i love you more than here [Reggie/Oscar]

[Kire]

Oscar

She was so beautiful. Regalia, as regal as her name suggested. He couldn't help but look at her whenever she was around. Somehow, he was lucky enough to have her look back at him in that same way.

He was sitting at the table in the kitchen, dressed in his shabby work clothes and smelling strongly of horse, as usual. Despite the contrast between them, despite his rural look and her city style, they fit together. Her smile was always sweet when he saw it, and he always had one ready for her. "There's coffee in the pot, Reg." His own cup sat in front of him, steaming slightly still. He would get up to help her but he knew she would prefer to do it herself.

As much as she didn't like politics - pressed into the Mayoral position by her brother - he had something he had to bring up. "This is going to be a hard year, I can just feel it." He didn't know exactly what was the cause of his unease, but with the end of the Games and the coming of a quell in the new year it wasn't surprising he was feeling tensions in the air. The two kids from Ten this year had done okay, but okay was never good enough in a game where only one could win. Horseshoes and hand grenades. Beyond all of this, the knowledge that a new election would occur in the aftermath of the Quell was leaving ripples in the normally calm waters of the Mayor's household.

He had known from very early on that Regalia was an incredibly capable woman. Her time as Mayor had reaffirmed that over and over for him. He had also known, perhaps a little less early, that she had not really wanted to take up the position. The previous Mayor - who also happened to be her brother and victor Mace Emberstatt - had convinced her that she had to take the position and so she had. He couldn't count the number of times he had wished she wasn't trapped now. As much as he owed Mace - after all he never would have met Regalia if not for him, not to mention the job he held, and the roof over his head - he did begrudge the man for pushing Regalia to do something she hadn't really wanted to.

"One more year of being Mayor, then you can put this whole thing behind you - as much as a victor's sister might anyway." His mouth creased and drooped on one side, a lopsided frown that was a sign of his concern.

One more year and then he could ask her something he'd been wanting to for the last four years. He had waited this long, he could wait a little longer.

[Baby Wessex d9b [earthling]]

After the war we said we'd fight together
I guess we thought that's just what humans do, letting darkness grow
As if we need its palette and we need its colour
But now I've seen it through

"This is going to be a hard year, I can just feel it."

"Aren't they all?" She asks, half-joking. There's a cheekiness to the set of her face, from the cherubic heart-shape to the gapped front teeth. Most of the time she leans into her looks. She is frequently silly, playful, beguiling. But at Oscar's tone, she reigns in it just a touch.

Aren't they?

And hadn't they done pretty well for themselves so far?

She doesn't press the point. Instead, she pours herself a mug, breaths in the acrid scent deeply. They never had to ration coffee, not with her Mayoral salary. It was one of the best perks.

"One more year of being Mayor, then you can put this whole thing behind you - as much as a victor's sister might anyway."

Reggie's lips on the edge of the mug, testing the strength of the steam. To drink it now would surely mean scalding her mouth. She backs off an inch to say, "Patsy, who ran my last campaign, dropped off some re-election materials today. I very nearly put them through the shredder." She winks, delighted by the mental image of Patsy, white as a sheet, trying to tape the "STROMSTATT FOR A SECOND TERM" fliers back together.

And then she sighs, because firstly, Reggie would never be so wasteful. And second, because she would never be so heartless, even though she wished folks would just let her live her little life. "Yeah, it really is too bad we can't make everyone forget my last name ends in -statt."

Her focus has drifted back to the steaming mug. She licks her lips, leans in again. And then she registers what she's said. Her eyes round.

Regalia Stromstatt, Mayor of District Ten, is looking right at Oscar when she puts the mug down and says very calmly, "there's a thought. What if my last name actually didn't end in -statt?"

banner credit: astrum
song: ellie goulding anything could happen

[Kire]

Oscar

His heart squeezes at the touch of wry humor in her words. He is being serious and she knows it, and yet the light within her still fought to make the world a little lighter. "Aren't they all?" She pauses a moment, considering her own words. There is a small shift in her as she concedes a bit to his point, but he knows she is also right.

He takes a sip of his coffee as she tests the heat of her own cup. The moment of decision, the caution, as she denies herself that first taste to prevent a burnt tongue is clear to him. That was Regalia, eager but cautious. She would get what she wanted, but she would do it the way that was best for her. Meanwhile, his own tongue had already been scorched from his last few sips and no longer felt the pain of the continuing heat. He knew what he wanted, too, but he would push ahead to reach it without concern for himself.

"Patsy, who ran my last campaign, dropped off some re-election materials today. I very nearly put them through the shredder." The wink she gives him feels like he had taken too big of a gulp of his coffee. The heat running through him was almost too hot, but he couldn't help going back for another sip. They both know she would never do anything like that, just as they both know she had actually considered the option for a moment. She had her impulses like everyone else, but her kind heart kept them in check - mostly.

She sighs and he wishes he could lift some of the burden from her shoulders. He did what he could, assisting where possible when he wasn't doing his other duties. When she needed he would simply sit near and listen, and at other times he would hold her and tell her how strong she was. "Yeah, it really is too bad we can't make everyone forget my last name ends in -statt." The excess weight she carried from that, the old and the new, would never really go away. Mace's entire struggle had caused such turmoil for both him and his family, from the moment he was reaped until now - as the Capitol still claimed a part of him and thus a part of his family as well.

As his thoughts drift, so do hers. Together they find themselves again and look squarely into the eyes of the others. He can't voice much of his own thinking, but Reggie has no such qualms. "There's a thought. What if my last name actually didn't end in -statt?" There is a moment when he doesn't understand what she means. The process of changing a name would be incredibly complicated, especially for someone in her position, due to the excessive amount of paperwork and checks needed to be done for the Capitol.

Unless...

He felt the curl of his lips as he smiled, all of sudden terrified and excited beyond measure.
"Reg, you don't mean..?" But of course she did. The corner of his mouth twitched, affronted and yet extremely amused. The rush of various emotions was almost too much for him. He tried to make the deep breath he took as inconspicuous as possible. Still, he knew she could see things like this in him as easily as he could know her mood from looking at her. "I guess now is as good a time as any."

Setting his coffee down, he got off the chair and bent to one knee on the floor before of her. "I was expecting to be the one to initiate, but at least I can hold onto some sort of traditional aspect. Can't let Mace think I would do anything less for his sister." He fumbled a moment, unsure. "I wasn't expecting this so I didn't... I don't have a ring or anything." He cleared his throat, nervous and hopeful.

"Regalia Stromstatt, will you marry me?"