After John refused to leave me alone and put me in a layered deep burgundy pigmented leaf vest with black shorts, We eventually caught up with the three new siblings and my heart pulsed at the sight of him,
He wore his hair in a messy low bun, with multiple of his fixed green curls escaping their confines that were littered with large blooming ice blue roses. He had bangs that looked like Bruce's but they had less volume and ended in soft ringlets. Wearing that infamous dress that brought those flustered and hot feeling that I developed for him to a boiling point letting them spill.
However there were new accessories added like the ice blue diamond shaped stud earrings with a matching lace choker that looked like the tulle that followed him.The waistline was cinched just like the first time he wore it.
However this time it accentuated what he already had instead of masking the lack of a figure. His lips were painted obsidian just like that day. I can still remember those cold plush lips colliding with mine as he held me in the palms of his hands.
My heart was doing marathons with how fast it was racing, those glittery iolite eyes were placed in my pomegranate skin ones, I took his hand and pulled him closer to me, his smile at my affectionate pull was so sweet, like the most delicious ambrosia.
My brother's smug grins made me roll my eyes at their teasing but my stare was soon fixated on my beloved's warm attention with his pupils dilating as the world seemed to fade away from us.
"So what are we doing?" His voice was almost a whisper as I felt his chin sitting on my shoulder as I watched his ringlets of lime green hair fall against the skin on my indigo shoulder draping themselves tenderly against me.
"Well i set up a picnic a little ways away, so I was thinking of doing that." That was totally Bruce's idea since that's how he was able to woo his gigantic vaycay islander wife, so I didn't mind especially since all my brothers worked together to make this possible,
Branch gave me the ring, john put me in this outfit, Clay helped me come out with the right words to say and Bruce gave me the idea of what to do in order to propose.
I wanted to cry at the fact that we all came together to be a family again, and now we were inseparable. My thoughts were broken by a quick peck to my throat as my boyfriend's soft voice whispered in my ear.
"Sure gumdrop, lead the way honey-" his arm linked itself in mine as we waved to our companions,
Bruce winked with making obscene hand gestures towards us and John Dory made mocking kissy faces, Clay was wiping tears from his eyes with him and Branch gave me a thumbs up telling poppy he had something in his eyes.
A gave a watery smile as we moved away from our ragtag tightly knit family as the lights of the village becoming more dim as we strolled deeper into the woods leaving the village behind as we glided across the forrest floor.
As the fireflies flew over us I could see their small golden lights reflecting in my lovers eyes which were wide with fascination and curiosity about the small pill sized bugs,
"Does Mount Rageous not have fire flies?" I looked at him and was met with those vast blueberry colored eyes as he chuckled,
"Not at all, Honestly I never thought i'd see the night sky without blaring lights. I mean I saw the night sky a lot since Rageon's are nocturnal but i've never seen the stars so clearly or these cute lil guys-" he let the pea shaped bug land on his palm as it's small smile was adorable as it snuggled into the warmth of his palm, Veneer moved his other hand to rub his finger in between it's wings.
"Is that why we escaped during the day?" I never really noticed that until now as he pointed it out and it suddenly made sense as during my captivity why I was extra exhausted when both twins were around for glitzy interviews and performances.
I was practically forced completely of my sleep schedule and into a mount rageon's sleep cycle. No wonder why I was extra pissy when Velvet tried to wake me after being used for a music video.
"Yeah, I knew Velvet would be out like a light at noon so it gave me time to make a plan." He let the firefly buzz away from him as he looked into the sky but not before he took my hand,
"Do you regret it?" I stopped at my rude pondering and felt my stomach twist at him pausing entirely. Without taking his eyes off of the twinkling canvas of inky obsidian with the moon bathing the tops of the trees with its sheer glow.
"No I don't, I'm glad that I fell in love with you and got you out and I'd do it again over and over." I flushed at his genuineness as I tugged him closer to me, I could see the pond that had our picnic blanket already set up.
