alexis! (celebutante) wrote in valloic, @ 2021-02-14 12:38:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: alexis rose, ₴ inactive: cullen rutherford |
WHO: Cullen & Alexis (plus the pups)
WHAT: LOVE DAY
WHERE: A hill, somewhere outdoors (where there's snow for sledding)
WHEN: RIGHT NOW
WARNINGS: Nothing scandalous!
STATUS: Complete
Cullen had never done Valentine’s Day before. Thedas didn’t really even have an equivalent. There were days for arranging marriages and days for marrying, but no holiday simply dedicated to romantic love. He’d been required to do some research and some asking around to figure out how it was meant to be celebrated, and it turned out that the celebrations were as varied as were people themselves. He didn’t have that much experience with romance in general, really. Cullen tended to take relationships seriously, so he hadn’t been in many. He’d also spent a number of years entirely too absorbed with his own troubles to add a lover to the mix. Even when he was with someone, it had always been with a backdrop of war that gave love an edge of desperation. There was little room in that for doing anything conventionally romantic. But now he had the time, a place, an occasion, and a person whose happiness meant everything to him. Clumsy though he was with romantic gestures, he would try, and he knew that Alexis would appreciate the effort even if he fouled it up spectacularly. It felt strange to be so confident of anyone’s love and acceptance, but he liked it. No matter what a person was looking for in Vallo, it could usually be found. So Cullen took a chance, acquired a sled, and hunted for a pretty part of the forest with steep hills and snow. As was typical for Cullen, he’d planned meticulously - checked in with the doctor to make sure he was clear for sledding after the concussion, put the hot cocoa in a thermos to keep it warm until they were ready for it, and found the perfect spot for their outing. Cullen had Alexis’s arm hooked through his as they made their way up the hill, and the dogs gallumphed merrily through the snow but stayed relatively close. “Have you been sledding before?” he asked. She was mostly a city girl, Cullen knew, but it also seemed sometimes that Alexis had done more or less everything at some point or another. It was true, Alexis had done more or less everything at some point in her crazy life - which she wouldn’t change, not for anything. Every story came with a lot of history, and she’d learned so much even from it all - whether it was Gwyneth Paltrow’s compost gift exchange (ew) or being employed as a beard for a specific well-known actor, or her and her friends swapping whatever pills they could find in their parents medicine chests during a party at an old boot factory in Krakow. Honestly though? Pretty much nothing compared to being here, in Vallo, living with Cullen in a castle. She woke up everyday and just loved him even more than she had the day before, and sometimes it felt like a dream - the very best dream. “Not since I was like, super young,” she said, laughing a little at the dogs antics - Calenhad remained regal as usual, but Queenie was definitely into trying to eat the snow. Alexis whistled for him and he gallumped back to walk by her side. “So I’m excited to give it another try.” And she was pretty convinced she had dressed well - in bright, colorful layers and a knit hat to keep her head warm. The snow looked so soft, like feathery cushions. “How about you, was it a popular thing back home?” “When I was a child, yes.” Cullen smiled - a lot of his past wasn’t anything he liked remembering, but his childhood had been good. “The land around Honnleath was full of good hills for it. We’d take the sleds my parents used for pulling goods to market in the winter and go racing down the hills with other children in the village. Mia and I would compete for who could make the bottom of a hill the fastest, or take on the most daring jump.” He talked about his elder sister Mia a lot, always fondly, even when he was mentioning their obsessive competition with each other over anything that could possibly be turned into a contest. Branson and Rosalie, the younger pair, featured in conversation sometimes, but not nearly so often as Mia. It was evident that she was the one he missed most, being so far away from the world he’d known. “By the time I was old enough to be one of the boys using sledding as an excuse to put his arms around someone, though, I was already off with the Templars,” Cullen added with a tilted grin. “So this will be a first.” Alexis liked hearing about Cullen’s siblings - Mia especially, since their antics reminded her a little of what her and