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 Posted: Sat Mar 15, 2025 11:58 pm
A New Kind Of Us Continued from October 8th Main thread. Graham and Chiara cross one another after two years and a fallout that was beyond their control. No pressure to respond!
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Posted: Sun Mar 16, 2025 12:02 am
   ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ➢ relieved, focused ◆◆
ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ➢ Arioso: windmill ◆◆ ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ ➢ Chiara ◆◆
ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ➢ Cassius ◆◆
ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ➢ minus the sweater and one long-sleeve ◆◆
talking - thought
Graham’s line of sight snapped over to the very building his former fiancee had taken sight of and he watched while trying to ascertain what was happening down there. It was still an active invasion and knowing that ruled out some of his theories. There was nothing he found disagreeable in Chiara’s words. He was keenly aware of Alore and the efforts they made to maintain appearances and at first glance, there wasn’t anything he could say negatively about those he knew were from there. ”I will say you have one of the squeakiest reputations out of all of the people I know.” He considered that Chiara was making a good choice to not go crazy with her new found freedom like some people do. They were not cut from the same cloth in that respect; he could use ‘decade’ in a plural sense to describe the length of time he didn’t let something like appearances stop him from having his idea of fun.
”What happened to nobles or royalty if caught in something like that?” Graham, for as much as he didn’t want Chiara to ask that, had to acknowledge that she was even asking that question in the first place. His eyebrows lifted as he pushed a breath out. “Honestly… anything can happen.” he paused to collect the thoughts, still trying to maintain that balance between being uninformative and overly informative. ”Your authority could be challenged for well, any reason. You might not do enough of one thing, or too much or another… not everyone is going to be happy. You could be overthrown by someone or a faction that opposes you. Balancing the politics within the capital can get messy too. It doesn’t just impact the rulers but their families too.”
They were witnessing the beginning of the invasion, so she was likely right with her remark about being there before Corthyr units arrived. For them though, that did mean they would need to find another spot if they saw them approach. Graham listened to her as she explained about trying to fight the person off but made a confused look when she mentioned not having her powers. How was she not able to use her power? Now that she mentioned it, he had not come across the need for them as he had barely come across anyone other than her.
He watched as instead of light, a green concoction pooled in the palm of her hand. It looked weird to say the least and led him to ponder how and why she was able to do that. The thought did not linger for when she flicked her hand to get the slime off, he got to see what followed. Graham’s face twisted and he watched it eat through the materials with wide eyes. He couldn’t immediately come up with words. ”Good that you were not on the receiving end of that.” It wasn’t the first time he had heard of an acidic substance being used to inflict injury or worse on someone, but it was the first time seeing it work. It was heinous.
There was no telling where either one of them would be after Utopia or the decades that followed. The short list of hopes he allowed himself to daydream about were all he allowed them to be for precisely that reason. There was no guarantee things would end up how he wanted. Too many variables and too much fear. The possibility they would end up on opposing sides was real, if not directly then through their alliances. He was only a Duke so his opinions in those situations were only advice at best, but he knew the importance of separating his personal feelings for the sake of their kingdoms. ”You have Queen’s speak down already.”
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Posted: Tue Mar 18, 2025 8:51 pm
  
Chiara felt a surge of pride at his words, her eyes closing as she smiled. She was proud of the fact that she'd maintained her reputation, despite it all. If her people had someone, they could look up to she wanted to be able to be a good role model for them. A soft laugh left her as she leaned her head against him a little bit more and she enjoyed the moment in quiet briefly. She knew this couldn't last, it shouldn't last, but she wanted to enjoy it while she had it. " You flatter me." she teased softly before going back to the serious subject.
As he began to go into the answer to her question she felt her stomach drop. All of the things that he spoke of made her worry but there was something that bothered her. " None of that sounds worse...than being attacked or what you had said before..." yes, everything seemed bad either way, but between losing your life or being tortured, and whatever else he was withholding from her, that seemed like nothing. One could get reputation back, trust could be rebuilt, even being overthrown seemed like nothing compared to losing your life or the life of your loved one. Perhaps she was the naive one, not knowing how hard these things would be to do but she knew eventually at least some of them she'd find out firsthand. She hoped by then she'd have someone by her side, someone she could rely on when it came down to it, but even if she didn't, she knew she had support in the forms of her family and friends. She knew that she would worry about her family and in the long run she'd even be worried about Graham or even Xena if they had gotten involved with her rule. How would that affect them? She almost didn't want to think too much about it but like her mind usually did, it wandered, and she shook her head. ' No, stop thinking about it. Hypothetical, not real.' she scolded herself before she exhaled out of her nose.
