Owner	Pose
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia takes a deep, calming breath, before sending out a text to summon Mystique to the Gardens. 'I need to tell you something, meet me in the Gardens,' is all it said with a little heart emoji to make sure that what it is that she has to say isn't a bad thing. Her heart would be beating a mile a minute if it still could, and she could swear that there are butterflies in her stomach. When Mystique arrives and makes her way into the garden proper, she'll find that Theo had moved his upright piano out onto the lawn. He's sat at the piano, looking expectantly at Lydia, and occasionally giving her an encouraging smile. Somehow Lydia has managed to convince Bruin to grow a garland of flowers to drape over the piano, giving the whole thing a pastoral look. Lydia herself is dressed just as pastorally. She's in a light pink sundress with spaghetti straps, and her wild curly hair has been tamed to hang naturally down past her shoulders. Her feet are bare, and her toes squinch nervously in the grass.
Mystique	It was another evening on the over populated asteroid, which meant that Mystique was wearing a pair of skin tight white leggings over a low cut white body suit with long sleeves. Over the body suit was a pale blue casual suit jacket she left unbuttoned, and her feet were encased by a pair of blue leather boots that reached her knees. Some of the clothing was real, some of it was here, she was mixing and matching. In the middle of a meeting with the 'captains', what she called the people in charge of each floor of refugees, she got the text from Lydia and... that was the end of the meeting. She told them all to send her a text report and headed to the garden. If it had been something more important than 'everything is the same as yesterday' then likely she would have had to text back to give her ten minutes, but that's all it was. Wandering into the garden, she starts looking around. H & D had been no help at all when she asked what was up, they had just played dumb and said, "Stuff." Seeing Theo at the piano, and that the piano was there with flowers, both of the cobalt mutants brows lift. "Everything alright?" she asks cautiously as she approaches slowly, the feeling that something was about to happen creeping up her spine.
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia's face lights up when she sees her lover come into view. "Yes," she says, taking Mystique's hand and brings her closer for a kiss. Then she leads her to a spot before the piano. "Well, no, but yes." She turns and walks up to stand beside the piano. "The end of the world is nigh," she says, fidgeting with one of the flowers. "And while I have confidence that we can stop it from happening, I want this moment to say some things before it could possibly be too late." Her eyes drift to gaze upon the earth, hanging there in space. She nods to Theo to start playing and turns back to face Mystique. The song Theo starts is uptempo, like a jig, but sincere and serious. "It laid buried here," she sings, bringing her hands to her heart. "It laid deep inside me. It's so deep I don't think that I can speak about it." She shakes her head, "It could take me all my life, but it would only take a moment to tell you what I'm feeling, but I don't know if I'm ready yet." She opens her arms wide, welcomingly, "You come walking into this room like you're walking into my arms, and what would I do without you?"
Mystique	Mystique had never considered herself the romantic type. She had warned Lydia when their relationship began that it wasn't something she fully understood, and after nearly one hundred and forty years, she didn't know if it could or would effect her. She had been wrong, at least in part. When Lydia started singing she felt her heart beat increase, jump into her throat, and allowed the women she loved to see the surprise and awe in her face. The cobalt mutant's yellow eyes follow Lydia's movements as she sings, a gentle smile spreading across her lips before she starts to dance a little to the rhythm of the song, but she doesn't move away from her love... no, if anything she moves closer. She won't interrupt the singing, but she lets her body move to the music.
Lydia Dietrich	It's hard to sing and grin like a maniac, but Lydia some how manages as she sings the chorus,     "Take away the love and the anger     And a little piece of hope holding us together     Looking for a moment that'll never happen     Living in the gap between past and future     Take away the stone and the timber     And a little piece of rope won't hold it together" She starts swaying her hips in time to her singing, and moves closer to her lover as she sings.     "If you can't tell your sister     If you can't tell a priest     'Cause it's so deep you don't think that you can     speak about it to anyone     Can you tell it to your heart?" By the time she gets to this part, she's standing in front of Mystique, and she reaches out and lays the palm of her hand on Raven's chest, right over her heart.     "Can you find it in your heart     To let go of these feelings like a bell to a southerly wind?     We could be like two strings beating" And by now, Lydia has guided Raven's hand to her own chest, right over her heart. As she sings, one could swear that they could feel a pulse in Lydia, matching that of Raven's. It's not a physical sensation, but more the pulsing of energy.     "Speaking in sympathy     'What would we do without you?'     Two strings speak in sympathy"
Mystique	As Lydia moves close, Raven starts to move her hips right in with Lydia's. Her eyes stay locked on her lovers face, watching that grin appear, then up to watch her eyes. Maybe it was just the fact that she loves this woman so much that every fiber of her being was twitching with excitement over this gesture, this song, this moment, or maybe it was that deep inside, Raven had a romantic side that had been stung so many times, it was locked up until someone truly beautiful could set it free. When her hand is lifted to rest on Lydia's chest, there is a moment of surprise over the pulsing energy that seemed to match her own heart beat. She wanted to wrap her arms around Lydia, but that would interrupt the song, interrupt what Lydia was intending, so the smile remained on her face as she moved in time with her.
