Chapter Text
Riddle Rosehearts
Riddle was in the middle of something, but for the life of him he suddenly can’t quite seem to remember what it was he was doing. He’s a little caught up looking at them, and suddenly his heart is pounding against his ribs. The realization us sudden– to sudden for him to process.
They’re asking him if he’s okay, he thinks, realizing he must have been sitting here starting at them. He clears his throat uncomfortably, and he can feel the flush rising into his cheeks.
“Actually, I have something to discuss with you, when you have a moment.” He states it, matter of factly, stepping a little closer into their space to fix the way their shirt is sitting on them. And if their eyes happen to meet again as he does and he isn’t patient enough to wait for that word with them before leaning in, who’s to say?
Ace Trappola
They have been trying to catch him since he had managed to use sleight of hand to steal their phone from under their nose. He’s laughing, bright and maniacal, as they yell after him. He can hear them laughing too though.
He skids his way around the corner and it’s just enough to know they have him. He braces himself just in time for them to barrel into him, sending the both of them careening to the ground.
His breath is heaving and his heart is thrumming, but he’s grinning as they snatch their phone back from his hand. Maybe it’s the adrenaline, but he feels brave. Brave enough to lean up and steal a kiss this time.
Deuce Spade
He’s been practicing his magic all day. Now nearing midnight, they’ve come to check on him. They’ve been watching for ten minutes, and Deuce can tell they’re tired. It’s making him realize how tired he is.
He has shake them awake when he finally is ready to go, and they smile up at him sleepily and ask if he’s ready. A warm affection spreads in his stomach and he helps them to their feet and starts walking them home. It’s a little chilly out, so they walk close and he offers his jacket to make sure they’re warm enough. They talk about things that aren’t all that important while they walk, but all the while Deuce can’t get out of his head how much they must care to come and just sit with him while he worked on perfecting his spell.
When they reach their door, Deuce feels a swell of butterflies in his stomach.
“Before you go in…” He says, and before he can really comprehend it himself, he’s leaning it to press a kiss to their mouth.
Trey Clover
Trey is buzzing around the busy kitchen, drying his hands on a towel as he checks over the cake he’s baking and the variety of puffed pastries that are in various stages of completion. They’re helping him. He’s making all of this for his little brother’s birthday, and when they offered to help it had surprised him. They had simply said they wanted to see what a birthday was like when a baker was your parent.
They stand there, helping to cut garnishes and vegetables for the puff pastries, smears of flour on their cheeks and clothes and their tongue poking out the side of their mouth in concentration. When he sees it, something fond seizes Trey’s heart and he smiles, even though they can’t see it. It feels… comfortable and domestic.
“Are the spring onions finished?” He asks, and they nod, still focused on chopping. “Hold still for a sec, you have flour on your face.”
His hand rests against their chin as he uses his still-slightly-damp thumb to wipe away the streak of powder from their cheek. His fingers linger on their jaw for a moment, and they smile up at him, and that’s all the encouragement he needs.
Cater Diamond
His hands shake just a little too bad to get his eyeliner straight, and he swears softly and defeatedly as he wipes it away with the already-stained makeup wipe he’s been using for his past failed attempts. He’s been trying for fifteen minutes to do this new that’s been going around that’s supposed to make you look like you’re in a noir movie, but he’s not having any luck getting just the right look that he wants.
Sensing his frustration, they offer to try and help. Cater hums for a second, considering, and then chirps a ‘Sure!’, after all, it’s not like they can do worse than he has been doing. He struts over to where they’re sitting on his bed and plops down next to them, offering them the eyeliner pencil. As they stand up, he closes his eyes and tips his head for them in preparation.
He lets them draw, feels the swoop of the pencil against his skin and the way they use a gentle hand to turn his head and examine their work. They’re so gentle with him, and it’s more relaxing than it ever was when his sisters would put makeup on him.
“Look at me.” They say, and when Cater opens his eyes they’re standing there, looking at him. Full attention on him, and he feels his heart skip for a second, and the realization that Oh, they really care about me. He notices the way that their gaze flicker to his lips, and it doesn’t take much more than that for him to shift forward and up onto his toes just enough to be able to kiss them.
