March 2nd, 2014

With the chaos involved in getting Jon and Vicki suitable for the Oscars that evening already underway when Dru had dragged herself out of bed on Sunday morning, she'd called Josh to arrange for him to meet her outside the manor at Maple Grove, rather than subject him to the parade of stylists and costumiers who were traipsing back and forth. Even Humphrey had gone out, promising to be back before his nephew had to leave but refusing to be a part of the panic beforehand. With a leather jacket stolen, as she had said, from Kaylee's leftover wardrobe, Dru wasn't far behind Old Man Granger in escaping, stepping out into the chill sunlight without a security operative in sight. Xoren had proved during their conversation last night that he had more than enough faith in his princess' ability to use the devices given to her in order to stay safe.

Josh had promised to pick Dru up at 12 PM sharp, and unlike the day before, he was right on time. It would take a little while before he knew his way around Rhy'Din, but he was making progress slowly but surely. The bike pulled up in front of the big house at Maple Grove, engine rumbling, the driver dressed similarly to the way he'd been dressed the day before in jeans, black leather jacket, and boots. The helmet on his head obscured the view of his face, but only for a moment before he pushed the visor up to greet Dru with a smile. It was warmer and sunnier than the day before, a perfect day for a bike ride, a hint of the spring to come.

Her face lit up in a wide smile at the sight of the motorcycle and its driver, raising a hand to wave at him as he pulled up close by before pushing her hair back out of her face as she moved to join him. "Good afternoon," she greeted him warmly, and gestured to herself. "I take it this is suitable?" This encompassed jeans, boots, and a leather jacket, not entirely unlike his.

He looked her over, finding her surprisingly attractive in denim and leather, a far cry from what was generally considered to be proper dress for a princess. "You look amazing," he said, with obvious admiration in his voice, even as muffled as his voice was from behind the helmet. With one foot on either side of the bike to keep it steady, he turned around to grab hold of an extra helmet he'd bought earlier that day, hoping it fit. "Here, put this on," he instructed as he handed her the helmet. So long as she was with him, he was responsible for her safety and it was something he didn't take lightly.

"Far from amazing," she giggled softly, taking the helmet from him with a curious frown. "I am comfortable, though. And look, heels. So you won't have to bend down so far." She grinned, flashing the heeled biker boots she'd found in Kaylee's room for a moment before negotiating the odd business of getting the helmet onto her head. Without any frame of reference, it took a little while, and even then, she ended up with half her hair trapped in front of her face, pinned in by the snug fit of the helmet at her jaw. "Somehow, I don't think this is quite right."

He chuckled as she struggled with the helmet before taking pity on her and deciding to help her, which he would have done if only she'd asked. "Come here, Princess. Let me help."

Pulling the helmet off again, she rolled her eyes at her own ridiculous attempt, stepping closer to let him help her get it on in a manner that would allow her to both see and breathe, as well as being safe. "It's rather heavy," she pointed out in mild complaint, not so much distressed by the feeling as confused by it. "I feel as though my head could wobble off."

"I had to guess at the size," he told her as he turned the helmet so that the visor was in the front and very carefully slipped it over her head, flipping the visor up while he checked it for a good fit. She was so tiny compared to him, it was almost comical, and he hoped he'd made a good guess on the size.

As it turned out, he'd made a very good guess. For all that she was very small in comparison to him, she was a fully proportioned adult size, and the helmet fit snugly without hurting her head. And, of course, without her hair in her face when it was put on properly. She lifted her chin as he checked the strap and the fit, shamelessly taking advantage of the opportunity to admire his face at close quarters. "It does fit."

Satisfied that the helmet was a good fit and that it was on properly, he slid the visor down and jerked a thumb behind him. "Hop on!" he told her. "And hold on tight!" he added. Though he wasn't planning on driving too fast or too crazy. He took the matter of her safety as seriously as did Xoren.

Despite feeling more than a little claustrophobic behind the visor, Dru did as she was told - in fact, she did have to hop to get up and onto the bike behind him, feet flailing for a moment before she found the supports that were further back than she had been expecting. This nudged her forward to sit very snugly against his back, and in that position, it was only logical that she should wrap her arms around his waist, wasn't it' She was never going to admit out loud just how lovely the feeling of him encircled in her arms was, anyway.

He turned his head so that she could hear him as he gave her further instructions. "I'll start off slow so you can get used to what it feels like. If something doesn't feel right or you need a rest, let me know."

