Birds of a Feather [Open]

[Owain]

Alright alright, time to dial back on things for now. He kept his grin, playing the role of teasing husband but made no other overt attempts to embarass the Songbird. "I'm sure he'll be fine. He's a tough one," Owain shrugged as they headed towards their cabin, allowing Felicity to lead the way. The tauntaun was a tough young thing, fond of Felicity and somewhat haughty when it came to Owain. The creature didn't like him. More tolerated. "GUess you'll be doing a lot of riding on this honeymoon," he innocently stated.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

"Owai- Darling!" she warned giving him a playful slap on the arm, "Mind yourself!"

She was starting to wonder how much was acting and how much was just Owain being Owain. Maybe she was starting to forget herself too. She did find it easy to be his wife for the day. A distressing thought because of the incredibly improbability of it all. They were young. And Owain didn't seem the marrying type.

She glanced down at the shape of the ring under her gloves. She was supposed to wear it the entire time until she arrived with the Baroness (she was going to have to learn her name eventually). It was her mothers. She never wore it though. Some gift from a visiting politician. It was pretty with a large white stone in the center, worth more than a soldier could hope to make in two years. More than Owain could afford. This was her pretend wedding ring, but she knew she was supposed to expect something at least this fine when the time came for her to marry for real. That did limit her quite a bit.

Honestly, the only thing she wanted with a ring like this, was to take it off. It was heavy and uncomfortable. It felt like she was going to bump it on something all the time. Well, thankfully, they'd reached their cabin so she could get the damn thing off. She swiped her keycard and the door slid open.

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

He accepted her shove in good humor as they made their way through the craft. It was actually furnished, being intended for more luxurious passengers than his regular self. Owain followed Felicity into their room, looking about before moving over to the bed and collapsing into it, embracing the softness. "You know, I'll never get used to soft beds," he muttered before flipping over to lie facing upwards, a grin on his face.

Maybe one day this could be real, and not them acting. Maybe. But he doubted it. So best to take advantage of this while they could.

"So darling, 23 hours to waste..." he murmured, glancing at Felicity as he spoke.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

The moment the doors slid shut behind her, Felicity sighed and pulled off her gloves, then the ring and placed them both on the bedside table.
"You don't have to call me that here, Owain. We're not married behind closed doors."

Names like 'Darling' and 'Dear' did not suit him and hearing them come out of his mouth just made her... regretful. She knew this wasn't going to happen, or if it did, it would have to be secret. Yes. That was how it would need to be done. A secret marriage. They would need to go off and elope. If they did that, not even Mother could keep them apart. Maybe one day, that would just be their only option.

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

"A pity," he sniffed before realising what that meant. "Anyway," he added quickly and loudly to cover up what he had said. He could come up with an explanation later, "what do you feel like doing to pass the time?" Maybe he could teach her to gamble...

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

What to do with the time. What to do- Wait. What did he just say? She blinked at him for a moment, stunned. Then quick as a spider she crawled across the large bed until she was just inches from him.

"Back up. Rewind. What did you say?" She must have misheard him.

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

Owain stared straight back at her with an easy smile, his default expression around her. "What ever shall we do?" he offered, sure she wasn't going to buy it, so instead leaning forward as if to whisper in her ear and instead giving her a peck on he cheek before falling back onto the bed. "So anything you'd like to learn about the real world now?" the boy added, an explanation already forming in his mind.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

Owain seemed to forget sometimes how incredibly naive Felicity was. She sighed, taking the kiss on the cheek with a hinto of disappointment in her eyes. So, she did hear him wrong. Oh well. It was probably for the best. She fell back on the bed, hair spread out in a golden halo on the pillow.

"Real world? You're weird [member="Owain"] . What could you possibly teach me?"

For once, the two of them were fully alone, allowed to do what they wanted, when they wanted. She was surprised that he hadn't taken advantage of that yet.

 

[Owain]

"Gambling?" The youth offered with a grin as she dropped her question. That had been close. "Maybe how we commoners behave?" he continued, looking down at her. "Or maybe you have something you'd rather do instead, hmm?" he asked her, lying down on the bed to stare at the ceiling as well.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

Gambling. That actually interested her somewhat. She'd learned a little bit about Sabaac, although she'd never actually played it. She guessed that wasn't quite enough. And what did she care how commoners behaved? No, no. That was her Mother talking for her. She did actually wonder.

