summary: fanny loved games, and giacomo was a trickster. they already knew they made a good team.
giac x fanny, part 2/4
part 1
It might not seem like it, but Fanny was quite the adventurer. She loved playing games and trying new things with new people, but she could never break out of the shell closed around her. At Mansfield Park, she had to find entertainment in the smallest activities.
Her family called her childish, and irresponsible, but the best thing about being a free spirit was that she didn’t really care. No, she did not want to disappoint her aunt and uncle because then she would never be able to leave the house ever again, but if they weren’t as concerned with status as they were she would not be contained.
Imagine their surprise when the infamous Giacomo Casanova stood at their doorstep, asking for her.
They’ve been seeing each other ever since the harvest festival and no one in her family knew, until now. There was something she found thrilling with all the sneaking around. She realized Giac could bring out the worst in her, and she loved it.
Contrary to his air of spontaneity, Giac had everything planned to every detail.
“I’ll come in the dead of winter, near the holidays,” he told her conspiratorially, “before noon but not too early. The snow would be falling quite heavily by then.”
“And how would you know that?” she challenged.
“I know a lot of things. Jack of all trades, me.”
“Master of none,” she finished.
He leaned in close. “I’m a master of something, that’s for sure.”
She smacked his arm playfully, ignoring the hint of truth in his dark gaze, and he continued with a laugh. “They’ll let me in, in the spirit of kindness at this time of year and because it will be bloody cold and they don’t want a draft to come in. And since it will be close to lunch, I can stay until the snow lightens up.”
“You’ve thought about this for a while, haven’t you?”
“I’m just that clever.”
And yes, he was very clever, because that was exactly how the day had played out. They ended up in the sitting room together, Giac and her uncle engaged in conversation while she and her aunt listened from the sofa. He was able to charm his way into the better opinion of her aunt and uncle, and he and Fanny were allowed to do as they pleased (yet still under a watchful eye). He bounded over to the window, moving the curtain with a finger to peek outside.
It was a known fact that Giacomo was a beautiful man, and Fanny admired him in the light reflecting from the snow outside. He was tall and lean, with sandy hair and blue eyes that could carry her over oceans.
And when he looked at her from across the room with that wide smile, she felt her heart stutter.
“Fanny Price, would you like to accompany me on a lovely stroll?”
“Now?”
“The snow is quite lovely, and I can keep you warm.” He stepped closer to her with a mischievous smile, which she returned wholeheartedly. She had no doubts as to how warm he could make her.
Before he could react, Fanny ran out of the room and grabbed her cloak, laughing as she heard him chase after her. She made her way out the door but stopped at the porch, eyes lifting to the sky.
The snow fell lazily, an almost blinding white blanketing the ground. The trees were bare but not any less beautiful, and the sun peaked through the winter fog. She felt Giac bump into her back as he caught up with her.
“Blimey, it’s cold!” he exclaimed, which made her burst into laughter. She stepped into the snow, and her foot sank several inches. She didn’t even have to look at him to know he was scratching at his neck. “We don’t... I didn’t realize-”
Before he could continue his rambling, she grabbed the front of his shirt and tugged, falling backwards. Giac squeaked as the cold hit him, spinning them around and trying to save her from hitting the ground to too hard. He landed with a soft ‘oof’ as her weight pushed him further into the snow, and she only felt a little bit guilty. As cold as it might have been, he didn’t let her go or move to get back up.
“Come on,” she insisted, “you’ll catch your death if you stay buried there.”
“It’s quite nice here, now you’re the one keeping me warm.”
Giacomo stared up at her, and her smile softened. Despite everything against him, Fanny could only see the good in his heart and kindness in his smile.
At that moment she decided to take a risk and jump into something without caring about the consequences. With a hand on his cheek and his arm wrapped around her waist, Fanny leaned down and kissed him with as much heart as she could.
Guest Interruption Appearance by Jude- @honorsstudentjude
Leia: Did you have your scarf when you woke up? 😉”
Alvin: "Dammit, Leia!" And he hadn't slept that late.
Leia: “The cutest darn ninja you ever did see.”