"How do I do that?" she asked, her own voice as muffled as his behind the visor. She couldn't see how he'd hear a word if she tried to speak to him while he was driving.

"Just nudge me or something," he replied, smiling behind the helmet, enjoying the feel of her arms around his waist, her body close to his. "Ready?" he asked, adrenaline rushing through his veins in anticipation of the ride.

She nodded, the front of her helmet clunking against the back of his. "Ready!" Her arms tightened around him in anticipation, nerves making her hold on a little tighter than she should have done. After all, this was more exhilarating than anything she'd been allowed to do before. Even running away from home hadn't involved a motorcycle.

Josh realized how much trust Xoren must have in both of them to allow them this little adventure, or for that matter, Jon and Humphrey. Josh didn't take such trust lightly, but like Dru, he couldn't help but feel a little euphoric over the feeling of freedom that was afforded them, at least for one day. He flipped the front of his own visor down, and as promised, started out slow, the engine purring beneath them.

Josh arched a brow at Dru's remark, a wave of jealousy swelling up inside him, which he quickly pushed aside. It was ridiculous to be jealous of her sister's fiance, though he did seem to bristle a little at her remark. "I could teach you," he said, offering her a hand as she climbed from the bike.

"Oh, could you?" she asked, the smirk on her face definitely not innocent as she met his gaze. A quirk of her eyebrows challenged him to prove that point, all the while warning him that things might not be what they seemed at this point. "I didn't know you could surf."

He presumed from the smirk on her face that she doubted him, which only made him bristle more, feeling a little defensive. "You think I grew up in Roslae without learning how to surf?" he asked, brows furrowing, looking almost as if he had just been insulted. "Of course, if you prefer to have your sister's fiance teach you, be my guest."

Dru couldn't help laughing softly, leaning close to kiss him and wipe away that insulted frown. Her fingers drew themselves through his hair and down over his shoulder before she leaned back, soft eyes twinkling with impish good humor. "You think that just because I'm a princess I don't know how to surf?"

His expression shifted, looking slightly confused, even as she kissed him, which only confused him further, before realizing she'd been teasing him. "Okay, so I won't teach you then," he said, his frown turning into a smirk. He pushed a stray strand of hair away from her face. "When did you learn?"

"A few years ago," she told him. "Around the time when all those bombs scares were going off around Itana, and we were moved out of the capital until everything was back under control" I wasn't allowed to spend time with anyone, and I was bored out of my skull. So my mother suggested that I should take up a hobby, and since we were staying near the beaches, Xoren suggested surfing." She shrugged innocently. "No one's ever caught me doing it. I suppose because no photographer would expect to find the princess out on the waves when every other noble girl of the same age is working on their tan."

He frowned a little, wondering where he was then. She'd met his father, his brother, but never him. Why' Had he always been too busy, or had his father kept him for a reason' Or maybe her uncle or her mother. Maybe they thought it wouldn't be a good idea for a princess to get too close to a duke's son, but why not' Unless they'd had other plans for her. "My brother taught me a long time ago," Josh remarked, realizing the irony in it, since he'd learned under similar circumstances.

She laughed. "I thought James was scared of water," she grinned, tucking an arm about his waist as she looked out over the unparalleled view. "Or is that only when he's wearing his dress uniform?"

He arched a brow, never having heard that about his brother before. "Not that I know of. Mom used to call him a fish. That's how much he loved the water." Past tense. Always past tense when he spoke of his mother. It was something else they had in common.

"Oh. I suppose you didn't know that you can make your brother scream like a girl by pouring a drink down the back of his dress uniform, then." Dru snickered softly, hugging Josh about the waist. It had been an accident, but given that it had been at a wedding, it had taken several months before Josh's older brother would go anywhere near her if she was holding a drink.

"Oh," Josh echoed, furrowing his brows, feeling an odd swell of jealousy again - or maybe envy - at his own brother. Another event he had been kept from or hadn't wanted to attend, apparently. "I didn't realize you two were such good friends," he said, not liking the feeling that he was jealous of his own brother. If there was one person he didn't want to compete with for her affection, it was James. Josh figured he'd lose every time. He slid an arm around her shoulders, looking out on the view before them. He could almost see the sea twinkling brightly before them in the distance. "Maybe we can go surfing sometime when it gets warmer." There was that maybe again, as if he was unsure she'd want to be with him that long.

