nick-keane

[nick-keane]

💍 RING — does your oc have any piercings? do they want any (more) piercings?

"No, no, definitely not. I've never had the desire to get one, nor do I think I would look any good with piercings. Unless... you have a different thought around that? ...Should I get a piercing?".

[nick-keane]

cinderella: what’s the most unusual item of clothing or accessory you own?

"Probably my uniform from my time in the army. I've not worn it since but I have kept it with me all these years. I'm quite proud of it actually, and I'll have it dry cleaned now and then just to make sure it stays pristine,".

[nick-keane]

She felt like home. The years of travelling, chasing the next adventure or purpose or chapter that would fill his book of life never felt complete. Yet in an instant of Mei stepping past the threshold into his place, seeing her in it made his lips turn into a wide grin. Nick could see his apartment so differently. It would be filled with furniture, mementos, plants they used to admire, and books they used to talk about endlessly. It felt warm, and it felt like home. Though he wouldn't say it aloud, Nick had resolved in his mind to make Aurora Bay a permanent stop and have her part of it - if she would have it. "Of course," he gave, happy that she recognized it so quickly. "It's important. It's one of the few things I kept when I came here,". That happiness on his face quickly flipped when she turned around to look at him. Even after all this time, he knew how to read her expression. There was something weighing on her so heavily that he could practically feel it. As she spoke, he inched closer, an ache that carved into a cut that sank deeper with every bit she revealed about her life after they parted ways. Once again, the anger Nick held for the people that were so poisonous around her, and his lack of being there to help her through it bubbled up - all the way until he heard the one word that made him almost gasp.

Pregnant? She was pregnant? Nick wanted to speak but his mouth went so dry. Was it her husband's? He knew they hardly spent time together and it was never a loving or real relationship so how could it be? Or was Mei building up to tell him she had a different relationship? His heart pounded faster and faster because in the back of Nick's mind, instinct gave him an inkling to what Mei was leading up to. That the child was his. That they had a child, a piece of them together in the world in the form of a daughter that he almost felt his knees give when she actually said the words to confirm it.

"Wh-what?" he managed to etch out in a croaky voice. Nick's eyes welled with tears. He wasn't sure why, or how to describe the kinds of feelings that collided in his core and overwhelmed him. Maybe it was a mix of joy to know that he had a child with the love of his life, the shock of only discovering it now, the anger of realizing he had lost five years with his daughter. Oh god, the foreign sensation of saying "his daughter" to himself, and the pride of knowing that after trying to figure out what mark he wanted to impress upon the world, that he had already done so in the form of a perfect baby girl, with the most perfect woman. "I - ..we have a daughter?". Nick closed the gap between them and lifted his hands to hold Mei's face. "We have a daughter," he said a bit more firmly rather than as a question, and it was enough to make the tears fall down his face.

"...And you've taken care of her and raised her for the last five years despite everything you've been through. Mei, I swear... I'm here now. I'm here for every part of it and I'll never let you or our daughter go through anything alone. I'm here. And I'll be here for as long as you'll have me. And I'll - ....I'll be her dad,". An incredulous laugh escaped him because it was still difficult to wrap his mind around it, but Nick could only brush his thumb against her cheek and smile and cry all at once. "What's her name? Can I meet her?".

The words bubbled out of her almost unconsciously, but...maybe it was for the best, because as much as she really (really) wanted to keep kissing him and just wrapping herself in him and letting the rest of the world melt away....she knew she needed to do this. He needed to know. He deserved to know. She just really hoped he understood why he didn't know until now. She hoped he wouldn't hold it against her and that she'd lose him again when she'd just barely gotten him back.

At the offer to go to his place Mei just nodded, figuring that was for the best because even if the babysitter wasn't at home with Luna, her home was still obviously lived in by a child, with toys and things strewn about. Mei was pretty sure Luna's little rain boots and pink unicorn umbrella were right by the front door. So...yeah. Nick's place would be for the best. And if Mei held onto his hand a little more tightly than necessary the entire drive back, well, she was glad he didn't comment on it.

"I think it's nice." She told him softly as she was led into his home. She allowed herself to look around, a soft smile on her face--one that faded off into a look of mysticism as she looked over little knickknacks on a table and saw a decorative ceramic plate on a little pedestal, one she'd given him years ago because it'd belonged to her mother... "I can't believe you still have this..." She breathed, letting her fingers move over the delicate ceramics before she finally just let out a heavy, shaky breath and turned to look at him. "I....I don't really know how to even say this..."

