Did the fae woman have even the slightest idea what it was that she might be getting herself into? She'd probably try and tell herself she didn't, but that was just as much a lie as those sleepless nights she'd spent trying to tell herself that forgetting about him would be the best thing she could do, that everything might just have a chance to go back to normal if she could manage such a feat. Was that long-buried part of her still desperately clinging to those memories with the hope that there might just be something left, that all those exchanged glances and those passionate kisses meant something? Is that why she finds herself daring to accept the offer he makes of finding her an occupation within the borders of that wintery world some of the most amazing yet heartbreaking moments had come to life once? The fae woman wants to tell herself it was only out of simple, practical need that she would take such a risk being near him. Nothing more, nothing less. It was very nearly terrifying to think that she might see him each day, like she did once upon a time when there would be starlight in her gaze rather than the soft sadness glittering there now as blue eyes of clear summer skies would meet those of dark, devilish, and captivating hazel. How hopeless it was, looking at the fae man and not remembering what they'd had three years ago, the way he would wickedly and oh, so mercilessly tease that blush color to her cheeks when she would dare to be bold for a moment in his presence, how he could once make her laugh so effortlessly that the rest of the world would fall away, and it would only be them... When she looks at Andras, so wistful and almost longingly, Lani realizes now how deeply those memories, those moments she'd tried so hard to put away in some figurative box within the deepest parts of herself lost to the tides of her grief with every intention to keep them far from her thoughts, had sunken into her soul. So much so, she was now almost certain that there would be nothing she could do to chase them away. And, perhaps, she didn't want to anymore.

What if letting them rise and fall like the sun in the sky might offer some sort of strange relief that she hadn't considered a possibility before? After all, relief was relief all the same. If there was any chance that the familiar ache might ease even just a little, the fae woman would happily take it. To think it has taken her all this time and one unexpected afternoon for her to even muse the idea that not fighting the memories might be the remedy she'd been looking for all this time...

His brows crease as she admits to the secret she'd kept from the entire world, and almost like three years ago, amusement flickers fleetingly across his dark gaze alongside a playfulness she would have died to keep so long ago. He winks, she shrugs... and, there, given a chance to spark to life (thanks to the wine, of course), a subtle boldness touches her smile."You're flattered, and you know it", she whispers as long, dark lashes blink over baby blue. She's content to indulge in the remains of her glass as he grins, remarking that he would find something suitable for her in Somnia, but when that grin lingers and seems to take on an achingly familiar wickedness, the fae woman can feel her heart threatening to stop like it so often did at such a glance from the fae man. She knew that look. It was the look that, much like the calm before a summer storm, only warned her of some tease to come. Oh, if not for the wine, she would have almost certainly choked on that sip of wine she'd only just taken. Instead, entirely unbidden and hardly realized as a result of the haze that was now enfolding her rather heavily, she gives Andras an impish smile, one that had been almost completely forgotten, having once been buried with the broken pieces of her lost self."Well, if that were the case, I'd need a model... what time would work best for you?", she replies daringly. Had the fae woman been sober, there was no question that she would have frightened herself, wondered exactly what she was thinking to say something like that to him. If there was one thing that she'd never been able to win at in life, it was beating the fae man at his own game he so often tried to play with her. There had been countless time she'd tried to "challenge" him, dared to be bold despite how he would make her blush, and every time, it had backfired. But the difference between then and now, was that she felt as though there was little to lose this time. For the moment, caught in the moment, she wasn't really afraid of what might happen next.

It was clear that Andras hadn't changed, but what wasn't expected or fully recognized in this moment of nearly drunken conversation, is that... just maybe... she wasn't as lost as she once was. Somehow, it seems that still he could find her when she'd been unable to do the same for herself. And, while she was hardly capable of doing much in the way of deep analysis considering her state of being, she can feel something somewhere unknown entirely to her right now was... shifting.

Hazel continues to dance with bright baby blue as Lani is reaching for the bottle to fill her glass a second time, she begins to care less of the world around them, entirely content to ignore the time slowly tick... tick... ticking away. All she knows in this moment is that it had been late morning when she'd left the house in Dupont, Ellie having gone earlier in the morning to the newly acquired job of her dreams teaching first-grade children, but now she can't quite remember if she'd texted her closest friend when she would be coming home. She would have reached into the pocket of her frock jacket had it not been for the sudden events taking place mere moments after the fae man had completely captivated her attention, assuring her that he'd help her find a way to cope with the heightened senses Lani had been struggling with hardly a breath before there was the chaos came alive and had the fae woman letting a bright note of laughter spill from her lips. How good it felt... to laugh so effortlessly like she once did so often. Better still, it was as though any sense of nervousness or uncertainty had melted away like morning dew between them, and it reminds her all too well of just how perfectly life felt once. She realizes now (although perhaps still it was the wine hazing her thoughts, she couldn't re) that she misses the way they'd existed... It fades away then as she notices how his gazes seems to soften, and she almost lets herself think that he was.... wistful. Just as she was. Even after all this time, the distance that had been far vaster than any ocean, how was it that he could still look at her that way and she at him? Like maybe nothing had really changed, even though it seemed that everything had? Surely it was just the alcohol that had her seeing things, feeling all too comfortable with the fae man when that was perhaps the last thing that she should be allowing herself to feel. Last time she'd been like this with Andras, she'd been completely and entirely captivated in the idea that he might love her, that there was more than either of them were saying to the other.

"And I'm happy to hear that you think that"... There is a softness that matched the way his hazel gaze settled upon hers of baby blue, and she wonders if he really meant it. Did he truly still care what she'd thought of him? Or had he meant that he was happy that she'd thought of him at all? She is unable to understand if there was more meaning to those spoken words, but before she can say anything in return, the moment is gone, like morning mist under the sun.