David were like. She missed him so much, and having him show up and disappear from here twice was just cruel. “And did she always out jump you?” Alexis wanted to know, flashing one of those shiny silver bell grins. The dogs went ahead again, as if giving their approval of this hill for sledding, and so she just deferred to their expertise and followed along. It was nice out here, so calm and serene and the snow was pure, clean and white and not like in the city where it looked like Oreo cookie-and-cream slush. “You also don’t need an excuse to put your arm around me, but we can pretend anyway,” she chirped, lifting one of her boyfriend’s arms to wrap it around her shoulders. Aww. “Mia only outjumped me because when I was eight and she was ten, she was bigger than me and could get more momentum going down the hill,” Cullen insisted. He’d been making that argument for a little over twenty years now, and it was really too bad that Mia wasn’t here to attempt refuting it. “And while I don’t need an excuse, sometimes it’s fun to have one anyway.” Cullen turned to quickly kiss the top of her head as they kept walking, and he kept his arm around her shoulders. “Let me indulge myself with this bit of teenage nonsense I missed out on whilst I was preoccupied with knighthood.” Alexis fit nicely like this, tucked against Cullen’s side with his arm around her - or at least she thought so, and she let a giggle fly, perfectly content to let him indulge. For them both to indulge. Snow crunched beneath her boots and frost kissed her face - she was pretty sure her cheeks were ruddy already, but the coldness gave them a nice rosy glow, at least? Or she’d end up with frozen eyelashes, oh well. It was romantic out here, just the four of them and breath pale against the air. “Teenage nonsense is fun, I’ll definitely help you catch up on that,” she promised, even if the idea of knighthood was so amaaaaaaazing. Her boyfriend was a knight, she was happy to tell anyone who listened that little fact. “Okay, so we just - fly down the hill?” she asked, once they got to the top and were ready to set down the sled. “Is there a way to turn so we don’t go flying off?” Like. Angles or whatever. “First, we pick a direction.” Cullen looked out from the top of the hill, mentally plotting a route free of trees and any other hazards. He was not looking for another concussion any time soon. He took his arm from Alexis’s shoulders to set the bright red plastic sled down at a likely spot where the ground was still mostly flat. “You’ll get on first, at the front - you always want the heavier person in back - and hold onto the side handles there. I’ll hop on behind you and give us our first push, and then steering is just a matter of shifting out weight to one side or the other.” “Shifting weight, got it,” Alexis nodded, leaving the thermos of hot chocolate around Calenhad’s neck while her and Cullen went sledding - kind of like how a St. Bernard carried those barrels of whiskey in the mountains and stuff, and while technically they did have a pup here who was part St. Bernard, Queenie would likely just try to fling the thermos off; he was adorable, but derpy, and not cut out for a life of trekking through the cold and snow. Now she was all set to take a ride down the hill. So she climbed onto the sled first, wiggling her butt to get comfortable. She had scant memories of sledding while her and her family were at a ski lodge, but most of that time was spent inside by the fire adding Baileys to her hot drinks. This was going to be interesting, now that she wasn’t a drunk teenager. “Come here, hot stuff, let me get my booty between your legs.” Wouldn’t be the first time that had happened. Cullen laughed, and was thankful that the cold was already turning his nose and cheeks a bit pink so the blush wouldn’t show. It was near certain that no one was around to hear the flirtatious commentary, but Cullen had always been easy to fluster. “You are a wicked tease, Alexis Rose,” he fondly informed her, then took a seat on the back of the sled. It took just a moment to get his legs arranged around her - one on the sled, one foot just off to the side to give them a push off the hill. He grinned and nuzzled the back of her neck, taking in the smell of her fancy shampoo and the silly romance of a sledding date and the foolishly giddy happiness that washed over him at this foolishly perfect moment. “Ready?” Her shampoo bar was locally sourced, handcrafted (from the Apothecary, of course) and made of delicious ingredients like goat’s milk and carrot juice and raw honey - very sweet, Alexis was glad Cullen got a good whiff of it, and she went about preening proudly at the