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@stvalentino
do you believe the rumors about VALENTINO of LA PAGLIA ? a recent portrait of them reminds me of KIT YOUNG, because HE is so AMOROUS AND GENIAL. however, whispers have been saying they’re actually GARRULOUS AND QUIXOTIC. maybe that’s why i think of waking up to disheveled but empty sheets, playing one's hand too early, the spirit of the stairs.
"Indeed." He remarked with a half smirk. There was intense unreadble look, feeling him flinch, he felt for a moment he felt his heart race. "Nothing murderous." He reassured his whispere almost sultry. Deliberate his face still near. "If I wasn't a sinstra." He replied in a husky voice, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath. There was another unreadable look. "Her grave....we went through the trouble of traveling to a sacred site in china." He confessed his voice raw. "I think all the love disappeared when she passed on." He quietly leaned against the chair. "I only have room for one person and they are-" He winced in pain before finishing the sentence.
"right," valentino said, clearing his throat again. "well, a lack of murderous intent is always a good thing - i am quite sure that is embroidered on a tapestry somewhere," he said with another artificial laugh, pressing himself a bit further back into the wall. he blinked at the hypothetical, but before he had a chance to question what exactly the other meant by it he had dropped yet another loaded bit of information. "ah," was all valentino could manage in response at first. "well, er - my apologies for your loss. sisters are - they are truly something special. would she not want you to continue living your own life to the fullest?" he watched the sinistra flinch, brows furrowing. "shall i fetch someone for you?" he offered, honestly a bit relieved at the prospect of leaving the room.
"no. ew, stop it." there wouldn't be any 'getting it out' of her system. all the same, deep down away from all of the protective walls and petty thoughts, she was very happy for her brother. if his love was felt even in a fraction back at him (and she'd hope for all of it still), then marcella was quite happy for him. but that would just make him go on about her more. she would see for herself. she had seen the other around town. a beauty, most certainly. but knew little of her. "to start a rumor about you and it come from our family is far too obvious. come now, valentino. i understand you have her best interests at heart, but really think of what you are saying. it is so very weak and even more obvious if you are throwing them off by saying you are betrothed to another and it coming from us. even if it were the truth, no one would believe it. she does need to be the one that they speak about or else it will hold not an ounce of water."
"i could not stop even if i wanted to," valentino insisted, although if he were being entirely honest he may have been exaggerating slightly to get a rise out of his sister. "oh, come now, i'm sure you have ways of remaining anonymous when you do your -" he made a vague gesture in his sister's direction, unsure of what word would best describe her activities. but marcella went on, and he knew that he had to admit defeat. "all right, all right," he relented, leaning back in his chair. he could admit that he had never quite understood the intricacies of how information and secrets circulated around verona, and certainly not like marcella; she seemed uniquely qualified for what she did, and he harbored an odd sort of admiration of her for it. he pressed his lips together, met his sister's eye. "i know you cannot promise me that she will not get caught up in all of this," he said, "but will you at least assure me that you will do what you can to ensure that she is not maligned?"
‘ you’re being followed. pretend you know me.’ (From ouyang)
"what?" valentino exclaimed, swiveling wildly around in the least subtle manner imaginable. "who? why?? what on earth have i done to warrant being followed? do they want money? i'll give them money! my life is no longer my own to risk!"
"the beauty of making big decisions. of doing something with yourself." it is an idle comment that marcella wasn't even sure if she meant. the feud was, to her, a narrative fence to keep all of this drama in. she did not actually care about quite a bit of it. though two different sides in love did come with repercussions even passed the past disagreements. struggles had happened even in her lifetime and the other families had made their beds with that. "oh, so you are the one who is betrothed in this rumor. can not stand the thought of even a rumor about your beloved being in love with someone else?" marcella teased. like any good sister would. "is she not one of the most beautiful women in verona? would it not be more believable that she was being courted by someone else?"
"i am doing something with myself," valentino insisted. "is love not the most worthy pursuit of all?" he rolled his eyes at marcella's teasing, letting out a long-suffering sigh. "yes, yes, get it out of your system," he said, rolling one wrist in a gesture that said hurry up and be through with it. "she is, and i maintain that point, but i would prefer she were not involved if she did not have to be. should the rumors turn ugly - which, as you know better than most, they are wont to do - i do not want her reputation tarnished."
