RP:A Gift For A Caterer
Summary: Alvina makes Huds a little something for fun! A bowl within a bowl (bowl-ception) to keep drinks cold without watering them down! Perfect for an alchemist that also caterers parties, right? This occurs well after the failed party at his new place on Sea Breeze. Hudson also tells Alvina about their second project for Hildegarde, and they also discuss maybe becoming an item. But that's boring. Inventions are cooler.
Alvina's House
Hudson had taken Cleopatra to Alvina's, and upon arriving, he ties her up to a post near a particularly fetching piece of grass. With classic Cleopatra attitude, she whickers at him in the hopes of snacks, and then snorts, her eyes rolling, as he merely pats her on the nose and distances himself to approach Alvina's door. He'd sent a letter in advance telling her that he might be in the area and hope to drop by, but he hadn't exactly provided a time. So, it's with halfway expectations that Hudson knocks and awaits to see if Alvina's even home.
Alvina sat at her work table, the missive announcing Hudson’s arrival sitting next to her on the counter as she worked. It felt overly cordial for him to write to say he would be coming by, but the bard paid little mind to thoughts surrounding whatever blossoming affection she found herself waist deep in. The matter at hand seemed to be the contraption in her hands, metal weaving over metal in slow, graceful circular patterns. It did not look like anything the bard had ever seen, but then, that was the purpose of inventing! Her steady hands wove around it, dusting off stray bits and dust as it settled on the crisp demo. For all intents and purposes, it appeared to be just an intricately deep metal bowl, surrounded by a smaller dipping ring, almost like a moat ‘round a castle. Though, both were empty. Cleo’s snort announces the alchemist, causing Alvina to rise and address the door in her work clothes, beads of sweat gathered on her forehead. “Well hello there.” She grinned at her guests, picking up an apple from the counter to take to Cleopatra at the fence post. All the while, she kept her eyes warmly on Hudson. “How have you been stranger?”
Upon the appearance of the apple, Cleopatra becomes markedly more grateful to be at Alvina's, with zero thanks to Hudson. She extends her neck to pluck the apple out of Alvina's hand. Hudson, for his part, looks chuffed to have caught Alvina at home. He does do a double take at her appearance, though. Normally the picture of femininity, she has a grubby appeal all sweaty and dressed for metalworking. "I came by to talk shop, so I suppose I'm not interrupting?" he asks, throwing Alvina a sidelong glance and lingering close by with an air of indecision, as if he were unsure of how to greet her. There's a pause here, and the more it extends, the more pregnant it becomes with awkwardness. "I'm good I think. Mostly. You?"
Alvina laughs as the horse takes the apple with an almost womanly grace. Fleshed digits fall on Cleopatra’s mane and snout affectionately while she speaks to Hudson. “Not at all! I actually just finished something I’d like to show you!” The silence passes without note from Alvina, her attention focused on his companion before he responds to her question. “I’m better now,” she grins. With a final pat, the bard moves back into the house, beckoning the alchemist to follow her, completely unaware of how she looked. It was more important to show him her newest attempt than try to fettle with her hair hopelessly. She leads him over to the bowl and holds it up for him to examine. She’ll allow him to turn it over, waiting for his guess at what it’s for before continuing. Aria chirps, more like a bird than a cat, when Hudson enters, as if demanding his immediate attention. The bard scolds her light heartedly. “Just a minute, dear.”
Hudson cants his head in response to Alvina's comment. What does 'I'm better now' mean? The mysteries of women. He watches her interact with his horse, who by all appearances seems to like her better than him, and then he trails after her into the house. Presented with Alvina's current project, he turns it over in his hands, his attention disrupted for a moment as he glances in Aria's direction. "Hey to you," he says, as if an afterthought, his gaze focused on the metal object once more. He senses Alvina's presence beside him, and he looks to her once he's firmly concluded he's stumped. "Enlighten me," he says.
Alvina takes the bowl and fills both the small moat and the bowl itself with water at the nearby sink before setting it on the table in front of them. All the while, Aria is stretching and yowling and making her slow cat way over to Hudson to nuzzle his hand for pets. If he ignores her, she’ll do her normal routine of launching up his shoulder and perching like a canary (something she does with Alvina if she’s also been gone a while.) She is indeed a very abnormal cat in this fashion. With a playful roll of her eyes, the bard points to the lower moat. “Can you turn this to ice?” She asks, demonstrating that the moat actually goes all the way underneath the bottom of the bowl, showing him the water inside and out. “I promise, I’ll tell you after you make this ice…and this…wine.” She points to the inner bowl in regards to wine. What she made, essentially, is a tiny wine cooler to keep the wine he makes cold without watering it down with ice.
Hudson obliges Aria's request for attention and pets her absently, one thumb working behind her ear, as Alvina goes about filling her new creation and readying it for the big reveal. Upon Alvina's request that he involve himself, he moves away from Aria, though, and positions himself closer to the project. This is definitely something he can get behind, apparently literally now. His lips move as he lays hands over the respective containers of water and murmurs the true names needed to stir the alchemical natures of the matter in front of him. The ice he generates is ice, no frills, just chilled blocks of the stuff. For the wine, he manages a fruity rose, something along the lines of what he imagines Alvina's preference is. These basic transformations completed, he exhales slowly, with suspicious satisfaction, and steps back to put an arm around Alvina. "Will you try this wine I made you?" he asks, canting his gaze her way.
Alvina watches Hudson work with her own mysterious sense of satisfaction. Aria, instead of waiting around to get wet, bounds away from the table that now has water on it. Once Hudson finishes, she presents the completed project with a happy “Ta da!” Blush flushes her cheeks when he asks if she’ll try it. “Of course I will, here, you can try it too. But not too much, I don’t think Cleo will want to drag you home after all.” She jests, grabbing them cups to drink with. “And this…is the best part…” She adds, gesturing to the spigot on the side, before turning it slightly to let the wine bubble into her own cup. “No mess!” It’s all very practical, but in truth the bard knows nothing about serving wine. “Is this an acceptable way to drink this?” She asks, laughing a bit while trying to remain some humility in the face of her latest creation. It was hardly something legendary…but it definitely WAS something fun.
Hudson's gaze follows Alvina as she goes about serving them. Her enthusiasm is endearing, her energy more so. He momentarily forgets what it was that he's even come here for. Amusement has crept into his expression by the time he accepts a drink from her. "This is a perfectly classy way to drink wine," he tells her, lifting his glass for a light toast against hers. "Cheers." He makes a thoughtful sound as he downs some of the stuff he's produced. It's fruity and feminine and generally not his palate, but it's a guilty pleasure all the same. "What do you think?" he asks Alvina over the lip of his glass. "I tried to make something you would like, so, no pressure or anything."