Alvin: "You've made your point, can I have it back now, please?" He rubs at the back of his neck. (Not in the mood to look like a goof chasing her all over this morning.)
Leia: "Haha. Oh okay then. I'm sure you have important mercenary/fruit guy things to do”
Alvin: "Just like you've got important stories to scoop, right?" And smiles to create — which she's actually been successful at, despite his complaining.
Leia: (Teehee. How did she get in his house anyways?)
Alvin: (Everyone seems to be able to break into my Alvin's place. Apparently he doesn't worry about it because the only valuables he has are basically the things he keeps on him.)
Alvin:( And generally the breaking-in consists of crashing on his couch or making him dinner. O.o)
Leia: (even though he can't seem to keep track of his own scarf, at least when Leia is involved :P)
Alvin: ("Hey." He knows exactly where it is, Leia has it.)
Alvin: "You like it that much, maybe we oughta get you one of your own." Teasing. He knows it's about the game, not about the scarf.
Leia: "That's right!" Though she won't turn the offer down.
Alvin: "I dunno, a gift from an older gentleman — your mom might take that the wrong way." Wink.
Leia: "I live on my own, travel from country to country daily, and work a full time job. I'm plenty grown up."
Alvin: "Yeah, but you'll always be her precious little girl, too. Despite being all grown up." He tugs at her cap brim playfully.
Leia: "Maybe so, but remember, I'm not a little kid!" She ruffles his perfectly messy hair and then darts away before he can catch her.
Alvin: "Hey!" He rolls his eyes and fixes his hair, still smiling. "Are you trying to make me late for work today?"
Leia: "Maybeeeeeeee"
Alvin: "That so? Any particular reason?" A wiser man might not take a step into her personal space. No one ever said Alvin was a wiser man.
Jude: As everyone seems to be able to get into Alvin's house, same goes for Jude's office
Alvin: (Alvin points out that it's not like Jude locks his office, sooooo)
Leia: Leia blushes now she's embarrassed "Um, b-because you are so perfect and adorable!" -Tries to flee-
Jude: "Even if I did, you'd all probably get in any way!"
Leia: "Jude?! When did you get here?" “Can't you see we are having a private conversation?" Leia pushes him out the door.
Alvin: Wait what Jude's here. Alvin stuffs his hands in his pockets and tries to look innocent. Fails entirely because he's never mastered that skill.
Leia: "Alvin, don't you ever lock this place?"
Alvin: "I did. My lock's as bad as Ludger's." Whose is notoriously unreliable; Alvin can pop his door open with a flick of the wrist.
Alvin: (casually all nope nothing to see here not flirting with your childhood best friend kid)
Leia: "You're gonna be late for work Jude! Byeeeee!" Jude didn't even seem to care what was going on. Just wanted to remind us that we bust in on him too. "And he says pride is my downfall. Ha!"
Alvin: "You mean you don't have work this morning too?"
Leia: "I'm a journalist! I set my own schedule. When there's a scoop, I'm there!"
Alvin: He laughs. "The scoop this morning is: "Journalist steals ex-mercenary's scarf. What happens next will shock you!" huh?"
Leia: "And what will happen next Mr. Ex mercenary? Hmmmmmm?"
Alvin: "That's a good question. Maybe the journalist oughta stick around for an in-depth interview." Did we mention that wiser men would not take another step into her personal space, and no one had ever claimed Alvin was a wiser man?
Leia: "Okay and what is this interview about? How you can't seem to keep track of your precious scarf ?" Hopefully Alvin didn't think she was ignoring him all this time. She was just on her GHS. He should've been able to see that clearly.
Alvin: "Heh. Riveting. How about a color story on the good and bad points of Elympian/Rieze Maxian business relationships, done over lunch in Drellin?"
Leia: "Now you're talking!" Leia loves food. "But I'm not able to pay for the food of the people I interview so you're on your own there! Now let's go! I'm starving!"
Alvin: "Hey, I wouldn't invite myself to eat on your nickel." He lets her lead, which gives him an excuse to hide the shit-eating grin.
Leia: -Leia skips along ahead of him towards the train station- "Come on! I'll race ya there!"