“ Love is surely the greatest force of all. ” (Ouyang says this in a very sarcastic tone )
"how right you are, good man! it is embedded in our very disposition, is it not? why else were we put on this earth, if not to love and be loved?"
lovesick nonesense. why was that always the route of things? admittedly, it at least made time in verona exciting. if every rumor was the thefts or someone being rude or tax exemptions, marcella may have actually wept from boredom. which made knowing this secret that much harder. "i am, but i am curious as to who it is she has told. we ladies do love our gossip." this was not said with any sort of irony- she knew it, agreed to it and even happily accepted that. not all were like her though. "the best way to curb a rumor of one instance is to have another that is completely contradictory. if she is in love with you, how could that be possible if you were to be wed to someone else in the city? or how could she if she has been seen with someone else? that is your best approach."
a laugh issued from valentino's throat, one that contained none of his usual humor. everything had all seemed so simple until he had spoken it aloud, apparently breaking the spell. "two men get into a spat and die long before any of us were even born," he mused with a miserable expression, "and we are the ones to face the repercussions." he rubbed both hands over his face before collapsing in a nearby armchair, one silent moment stretching into several. "all right," he finally replied, nodding as if it would help to keep him from losing his nerve. "yes, we should spread a rumor. tell everyone that i am betrothed to a - to a costanzo, perhaps? what do you think?"
❛ I will love you until time has lost all meaning. ❜ ( from khaya )
"and i, you, farfallina. it will all work out in our favor, i promise."
❛ You’re being emotional. It’s understandable, but unnecessary. ❜ ( from luci )
"how else am i meant to react when someone so harshly criticizes the artwork into which i have poured my very soul?"
if someone witnessed this scene, someone who was not of house la paglia might realize that this was a bit beyond a bit dramatic. but alas, that was not what was happening here. and while yes, marcella did roll her eyes, it was not from the dramatic love confession of her brother. would it not be nice for all of them to feel such a way about another? it would certainly make for more robust stories to overhear in corridors and pubs. "khaya basso?" marcella knew of her. limited engagements amongst...well, limited engagements. even so, she knew of the family most certainly. this was a mess. one that was littered with possibility. marcella could not and would not act on those, but just...-of course it was her brother involved such an affair. not someone with whom she could sit with and stew on. "productive? you drop information into my lap and beg me not to tell a soul and then rip it away before i even fully know what it is i am supposed to do with it! valen, you are hasty even in this moment. breathe and relax. i am your sister and i will do my best to help where i can. how-" there's another tired sigh. marcella la paglia is made of them. "-how is it i can be of help to you and her and all of your wonderful loving love?"
"khaya basso," valentino repeated, maintaining just enough self-awareness to repress another lovesick sigh. "all right," he relented, holding up both hands in a show of deference. "all right. you are right, cella, i should -" he cut himself off to take in a deep breath; it did little to dispel his ever-present nervous energy, but he would take anything he could get. once again he lowered his hands to grasp the back of the lounger, but his grip was not nearly so tight this time. "i trust you with this, cella, i truly do," he said earnestly. "you're the first person i've told, you know - because you're my sister and because i knew you would help." he offered marcella a lopsided smile, grateful, once again, to be able to call himself her brother. "well, if there was anything you could to do curb any sort of rumors....?"
so they were in love. marcella did not let her heart wrench in the ways that it wanted. it was not valentino who's words caused it but her own jealousy at other's finding joy where she had not. not truly. and even the half love she had ruined herself. "you love one another; that is grand valen. but you do not think of future at all? about how you are to exist against one another?" while she was not a planner like that either, this felt like a reach far below the fence of normal consideration. "my loves have never been as grand; my would-be marriage failed." even then that wasn't quite love. maybe if they had more time. "but you must think on these things. can you tell me who it is at least? you cannot do all of this without any plan. love should cause you to abandon all of your thoughts on the back of the carriage that brings you to her!"
