2025-01-17 - State of Grace

Late afternoon on a Michigan winter day means the sun casts long shadows on the Fox Run basketball court. Still an hour from setting, it's already behind the apartments themselves, which means the court is darker than the surrounding areas. Perfect for shooting, actually; there's no annoying glare in Brandon's eyes as he puts up jump shot after jump shot. Most of them fall in with a swish of silken cords, which means jogging after the loose ball each time as the dopplered drop of its bouncing steadily quickens. It's good cardio.

Brandon's in grey sweatpants, his favorite running shoes and an navy t-shirt that reads 'Avalanche Athletics' in gold lettering, whatever that means. Luckily, only his hair is damp with sweat on this cool afternoon. A JBL bluetooth speaker is playing an assortment of tunes.

On their first date, Brandon had slipped Ruby a small drive containing a surprise. At the time, she couldn't wait to get home and listen, but first-date jitters and TMZ blasts had thrust the blonde into a world she was woefully unprepared to navigate, and thus, the drive had been forgotten in the pocket of her lightwash jeans until she went to do laundry that day.

Her thumb ran over the plastic casing as she kicked herself.

As the familiar sounds of the Silvertones meshed with Taylor Swift's State of Grace she felt her soul leave her body. She knew that the boys liked using this song during soundcheck, but there was only ever a rumored recording from a live performance in existence, and the rumor had long been thought to be just that, a rumor. The amount of fan forums dedicated to this song alone was impressive. But what struck the blonde as she listened to the sound of Brandon's voice and Ansal's harmonies were the lyrics, as wild as it was because they weren't Brandon's words. But something about this song changed since that night. It struck a chord.

For a while, Ruby stared at her phone screen. She wanted to text Bran, but she didn't know what to say. Texting him didn't feel like enough. She could see his little blue dot hovering over the Fox Run basketball court. She needed to see him.

It didn't take long to spot him in the golden afternoon light. "Little short for the NBA, don't you think?" She smiled. She's wearing his scarlet hoodie from the other night and just a pair of leggings. Blonde hair thrown up in a messy bun and minimal makeup. It was laundry day. She'd intended to loaf at home.

Intent on his shooting, Brandon's first realization that Ruby's arrived is the sound of her voice. It hits him mid-jumper, throwing off his form. The ball clanks off the front iron but he's laughing, the rebound already forgotten as he jogs over to her, a wide grin on his face. "Too short, too slow, too a-lot-of-things," he admits as he closes the distance and stops in front of her, leaning in for a quick kiss hello.

"Damn, you look great. How do you do it, Ruby? You could wear a USC jersey and I'd think it was hot," he remarks, eyes sparkling playfully. "Seriously, what's up? I was gonna text you once I wasn't all... sweaty, like."

"Oh, see? Should stick to your day job," she teases as she crosses the court to meet him. She smiles, her cheeks flushing as he kisses her hello. But this time, she slips her arms up around him. It'd been a couple of days and she'd missed being close. Was it too much? She let them slip slightly.

Any nerves quickly fizzle away, and she barks out a laugh at his compliment. "You're being nice," she says, shaking her head. "My sister would kill me for going to the grocery store like this, let alone to see my... the guy I'm seeing." She is a wordsmith.

"Kind of like you sweaty," she says, throwing it back at him. "I finally got around to listening to that drive," she says. "Brandon... I..." She really didn't know how to even begin to talk about it. "Thank you."

She doesn't say girlfriend but Brandon hears it. Even before she likes him sweaty or tries to explain the song, something in his azure gaze melts; he goes from playful to breathless in the space of a heartbeat. She's already close, her arms up around him and then slightly down-- so he slips his arms around her in turn, leaving no doubt that yes, it's an embrace and a mutual thing.

"It means more every time I sing along with it," Brandon tells Ruby with a secret smile. "And I've been singing along with that song-- her song, the original," he stresses, at pains to avoid implying he'd ever sing along to his own recordings, "a lot lately. A lot."

"I'm really glad you like it."