Leona Kingscholar
He will never understand how someone could be so annoyingly affectionate. They’d managed to find his hiding spot where he was napping in the sunlight, and they’d laid down next to him. That wouldn’t normally be a bother but…
At some point they’d slithered up closer to him and wedged themselves against his side, an arm tossed carelessly over him and their head resting on his pec. It wasn’t the first time they’d sought to cuddle next to him, and that wasn’t something he minded but…
He sighs heavily through his nose, finally giving up the ghost and lifts his head up from the ground to look down at them. As he’d suspected, their fidgeting wasn’t because they wanted to nap, it was because they’d wanted him awake given the way that they’re grinning up at him cheekily.
“You’re irritating me.” He huffs. Their smug grin merely widens in response, and he can’t help the little displeased growl that escapes his throat. Well who would he be to just take their insolence?
He reaches up and picks up the arm they have slung over him by the wrist, and with a quick turn, he pins them with their back to the ground underneath him. A smug smile of his own reaches his face as he grins down at them toothily.
“You know, Herbivore, you should really stick to picking on cats in your own weight class.” He purrs, settling his weight over their hips so they can’t get away now. If they wanted the attention of a sleepy lion, they had it now. He leaned in closer, murmuring a soft annoying before he presses a kiss against their lips.
Ruggie Bucchi
Ruggie has has a long day, and it’s not over yet. He’s done a double shift at his jobs already, and in a couple of hours he needs to be bright eyed and bushy tailed for a third, but he’s exhausted. He hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep for this.
He doesn’t even really notice them when he first walks in as he shrugs off his work jacket and shuffles into the kitchen to try and find a quick snack so he can get some rest. Hearing them come padding in after him was what finally made him notice his presence.
“’m home.” he manages, voice slurred with exhaustion.
They stand there with a concerned look on their face, but before he can say anything to try and assuage their worry, they open their arms to offer him a hug.
Hm. He could go for a hug.
He steps forward into their arms, leaning against them and letting them support some of his weight while he munches on the granola bar that he’d found. They know him well, so he feels the muscles in his back go slack as they gently pet at his ears. It’s relaxing, but they definitely know that it makes him sleepy.
Its not until they’ve been standing, embraced, for several minutes that he catches himself starting to drift to sleep standing up. He probably shouldn’t just nod off on them, so he gently unwinds his head from where it’s come to rest against their shoulder, blinking at them sleepily.
“Thanks.” He murmurs, leaning in to press a soft kiss against their lips. It’s still a little weird how much they try to help take care of him, but he has to admit it’s not quite so bad on days like this.
Jack Howl
It was a special trip. It had been them planning for weeks, actually, but Jack was excited that they would be joining him, even if he wasn’t exactly transparent about the fact. It had been a while since he’d gotten to go snowboarding with his siblings, and when they had asked to join it had been a very exciting day.
They’re standing at the top of the mountain, and Jack is currently herding his siblings to go down.
“Be careful.” He reminds them, though with as boisterous and playful as they are he can’t be sure that they had heard him. They’re excitedly running toward their instructor, though, so at least they’re in good hands.
He hears them laugh behind him, and he glances over his shoulder to realize that his tail is swinging violently behind him and putting his mood on full display. Embarassing. At least he knows they won’t judge him for it. At any rate he turns around so at least it won’t be in their direct line of sight.
Instead, he walks up to them, gesturing toward the snowboard and shoes that they’re holding.
“Let me help you put those on. I’ll show you how to tie them the right way.” He guides them toward one of the benches, and then kneels down next to them to adjust the shoes on their feet and make sure they’re not going to accidentally fall because they’re too loose.
When he stands and checks out his work, he grins.
“I hope you’re excited.” He laughs, and he guides them toward the slope they’re going down so that he can help them step onto the board too and get it properly adjusted.
And once he stands up this time, he catches their gaze and returns it with a very fond one of his own.
“Thank you.” Is all he says before he leans in and presses a gentle kiss against their slightly-chilly lips. It’s very chaste, but is definitely a promise of more. “You be safe too, and I’ll meet you down there.”