"I'm glad I fell in love with you too." I placed my lips on his cheek that felt hot to the touch from the fierce flush that settled on his face.
As we entered the clearing, it was the same lake that Poppy brought him too when he first was given the tour around pop village, his eyes glossed over in recognition as he wrapped me in a hug. I picked him up and gently spun him in a full 360 before placing him back down and leading him to the blanket.
The paper thick plaid blanket laid next to the waves pulling themselves up then letting themselves fall back into itself.
The environment around our blanket was peaceful and serene, providing a perfect setting for what I was going to do on this night, ask my darling to spend the rest of his life with me. As I sat down and asked him to silently join me by patting the ground we were surrounded by lush green trees and a gentle breeze that kept us chilled,
I looked in the basket that I quickly braided with twigs as John looked for my outfit and saw three items each one making my face more hot since Bruce helped me pack it,
Brownies, a bottle of Star Peach juice and a condom.
Jesus, I should've supervised him better but at least the star peach juice made up for it, I pulled it out by the neck of the bottle,
"What's that?" My boyfriend shuffled closer inspecting the glittery sheer bottle with wide and curiosity riddling his features,
"This is Star Peach Juice, we trolls make it completely by hand by fermenting the juice from a Star Peach, then adding yeast and letting it sit-"
"So it's alcohol." I looked towards him and put my right fist on my hip since the left held the bottle.
"Yes, it's alcohol and you'll love the taste since it's bright and refreshing, with a lively acidity that is used for some of our holidays."
"So it's essentially the troll version of champagne?" I looked and tried to see where he was wrong, but he wasn't.
I remember tasting champagne for the first time with Velvet celebrating their success at making the top of the billboard, her cellophane flute full of a pale golden liquid where diamonds littered the bottom of the glass.
She accidentally spilled some in the perfume bottle I was held in and my curiosity had over taken me as my thirst was becoming apparent. It practically tasted the exact same except her Champagne was much more crisp with a slight pear taste to it.
I pulled out the set of matching flutes and opened the bottle watching Veneer shift closer in curiosity as he watched me pour the bubbly liquor.
"So do you guys have a legal drinking age on Mount Rageous? Or am I not allowed to share?" I let the mouth of the bottle tilt upwards waiting for his response,
"Well, back when I was a Rageon, alcohol wasn't really a problem, because our digestive systems break Ethanol so quickly that we don't get drunk or feel any side effects from it, it was almost like drinking soda but with a weird taste." Well that was an interesting fact and that means that type of system must've carried with him especially since that night,
Eating 7 whole ring pops especially since the max you can eat without overdosing was 2 and only ended up with a really bad hangover, he probably had the stomach of an ox.
"So why drink it if you can't feel anything from it?"
"The same reason why people drive fast cars, drink fancy water and buy really expensively ugly clothes: it's a status symbol, the more you drunk the more money you had, alcohol is a luxury item on Mount Rageous especially since when me and Velvet bought Champagne for the first time, it was sooo much money, it was easy over a grand for that bottle." Oh wow that was a lot of money and before I opened my mouth to question the price, as I finished pouring his cup filling it only half way he blocked my question with,
"Trust me babe, that bottle was the cheapest option, the cashier even looked at us like we were poor at buying it even after being overnight sensations." He shivered upon recalling that memory at the idea of being a pity party,
I handed him a brownie and flushed as he stuffed the whole thing in his mouth moaning as he chewed with such a vigor that it made my insides tingle and my pants suddenly becoming tight as he moaned about how delicious the brownie was.
I handed him his glass to wash all the chocolate that clung to his teeth with a nervous chuckle hoping he didn't see how much his tongue licking his teeth and his happy content moans at chewing the confectionery had affected me into shameless thoughts.
He took a soft swig and swished it around his mouth before swallowing it and I could see his eyes brighten at the rich peach profile of the juice.
As much as I love to keep asking him about what type of culture he came from and educated him on ours, I do have an important question to ask,
"Veneer can I ask you something?" Those soft azure eyes trained on me as I took a deep breath.