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There were a couple of benefits when it came to HEARTSTEEL sharing the same photography studio as some of the other bands. One was networking and publicity to help bolster HEARTSTEEL’s rise to stardom, although in Kayn’s totally unbiased opinion, his band didn’t need all that crap to be successful. But, he had to admit, he did look good posing with members of different bands, and getting paid for it was even better.
Another benefit, though this one was more personal, was that Kayn got to see a certain someone and take pictures with them.
Kayn tried to focus on calming his thundering heart as he pressed a hand onto the small of Seraphine’s back, easing her closer so she was flush against his chest. The camera flashed a few times, the lead photographer called for some positional changes, and Kayn was using every ounce of self control to maintain his composure. But it was certainly difficult when the girl he’d been thinking about for weeks was so close to him, accompanied by the pleasant smell of strawberries and lavender.
“All set!” the photographer finally announced, looking over their pictures on a nearby computer with one of his assistants. “You guys did a great job!”
“Well, obviously,” Kayn remarked with a smirk. Seraphine giggled sweetly next to him, and Kayn swore his heart was soaring.
They made their exit not long after, Kayn walking in step with Seraphine back to the dressing rooms. He caught himself stealing glances at the outfit she chose to wear: a black dress with rose stencils lining the bottom of the skirt; a light gray jacket covering her shoulders; her blue hair tied up with a black velvet ribbon, a matching one criss-crossed around her left leg; and combat boots with thick heels. Kayn felt somewhat underdressed compared to her; he’d just gone for his standard black button-down shirt, with mesh and floral stencils on the upper torso, accompanied by black jeans and loafers with little silver studs. If he had known he’d be taking pictures with Seraphine, he would’ve put more effort into his outfit. Not that he wasn’t already attractive in what he wore, but still… he wanted to make a good impression on her.
“So…” Seraphine began to say once they had arrived at the dressing rooms, “do you have any plans after this?”
Kayn shrugged his shoulders. “Might grab some lunch later,” he said, not quite committed to the idea… until he thought of something that could potentially change that. With a devilish smirk, he added: “Wanna join me?”
He watched as Seraphine’s dark blue eyes lit up at his offer. “Really?” she asked, her excitement easily notable.
“Yeah.” Kayn leaned his shoulder against the wall, arms folded casually—well, he hoped he looked casual, anyway. “Been a while since I took a pretty girl out to eat,” he added with a wink.
Seraphine’s cheeks flushed, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear with a shy smile. “Oh, well, since you’re offering… sure,” she finally agreed. Kayn exhaled a breath he didn’t realize he’d been holding in, attempting to hide how giddy he was feeling.
“Meet you out front once we’re changed?” Kayn asked. Seraphine nodded, disappearing all too quickly as she slipped inside the dressing room where her change of clothes were.
As he entered the other dressing room and started peeling off his outfit, Kayn’s thoughts turned to when he’d first met Seraphine in person a couple months ago. HEARTSTEEL had their debut performance of their song, and Ezreal proposed a small party to celebrate how successful it had been. Yone was on the fence about it, initially, but thanks to some… persuasion from K’Sante, he eventually relented. Kayn invited Akali, who in turn asked if she could bring a friend. Kayn didn’t see why not–he figured she meant Evelynn or Kai’sa, considering one was her girlfriend and the other was her best friend.
The girl she brought instead was neither of them; it was Seraphine, who had her usual pink hair at the time. Kayn found himself quite intrigued by her and decided to talk her up, see where things went–not that things would go very far, under Akali’s unbearingly watchful eye (and Yone’s, but that was his default state anyway). To his surprise, he enjoyed her company and ended up spending most of the party just talking to her, getting to know her. Their conversations continued even afterward; first on Discord, then text messages, and then the occasional video call. It was curious how easily things were going between them… it also made Kayn somewhat nervous. As kind and accepting as she was, both of him and Rhaast, the last thing Kayn wanted was to end up ruining what they had: a friendship that, until just now, might actually become something a bit… more .
