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Even the decapitated heads Gamzee kept, dead, rotting, fly-ridden and covered in blood, could sense the dense romantic tension between Rose and Kanaya, which could be cut with a pair of... scissors, if the reader knows what I mean. Dave couldn't count the number of times he caught them in the middle of an intense staring session over the table, and it reminded him of how enraptured his Bro was when he watched anime or one of his favorite series. Karkat had been under strict orders not to interfere with their "couple development," in his own words, but he was almost on edge, because the rubbing of their hands together was emitting some deafening sounds to his non-heteronormative fanboy ears. Seriously, he could barely mention one of their names without turning red with impotence. For his part, Gamzee in his dementia seemed to go mute as he passed by both of them, and Terezi became momentarily less loud, curiously quiet, as if she had stabilized somewhat. Rosemary imposed an aura of expectation, a storm of passion about to erupt, an explosion ad portas. They had even the rats on the lookout for subtle displays of affection that remained purely coincidental rather than cautious tests of reaction.
So the day in the library where the walls wondered how many "accidental" brushes equaled one with intent, and both teens sat, exchanging cultures, technicalities, sarcastic humor and textbooks, that romantic tension began to loosen.
The table between them was covered with books, specifically in the medicinal sciences. There was a painful space between them, like two magnets being forced at a dangerously close distance. Kanaya was looking through a cloth-wrapped hardcover manuscript, one of the few books on troll medicine she owned, reading with scholarly fascination the black ink characters embossed on the thick paper.
“Here, this one, it explains the workings of nuclear medicine," Rose said, pushing a thick, worn carmine-colored volume toward Kanaya with her fingers. Her hand touched the back of the other’s glowing one, and when she tried to pull it away, Kanaya grabbed it like a castaway clinging to a piece of wood.
The silence seemed to increase in intensity, like a river flowing faster. The breaths took on a characteristic acceleration, and little by little, in the course of thousands of galaxies, the distance between their lips grew smaller and smaller.
Rose had her eyes fixed on Kanaya's carefully made up lips, a forest green matte exquisitely picked out on the troll's voluptuous lips, she gazed at the dangerously alluring gleam of snow white fangs protruding from her half-open mouth. For her part, Kanaya felt her blood pusher in her throat, lost in pools of amethysts that held a depth and peculiarity that would take dozens of sweeps to fully parse, eyelashes long and coarsely feminine, a perfect blend of bravado and elegance, sweet yet fearless. Anticipation boiled in the air, and when their lips finally touched, the sky opened and an invisible mist dissolved in the sweet, sweet affection in the air.
It's hard to describe love without repeating catch phrases, but the tickle in Rose's loins became a strange flood that dulled her senses. Kanaya's mouth, warm, soft and gentle, was everything she dreamed of at night, it was that which was in the back of her mind without blurring, a beautiful face she never wanted to forget. An exceptional first kiss, one that seemed to be the end of timelines, the union of universes, it seemed to be the moment they were born for. The table between them was soon on the floor, overturned, and the nuclear medicine forgotten. Hands searched for a handhold as the two lovers' kiss continued endlessly, Rose's fingers finding their place on the nape of Kanaya's neck, and Kanaya's on the other's soft waist. Then, soon on the floor, leaning against a bookcase and laughing with pure relief and innocence.
“I think I love you, Rose," Kanaya mused, with a majestic, calm smile, never out of her serene personality.
“I don't think so; I know so." replied the other, sitting on her lap, lost in the memory of how the sharp fangs felt brushing her so softly and gently, with the clear message of "I would never hurt you," in a whisper as sincere as can be.
Rose settled better, next to Kanaya on the floor, her head on the other’s lap, kissing her elegant but hard working hand.
“I always thought this moment would keep us waiting
for eternity. God, I was foolish to keep my feelings to myself," confessed the girl, with a dreamy sigh that she didn't allow herself to feel very often, covered with her sarcastic and stoic facade.
"Undoubtedly, we both were by being so cautious," Kanaya replied, feeling herself dying, in indescribable confidence, "You don't need to keep secrets from me now, dear Rose. I've seen every aspect of you, and I still love you.
“And to think..." she whispered, enjoying the feeling of her hair being tangled by Kanaya's long fingers, "And to think that there was a time when I thought this impossible.”
Without words between them, Rose sat up and kissed her again, slower and less hurriedly desperate. Their hearts, side by side, forgot the troubles that swarmed in the future, and they lived an infinite present, frozen in that timeless love.