Charlene glanced over to him as he spoke about his own courts and she listened quietly, her eyes sympathetic. " Yeah, I really ought to thank them for that..." she murmured, her eyes looking ahead of her again. She knew that while there was a lot of good things the courts came up with, there was equally bad things that happened because of it. " Growing up in the system has made some people vindictive, it's clear to see when you step back." she frowned slightly, her mind wandering to her fellow duchess. She personally held nothing against Alkmene, she was honestly pretty sure the woman didn't even know she existed. She had, however, heard of the comments made and the self-righteous attitude she carried. It wasn't a good look in Charlene's eyes, but if she was perfectly honest, the other woman was intimidating, and she certainly wanted to stay off her bad side.
She let out the breath she held unintentionally, before closing her eyes for a moment and nodding her head at his statement. " It is. And especially with the time differences between here and..." she paused for a moment, blue eyes opening and glancing over towards him for a moment before she kept talking. "Between here and Luna, it works that her bedtime is about midnight here. So, I got special permission to be out after curfew for it." Not that all students obeyed the curfew. Obviously. She knew of at least two of them. She knew the rule was to not share where one was from but perhaps if she casually mentioned it he wouldn't touch on the subject. Sure, she had been good until now, but it only made sense for the remainder of her sentence if he knew that she had to go out at night for it.
Charlene raised a hand up to cover her mouth as she stifled a laugh. She hadn't seen surprise cross his features yet and she couldn't help but feel like it was an accomplishment in itself. While she didn't know too much about him other than what he decided to share, he felt very guarded. Not unlike herself around other people. Like he had to have a perfect image, or a strong exterior to survive the things he'd been through. She didn't bother hiding the fact that she found it a little amusing, her hand drifting slightly to her chin, tapping her finger against it. " It's actually quite surprising what one can miss if they do not grow up the same way as others. I imagine if one had a bit more freedom they would be able to experience more." she wasn't so lucky in that regard but honestly? She knew that she had an advantage over a lot of people and part of her was glad she had been sheltered. Not only from the Luna courts but also from a lot of the war. She knew it was going on, but after that incident her father did not let her leave the house for quite a few years. While she understood why on a certain level, it still did not stop it from stinging. Her not having heard of smores wasn't the biggest surprise to herself however, it was how far that first date went. Honestly, she felt it went a little backwards, but she was not complaining. She tapped her chin softly before dropping her hand back to her lap. " It sounds like you know what they are then, shall I take it as you've had them before?" she allowed curiosity to slip into her tone, was she one of the only who had never heard of such a thing? She wouldn't be surprised if that was the case.
She really tried hard not to linger on the fact that he wouldn't have been like the others, and part of her mind wanted to move on from it, but she couldn't help the after thought she had. " Birds of a feather..." she murmured, her eyes looking forward as she fell quiet again. So, he had been involved in some things that likely didn't look good in the courts. While she shouldn't feel relief that she wouldn't have been alone, she did. She also felt guilt for feeling that way, why should she wish anything like that to happen to someone else? She looked back over to him out of the corner of her eyes and breathed out, a small smile forming on her lips. " Well, I'm sure we can still be considered what people call friends, if we keep bumping into each other." she was almost relieved that she had met someone who supposedly felt and thought similarly as she did. It was nice. On the same front, he had little comment about how they had been treated. What he did have to say was level and she knew he had limited what he said. She understood, it was a heavy situation for anyone to be in, never mind hearing it from someone who had been a stranger before they had bumped into each other. When he returned her smile, she felt her own widening slightly. She felt like she found an honest ally, someone that didn't judge her for her past mistakes. It was a nice feeling she hadn't had for, well, ever. Luka was an ally for her but that was something more; and while Graham was handsome and gave her butterflies in her stomach, she felt like it was more of a friendship at least for now.
