Will you marry me?

[00:21] An escape outside Osrona. That's where they'd go. Not too far, though. A bit south of the city, past the beach and on yet another cliff. It would've been different had no one been in the precious spots that Kofe wanted to use, but... Life had cast it that way.

He took off his poncho, laying it down on the ground to serve as a cloth between their rears and the grass. A hand lead the princess down as he sat himself, a smile greater than it normally was on his face.

"So.. Um."

He paused. Unable to keep his gaze away from the girl for a few seconds before he finally looked off towards the horizon.

"I passed my rite of passage."

That much was obvious by the golden armband on his wrist, etched with the mark of his clan. The same mark that Alice had been challenged to find a spot for on her own skin. He leaned in closer, twisting his body to show his right bicep where his mark was, alongside another tattoo.

A drawing of a crab wearing a crown in a circle. A feat of strength.

"Do you like them?"
(Kofe)
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[00:25] Kofe's obsession with cliffs grew more worrying by the day. Perhaps he was weighing up the best options to push her into a watery grave. Alice stretched lazily before moving to settle down onto the picnic blanket, looking over at the boy.

"Oh, yes... congratulations!" She couldn't have imagined him failing something as simple as becoming an adult. That would've looked really bad on both of them. The girl leaned over, squinting at the crab.

It was... interesting. "I don't really get it," she admitted. "But it looks pretty manly. Probably means something like that right?"
(Alice ras Petrakis)
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[00:29] The awkward air about the situation flushed away when she spoke. Her words brought a laugh to his lips as he shook his head lightly, presenting the tattoo to her, still.

"No, no. Well, maybe! But it's because I was the one who took down that giant crab that terrorized..."

He gestured around them, and further north, turning back to her to smile.

"These beaches, all the way up to Osrona's near the academy. I even got its crown. I.. was actually thinking of wearing it. It'd be a bit, y'know..."

The situation between them was one that brought a lot of attention, positive and negative. Mostly the latter.

".. funny." He said with a grin, letting his short sleeve fall back down halfway before the marks, only to lean closer and drop a kiss on Alice's cheek.

"What do you think?"

Thank Njorun she was there. This would make it all easier. His heart was still racing and it was... obvious that he was going to pop the question soon enough. He even told her so. What was he waiting for?
(Kofe)
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[00:38] Whatever this legendary giant crab was, she hadn't heard of it. Alice had been busy doing not very much. Even the recent attack on the spire hadn't lent an opportunity to escape the castle.

She smiled softly in response and turned back over to the lapping tides. Kofe's nervousness was palpable, which was enough to make her nervous in turn. A vicious cycle.

"Pretty funny," she'd agree, scratching her cheek sheepishly. A moment of silence elapsed as she coughed.

"... Uh, nice weather!!"
(Alice ras Petrakis)
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[00:49] "Hah. Yeah."

... Awkward. Real awkward. The more he thought about it, the more she did, and the more he did. An unending cycle that lead to the longest silence held between them. Even when they didn't know eachother, even when she ignored him for teasing her, they spoke more. This was...

Terrifying.

"Look, Alice."

He broke through the tension. She wasn't about to, was she? His lips parted, but he stayed silence after calling her name. A deep breath was taken when he decided to finally address the subject that was at hand, or rather, what mattered most before he asked her.

".. I'm still damaged. I'm still hurt from what I thought I had with Edelaide back then, before I started flirting with you. Sometimes... I remember her words. I remember her advice, or her compliments. It's... part of me. And it hurt.

It hurt a lot."

He kept his eyes upon her, slowly stripping away at the tension with his heart put on display.

"It hurt so much that it inspired me to write a song. About that pain. I... haven't revealed it to the world. And I was going to propose to you by showing it to you, but... I'm starting to think that it's not a good idea. That I should've prepared something else, and not tell you about what hurts."

He paused again, shaking his head.

".. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that if you can't accept the way I've been hurt, that you can't... see that you're the one who got me over it, then I shouldn't even ask you the question. So I'll ask you this:"

He drew in a deep breath, his hands reaching for.. his lute. He pulled it up and placed it on his lap. Loving eyes were set onto the Princess' own.

"Alice ras Petrakis. Will you let me tell you my tale?"
(Kofe)
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[00:56] For all her social flaws, jealousy was one thing Alice didn't particularly prescribe to. Issues of past relationships were taken cordially and she nodded. So here's where the nervousness had been baked in.