Alvin: "You're not getting my scarf as a victory prize." He doesn't wait for her to say "ready, go" — he's already off and running because he's definitely slower than she is.
Leia: Before she could say another word Alvin had started running ahead of her. "Oh no you don't!" She darts after him, jumps high in the air (does a few aesthetically pleasing midair flips) and lands—right on his back. He's not getting away.
Alvin: Apparently this kind of thing doesn't happen in Trigleph every day. Heads turn, but he laughs and grabs ahold of her legs as if he gives her piggyback rides all the time. She's not getting away, either. They slew into the train station at Alvin's top speed, which admittedly is nothing impressive, but faster than everyone else who's walking.
Leia: "Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" This was way better than walking to the station. Even though they weren't going that fast, she still was enjoying the ride. They went past Technology drive where they received some strange looks but she didn't care. Finally they arrived at the station. Leia hopped off Alvin's back. "Thanks for the lift!" -wink-
Alvin: "My pleasure." He elbowed her gently in the side and went to pay for train tickets.
Leia: "Hey that tickles!" Leia realizes now that she should not have given up that information. She was sure she would pay for it later. Alvin came back with the tickets. "Okay let’s go!"
Alvin: Yep, she definitely should not have given up that information. He filed it away for later. He let her have the window seat; he was tall enough to lean over and look out, anyway, and it wasn't long before the bare Elympian countryside was zipping by.
Leia: Leia gazed out the window at the scenery. "Not too much longer to Drellin! I haven't been here in a while actually. What about you?" Heck yeah. Leia loves the window seat.
Alvin: "Last week, actually. I've been working a deal with that restaurant to bring in napples and poranges for their breakfast and dessert menus. Took some convincing, but it worked out okay."
Leia: "Oooh. That sounds good! You know, you can mix fruit with a lot of other foods and have it still taste pretty yummy!" Leia had a habit of putting two really great foods together and expecting something really great to come out of it. She has some success but more often than not it was a disaster.
Alvin: "Mhm, and real fruit makes a big difference. You know most of the fruits and veggies in Elympios are grown in a vat, right?"
Leia: "Oh wow! That's so different from Reize Maxia! I guess before the schism was gone Elympians didn't get as much nice produce." Leia shudders imagining her life without good quality fruit every day.
Alvin: "Everything was so depleted by the spyrix that getting things to grow was hard. No blessings of Gnome and Undine here, remember? Which meant that a lot of stuff got grown in factories, using more spyrix. It's an ugly cycle, but hopefully things will turn around. You can't keep chewing up spirits to feed humans in the long run."
Leia: "Oh yeah. I'm glad things seem to be getting better. And I'm really glad we got to be a part of it too, you know? It feels really good having done something to help!" The train screeched to a halt. Startled, Leia grabbed Alvin's arm to steady herself. "Looks like we're here!"
Alvin: Her fingers on his arm should not tingle, Alvin reminded himself sharply. "Yeah, it does," he admitted with a small smile. "Have to admit I never pictured myself doing this a year ago." He backed up to let her off the train ahead of him before falling into step with her again on their way to the cafe. "Hope you're hungry, those portions are pretty huge."
Leia: "Heck yeah I am!" When wasn't she hungry? Leia was excited to be in Drellin again. It was so much different than Trigleph. There were a lot more food options and it had more of a natural feel to it as well rather than the big city vibe. "Hey there it is!" Leia grabbed Alvin's arm and pulled him towards the cafe.
Alvin: He obligingly allowed himself to be dragged, noting that despite his own internal protests, that small tingle had not gone away. Oh boy. A wink at the receptionist earned them a table outside with a great view of the plaza, and they settled in with menus and drinks. "Whatcha in the mood for, Sunshine?"
Leia: Somehow Alvin managed to get them a great seat outside. The view of the plaza was spectacular! Leia sipped on her lemonade. She got distracted for a moment by the view. Then she heard Alvin ask her what she was having. "Huh? Oh right! I think I'll have a large French Toast and a Small Fruit Salad. What about you?"
