Thread by @elidrl

the grandeur of love ;
regina knows that narda appreciates
simplicity more than anything.

#darlentina

it doesn't take a scientist to see just how different regina and narda are from each other.

where regina loves extravagance, narda seeks subtlety.

regina would scream her adoration for narda at the top of her lungs if she could; narda would write her pages upon pages of thoughts and feelings translated into words.

regina would boast, bible verses be damned; narda would hang regina's achievements on the walls of their home.

regina would shamelessly post pictures of narda on the internet and stake her claim; narda prefers to write ambiguous descriptions of regina's likeness — especially of parts of her only narda is allowed to see.

iv.

their friends often call them polar opposites, and neither of them disagrees. if anything, they proudly acknowledge these differences — revel in them, actually.

because narda finds joy in listening to regina talk about narda's little wins at work, despite vehement denials.

v.

regina finds solace in narda's silence, in the way she'd stake her claim by simply holding her hand and placing a kiss on the back of it in front of those with curious eyes and daring hearts.

vi.

so it was only right for regina to stamp down her urges and make things as simple as possible when she proposed to narda.

they were wrapped in each other's arms that night, having just finished a quiet dinner after a long day at work. the room was cold, the sheets more so

vii.

but the warmth in narda's eyes as they lay in bed while facing each other was enough to keep her warm and cozy.

𝑡𝑢𝑙𝑜𝑔 𝑘𝑎 𝑛𝑎, narda had said, to which regina simply replied with a quiet: 𝑚𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑦𝑎 𝑛𝑎.

viii.

narda's lips curled in a little smirk.

'𝑑𝑖 𝑘𝑖𝑡𝑎 𝑛𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑜𝑑?

regina laughed.

𝑔𝑎𝑔𝑜.

ix.

and then her laughter subsided, watching her own fingers as they tread the distance between her and narda.

when they wrapped around narda's wrist, her body followed suit, huddling close and tight against her lover's smaller frame.

𝑚𝑎𝑦 𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑚𝑢𝑛𝑎 𝑎𝑘𝑜.

x.

ℎ𝑚?

𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑖𝑠 𝑣𝑒𝑟𝑦 𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑜𝑟𝑡𝑎𝑛𝑡.

𝑜𝑘𝑎𝑦.

'𝑤𝑎𝑔 𝑚𝑜 '𝑘𝑜 𝑡𝑢𝑙𝑢𝑔𝑎𝑛.

𝑖 𝑠𝑤𝑒𝑎𝑟, 𝑖 𝑤𝑜𝑛'𝑡.

𝑜𝑘𝑎𝑦.

regina sighed.

𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑚𝑒?

narda's turn was abrupt.

ℎ𝑎?

xi.

𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑚𝑒, 𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑎?

the answer had come too easily.

𝒚𝒆𝒔.

xii.

that being said, one would expect regina to overcompensate when it comes to the wedding preparations.

and overcompensate, she does.

following the night of narda's acceptance of her simple proposal, regina starts the rigorous process of contacting the best of the best.

xiii.

the best designer, the best event organizers, the best musicians, the best bakers — only the best for narda, of course.

narda is all too happy to sit back and let regina go wild with her wishes for their wedding day—

but regina notices that she's distracted.

xiv.

this observation inevitably begins to rake at her ability to focus.

every time narda excuses herself to answer her phone, she forgets which dress she's picked.

every time narda avoids her gaze, she forgets which flavor of cake she's decided on.

xv.

every time narda fidgets with her fingers, she forgets which song they should dance to for the first time as a married couple.

and every time narda shifts in place, like she's hiding something, she—

she 𝑑𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑠.

xvi.

so when narda asks her out for a midnight drive, she agrees begrudgingly — tired from a whole day of wedding planning and overthinking about narda's recent change in behavior.

the trip is quiet. regina's sulking, but she allows narda's hand on her thigh to stay.

xvii.

𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑎ℎ𝑖𝑚𝑖𝑘 𝑚𝑜, 𝑎ℎ?