Kayn had to be honest with himself. He liked Seraphine. Like, really, really liked her. The kind of ‘like’ where he wanted to do cheesy things such as hold her hand, kiss her on the cheek, hold her close on the couch while they binge-watched some show on Netflix. And those were tame thoughts by his standards. Kayn was no stranger to more intimate activities, but no one had ever really made him feel the way Seraphine did.
If this impromptu lunch outing went well, and if Kayn found out Seraphine felt the same way he did, maybe… maybe there was a chance that they could be something more. And then his little fantasies wouldn’t have to remain just that: fantasies.
Gods, he really hoped it’ll go well.
You are such a simp, Rhaast chuckled in the back of his mind as Kayn tugged on his sneakers, finally dressed in casual clothes.
“Shut up, Rhaast,” Kayn growled, picking up the duffel bag with his dress clothes and making his way out of the dressing room.
He’d just passed by the one Seraphine occupied, planning on making his way to the foyer to wait for her, when he heard her voice call out.
“Kayn? Is that you?”
Kayn immediately backtracked, leaning his head near the door to better hear her. “Yeah, I’m here,” he told her. “What’s up?”
He heard the click of the door opening, backing up as Seraphine cracked the door just enough for him to see her face through the small gap she created. “I, um… I can’t get my dress off. I think the zipper’s stuck,” she told him.
“You need help?” Kayn offered.
She nodded her head shyly, a cute pout adorning her lips. “Please?”
Well, Kayn wasn’t one to leave a damsel in distress–especially when it concerned the very girl he was fond of. Seraphine opened the door a bit more, allowing Kayn to slip inside her dressing room. As he set his duffel bag on the floor, she closed the door back up, locking the handle once more. The only piece of clothing she still had on was the dress; her jacket, shoes, and other accessories (besides the ribbon holding her hair up) had been removed.
“Oh, I hope it’s not broken,” Seraphine lamented as she pulled her ponytail over her shoulder and presented her back to Kayn. “I really like this dress.”
So do I, Kayn agreed internally. He studied the zipper, located about half an inch down between her shoulder blades, making it difficult for anyone to try and fix on their own. “I think it’s just snagged on the fabric here,” he informed her.
Seraphine let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness.” She turned her head to look at him. “You still okay fixing it?” she asked.
“Oh, yeah–no problem,” Kayn reassured her.
She faced forward, and Kayn began to work on freeing the zipper, sliding the nail of his thumb between it and the fabric it was stuck on. He was quickly rewarded when the zipper released its hold on the fabric, and without thinking about it, Kayn pulled the zipper down.
Kayn couldn’t ignore the way his heart leapt into his throat with Seraphine’s back now exposed to him. He took in the sight before him: fair skin adorned with small, dark freckles that looked like constellations. Kayn didn’t think she could be anymore beautiful.
“Kayn?”
Seraphine’s voice caught his attention, and Kayn soon realized he’d been staring at her back just a second longer than he meant to. He cleared his throat, letting go of the zipper still between his fingers. “It’s, uh–it’s all set now,” he told her, still standing behind her and wondering whether he should take his leave.
He lifted his gaze, meeting Seraphine’s sapphire eyes looking back at him. Her cheeks were flushed a pretty crimson.
“You, um… you can keep going, if you’d like…”
Holy shit. Holy shit.
Kayn’s brain had to be short-circuiting right now, because there was no way she had just asked him to undress her. Surely he had to have misheard her, right? Right?
“A-are you sure?” he asked carefully.
Seraphine looked away for a moment, and Kayn found himself holding his breath once more. That only seemed to amplify the beating of his heart against his sternum. She flicked her eyes back to him and nodded.
“Yes. I trust you.”