compliment about being a wicked tease. Which was totally true, of course. But she was also always willing to put her money where her mouth was, so. That was a thing too. Her gloved hands landed on his knees, giving them an affectionate squeeze before she was a good sledder and gripped the actual handles instead. And if adrenaline was rushing through her and she was holding on tightly, she imagined that was completely fine too. “Ready!” she beamed. “Let’s do it. With no broken bones.” They totally had this. Queenie even barked encouragingly, then went to stick his dumb wet nose into snow again. Calenhad was of course sitting regally at the top of the hill, keeping watch over all his people and domain - right up until Cullen gave a sharp push with his boot and set the sled hurtling forward. Then the mabari chased them down the hill, barking loudly as Cullen laughed from the sheer joy of speed and cold and having his arms around the woman he was in love with. Valentine’s Day, he decided, was a very good thing. Oh wow, sledding was wild - like soaring on one of the most dangerous amusement park rides, and without any safety gear. Alexis loved it though, the speed kicking up powdery snow and the wind whipping against her face, her hair - though she made sure to hold on tightly, her laughter joining Cullen’s along with these shrieks of joy. And she felt safe too - they were going fast but the heavier person (aw, babe) at the back of the sled would make sure she wouldn’t be flung off and Calenhad was right there too. Queenie was making his way down the hill. Derping along - no rush, he was fine. There was plenty of snow to sniff at, plenty of trees and rocks that carried amazing (for a dog) scents. When they reached the bottom, she yelped again, the sled coasting to a stop and it kind of jerked her a bit - it was a bumpy landing but she was still planted where she should be and luckily hadn’t flown off. “That was amazing! Five stars, Sir Boyfriend,” she teased, her cheeks pink and a delighted sparkle in her eye. Calenhad skidded to a halt next to them and gave a single enthusiastic bark. He was ready with the cocoa should it be necessary, like a proper hero dog. “Thank you, my lady,” Cullen replied with a grin, and came over her shoulder for a kiss. “I will assume that to be the greatest possible number of stars. Shall we have a few more runs down the hill before we start on the drinking chocolate?” Muah, Alexis returned the kiss - a press of cold lips and brief warmth between their noses. She scrambled off the sled only to wrap her arms around Calenhad’s bulky body and nuzzle at the scruff of his neck because he really was the best hero dog (Queenie was too, just in a different way). “He’s so good!” she praised. “And yeah, five stars is the highest amount of stars - on Yelp especially. But if I could give you ten stars, I totally would.” She gave the hill a glance, debating a climb up - as in, if she wanted to do that a few more times or just drink the chocolate now. It was an important decision. “Let’s yeet ourselves down the hill some more,” she concluded. “Then we’ll reward ourselves. With cocoa, and when we get home we can take our clothes off and use body heat to warm up.” That's how you were supposed to do it anyway, right? It was biology. “Maker’s breath, you’re as brilliant as you are beautiful. How did I ever get so lucky?” He said it with a teasing tone, but he meant it - especially the last part. Simply being happy like this, loving someone and being loved in return, had always seemed an impossible goal. He hadn’t believed that he deserved such happiness even if he had thought it possible. But whatever his mistakes in the past, the universe had seen fit to gift him with this life, in this place, with this remarkable woman. Cullen stood and automatically offered his hands to Alexis to help her up. “A few more yeets, and then the rewards,” he agreed. Her knightly boyfriend saying a few more yeets had Alexis dissolving into giggles, taking Cullen’s hand and spinning herself so that she anchored herself in to collide against him and kiss him again. “You’re so cute - “ And she meant that, she really did. He was cute and smart and so brave; also before him, Alexis had been floundering a little in Vallo. With Cullen there was stability and all the things she’d been ready for in the past, with Ted, but it just wasn’t the right time - they both wanted different things. Here, it was nice to be on the same page. She had come into her own so much, and he was part of the reason why. “Okay, let’s do it,” she nodded. “I’ll carry the sled this time.” Hey, she had the guns for it - and she’d make sure those rewards were well-earned. |