#yeah im not coloring this im trying to get away from coloring every doodle heavily

[bloodyodyssey]

WHO ROCKIN W/ PONYTAIL MILF YURI

[noonmutter]

Surprises

Amber had come by to drop of the most recent shipment of delivery boxes for him, and to discuss options for the holiday in February. Business almost always gave way to pleasure in their conversations, the consequence of friendship with a cook. The consequence of friendship with an attractive, friendly cook with a nice butt and a lovely face and...whew. Focus, Amber...

"So! What confections and sweets will you be offering this year for the holiday?" "Think I might try t'keep it relatively simple, try goin' easy on m'self just once an' see 'ow it treats me. A few specials, 'igh end, but not twenty of 'em like I did b'fore."

Leon drew out a narrow box about a foot long and two-ish inches wide with his finger. "Li'l six-piece truffle trays."

Her gaze followed the air-doodling and she nodded, "May I take a sketch home with me? For measurement purposes as I assume you will be needing these in the proper colors, and please don't remove the chocolate covered caramel medley! I loved those last year. I only ordered a dozen boxes for myself."

He nodded and quickly dragged out a bit of scrap paper and a pencil to actually scrawl out the measurements he'd been looking for, including a quick circle to rough out the approximate size of the truffles themselves.

She grinned sheepishly, "The salted caramel and orange infused caramel centers were my favorite. I couldn't get enough! I swear, I gained five pounds."

No matter how many times she--or anybody else--complimented his food, he seemed to respond the same way every time, ducking his head a tiny bit and smiling bashfully. "...Wouldn't dream of it. You an' 'alf th' Mage Quarter, all over th' caramels. I was thinkin' about at least one spicy one, an' one usin' a peach liquor a friend o' mine introduced me to at a weddin'."

"I wouldn't be opposed, though I can not be held responsible for anything I do or say should I become drunk on them. Are you doing a mint liquor truffle this year? If so, I may have to buy a few of those." She grinned sheepishly, as she tucked some loose strands of hair behind her ear and idly nipped at the corner of her lip.

She'd caught that sheepish look and it made her heart flip out of control for a few moments. Her breath even hitched at the sight before she managed to shake it off and refocus. FOCUS, AMBER, FOCUS!

Leon, at least, seemed to be mostly focused on business for the time being. Made sense, get him talking about food and he'd be busy for hours. He stood up from his chair and went a bit further down the storage room, picking along the racks until he found the right tray and pulling it out just a bit.

"Don't think that'd be too common? I do a coupla mint cookies as part o' th' normal stock."

“Truffles and cookies are not the same. And I'd personally attempt to buy you out of stock if you did chocolate mint truffles." She called out to him while watching him go through his storage. With him not looking at her and a good distance between them, she finally spoke up on another topic.

"Vae asked me to marry him."

That made him pause, but only for a few seconds before he put the tray back into place and moved a bit further down to pull another. Taking up a couple pieces of something, he return to his desk, all smiles, and held out a little slice of what turned out to be vanilla cake for her. "Tell me."

Upon his return, he noticed the rise in nervous energy that seemed to consume her as she took the offering with both hands and lifted her shoulders in a gentle shrug. "I said no...the first time."  Almost immediately after that, she forked a large mouthful of cake into her orifice so that she didn't have to say more for the moment. 

Yep, she was definitely nervous. If that surprised him, he wasn't showing it, only sitting back down in his chair and leaning back, attentive and, unfortunately for her, quiet.

She swallowed her cake with some difficulty before setting aside the plate with a gentle sigh and admitting, "Vaerinis is an elf. And while I love him more than anything I realized that he would outlive me by... centuries, and it just didn't ...feel right? So," She swallowed again, braving a look at him,"I made a decision in large part due to your influence."

She didn't have to be a genius to see the worry on his face at that. Had he wrecked a home without even doing anything? "'Ow so?"

She smiled at him as an offer of small reassurance. "It dawned on me that a person can love more than one person, equally and in different ways. You do it, after all. So I spoke to him about the possibility of opening our relationship in a manner that would allow him to explore that should he ever be inclined, and explained to him my worries and concerns when it came to us."

Again, she was tucking hair, a nervous tick of hers that she couldn't help right then. "After much debate and a few tears, mostly on my end, he understood and we agreed to a polyarmorous...I think that is the term...relationship, with one caveat."

She finally held up her hand to show the engagement ring to him, "We are only to be married to each other and no others so long as I live. His only demand for the entire thing."

It took him a little while after she started her explanation for him to fully process what she'd said, partially due to his worry that he'd offended. Once that had been firmly shunted aside, he could actually think, announced by a few more rapid blinks and a certain slackness in his jaw. His mouth hadn't fallen open, but it seemed like it could at any time.

By the time she'd finished, he was smiling again, and properly this time. There was, after all, a brand new engagement band in front of him, and it wasn't on a fist headed rapidly toward his eye. "That's fan-bloody-tastic, Amber! Congratulations! I... well, I can't say I'm not pretty shocked t'ear tha' from you."