"We're not really friends," she assured him quietly, resting her head against his chest. "He's just one of the few people who actually talks to me rather than to whatever bit of shine I've got on my head, Your father taught him that, I think." She tipped her head back to look up at him with a faint smile, wondering why everything was maybe with him. "I think we should go surfing when it gets warmer," she agreed with him. "I don't think you want to miss the look on Tommy's face when I ride the waves for the first time, do you?"

Something she said finally brought a smile to his face, but whether it was about James or Tommy was hard to day. "No, I don't think I want to miss that," he told her, pulling her against him, though she was already about as close as a person could get. "You ever wonder why we never met' Before now, I mean."

"I couldn't really say," she mused softly, blushing a little in appreciation of the tall, strong body he pulled her closer to. "I don't like to think that maybe they were deliberately keeping us from meeting. But then, you are very handsome, and for the last few years, I've been a very impressionable teenager. Perhaps they were afraid I would make a fool out of myself crushing on you."

He smiled, either amused or pleased by her reply, or maybe a little of both. "What about now" Are you crushing on me now?" he asked, a little curiously. He wasn't sure he'd call it a crush exactly, but he was definitely feeling something he'd never felt before.

"Well, I've only ever had one crush to speak of," she conceded, leaning into him as she lifted her head to meet his gaze. She looked up at him for a long moment, something almost indescribable happening to her expression as she slipped from warm and teasing to something softer, something tender. "I know I've never felt anything like this before. It would be wrong to call it a crush. It feels a lot bigger than that."

"Bigger than a crush," he mused as he tilted his head to meet her gaze with a soft smile of his own, blue eyes bright with something - happiness, amusement, mischief - it was hard to say. "Hmm, that sounds serious."

Perhaps it was strange, the way they kept coming back to this. Looking into his eyes, Dru felt herself smile from the inside out, his uncertain confession of caring warming her right through. She let her hand rise, gently brushing her knuckles against his cheek. "I care about you, too."

He thought he should be happy that she liked him, that she cared about him, but for some reason, it only made his heart heavy with guilt. He didn't want any lies between them, even if they weren't really lies, but just things he hadn't told her yet. "Dru," he started, turning serious again. If he wanted her trust, he was going to have to come clean, even if it meant chancing losing her. "There's something you should know."

Her smile faded as he spoke, sensing something beyond what they seemed to feel for each other blocking the path forward. Her hand fell to her stomach as she frowned gently, holding his gaze, feeling something cold lodge in the pit of her belly. What was he trying to tell her" "Then you should tell me," she said quietly, prepared to listen to whatever it was that was weighing on his mind.

Maybe she had guessed it already; maybe it wouldn't matter. It didn't matter, not anymore. All of it wasn't a lie, was it' He hadn't come to Rhy'Din just to keep an eye on her. Had he cheated by trying to get close to her, by trying to be her friend" Maybe that was how it had started, but he wasn't with her now because of any sense of duty or obedience to his father or her uncle. He was there because he liked her and because he wanted to be. He frowned, gnawing on his lip a moment before drawing a breath. This was possibly the hardest thing he'd ever done, short of losing his mother.

"I haven't lied to you, but there's something you don't know. My father asked me to come here to keep an eye on you. He said your uncle was worried about you, worried someone might try to hurt you. To be honest, I didn't like the idea. It sounded a little too much like spying. I was going to tell him no, but then he told me I'd have a chance to audition for the Shanachie, so I agreed. I'm not sure how he arranged it, but it was the chance of a lifetime. But I want you to know, I'm not here because of that. I'm not here because I was asked to keep an eye on you. I'm here because I want to be, Dru. I'm here because..." He swallowed, as if he was afraid to continue, unsure how she'd take what he said next. "I think I'm falling for you, Dru. And it has nothing to do with you being a princess."

Uncle Julius. For the first time since they'd met, Josh got to see, close up and very personal, the royal mask slide into place. There was no way to tell what was going on behind her eyes, though her expression was not unpleasant or closed off. But she wasn't there, she wasn't with him, not truly. Her mind was whirling as she dealt with the surging spike of anger and betrayal that came with the knowledge that the only reason he was here, in Rhy'Din, was because her uncle had asked his friend to arrange it.

