2017-08-04: Picnic Date
- Log: Picnic Date
- Cast: Riesenlied, Noeline
- Where: Gounon
- Date: 4th August 2017
- Summary: Riesenlied and Noeline go on a cute picnic date at riverside Gounon.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied has asked Noeline to meet her at the riverbanks of Gounon one day, at a rather cozy pagoda with a picturesque view of the apple orchards. It's not hard to determine that she wants to go on a picnic and a d-date, but...
... it's perhaps a bit harder to predict the ashen-blonde winged woman coming in a rather fetching white summer dress with ruffled hems and a sash casually tied about her waist, holding a wicker basket filled with all kinds of wines, cheeses and breads to go with her summery straw hat with the ring of flowers tied about it. "I-- didn't make you wait too long, did I?"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
If anything, one of the biggest surprises as far as Noeline is concerned is that Riesenlied isn't already there at the appointed time; she's used to the winged woman being significantly punctual on the whole, with a tendency to be prepared and early if at all possible. Not suspecting anything, though, she's more than content to wait - while it might not be her beloved city bustle, the green view is a pleasant rarity on Filgaia, and the breeze is agreeable enough for her to recline just a little and close her eyes as she enjoys it.
Having realized it's a date, she's done her best to primp up; of course she's still wearing a combination of black and crimson, because Noeline's not about to let go of that color combination any time soon, but the temperate nature of their surroundings has prompted her to wear a slightly lighter dress, with a pair of red ribbons coaxing her hair into twintails rather than a bulky headpiece.
The change is not nearly as pronounced as Riesenlied, though, and the spy's surprise is written on her face, staring for a muted moment before she huffs bashfully to herself. "--I-- you did not," she stumbles briefly, then remembers to stand up and offer Riesenlied a hand up the pagoda's steps. Her immediate impulse is almost to ask if it's alright for the other woman to display her wings so openly - but she squashes that with an effort, feeling her cheeks heat as she amends it to: "You look radiant."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied does have to wonder sometimes if Noeline has any other colours, but she hasn't really seen it fit to ask, not when Noeline loves those colours so much. She-- smiles rather quietly and bashfully, holding onto her hand where her arms have been covered in silken white gloves. "R-radiant... really? I tried my best... I thought something-- fresh might suit the orchards of Gounon."
She sits down next to the table and sets the basket down, murmuring softly, "The townsfolk are kind here, they offered me wines and platters at a fair price." Probably something to do with how attractive she looks right now. Or her bounty. One of the two.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
At the very least, Noeline probably approves of the contrast between them, and the dramatics it allows her to mimic; that much seems obvious not just from the faint blush persisting on her cheeks, but also from the way that black-gloved fingers lace with white to allow her to lift Riesenlied's hand to her lips. The hum as she places a light kiss on her companion's knuckles is terrifically pleased, not to mention edged with a rich chuckle. "I mean it," she says afterwards, the smile on her face a rare one free of any teasing or cocksure humour. "It suits you wonderfully; are you really a dragon, I wonder, or perhaps an angel?"
Okay, so it's not free of teasing for very long. But at least the compliment is apparently genuine.
If Noeline is wondering about the motives of the townsfolk, she doesn't mention it; instead, she escorts Riesenlied to her chair, standing behind the other woman to help push it into the table - and then remaining there, her hands light on Riese's shoulders as she studies the basket's contents. "... my. Some of these are rather rare, you understand," she notes thoughtfully, reaching past Riesenlied to gently turn a bottle around. "Johnny Appleseed... a name steeped in history, but I can't help but think it's rather an odd name."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied does seem to enjoy being the white counterpart to Noeline's dark, even if her largely onyx and amber wings tend to kind of ruin that contrast somewhat. There's only so much she can do about that, however, as she blushes at Noeline's kissing of her knuckles. "... there have been times I have been called either. But an angel is..." A pause. "They are kinder and more gentle than I, are they not? Like the Seraphim."
Granted their main reference to a Seraph is Ragnell, but...
"Are-- they?" Riesenlied doesn't seem to know too well. "I suppose it might have been named after whoever planted the original appleseeds in this region...?"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline has an excuse to drape over Riesenlied's shoulders in an embrace, and so of course she takes it; for a long moment her arms link around the other woman's shoulders as she leans in at her back, sneaking a kiss onto Riese's cheek with a rich hum. "I would find it very hard to believe that any of them could match your kindness and gentleness," she huffs to herself, tilting her head as her voice becomes a private whisper, laced with an honest sigh. "I would tell you to trust in that, but... I suppose that strength comes from always striving towards it, rather than being satisfied in it, hm?"