It was her turn to be surprised again, his eyes distantly looking out ahead of him as he volunteered the information she hadn't asked him. She shouldn't have been, as he had originally asked her about her daughter, but it made her image of him shift slightly. Of course, when he looked back over to her, she relaxed her shoulders and smiled reassuringly. " Of course you are. All parents are at some point." she rested her arms on her legs and tilted her head slightly as she looked up at him. " That just means you'd be a good father. Worrying about things before they happen can lead to being a protective parent. It would come with time, of course, and lots of trial and error. There are things I would let another child do, or not do, now that I've learned what comes of it." she hesitated for a moment before she sat upright again and set her hand on his leg gently before she spoke a little quieter. " And unfortunately all things bad cannot be avoided but it is how one reacts after it's happened that is more important." that was true of most situations but especially what she had discovered with Bree. Children and adults made mistakes all the same, and nobody was totally free of them no matter how well they were raised. " So long as you love your future children with your whole heart and do your best to keep them safe, that's what matters." She felt her face flush slightly before pulling her hand back and looking down at her legs for a moment before back up to him. " And I apologize if this is too forward, but you seem like you'd do whatever you can. I hope that fate works out for you to experience it one day."
ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ➢ "I am fine with being friends." ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ➢ park bench ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ ➢ charlene ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ➢ none ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ➢ eh, forget them gloves
talking - thought
Did she just… drop the name of her kingdom? Graham was caught off guard with the way she slipped Luna into her part of the conversation and he peered at her. The sidequest of their little rendezvous had fallen off of his radar some time ago but now he knew Charlene was from Luna. He heard everything else she said, how she communicated with her daughter and the difference in time zones. With his back against his part of the bench, his lips turned slightly downward while a darkness replaced the warmth in his features. ”What a truthful little moon-dweller.” He started, his voice in a whisper. ”How did I not guess you’d risk being expelled so easily? What’s to stop me from… ”
He watched her face for a few seconds then relaxed and gave her a smile. Really, he hoped he did not scare her too badly with the sudden joke. ”Don’t worry, I’m not going to. It’s an hour before bedtime in Shahiti, then. Two hours if you’re in the capital.” Graham threw a wink her way while casually dropping his own Kingdom in the same context. Had she been from another kingdom, or a person not as deserving of the same respect, that information would not have been divulged so readily. Their countries as far as he knew were on at the very least neutral terms and he had been there at least once. It wasn’t quite that time yet, and he hadn’t planned on being outside that late, curfew or not.
He knew she had to be trying to not laugh at his face because he didn’t make a joke this time around. He muffled a laugh. In the amount of time their little rendezvous took the both of them had opened up more to one another. His defenses were down, perhaps a little more than he cared for. But it wasn’t bad. What she said about freedoms and experience had him calling upon the memory of others who lived with more and those who had less. ”They would. Having experiences is good… most of the time. It’s the bad ones that can be just as cruel as not having freedoms.”
Graham nodded his head, and furrowed his brows while he tried to remember when that was. ”I’ve had them but it’s been a few years. One of the camps I visited served them a time or two. If you like chocolate you’ll like them but they can get everywhere.” He was twenty at the time. That sounded right. Any time before that he couldn’t remember and it hardly bothered him. The fact that one of the ingredients bore the same name as him never went without comment when he was around them. He internally groaned at the thought of melted chocolate embedded in his fingerprints.
She went quiet and looked to be thinking. Had he said something to offend her? Graham looked out to the tops of the nearby trees. He revealed in more or less terms he had his own court drama, but had not intended to drag her as far down for the single thing she probably always had to answer for. The concern faded when she mentioned them being friends. He looked back to her and tried to find from her face perhaps some deception or an instance of lunacy. There was nothing but blue eyes and a smile of a young woman who, if he was right, meant what she said. ”If bumping into each other is all it takes, I think we swing that.” He met her smile with one of his own.
”Let's hope for both of your sakes she continues to be spared.” Eventually, and unfortunately, things like this had a tendency of coming up, usually by those lacking compassion and planning ulterior motives. Her daughter still had time to be a child before facing the good, the bad, and the ugly of the system™. ”You are a Duchess, right? There is power that comes with the title, if you needed to use it.” Unless Luna operated differently, she had more tools at her disposal than most nobles.
He was still reeling internally about laying his top worry out there. Family history and their current King had made up a majority of it for a time, but the war eventually filled in the gaps. Desmond operated in chaos. War was just as unpredictable. Neither one of them gave a damn about anything so long as they were able to take what they wanted or destroy whatever stood in the way. When he looked back to Charlene, she appeared to be calmer than before and spoke with confidence that kept his attention and his gaze on her face. His concerns were turned around on him and instead she spoke of what was possible. His shoulders relaxed, as did a part of him at least for the moment. ”So you’ve given thought to more?” He felt his hand before he saw it, and returned a small smile. Her point on responding made sense, but he did not know what a response from him would look like. Graham just knew what he didn’t want it to look like.
