Until this very moment, the fae woman had thought herself able to accept that while she'd been all but successful in forgetting his hazel eyes, those tenor tones that had so often left her heart fluttering wildly within her breast, and the way she'd loved him once, he would no longer be a part of her life. Before this afternoon, she'd been certain - or about as certain as she could ever be about anything anymore - that moving on into a new job somewhere, living in an entirely different part of the city, and avoiding with the utmost determination all those places they'd been together would be her one and only chance to move on from the only one she'd ever felt that way for. It could not go without saying that the blue-eyed blonde fae had tried with all that she had. Gods, she had... Even with those tired walls cracking and creaking under the relentlessness of each powerful wave made up of tucked-away memories and long-buried emotions, Lani had tried And, before now, before very nearly bumping into him against the odds, she'd allowed for herself to think that she might just manage it all. She'd dared to think that, maybe, there was some small flicker of hope that life would be as normal as it could given what she was. Three years. That was how much time had passed since last they'd seen one another. That was how long it had taken the fae woman to just barely convince herself that everything would work out despite the dark uncertainty of her future. Three years, and all she had to show for it was this crumbling barrier she'd surrounded her heart and soul in, that mask she wore for the rest of the world in an attempt to look like she was okay when, still, she wasn't. Even with all that time she'd spent in Willowhaven after her change, the nightmares were still there, tears and sleeplessness still found her on some of those harder nights, albeit they had been lessening at a torturously slow pace.

And, just like that, sitting there with Andras as they danced within the dangerous flames she'd thought herself to finally be freed from, the fae man very nearly shatters that wall she'd worked to build. All it took was two glasses of wine... one look, dark and wanting... a handful of words, ushered in midnight tenor tones... and she was lost to the waves she'd held at bay for three years in a matter of what felt like three breaths.

"I swear it"... Had she been sober, how she would have melted right then and there, surely a mess of blushed cheeks and stammering excuses as to why she should probably return home. Instead, she meets that lidded and heavy hazel gaze with dark lashes blinking oh, so slowly those eyes of clear summer skies, a fresh wave of warmth sweeping through her like fire, utterly unable think past the way that dark smile fits his lips so perfectly and how they had once tasted against her own, her sudden awareness of the fae man's scent somehow forcing its way through her haze."I'll hold you to it, then", she says in a breathless whisper, these words slipping past gently parted lips entirely unbidden and yet she is far too lost to the dark crimson embrace and those suddenly rising senses she worked so hard to ignore each and every day until now. Then, the thickness of the moment is softened by the memory she offers him in reply to the revelation of how he enjoyed cooking. It was like the a subtle reprieve, a peak of sunlight breaking through raging storm clouds of that intensifying exchange, the memory of Andras in that kitchen with her as they prepared for the arrival of her parents having her smile shift from sultry to wistful. How she finds herself wishing in this moment of remembrance that things could have stayed as they had been."I thought I'd been doing just fine, thank you very much", she refutes in mock offense, baby blues glittering playfully in turn. How terribly easy it was, pretending that nothing had changed between them when they had, although even in her drunken state, she knows that this feeling was surely only temporary. It wouldn't last, it never had when they'd both been sober. One of them would always end up hesitating, just as he had the night before their fight, when she'd allowed herself to be so bold in that little black night dress of silk and lace.

It was as though they were the sun and the moon, locked together in some eternal dance with one another, never slowing or quickening. How natural, how... intimate they could be in that timeless chase. And yet, one would always fall away before the other could reach the same horizon. There was always a vast space between them, vaster than any ocean, even in those moments where it felt as though they couldn't be closer.

His playful teasing snatches the fae woman from that memory now as he nearly accuses her for lying, blaming her for the emptiness of his stomach that would end him, and she could barely keep the amusement from dancing across her lips in a smile that had once felt so effortless to her."You? Starve? I hardly believe Ida would let you exist in such a state", she says matter-of-factually, though there is a playfulness there within her words before finishing off the rest of her own meal."But if you insist, I won't refuse you a meal for the crime I didn't commit", she agrees easily then, smiling cheekily at Andras then, hardly thinking past this moment and what it it might be like to share another meal with the fae man when she'd certainly not expected this one. And then, just as the waves rise and fall against the shoreline, the heat surrounds them once again as she dares the fae man to tell her exactly how he desired to see her in that black dress, a sense of pleasure warming the fae woman at the way he so clearly struggles against the waves of desire, that self-control of his coming terrifyingly close to snapping altogether. Hazel eyes lock onto hers once more with an almost... predatory intensity as a snarl against his urges ushers into the quiet air around them and Lani can feel her own warmth seeming to instinctively rise in answer, having her lost to this moment in every sense. No, she hadn't the slightest idea what she was thinking or what she might be getting herself into, why it was that it seemed almost natural, despite the obvious danger and likely consequences that would come from any rash decisions the haze of wine and unbidden wanting could bring into reality, and yet, the fae woman does little to try and fight it. Gods, she was so tired of fighting. After all, that was all she'd been doing these past few years...

