Both the caress and the words soothed Arquis. The tension bled from his shoulders, and he practically melted into the simple touch. His eyelids even drifted shut with contentment. People did not often treat him so gently; when they touched him, which was rare, it was never quite so soft. He wished for more but would not ask for it, not unless they offered.
“Yes,” he murmured, “I want to try.”
He opened his eyes slowly, registering once more how close the two of them were. Something bright burned in him. But he would not push, would not pressure them into anything. They had discussed kissing on the cheek just a little while ago, for goodness’ sake. Perhaps they wouldn’t be quite ready for more, especially not after such an emotionally taxing conversation.
He couldn’t stop himself from looking, though. He had always thought he was gorgeous, even when they had first met. His eyes moved from theirs down to his lips, which he couldn’t seem to tear his focus away from.
Rin noticed, after a moment, where Arquis's gaze had moved to, and he couldn't stop the way their lips curved into the faintest of smirks. He continued to gently stroke his thumb over Arquis's cheek, their own gaze dipping down to Arquis's mouth. They found the nobleman attractive, and intriguing, too. There were mysteries here, layered on top of each other. Rin wanted to unwrap them, but wouldn't pry where he was not wanted.
Arquis exhaled shakily. He lifted his hand to cup the one that was on his cheek again and ran his fingers all the way down to their shoulder. This inevitably drew him forward, though only a fraction of an inch. He swallowed. The shyness from earlier had returned, reminding him of his lack of experience. He tried to push it aside. His lips parted slightly as he drank them in again. They truly were easy on the eyes.
This time, he said it aloud. “Gorgeous,” he mumbled, flushing pink.
Rin's warm, light brown skin flushed faintly at Arquis's compliment. "No, I believe that's you." They countered with another quick, flickering smile, taking a tiny step closer, their hand still cupped around Arquis's cheek, thumb gently stroking against his skin. "Absolutely lovely, Arquis." The nobleman's name left their mouth in a soft, quiet tone. They almost couldn't believe this was happening; couldn't believe what they were doing.
Arquis flushed more deeply and smiled. He had to admit that hearing them say his name did something to him. He was about three seconds away from asking permission for a kiss when the door suddenly opened. Not thinking quite clearly, he pushed himself away from the shelves, coming to stand in front of Rin as if trying to protect them.
It was just Quirisa. She materialized after closing the door. Dangling on her arm was a picnic basket. When she saw the two of them together—Arquis, red-faced and alarmed, and Rinlos behind him—she stopped short. The basket swung back and forth from the change in momentum.
“No way,” she said, grinning. “I totally interrupted you guys, didn’t I? Called it! Marsiquia owes me money.”
“Quirisa!” Arquis stammered. “You were betting on- wait, no, that is not important. Why are you here? Did something happen?”
“No, no, I just came to drop off lunch. Don’t mind me!” She set the basket on his bed and did a mock salute at Rin, which she followed with a wink. “You two have fun! Not too much, though. You’ve got a lot of walking to do tonight!”
And just like that, she was invisible again. He heard her footsteps as she walked to the door. She let it slam behind her. Once he was sure she was completely gone, he turned back to Rinlos, pulse still racing from adrenaline.
“Goodness, I- goodness.” His smile was infectiously happy and a little bashful. “I was not expecting that at all.”
Rin cleared their throat, laughing a little bit to themself once Quirisa was gone, returning Arquis's smile. "Neither was I." they replied, laughing quietly. "Nor was I expecting your sisters to, apparently, place bets on…us. This." he shook their head a little, looking at the nobleman. "Well. Shall we…eat lunch, then? Or?" they cleared their throat quietly.
“Yes, it is quite disconcerting that she would gamble on it, especially considering Quirisa seemed to want you for her own,” Arquis responded. He punctuated the sentence with a nonchalant hand gesture that didn’t really match what he was feeling. His emotions were all mixed up an in intense knot that he couldn’t quite unravel. On the one hand, he wanted to pick up where they had left off; he wanted their hand on his cheek and eyes on his lips. On the other, he knew that they should probably slow down. They were moving so fast that it had made his head spin. With bliss, of course, but it had still left him dizzy nonetheless.
