It was late tonight, and Clovis found himself en route to the park near Lumiose via Arcanine, his face practically buried into the fire type’s fluffy fur to protect himself from the cold wind. Dressed in sneakers, sweatpants, at least two shirts, a hoodie, AND a jacket, Clovis had chosen to dress himself for warmth, and perhaps a little bit of looks. He had to make sure he didn’t look like a slob, after all.
He wasn’t the first to get there, seeing as how he wasn’t the one who lived close by. He hopped off Pyrrhos a couple of yards away from Chloe, giving him an affectionate pat before recalling him into his Pokeball. He then pulled his hood over his head for warmth and shoved his hands into his sweater pocket as he approached, smiling kindly.
“Brought Mariele with me. What’s your Scizor’s name, again?” he asked, nodding his heads towards the swings as if to silently ask if she wanted to take a seat.
Kalos began to take on a completely different ambience as Sabine galloped through Route 5, bound for Camphrier. She leant down to rub the base of her Ponyta’s neck who whinnied gleefully, happiest when she was cutting through the air at gale force.
It did not take long at all to arrive in Camphrier (despite her still being five minutes late from not leaving Lumiose early enough) and cantered towards the castle which gazed over the town as much of a landmark as the Prism Tower would to Kalos’ capital.
Sabine spotted the Chevalier by the drawbridge and trotted over, coming to a halt, kicking her leg over and hopping down. It had been so long since she’d seen Clovis. He looked different in some way. He seemed.. tired but oddly content. He’d definitely matured. Sabine threw her arms around the boy to hug him as the Ponyta nickered in a nervous greeting.
"It’s so good to see you, Clovis."
Clovis couldn't help but think that Sabine had great timing, coming back to Kalos right at this time in his life. Any earlier, and he would have been depressive. Later, and....well, he wasn't sure. That wasn't the point.
"Sabine!" he grinned as she came near, trotting towards him on her Ponyta. He walked towards her as she stopped, hugging her tightly when she hugged him. She was so short, he had to lean over a bit. "It's been forever! How've you been?" he asked as he pulled away, looking her over. She looked like she was doing well, and though he couldn't place it, she definitely looked different than when he had last seen her. He quickly decided it was for the better.
He looked over at her Ponyta, intrigued. "You weren't kidding about learning how to ride horses, huh?" he chuckled. "Is it yours?"
(( This little RP scenario takes place some time before Christmas, and a small while after Clovis gets back from Unova!! I hope you enjoy~ ))
[Clovis] Man of Steel: It’s been a while since the start of their relationship, and Clovis still doesn’t know how to act around them.
Them being his boyfriends. He especially doesn’t know how to act around Ryn, who is quiet, and timid, and overall not the type to push things. Many times, Clovis found himself wanting to say something, wanting to get closer to Ryn, only to look at the blue-haired boy and promptly reconsider out of nerves. He sits far away from Ryn when they’re alone together, leaning away, but with his hand out, as if it’s an invitation for Ryn. He tries a little too hard to make eye contact with Ryn, only to break it himself almost immediately. Overall, it’s a game of mixed messages and signals and he’s not sure what Ryn’s picking up, if at all.
Things are so much easier over text, Clovis decided as he knocked on Ryn’s front door. There’s time to think, and he can take his time if he needs to. And things are definitely easier with Xavier. ….Lucky Xavier, he got along with both of them well, didn’t he? Probably because he’d been traveling with Ryn for a long while….and yet, things with Xavier weren’t quite the same, either. But then again, what did he expect?
The Lucario at his side gave him a reassuring nudge, but he hardly noticed it, his hands shoved in his pockets and gaze glued to a hairline crack in the wall’s plaster.
[Kami] Ryn: Oddly, not much had changed for Ryn since returning from Unova, the majority of his life remaining relatively stable. Granted, the few things that did change were pretty damn monumental, but no one really knew about them besides himself and his two 'secret' boyfriends.
...Well. Except pretty much every pokemon living under his roof. Apparently gossip was a pretty popular pastime for them, and it hasn't taken long for 4 knowledgeable pokemon to turn into 20, including those on his own team. Ryn counted himself lucky that they all at least seemed to be on his side about it, but it was getting hard not to worry that his parents would notice the subtle, knowing looks he garnered whenever the topic of Xavier and/or Clovis was brought up, or when either of the boys visited, or when he was caught smiling a little too obviously at a text message. Then again.. maybe he was letting them distract him a bit too much. At least none of them knew how to talk.
Speaking of visiting, though... It only took a couple moments to answer the door once he heard the knocking, taking over Arma's usual job in the ghost's temporary absence. "Hey, Clov, Ka." he greeted warmly, opening the door wide as a silent invitation to head inside. As simple as it was to just text each other, there was something that was just.. really nice about getting to see Clovis in person, even despite the occasional bouts of awkwardness that dotted their meetings. Still, it was nothing that wouldn't get easier with time... He hoped.
