This Must Be The Place

They had made the journey down to Castle Stuart, Baelfire doubly so after arriving in Perth a couple days before, insisting that he should escort her the full way to the Mainland. She had not complained - it had been many many months since she had last visited any of the southern cities, and given her Highlander heritage, she could imagine her welcome alone would not have been the warmest. With Baelfire by her side, her reasoning to be this far south felt more legitimised.

They had made it to the castle with no setbacks, whether that be due to Baelfire's affiliation with the army, or everyone simply being too preoccupied with the king's birthday and upcoming banquet to notice them, and so Baelfire guided her into the castle grounds towards the garden.

Her general attitude towards the crown aside, Sorcha couldn't deny she had a soft spot for gardens. Perhaps it was nostalgia: Iona did not have as much time to maintain her own, but growing up her mother had a large garden of all manner of plants. Now she limited it to essential herbs, a passion project turned business. Seeing the garden blooming before them felt like a trip back in time.

A small sigh passed her lips, and she turned to Baelfire with a soft smile. "Okay, I admit it. It's very pretty."

//Phone post, will make pretty later.

The beauty of this place was not lost on him as he walked through the Garden beside Sorcha. Though he wasn't gazing much at the flowers as he was at her. He couldn't stop himself from staring sometimes.

"Thank you for coming," he said.

He knew it wasn't as easy for her to come here but he wanted her to see that it wasn't all that bad; that things didn't have to be the way they were. For anyone. All that aside, he was simply glad to be with her in this moment. The chill in the air felt much less icy here, within her warm light. He leaned in and placed a gentle kiss upon her cheek.

Baelfire leaned back and glanced around, wondering how lovely the ball would be when the time came. He was excited for that too, he wanted to mingle with other citizens and have Sorcha meet those who he had started become friends with. It felt like, to him, that life was so normal. It was like when he was a child and his father had taken him here before with his mother and brother. They'd walk through the Garden together, through the markets and cities of Rionnach. It had been a happy time and perhaps that was why this felt so right. Nostalgia gave him rose-colored glasses for everything, but still... things were pretty good.

He looked at her, still smiling. "Hey, close your eyes." he urged, his tail waving behind him as his smile became more playful.

"Thank you for coming." He spoke softly and earnestly, just a few words able to convey his gratitude that she could put aside her worries, if just for a few days. She still had her doubts and grievances with the whole affair; there was little that Baelfire would be able to do to change her feelings on the matter - in her heart, she could never wholly turn a blind eye to the waste these flowers symbolised, no matter how pretty they may be. But as partners, they had to find a way to meet in the middle. If this was important to Baelfire, she could indulge, and hopefully he could still see her point when it came to her issues with the King's handling of the events over winter.

"Hey, close your eyes." Baelfire asked, bringing her attention back to her mate. When she turned to look she could see the smile on his face, white tail waving behind him. Sorcha tilted her head and narrowed her eyes in mock suspicion, but complied easily, turning to face him fully. "Okayyy...?"

Baelfire's sly smile never left his lips as she reluctantly agreed to close her eyes. He took his moment to go look for the present he'd left here for her. He glanced back to make sure she wasn't looking. "No peeking!" he said before turning back to root around in the small shrub. It was there that he found the large purple flower he'd hidden here. It was still pristine, somehow, as he inspected the layered petals that burst from the center in unison. It was truly beautiful, and not something he saw every day, but he had no name for it. All he knew was that he wanted to give it to her; at this rate she might build up quite the collection with the stones, flowers and various other interesting or pretty objects he often brought to her.

He picked up the flower and then made his way back to her. Nothing that her eyes were still closed but his mouth was now full, he reached for her paw with his own to prompt her to open her eyes to look at what he'd brought her. The flower he held was a purple dahlia.