She settles as his arms slip around her waist, alleviating any anxieties of this all being in her head, at least for the moment. The sun starts to set over the horizon, casting them in a golden glow as the clouds shift from fluffy white puffs to cotton candy pink and sunburst orange.

Her eyes flick to his lips, that smile, then meet his gaze again. It's tempting to tease him, to insist he's singing along to recordings of himself, but she can't bring herself to do it. Not when that silly Taylor Swift song suddenly felt like a statement.

"I loved it," she says quietly, pressing her lips to his again. "I'm sorry it took me so long to listen. I feel terrible. I just got so distracted by..." she sighs. "Everything."

“Nothing to feel bad about,” Brandon says quietly, absolving her easily—he means it, clearly. “Seriously. The only one on the hook for any of that shit is me, Surfer Girl,” he adds, tilting his head to meet her, blue eyes to green, “and you already said that isn’t my fault.”

His tone lifts, infused with a little more fun now, a little more sense of adventure as if sensing that’s what’s needed. “So,” Brandon adds now, teasing. “You like me sweaty, huh?”

Ruby's nose crinkles, and she shoves him off her playfully. "I'm sure you love that," she teases back, going for the basketball. It wasn't confirmation nor denial, more deflection.

It's been a minute since she's played with balls, and it shows. It takes a second for her to find the right amount of pressure to dribble the ball across the court, but her first shot satisfyingly swooshes through the net. "Honestly shocked I made that," she laughs. Her brothers would be proud.

Laughing as she shoves him away, Brandon watches Ruby dribble down the court and knock down a jumper with cool aplomb.

“Woo!” Impressed, he hoots out a cheer and claps his hands, hustling down to chase the rebound for her. Collecting the ball, he lobs a pass her way and says, “Make it, take it. Speaking of forgetting— I’ve got something I should’ve told you sooner.”

He doesn’t mention that being around her tends to chase those more prosaic concerns out of his head. It’s probably obvious, though.

She beams at him over her shoulder and then watches as he jogs to retrieve the ball. She receives it back easily enough. A layup and the ball hits the rim and rolls around half of it before teetering into the net. "Watch out, Rock Star. TMZ will never let you live this epic loss down," she teases. There have been several follow-up articles about Ruby and Brandon since news broke about this reemergence back into society. Spellbound got some good press, and all the shows featured knights saw a surge in audience attendance.

She eyes him skeptically, this time the one jogging to retrieve the ball, and passes it to him. "Mentioned what?"

As she shows off a talent he wasn’t prepared for, Brandon watches in frank admiration, impressed.

“Apparently I’m half Wolverine now.”

Then coolly receiving her pass, Brandon rolls his eyes about whatever-on-earth that’s supposed to mean before performing a quick between-the-legs dribble and knocking down a three. Grinning playfully again, he holds a triad of fingers up to an imaginary crowd before turning to her and explaining.

“I can heal myself. Overnight. Like… the way you can do all those things.” He seems a little disbelieving of it still. “I guess this is my thing?”

It's Ruby's turn to stare. "Wolverine, huh?" Somehow, this makes her nervous. The abilities she's seen are all over the map, and it's no secret that she'd grown fond of Brandon on a personal level. She moves to try and block his shot, then smiles when he gets it in. "Not bad," she chuckles, and jogs to retrieve the ball again.

Her brows loft when he explains what he's discovered. "That's cool, but how exactly did you figure that out?" She asks, concern visible in her eyes as she surveys him visually. Was he all in one piece? She could feel her heart pound thunderously as she counted fingers and looked for anything amiss.

She’s worried about him! If he realized it, he’d be touched, but Brandon’s a guy in his mid twenties, so naturally Ruby’s subtle concern goes directly over his sandy-haired head. Instead he goes on with childlike enthusiasm!

“So it started with Drea— I mean, the Mystery Knight,” he begins with a comically obvious wink, “knocking me off my horse again and I didn’t land right. My shoulder was messed up pretty bad.” At the memory, he rolls his left shoulder experimentally—and it’s fine.