[Clovis] Man of Steel: Ka’s ear twitched as soon as the door was opened, giving Ryn a wayward ‘Hello’ before heading inside with little hesitation. Clovis, however, had a lot of hesitation, and gave Ryn a warm little smile before stepping in.
“Hey,” he nodded, watching his Lucario maneuver through the house as if he’d done so a million times. “Ah….sorry bout him, as usual. Hasty nature….you know….” he murmured. He took off his jacket, cheeks burned rosy from the cold, and looked at Ryn. For a long moment, he considered giving Ryn a kiss on the cheek, and slightly leaned forward like he was going to do so….but he turned away, folding his jacket over his arms and looking around for something to hang it on.
“Sheesh, it’s really cold outside…” he commented, even stomping a bit of snow from his boots. “I probably need a scarf, or something. Patronus is adapting better than I am, apparently,” he chuckled. “Have you gone outside at all, lately? Lit up a fireplace, at least?”
[Kami] Ryn: Ryn watched as Ka took off into the house, secretly keeping an ear out for the telltale sound of a very happy Reuniclus. "Heh.. Don't worry. As long as he seems happy, right..?" He reassured Clovis, moving to gently shut the door behind him before too much of the cold managed to creep inside, a little happier that he'd decided to wear a long sleeve shirt.
There was a long, quiet moment then, where it seemed like something was supposed to happen, the warm indoor air seeming a little stuffy after getting even a passing breath of the sharper, snowy air outside... But the moment passed as quickly as it had come. Ryn simply brushed it aside, gesturing to a nearby closet where Clovis could store his jacket with a small smile.
"What, and deny about a dozen warm Pokemon the chance to cuddle..?" He chuckled quietly, only half joking. To be honest, he didn't have many reasons to head outside lately, and one major one was already standing right in front of him. "..There is an actual fire going, though, if you'd prefer a more traditional method of 'defrosting'."
[Clovis] Man of Steel: “….Sometimes, I forget everyone else has a house of warm cuddly Pokemon,” Clovis sighed jokingly. Steel Pokemon were decidedly not cuddly, and neither was any Pokemon belonging to his mom. “Fire does sound nice, though,” he smiled. “Man, I wish we lit one in our house….it’s not even because of my Pokemon, my parents just don’t want to,” he huffed. “Every time I ask them to go buy firewood……”
He hung his jacket up in the nearby closet, then yanked off his boots, grateful for the freedom of his cold toes once more. “Hey….do you have marshmallows?” he asked offhandedly. “I was thinking…maybe we could toast some. I haven’t done that since I was a kid…a-and, uh…well….I-I’d do it with Xave, but I’ve a feeling he’d light it on fire….” he smiled nervously, the red tinting his cheeks no longer relevant to the cold outside. “…O-only if you want to, though….."
[Kami] Ryn: Ryn gave Clovis a small, slightly hesitant smile, knowing the topic of his parents wasn't exactly a favorite. Once the topic shifted, however, he brightened considerably.
"..Actually..." He glanced towards the kitchen, then back to Clovis, holding a hand up as he took a backward step or two. "W-wait right there, just a second.." That said, he turned on his heel and moved into the kitchen, making a beeline for the pantry. He looked through the contents for a few seconds, swearing he'd put them right– Aha!
After only about half a minute, Ryn poked his head back into the front hall, catching Clovis' attention with a quick "Here you go..!" before he gently tossed a plastic, half empty bag of large marshmallows towards him. "It's not full, but.. I was actually going to ask you if you wanted any, later." He smiled, rubbing the back of his neck, "..My dad likes making s'mores whenever it gets cold, so we usually have some laying around." Of course, said s'mores were often just cooked with the microwave, since the supplies rarely lasted long enough for genuine fireplace weather. Still, he was.. pretty sure they had some kind of skewers for roasting the marshmallows properly... s-somewhere........
Ryn popped back into the kitchen, a little unsure where to start looking without Arma around. Maybe if he could pry Michi away from Ka for a minute or two...
[Clovis] Man of Steel: Clovis nearly followed Ryn, but his hesitance got the better of him and he only managed to walk a few paces before he stopped himself, where he then decided to idle about in the front hall. It was only a matter of time until Ryn came back, and Clovis somehow managed to catch the bag of marshmallows, fumbling it before he managed to pinch the bag between his leg and the heel of his palm.
“Aw, sweet,” he muttered with a smile, inspecting the bag to make sure he hadn’t horridly squished any of the white fluffy sugar pillows. Hmm…nope, all safe. “That sounds really fun, my dad and I make hot chocolate, usually,” he said happily. He slowly walked into the house after Ryn, opting to stay in a corner of the kitchen and watch Ryn rummage around. “We use evaporated milk then put all sorts of stuff in it, like candy canes or marshmallows or whipped cream….biscuit sticks…..peppermint bark….” Oh, right, and he couldn’t forget the alcohol. There was nothing a bit of alcohol spiced up.
