aftermath ║ one on one w/ avior.

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

She could feel her heart beating out of place as Arlen's face reddened. She already knew that her face was doing the same, lifting itself off of her knee to face him. She leaned in a bit to meet him, her forehead bumping into his as her eyes darted downwards in embarrassment. Her hand drifted to meet his, gently squeezing it as she said in a voice near a whisper, "I..." She paused, finding the courage to say it as she sternly said, "I need you too." She didn't want to leave, and she knew she couldn't even if she tried. Her heart was fluttering as Arrana closed her eyes for a brief moment, awkwardly smiling as her free hand moved to amuse itself with the hair on the back of her companion's neck. Her eyes opened once again, occasionally meeting his gaze before fleeing or hiding behind closed eyelids as she mumbled, "I- I don't really know where to go from here..."

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Now he was blushing deeply, a flustered mess. He didn’t know what to do when it came to affection. He wasn’t used to it at all. What was a warrior supposed to do with something like this? He shivered slightly, heartbeat a little unnatural. His breaths seemed to be harder to draw, so he opted to just hold it for a bit. Then he managed an embarrassed laugh. ”Your guess is as... good as mine.” He hesitated, fumbling for words. They were there, on the surface of his mind and his tongue, but how was he supposed to say them? They really hadn’t known each other for long at all, but everything they had gone through together made it feel like they had. Did she feel the same way? He paused. ”I- Is it okay if I-” he stopped himself before he could finish his request for permission, unable to actually say it. He drew back only slightly, separating himself from her by an inch or two. He smiled regretfully, embarrassed and not sure what to say. ”I’m sorry. I don’t know how to- or what to do. Am I supposed to- ah- never mind.” He’d made a complete fool of himself, but somehow he felt like she wouldn’t judge.

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

She sat there for a moment, his warmth retreating as her hands gently receded, fleeing back to her lap. Her body was static for some time, face reddened from embarrassment and shame. Finally Arrana lifted her head a stretched smile on her face as she said, "So.... what was it you were going to ask me? " In the back of her mind she thought she knew. She pursed her lips for a moment before breaking into a soft nervous laughter. Her hands were shaking a bit as she kneaded the blanket. Her fidgeting was painfully obvious now, forcing her head to dip in some sort of apology for a moment. When she looked back up she softly smiled again mumbling, "I'm sorry about being so... awkward and... yeah..."

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen flushed dark red, the heat rushing to his cheeks. He pulled one hand away and ran it through his hair a few times, pushing his curls out of his eyes. Okay, he was mostly trying to stall, to avoid the question. He managed a short, soft laugh, feeling a little breathless. ”If anyone’s awkward here, it... it’s me.” He took a shallow, shaky breath, an unnatural tightness in his chest. Maybe he should just go for it. Would she hate him? Did she feel the same way? And on that note, did he even know what his feeling was? He hesitated a moment longer, then suddenly grabbed both of her hands, gentle but quicker than even he had expected. ”I was going to ask if I could kiss you,” he finally blurted, squeezing his eyes shut instinctively as if that could protect him from rejection. His heart palpitated unnaturally and his breath hitched in his throat as he prepared for an answer.

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

Her hands had stopped moving, warm and still. Kiss her? She already knew that she was blushing, and yet somehow it had become more obvious. Her mouth opened a bit, expecting words to come out, and yet nothing did. She took in a soft breath, occasionally feeling it stop then begin again as her heart began to pound. After a moment the corners of her mouth turned upwards in an embarrassed smile as she breathlessly said, "I... y-yes..." Her breath stopped for a moment fore she added, "a-and it's really... nice how you asked first..." She was stalling, but only part of her knew it. Her head dipped again, dark hair falling over her face as she said, "I-I'm really sorry... but you exactly do you kiss someone?"

Finally Arrana looked up at her companion again. She took a shallow breath before leaning closed, akwawardy bumping into Arlen's nose once. She pulled back a bit, softly laughing "I-I still don't know what to do..."