That moment over, she straightens to step around the table, slipping into her own seat to take out a pair of glasses for them both. "As far as I understand it, yes, it is something like that. I am at least aware it is the regional speciality." She pauses, and huffs softly to herself. "Even if I haven't the faintest idea which years are actually the best. I suppose it's a skill I never picked up. We shall just have to take it on trust, hm?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"Kinder than an angel... surely you're-- exaggerating," Riesenlied murmurs, with a slight blush. "We have a lot to strive towards, what with the world still calling us such demons." She-- leans forward for a very soft kiss in return, more tender and deliberate than she usually is, even as her cheeks turn towards a rather vibrant blush.
"... ah-- I'm not sure how much I can drink. But... even if I do become-- tipsy, I'll trust in you," Riesenlied chuckles very faintly. She's unpacking an assortment of meats and cheeses, and grapes and slices of bread. "Do you like my hat...?"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline is obviously prepared for that response, meeting the kiss with a soft hum, a thumb of one hand drifting over the back of Riesenlied's. "That simply proves that I am not exaggerating," she replies, choosing not to go full grandiose with the statement; it's delivered as a simple fact, instead, with the weight of conviction behind it. "For you to keep that kindness and gentleness through everything you've experienced thus far... I know it is something I could never do myself."
She lets the statement go, though, preferring to draw back towards more innocent topics as her eyebrows raise; in her defence, she probably can't help the way her eyes flash with humour at the thought of a tipsy Riesenlied, and her fingers are splayed at her mouth before she catches what she's doing. "Trust me to do what?" she wonders aloud past her grin, before she chuckles quietly. "It is beautiful - yellows and pinks do accompany the look well."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied still has a rather extravagant smile for Noeline as she tips her hand towards one of the bottles, rather gently appraising their labels and not quite certain which one to go with. "... I wonder... is it really my own? Sometimes I am-- scared that it may not be." A pause, and she bites her lips. Before blinking towards Noeline, correcting herself, "T-that you will choose the right wines. Are you not supposed to be the bigger connoiseur here?"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
The demon in crimson looks up from the bottle she's cradled in one hand, her eyebrows up in an honest sort of astonishment. "What else would it be but yours?" she blurts first, the question almost instinctive in how fast it comes out - but then she catches herself, and lets her gloved fingers lace with Riesenlied's all over again as she reconsiders her response. "Or perhaps I should say... that whatever it once might have been, whether out of necessity or planning or learned from another, you have made it your own over time. I do not think you could connect with hearts the way you do were it just a facade. Such things tend to be easy to see through," she adds, her grin just a hair off being rueful.
"To be quite honest... I'm not certain what to pick," the spy admits afterwards, with an easy shrug of one shoulder. Impulsively, she starts to uncork the bottle in her hands, humming with an amused smile. "I have never particularly sampled things from over this side of the world - but the way I see it, it is never too early to start," she adds, pouring each of them a little bit to taste.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied hesitates just for a moment, before she shakes her head and smiles just a little wider. "... maybe. It's difficult for me to believe in, sometimes." She rubs at Noeline's knuckles with her thumb gently as she looks down towards her hand, then picks her hat off to set to one side. "... why is it that just now, I started developing the ability to connect with hearts? Is it coincidence, or..."
A pause. "I'm surprised you haven't. This place always seems your kind of style." She picks out some crackers, spreads some cheese over it, then holds it out for Noeline to nip on. "Say aah..."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
This time, Noeline's chuckle is quieter. "Well... you would not be 'you' if you rested on your laurels, I suppose. If nothing else... I believe in you," she admits, bashful as she sneaks a glance off to one side, trying to look anywhere but at Riese as she states the comment plainly in a soft voice. "And I-- will never stop. So long as you look forwards, I will do my best to be at your side."
Her gaze is a little distant - thoughtful - as she ponders the question. "... who can say? It feels as if many things have started to change, however. I am not the sort to believe in fate, but we have both grown to this point."
"Ah-- I suppose I thought it best to stay away from Veruni lands up until this point," she adds, and given the way she's turned her gaze away she doesn't notice Riesenlied's preparations until it's too late. "In that respect, it is a new experience for-- a-ah?" she verbally stumbles when she glances back, her eyes a little wide as she blushes - but leans forward regardless to accept the motion, eager to enjoy herself. "Hm-hm..."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"... I believe in you too. A future stepped forward without you would be a terribly empty future..." Riesenlied expresses, and manages to even state that much without faltering or feeling embarrassed for herself. "Is it fate, I wonder? I am uncertain if I believe in fate..."
She lowers her head with a bashful experession, before smiling as she reaches forward to let Noeline nip on that cracker. "... is it good?"
