Completed Hummingbirds and Flutterbyes

[Jensen]

Jensen chuckled.

"I think I might have to ensure we buy in a few extra cows for Kaveth's dragon should he visit, but... as long as they are content with more modest accommodation there would be space for most to visit us all at once," the country estate that was his and Danika's birthright as the eldest children lacked a lot of the splendour the city nobility favoured. It was a working manor and it showed with its muddy boot room and its well used dining room.

"And there is land enough for all the creatures you can gather on your travels I'm sure. But I suspect the Gilded Wings might prefer to stay in the city with their own families," he said a touch more gently. The idea of their home being overrun with guards was a little unsettling. "I'm sure they would just need to come when you planned one of your trips."

 

[Orissa]

Orissa looked down at their hands and gave a nervous laugh. The Gilded renounced family when they swear themselves into her service, but she would also not ask of them all to reside if they did not wish it. Perhaps... a barracks for them could be arranged nearby his estate, so that Orissa still had her royal traditions...

No, she was getting too in her head with how things would work. They were to get to know one another this day, and the rest will be figured out in time.

"Tell me about your home, Jensen." Orissa lifted her dark eyes to meet his lighter gaze, blinking a few times before dropping to look at their hands again. His gaze was intense, or perhaps they seemed to be now she sat before him and so closely. "Can I go for walks... or even learn how to cook?" It was odd, but Orissa was beginning to like the way Jensen spoke of their future together, to share his home with her.

 

[Jensen]

Jensen didn't let go of her hand, not when she didn't try to remove it. Instead he let himself indulge a little more, his other hand coming up to trace lazy patterns over her delicate skin. When he looked up at her, his hazel eyes were bright with a love for the home he spoke of.

"Yalzen is beautiful - and I'm not saying that just because I'm biased. The lands around it are full of life - there's rolling fields for miles and at harvest time they're full of colour. But there's forests too, and winding rivers. Game you could spend all day hunting and never see. The town isn't anything like Thanasis - perhaps a quarter of the size if that but it has everything you need and everyone knows one another. It's a family. We all come together to celebrate spring, the harvest, the winter solstice... The other nobles have their manors further from the town but no further than a couple hours flight away. Ours is closest to the town so the people can reach us if they need. My father said his great grandfather built it there because his wife couldn't stand being stuck in some quiet place with just him when they were old," he chuckled at the familial joke.

"You could do whatever you wanted to there, Issa. Walks, riding, flying, painting, sewing, cooking... sword fighting."

 

[Orissa]

They were still holding hands. The thought brought a smile to her face.

And it only grew the more he spoke of his home, the town nearby and the energy that came all together. Never had something sounded so peaceful and quaint to her, to make her think of her future to slow down rather than be seen as a contender for inheriting the throne.

But Orissa would give up that chance in order to spend a life to be... normal.

"Sword fighting?" The slip of a nickname did not go unnoticed by her, it bringing out a sly smile from the Princess. "Will you be the one to teach me, Ser Ascendant?"

Gods, he was so charming, even if he was not saying anything or giving her that look (of many he possessed). Orissa could not help but gravitate to him, leaning a little closer. "I can teach you something in return... Old Thanasian songs, perhaps?" She chuckled.

 

[Jensen]

Jensen threw back his head and laughed, hand tightening around hers in his merriment.

"Trust me, Princess," he said once he had finally got his fits under control, dabbing at the corner of his eyes with his injured hand. "You do not want to hear me sing. I once tried to sing my baby sister to sleep and she wailed and wailed and wailed until I stopped," he half winced at the memory and his mothers expression. How she had had to fight back the laughter when they had realised what had upset the babe so much.

"But if you would like to learn sword fighting, or how to defend yourself then I would be happy to teach you."

 

[Orissa]

Orissa found herself unable to stifle her giggles and let them tumble from her lips until they too grew to joyous laughter. It echoed in the cavern, bouncing off each laugh as the Princess tried to catch her breath. To realise how tortured his young sister would have been filled Orissa with teary smiles, but soon began to settle.

"Alright," came her final sigh, still smiling, "you can teach me how to defend myself, and I shall have to figure out something to teach you..." She mused. Her dark eyes stared into his hazels, getting lost in the brilliance of colour she could see with the sunlight pouring over them from above.

