Luke Castellan | Percy Jackson (heroicsoul) wrote in madisonvalley, @ 2016-11-08 13:09:00 |
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Entry tags: | !completed gdoc, !log, ~2016 november, ~25 points, ~~luke castellan (heroicsoul), ~~thalia grace (wasatree) |
WHO: Thalia Grace and Luke Castellan
WHERE: Their home
WHEN: Nov 1
WHAT: Thalia has a surprise for Luke
RATING: PG
STATUS: log; completed
Since their talk about costumes and...other things, Thalia had been thinking constantly of two things: Luke with another man; and, on a more terrifying note, herself in a dress. Thalia loathed dresses. When she was little, her mother used to dress her up like a little doll, all full of pink and crinoline, and parade her around at parties like a pet or a prop. People would touch her and pet her and hug her and kiss her without permission, until she kicked them in the shins and got sent away without supper. As soon as she’d been able to get some autonomy for herself, she’d stuffed the dresses at the back of the closet and torn up her jeans. Never again was someone going to put her in a dress. Until Aphrodite. And that was every bit as horrible as Thalia had feared. She simply wasn’t a girly girl, and she still hated dresses. But...Luke had said several times that he really wanted to see her in a dress - a dress of her own choosing. She’d turned him down each time. Even for her own wedding, she’d chosen to wear a chiton - which was, while not a pair of pants, definitely not a dress. While Luke had declared the day perfect, she knew he was just a little disappointed that she’d chosen not to wear a wedding dress. She’d disappointed him again when she refused to wear the Mrs. Dracula dress he’d been so excited about - but he’d surprised and delighted her when he’d decided he was going to wear it and to hell with gender norms. He’d amazed her then - and he’d made her realize that if he wasn’t afraid to wear a dress...maybe she shouldn’t be as well. And if he was going to go out of his comfort zone to consider taking on a lover because she’d mentioned it was hot, then she could stand to go a little out of her comfort zone too. She was the Daughter of Zeus: she was supposed to be the brave, brash one. So maybe it was time to be brave and brash. She had the day off that day, which allowed her to be at Walmart as soon as it opened so she could get the best half-priced halloween candy. She bought bags of it, and she bought another present for Luke. When he returned from work that afternoon, she was waiting for him in the living room, Halloween candy scattered around her like rose petals. Completing the scene of post-Halloween romance, she was in a dress which, while puffy, was something she didn’t entirely loath. She felt extremely self-conscious in it, though, and it showed when she smiled up at him. “Hey honey. Welcome home.” *** Luke had always been aware of Thalia’s utter hatred of dresses. He knew that she was uncomfortable in them, and he understood her reasons why. He had no desire to push her out of her comfort zone, no matter how beautiful he thought she might be. Which he did. His mind for the past few days had been not on that, but on the discussion he and Thalia had about sex. He couldn’t deny that he was a little excited by the idea, even if it was a bit strange and not something he’d really considered before. He liked girls, so he’d always kind of just thought he only liked girls. But the more he thought about it, the more he realized that it might not exactly be true. Thalia would always be the love of his life, but if this was something she wanted, then yeah, it might actually be hot. He got home at the normal time, put his stuff down in the kitchen, and stepped into the living room. When he did, his jaw dropped. Thalia was sitting there, surrounded by candy, in the most beautiful thing he’d ever seen her in...a dress. “I’m not sure what I want to taste first,” he said. *** The look on his face was worth all the doubts and awkwardness she'd felt over this plan of hers. When he spoke, her smile grew wider and more genuine. “I know there's a lot of candy here, but I must be doing something wrong if you even have to make a decision about this.” She wasn't too worried about him choosing the candy, though. She recognized the hunger in his eyes behind the surprise, and it definitely wasn't for sweets. *** The sweets would be good to regain his energy afterwards, but they were definitely the minor perk that he saw right now. Gods, she looked beautiful in that dress. Like Thalia, but...well, there wasn’t really a word to describe it, in Luke’s mind. Because it wasn’t the way she looked that touched him the most, it was the fact that she’d done this for him. He knew how much she hated dresses, and this was for him, all the way. And that touched something in his heart. Something