Alvina smiles, drinking the wine slowly but with healthy enthusiasm. It was very fruity and a bit tart to the tongue, but she enjoyed it all the same. “It’s wonderful, as usual.” She nudges him playfully before setting down her glass. “Did you come all this way because you knew I was making this?” Her metallic digits point to the device, only then feeling like she might look a little rough in her current state. After clearing her throat, she flashes another smile and continues, “Or did Cleo just miss me so much she made you stop by?”
Hudson drinks from the well of his glass, his gaze lingering just above it to meet Alvina's. He shakes his head in the negative at her question. "Oh no, I wanted to see you," he answers with a tentative grin. His gaze travels back to her recently designed project, and he drinks from the glass of wine they've together created. "Well for one, I wanted to talk about a project I was talking with Hildegarde about. Among other things..."
Alvina's eyes light up. "Another Project for the Eyrie?" Excitement bubbles out of the bard as she tries to contain herself at the prospect of having another go at a commission, as well as working with Hudson (though the later part is more secret). She reached out to take whichever hand was empty and hold it in both of hers, the cup of wine found the table with a wobbly stance. "Tell me everything," Alvina beamed, grasping his hand as if to brace herself for the good news.
Hudson's expression remains in an easy grin as Alvina's glee practically illuminates the space between them. He allows her to take his hand, just as he lofts an eyebrow at her. "It's not a formal project, it's sort of war-related. Hilde was wondering if we could make a version of our device that would be like a small object that released smoke if thrown, for people to escape to safety."
Alvina listened, scratching a rough draft immediately in her inventor's mind. "It can have a string..." She said outloud, "That loops around your finger, sort of like a yo-yo." She mimicked the motion of dropping the toy down and urging it back up before pointing to one of her finger knuckles. " Her mind was whirling with images and structure designs, it took her a minute to turn back to Hudson. "What do you think?" she asked him brightly.
Hudson's gaze unfocuses and swerves up and to the left as he envisions what Alvina has described. "And you pull the string to activate the release of fog? Then you can toss it," he continues in a thoughtful tone. He drinks from his wine, and his gaze finds hers over the lip of the glass. His thumb rubs over the top of her hand as he continues to think on their idea. He drinks again. The rose had been a nice touch. All the same, he wishes he'd started with sparkling water, the bubbly result would have been more impressive. "Would have to be a disposable sort of item, that breaks down almost to let the fog seep out more intensely."
Alvina ponders Hudson's input. "So we shouldn't use metal...unless it's light weight and it folds out over itself when it's activated...I wonder if we can use a reverse rolly polly method of design and then when the string is pulled it simultaneously allows oxygen inside AND causes the metal container to unfold...What can we burn in it though? Should we do dry ice again? Would that make enough smoke for cover?" Her emerald optics fixed on him as she worked the image over in her mind's eye, looking at him only with the eyes of a business partner. Affection fell to the wayside when business was on the table. It was a strange quirk because once the problem of how to do it was solved, she would very much be her bright bubbly self and stare at him with those warm affectionate smiles she was so keen on granting him in their private time together.
Hudson rubs his stubble in contemplation. "Well I feel like the dry ice wouldn't keep, who knows how long somebody might be holding onto one of these. We need some sort of way to trigger an intense alchemical reaction when the string is pulled." He likewise has lapsed into an all-business train of thought, although Alvina's hand remains warm in his. "And I think the fog would have to be bigger and more aggressive than the targeted smoke-like stream generated by the dry ice in what we made for the air show." His chest fills as he inhales, his mind spinning and, after a point, coming up empty. His gaze shifts to Alvina, and he drains the last of his wine, setting the empty glass on the counter. His mouth twists into a sheepish grin. "I think I need to hit the books on this one."
Alvina regards Hudson with an affectionate smile coupled with a reassuring pat on the arm with her free hand, her work mentality melting away with his quirky smile. "I know you'll find something grand. I'll design a couple different containers so we have some flexibility. Mostly, because it's fun for me." Her laughter fills the silent space between them. She thought she might coyly ask if that's the only reason he came, but the bard left it alone. It was hard to question his appearance when it was such a delight to have his company. "Hildegarde is going to have her fill of us before this war is over, I'm sure. Once it's resolved we should vacation somewhere as far away as possible."
Hudson's gaze is lit with amusement as Alvina laughs beside him. He remembers the smell of her hair, and the warm weight of her body curled against him. He realizes he's been looking intently at her and that it's been his turn to speak for a small moment now. He belatedly processes what she's just said to him, and he remembers something else. "I like the idea of taking a trip. You sure you want to go with me and not my buddy Ansel, though?" he asks with a teasing cant of his head. A cocking of an eyebrow, even. He tries to play the question off casually, and thinks he succeeds, really, but there's a distant shadow of jealousy behind the question that he can't quite chase off. Perhaps she wouldn't notice! "I didn't know you guys knew each other, by the way," he adds hastily.
Alvina continues to giggle before curling into his arms to hug him. It's light but still warm and pleasant, leaving the woman all smiles as she draws away. "Ansel? Oh yes! He is teaching his children music." Her smile grows as she speaks of little ones. "We ran into each other in Cenril's market." The memory of helping him escape by pretending to be his lady love made her face flush with guilty embarrassment. "He bought this necklace for me, for helping him avoid trouble." Out of her satchel the bard pulls a gleaming emerald, the same deep color as her eyes. "I was going to buy it anyway..."She added, trying to make it seem like a small deal overall. "I didn't know you were friends. That's rather nice," she smiles, tucking the necklace away. "I would much rather go with just you...if that's okay. But no pressure if you'd rather not be left alone with such a terrible girl." She teases, feeling a little awkward for some reason she can't quite pin point.
Hudson finds himself on the receiving end of a hug, and he wonders if maybe Alvina has picked up on the undercurrent of jealousy. He very carefully steels his expression into what he hopes is blank indifference to this story she tells him about her meeting with Ansel. This poker face begins to crumble as Alvina's face heats suddenly -- a crease mars Hudson's forehead, and his gaze hardens a bit on the gleaming piece of jewelry that Alvina dangles about. Er, well Ansel had omitted that fact. Hudson looks at his wine glass and finds that it is empty. "Wow," he exhales, feigning surprise. Hold it together. So much casual. Much relax. "Yeah, Ansel's a good guy. That's nice of him," says Huds, scratching at his cheek. He allows for a brittle chuckle at her last remark, and he slides an arm around her shoulders. If that's any indication, his feelings on the matter are basically transparent. Oh jeez. "You're not terrible," he insists, looking at her ceiling. "I'm just teasing you." Not jealous. Nope. Hudson develops a keen interest in whatever Aria is doing - probably something pretty routine and feline - and looks in her direction. "Aww," he says.
