♪ EXEC_09/. ♫

[fallbythesword]

[Jacqli appears on the Plane looking even more smug than a cat who caught the canary and the mouse in a single pounce. She's carrying a Hymn Crystal, a brilliantly shining fragment of colorful metal and sparkling crystalline energy. She gives a breath of a laugh, smirks down at the crystal in her hand. It should be obvious just from the way she's behaving that she's up to something.]

I told those fools that I know what I'm doing.

[But anyone paying close enough attention will see the tiniest crack in her expression, the smallest trace of wariness. Because truth be told, she's about to do something that's going to open herself up more than she's ever wanted. And no one had better figure that out, or so help her...!

She looks up, glances around.]

Now, where is he...?

Comments

[decrypts]

[ blink.

blink blink.

rebooting system

your freelancer will be back online in less than three minutes

thank you for waiting

it's only about a minute that it takes him to find his voice again, and he's not normally this easily dazed – you should know that by now – but given the weight of what he's just done for her and the fact that he'd tried to be a teasing little shit about it and subsequently had his ass handed to him for it, well …

can we call a do-over? is that a thing that can happen?

3, 2, 1 …

your freelancer is now back online ]

I wasn't gonna complain. [ leaning down and bumping her nose with his. ]

You little shit.

[fallbythesword]

[She'll spend that whole minute just smirking at him - the same smirk, mind, the one that reads "I win, hmm~ hmm~ hmm~" clear as day - and when he finally speaks up, she chuckles, bumping his nose right back with her own before resting her forehead against his.]

How rude. I was only trying to make it fair for you.

[decrypts]

( how r–

excuse you!!

he huffs out an extremely put-upon noise, as though he can't be bothered to deal with her any further – even though they both know that's pretty damn far from the case. her chuckle is almost like the tinkle of crystal against crystal, and no matter how much he tries, he can't keep up the front for very long.

look what you've done to him, jacqli. )

Were not. You were bein' a smartass, and you know it.

[fallbythesword]

[Look what you've done to her, York. She's smiling - hell, she laughs when you're around. That's unheard of otherwise.

Pretend to be as put-upon as you want. She sees right through it.]

Maybe it was both. I am capable of multitasking.

[decrypts]

( he'll consider that a personal accomplishment, thank you very much. you should know that by now.

( more of an accomplishment than he'll ever let you know of, of course. but anything he gets out of you is something to be treasured. unless it's your incessant trolling. which you seem to have been laying on pretty thick lately.

and he commends you. )

good grief, does he love you. )

Are you? I never woulda guessed. ( have a cheeky grin. )