Azul Ashengrotto
Azul has always valued intelligence above all else. It was why he kept the Leech twins around despite their penchant for resorting to rather meat-headed tendencies when the going got tough, and it’s why he puts so much value on himself seeming to be the smartest and most capable person in the room.
He’s seated at his table, running the totals for the lounge for the evening. Normally Jade would be sitting next to him and assisting, but it was his and Floyd’s birthday so he had given them the night free to do as they pleased and have their fun. He taps his ink pen against his scratch pad of paper, clicking his tongue against his teeth quietly in thought as he did his mental math.
“What’re you doing?” They had asked when they’d approached. Azul didn’t look up from his number-crunching, to answer.
“Just closing out the day.”
He suspects they will walk over and take a seat in one of the office chairs, so imagine his surprise when they took a seat next to him. They glance at the tabs and seem to quickly pick up on his system– items that have already been totaled here, items that needed to be deducted still there, calculations for employee wages based on hours worked over there– and immediately begin to help sort.
He’s impressed and a little baffled, honestly. They hadn’t even had to be asked for help, nor had they needed his system explained to them. It had just clicked for them.
Azul catches himself staring at the same time that they do. They laugh, and he realizes with a start that he’s been chewing on the end of his pen rather unbecomingly. Embarassing. They don’t point it out.
“How else can I help?”
“There is one more thing.” Azul hums, just a bit lost in his thoughts for a moment. They look at him curiously while he carefully weighs his options.
Despite his instincts screaming at him to run and hide in his octopus pot, he leans in and presses a quick, chaste kiss to their lips. They blink at him, surprised by how quickly he’d done it, if he had to guess.
“If you help me crunch these numbers, I may give you another.”
Jade Leech
Jade hums sleepily, blinking his eyes open as the bright light of the sun overhead filters through his tent. He awakens with a deep stretch, spidering his limbs as much as he can in his rather cramped tent.
He rouses and crawls his way through the opening in the tent, taking a deep breath of the crisp, dewy morning air and feeling the way it makes the tension drain out of his shoulders.
The mountains are beautiful first thing in the morning. Jade squints slightly against the sunlight as he looks over the lush green of the forest and the reflection of the sun scattering off the placid surface of the lake in the distance below them.
Ah, right, them. They’d been what had woken him up. He turns his attention to them, where they’re cooking breakfast and heating water over a small campfire.
“Good morning.” Jade chirps as he approaches, peeking over their shoulder to see what they are making. They nod to tell him they’d heard him, but they’re focused on their stirring, tongue poking out of their mouth a little bit at the corner. Human quirks were so charming– he’d asked what the purpose of sticking their tongue out was and had been told something to the effect of it helping “focus better”.
He takes a seat next to them, watching them work.
“Oh!” They take a moment, but they seem to remember something, and they take the stoneware kettle off of the fire, pouring the hot water into a couple of camp mugs. They pass him a cup with a soft “for you”.
Jade glances down into the cup at what’s steeping– a blend of fresh tea with pine needles and the other foraged plants they’d collected while they were out. Jade can’t help but to smile a bit, a little enamored by the thoughtfulness.
“Thank you.” He laughs gently, leaning in toward them. When their lips meet comfortably, a confident amount of pressure without him nicking them with his teeth. He lingers just a little, the arm not holding his tea looping loosely around their waist. He twists his head and deepens the kiss in a way that makes their mind blank out.
Well, at least it does until their breakfast spits oil at the two of them violently, making them part in a mad scramble to get away from the spitting oil.
Floyd Leech
Floyd’s mood has always functioned like a pendulum– peaks and valleys can hit him at the drop of a hat, and it’s unpredictability is exhausting.
He’s in a valley, right now, and he wants nothing more than to stay in his bed and wallow. He’s already threatened to bite Azul when he’d tried to rouse him this morning, and actually had bitten Jade. (And then Jade had pushed him hard enough that he fell off the edge of his bed and onto the floor and it had been a whole fight and then they’d gotten lectured– ugh.)