Graham pulled his head back and looked at her with some amusement. It was a needed thing he’d admit. The subject matter was heavy for him despite having had an easy-ish time speaking to her about it. ”I think you’re allowed to be forward with me at this point. I’ve been forward toward you more than once this evening.” And yet had he not, he probably wouldn’t have missed the chance to meet and get to know her like this. Graham took a breath. ”I like to think I would. I hope so too but we’ll see what fate’s got planned.” He made fun bets here and there with friends. This though? Only time would tell.
Charlene had hoped she trusted the right person with the information she dropped; although it would have really come to light especially if she had to go out a night to speak with her daughter. The turn in his face had her pausing though, her breath catching before he smiled again and she blinked away her surprise before she exhaled out a soft laugh. " You got me there for a second." she knew it was a risk but the fact that he not only joked with her but then spoke of his own kingdom made her breathe a sigh of relief. She tilted her head, looking him up and down for a moment before she smiled and leaned back on her palms slightly. " You're pretty friendly for what I've heard of there, I take it I'm lucky in that regard?" she knew better than to believe all the rumors but the fact that the king was known for being terrifying and ruthless, well, that could make anyone nervous. Graham didn't seem like he was much of a threat and honestly, she felt safe with him, so she didn't mind.
He certainly sounded like he knew what he was talking about and the fact that he seemed to take the words to heart meant to her that he had some of those bad experiences. She paused for a moment as she thought about what that might mean. He looked like someone who probably served but she wasn't about to ask that question. That was a rabbit hole if she ever knew of one. She tilted her head to the side as she closed her eyes and enjoyed the feeling of the warm sun on her skin. " As most things go...too much of a good thing can turn bad, while at the same time it depends on what happens." she mused softly, her fingers tapping gently before she opened her eyes again and thought about what he said about smores. She laughed under her breath at the thought before she lifted one hand and pushed her hair behind her ear. " Sounds delicious. Not a fan?" she couldn't quite place his feelings on it but the question was light enough that even if he chose not to answer it wouldn't have been a big deal. It sounded like something that would be a fun treat to share with Bree, she would have to remember to ask Luka about how to make them so she could share the idea with her.
She could feel his eyes on her after she mentioned being friends and when he seemed satisfied with what she hoped was believing her, he replied. She felt the brief worry she had fade away and she smiled at him. She was happy to call him a friend, even if a new one. Everyone could use more friends in a place like this where things could be so volatile so quickly. Be that from events at the school or new events from people's homes. The mention of hoping Bree continued be spared she nodded her head, her face taking on a slightly more serious note while she thought for a moment. She knew her family had power, but it didn't help that her own parents were trying to get under her skin and get her to do things she didn't want to do. She shrugged her shoulders softly, raising a hand and slipping it under her braid, rubbing the back of her neck. " Perhaps when I take over for my parents, I will. They played such a part in everything happening that while I know they'd defend her come anything now, it was a little on the unsteady side for a while." she knew her parents wouldn't let anything happen to their grandchild but that didn't mean it was easy for her to deal with everything like that on her own. They didn't provide much help once Bree and Charlene returned to the courts.
She was glad he wasn't mad at her for speaking so forwardly with him, that was one thing that she worried about all the time and no matter how many times she would be told it was okay to do so, she still worried. Something that only intensified when she became a mother. She lowered her hand from her neck and nodded her head as she looked back over to him. " Well, eventually, one could hope. All dependent on how things go both here at the academy and with the war in general. Everything is so up in the air I can't make a solid plan for anything yet." her blue eyes moved back over to watch him curiously. His honesty made her heart warm slightly and she softened her expression, a gentle smile slipping across her lips. She thought about her words before allowing herself to just blurt out what she wanted to say. She knew it could be a sensitive subject for many; herself included if speaking with the wrong people. " I think you'd be a good father. You have that protective air around you yet you're not intimidating. I'm sure you could be if you needed to, though." she felt the need to add the last bit in, not knowing if he was one of such men who needed to feel tough to be masculine. There were so many kinds in the world that it was hard to tell so she just covered all bases instead of making assumptions. That method had seemed to be working recently, and she was just glad that she hadn't made any enemies yet. At least, none that she knew of anyway.
