Magnetism (SG)

[SongofWindchimes]

Bianca laughed at the term 'dwarf-crack,' though she had to admit that explanation was actually fairly interesting. Lyrium was quite the double-edged sword, really. Though she was sure her character wasn't going to start going crazy from hanging onto that nugget she'd gotten, she was rather eager to sell it anyway with that new piece of information, having Natia leave the tavern, then convince Leske with her 'pure, blind optimism' as he called it that Beraht would never know. After a quick, polite exchange with a merchant, Natia was fifteen silver richer and they were on the way back to Beraht.

The report had Bianca a little tense, especially because Beraht was clearly on edge, and his casteless 'lady' was egging him on, but she managed to successfully lie her way through it, convincing him that the smuggler hadn't had any belongings on him and that they'd lured him away and killed him to avoid witnesses. Then was the next job: there was a 'Proving' (a fighting tournament) for visiting 'Grey Wardens' (she imagined she'd find out more about them later) and Beraht had money on the longshot. They were supposed to find out when he was facing the favourite and drug up the competition to make sure he won.

"You did not just threaten Rica," Bianca mumbled at Beraht's parting words, not even realizing she'd said them aloud. She had a distinct impression of where this was going. Honestly, a tough nobody and a fighting tournament? There was only one way this was going down.

For now, though, there were the Proving Grounds, and Bianca took a moment to eye the architecture before spotting a human among the dwarves. She hadn't been told to talk to him, but curiosity got the better of her and she approached, only to have Leske say he was the leader of the Grey Wardens and dare her to talk to him. Dare accepted, and the following conversation was very polite, a fact she made sure to have Natia be clearly and pleasantly surprised by, especially when he realized what her face-brand meant and still talked to her about his search for recruits.

Called it, was the first thought in Bianca's head when Natia found the warrior Beraht had money on having drunk himself stupid and Leske suggested she put on his armor and fight for him. Natia immediately decided she wanted to, not for Beraht, but to impress the Grey Wardens, and that, despite part of Bianca telling herself she was going to get her butt kicked, she wasn't going to drug her opponent.

Bianca suddenly saw a problem with this. "Where's the inventory?" She imagined it was dead obvious but, well, gaming newbie holding a controller when she was used to a keyboard. She was entitled to a few stupid questions.

[Admiral Striker General]

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[ Alaric ]

Once again, Alaric watched with intrigue where it mattered, and only half-followed along with the other parts. He was just starting to drift off in a slight daydream as he considered trying to-- "Hm?" He was snapped out of it with her question. Fortunately for Bianca, he took that entirely as her just not wanting to mash through possible buttons to figure out which was what. X for interact was standard for Sony (which she'd figured out quickly enough for him not to realize she hadn't known), and the square, circle, and triangle were all marked as talents in the corner of the screen and pretty obvious. A small smirk crossed his features as he considered a more hands-on approach. "Ah, here."

Moving in the chair a bit, he scooped her up and shifted around a bit to pull her over to him, ending up with his legs again crossed and her in his 'lap'- or more in the space between the cross and the rest of his body (or sort of on the cross more?), leaning back against him. His arms wrapped round her, and for now set on the controller. Was there any real justification for this other than simply wanting to hold her? Sure. Just as much as every bad romance scene employing the same tactic for any skill ever. He proceeded to show her all of Dragon Age's menus and everything she could do with each, ending with Inventory like a good master of suspense. Or an ass. Whichever.

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[SongofWindchimes]

Bianca rolled her eyes a little bit when she ended up in Alaric's lap. This was right up there with that fake-yawn-and-stretch-to-put-an-around-the-girl thing. Which Bianca admitted had also been used on her. Heck, she'd used it on a woman once, but that had just been to make her laugh. She was just fine with the new position, though, and she tried to absorb the information on the various menus he showed her (she'd have to go back to that Codex thing later, she decided). When he finally reached the inventory, Bianca glanced back at Alaric with a smirk. "Thanks."

Bianca made no move to change position, even with the lesson over, and merely leaned back against Alaric contently as she went about equipping the armor and a greatsword on Natia. Now came the hard part. She had to fight.

With Natia giving an awkward 'uh, right back at you' reply to her opponent's honourable words, the first match started, and Bianca quickly (and probably a little too firmly) hit the button for Pommel Strike. Bam! Hey, he went down! Then he got back up. A few traded blows later without Natia getting her butt kicked, and Bianca couldn't help but smile at the announcer calling out that she'd won. Sure, it was a one-on-one fight, and her first one, so it was probably supposed to make her character look awesome, but whatever. It still felt kinda good.

