“Of course not.” Florence studied the tiefling sitting beside him. “Are you like this with everyone?” He gestured to Orion, then to himself. “This charming, I mean.” A tiny laugh followed his question.
Outside, rain trickled down, hitting the cobbled streets with a soft pitter-patter. Florence’s eyes trailed out the tavern’s frosted windows for a moment, but his attention returned to Orion as he awaited his response.
Orion's grin widened— the human thought he was charming!!!—and he laughed. His eyes were fixed firmly on Florence's face, taking in every detail with eager excitement. "Only to the beautiful ones," he said, after waiting a few seconds to draw out the tension. "And you, darling, are nothing if not beautiful, so I'll have to be quite charming indeed."
Florence’s smile grew as he watched Orion’s face change. “The beautiful ones, eh?” He laughed. “You’re nothing short of gorgeous either, you know.” Florence purred, brushing a stray lock of dark hair behind his ear. “If I’m ‘darling’, you’re stunning.” His smile was still more coy than Orion’s by a long shot, and his face was still tinged with blush, but he seemed more open already. “What’s your name, then?”
Orion was nothing short of delighted. Now he was gorgeous, and stunning too, and the human had a smile like a sunset, bright and warm and beautiful. His skin hid the blush dusting his cheeks but they were sitting close enough that Florence could spot the red behind the lavender if he really tried. Orion hoped he cared enough to try. "I'm Orion of Kallifax. Friends call me Ori." He held out his hand for the human to shake. "What's yours, pretty boy?"
“Pretty boy? You sure are laying it on thick, Orion, but I’ll take it.” Florence chuckled, taking Orion’s offer and shaking his hand. “I’m Florence Brosnear, of the cowhand Brosnears.” He studied Orion’s face just a little closer, noticing the tinge of blush on his lilac skin. “Did I say something to make you blush?”
Orion's fingers were calloused from strumming the lute and rougher than the delicate shade of his skin would suggest. He had a firm handshake. "Well I can't lay in on thin, can I Florence? Wouldn't want to lose a catch like you." His smile got impossibly wider when Florence noticed and he nodded, the trinkets on his horns jingling pleasantly. "And you did! Not many humans around willing to call me gorgeous, what with the…" he waved at his face vaguely, as if that finished his sentence.
Florence’s hands were rough and calloused as well, though his were from years upon years of manual labor and lugging things around. “I can’t see why. I think it enhances your features.” Florence noted, clasping his fingers together behind his neck. He leaned back comfortably in his chair, now pleasantly distracted from the pain of that day’s work. “Although, to go back to an earlier point: you’d have to try a little harder than just not complimenting me if you really wanted me gone.” He laughed softly, taking another draught off of his mead.
Orion watched him sprawl back in his chair and he itched to write, to sing, to memorialize Florence's perfect beauty. He was like a work of art, all smooth lines and ease. Instead, Ori tapped his fingers against his thigh and let out another laugh, softer and more well worn than the first. "You'd be surprised," he murmured, mostly to himself, and then took a swig of mead to wash away the train of thought. He was starting to get properly flushed now, half from mead and half from conversation. "I'm sure it's not that hard to get you gone, darling. You seem like the type who can be… discerning about who he speaks to."
“I might be.” Florence purred, leaning in just a tiny bit. His eyes wandered Orion, focusing in especially on his face. “But you seem like a good enough conversationalist, and that’s always a nice trait to have. So you’re worth speaking to.” That, and just the sound of Orion’s voice made Florence feel glorious. He gave him an easy grin, smiling with his teeth for the first time that night.
If Florence's smile before was a sunset then this one here was the stars, a million balls of blazing fire, glorious and awe-inspiring. Damn the gods for letting him forget his pen, he wanted to write sonnets about this boy. "With someone like you, the talking is easy." He slid closer, letting their shoulders bump together companionably, and downed another sip of mead. "All I have to do is look into your eyes, and suddenly the inspiration to speak is there, making me run my mouth before I even know I've been talking."
Florence laughed in surprise, his blush growing more aggressive. He looked away from Orion, though made no efforts to move at all- in fact, he leaned into him just the smallest amount. “I would say you’re a poet, sir, but I suppose you already know that.” Gold. Orion’s words were gold to him. His honey-sweet words were enough to render Florence speechless, but he kept talking. “I don’t suppose you’d let me buy you another drink once that one’s gone?”
Orion was pretty much cursing every god he could name when he saw Florence blush like that. How could he be expected to remember such a beautiful expression!? "I did, but I wouldn't mind hearing you say it too darling." He reached over and set his hand on top of Florence's, soft in case he pulled away. "I would love a drink from you, but I'm afraid just hearing your voice is payment enough for my company. Perhaps you would let me buy you one instead?"
