driftfleet | 3 AM we seemed alright, on our way into the mingle

I don't mind blunt. It means you are honest.

[Daario had a bit of that too. As did Tyrion and he had become her trusted advisor in a short time.]

Have you been to the Caprine before this? Before you started leaving things for me, I mean.

[ He shakes his head. ]

I try not to go where I'm not invited.

You're welcome to visit any time then. I'm inviting you.

[By her authority as captain etc. etc.]

The crew here are all lovely people but I find that is true of most of the crews here. I imagine horrible people must be terribly boring for the ones who watch us.

[ He bows neatly, in acceptance. ]

Not necessarily. I'm sure they are sprinkled here and there to, ah, keep the tension high at times. But usually they are wise enough to know starting trouble in a confined space would not end well.

Usually.

I hope you haven't found yourself with one of those on your ship?

[Though he seems like he'd be more than equipped to dodge such issues.]

High tension doesn't suit you, I think. Or trouble. You seem the type that is perfectly behaved when you aren't slipping presents to young maidens.

[She's joking about the maiden part. She is far from that.]

We had a few issues, but they've mostly been ironed out.

[ Also known as: There's an assassin causing trouble, but Leto adopted him, gave him a new name and mission. Let it never be said his methods don't work. ]

If I appear in such a manner, then I suppose I'm not behaving like myself.

[ Though it has been a while since he's caused trouble. Hm. Odd, that. ]

I see.

[She lifts her chin a bit, the barest of smiles making an appearance.]

And what would be considered normal behavior for you?

[Does it involve getting into trouble? That might be interesting to find out. Maybe she had misjudged him.]

A touch of mischief here and there with fun dialogue, I imagine.

[ He quirks his lips. There's a touch of wisdom and fun in there, like a balancing act. ]

I could imagine that being the truth of it. Though what mischief means can differ between interpretation. Is that what you've been doing with me? Applying a touch of mischief? Or was there something else more in mind?

[Because it was just... silly and nice, really. Whatever this was. The gifts at least were a defining point she had to go off of.]

Not at all. Gift-giving is only a small part of the process. I made a vow to help open your heart.

[ He's . . . earnest. Leto doesn't lie, doesn't even like lying. ]

And what else do you plan for this... process of yours. Or would telling me ruin the surprise of it.

[Well she might not have opened her heart to him but she's certainly enamored and intrigued by him. The way he approached her wasn't that of a man approaching a Queen - how so many other men since Drogo had done - but someone who wanted her attention and meant to keep it. He didn't fear her titles or feel threatened by them, not that she made use of them here. He was carefully aware of her and made a study of her. She wished she could do the same, but then somehow she felt as if he still might make this exchange more about her than himself.]

[ Transparent. But he enjoys that kind of bluntness as well. His lips curve knowingly. ]

Don't you enjoy surprises?

The last man who tried to surprise me climbed a stone wall and up a balcony to bring me flowers.

[Seriously. Daario has set her bar kind of high.]

I feel like you two would have gotten along somehow.

Perhaps. He might have had the right idea. Did it work?

It might have. You aren't getting any grandiose ideas, are you?

[Translation: It totally worked. Damn it, Daario Naharis!!]

I hesitate to call them grandiose. Simply appropriate for the heart I wish to unclasp. Flowers and thorns, to show your skill and your brightness. To not negate your strength but to worship its due.

[it was on the tip of her tongue to ask him just how man women he's won over like this because he quite frankly reminded her so much of Daario it was enough to make her skin flush. A hundred? I lied, sweet queen. It was a thousand. But never once a dragon. Daario had said that to her once and she'd been swept up so easily by him. Somehow the number of women he or Leto had didn't matter when compared to the fact that the two of them were giving her attention.

Still, she felt stubborn enough to point out that opening her heart up to him couldn't possibly be all he wanted out of this arrangement. Men saw a woman and they wanted her for more than just a kind heart or a gentle touch. They saw curves and something they could own for themselves. Daario had certainly taken the time to appreciate her in that fashion and she didn't expect Leto to be any different in his own wants in that regard. Men were alike that way.]

How is it that just opening up to you is enough? You already know more about me than anyone in this fleet. You talk of giving me gifts and worshiping me and yet... I still can't piece any of this together as easily as you do.

[If he could see into her past and her future then surely he knew her dreams of the red door with the lemon tree, her dreams about Drogo and their son long lost and maybe even how she felt about him. Already he knew things before she could even say them. Yet somehow she still wanted to explore this with him - whatever this was.]

Edited 2016-07-16 02:48 (UTC)

[ Leto mulls over these words. Explaining his gift was complicated. Those who know of oracles and some sight beyond the present often see it as a single road, while the truth was there were many roads. Leto could narrow them down, see them play out but to say which one would prove true? Even that was difficult. And Leto hesitates to do so, trying to close his eyes to the potential. ]

I know of you. To say I know you would be insulting to you as a person. Your hopes and dreams belong to you and you alone. Gifts, worship . . . They are simply touches of the soul. What can you see of me in them?

I see someone who takes great care with his words and his deeds, someone who gives a kindness easily to others and yet keeps them guessing about who he is.

[She really was guessing. She'd met extraordinary people and seen extraordinary things and yet he left her wanting to puzzle him out.]

You love deeply, even complete strangers, and I admire that.

My existence was born from love. For me, it is boundless, limitless and deeply ingrained in me. I breathe because I love. I speak because I love. I give because I love.

It is simplicity itself.

3 AM we seemed alright, on our way into the mingle

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