He’s wrapped in his blankets like a cocoon. When he’d first come on land, he’d really hated how it felt to be tangled in fabric, but now it feels like a welcome burrow that surrounds him in safety and still will let him reach out and snap with his teeth if he needs. Despite how silly he looks when he does this, it’s some comfort when he feels terrible.
They had come to see him. No doubt that Azul and Jade had called them in because they know that they’re one of Floyd’s favorite people to play around with. They had asked if it was okay to be there and Floyd had said ‘Yes’ and then they’d asked if he wanted to do something.
Doing things just sounded exhausting, he just wanted to sleep. So he’d said 'no’, and he figured they would leave. Instead, they just sat down next to him in silence while he wormed around in his sheets in feeble attempts to make himself feel better.
“’m sorry I’m not more fun today, shrimpy.” He huffs after a long, long while. He’s trying to improve his own mood but it’s just making him tired. But them being there is helping, at least a little.
“You don’t have to be fun all the time. I’m here to try and cheer you up, if I can.”
Floyd grumbles, peering out of his blanket wrap enough to frown at them.
“…I don’t think I’m going to feel better today.”
“That’s ok, too.”
“… Will you lay with me for a while?” He asks. They laugh a little, but nod anyway. It takes some struggling, but Floyd unwraps the blanket enough that they can slide in next to him. Immediately he wraps them both in the blanket and his arms, always affectionate. It’s hard to feel quite as bad when they’re laying against him and laughing at him struggling to wriggle his limbs free. “I’m glad you’re trying to help.”
“Of course.”
Floyd doesn’t think twice about it, honestly, when he leans in and presses a quick kiss against their mouth. He knows the significance, though he’s quite blasé with showing his affection toward his shrimp in particular. His mood might be temperamental, but he hopes they know that he appreciates how much the deal with from him.
Kalim Al-Asim
Emotion has always come easy to Kalim, and he’s never been the person who does anything in half-measures. He wears his emotions on his sleepve, speaks his thoughts with his full chest, and lives his life chasing what he wants, and he’s proud of that.
After all, life is too short to spend it wallowing, so it’s better to live a life without regrets as much as possible.
It’s what he says whenever someone (usually Jamil) asks why he goes out of the way to do so much for them. To him it just makes sense that if he can bring the people he cares about joy, then he wants to do that. There’s no reason not to!
Which is why Kalim was currently planning their birthday.
Jamil had talked him out of getting two thousand madol of imported specialty chocolates… but on the other hand… they might like chocolates for their birthday. He’s going through the preparations in his head because he wants it to be perfect.
It isn’t until he feels their hand on his shoulder that he remembers, with a panic, that he’s supposed to be studying right now.
They tell him he’s the library is about to close– he hadn’t realized that it had gotten so late! They laugh as his expression must reveal his panic, but they pass him something– a second copy of the notes they had taken while the two of them were sitting here.
“You’re an angel!” is what he exclaims as he throws his arms around their shoulders, and because emotion comes easily to Kalim, it comes just as easy to lean in and press a kiss to their lips.
Jamil Viper
The kitchen it’s quiet at this time of night, just before midnight. The moon is full and round through the window, and Jamil glances up at it intermittently as he scrubs serving platters and dishes from the evenings festivities.
He’s trained to be on alert, so when he hears the quiet patter of their footsteps behind him, he turns to look at them. No words pass between them as they come closer to him, glancing over his shoulder.
They hum, setting down their own plate and then step away. Jamil doesn’t even pause, taking the plate and dropping it into the warm water he’s drawn.
He expects to hear them leave the kitchen, but they don’t. Instead, they rummage for a moment in the cupboards, and then rejoin him at the sink basin with a sponge off their own to help. Jamil is shocked, wants to laugh, but can’t.
Finally, he shakes his head.
“I could have finished this myself. You should be resting or having fun right now.” He says lowly.
So it’s quite contradictory when he leans in to kiss them anyway.
Vil Schoenheit
Vil glances up into the mirror and watches them, their eyes lidded as he runs a comb through their hair. He glances back to what he’s doing, setting the comb aside and instead using his fingers to fuss the hair into place for him. Another quick glance to the mirror tells him that they’re quite relaxed having him focus on them like this.