Today was the day that Kofe made his elaborate proposal. She adjusted her hair, a small hand mirror withdrawn as she looked over her reflection.

"That sounds passionate. A song..? Of course I'm ready."

Curiosity laced with apprehension as she leaned back, propped on her elbows to peer at the man.
(Alice ras Petrakis)
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[01:21] A lot of people had heard the first verse, or part of it. But the full thing? None had. None ever had. It was... revealing a bit more about his life and the people he had met. He offered a smile towards Alice and his hands began plucking at the strings. His song was begining. It had been long since he last expressed himself through music that escaped with no instruments.

"The fairer sex, they often call it. But her love’s as unfair as a crook; it steals all my reason, commits every treason. Of logic, with naught but a look. A storm breaking on the horizon, of longing and heartache and lust. She’s always bad news. It’s always lose, lose. So tell me love, tell me love, how is that just?"

It felt like the notes were flying through the air. The melody bringing forth a clear theme of sadness and pain, as the words described. As words danced upon his lips he began realizing this wasn't... enough. He wanted a performance like any other. He had promised Iberl as much, told Marie that he would make a star shine, and promised himself that he'd out-do anyone else in the world. His heart began playing on its own. Alice would be able to hear a second instrument — piano slid in from within her mind to accompany his voice. A rhythm built up by percussion that was non-existant. His heart rippling forth as sound magic was being sent to her very mind like some sort of... transmission of thoughts. Except those weren't thoughts, but feelings.

The Princess would be given a display that went beyond mere song, but a story that dragged her along his weakest moments on Osrona's beach, and his happiest times in an artificing workshop. A dance, one that felt eternal and shook him down to his very heart.

She'd be able to understand just why it had hurt so much to let go.

"But the story is this: She’ll destroy with her sweet kiss, her sweet kiss. But the story is this— she’ll destroy with her sweet ki~ss..."

A chorus for sure. One that further embodied how he knew that he'd be trapped had he gone further. She'd likely understand it, too. He mentionned he was damaged and not destroyed. This was... perhaps his way to give her good news.

"Her current is pulling you closer, and charging the hot, humid night. The red sky at dawn is giving a warning: You fool! Better stay out of sight!"

He called himself stupid for it. He knew it would be a mistake to keep on going back, but he did. She'd... have to know such, too. That he was drawn by her countless times, knowing it was the wrong thing to do. Still, he was not done.

"I’m weak my love, and I am wanting. If this is the path I must trudge, I welcome my sentence, give to you my penance; Garrotter, Jury and Judge."

He put emphasis on a certain word for a reason, but all of that? All of that performance came with a sudden stop, and a shake of his head. An abrupt stop to his pain. To his sadness. To how hurt he was.

And a breath. Drawn in, and pushed out.

".. That's how it felt, Alice. I... was ready to accept it all. To let myself fall into impossible love. And then you.. pulled me back. The day you told me you loved me? The day you poked my arm?

That was the day that those chains— that this living nightmare was stopped. Broken."

He wasn't quite done with his performance, no. There was... more to it. To entice, to wow, to draw along the Princess in his madness and have her heart dance along. His fingers began plucking at the strings.

.. Or so that's what Alice might've thought at that moment. In fact, it was... quite the opposite. He was playing with his heart. No sound any other could hear but her was being played, transmitted to her heart directly for her to feel.

A song of hope. A light amidst the darkness. The dreams that held together those nightmares. Hopeful. Bright.

Blue.
Like Iberl.
Like Alice.

A... tug. A pull. Not a prayer, but an offer to join was made by Kofe to the star he was bound to. For every note that pulled Alice closer, he drew more attention from the celestial body.

He was putting on a show.. for her. He always had wanted to do so for Alice, and Alice only. Even when he thought of how he could make Iberl shine it wasn't in order to deepen his bond with the star or become stronger or anything of the sort.

It was to make Alice smile. To give her the proposal he felt she deserved. To give her everything he wanted to give her, and more.

I'll make a star shine brighter for her.

They called him a fool. They called it impossible. They thought he wanted to die, somehow. But he would prove them wrong.

He thought he'd be using Iberl for his purpose, but it was more than that. He wanted the star to... understand, too, how he felt. To want her to say yes. To be a part of this.

