party post } { which one can say of any attractive woman with half a brain.

[emouvoir]

In the height of summer, Daneca is in charge of planning the annual movie in the park. The set up is simple, all she has to do is find the supplies and figure out what movie to show. Which is why in late August, the sun starts to set. (It doesn't really "set", but Daneca calls in a favor with a certain god of the sun to dim the bright summer light to something better.

Something with ambiance.)

Stalls of food and merchants renting and selling blankets ring the park by the lake, lit by fairy lights and Chinese lanterns, and the screen is nestled beneath a pair of looming oak trees that offer a bit more shade for the movie. It's a double feature this year -- The World is Not Enough and Casino Royale. Someone couldn't decide between Pierce Brosnan's James Bond and Daniel Craig's James Bond and someone -- cough, Elena -- offered the brilliant compromise of "why not both?"

Both. Both is good.

So tuck in. Enjoy yourselves! Enjoy shirtless Daniel Craig, you know you want to.

Comments

[inferus]

His palms aren't sweaty. You're sweaty.

"Hello. Selina."

Benjamin uses her full name. Mostly because every does. Should he use a nickname instead? What would be cute instead of ugh-y? He will ponder this at a further date. He takes a step further and focuses on his balance for real now. "I've got this."

Sort of.

[chocolateries]

"Are you sure? I can take something so it'll be less..." Um, what's the word? Her face scrunches up like hmmmm before she settles on: "Tottery."

A beat, she shrugs with a sheepish smile. "I think I meant wobbly and tottering. And it came out tottery."

[inferus]

He could lie and save face.

Or he could be honest and save more face by not faceplanting into the ground. "There's chocolate bars at the top." He didn't get them for himself, in case anyone was wondering. "They're the tottery...est."

If she wants to take them.

[chocolateries]

Ooh! She snatches them up with an excited little squeal. To be frank, she doesn't think it will help his tottering pile of snacks, but she can't say no to chocolate, she's physically unable to do so. It's like sacrilege, after all, her father would be so upset. It's his vocation!

(The fact that Ben's dad is a dentist is not lost on Silena, she just happens to think it makes them a better fit. Something she will admit to Ben one day when she thinks he won't pass out. She can see it all play out, she doesn't want to shove that possibility down his throat.)

"Are you sure I can't take anything else? Just how many people are you looking to feed? You didn't get a date for both movies did you?" It's slightly teasing, but still curious. And hopeful. She may be praying to her mother for help right about now.

Which could be bad, considering who her mother is.

[inferus]

(Hey, that day will come! Maybe. He's easily excitable, okay.)

"Uh... most of it is me."

Which is true. He's a growing boy, and he's never been told to watch his figure, which he thinks is dumb of people to do anyway unless someone wants to watch their figure, so he always scarfs down whatever is in his vicinity. The way he sees it, he won't always have this metabolism, so he should really take advantage of it while he can.

"But I was also wondering if maybe you wanted to see the movie... to?" Wait. "With me."

Nailed it.

[chocolateries]

"Sure, I'd love-- wait, what?" She'd answered before her brain fully took stock of what he was saying and then it hit her like a shield to the face. She'd been hoping he wouldn't have a date, she hadn't gotten far enough to hope he would ask her.

Her steps still until she's stopped in the middle of the pathway and she looks up at him, eyes suddenly blue again, curls the familiar glossy black because all her focus zoomed in on this one single thing and broke her concentration completely. Part of her ADHD is that she can focus on fifty different things at once, but no, not right now.

"Really?"

whispers don't be scared, it's still me

[heartlined]

It's endearing and surprising and adorable, all at once.

Selina always seems so sure of herself. She possesses a confidence Ben has envied, time and again, but part of being in Teleios is growing, and he's not quite the same as he was when he first began. He'll still have his inevitably awkward, dorky moments - some things are just unforgivably ingrained - but he no longer carries as many insecurities. She has a lot to do with that.

"Who else?"

There's no one else.

i'm scared, ma.

[chocolateries]

Wonder flares in her eyes, gaping briefly before her mouth abruptly snaps shut. As confident and self-assured as Silena is, there is always the underlying uncertainty that people only like her because her ability and heritage make them like her. She doesn't have the charmspeak of some of her siblings (hiss, Drew), but Aphrodite children are very hard to dislike.

But Ben...

Before she can second guess herself again, she lurches forward, unmindful of the food between them that she's probably going to ruin. The chocolate she's holding is bravely sacrificed to the ground as her hands lift and curl against his tee shirt, fabric bunching between her fingers. She presses up on her tiptoes and drags Ben down to meet her with surprising strength until she can press her lips firmly against his, eyes fluttering shut as a wave of affection crashes over her.

Well, he's right, isn't he? Who else?

how dare you.

[heartlined]

♪

Ben isn't made of love the way Silena is.

His mother isn't a love goddess. He doesn't have the abilities or the charmspeak that she does. In many ways, his own ability only lets him know when love is present for others. Navigating those waters for himself has always been strange, and at times downright clumsy. But this - this he knows how to do. There isn't any stumbling. There isn't any uncertainty. Once he knows something in his heart, in his heart, there's never any going back.

His hand settles on the low of her waist, swiftly pulling her upward toward him until her feet are no longer touching the ground. His mouth is warm and yielding against hers, the kiss an unhurried and thorough thing. An intensity belies the rest, but it in no way takes from its gentleness. It just ... is.