After she had shown him what the acid didn't do on her hand and then did on the stone, she knew that she was lucky that the acid that pooled in her hand didn't burn her and only the other man. She looked down at her hand before she shifted her head a little closer against his neck, her eyes closing as she leaned her forehead against his skin. " I....have never seen, or heard someone die before. I do not wish to experience that again." especially the painful way it had happened. And aside from the fact that she was the one to cause it which made her stomach turn in a way that she had never experienced before. She didn't like to think of hurting other people and yet, here she was having killed a man even if they're in a hallucination for some lesson. Her mind began to roam slightly towards alliances and what she might have to do for her kingdom. If she ever found herself against Shahiti she'd have to put her personal feelings aside and protect her people. The same with Mars, honestly if they were against one, they'd be against them both. It was a very commonly known fact that the two kingdoms got along quite well. In fact, she knew the chances of them ending up against each other was quite high. She made a soft frustrated sound before she buried her face in against his neck and closed her eyes. " Why couldn't things be simpler?" she knew it was a question that didn't need an answer. She knew that this is how things were meant to be and she just had to accept it, but it was hard.
Chiara muffled her laugh against him before she lifted her head up and she smiled, even if it didn't reach her eyes. " Mother taught me well." she replied softly, before closing her eyes again. Her thoughts ran and for a split second she had a thought that scared her. ' I could....just tell him. Admit how I feel, get it out there.' the thought of admitting that she was once in love with him, and had been planning to admit it when everything went down made her plans get cut short. She chewed her lip as she opened her eyes and remained silent as she glanced over to him again briefly. ' No. If we're to become normal I cannot throw that into the air, I'll just have to get over it....it's not meant to be.' her chest hurt as she moved her left hand up and she gripped her forearm as she leaned her chin down on him again. She didn't say anything, but her eyes took on what could be seen as hurt as she looked out towards the battlefield. Whether or not Graham figured out if it was because of what was going on, or what was in her head? She guessed she'd find out.
WHO WITH: Graham
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FEELING: Hurt
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WHERE AT: Arioso, windmill
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WEARING: Outfit , Right Wrist accessories.
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OUT of CHARACTER: I'm sorry.
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Posted: Sun Mar 30, 2025 9:04 pm
   ᴄᴜʀʀᴇɴᴛ ᴍᴏᴏᴅ ➢ tired, at ease
ᴛʜᴏᴜɢʜᴛ ➢ "I'm confident things between our kingdoms will be fine. bumpy, but fine."
ʟᴏᴄᴀᴛɪᴏɴ ➢ Utopia > Hallucination
ᴍʏ ᴄᴏᴍᴘᴀɴʏ ➢ Chiara
ᴍᴇɴᴛɪᴏɴꜱ ➢ no one
ᴀʟʟ ᴅʀᴇꜱꜱᴇᴅ ᴜᴘ ➢ minus the sweater and one long-sleeve
talking - thought
He let out a subdued snort in response to the small laugh Chiara gave beside and behind him. Graham was thankful the princess was as easy to carry as she was, but he still needed to adjust his arms to ensure he still had a good hold on her legs. ”It’s a gift.” he teased back at her with a side grin, his eyes focused on the scene outside of the windmill.
Graham tilted his head away from her briefly as he listened. He had to partially agree. The problems a ruler could have on their end did not sound as dire as the ones the people would have. He realized that he may have not connected the points together while trying to answer Chiara’s questions. ”Some leaders would disagree and insist they have it harder, but those leaders are the kind that don’t bother with their subjects.” The fact that she brought attention to the discrepancy was clear proof she wouldn’t be that type of leader. He wondered what side of the coin Musique landed on with that. He knew where Shahiti did. ”The same things that could happen to a leader’s subjects could happen to a leader and their family too, given the right environment for it. It can go both ways, but if anyone with disdain for royalty may not bother to hide it if given the chance.” Perhaps it was Desmond’s reputation or the hard thumb he kept on personnel and their people, but it was surprising they hadn’t experienced any rebellion. His glance shifted as he mulled over something related. ”I don’t think any royal palaces were sacked or overthrown during the war but it’s not completely unheard of.”
His lips parted with a reserved grin as he continued to feel parts of Chiara’s face rest along his shoulder and neck. There wasn’t much she could do back there and his vision was limited to how far he could turn his head so he made due with the rest of his senses. Graham looked down to her injured foot and so far, it looked like the bleeding stopped. That was what it seemed, based on what little was on the scraps of fabric that bandaged it after all this time. He lifted his head back up as she spoke about what she had seen. Death. His head made a subtle nodding motion as he searched himself for something comforting to say. When it came to that subject matter, he believed the blood on his hands was justified but dirtier than he liked for them to be. ”I hope you don’t either, Chia-seed.” He said softly. Feeling her face against him again, he leaned his head over to lightly touch hers. It was a frustrating question that only a fool would say they had the answer for. At least between their kingdoms, Graham thought to himself, they were going to have to work hard to keep the peace.