Alvina notes the strange tension but brushes it aside. Shouldn't the alchemist know by now that she was crazy for him? Instead she stays beside him, following his gaze to Aria, who decided to paw around a scrap of parchment that fell out of Alvina's satchel. The bard snuggles against Hudson as they watch the kitten and her antics. "You're always teasing me," her voice is overflowing with affection. "Where would you like to go on our romantic get away?" She teased him right back, trying to dispose of the uncomfortable stiffness that laced the air. "Maybe we could catch a ship top Rynvale and visit the theater there. I hear the management there is sublime." She laughs, "although I'd rather we enjoy our vacation as opposed to working through it. Maybe somewhere else would be nester." The bard can't remember if she told Hudson that she was the manager of that particular establishment. Come to think if it, she should probably go check things out there soon though...Her face concentrates on this thought as Aria flips the paper bit into the air before chasing it madly along the smooth wooden floors.
Hudson feels the tension begin to bleed out of him as Alvina wraps herself about him. He should get over it. He's the one who has the trouble committing! A bit unfair of him to take that stance and then become jealous over what is probably a little deal. So Ansel had left out some details, but they were friends and Ansel would have said if more had happened. Not that it was his business, he reminds himself. He watches Aria engage in some cat antics, as Alvina talks beside him about their 'romantic vacation,' and he catches himself smiling mildly, despite himself. There's a bit of a record scratch in Alvina's last comment, though, and he looks into her face. "What do you mean working?" he asks, feeling the irresistible impulse to kiss her. Like a thorough apology for the grumpiness he'd failed to conceal. He goes ahead and does it. She would just have to reply to his question after.
Alvina is taken aback by his kiss but she yielded without complaint, smiling when they parted. "I manage the theater there,"she remarked wistfully, like an after thought to the surprise kiss. "I, um, haven't been there since I got back. I was gone a spell, a soul searching ordeal, you know." Her laughter carries through the small space. "So? Where would you like to go? What would you like to do to reward yourself for all this hard work we are about to start." Her lips were pursued in a quirky smile, Aria appeared and decided that Hudson's shoes were a better play thing than the parchment and rolled around atop his boots.
Hudson feels on much better footing now that that's out of the way. He inhales the scent of sweat and perfumed femininity that fills the space between himself and Alvina. She is talking to him, of course, because he'd asked her a question, but he is more focused on the prospect of kissing her again than the content of her response. His thumb strokes her cheek, and he realizes eventually that he's supposed to reply. "I don't know, I just want to spend time with you. You pick," he says rather candidly before he goes about kissing her once more. Of course despite whatever Hudson may want, there's no chance of things getting truly hot and heavy because Aria has started fussing with the laces on his shoes. He glances downward and emits a contemplative grunt of sorts. "Hey Aria," he exhales like a sigh.
Alvina was thinking of a probable location when Hudson leans toward to kiss her again. Though it was less of a surprise this time, her eye lids still flutter closed as their lips meet. If there was a moment for a ten second kiss, the bard would have been glad to know this was possibly the first...and might have continued if her kitten didn't feel the need to intervene. Blushing slightly, Alvina bends down to shoo Aria away, knowing that the kitten would strike again, as those things tend to go. Still looking a little flushed, the woman notes this strange turn of affectionate events and gathers only now that Hudson must have felt jealous for a moment. The thought made her smile, because it showed he cared a bit more than he was willing to admit to her and possibly herself. Or maybe not, she was just a woman musing over affection. "I don't care where we go, as long as you are with me."
Hudson clears his throat, reigning his thoughts in a little as Alvina shoos Aria away from his feet. "She's fine," he says, watching the kitten scamper off, "Just playing." That interruption sorted, Huds' palms slide over Alvina's hips, and with them his attention returns to her. "Well, I just said you had to pick," he replies with a drumming of his fingertips against her body. The awkwardness conjured up by her interaction with Ansel was well behind them for the time being. A vacation together suggested a lot. "Alvina," he says carefully, "are you feeling OK about you and me?" He exhales. "You would tell me if you weren't feeling OK?"
Alvina chuckles as Aria skips away with the silent promise of more mischief at a later date. Her eyes squint as she ponders a vacation destination before Hudson's question catches her off guard. Was this still about Ansel? His hands fell against her very naturally, and she moved to compliment his posture with a confused expression. Fleshed digits rise to hold his cheek with stable reassurance. "Of course, everything is fine. Why would I suggest a vacation with you if I was unsure? Or let you kiss me like you have been. What's wrong?" She finally asked, "what's on your mind? Is there something you need to tell me?" Panic rose in her throat; had she missed something?
Hudson blinks, his eyes widening, as Alvina reacts to his question with confusion on her part. A confusion that creeps into alarm. "Whoa, no, everything's fine," he says, his arms sliding around her waist to meet at the small of her back. "Everything's good. I just meant..." He feels a little silly now, and he looks at the ceiling out of bashfulness, trying to orient himself with the right words. "I meant I'm not making you feel pressured to do anything you don't want to do. I mean the other day, you said some things, so..." He trails off, one hand rubbing at his stubble as he brushes off the misunderstanding. "...Everything's OK though, seems like it..."
Alvina's face relaxed a bit. "I'm a big girl," she promised with large eyes. "It might not seem that way, but it's true." A smile appeared, not as comfortable as her normal self but surely they would slip back into that stance in time. "I'm very keen on making my intentions and reservations known about all things. If there is ever something I do not wish to do, or something I whole heartedly approve of, I will voice it without hesitation. Her lips rose as she stood on her tip toes to peck his cheek, the one she'd previously been holding. "I don't play games Master Alchemist." Her fingers laced around the collar of his shirt and she grinned devilishly. "I don't go around kissing just any boy, you know." Her eye lids drop, leaving half her eye still exposed. She looked tired. "Come sit with me?" She both asked and tugged him towards the couch. "I'd fancy a few good hugs, if you've the time and hugs to spare." Alvina's smile and warmth could have lit the small house for a thousand years. "I've only got eyes for you." She added, meeting his gaze with a heavy amount of earnest inflection.
Hudson's gaze takes the measure of hers as she addresses him with a candid earnestness so sure of itself it makes him feel like a wet blanket for even broaching the subject. He spares her a sleepy grin into the kiss that she imposes on the side of his face. His arms release her as she makes to move the party over to the couch. He'll have no objection to that. "I know, I know," he says to her, with a playfulness in his tone. He sinks into the couch first, pulling her down beside him. "Come here, how do you want to sit?" he says, looking at her legs dangling there.
