midnightstar | Shionne and Alphen in Menancia

They've all come a long way since Calaglia, both in terms of distance and... other things. Things Shionne was forcing herself not to acknowledge. Because what would the point be to acknowledge those thoughts when she couldn't act on them - when at the end of this journey, she had no future? Ah... but that was something she hadn't - couldn't - tell the others, who she's begun thinking of as more than just 'tools'.

Particularly Alphen.

It was the hardest to think of him when she knew how much she was keeping from him. Much to her frustration, however, the group had decided to take a break for a little while since Shionne's pace had been pushing the others quite a lot - and they did just gain two new companions. Shionne was avoiding them as much as possible, deciding to go for a walk through the city almost...baffled by how accepting the Dahnans and Renans were.

It was ... nice. But it felt so alien to her, at the same time.

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Shionne's blush only grew even more intense at that, but she flashed a pleased smile - pausing for a second to give him a teasing smile, ".maybe .. not the _first_ thing to confirm...?" Giving him just enough of a suggestive glance at his lips to hint what she meant. Second on the other hand, she was all for it. Naturally she'd have to get used to the idea of someone actually being able to touch her let alone be close in other ways.

...aaaaaand as it would turn out, it wasn't her lying on top of him that was the first thing to confirm after all. Despite a few touch and go moments, between Shionne almost sacrificing herself and that fight betwene Volran and Alphen.. well everything that happened overall, knowing how far Alphen went for her and their world, a victory kiss seemed like the perfect reward at the end.

Although their friends stayed around for a little while afterwards just to recuperate, after about a week or two they eventually they went to move on and help where they felt they would be needed most. Kisara and Dolahim, Law and Rinwell...and then Alphen and herself. And even a week later, Shionne still wasn't over being able to actually touch someone. When he wasn't the one to initiate physical contact, Shionne was the one to reach out to him, to be able to touch him as much as possible for as long as possible.

While Alphen kept giving determined speeches to keep everyone going despite the odds, he had held some fears that maybe he would stumble at some point or another. A true leader was not someone who had NO fear. No it was someone who was able to face that fear and do what needed to be done regardless. Even if He would never call himself a leader.

But he could hardly complain about the reward. The first touch had been to catch her after the curse was lifted but that also came with all of that fatigue and relief knocking him out with Shionne. After all a body that no longer needed the adrenaline he'd been running on near the end, would of course shut down to allow him to recover.

First thing he'd felt was that he was in bed with someone. Someone whose hand he was holding as it seemed the rest of his party had put them both in the same bed. Though later he found out that was the case because at some point before or during them passing out, him and Shionne had locked hands and no matter how hard they tried, the two of them did not let go of each other even when unconscious.

Now though they would hold hands deliberately at the very least and explore other ways Shionne could touch him the rest of the time.

"You're too cute when you look so awestruck you know~"

And now was no different, with her hand still clutching his, fingers absently tracing his hand. The fascination in being able to touch him - anyone - was impossible to hide, much like that smile she always had for him when she looked his way. Even with his teasing comment, Shionne laughed softly, her free hand reaching up to touch his cheek, gently. "I can't help it," she admitted sheepishly. "This is ... it's like a dream come true..and I can't help it." He was always going to point that out to tease her wasn't he? "Everything is actually behind us now, and we can ..have a future together. Properly." Ahem. She still glances aside a bit, a little embarrassed at saying that much.

Alphen let out a soft chuckle and pulled Shionne even closer, his smile warmer than ever as he leaned in close to ghost his lips over her cheek.

"It might feel like a dream but it's very much real." He murmured softly. To be honest once things truly settled down, he could not wait to just take Shionne and just leave everything behind for a while. Sure they'd keep track with the rest of their group but the wanderlust with Shionne now that they no longer had a world to save or a curse to undo, was quite strong indeed. Since they had a whole new fused world to explore and see and then finally find a place to settle down in.

Shionne leaned into him, and gladly, smiling at the feel of his lips brushing so lightly along her cheek. "Haha.. I know that, but.. i can't help but feel like one day I'll wake up and this .. everything was a dream." She nuzzled closer, tucking her head against his chest. "And I don't want to ever lose this.." Not now that she had a taste!

They were lucky that their friends were letting them recover in peace and fielding the majority of those who wanted to ask what was going on, or those who were completely confused by the changes -- not to mention the revelation about the Renan and Dahnans... ah.. Shionne did not begrudge Kisara or Dohalim that job. ".. I feel a little guilty being this selfish though.."

"You know that if they heard you say that both Kisara and Dohalim would scold you for it." Alphen pointed out with a wry smile before he tucked her closer against his side. IT was sometimes hard to tell who was more clingy than the other since Alphen rarely let Shionne out of his reach if he could help it.

Oh she didn't mind at ALL that he kept her close and often pulled her closer. She knew he had to be as touch starved as she was - she snuggled closer to him, letting out a peaceful sigh as she wrapped both arms around him more tightly. It was definitely 'strange' to feel him when he wasn't wearing armor, but she could /easily/ get used to it. "You won't tell will you?" She eyed him with a playful half smile of her own. One might even accuse her of being coy~. Gasp!

It also meant she could feel his toned and trained body much more than before. Something that was for Shionne to enjoy all to herself though she was also a pretty lousy liar especially to Alphen who had learned Shionese fairly early on.

"If you continue to feel guilty about it, I might." He teased back with a huff before his lips curved up into a smile.

Oh and that was certainly a treat for her - especially considering she couldn't resist running her hands along his sides and back whenever he tucked her in close like this. "Hmm... so you don't feel even a tiny bit guilty leaving most everything to them?" They were very capable at what they did though so maybe that was why. Although she definitely didn't want to add to thier burden -- "If I don't have to feel guilty about it I imagine I have more time to focus on you."

