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A slow, contented sigh slipped though Doug's lips as he lounged against his lover's chest. Dylas' arms around him squeezed gently, the tall boy's quiet affection familiar by now. The sweet gentle breeze of Sercerezo hill stirred his red hair as well as the green blades of grass all around the pair of them. Delicate pink petals fluttered down from the tree at Dylas' back, completing the picture perfectly. Doug tilted his head back and smirked at the upside down image of his boyfriend's face, quirking his eyebrows expectantly. Dylas sighed, rolling his eyes.
"You're never satisfied, are you?" He grumbled, one corner of his mouth tugged up in a smirk. Doug smirked too.
"You love it." He replied confidently.
"How cocky you are? Or that you can't sit still or be patient for more than ten seconds at a stretch?" The once-guardian replied.
"All of the above." The dwarf replied lightly, then added: "Because it contrasts so sharply with your stuffy stoicism."
"Tch." Dylas replied, his ears flicking in a long-practiced expression of annoyance. It had become part of their love language, this verbal fencing, flowing seamlessly from a rivalry since the first moment the pair had met. They may have been like oil and water since the beginning, but together like this Dylas and Doug had become so much more than the sum of their respective characters.
"Well?" Doug murmured after a breath or two, "I'm waiting." He raised his eyebrows. Dylas huffed a short laugh and bent his neck, his lips against his lovers in the perfectly familiar warmth of a thousand practiced moments. Doug let his eyes flutter closed and savored it. The sense of his partner forgetting everything else and focusing singularly on him... surely there was nothing better than this. He smiled against Dylas' mouth and flicked his tongue against his lower lip, knocking at the gate. Dylas chuckled softly again.
"You're so high maintenance." He whispered, then obliged him, carefully adding his tongue to the kiss, not too much, not too wet. The swam in the kiss together for several heartbeats then broke apart and smiled quietly at one another, cheeks pink with warmth. Those golden eyes poured affection over him. Doug dropped his gaze and smirked, remembering.
"Do you remember the first?" He asked, a twinkle of mirth in his own steel-gray eyes. Dylas scoffed and looked away, face blushing further. But, his own mouth curled at one corner in a mirror of his partner's.
"As if I could forget that fiasco." He grumbled. Doug grinned, flashing white teeth, a giggle bubbling in his chest. He held it down. The memory flooded up from his mind, a pleasant twinge of nostalgia and embarrassment all rolled into one.
'Gods and dragons are you ever going to freakin' kiss me?!' He'd thought furiously, blatantly staring at Dylas' lips as the pair of them stood rigidly, arms entangled in an awkward half-embrace. Fireflies flitted around them in the warm summer night, Dylas having walked Doug home to Granny Blossom's shop long after sundown. They'd taken longer than expected, indeed much longer than could possibly have been necessary to return from a day trip to Yokmir forest to do some fishing. Who didn't drag their feet when it was time to end a date with their new boyfriend, though? Now at the close of the evening, Doug pointedly hesitated, fingers tightening on the fabric of Dylas' black coat as he stared his boyfriend down. 'I've been waiting every day since Frey dragged you out of that place... how much longer are you going to make me wait?' A perfect storm of stubbornness and impatience conspired to make the dwarf glare at his partner, not about to let him off the hook... even if he wasn't ready. He wouldn't force him, but he wasn't going to wait forever, either. The minimum his rash nature would tolerate was a blatant show of expectation.
Dylas seemed to know what he was waiting for--well, how could he not after all? His furred ears flicked nervously and perspiration beaded on his forehead. The tall boy took a deep breath, bent his neck and forced himself to charge in. Doug flinched backward as Dylas' mouth collided with his, lips already parted. The former guardian's mouth enfolded Doug's entire mouth, making him wince at the abrupt, clumsy force of it. But, this is what he'd wanted, so he frantically tried to catch up, pushing back and parting his own lips, trying to create overlap between their mouths in a less one-sided fashion, and finding a sudden, nauseating abundance of saliva instead. He shuddered, broke off the kiss, and turned his head to the side, wiping his mouth on his sleeve, trying to keep disgust out of his expression and failing miserably.
Dylas snatched his arms out of Doug's faltering grip and twitched backward, ears flattened down and tail swishing anxiously.
"S-sorry. I'm sorry. I don't know what I'm--but you were acting like--damnit--sorry." He broke off the string of half-formed words and turned away, tail lashing even more furiously. Doug sighed and seized his boyfriend's elbow before he could flee.
"Hey." He called, "That was terrible..." Dylas' face purpled and he spluttered in anger.
"Y-you-!"
"And I'm pretty sure it was mostly my fault." The dwarf added, looking sheepish. Dylas blinked, wide eyed and stunned silent. Doug sighed and smiled in what he hoped was a reassuring way. "I'm sorry, Dylas. I shouldn't have pushed so hard. Thing is, I'm not a patient person."
"I know." Dylas returned flatly. Doug glared at him.
"BUT..." He added pointedly, "That doesn't mean I don't want to try again." Dylas blinked at him rapidly, anger falling out of his expression in place of befuddled surprise.
"You're not... I dunno, mad?" He asked skeptically.
"I wouldn't say that." The dwarf laughed bitterly. "I was imagining my first kiss quite a bit differently, after all." Dylas' expression darkened and he braced as if for a blow. "But I'm not mad at you, horse-face." He grinned as Dylas' face flickered into a snarl, then into a resigned, long-suffering smile.
"Same goes for you, pebble-brain." He replied, gently clasping his long, graceful hand around Doug's own comparatively stubby one. Doug smiled affectionately and leaned against Dylas front, the fingers of his free hand tangling in the dark furred collar of the other boy's black coat.
"You know what they say about getting right back on a horse if it throws you off?" He murmured, mischief in his eyes. Dylas' left ear flicked in annoyance. Doug grinned broadly. "So, let's try that again--slowly this time... and no tongue! You gotta walk before you can run." Dylas' mouth twitched, waffling between a sneer and a grin. Finally, he huffed, sighed, and wound an arm around his boyfriend's back and pulled him close.
"Alright... whatever you want, shrimp." He bent his neck and leaned in gradually, tentatively, stopping short of Doug's mouth by a finger's width. Doug's stomach fluttered in approval of this changed approach and he leaned in to close the distance, gently pressing his mouth to Dylas' own, lips closed but relaxed. Warmth flooded through him this time, a tingling, electric excitement shooting down into his tailbone and his toes. His ears warmed rapidly and twitched. Dylas' squeezed him against his chest, the whole of him melting into the embrace as they delicately pressed their mouths together twice more before relaxing out of the kiss, both exhaling slow sighs, both flushed crimson. Doug surrendered to a wicked half-smile he couldn't have prevented if he tried and his eyes flickered down over his boyfriend's whole height, fiercely proud and delighted to be able to call this gorgeous creature his.
Dylas blinked back at him, eyes dilated, breath trembling.
'Gods damn that adorable bastard... he looks so lost.' Doug thought, affection swelling in his chest.
"Let's run through that again... tomorrow? 8pm?" He breathed expectantly. Dylas swallowed, meeting Doug's gaze.
"How about 8 AM?" He countered, voice husky. Doug grinned again.
"Yeah...sounds perfect." After all... he didn't want to wait either...