“The nurse at the clinic said it was a pretty bad contusion and would take a few days to even get our there again—but it healed overnight!” Grinning, he seems very excited by this. “My little brother says that’s called a ‘healing factor’. Is that nuts or what?!”

"That's incredible," Ruby says in disbelief. She isn't going to school to be a medical doctor, but she still had to take plenty of anatomy classes, and things didn't vary all that much between species where muscle tears, dislocations, and ligaments were concerned. "Do you mind if I-" She doesn't finish or wait for him to answer before she's tugging at his clothes to get a better look at the shoulder in question.

When the girl you’re absolutely smitten with starts tugging your shirt off over your head, you let her do it—even if it’s strictly for medical reasons. Brandon’s surprised by her take-charge, no-nonsense attitude but can’t hide that he’s totally loving it.

“I have not seen this side of you before,” he admits, even a little nervous as he rolls the left shoulder again—the one with the large, intricate Ansel tattoo just beneath it—to demonstrate his full range of motion. “But it’s really pretty cool.”

"Shh," she hushes him. Once his shirt is off, she moves behind him, her hands running over his shoulder blade. "Does it hurt?" she asks, applying mild pressure. There is absolutely no visible sign of trauma, and she can't feel anything off as she moves over his joint, either. "Remarkable...." she whispers, dumbfounded. She shouldn't be. It's spellbound. She has scales, for goodness sake, but she's still just flabbergasted as a professional.

She might linger a little longer than necessary, her fingers tracing over the tattoo. Her stomach flips a bit, but she forces her hand away even if she doesn't really want to.

As she touches the tattoo, Brandon shivers involuntarily. Her fingertips feel cool on his skin and he—well, guys don’t giggle much but he sure comes close. “Your hands are so—“

He’s about to say ‘cold’ but instead he says, “Soft.” He glances to Ruby out of the corner of his eye. “This is gonna sound weird but… the tattoo. It felt weird the night that the pain went away. Like… not itching but also not normal.”

Soft is definitely a better angle than cold. The tattoo is a surprise. It isn't something she knew about him, which is honestly refreshing. She didn't know when she went through her Silvertones phase and learned everything about him and his bandmates that one day, Brandon O'Donnell would be the boy who texted her good morning.

"I like your tattoo," she says, and moves back around him, handing him his shirt. "That's strange. Was there any kind of visible reaction that you noticed? Bumps, glowing, something else?" She was tempted to take notes, but figured it better not to turn him into a case study... while he's looking.

“Honestly, no,” Brandon says, still impressed by her clinical approach and straightforward manner towards his very real manifestation of the impossible. “I mean, there could have been, but I had a Scotch and went right to sleep.”

Accepting his shirt back, he recovers that boyish grin again and arches an eyebrow at Ruby. “Given you like me sweaty, I should probably leave this off, right?”

"A Scotch," she grins. "What are you? 50?" She teases. "I've only ever heard my dad order a Scotch. Boy, Rock Star, you're so worldly," she just can't seem to help herself. Teasing him has quickly turned into one of her favorite hobbies, and she had a talent for latching onto anything he gave her.

But it's all fun and games until the tables turn. She opens her mouth, then shuts it again. "I mean... I wouldn't mind."

Brandon shrugs his shoulders as if to say it’s up to her, arching those eyebrows again with what starts as another fun little grin—but something in the quiet honesty of Ruby’s latter response hits him right in the heart.

He could tell her they adopted Scotch on the UK tour. He could joke around some more and tease her back. Instead he says—and truthfully, “It’s getting dark—and cold. You wanna come up? We can order pizza and hang out. I’d… love to play you a song or two.”

Ruby likely has an idea of how Brandon from Milwaukee became a Scotch drinker, but she doesn't keep pushing. Not when his eyes are landing on her, and that slight change in his demeanor catches her again.

She glances at the horizon. Just whispers of the day's final light visible over the treeline. She hadn't noticed that it'd gotten dark. Her focus had been dedicated elsewhere. "I'd like that," she says finally. "Unless you put pineapple on your pizza... then we better quit while we're ahead."