𝑝𝑎𝑔𝑜𝑑 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔.

𝑑𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑚𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑛𝑑? 𝑢𝑤𝑖 𝑛𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑎𝑦𝑜?

'𝑤𝑎𝑔 𝑛𝑎, 𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑎.

𝑚𝑒𝑑𝑦𝑜 𝑚𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑜 𝑝𝑎 𝑛𝑎𝑚𝑎𝑛—

'𝑤𝑎𝑔 𝑛𝑎 𝑛𝑔𝑎.

xviii.

narda takes the hint, but she doesn't take her hand away from regina's thigh. perhaps that is her simple way of showing her need to stay connected with regina despite the latter's evident lack of enthusiasm.

𝑑𝑜𝑛'𝑡 𝑤𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑦. 𝑚𝑎𝑑𝑎𝑙𝑖 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑡𝑎𝑦𝑜 𝑑𝑜𝑜𝑛.

xix.

the car goes on, buildings turn into little dots behind them, and soon regina finds herself standing in a dark clearing with just narda's hand as her guide.

𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒? regina asks because she knows this place all too well.

xx.

𝑠𝑢𝑛𝑜𝑑 𝑘𝑎 𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑎'𝑘𝑖𝑛.

regina follows her. they walk up a familiar path and regina thanks the cool breeze for making the climb a tad easier for her.

𝑛𝑎𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑙𝑎 𝑚𝑜 𝑝𝑎 '𝑡𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑙𝑢𝑔𝑎𝑟 𝑛𝑎 '𝑡𝑜, 𝑑𝑖𝑏𝑎?

xxi.

regina laughs incredulously. how can she forget? even after all these years—

𝑜𝑓 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑠𝑒, 𝑖 𝑑𝑜.

xxii.

𝑔𝑜𝑜𝑑, narda says, followed by a soft sigh. regina feels narda take her other hand, facing her this time. 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖 𝑛𝑒𝑒𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑒𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑓𝑖𝑟𝑠𝑡 𝑑𝑎𝑦 𝑤𝑒 𝑚𝑒𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒.

xxiii.

she does. she remembers a mistaken narda pulling her back from the cliff. she remembers her boldly telling her not to end her life, that there's so much in life to live for.

she remembers wanting to get to know this person; wanting to befriend this silly girl.

xxiv.

𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑎 𝑝𝑖𝑣𝑜𝑡𝑎𝑙 𝑚𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 𝑖𝑛 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑙𝑖𝑣𝑒𝑠, 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑖𝑡?

regina agrees, but—

𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑎𝑟𝑒 𝑤𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒, 𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑎?

xxv.

narda sighs.

𝑤𝑒'𝑟𝑒 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑖 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙. 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑐𝑒, 𝑖 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑏𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑓𝑓𝑒𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑡.

regina frowns even more.

𝑛𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑎, 𝑤ℎ𝑎𝑡—

xxvi.

what happens next makes regina realize a few things:

in the time they've spent being drenched in darkness, her eyes have finally adjusted and, with the help of the clear sky and the bright moon, regina can actually 𝑠𝑒𝑒 narda.

xxvii.

because it is as if the night is as bright as the morning sun as she watches narda fall down on one knee. when her hands come up with a little box held in her fingers,

her heart stops; her eyes blur with tears; and a hand flies up to cover her ajar lips.

xxviii.

𝑟𝑒𝑔𝑖𝑛𝑎 𝑣𝑎𝑛𝑔𝑢𝑎𝑟𝑑𝑖𝑎, 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑠𝑖𝑚𝑝𝑙𝑒𝑠𝑡 𝑚𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑟 𝑜𝑛𝑒 𝑐𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑘 𝑜𝑓 𝑎𝑛𝑑— narda chuckles. 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑖𝑡 𝑤𝑎𝑠 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑓𝑒𝑐𝑡. 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑜 𝑎𝑙𝑎𝑚 𝑚𝑜 𝑏𝑎?

xxix.