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
The spy's smile is rather quiet when Riesenlied makes that statement; she hesitates ever so slightly, perhaps giving away some of her own worries for a tiny little moment, and then quietly chuckles to herself as she closes her eyes. "... I can only hope so," she admits eventually, tightening her hold on Riesenlied's hand for a moment as she directs a bashful sort of smile towards her glass. "Fate or not - I do have a lot of time I intend to make up for, and a lot of future to look towards."
By the time she's accepted the bite, her face is aglow with a blush of her own, even if she's better at Riese at simply bulling through it; she flicks out her hair with an appreciative hum, nodding her head. "A very creamy sort of taste, but with a little bite to it." Noeline and her biting, goodness. At least her smile rejuvenates as she picks up her glass to offer it forwards in a toast - before pausing, and adding mischievously: "Ah... should I delegate the speech to you? It is your forte," she hums.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"... fate is what we push and rally against, is it not?" Riesenlied asks. "Your gift is remarkable to me. It gives me hope, that there is no such thing as fate based upon mere existence that is utterly impenetrable, uncrossable." She leans forward and kisses Noeline again, as she takes her own glass and sniffs at the alcohol for a moment. "Oh-- it's rather -- strong-scented, is it not? Will I be all right?"
She blinks a few times, before saying, "Oh-- you wanted me to give a speech for us before...?" A pause, as she smiles and holds her glass up. "... to the future, that we shall walk together hand in hand. To the Tainted, that they may be allowed to live without judgement or discrimination. To the new world, that we may seek one where everyone may flourish everlong."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
The spy meets the next kiss with a laugh, if a quiet one muffled by Riesenlied's lips; she leans in to savour it, letting her eyes drift closed as she does so. "... I am glad," she admits afterwards, her smile tugging wider as she draws back without opening them again. "And in fact - surely the same goes for you, does it not? My situation is born from the Medium within me, but your ability to sense Seraphs and connect with people's hearts is all your own. In our own way, we are both providing that hope."
She pauses, and snickers ever so slightly. "... I dare say we will be fine. It is a moment of peace - all the more reason to enjoy it--"
--buuut then she's gone, silenced as she listens to Riesenlied's speech. If she notices the tiny sigh she makes, or the way her smile picks up to something terribly genuine, she doesn't show it. "Mm," she just says, almost speechless as she clinks their glasses together.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied smiles rather vibrantly as she expresses, "... I know. But you provide me with that hope yourself. You're my pillar..." as she laces their hands together, holding each other just a bit tighter. She clinks her glass, and--
--almost ruins it as she barely holds back a cough from where the wine rather clearly has taken her off-guard.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
... as much as Noeline might have fallen into a Happy Place as the sole audience member for one of Riesenlied's warm speeches, she can't help but snigger and open her eyes again at the first cough, patting the other woman on the hand as she takes a sip herself. "--my," she notes after a moment, even sounding surprised herself.
"It is quite aged; I suppose that's the taste of quality," she adds with a laugh as she takes the cracker from before, this time leaning in to offer it forward in Riesenlied's direction with a smile both fond and rather cattish. "A lighter taste will help."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied sniffles just for a moment, before blushing towards the cracker to nip it and sip some of the wine -- hiccuping just a little in the process. "I have never been very good with wine... why is that, I wonder? I have heard you can build a tolerance, but... it does not seem a very healthy thing to do."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
With an amused laugh, Noeline shakes her head. Were she more scientifically minded she might wonder about the ethanol content alongside Metal Demon physiology, but for now she's content to sneak a look over the rim of her glass at Riesenlied, her eyebrows already going up at that first hiccup. "I wouldn't say it's a particularly practised skill, so much as one that just naturally comes over time - assuming that one isn't the sort to drink their days away, I suppose. ... take it slow. There's no rush," she advises with a rich hum.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied lets out-- another hiccup just for a moment, before nodding gently and setting it aside with a giggle. I mean, it could be anything from a psychological effect to Riese's own tainted makeup, but they're not exactly inclined to find out right now. She takes a cucumber sandwich to nip at it. "... there are a few locations that I think are wonderful and suited for our purposes, in the Badlands. I think they will make for a good community."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
If nothing else, Noeline keeps that hand stretched across the table, clasping Riesenlied's; she continues to watch the other woman as she sneaks the rest of the cracker for herself, eating carefully and daintily. "Ah?" she notes between bites, her eyebrows going up in curiosity. "Does that mean the full plan is on, then? ... I'm glad," she notes with surprise, not to mention a pleased hum. "To be honest, I was worried we would not find a suitable cross-section of our needs."
The spy pauses, and then chuckles again as she imagines it. "What an opportunity that would be... perhaps I should stop skulking around with my face hidden and be at your side properly, hm?"
