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Fabian is going to kill Adaine.
Well, maybe not kill . ‘Kill’ is a bit too extreme. Certainly maim, if nothing else. Though she is an oracle, she may be able to see him coming. Could oracular visions differentiate between maiming versus killing? He doesn’t know or care at this point. Whatever the specifics, he’s furious.
But the thing is he can’t kill or maim or inflict any physical harm on Adaine, because then she would know and Fabian is still having a hard time admitting it to himself. The It being that he, against all odds and all stereotypes about high school jocks, fell for Riz Gukgak of all people.
It wasn’t fast, like his fall from the Crow’s Keep. That was terrifying, his heart pounding in his chest so fast he feared it would break his ribs. Each window and clothesline that flew past his eye brought him another foot closer to becoming a spot of blood on the deck of Leviathan, gone in an instant. No pomp and circumstance. Just gone.
Falling for Riz was like walking along the bottom of the ocean. It was a steady decline, slowly marching forward as the light refracting in the waves became dimmer and dimmer, and it became harder to see where his next step would take him. Then he was falling forward in a miles-deep drop-off, being pulled down by the weight of his heart. He didn’t mind that he was sinking, that he didn’t know if he would reach the bottom before drowning. He would let the water fill his lungs if it was for Riz.
And yet Fabian is standing in the locker room facing the wall, fuming silently because he can’t tell anyone. He doesn’t know why, but the idea of admitting he likes Riz is enough to make his throat close up and his mind spiral back to Leviathan, to the Nightmare Forest. His hands are shaking as he puts on his jacket and the bell rings, signaling the start of lunch.
He takes his time walking to the cafeteria, careful to space his steps out so his foot lands perfectly in the center of the linoleum tiles of Aguefort’s halls. It’s a habit he picked up as a child, avoiding cracks in the sidewalk and the rotted parts of ship’s decks. He finds it oddly calming, like a dance he’s figuring out the steps to as he goes, improvising the rhythm of his body in time with the beat of his sneakers on the floor. But his shoulders are back, tense, as he walks into the cafeteria and steps into the lunch line.
The other Bad Kids are rapt in conversation when he settles into his seat at the table, in between Riz and Fig, who make room for him while maintaining an animated conversation.
“—there’s no way that’s possible, I’m not—”
“I saw it with my own eyes, Gukgak! I swear there was something up with him—” Fig insists, leaning over the table to gesture to her eyes and then back to Riz.
“How could you even see something at the Black Pit when you were playing? Don’t you have to pay attention to the song?” Riz sounds exasperated, this must have been going on for a while.
“I mean,” Gorgug interjects. “I kind of zone out when I’m playing. Maybe Fig does the same.”
“Yeah!” Fig says, shooting a triumphant look at Riz.
Riz sighs and takes off his glasses, pushing his palms into his eyes and leaning onto the table.
“I am not investigating Skrank because he was moshing at one of your shows. You’re all insane.”
“ That’s what this is about?” Fabian says, laughing to himself. He resists the urge to pat Riz’s back comfortingly, despite the tingling feeling he gets in the tips of his fingers like his body is daring him to do it.
“I’ll pay you 200 gold!” Fig says, going for the chain wallet in her backpack. Riz looks up and quickly gives a look to Fabian, something between ‘I can’t believe this is happening’ and ‘help me out here.’
“You can’t bribe me.” Riz says, but he doesn’t sound sure. Adaine laughs at that, not looking up from her textbook.
“300!” Fig says, and starts stacking gold coins on the table and shoving them towards Riz.
“Okay,” Fabian says, pushing Fig’s gold back towards her. “This has to stop. Leave The Ball alone, let’s move on from this.” He puts on his shiniest smile, the one he uses when he’s met his father’s associates or had to sweet talk a teacher out of flunking him.
“Anything exciting happen today?”
Kristen, for the first time since Fabian has sat down, gasps and smiles wide. “Adaine asked Riz to prom!”
It’s hard for Fabian to keep the smile on after that, but he grinds his back teeth together and clenches his fist in the pocket of his letterman jacket.
“Oh really?” He avoids looking at Riz, electing instead to focus only on Kristen’s jovial expression.
“Yeah! It was really cute. I heard about it from Ostentatia.”