Alvina was quick to forget that anything had even been questioned as they settled down on the couch. "We can talk all about the latest project for the Eyrie in a little while. We can even talk about Cleo, I haven't forgotten. I hope you don't mind just spending some time with me now." She settled beside him with just a touch of a smile at first, tucking her legs underneath her on the couch as she leaned into him. Carefully her arms laced around his torso, pressing her cheek to his chest, allowing her to listen to his heart beating. It was innocent yet intoxicating. Just the presence of someone in your life is enough to soothe you into a comfortable sleep, but actually getting to hold them magnified that a few times over. "I'm not implying you stay over or anything..." Her cheeks flushed with the thought, "I just wanted to hold you. If..that's all right."
Hudson snorts, a phantom smile lingering in his demeanor at the mention of discussing Cleo. Eventually they would probably need to discuss metal wings for his horse, and the Eyrie project, but he isn't precisely rushing to do either for the same reason Alvina isn't. He shifts to make them both comfortable, draping an arm around her back as she presses herself against his chest. At her comment, his eyes drift to the ceiling, and he begins to think rather pointedly about kickball. "Yeah yeah. Of course. Get your cuddle on, Alvina," he tells her, looking down and reaching to stroke her hair. Since she's not looking at him, he finds himself looking at her metal arm. Pretty girl, metal arm. Not exactly a tale as old as time. It's the only non feminine thing about her. His mum had commented on it, in a benign observational way, of course, and they had looked at each other in awkward silence until his mum had spoken again, to comment on the weather. Huds smiles faintly at the memory. "My mum says hi," he says.
Alvina shifted her head against his chest and sighed as they managed to find a comfortable position to lie on the couch together. Her metallic arm was indeed exposed, resting against his chest while her other arm wove around Hudson’s back. It might have made more sense for it to be the other way round, but laying on metal was a smidge less comfortable, the bard would have wagered if she’d stopped to think about it much. The arm felt more or less normal now, and it was only the attention or reactions of others that reminded her otherwise. If he’s paying attention, Hudson will feel Alvina smile as he mentions his mother saying hello to her. She had also been looking at her arm, wondering silently if she should invest in an illusion to hide it’s metallic appearance. If she did invest in that, Alvina was afraid it would be like hiding a part of herself…and it didn’t suit her to try and separate herself from the events that brought her here, to this moment; happily cuddled against a co-worker of sorts without any established titles or obligations. Commitment had its own set of restrictions and likewise reassurances but that didn’t seem to matter at the moment. Her heart swelled to bursting as they held each other in a cozy silence. “Is your mom doing well?” The bard wanted to discuss a million topics. They all sprang to mind at once as she tried to fight her heavy eyelids. “What’s your favorite sort of dessert?” snuck past her mind to speech filter as she faded a bit into a light paralysis where sounds still reached her, but her physical reaction seemed impossible.
Hudson nods, and then clears his voice to verbally respond, "She's good, same old mum." He lets a silence sink in. His hand trails away from her hair and down Alvina's back, resting at the small of it. And just like that, he remembers kissing her earlier, and the warmth of her body against his, and it's like a flood to the senses. He rather abruptly catches himself and shifts beneath her. Best to think about kickball again! Or dessert. He contemplates the question posed. "I think key lime pie," he says, observing how drowsy Alvina seems, curled up against him. She looks like she might nod off. The idea appeals a little to him, her sleepiness being contagious. He rests his head against the back of the couch and rests his eyes for a moment.
Alvina feels like she nods, but she can't be entirely sure. Every action feels like it takes more energy than she has ever possessed. Key Lime Pie, she thinks, her eyes solidly shut before she slips off in the succor of their closeness. Her breath shifts to a steady pace as she moves into a light sleep against him. Silly thoughts float through her mind about Key Lime Pie; if she'd ever had it, if she liked it, what Hudson would look like if his head was replaced with a Pie instead of those soul piercing eyes. She shivers silently, more from thought than chill. A quilt hung over the back of the couch, which she sleepily tugged down over top them, haphazardly. "He's going to think I only like when he comes over because we sleep together..." she whispers to Aria, who is nowhere nearby. The implications or other ears are completely lost on the bard as she loses the battle with sleep and delves into a mid afternoon nap contently against Hudson's chest.
Hudson pries his eyes open as he feels Alvina stir in her sleep, and then the warmth of a blanket slide over them. He reaches to tuck it around Alvina a little better than she had managed herself. So they'd take a virtuous nap again. There's something about the simplicity and innocence of it, as if it were a stolen moment, that appeals to him. Alvina is talking in her sleep, he thinks, and he just barely catches what she is saying. Her words stir the ghost of a smile out of the alchemist as he leans back against the couch and shuts his eyes, savoring a sort of dry, miserable amusement, and feeling too drowsy to respond. And soon enough, he is too literally asleep to respond.
Alvina woke several hours later. It was not yet too late to travel but it was dark enough to caution travelers against being wreck less. The once gleaming windows in the house now hung like painting of starry skies and natural forest lit by moonlight. Aria chirped at a bird outside, which stirred the bard ever so slightly in Hudson’s arms. Together, their body temperatures had made a nice little oven in the confines of the quilt for them to stay cozy in. Alvina noticed that she was tucked in very nicely, something she knew she didn’t have the capacity to arrange before she fell asleep. And so the blame turned to Hudson, who was breathing softly against her. Slowly, she tried to get up without stirring him, her eyes falling on his face. He looked so open while he slept, almost childlike. Like he’d never kept a secret or built a wall to guard any part of him. If she was successful, Alvina would sneak out to feed Cleo a bite or two, since she was still tied up in the yard. Aria took note of movement and padded silently over to greet her with stealthy rubs of her small face in the darkness.
Hudson hangs on to his nap a little bit longer than Alvina. Perhaps it's that he had a bit more wine than she had, perhaps it's that he lives off the beach and it tends to be noisy, but in any event he sleeps a little harder than she does. And when she stirs and slides out of his arms, all he does is groan a bit, as if protesting somebody trying to wake him. Outside of this mild unconscious disgruntledment, he does look at peace while asleep. He's had a fairly easy life. No father figure, but a Mum who loves him and is successful enough to provide an easy upbringing and a tutor. Thoroughbred Cleo would be a part of that life now, flashy yet temperamental, like the Hollow equivalent of a Jaguar convertible. For now, though, she's happy to see Alvina, and she makes whickering noises. They infect Huds' semi-dreaming state, pulling him back to consciousness. It takes a second for the fog of sleep to clear and for him to place where he is. No Alvina, but he's in Alvina's home. She must be outside, judging by the sounds his horse is still making. Cleo really did play favorites, didn't she... meaning, everyone was her favorite but him. Hudson pushes himself to his feet and stretches out his neck, feeling a soreness play out there. Well worth it, but perhaps they could stand to learn to sleep in other places. It's dark in Alvina's home, of course, so he bumps his toe into a table in his attempt to go meet her outside. He curses, sort of loudly, and continues to grope around in the darkness toward the door.