"my future is her," valentino insisted. it was not him and khaya against the world, per se, but even he could not deny that there were....obstacles. still, he had faith that the particulars could be sorted through, preferably after they were legally wed and could not be turn asunder. his expression softened at her statement, closing his eyes for a moment as a sense of shame creeped into his chest. "i apologize, i - i was not thinking. but i know you have a great love in your future, cella, just like i have with my farfallina," he said earnestly. "her name is khaya, and she is of the basso house. her family are, unfortunately, steadfast believers in the feud, but she never has been - that was one of the reasons we gravitated toward one another." he would have happily sunk back into dreamy reminiscence of that first meeting, but his sister's voice yanked him unceremoniously back to reality. "well, do you have any suggestions?" he replied, steadily growing frustrated. "because my mind is made up - i cannot and will not live without her, and i will do anything to safeguard our love. if you will help me, i will be forever grateful, but it seems to me that this conversation is not at all productive."
she never wanted to let him go, it was as if their bodies slotted together perfectly like they were made to hold one another. and perhaps she had read too many sonnets and grown too hopelessly romantic, but khaya could swear her heart beat only to the rhythm of valentino’s name and would continue to do so until her very last breath. and oh, when valentino smiled at her, it touched khaya deep in her chest like the warm summer sun had chosen her to shine upon. and that’s how it felt like with valentino, to be chosen. a feeling so foreign, but so welcome. she’d never had someone handle her heart before and as terrifying as it was to place something so fragile into another hands, she trusted valentino. “nothing you do could make me think any less of you,” khaya assured him, running her thumb up and down the back his neck. valentino was so soft with her, as if she were something to be cared for. each morning she’d woken with a dreamy look in her eyes and a smile on her lips, but beneath the awe and gratitude, she still worried she’d never be enough to love. valentino had likely loved before and what if she didn’t compare? what if she fell short? for the amount of love stories she had read, khaya had also found stories of heartbreak. and what if that was her fate? but, as soon as his lips met her hand, khaya could only think of valentino and he anchored her to the moment. khaya believed her heart might just spill over with pure adoration. “i only ask that you not risk your life for me ever again, mio principe,” she giggled, lashes tickling her cheeks. as she sat next to him on her bed, khaya couldn’t help but smile. he’s so quickly walked into her world and slotted himself into the pages of her story, and she wouldn’t have it any other way. a shiver went up her spine when she felt his arms around her and a pink blush painted her cheeks, “i am far from exquisite,” she hummed, “and i’m no doctor but -” her fingers trembled as she unbuttoned his top two buttons to inspect his shoulder for any wounds. eyes fluttering, heart pounding, khaya bit back a sigh. she truly hadn’t thought this through. valentino’s skin was so warm and toned, it lit a fire inside of her. “you have a bruise right here,” a frown as she ran her fingers gently across it, “i’m not seeing any blood, though, which is quite the relief.” he was okay, so she could breathe. “i must tell you something,” khaya’s voice was soft and shaky. nevertheless, she brought her hand to her lips, pressing a soft kiss to it before placing it over his bare chest, above his beating heart. khaya’s eyes found valentino’s as she whispered, “i love you, too, my darling.”
valentino searched khaya's eyes with his own, looking for a sign that she was anything less than genuine in making such a vow. when he found none, a small, shy smile crossed his face, and he looked down at the small space between them rather than at her as he nodded. his anxieties were mollified for the moment, but he feared they might rear their ugly heads once again. he prayed that khaya would still be there when such an occurrence arose, and that she would be willing to slay the beasts once more. "i promise," he said, the words coming as easily as breathing. "my life is yours, farfallina. i can only hope that you will decide it must be spent with you - perhaps even in holy matrimony," he added before he could help himself, bringing their hands up to hide his face but peeking over their twined fingers to note her reaction to such an idea. "oh, i beg to differ," he refuted as he watched her move closer, heart beginning to beat like it never had before even as it traveled up to lodge itself in his throat. "i feel no pain, my lady," he breathed. quite the opposite - khaya's touch made him feel as if he were floating above the earth in some sort of religious ecstacy. he watched her perform her sweet gesture, one of his hands reaching up of its own accord to keep hers against his chest. it took a moment for her words to register, but when they did he could not help the odd little laugh that bubbled out of him, a sound borne of disbelief rather than mirth. "you - truly?" was all he could manage to say in a strained tone of voice. how long had he dreamt of hearing those words from a lover, let alone this angel? "oh, if i had not just promised my life to you i think i would simply die from happiness."