Alvin: "Hmmm. Man does not live on steak alone, despite the temptation. Curry for me." ... Which ... still had beef in it. What could he say, he was predictable when it came to food. "Theirs is good. Not as good as your dad's, though," he added, when the waitress was out of earshot.
Leia: -Leia giggled.- "You don't have to try so hard to get on my good side Alvin. But I mean, yeah of course. Nothing is better than my dad's, well, everything! You should really come have dinner at the lodge sometime! I'm sure dad will make you all kinds of delicious food!" Leia took another sip of her lemonade. "Hey, you really like steak right? Dad makes a really good one with a peach glaze. Mmmmm."
Alvin: At that, he cracked into a chuckle. "And you don't have to, either, Sunshine. But it does sound pretty good." Better than soda rice, for sure. "Wouldn't mind seeing your folks again. They're good people." Assuming, of course, that Sonia hadn't found out about what had happened in Hamil. Then he was a dead man. Urk.
Leia: "Yeah! Maybe next time we can go there and see them!" Wait. Next time? Did that sound like a- a date ? "I mean, we could invite the others too?" Phew saved yourself on that one, I think. (No you didn't Leia) "I don't think Jude has been home in a while and I know Ga- I mean Erston was eager to see my mother again. Something about comparing sparring tactics? Oh look! The food is here!"
Alvin: Did that sound like a date? ... Maybe, but it could have been purely innocent. Alvin could convince himself of that; he was all too good at lying to everyone, including himself.
"Heh, that's a fight I'd pay to see from a safe distance," he chuckled, digging into his curry. "It'd probably do Jude some good to get out of the office anyway. I swear he's turning into a mushroom, never seeing the sun."
Leia: Leia chuckled at the thought of the King and her mother sparring. "Haha yeah, I wonder who would win though!" Leia poured some syrup on her French toast and cut a piece to take a bite. "Mmmff thith ith tho good! Althin thu need th twy thith!" She swallowed her food and then held her plate up to him. "Come on, try it!"
Alvin: "Heh. Good question. Erston might have had a real fight on his hands had they met in the Coliseum." He waved her plate down so he could cut off a bite, and chewed appraisingly. "Hm, not bad," he agreed thoughtfully, and passed his plate back in turn. "Try this, see what you think."
Leia: Leia grabbed her unused spoon and dipped it in the curry. She took a bite "Mmmm. That's pretty good! Not too spicy, and, is it beef curry? I'll have to remember to order that next time!" Next time again?! Leia you've got to stop saying those things it's going to be taken the wrong way....
Alvin: "I could take it a little spicier, but the balance is good." Alvin caught himself winking at her. Had he intended to do that? He hurried past that traitorous thought and settled down with his food again. "So overall, Miss Reporter, what do you think about those complicated international business relations?" Yes, apparently he had intended the wink; that question came out playful and maybe a touch more loaded than he wanted.
Leia: "Huh? Wha?" Leia had been spacing out. What was he saying? Relations? She snapped back to reality. "Business relations? Oh! The interview!" Of course. That was the whole reason they were having lunch in the first place. Or was it? Also, did he just wink at her? I mean it was something he did often enough but why was he doing it this time? Whatever, she needed to respond. "Well it seems that there is still some tension between both Rieze Maxia and Elympios. They don't entirely trust each other, right? Do you think they ever will?"
Alvin: "A tricky question." Alvin chewed thoughtfully and set his fork down. "Suppose it's hard for either side to trust each other. Their cultures are pretty different, and it probably didn't help when Elympios attacked Rieze Maxia out of the blue." He flicked a glance at her from under lowered lashes, a cautious smile lingering on his lips. The parallels to their own situation had not escaped him. "But I think with some time to get to know each other, things'll work out in the long run, as long as no one gets too hasty."
Leia: "I hope so too. And I think it will also really help once Jude perfects his spyrite research. He's going to help so many more people someday!" She glanced up at Alvin and smiled before she went to take a bite of her fruit salad. "It seems like we have a long way to go still, but I'm willing to do whatever it takes to bring both of these sides together! I'm hoping my articles are helping a bit too. I want people to see both sides of the situation and not just their own"
Alvin: "He and Balan really have been burning the midnight oil on that one. I just hope they get it done in time." The fresh growth in Elympios with the Schism down was both exciting and worrisome; Alvin could see where people would resist the new technology, refusing to understand that what they had now was only there because of the fresh infusion of mana from the Schism.