He smiles to himself, wondering if they truly wanted him to help them get ready or if they simply wanted his attention. How selfish they are– really if it was anyone else he would be upset– but he isn’t because it’s them. They’ve been more than patient enough about him and his fits of pique, he can give them this much as thanks.
He steps around to their front, and they finally open their eyes and blink up at him. And when they see his face, they smile up at him as radiantly as the sun and stars in the sky. It’s infectious, he can’t help but to smile back in turn. His hands are gentle as he urges them to look up, a knuckle hooked under their chin as he looks over their progress so far the way a painter might examine their masterpiece. It’s satisfactory, he decides.
“Now, your lips.” He declares, turning and searching through the products on the dresser as he looks for the one he wants. “Look up at me.”
He turns back, product in hand and uses his hand to brace their chin to hold them still. He pauses, again, looking them over and considering for just a moment longer, before he leans down and presses a quick, chaste kiss against their mouth. After all, this will be the last chance he gets, lest he risk smearing something when he’s done.
Rook Hunt
There is nothing that goes unnoticed by Rook. He is a hunter, after all, and as of late he’s been noticing the subtle changes in his dearest hunting companion.
When they’ve seen him around, he’s noticed the change– a slight hitch in their breath, or the way that their heartbeat will skip ever so slightly. How their eyes would dilate when their gazes would meet, and how he would sometimes catch them staring at him as if he were their quarry they were hunting.
It was wonderful, wasn’t it? To be desired like this? He has caught himself staring quite often in return, smitten by the way they show their affection if ever so slightly. Now, the dilemma becomes how to show the gesture in turn. Shall he bring them a bouquet and sing their praises? Perhaps he could ask them to share a meal with him, and then they could dance and he could tell them their feelings are returned. Or should he slip a letter to them under their door and pen all of his feelings for them to read?
He’s not lost in thought entirely, though his attention is split as he looks at them, smiling. He’s been caught staring, but that wouldn’t be the first time, would it?
They smile at him in return, and then, with none of the apprehension their body seems to convey, they lean in and press a sweet kiss to the side of his mouth.
While they could never sneak up on him, they are certainly full of surprises. Merveilleux!
Epel Felmier
Epel doesn’t often invite people home to his hometown. Sure, there were a few he invited during the commemorative sled race, but otherwise his hometown was quaint and most of the people there were much older than he was. It wasn’t exactly the most interesting of places to bring someone to. Still, when he had told them that he was visiting home to help out his family during a short school break, they had wanted to tag along to see what it was like.
Epel had expected them to be bored and a bit lost, considering the country dialect that most people from his hometown spoke in, but he’d humored them anyway and let them tag along since they had wanted to.
He’s sitting on the fence and carving an apple with precise strokes– at least he’s trying to in between the moments of distraction. The last thing he would have expected would be for them to offer his parents help with the orchards. Epel had offered too, but more often than not that just meant using his skills in flight to pluck the apples from above their reach in the trees but…
Epel has to stop himself from whistling as they heft a bag of fertilizer into a wheelbarrow by themself. It’s impressive to watch them work, really, knowing they don’t have the magical aptitude that he does. They make it look so easy…
It’s only when they’re finally heading in for the night and Epel is carrying a basket of apples slung over his arm that he finally gets the chance to speak to them again.
“Ma said you were a big help.” He says it and can’t help the smile that comes to his face. He keeps stealing glances at them– he can’t quite help but to admire them for all they’d done today. This time, he gets caught, but they don’t seem to notice, grinning back at him.
His body moves before he fully thinks it through, but within just a moment he’s close to them, eyes slipping closed as their mouths meet clumsily. It’s only after a few long seconds that his brain catches up with him and he feels himself go red.
“I…” he starts, only to be interrupted by a distant whoop and whistle, and he glances toward the house to see his cousin standing there holding up two thumbs up. Epel sighs, rubbing his face as he flushes worse. “…Can you hold that thought? I need to go kick his ass.”
Thankfully, they just laugh, holding out to take the basket from him and grinning.
“Go get him, champ.”
