Eliot the Spectacular, High King of Fillory (the_spectacular) wrote in valloic, @ 2021-06-28 12:55:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: fandral |
[backdated log]
How many of these celebrations have you been to before? Are they different in your world?
Except Vallo had other things in mind and instead of taking a male Eliot out on the town for an evening, he was now she. A shorter, more petite, and yet still absolutely gorgeous -- which he made sure to tell her -- female Eliot had greeted him when he picked her up for dinner. Fandral was, unsurprisingly, dressed quite nicely though it had taken him an embarrassing amount of time to even settle on an outfit.
Which was only a tiny bit ridiculous, wasn’t it? Still. He liked to make a good impression.
Dinner consisted of something Fandral had never personally had before, but seemed to be a good date restaurant idea -- a ramen bar. It was interesting and the food was good, though Fandral being an Asgardian with a large appetite, it hadn’t been very filling for him. He chuckled as he finished paying for the meal and let out a quiet, contented sort of sigh before moving to his feet and offering her his hand to help her up. Such a gentleman.
“So, I have a few ideas for what we could do next, and I couldn’t really settle on one. First there’s a cabaret downtown that seemed rather interesting -- entertaining, at least. We could still go axe throwing, if that appeals to you at all? Or there are pride festivities happening as well.” Fandral smiled then, looking down at her as they walked. “I had to look up what that was, honestly. We did not have those sort of celebrations on Asgard, so it’s a very new thing to me.”
But the same was true of her Saturday night date with Fandral. Eliot leaned full force into androgyny embracing the usual elements of his style, a very well tailored suit, slicking her hair back into a boyish looking cut, delicate Oxford shoes, and even a sports bra under it all to keep her profile slim. The only exception had been the makeup. Eliot regularly wore makeup but this was a very feminine application of a ‘natural look’ to make it appear as if she weren’t wearing makeup at all, which honestly took just as much effort as her first date.
With the multiple mentions of axe throwing, it seemed like the better option for her night with Fandral. She suspected if she remained like this for long, this might be more of a regular look.
“I’m assuming because Asgard is a little more open and less sexually repressed than Midgard,” Eliot said. Honestly the only part of the genderswap Eliot didn’t like was the sound of her voice. Her male voice had a quality she was very fond of. Her female voice? Eliot hadn’t quite figured out how to make people think inappropriate thoughts when applied correctly. She was slightly self conscious about it.
Eliot kept eyeing Fandral up and down in that shirt and trousers, and appreciated the fact that her date wore a tight fit. Sliding her hand into his, Eliot decided to impart date wisdom. “All of those options sound excellent for different reasons. Dating is sometimes about seeing someone in their element, or letting them see you in your element. Contrary to popular belief, it isn’t about impressing the other person, but showing your interest by putting in a little effort.”
Eliot looked Fandral over again.
“Which you did, beautifully, by the way. Honestly, of the three options, which idea is going to have the better food because I know you didn’t eat enough.” Eliot smiled as she gave his hand a squeeze.
“Hm. I’m not certain which option will have the better food. I believe they all have something, though I saw that there are an array of food trucks at the pride event.” Fandral shot her a sheepish look and then leaned over, pressing a quick kiss to her hair. “It is very sweet of you to be concerned about whether I ate enough or not, you know.”
Maybe the kiss to her hair was more intimate than it should have been considering this was only their first date, technically, but it felt like the natural thing to do in that moment.
It might have been a first date, but they’d known each other’s company both friendly and intimate. In that way, it all felt very natural and easy, an extension of their friendship so far. The evening air was cool, and while neither of them were especially dressed for Pride, she was more pleased than ever she went with the suit.
It was easy enough to figure out what direction to go, following the music, the noise and the bright colors. If the rest of their evening involved walking, talking and checking out the city, Eliot thought that was a pretty great first date.
A waypoint got them closer to where they needed to be and as they approached, the music and smell of food caught Fandral’s attention and he immediately perked up. The closer they got, the more intrigued he seemed. It was night now, but that didn’t seem to make a difference for anyone who was already there and seemed to have been there for hours. The lights, the colors, the laughter -- in a way it felt like the sort of celebration they would have on Asgard.
“This is incredible,” he said as he looked around in awe, before looking down at her, a sort of childlike excitement to his tone. “What should we do first, darling?”
“Let’s walk around, take it all in,” Eliot gestured with her free hand to the air in front of her while making a show of inhaling the festive atmosphere. “I apologize for your shirt in advance, the chances of it not getting body glitter on it will be slim to none.”
Eliot removed her suit jacket and slung it over her shoulder, rolling up her sleeves. The shirt would be easier to wash than the jacket, though there were spells for that, what was the fun of that?
“If you see anything you want to do, we’ll do it.” Did she mean event or people? Really, Eliot had purposefully been vague while she slid her arm halfway around Fandral’s side and planted her hand at the small of his back.
When her arm went around his back, his arm went around her shoulders and he pulled her against his side gently, humming softly to himself along with the music that was playing. He didn’t know the song but that didn’t stop him from wanting to sing.
Of course, being absolutely happy helped with that, too.
“How many of these celebrations have you been to before? Are they different in your world?” He was endlessly curious when it came to new things and he laughed, waving across the crowd when he spotted someone he recognized. “It’s quite fascinating to me.”