”She is good at that.” There was no denying that about Chiara’s mom. Feeling her lift her head up, he leaned his away and turned to look at her, his eyes finding a line of sight to hers. There was also the brief catch of her biting her lip, a similar nervous or contemplative habit of his own. All of this… mess in Musique with Corthyr was intended to be educational, but somehow they ended up having a mix of an impromptu therapy session with a side of peace talks for their kingdoms. Their conversations were more intense than he anticipated or meant for them to be, and he felt a little fatigue at having to maintain a poker face during those moments. At least when it would falter, he could keep those expressions hidden by the fact he couldn’t directly face her. Chiara wore a pained look and he peered at her, then in the direction she was looking. ”At this rate, we’ll be fine in the future, war or not.”
OOC:
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Posted: Tue Apr 01, 2025 7:10 pm
Chiara smiled right back as he grinned at her. She felt a weight in her chest lighten as she continued to talk to him. There was the occasional moment where it tightened again but she at least found a peace in the fact that they were able to talk despite it all, and they would be okay. It might be awkward at first, but they would be alright in the end.
As he elaborated on his point about what could happen in war, she wrinkled her nose at the thought of a ruler more worried about themselves than the people who looked up to and relayed on them. She knew for all of her parent's faults she now knew about they cared at least about the people, so that was something she was grateful to get from them. She would never put herself first above the safety of her people, they deserved that much. She knew that her family would be at risk too and the whole thought of someone suffering because of her made her stomach turn. " I won't let anything happen to the citizens of Alore if I can help it. Rulers who put themselves first are selfish..." as she trailed off the realized that she may have indirectly insulted his own leader and brother. She didn't know how he felt about the matter, but she didn't want to offend him especially now. " Sorry, I didn't mean anyone in particular I just, I don't understand how people can do that? If it wasn't for the people of our kingdoms we wouldn't be here. Shouldn't we at least use our power to help them in return?" she spoke quietly, but not quite a whisper. His mention of people who didn't like royalty made her pause, there had been a few incidences that she'd only heard about, but she hadn't heard of many in her kingdom. Others she had heard much more about, but if someone hated the crown that much, they often weren't subtle about it. She couldn't help the shiver that ran down her spine at the thought of what someone could do if they didn't like the royal family, if the lesson from this class was anything it was how bad the world could actually be. One that she didn't realize that she so desperately needed.
When it came to violence and battles, she had first-hand seen only two now. This one and the night that there was an explosion in the school. She had thankfully met with Mike at that time, but she had still seen something that she hadn't before. She almost wondered how good Graham was with the sword, but she also didn't really want to see him have to do so. She shifted her gaze to look over the battlefield even as she kept her head close to his warmth. She was going to miss this, but she knew this had to be the last time. She had to move on, and so did he, she couldn't linger on this feeling if she was to put her kingdom first and do what was best for them? She felt her heart begin to hurt slightly and even as he replied to her statement about seeing death, she felt her mind wandering slightly.
The princess could wish for things to be simpler than this all she wanted, but even she knew that it naive to believe it was possible. Wishes and what could happen were two different things and she knew that but it still hurt her knowing what could have been. She took a breath in as she felt his head leaned over against her own. She committed how warm he felt, his smell and how comfortable she felt against him to memory because she knew from this moment on, she would never be able to be with him in this way. She didn't respond directly to his comment about her mother, but it was one thing that they both could agree on. She was a good teacher even if she was a little protective of her daughters. She had met his eyes briefly before she went into her own mental spiral, and she let out one last exasperated huff. It wasn't him, but she had a task now to do, to confront her parents about how things ended. She tightened her hand around her arm before she closed her eyes one last time and spoke quietly. " I'm glad we got to talk. I never got to apologize to you about how things happened, and it wasn't fair." It was a repeated point but one she wanted to drive home. She felt guilty and now that she talked it through with him, it was hopefully going to be easier to process instead of shoving aside. " I'll always be here if you need anything." she spoke her last words as she leaned into him again and closed her eyes. She could feel her head getting dizzy and something felt off that hadn't before.
At some point in the next minute, she began to feel colder, her arms feeling like they were missing something, and she opened her eyes only to realize she wasn't in Arioso anymore. She snapped her eyes open wider and she sat upright. She was back! Wait, was Graham? Her head turned to look back and she saw that he was still out cold. She moved to stand without thinking and prepared for pain, but she realized that her foot was in fact okay! She looked down at it and blinked, well, at least she knew what it was like to get hurt without actually having it happen. For once. She made her way up the isle and stopped next to him for a moment. She should probably go; it would be too awkward otherwise. She bit her lip for a moment before looking around and noting that nobody else seemed to be awake for the moment before she leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to his cheek and smiled. " Thank you for everything." she whispered before backing off and heading back down out of the classroom. She didn't see Mike, so he must have woken up before her, so she headed off to find him, trying to keep her focus on the task at hand now of moving on.
WHO WITH: Graham -- Graham and classmates.
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FEELING: Hurt -- Surprised, Concerned
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WHERE AT: Arioso, windmill -- Classroom
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WEARING: Outfit , Right Wrist accessories.
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OUT of CHARACTER: …
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