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Seraph's Penthouse.
Atlas
Park.
Finishing off her dinner, Tish looked over the Table at
Seraph, mildly curious as to what he was up to. He had called her
over for a rather nice home cooked meal, the rest of his family
noticeable absent.
Picking up her wine glass, she took a sip.
"So then... what's the big surprise?" she asked him. "It's
not an anniversary or my birthday, so what do you have up your
sleeve?"
Smirking slightly he stood up and walked around
the table to her. "I've been thinking a lot lately."
A
slight note of paranoia curled in her stomach. "Thinking of
what?"
As he reached her, he lent against the table. "How
much my life has changed since coming to Paragon... and even more so
after meeting you... the things that have happened over the last two
and a half years... to sound like a bad movie, I'm a changed
man."
Reaching out, she placed her hand on his, it was
rare that he would talk openly abut himself like this, she had
learned early on he tended to keep his thoughts to himself. So for
him to open up like this... it had to be something
important.
"Go on." She spoke softly.
Nodding
he continued. "This is something I've been thinking about
since... Since that day in kings row... and the deal with the well."
Dragging his free hand across his face he tilted his head back to
look at the roof. "And even more so after what happened to
Galaxy city."
Tish nodded, not quite following where he
was going with this.
"There's something I want to ask
you." she watched as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a
small wooden box, her brain suddenly kicking into high gear.
"I
never done this before, so forgive me if I mess up... but Tish, I
love you, you've changed my life so much, for the better and I would
like..." he looked down a little bit, his face reddening
slightly. "Look at me, fumbling with words... Tish, Will you
marry me?" he finished as he opened the small box.
Her
jaw dropped open, her mind a buzz as she looked at the ring in the
box, an elegant diamond, glittering with some internal light sat
nestled in a band of gold, the faint outline of runic patterns just
visible on the surface.
"I..." she tired to think of
what to say, she hadn't expected anything like this! Working her jaw
slowly. She felt a mix of emotions, not quite sure what to think.
Surprised, confusion, fear, joy, doubt, worry all slammed into her at
once, causing her to slump in her seat. Looking up, she saw Seraphs
face lit by the rings glow. "I... this is a lot to take in."
she muttered lamely. "I...."
She felt as if the room
was closing in around her, she need out, she need air. With out
another word she pushed off the her seat, it making a loud crack as
it hit the ground and bolted for the door, flames starting to crackle
around her as she bolted for the door, not looking back.
* *
*
5 days later
Moose Head Pub
Croatoa
Sera
looked over the table at Tish, her jaw hanging slightly. "You
ran out on him?"
Chewing her lip, she slowly
nodded. "I... I didn't know how to react, I panicked, it was
like the walls were closing in on me... I'm just glad I didn't torch
the place on the way out."
"So you just ripped his
heart out and trampled on it on the way out?"
Tish
snapped back. "Well what would you have done then? Huh?"
her hands smacked onto the table, causing the wood to smolder
slightly.
"Lets see... Talk Maybe? I would have
heard him out, I would have said maybe it was too soon." The
elfin woman sighed. "I mean, he wouldn't have done something
like this with out putting a lot of thought into it first. That ring
must have taken him months to make."
There was a slight
twist of guilt. "Make?"
Sera nodded. "He asked
me a few months back on ways to create a diamond via magic, it's a
risky thing to do, the pressure you need is insane."
The
blade of guilt twisted again. "So... he's been planning this for
a while then?
"Oh course, he's not the sort of man to
rush into things... Well, okay, he rushes into a fight, but that's
the heroic streak in him. When it's important, something that he
cares about, he can spend months thinking on it."
And
I blew up and ran out... Tish though, guilt, doubt, fear and
worry boiling in her. "You know... maybe... I think I need to
go."
"Need some fresh air?"
"Something
like that." she muttered, pushing away from her chair and making
for the exit.
* * *
Atlas Park
Tish sighed as
she walked the street, the war walls of paragon continuing to do
their stellar trick of messing up the local weather patterns, going
from the cool evening air of Croatoa to an autumn storm in Atlas,
pulling her coat tighter around herself, she looked up at the
building in front of her and took a deep breath.
Walking up
she pushed open the double doors and stepped into the foyer, walking
to the elevator she fumbled for the keys in her pocket, ignoring the
doorman's compliant of her dripping water all over the floor.