Fabian had also heard about the promposal, as it were, from Ostentatia. She’s a lovely person, but she does love gossip and it can be hard to keep her mouth shut when she’s heard something juicy. She had basically jumped out of her jewelry from how excited she was to tell Fabian about the news. Meanwhile, he resisted the urge to crumple into a pile on the floor and lay in the hallway for the rest of the day.
Adaine looks up from her textbook and adjusts her glasses. “It wasn’t a big deal, I just thought it would be fun. We’re just going as friends.”
Kristen bumps her shoulder. “I know, but it’s still cute! The illusory script idea was cool.”
“Frankly, it’s a miracle I was able to crack it. I don’t know shit about arcane stuff.” Riz says. Fabian keeps his gaze on Kristen, smile unwavering.
The conversation devolves into something about Adaine’s classes and the fact that Riz is the only non-caster at the party. Fabian stays quiet for the most part, eating his food without looking up from his tray. It’s only when Riz taps his arm that he turns, Riz’s soft smile making his heart flutter like a bird in his chest. He quickly holds up his hand in a thumb’s-up then flips it upside down, raising an eyebrow to imply the question. Are you okay?
Fabian nods, pursing his lips. Riz seems satisfied and goes back to the conversation, but when the bell rings Fabian slinks away to the parking lot to smoke alone.
⸻
Fabian tries not to show how annoyed he is when Riz and Gorgug talk about what their suits are going to look like when they’re sitting on the bleachers, having given up on watching the gashbat practice or attempting to work on homework.
He didn’t think Riz would be excited about prom, certainly not this excited. Ever since Adaine asked him it was all he wanted to talk about, telling Fabian all about how they were going to meet up and take pictures together before the dance and how they should get fitted for their suits together.
Fabian feels like his mind is imploding. He wants to be excited about prom, especially since it won’t be part of a prophecy to bring back a fucking dragon . But the picture-perfect vision he had of the night is shattered every time Riz brings up Adaine’s dress color (silver; Fabian already knew she would look fantastic).
“Have you gotten your suit yet?” Gorgug asks, pulling Fabian from his haze.
“Oh,” Fabian says. “No, not yet. I’m not sure what I want to do yet.”
Riz raises an eyebrow and zeros in on Fabian’s face. Fabian can practically hear him making a conspiracy board in his head.
“You haven’t mentioned who you’re going with yet. Who is it?” He asks.
“Oh, I haven’t?” Fabian says, a bald-faced lie. He hasn’t asked anyone to prom, because he had been planning how he was going to ask Riz for the better part of a month, but that ship had sailed.
He quickly scans the gashbat field, looking for anybody he could feasibly say he would be going with. The boy’s gashbat practice was too fast to clock anybody he knew, and with their helmets, he couldn’t tell who they were anyway. But from the gym entrance, he spots the girl’s gashbat team heating out onto the field for practice, led by their captain, her hair up in a ponytail and swinging her bat at her side.
“I’m going with Penny.” He says. Gorgug looks initially surprised but smiles at him. Riz’s expression is harder to read. He nods and looks pretty neutral, though Fabian could swear he saw the corner of Riz’s mouth twitch into a snarl, but it’s gone in an instant.
“Cool.” He says, then looks back down at his homework that was previously abandoned. Fabian feels a tug in his gut and dreads that he upset Riz, as good as he was at hiding it.
“Penny’s great,” Gorgug chimes in, oblivious to Riz’s sudden disinterest in the topic. “How did you ask her?”
“She’s taking a fighter elective and we were paired together for a project. She mentioned needing a date so I asked and she said yes. Nothing special.” Fabian shrugs.
Technically, only one part of that was a lie. Penny is taking a fighter elective with him, and they are doing a project together. She did say she didn’t have a date, but she wasn’t too concerned about it. Fabian hadn’t asked her though, and if he wants to keep up this charade, he has to as soon as possible. Prom tickets are set to go on sale Friday, which meant he only had two days to finesse his way into getting Penny to go with him.
What had he gotten himself into?
⸻
On Friday morning, Fabian is a nervous wreck.
He’s not even sure why, exactly. If worse comes to worst and Penny says no, he can just say that she decided to go with her friends instead. The Maidens are just as close as the Bad Kids are, it would make sense. But the idea of admitting to his friends that he was going to prom alone was something he couldn’t bear to entertain. Maybe it was some residual need to live up to the expectations he set for himself. Maybe it was just fear of embarrassment or ridicule from his peers. Either way, he couldn’t stop bouncing his leg when he sat at his desk in his Battle Tactics class.
