āAww,ā Sorin beamed, tone teasing but fond. āYou think Iām cute.ā He blew a kiss and winked, but then he hesitated, falling quiet for a moment. Really, truly caring about and trying to navigate what others wanted was still fairly new to him. He was used to having himself to watch out for and no one else, butā¦ he wanted this to work. Heād heard that communication was the key to lasting relationships, or whatever, and, well. If Sorin had any talent at all, it was talking. After a moment of thought, turning words over in his head and biting at a fingernail, he did so. āI want for you to be happy about the things we do too, you know? You should know by now that you can make me smile from ear to ear more easily than any party ever could, andā¦ Iām sorry if I made you do something you really didnāt wanna do. ā¦We could still leave. Itās not too late.ā He tilted his head, expectantly awaiting an answer. He wasnāt sure if heād been meant to take those words so seriously, but he had to wonder how much of what they did was simply because he wanted to. He didnāt want it to be like that- he wanted there to be balance, and he didnāt want to walk all over someone who meant so very much to him. Kainan was important and what he wanted was important, and Sorin just wanted to be sure that Kai knew that, too, wanted to be sure that he knew that Sorin valued what he wanted and how he felt.
āYou say that like you wouldnāt be plying me in those things anyways,ā Sorin frowned, sad eyes finding Kaiās. Kainan had more self restraint than anyone else heād ever known, he was pretty sure- and the idea of kisses and gossip being withheld for the sake of dancing and masksā¦ that was dangerous territory. His pout grew the longer he considered such a thing. No party was worth that deprivation, was it? Especially the kissing part. He tsked.
Before he could find an answer to that, though, Kai was kissing him, forehead and nose and mouth, and Sorin grinned, wide and pleased, the smile still present as his mask was tied in place, growing at the whistle and then at the compliment. He gave a tiny laugh, feeling uncharacteristically shy, wanting to bury his face in his hands or in Kaiās chest and just barely resisting the urge to do either. He just- he sounded so serious, and so sweet, and Sorin was pretty sure there would never be a time when Kai didnāt give him butterflies. āThank you,ā he said, just as quiet, stretching up on his tiptoes and pulling Kai down until he could kiss him, sweet and soft.
After helping Kainan with his mask, he had to inspect it. āIt suits you,ā he commented, and patted at his shoulder. āYeah, lets go make everyone jealous,ā He beamed.
In such an environment, usually, Sorin would have been completely distracted, attention jumping from one thing to the next with so many different things to focus on. But despite the noise and the colors and the myriad of things happening around him, he only had eyes for Kainan. He wasnāt exactly sure how to explain why he liked dancing so much- maybe it was the closeness, maybe it was the idea that he was showing his partner off, maybe it was just plain fun.
So, of course, perfection could not last.
After a bit Sorin began to feelā¦ off. It was a gradual change, but he started feeling weak, sluggish. Like everything was heavier all of a sudden, and then his senses started getting dull. He slowed, pressing in close and burying his face into Kainan. āI thinkā¦ā He started, and then paused, trying to figure out how to finish that sentence. āMaybe Iām tired of dancing. Do you wanna go sit down somewhere and glower at people for a while?ā That sounded nice, especially the sitting part, and peopleās reactions to their glowering was always funny.Ā
There wasnāt a soul in the forest that didnāt think Sorin was cute and he knew it, so Kai remained mum on that subject. He hadnāt thought heād said anything worth the clearly-deep-in-thought look on Sorinās face but his feet paused as the other gave him an out. Perhaps he was being too much of a grump and ruining things when he really meant to just tease. Slowly reaching out, he turned Sorin towards him to dust his face in little kisses. āIt makes me happy seeing you happy and knowing I played some small role in that.ā He admitted. āI already made you a promise to tell you when you do something that I donāt like or how I feel and I keep my word, Sori.ā How did he phrase this without sounding like a helpless idiot? āI need you to drag me to things like this or my stubbornness and desire to remain comfortable in the few things I do would keep me from experiencing so many wonderful things with you. I may drag my feet or whine butā¦how else will I continue to grow?ā Theyād both come so far but it came with greater ease to Sorin and Kai wondered if their human age had something to do with it. Was he less adaptable than Sorin? Would he come to view these sort of things with the same unbridled excitement? He doubted it, but was that age or temperament?
It was a discussion for a much later time and he just pressed another soft kiss to his mouth before dropping his hand to Sorinās, entangling their fingers and giving a soft squeeze as he pulled him to the mask table. He had to kneel to allow Sorin the ability to put it on but for once he refrained from making any jokes about, too pleased to find something musical to wear, and being caught off-guard by how exotic everyone now looked with elaborate masks blurring their identities. This was the sort of classy event heād only ever heard tales of that heād long ago dismissed as fairy tales. But here he was, in his very own.
Dancing was a thing heād gotten no better at with the tiny bit of practice he had, but Sorin seemed perfectly content so long as Kai stayed off his toes. Except far before he usually did, he was pressing hard against Kaiās chest and his arms easily encircled him, holding him protectively tight and dropping an automatic kiss on his hair to help soothe whatever brought him there. Tired of dancing? Sorin? His eyes narrowed in some suspicion but it wasnāt a terrible idea. Kai was beginning to get a headache himself which was unusual especially because the burning in his throat was non-existent. He wasnāt hungry? It wasnāt until they were sitting that he realized his chest was rising and falling at an unusual rate and that the headache stemmed fromā¦overstimulation of scents. It wasnāt blood and hints of things anymore - no, he could smell flowers, sweat, soaps, perfumes, coffee, cookies, something strong, and he blinked over at Sorin before a fluttering in his chest caught him by surprise.
