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It's never that Kinich willingly goes out. Yes, he's well acquainted and on good terms with all six heroes, the Pyro Archon and a few companions of other heroes now, but he still has to be forced to come with whenever the group is having a drink night. However, when he's there, he likes the atmosphere, and he's not in a rush to leave.
Tonight was such a night.
Ororon and Ifa were sitting snuggly close to each other, both getting just a little tipsy, but still way too sober to do any damage or to have any consequences tomorrow. Citlali sat next to them, but, well, not so close, sometimes side-eyeing them but overall looking fairly used to whatever the Mictlan and Tlalocan do. Chasca, Mualani, and Iansan are having lively chats that Varesa joined excitedly whenever she wasn't busy admiring the Pyro Archon, and Xilonen was trying to pretend to not hear the Archon’s motor upgrade requests. Kinich, kind of an outcast from the other dudes (he liked them and didn't mind hanging around with them, but he wasn't interested in getting mingled with them whenever they're being all lovey-dovey), he was silently listening to the small, lively group of girls, sometimes voicing his own opinion on things, mostly only when asked. Oh yeah, and Cacucu had Ajaw cornered not too far away. Thank the rad pink little saurian. Kinich was going to have to give him some treats as a reward for making his evening more peaceful.
For some reason, the girls (more so Mualani and Varesa) around him started giggling, and Mualani nudged his shoulder. “‘Nich, ‘Nich, look,” she pointed vaguely at a table not too far away, where there was a small group of girls sitting, hunched over the table looking like they were having an ultra private conversation in public. “One of them keeps eyeing you. She clearly likes you! Go say hi!”
Kinich frowned ever so slightly, taking a sip from his drink. “Mm.. Not interested.”
Mualani pouted. “What?? How do you say that right off the bat? Wouldn't it be fun to try, sometimes? It might do you some good to settle with someone, you know?”
Kinich glared at her, but it was more lighthearted than a threat. “Why would I want to try settling with someone else when I already have a boyfriend?”
The whole table went silent. Apparently, everyone had heard that, and for some reason, they all had the same reaction that Kinich did not understand.
“...What?” he murmured out.
“Repeat that,”
Kinich looked back at Mualani. “...I have a boyfriend?”
“KINICH!!” The Meztli girl slammed her hands on the table, utterly flabbergasted.
“What??” He was so confused.
From across the table, Ifa laughed. “Ha, nice going, dude!” He gave him a quick thumbs up, glad for his friend.
Kinich stuttered just slightly. “I-I don't understand…”
“WE don't understand,” Chasca butted in on Mualani’s behalf. “How come you have a boyfriend and not tell anyone?”
“But I did tell you,” Kinich stated, fully convinced, because he has a clear memory of telling everyone around this table about his relationship status. “I told everyone the last time we went out- You even congratulated me, Mualani!”
“But I don't remember that!!”
Mavuika decided to cut in. “Calm down, everyone,” she shushed everyone. “Last time was pretty hectic… I wouldn't be surprised if everyone was too far gone to remember, or if everyone thought you were saying nonsense. We did drink like Mondstadters then, after all.”
“I'm sorry Kinich, it must've gone over our heads,” Iansan apologised, Varesa nodding to her words to confirm them. “But we're happy for you!”
“Hm-hm, we are,” Mualani said suspiciously calm, but her facade quickly vanished. She dropped back down in her chair, but nearly on Kinich’s lap, face eerily close to his. “What does he look like? Do we know him? How far along are you? Does he-”
“Down, girl,” Chasca put a hand on Mualani’s shoulder, quieting her down.
Kinich blinked, trying to remember every question his friend had asked, noting how one of them was phrased very wrong, but deciding to brush it off. “Uhm… Ifa and Ororon might know him?” He chose to answer them calmly. “We met during the drug smuggling case in Fontaine. We bumped into each other, but after that I somehow kept coming across him, so we became friends in my free time from the case… He was in Natlan not too long after, which is when we started dating-”
“Who confessed?” Mualani ordered more than asked, Varesa now sitting next to her, listening closely.
“Him,”
“How old is he?”
“Uh.. Twenty-two,”
“Any gifts?”
“From who??” Kinich narrowed his eyes. “He gave me a bouquet of Rainbow Roses, but I-”
“A BOUQUET OF RAINBOW ROSES!!” Mualani covered her face and kicked her feet under her, overjoyed.
“What kind of flower is that?” Iansan wondered out loud.
Now it was Mavuika who truly joined the conversation. “It’s a lily-type of flower that only grows in Fontaine,” She said with a pointy finger up. “From what I’ve heard, it holds a representation of romance and passion. There used to be seas of them, all bearing every color of the rainbow, but now, they’re reduced to being mostly pink, and while they’re a local specialty of Fontaine, they’re not as common as most people expect them to be.”
