paradisalogs | we'll be counting stars

Who: Lucrezia and Cassandra, Lucrezia and Spike!
What: Finding lost dogs and making house calls nbd
When: December 2
Where: everywhere
Rating: PG for now!

Cassandra;

More than half the lavish parties thrown in Rome were probably hosted by her family. The church certainly has deep pockets, most of the time, even if sometimes her father digs too deep. So it's rare that she would miss any of the important festivities or feel the need to leave her house to attend the ones worth going to. Regret is an uncommon sentiment for her when it comes to parties, but she does regret not attending this Bathaus one when it could be a chance to mend old friendships (or just to get away).

It's good that the weather has turned rather cool, since Lucrezia doesn't know what dry ice is and how to properly transport a tub of ice cream. At least she knows to wrap it up in a scarf when she comes knocking, herself all bundled up in a coat as well. Here is hoping everyone is at home (minus Tim).

Spike

The dog was surprisingly well-behaved even if it did bark at the kittens once or twice. It even befriended the tiger, though whether that's to his credit or the tiger's is up for question. She has enough pets as it is, with the mansion quickly turning into a zoo without quick intervention, and Spike is a friend who seems ever in need of a friend, whether one that can talk or not.

But Lucrezia knows to greatly reward those who please her with their company, which is easier done in a magical castle that grants all wishes. So it's with a pretty pink pearl collar about his neck and a matching little velvet coat that she carries Ein back to his door, knocking just twice and hoping the master of the house is in.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Everyone is used by another in the end. It's all she knows. Her father uses her as a pawn, a bargaining chip. Her brother uses her as the ideal he needs and even he sometimes fails to see her the way she is.

But Cass's question just makes her giggle, pulling back to show her that no, it doesn't at all. "Does it bother you that I can spin pretty words or that Joshua can halt time?"

"Not the same, though. Not exactly." But it's a good enough answer for Cass, so she kisses Lucrezia's forehead and then leans over to pick up one of the bowls of admittedly slightly liquid ice cream. Oops.

Still, it'll taste just as good this way so she just scoops up a big spoonful, holding it up and bringing it towards Lucrezia's lips.

"Here."

But why use a spoon when she can dip her finger in that ice cream soup and lick it off with a laugh. (Germs? What germs?)

"Sweet," like Cassandra. She dips her finger, the same one, into the still goopy part of that soup to offer her. It's probably gross, but then Lucrezia doesn't care about such things.

It's not gross though, not to Cass at least. There's no hesitation, she just opens her mouth and wraps her lips around Lucrezia's finger so she can suck the ice cream off.

This is a totally normal kind of thing, right? Surely all girls cling and suck ice cream off each other.

It's normal enough to Lucrezia! She giggles at how tickling Cass's lips feel on her finger or that might just be her feeling giddy. Something about this feels too close in a way that tells her it isn't quite proper, but that's precisely why it's so tempting. Dipping her finger in the melted ice cream again for another taste.

"How does it taste?"

Lucrezia's giggling prompts a soft laugh from Cass, just because she's pleased to see her happy now. If she has any say in it, this will always be the Lucrezia she strives to see. Happy and laughing and content, not scared or sad.

Letting Lucrezia's fingers slip from her mouth, she grins at her friend and tackles her over backward, pinning her down into the couch and somehow managing not to drop or spill the ice cream. Instead she sets it down on the floor and dips her own fingers in.

"You tell me," she says, and paints a stripe of ice cream over her Lucrezia's bottom lip. "Is it good?"

There was once a time when Lucrezia couldn't remember ever feeling scared or sad, back when everything was simpler. As much as she was tired of the many secrets kept from her, ignorance was indeed bliss. And innocence once lost can never be regained.

Only the tackling cuts her short, quickly finding herself pinned under Cass without quite noticing how it happened. She would win no awards for survival skills and unlike her friend, she can't quite read what it means when Cass stains her lip with more ice cream. It doesn't mean anything, surely, surely.

She licks her lips clean and bites back a chuckle that returns only too easily. "The best."

And that, of course, gets a smile in return. She'd be perfectly content to stay just like this, fingers absently carding through soft blonde hair while she looks down at her chuckling friend. What could be better?

"Good," she says, leaning over to kiss Lucrezia's forehead softly. Of course it means something, the same thing it's always meant. That she loves Lucrezia, wants to see her always happy. "Should always have that."

And if two girls aren't supposed to be piled up on top of each other and exchanging kisses like there's no tomorrow, well, Lucrezia hardly cares. Who is she to talk of what's proper what isn't?

She just lowers her gaze to Cass's neck, drawing patterns about her collarbones. Maybe it's a message or just their names in loopy handwriting over and over again. "But what would you have in that case?" If the best is to be hers, what's left?

It's a little funny, the way the urge to kiss Lucrezia rises and fades away the same way it tends to do with Stephanie. But there's a reason there, a boyfriend and boundaries and possibly a slightly unhealthy reliance on Steph that never stopped even after death. She has her reasons to want to kiss Stephanie, but Lucrezia? This is different, and her fingers over her neck don't clear anything up.

Nothing about it feels out of place, though, so Cassandra stays exactly where she is. They'd intended to cuddle for warmth during a slumber party with Steph, so why not get their practice in now? She tips her head to the side to give Lucrezia more room to work, not even bothering to make out the patterns she's making.

"Does that matter?" It doesn't, to Cass. "You'll be happy. Good enough for me."

Joshua is no boyfriend in the traditional sense and boundaries never bothered her. The very circumstance surrounding her birth has already crossed many lines, so why bother abiding with them now? But Cassandra is beautiful to her with her dark cropped hair as Giulia is pretty with her light brown curls. More than anything, Lucrezia wants to feel safe and this feels good enough.

She bites back a grin and tilts her head a little, flexing her toes and using her fidgeting as an excuse to shift just a tad closer. For warmth, of course.

"You cannot forever live for others. You must take what you want too, for yourself and no one else's."

Of course, for warmth. Never mind the blanket wrapped around them. Dropping her head down a little more, Cass leans her forehead against Lucrezia's as she considers what she's just said.

"Don't really... see the point, though." Her voice is quiet and pitched low, like she's telling a big secret. And maybe she is, because this certainly isn't something she's talked about much before. Or ever, really. "Why take things... for me, when others need them? Or want them more? Spent whole life... with nothing. Used to it."

She's comfortable with that.

While she has spent her whole life, more or less, making others believe that what they want is to make her happy. To great success, in most cases.

"But what if, what I want is for you to take something?"

By now it's just an accepted truth, in Cass' mind, that she'll do just about anything for Lucrezia. Going out of her way for even complete strangers isn't an uncommon thing, she's willing to die for people she doesn't even like all that much. It's just a standard that's left over after a lifetime of guilt for killing just one person, she'll give and give until she feels like she's made up for that one life.

It can seem like a joke, sometimes. Faizul wasn't even a good person, and yet she can't stop torturing herself for being the one who ended his life because she was a child and she thought she was playing.

But it's more, with Lucrezia. She loves this girl in ways that feel a lot like the way she loves Stephanie, so it sets her above all others. Lucrezia deserves a friend who will love her with no expectations of repayment, no hidden motives. She deserves someone to protect her no matter the consequences and it just feels good to be that person.

"Would probably take it," she finally answers, brushing a kiss to Lucrezia's cheek. "If it was... something real important, at least."

we'll be counting stars

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject