“Of course! It’s sort of soothing~ Feeling a weight pressing on me, it’s nice!” Cecilia responded with a nod, grinning then at their follow up. “Glad to be leaving such an impression on you, it’s what I’m good at,” she said, glad that they still held hands.
Refusing to let go even when they took the step back, she turned to face them properly, even going as far as to follow their step back. Catching their free hand in hers, she held that as well, holding both of their hands. This was nice. Looking down at their joined hands, she rubbed her thumb over their knuckles, her touch soft and gentle.
“Well, yeah. I’d rather stay and get to know you more,” she responded, not looking up at them. She was a little embarrassed at the sudden hesitation to leave, especially when the whole reason she walked with them was to get out of the forest. “I know you won’t, and I know I could, but…I don’t want this meeting to end yet,” she added, glancing up at them before taking a step closer, resting her head on their shoulder gently. It was nice having someone at her height, close enough to her so that she could give a nestle without needing to stretch. “We should have taken a longer route,” she commented, giving a little giggle.
“You certainly have,” Basil chuckles, the corners of their eyes crinkling when they smile. “I think it might be my favorite first impression yet, actually. If I had a calendar, I’d mark that down.”
But, they don’t. What they do have, though, is a journal! That has never been used. It just looks pretty.
When Cecilia turns to them again, Basil still looks puzzled. And that expression only worsens when they look down between them, watching the way the woman’s hands carefully ghost their skin, just as soft and gentle as she is. By the time the fae lifts their head again, their face has flushed pink.
“Me?” They parrot. As if that sort of thing was unheard of. Which, really, isn’t very far from the truth. Even nowadays, people are still (rightfully) wary of the fair folk. Too many tales of people getting lost, disappearing into the woods, or tricked by the fae into visiting their realm. Always never to be seen again. But, here’s Cecilia, brazen enough to demand more time with her wily company.
The head on their shoulder is the last straw.
Basil relents, freeing one hand to coil its arm around the woman’s shoulders. “Ah, well.. Suppose I could always invite you in for tea. Yes?”