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“Your kingdom... gosh, Perfuma, it’s so beautiful,” Scorpia says, hushed and awed and looking around with big, bright eyes. Perfuma has lost count of how many compliments – genuine compliments, from the heart, just like everything Scorpia says – Scorpia has given Plumeria on this tour Perfuma’s giving her, but it has yet to get old. Scorpia’s sincere adoration and delight never fails to light up Perfuma’s heart.
You’re beautiful, Perfuma thinks, looking at the girl she loves looking at her home. She’s looking at Scorpia and Scorpia’s looking at her kingdom, so in a way she’s looking back at her. It’s like a piece of her heart. A piece that Scorpia’s handling with the same gentle love she treats Perfuma herself.
“Thanks,” Perfuma replies softly, leaning into Scorpia’s side. “I haven’t been here much since the war started. It’s good to be back.”
The magic released when the Heart was destroyed has put the whole planet in bloom, in a way Perfuma’s never seen before. It’s dazzling. And Plumeria was already so full of life and nature, so now it’s overflowing with it, flowers Perfuma’s never seen before, vibrancy Perfuma has only ever seen in dreams, trees and mushrooms reaching towards the sky. There’s so much to discover, her home both familiar and completely new to her.
“I’ve never seen anything like it,” Scorpia says, in that same hushed tone. Scorpia has seen so much of the world, but so little of it has been good. Perfuma is always delighted to introduce her to things that make her happy. Flower crowns and apple pie and cheek kisses and this.
Her home is something that makes Scorpia happy and that makes her happy in return, unbelievably so. It could be your home too, she thinks but doesn’t say. Not yet. Too soon. But someday.
Instead, she leans up on her tiptoes to cup Scorpia’s face in her hands and lead her into a sweet kiss. Scorpia tastes like the fruit served at the welcoming feast; she’d tried everything, unused to food that isn’t grey and delighted to try new things. It stained her lips red and made her even sweeter.
Perfuma breaks the kiss with a smile, but stays close, bumping their noses together.
“Not that I’m complaining, but what was that for?” Scorpia mutters into the space between them.
“For being you,” Perfuma responds, sappy but honest. Scorpia’s face breaks into a dazzling smile, her cheeks flushing. She’s easy to fluster. It’s adorable.
“Well, I’ll be sure to keep it up,” Scorpia promises. Perfuma giggles and kisses her on the nose, which only makes her grin harder.
“Come on,” Perfuma says, reluctantly stepping back but making up for it by catching hold of Scorpia’s pincer; hand-holding is made kind of difficult when your girlfriend has claws, but Perfuma doesn’t let that stop her. As long as she avoids the jagged edge, it’s perfectly comfortable, the feeling of it smooth and pleasantly cool against her skin. “I’ll show you our room.”
“’Our’?” Scorpia says, cocking her head, confused.
Perfuma snorts. “I’m not going to make you sleep in a guest room, sweetheart. Unless you rather...”
“No, of course not!” Scorpia is quick to reassure. “I just, uh. Wasn’t expecting it. But it’s nice. Sharing something like that. I was always alone in the Horde. Guess ‘cause I was a Princess, they kept me separated... ah, I’m rambling, aren’t I?”
“I like your rambling,” Perfuma says softly.
“Well, anyway,” Scorpia coughs, blushing again. “Lead the way. To, uh, our room.”
And, hand in claw, Perfuma does.