“I think lunch would be a nice idea. Are you hungry? Let me see what she brought.”
He went over to the bed and flipped open the lid of the picnic basket. Inside was a fresh half loaf of artisanal bread and small containers of various spreads. Judging by the look of them, one was cream cheese with citrus zest, another was hummus, and the last was some sort of cinnamon mixture. There was also a butter knife next to a large bowl of mixed berries and a thermos holding some kind of tea.
Rin shrugged a shoulder. "I…did not think she was serious about that." he replied, following Arquis over to the basket, eyes flickering over the spreads and bread. "It looks delicious." he commented, lifting the thermos. There were also two mugs, and he poured the tea out into the mugs, picking up one and taking a sip from it, closing their eyes for a long moment.
His response was light and a little teasing. “Oh, she is always serious about that sort of thing, though her goals are generally less romantic. Debauchery is much more her style.”
He sat down, crossed one leg over the other, and prepared himself a mug of tea as well. The aroma of it was delightful. There was a hint of something woody in there, though it was also dark and rich. He took a few slow sips, savoring each one. The texture of it was almost velvety. Whoever had steeped it had done an excellent job.
He drank about half of the mug before remembering that there was food. The thought of it made him grimace internally. He attempting to avoid eye contact with the picnic basket by instead studying Rin’s face.
(i just want you to know that I read the phrase "Attempting to avoid eye contact with the picnic basket" and immediately pictured a picnic basket with big cartoony eyes lmaoo)
"I see, I see. Debauchery is fun as well." Rin took a sip of the tea, blinking at Arquis when he realized the nobleman was studying them. "Yes?" they queried, raising an eyebrow faintly as they returned Arquis's studying with a studious gaze of their own. "Is something wrong?"
(sometimes I accidentally use the wrong phrase and most of the time it’s extremely hilarious)
“Not wrong, no,” Arquis replied quietly, “I am just quite enchanted with you.”
It wasn’t exactly a lie. They were like a siren, luring him in with his voice and beauty. But he hadn’t been telling the truth, either. There was something wrong. Something wrong with him, specifically. He couldn’t bear to eat, not with so much pressure on him. There was so much to worry about and think over and do, and he wasn’t sure he could take it at times. His appetite sure couldn’t.
(lmao yeah)
Rin blinked at him for a moment. "I see." they replied, looking down at the mug in their hands for a moment. They weren't quite sure why Arquis's words flustered them. They were used to compliments, both meant and not, from various nobles. So why should this fluster him? He reached over to the picnic basket, grabbing some of the bread and the spreads. "We should eat, Arquis." they had noticed the nobleman did not seem to eat a lot at meal-times, and they wanted to encourage him to. "Which of the spreads would you prefer?"
“I am not hungry,” Arquis started, then sighed, brushing a hand across his forehead. He didn’t want to worry them, even if it meant having to choke down some food. “But I suppose the citrus one would be alright. Here, I will prepare it. You can sit, if you would like.”
He gently took the spread and the loaf from Rin. Delicately, he cut the bread into slices, working with an almost surgical precision. He placed a couple of slices onto a plate for Rin—which he handed to him—and put one on his own. On his he daubed a small dollop of the orange cream cheese spread.
He picked at the crust of his slice for a handful of seconds and racked his brain for a distraction. “Do you have a heavy coat for this evening, or would you like to borrow one? It will be freezing out, and I do not want you to catch cold.”
Rin did not comment on the portion sizing, simply took his plate and gave himself some of the spreads, small dollops on his plate. "I have a coat, but thank you for asking." they replied, giving Arquis a soft smile as he spread some stuff on a slice, then took a small bite. He didn't skip meals; couldn't afford to when he was out and about, as he didn't always know when he would next be able to eat.
