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Infinite Consortium, Monday

So the weekend had been very weird, ~~even if all of Sunday's planned posts had been devoured by mandatory social~~ but it was hardly the first time the island had been swept up by that kind of nonsense. At least she hadn't been a squirrel again.

But Monday had rolled around and she was thankfully herself again (less sweet innocence and more tit, thank Gaea), and Liliana was quite pleased to focus on the other sweeping changes that had occurred the week prior. Her new ring sat comfortably on her left hand, every So often catching the light and shimmering like a thousand golden suns.

Ugh, she was being sappy and sentimental. She might have to commit a few war crimes to set herself back on an even keel.

... But it really was a pretty ring, wasn't it?

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Even if he hadn't been wild about the timing, Ignis did have to admit that there were worse ways to have spent the weekend than as a charming game show host of sorts, even if it turned out the squirrels, raccoons,and gremlins he ended up quizzing and roping into various challenges didn't make for the most engaging contestants.

But he was, of course, back to himself, and, as such, back in the kitchen, with weekend having done nothing to dispell the pleased, smug, self-satisfied smirk that kept floating back onto his face and refusing to leave. And, of course, come noon (precisely, of course), he came into thr Consortium to deliver the various fruits of his labors.

"Liliana?"

Cold hands came from immediately behind him, one to slip around his waist, the other glide up his chest, and rest against his heart. Liliana had been putting something into the display window when she'd spotted Ignis strolling up the street to the door and had, quite frankly, decided to lurk in wait for his arrival. She knew he'd hear her moving and smell the subtle intensity of her perfume that said she was close by, making it impossible to truly surprise him, but she enjoyed the game anyway.

"Hello, my darling," she purred, lips brushing against his ear. "Lunchtime already?"

Perhaps not fully a surprise, no, but more than enough of a diversion from the expected that it caught Ignis off-guard enough that he chuckled a little for this unanticipated ambush. Leaning back into her, her usual chill even more welcome than usual in the increasing heat of summer, and just a moment, before answering, to just revel in the moment.

"Indeed it is," he said, making absolutely no move to draw away from her and not intending to do so except perhaps to turn his head in hopes to catch a kiss. "And, wouldn't you know it, there might just be a prize in store for whoever might correctly guess what said lunch will entail today."

Really, he couldn't help himself there.

"Ooooh, what's the prize?" Liliana asked, fingers moving up to his face to stroke over his jaw in encouragement of that turning and kissing. "Aren't you worried that if you keep giving me things, I'll end up greedy and spoiled?"

"You mean, more greedy and spoiled than you already are, my love?" Ignis asked, with a smirk and without a moment's hesitation, because, surely, she had anticipated almost exactly that response when she'd proposed the question. The smirk lingered there in that kiss, too, and sustained itself to the end to his conclusion.

"Impossible. Besides, what I have to offer is a prize I believe will entertain you far more than just some mere bauble or shining treasure..."

Edited 2025-06-09 14:43 (UTC)

Honestly, it had been hard for Liliana to even ask the question without laughing through it. She was quite greedy and spoiled and she liked being greedy and spoiled.

"Oh really?" she asked, hand sliding slowly but deliberately down his abdomen on a course that would end at the front of his if not stopped before it reached it's clear destination. "Are you sure? You know how much I adore baubles and shining treasures...what could you possibly be offering that I would delight me more?"

Now what in the multiverse would ever possess him to intercept that hand? Whatever it was, you could keep it. Ignis was wholly uninterested. Just see if he didn't lean into her all the more in encouragement.

"Time, my darling," he drawled, in that deep and rumbling way she knew all too well, and while he certainly would not stop her hand, his fingers would still move to trace light, familiar lines along her arm as they proceeded forward. "Should you manage to successfully guess all three, then I believe I shall find myself mysteriously stricken with a sudden illness that will no doubt be reckless of me to still attend to work tomorrow, especially in the food service industry. Two out of three, and I do believe unforeseen circumstances will have me running quite late. One out of the three? Well, I suppose that's just business as usual, but should you fail to guess any of them? Then I'm terribly afraid I'm here just to drop off your lunch for you, my love, as there are other....pressing," yes, he was going to pause particularly pointedly there, ahem, "to attend to."

Edited 2025-06-09 15:55 (UTC)

"Oh, so not only that I get a prize if I win, but I get penalized if I lose," Liliana said, her hand refamiliarizing itself with, ahem, the fabric and texture of his trousers, clearly. " So do I have to choose between everything possible in the world you could have made for me? Or do I at least get hints? Scents, maybe, or even flavors, before I make my guess?"

Edited 2025-06-09 16:15 (UTC)

The soft groan proceeding his answer seemed to suggest that Liliana was making an excellent case for leniency in these rules as laid out.

"Hints,"Ignis confirmed, a new roughness to his voice, shifting slightly against her. "You need only guess broadly, specifics hardly required. And one of them is so apparent that I daresay, if you fail to guess it, then you've more than earned the repercussions."

Just a useful reminder at how little either of them wanted to celebrate Strawberry Rhubarb Day!

