Soren stayed close enough to feel her warmth, but not so close that it became overwhelming, measured, deliberate, like everything he did. His eyes tracked the smallest shifts in her expression: the nervous laugh, the way her gaze dropped to his mouth, the quiet honesty when she admitted she felt safe. It didn’t escape him. Nothing really did. At her fingertips resting lightly against his jaw, his gaze flicked there for a brief moment, softening just slightly, before returning to her eyes. He didn’t move away. He never seemed in a rush to break contact, only to understand it better. Soren’s mouth tilted faintly, almost amused. “One a day sounds like a limitation you’re placing on yourself, not me,” he said quietly, voice steady. “I’m not in a hurry to know you. I’m in it to actually understand you.” At her confession about rushing things, his expression didn’t change much, but his attention sharpened, like he was filing it away carefully. “Then we don’t rush,” he replied simply. “Rushing ends in heartbreak. I'm down to see how things go slowly." His hand settled at her waist with a calm certainty, grounding rather than claiming, his thumb stilling there as he listened to her breathing even out. He noticed everything: the way she looked at his lips, the pause in her focus, the tension that built in the space between them. When he closed the distance and caught her lower lip between his teeth, it was controlled, intentional, just enough to shift the air between them. His eyes stayed on hers immediately after, watching the reaction flicker across her face. For a moment, Soren didn’t speak. He just observed. Then she moved in first. As she deepened the kiss, his composure didn’t break; it simply adjusted. His hand at her waist tightened slightly, not pulling her in abruptly, but anchoring her there as he met her properly this time. He responded with the same slow, deliberate intensity he carried in everything else. Soren broke the kiss only just enough to breathe, his focus never really leaving her. His hands shifted with quiet intent, sliding from her waist to her wrists in a slow, unhurried motion, guiding, not grabbing. He turned her hands gently in his hold, as if studying them for a second longer than necessary, eyes flicking over her fingers with that same attentive precision. Then, without breaking eye contact for long, he lifted her hands slightly and pressed a calm, deliberate kiss to her fingertips, one, then another, measured and unshowy, like it was the most natural thing in the world. “You’re dangerous, you know that?” he said quietly, the faintest hint of a smirk tugging at his mouth. His eyes flicked over her face, lingering like he was memorising her reactions. “Not in a loud way. In an I stop paying attention to anything else kind of way.” A pause, just long enough to let it land. Then, softer, almost like it slipped out before he could overthink it: “I think I like that more than I should do I could write so much poetry about you."
vivian chuckled at his words. “okay, then you can ask me whatever you want,” she said with a soft laugh. “but if you end up overwhelmed by the information dump, that's entirely your fault.” she smiled warmly. “i want to get to know you too,” she admitted. the brunette felt comfortable around him. he wasn't trying to rush anything. after she'd told him she wanted to take things slowly, he hadn't brushed it aside or tried to convince her otherwise. he'd listened, really listened, and if she was honest, that meant more to her than she could put into words. when she leaned in to kiss him again, she wasn't nearly as nervous as before. she'd loved the warmth of it, the feeling of his lips against hers, and she would've happily kissed him again… and another twenty times after that if it meant staying this close to him. overwhelmed was the only word she could think of. every one of her senses was consumed by him—his hands resting gently on her waist, the softness of his lips, the way everything about him wrapped around her until it all felt almost dreamlike. she didn't want to wake up. when he finally pulled away, her dark eyes found his. his hands had slipped down to hold hers instead, and as he lifted one to press a kiss against her fingers, her heart skipped a beat. “dangerous?” she echoed with a quiet laugh. “why?” she hadn't expected that word. not when she was the one insisting on taking things slowly, not when she was doing everything she could to stop her heart from bursting out of her chest every time he looked at her. then he explained, and suddenly it made sense. warmth rushed to her cheeks, colouring them a deep pink. when he admitted he could write poetry about her, her eyes widened ever so slightly. no one had ever said anything that beautiful to her before. “that's the prettiest thing anyone has ever said to me, soren,” she whispered, her voice barely audible. for a moment, she was completely speechless. she couldn't think of anything that would ever live up to those words. instead, she gently slipped her hands free from his, leaned in to press the softest kiss against his cheek, then curled up against his side, resting her head on his chest with her arms draped loosely around his stomach. she felt safe there. “you really do have a way with words,” she murmured softly.