Alvina makes it half way to the horse before she seems to notice. Then, small clouds of dust appear under her shuffling hoofs, causing the bard to rush in bridging the gap between them with a healthy dose of attention and apples. "Hush, sweet thing." The bard feels the heat of Cleopatra's breath on her hand as the apple is produced; a bribe for her silence. Aria, who had been walking close by turns, startled with flat ears back towards the house. The bard, hearing nothing but judging Hudson found himself without a companion, shoots a playful scolding glance at Cleo before patting her snout and trailing back inside by star light alone. "Hudson?" She calls through the darkness with a smile as she fumbles with matches to light a candle nearby. The wick catches flame and casts a soft light on her pale features as she moves towards his stumbling shadow.
Hudson feels the blood rush to his head, and he, having bumped into the table, flattens a palm to it to ride out the sensation. "Present," he replies to Alvina, as if she were calling class attendance. He sees her coax a light out of a nearby candle, and, having recovered from his post-nap wooziness, he moves to where she is, bathed in dim light. "What time is it?" he asks her, peering at the floor to ensure that he doesn't inadvertently crush Aria as he steps closer. His hand brushes a glass over, and he is quick to right it, little liquid spilled in the end. "Seems late," he observes, peering past Alvina's shoulder and at the stars lit against the window frame. He makes a muffled sound at the base of his throat. Well, this was only a little bit awkward. He makes the snap decision to offer a gentlemanly escape on his part, "I should probably get going, I guess, eh?"
Alvina restrains a giggle at his response before moving beside him. "I was actually thinking of lighting a fire in the hearth and cooking a bit of supper. You're welcome to stay." Blush creeps into her cheeks before clarifying the implication. "I mean, it's nearly midnight...I think. I wouldn't travel at this hour...and I'd be really glad for the company." She gestures with a mild wave of awkwardness towards the couch. "That does turn into a bed," she reminds him sheepishly, with no intention of doing more than perhaps stifle the pause between them. "I'm not inviting trouble," she tried to explain, waving her free arm around rather exclusively in her embarrassment. "But I completely understand if you need to go." Her smile is half hearted but supportive of whatever decision he makes. "I think I've some stew and bread left from last night. Might make a good dinner, and fight off the nights chill." What was she suppose to do?! She couldn't send him out into the dark alone, but she couldn't make the conscious decision to actually lay down beside him with the imaged aim of sleep! Her heart would thump so loud, neither of them would get any rest and things would get that strange tone of 'being friends is great, let's talk about horses and kickball until we are sufficiently distracted.'
Hudson makes a go of surveying the couch that he had literally just slept on with Alvina curled up against his chest. And by surveying, his writer really means more like side-eyeing. Evidently napping on couches falls into some sort of safe harbor where women's virtue is concerned. Still, she's insisting that he stay, which is his preference anyway. And she has a game plan! Food and a fire. If she were any other girl and circumstances were elsewise, he'd suggest a late night of drinking games and sloppy decision-making. But seeing as how Alvina gets tanked off of two drinks, has the seductive presence of a maid despite having been engaged, not to mention has inserted herself into his affections like a deep splinter in the heel of his foot, that all is totally out of the question. He feels altogether too precious about the situation, and her in general. Meaning, he's back to, what, sleeping on her couch with Aria. Waking up with a face full of cat hair. Liking women is the worst. He has to laugh at himself. "I just didn't want to put you out," he says, canting his head to better see her in the dim candle light. "I'm awfully hungry. The couch is fine. I'll have a snuggle with Aria, you're not invited."
Alvina grins. "Oh yeah? Well Cleo and I were already discussing her moving in. You and Aria can take the floor of you're so keen to not invite the hostess to snuggle!" She feigns a pout or two before working on the cold hearth. Aria, who had just come in from the night air, approached Hudson like she had over heard his plan and agreed to the terms. The kitten scales the alchemist efficiently, ending on his shoulder and pawing insistently at his cheek. "You traitor," the bard addresses the kitten who is happily disinterested with anything but Hudson. A large kettle finds it's way over the heart of the fire, filled with cold stew, while along the rim of the flames the bard places bits of bread on polished stones for heating. "You keep sassing me and neither of you will get any dinner." She calls playfully to the pair.
Hudson has little doubt that the saucy Cleo would rather live with Alvina, and his knowing snort suggests as much. Aria catches him somewhat off guard, and he tenses as her small body weight collides with his shoulder. This alarm is short-lived. It's just, Aria, of course, and soon he's squinting the adjacent eye shut as she tries to poke him on the face. He pets her, of course. She must be appeased, tiny affectionate critter that she is. "I always thought I was rather allergic to cats, but I guess maybe not her," he remarks, his forefinger rubbing behind the wee creature's ear. As novel as this friendship with a kitten is to him, he cuts it short by picking her up and gently depositing her on a nearby table (so much for good housebreaking). He crosses the dim room to take a place behind Alvina, one hand idly settling at her waist as he peers over her shoulder. He inhales deeply, and his stomach growls in response. "So, that smells good," he notes helpfully, sidling closer to Alvina to get a closer look. Like an afterthought, he presses a kiss to the back of her head, continuing to peer through the nimbus clouds of steam at the stew. "I think I'd better beg forgiveness," he says, as he brings her into the circle of his arms, sliding an arm about her waist in an impromptu hug from behind. "What do you say?"
Alvina is prodding the warming bread when Hudson appears behind her. While her face flushes from the kiss and unexpected contact, she does her best to keep her voice stable. “Hmm, I suppose there might be enough left over for you.” Tilting her head to the side, she casts a smile in his direction, which is awkward but comfortable behind her. It might be better for her shyness if he couldn’t see her face. “Aria? Do you have an apology to give me as well?” She turns to eye the cat, who has since hopped from the table top to curl up closer to the fire, purring all the while. The kitten regards the bard with apologetic eyes, or so the bard infers, and she laughs at the timing for their glance exchange. “I’ll have to cook more often if I’m greeted with such soft affections from you too.” She laughs, placing one of her hands over Hudson’s, where it falls against her waist. “I’m glad you’re not allergic to Aria, she would be quite disappointed.” The stew finishes with a nice hiss of steam and settles to a slow bubble before Alvina pulls it from the fire. The affectionate hug didn’t last as long as she would have liked, as she had to pull away to tend to the rest of the food and gather utensils and bowls. The ladle isn’t shy about offering them hearty helpings. Alvina sets her bowl down beside Hudson, and hands his bowl over carefully. “Dig in!” She cries with an enthusiastic smile before settling back beside Hudson to enjoy her own bowl.