Brandon’s face crinkles at the mere idea of pineapples on pizza. He breaks out in a delighted smile again and responds, “That sounds disgusting, honestly. I think you’re safe with me.”

He snatches up the lonely basketball and turns to lead Ruby inside. “By the way… where’d you learn to play like that? You’ve got some skills, Surfer Girl.”

With the peace of mind that he wasn't about to insult her with pineapple on pizza, Ruby starts to follow him in the direction of his apartment. "Brothers," she reminds him. "Collin is a great athlete. Jordan too, but more surfing," she got something from each. "Collin coached my basketball team when I was in middle school, actually. Well, assistant coached."

Brandon stumbles on the way in the doors as she mentions her brothers. His eyes go wide and— a moment later he’s laughing.

“You will NOT believe this,” he says to Ruby as they walk toward the elevators. “Remember how I said I saw a few episodes of your show? Of you surfing?”

He pauses but launches into it, too amused by the irony to slow down. “I saw your brothers! I totally forgot but… Wendy had a crush on the oldest one. My ex. She always,” he adds dryly, “had a thing for California boys.” He’s clearly over it, though, laughing easily at the memory.

Ruby watches him sidelong as he busts out laughing. She hadn't made a joke? But then she's cringing. "Oh, God. Really?!" She could gag. "They are so... Well, you've seen them. They are disgusting!" They played the stupidest pranks. They were cocksure. They were annoying. They were brothers.

"So she was the subscriber then?" And Brandon had likely seen Ruby as a side effect. "Uhg, if you ever meet them, please don't tell them. They'd be insufferable. They don't need to know they have fans." They definitely know. They both were of the player variety and quite liked the attention they received from their female subs around the world. Gross. "I need to scrub my brain."

“She was a lot of things,” Brandon says, as the elevator doors open and the two of them step inside. He punches the right number and says as the doors slide closed, “But she wasn’t you.”

He’s not completely clueless, this guy. Leaning over, he kisses her blonde hair again and adds, “That was a long time ago. Hey, maybe I’ll meet your brothers sometime.”

Rubes looks up at him when he says that. "No, she wasn't me," she chuckles. The kiss he places on her hair just doesn't... it's not enough. As the elevator moves, she leans up to kiss his cheek, right at the corner of her mouth. It's quickly becoming a favorite spot.

"Maybe eventually," she says, looking a little weary at the idea. "I've never brought anyone home before. It'd be a big deal if they met you."

“I guess so,” Brandon answers, happy with the little kiss but a little chastened by her weary tone as the floor bell rings and the doors slide open again. He’s about to step out on his floor when he catches her look from the corner of his eye.

“It’ll wait,” Brandon says abruptly, and his the Close Doors button. As they slide shut, he turns toward Ruby to say—well—nothing, deciding to kiss her properly this time instead. Maybe words aren’t always the best way to say how you feel.

Ruby smiles wide as he closes the elevator doors, and in a single heartbeat, his lips are claiming hers in a heated moment. For a brief moment, she smiles against his lips before giving into him, arms wrapped around him and kissing him back with a need she has never felt before. It was as if their hearts were beating in sync, and she needed him to breathe.

The moment in the elevator is like a moment stolen from time, its flow stopped and unable to move forward until they decide, together, to allow it to resume. If she needs him to breathe, he needs her in turn and that delightful cycle feeds itself for both of them.

Back in the real world, the elevator goes all the way up to the top. Dings. Opens. Pauses. Nobody’s there and the couple doesn’t seem to care. Almost comically, Brandon reaches out and punches the button for his floor which they do reach again… eventually.

This time he opens his eyes and whispers with a hint of mischief, “C’mon.”

Ruby's lips are swollen, and her cheeks are flushed from the sheer desperation of their kiss. Brandon had kissed Ruby before, but this felt entirely different. It was without the caution of the kiss they shared in the theme park, and it was a far cry from the quick brushes they'd had here and there since. This was as if they had released an insatiable beast.

