bakerstreet | Speak your love language

Speak your love language

ways to show affection

When it comes to the way affection is shown, everyone has a different way they go about it. That means that there's a pretty good chance, with regards to couples, you could end up with two people who have two varying approaches towards how they prove they care...sometimes radically varying, which can lead to more than a little confusion or hurt feelings if there's not proper communication. But when both people are on the same page, they can tell each other how they feel with few words.

☄ Comment with your character, info, prefs, and how your character will likely show affection.
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☆ WORDS: Sweet affirmations, pet names, even
☆ CUDDLES: Hugs, nuzzles, the works.
☆ KISSING: On the check or on the lips.
☆ KINDNESS: Always there for them.
☆ PROVIDING: Providing care, providing protection, providing financially.
☆ GENTLE...ER: Your only weak spot.
☆ MEANNESS: Straight up tsundere.
☆ GIFTS: All the pretty things.
☆ ACTIONS: Visits, taking care of their problems, taking them out, and more.
☆ SUBTLE: A distant sort of affection, but they know.
☆ [ WILDCARD ]

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[ Mari hasn't been keeping track, either -- couldn't if she wanted to. It's impossible to focus on anything but this, anything but Kanan's hands and Kanan's mouth on hers, for even a second. It's a spell nothing could break, short of maybe the car catching on fire around them-- that, and as Mari's reluctantly made to admit, the need for breath.

They break away the very moment before their car touches ground -- which might be fortunate in some sense, but the position the carnie finds them in, with Mari pink-faced on Kanan's lap and their arms around each other, doesn't really leave that much for the imagination. He awkwardly clears his throat, and Mari, for once in her life, looks actually mortified before forcing a grin and hopping out the car with a breezy 'ciao' and 'thanks'.

She can do little to chase the heat from her face, though, as she sheepishly reaches for Kanan's hand. If even she got embarrassed just now, then Kanan's probably... ]

... Sorry, Kanan. I wasn't paying attention... [ A strained little laugh. ]

[Right now, she's staring at the floor like it could open up and swallow her whole if she tried hard enough. (She won't die, Mari would be sad. But the notion is appealing.) It takes everything she has to stand, placing one foot in front of the other, remembering how walking works. Mari's hand is her anchor amidst these tempestuous waters, a reminder to not succumb to the sense of drowning that makes her chest and throat feel painfully constricted.]

It's -- [Her jaw works. She hasn't been like this in years. Hates herself for how she gets.] It's not your fault.

[Willing her feet to move faster, although Kanan isn't sure whether they really are, she hurries away from the area alongside Mari. Perhaps the only upside was that nobody else, save for the sole carnie, walked in on or saw them.]

[ It wasn't supposed to be like this. This is their big date; a day to go down as a good memory. Mari was supposed to make Kanan happy, not anxious, not terrified, not ashamed--

ashamed of her?

--It wasn't supposed to be like this. ]

Kanan-- [ Mari stops in place finally, pulling on the hand in hers. Her voice is hoarse with the onset of breathlessness. ] Kanan, come on, we've gone far enough.

... [Mari's voice stirs her from the loop of I messed up, I messed up, I messed up coursing through her head. The surroundings register, then: they're at a comparatively secluded spot, having taken the route opposite to that leading up to the ferris wheel.

It adds to her bout of self-loathing -- the situation was as distressful for Mari as it was for her, and rather than help, she'd added to her burden, relying on Mari all the while.

Always so slow to realize. Mari used to say being around her is reassuring, but she's so far from it actually.]

You okay?

[Ah, when will she grow out of making up for mistakes after the fact, when she should have had it in her to avoid committing them.]

[ Mari's face scrunches up into a frown. Kanan's the one who went white as a bedsheet, who took off running all the way here -- and she's asking if she's okay?

She tugs on her arm again, this time chiding. ] Are you?

[No.] Yeah.

[She will be, eventually.] Just...had to clear my head.

I freaked out, huh. [Not a question. A statement.] Sorry. It was dumb.