“Hey, that reminds me….the other day, in the grocery store, I saw these flat marshmallows specifically for making s’mores,” he said, the corners of his mouth twitching upwards. “Have you seen them before? I poked ‘em through the bag, they still seemed fluffy at least. …You looking for something?” he frowned, finally noticing Ryn’s wandering eyes. “Need help?”
[Kami] Ryn: As Clovis listed off the various hot chocolate additives, Ryn couldn't hold back a chuckle as he glanced over his shoulder towards the other teen. "Jeeze, you're making me jealous right now, you know that..?" Unfortunately, unlike the marshmallows, he knew they didn't have any hot chocolate mix on hand at the moment, having thrown out the empty box just the previous week.
He kneeled down to look through one of the bottom cupboards, where he was fairly sure they kept some of the 'less-than-everyday' cooking implements. "Hmm...," he paused at Clovis' question, trying to think back to the last time he'd gone shopping. "I.. don't think I have, actually.." Something to look for the next time they needed to go to the store, he supposed. Right up there with more hot chocolate.
Ryn nodded at Clovis' next question, though he simply continued to rummage through the cupboard, flinching a little whenever something metal unexpectedly clinked or clanged. "Y-yeah, just trying to see if we had some, ah..." What was the right term for them, anyway? Skewers? Forks? "..something to toast the marshmallows on. I thought we had... Ah..!" He pulled out just what he'd been looking for, holding it up for Clovis to see. "This thing." He glanced back into the cupboard for a moment, suddenly unsure if they even had more than one. "...mmmight have to share, though.."
[Clovis] Man of Steel: Clovis grinned mischievously at Ryn’s envy. “Sorry, b— uh, Ryn,” he said lamely, having decided that trying to use a pet name was too much for him. “Next time you come over I’ll make you some…hope you like the taste of sweetness, though, ‘cause evaporated milk does that.”
He took a few steps towards Ryn when he stood up, inspecting the metal implement in front of him. “A skewer,” he said. “And, I’m okay with sharing. It’s not like we’re gonna die if we can’t have separate ones,” he smiled wryly. “Wait, shit, is this—?” Without further warning, he plucked the skewer from Ryn’s grasp, inspecting it further.
He turned it in his hands a few times, then finally tugged on it, discovering that the thing was collapsable, and could extend for longer reach. Looking like a child with a new toy, he waved it around for a bit, before finally and very gently poking Ryn in the stomach with it - it was pointy, after all. “You’re never getting this back now, it’s mine forever,” he said in a serious tone.
[Kami] Ryn: Aborted though it was, it was hard not to catch the beginnings of what Ryn could only assume to be a pet name. On the one hand, it was actually kind of flattering, considering it was coming from Clovis, and he blushed accordingly. On the other hand.. he was a little glad Clovis hadn't gone through with it. He wasn't entirely sure how he was supposed to react to something like that.. Nicknames in general were a bit of a grey area for him, really, with him already having such a short name and all. Xavier calling him 'Rynnie' a couple times was about the extent of his experience on the matter.
Still, he let the thoughts fade as the topic moved along, glad Clovis wasn't against sharing, since he'd pretty much given up on finding a second skewer (and was more than happy to stick to Clovis' name for it).
Ryn stood, smiling amusedly at his boyfriend's newfound interest in the thing. "H-hey..!" He let out a slight huff of a laugh at being poked at, gently batting the skewer away from his stomach. "..You know that just means you have to stay here forever, right?" He joked, deciding to grab a couple plates and napkins (as well as a small supply of graham crackers and chocolate bars, trusting that Clovis would carry the bag of marshmallows) while he still was in the kitchen, before leading Clovis out towards the living room, the fireplace tucked away in the corner.
Ryn was a little surprised to see that Loki wasn't around, the Delphox having been the one to light fire in the first place. Then again, his old starter did seem to prefer keeping to himself, especially when guests were over... But, better not to dwell on the matter just then, Ryn decided, carefully setting his things down on the coffee table.
[Clovis] Man of Steel: “I’d….I-I’d be okay with that,” Clovis smiled shyly. “…Not sure bout the ‘rents, though,” he murmured, following after Ryn to the living room. It was warm, and the fire was very alluring, as his hands were still cold from the outside. As were his ears. And his nose. And the Grinch’s heart.
He scurried over, abandoning the marshmallows and skewer on the table as he stuck his hands near the fire. “Haaaaaah I was so cold,” he sighed. “It really was a nightmare out there, look, Ryn, my hands are still cold.” He grinned, turning to Ryn now and grabbing his hand, sliding his chilly fingers up Ryn’s sleeve. “Do you like it Ryn does this feel good?” he cackled.
[Kami] Ryn: Ryn was only able to be happy about Clovis finally getting the chance to warm himself up for about, oh... two seconds before Clovis made his still-icy grasp known. Now, his own hands weren't usually what anyone would call warm, what with his fingers having less than stellar circulation, but at the moment Clovis' were far, far worse. Ryn let out a less than dignified 'eep' at the touch, which quickly devolved into a fit of quiet giggles as he instinctively tried to pull his arm away, grabbing at Clovis' wrist with his free hand. "H-hey– Clov, c'mon, t-that's so not fair..!"
