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[ludomania]

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Felipe Asztalos, 37

I'm sorry I missed you.

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[sunmon]

I don't believe you.

[ludomania]

We were served human remains, Alina.

[sunmon]

Well, yes.

[ludomania]

If you forgot about your date after that, no one can hold it against you.

[sunmon]

[ he hands her a free pass. no further questioning. but ... ]

I was responsible for what happened to Nikolai.
I had to look after him.

[ though, to be fair, that was all a spiral off her disgust at the aforementioned cannibalism. so maybe he does have a point there. ]

Let me make it up to you?

[ludomania]

[ Nikolai? ]

Is he okay?

You know I won't say no to that.

[sunmon]

Blonde, royal? I'm told he made a very grandiose gesture after I'd been removed from dinner.

[ludomania]

[ oops Felipe would have tried to do something stupid so i'm just going to pretend he somehow didn't see Alina getting dragged away. ]

That was you? He was talking about you?

I had no idea where you went.

[sunmon]

I tried to hold her to account for all the cannibalism and the statues and it was stupid.
She tried to put me in the gallery, but Nikolai took my place.
So I couldn't just leave him.

[ludomania]

[ okay who is that guy and why does he feel so fucking awful all of a sudden. he got so carried away with stealing from the Duchess – that was so selfish of him. ]

Are you alright? Where are you?

[sunmon]

Oh, I'm — [ she scoffs as she gathers herself in the face of this genuine concern. it's fucking rude because orphan rules are to not show your emotional weakness but actually no??? she's not alright at all? ?? for a variety of reasons, really, none of which she wants to stop and process. ] This wasn't an attention thing. Really. Though, in retrospect, I see how it sounds that way.

[ludomania]

You always have my attention, so I don't know why you would waste your time with that. [ Alina, please. ] I would have stayed with you if I had known. I thought you went home.

Is your friend okay? [ friend. friend!! ]

[sunmon]

He's fine. It was really embarrassing, actually. I was the one staying to keep him company, but I must have fallen asleep. He brought me back here. [ she laughs. ] Anyway. That's not the point. The point is that I want to make it up to you. I owe you a proper date. Assuming you're not running the other way.

[ludomania]

[ he still doesn't think it's as simple as that, but he won't press on it. not when he's being asked on a date. ]

Where would I run off to? We work at the same place. [ thanks to him. Felipe laughs softly. ] What would you like to do?

[sunmon]

I think we should feed the ducks.

[ this is a resolute idea that she came up with literally on the spot. ]

[ludomania]

[ that earns a chuckle. ]

The ducks? You like ducks?

[sunmon]

I like quiet places with people I like.

[ a beat. ]

And I like drawing, and animals make better subjects than people.

[ludomania]

[ interesting. ]

Then we're going to feed the ducks.

Are you going to draw? I don't mind.

[ he thinks he could watch her draw stupid ducks for hours. ]

[sunmon]

That doesn't sound particularly fun for you.

[ she laughs. ]

[ludomania]

I don't know. Some time ago I wouldn't have thought that work could be fun, but now it's all I want to do.

[ if he can get into books, he can get into ducks too. ]

When should I come pick you up?

[sunmon]

We can go tomorrow evening, after work. I'll bring something for us to eat, too.

[ludomania]

Sounds good. And we can just forget about what happened at the castle.

[sunmon]

I would love that.

[ she's been dissociating about it anyway, so like ]

action

[ludomania]

[ they can dissociate together. it'll be romantic.

when Felipe shows up to pick her up from work, he's also brought something – a bottle of wine and some flowers he got from the market. on the way to the lake he casually catches her hand and holds it as they walk. filling in every box in that perfect date bingo card. intent on making up for the horror castle.

the ducks are there waiting for them when they get to the lake and he points them out for her – an excuse to set his hand on her shoulder and get close. ]

We should go round from there. You sure you brought enough to eat for them all? [ because there's a lot of ducks. ] And us?

[sunmon]

[ she laughs, slipping her arm around his back as he moves in close. less shy about it than he is, more willing to bump her hip against his and lean into the gentle touches that he has been building up over the short hike. ]

The goal isn't to feed every duck, you realize. [ but she has a canvas bag hanging over her opposite shoulder, full with stale bread for the ducks and less stale bread and cheese for the two of them. ]