As
the elevator doors slid open, she ducked in and slid the key into the
hole next to the penthouse button, closing her eyes as it shook
slightly and rose up, crappy music piping through the speakers as she
took a deep breath.
With a dull bing, the lift reached the
penthouse floor, opening to a darken hallway. Shivering from the wet
and cold, she walked through the entrance way into the lounge... the
whole place almost feeling dead.
As she turned around, the
only sound she heard was the patter of rain on glass. It seemed that
no one was home. Sighing, she went back to the elevator when she
caught a slight glimmer out of the corner of her eye.
Walking
towards Seraph's workshop, she saw a faint blue glow coming from
around the door, pushing it open, she stepped in and gasped in
surprised.
Seraph stood at the centre of the room, while
slowly spinning around was what looked like the night sky, hundreds
of pin pricks of light seemed to fill the whole room. As she watched,
he reached out to one, causing it to expand into a massive runic
pattern, his fingers blurring slight as he changed the pattern and
shrunk it down, moving to the next, repeating the task again and
again.
Walking to him, she noticed the lights moving and
flickering, clearing a path to the center of the room. As she reached
Seraph, he turned to face her, the pale light showing a face that
look like it hadn't slept in a year.
"What is this?"
she asked, reaching out to one of the glowing dots.
He
muttered a reply. "The houses defences, been checking them and
doing some upgrades."
"How long have you been
working?" She asked, already guessing at the answer.
He
looked around, almost as if in a trance. "Um... since you
left?"
Grabbing his hand, she dragged him to the near by
couch and shoved him into it. "Okay, we have to talk." She
watched as he slumped slightly. "First..." she took a deep
breath. "Why did you pop the question?"
He gave her
a confused look. "Why? I thought it was kind of obvious
why."
"No, I mean why did you pop it on me out of
the blue? I thought you talked this shit out or something, no just go
"hey, ya wanna get hitched?'" her voice started to rise as
she paced, small flames flickering around into life her, causing her
wet clothes to steam.
He looked at her as he replied in a calm
tone. "It's been on my mind for months really, ever since King's
row. Ever since..." he trailed off, a slightly pained look in
his eyes.
"Ever since you died."
"Yeah,
after I came back, I realised that there was so much left in my life
I hadn't done... that I wanted to do." He waves a hand, his face
starting to droop. "So I started thinking and well... I popped
the question" He waved at a near by table, a small box sitting
by itself as a slight tone of bitterness ended his voice. "We
saw how that went."
Tapping her foot, she turned to him,
trying to keep her flames in check. "Seraph, I ran because...
because." She swore as she tried to put her thoughts into words.
"I gusset I was scared. I'm still in my early twenty's, you're
in your late with three kids... One that's sort of mine because one
of your enemies has a sadistic streak. You're asking me to be part of
something I'm not even sure I fit." Again the flames rose up,
making her look like a small sun amongst the place blue pin pricks of
like.
"I guess I fucked up then and blew it." He
muttered, sliding father down on the couch a look of misery etched on
his face, making him look old and worn out.
"No it's
just... Seraph, I love you... but this is something I need to think
about, time to wrap my head around being part of a family." In
the privacy of her skull, she continued. To get used to the
feeling I belong, for the first time ever.
He looked up, a
small light seeming to flick back on in his eyes. "You... you're
not saying no?"
"I'm not saying no... but I'm not
saying yes, I need time to think things out..." the flames
flicked out as she dropped next to him. "This isn't what you
want to hear... is it?"
"It's not a no and it's not
a yes... but." He stifled a yawn, before giving her a sleepy
smile. "I'm willing to wait for... as... long as it takes"
his head drooping. "Cuz... ya worth it." He trailed
off
She poked him slightly, getting a slight snort from him.
Shaking she stood up and headed up the stairs, past the small office
area that overlooked the forge and opened the door to his room. With
a snap of her fingers she teleported him into his bed, earning only
the slightest murmur from him.
Walking over she kicked off her
boots and sat next to him, running a hand through his hair. "Willing
to wait for an answer that might never come... you are such a dork at
times." pulling a sheet over him, she sat in the dark, the
occasional flash of lightning illuminating the room. "But a
romantic dork."
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