IC Communication

[nerdeology]

Use this to get in contact with Mikleo outside of the community posts.


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"This is Mikleo. I'll get back to you when I can."

Comments

[nerdeology]

That you want to "hammer out".

[What are they supposed to do, practice until it feels right?]

Dating is a... courtship ritual, isn't it? A step towards finding and committing to a life partner.

[monolike]

If we go by what's in the books, I guess. It seems like it's supposed to be a big deal, but we're already committed life partners, aren't we? Clay and Allen made it sound like a thing you schedule, go out and do.

[nerdeology]

It's not as if we never do anything on a schedule. But it's easier to act spontaneously when we've always shared a living space. Elysia, traveling together, and even here- you didn't take very long to transfer to the Huntress after we arrived. It might be different for them because they're on separate ships.

[monolike]

That's true. Plus, they had to have met here, right? I think they're from different worlds, right? [There's probably a lot to catch up on when you haven't literally grown up beside the person you're dating.]

[nerdeology]

Yeah, there's that as well. So in one sense we're ahead of the game, but... they seem a lot more comfortable with the physical stuff than we are.

[The way they kissed and held hands with ease and no embarrassment had been pretty telling, especially when compared to Sorey's flustered reaction. Which reminds him, actually... time to check something. He lifts himself up out of his chair just enough to give Sorey's cheek an experimental kiss- soft and quick, but completely without warning.]

[monolike]

[G
oes red but valiantly resists the urge to cover his face!! Just. Kind of tucks his chin into the collar of his cloak, looking away nervously.]

Wh- what was that for?

[nerdeology]

[Hmmm... interesting, interesting. Mikleo files that away as he withdraws, fingers ghosting thoughtfully over his own lips.]

Nothing in particular... just testing something.

[So the act itself, and the audience, plays a part in Sorey's reaction. Interesting indeed.]

[monolike]

Could you please stop using me as your test subject? [Jerk.]

[nerdeology]

So... you want me to stop kissing you, then?

[Gosh Sorey make up your mind already. What did you even come here for?]

[monolike]

Kissing is supposed to be a romantic thing, you know. Something you do because you love someone? Not because you think it's funny?

[nerdeology]

You think just because it's funny means that I don't love you?

[crankiest confessions 101]

[monolike]

[ ! ]

[monolike]

...Mikleo... [Scratches head sheepishly, blush crawling along his cheeks to his ears,] That's the first time you ever said it plainly like that...

[nerdeology]

[??????]

Said what-

[nerdeology]

[.................

SAID THAT]

[nerdeology]

[There's a series of conflicting expressions and emotions that cross Mikleo's face - surprise, to mortification, to irritation, to embarrassment - and with each passing look his skin grows increasingly red.]

W... well...! It's not as if you didn't... I mean, I've more or less... wh-when we were...!

[nerdeology]

[....

shuts. his. damned. mouth.]

[monolike]

[Sorey is a filthy hypocrite because watching Mikleo sputter and fumble angrily through an explanation is simultaneously hilarious and adorable.

He grins and leans over to kiss Mikleo's burning cheek, even though he's sure to catch a smack for what he's about to say,] Ahhh, you're right, you're right. You did kind of propose first, huh?

[nerdeology]

[HUFF. Goddammit, he hates letting that weakness show, and it does earn Sorey a quick elbow to whatever sensitive area is within range.]

Shut up, I didn't! You're the one who suggested it in the first place back then!

[monolike]

Oof, [tenderly cradles solar plexus] but you know what? I never actually returned it, huh? Since I don't have a true name and all.

Maybe I should do it like a human would? I think I'm supposed to get down on one knee. [Does that, totally not teasing]

[nerdeology]

[what

what

what is he doing]

S... Sorey! Get up, that isn't necessary...!

[he can't be serious, why the hell does he look so serious]

[monolike]

I think it's necessary, [Sorey declares, not getting up.] You already did this for me; now I want to return the gesture.

[nerdeology]

[A noise that is embarrassingly like a squeak (though he would deny it fervently if asked) escapes Mikleo's lips before he clamps down on it, averting his eyes to the ceiling.]

This is absurd... isn't it just something we said as kids? You weren't serious.

[He wasn't, right? Kids do that. They say things they don't mean all the time.]

[monolike]

I was serious.

[Though the feeling isn't the same as before, Sorey gets up from where he's kneeling and drags a chair over to sit beside Mikleo instead of kneeling before him. He rests his hands in his lap before turning one over palm-up and holding it out to Mikleo, invitingly.]

Maybe not marriage; not the human way, at least. That doesn't really feel...us. But about being with you forever? Every time I said it, I meant every word.

[nerdeology]

[For a long moment, Mikleo can only stare, his gaze shifting from Sorey's expression to the offered hand. It's easier to swallow with Sorey at eye level, rather than kneeling so ridiculously; it's a custom he recognizes, sure, but not something they grew up on, so it had made it easier to presume it to be a joke. When Sorey rises, sits before him and looks at him properly, face to face, any excuse Mikleo might have considered moments ago slips through his fingers, banished from his mind. He can't pretend this is just another way for them to tease one another. He can't brush it off like it's meaningless.

More than anything else he can't lie and say he hasn't thought about this, over and over, for years now. Not a proposal, not getting married or anything so formal, but spending his life with Sorey, walking by his side every day, sharing countless memories with one another... that's something he'd decided long ago. That was his dream.

As long as you both shall live, was the saying, wasn't it? He remembers. Sorey had gotten it from one of the more traditional romance novels, reading the vows aloud by candlelight one evening. They were pretty, but so fixed on health and wealth and mortality that Mikleo hadn't thought much of them. It hadn't been important. It was the human method, so material and unfamiliar to he who was raised by his fellow seraphim. That's not for us.

And here, now, Sorey's echoing what he's felt in his heart all this time, and there's no joke, not even a hint of playfulness in his eyes.

Quietly Mikleo reaches out, closing the distance between them, and takes his hand.]

F... fine. If that's what you're asking, then my answer is yes.