Ignis had honed his other senses to a near-supernatural degree, his sense of hearing more than sharp enough to pick up the sounds of metal movement, be it the sound of golden hairpins removed from a coiffure and deliberately laid onto a counter or the soft snikt as the teeth of a zipper were parted one set at a time by the slider.

"And how many guesses do I get?" Liliana whispered in his ear, tone full of filthy promises of how much he'd enjoy it if his answer was exceedingly generous. "You might be underestimating the sheer number of meaningful dishes you've created to please my tongue...to sink my teeth into..."

Was she matching word to deed, teeth closing over the skin of his neck? Absolutely.

If anything was being underestimated here, it was Ignis' undying, irrepressible levels of dedication...be that to Liliana herself or be it to just a bit. And strawberry rhubarb.

But a bite was, fittingly enough, putting that bit to the test.

"Oh, but I have--" he started, until her teeth left him completely derailed for a moment. A deep groan of appreciation was required before he could set himself back on track again.

"--the utmost faith in you, my love. Three recipehs, three guesses."

On that, he was as solid and firm as...well...

"However, in addition to my hints, you can also ask one question for each, as well. Excepting simply asking what it is."

He knew who he was dealing with her.

"Does that sound fair?"

No, unfortunately, Liliana was well-aware of just how...well, not easily, but firmly, perhaps?...Ignis would adhere to his rules if she didn't guess correctly. Which was why she was attempting to stack the deck in her favor before she even began guessing.

"Let me consider," she said, as her hand took advantage of the zippers being previously unzipped. Whether or not she was actually considering anything or simply using the time to do a bit more of that aforementioned deck-stacking (complete with continued nibbles along his neck) is left as an exercise to the reader. "Yes, I do believe that's fair. Your first hint then?"

If one of the ways in which Liliana had hoped to stack the deck in her favor was to have Ignis forget about this whole game entirely, then she'd almost just about had it. Because in that moment, he was hardly thinking about his little bite-sized offering, or clever clue and helpful hints. His thoughts were entirely on her. On the cool touch of her hands quickly warming from the heat of his loins, the maddening dig of her teeth into his neck and the silk of her breath on the resulting, the reddened skin, the constant intoxication of the scent of her, not just the mulberry and cedar of her perfume, but the very essence of her, that lingered in his awareness so patently that truly did make any attempts of stealth null and void. All of this he took in with a deep, grateful sigh of contentment.

And when her decision was made, he met it with a rumbling, thoughtful hum and a smile.
"Well," he stated, with a voice that seemed to have been dragged up from deep within his core, "first and foremost, one of these is so ubiquitous, that if you weren't to guess it, I might just be forced to question thr mettle of our relationship to no insignificant degree."

There were three possibilities that suggested themselves to her, time to narrow them down. "Was this one duly represented last week?" she asked, licking up the column of his throat to nip sharply at his ear, warming hand remaining quite busy in its appointed task.

Key lime had been, strawberry rhubarb and seafood paella had not.

That drag of her tongue was entirely unfair, and Ignis had the moan to tell Liliana so.

(Not a complaint).

"It most certainly was."

He'd started it. And Liliana took no prisoners, he knew that.

"You've made me something with key lime," she murmured. "Cake pops perhaps. Cupcakes? Cookies?"

He knew her favorite cookies, in fact. "Macarons?"

As if Ignis would ever enter forth into a battlefield without being fully aware of thr stakes.

It was beginning to get a bit...harder to remember the conceit of this match of wits was in thr first place.

"Certainly a variation," he drawled back, as well as his current breathlessness would allow, anyway, "on one that's more than close enough to count. Well done, my love. That's one down, two more to go. But...perhaps..."

He turned, twisting slightly so that he could better reach for her, to find her for a kiss over his shoulder.

"We get to those after and intermission."

Because he also knew when it was far more tactical to retreat...

A dark silky laugh signaled her agreement with this new era of diplomacy. It also came with the retreat of her hand, at least for the moment, but sacrifices must be made for the greater reward at the end. Her other hand - her left - skimmed down his arm, tangling their fingers together. "I am content to rest on my laurels for a bit," she said, ducking beneath his arm to cuddle up to his side. "The back room? Or would you prefer the proximity to the counter?"

"As...tempting," with a squeeze of her hand in his, Ignis' head tilted toward Liliana's, breathing her in deeply and briefly considering asking why they should even bother going so far as the counter, "as the lesser distance may be, I wouldn't want to eschew a more thorough destination for the sake of the convenience of a shortcut. Besides..."

His free hand reached out for her cheek, drifting down to lift her chin toward him for a deep and hungry kiss.

"...if I leave the food out here, I needn't be concerned with any undue peeking."

Another laugh, this one more delighted than dirty. "Accusing your affianced of cheating," she tsked, starting the walk to the counter so they could move forthwith to the back room. "Just dreadful."

Yeah, she sounded truly torn up about her, her left hand still tangled with his, her right settled quite comfortably on his posterior.

Pity he had to use his other hand to carry the food and, therefore, not use it to touch her as they moved.

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Infinite Consortium, Monday

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