Mei swallowed, resisting the urge to grab both of his hands in hers- and resisting the urge to wrap her arms around herself, to hold herself together as she finally looked up to meet his eyes. "Nick..wh...when you left..not going with you was the worst decision I ever made. It's something I regretted every single day then and still do now. A-And then I..." She swallowed, feeling her heart lodging itself in her throat. "A few weeks after you left...I..I found out I was pregnant. And when I came clean to...to my husband, to my father...that's when I was told you were dead.." Mei's eyes filled with tears as she said it, anger and heartbreak and regret all rushing through her at how she'd been lied to. Albert and her father may have never been physical with her, but there was more ways than one to be abusive. "I..I was banished from the family..told to never come back, so...s-so I came here. With..." she swallowed again. "With my daughter. With your..." Mei bit her lip hard enough it was a wonder it didn't bleed and it was an even bigger wonder than her tears hadn't fallen down her cheeks yet. "With your daughter."

[nick-keane]

Nick gave a single, hearty nod at the reveal. "Sister is a florist - well in that case, you'll have to thank her for me. Not that you haven't been a great help but I'm guessing it's fair to attribute some knowledge to her," he chuckled. "Ah, she's an old flame. Which sounds weird now that I'm saying it out loud. An old flame that I'm hoping will become a renewed one too. It's why I'm all kinds of nervous about it. I promise I'm not normally so obsessed with flowers,".

"Not a sage, man, I've just lived a lot of life and done a lot of talking to people and I'm just lucky enough that I've learned a few things from it," he shrugs as he follows Nick along to the vendor, pulling his baseball cap from his back pocket and putting it on his head.

"That, and my sister is a florist. Who's the lucky lady?"

@nick-keane

[nick-keane]

Nick did not have to ponder to hard to imagine the person she was describing. There weren't very many others around Aurora Bay who spoke with a similar accent like Nick did, so it wasn't hard to put two and two together. "Well..." he drew out, a wincing sort of face because he wasn't sure how to break the news. "If you're talking about who I'm thinking of, then flowers were indeed involved. As for any other part of the gifts, I won't say too much so that I don't spoil the surprise. But I heard about your story and uh, it's definitely an interesting one,".

"Sure, sure." she shrugged a shoulder easily while looking around at the flowers "But I'm keeping it real for you." Chuckling she shook her head. "Well" she pulled a serious face "If a tall, very handsome man, with blue eyes and a British accent ever comes your way with the same problem you just faced..." Mia said describing Gabe to him "..tell him to go for chocolate. And if flowers have to be involved, tulips will do." || @nick-keane

[nick-keane]

"Thought about this some, have you?" Nick looked her up and down as if it some visual cue might be even more telling about her character or personality. "I can't believe I'm asking this but since this is now the topic of conversation, I kind of have to. Have you done something illegal or terrible, and just not told anyone about it? I won't tell on you, if you tell me. Probably,".

"That's your loss. Lets hope the love of your life is impressed with the simiplicty of your hair smells like roses, blah blah blah. Besides, saying you'd kill for them in a poem isn't necessarily incriminating yourself... unless they keep it, and then you have a bad breakup, and they use it against you." Kate would have given off the impression that she'd almost thought this scenario through before, and she had. Just in case.

@nick-keane

[nick-keane]

[nick-keane]

Nick didn't think it would feel this easy. Time apart didn't seem to matter at all considering the way they fell back into step with each other. Even in only their kiss, it could be felt that they fit together perfectly. Just the bit of touch from her hand set his skin aflame beneath the fabric of his shirt, and his chest heaved when they finally broke apart for a breath. Nick had to keep his eyes closed for a few more moments afterwards because he knew he would see stars the moment he opened them. Mei Lian never ceased to make him weak in the knees with her hold on him - with her hold on his heart. "It.. it doesn't matter anymore," Nick tried to console, even though maybe deep inside he didn't fully believe it. It was hard to let go of the angst of losing so much precious time with Mei, and Nick was good at holding onto those kinds of feelings considering how hard headed he could be - his innate sense of justice telling him to go hunt someone down in London and hold them responsible (a nice way of saying he might beat them within an inch of their life). But it wouldn't do them any good. Not right now, anyway. When he finally connected their gaze, he couldn't help but raise a quizzical brow at how her expression slightly changed. "Okay?" he chuckled with a tinge of unknowing nervousness. "You can tell me anything, you know that,". But another look and her tone told him that maybe the gardens were not the best place for whatever Mei wanted to say. "...Why don't we go to mine?". Needless to say, the entire ride to Nick's place he never let go of her hand. He couldn't. Their fingers were interlaced and he played with hers the same way he used to when they laid on the grass, or in her room through late hours of the night. In truth, Nick was doing so because he was worried this kind of bliss was some dream or trickery, and this was the only way to check that it was real. Nick fished for the keys, opened the door, and welcomed Mei Lian in. "It's not much... and I can't even say it's home when I haven't been here long, but come in,".

