...well, she felt like a jerk.

She was mulling that over when Kaz growled and then snapped at her, making her jump a bit. Shaking off her mild shock, she murmured, "Um, yes," before taking a seat carefully, noting the red at the tops of his ears and lightly across his cheeks. Fighting down a slight smile, Adrienne was still clueless as to what was going on, but it was sweet and apparently premeditated, no matter what he said. She wondered where he'd gotten the food; it was delicious and she complimented that, otherwise staying quiet throughout the meal. After she'd polished off her entree and indulged in a few strawberries from the bowl between them, Adrienne was at ease, at least knowing now that whatever he was going to say to her wasn't bad, even if she was still clueless.

Dressed in this.

[ZahraMoon]

☦Ҟȃʑυҝɨ Ⱦѳφȃʑ☦

ʛoɗ oʄ ℭɧɐoϨ and ℳɩȿϲɧɩeʄ

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂ ☠☠☠ ▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

Long lost words whisper slowly to me.
Still can't find what keeps me here.
When all this time I've been so hollow inside,
I know you're still there.

As the food was laid out, Kaz could see the surprise well on his girlfriends features, although he didn't begin to feel any more at ease until she took a seat and began to eat. For a moment there appeared surprise and then delight that the food was good followed by a verbal compliment. Kaz smirked back pleased to hear that it was actually good and explained what she had clearly been thinking judging by her expression of mild confusion, "I at least know the basics when ti comes to cooking." he explains to his girlfriend, "I'm the one who taught Neda how to cook." he explains, "Never really had the time though when I was sailing." he explains while biting into his own portion of rice. He had learned after being sent to live on land with his mother so that she could teach him how to use his eye and the basics of being a historian. There wasn't much for the child to do during study breaks so he would go into the kitchen and observe his mother assisting the cooks. Kaz was one who learned through observation. After watching the women for so long he picked up the tricks to cooking a good and sometimes even extravagant meal.

As the plates were finished off and Adrienne leaned forward to taste a few strawberries, Kaz collected the dishes and then handed her the cheesecake. He cleared his throat deciding that now seemed to be as a good a time as any to broach the topic, "It's been more than fifty years now that we've been together..." he begins strangely. Looking down at his own cheesecake he plays with it a bit, "I don't know about you, but I haven't really regretted anything about all of that time if anything I don't know how I would've gotten through my life without you. I'm looking forward to spending eternity with you too." he clears his throat again and shrugs his shoulders trying to make it seem as if what he was saying wasn't that big of a deal. It really shouldn't have been a big deal, but nonetheless his heart was starting to kick start into a quicker rhythm, pulling out his box, he places it next to her dessert plate and murmurs with a small nervous blush, "I'd understand if you aren't interested, but I don't know, I was thinking maybe since we're both immortal now we should think about making it more official. That's not really a tradition for gods I know but I guess it would be alright for us since both of us were mortals at one point. I'd rather call you my wife instead of my girlfriend so maybe you'd like to marry me?" he asks while cracking open the tiny box. Inside was a specially crafted blue diamond ring with smaller shimmering diamonds around the band.

Falling in the black
Slipping through the cracks
Falling to the depths can I ever go back
Dreaming of the way it used to be
Can you hear me?

[RubyMoon522]

Adrienne
Nerissa, Goddess of the Sea

Adrienne wasn't surprised to hear that he'd made the food, himself; after all, he had taught Neda what he knew when she first arrived on the Selene. She'd just never had his cooking before and was very pleasantly surprised. Was there anything he wasn't good at? She decidedly kept that question to herself, smirking as she envisioned how he'd answer with an arrogant smirk and a proud tilt of his chin. She nodded as he reasoned that he'd never had the opportunity to cook before now because he'd been sailing.

Smiling and handing him her plate when he held out his hand for it, taking the cheesecake when offered, Adrienne had just taken a bite when Kaz cleared his throat and she paused, blinking with the fork still in her mouth until she swallowed and set her dessert down, able to tell this was going to be whatever he was so nervous about. Her brow rose a little when he started to speak, seeming uncomfortable as he made his vague entrance into preparing for what he was going to say. A slight smile curved her lips as he looked down at the cheesecake in his hand, toying a little with it as he opened his mouth to continue. Her gaze softened on him as he admitted to no regrets and not knowing whether or not he would have made it through his life without her. He would have, she knew that, but she was touched nonetheless. Mostly because she shared the same sentiment.

