invite me, ignite me, co-write me.

[oleanderknife]

Christmas Eve in snowy Ithaca is beautiful in a way that is fairly different to Hasibe's experiences in Boston, and certainly in damp South Carolina winters, but it's not just special because of the starlit, notably less skyscraper-dotted ambiance, either.

Comments

[beingtwofold]

Henry eyes her; if you asked him what was in front of him right now he could identify the reindeer, but it would take some thought first. He notices more in general; Hyde drank in everything around him like it was some kind of particularly addictive poison, which is not unconnected to how the first thing he'd think to mention is Hasi

[oleanderknife]

She makes a face of mock-petulance regarding her own repeated self-aggrandizing of her own patience; it is, like so many of these small things, part of their dynamic, which is never quite settled but does have some distinct patterns. For example: the hand-holding, as they walk down the quiet street. Hasi imagines the people in their homes all around, noting some houses have more clusters of cars than others, presumably containing extended family members and friends and in-laws and other things like that. She smiles again, though quieter this time and mainly to herself, and then regards Henry with raised eyebrows.

"Huan loves me, he would never," she says, certain, "and...I double-checked to make sure all of my shoes were on the top level of my closet room. Louboutin and Roger Vivier do not make snacks for monster dogs, thank you very much

[beingtwofold]

With Huan Henry does have a distinctly unfair advantage in that the dog is capable of recognizing the potentiality in him of a much scarier kind of animal, if not necessarily a bigger one. Huan himself probably couldn't have asked for weirder owners, but they love him, so there's that.

Henry stops when she does; if he was better at pretending there was nothing in the works here he'd probably try to do a better job of at least looking at the damn lights occasionally. Their aesthetic appeal is not at all in question, more capable as he is now of appreciating these things on their own, although in practicality he also remembers the extravaganza of exacting precision that was putting up their own decorations (for which Hasi doubtless received entirely facetious grief typical of their carefully cultivated trolling majesties) with some gently rueful humor. He might say something entertaining about how long it must have taken to put together, but then he is mostly caught up in looking at her looking, continuing not to really see anything

[oleanderknife]

Hasibe turns back to him when he speaks, her smile broadening--he is always so amazed by her, and it's impossible not to find that gratifying. 'Beautiful' isn't a cage when Henry says it, because he really does genuinely perceive more than just her exterior shell, he has these reasons. He sees her. And so she reaches up with one hand (bare, now, she seems to have tucked her gloves into her coat pockets for no reason other than she likes holding his with skin to skin) and touches his cheek, leaning forward to kiss him sweetly, and briefly, at least for the given value of where they are concerned