faderift | [Open] A Romantic Atmosphere

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[Open] A Romantic Atmosphere

WHO: Julius and you
WHAT: Help Julius attempt a Romantic Gesture. (Business/project-focused inquiries also welcome.)
WHEN: Throughout Justinian
WHERE: Various (see prompts)
NOTES: No warnings for now.

I. I forget these unimportant matters

Julius has taken steps to ensure he doesn't miss his second anniversary as he (and Petrana) missed the first. It's still novel to have a relationship he can openly celebrate, and while they both have their hands full with the war, he also feels it's important not to take his partner for granted.

...he has, however, slightly underestimated how difficult it will be to get his hands on some of the components of his intended romantic gesture. His quest for special occasion provisions has taken him throughout the Gallows. Flowers have him combing Hightown. And he winds up in Lowtown looking for assorted decorative elements. In any of these places, he has the slightly harried air of a man who could use some help, or at least someone to get a second opinion from.

II. Just maintain a true perspective

Members of Project Sashamiri, the Diplomacy division or anyone else who seek him out in his office at other points in the month will find Julius much more like his usual self. His office hours regularly extend well past when he claims he will be there as he tries to stay on top a slowly growing mountain of reports and routine duties. When a visitor comes in, they will likely find him frowning absently over a letter, quick enough to look up gratefully at the distraction.

III. Still I'm incandescent [closed to Petrana]

Eventually, Julius puts together all the elements he was picturing. (And, on second thought, removes a few upon deciding they are too much.) When she comes back to their shared room for the evening, she will find a late supper, kept warm and fresh with magic, the fare somewhat elevated from what is usually available in the dining hall. Candlelight is hardly unusual, but he's secured some fancier candle holders for ambiance, as well as a tablecloth and a small, tasteful flower arrangement.

(And if she's late enough, he may come fetch her; he knows that there is a nonzero chance of her distractedly working into the night if he doesn't intervene.)

IV. Wildcard

[If you want to talk something through before you set it up, just grab me on Discord or Plurk and we'll make it happen.]

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"No! Well. Not the way that you seem to mean." He really must be a bit flustered; usually he's quick to meet her with matching easy charm. Still, he doesn't look unhappy to see her. "That is, I understand flowers are a traditional way to mark the anniversary of a romantic attachment. But I didn't realize there were quite so many options available. I thought there might be some sort of... default."

Alexandrie emits a light silvery laugh for the very idea of "default" flowers, her face brightening with impish amusement.

"Such fortune then, our meeting!" She exclaims and adjusts the angle of her parasol to best compensate for the position of the sun where she stands, settling in for their consultation. "Which anniversary is it, and what is it you should like best to express by this gesture?"

"Two years. Not marriage, obviously, if that makes a difference, but two years of exclusive attachment." He doesn't seem overly abashed at having been so far off base with the flowers, at least. "We, uh, both rather forgot the first anniversary, so I'd hoped that remembering the second would be a demonstration of... that I value it. Her. Us." He's usually good at social engagements, but the truth is that a relationship that isn't by default a secret is still something he's getting the hang of.

"Félicitations!" Alexandrie exclaims warmly, "It matters little, marriage or no—although marriage makes for a fine act of romantic rebellion if naught else," a little glimmer of humour in her eyes for that, "but the promises we make each other in private are as well worth celebrating as anything writ on paper. More, often."

A tilt of her head then, a thoughtful hum, and the tapping of her gloved finger against her lips—or a very close approximation thereof. After all, it wouldn't do to transfer any cosmetic to the white of the cloth. "May I suggest, then, a smaller arrangement well matched to how you view the woman your lady is? Fewer blooms make for a more intimate gesture, and the care in their choosing is a fine signifier of the attention you take to valuing her." A smile, a deft twirl of her parasol.

"I should tell you of the meanings of each flower, but I think in this she should more appreciate your intuitive eye."

"Possibly best," he allows. "Who knows if flowers have the same meaning across worlds, regardless." He studies the spread before them. "I've always been fond of crystal grace," he says. "Not many flowers are beautiful and highly prized for how much good they can do practically. But perhaps on this particular occasion, she might prefer an excuse not to be practical, for an hour or two. Maybe a flower more purely aesthetic would suit the moment better."

It's easy to see how indecision got hold of him. Each individual step is perfectly logical, but they're leading him in a circle.

Luckily, this time Alexandrie is here to interrupt the ruminating with a delicate, if pointed, throat clear.

“You might gift her an excuse to not be practical for an hour or two on any day, Enchanter,” she says mildly, “This day, you celebrate your love for her. So. A lover has different eyes than the rest of us when they gaze upon their beloved; what is it you see, when you look at her?”

He doesn't seem embarrassed, but he stops, thinking her question through. "She is exquisitely lovely, but I needn't know her well to tell her so. Anyone with eyes can say as much." He is, perhaps, biased, though he would argue he's seen enough other people react to her that maybe it's not only that. "But she has, truly, the keenest mind. Bold, when she chooses to be, though so polite that many people fail to notice. She can make me laugh by just lifting an eyebrow at me at the precise moment, it's very inconvenient sometimes..." But this vein, clearly, is easier than trying to translate his feelings directly into flowers. Julius is quiet but frank, smiling a bit as he answers.

“Then those are the flowers you bring her,” is the lady’s warm reply. Her eyes sparkle—Ah, l’amour. “Those that anyone might look at and find beautiful, but that you see much more in. They must have a deeper meaning to you if they are to have a deeper meaning to her.”