“It’s a bit Asgardian, really. On Earth, at least, the rights we have, like to marry or just exist really, have all come out of battle-- sometimes more literal and not. So, every June, to commemorate our victories and the fights yet to come…”
Eliot gestured to the festivities taking place around them.
“That is deeply unfortunate, having to literally fight for that. I wish all places were as…” he paused then, thinking, “understanding as Asgard.” Though Asgard had never been perfect, the fact that no one batted an eyelash at who anyone chose to have a relationship with was one of the more freeing aspects of his home.
Fandral sighed softly and then craned his head to press a lingering kiss to her head again, smiling against her hair. “I am glad you are free to be who you truly are here without fear.”
But now didn’t seem like the right time to explain it all. Not when there were food trucks and face painting and things to celebrate. Tonight was an evening for joy and expression. Eliot raised her face to kiss Fandral again, briefly.
“What do you want to do first?” she asked.
It made his heart feel like it skipped a beat almost, and he let out a quiet noise of contentment as she pulled away to ask her question.
“Honestly? Kiss you a bit more,” he responded with a grin, chuckling. He’d been about to go on when he saw a young couple walk by with their faces painted the colors of a rainbow and sparkling under the lights. “Do you know, I almost find it funny that such beautiful colors seem to be represented en masse here.” Fandral’s arm dropped from Eliot’s shoulders and he took her hand again, leading her toward a row of booths just to see what they had to offer. There were plenty of vendors still open selling their wares, and he spotted a trio in one booth painting the faces of patrons. “It all reminds me of the Bifrost. It was this glorious rainbow bridge that connected our realm to… well, yours and others.”
No one, under penalty of death, was fucking with Eliot’s makeup job. She had spent far too much time on her look and while she was not opposed to rainbowing it up at these events, it would only be by her own hand. (Oh well, better planning next time.) But Fandral seemed happy to be nudged toward the booth.
And Eliot was happy to stand back and check out her date from the back, as he went to get his face painted.
By the time he was finished, she’d managed to paint a beautiful rainbow design around his right eye, outlined in a delicate black and sprinkled with a bit of glitter. Because of course glitter had to be involved. Admiring himself in the mirror she held up to him once she was finished, he smiled happily and thanked her before paying and giving her a tip -- maybe the extra twenty dollars was a little excessive, but Fandral didn’t know what was customary and thought she’d done a wonderful job.
“What do you think?” he asked as he made his way back over to his date, gesturing to the face paint.
They walked the different booths, stopped at the beer garden for a few drinks where Eliot had cider, visited a few food trucks so they wouldn’t starve. It was sometime around there, Fandral met Thor and his daughter.
Eliot was polite, gracious even.
She just felt a little less lucky afterward. Particularly with the way the encounter affected Fandral. Eliot was the distraction, but she played her part admirably and pulled Fandral onto the dance floor until he was ready to go home.
Thankfully, Eliot was sweet enough not to mention it and instead pulled him to dance, distracting his thoughts. And it worked. Despite what he felt for the other Asgardian, Eliot was his focus and he would be sure to treat her as such the remainder of the evening.
As the crowds thinned later into the night, Fandral had offered Eliot the option to stay the night with him; not simply to have her company as a continued distraction. At least he hoped she didn’t see it that way. Still, he was grateful when she agreed and they made their way back toward New Asgard.
“I know the evening is not yet done, but I really have had a lovely time with you,” he said quietly as they approached his cottage, his arm draped around her shoulders and keeping her close against the chill of the breeze that came off of the nearby shore.
Were they going to talk about what happened? What was there to say? Fandral had already admitted his feelings for Thor, Eliot got to witness them in real time, and now was the part where they would bury that part deep down and ignore them.
Why? Because maybe Eliot did have deeper feelings for Fandral than she wanted to admit? Or because it was easier to develop feelings if you knew you weren’t really the one they were into? It was safer somehow? Because it couldn’t be both. Eliot refused to self examine which option it was.
So Eliot did her best to close off any more conversation with kisses. Distract with the removal of clothing. Ignore the ways things were different that night together and try not to over analyze. Why did it have to be complicated? Why not just be in the moment?
At least the emotional desperation was hot.
Normally their more intimate moments together could be described as, well, fucking. There was always a gentleness to how Fandral was with Eliot but that was due in large part to the fact that he was Asgardian — otherwise things were heated, passionate, and brief enough that Eliot had never stayed the night.
This time though, Fandral’s emotions were getting the best of him and things had progressed to something more delicate. Would he call it lovemaking? Maybe, but all he knew was that it felt different, and not just because Eliot was a woman currently, though that certainly played a part.
Fandral rolled onto his side as the high of his climax started to ebb and he wrapped an arm gently around Eliot’s waist, pulling her against his chest and tucking his chin against her shoulder after pressing a sweet kiss to it.
“Is it too much to say that I rather adore you?” he asked quietly.
She shifted to nestle in against him. Although she’d never stayed the night before, somehow this felt like such a natural progression of their friendship that it didn’t feel like a first. Perhaps she should have put more stock into it, but despite seemingly joking, running away from her emotions was how Eliot operated by default.
“Good night, Fandral.”
You couldn’t get hurt if you didn’t feel, after all.
“Good night, darling,” he replied back softly as she nestled in. He pressed another kiss to her shoulder and settled against the pillow, thoughts swirling around in his mind.
Perhaps one of these days he’d learn how to repress his emotions as well, but then again, wearing his heart on his sleeve was a big part of who Fandral was.