Work Text:
The botanical garden is warm and cozy, making it feel beautifully alive. Sunlight filters through the fogged glass panes overhead, and the faint scent of greenery fills the air.
Sethos steps inside first, and the very moment she does, something in her brightens. Wanderer watches the way her shoulders relax, the way her posture shifts into something open and content, as if she can finally truly forget about her responsibilities.
She pauses near the entrance to adjust the strap of the satchel across her shoulder. The humidity curls the ends of her hair, soft and unruly, and she pushes a strand behind her ear without thinking. Wanderer pretends she’s not staring, but she is, and shamelessly so, absorbing every small detail as if it’s unfolding in slow motion.
The garden isn’t new to either of them since it’s a place they return to often when they want a calm date. It's their quiet refuge. A space where nothing demands too much of them, so they can just enjoy each other freely.
“It smells so nice today.” Sethos says as she finally notices Wanderer standing beside her.
Wanderer hums, feigning disinterest, though she’s more focused on how the light pools around Sethos like a halo than on anything else there. “If you say so.”
Sethos answers by threading their fingers together with a knowing smile. “You’re staring.”
“I’m not.”
“You are.” Her voice softens with barely contained amusement. “A lot.”
Wanderer looks away so fast the movement borders on embarrassing, heat rising to her cheeks despite her best efforts. “Maybe. A little.”
Sethos’ smile is immediate and devastating in how effortlessly it softens something inside Wanderer. Without warning, Sethos tugs her deeper into the garden, her steps practically bouncing. Wanderer lets herself be pulled, pretending she isn’t ready to follow Sethos whenever she goes.
“Come on,” Sethos says, excitement bubbling in her voice. “There's a new section I want to show you.”
They walk past rows of blooming flowers, each petal shining with beads of mist that glitter like scattered glass. Wanderer barely registers any of it. Her gaze keeps drifting back to Sethos, who moves through the place like she's in her element.
“Look!” Sethos breathes as they reach the far corner.
A display of desert flowers stands there, tall and vibrant despite their delicate appearances. Their colors shift with the light, a mix of reds, pinks, purples, and yellows. Some are twisted as if caught mid-spin in a breeze while others hide their beauty until the angle of the sun reveals what they're hiding.
Sethos crouches down, her expression softening. “I haven’t seen these in a while.”
Wanderer follows her down, settling beside her slowly. “They don’t look like much.”
Sethos laughs under her breath at that. “They’re stubborn. They grow where everything else gives up.”
Wanderer glances at her, something warm stirring within her. “Sounds familiar.”
There's a pause, and then Sethos looks at her with a smile so knowing Wanderer feels it in her stomach.
“Are you calling me stubborn?” She teases.
“I’m calling you impossible,” Wanderer mutters. “… But tolerable.”
“Oh? That’s a high compliment coming for you, my lotus.”
Wanderer tries and fails to hide the small smile tugging at her lips at the pet name.
Sethos leans in until their shoulders brush, nudging her gently. “I’m glad you came with me today.”
“You insisted I did,” Wanderer says, though her voice softens at the end. “But I like coming with you.”
Sethos studies her for a long moment, as if searching for something.
She seems to find it because she leans in and presses a kiss to Wanderer’s cheek, lingering just long enough that Wanderer’s entire body feels like it's burning.
“There,” she starts softly. “As a thank you.”
Wanderer stares back at her, stunned before she forces herself to look away. “That’s not fair.”
“So, I can’t kiss my girlfriend now?” Sethos asks, raising an eyebrow.
“…Tch.”
Sethos laughs so brightly this time, her curls bouncing as she moves. She rises to her feet and offers Wanderer a hand, which she takes it without hesitation, grumbling under her breath even though her grip says otherwise.
They continue through the garden, Sethos occasionally stopping to admire a flower, Wanderer occasionally stopping to admire Sethos when she thinks she won’t notice.
That is, until Sethos suddenly stops and gently tugs Wanderer closer.
“You’re staring again, you know?” She says softly, smiling with a hint of shyness.
And Wanderer doesn’t deny it this time. She leans in, closing the distance between them, her fingers tightening around Sethos’ hand in something like she's completely surrendering herself to her girlfriend.
And before she can overthink it, she kisses her.
It’s soft and loving, and it tastes faintly sweet and something unmistakably Sethos. Sethos melts into it, her hand rising to cup Wanderer’s jaw in a way that makes Wanderer’s chest flutter wildly.
When they pull back from it, Sethos’ smile is small and radiant enough to steal the air from her lungs, a questioning look in her eyes since it's rare for Wanderer to initiate things so openly.
“What?” Wanderer murmurs, a slow smirk forming on her face. “I can’t kiss my girlfriend now?”
Sethos shakes her head and bumps their shoulders together again when her earlier words are repeated against her, failing to hide her pleased grin. “Come on. Let's go before you distract me again.”
Wanderer follows, with absolutely no intention of obeying, her fingers still intertwined with Sethos’, which makes her heart feel embarrassingly and wonderfully light.