She spots the mischief in his eyes and smiles, then lets him pull her off the elevator and toward his apartment. Ruby sneaks another kiss before they make it there, pushing Brandon up against the wall for a moment before darting in the direction of his door.

It’s like heaven for Brandon, not least when she shoves him up against the hallway wall and pins him there with another kiss—before laughing and ducking away. He gives a half hearted lunge after her and misses, but he has something she doesn’t.

The keycard.

Brandon does catch up to Ruby after a couple steps, laughing and completely overcome by the wonder of it all. The wonder of finding this with her. After everything. She’s backed against the door and he leans in to undo the lock.

He whispers, grinning, “I never. Saw. You. Coming.”

Ruby backs up slowly until Brandon all but herds her up against the door, not that she minds in the slightest. There is a break in the chaos, and Ruby looks up, breathing heavy, a mischievous glint in her sea foam colored eyes as he leans in close. His words make every atom in her body light up like a fire, and she reaches up, hooking a finger under his chin to guide his lips to hers once more as the door opens and they tumble inside.

A girl practically pulling him into his own apartment is a new one even for Brandon O’Donnell, at least in quite some time. Certainly not a shared space—but luckily the lights are all out and Alan doesn’t appear to be in.

Pushing the door closed behind them, Brandon guides Ruby by means of kisses, steering her hips and thus her steps, toward the living room couch. Pizza can wait a while longer.

Ruby has never been in Brandon's apartment, and navigating it under these circumstances came with plenty of Ruby bumping into walls and chairs, causing breaks in their kissing for "Ow!" She was fine, though.

Eventually, they reach the couch despite the obstacle and waves of heated kisses. She pulls away momentarily, resting her forehead against his while her fingers idly play with his dark blonde hair. She just needs a moment to catch her breath and come back down to earth, even if she doesn't want to. "Is your roommate home?" she asks breathlessly.

“Alan? No,” says Brandon, settling into the couch beside Ruby and staying close, his fingers lingering in her hair. He’s not entirely sure how they got there, but it’s silken and soft and…

He’s staring into her eyes again, those wide green crystals through which she sees the world. “He has a set tonight. Won’t be home til way past midnight. I—“

Brandon trails off, staring into her eyes.

Brandon's roommate being out was a relief, if only so they could stay in their cocoon of solitude. She wasn't ready to share this with anyone, not when it was so new and precious and theirs. Ruby brushes her lips against his again, a sweet steal while they continued to reach equilibrium.

"You?" She echos desperate to know each and every thought swirling in his mind.

His left arm around her and his right hand lingering in Ruby’s blonde hair, Brandon seems almost dumbstruck by her closeness, her femininity, the intensity of just how much she’s into him.

He tries to speak, but he can’t. Can’t form the words. Too often they betray him but then—

Something happens.

A rush of feelings, not words but the idea of words formed and shared in their minds. A kernel of sadness that feels like loss, an old one. Ansel?

The beach. A girl. The stars. Admiration, attraction, desire. Gratitude. Adoration. Amazement. Revelation. He’s so—so—into her. The thoughts and feelings flow so swiftly, powerfully, no room for doubt.

Ruby's legs swing gracefully over his lap, and her arms coil around him to eclipse any lingering distance out of existence. All of this was too fast. But it also felt like slowing down might kill her. Maybe this was that can't-eat, can't-sleep, reach-for-the-stars, over-the-fence, World Series kind of stuff that she'd only read about in books. But as deeply as she felt for him, fear still lingered under the surface. He was a rock star. He could probably have anyone he wanted, yet he was there with her, making it feel like she was the only woman in the world worth kissing.

She waits as he looks for words that don't come. Instead, her mind is fed a series of images, and feelings that don't belong to her wash over. It's... indescribable. Magical and exciting and terrifying all at once because she knows it's him. She knows he's in her head and under her skin in a way that is supernatural.

"Woah," she says dreamily.

