[ it's not running away when your life is over. you can't run away from something that no longer is yours anymore, or doesn't exist. dead. but she's very much alive, alive enough to make the decision to take rondo's hand and go with him to orsterra, to start something new with him, something that means more than any words marina could place in a book. she is proud of him... more than anything else, and while wading through the sazantos aftermath with care had taken time, it would always be worth it for him, for his heart.
the days are full of learning... lots, and lots of learning. marina juggles it of course, doing her best to get flamesgrace underfoot within the first week or so. she supposes she has naught but termina to thank for her ability to route herself quickly in and around the village.
the second bedroom is used for sleeping all of once (barely once, she'd lasted perhaps four hours before smothering herself in blankets and stalking to his bedside, kneeing him lovingly to move over so she could wrap herself over his back and cling from behind.) thereafter, it is relegated to books upon books, history books, books on magic. marina devours the fascinating pantheon of gods that oversee this world of theirs now (theirs. it's theirs and it feels so strange, but so right. with all things, perhaps it will in time feel far more natural.)
but they do well. marina enjoys the way he's eager to learn, and she doesn't mind cooking, but the affair is better together. it's a lovely home, she realizes one day when her hip brushes his to set something down on the counter, her face falling soft and fond for him as she reaches up a hand to tuck his hair away. she feels like she fits in like a puzzle piece beside him. she knows, in this moment, that this is where her heart wants to settle, more than anything, in any place that keeps her beside him.
how nice it feels, the weight of the world, the weight of an old blood inheritence... lifted. never in its entirety, but enough that marina feels like she could fly.
today, he finds her in the small aforementioned makeshift study, one of her hands occupied with hold her head, the other paging through a book at leisure. when she hears the sound of her name her head straightens gracefully, though her body draped over the chair remains at ease, relaxed... truly relaxed (a rarity). the hair shorn from her in scawwy has grown back, thick curls tamed into a pair of braids today. ]
Look at you, Sunshine... you're practically beaming today. What's up?
[ if she was proud of him, then the feeling could only truly be mutual. navigating scawwy had been one thing, but navigating an entirely new world in a much more permanent sense takes an incredible amount of bravery. he's done his best not to hover too much, but watching marina flourish here makes his heart just swell. she's incredible, and while she takes to their surroundings day by day, the surroundings take to her, too. ophilia and lianna, the daughters of the archbishop, draw to her like moths to a flame - the families and people who fill flamesgrace do too, doting and warm and curious all at once.
and nothing makes rondo happier than this. it's been amazing to watch her acclimate and soak up all orsterra has to offer like a sponge, nearly as amazing as the domestic peace of the post-sazantos world, of what truly, honestly, feels like a new life. it makes the nightmarish parts of scawwy feel like they're hundreds of years away, when they're tucked together in their little kitchen or curled up in the same bed (secretly, he much prefers this also, and breathed a little sigh of relief when she came to curl up with him that first night.)
naturally, rondo wants to support marina in all the millions of ways that she has supported him, so he brings her books like a puppy, studies with some of the local craftsmen to try and figure out how to make her bookshelves in his spare time, leans on the doorframe to watch her when he gets the spare time and just soaks in her presence.
so, if he can return that sense of settled, he wants to - and thus, the big smile. there's something he's clearly very excited about, and he rocks back on his heels and then forward, coming into the room and taking in her posture, her surroundings, with a brief flicker of fondness - the immediate oh, she's so cute, because he can't help himself - before it fades in the favor of his big news. rondo crosses the study room, careful not to step on anything, and then folds his hands in front of himself, resisting the urge to just bound in. ]
Well... I got my next assignment - the Pontiff has asked me to return to Atlasdam on some official business. [ being the flameguard involves traveling around the continent sometimes, after all. more importantly, though - ] That's where the Royal Academy is, and - the Royal Library, too, the biggest collection of knowledge in all of Orsterra. It's where all the scholars study, and - Flamesgrace, we have some things, but I know it's a small town, and they're all just based in the Church, comparatively, and I -
[ rondo bites his lip, gaze going hopeful. ]
... I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come to Atlasdam with me and visit the Royal Academy. On a trip. Together. What do you think?
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the days are full of learning... lots, and lots of learning. marina juggles it of course, doing her best to get flamesgrace underfoot within the first week or so. she supposes she has naught but termina to thank for her ability to route herself quickly in and around the village.
the second bedroom is used for sleeping all of once (barely once, she'd lasted perhaps four hours before smothering herself in blankets and stalking to his bedside, kneeing him lovingly to move over so she could wrap herself over his back and cling from behind.) thereafter, it is relegated to books upon books, history books, books on magic. marina devours the fascinating pantheon of gods that oversee this world of theirs now (theirs. it's theirs and it feels so strange, but so right. with all things, perhaps it will in time feel far more natural.)
but they do well. marina enjoys the way he's eager to learn, and she doesn't mind cooking, but the affair is better together. it's a lovely home, she realizes one day when her hip brushes his to set something down on the counter, her face falling soft and fond for him as she reaches up a hand to tuck his hair away. she feels like she fits in like a puzzle piece beside him. she knows, in this moment, that this is where her heart wants to settle, more than anything, in any place that keeps her beside him.
how nice it feels, the weight of the world, the weight of an old blood inheritence... lifted. never in its entirety, but enough that marina feels like she could fly.
today, he finds her in the small aforementioned makeshift study, one of her hands occupied with hold her head, the other paging through a book at leisure. when she hears the sound of her name her head straightens gracefully, though her body draped over the chair remains at ease, relaxed... truly relaxed (a rarity). the hair shorn from her in scawwy has grown back, thick curls tamed into a pair of braids today. ]
Look at you, Sunshine... you're practically beaming today. What's up?
no subject
and nothing makes rondo happier than this. it's been amazing to watch her acclimate and soak up all orsterra has to offer like a sponge, nearly as amazing as the domestic peace of the post-sazantos world, of what truly, honestly, feels like a new life. it makes the nightmarish parts of scawwy feel like they're hundreds of years away, when they're tucked together in their little kitchen or curled up in the same bed (secretly, he much prefers this also, and breathed a little sigh of relief when she came to curl up with him that first night.)
naturally, rondo wants to support marina in all the millions of ways that she has supported him, so he brings her books like a puppy, studies with some of the local craftsmen to try and figure out how to make her bookshelves in his spare time, leans on the doorframe to watch her when he gets the spare time and just soaks in her presence.
so, if he can return that sense of settled, he wants to - and thus, the big smile. there's something he's clearly very excited about, and he rocks back on his heels and then forward, coming into the room and taking in her posture, her surroundings, with a brief flicker of fondness - the immediate oh, she's so cute, because he can't help himself - before it fades in the favor of his big news. rondo crosses the study room, careful not to step on anything, and then folds his hands in front of himself, resisting the urge to just bound in. ]
Well... I got my next assignment - the Pontiff has asked me to return to Atlasdam on some official business. [ being the flameguard involves traveling around the continent sometimes, after all. more importantly, though - ] That's where the Royal Academy is, and - the Royal Library, too, the biggest collection of knowledge in all of Orsterra. It's where all the scholars study, and - Flamesgrace, we have some things, but I know it's a small town, and they're all just based in the Church, comparatively, and I -
[ rondo bites his lip, gaze going hopeful. ]
... I was wondering if maybe you wanted to come to Atlasdam with me and visit the Royal Academy. On a trip. Together. What do you think?