[Clovis] Man of Steel: “My name’s Batman and I don’t play by your daddy’s rules,” Clovis said in a gruff voice, grinning as he fought with Ryn to maintain his grasp and simultaneously free himself from Ryn’s. At some point, he looked up and caught Ryn’s eyes, and the world slowed down, grinding to a halt.
They were…..close. Noses-almost-touching close. Their breath mingled, and Clovis could see the details of Ryn’s face, of his baby blue eyes. His heart pounded, heat rose to his cheeks, and he hastily pulled away, folding his arms to keep his hands to himself.
“S-sorry,” he stammered out, looking away. He mentally chided himself for a multitude of things. For getting so out of hand with Ryn, for getting so close like that….for drawing away when he’d realized how close they’d gotten. They…they were dating now, damnit, he should be okay with this!
But he wasn’t, and he wasn’t sure how to be okay with things like this.
[Kami] Ryn: The situation changed so suddenly, Ryn barely registered what happened. He'd certainly blushed once he noticed how close the two of them had gotten during the little play-fight, but then Clovis had pulled away and apologized of all things and yeah wow, he was surprised he hadn't somehow gotten a bit of whiplash from the whole thing, actually.
...Of course, he couldn't really blame Clovis too much. They were dating, yes, but.. they hadn't really gotten many chances to truly get used to the idea before now. And the.. less than average circumstances didn't help matters.
Though Ryn had to admit, loath as he was to compare the two experiences, their current situation was still leagues better than the one he'd been in almost ..exactly a year before, now that he thought about it. Which was probably the only reason he wasn't freaking out too much, himself. All they really needed, he figured, was a little more time to adjust. And unlike last time, he was positive they'd manage to make use of all that time, and more.
Ryn reached out to give Clovis' shoulder a reassuring squeeze, unsure how to convey his thoughts besides adding a smile and a quiet "It's fine, don't worry about it.."
[Clovis] Man of Steel: In the end, it was him. It was always him, making problems where there didn’t need to be any, kicking up a fuss when he didn’t have to. Contact with Ryn did little to soothe him, but it did nonetheless, and his stiffened shoulders relaxed just a tiny bit.
“Sorry….” he murmured again. I just…wish I knew how to act around you… he sighed mentally, wanting to both take Ryn’s hand in his and push him away at the same time.
In the end, he (timidly) chose the former, carefully taking Ryn’s hand from his shoulder with his own. It took a whole lot of courage, and he could feel his heart still thumping loudly in his chest, blood pounding in his ears. He held onto Ryn firmly but delicately, as if his hand was a hurt bird trying to take flight. He stroked Ryn’s hand with his thumb, like he was wiping off a speck of dust.
He sighed softly, bringing Ryn’s hand up to his mouth and kissing his knuckles. “Thanks…” he said softly, looking up and giving Ryn a smile. “I’ll get used to it eventually….” It was all just….so weird. Good, but weird, and somehow, Clovis couldn’t truly wrap his mind around their little…situation.
But he would in time, he knew that much. He’d be okay. Just….just not right now. Eager to get back to how things were a few minutes ago, he slowly let go of Ryn’s hand, opting to turn back towards the table. “Alright then….I’m gonna try and toast a marshmallow,” he said, picking up the skewer. “Here’s to hoping I don’t light it on fire too many times….”
[Kami] Ryn: There was a short, slightly terrifying moment where Ryn worried Clovis would try to brush him off. Thankfully the opposite occurred, heart pounding a little harder when Clovis took Ryn's hand in his. Ryn carefully remained still and silent, almost worried that moving or making any sort of noise would accidentally ruin the moment before it's time. Heat rose to his face at the unexpected kiss, but he found he couldn't complain a bit, the action and smile accompanying it turning out to seem far more reassuring than he'd expected.
He returned the smile easily, simply nodding at Clovis' comment, any and all doubts driven from his mind. For a short moment, Ryn was actually tempted to try and return the kiss somehow.. but chickened out decided against it, not wanting to unintentionally make Clovis feel uncomfortable.. Instead, he simply settled for giving Clovis' hand a gentle squeeze before letting it fall from the other teen's grasp.
Having intended to let Clovis have the honor of 'first marshmallow', Ryn had no qualms with the shift in action, nodding in approval. "Heh.. Should I start up a betting pool, maybe..?" He chuckled, "I'm sure Ka and Michi wouldn't mind making a guess or two."
[Clovis] Man of Steel: Clovis pouted, almost looking a little hurt. Almost. “C’mon, I won’t be that bad,” he huffed, impaling a marshmallow. And yet, the sweet was only over the flame for a few seconds before it caught fire and Clovis had to blow it out, but only after watching the blue flame for a few more seconds.