She sat up slowly, needing a moment to sort through those feelings, applying the logic her mother had made sure she learned to everything she had just been told. Josh was here because he had been offered a chance to audition for the Shanachie; that the chance had only come about because he had also been asked to keep an eye on her was inconsequential to his motives. The murkiness came when she considered how quick he had been to befriend her. Had he done it only because that was what his father - and therefore her uncle - had asked him to do' If they had met by chance, would he even have bothered" But again, that was inconsequential. They had met, they had become friends, and Josh had no control over her feelings. If he were playing a part to seduce her, why would he have told her this now, on the first opportunity they'd had to be completely alone together"

"I won't pretend that isn't troubling," she said finally, her voice quiet and calm as she drew herself out of her thoughts. "I just have one question, if you would allow me the answer." Twisting, she looked into his eyes. "If my uncle had not chosen to manipulate this situation, if it had come about on its own ....would we still be sitting here together, today?"

He noticed how her whole demeanor toward him changed. How could he not notice" The giggling, playful girl had disappeared and been replaced by the royal princess, trained, raised to be always on guard, to be careful of everyone she met, even far from home, even here in Rhy'Din. He wondered if she hated him for what he'd agreed to, if he'd just ruined the friendship, the feelings that had blossomed between them, but he just couldn't live with the guilt and the lies any longer. She deserved to know the truth, and she deserved to hear it from him. He didn't have to consider her question very long. Did it really matter how they had met' He had to believe that the outcome would have been the same. "I'd like to think we would. If it was up to me, we would," he told her at last.

Before his eyes, the mask faded from sight, showing him the girl he'd begun to know once again, proving that his answer was the right one to bring Dru back to him. Her soft eyes glistened with the gentle upset that came from her uncle's subterfuge, the fact that Josh had been caught up in court intrigue, but she wasn't angry with him. She didn't hate him. Her hand rose once again, touching his cheek with tender fingertips as she spoke. "Then it doesn't matter," she told him quietly. "I care for you, Josh, and I believe that you care for me. My uncle's involvement isn't ideal, and I will be speaking to him about it, but I can't be too angry. Because without it, I might not have met you here, and that would a sad loss indeed."

"I'm sorry," he told her in a hushed voice, unable to hide the guilt and torment he'd been feeling from his face. "I wanted to tell you sooner, but..." He paused momentarily, licking his lips, looking for the first time since he'd met her like he was close to tears. "I was afraid if I told you, you'd hate me, but I can't keep it from you anymore. I'm glad he asked me to come here, Dru, not just because of the theater. Because if he hadn't, we might never have met."

"I'm glad you told me," she said softly, lying back down on her side, facing him as her fingers gently caressed his cheek. "If you had told me sooner, I might have hidden from you. Any later, and it would have hurt too much. Thank you." Her thumb brushed over his lips. "No tears, Josh. I can't hate you. I want to feel something else for you, something that will happen the more I come to know you, I feel certain of it. There's no need for you to feel guilty anymore."

"There's something else," Josh said, needing her to know all of it, not just her uncle's part in thing, but his father's and his own; needing her to know that he wasn't interested in spending time with her because she was being groomed for the throne. "My father mentioned something about Parliament. About how they were going to come up with a list of men for you to choose from. He said there was a good chance my name might be on that list, but I need you to know that has nothing to do with me being here either. I know I'd feel the same about you whether you were a princess or a commoner. The fact that you are who you are only makes us understand each other better. I never tried to manipulate you, Dru. I don't care about politics or the throne. If I did, I'd have been groomed for it a long time ago. And I know it's still a long way off, but I don't know what I'll do if you choose someone else, instead of me."

"I could never hate you," he told her gently, as he reached up to touch her cheek and push her hair away from her face. He understood what she was trying to tell him though. She didn't want him agreeing to a life that would only end up making him unhappy, though he couldn't imagine ever being unhappy with her. "Maybe my parents shouldn't have spoiled me. Jamie would be a better choice." But then who would take over the duchy' He'd been prepared for neither prospect, and yet, he was a duke's son and was probably more prepared then he gave himself credit for.

"James is a good man, but he's ....he's so stuffy," Dru mused, unconsciously tilting her cheek into his touch as she managed a half-smile. "There's a time and place for always being prim and proper, but he seems to be that way all the time. The only time I've ever seen him even start to relax is when your father tells his appalling dirty joke."

"Dirty joke?" Josh echoed. This was a side of his father that he had never known. Though he disagreed with her assessment of his brother, he ignored that for now, his curiosity about his father's questionable behavior piqued.

"Oh, it's terrible," Dru laughed softly. "He only tells it at diplomatic receptions, if someone has managed to say something that's put an end to the conversation. You must have heard it - the comment on sex being like a bank account?"