Kayn could have spontaneously combusted right then and there. She trusted him. Seraphine said she trusted him. Him . There was no way Kayn could afford to fuck this all up now. Not when Seraphine gave him her consent to do this.
Kayn struggled to keep his hands from trembling as his fingers slipped under the thin straps of Seraphine’s dress, gently easing them over her shoulders. His fingertips just barely grazed her skin; he tried not to think about how soft it felt, and whether it would feel just as soft with his lips pressed against it. He looked away as the dress slipped further down her body, not wanting to steal anymore looks than he already had.
When he finally had the courage to look again, Seraphine was facing him, holding the dress flush against her body. Oh, Kayn’s heart was going into overdrive. He didn’t think it was possible to want something, or someone, more badly than he did right now.
“Is… is there anything else you need help with…?” he asked, finding himself being pulled toward her like gravity.
“Maybe… just one more thing…” Her voice was soft, almost like a whisper, and oh–she was leaning into him, too. Her lips were so close… all he had to do was dip down and claim them–
Thok thok thok!
“Yo, Kayn! You in there?”
Kayn immediately froze. He’d completely forgotten that he came to the studio with Ezreal, who had his own photoshoot for some brand deal. Kayn’s nostrils flared as a scowl formed, irritation prickling at his nerves. Of all the times for the popstar prince to come knocking at the door, he chose NOW ?
“What do you want, Ez?” He shouted back, not bothering to mask how annoyed he was.
“Yeesh, calm down! I just wanted to tell you that I’m hanging out with Ekko and Lux after my shoot, so you can head out when you’re all done.”
“You couldn’t have just texted me?”
“Didn’t feel like it.”
Oh, Kayn could KILL Ezreal right now. He let out an audible groan and pinched the bridge of his nose. Meanwhile, Seraphine was trying–and failing–to stifle a bout of laughter from their current situation.
“Oh my god, you DO have someone in there!”
“ Fuck off! ” Kayn snapped, Rhaast’s own voice mirroring his. He could hear the little popstar prince cackling as he scurried away, and Kayn hoped to god Ezreal would keep his mouth shut. Fat chance of that happening, though.
Seraphine snorted, letting the laughter she’d been holding in bubble over. Kayn could feel some of his frustration ebb away as he watched her, the scowl that had carved itself onto his face easily melting away.
“S-sorry,” she said between little bursts of giggles. “That was actually kind of funny.”
Kayn emitted a soft chuckle of his own. “Well, I’m glad you thought so,” he remarked. He couldn’t help but feel a little bit… dissatisfied, however. The intimate moment between them had been stolen away, much to his chagrin, although Kayn doubted they would’ve been able to do much–he didn’t exactly come prepared, after all.
He was definitely going to kill Ezreal the next time they were home.
“Maybe… it’s for the best that we were interrupted,” Seraphine noted, the disappointment in her voice easily detectable. Kayn raised an eyebrow, wondering what she had meant, but she quickly answered that for him: “I, um… I wasn’t really thinking...”
“Oh, yeah… sorry,” Kayn murmured, rubbing the back of his neck. “I… didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable.”
Seraphine giggled softly, shaking her head. “No, it’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong,” she told him, taking one arm away from her dress to boop him on the nose with her index finger—and now it was Kayn’s turn to have his cheeks burning. “Maybe next time.”
Kayn lifted an eyebrow quizzically. “Next time?” He repeated, a smirk forming on his lips.
She must have just realized what she said, because Seraphine’s eyes suddenly widened. “Oh—um, uh, never mind,” she quickly deflected. “I—I think I’d like to get dressed now. I’m a little chilly, and… I believe you were going to treat me to lunch?”
“Ah, right. I’ll leave you to it, then.”
With that, Kayn excused himself, picking up his duffel bag and taking his leave, catching a glimpse of Seraphine waving goodbye as he exited the dressing room. He made his way to the foyer, face flushed, tormented by the relentless fluttering in his stomach, and definitely not falling harder for her.