Then there was another match, then another, Natia becoming a bit more articulate and convincing in her pre-match honouring of her opponent and Bianca settling into this very early and basic introduction to combat. Then, of course, there was the inevitable. Drunker warrior wandering into the arena and exposing her, Natia throwing down her helmet with an announcement that she was casteless, Grey Warden leader trying to stand up for her, and a scene with her waking up in a cell with Leske in the next one. And after saying that she hoped that she took a few of the guards down with her, Natia immediately wanted to get out and find Rica.

Which she did quite promptly, after a conversation with Beraht's ladyfriend that let her know she was dealing with his men and not royal guardsmen. A bit of lockpicking cortesty of Leske and--Hey, Natia leveled up! Bianca dumped two of her three new attribute points into strength and one into constitution, then picked up the Sunder Arms talent, and then it was back to the story. It was time to cut their way through Beraht's men, and Bianca was just a little less confident than her character clearly was ('cocky' voice was right) when she walked into a room with three men. She had backup in Leske, however, and it all went well enough.

After cutting down a few more men (including Beraht himself, which felt very good from an in-character perspective since he'd just been giving two of his thugs permission to have their way with Rica), and now wielding a maul she'd looted, Natia stepped out of the hideout...and, of course, straight into Orzammar's guards. Luckily, Grey Warderns to the rescue, extending the invitation to join their ranks and fight the darkspawn. And, frankly, between all the guards and their pointy weapons and something called 'darkspawn,' Bianca figured Natia would take the offer.

Cue loading screen. Bianca set the controller down on her lap for a few moments, flexing her hands a little. What, no, of course she hadn't been clenching the controller during the combat bits so that she could select her talents the moment they were available. She chuckled a bit, then thought of something. "You said this game's on PC, right?" she asked, looking at Alaric with a smirk. Bianca drew the line at buying a console for one game, but she did have a computer, and, unless the versions were drastically different, Dragon Age didn't seem like it had obscenely high system requirements.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Alaric half-watched as the origin played out, happy to see her growing more confident. Most of his attention, however, was focused on keeping his hands from roaming all over her after they'd relinquished the controller back to her. ...Well, too much anyway. Somewhere around the time she got out of prison, he did maybe start to caress her just a little, but he did at least stick to less sensitive areas- her sides, stomach, and (outer) thighs mostly.

When the Ostagar entrance came up and she asked her question, he couldn't have stopped grinning if he'd tried. FUCK YES<3 "It is," he purred. "Though it's harder. PC Easy is about the same as console Normal." A little wistfully, he shrugged and let her know, [color-gold]"You can shift difficulty in-game at any time, so you could test that out a little now... But.."[/color] He craned down then and finally began to kiss her neck, holding her a little tighter now.

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[SongofWindchimes]

Anything Bianca had thought to say died on her lips at Alaric's kiss, replaced by a soft gasp, followed by what sounded like a small purr. Near-instantly, all thoughts of the character she'd been crafting and the story that was unfolding flew from her mind. One of her hands moved to one of the arms holding her, gliding her fingers along it gently, while the other sought out his face to stroke his cheek.

Great Arceus, if Alaric tried to pull away and make her keep playing that video game now, Bianca swore the frustration was going to kill her.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Bianca was in luck, however, as Alaric's thoughts had almost completely left anything but her. He smiled even as he continued at her gasp, wondering just how much he could make her squirm. After nearly a minute, he did think to look up for just a moment and grab the controller himself, but his intent quickly became clear. The cut scene having passed, he saved the game properly and turned off the system before carefully tossing the controller aside. Of course, had she been the one to toss it like that they may have had a small problem, but he trusted himself with his things.

That taken care of, he gave her a soft, heavy-eyed smile and murmured, "Now where were we...?" Not waiting for an answer, he brought a hand to her chin and pulled her into a deep, longing kiss. The hand on her face trailed back after a few moments, settling in to play a bit with her hair. Breaking the kiss just a little, he half-whispered, "You should know..." He continued the kiss a bit more. "I think you're amazing..." And right back to it.