Mei Lian already knew she was toeing the line with her words and actions. Her lingering little touches, her lingering little looks. She knew too the insinuations in her words were heavy--but she couldn't not say them. She couldn't bury it all down under a layer of nonchalance when Nick truly was the only one there'd ever been for her. Both as a bodyguard and as the person who owned her heart. There'd been no way around it and no way of burying it all back down again from the moment she saw him on the boardwalk a few weeks ago.

And yet still, Nick leaning in and kissing her surprised her so much that she momentarily forgot how to breath, the air getting sucked right out of her lungs. But once she did breathe again...it felt like taking her first inhale of breath in years, a sigh exhaling out of her that had been held in since the day she'd let him walk away. And in turn she kissed him back, letting him pull her in, her own hand moving up to his shoulder where her fingers gripped at him, keeping him close.

"Trust me....I do." Was all she could reply once the kiss had been broken- because she had. Even as she'd been lead to believe for these last five years that he'd been dead, that longing for him never went away. She'd missed him from the last moment she saw him. "If I'd known I'd been lied to...i-if I knew you were out there..." Mei's fingers tightened their hold on his shoulder, almost afraid he'd vanish. "If I'd known...nothing could have stopped me from finding you." And this time Mei leaned in and kissed him, softer this time, lingering. God how she'd missed this....--

But then a family was walking by, the sound of a child's shriek of laughter ringing in her ears and she broke the kiss, reality crashing down onto her like a bucket of ice water. "Nick, I..." Mei swallowed as she pulled back then, a reluctance to it as she loosened her grip finally on him. "I want this. I do. I want us, but...but there's something I need to tell you."

[nick-keane]

"Okay so movies are the guru. Is there anything in particular I should be watching to brush up on my romance? And if you say 'The Notebook', I might riot. Not because I don't like the movie, but because everyone always only ever says The Notebook,".

"If you think watching a shit ton of romance movies as experience, then sure." Esme snorts under her breath, shrugging. "I watched a ton of movies to get the jist of things."

[nick-keane]

Nick couldn't say that he entirely knew what the words 'lowkey kinda dating' meant, but they oddly seemed to make sense in terms of describing the mess he just laid out. "Uh yea, that. Dating. We were pretty serious, I'd say. We talked about building a life together and figuring the rest out,". It felt so odd to say it aloud to another person now, especially when their aspirations were always kept secret. "I'm not really sure. Everything has just been a lot of catching up. I mean it's bound to be a lot of signs but I can't tell if it's just glad-to-see-each-other-again signs or something more signs, you know? So if you have advice on how to read minds about now, that would be fantastic,".

——- Roman chuckled some at the other's words before smirking some. ❝  is that so ? well — try me. ❞ he said, folding his arms over his chest, feeling the fabric of the soft gray shirt he wore that day grazing his own pale skin. ❝  yes - this is definitely a no judgement zone. you have my word. ❞ listening to the other's story, giving a couple slow nods of his head, hazels looking towards the ground before looking back to the other. uncrossing his arms — one of his hands moving his hair back off his forehead as he proceed what he heard. ❝  so um - correct me if i'm wrong — was it like a hook up thing with you two when she was married or like a lowkey kinda dating thing ? and um — are you hoping to be something with her single now ? ❞ there was zero judgement on his end but it did leave one big question for roman to ask. ❝  has she showed signs with you that she might like you and want something ? ❞

[nick-keane]

No words

[nick-keane]

"Alright well in that case, make sure you snuff me in my sleep if that happens to me because that sounds about just the most embarrassing thing that could happen," he laughed lightly at the idea of hurting his back from a bad sneeze. "Promise I won't sneeze on them, nor I on you, so long as you accept them. So what exactly brings you to the festival if not for strangers' germs?".

"That's definitely not true. I've heard of people pulling something because of a particularly strong sneeze and don't even get me started on holding back a sneeze," Tilly said with a scoff, hoping she wasn't about to give him a new irrational fear the way someone had done to her. "They're nice flowers, sure. Just don't try smelling them or you could get even more germs on poor, innocent bystanders." @nick-keane

[nick-keane]

"That's... actually a really good idea," Nick was at a loss of what the favorite flower would be but if he went along with this idea, maybe he would actually have a chance of getting out of here before sundown. "How's this?" he held up a bouquet of flowers of his making, hoping it looked at least alright.