"Why would I? I think we can trust them to actually come to us if they really need help with something they can't handle. We've traveled for long enough that I am sure they wouldn't go out of their way to avoid getting in touch if it's something that's harder than normal." It was simple logic and it spoke volumes of the trust he had for his companions.

That and he just really wanted to spend every waking minute with Shionne.

Shionne chuckled softly, "You have a very good point." they were all very capable - more than capable of handling the chaos that might be involved. And in truth, she wanted to spend as much time with him as possible too, so she quite hoped that no one would come knocking for help. At least not until they were settled in whatever new home they were planning on going to. "I'm too comfortable to feel guilty right now anyway." And it still made her feel giddy being with him, imagining their days going forward.

"OH really? I couldn't tell at all~" ALphen grinned before he turned to press a soft kiss to her cheek without warning since that still flustered her quite a bit now they he could just up and ambush her like that at any time or place since he could most certainly get away with it.

"Yo-" About to huff at him teasing her, she let out a surprised squeak at that ambush kiss, before she blushed, a smile brightening her face even as she tried to huff at him, "A..Alphen what.. what was that for?" You'd think she would be used to this by now, -- not that they've had /that/ many days to be affectionate with each other. Heck Shionne was only finally capable of not flinching away out of habit when she brushed against him and was even able to be the one to take initiative with touches and those little kisses now.

But she still loved his little surprises. Her head nuzzles close to him, "Haha, do I need to get closer then for you to tell?"

"For you being you." ALphen explained so matter of factly before pushing to nuzzle against her cheek and neck some more since she was so damn irresistible he just could not help himself.

"I think the answer to such a question is going to be yes for a very long time, don't you?" Alphen smirked and went in for an upfront kiss this time. He'd shown to have quite the preference for that act after the first time he'd done it with Shionne.

She laughed at that matter of fact response, "It'd better be," she countered, nuzzling closer herself, "Because I won't be able to keep myself from staying away from you anymore." She was about to add more to that, though caught him leaning in for another kiss, which she more than welcomed, leaning into him to return the kiss as her arms wrapped around him tightly. The way her body simply relaxed against his - she was blissfully happy she could do even this with him.

"That's good then since I don't want you to either~" Alphen chuckled into the kiss, his body instinctively pressing into her embrace as he held her so close and dear. He had potentially underestimated how touch starved he'd been since regaining his sense of pain. Though with her being so keen to be held and touched, that was not exactly a weakness anyway.

"Being with you like this only makes me want more of your time you know~'

Not a weakness for either of t hem, though it'll make them doing anything difficult if it didn't involve each other. Fortunately they had quite a bit of time earned for recuperation, and even more once they found a permanent place to stay in this new world of theirs. But she was as touch starved as he, her hands running over his body lightly, intent on clinging to him in the kiss until they - or she - needed a breath. So in response to that statement, she chuckled a little herself before nuzzling his neck, "Hmm, I don't see that as being a bad thing.."

He was in no hurry to settle down since just traveling this new fused world was more than enough to keep him satisfied. Especially with Shionne as his...lover. That word felt so new yet so right. IT perfectly described why he wanted her to be with him for this seemingly indefinite journey they were going to embark on.

"Good. Because we would have a lot of problems if you did~"

Lover - it had felt like an impossible dream. A dream that he made true for them both. She muffled another giggle at that, "The only problem I can imagine having.. is wondering just what we're going to do with all of the free time we're going to have now." Well they probably could figure out an idea or two. Especially as ..lovers. The thought of that still made her feel warmer, and she let out a soft sigh, closing her eyes as she leaned into him, just delighting in the feel of his arms around her. They were never, EVER going to let go of each other again.

"I don't think we'll have a problem with that. Not if we put our minds to it~" Alphen spoke so confidently despite not really thinking about that problem since it would work itself out as long as he had Shionne and the others. Though the crucial element was definitely Shionne.

"So...how does it feel for you? Being with me now after all of it is over?"

She shook her head with a smile, "I don't know how you can be so confident about everything.." This was completely unknown territory for her! And him! As for the question.. "To be honest I feel like I'm dreaming." She murmured after a moment'considering. "I never ..ever thought that I would be able to have this - but if I am dreaming I never want to wake up. So I can be with you forever."

He leaned in closer and gently put his hand against her head to pull her gently against his shoulder or even leaning against his head as his other hand never left her hand, instead just loving that intimate moment of contact between each other.

"It's all real and I'll enjoy proving it to you every day."

Shionne felt herself catch her breath just at their intimate closeness, her smile warming by a hundred fold, "Alphen.." she uttered his name with as much affectionate and love she could feel in that moment - and every moment with him, her body relaxed into his as she leaned her head against his, "Does... does it feel the same for you?..being with me..after everything I put you through...?"

And he put up with A LOT. She remembered how horrible she was to him at first- albeit it didn't last long. Still, she felt awful about the times she pushed him away, even if there was good reason for it. In her opinion.

"Put me through? Not sure what you mean if I'm honest." Alphen tried to think of the times she might have wronged him and even going all that way back to the start, he felt he had been more frustrating to her than she to him. Especially after the first half of their first day together.

He shook his head with a smile and turns his lips to her ear for a sneak surprise kiss since she was being so utterly impossible to resist around her.

Well, sure he was frustrating, she had to admit, but only in a good way. But he was the one that started to crush her walls and melt her heart. "It can't have been easy to deal with me - I was always trying to -" ACK surprise kiss! She let out a startled little squeak, before stifling a laugh, "You..!"