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[SongofWindchimes]

'Melt' was a better word than 'squirm' for her reaction. Alaric had found Bianca's weakness without even trying, and she felt her eyes slipping closed as he continued to kiss her neck. When he stopped, she wanted to protest, but a soft chuckle escaped her when she realized he was saving the game for her. She supposed she couldn't get mad at him for that.

Especially when he pulled her into that kiss. Sweet Mew, he was good at that. His whisper, however, caused something to prickle at the back of her mind, that bit of fear that always surfaced when someone's touch became a little too gentle, when they looked too long into her eyes with a sweet smile rather than staring at her body. Shut up, Bianca thought, not even sure herself if she meant Alaric or those fearful thoughts. She knew what Linza had said; he always had a different girl. She was just another one...She wasn't special...She didn't need to be afraid...

Desperate to just stop thinking, she kissed back with increasing desire, one of her hands starting at the side of Alaric's face and gliding down his neck to his chest. Then, she broke away from his lips and trailed kisses down his neck, following the path her hand had gone. "You're amazing," she purred against his neck. Bianca usually didn't say things like that, but it had to be said, because he was, and that was part of what frightened her so much.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

When she turned the tables on him a bit and she began her trail of kisses, his next inhale became notably sharp, but he managed to refrain from a full gasp, for the most part just soaking it up. Honestly, he was feeling a little torn at the moment as well. Unlike Bianca's plight, however, his issue was a little more.. well.. pathetic from a certain stand. He simply couldn't decide whether he should be trying to place focus back on her or just enjoy her taking charge as long as he could.

At her purr, however, he gave a hesitant, slightly uncomfortable chuckle, then shaking his head and giving her an odd look. In a rather dry but amused tone, he responded, "Clearly, you don't know me very well yet." He gave another small laugh, then kissed the tip of her nose lightly, shifting back to adoration mode. "But I want to get to know you.." To have found anything sexual about the way he said this would have been a bit of a stretch even for someone seeking it. Even more gently, he added, "If you'd allow me, your Majesty...~"

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[SongofWindchimes]

Inside, Bianca was nothing short of screaming in frustration. Why did he keep doing that? Alaric didn't want to hurt women, but he clearly didn't have trouble with driving them completely insane. The only outward sign of this, however, was a very slight pout on her full lips, and even that was gone soon enough, replaced by an amused smirk. She was tempted to tell him no, she wouldn't allow him, and just kiss him again, but she didn't.

"I think that's the third time you've said that today," she commented with a chuckle. Bianca realized her hand was still on his chest, and she reluctantly withdrew it and instead ran her fingers through his hair. Bianca had no desire to move away, and wouldn't unless Alaric actually tried to make her, which she had a feeling he wouldn't even with this rapid shift in priorities. "I'm going to run out of things to tell you."

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Alaric chuckled questioning. "I thought it was second.. Ah well." He shrugged, holding onto an easy smirk. "I doubt that very much though.. ... I'd go first if you wanted, but.." He gave an uncomfortable laugh. "That didn't go so well last time.." He almost could have been downplaying both their tragedies, save for the factor of respect for hers that brought about the comment in the first place. He didn't want to accidentally step into such dangerous territory again.

"Just tell me anything," he all but sighed, pulling her closer as to lie against his chest. Again he nuzzled his way in to kiss her neck a little. Purring into it as she'd done him, he softly asked, "Last name, age, favorite food, favorite color, opinion on cheese.." He chuckled, squeezing her tight and heading back toward her neck, then trailing down to her shoulder. Apparently, he hadn't so much shifted priorities as he was just multitasking. "Anything," he murmured between kisses at one point.

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[SongofWindchimes]

Bianca's body stiffened for the barest moment at the words 'last time,' but it passed quickly. She didn't want to think about that, and she didn't want to think about the fact that she'd told Alaric about that. Luckily, he was quick to distract her.

Bianca's breath came in a little sharper when he kissed her neck again. She found herself melting again, eyes slipping closed. Clever little... she thought faintly. Prompt her to talk so he could do what he wanted instead of her taking control. She could have been annoyed by it, maybe, if she wasn't soaking up the attention.

