Deepwood Weald you waiting at ho[m]e for me saying what time do you call this?

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Her laughter was warm and rich as it left her lips and easily one of the most pleasing sounds he swore he'd ever heard in his life. The gangster realized in that moment (perhaps he'd begun to realize it some time ago) that Lotte had stolen away his heart. No, that wasn't quite right. Lotte was no thief and she could not steal something that he had so freely given her without resistance. Despite having an ex-lover Arturo could not claim that he'd ever truly been in love before. Perhaps there was much more of Lotte that he had yet to discover but as far as the gangster was concerned he knew all he needed to about her. It only aided favor that she was real good with Chusi and that Arturo was confident that his young daughter adored the scarfed mummer (not nearly as much as Arturo did, of course ;-) ). Her admittance caused the gangster's lips to twitch upwards into a unbidden albeit extremely genuine smile as he felt the nibble of her teeth against his cheek. For a moment Arturo contemplated on how he wanted to respond to that, striving to be a gentleman to her always (because she was a queen among women) but also to subtly implore just how much hearing that she missed him (too) pleased him. “Is that so?” The gangster hummed, the deep, smoky timbre of his accented voice sly as it left his lips. “You should know that I have been missing you.” He murmured as he she lavished his face with kisses. He did not add “too” to the end of it for he did not wish for her to feel that he was simply repeating the words to her. Essentially, he was, but not because he felt obligated to. Because he spoke the truth. When he was not with her, he thought of her often and when he was with her she consumed him until the world melted away and it was just them.

Arturo did not understand the language that she spoke but found it beautiful all the same. “Better now,” He admitted. He was loathe to leave her and the deeper he fell the harder it would become. His mind had already been made about his intentions and he knew now that he would not seek to waste time. “She is well. Growing. She is starting to rebel against my rules.” To say that it did not concern him would be a lie. He was very concerned about her. Still, he was struggling how to find a balance that suited the both of them equally without compromising more than what made him, as her father, comfortable. “I fear I have spoiled her too much.” So, perhaps, it as time to stop.

The Ceannasach shuddered when he felt Lotte's body brush against his own as she circled and nosed him only to fix his burning gaze upon her once more as she moved away and looked up at him. The words ...the offer that she spoke Arturo spent a few silent moments contemplating. Staring into her moonbeam gaze with unbidden affection. In a strange way he felt it sort of fell in line with what he intended to seek of her: a partner not just in love and life but in the family business as well; and it was true that the gangster saw in Lotte his own equal. These things he wanted but he did not yet know if his wants fell in line with her own; but there was only one way he was going to find out and he knew that. “Lotte,” He drew in a deep breath. He wasn't nervous, not exactly. Given their interactions thus far he couldn't even say that he feared her rejection. Expressing feelings, however, was not something the gangster had done often in his life and found that he was not so suave at. It made him feel vulnerable though he had never been so vulnerable to her as to when she'd been close to his throat. Not a physical closeness he afforded many, if any. Emotional closeness, however, was a whole different gamble. Arturo liked his odds. He was not so sure he was ready to reveal the depths of his feelings for her but he wanted his intentions known. He would willingly fight any other that sought to court her but it was much more preferable that he be her first choice and not a choice of victory. “I want to court you.” Arturo confessed. It wasn't ...necessarily romantic or subtle as he had grandly envisioned of him making his intentions known but in some things Arturo very much wanted to be straightforward about and this was one of them. He sought clarity and conciseness so there were no misunderstandings. Giving her the ability to advance them into something stable or sever it cleanly.

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