Penny is at the front of the room, talking with Zelda about something Fabian can’t overhear. Zelda is smiling, while Penny gestures animatedly with her hands and makes cartoonish expressions. Zelda laughs as the teacher calls the attention of the class and they quiet down.
“We’re just working on the projects today, so get with your partner and try to get as much done as you can. I know prom is next week, but try to stay focused.”
Penny comes over to Fabian’s desk carrying her colorful notebooks and pencil case. Although her and Riz are very different in their general aesthetic, their methodical and incredibly thorough notes are nearly identical; the only difference being that Penny’s are color-coordinated with pastel highlighters.
“Al-righty,” Penny says, laying out her notes on Fabian’s desk (he doesn’t have any of his own). “What do you think about using an imbalanced party to demonstrate the need for multiclassing?”
Fabian thinks that’s a fantastic idea, but he has more pressing things on his mind than the project that, with Penny’s help, he’ll pass with flying colors.
“Sounds great, but I have a question.” He says, and his leg starts bouncing even faster under the table.
“Shoot.” Penny leans back in her chair, studying Fabian with an intensity akin to Riz. Gods, he really can’t stop thinking about him.
“What are your plans for prom?”
Penny raises her eyebrows in surprise, completely blindsided by the question. “Oh, uh. I was actually just talking about that with Zelda. I thought the Maidens and you guys were all going to meet up at Mordred for pictures and then ride together in the Hangvan?”
That was the plan, as far as Fabian knew. Gorgug had talked with him about configuring the seats in the Hangvan to fit the baker’s dozen of people he had agreed to bring.
“I mean, are you going with anyone? Or just with the Maidens?”
Penny narrows her brows and a sly smile crosses her face. “Is this your way of asking me to prom? Pretty weak promposal, Seacaster.”
Fabian laughs, the anxiety he felt fading. “I mean, if that’s your way of saying ‘no,’ then forget I ever asked.”
“No I’ll go with you,” Penny says, and Fabian breathes a silent sigh of relief. “I just want to know why you’re asking me , because it’s for sure not because you think you can get lucky.”
Fabian sputters, warmth rushing to his cheeks. “No, no, not that at all. Gods. I...” He trails off, weighing the options of telling the truth. If he did, Penny would be the first one he told about his feelings for Riz, and he had just barely been able to admit that to himself. Fuck it.
“I’m the only one without a date in the party,” He says and pointedly ignores Penny’s expression of pity. “I wanted to ask Riz but Adaine asked him first and I don’t know who else to ask because I really just want to go with Riz but I can’t and I said we were going together to make him jealous and… help.”
Penny stares at him for a moment and bursts into laughter. It’s not mean-spirited, but a genuine laugh. Fabian starts to laugh too, feeling his shoulders relax and his anxiety quell in his chest. They’re getting looks from their classmates and teacher, but he doesn’t care.
“Okay, okay, sorry,” Penny finally says, pulling herself together. “I didn’t mean to laugh, it’s just that—this is going to sound terrible—we had been guessing when you were going to admit you liked Riz and I get to rub it in their faces that I was right. As long as that’s okay with you. Sorry for jumping the gun there.”
“Oh.” Fabian says. “Is it… obvious? That I like him, I mean.”
“Not really, we were honestly reading into it too much I think. And I doubt that Riz has noticed. I love him like a brother, but he has trouble reading social cues and that can make him a little dense sometimes.”
“No, yeah. I get that. Cool.”
“And, I won’t tell the Maidens. They don’t need to know, that’s your business.”
Fabian sighs. “Thank you, I appreciate that.”
Notes completely forgotten, Penny leans forward onto the desk. “So, what color are we wearing?”
⸻
With a date secured, Fabian allows himself to actually get excited about prom.
The theme is announced Friday at lunch as the student government opens up ticket sales—a masquerade ball, complete with a competition for the most extravagant mask. The cafeteria is buzzing with discussions of what masks people will wear and create, and a swell of inspiration grows in Fabian’s chest.
That weekend, Riz, Gorgug, Kristen, and Fabian get fitted for their tuxes together at The Gilded Coin. Fabian has gotten fitted for suits before, but it’s different with his friends to keep him company. Gorgug and Kristen go for simple black, but Kristen pairs it with a colorful floral tie to match the jumpsuit Tracker is wearing. Gorgug chooses an olive green vest and tie to match Zelda’s dress, the color perfectly complimenting his skin tone.