Lydia Dietrich	"Take away the love and the anger     And a little piece of hope holding us together     Looking for a moment that'll never happen     Living in the gap between past and future     Take away the stone and the timber     And a little piece of rope won't hold it together     We're building a house of the future together" When Lydia sings this round of the chorus, she slowly backs away from her lover, and by the time she gets to this last line, somehow, through slight of hand, she slips a ring onto Mystique's finger. "What would we do without you?"     "Well, if it's so deep you don't think that you can speak about it     Just remember to reach out and touch the past and the future     Well, if it's so deep you don't think you can speak about it     Don't ever think that you can't change the past and the future     Mmh, yeah 'What would we do without you?'" By the time she brings the song to a close, tears of blood have stained her cheeks, the deep feeling of love and connection she feels for Raven apparent in the way that her eyes glisten and the smile on her fact. Before Raven can say anything she holds up a hand to stall her. "This isn't a proposal," she says. "I know you've had bad luck with marriages before, and I'm not cruel enough to put you on the spot like that." "This is a promise. I will always be there for you, no matter what. Come hell or high water we will always be together." A smile breaks upon her lips, "Should I die, I will come back for you. I've done it once already, how hard can it be? Should the unthinkable happen and you die before me, I will storm the gates of Hell to be with you." Her smile turns sad, "And if we fail, and our universe is undone, my soul will find your and we'll spend an eternity together."
Mystique	A hundred feelings rip through Raven at the same time, causing her to just stand there in shock, a few tears escaping her eyes. She's forgotten Theo was even there, else the emotional reaction might well have been entirely different. Right now, to her at least, there are only three people in the garden. Lydia, herself, and Bruin in a bush. Inspite of a ring on her finger, Raven can't take her eyes off Lydia, nor can she stop the small tears from rolling down her cheeks. She had known how much she loved Lydia, that she would kill for her, die for her, and even selfishly bring her love back from the brink of death via Vampirism because she could not live without her. To know now, to hear Lydia say that her love was just as powerful and deep, it spring to life inside Raven something that had not been there in a very, very long time... hope. Only now does she take a moment to look at he ring. It could be make of tin foil and it wouldn't matter, it was the gesture of it that struck Raven so hard that the few tears that were sneaking out became many. Not of sadness, no, these were of joy. No longer able to not be hugging Lydia, she steps over and wraps her arms around the woman so tightly. "I would marry you," she whispers in Lydia's ear before kissing her lightly. "I have no words beyond... I love you, I would give you the moon and the stars if I could. Nothing matters more to me than you, Lydia. Thank you... for being you, and being mine."
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia wraps her arms around Raven, returning her kiss deeply. For a while they stand there, hugging each other tightly sharing the love and the warmth that they have for each other. "When we know the universe is safe," she breathes, "we'll talk about marriage. For now, I have you in my heart. You give me strength. You make me feel alive. When I despair, I think of you and what you mean to me and it gives me hope." They hug a little bit longer before Lydia breaks and takes a step back, sliding her hands along Raven's arms until their hands are holding. Still smiling widely, she says, "As much as I'd like to spend the rest of the day with you, we both have a lot of work we have to get to." Reluctantly, she turns to Theo. "Thank you for helping out with this," she says. "I couldn't have done it without you." She looks over to where Bruin is hiding and calls out to him, "You, too, Bruin." She turns back to Raven and steps up to her to give her another long, deep kiss. "I'll see you tonight when you go to bed, yeah?"
Mystique	Raven savors the kiss and the closeness, her head floating in the clouds, figuratively of course. "If it weren't for you Lydia," she offers before they break contact. "I would probably still be cold, hard, lost in a sea of pain. You give me hope," she actually flushes a little bluer in the cheeks. "Something I thought I would never feel again. You give me the strength to keep fighting to be a better person." She would love to spend the rest of the day, in the garden with Lydia. To forget about everything else out there for just one day, but she knew it wasn't possible, not right now. Too much relied on Lydia's work, so reluctantly she offers a nod. The second kiss is just as deep as the first, perhaps even deeper as she knows when it ends, Lydia will be gone again for a time. "I'll wait for you tonight, have the bed nice and warm," she finally says, though she really wants to just go with Lydia. "Text me when you head back to the asteroid, so I know you're on your way."
Lydia Dietrich	Lydia stands there, awkwardly. Clearly she needs to go. Everybody knows this. But, she just doesn't /want/ to. She steps up and kisses Raven again, and after a while, she reluctantly breaks away. "Okay," she says, her head in the clouds. "I'm going now." And yet.... No, she shakes her head, and starts walking towards the elevator. The fate of the world rests on her shoulders, but now, with love in her heart, it's a little easier to bear.