"Your eyes." Orissa began, transfixed. "One seems to look more... blue in the light..." She tilted her head, as if that could give back the green she came to know in his eyes. She was fascinated, smiling just for him as she got to discover this about him. "You are lucky to have such beautiful coloured irises." Came her soft murmur.

 

[Jensen]

Nobody had ever taken the time to compliment him on his eyes. It was usually the shade of auburn his lovers commented on, enjoying running their hands through it and seeing how it changed in different types of light. So the compliment caught him off guard, made him blink and caused a faint blush to rise in his cheeks. Jensen ducked his head.

"Ah... thank you Princess," he flashed her a lopsided grin that dimpled one cheek. His eyes scanned her face and a million cheesy lines came to mind of how to compliment her own dark beauty, but all of them fell short. Her face, flushed with laughter and joy, was a beauty he could not put into words. Perhaps his language was just not expansive enough to capture it. Without really thinking he brushed a strand of hair from her face and let his fingers graze her delicate skin along her cheek and jaw.

"I would need to learn the language of the Gods to be able to describe the beauty of your eyes."

 

[Orissa]

Orissa swore he had stolen her breath.

Her smile was innocent, bashful, and her eyes dropped to their hands as she let out a chuckle. But not until she looked back and say the sincerity there, the Princess pursed her lips to keep from smiling any wider. "No one... no one has ever said anything like that to me."

It sounded pathetic, but for Orissa, she never felt so... admired by a gentleman before.

"It's the kind of thing you would read in books or... love letters..." She squeezed his hand, heart hammering so loudly. That she was able to spend time alone with him, to be the subject of his sweet words... and that smile of his.

Three days ago, she would not have thought of a moment like this.

 

[Jensen]

Jensen gave a quiet chuckle.

"I have been known to read a book or two," he admitted, though he was fairly certain he hadn't actually stolen the line from anyone. Fairly. Probably. Orissa hadn't moved away despite the more intimate nature of his touch and Jensen was in no rush to move his hand either. There was something intoxicating about her drawing him in closer and closer.

"If I had any skill with a quill I could fill pages with how much I admire your beauty, your courage, your love for the people of Thanasis," he murmured, moving closers until their foreheads were almost touching and they shares one another's breaths.

"I was worried when my parents said they had arranged a marriage for me, but..." his eyes slid to her lips briefly then back to her eyes. "I find myself quite excited to marry you Princess."

 

[Orissa]

Just like that, Orissa was utterly and hopelessly charmed by him.

He leaned closer, his forehead resting against her own and she wondered if he could feel the heat coming off of her face at that moment. "I think the gods blessed us to put us on this path." She could have let him die that day, could have deemed his injuries too far gone, that using the resources she had was wasted on him... but Orissa knew she could never do that. His face had been on her mind for some time, remembering how torn up his body had been. Although she had healed him, the Ransa tears doing their work, there would be minimal scarring to him, but she would remember where she healed him.

"I cannot wait to be your bride, Jensen Araelor." She chuckled, leaning just an inch closer. Never had she been this close to someone, to feel their warm breath at her lips. "I suppose that will be my name also, if I choose it to be... Orissa Araelor..." she tested it on her tongue, making her smile grow wider.

 

[Jensen]

Jensen's smile matched hers.

"I like the sound of that," he murmured and his eyes dipped once more to her lips. Before he could second guess the sense that this was a moment he leant forward and claimed her lips with his. To begin with he was soft and gentle. His lips nothing more than a brush against her own like a sweet question, letting her pull back or sink in with no apologies necessary.

Spoiler: But if she did lean into it...

then she would feel for a brief moment a smile curve her partners lips, a smirk that was entirely male and entirely smug. His hand slid from her cheek up into her hair to gently fist it and hold her close whilst his lips slanted across her own to deepen their kiss.

Spoiler: If she did pull back...

Jensen pulled back too, an apologetic smile tugging his lips into a crooked, dimpled smile.

"I was too forward, my apologies Princess," he glanced about to the food nearly finished. "Would you like to head back?"