Fabian tries to keep himself distracted when it’s Riz’s turn, standing in front of the mirror and smiling politely as Madame Silvaine wraps her tape measure around his waist and chest. When he walks out in his suit, tugging at the sleeves and pushing his hair out of his face, the rest of the world disappears. Fabian feels like he’s dreaming for a moment, looking at Riz, and he can almost see the outline of a halo above his head. His tux is a cool blue-grey, interwoven with silver thread, and paired with a matching vest. It’s gorgeous—and so is Riz, smiling up at him as he turns in the mirror.
The world comes back when Kristen lets out a low whistle and Riz’s cheeks flush blue.
“You clean up nice Riz!” She says. “Not that you’re ever not cleaned up, but whatever—color suits you.”
“Thanks,” Riz says, still examining himself in the mirror. “But I think I’ll stick to my monochromatic palette for the day-to-day.”
Riz catches Fabian’s eye in the mirror and smiles at him. “What do you think?”
He can only think to say the first thing that comes to mind. “It’s perfect.”
Fabian is fitted for his suit last, for reasons he calls thoroughness and his friends call pickiness. He and Penny agreed on red, which is perfect, as it’s Fabian’s favorite color and he knows exactly what shades work best on him. He tries a few but none feel right . Maybe he’s self-conscious because his friends are watching him, because Riz is watching him, but he tries not to show it. He offers to end the day there and come back on his own tomorrow, apologizing for taking up so much time, but Madame Silvaine stops him and hurries to the back of the shop. She returns with a tux bag and hands it to him with a knowing grin. In the dressing room, Fabian carefully unzips the bag, takes out the jacket, and gasps to himself.
The suit is a rich red, with a paisley pattern woven into the fabric in gold. It shimmers even under the dim lights of the fitting room and feels light as a feather in Fabian’s hands. He slides the jacket on and it fits perfectly, hugging his shoulders and waist. When he looks at himself in the mirror, it’s like the suit has straightened his posture. He feels confident, handsome. This is the one.
Fabian exits the fitting room and is greeted with the stunned smiles of his friends. Madame Silvaine gushes over the fabric and the color, and happily takes the gold Fabian hands her to buy the tux. They leave the shop and go their separate ways. Fabian puts on the suit the moment he gets home, trying out different ties and shirts until he finds the perfect combination.
⸻
The day of prom comes faster than Fabian had anticipated, students abuzz in the hallways while the teachers at Aguefort understand that absolutely nothing productive will be done today.
Juniors are allowed to leave after lunch to get ready, and Fabian zips home on the Hangman to grab his suit and bag of completely necessary hair and skincare products before making his way up to Mordred to get ready with the rest of the group.
Mordred Manor is never a dull place, with at least one of its dozen residents being home at all times, but the addition of almost all the Maidens and the remaining Bad Kids who didn’t live there gave the living room and kitchen energy comparable to lightning in a bottle. Most of the girls chat and gossip with one another during the process of getting their makeup and hair done, while Kristen, the boys, and Tracker sit in their outfits and watch in amazement at how smoothly they apply their eyeliner.
Aelwyn is a whirlwind of makeup brushes, darting from person to person to touch up eyeshadow and blush, though she mostly helps Adaine curl her hair. Penny finishes her makeup so quickly Fabian could swear she used magic, if not for the fact she isn’t a spellcaster, and starts helping Aelwyn with people’s hair.
“Do you know what they’re doing?” Riz whispers to him, and Fabian shrugs.
“No idea.”
Penny walks up to them then, a conspiratory look in her eye and a jar of hair gel in her hand. She smiles at Riz and holds up the jar.
“Absolutely not.” Riz says before she can even open her mouth, leaning away from Penny and doing his best to hide behind Fabian.
“C’mon!” Penny protests. “It’ll look nice! I won’t put that much in, I promise.”
Riz eyes her suspiciously and briefly meets Fabian’s gaze, as if asking for his opinion.
“I think it’ll look nice, The Ball. Try something new.” He says.
Riz groans and uncovers himself from Fabian’s side and within moments Penny is combing the product through his hair, ignoring his complaints. Fabian tries not to stare the entire time Penny is doing Riz’s hair, because that would be weird. He can’t help but steal a glance every so often, though, especially when Riz makes small noises of protest.