Maybe, it was time to let it all go... Even if there was an inevitable fall waiting just on the other side, a fresh rush of new pain only one decision away... perhaps it would be worth it to just let herself feel something. For so long, she'd warred against allowing herself to surrender to any of those emotions that thundered in the back of her soul like an impending storm. Despite her current state of mind, she was tired of trying to run .

Before this hazed thought can grow further and shift into words, she's thrown into icy water as the fae woman finally brings the rest of the world around them into focus only to find that the sun was gone and the city's night life was only mere moments from beginning. Options flutter almost frantically within her thoughts, but before she can manage to find that phone number to the taxi service, Andras is standing there beside her, offering his arm. Hardly hesitating, she accepts the gesture, finding unsteady legs and practically clinging to the fae man as he escorts her out of the bistro, his teasing words having Lani smiling up at him. It had been easy to forget how well the fae man knew her, but as he guides her down the street, she remembers even in he drunken state that there really hadn't been much Andras didn't know about her. Leaning into him, swallowed by the scent of him and the warmth of his strong frame, the fae woman almost misses his words as they come across a fountain at the heart of the eastern district."Oh...", is all she managers to murmur. Of course she hadn't thought the whole cab idea through very well... and the last thing she wanted was to end up lost and alone somewhere in the dark. He is quiet for a moment, as if weighing what few options they might have. She could maybe try bus? It was pretty late, though. Were they even operating right now? She did know that there was a bus stop near the house... but that would still mean walking. Maybe she should just try Ellie's phone anyway? She would probably still answer. Then, before she can suggest trying Ellie's phone, Andras declares that he would take her to his place here in the city. Though she doesn't remember that townhouse well, having only seen it for a handful of moments while they were on their way to Somnia, she knows that it was definitely closer than Dupont.

Had Lani been sober, she would have eagerly insisted that calling Ellie would be a much better alternative - for both of them. Instead, she simply nods."Okay", she replies almost complacently, allowing the fae man to guide her further down the street, still entirely in the throws of intoxication that seems to radiate from both the wine that had yet to begin fading from her system as well as the musk that gathered around her senses.

There's a sudden surge that rushes over her as they walk in seemingly comfortable silence, Andras steadying her whenever she would stagger with the slight tightening of his arm around her waist, setting that warmth within her alight. What was it, this sensation rushing through her that only seemed to magnify the fire that was steadily beginning to spread deeper into the fae woman? While she couldn't explain it... it didn't feel like it was hers? She feels her heart seeming to quicken as Andras guides her towards a set of steps, helping her up them as she needed it. He leans her gently against the door, playfully demanding that she stay where she was before he very nearly pins her there, placing one of her slender hands on the strong muscle of his forearm as he begins fumbling in his pockets for the key. Baby blue eyes blink slowly, not sure if she's breathless from the way his scent is practically pressing in on her thoughts or if it was the fluttering in her heart, her gaze falling from his face and... to his lips. They were so close now... without that table to barricade them from one another. And... unbidden, she remembers how they'd kissed under the starry sky of Somnia, the steam from the hot springs swirling around them... Did he still taste the way she remembered? Then, as he retrieves those keys, leans ever closer to unlock the door, her name on his lips...."Yes...", she says, breathless... Before she even has a moment to think, to realize what she was doing, the hand he'd placed on his forearm slides effortlessly up to his shoulders, then his neck... and she closes the remaining shred of space between them, pressing her blush-colored lips to his. It was so very soft, the way they embraced his entirely unbidden, almost curious and so frighteningly lacking in hesitance, a quiet "mmmm" instinctively pulled from the fae woman as she very nearly steals that kiss. Yes, he still very much tastes the same as he did that night.... and... how she finds herself missing it.

That breathless yes... it held so much within it that she could have said in that moment. Yes, she was still very much conscious, albeit hardly aware of much beyond the strange pull that seemed to exist between them. But, more than that... Yes, she was still very much with him, still lost in what they'd been once, and as she was slowly beginning to find despite the drunken haze hanging over her, she still loves him...