From the look on his face, it was obvious he had no idea what she was talking about. His father - the Duke of Roslae - telling dirty jokes" If it was true, this was the first he'd heard about it. You could almost see the wheels turning in his head as he tried to sort out the joke. Why was sex like a bank account' Because you could make a deposit but not a withdrawal" "No, I don't think so."

Dru burst into giggles. "I will never forget the first time I heard him say it," she told Josh, dropping onto her back once more to chortle up at the sky. "It was a diplomatic reception being held in honor of the outgoing ambassador for Rhy'Din - a pretty stuffy old man who never much liked being in Tirisano from what I could gather. It was my first reception where I was expected to mingle on my own, so I must have been a little over thirteen. And the outgoing ambassador took the opportunity to pass comment on the fact that no one knew who my father was. Well, everyone in our group stopped talking. I felt tremendously humiliated and had no idea what to say to move the conversation on, and suddenly your father says, "Do you know, I've heard that sex in Rhy'Din is rather like having a bank account. You put it in, you take it out, and you always lose interest.""

Josh's mouth fell open, clearly in shock, not because of the content of the joke so much as the fact that his father had supposedly said it. He had never known his father to tell dirty jokes, but then he had never had to attend any of the events at which such jokes were said. "My father said that?" he asked, though it must be true if Dru had heard it. "Did it work" I mean, did it have the desired effect?" Which he assumed was to ease the tension in the room and take the spotlight off the question of the princess' paternity.

"Well, I don't think anyone quite knew what to say, but I laughed," she admitted. "I'm not entirely sure what happened next, but when I looked again, the ambassador had been led to a different group, and your father had topped up my glass with the wine I wasn't supposed to be drinking." She smiled, turning her head toward Josh. "He tells that joke whenever anything seems awkward around me, I think. Rather than start a debate or respond to a veiled insult, he cracks a terrible joke that everyone knows, and everyone knows is coming. He's a master diplomat, your father."

"I suppose he is. He managed to talk me into coming to Rhy'Din without much effort." Josh turned thoughtful again, wondering what exactly were his father's motivations and hopes for his youngest son. Was he hoping Josh would get this silly theater thing out of his system before becoming the royal consort' Had he been planning this all along" Was he just doing a friend a favor, or was he thinking of what was best for Josh' And what was best for Josh, anyway"

As his thoughts turned inward, Dru's smile faded, her head turning yet again to lift her gaze to the sky with a quiet sigh. "You can get out of this right now, you know," she said softly, trying hard to conceal how much that would hurt. "You don't have to get in any deeper. We ....we could part ways, and you wouldn't ever have to see me again. You could take control of your own dreams and wishes."

Josh realized that, at some point in his life, he had to grow up and accept who he was and what he'd been born into. Though he wanted to be an actor, he was also a duke's son and with that came certain expectations and responsibilities, no matter how much he tried to avoid them. And then there was Dru. He wasn't sure what was happening between them exactly. They were certainly getting closer. She had already told him that she would choose him. The ball was, so to speak, in his court. Everything seemed to hinge on this one decision, a decision that would determined his fate for the rest of his life, and maybe hers, too. It was too big a decision to make at a moment's notice, but too important to both of them to dismiss without a thought. "I don't want to get out of it, Dru," he told her with a sigh, turning his head toward hers. "I just need some time. That's all. I want to get to know you better. You said it yourself, we have a whole year." Or thereabouts, anyway.

"I know." She nodded, not daring to look at him, though she felt his gaze come to rest on her face as she stared up at the sky. "But I don't want you to forget that you have options. You have a choice, no matter how hard it might seem."

"But you don't," he said, reminding himself, more than her. He knew she didn't want him to pity her or to choose her out of pity. Maybe, in the end, neither of them really had a choice. They had been born nobles, and there was no escaping that fact, more so for her, than for him.

She shrugged. "That's just how it goes," she sighed softly. "Which is why I want to just enjoy the time I've got. With you, if you're okay with that."

"So, what happens now?" Josh asked, needing to know where they were going from there. "Do we just keep going the way we're going and take it one day at a time?"

"I'd like that," she confessed quietly. "I want the opportunity to find out if what I feel, if what you feel, is something that's meant to last, or something that will naturally fade over time." Soft brown eyes sought out his with a hopeful touch to her faint smile. "We deserve that chance, don't we?"

"I think we do," he agreed, feeling somehow guilty for asking her for time, but what she was asking could change the rest of their lives, and he didn't want them living a life full of regret. "You deserve to be happy, Dru," he added. Duty or no, he didn't want to think about her living a life without happiness, without love.

