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Their noses touched and he bashfully shied away. His ears burned, the hot flashes running all up and down his neck and shoulders. "Good," she had started as if she had been expecting such an answer from him (he might have been offended if he had been anyone else, but he had to admit to himself that he was quite an easy read for anyone who paid close enough to his body language). Heat crept across his cheeks and muzzle and he couldn't help but chuckle at how she went about advancing such an exchange now that the professions of loving one another were all out in the open.

He chortled at the clearing of her throat.

"Is this a proposal?" he asked, partly jesting and partly asking whether or not the situation at hand was happening at all, "Are you proposing to me right now?" He had to fight with every fiber of his being to keep himself from collapsing into a bow just so he could hide his face with his paws. He lowered his head so that it leveled with hers.

"I don't really know how it all works," Castel went on. Niles already had an answer for her but allowed her to finish with all she had to say. If anything more, she knew this: she wanted to be with him for the rest of her life and experience the whole of it with him. Him. His skull rose a bit as if to tilt his stomach back into place, to rein in the butterflies and frogs that had started to collect there in his chest. "Is that what you want, too?"

There was barely any hesitation, "Yes. All of it. Without a doubt. For as long as you'll have me." He had to sit now to keep his hind legs from buckling out from under him. His tail brushed across the flower bed in a wide sweep before settling by his feet. He smiled at her. "Someone once told me a long time ago that names don't mean anything - however ya want to do that surname business, ya do it. But, I know by now that I will always been yer Niles."

we can say goodbye, just head home, but if we're going to be alone
Chimera is currently traveling with Niles and may hop into this IC thread!

A soft snort escaped her at his questions, and she shrugged her shoulder in a fake flippant way. "Well, yeah. Pretty sure I'm proposing to you right now." He'd never be able to know how relieved she was that he had reacted so positively to her confession. She'd worried for days over this day, concerned that she would just screw everything up between the two of them. So having her affections accepted and reciprocated really was good. It was better than that, actually. It was perfect - which was why she'd relaxed enough to go back to cracking jokes.

Her spew of word vomit went over quite well, too. 'Yes. All of it. Without a doubt. For as long as you'll have me.' And he sat down in front of her. Their heads were about even, and she was grateful that he made it to where she didn't have to look up at him as they spoke. He mentioned when, back in the blackberry fields, how she'd spouted all about names meaning nothing, and a smile spread across her lips. She was pretty sure that smile was just going to be a permanent fixture to her face now, actually.

'I know by now that I will always been yer Niles.'

Castel wasn't much for tears. Never had been. But for some reason, that statement caused her eyes and nose to burn with impending emotions, and she had to valiantly fight to keep her eyes from welling with tears. She waited for him to finish speaking before putting in her own thoughts. "Yeah, names have never meant anything to me," she managed, her voice just slightly wobbly with emotion. "But, if you don't mind, I'd like to share one with you."

She cleared her throat and took a deep breath before meeting his gaze again. "Oh, and for the record, I'll always be your Castel, too. Or Cas. Or Cassie. All of them." A laugh bubbled in her chest. "I don't really care what you call me. I'm just so happy, Niles. I've never... I never thought I'd feel this way about anyone. I don't think any wolf has ever loved anyone else as much as I love you." She walked forward and buried her nose into the fur on his cheek, taking a moment to share some physical affection along with he verbal.

Then, she stepped back and tipped her head to the side, smile still on her maw. "So... was that a yes to the proposal? You can't just leave a girl hanging like that, Ni. 'S rude," she chastised playfully, banner swaying happily over her spine as usual.

Grounded by her laughter, Niles found the heat ebb away from his neck and face. To hear that she wanted to share a name with him meant a lot; for as much as he knew, his own parents had loved one another, but they did not share a name. She had always been an Archer and he had always been a Lyall, which in turn had made him a Lyall by the patriarchal values of his father's traditions. To carry both his maternal and paternal surname meant a lot, perhaps this would be the circumstance in their case - that is, if she chose to keep her name and also adopt his. He wasn't just about ready to ask about all that yet, though. This needed to be taken one step at a time.