As she tried to keep her thoughts clear enough to actually talk, Bianca's mind locked onto one of Alaric's examples, and she chuckled breathlessly, opening her eyes again. "Okay, I've got something for you," she commented with a smirk, "I just turned twenty-nine recently." By this point, she wasn't too worried about his possible reaction. At least, she didn't think he'd shove her off him because of it.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

.... .3. Bwah? Alaric would have been lying to say he wasn't outright shocked by that, ceasing his kisses to look up at her. It.. wasn't like he'd figured her younger or anything. Just more like... eh, his age to 25-ish. Maybe 26 very tops. Not that it was really a huge difference in the long run, just.. Damn, she was even hotter than he'd thought to still look this good. However, something definitely did still bother him, and he put on a bit of a pout, moaning a little sound akin to an 'awww?' "Just turned recently..?" A small hint of a smirk broke the sad look. "But that means I barely missed your birthday!" Allowing the look to develop in full, he laughed lightly. "How recently? I might still have to get you something~"

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[SongofWindchimes]

Even if it ended the kisses, Alaric's initial shocked reaction made Bianca laugh. Yeah, that was about the usual response when she mentioned her age, though whether it was followed by brushing it off or sudden extreme awkwardness varied. Looking young just plain ran in her family, and she was actually the one who had it the least; poor Kate would probably get ID'd left and right if Bianca managed to talk her into going to Party Central, and she was only three years younger than her. Blame the doe-eyes.

When Alaric focused more on the recent birthday than her age, Bianca chuckled. Birthdays were really the only time someone could talk about gifts without making her uncomfortable, not that she really got many even then. She smirked. "First of the month," she answered simply, before placing a hand gently on his cheek and pulling him into a brief kiss. "And don't worry about it," she added when she pulled away, "I don't really celebrate much. Though I'll probably make the exception for thirty and do something big."

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

When Bianca informed him just how little he'd missed it by, he was about to insist upon taking her out- not that he was really sure how they'd celebrate off the top of his head- when she cut him off rather effectively. The kiss, while short, successfully distracted him and left him with a borderline-goofy smile. "Eh, I'll get you something," he mused with a weak shrug before kissing her forehead. "Promise I won't go overboard though." .....*snort*.. Overboard.. Like.. ships... pirates.. Even before his private lame amusement, he'd gotten a good idea of what he'd do. Maybe something else to go with it if he got a good idea.

"Any plans yet for that exception though?" His face and tone turned slightly sly. "I don't suppose anything like pirate ship big..?" he teased her. Not waiting for an answer, he gave a deep laugh as he leaned in to quick but deep kiss, then quickly moving back to her neck, and trailing down a little now to her collar.

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[SongofWindchimes]

A small sigh of feigned exasperation escaped Bianca when Alaric said he'd still get her something, followed by a chuckle. If he hadn't already explained his feelings on gift-giving, it would have bothered her a bit, birthday or not, but as it was it was just amusing and fairly predictable.

The ship-based jest earned a quirked brow, but the kiss broke whatever train of thought had started in response to that. A soft moan escaped Bianca when Alaric made his way down her neck and passed over a particularly sensitive spot. For a moment, she was just fine with the idea of not talking anymore.

Then she thought of something, particularly what she would have said if Alaric hadn't offered to get her a ship during that particular conversation. "You know," she said with a smirk, sounding as normal as she could under the onslaught of kisses, "I do sort of have a ship." She chuckled. "I've had this one ship in a bottle for years that I love."

Ah, the pirate ship with black sails that she had once called the Black Dove. Then the Pirates of the Caribbean movies had to come out and ruin everything. It seemed fair that, if he was going to show off his video games, she should at least inform him of her own somewhat geeky hobby of collecting models and figurines.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

Alaric had slowly stopped when she mentioned having a ship already, looking up with a thoughtful "Hm?" When she went on, he couldn't help but laugh. "You'll have to show me when I come to meet your cats." When, not if, because that was quite decided by this point, at least from his end. Not that he'd (really) stalk her or anything if she backed out and didn't want to see him again after today, but confidence was supposed to be helpful, right?

Opting for something a little sweeter again, he softly kissed her cheek and just leaned back to stare up into those gorgeous green eyes for a few moments before musing, "I think I already told you most of my hobbies," where hobbies meant geeky habits of course. He breathed half a laugh. "Eh.." Realizing he didn't return the previous point directly, he mentioned, "Oh, I'm twenty-three, by the way. ..Though you might've caught that earlier." He shrugged lightly.