He was silent as he quickly figured out to roast the marshmallow over the flame instead of near, and then to the side of the flame rather than over when he realized his marshmallow was turning a light grey, not a golden brown. He rotated it slowly, systematically, crouched near the fire and focused on the treat before him.
“Hey,” he said eventually, “did I ever tell you I was almost a fire trainer?” he asked, looking behind him at Ryn. “I had like, three fire Pokemon at one point or something like that. One of the main reasons I picked Steel instead was because the fire slot in the Champion’s Circuit was being contested when I joined…ah whoops,” he murmured, and blew out his marshmallow yet again.
[Kami] Ryn: Ryn tried his best not to look too amused as the marshmallow caught fire a couple times. Still, it was kind of nice, just being quiet and nearby. So much so, that it took a moment for him to register that Clovis had spoken up.
"Really..?" Ryn asked, looking more than a little surprised. When he thought about it, he supposed fire-types could have suited Clovis at some point, but... "It's.. a little hard to imagine, actually." He chuckled, "To be honest, it's a little weird to think about you without your steel types.." And, though he'd prefer to keep it to himself, Ryn wasn't sure how well he'd have gotten to know Clovis if the trainer had stuck to fire-types, since Ryn was.. still a bit wary of them, though slightly less so than he'd been the year before.
Besides, the whole knight theme Clovis had going seemed to suit him pretty well, all things considered.
There was a slight lull in the conversation, and Ryn would have tried to bring up his own type preferences, if he'd.. actually had any.. Instead, he simply asked "What were some of the other reasons..?", looking genuinely curious.
[Clovis] Man of Steel: Clovis hummed, amused. “Yeah…s’hard for me to imagine myself without them, too.” And it was true, he really couldn’t imagine himself without his steel team, they were so dear to him now. Even just disregarding Titania, who was slowly becoming his ‘signature Pokemon’ due to her being his mega, everyone else on the team meant so much to him, even those who had been around for a short time, such as Qiaolian. Not to mention, being a Steel trainer was a large part of his identity now…
…He couldn’t imagine himself without Ryn or Xavier, either. Perhaps a bit dependent of him, but…
“Other reasons…?” he echoed, rolling the question around in his head. “Well….I dunno. I guess I’ve always thought that fire’s kinda cool. It’s warm, it’s…life, I guess. And when you’re upset you always wanna huddle near warm stuff, right? So…it’s comforting, too, I guess. And neither of my parents ever nabbed a fire starter, and…well, it looks all pretty ’n stuff…when it’s small and controlled, at least.” He shuddered, remembering talk about a huge forest fire that had happened ages ago. That had been awful.
“That reminds me, I used to like setting paper and tissues and stuff on fire over sinks, when I was a kid,” he grinned, looking back at Ryn. “One time I lit a trash can on fire. On accident, of course, but the school still suspended me for a day. You’re dating a delinquent, Ryn, how d’you feel ‘bout that?” he snickered.
[Kami] Ryn: Funny, Ryn thought with a small smile, nodding as Clovis explained his reasoning. He'd actually picked Loki as his starter for the same reason, at least as far as his parents' preferences were concerned.
He chuckled, lightly nudging Clovis' shoulder with his own. "Heh.. As long as you don't start falling into any old habits, I think I'll live." There was a small grain of truth in the joke, but it still remained just that. Besides, with Clovis' attachment to his steel types, fire probably wasn't something that'd be brought up too often.
"Speaking of which.." He chuckled again, looking at the sugary treat at the end of the skewer, which seemed to have just caught fire once again. "You.. might want to do something about that."
[Clovis] Man of Steel: Clovis promptly blew out the marshmallow, which was now pretty much entirely black. Just a bit of char, really. When he squished it, it was still soft and pretty much super gooey inside by now. In other words, it was going to be messy to eat.
Excellent.
He carefully slid the marshmallow off the skewer, murmuring, “This thing is blacker than my heart,” before biting into it. Mmmm….delicious. And messy, as anticipated.
“Your turn,” he said around a mouthful of marshmallow, holding the handle end of the skewer out to Ryn.
[Kami] Ryn: Ryn shook his head at the blackened state of the marshmallow, accepting the skewer with a "Thank you" and a slight roll of his eyes. It only took a few seconds to stab a marshmallow of his own and begin toasting it, carefully twisting the skewer in the hopes of cooking it semi-evenly. Only then did he belatedly realize he hadn't done anything with the graham crackers or chocolate he'd grabbed. Ah, well, he could just use them next time, he supposed. God knew they had enough of the sugary pillows to last them a little while.
..Actually, now that he thought about it.. "Oh, hey, Clov.." he began, pausing for a second to put out his suddenly flaming marshmallow, "Was there something else you wanted to do while you were here, by the way..?" Fun (and filling) as it was, the whole toasting marshmallows thing hadn't exactly been planned. Not that they always had (or needed) a reason to hang out these days, but it couldn't hurt to ask, just in case.