Hudson likewise releases Alvina once it becomes apparent that she will need to focus on the stew. Better to allow her a range of motion, for all their sakes. As he pulls away and moves to seat himself at the table, he throws her a look characterized by mild amusement, a look that suggests he had known very well what he was about just then. To borrow from the kickball terminology, hugs from behind were sluggers as far as affectionate touches went. He tempers his private teasing in time for the stew to be placed in front of him. "Thanks for cooking this late," he says to her, his right hand making a fish symbol across his chest in a reflexive manner. He seems to realize it might be strange after he's done it. "Sargaso always does it before we eat," he says sheepishly, dipping a spoon and watching the well of it fill with broth. "Weird roommate joke maybe." He begins to lapse into relative silence, however, as Alvina's cooking makes quite an impression on him. To characterize it as an improvement over what he and Sargaso prepared for themselves would be putting it delicately. "It's really good, Alvina," he says eventually, when he's recovered his ability to process thoughts beyond the fog of hunger.
Alvina would have agreed with Hudson’s internal reference to his tactical apology as a slugger if she’d known the terminology. Instead, she knew that there was still a pink hue on her cheeks as she served dinner and sat down beside him. It was easy to mistake it for being a little too warm from working next to the fire, but she was sure he’d know the truth of things without any words passing between them on the matter. She watches him, curiously, as he makes the symbol against his chest. “”It’s no problem,” she smiles, “I really didn’t have to go through much trouble since it was already made. Roommates are fun that way. They become a part of your family and you pick up each other’s habits and create little inside jokes all your own.” The bard didn’t seem bothered by the strange gesture. Her own spoon fills slowly, Alvina finds herself watching Hudson with a rather studious expression before darting her eyes back to her bowl. He seemed to be enjoying it, she smiled at the thought of someone eating her cooking and liking it when Aria so frequently complained. She’s managed a few spoonfuls before speech returns to the table and she smiles brightly at his compliment. “It’s my pleasure, hardly any work at all! Help yourself to the rest. I think this amount will do me,” she points to the bowl, “It’s very hearty so it doesn’t take much to fill you up.” Then, as an afterthought, the bard watches the alchemist affectionately. “Thank you so much for staying.”
Hudson's appetite is mostly sated by the first bowl but the draw of having a second helping cannot be denied. With a boyish grin for Alvina, he moves to ladle more of the stuff into his existing bowl. "Having a roommate who isn't my mum is really a lot more fun than I expected," he admits as he slides back into his seat beside her. "Nice to have someone to bounce your ideas off of." He drops his napkin back into his lap and turns slightly in his chair to face Alvina before digging in. "It didn't take much convincing to make me stay," he says, his gaze lifting to connect with hers. He cocks a brow as a small silence unspools out between them. He doesn't break it, but rather wordlessly reaches with his free hand for Alvina's hand closest to him. The stew is just as satisfying the second go-round.
Alvina smiled and finished her stew happily while Hudson drew more from the kettle. With a full stomach, she stands to clear her bowl away and undo some of the mess she's made before flopping some pillows and moving some levers to convert the couch into a reasonably sized bed. She goes about flinging an unnecessary amount of pillows and blankets on top before plopping down in front of the smoldering embers of the fire and prodding it with the suggestion that it should stay a while longer too. The whole while she gathers things, she is pondering the right way to ask him if she might sleep beside him when Aria appears, a stolen bit of stew meat in her mouth, licking her chops dramatically. "Is your partner in crime feeding you now?" The bard asks contentedly shooting Hudson a playful grin. "Come sit with me?" She asked, tapping the sofa turned bed in case he would rather sit behind her or lay down all together. The fire crawled onto a relatively untouched dry log and cracked brightly behind her blushing silhouette.
Hudson scrapes the metal spoon against the bottom of his bowl as Alvina goes about making his bed up on the couch. He refrains from commenting on the fact that they're only in this position because they'd spent the afternoon napping together, and that surely he can be trusted not to assault her in her sleep, because he's resisted doing so twice in a row. His mouth quirks in the ghost of a smile, hiding his amusement, all the same. He is guilty as charged when it comes to having shared a morsel of stew with Aria. He'd pulled it off while Alvina's attention was diverted. May as well sweeten her up, since they are bedfellows now. He holds off on responding to the allegations voiced by Alvina by putting their bowls in the sink. "No comment about how Aria got some of the stew," he says eventually as he makes his way to her, clearly set on joining her on the bed. He kicks off his shoes and lowers himself onto the recently made coverlet. His gaze connects with Alvina's, an undercurrent of amusement there. "If you change your mind, you know," he says, falling back onto his palms to look at her a little sidelong. He stretches out an arm to stroke her hair. "I can behave. We can just sleep."
Alvina smirks knowingly as Aria hops into Hudson's lap, giving away their alliance. "I encourage behaving." She laughs, leaning against him in a very seemingly normal fashion; as if those closeness was the most natural thing in the world. "We will have to sleep at some point," she points out, "as a nap won't be enough to get me through tomorrow I'm afraid. A lot of important engineer things to do." Her head nods pointedly as a smile cracks her playful but serious attempt at a professional demeanor. "I'm happy just to have you here. I know you have a roommate now, and a lot of other obligations and responsibilities, but I enjoy when we can find the time to just relax with each other." Her emerald optics catch fire light and sparkle with a quiet passion. They are getting to know each other rather well. The thought widens her smile as she looks at him in the small comfortable silence. In truth, even if they didn't talk, it felt like they were learning about each other still in sharing time and memories. "Hudson," she whispers with a hint of uncertainty wavering in her voice, or perhaps it was just her nerves. Her lips brush carefully against his, not trying to tempt fate but attempting to express something she was feeling that had no precious definition.
Hudson drapes an arm around Alvina and, with his free hand, gives Aria a scratch behind the ears. "You mean the project for Hilde and maybe Cleo's wings?" he ventures to guess, his palm flattening against her waist. "I think it's fair to say that today we had a bit of a study break." He cants his head lightly, as if to suggest it couldn't be helped. A light silence blankets them, during which the weight of his gaze settles on her. "Sit" indeed. For Hudson's part, his expression is transparent. He is thinking about kissing her. Surely it would be pretty easy at this point. He's kissed her plenty of times already. He's kissed her slightly drunk, he's kissed her sober. He's kissed her on couches, on the beach, in the street, in this room, even. But he's kissed her without innuendo. And never on a bed. Oh sure, if she had been another girl, things might have been different... him less precious about things, for one, more short-term focused. He'd told her he hadn't been a monk. That was true. She of course has leaned in, kissing him tentatively. His head spins. Holding her face, he kisses her back with a bit more heat than intended. Catching himself, he breaks it off and holds his forehead to hers, gently shooing Aria off of his lap. "Yeah, Alvina? Everything OK?" he exhales.