Fabian didn’t realize how much of Riz’s face was covered by his hair. It fell in his face sure, but it wasn’t nearly as obscurative as Gorgug’s or Zelda’s. The nearly-black green curls framed his face well, but Fabian was shocked to discover that they also hid some incredible bone structure.
He was loathe to acquiesce with anything Kalina said, given her general creepiness and life purpose of killing them, but she was completely correct in saying Riz was a perfect combination of Pok and Sklonda. From the number of times the picture of Riz’s father was shown to nearly everyone they came across, Fabian became very familiar with how he looked. They have the same bone structure, angular and yet soft unless under harsh light, but Riz has Sklonda’s eyes, calculating and expressive like a cat’s, as well as her freckles and crooked smile. He got his father’s height, his mother’s nose, and both of their sense of duty to protect people.
With his hair gelled back, all of the elements of his parents were fully on display and he was beautiful, Fabian realized once again. He’s beautiful, but it isn’t Riz , who let his hair fall in his eyes when he was hunched over a case file but refused to push it out of the way.
“Looks good.” Fabian says, and Penny smiles.
“See, I was right!” She pushes Riz’s shoulder playfully and he just smiles shyly.
“Okay, you were right.” He sighs and rolls his eyes.
They’re called out into the yard by Jawbone, who’s filming the event on an ancient camcorder while holding his own camera. Pictures take at least a half-hour, with each of the individual couples and adventuring parties insisting on getting their own shots together. It’s another ten minutes to get everyone settled into the Hangvan comfortably before Gorgug checks that everyone’s seatbelts are on and they take off towards Aguefort.
They wait in line outside the gym to show their tickets and walk into a gym completely transfigured from its average appearance.
Black, white, and gold streamers line the walls and balloons in Aguefort’s white and red colors section off the dining area from the dancefloor. The tables are draped with silver tablecloths and arcane candelabras with glowing gold flames. The band on stage are all dressed in beautiful gowns and tuxedos, wearing from intricate to simple masks. A photobooth with ample props is against the far wall just beside the stage. From the ceiling, thousands of Edison bulbs hang from wires, draping just above the stage and student’s heads. The glow highlights the various masks of the students, ranging from shimmering with arcane light to casting their faces in shadow. Most of the Bad Kids stuck with relatively simple masks to match the color of their date’s suit or dress, save for Fabian and Fig, dramatically inclined as they are.
Fig’s mask is silver, decorated with black lace patterns and coverings that extend up onto her horns. Fabian’s is custom crafted by a metalsmith friend of his father’s with a lightweight combination of alloys. Shaped into a half skull and painted in gold, the mask serves both as an accessory and as a covering for his eyepatch and scar.
They dance to the upbeat songs from the band’s set, covers of classics to the latest top 40 pop, until dinner is brought out onto the buffet tables and the attendees are allowed to serve themselves.
At their table, Riz and Adaine are sitting across from Penny and Fabian, and the conversation is lively as can be. Fabian gets lost in thought at times and finds himself staring at Riz, at the way he talks, and how the corners of his mouth turn up when he laughs. Riz makes eye contact with him a few times, but Fabian always looks away before Riz truly notices. The meal is delicious, a full three courses and ample sides and toppings for ice cream. They’re served sparkling cider in champagne glasses and the band plays soothing instrumental songs while they eat.
Once their plates are empty or simple can’t be eaten anymore, the dancefloor once again crowds as the band begins their second set of slower songs. Dates partner up and slow dance, leaning on one another and whispering as they sway to the music. Fabian and Penny dance together for a few songs, though he wouldn’t really call it dancing, more of standing in place and leaning from side to side. Maybe spinning if they really wanted to show off.
Penny looks incredible, her dress perfectly tailored and her hair down and loosely curled. Red looks great on her, and it stands out from the usual pastels and lighter colors she wears. But as incredible as she looks, Fabian finds his attention returns again and again to a certain goblin and his eyes perfectly highlighted by the black mask he’s wearing.
Although Fabian does his best to subtly make his way over to Riz with Penny, she smirks at him and nods when she realizes who they’re next to.
“Follow my lead,” she says, and grabs Fabian’s hand, spinning him in such a way that he falls right between Adaine and Riz with Penny against his back. He’s facing Adaine, who looks pleasantly surprised and allows him to place a hand on her waist and in hers.