Kaede felt bad he wasn’t more helpful in that moment and looked over to him as he started to pull a couple of things out. “Start with the focal pieces you want to stand out and then build around it. It can’t hurt to make what you think she’d like the most be the main focus ?” @nick-keane

[nick-keane]

Beneath the tree, standing there with Mei Lian, was hauntingly reminiscent of the countless nights they would spend hiding away in the garden in London. Almost instinctually, Nick wanted to look around to make sure they weren't under anyone's watchful gaze, catching them doing anything forbidden. That they were safe; that she was safe. It was odd feeling to be in public now, standing so closely to her. There was nothing to hide anymore, nothing stopping them from being together beyond just their own nerves and wondering how the other felt. And as if she knew (because she always did when it came to him), Mei said the words that Nick needed to hear to be certain he wasn't about to make a mistake. He leaned in and kissed her - softly, slowly and surely. The moment he did, it was like his body took over to satiate a need it didn't realize it had been deprived of for five years. Nick's hand found hers to interlace their fingers and tug her even closer. And even while kissing Mei for the first time in forever, all his face could do was smile. When Nick finally pulled away, he could feel the same knots form in his stomach just like when they kissed for the first time, and every time since. "You have no idea how much I've missed you," he sighed out. "I'm sorry I tried to stay away. I thought it would've been better but I should have just come back to find you. Then you wouldn't be wondering, and no one would've been able to lie to you about me. About us. ...It's always only been you too, Mei. You're everything to me, ".

While Mei didn't think he'd say no, hearing his approval made her heart swell. She ached to spend more time with him, to get to know of every facet she'd missed in his life over the last five years. But...it also caused her insides to twist a little. She knew she had to tell him about Luna, today, but...when? And how? How does she pop this happy little bubble they'd found themselves in and change his life for forever? How did she beg his forgiveness- even if he now knew she'd been lead to believe that he'd been dead this whole time. "It will be nice." She agreed softly, giving him another gentle little nudge.

Nick saying he'd never guarded anyone else after her just caused the same reaction- the same fluttering in her heart and sinking in her stomach because she feared his reactions, feared ruining everything again... "Funnily, I've never been an Oasis person, despite the invites...Another little trick of the universe." Because had she been, she could have been him before now. They could've had even more time together..

"I never did. I....." She swallowed, stopping their steps underneath a large tree, shading them from the shining sun overhead, mimicking almost the times they used the trees and the moonlight to hide their meetings all those years ago. "Nick, it's always only been you."

[nick-keane]

Nick grinned. As wild and unimaginable as the story Gabe was telling him sounded, he couldn't help but notice the silver lining of it all. "I'm not going to lie," he nodded as he clasped a hand to the other's shoulder. "It's pretty fucking weird, yea. But if after all that and starting fresh and still getting to know each other you both know you want to give it a shot, I'd say that's a pretty damn sure sign you two are meant to be. In which case, you really can't screw it up with any flower you choose,".

Gabriel nodded his head at how utterly absurd everything sounded. He couldn’t argue with him how it sounded like some show plot because it did. He could hardly believe this was his life sometimes himself. “ and yet this actually happened to me” he joked with a smile. It was nice to think about it in a more positive way than the usual pain it caused him. He knew it was cause he had Mia back “ well we kind of have to start fresh. I had to fake a whole life in a way when we were together but now it’s literally starting over. But we already know we love one another ? It’s pretty fucking weird I’ll be honest “ @nick-keane

[nick-keane]

This was definitely very different advice than what everyone else had told Nick thus far about these flowers and sending a message. He looked at Baz with a quizzical brow and an eye of skepticism. "And this 'better' idea, just so I'm sure, have you tried it? Did it work for you?".

"Never said it was grand, just that it was better." Baz corrects, pointing to various flowers on display that he didn't know the meaning for.

"Saves on trying to decipher what this, this and that means. Whatever ones you go with, they'll know you're trying to say I miss you because you've said I miss you."

@nick-keane

[nick-keane]

"No, don't do that," Nick shook his head at her. "Don't tell me it's the winning bouquet and to take the win but also say it won't solve the problem! I mean I know flowers aren't going to save the world, but - a guy can hope right?". Nick sighed at himself knowing full well he was trying to solve a world's worth of problems in one little task. "Alright well I'll give this a shot and see where it takes me. How exactly do I thank you?".

Not going to lie, it was fun watching him sweat a little bit over flowers. Flowers of all things; a thing of nature with a very small lifespan really. She never understood why men liked to give them to women as a symbol of love; they died. "Well..." Mia chuckled. "It's not going to solve them but it'll buy you some time and get you a foot in the door." Lips pressed together while nodding her head she added "Take the win." || @nick-keane