....Eh, why not? he thought after a moment. He seriously doubted anything of such mediocrity would bring up anything harsh. ...Maybe if she was a vegan or something, but he'd dealt with that before. He was sure from the way she reacted at each kiss compared to talking she must be getting a little frustrated with his attempted conversation, or close to it. But hey, that was just triple-incentive. He could find out more about her assuming she'd respond in kind, get the conversation over more quickly (at least in theory, though tangents happened), and he could hopefully mess with her a bit. Hell, maybe even four good reasons, if she took his talking as an opportunity to turn her affections back on him.

"Mmm.. I love fruits and probably eat too much red meat." (Not that all that protein seemed to do him much good God dammit.) "My hair is totally natural" (depending on one's definition of natural shut the fuck up) "and happens to be my favorite color." He grinned here and reached up to ease a lock of hers forward. "Fun enough, my second-favorite is about a shade lighter than yours~ I'm not even joking." Though it seemed to amuse him enough all the same, provoking a small laugh.

What else... "No surprise my favorite animal is a lion and my favorite Pokemon Luxray. Though like I said, I'm actually kind of fond of Water-types as a whole. I love swimming and traveling, and there's no place in the world I'd rather be than on the beach at sunset." Somewhat slyly, he had to add as a tease, "Though I have to imagine a pirate ship would be similar.." Just the ocean in general fascinated him really. He hummed a soft sigh, and after a few moments asked, "You?"

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[SongofWindchimes]

When he met her cats. Bianca smiled when she heard that. Not that his insistence on giving her a birthday present hadn't already made it clear that he intended on them meeting again, but it was always good to hear some confidence in that regard from the other side of the conversation.

As Alaric spoke, Bianca found her hand wandering a bit, running her fingertips over his cheek and down his neck a bit teasingly, pausing to toy with a lock of his hair when he mentioned it and looking a little surprised when he brought up her own. A man who liked purple? Well, if that wasn't a pleasant surprise. Her hand continued drifting lower to his chest, and when he made his pirate ship comment she chuckled and shook her head.

"Well..." She leaned forward to plant a quick kiss on his lips, then a few teasing ones on his neck before pulling away and answering properly, her hand never leaving his chest. "I probably love pasta a little too much, and I have a sweet tooth." She probably needed that much carb intake, though, given the amount of exercise she got on a regular basis; lazy she was not. "My hair's natural, too, and it's my favourite colour, though, honestly, I love pretty much any shade of purple." She chuckled a little and admitted, "I own an ungodly amount of amethyst jewelery."

"Animal's kind of a three-way tie between lions, tigers, and ligers." Tigons, in their adorableness, sat in the spot just below the larger three. "And pokemon...okay, this'll sound strange, but I've had a soft spot for Granbull since I was a teenager. But I like pretty much all cat pokemon, and really anything with wings too. Bird pokemon, dragons...Loving the beach's in my blood, but, other than that, I'm big on altitude. Forests and jungles with tall trees, towers, mountains...Watching the sun come up from the highest point for miles is something else..." A sigh escaped Bianca as she thought about it; she hadn't done that sort of thing in a long time.

She moved in for another kiss, letting it linger a little longer than the one before. "I'll have to show you sometime," she said when she pulled back.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

This time around, Alaric opted to keep his hands-- well, everything other than his hands; they actually set to lightly scratching her back through her shirt themselves-- off of her and just watch and listen. He had to smirk a bit when she mentioned a sweet tooth. That was a pretty common thing, but one he certainly never minded catering to. If given a wide range of choices- and he usually was, considering- he didn't tend to go for sweets too often himself, but he did get in a mood occasionally, and certainly liked them well enough besides.

Amethysts! The number of times he'd been tempted to buy amethyst jewelry for himself was a little embarrassing, but there wasn't much he'd actually wear. He had a few necklaces, but tended to wear his silver cross if anything at all. Though he'd thought about it a number of times he couldn't ever bring himself to get his ear(s) pierced (and would be lying if he said certain stigmas around that and the fact single-ear piercings varied as to which meant what depending on region hadn't influenced that); he wasn't really into rings; and bracelets and such were just too girly. He did love them though, and had a few small pieces of random amethyst in his room just because. Oh also it was supposed to have calming energy or something. But mostly it just looked cool. All the same, this had given him an idea for another birthday present. ... Of course, he didn't want to get anything too close or identical to anything she already had, and an 'ungodly' amount did increase those odds. ... X3 Quickly enough, however, he had thought of a devious plot to both almost certainly avoid that and hopefully receive quite the fun reaction. She'd probably never wear it, but if he--

"Liger!" he'd impulsively piped up upon her mention of the word, cutting off his own thoughts in the process. After a sheepish cringe, he'd muttered, "Ah sorry, go on." He listened more intently again now, managing to keep from too big a mental tangent until she'd finished. And she just kept getting better, didn't she? Birds were a slightly sore spot as a whole in general, but only by association, and he certainly liked specific types and select individuals often enough; but YES DRAGONS<3 Not that he didn't already know this from her mentioning riding before, but hearing it again just sparked his giddiness over it all over again. Seriously, a girl this badass who loved dragons! His grin widened upon the beach comment, but softened again as she went on to describe what sounded so serene.