And oddly… Brandon doesn’t. He doesn’t know where this comes from, doesn’t know if it’s him or it’s her, only knows he’s somehow sharing and feeling her response in a way that’s greater and stranger and more mysterious than he should really be able to and—

And it ought to be terrifying but it’s her—

Hushed, reverent, holding her with eyes wide open he whispers, “Ruby, how did you—?”

If it were anyone else, she wouldn't be so calm. But this felt... so similar to when she communicates to the animals, except it's him. It's him. Ruby's eyes widen and her smile grows across her face. "It's you, Brandon," she giggles. "It's you. It's one of your gifts." He was telepathic.

“It’s me? It’s… me?” Brandon seems shocked, confused, disbelieving but also delighted all at once. “You mean I can— I thought you could— I mean— are you sure?”

Usually so confident, his surprise and innocent uncertainty are almost amusing. Then he seems to recall the vibe of the whole two-way link, both the feelings he shared and the way she responded. A soft smile forms on his lips.

Ruby nods. "I'm pretty sure," she chuckles. She had tried so many times to connect with people on a telepathic level, but no. Just animals, mostly fish.

She slips her fingers through his hair, knocking the front back into place after their whirlwind embrace. As her eyes settle back on his face, her eyes narrow with suspicion. "What?" He looked like he knew something.

Her hands in his hair, Brandon rests his own on her hips, still in the thrall of what’s just happened to him, what he’s feeling with her or—most likely—both. “I think…”

Meeting Ruby’s eyes with his own, unblinking for a moment, Brandon’s smile turns speculative. Then his thoughts sound in her mind clear as day, formed into speech but with the added resonance of his feelings behind them. It’s both familiar and entirely uncanny, but somehow warm and intimate.

You can… hear this, can’t you? And you can feel… how I feel.

Ruby's green hues go wide and she nods slowly. I... can.... can you hear me back? She wasn't sure how this all worked. And if he could hear her back? Rube's cheeks flushed. But then, she could feel how he felt, and it wasn't so different from how she felt.

"That's wild," she grins and kisses him again, this time with pure excitement for him and his new found abilities. "You are just full of surprises, Brandon O'Donnell."

I can, Brandon says back, in her mind, even as she’s kissing him, the words carrying with them that harmony-sense of surprise and joy at the realization.

He returns the kiss eagerly, pulling Ruby closer—and a playful smile sparkling in his eyes again. “I’m glad I can surprise you at least a little,” he laughs, looking a trifle embarrassed. “But I’m… pretty glad this happened. Here. With you.”

"You're just glad that you can talk to me and kiss me at the same time," Ruby teases and kisses him again. Think of all the rude thoughts we'll share. She jokes before pulling away again. "Regeneration and telepathy. I wonder if those are your two or if you'll have more." Ruby has four, but she's not particularly powerful with any of them. Some people have one or two, and are insanely talented.

The way the link works, she can feel his agreement and affirmation with her statement in real time the moment she 'sends' it. The implications of sharing their thoughts and feelings when their ability to speak is otherwise... impeded is clearly just beginning to dawn on Brandon, and it's an exciting idea.

As Ruby pulls away, he's smiling again, answering aloud this time, "I wonder. I didn't really expect to... well, any of it. I figured I'd just stay... normal, you know?" Then he admits aloud for the first time, "I'd love to see you do some of those things. You told me about the dolphin form. And talking with fish, which maybe now I get a little better but... what else?"

"What? Did you think you were too big for measly common folk magic?" Rubes teases. "You may be a rock star, but you're our rock star now," Ruby said, claiming him for Spellbound proper and herself, of course.

"I can talk to any animal, actually," she tells him proudly. "But I spend the most time in the tank. It's insanely helpful to be able to communicate with my patients," she tells him, which has made her an exceptional veterinarian. "I can breathe underwater," she tells him, which, for a free diver, is an absolute dream. "And I can do this..."

Ruby closes her eyes, and it takes a moment, but tiny snowflakes seem to form and fall on them out of nowhere, sticking to her hair and eyelashes.