"Not at the expense of anyone else's happiness," she said softly, inching closer to touch her lips against his shoulder. "I won't ask you until it's time to make the decision. I just want to be us."

As he leaned closer, she felt her smile fade, leaving behind it the same sparkle in soft eyes that had somehow grown more intimate in their sheen as she looked up at him. Breathless or not, he had her complete focus, every last ounce of her attention riveted on him as he said her name. "Yes, Josh?"

He swallowed, gulping a nervous breath before answering, his voice turning quiet. "I-I want to kiss you," he stammered nervously. It wasn't like they had never kissed before, but this was a little dangerous. They were completely alone and there was no one there to stop them if things got out of hand, but he wasn't a duke's son for nothing. He was a gentleman first, even in a compromising position as this one.

The prospect of anything getting out of hand hadn't occurred to the little princess pinned beneath him, since she'd never really been in any situation where there had ever been a chance of things getting out of hand, with one obvious exception that had been beyond everyone's control. Josh's sudden nerves baffled her, but there was little hint of that confusion on her face. All that was written there was longing. "I want you to kiss me," she answered him softly. "I want you to feel as though you can kiss me whenever you want to, without asking my permission."

He wasn't sure if he was ready to take it that far, if he was ready to kiss her whenever he felt like it - which, admittedly, might be more often than either of them might expect. It wasn't that he was shy or that he didn't know how to kiss a girl. He'd had a few dates and even a few girlfriends over the years, though nothing serious. The noble blood that flowed through his veins and the decorum he'd been raised to adhere to were more a part of him than even he realized. Even so, there was a burning desire deep inside him to kiss her, and it was a desire he was having a hard time keeping at bay, especially with her so irresistibly close. He leaned just a little bit closer, so close his lips were mere inches from hers, gazing into her eyes before his gaze drifted to the soft fullness of her lips.

He wasn't the only one struggling with the desire to touch and kiss warring with years of protocol and decorum. Dru had been raised with the insistence that it was the man's place to make the first move, yet also with the knowledge that she would have to be the one to propose, given her status. It was a strange paradox to live in, made harder to cope with given her dealings with Josh thus far. She'd never been so bold as to even make eye contact with a boy before she'd met him, and yet she had made the first move in so many ways since then. Here and now, she realized that she wanted him to take charge, to take control; she wanted Josh to make the decision as to whether or not he kissed her. She couldn't help the way her gaze flickered to his lips and back to his eyes, or the way her neck craned to raise her head higher, the subtle, unconscious invitation right there for him to take. All it would take would be another moment of hesitation, and she felt sure she would start to beg.

Whether she was a princess or not, his desire to kiss her overcame his years of reinforced protocol and decorum, and he leaned that much closer, succumbing to both their desires and losing himself in that kiss. When he at last pressed his lips against hers, the kiss they shared was soft and tender, as warm and gentle as summer rain.

He caught her just as her lips parted to plead for the kiss that touched her mouth, offering her a taste of his lips she'd not had before that moment. Her breath shuddered as she gasped softly, hands flexing in his with the sudden wish to wrap her arms around him, to pull him closer as something erupted deep inside her. The kiss she returned might not have been the most experienced or sophisticated, but it was all his, spurred on by the feelings he evoked in her.

He relaxed the hold he had on her hands, his fingers sliding through hers as he lost himself in her kiss, lost in a single moment of ecstasy. If this wasn't Seven Minutes in Heaven, he wasn't sure what was. The feelings her lips evoked in him were unlike anything he'd ever felt before. There was desire, yes, but there was something else - something new, something different, something deeper and completely unexpected. The first stirrings of love, perhaps - a new and entirely unexpected feeling, deep and strong and true. Was this what they meant by sparks" It must be. It felt like fireworks going off, setting his body and his heart on fire.

Closer. That was all she could think of as he kissed her, as his grip softened and the kiss deepened, as her heart beat double time in her chest at the merest suggestion of intimacy beyond this moment. She arched from the grass beneath her, the kiss breaking for just a moment as she caught her breath, before resuming with what could only be passion. But that passion was tempered by something she didn't have words for, something soft and powerful and completely overwhelming that seemed to spread through her like a warm wave until even her fingertips tingled in its wake.