 

[Orissa]

She did not know if her heart was about to break against her ribs, or perhaps her breath catch in her lungs, but Jensen moved closer, dipped his head enough until his lips brushed against her own. And yet, her heart swelled and her breath came rushing out as she moved to lean impossibly closer.

Orissa could feel the smile, the sheer attraction she developed within moments as his hand went to her hair and she no longer felt like a Princess.

No, she was anything but her role and birth. As foolish as it was, she felt normal. She was not dressed in dresses made for her, not adorned in jewels or followed by a guard. Orissa was her own person, sharing this freedom with the man she was to share this, albeit not their free choice, but the impending nuptials was no longer something to be nervous about.

And good gods, she had never been kissed before.

What magic did he hold in those lips? In that kiss? For her own felt alive with energy, tingling with anticipation for more.

Too enraptured with him, she did not notice their dragons rouse and move away, leaving the Not-Princess to lean over the picnic blanket and experience her very first kiss with the Ascendant that will be her husband one day.

This, she knew, she would not tell her parents about. Tradition was paramount... but this was turning out to be everything she could have hoped for.

 

[Jensen]

The life of a Rider meant that when Jensen usually found himself in these situations, he threw caution to the wind and lived in the moment. He had to remind himself that this time there would not just be one moment but many and for the rest of his life. He need not rush it all in one afternoon. Indeed, curiously he found he did not want to rush it. He wanted to take his time and discover every little thing that made her melt like that into his arms.

So he focused in the kiss. Gently rubbed his thumb in circular movements on the base of her neck to relax her into their embrace whilst his tongue swept past her lips to rob her of every last breath. Only when he could feel her need for air did he slowly pull back, his eyes alight with delight as he drunk in her spellbound expression.

"My apologies Princess if I interrupted what you were about to say."

 

[Orissa]

Orissa never knew how much a kiss could convey.

Breathless, she was left awestruck as her eyes settled onto Jensen and committed everything she saw to memory. A smile would grow on her lips, her cheeks now flushed, and the Princess pulled back that little bit to regard him with the happiest grin. "I do not remember what I wanted to say."

Had she anything to say before? Now?

"I do not... know..." Oh goodness! Orissa's cheeks burned hotter as she dropped her head to hide them, her mind filled with thoughts of spending the rest of the day kissing him but that was not what this day was for. "What were we talking about before the... that, um... the kiss?" She tried to play things normal, as if her heart were not beating so hard or that her lips felt soft and touched from his kiss, but Orissa's awkwardness translated into her words. "I... cannot recall."

The Princess made the mistake of looking at his face, her eyes lingering on his lips that just looked so... kissable.

Her cheeks were still flushed with colour.

 

[Jensen]

Jense's lips curved into another of those irresistible grins as he noted where her gaze dipped.

"I believe we were discussing the important issue of whose surname you wanted to take," he winked. Of course, Jensen couldn't care less which name she took. If Orissa would ask it of him he would take hers. He was comfortable enough in his place in his family to not need it.

He turned to their forgotten drinks and topped them up, handing over the newly filled glass to the Princess sat beside him - his future wife. Gosh when would that thought stop being odd?

"There's no rush to make decisions... well... at least not for me. Your parents and mine might be a different matter," he grimaced. "I am fairly certain my mother wanted us to marry before the month is out to stop me going back to the wall."

 

[Orissa]

If they were not already engaged to be wed, Orissa would be in trouble with how smooth at talking this man was.

"Ah, yes... but we are to be traditional to the Royal weddings taking place at the end of a season." Her hand held the glass, cool and sleek, Orissa had to catch herself not to glance at the bottom of the glass to see if it indeed was a Valimir made product. "But for that, I am grateful to have time to get to know you proper... and feel as if I am being courted." For the first time in her life. She did not need to tell him that, for if any courting had been done in the past, Thanasis would know about it.

"I... want to see you again after today. Perhaps you can visit the Palace and I can show you my gardens?" She smiled. The Princess' Gardens did not exist until four years ago when she had begun to learn plants and their healing properties. Of course, there were some rare and beautiful flowers residing there, but also a gazebo where Orissa had every bit of privacy. "We can have another picnic. Make it something we do when getting to know one another." She brightened at the idea.