And so, his heartfelt melody of love, of hope, of success was pulled forth
(Kofe)
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[01:29] And so, his heartfelt melody of love, of hope, of success was pulled forth from more than mere heart, body and soul. It was pulled from the heavens themselves.

This song needed no words. This song needed no crowd. This was a tune for Alice. A tune for her, by both the man who loved her and the star he was bond to.

And more.

For Tea lived in his heart despite her demise. For his friends all supported him. For his life was building up to a moment like this one. For his love wasn't going to be as simple as others. He wasn't going to be... lame about it. He was putting on a show. He was showing the Petrakis that he wanted to be more than her husband, than a political affair, than a mere marriage.

He wanted to live his life with her. He wanted to adventure. He wanted to share an ice cream on summer days, to cuddle up when it's cold, to visit unknown lands, to go to Ilburg and have a great feast, to be... with eachother.

He loved her.

I love you.

It'd echo clearly in her mind, he hoped. He hoped that song of his heart alone was going to be enough for her to understand how he felt, and why he felt like he needed to pull all the stops, that he felt like he needed more.

Always more.

The melody gently began growing quieter and quieter as Kofe reached into his pocket. His lute was lifted up and put aside. His body shifted. The scent of grass, the sound of him moving around his favorite attire, the way he kneeled before he sitting form like he was from Sheng or something.

Yellow eyes peered into her vast blue own. Like the sun rising up on the horizon Kofe presented a ring. One made of silver, melted down from a rather particular object. Upon its surface was etched the same symbol as upon his armband. She'd probably make the connection and understand what he had done with his previous one.

His lips parted, at last.

"You melted away the boy I was and made me into the man I am today. You're... more important to me than anyone else in the world. I'd tarnish my honor to save your life, just because I like living with you that much more.

Alice ras Petrakis...

Will you marry me?"
(Kofe)
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[01:43] The performance to eclipse all others. Beyond physical, resonating with her soul. Resonating with the very stars. It was impossible, maddening, drowning. A song that took forth everything and cast it into a whirlwind of emotion.

Perhaps this was what it felt like when Kraus sang the universe to life-- for it awakened such primal emotion that could never be felt again.

Love, twirling and twisting, growing and dipping through uncertain years until it finally reached a point of security. A bubbling temperature where no amount of concerns could hold it back any longer.

It mattered little what people thought- yet they were blessed with support. It mattered little who Kofe was- yet the stars aligned to make it possible.

All that mattered now was the love between them, heralded through a song. Alice knew nothing of the women Kofe had been with before and the song explained little.

That didn't matter. It touched the most important part. His feelings. The most genuine aspect that required no elaboration. Trapped and regretful, pulled to safety by the blue haired prisoner.



Some would call it an unnecessary affair. They would be right. Yet it was part of Kofe's character, his very soul to perform. A storyteller putting together his greatest work. An answer he already knew to a triumph beyond all others.

Alice was breathless. Words couldn't appropriately describe her sensation and it was difficult to mutter out a single response.

"..Yes!"
(Alice ras Petrakis)
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[01:49] He didn't wait any longer to slip the ring on Alice's finger. It wasn't anything magical, legendary, or mythical, but it held a place in his heart and... hopefully it would hold a place in hers, too. Her word was followed by him silencing her ability to produce more of it as lips came upon lips, and hands were brought to her shoulders, pushing her down towards the ground in the process.

He pounced like an animal, his love as ferocious as a beast in that moment.

Had Iberl shone a bit brighter from his performance? Had his experience during his rite been a dream or reality? Was Marie right about stars not twinkling brighter for but a man? He knew nothing of that.

Alice probably hadn't even looked towards the blue star. She was the star of his show, and him, the star of hers.

A fact he understood only when he'd bathe her in love, as the heavens bathed them in light.

.. And so, Kofe would follow up on his promise to the woman he loved: To move to the next step, in more than one way.
(Kofe)
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[01:54] The scene would cascade into romance. Since they were both good hearted citizens of Osrona they wouldn't dream about pre marital intercourse, but there was a lot of contact. Cuddling, laughing, shining.

It was beautiful- and exhausting.

Of Iberl she knew nothing. Her focus was all on Kofe, upon which all of Leonaus shined. How could it not?
(Alice ras Petrakis)