He knew he had to be careful not to go too far, not to push either of them over the brink, past the point of no return. There was no danger of that yet, so long as he was careful and took things slow. And yet, slow was not what he wanted in that moment, his body having a mind of its own. It was as if his body was betraying him, his heart wanting one thing, his body another, or so it seemed. He kissed her again and again, daring to push her a little farther, deepening the kiss that little bit more, his kisses slowly growing more passionate, more ardent, more needy.

And though her body wanted the same thing, rising to meet his ardor with her own, there was still a shy little woman inside Dru who knew that any further would be too far for a girl who had only been kissed for the first time a day before. Gently, she eased one hand from his, still answering each kiss with eagerness until that faint flare of panic finally made itself known amidst the maelstrom of longing feelings threatening to engulf her. "Josh," she mumbled against his lips, reluctant to tear herself away, but needing to before she grew scared. "Sweetheart ..."

He groaned softly as she tore her lips away from his, drawing a deep breath, coming to his senses before things went too far. He looked down at her with a little panic in his eyes, worrying he'd gone too far, he pushed her farther than she'd wanted to go. He realized that it wasn't just the fact that she was his sovereign presumptive that held him back, but that he cared for her more deeply than he dared admit. "I'm sorry," he found himself apologizing, blushing deeply and looking down to find his body pressed snugly to hers.

"That's not a picnic!" Josh exclaimed, chuckling a little. "To be honest, it's been a long time since I've gone on a picnic, too." His smile faded a little before he added, "My mom used to love picnics. The ants and all." A small smile appeared on his face at a particular memory. "I remember once when I was little, we picked a spot under this big oak tree, only to find out later that we were right next to an anthill." He laughed at the memory of that particular disaster, which had somehow become a cherished memory.

"Ants?" Charmed by the laughing smile on his face, Dru tilted her head, silently inviting him to tell the story that made him so happy to recall. Not enough people she knew had happy memories they were prepared to share, leaving her often feeling as though she was somehow a freak for having enjoyed her childhood with her mother and uncles.

"Yeah," he smiled, his eyes shining at the happy memory of that day, though it would never come again. "We were just getting ready to eat, and my dad started scratching. He couldn't figure out why he was so itchy, until he realized that ants were crawling up his pants." Josh chuckled at the memory of seeing his father dancing about and shrieking as he tried to shake the ants out of his pant-legs.

Offered the mental image of the usually reserved and witty Duke Oliver Stuart dancing around with ants literally in his pants, Dru burst into giggles of her own, finding it all too easy to imagine. "What did he do?"

"Well, thankfully, we were picnicking not far from a lake, so he finally just jumped in!" Josh laughed again at the memory of it, seeing it all in his head like it had only just happened, though it had been many years ago. He wiped a tear from his cheek, brought on by laughter that was mingled with a little sorrow.

"He didn't!" Their laughter mingled, smoothing over the potential upsets of their previous exchanges as they bonded over two different sides of a man they both knew, though obviously Josh knew his father far better than Dru ever would. Nonetheless, she was fond of the Duke, and she couldn't help noting just how much of his easy charm and perfect manners he had passed onto both his sons. "I would have paid to see that!"

"I'm sure half of Parliament would have paid to see that," Josh agreed with a smile, but it had been one of a few private family moments that he kept close to his heart. "Then there was the time Jamie dared me to climb a tree, but once I was up there, I was too afraid to come down."

"How did you get down again?" she asked curiously, wondering how old he had been at the time. She couldn't see the tall, capable young man he was now having any trouble, but had heard enough from Jamie about his little brother to know that Josh might not always have been so cute.

"My father had to climb the tree and help me down," he told her, shaking his head at the memory, a wistful smile on his face. Those innocent care-free days were over, and even though his mother was gone, he still had his memories and no one could take them away.

"I fell the first time I climbed a tree," she confessed, since they seemed now to be sharing innocent stories of their childhood. "My mother was horrified with me for even climbing up there, but what else was I supposed to do' I was absolutely convinced that my cat was never going to be able to get down on her own!"

"Did you rescue her?" he asked curiously. "Your cat, I mean," he added, realizing the cat might not have been female. He disentangled himself from her to climb to his feet and wander over toward the motorcycle and the picnic supplies he'd stowed in the carrier.

"Sort of." She pushed herself to her feet to move and help him, wanting to be involved, and if she was very honest with herself, wanting to be close to him. "She might not have rediscovered the way to turn around on her branch if I hadn't been halfway along it, you never know. Though I do appreciate that seeing a six year old in the top branches of an oak tree is probably quite alarming, I very much doubt it was anywhere near as alarming as the realization of said six-year-old that not only has her apparently stuck cat just reached the ground on its own, but that the branch she is clinging to just started cracking."