“Well, then I must say: you’re quite the poet, Orion.” Florence practically melted at the feeling of Orion’s hand on his own, trying his best to keep cool and collected on the surface. “If you insist on it, then I don’t have any choice than to accept, do I? I wouldn’t want to be rude.” He took the last sip of his mead, polishing off the mug. “So.. how long have you been in Gravemner?”
Orion was likewise doing his best not to melt into a pile of goo on the floor at the sweetness with which Florence delivered the compliment. He laced his fingers with the human's after a few seconds, content that he wouldn't be uncomfortable, and signaled for the barkeep to fetch them another round while he thought about the question. "All in all about… five years, though most of that's on and off. I travel often."
Florence rubbed the back of the tiefling’s hand with his thumb, looking around the tavern. “Five years, wow. That’s a fair amount of time to spend in a place like this, even on and off. What’s your travel like?” He cocked his head curiously, face almost resembling a curious puppy’s as he asked the question.
Too cute, too cute entirely. Florence was going to kill him before the night was out and he didn't even have the strength to be upset about it. "Not for a tiefling, darling." He squeezed Florence's hand happily. "I'll live hundreds of years, five is just a drop in the bucket. My travels are usually for adventuring, sometimes for inspiration, sometimes to have some fun, but I always come back here for a few days when I'm done."
“This is a nice place to come back to. It’s a homey place.” Florence nodded. “Hundreds of years, though, wow. That has to be something to behold, all of that history unfolding before you.” He mused, squeezing Orion’s hand back and leaning against him slightly. Mostly to test the waters and see Orion’s reaction, but he just wanted to be close to him. “One second, sorry.” Florence laughed, undoing his bun and letting his shoulder-length hair fall down. “Damn bun’s been in my hair all day, starting to get sore.”
"It is," Orion agreed, laying his head on Florence's shoulder with a dreamy sigh as he leaned closer. Humans were always so easy to snuggle with and Florence even fucking smelled nice, like new rain and cut grass and horses. "Though it gets a bit lonely when you live so long." He perked up a bit when Florence drew his attention and then froze, watching the hair fall across his shoulders with so much longing it hurt. Stupid stupid him, forgetting his pen when this siren, this god among men, was sitting in front of him like living poetry. "If you don't mind me asking, are you sure you're totally human?"
Florence blinked. “No, I don’t mind, but why do you ask?” He thought for a bit, leaning his own head on Orion’s. “My grandmother is a half-elf, if that helps you at all.” He ran his fingers through his hair. “Why do you want to know?”
Orion nuzzled him, watching with unblinking eyes as he shifted. Gorgeous idiot. Stupid pretty mostly-human boy. "You are… very uncommon, in your appearance" His voice was soft, slightly awestruck. "I'm sure even the sun herself is envious of your beauty."
“Uncommon? Thank you..” He purred, his face flashing pink again at the compliment. “Stop it! You’re sweeter than honey, Ori, really.” He laughed, covering his smiling mouth with a hand. “I told you that you were a poet, but somehow I feel like that isn’t strong enough to accurately capture you and your words.”
Orion couldn't help but preen at the reaction to his compliment, drinking in the human's blush like it was the finest mead. "Only because I have such a beautiful muse to spur me on." He took Florence's free hand in his, pulling it down into his lap so he could admire the look on his face. "Why cover your smile? You look beautiful like this, 'tis a gift worth all the world to see it."
Florence giggled slightly. “Again with the compliments! It’s just a reflex, darling, nothing more, nothing less.” God, he’s such a charmer. I’m fucking giddy, how did that even happen? Florence got a little closer, completely closing the space between the two. He studied Orion’s hands, taking them in his own and looking them over, studying everything from the callouses on his fingers to the lines on his palms. He couldn’t read them, no, he was only interested in the story they told.
Oh gods, he was giggling—fucking giggling— and calling him darling. Orion was about to have a heart attack. "And I could say my compliments are just the same, pretty boy: a reflex when confronted with someone as breathtaking as you." He was only half teasing, smiling over at Florence brightly. He knew every way in the world there was to tell a man's future, from cards to dice to good old fashioned tea leaves, but his favorite was reading palms. He flipped over one of Florence's, running his finger along the callouses. "Such nice hands, you must work hard at that job of yours."
“If I’m breathtaking, the same goes double for you.” Florence tilted his head at Orion’s observation of his hands. “Thank you, thank you. But I like to think that I work hard.. raising animals here is no joke.” He laughed, thinking about his job on the farm. “Out there daily with the cows, but they don’t call us the cowhand Brosnears for nothing!” Florence’s nose noticeably scrunched up when he smiled, his eyes smiling along with him lips.