[Clovis] Man of Steel: Clovis was about to snicker at the fact that Ryn’s marshmallow was on fire, but the question caught him off-guard. Something…else to do…? Clovis hadn’t really thought that far. He wasn’t an ideas guy, at least not for stuff like this. Battling, sure, but social situations? Forget it.
“…..We….could play video games,” he offered after some deliberation and chewing. “Sorry, I didn’t really have anything in mind…..marshmallows was all I had,” he frowned, now feeling embarrassed. …On the upside, maybe this was a chance for him to figure out what to get Ryn for Christmas…possibly? Maybe????
[Kami] Ryn: The edges of the marshmallow were just barely starting to blacken when Ryn decided he'd gone far enough, content with the golden brown color it had gained. Noticing the hesitance in Clovis' voice however, he let the toasted treat cool for a moment. "Ah, it's alright..!" He smiled reassuringly, turning his attention towards carefully getting the marshmallow off the skewer. "I just wasn't sure if this was us getting sidetracked or not, that's all.." Though he supposed video games didn't sound like a bad idea, once they were done, here.
"Whatever you want to do is fine with me." Rather than risk making a mess, he popped the whole marshmallow into his mouth, silently focusing on chewing/not choking for the moment. Meanwhile, he offered the skewer back to Clovis, offering him the next turn.
[Clovis] Man of Steel: Clovis gave Ryn a small smile, a little reassured by Ryn’s affirmations that things were okay. He finished up his marshmallow and started to lick his sticky fingers, which…actually weren’t all that sticky, as he’d been careful. He smiled when offered the skewer, muttering a thank you as he quickly wiped his fingers on his pants then took the skewer.
He impaled yet another marshmallow then began to toast it, doing remarkably better than last time. He went silent, almost as if concentrating hard on it…but it was quite the opposite.
His eyes flickered down to their non-dominant hands, which were close to each other. There were only a few inches between them…inches that Clovis thought that maybe, he could close. …God, why was it so hard for him to just…make his body move?
The browner his marshmallow got, the closer he inched his pinky towards Ryn’s, until finally, the color of the marshmallow was passable and only a little black, and their pinkies could almost touch if they so much as moved. Clovis’ chest felt tight, and his breathing was shallow as he mustered up the courage to just move a little bit more.
He drew his marshmallow from the fire, and tentatively hooked his pinky around Ryn’s. In one swift movement, he put the marshmallow on the end of the skewer between his teeth and pulled the metal implement out, nice and ‘sterile’.
“Here,” he mumbled around the marshmallow, his head turned away as he held out the skewer to Ryn. Ryn wouldn’t be able to see his face, at least not all of it, but there was a deep blush reddening on Clovis’ visible cheek and ear.
[Kami] Ryn: Ryn's free hand twitched at the sudden contact, though he didn't pull away. He glanced down for a second, then back up towards Clovis' face, barely noticing that the skewer was being offered back to him.
Though a part of him was a little saddened at how many barriers they still seemed to have between them despite the upgrade to their relationship, it was actually rather invigorating to be reminded that they were slowly but surely breaking through them, even if just with these sort of small, simple gestures.
In all honesty, it sent a something of a surge of affection through him, red quickly rising to his cheeks. Judging from what little of his face Ryn could see, though, he wasn't sure whether Clovis would've appreciated it, or blushed to death from it. So, instead, he settled for squeezing Clovis' pinky with his own, glancing off to the side and smiling to himself.
It took a moment for him to remember to take the skewer from Clovis' hand, murmuring a quiet thank you as he did so. Belatedly, he realized it'd be a little hard to use the thing with only one hand, and he found he.. really wasn't feeling all that eager to let go of Clovis' just yet...
[Clovis] Man of Steel: There was something about the small squeeze from Ryn’s pinky that made Clovis’ heart swell. It was….it was progress, it was good, it was….it was love. Or something mushy like that. He was nearly pressing his face into his shoulder as he chewed, feeling extremely bashful and very much wanting to get closer.
His heart continued to pound in his chest, almost to the point where Clovis swore it was no longer inside his ribcage. He wanted so badly to just pull Ryn close, to just hug him without feeling self-conscious about it.
“H-hey Ryn,” he found himself mumbling, “C-can I…..kiss you….?”
[Kami] Ryn: Every time Ryn thought he'd finally reached the limit of his ability to blush, something like this happened, just so the universe could prove him wrong.
There were about a million possible replies to that question. 'You don't have to ask', 'Please do', and 'About time' being some of the first to come to mind, but Ryn was hard pressed to find the courage to actually say any of them aloud. The sentiment was still there, of course, but the thoughts couldn't even get to the 'caught in his throat' stage before they were pushed to the side.
Shy as he was, Ryn still forced himself to turn his head back towards Clovis, gently squeezing his pinky again as he murmured, "..o-of course."