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen couldn’t help the huge smile that tugged at his lips until his cheeks hurt, opening his eyes again so he could look at her. There was something so funny about the whole situation- they were both warriors that had dealt with battles and near death experiences, but both of them were equally flustered over such a simple thing. Still, his mind was muddled enough that that wasn’t what he was focusing on at all. In fact, he couldn’t tell if he was focusing on anything, which was probably why the words that came next were stuttered our and hard to form. ”I’m really not the one to ask that,” he replied honestly, reveling in her nearness. He paused. ”Well, if neither of us know, we can’t really go wrong, can we?” He let go of his grip on her hands and then gently wrapped his own around her shoulders, bringing himself closer to her and covering the distance between them. A raw burst of some strange emotion blossomed in him the moment their lips met and he instinctively shut his eyes again, his heart thumping unnaturally in his chest.

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

They were kissing. Somehow none of this felt real, as if she either couldn't or simply shouldn't be in this situation. Her arms moved to pull herself closer to him, looping around his neck and lying on his shoulders. Time seemed to stand still for a moment, her hands didn't move, her eyes were closed, all she could feel were his lips against hers and the rapid and syncopated beating of her heart. She stayed there for what felt like ages, even though she knew it wasn't. Finally she parted the connection, her head moving to rest itself upon Arlen's shoulder, leaning on his neck. She wanted to stay here, next to him without having to worry about the possible deaths of her comrades or even her own death. After a moment she lifted her head, softly kissing him again as if he could simply fade away. Arrana held herself there, staying in his warmth both out of some emotion she wasn't quite sure of, and out of the fear of losing him. Somehow a promise couldn't quite cover that, but they didn't have to worry about that now.

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen let her pull back from the kiss, working to steady his breathing and the wild pounding of his heart. Everything seemed to be slow and stuck in amber, but he could still feel his heartbeat, moving quicker than what was normal. He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and kept her close to him, tilting his head slightly to accept the second kiss she gave him. Something made the whole event seem so fragile, like a single wrong word could burst the moment, but for once he felt completely content. Not that he knew what any of this made them. He opened his mouth to ask her, then shut it again, afraid of her answer. Finally, he tried again, flushing slightly. ”What does this... mean? Are- are we in-” he cut himself off, unsure of how to say it and hoping she would understand. And also hoping she would say yes.

[aaa it’s not my usual art style so it kinda sucks but I doodled arlen]

[parker;]

➸ ( arrana )

Arrana's arm moved to dangle her hand over his shoulder, tilting her head as she looked up at him. His question was somewhat expected, but managed to catch her off guard none the less. She could have sworn that she'd found a way to make her face red with embarrassment again, although this type wasn't all that bad. She let out a short chuckle, still out of breath. "I- I guess we are... that's fine with you right?" She could feel herself perking up a bit, the darker thoughts fading away. Her hand move from his shoulder to entangle itself in his hair, ruffling it a bit before sitting still. She couldn't remember the last time she'd acted like this, like some kid simply trying to enjoy life. But, this was more than just some child's fantasy, this was real. Real people were involved, in a real world, with real emotions that elicited results that would affect her for the rest of her life. And for once her mind and heart were agreeing upon something, how this wasn't a mistake.

(A. that does not suck, it's amazing and B. I have a few doodles of arrana but they're in my many, many notes so.... *coming soon*)

[avior.]

━━━( A R L E N !! )

Arlen smiled contentedly, head subconsciously leaning into her touch. One arm still draped around her shoulders, he pulled his legs up slightly, his other arm tugging his knees close to him. "Very," he confirmed, heartbeat fluttering. She had known what he had meant. There was a craving in him to tell her exactly how he felt, to actually use the word, but it died on his tongue every time he tried. He wasn't ready for that, even if the feeling was real. He just didn't know how to express himself. Pushing the thoughts aside, he leaned his head against hers, a strange sense of satisfaction coming over him. It felt like he had spent all his life away from home, and now he'd found it. Could a person really illicit such strong emotions? He yawned, then began to pull away slightly, reluctant. "I'm going to find someone and see if we can have a bath. I'm sure we're not very clean by this point."

[aaa thank you,, you should totally show me yet]