"So you're like Aqua--"

Brandon was about to say Aquagirl and the sense of it carries through the telepathic link-- which remains open, lending weight and light emotional resonance to each of their spoken thoughts, even when they're not wholly focused on sending them-- when the snowflakes form and begin to fall.

Experimentally, he leans his head toward Ruby and kisses at a flake that's landed on her nose. Wryly, he asks, "Do you want to build a snowman?"

She nods, hearing the end of his thought. "Kind of," she says. "I guess that's why they asked me to help train folks in the water to recover that... magic item thing," Ruby clearly has been preoccupied and not paying the best attention in regards to folks taking action after New Year's.

The snow doesn't last long before she feels the effects of using her abilities and yawns. "Ha, ha, ha," she rolls her eyes. "Don't turn me into Elsa. It's all water, but snow falls under the umbrella."

"Just kidding. It'd be pretty weird to see your hair braided like that," Brandon dryly replies, kissing her again lightly before leaning back, eyes dancing. "I've been hearing here and there about the weird stuff going on. Did you see that stone door sculpture? Like something out of Narnia," he says. "That is so cool, that you're training people. My uncle would say you've got 'a piece of the action'."

The phrase cracks him up. Amusement echoes through the link. But so do the kisses.

"I didn't," Ruby says. "Does it like... do something?" She asks, assuming it does, but it's also spellbound. It's hard to tell what is atmospheric props, and what doesn't belong.

"Mmm, yeah, I guess I do," Ruby smiles. "I want to go on the recovery mission. There is an object that is in the water they are trying to find but the last trip out almost took some people out." Out in the sense of almost drowning them, but Ruby doesn't say that... even if she is thinking it and he'd know it.

Every time Brandon kisses her, butterflies erupt in her stomach. This is especially true when she's mid-thought and doesn't expect it.

There's a few minutes where the butterflies are quite busy. Then a pause, during which a flushed and grinning Brandon admits, "In a way, I kind of envy you. Part of me... well, I'm no psychoanalyst, but I think I'm playing Sir Tristan for a reason. I'd kind of like to jump in and be a knight for real. You're getting to do that, sort of. By helping."

He takes a long breath in, then nods quietly to himself. His emotions are strong in this moment-- she can surely sense that-- and full of admiration when he says, "You are so much more than I ever would have guessed at that tiki bar, Surfer Girl. Running into you again on that beach... I don't know how I got so lucky."

They are still wrapped up in each other's arms. Talking, and stealing kisses as they navigate so much new. "I still need to see your show." She'd dropped the ball there. Then again, she'd been busy. She'd been to the main land twice that week for lectures, and that was on top of her job. "I do feel pretty badass," she admits, and there is a puff to her chest.

There is a softer smile, and she kisses him sweetly. "You're the surprise of a lifetime. I still don't get how, when you could be with anyone, you're with me. I keep waiting for you to come to your senses... or for some billionaire tourist girl to show up and steal you away." There is a pang in her chest when she admits that.

The risk and the reward of the link, this newly discovered power of Brandon's, is that these feelings do bleed over into one another. The rush of their affection and attraction-- well, it's an accelerant, certainly for him but it also means he feels her fear as well.

His blue eyes meeting her green ones, Brandon leans in so close that their foreheads are touching. Ruby can feel the honesty and the focus in his gaze and his feelings-- all on her-- when he says, "I don't need a billionaire. And I really don't care who else I could be with or not. I found you."

"Look, Ruby, next time you want to say the word 'girlfriend'," he tells her with that secret smile of his, the one only she's seen, "don't hold back, okay?"

It's a mess of feelings. The fear is still there and likely would be for a while, but she believes him. She can feel the sincerity in his words. Even if he hadn't said it, she would have known. That was the thing with his gift, if he wanted her to know something, she would, and she did.

There is one word that stands out among the rest. Girlfriend, paired with that secret smile he reserved for when they were alone, sent her entire being into overdrive. The bright smile on her face lit up her eyes, and even the iridescent scales on her body seemed to glow with excitement. She kissed him again, long, and slow, and indulgent. All the while, she called him her boyfriend in her mind.