"on her?" goodness, valen was in quite deep if that was where his mentality was at. okay, so maybe marcella could not...sympathize? empathize? she could not recall the difference right then, but still. so much. for a woman and one not of their side? not even of the neutral side? what was the world coming to? "understand? i can hear the words you say and they are intelligible but that is where my understanding ends." there's another hiss, this one of releasing tension in her. very unladylike in the manner she did, but it was just her and valentino. "but just because i do not understand does not mean i hate it. or not condone it. have you thought of anything besides just love though? she loves you back? and what of the families? what is their reaction to be brother?"
valentino winced at his sister's emphasis, the thought only now occuring to him that he had hardly considered how his actions might impact his own family. "cella -" he began, but fell silent, helpless. love conquered all, and he truly did believe that, but there were so very many little details encompassed in that 'all.' he let out a short breath, bowing his head over the lounger; it was hardly a blessing, but the words were a balm to his anxious soul nonetheless. "she does!" he proclaimed, straightening back up. "she loves me," he sighed with a lovestruck smile, mind suddenly full of dark curls and smiling eyes - and a beautiful heart that he had been assured was his. at marcella's question the daydream evaporated, and he reluctantly snapped back to reality. "in full candor, these are questions to which i have given little thought," he admitted. "but have you never been in love, cella? it has a way of taking everything over, reminding us that it truly is the most important thing in the world!"
"on a different-...-with a sinistra?!" marcella sat up like a wolf seeing prey as she whispered her words in a fierce hiss. she did her best to reel it in. not because of valentino's reaction. no, if anything, that would normally make her more inquisitive and needling. but she knew that this was supposed to be aside from the normal gossip that the family surrounded themselves in. but his face was in a pillow! he wasn't using names! this was too much not to want to-...no, need to know about. "you found the woman you are going to marry and are implying that she is a sinistra but you do not want to be seen with her? valen. speak. because i am fraying at the edges of sanity to know exactly what it is you speak of."
the pillow made no difference; valentino could see the intrigue on marcella's face in his mind's eye. he pushed the cushion away and stood up, pacing around to burn off the anxious energy he was suddenly filled with. "i do not want it to reflect poorly on her," he explained, "being an unmarried woman seen cavorting with a man - let alone a destra." he blew out a breath and scrubbed both hands over his face. slowly they slipped down and he reached over to grasp the back of the chaise as if it was the only thing keep him him upright. fixing his sister with a beseeching expression, he said, "i love her, cella. god help me, i cannot envision a life without her in it. please tell me you understand."
"maybe i was not utilizing it to her liking. like i stated, it is not as though i was paying much attention to it all. i know her actual annoyance voice and this was not it. maybe someone demanded it of her. see me through to be punished. were i to tell you of rumors circulating about you?" was that really as good of an approach as he could think of to this? "my brother, you are quite bad at hiding your curiosity about the rumors of you. tell me what it is you'd like to know and i'll let you know if i've heard anything of the like. as you are my blood, i will give it all to you free of any charge." funny since marcella didn't charge much of anything for information. she gave it out only when she thought the time was right to do so.
valentino sighed and grasped for a nearby cushion with which to hide his face; getting these words out would be difficult enough without his eerily insightful sister staring into his very soul. "i was simply wondering," he began, voice muffled into the fabric, "if anyone had been saying that i had been spotted with a sinistra, that is all." he hesitated a moment and cleared his throat before adding, "on a different, though admittedly related note, i have found the woman i am going to marry." he removed the pillow and angled his head to be able to direct a sheepish expression at his sister.
she could hardly still the racing beneath her ribs. valentino was most certainly khaya’s knight in shining armor, her hero, the one who’d come to rescue her heart. for the first time in her life, khaya felt seen. as if every piece of her was a beautiful mosaic and not the mess of a young, naive woman. amore mio, the words made her knees weak. they were a promise that wrapped around her rapidly beating heart, tying it off in the prettiest of bows. she leaned over the balcony, anticipation crawling from her chest to the tip of her toes. a wide smile lit up her face, brighter than even the light of the moon. khaya wasn’t sure that this was real and not a dream, so she reached to pinch herself when - a scream fell from her lips which she quickly covered with her hands. terror ran through her veins as she watched valentino hit the ground and she squealed his name, bracing herself to climb from the balcony to help him.