Hopefully that wouldn't happen.
"Hey, I think you're doing a pretty good job of it," he teased. "All those articles you've been getting published, and I saw the guest column they let you write the other day. People can tell this is an important thing." He flicked her a teasing smile. "Not just a job but part of your personal life too." There was a subtle, lingering question in that sentence, and the gleam in his eye was not entirely innocent.
Leia: Hearing Alvin's sweet words caused Leia's cheeks to turn a light shade of pink. "Oh, y-you read my articles? Thank you Alvin, you don't have to do that just because I wrote them though. I don't want you to be biased." She looked up at him but once she saw him looking back at her she quickly looked down and twiddled her thumbs. "But really, thank you. It really means a lot to me that you care so much about my work."
Alvin: Alvin shook his head. "It's not like that. You know I don't waste my time, right, Sunshine? What you're doing is important, and how people are reacting to it is important. It's good to have that perspective. It's not just about finding out what you're up to." Not that that didn't factor in. It was hard to keep track of everyone when he was always on the move. Leia's articles were a touchstone that he deeply appreciated when he was on the far side of Elympios or deep in Xian Du.
Leia: Leia perked up at Alvin's response. "Yes, exactly! I want to continue sharing with both sides about everything that's happening! Someday we will have peace. I'm sure of it!" Leia smiled at him. Her emerald-green eyes beaming. "Now then, there are important matters to discuss." She looked up at him with a serious face. "Are we getting dessert?"
Alvin: "That's a matter of serious international relations. One poor dessert choice could lead to a war over Gaius dumplings versus Drellin gelato." Alvin put on a mock-serious face. "I don't know how anyone could survive that catastrophe. Better get two and share, just to be on the safe side."
Leia: Leia laughed so hard she snorted a little. "Hahahaha!" Two desserts?? Leia liked the sound of that! "Okay, that sounds like a good idea. I wouldn't want to start an international war or anything!" she said as she winked at him with a playful gleam in her eye. She picked up the dessert menu and looked it over. "Oooh! I think I'm gonna have a chocolate parfait! What about you Alvin?"
Alvin: "Hmmm." Alvin pored over the dessert menu, upside-down from his angle. "I'm thinking that blackberry cobbler sounds good." Nothing wrong with chocolate, but he'd never lost his appetite for the fruits that were so rare in his childhood. "Maybe a little ice cream on top." Yeah, that'd do the trick.
Leia: "Oh yum! That sounds so good! You know I can't say no to fruit!" Leia delicately set the menu back on the table. "I'm having a really great time Alvin! Thank you for suggesting we do this!" I am having a really great time. Who knew Alvin and I could hang out like this. It just feels so right . "And thanks to you I also got some great information for a future article! I'll be sure to credit you of course."
Alvin: He flashed her a grin, a shade on the smug side. Truth be told, Alvin was having more fun than he'd initially bargained for, too. "Heh, thanks for taking me up on it." A year ago, even the thought of doing something this simple and (mostly) innocent would have been next to impossible. "Any time you wanna work on those pesky Elympian-Rieze Maxian relations questions, I'd be glad to." Another wink.... y'know, he pointed out to himself, the odds were good that he was headed to a very special hell.
imagine baby emmanuel wanting to get a flower for some of his sisters because he's seen some man in heaven that gave a flower to a woman and told her she was beautiful and now he's in someone else's heaven and attempting to get the flower and said sister comes round to ask what's he doing and he just answers that he wanted her to know that she's beautiful and she just accepts the flower when he manages to tear it out not having the heart to tell him the flower can't exisst outside of this particular heaven
"Is it on?" He asked in the recording. It had been recorded when he and Barbara had decided to make each others voicemails on the opposite's phone. "This is Barbara's boyfriend, Miles-" He said in the distance, talking into her phone. "She can't come to the phone right now, please leave a message after the tone."