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied smiles a bit more wan as she says, "... is-- will that be all right? A few people have found out, but... I am loathe to think you would be burning away any last vestiges of escape you may still have." She nibbles at her sandwich while she thinks, before she remarks, "There is such a place where there was once a water purifier unit that has broken down. I think we can repair it and establish a new village there."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"Hmm..." Noeline swirls her glass for a moment, pairing the motion with a similar circle at the back of Riesenlied's hand. "... I have come this far - and have resolved to go further, following my belief in you. And it isn't as if we are bereft of support, nor of allies," she adds with a soft huff. "It is not a decision that needs making either way just yet, but I won't deny that it's been on my mind. Can I really say that I hold convictions without being willing to do that much?"
She lingers on the thought for a moment, before chuckling and shaking her head. "Besides - Adlehyde might have been a quagmire, but this plan of yours... it would truly be something to be proud of, hm? I look forward to seeing it."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied rests her hand gently on Noeline's, content to leave it there. "... we'll weather the storm together in that case, then. But-- just now that I would not have begrudged it even if you were not willing to do so." She lowers her head. "That's how much I care for you and your safety, after all."
She drapes her legs together just a little, as she tries to take another experimental sip. "O-ooh... it's so strong..." Riese, you absolute lightweight.
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
With a soft laugh, Noeline shakes her head. "I know that you would not - and, for that matter, I know that you worry," she assures with a tilt of her head. "It is appreciated, make no mistake about that. At the same time... it did feel rather like I was rather unfair, leaving you to face the music on your own." She pauses, and shrugs one shoulder with a light and easy grin. "I do not necessarily need to be 'a Metal Demon' - but I do place stock in being as 'Noeline' as possible."
"... are you alright?" she asks after a moment, her eyebrows going up in surprise at how little Riese has drunk; she's already most of the way through her glass, after all, quite enjoying herself.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
"... as Noeline as possible..." Riesenlied lets out a little chuckle as she says, "I hope I have not restricted the -- lavish, colourful side of yourself too much, then. I appreciate it as much as I do all your other sides, after all..."
She tilts just a little bit to murmur, "Um-- but... mm." She gasps a quiet breath for a moment, before setting the glass down. "I need a bit of time to breathe."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"You did not restrict a thing," Noeline huffs softly in return, reaching over - perhaps she's a little more forward than she would otherwise be - to place a kiss on Riesenlied's lips. "It was all my choice - and it is a choice that now feels out of date, so perhaps it is time to correct it. That is all."
She pauses-- and tilts her head with a chuckle. "There is a bench, if the thought of curling up would be better."
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied pulls her head up to enjoy the riverside and the lightly wind-tossed trees and the cascade of sunlight for a moment -- before she's coaxed into another kiss. Mmm. It isn't until they're finished as she exhales quietly, "Then you have my full support..."
A pause, as she leans closer and cuddles onto Noeline's side. "... I like this gazebo. It's nice and shaded."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
"That-- is true," Noeline allows for a moment; she brings her legs up under her as she leans back against Riesenlied in turn, closing her eyes with her glass cradled in her hands. "While we cannot stay forever - I am pleased we chose to came back for a while. ... I dare say we both needed it," she adds, finding her arm around the other woman as she nestles into her.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied reaches her hand out to sort of catch some of that sunlight, letting it flow through her hands as she closes her eyes. "... for a moment, it lets me pretend we can be amongst this nature and not have it reject us." She scoots just a little more cozily, feeling rather needy and-- perhaps a little sleepy from the alcohol? "It feels good, Noeline..."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Noeline's ever so arched eyebrow suggests that she's picked up on the other woman's tipsiness, but she's more than happy to set her glass aside and accept Riese fully into her arms for an embrace. "... we /are/ amongst this nature," she stresses instead. "Right at this moment - and later, when we will reclaim a village from the desert to populate it. It is not rejecting you right now, is it?" she prompts, helping out by fussing through the other woman's hair.
<Pose Tracker> Riesenlied has posed.
Riesenlied lets out a genteel little laugh to say, "... it never does, yet it always is..." She hiccups just a little bit longer, before resting her head against Noeline's shoulder. "Hmm.... you're very beautiful this way. I hope I can be resplendent for you always, too..."
<Pose Tracker> Noeline has posed.
Turning to place her lips at Riesenlied's cheek, the demon's chuckle is as obvious as the brilliant blush, and someone's possibly just taken note of that open compliment to file it away for later. "So long as you have hope, you will be resplendent," she claims, relaxed enough to finally let some of the overbearing Crimson Noble through. "I could wish for nothing more."