It's not dumb. [ She's the one who was reckless, who made that selfish demand in the first place. But Kanan said it wasn't her fault, and another apology would only set them arguing over the blame. What good would that do? ]

... It was just that one boy. [ Clunkily, she attempts reassurance. For some reason her throat strains around the words, the same feeling of swallowing a pill the wrong way. ] Nobody else saw.

I hope not. [She deliberates over choice of words, taking in Mari's disheveled appearance, messier from the run-walk, and moves to straighten her collar and scarf.] We shouldn't run that kind of risk again.

[Still not what she was trying to convey.] I mean. He really spoiled the mood there.

[A total waste of the atmosphere they'd had going. She makes a face.] I could have nightmares. Trauma.

[ The first of Kanan's words make Mari's shoulders tense; it stands at odds with the warmth that pools in her stomach at the proximity. She subtly shifts her weight from foot to foot, looking to release some of the tension without hindering Kanan's busy hands. Being fussed over like this feels good, even if she doesn't deserve it right now. Mari can't help it.

... That's right, isn't it. She'll have to be more careful in the future. They probably can't afford to kiss out in public again, if-- if she hadn't scared Kanan off the idea of kissing her altogether.

God. She really, really messed it up. Mari's gaze drops to the ground, missing the shift in Kanan's expression. Guilt squeezes at her temples so tightly that she doesn't pick up the change in tone either, until the very last word. ]

-- Not funny! [ In an instant she flares up, something like a pufferfish, thwacking Kanan on the shoulder. ] I was seriously worried, here!

Woah, woah. [Stumbling back. For effect, more than anything, the impact barely did any damage through the layers, and wasn't very hard to begin with.] Don't undermine my suffering like that.

[She still hasn't let go, though.]

... I'm fine, promise. [To have Mari concerned over her is a nice change, worth any awful interruption, but she doesn't intend on taking it too far.] Cheer up?

[ The words 'cheer up' only cause Mari's frown to deepen, though the childish way her bottom lip sticks out might be, in some way, a sign of improvement. ]

Are you really, totally, definitely sure you're okay? One-hundred percent, cross your heart and hope to die?

[ Then, as to ensure it won't be taken lightly: ] I don't want you to force yourself.

I won't. [Wound down, her laugh comes more easily and genuine. In retrospect...was the experience so bad, when they both enjoyed themselves -- or, well, she did, and Mari seemed pretty engrossed till the end.]

But. I was serious about not letting people walk in on us. [Just saying it warms her face again.] Someplace with a locked door would do, hm?

[Were there to be a next time, that is...]

-- Yes! [ The way Mari's face lights up just then could give their surrounding decorations a run for their money. These words are all it takes to make the blockage in her throat disappear, melt the tension from her shoulders. There's gonna be a next time! Kanan wants there to be a next time!

With a new surge of giddy energy coursing through her, she throws her weight against Kanan and her arms around her shoulders, in one of the most bone-crushing Mari Ohara bear hugs to date. ]

Next time, I'll make it up to you for sure! Mari's promise!

I can never win with you. [Even if it is, of course, not a competition.

Leaning forward, she buries her face in Mari's neck.]

Big talk, there. I'll be waiting.

[She doesn't need making up. That she can have Mari so happy is beyond sufficient.]

Ehehe. [ She relaxes her hold just a bit, resting her temple to Kanan's. They stay still like that for one slow, quiet moment, and by the time Mari pulls back everything feels right again.

She's about to say something then, but cuts herself short before she begins. ] Wait--

[ With one outreached hand, she moves to smoothe down some unruly dark locks, brushing Kanan's bangs back into place. Repayment for before. ] There. Now you're perfect.

[Squinting when the hand comes near her eyes, which might make her expression look funny again, although, in a peculiar turn, she also is drawn to the fleeting touch. It leaves a small sense of emptiness when Mari finishes.]

As are you. [Presentable, at any rate.] Up for another walk round these parts?

[ Okay, Mari catches that face. And giggles. ] Ahh, Kanan's really the cutest girl in the world!

[ With that, she steps back, and her hand returns to its rightful place in Kanan's. ] Let's!

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Speak your love language

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