 

[Jensen]

Of course; the Princess had never been courted before. The realisation struck Jensen dumb for a moment. Had that been her first ever kiss? He was suddenly a lot more unsure of what he had done. She deserved better if this would be her first - and only - chance to experience the dance that was a courtship. In just eight weeks they would be wed and Jensen vowed that until they he would give her every experience he could think a woman would want.

"I would like that very much, Orissa," Jensen smiled and clinked his glass against hers. "To a beautiful courtship."

 

[Orissa]

"To our beautiful courtship." Her cheeks were hurting from all the smiling he had caused her. The last time they did this, all her brothers had behaved for an afternoon as they watched their sister receive the presents for her twentieth name day. It had been one of the better memories of her family, that upheld peace so that the only Princess could be happy on her day.

Orissa sipped her drink, putting the glass down as she lifted her head to look above at the sunlight filtering over them. "I like this... spending time away from the Palace, from others. I cannot remember when was the last time I was alone with just one other that was not a Gilded Guard."

The Princess dropped her gaze to look at Jensen, unabashedly staring at him in the sunlight. "Promise to take me somewhere like this every once in a while? Where we can continue to pretend we are just Jensen and Orissa." Should she clink her glass with his?

 

[Jensen]

"In our home we always be just Jensen and Orissa," he promised, voice dropping into a more serious tone. Jensen had caught the look that had passed across her face for just a moment; longing. "They might have forced us to marry each other Ori, but I refuse to see this as anything but a chance at freedom for us both." For him there would be a freedom from having to always be on his best behaviour in case the lady he spoke to was the one his parents decided for him. There was no more waiting for the axe to fall and find himself tied to someone with whom he had no connections. Fate had been on his side and delivered him her, and he had every intention of grabbing that gift and never letting go.

"But if it is adventures you want on top of that," the easy crooked smile fixed itself on his face again. "Then I can promise that too."

 

[Orissa]

Orissa could not help it.

She had that first taste and wondered when the next time she would get another, and so the Princess leaned in suddenly and placed a hand to his cheek and held him there as she stole a kiss from him. She was happy, excited, and looking forward to the good fortune their engagement already brought her.

The Princess had saved him that day, and now, with his new chance at life, she got the opportunity to learn about him, to grow to love him, and let him repay her back with happy years before them.

It was a kiss that she tried to say all of that with.

She pulled away, smiling like some dragon lost in the clouds. "There. A promise sealed with a kiss." It was something she probably borrowed from a romance book, but it felt right to say at that moment.

 

[Jensen]

Jensen was startled when she closed the distance and was bold enough to kiss him first, but pleasantly so. His hand slid up around her waist and held her close, letting her lead the dance this time. When she pulled back Jensen smiled down at her and leant forward to place a more chaste kiss to her nose.

"Sealed with a kiss," he echoed then grinned. He let the moment draw out for a moment longer, allowing himself to enjoy the sight of her pressed this close before he finally raised a hand and pushed a lock of hair back behind her ear. "We should probably get going soon. I did promise your handmaids I would have you back at a respectable time. And... I am fairly certain your moon dragon escort is having a fit not being able to see you down here," he smirked.

 

[Orissa]

Orissa pouted, something her mother would chastise her about if she had seen.

"So soon?" She looked hopeful, as if she could beg for more time, but he was right in the end.

Sirine would never lecture the Princess of safety, but the Malennis rider would make her disapproval known. Orissa did not like disappointing the female rider, and realising that they were out of sight made her scrunch her face. Another thing her mother could chastise her for.

"I suppose you are right." She conceded. "But we should finish our drinks before we take our leave."

Orissa reached for her glass, holding it up for him to clink with his own. "Thank you, Jensen... for showing me there is no need to fear being outside the Palace walls." For the first time in many, many years, she was without the company of her guards.

 

[Jensen]

Jensen clinked his glass against hers and gave her that signature grin.

"Stick with me Princess, and I'll show you the world."

Indeed his mind was already running with thoughts on where next to take her, and what to show her. At least they would have the rest of their lives for these adventures for Jensen was certain he would never stop thinking of new things he would want to show her.