Alvina holds her forehead against his and does her best to smile, those eyes locked a short distance apart. "Of course, I just wanted to tell you...how I feel." Her smile is too wide, but she hopes that Hudson can't tell at this distance. She remembered what he told her about kissing other girls and not being a monk and implications of the like. It wasn't her intention to change that behaviour in him. She just wanted to spend time with him..and kiss him perhaps, hold him through the night. But on the very rare occasion when less maiden-like thoughts developed, they were quick to quell with the thought that he liked her, certainly, but their affections were...complicated. She would be lying if she said she didn't feel a pang of sadness at the thought of him leaving her place and perhaps kissing another girl who placed different ideas on sharing someone's bed. It felt judgemental, and made her feel guilty. "Have you ever been in love?" She asked, carefully, to make sure he didn't imply this was her confession or some such notion. "I mean, not now, of course, but ever in your life?"
Hudson has to wonder if this sudden Conversation capital c, which is now occurring instead of them making out on the couch bed, is rather motivated by his commitment-shy comments. Has to be. And what a Conversation capital c it quickly becomes. Record scratch. "Oh," he says, feeling compelled to say something. "Well no, Alvina," he feels strangely self-conscious about the truth, like he's somehow reached age 27 and failed to do some basic human thing, "I don't really... haven't really... I mean there have been women but not like that." He doesn't like the sound of that either. "OK, not that many women," he clarifies, meeting her gaze. "And I'm not like, out there, trying to ensnare women. I'm living my life, sometimes stuff happens. But generally, it's all pretty...casual..." He feels not a little warm, and he's not explaining this very well. He falls back onto his hands, his chest filling with an expansive sigh. "I don't know what I'm trying to say here. There's nobody like you in my life right now. I really like you, Alvina. There's nobody else that I have," he gestures between them, "this with. It's kind of new to me. OK?"
Alvina suddenly feels terrible about the drastic shift in the mood that put Hudson so quickly on the defensive. As he draws away from her and leans back, she quells a soft sound as if she's being dejected. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" She repeats quietly, face bloomed with a healthy dose of uncomfortable blush (and not the adorable shy kind). A curtain of crimson falls in front of her face and hides her expression in the sharp shadows cast by the dying fire. If anyone asked her that question, she could only softly answer yes while trying to tug her mind's eye back away from the smiling image of a face smiling in morning light. Alvina wouldn't admit it now, out of shame, but it was true. She was falling in love with Hudson and he had no visible desire to be...loved. Did he? "Maybe I've been thinking about this the wrong way..." Her voice was timid and apologetic. "That was rude of me to ask, I was just going to say that I..." Her head tilts to dispel her hair, which gravity eases back to the sides of her face, revealing her heavy eyes. "I just think you deserve to be loved, and to love someone." Alvina's head cocks slightly sideways and she forces a bright smile. "I wasn't trying to bring you down. I'm happy that you come around. I couldn't ask for anything better." Her lips are pulled into a healthy grin as she watches him, hoping to defuse the quick mood change.
And so awkwardness blooms between them, with Alvina blushing furiously while Hudson stares at her, wondering if he's offended her by both being defensive and making reference to his prior casual liaisons. "It's fine, it's fine," he tells her, quietly flummoxed about whether he should be providing more detail about said liaisons or not. He would certainly rather not. As she continues to speak, he detects an off-kilter element to her words, and then he is rendered speechless as she rather abruptly makes an adorable but totally strange comment and resumes a suspicious perkiness. "Right," he says, just putting that out there, like a foot in the door, as he tries to manage the strange labyrinth of their conversation. "Um, well I don't really think it's rude of you to ask," he rubs his face with his hand as he struggles, "You're a sweet girl, and all you want is to feel that you're not..." one of those other girls, his mind fills in silently. "I mean you're just trying to get to know me," much better, he congratulates himself. "So yeah, sorry I was caught a bit off guard. I hope you aren't ..." His brow furrows as he looks for the right delicate word, "Discouraged ..."
Alvina smiles honestly as he fumbles, noting how carefully he's trying to navigate the icy waters of this treacherous conversation. "The best way to get to know someone is to ask hard questions." She says at length when he's finished. She notes how cute he looks when he's flustered and files that into her list of reasons to kiss him again at some point in the future. Maybe now would be a little too much, she thinks, recalling the various times this has happened and how she's been the major cause in all of it with her questions. "I guess I've always been more reserved," she says, looking just a little embarrassed. "But that doesn't mean I don't...feel...things?" Finally, she gives up and just laughs a moment before fixing her gaze on the alchemist. "You're cute when you are caught off guard," she nudges him playfully.
It's Hudson's turn to look embarrassed, and he opens and shuts his mouth like a fish underwater a few times before he manages to get something out: "Try not to? Feel anything about those other girls I mean. Come here, I know you're changing the subject." He pushes himself to an upright seated position and reaches to pull her into the circle of his arms. She is warm and right now smells faintly salty, like the sea a bit, if he closes his eyes. He presses and holds a kiss to her shoulder. When he speaks again, he does so into her hair, "it was all just dumb guy stuff. You're not dumb guy stuff. Big difference even I still don't know what I'm doing." His throat feels dry, and his chest expands in a sigh. "You're making me wish I hadn't done all that dumb stuff."
Alvina falls back into his arms without much of a struggle, landing softly on the bed. She studies his face with a quiet seriousness before adding the afterthought of "I do feel things when I think about those girls but...I meant I feel things for you." Instead of looking shy or embarrassed, she meets his gaze bravely while her thin digits glide through his chestnut locks. "I have many different feelings when you get involved," she smiles, as if to note that wasn't particularly a bad thing. "And besides, I can change the subject of I want to." She pouts playfully, resting her head in that groove of his chest that was slowly becoming familiar to her. "Don't wish to change who you are," her lips melt into a warm kiss on his cheek, "all those dumb things brought you here. And I like you here." She reminded him, nuzzling back against him. She wanted to tell him there was no instruction book for falling in love but that didn't seem wise. But the information stuck with her; she wasn't a hobby. She was a skill that needed tempering and time. That sounded a little more romantic to the engineer; they were a work in progress.
Hudson's hands flatten on the small of Alvina's back as she looks at him head-on and tells him how she feels. "You're not the only one feeling things," he says a little sheepishly, the words awkward in the way that a mirrored statement tends to be at times. The ghost of a smirk lingers as she pulls away from having kissed his cheek. Seized by the moment, he frees up a hand to catch her chin, held between forefinger and thumb. He kisses her leisurely, now officially deciding that it's appropriate to change the subject. And so change the subject he does... And assuming no more random conversations sprout up at random, how perfectly delightful it is to relax in the bed and hold and kiss Alvina! She is warm like a tiny flame in his arms. Sometimes, he thinks he could just kiss Alvina all evening ...And then sometimes he's a bit more skeptical of that. In any event, for the sake of his continued attempts at being a gentleman, he at some point settles them so that she's tucked against his chest in the way that they tend to fall asleep on couches. "I promised I'd behave," he says, wondering how long Aria has kind of creepily been watching them at the foot of the bed... He does not mention this. ...Cats. "Plus it's getting late."