much to her relief, valentino signaled that all was well and she attempted to catch her breath and calm herself. fear had caused her heart to forget how to beat, but as her love stood up and readied himself for his second ascent, khaya felt the excitement rush back in. “be careful, my darling,” she called down to valentino, biting on her lip anxiously as she watched him climb. each moment felt like a lifetime, her entire being ached to have him safe in her arms, even as worry fluttered in her chest at the mere thought that valentino might fall again. once he’d made it safely, khaya engulfed him in an embrace, fingers settling at the nape of his neck. the brunette nudged her nose against his cheek tenderly as a smile danced on her lips, “nothing and i mean nothing, my lord,” she punctuated her words with a playful poke to his nose, “could ever make me think of you as any less than the most extraordinary man there ever was.” a blush tickled her cheeks as she looked up at him, “how many can say that their heart’s desire climbed up a balcony for them?” she longed to spill her heart out for him, to recite the poetry he’d written upon her soul, and to tell him she loved him. but, first she had to make sure he hadn’t hurt himself during the fall. khaya slipped her fingers into valentino’s hand and led him towards her bed, her brows knit in concern, “come, let me tend to your wounds.”
oh, valentino would have fallen from a hundred stories to be touched like this, to be held in the arms of the woman he adored. never had he felt safer and more at peace with her fingertips tracing across his skin as gently as rain drops kissed flower petals. if the night ended in his horrific death at the hands of the other members of the basso family, he would go to his grave a happy man; he only hoped that khaya wouldn't be too upset by it. the first attempt to respond to the woman in question resulted in a noise somewhere between a sigh and a moan, and he was only able to peel his eyelids back open with great difficulty. "you deserve nothing less, my good lady," he breathed, a smile curving his lips as he recalled referring to her as such during their very first meeting. "i only pray i will meet such lofty expectations." valentino had intended the words to be light and joking, but even he perceived the insecurity behind them. he had somehow always been both too much and not enough for his previous lovers, and now that he knew how true and deep his feelings for khaya were, he knew that he would mold himself into whoever and whatever she wanted him to be, so that she would always want to keep him around. "i would do anything for you, farfallina," valentino proclaimed, clasping one of her hands in his and bringing it to his lips in a lingering kiss. heat rushed to his cheeks as he registered what she had called him. her heart's desire? did she return his feelings in earnest, then? his own heart beat more quickly in his chest, a drum played by an absolute fool in love. "i am quite all ri - well, if you insist," he replied as he saw where she was taking him, quietly thrilled to be allowed into such an intimate setting. he looked all around as khaya led him into her bedroom, adoring every bit of her that he could see reflected in its decorating. smiling once he was sitting on the bed and facing her once more, he looped both arms loosely around her waist. "i will be a perfect patient to the most exquisite doctor my humble eyes have ever beheld."
"who am i but your sister to admonish you valen!" marcella did not hesitate to fire back with her own tone playful. as he got himself comfortable, she sat down with little decorum next to him with an unladylike sigh. around the family that weren't their parents, she felt at ease to be a little more relaxed in her movements. especially with the other just draping himself over the furniture like some sort of painting. "answers we may never fully know. to mother's credit, she did say what it all was, but i was a little out of mind. some lord or something not happy with our family speaking of him. something of his mistresses being found out. made him look bad. she thought it me. again, to her credit, it very well may have been. the only reason i think it not is because it did not bounce around my head in recognition in ways that familiar names do. alas. a mystery. "
valentino laughed even as a wave of fondness for his sister swept over him. they were so close in age and similar enough in temperament that he had never quite felt like the older sibling, and he was grateful not to feel burdened with any of the duty or responsibility that accompanied such a title. still, he loved his sister, and if ever a situation arose in which she required him to pull the proverbial big brother card - a persistent and undesired suitor, perhaps - he would happily do so. "this, from one of the parents who brought us all up on the importance of utilizing information?" the last word dripped with an uncharacteristic venom, perhaps a bitterness that such a skill had always eluded valentino himself. "ah, well - not all of these grapevines bear fruit," he added. he cleared his throat and spoke up, as casually as he could, "would - er - would you tell me if rumors were circulating about me?"