[Clovis] Man of Steel: The longer Ryn took to answer, the more Clovis wanted to scream. Not about anything in particular, just that he was so nervous. His voice and his heart wanted to leave his body, to relieve some tension inside him. Just before Ryn finally answered, he was faintly beginning to wonder if asking had been a mistake.
His breath caught in his throat as he carefully turned to look at Ryn, eyes slowly wandering up from Ryn’s knees to his face, almost as if Clovis was afraid Ryn would draw away once they made eye contact.
He swallowed hard and leaned forward, eyes grazing over Ryn’s red cheeks and lips before finally meeting his eyes.
Last time he’d kissed Ryn in Kalos, it had caused a disaster.
Try as he might, the unpleasant memory flitted across his mind against his will. Shoving Ryn up against a wall, yelling, kissing, running. He made a soft noise in his throat and drew back, heart suddenly feeling like it was wrapped up in ropes. He couldn’t. He couldn’t. His mind was making barriers again, memories were getting the best of him, and he just….he couldn’t do it.
[Kami] Ryn: Ryn slowly began to lean forward as Clovis did, a mix of nervousness and excitement bubbling away in his chest, afraid to accidentally make a wrong move.
Their eyes finally met, and.. he knew something had just gone wrong. The feeling only clicked more firmly into place at the quiet sound Clovis made, audible even past the crackle of the fireplace and the blood pounding in his ears. Ryn frowned slightly as Clovis pulled back, a subtle feeling of disappointment gnawing at him at the sight.
He didn't, however, pull back himself.
Quickly, so as not to accidentally give him the wrong idea, Ryn disentangled his pinky and instead laid his entire hand on top of Clovis', carefully threading their fingers together before he could pull away any more. A small sigh escaped him as he tried to find the right words to say in this situation. A simple 'what's wrong' just.. didn't seem like quite enough.
"..T-talk to me?" He finally asked, voice gentle and, hopefully, at least a little encouraging. "..Please..?"
[Clovis] Man of Steel: “I-I….I don’t….” Clovis stumbled over his words, unsure how to voice what he was feeling, or if he should voice it at all. He bit his lip, nervously. ...a lack of communication had gotten them into a huge mess that lasted longer than he wanted to admit. He needed to talk...didn't he...?
“I don’t know," he sighed shakily. "J-just, I remembered the last time I k-kissed you in your house, a-and….” He trailed off, his fingers squeezing Ryn’s for comfort.
“I…I know we’re all together now, b-but every time I’m with you and not him, or with him and not you, it feels…. wrong, somehow,” he admitted. “I l……lo……like you both, a-and…..I want to be close to you guys, but…..” But what….?
He sighed again, frustrated. “I-I just…don’t know."
[Kami] Ryn: Ryn simply listened, looking a bit more concerned as Clovis tried to explain. He could sympathize, at least, though his own experiences with the matter were often somewhat curbed simply by how familiar he'd gotten with Xavier.
...And, though he'd never admit it aloud, that first kiss with Clovis had actually managed to get stowed away in his memory as something that was a little more.. exciting, than it was awful, even for all the trouble it caused directly afterwards. But, again, not something totally appropriate to admit at the moment...
"..Y-you don't have to know.." Ryn eventually said, though he still dearly wished he had access to all the answers they were looking for. Anything to ease his boyfriend's worries, if only a little... After a moment, he gently lifted his hand, bringing Clovis' with it and twisting them a little so he could place a shy kiss on Clovis' fingers, somewhat mimicking his earlier action in the hopes that it would reassure Clovis as much as it had reassured him.
"..We'll figure it all out." He murmured, glancing at his boyfriends face for a moment before bashfully looking at the floor. "A-and.. then we'll have newer, better things to remember... O-okay..?"
[Clovis] Man of Steel: Clovis blushed at the kiss and the bindings on his heart loosened, just a little. This was…everything about this was…embarrassing. He hated it. No matter what Ryn said or did…Clovis wasn’t sure it would actually do anything. No, it was up to him, as usual…
“Thanks….” he mumbled, not sounding too convinced. Everything just felt…so…off. Things had been good, then they weren’t….what was wrong with him…?
He grimaced, and when he opened his eyes again, he looked at Ryn’s free hand. Timidly, he reached for it, hesitating just before they made contact. His stomach twisted unpleasantly, and he grasped Ryn’s hand.
He guided Ryn’s hand up to his face, almost as if afraid Ryn would pull it away, and eventually he pressed his cheek to Ryn’s palm. He sighed deeply, trying not to feel too sick.
“I wish I could just….stop thinking,” he muttered.
[Kami] Ryn: A small bit of hope seemed to crumble away when Ryn noticed the unconvinced tone in Clovis' voice. He sighed quietly, making no attempt to pull away when Clovis brought his hand to his cheek.
He just.. wished he knew what would fix things. Words could only go so far, and his actions were limited, more often than not. If there was some way for him to simply reach into Clovis' head and literally stop his thoughts for him for a little while, he'd do it in a heartbeat.