She laughed as that nervous energy briefly fled in the wake of his excitement for her. "I can't say that I didn't surprise myself when I brought it up, but then again," She ducked her gaze, a crimson hue staining her cheeks as her nervousness returned full bore, " I can't say I wasn't shocked when I found myself admitting that he wasn't the only man I had deep feelings for."

In a perfect world where a merciful god not only existed, but paid direct attention to Amber in particular and thought she rather deserved some help, Leon would be perceptive when it mattered most. Unfortunately, such was not the world they lived in, and Leon was still Leon, and he only saw a girl wanting to gush to her friend about a crush she'd finally gotten to act on.

"Well, g'on, tell me 'bout 'im, then. Makes you flush tha' way, must be good."

She blushed all the more, now completely unable to even look at him. Her hands came up to tuck hair behind both ears as she attempted to capture scattered thoughts and spoke with that nervous stammer she always got when completely flustered.

"W..well. He is a m-m-man with a k-kind heart. C-Com-Compassionate. G-Giving. V...very giving. He has the most amazing b-b-blue eye. H... He can cook and he has always made me f-feel welcome and ..s...safe. H...he never hesitates to offer advice or an ear when I need it, or a shoulder to cry on and his name is Leon."

The last few words were almost a whisper as she shrank back slightly and waited for his reaction with a twisted brow.

The smile on his face, all but ever-present, slowly gave way as Amber's speech went on and his brain's maintenance guy tried desperately to reignite the pilot light. It finally flared back to life about two seconds before she came right out and said his name, but of course at that point all he could do right away was stare while his mouth went dry.

His voice was similarly whispery when he finally managed a weak, startled, "Me?"

And that was when the full blown panic set in. She was immediately waving her hands in front of her and shaking her head as she stammered and stumbled, "Please don't think that I expect anything! I would never expect--”

“Amber?”

“--it to be returned. It's just that you are so sweet and giving and everything I was taught that a man was supposed--”

“Amber.”

“--to be and I think I knew down that I loved you months ago but I never said anything because I respect you too much and I know you are married and I was with someone!"

“Amber.”

She finally whimpered then groaned as she started to scoot from his desk, fully intent on fleeing the scene, "I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to upset you. I.. I should go. Yeah, I should go--”

"AMBER." 

He stood from his chair as she turned away from him and brought his hand down on her shoulder. It was a firm enough grip to make himself known, but not enough to restrain her if she really wanted to escape him in that moment. "Deep breath. Right? Breathe for me."

It was the combination of that last Amber, his hand and her own suddenly smooshing the remainder of her slice of cake that managed to get her to shut up. She was slow to look up at him, emerald eyes as wide as saucers as she'd clearly just put herself into a near fullblown panic.

Deep breath. She gulped on air. Breathe for me. She tried but her lungs felt so tight that she was near hyperventilating while gulping air more than actually breathing it.

He'd been so very loud a moment ago, more so than she'd likely ever heard him go short of when he was chasing a thief. Now, he was speaking softly like there was a sleeping child in the next room, or like he was coaxing a deer to eat from his hand. ... He knew better than to make either of those comparisons aloud. "Easy, babygirl. Once more. Breathe in, wait, breathe out. Got all th'time in th' world, right?"

It felt like an eternity between breaths, but, she soon managed to find breathing with a relative ease despite the fact that she refused to look up at him, having focused on a button on his chef's jacket instead. "I'm sorry," She mumbled in a raspy little voice that still tremored heavily with the fear she still felt at having possibly ruined a friendship.

"Whatever for?" His fingertips brushed across her cheek, not making any attempt to force her to look at him. Right now force seemed the last thing she needed, even less so than restraint. "You've brought me such 'appy news."

His touch was a welcome one, despite the fact that even in her current state, it still managed to make her pulse thread dangerously. Swallowing down her heart as it felt as if it had become lodged in her throat, she bemoaned, "Yes, and then I had to go and ruin it by opening my big mouth."

"Could be worse. Coulda tripped int' me again."

His reward was a frown as she fiddled with her own fingers, just kind of attempting to wipe the ruined cake from them as she murmured, "I think I would have preferred that to this blubber up."

"Kin I offer another option?"

"Of course." She finally managed to glance up at him as if to gauge his thoughts and just how badly she just ruined things between them.

First, he kissed her forehead. Amber's eyes drifted closed, semi-relieved by the action only to frown as he said, "Never apologize." She opened her mouth to argue, "But to not apologize would be r--" but she never got to finish that thought as Leon's lips covered her own.

 A series of events happened in a matter of seconds. Initially, there was shock, her body stiffening as she hadn't been expecting that. Then confusion before that was quickly followed up by a muffled whimper as her hands twisted into his chef's jacket and she actually, tentatively kissed him back all while thinking this was just another of those dreams...

The Cookbook closed a bit early that evening, and the chef was seen leaving in a bit of a rush, disheveled and carrying a delivery bag and a bottle of what looked like wine.

He only briefly stopped at home, both to pick up a few things, and to let his wives know, “It ‘appened again” and not to expect him until late. Pin joked that they needed to buy a ranch at this rate, rather than build a house. Leon couldn’t find it in him to argue.

( @theshadowborn @pinpep @shckaewynn )