His eyes widened at the turn in her story. "What did you do?" he asked. His own story had been far less exciting, though similar. How many people had getting stuck in a tree in common' It was only one of many things they seemed to have in common, but were only just discovering. He opened the carrier and pulled out a red plaid blanket and a picnic basket.

"Dropped like a stone," she laughed, leaning her hip against the bike as he opened up the seat she'd been sitting on for the ride to reveal the goodies within. "In retrospect, I probably shouldn't have tried to break my fall with my hands." She grinned. "I wasn't allowed into the grounds unsupervised again until I was twelve."

He winced at the thought of that, wondering what she might have been like as a child. "Were you hurt?" he asked, wondering if she'd sprained or broken her wrists. Children as a rule were pretty resilient, but accidents happened. With the blanket tucked beneath one arm and the basket in the other, he started back toward the spot they'd claimed that held the best view.

"Oh, I broke my arm," she chuckled, shaking her head as she moved to follow him once again. "In three places. Suffice it to say, the cat was got rid of and I was given my first horse instead."

He had to laugh at the absurdity of that. "Yes, because horses are so much safer than cats." He handed her the basket so that he could spread the blanket out over the ground, which was still cold from winter, though the snow had long since melted.

"Naturally." Giggling, she took the basket, holding it in both hands as she watched him spread the blanket out on the ground they had only recently been ....Well, yes. She blushed at the thought, a soft smile on her face at that also pleasant memory, however recent it was. "Of course, the horse was taken away after I got caught practicing showjumping over the fences put there to keep me in."

"You can talk to me about it, if you want," he offered, giving her hand a gentle squeeze. Though he didn't want her to linger too long on tragedy and sadness, he knew it wasn't good for her to leave it all bottled up either. "I can't change things, but I can listen," he added, reminding her that that's what friends were for.

"I still have nightmares," she confessed softly, folding her other hand about his, staring down at them. "Every night, I wake up and I know I'm going to die. I know there's someone out there who wants me dead, and I don't know why. I don't scream anymore, I ....I just cry until I fall asleep again. Not very healthy, I know."

"No one's going to let that happen, Dru," he inched closer in an attempt to comfort and reassure her again, though it seemed rather futile. He was an actor, not a bodyguard, though he knew that if anyone tried to hurt her while he was around, they'd have to go through him first to get to her. "You're safe here in Rhy'Din," he reminded her. At least, so long as the wrong people didn't find out where she was. "Maybe they'll find who's responsible before we have to go home." Not you, we.

She raised her eyes to his, letting him see the haunted sadness that still plagued her when she thought about the incident that had destroyed her family in Tirisano. "Maybe," she agreed quietly, and suddenly shook her head. "I shouldn't have said anything. It is hardly appropriate conversation for the point of today, which was to have fun."

"You don't have to worry about appropriate when you're with me," he told her, meeting her gaze and offering a soft smile, despite the gravity of the conversation. But he agreed - he thought they'd lingered on sadness long enough. He reached for a drumstick, holding it under his chin like a microphone. "Should I give you my best Elvis impression?" It was meant as a joke, since he was sort of playing Elvis on stage these days, in the role of Pharaoh.

It did the trick. Dru looked up, startled, only to find herself giggling at the sight of him posing with a drumstick. "With or without the thrusting?" she asked with artless innocence. "Because I think in this scenario my fainting is the last thing I would do at such an invitation."

"Oh?" he asked with a playful smirk, happy to have made her laugh again. There had been too much sadness in her life recently, and he wanted to make her happy. After all, that was the reason he'd brought her here today. "What would you do instead?"

"Oh, I think I would probably start with tickling you again," she grinned impishly, finding it disturbingly easy to suppress that darker side of her consciousness these days. "That certainly became entertaining rather quickly."

"Maybe we should eat lunch first," he suggested, offering her the drumstick that was going to serve as a microphone. They had the rest of the afternoon to themselves to do whatever they wanted and no one to tell them otherwise. Josh was determined to make it a happy afternoon - the happiest either of them had spent in a long time. And that determination, born as it was out of a burgeoning sense of affection for the little princess, was all he needed to do just that, filling their afternoon with laughter and enjoyment of each other's company. It was almost perfect.

((Slowly, slowly, or possibly quicky, quicky ....Young love, eh' Many thanks to Josh's player!))