The look on her face had him making an amused one of his own. Even if he were the kind of person to snitch to the nearest teacher over Charlene breaking the rules, it sounded like too much effort for miniscule gains. And she’d done nothing to draw his ire. Graham leaned his head to one side and looked at her. ‘Friendly’ wasn’t the word he expected to be used now that she knew he was from the Darkness Kingdom. But he didn’t mind it. He kind of liked it, actually. There were plenty of other things he’d been and could be now. It would be how he’d described their exchanges. They were meeting in an open park-like area with no ulterior motives, not a black market drug den or a grungy interrogation room where ‘friendly’ was the least intimidating of the masks he wore. But was she lucky? The corner of his lip twitched into a small sideways grin. Sure, he’d let her believe she was lucky. “That depends on what you’ve heard about Shahiti and what you’ve done to not get its attention, Lady Charlene.”
“They taste fine, but I’m not a fan of the mess they make. Melted chocolate, sticky marshmallow, crumbly cracker… I’d rather just eat the marshmallows from the bag.” He explained and shrugged his shoulders, purposefully omitting the full name of the crisp square that the rest of the ingredients that sandwiched it for obvious reasons. Someone would fill her in on that detail, and he just hoped in the meantime if she tried to make them herself she didn’t use saltines. Graham put his hands together over his leg to keep himself from rubbing his fingertips together and psyching himself into believing they were dirty with chocolate. “They’re more of a kid’s treat to me, but don’t let my opinion stop you from giving them a try.”
Graham looked at her and wondered what was behind the answer about her exercising her title. Had it come from a place of parental respect or parental control? Perhaps a mixture of both. “At the risk of being too forward with you again…” He started and sat up from his slightly leaned position on the back of the bench, looking right at the Lunar Duchess. At least, that was his working theory. Had she been a Princess with a child out of wedlock instead of a Duchess, it’d be talk of the rumor mills. “You could wait until then, but then you run the risk of not having that respect and deference from when you start. You’re already going to be a Duchess.” He didn’t have to tell Charlene she was already at a disadvantage given her situation; she was painfully aware of that, but she didn’t have to let everyone define her by it either.
Graham blinked as she said how the option of giving Bridget a sibling was more or less in the air. If felt like an answer he himself would give, if asked. What caught his attention more was her mention of the war. Well, the tense she used. She didn’t peg her as the type that would have followed along with the war or have an opinion such as that one. Sure, they were in a time of peace but with the way people acted at Utopia, it felt like a matter of time before someone hit the start button to unpause that. Blue eyes flicked to her. “Do you believe there’s still a war going on?”
He had to laugh a little at the last part where she said he could be intimidating, but that didn’t mean he found the whole remark as funny. The rest of it gave his heart a brief pang that had him stiffening to hide any further reaction. “If I didn’t know any better I’d start shopping for a pram with the way you keep saying things like that.” He had no intention of doing such a thing, not in this economy. There was no denying Charlene’s sincere sentiments had an effect on him. At the very least, it solidified the thought that he’d be better than his own father. It wouldn’t take much. Graham flashed her a smile. “You are too kind in your compliments.”
Looking at where the sun hung in the sky, he knew it was about the time that he usually parted ways from the area and made his way back to the Academy buildings. It wasn’t the pond he sat at today, but the woman that allowed him to sit on her bench with her provided a different, more insightful time. A lot more than he expected from ducks and cigarettes. He realized that he hadn't even smoked one since running into Charlene. Interesting. Graham rose from the bench and pushed his shoulders back to stretch them before looking over and down to Charlene. “This is when I usually take my leave. You have been nothing short of a delight, Lady Charlene… and thank you for your openness and perspective on what we talked about.” It wasn’t a conversation he planned having with such seriousness anytime soon but not one he regretted either. She had been so thoughtful and delicate with it too. He hoped by talking about all she endured, he didn’t leave her night on a lower note. ”If you’d like, we could still meet up next week.”
OOC: Who would have thought he had such strong opinions on s'mores.
ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ: Utopia - exterior gardens ★ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ: Charlene ★ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ: none ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ:but without the gloves★ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛꜱ: 'I guess I made a friend today.'
