wrfmlogsarchive | joy to the world, we have some peace and quiet

She echoed his sigh and closed her eyes, enjoying his closeness. This, for once, felt the same as a moment with Orpheus. It was one more detail for her to contemplate later, but she was beginning to think that it had something to do with feelings of certainty and uncertainty, among other things. Her own heart never ceased to present her with puzzles...

"... It might be easier, though, once you're gone. More memories of your own to sustain you." And to bring you back, she didn't say.

"Heh, I guess that's true," he said quietly. He paused for just a few moments before adding, "I guess another week or two wouldn't hurt. Lilith probably wouldn't mind either."

Her lips curved in a faint smile. "Thank you. I wanted to spend some time with Lilith anyway. But for now..."

She slipped around behind him and plucked a pine needle from his hair. "I have a little job to do, don't I?"
She waved the needle in front of him before tossing it against the trunk of the tree, where it would hopefully stay out of the way.

He blinked when she pulled a pine needle of his hair. "Dammit, I thought I had managed to avoid those," he grumbled. He ran a hand through his hair, causing a few more of the pine needles to come tumbling out. "Now this is just ridiculous."

She giggled and shook her head. "Maybe you haven't been attracting enough trouble lately. That magnetic energy of yours is getting desperate."

She returned to his side, though, as he seemed to have taken care of what pine needles had managed to assault him.

"Hey Josi, I have a question..." She sounded a little timid, but mostly just curious.

"So the universe is catching up on lost time?" he asked, making a face. "Wonderful - just when I thought I was out of the woods."

He peered at her curiously when the tone of her voice changed. "Hey Song, I may have an answer."

That response made her grin for a moment, before she started.

"I've just been thinking about the last year or two. Remembering moments. I dwell on the past too much." She caught herself about to start rambling again. It seemed to be turning into a bad habit. One that was recovered, not newly gained, as she'd had a tendency to talk this way before it all began. Funny to think that she was finally 'back to normal', for the most part...

"Anyway, I wondered..." She mirrored his curious look back at him. "When did you start to feel anything more than friendship towards me?"

He frowned at her question, and his eyes became slightly distant as he tried to make sense of the memories (and not-memories) that had filled up his mind in a space of a year and a half (and longer). Pinpointing the answer should have been the easiest thing in the world... if his memories weren't conspicuously blank in some areas and overwhelmed in others.

"Honestly? I'm not sure," he replied, a bit of guilt in his voice. "I love all of the Refugees like brothers and sisters, but I think with you..." He closed his eyes. Maybe it had been Atlantica, when she tried to break Calum's hold on him.

Or was it long before that? He remembered an almost overwhelming rage and despair when Xemnas had informed the Refugees that he had "killed" Song only weeks before that final battle, something different from the heartbreak that had occurred after Ray and Cheryle's stunt.

Still, the lack of memories in some places accompanied by the overlapping memories of Calum's life were beginning to give him a migraine. "It's been awhile," he admitted. "Just not quite sure when the definite date was."

She hadn't wanted to make him uncomfortable, and admittedly she hadn't thought that his memory problems would be an issue here. She just smiled a little reassuringly and shook her head.

"It's alright. I was just... startled, I suppose. We'd been so close, and I'd never noticed. Even with all that silly flirting and teasing on the community and such." Those were fond memories, and one of the reasons that she always wanted to laugh when Josiah crossed her mind.

"I always did find you sweet and kind of sexy," she admitted with a rather foxy grin. "Even before you started keeping company with a sex demon."

There were reasons why she had never known, but he kept his mouth shut, even as he had back then.

"Actually, I was just as surprised when you kissed me before I left," he said, shrugging slightly. "I didn't actually think that-" He stopped and then laughed. "I guess it doesn't really matter."

He looked a bit startled by her last words though, and despite the slight blush that appeared on his face, he joked, "What can I say? It's part of my natural charm."

She chuckled, very slightly, and felt a familiar wave of relaxed calm wash over her. It was the same effect he'd always had on her, since long before she'd ever realized anything romantic for him. Of course, 'realized' was the keyword here, as she was fairly certain that she'd had something of a crush for quite some time, buried and hidden behind her much more desperate feelings for Orpheus.

She stood up, and brushed a hand through his hair affectionately, as if picking out pine needles a minute ago hadn't been an excuse for exactly that.

"Well, you certainly look charming sitting there with the presents by the Christmas tree. Shall I find a nice big ribbon to complete the look?"

