He caught some of that. A few weeks — the wedding, presumably. They'd told him the date they picked and he had nodded along, but hadn't committed it to easily recallable memory (wasted effort when he knew very well it would never occur). So in a few weeks something would change. Then her tone shifted, like she was telling a story. A small something she had done as a child (a place, he thought, somewhere she'd gone as a child, but he couldn't be fully confident that it wasn't an action she'd performed as a child). Verano, was that spring? He got the gist, anyway, that she was recounting a memory, sharing nostalgia. Hopefully she didn't intend to quiz him on any of it later. His Spanish listening skills were the slowest to improve. But he caught that whatever she was talking about was beautiful, which was enough to give him something to respond to.
"Not as beautiful as you," he said, with a grin. She did look magnificent today; this color on her was one of his favorites, and being out in a more rural area to walk did wonders to bring out her personality. She walked different out here in the open air, compared to a crowded ballroom — did she know that? There was a depth to her that could be glimpsed at moments like this, when she wasn't so boxed in, that was harder to glean from society events. The difference between having a pool of water in a garden and seeing the tumbling waves of the open ocean — even without knowing what lurked below the surface one could appreciate the wonder of it. She was like the ocean, out here. He might have said as much, but he knew even with the improvements to his Spanish he'd botch the metaphor if he tried to describe it.
The ground sloped. He offered his hand to steady her as she walked. The older generations lurking behind them were slowing, and they had a touch more distance now. Maybe a good time to start the conversation? Merlin knew it would take him long enough to get through it.
"It surprised me," he began. "That your family could be glad." What he meant to say, but what he hadn't quite been able to form words for, was that he continued to be surprised by how keen everyone was on such a fast-moving relationship. Doesn't this seem a little insane to you? he wanted to convey, but — well, it was difficult to handle anything delicately with his language barrier. Were there potions to make people speak other languages well? Maybe he ought to look into it.
"Not as beautiful as you," he said, with a grin. She did look magnificent today; this color on her was one of his favorites, and being out in a more rural area to walk did wonders to bring out her personality. She walked different out here in the open air, compared to a crowded ballroom — did she know that? There was a depth to her that could be glimpsed at moments like this, when she wasn't so boxed in, that was harder to glean from society events. The difference between having a pool of water in a garden and seeing the tumbling waves of the open ocean — even without knowing what lurked below the surface one could appreciate the wonder of it. She was like the ocean, out here. He might have said as much, but he knew even with the improvements to his Spanish he'd botch the metaphor if he tried to describe it.
The ground sloped. He offered his hand to steady her as she walked. The older generations lurking behind them were slowing, and they had a touch more distance now. Maybe a good time to start the conversation? Merlin knew it would take him long enough to get through it.
"It surprised me," he began. "That your family could be glad." What he meant to say, but what he hadn't quite been able to form words for, was that he continued to be surprised by how keen everyone was on such a fast-moving relationship. Doesn't this seem a little insane to you? he wanted to convey, but — well, it was difficult to handle anything delicately with his language barrier. Were there potions to make people speak other languages well? Maybe he ought to look into it.
![[Image: 0hYxCaj.png]](https://i.imgur.com/0hYxCaj.png)
MJ made this <3