Week 5

[grimgrinningghosts]

[...So that was a mess. All of it was a mess, and things don't look to be improving any time soon. With tensions at an all-time high and conditions worsened, it seems pretty safe to say that this whole week promises a great deal of foreboding atmosphere.

But, hey, things aren't entirely bad. Just as Randall promised, you're now able to leave the Manor! 

Just don't stay out there for too long. There's still a lot of you, and you just can't afford to lose numbers.

24 guests remain]

[SUNDAY MONDAY TUESDAY WEDNESDAY THURSDAY]

[OOC: and don't forget to fill out this week's activity check!]

Comments

[stanbyme]

[He blinks, and his hands stall.]

Maybe it'll be my lucky charm.

[He scoots up closer behind her, so he can lean around her and kiss her on the cheek.]

[hasit]

You think so?

[She watches him scoot a little closer, and helpfully angles her face toward him, feeling his whiskers scratch at her cheek.]

You can knock if you ever need to get into my room again, you know.

[She's absolutely teasing him.]

Alright, now pay attention, this is the tricky part.

[Leia talks him through the basics of a Dutch braid, patient as he figures out each step. Halfway through, she pauses to check his progress, feeling at the back of her own head.]

Would you look at that. You're either a natural or you've got a great teacher.

[stanbyme]

[It's a lot more like certain kinds of rope-tying than he thought it would be. After a somewhat rough start, he gets the hang of it, his big fingers weaving easily through her hair.

He holds his spot in his hands while she feels his handiwork, grinning proudly from ear to ear.]

A great teacher who's not tender-headed.

[hasit]

That does help, sure.

[Her hands retreat, fold themselves in her lap.]

Now, as far as Mabel goes, I think it'd be especially cute if you braided her hair in two, just like that. And then once you reach the end...

[She gestures for him to finish the braid, and waits patiently.]

Coil it up into a bun just above her ears. Just...like...this.

[Leia holds the braid in place so he can see what she means.]

A little less stiff than the way I wear my hair now, but still fancy and pretty.

[stanbyme]

[He finishes the braid and hands the end over so she can show him how he should do Mabel's.]

She'll look like a little princess.

[His knee pops a little as he pulls his leg up onto the bed, reaching out to wrap his strong arms around her waist and slide her back against him.]

She's gonna love it. It'll be just what the doctor ordered.

[hasit]

[Leia lets herself be pulled back against Stan, relaxing against his broad chest, his soft belly, head nestling back against his shoulder.]

I've been a princess, a senator, and a general, but never a doctor. But I think you're right.

[stanbyme]

[Everything about him is a little bit soft, now. Even if there's a lot more strength hidden in his chest and arms than in his core. He settles sort of. Around her, when she settles back against him, his hands clasped around her waist, his legs bracketing her hips, and his furry cheek resting against her head.]

That's a lot of hats.

[hasit]

I never had much of a choice either way.

[She'd worn each of those hats with grace and a sense of duty, of course, but it had never been her idea, exactly. It was just what she was born into, in all senses of the word.]

But it was what my people needed of me.

[stanbyme]

[His mood seems to drop a little, though he doesn't pull away.]

'Least you didn't let 'em down.

[hasit]

[She heaves a sigh, nuzzling her cheek into Stan's.]

I tried my damnedest.

[Leia reaches for Stan's hand, to hold it between both of her own. Trace the lines in his palms.]

Still trying. That's the best any of us can do.

[stanbyme]

...

[He accepts the nuzzling, and lets her pull one hand away from the other to hold, watching her trace the lines on his hands.]

You wanna hear about the time a witch stole my hands?

[Because that's less painful to talk about than this.]

[hasit]

[She blinks a couple of times, her finger pausing in his palm, and then laughs.]

Well, now I have to hear it.

[Especially if it eases some of the weird mood she can detect coming from Stan for the last little while.]

[stanbyme]

So me and the kids were at this market, right, and there was some old hag selling overrated gold watches.

So I took one, and she put a curse on me that made both my hands disappear.

[He sounds like there was no lesson learned here.]

So me and the kids go up to her cave, and this broad actually expects me to kiss her to get my hands back. Which wasn't happening for a whole number of reasons.

So instead, Mabel redecorated her cave and gave her some girly mags and a book of pick up lines and she let us go.

[hasit]

[This story is starting off great already. Leia settles back against his chest to listen, her face in the mirror growing more and more...skeptical? Amused? A mixture of both, honestly.]

She wasn't your type?

[And somehow, the ending of the story doesn't quite surprise her.]

So Mabel was the hero of the story. I guess her particular skill set comes in handy now and then.

[stanbyme]

Definitely not my type. Even if she wasn't holding my hands hostage.

[He's not looking in the mirror, but when she says Mabel was the hero, his expression softens into a smile.]

She's something special, alright.

[hasit]

[Leia gives Stan's hand a squeeze.] I'll give this back at some point, don't worry.

[She can't miss that softening of his expression, the fondness in his voice; her head turns, cheek against his shoulder, and she lets her eyes fall shut, just for a moment.]

That must run in the family.

[stanbyme]

[He squeezes her hand back and chuckles.]

You can hold onto it long as you want, sweetcheeks.

[His eyes widen and his face heats up when she turns her cheek against his shoulder and closes her eyes.]

I-I, um...

[hasit]

[Eyes still closed, Leia chuckles.]

You what? You don't believe me? Because I can tell you it's true from firsthand experience.

[stanbyme]

Oh yeah? What firsthand experience is that?

[hasit]

[Leia shifts a little in Stan's embrace, so she can face him, place both hands on his shoulders, thumbs rubbing gently.]

I know you, and you're already very special to me, even after five weeks of knowing you.

[stanbyme]

[He meets her eyes when she turns to face him, and after a moment he smiles.]

I must be a special kind of con if I managed to convince a gal like you I was anything to write home about.

[But he cups her face in the hand she'd been holding, and leans in to kiss her.]

[hasit]

[There's laughter in her eyes, but she kisses him back, surprised by how used to this she already is, with him. By how familiar his lips already feel, by how warm and content he makes her feel with just a kiss. When she pulls back, Leia's expression is sly.]

Oh, I'm not that easy to con.

[stanbyme]

Maybe that's just what I needed.

[hasit]

What's that? Someone smart?

[stanbyme]

Smart enough to see right through me.

[Then, after a pause.]

...Not having 20 cats is a plus, too. Or being a man-eating spider woman.