...That train of thought, though.. Along with one of his previous ones, it brought something rather specific to mind. Something he could.. try, at the very least... Though it was probably rather risky, he noted, looking at the floor while gently biting his lower lip out of nervousness. Ryn couldn't be sure Clovis would react the way he hoped he would. Not to mention, he wasn't even sure he had the confidence to really pull it off...
...Screw it.
That rather overly blunt decision out of the way, he gently adjusted the hand on Clovis' face a little, until the tips of his fingers reached the brown curls towards the back of his neck. And, with only a short moment of nervous hesitation, he leaned forward, tilting his head just enough to avoid bumping noses when his lips met Clovis', closing his eyes once he knew he wouldn't miss his mark. It was a simple, chaste enough start to a kiss, trying to be firm without seeming forceful, certainly not wanting to ask too much of Clovis, i-in case this had been the... wrong move to make.
.....Don't push me away, he silently pleaded, a somewhat vivid mental image of potential rejection entering his mind only once he'd already gone through with the action. You can pull back if you want, but.. please, just don't push me away right now...
[Clovis] Man of Steel: Clovis sighed again. He hated feeling like this….feeling like he had to take care of everything himself. It was all he was used to, yes, but…sometimes he wished someone would take things out of his hands for a while. But whatever……
In the end, he had to be a man’s man and do everything himself. It was a thing he told himself bitterly and sarcastically, sometimes, when he was feeling low.
He pressed his cheek into Ryn’s hand once it stopped moving, and his eyes flitted up just in time for him to realize how close Ryn was, and that he was getting even closer.
Automatically, he drew his head back before their lips met (who liked getting clocked in the face, after all?), blinking in surprise a few times as Ryn kissed him. The unpleasant feeling in his stomach dissolved into butterflies, and heat rose to his cheeks. …Well, that was one wish he didn’t need any supernatural being to grant…
He started to kiss back, eyes starting to slide shut, then hesitated instinctively, but only for a very brief moment. He closed his eyes, and kissed Ryn back, leaning forward and breathing deeply through his nose. His hand languidly moved to hold Ryn just underneath his armpit, and his other gave their entwined fingers a light squeeze.
[Kami] Ryn: And from that single action, the tension left Ryn all in one fell swoop, leaving him feeling much more relaxed, and just a smidgen giddy. The corners of his mouth turned upwards, ever so slightly, and he returned the kiss with a little more confidence than before, doubts slowly melting away.
Initiating things had always been a little.. difficult for him, even outside the more romance-related situations. But... He was glad he could make exceptions now and again, particularly if they lead to these sort of feelings.
Ryn scooted himself an inch or two closer, too distracted to really notice the difference. What he did notice, though, was that everything still kind of smelled (and tasted) a little like marshmallows, which was a little surprising, even despite the rather obvious cause. It was a little more obvious after a few moments, when he gently broke off the kiss to catch his breath, the hand on Clovis' face carefully moving to comb through his hair a little.
"...So.. D-did that get you.. to stop thinking, then..?" He quietly, breathlessly quipped, blushing and giving Clovis a small smile.
[Clovis] Man of Steel: Everything about this….was sweet. Ryn’s actions, the taste…just…everything. Clovis felt warm from head to toe, and not because of the fire nearby. He slowly kissed Ryn, tension seeping out from his body and right through the floor, leaving his chest and heart free.
He followed Ryn for a moment just before he managed to break off the kiss, his eyes fluttering open as his breath came out in quiet pants. He said nothing in response to Ryn’s question, opting to just smile lazily and chuckle softly. He rubbed the tip of his nose against Ryn’s for a moment, before happily murmuring, “Thank you..."
[Kami] Ryn: "..A-anytime," Ryn murmured back, contentedly letting his eyes slide shut and gently returning the little 'Eskimo kisses'.
At his core, he was happiest just knowing that Clovis was happy again. But he had to admit, there were some pretty good perks to be had. And it was definitely a step up from just snacking and playing video games together..
Speaking of which.. "..did you.. want to go back to what we were doing before, o-or..?" Though he couldn't quite get the phrase 'Or just continue kissing' to leave his throat, he was fairly sure the message still got across decently enough.
[Clovis] Man of Steel: Clovis chuckled softly again at Ryn’s question, so enamored with Ryn at the moment that he was finding it hard to voice his answer. How was it that he’d gotten so lucky, after all he’d done…? His heart swelled happily, and he sighed pleasantly, stroking Ryn’s hand with his thumb.
“You’re….cute, Ryn,” he murmured, deciding that he hadn’t asked earlier if he could kiss Ryn for nothing. He tilted his head and shut his eyes, gently locking lips with Ryn again, but only briefly. He broke off the kiss soon after, opting to rest his forehead against Ryn’s, eyes still closed. “Really, thank you….this….means a lot to me.”
It’d take time for him to be fully okay with the idea of dating two guys at once….but he’d get there eventually. He’d be okay….because Ryn and Xavier were with him, and that was what mattered.