"What do people do for fun? Normal people. Our age, I mean."
Fun for her was sneaking out, away from Mothers gaze to get a drink. Sometimes she liked to have fun by sneaking Owain back to her room for a while...

 

[Owain]

"Well...that depends on the person," Owain answered honestly. Felicity liked asking the tricky questions. "Some spend time on the holo net, others just spend time with their friends. Some go to cinemas, some read, some work out, some go out drinking and dancing...but I think most of them do things with friends," he elaborated, not too sure himself. What did he know about normal people after all?

"Of course there's also having...ah, intimate fun, but you know the basics of that already."

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

What could a commoner do on the holonet for fun? All Felicity really used it for was research. Oh, but of course there was no reason why a commoner shouldn't enjoy studying too! That made sense. Too bad Felicity didn't really have many friends to just waste time with. What did friends even do together? That was something she really wanted to know.
Maybe someday I'll collect enough friends to find out...

'Intimate fun'. Of course. The girl blushed and giggled, rolling over to face [member="Owain"] in bed.

"You did teach me a little, didn't you?"

 

[Owain]

"Enough for you to work with. There's more but I. Sure you'd prefer finding some things out for yourself," the boy answered. Not necessarily with him. That thought stung, but it was accurate. Feena Mason would have Felicity Madrid off in some political marriage. Never to him. Even if it was something Felicity herself wanted. Which he doubted she did. He was just a friend she thought of fondly, not some kind of long term prospect.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

"No."
The answer was simple, really. She didn't want to find out by herself. No. No. No.
"I want to learn with you," she clarified, "Just you."

He was right.The likelihood that her Mother would let Felicity marry someone like Owain, no matter what age she was, was next to zero. But he was wrong in thinking Felicity just thought of him as a friend. She didn't love friends the way she loved him. He could ask her to do anything and she would, because she trusted him fully.
Her arms reached out to hold onto him. Someday, one of them would need to crack first and just say it. Three simple words. Three impossible words.

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

"You mean from me," he corrected her, leaning over for a kiss. He had already learnt much after all. Still, Felicity knew how to surprise him. "Well...I'm touched Songbird," Owain replied truthfully, still smiling. "Anything you've been curious bout to which I can enlighten you?" He teased.

This may have all been temporary, or a dream, but it didn't mean he couldn't enjoy it.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

From him. With him. None of that mattered. He was here with her, wasn't he? If it was just a temporary love, she could accept that. But she was wishing for it to be permanent. Maybe in a few years time, if he stuck around that long, she could ask him what he wanted in life. Maybe she's someday be daring enough to...

"Everything," she answered, "Teach me about love."

It was only after she said it that she realized she said it out loud.

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

He raised an eyebrow at her choice of words but didn't comment further, instead nodding. "Well...you already know about family love, so I'll teach you more about passionate love," the boy offered, moving to gently kiss her neck again. "That's what you want, isn't it?" Or maybe she meant something more? Maybe not...

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

She'd said it. That word. She'd ruined everything. He was going to think she was so weird! But he didn't react the way she thought he would. Not at all. He closed the distance between them. She felt his lips on her neck. Her body went absolutely weak in his arms. He'd misinterpreted. Good. The blush in her cheeks faded some, but did not go away entirely.

"Y-yes," she lied, "That's exactly what I meant."

[member="Owain"]

 

[Owain]

"Hmmm...then what should we focus on today, Princess?" Owain asked, continuing to kiss her neck. He didn't know why she enjoyed it so much, but he didn't really care either - she liked it, and that was enough.

[member="Felicity Mason"]

 

[Felicity Mason]

The young woman squirmed on the bed, too lost in the simple sensation to be able to answer right away. How would she know anyway what the focus should be? It was a very vague question.

"Don't care," she mumbled, running her fingers through his hair, "Just... learn as we go?"

She always felt so stupid when she was in bed with him. She knew all there was to know about the history of Naboo. She'd studied Tauntaun care enough to make her an expert. She could reprogram any droid to make it learn how to tap dance while making coco flavored pudding at the same time all while humming the Protectorate anthem backwards if she really wanted. And yet, she slipped into bed with Owain and it felt like her brain shut down. She thought with her heart, not her head.

[member="Owain"]