Idia Shroud
It’s not his birthday. It’s not Christmas, either, and yet they were here, handing him something wrapped in gift wrap and tied cutely with a bow on the top. It’s a gift, that much is obvious, but he doesn’t know why.
They tell him to open it, and they don’t have to tell him a second time.
His eyes widen when he realize what he’s holding. It’s a figure– one he’s been talking to them about for months. It’s the one he couldn’t get when it came out on a special release in crane games overseas because he had terrible luck when he tried to get one himself.
They’re explaining how they got it– how they had won it and had to order special shipping and that’s why it took so long. Idia can barely hear them because his hands are shaking and he can’t quite comprehend why they would go through such a grand gesture for him.
He’s not sure where the bravery comes from, because even thinking about it in hindsight make him nervous, but he lunges forward and meets their lips. It must be adrenaline, and it makes his stomach flip, but he can’t say he regrets it at all.
Malleus Draconia
Malleus, being a prince, has rarely ever had reason to be afraid of anything. He’s always been surrounded by people who would lay down their lives to protect him and make sure he can return home to rule Briar Valley safely, and he’s never felt unsafe for even a moment with his attendants at his side.
And yet… he feels more vulnerable in this moment than he has in his entire life, looking at them. He knows– has known that he is in love with them, and he finds himself underprepared for how raw it feels to know love like this. He’s always assumed love was the way they described in story books– unproblematic and easy– and he’s finding that he’s woefully underprepared for it not to be that way. He knows that if they reject him, he would be hurt. Devastated, more than likely, and while he might heal with time, a resource he has in plenty, he can’t help but to feel afraid of the possibility that they will turn him away now.
Now, when they’re the person he trusts the most. When he believes he could trust them with something as delicate as his heart when he’s been told to be careful so, so many times before.
He’s struck by how beautiful they are as they stand there, smiling in the moonlight and looking skyward to see the stars. It seizes his chest, pulls it tight and steals his breath as he looks at them.
Maybe it’s the fear that spurs him. After all, while he has more than enough time, he knows that if he is to dedicate his love to them that they are not so lucky. Knows the hurdles that will come with it, but in spite of that he can’t help but to feel overwhelmed with how much he cares for them.
It’s gentle– feels to Malleus like he’s moving in slow motion as he crosses to them. They look at him, and their smile goes affectionate. Malleus feels it in his throat, but he’s already decided his course of action and now is no time to be paralyzed by nerves. He gently rests his hands at their elbows, giving them plenty of time to back away should they want to.
When their lips finally meet, it’s gentle and nearly dream-like with how it makes Malleus’ head swim. It’s like it soothes something inside of him that screaming beast inside of him that screams at him that he’s not someone they would want. And its incredibly warm. He finds he’s never felt quite so at peace as he has in this moment. Perhaps they won’t mind if he, selfishly, wants to linger just a little longer…
Silver
Silver is awoken by the feeling of sunlight on his face, and when he finally opens his eyes, he finds that he has to squint against the brightness while he tries to get his bearings on his surroundings. He lifts his hand to block the light enough to see, and when he does, he sees their face smiling down at him.
He groans, frowning.
“It happened again, didn’t it?”
“It did. Hopefully we can find something to help soon, Silver. In the meantime I thought you could use a little company while you napped.”
Silver blinks slowly, watching them closely. It had taken him this long to realize that his head had been propped up on their lap, and their fingers have been slowly stroking through his hair the entire time he’s been trying to pull himself out of slumber. Despite his face being an impassive neutral, he can feel the way that his heart thrums in his chest, flustered. They were always so gentle with him, like he deserved to be looked after like this. Waking up and the first thing he saw being their face did something to him, it really did.
“I appreciate it.” Silver says, measuredly. He adjusts so that he’s sitting upright, though his gaze lingers on them for a moment longer. They don’t get long to realize that he’s debating with himself before he leans in, pressing a fleeting-but-firm kiss to their mouth. It’s barely a moment, but there was no question that it happened. Apparently satisfied that he’d properly demonstrated his feelings, Silver gets to his feet and doesn’t mention it again… at least not until he does it again later, when they have more privacy.