The words that fall from his lips then and she wonders what position it was that the fae man referred to. Lani has always known Andras to walk among the city of Sacrosanct as, well, Andras. A composed, refined man who held himself with pride, hardly seeking the approval of perfect strangers or newfound acquaintances. If he had been the sort that did care, what would have happened the night she'd found him for the very first time in that tree? What would have happened every moment thereafter? The conversation doesn't linger there for long, though, and she is glad for it as the waiter brings their orders. And, in turn, it leads to the fae woman hardly expecting herself to so openly accept his invitation of sharing that meat dish. He chuckles, at her reaction no doubt, and as he offers her more, again she doesn't so much as hesitate a moment, nodding through another mouthful as he insists that the only reason this did not taste anywhere near as good was because of the resources Somnia was able to obtain through their economy and trade routes, winking yet again at the fae woman."It's not like you to be so modest. Even with the same spices, I don't think anywhere could ever hope to make something even remotely close", she insists, returning now to her soup. Truly, there was nothing in Lani that did not believe these words, even if they were spoken so openly with the influence of that second glass of wine that had since been finished."And, oh, the music... I can still remember it. I've never danced like that before or after", she sighs almost dreamily, the smile dancing upon blush-colored lips matching the wistfulness of her expression before she takes another spoonful of her soup, and then moving to take one more small piece from Andras' plate. The last time they'd shared anything had been the Winter Solstice festival, and it was clear that this was where her mind her thoughts lingered. Even on that day, it hadn't been like now, sharing an actual meal. Yes, they'd eaten together a small handful of times... but not like this.

Maybe the wine was settling over her heavier, faster than she expected... but there was no undoing it now. And, as that query left her lips, she knows that there was no taking it back. And, if she were to be truly honest with herself, it had been but one among many, many questions that had echoed there within her heart for the past few years. Lani doesn't really know what she expects from asking him about the scarf, but what she hadn't expected was the way that his hazel gaze meet hers.

It was a simple answer, a single word... and she can't help the soft smile that finds her lips. Did he keep it because it reminded him of her? No, that would be a foolish thing to believe, because if she believed this to be why, then it would only re-awaken the same foolishness in Lani that had ended up shattering what they had had before, and she didn't want to feel sad anymore. Not now... His dark, tenor tones are very nearly purred at the fae woman, and she blinks dark lashes over baby blues as she watches him lean over the table again."I do. The dress, the heels, and the camera, of course", she says all too easily, hardly trying to hide this second confession as she takes another spoonful of her soup. Yes, the wine had fully set in at this point, the easy and casual way she answers him telling the fae man all he needed to know. It was almost as if she wasn't the broken soul that she'd been this morning... but she still was, even if the wine did well to serve as the vessel allowing her once-confident spirit to spark within her gaze. His voice deepens as those next words are spoken between them, words that would have once sent her into a fluster, but the blue-eyed blonde was only smiling impishly at Andras, determined to keep the blush of her cheeks he likely desired from her features."Give me a reason to wear it, and I will", she says then, as if to very nearly challenge the fae man to ask that she indulge him. How far would she be able to go before perhaps he might be taken aback by her daring? Or, would it backfire on her as it always had? Still, she believes that there's nothing to lose in rising to Andras' teasing. After all, the fae woman, even lost to the wine, could remember a time when she'd seen him grasp a glass a little too tight or darken his eyes in that predatory way which would tell Lani she'd gotten to him even just a little. Every little bit was a big win for the fae woman in the end, even when she'd always known that Andras would always win.

Yet, she wonders if that would change. So much between them had, after all.... right? In this moment, she finds herself wondering just how much really had changed, and if so (how could it not?), why didn't it feel like that was the case? How could the fae man so easily return to teasing her in those wicked ways? Better still, how was it that, despite the fae woman clearly having had more wine than she should have, she was very nearly daring him outdo her?

It was then she slowly begins to realize the lights shining around them, her attention not so focused on him as she looks back down to her soup and noticing how dark it suddenly seemed. Wait... It hits her then as finally she notices the darkening sky that those lights that she'd originally thought herself to be in her imagination are illuminating."What time is it?", she says then, mostly to herself, placing the spoon on the table and pulling the phone out of her pocket. Clumsy, slender fingers touch the glass screen and the display flashes 7:08pm. The sun had set only a short while ago... but now, it was dark. She tries to keep her heart from racing frantically at the realization, tries to push away the rising panic as she wonders where the time had gone, how she'd managed to spend nearly the entire afternoon with him."Well... it's too late to walk home now...", she sighs, looking out to the nearly vanished remains of sunlight. It couldn't be helped now. She lifts the soup bowl to her lips after a moment of inward contemplating on what her options were, finishing off the meal, and setting it back down before picking up her phone again. She really didn't want to call a cab, but Ellie was probably busy with paperwork or something and there was no way she was going to be walking home in the dark. Not after the wine, and definitely not after what had happened to her once when she'd been alone... As with many of her nightmares, the fae woman could still vividly remember the man that had been hiding in the shadows, beckoning her closer so that she might help him understand where he was. How naïve she had been..."I'd better call a cab", she murmurs, picking her phone back up but nearly dropping it first as she tries to remember what the phone number to the Sunstar Cab Service was, Lani never having used it before, even when she'd lived here in the city previously. I knew I shouldn't have had that much to drink, she scolds silently as she clumsily scrolls through the website containing various taxi company numbers. People took taxis all the time in Sacrosanct. What were the chances that something could go wrong?