Citlali perked up. “Oh, I once read in a novel about a Fontanian man so smitten that he grew his own sea of Rainbow Roses, despite the fact that they’ve grown extinct- the true Rainbow Roses, not the pink ones Fontaine has as of today!”
Chasca chuckled. “Hah, perhaps your lover was inspired by that novel,”
Kinich shook his head. “No… I’m pretty sure he just really likes them…”
Ifa hummed. “...Wait, you said we might know him?” He and Ororon slightly tilted their heads to the side in unison.
“Are you going out with the Duke?” Ororon wondered.
Kinich couldn't help but cringe, but he kept it at a minimum. “No..”
“The Iudex?”
“No way, dude! If I paid enough attention, it looked like they have a thing going with each other!” Ifa looked at Ororon as if he was crazy.
“Oh yeah, you’re right,”
Kinich just blinked, not quite feeling right talking about someone else's relationship status, especially of former associates he respects but generally people he didn't know all that well.
“Huh,” Ororon slumped slightly. “Then I don’t think I know him, sorry.”
The conversation went on and on, mostly Mualani trying to wring answers out of Kinich, but not getting many useful results. It went on until, at some point, Kinich had enough, sighing deeply as he tried not to stand up from his seat and leave.
“Alright, alright, let’s call this conversation quits,” Mavuika came to stand next to Kinich, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder, knowing that instead of it ticking him off even more, it’d bring a slight comfort. “How about we play a game, hm? A game, one more round of drinks, and then I think it’s enough for today.”
Just as people got a mutual agreement of that, Ajaw had seemed to free himself from Cacucu, and he had heard. everything.
“Kinich and Lyney- oh don’t make me laugh! All that stupid mwah mwah mwah-”
If Kinich hadn’t made the distance between Ajaw and the time-out zone this short, he could’ve knocked the Saurian through the thick, stone roof with how powerful the smack was.
. ݁₊ ⊹ . ݁˖ 👾🎩⋆｡༄⋆˚⊹
The month after, they went out again, and honestly, Kinich was a little afraid that it’d turn out the same way as last time. Don’t get him wrong, he greatly appreciates these people, even to the point where he calls them friends, but they could sometimes be… a lot. Which was proven last week. They seemed so shocked and excited for him, he was afraid that the conversation would continue today, but luckily, it didn’t. It was almost as if the conversation had never even happened, also because no one asked him more about his apparently mystery boyfriend after that night, and honestly, that was a big relief. They knew Kinich, and they knew it went a little out of hand, and so even if they did still have a million questions, they didn’t ask them. They knew that Kinich wasn’t one to talk much about himself or his life, only until he was ready to, and they respected that, even more so now that the reminder of it has done its round since they went overboard (the only person who hadn't included herself at all being Xilonen).
Again, they were at the same place that they always had their group hangouts; in the stadium. This time, however, Citlali wasn't there, having to do whatever Shaman things it is that she does in her tribe. Varesa had brought her Genius Invokation TCG collection, willing to share it in order to play. So now, they were taking turns with someone playing Varesa’s deck (when it wasn't herself), and someone playing the deck that the first person to assemble one had made (so they wouldn't each spend fifteen minutes creating decks and wasting time).
Kinich kept his cup with his drink close to his face as he leaned with an elbow onto the table, watching Xilonen make decisions that would make her win her match against Ororon. He just had his match, so now it was just waiting until the table went in a full circle.
It was only at the very last moment that he sensed a presence getting a little too close for comfort, and something was placed on top of his head and arms wrapped themselves around his shoulders. From the corners of his eyes, he could see ash blonde hair, pale skin, and a hint of beautiful, light purple eyes. The moment that he realised who had gotten this close to him, he was given a kiss on his cheek.
“Bonjour, mon coeur~” was said right next to his ear, and as Kinich turned his head to the source, he was met with his boyfriend's striking smile, clearly pleased that he'd managed to surprise his lover with his sudden appearance.
The table was silent once again, this time, Kinich too. He seemed hesitant on what to do for a brief moment, before he wiggled himself out of Lyney’s hold, removed his top hat from his head and put it back on its owner's, and he then stood up, got a hold on one of Lyney’s hands and pulled him with him a distance away from the table, hoping it was far away enough.
But it wasn't, because everyone could see them from this distance still, but it was far away enough to not hear words that were being exchanged. They watched in silence as Kinich initiated a hug, Lyney wrapping his arms around his shoulders again, and then sharing a kiss afterwards.
Suddenly, both Ifa and Ororon slammed their hands on the table and looked each other dead in the eyes. “The magician!” They shouted in sync.