Arquis tilted his head slightly. “Wonderful. Is the food alright? Would you like me to ask for something else? Because I certainly could.”
He put aside his plate, unable to commit to finishing more than about three bites. Instead, he searched through the basket until he found the berries. The bread had felt too heavy in his throat and stomach. He’d have to go for something less dense, and berries fit that description.
The first one he popped into his mouth was a pale pink color. It tasted a little tangy but mostly sweet. The second was a type of cherry that was a deep red with a golden shimmer to it. When he ate it, some of the juice stained his lips, almost like lipstick.
Rin ate quietly, though he could not help the way their gaze flicked down to Arquis's mouth at the way the juice stained the nobleman's lips. They stared for a long moment before they realized that they were staring, and looked away again, eyes flicking to the food in their lap. "The food is perfect, thank you."
Arquis caught their wandering gaze and smiled self-consciously. “Do I have something on my face?”
He dug out a napkin from inside the basket and dabbed at his lips. A bit of the red came off, but not all of it, and he licked his bottom lip slowly. There was still, despite his best efforts, a smidge of color left over.
“Ah, yes, these do tend to stain. Did I get it all?”
Rin watched as Arquis tried to get the stain off, a small smile flickering over their face. They leaned forward, gently reaching out with their thumb to wipe away the remaining color. "there we go." he said softly. "Now it's all gone."
Arquis’s eyes widened when he saw what they were doing. The moment the pad of his thumb made contact, that ever-present, worried look on his face faded. The creases in his forehead disappeared, and his jaw unclenched.
Enamored, he gingerly placed his hand on their wrist. He brought their full hand to his lips rather than just his thumb. He pressed a gentle kiss to their knuckles before pulling away, checking their reaction to make sure he hadn’t gone too far.
Rin watched him quietly, lip catching between his teeth for a moment at the soft kiss to their knuckles. "Ah…" they trailed off, unsure what to say, but flattered by that soft little kiss to their knuckles. They slowly drew their hand back, but did not at all seem bothered by the kiss.
Arquis smiled at them shyly, letting his eyes flicker over his features a few more times for confirmation. When he saw that they weren’t upset, he felt his heart skip a beat. He was still very inexperienced with romance, but he felt slightly more confident than he had before.
He returned to eating berries. This time, however, he specifically picked out the red ones. They painted his lips and the tips of his gloves a pretty shade of garnet.
Rin watched him quietly, unable to tear their eyes away from Arquis and the way the redness continued to stain his lips. Rin wanted to kiss him even more now, wanted to taste the berry juice from Arquis's mouth on his own. He couldn't tear their eyes away from Arquis's lips and face.
“You are staring,” Arquis said coyly, as if he didn’t know what he was doing. “Have I made a mess again?”
He plucked another berry from the bowl and bit into it, savoring the burst of flavor that danced across his tongue. He searched for another, but it appeared that the rest were of a different variety. That was a little disappointing; he’d been hoping to let Rin try one.
Though, of course, there was another way for them to taste it.
As if to suggest it, Arquis parted his mouth slightly and ran his tongue across his lips again. The sweetness was almost intoxicating.
Rin let out a faint breath, leaning forward slightly. "I…would it be permissible for me to kiss you?" they asked in a soft tone, gaze dropping to Arquis's mouth again, to the man's lips stained red with the sweet berries that he had eaten. They really did want to kiss him now, but would not without his permission.
“Oh. Oh, yes, please do,” Arquis breathed. That warm, fluttery feeling in his chest was back, and he let it spread through the rest of him. It was a bright, bubbly sensation that seemed to almost brighten the world around him; it was better than being drunk, better than anything he’d experienced in a long time.
He leant forward just a tad, still admittedly quite anxious. As he’d said earlier, he’d never kissed anyone before. He wondered if he’d be bad at it. Perhaps he’d be too awkward or tense. He could feel his shoulders going stiff already, though it was just from nerves. He wanted this—really, he did. But he didn’t know what he should do or how he should act.