A brief pause.

"I begin to suspect that the problem is not that I'm unsure sure how I feel about her," he says. "It's that I was raised in a tower and I am unsure how I feel about most flowers."

She waves a hand, “Ah, but most is not all—what flowers have you settled opinions upon?”

"Perhaps I'll circle back to crystal grace after all," he says with a smile. "I learned flowers first for their uses, not their looks. The fact that it was beautiful always struck me as something of a grace note; most useful plants aren't particularly striking." His smiles grows, a bit, a touch nostalgic. "I suppose no one was particularly concerned with giving us access to beauty, but beauty smuggled itself in certain places anyhow."

Being as she had hoped that particular circling back would occur, Alexandrie’s answering smile has a touch of self-satisfaction to it.

“Did she come so, into your life?” she queries, “A thing of unexpected beauty?”

His smile grows a little. "I wouldn't have thought to put it like that, but I suppose she did. I certainly didn't set out to join the Inquisition with the thought of meeting someone, much less someone from another world entirely."

The fact that she could abruptly vanish is never far from his mind, either, but he supposes that the flower analogy holds.

"She was one of the first people to reach out when I arrived. Long before we were romantically connected, I admired her for her ability and the graceful way she navigated a difficult position."

Tevinter is not quite “another world” on the scale of the Rifters, but Alexandrie softens perceptibly for unexpected love all the same.

“And the difficult position of one day noticing of a sudden that one has passed off the maps and into the uncharted wilds of ones heart; was that gracefully navigated as well?” Her smile twitches with mirth. “I shall be terribly envious, if so.”

He laughs, warm. "No, sadly, I cannot claim it was. We both of us entirely forgot our first anniversary, as I said, which suggests that while we try to be attentive to one another, the state of our relations with one another are sometimes subordinate to our respective duties. It's not the sort of thing that makes a good song, I fear. I hope you cleared that low bar, at least."

And that smile spreads, her eyes twinkling impishly. "Perhaps to the detriment of our organization, my duties—and those of my lord—are largely subordinate to the state of our relations with one another." She lifts a shoulder in a small shrug. "We may have our own song, and a fine one, but the two of you shall have a bigger share in whatever ballads they sing of Riftwatch.

"As long as the both of you share the same opinion on the state of things, I believe the bar to be cleared."

"I believe you may be selling yourself short, but as I've been told it's impolite to contradict a lady, I'll let it rest," he says with a smile.

"But yes, I think so. We suit one another well, for the most part. I think another partner might be impatient with how much I work, but she's just as busy, or perhaps busier. So we neither of us feel neglected. It is," he considers, then adds, "It is new to me. Having a romantic relationship that needn't be secret. But if I were doing poorly, I certainly would have heard about it by now."

“How delightful to have a beloved who is entirely unafraid to deliver critique!” Alexandrie’s smile is full of mischief. “And how delightful for her to have one who cannot contradict her, lest they be impolite!” After a moment, she frowns slightly.

“It is another great fault in the treatment of mages in the South, that you are kept from such things. I imagine it is not a very successful keeping—“ she dismisses the idea with a graceful flick of her fingers, “—we will always find ways to love each other all the same, regardless of what boundary society imposes, but if the intent is to reduce the likelihood of strong and dangerous emotion, forcing mages to the added stress of concealment of their hearts surely accomplishes quite the opposite.”

"Yes, that thought has occurred to me too." It's a slightly more sober subject, but not one he feels the need to avoid. "Especially when one is young, I suspect that some infatuations that might quickly burn out are made the more intense by being forbidden. And for those relationships that might prove more enduring under other circumstnaces, there's the fear of discovery, and the possibility one of you could be transferred. Not to mention mage-templar relationships, which I understand are very popular in a certain type of novel, but which were intensely stressful in practice."

"I think perhaps there are a great many relationships popular in a certain type of novel which are intensely stressful in practice," she replies, her smile twitching with wry mirth. "It is what makes them so very delightful to read in novels, where passion only has consequence inasmuch as it might please the reader."

He smiles back, allowing her point with a tilt of his hand. "Just so. Everyone in novels is also, I understand, very attractive and no one ever has to awkwardly sneeze an inopportune time or forgets anyone else's birthday." A pause, then: "Is one allowed to forget someone's birthday in Orlais, or is that a capital offense?"

"It would be disastrous were it a capital offense!" She exclaims in response, hand flying to her chest with the shock of the suggestion. "Such a useful tool for snubbing acquaintances one is displeased with.

"Sneezing at an inopportune time, however..." A cluck of her tongue, and her head shakes with dire portent.

"Ah, I see I'm still desperately unprepared for any future diplomacy missions in Orlais," mock-rueful. "The dancing lessons alone may not be enough to get me up to standard. Do you have any suggestions?"

Alexandrie laughs, and the tenor of her mirth sounds like far more than an afternoon's worth of them.

"Perhaps on a day you have not already dedicated to a Lady."

"Perhaps for our third anniversary, I can plan ahead enough to surprise her with newly polished skills, dancing or otherwise," he offers.

(He's all too aware that they aren't promised another full year, between the war and her nature as a Rifter, but he's also used to taking what he can without assuming a future.)

"Assuming your duties and social calendar allow, you can supply some pointers if you like."

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[Open] A Romantic Atmosphere

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