“Fancy move there.” She smiles at him. He shrugs as they slowly spin around, swaying along to the beat of the song.
“It was mostly a spin, I can show it to you.” He says. Adaine raises her eyebrows.
“You can? I’m not much of a dancer.” She says, unsure of herself. Fabian squeezes her hand in his and looks her in the eyes.
“You’re doing great, I know you can do it.”
A small pulse of magic travels through his hand into hers and Adaine’s eyes shimmer with newfound inspiration.
“Okay, show me.”
Fabian copies the maneuver Penny made and catches her eye in the process. She begins to turn Riz the same way he’s turning Adaine and within moments he’s holding Riz’s hand in his and looking into his eyes, pupils dilated.
Riz takes a second to find his balance, placing his hand on Fabian’s bicep, his shoulder just out of comfortable reach.
“Sorry, I don’t know what I’m doing.” Riz jokes, but Fabian can see the embarrassed flush on his cheeks even in the dim light.
“Don’t worry about it.” Fabian says. He can just barely hear that Penny and Adaine have struck up a conversation, and Riz seems in no hurry to break away from him, so he pushes aside the growing anxiety in his chest and speaks.
“You look great, Riz. I don’t know if I’ve said that yet.” He says, fully with the knowledge that he has multiple times already today.
“Thanks,” Riz says, and looks away from Fabian for a moment. “You look nice too. In the suit. Beautiful—the suit is, I mean.”
Fabian sputters, flustered and his face growing warmer by the second. His heart is pounding in his chest and he can feel his hand shaking against Riz’s.
“Thank you.” He manages when he catches his breath. Riz looks up at him again, eyes wide, and squeezes his hand.
“Fabian…” He starts, “what are we doing?”
A spike of anxiety shoots through Fabian’s chest as he tries to read Riz’s expression. “What do you mean? We’re dancing.”
“Yes,” Riz says. “We’re dancing, at prom, together. And I just called you beautiful.”
Fabian’s heart damn near stops when Riz says that. He sensed that was coming, from the way Riz was looking at him like he does when he’s trying to connect a set of clues to his conspiracy board, but to hear him actually say it is enough to make his whole face flush.
“I…” Riz continues. “I really like you, Fabian. Like, more than in a friend way. In the way that I want to keep dancing with you all night.”
“But I don’t know if you like me in the same way of if you’re just being friendly and I still don’t know what that should feel like and—”
“Riz,” Fabian interrupts. Riz meets his eye and Fabian almost has to look away with how intense his gaze is.
“I love you.”
Although he’s wearing a mask, Fabian can tell that Riz’s eyebrows shoot up at that. He squeezes his hand tightly and stares at Fabian, unable to look away.
“I have for a while and I can’t I wish I said it earlier, but I just couldn’t do it. I wanted to ask you to prom, but I was too scared to, and that’s stupid but I just kept thinking about what would happen if you said no or other people found out.”
Riz’s mouth hangs open and then closes, pursing his lips as he tries to think of what to say.
“I wanted to ask you too.” He finally says. “I didn’t care what people would think, but I thought you might say no and I would mess up what we had. I don’t want that to happen.”
“Me neither,” Fabian says. “But… I want to dance with you too.”
The next song begins, a sweet piano ballad. Fabian pulls Riz close to him, their bodies barely an inch away from one another as they dance. Riz gingerly rests his head against Fabian’s chest, and Fabian can feel the moment he relaxes into his touch.
When Fabian looks down at Riz it feels like a scene from a movie. His hair shines dark green under the golden light and his face is in just enough shadow to accentuate the curve of his face. He smiles up at Fabian and he thinks he may just want to live in this moment forever—standing here with Riz, where the rest of the world doesn’t exist.
He pushes his hand into Riz’s hair and tussles it, allowing some of the curls to come loose from the places where Penny had slicked it back. Riz leans into the feeling of Fabian’s hand against his head and as he draws it down to that it comes to rest against Riz’s jaw.
Their faces are close, enough so that Fabian can feel the warmth of Riz’s breath against his lips. He looks into Riz’s eyes, pupils blown and wide enough to see his reflection in them.
“Can I—” Riz starts, but he cuts him off.
“Please.”
Riz closes the distance between them and Fabian melts into the kiss, squeezing Riz’s hand and closing his eyes as the feeling washes over him.