SNIPPET 52
[commitment scene partial; dinner after commitment scene]
THIS SNIPPET HAS BEEN EDITED AND EXPANDED! Read the updated version here.
PLEASE NOTE: this snippet falls chronologically directly BEFORE Snippet 9, Rookanis first kiss.
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“Ooooh yum!” Naimeryn felt her shoulders unclench as the smells from the kitchen wafted over to her head as it poked through the dining hall doors.
Lucanis looked up from what he was doing at the sound of her voice. Maybe she was imagining it, but his smile seemed a little tense. Hopefully getting him talking about whatever it was he was making would relax him. He liked talking about cooking, and there was no need to take a deep dive into what had happened at the Swan right now, if that was what he was worried about.
…
“It’s nothing,” he said, looking sheepishly over at dinner, then back at her with his eyes wide and soft and worried, dropping his voice as he added, “or not enough.”
The tenderness awoke in Naimeryn’s chest with such ferocity that nothing could have suppressed it. She knew what Lucanis really meant, what he couldn’t bring himself to say. She knew because she felt that way about herself, and yet for him, somehow, she was. That he couldn’t see himself the way he saw her was a crime. She shook her head.
“It is,” she insisted, tentatively closing the distance between them and laying her hand over his, where it sat on the counter. Warm, as ever. She couldn’t resist the urge to give it a gentle squeeze as she tilted her head and met his eye. “And *you are.*”
He smiled, ever so slightly. He might not believe her, not yet. But if he kept giving her chances like this… by the Maker, or whatever dieties actually existed, someday, she’d *make* him.
“And, I’ll have you know,” she smirked at him, batting her eyelashes just a little, “I am *very* easily bribed.”
A soft chuckle rumbled up from his chest, and his eyes burned into hers. He turned his hand over, fingers intertwining with hers. Her breath caught in her throat as he gently pressed his forehead against hers.
“I’ll have to keep that in mind,” he told her, like a promise.
The dining hall doors burst open, and the two of them leapt apart. Taash and Emmrich were having an animated conversation about whether or not a dragon could be turned into a lich, and Bellara seemed to be recounting her latest serial to a *very* invested Harding. Only Neve and Davrin, entering last, seemed to have noticed what was going on in the kitchen before Naimeryn hastily began gathering dishes to set the table.
…
Lucanis could not keep his eyes off of Rook.
He knew he should at least *try.* Surely the others — Neve, in particular, whose calculated gaze he could already feel boring into him — would notice his distraction. But as she quickly walked around him to gather dishes, that lavender perfume of hers washed over him like a wave, and that was it.
Every time she’d catch him staring, she’d flash him a soft, tender little smile that made his whole world stop for a moment. And that was to say nothing of the smile she wore when he had looked away for a moment, to look back and catch *her* doing the same. The slight flush of being caught, the widening of her grin before she ducked her head and returned to whatever conversation she’d been having; it was enough to drive him mad.
Spite’s near constant commentary on how *happy* she looked — *was* — was redundant, but welcome. He danced around her chair all night, pointing out the smiles as though Lucanis couldn’t see them, the sparkle in her eyes as she laughed and joked with the others as though Lucanis could have missed it. More than once Lucanis caught himself smiling to himself, and would quickly take another sip of coffee.
OURS? Spite cocked his head at him. Lucanis frowned slightly. Before he could think too much about it, he was drawn into conversation with Emmrich, though the entire time he was aware of Davrin’s glances between Rook and himself. He should ask Rook if she wanted to be more secretive going forward.
Though “secret” may be far out the window, judging by the growing number of knowing expressions in the room.
“Dessert should be *excellent,*” Emmrich told him warmly, with a smile that was a little too excited to be *just* about the sweet. “I’m so thrilled you asked me for my mother’s recipe!”
“I hope I did your mother proud,” Lucanis returned, wondering if the older man had known *why* he’d asked him for this particular recipe all along. “Is everyone ready for dessert?”
He caught Rook’s gaze again, the excited *knowing* in hers making his heart skip a beat.
“Rook certainly is,” Davrin rumbled. Her face and ears turned scarlet, but she coolly shot back,
“Well, we *all* know how much I love trying something new!”
“Especially when the something new is *edible,*” Neve teased, and Bellara and Harding both began to laugh.