narda pulls the ring out from its insert and puts the box back in her pocket. she takes regina's hand and slips the ring smoothly on her finger.

she smiles, momentarily distracted. 𝑏𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑦 𝑛𝑎 𝑏𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑦 𝑠𝑎'𝑦𝑜.

xxx.

narda looks up. 𝑖𝑛𝑢𝑛𝑎ℎ𝑎𝑛 𝑚𝑜 𝑎𝑘𝑜. 𝑖 ℎ𝑎𝑑 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠 𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑔𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑢𝑟𝑒 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑛𝑛𝑒𝑑 𝑜𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑚𝑦 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑎𝑙 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑏𝑒𝑐𝑎𝑢𝑠𝑒 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑒𝑠𝑒𝑟𝑣𝑒 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑒𝑥𝑡𝑟𝑎𝑣𝑎𝑔𝑎𝑛𝑐𝑒 𝑜𝑓 𝑚𝑦 𝑙𝑜𝑣𝑒 𝑑𝑖𝑠𝑝𝑙𝑎𝑦𝑒𝑑.

xxxi.

𝑏𝑢𝑡, 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 𝑡ℎ𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ 𝑖 𝑤𝑎𝑠𝑛'𝑡 𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑢𝑙𝑙 𝑖𝑡 𝑜𝑓𝑓, 𝑖 still 𝑤𝑎𝑛𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑡𝑜 𝑑𝑜 𝑠𝑜𝑚𝑒𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑠𝑝𝑒𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑙. 𝑡ℎ𝑎𝑡'𝑠 𝑤ℎ𝑦 𝑖 𝑏𝑟𝑜𝑢𝑔ℎ𝑡 𝑦𝑜𝑢 ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 — 𝑤ℎ𝑒𝑟𝑒 𝑖𝑡 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑟𝑡𝑒𝑑 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝑡𝑤𝑜 𝑜𝑓 𝑢𝑠.

xxxii.

𝑠𝑜... 𝑤𝑖𝑙𝑙 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑚𝑎𝑟𝑟𝑦 𝑚𝑒?

xxxiii.

𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑠𝑘.

xxxiv.

regina pulls narda back on her feet and into her embrace. her sure answer to narda's question is sealed with a kiss, one that stays and lingers and consumes until they're both panting for air. narda pulls away, but only so she can rest her forehead against regina's.

xxxv.

𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑝𝑟𝑖𝑠𝑒?

the night becomes brighter; the sound of cheering from below takes over the sound of midnight nature.

regina pulls away completely to look down and—

she laughs.

xxxvi.

she laughs adoringly at the sight of family and friends standing just a few feet from beneath them. she laughs as she takes in the strings of light artfully placed around pillars and canopies that form the tent sheltering them.

xxxvii.

regina turns to narda. her simple-loving narda.

𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑎𝑙𝑙 𝑡ℎ𝑖𝑠?

narda nods, still smiling lovingly at regina.

𝑦𝑒𝑠. 𝑑𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑙𝑖𝑘𝑒 𝑖𝑡?

regina laughs once more.

𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑑𝑖𝑑𝑛'𝑡 𝑒𝑣𝑒𝑛 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑡𝑜 𝑎𝑠𝑘.

xxxviii

𝑦𝑜𝑢 𝑡𝑜𝑙𝑑 𝑚𝑒 𝑏𝑒𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑒 𝑛𝑎 𝑎𝑦𝑎𝑤 𝑚𝑜 𝑛𝑔 𝑝𝑢𝑏𝑙𝑖𝑐 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑝𝑜𝑠𝑎𝑙𝑠.

𝑖 𝑑𝑖𝑑.

𝑖 𝑐𝑜𝑢𝑙𝑑 ℎ𝑎𝑣𝑒 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑛𝑜 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢.

narda snorts and shows off the ring on her finger.

𝑖 𝑎𝑙𝑟𝑒𝑎𝑑𝑦 𝑠𝑎𝑖𝑑 𝑦𝑒𝑠 𝑡𝑜 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝑏𝑎𝑏𝑦.

end.