Alvina settles against him easily after he kisses her, a secret smile unfolding in her heart while she tries to keep her face unreadable, but happy. Pin pricks of heat bleed through her clothing where Hudson's hand falls against her back. There doesn't seem to be a need for words to pass between the two for a long while as they lay together, more comfortably than on couches but in the same familiar position. The sound of his heart beat is soothing; the leaps in tempo or the slow, sweet rhythm of relaxation fluctuates with an unpredictable candor. For the first time in a long time, Alvina gives in to the feeling of safety and the warmth of caring for someone without restraint. Eventually he speaks, breaking her aimless train of thought as she slipped into a steady breathing pattern. "Hmm? Oh, you're right." She mumbles, shifting just a bit against him. "We should maybe call it a night, for real this time. Otherwise we will have to spend all tomorrow in bed recovering." She propped herself up on one elbow to give him a good view of her joking smirk.
Hudson allows himself a secret smile of his own in the darkness as his arm settles around Alvina. Her weight against his chest is becoming a bit more familiar. He side-eyes her with quiet amusement as she stirs and makes her comment. "Easy, some of us are trying to be gentlemen here," he tells her, leaning forward and kissing her in a show of playful reproof. He lifts his arm to allow her to settle back down, head against his chest, and he strokes her hair as she presumably tucks herself in. "Goodnight, Alvina," he says, feeling a private thrill knowing that when he wakes up, she'll be there right beside him.
Alvina didn't remember falling asleep, but the fire smoldered while the pair figured off together. Aria eventually grew tired of watching sleeping figures and nestled into the window to watch fireflies until morning. Even Cleo found a way to lay down her weary head until sunlight broke through the glass windows, giving the scene a very rosy and romantic feeling. When the bard finally did wake, her right arm was fast asleep, woven around Hudson's midsection. He tended to be a heavier sleeper, so she eased it free and rubbed the flesh until the lightning bolts stopped thundering under her skin. It was still early morning; dew droplets hung on the exterior of the glass, causing small rainbows to drift around the room until they evaporated. Alvina rolled back to lay against the alchemist with the comfort of sleep still in her bones. "Good morning," she said, perhaps mostly to herself, and smiled as she tucked herself around the mold of his sleeping frame.
Hudson is indeed a fairly heavy sleeper, and despite their having napped much of the afternoon away, shows considerable dedication to somnolence by falling asleep again. Falling asleep with another body curled up with him gets easier every time. And, sadly, this couch bed was leagues more comfortable than his lofted bed at the shack with Sargaso. Alvina's voice, greeting him, cuts through a dream like a hot knife, and he finds himself pushing himself onto an elbow to look at her. His free hand pushes through the forelock of his hair, which has taken on an odd angle during the night. "Hey, morning," he murmurs at Alvina. He manages to turn his body just enough to kiss the crown of her head. "Sleep OK?"
Alvina grins at the drowsy alchemist who doesn't seem entirely awake just yet, his lids looked heavy and his hair refused the gravity of the reality he's returned to. His kiss lands squarely, still making her blush ever so slightly. "You didn't have to stir on my account, but I slept wonderfully. Maybe napping before bed is a good habit to get into." Her giggles chime brightly in the morning air. "Did you sleep all right?" She moves a little closer, trying to coax him to lay back down beside her, though she secretly notes the expression of foggy consciousness with an affectionate smile.
Hudson will allow Alvina to coax him into lying back once more. He adjusts his arm around her. His free arm crosses his body, his hand moving to adjust the fall of her red hair against his chest. "Slept great," he tells her, canting his head and slinging a grin her way. "Comfortable bed. Lovely Alvina. New day." He shifts against her, turning to face her, his hand coming up to cup her face. He kisses her slowly, his thumb brushing her cheek. "I should get out of your hair," he says in the small pause that follows. His mouth quirks in a phantom smile. "Lost track of time with you a bit."
Alvina frowns in jest. "Well, I guess we do have things to attend to..." His kiss finds her in better humor and makes her smile as her draws away, his thumb leaving a warm trail on her cheek as he touched her. "You're the one messing with my hair and now you want to get out of it?" She laughed, squeezing him slightly, resigning to the fact that he would have to leave. "I'll send word once I finish a suitable container. If you'll send information about what you learn in your studies, I can modify it to fit your needs." She leaned back.against him, talking business but kissing him carefully before she draws herself out of bed.
Hudson grunts as Alvina squeezes him on the heels of her accusation that he's the one who mussed up her hair. Er, no, that was the sleeping process! He kisses her again lest she accuse him of further things for which he was not, actually, directly responsible, and then, with a "Sounds like a plan" murmured on his hand, he allows her to kiss him once more. And then he expands his arms to let her free. He eases himself out of bed shortly thereafter, and goes about looking for his shoes. Sleeping in one's clothes is always a touch awkward, but he does it, he figures. What a long road it seemed to get them to even this point. Finding his loafers, he begins to wonder what sort of mood Cleopatra is in. No doubt a snarky one, knowing her. Pondering this, he steadily regards the crumpled bedsheets on the couch bed. "Will you be alright cleaning up?" he offers.
Alvina smiles at Hudson with all the warmth of a summer's afternoon. Practically on fire herself, she moves to start tidying the mess they made. The chore barely seems like work with the thought of them both contributing to it still so fresh in her mind. A price easy to pay for his company for such an extended period of time. It seemed silly to keep thanking him for his company or to pester him about when he would be back. Alvina knew she'd see him again very soon. "Here, " she steps over to the kitchen and puts a couple carrots against Hudson's palm. "She might be cranky sleeping tied to the fence all night. You're going to have to sweet talk Cleo into taking you home, I think." She laughs, moves to step around him but brushes into his arms, looking rather surprised and shy all of a sudden. She dodges his gaze studying the floor without moving away. One of her arms wraps around him in a steady embrace. "Be safe, yeah?"
Hudson opens his palm for the carrots, with a snort wordlessly conveying all that needs to be said. Cleopatra's famous moodiness was a known fact. "You're the best," he says to Alvina, drawing her into his arms as she inadvertently brushes up against him. His non-carrot-wielding hand catches her by the chin and draws her face close to his. He kisses her with no innuendo, but enough lingering tenderness to make it anything but perfunctory. "You bet," he says, releasing her. "It was fun. I'll write. See you, Alvina." The Hollow equivalent of "I'll call you," except he does actually write, to invite her to grab a drink in Frostmaw! And so with that, he heads out... to temper the wrath of Cleo and face the journey home.