Watching him shrug in attempt to discredit his own words, Adrienne lightly nibbled her lower lip, patiently waiting while he cleared his throat again. She didn't understand until he pulled a small mahogany box out of his pocket and once that along with his nerves and the dinner registered in her brain, her heart dropped. Swallowing, she looked up at him, seeing the slight blush on his face as he proceeded to give her an out if she wanted it, still dancing around the subject and seeming to be trying to reason with her, as if she needed to be reasoned with. Her heart was pounding by now, which made only a little sense to her; one would think after being together for so long, this wouldn't be so nerve-wracking and amazing and so many other things combined into one feeling. She could only imagine how he felt.

Damn it, she felt her eyes starting to burn with that familiar sensation that came before crying. Holding it back, knowing it would mess with Kaz's head more than likely, Adrienne smiled slightly at his words just before he finally asked the impending question and opened the box. Her eyes widened a little and she hesitated before carefully picking up the mahogany box, looking over the dazzling ring nestled inside. It was beautiful...

Adrienne stared down at the ring a moment before looking up at Kaz, smiling softly. Standing up inexplicably, she circled around the side of the silken-tarped setup until she was next to him and knelt down beside him. Her expression was rather serious with delight brewing just beneath the surface as she gently removed the dessert he was destroying from his hands and set it down on the cloth. That very same delight broke loose just after she looked up at him and lunged forward, tackling him to the floor in a tight embrace, the box safely clutched in her hand. "A thousand times, yes," she laughed softly, kissing him once she sat up a bit. She'd been intending to be at least graceful about it, but all that had dissipated in her excitement and euphoria, not to mention the overwhelming feeling of love that had welled up inside, never dimming once all these years.

Dressed in this.

[ZahraMoon]

☦Ҟȃʑυҝɨ Ⱦѳφȃʑ☦

ʛoɗ oʄ ℭɧɐoϨ and ℳɩȿϲɧɩeʄ

▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂ ☠☠☠ ▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂▂

Long lost words whisper slowly to me.
Still can't find what keeps me here.
When all this time I've been so hollow inside,
I know you're still there.

He didn't expect a flat out rejection from Adrienne. Not that he was confident in her interest in getting married, but because he was confident in her desire not to offend him or his feelings. If only because of that he wasn't too nervous about hearing a 'no.' Adrienne would quicker take the exit he had offered her, instead admitting what he already knew of gods and the fact that it wasn't really among their customs to get married and pledge eternal devotion towards another immortal being. Certainly a few gods had done it already but they weren't the majority. Quite frankly it was far more of a commitment anyway to pledge to be with another immortal being. In marriage the common promise was to remain with that person "till death do us part." For beings who weren't even known to possess a period in which death embraced them that was a long time. If Adrienne didn't want to get married, or found no reason for it he would understand that, since after all either way they had pledged already to love one another forever, but still a part of him couldn't resist imagining his girlfriend react like a mortal woman would upon being proposed to.

Mortal women squealed at the prospect of a proposal. Some even cried--although that was a reaction he definitely didn't want to receive. Their dearly deceased friend Neda had insisted to him that Adrienne would appreciate the gesture immensely even if she wasn't born a human being as they were, but though he suspected she would find it endearing he wasn't confident she would accept his proposal. So upon hearing the silence across from him, the young god held his breath and forced himself to look at her. At first he only saw a shocked face but soon it morphed into almost upset before she distracted herself with picking up the small box and gazing even more critically at the ring.

It was a jewel he had collected on one of their many raids although this was one he had never shown Adrienne. A very rare blue diamond with a glittering of black which he felt showed the beautiful balance between himself and his lover. Along with a few other diamonds he had gone to a craftsman in town and ordered an engagement ring--an order the craftsman found strange since the centerpiece wasn't a glittering clear rock of purity as was typical. He knew regardless of whether Adrienne accepted the proposal or not at least she would like the ring. As she stood up and approached him his eyes followed her until she calmly knelt before him. When Adrienne threw her arms around him and embraced him tightly he stumbled back a little in surprise but her words made him blush a deep red. Swallowing thickly he scratched the back of his head and chuckled a little, looking up into her laughing eyes as she kissed him. Smirking back a little more easily at the gesture so familiar to him after all of these years he puts his own arms around her and kissed her back again softer, "I love you Adrienne." He whispers to her softly, "This time I swear it as a god, I'll always love you." he tells her pulling back a little he notices the hand he had cut a long time ago when he'd promised her as a mortal was glowing. Raising the hand to his chest he rested it over his heart feeling the promise become eternal and binding as the shape of the X grew larger over his heart and then faded away.

Falling in the black
Slipping through the cracks
Falling to the depths can I ever go back
Dreaming of the way it used to be
Can you hear me?

[RubyMoon522]

Thε εnd
Nεxt Bεginning

(And, with that, we conclude Captured Sea.)