Sebek Zigvolt
He’s been teaching them how to defend themself. They’d always shown a keen interest in it, and Sebek had received no small amount of teasing about how soft he was for the human who was so curious about what he did to train. Lilia often found it quite humorous how soft he would be toward them in comparison to Silver.
Well, naturally. Silver had learned how to fight from the best of the best– Master Lilia himself– he couldn’t expect the human to know how to handle that from go. Besides, weren’t most humans pretty frail anyway? There would be no sense in going all out and injuring them…
And then they threw him for a loop. He finds himself thinking, halfway between the air and ground, that this is not what they had practiced at all! Instead they’d gotten a grip on him about his waist and had leveraged his center of gravity to throw him. He’s… impressed.
He lands hard on his back, knocking all of the wind out of him with a punched-out sound, and he stares skyward dazedly. How had they done that? They enter his vision upside down– standing over him and smiling at him proudly.
“Did you like that, Sebek? I asked Lilia for some ways I could keep you on your toes!”
He blinks slowly, though they keep chatting at him about how Lilia had taught them the best way to get the advantage in hand-to-hand combat. He can’t quite get himself to fully listen– not with the sound of his blood rushing in his ears and the way that his heart is thudding in his chest. His face feels hot and if he could only get his wits about him he would probably have immediately assumed that he was dying, but–
“Sebek?”
This isn’t… This isn’t him dying is it? Oh shit. Sebek’s brain is at war with his body because this is a human! He always questions his own mothers tastes. What kind of fool is he to be feeling like this toward a human?!
Regardless of whatever his mind is saying, Sebek’s body is already moving on instinct. They kneel a little further down to check on him, and he finds his brain goes entirely silence when he meets their lips rather awkwardly at this angle.
Lilia Vanrouge
Lilia watches them play, arms crossed and smiling from where he stands in the aperture that opens into the kitchen. Malleus is smiling, and Silver and Sebek are arguing while they are smiling wickedly, wads of play-money grasped in their hands. They were surprisingly adept at getting the others in his little found family roped in to play.
It was so nice to see them all acting their age. They rarely got to, and Lilia loved nothing more than seeing them enjoying themselves. They had so much ahead of them that they should enjoy the relaxation while they can.
“I’m going to get more snacks. I had better come back in to find you both alive an well, you hear?” They laugh as they stand.
“He forced me to sell Small World lane!” Sebek barks, and Silver snickers next to him, immediately launching the two of them into another argument. It’s sweet, really, watching them playing together the way they did as children.
They are walking towards him, and they smile at him, pausing as they hold their cup.
“Do you want to play too? We’re going to have another round after this.” They tip their head and smile at him impishly. “Or are you going to chicken out again?”
Lilia’s eyes glitter, pleased.
“You’re few hundred years too young to compete with me, friend.”
“Is that so? What’s the matter, you afraid I’ll get a leg up on you? Or are you just scared to show me what you’re made of.”
Their banter is always like this, fun and engaging. And just a bit flirty. Lilia plays dumb to it most of the time, and he always finds himself so thoroughly charmed that they ramp it up because they think he doesn’t realize.
“Just say the word and I’ll be happy to give you a proper demonstration.” Lilia’s eyes hood and he laughs, and their smirk only grows.
“Is that so? I dare you.”
Lilia has never been one to back down from a bet. Perhaps it’s a flaw of his, but he has no plans to make a change now. Instead, he antes up and steps forward into their space with a confidence that people rarely expect from his sweet face.
He meets their lips heatedly, one hand finding the side of their neck and the other helping to balance himself against their shoulder. He tips his head, finding the way that their mouths slot together comfortably. He’s far from shy, dragging the sharp points of his teeth across their lower lips and teasing the tingling skin with the tip of his tongue. They seem dazed when he pulls back, and he can’t help but to grin cockily. After all, that had only been a preview of his full potential.
“You are so lucky that Silver and Sebek are arguing. Otherwise I’m pretty sure Silver would have just screamed.” They manage to spit out in spite of their flusteredness. It makes Lilia laugh with his whole chest.
Oh yes. This little challenge he has posed is going to be incredibly fun.