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[princessia]

"Umm... h-hello! This is Elize Lutus. I'm sorry I can't get to you right now. Please leave a message."

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[princessia]

[ A small laugh. ]

Yes. I command you to strike a pose.

[serves]

[Time for Cullen to bust out the contrapposto because he's not very imaginative. He stands, taking a few steps back, weight resting on his right leg. There's the urge to cross his arms, a natural resting post, or rest his hands on a sword that isn't at his hip--so he just rests one hand on his hip and lets the other dangle.]

Like this?

[princessia]

[ She starts drawing in her childlike art, using dotted eyes and basic shapes again. What is making realism art? ]

That's good.

[ And she's going to use this opportunity to try to make him look silly. ]

You should flex your other arm!

[serves]

Flex? [He looks baffled.]

[princessia]

Yes. I command you to flex your other arm. Don't you know how?

[serves]

I'm... not sure if I do. [Show him!]

[princessia]

How do you not know?

[ She just stares at him, wide-eyed with disbelief. This plan of hers is going to backfire isn't it...

But she sits up straight in her chair, lifting one arm up and clenching her fist. Elize barely has any muscle at all. ]

You just lift your arm up like this!

[serves]

[Just as planned. Cullen grins, and approaches her to squeeze her tiny little bicep gently between his fingers.]

What in the world have you been lifting?

[LIKE IT'S IMPRESSIVE...]

[princessia]

N-nothing?!

[ That feels kind of ticklish. She curls up in her chair, pulling her arm away and shielding it with her other hand. ]

...You tricked me!

[ Again. Huff. MAKING HER POUTY, PUFFY CHEEK FACE AGAIN. ]

[serves]

[It doesn't help that her pout is one of the most adorable things he's ever seen. He laughs, shaking his head.]

I needed a proper demonstration before I made a fool of myself. You had to show me proper form.

[Uh huh. Cullen mimics her, lifting his arm and flexing. He has substantially more muscle than Elize.]

[princessia]

Yes, I'm sure you needed that.

[ Sarcasm, of course.

Elize is going to put drawing aside for a moment. She slips out of her seat and with a short hop, reaches to grab his arm with both her hands. This is for squeezing her arm. ]

[serves]

[Such sass for a little girl. But Cullen's still grinning as she hops. She might end up hanging from his arm, because she weighs next to nothing when compared to a sword and shield.]

As light as a feather.

[princessia]

[ She does look surprised about how easily she can just hang off of his arm. Her feet dangle right above the floor and she wiggles her legs a bit. ]

What have you been lifting?

[serves]

I was a soldier, at home. I carried a sword with me everywhere I went.

[It's just as easy to bend at the waist and hook his other arm under her knees to pick her up entirely.]

Now... you, apparently.

[princessia]

[ Makes sense. That's not as surprising now that she thinks on it, knowing that he's part of the same group as Jove and that he was previously a templar. Thanks to her conversation with Cole, she knows very well not to mention the templar bit around him.

As he lifts her up, she startles but winds up letting out a giggle. ]

So, you were... a knight in shining armor.

[serves]

I don't know if I'd say that, but I did my best to serve and protect. [Even if he sort of fucked up at that. Cullen does his best not to think of it as he places Elize effortlessly back into her seat.]

[princessia]

You do that here too!

[ For her. She places a lot of her trust in him.

She settles back down in her seat, picking up her pen and scribbling in a few lines on her paper. Then she looks back up at him. ]

I didn't tell you to stop posing.

[serves]

Ah, yes. Forgive me, Commander.

[He'd never play around like this with an adult, but with Elize, it's permissible. She gets a fond pat on the head before he goes back to where he was... and flexes.

It's not like Jove will figure out anything. He'll deny it all.]

[princessia]

Don't let me catch you slacking again.

[ ...She should try to make herself sound threatening, but she's failing. There's an obvious laugh in her voice.

Glancing up and down from her paper, she carefully draws in her lines, all while grinning. Too hard to keep a straight face while studying how silly he looks. ]

[serves]

Yes, ma'am. [Heels together, Rutherford! Very serious.]

[princessia]

All done.

[ With both hands, she picks up her paper to show him her masterpiece in progress.

She'd drawn him tall and burly next to the drawing of herself and added a sword and sheathe even though he doesn't have one on him. She might have over-exaggerated the buffness of his arm a little. Hard to tell whether intentional or if it's all part of just drawing like an untrained child artist... ]

You look great!

[serves]

[Hideous, but absolutely adorable. Cullen laughs, but it's a fond laugh, reaching out to give her shoulder a squeeze.]

I do. I'm going to have to commission you.

[princessia]

You'll go poor.

[ She jokes, knowing she's no professional artist. She's pleased with her drawing regardless. There aren't many people she jokes around with, especially since she's normally very shy.

Placing the tip of her pen back down on the paper, she carefully draws Jove, starting with her face. It looks like Jove-- the hair, the pointy elf ears. She hasn't started on the tattoos, but it's not because she forgot. ]

Uh... I don't know how to draw Jove's tattoos. [ And almost immediately, she holds her pen out to Cullen. ] Cullen, here!

[ Help herrrrrr... ]

[serves]

[He likes the sass. That Elize is comfortable enough to joke around with him means a lot, and that comes from someone who used to be quite shy as a child himself.]

Me? I think not. You can do it, Elize.

[Not that he has every line memorized or anything...]

[princessia]

N-no... I'll mess up!

[ She stands from her seat and steps closer to him, so she can try forcing the pen into his hand using her little hands. ]

I'm the Commander, so I command you to draw it for me!