She nestled into him, wafting the sweet scent of petals his way. Mingled with her scent, he suddenly came to him that he would forever remember this moment - this instance in time forever prone to being triggered by the distinct floral perfume of the summer blossoms.

He placed a kiss upon her crown before she withdrew from him. That was when he saw her face, her smile, the high and happy wave of her tail. Ah, that was right, he was speaking to his Leader. He had to be clear about these sort of things. "Of course," he assured her, a now tickled smile appearing on his maw. "Many times over, yes."

we can say goodbye, just head home, but if we're going to be alone
Chimera is currently traveling with Niles and may hop into this IC thread!

Cas was fairly sure she'd never been happier than she was in that very moment. All that existed in the world was her, and Niles, and the little clearing with the flowers that grew with no sunlight. She would never forget this little clearing, or this moment. The summer breeze that danced its way across the petals of the flowers and through their fur betrayed the fact that, even if it was shadowy where they were, the sun was shining somewhere and offering its warmth. The pinkish purple flowers swayed, splashes of color against the greenery, and occasionally a butterfly or a honeybee would float over to collect pollen or nectar from them. Birds chirped in the distance, and bees buzzed, but it seemed muted in the little secluded cove. The sweetness of the flower scent combined with Niles' own was heaven, and Cas was fairly certain that she'd found a sort of paradise - right here in this shadowed meadow with him.

Everything seemed to carry more vibrancy than it had before she'd fallen into the apse and he'd followed behind her. The colors were saturated, and the breeze had a life and breath of its own. The sounds were more reminiscent to music than just background noise, and even though there was no sun, Cas felt so warm. '

She had guessed that he meant yes when he said all of the other things, but it had been necessary for her to hear it out loud. A verbal proclamation to what she had felt all along. And though the little confession and subsequent proposal had been unorthodox, that was just fine. Nothing that Castel and Niles had ever done had been in the realms of normalcy, and she had to think that nothing they did after this moment ever would. That was also fine.

Normalcy was boring, anyway.

His smile made her own grow even brighter, and she kissed his cheek gently. "Thank you," she murmured next to his ear before turning and bouncing away through the flowers, falling into a play bow to try and coax him into a game of chase. Because what better to do after forming a union together than to play tag? And this time, she wouldn't go so easy on her love.

As she pranced off, however, her gaze swept over the little shaded clearing once again. This place felt safe and comfortable and sheltered. It was a temporary safe haven - a little blip in time, like Cas herself, but would make a lasting impact on the world. Then, two words popped into her head and she couldn't help but smile to herself, her tail wagging just slightly in regards to her cleverness. She knew exactly what to call this fleeting shelter - this transient refuge that would last forever, immortalized in her memory.

Ephemeral Apse.

{ exit Cas }

(This post was last modified: Jul 24, 2017, 05:33 AM by Castel.)

Another hum of contentment rose from Niles' lungs, but it did not keep Castel close to him for long. Soon enough she was up again after whispering a sentiment of gratitude. He had thought to inspect her paw but brushed the worry away as he saw her frolic away. She bowed and it encouraged him to rise. For the first time, in what seemed like a very long time, he had someone, but Castel Noor was much more than his sisters, a pup-sitter, his older brothers, his parents. She loved him in a way he had never even fathomed until this very moment, and suddenly it was all he had ever needed to move on.

His sister Isolde probably would have been very proud; her bigger brother was out on his own, exploring and making friends... and talking. Not just a word here and there or fragmented sentences, but actually holding a conversation, participating and putting his own input towards ideas and thoughts that weren't his own.

Niles tried a bark, to see if it would get her to start running, and when that seemed that it wouldn't do, he charged after her, gamboling through the shadows where the sun barely filtered through the copse. Their little sanctuary would be there waiting for them when they returned, he was sure, but for now, he had a mate to catch.

(Fade.)

we can say goodbye, just head home, but if we're going to be alone
Chimera is currently traveling with Niles and may hop into this IC thread!