profound. He hurried to her, scooping her up in his arms and kissing her. “Gods, I love you, Thalia. And you’re so beautiful I don’t even have words for it.” *** Okay, so it wasn’t the look on his face that made this all worth it. It was the kiss that made it all worth it. Luke had kissed her until her toes curled before; he'd kissed her with love and with his entire soul. But this had weight behind it. This was even more love behind it, and she thought they'd reach the pinnacle on their wedding night. Thalia wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. She was glad he liked the dress, and she was glad he understood. It was a dress, but it was also because she loved him that much, to put on something she loathed because he would like it. It was also because he opened up her horizons and made her realize that being in a dress wouldn't take away from who she was. When they finally broke apart, she grinned at him. “Hey, I couldn't let you look better in a dress than me.” Though the words were teasing, her heart was in her eyes. She loved this man, despite all the difficulties they'd been through and would likely keep going through. There would be no one else for her. *** “Well, you didn’t. Because you look about a thousand times better than I ever thought of looking.” He thought he’d looked rather ridiculous in it, actually, but he wasn’t going to ruin the costume idea he had just because he was too macho or whatever to wear the dress himself. And if it got him this, then it was totally worth it. He brushed her hair out of her eyes, just gazing at her. It was clear that his feelings were the same. They always had been, even if he hadn’t been able to easily put words to them. Thalia being turned into a tree had shattered Luke’s life. Nothing had been the same after that; his heart felt turned to wood as well. It was the best thing that Madison Valley had done for him...allowing him to have Thalia, even for however short of a time it lasted. *** “I should hope so,” Thalia said, butting his hand lightly with her head. “I mean, you have nice legs, but I think mine are way better.” She straightened, and nearly popped out of her top. And despite the fact that the only person who might see any scandalous bit of skin was her husband, she sqawked reflexively and adjusted her bodice. “Okay, romantic mood ruined,” she said. “Due to me not knowing how the hell to wear this thing. I’m actually kind of impressed I managed to stay in it this long.” *** Luke wouldn’t have cared one little bit if she’d popped out of the dress. In fact, he’d been a little hopeful that she would. It would have been hot, in an adorable way. But her squawk was adorable too, and he took a step forward and helped her adjust it, kissing her on the nose as he pulled away. “It’s hot. The dress. But you don’t have to wear dresses for me,” he smiled. “I love you just the way you are.” It sounded cheesy, but it was also true, and that was all that mattered. *** “Well, thank the gods, because I feel ridiculous in this.” She kissed him quickly, then pulled back. “Let's take a picture for Darcy, then get me out of this thing.” They were going to have a lot of fun peeling her out of that dress, she knew. She was going to make it fun. But in the meantime, it was a measure of how much she loved Darcy that she was willing to share a picture. *** Luke raised an eyebrow, a little surprised that Thalia actually wanted to record this moment for anyone. He liked that she did, though, because he thought that she looked beautiful. Absolutely beautiful. He grabbed his phone and took a few steps back. “Do you want to twirl and let me do a video?” He teased. *** Thalia made a face at him. “Let's not get carried away here; I don't like her that much. Here.” She stepped up to him and plucked the phone from his hands so she could turn it on them for a selfie. “Let's do this first.” *** Luke put on an obnoxiously cute smile and leaned in, his eyes twinkling mischievously. If Darcy wanted a picture, she was going to get her obnoxiously adorable picture. Really, he kind of hated selfies, but for Thalia he’d do just about anything. *** To match, Thalia put on her cheesiest smile and snapped a picture, then quickly turned and kissed his cheek as she snapped another picture. There; Darcy could have no complaints about her commitment to this photo thing. “Fab,” she said with satisfaction as she reviewed the pictures. She never got tired of seeing how happy they looked. They'd gone through so much loss and sorrow she wasn't taking any of this for granted. “Okay,” she said as she handed him the phone back. “Now let's get me out of this thing.” *** Luke had no problem whatsoever doing that. Actually, he was quite eager to do exactly that. He threw his phone aside and pulled her against him, kissing her deeply before leading her to the bed. *** |