Upon her last comment, he pulled her back in for another kiss, followed by a soft, "I'd very much like that.." and a few more, each kiss growing a little longer and deeper than the last before he finally cut off to continue conversation. Smirking a bit, he informed her, "Granbull are adorable, by the way. I'm not much of a dog person, but some Pokemon are pretty awesome." Looking off at nothing for just a few moments, he murmured a somewhat indistinct, "There're actually some Growlithe wandering around here somewhere... Eh." Shrugging lightly, he shook it off and turned his attention back to her.

Mmm.. Sunrise was pretty similar to sunset in essence. It was just... "I have to admit, though, I'm usually not awake at sunrise. Or if I am it's almost time for bed." He chuckled a bit, bringing a hand up to stroke her cheek softly. In a gentle purr, he added, "Though for you, I think I could manage." And whatever mood that might have sparked was quickly killed when he grinned and shrugged to go on more casually, "I can always go back to bed afterward, eh?" He laughed a bit then, leaning in to kiss her again. All of a sudden, an image of a high place from which they could watch jumped to mind, and he a bit disconnectedly asked, "Oh hey, what about a lighthouse? To watch the sunrise from I mean."

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[SongofWindchimes]

Bianca noted the excitement at the word 'liger' with nothing but a slightly quirked brow. She had absolutely no idea what that was all about, but it didn't bother her. All she knew is that she'd loved the big hybrid cats ever since she'd found out they existed, and she was sure Alaric would explain if she ever asked.

And just when she thought he may have abandoned the conversation, he stopped kissing her to continue it. Bianca still couldn't help but smile when he said Granbull were adorable. Some people found her fondness for the beasts a little strange, though she felt a lot of them would have understood had they met Tigerlily. She'd been such a sweetie.

Luckily, there was talk of sunrises to distract her from traveling down that depressing road of thought, and Bianca chuckled a little when Alaric admitted that he wasn't often awake at that time. She could relate; Bianca was far too fond of the nightlife these days to get up that early, but back when she was twenty-one and twenty-two, riding on Mars in the early morning had practically been an addiction.

Alaric saying he'd manage 'for her' caused a faint fear-prickle in Bianca's mind, though it was more from the tenderness than the actual words (men and women had stated they'd do things 'for her' often enough) but she managed to hide it, mostly because he so quickly squashed it by switching to a more casual tone and causing her to laugh with him.

"Hm?" Bianca blinked a little at the suggestion. "Like the one in Orion?" To be fair, the lighthouse wasn't exactly in Orion, being out on that island, but when it had been running it had certainly been considered part of the city. How long had it been since she'd been out there, she wondered? She'd had to have been, what, fourteen? She hadn't been anywhere near the west during her phase of flight-addiction, so the idea of watching the sunrise from it had never once occurred to her.

Bianca smirked. "I dunno. They say that old lighthouse is haunted." She chuckled. 'Haunted' was rarely a problem for Bianca. Ghosts did creep her out a little, but she knew better than to let that stop her most of the time. Besides, there couldn't be anything in there worse than her parents; maybe she could just hide in the creepy lighthouse the whole time the next time she went back to Orion and her parents wouldn't even know she was in town.

[Admiral Striker General]

[atrb=style,width:475px;color:goldenrod;border:3px goldenrod ridge;][atrb=bgcolor,#94701A]

[ Alaric ]

His face lit when she pinned it, but quickly fell to disbelief as she mentioned the rumors surrounding it. After a few moments, he just laughed in a way that seemed to say 'seriously?'. "Well I don't know about all that," he almost teased before shifting back into his casual mode. "But yes, that one exactly, actually~ That's where I stay when I'm not here or traveling." And after a few seconds he half-suppressed a laugh as he realized how that came out and quickly clarified a little dryly, "Orion, not the lighthouse, obviously. Hehe."

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