He gave her a deadpan look. "You're not putting a ribbon in my hair." The look quickly vanished with a wink. "Besides, I still haven't given you your present."

Her expression was one of pure innocence, and her voice matched it. "Well, I just thought, since we agreed that my present would be you staying a little while longer... that does make you the present, doesn't it?"

Again, the serious look returned. "You're not putting a ribbon in my hair."

The look of innocence faltered... then shattered completely as she laughed. "Heheh... Alright, no. You don't have the right look for a big ribbon. Now, if I could catch Roxas or Sora unawares... On the other hand, a very small ribbon could be quite dashing on you. I'm thinking blue. If you grew your hair out just enough for a little braid or something, you might look like some sort of dashing pi--" she choked, catching herself a little too late. That was not a safe topic, and damn her mouth for running away from her sense of caution.

She winced slightly, and gave an apologetic smile. "On second thought, no ribbons at all. You win."

He smiled, even if it was slightly forced. "I've already been a pirate. Didn't much care for the experience." Then he quickly shrugged off the small slip - better not to dwell on those memories.

He did like the idea of winning the "argument" though, and grinned, this time a bit more cheerful. "The thing is, I was going to give you something that you could keep when I left. But if you really don't want it..."

She gave another quiet laugh, letting the overall cheer between them subdue whatever sparks of pain or regret her slip may have caused. It was hardly the first time she'd said something like that. It was simply the danger of contemplating the past as much as she did. The most memorable events and details tended to get stuck on the mind even more than was normal.

"Hey now, don't forget, I'm the selfish one. So where is this mysterious gift of yours~?"

"See, now you're just going to have to wait," Josiah said, a smirk appearing on his face. "Because it's not here."

True enough - her gift definitely was not underneath the tree.

Her eyebrows raised. "Oh, is that so?"

She went to him, and slowly draped her arms over his shoulders, bringing herself very close, with her hands meeting loosely behind his neck. The look she gave him was one of half-lowered eyelids and a sultry smile.

"Am I going to have to bribe you this time?"

"I'm not sure even your feminine wiles will let you get your present any sooner," he said with a smile, resting his forehead against hers. "But I'm not going to object if you try to bribe me. I have the feeling you're a hell of a lot more creative than I am."

Dang. She'd been hoping for a blush or a stammer. He wasn't as easy to fluster as Orpheus, but then, that made sense.

"You spend too much time with Lilith," she said with false disappointment. "I'll never be able to faze you this way, will I?"

She stayed like that for just a moment, comfortably close, then she drew back and left him with a kiss on the forehead.

"How about chocolate? Mabry makes the best chocolate candies," she said as casually as if that intimate interlude had never happened.

This time he did blush at mention of the demon. "Yeah, she can break down personal barriers really quickly." He shrugged again. "But off the top of my head, I can think of a few ways you could faz-" He stopped and coughed. Best stop that line of thought right there.

Still, when Song mentioned Mabry, he smiled. "Strange thing is, as legendary as some of Mabry's cooking is, I've never had any of it."

Song had begun to look very interested in Josiah's words before he cut off mid-sentence.

His next statement made her gasp and fling a hand to her mouth in exaggerated shock.

"Josiah! You haven't lived! Oh, where to start? She made the apple cider. It's even got bits of dried fruit at the bottom. The chocolate-covered thingies... Gah, you'll just have to be here for the next proper meal she cooks." She was already darting away to the kitchen and returning very rapidly with a tray of mysterious dark chocolate shapes.
"Crystalized ginger, peanut butter, caramel... mint and cherry truffles," she listed as she pointed to each. "The truffles are rather intense."

"Chocolate-covered th-?" He didn't have time to say it before Song darted into the kitchen. He was just beginning to wonder what he had gotten himself into when she returned, holding a tray of truffles.

At least she pointed out which ones were which. He remembered many a Valentine's Day when he had been gifted with gamble chocolate. And technically, he wasn't a huge fan of chocolate anyway but he decided to try one anyway, reaching for one of the mint ones.

"She makes these all from scratch?" he asked, examining the truffle.

She nodded, chewing on a chocolate covered piece of ginger.

"She's best with desserts. And very... creative."

The gooey truffles, unlike the ordinary chocolate treats, were indeed as intense as she'd warned. The first one she'd tried had been almost too much for her.

"I bet she could find a way to make you something coffee-flavored."

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