Word Count: 1323
The last three days had passed in a whirl of activity for Aeria, but at least things seemed to be slowing down. They’d slowed down so much that the spurii had a chance to send Dante a message and invite him to her extremely well appointed cabin. The luxury was unlike anything she’d ever experienced and she lounged on her gigantic four-poster bed, lolling around like some kind of queen, awaiting her beloved’s arrival. Of course, Aeria wasn’t prone to that sort of romantic twaddle.
A knock sounded at her door and she called out, “Come on in! It’s open!”
In a half-joking manner, she arranged herself on the bed in a pose more suited to a classical painting. It was a little bit of fun and right now, after the tension she was feeling, a little bit of fun is exactly what she needed.
Like her, he had been busy with all the mandatory political stuff during the past days, but still had been pleasantly surprised that she had wanted to spend time with him. It was good for them both to relax before the unpleasantries were to begin.
”You wanted -”, he stopped abruptly as he saw how she was posing on the bed. ”W-well now, aren’t you looking absolutely lovely there,” the athlete stammered, clearly surprised. Dante sighed heavily as he sat down on the bed near her, before letting himself fall on his back, staring at the ceiling.
”So, how are you feeling on this disguised luxury cruise?” the kinner asked of his companion.
In spite of herself, Aeria blushed at his comment but put a smile on her face nonetheless. She fluttered her eyelashes at him and as he fell down next to her, she gave him a little more space. Rolling over to face him, looking across at him, she sighed. “To be honest, I’m exhausted. I feel like we’re pawns in some game, only I have no idea what that game actually is. This has been a nice break.”
Touching his arm, she asked, “How about you? How are you?”
”All of this political mumbo jumbo is aggravating to me and it is hard to sleep in strange beds,” the athlete answered, giving her a look over. ”Yeah, you do look exhausted, I know what would help, a massage.”
Aeria’s face turned a deep shade of red and she tried to stammer an answer before she swallowed back the stammering, took a deep breath and her shoulders began to relax fractionally again. She looked into Dante’s eyes without too much glancing away.
”How about it?” the athlete inquired with a gentle smile.
She sighed and then nodded her head. “Yes! A massage would be wonderful. So, what about flying, do you like the airship?”
It was a question that had no real depth to it, but it helped the spurii to relax a little to make small talk.
”I find it a bit dull, I would much rather soar through the sky on my own, but that's why I play kinchaa, to touch the sky,” he answered as he rose up from the bed, ”Lay on your stomach, I will start with your back, but before that I'll lock the door, so that we won’t be disturbed,” the athlete explained and walked to the door.
Aeria’s shoulders hunched again for a moment and then relaxed, she did as she was instructed and flipped over onto her front, her body still more tense than relaxed. As Dante got up and walked across the room, she answered back over her shoulder. “Being half-enlil, there’s nothing like flying for me.”
As Dante returned, she asked as playfully as she could, “So-- are you famous for your massages?”
”No, as they are reserved for special persons,” the athlete chuckled back warmly. Sitting carefully placing Aeria's legs in between his knees, Dante placed his hands on her shoulders.
”If I do anything that you feel not comfortable with just tell me to stop. Do try and relax, dear,” he started slowly and gently massaging her shoulders.
Immediately all of Aeria’s body went relaxed. In spite of herself, she sighed and gave into the pressure of Dante’s strong hands kneading at her, starting to let the tensions out of her body. She mumbled quietly, “Mmmff…I don’t think I realized how tense I was…”
As he began working away at another part of her shoulders, she sighed. “That feels good. You are a man of many skills.”
”I am only good with my hands,” the athlete claimed warmly.
A thought crossed her mind and she blurted it out. “So...how many people have you given your special massages to? I mean I can’t be the only one who has had such treatment before.”
”One, it happened when I was fourteen years old. It is not just beautiful words and I feel that way about you,” Dante replied, only realising what he had in essence said after he said it. Though he was glad that she was not looking at his face to witness the blush.
“Oh! Well...I didn’t expect you to tell me that. However, it’s good to know that I’m not just someone you’re chatting up.” Her tone became lighter and she grinned back at Dante. Everything about her body language spoke of a slightly forced relaxation.
As Dante’s strong hands eased her tension, she mumbled. “Dante, how do you feel about me? I mean, really feel?”
”How... I feel?” he stopped abruptly, clearly surprised by her words.
“We’ve been getting to know each other...well...to say the least, but we’ve never actually talked about what we are. I mean -- are we lovers? Friends with benefits? In a relationship?”
She sighed. “We might be getting into fighting and I don’t know what could happen, so I want to know what you think we mean to each other. There might not be another chance to talk about this.”
The athlete helped Aeria up, because what he was about to confess was not something to say to a person and not look them in the eyes. Resting both of his hands on her shoulders, he took a breath.
”Aeria, I li- No. I do love you. I have one question for you, what would you like us to be?” Dante sighed, for he had confessed, though in his mind holding thoughts that she had at least some feelings towards him. If not why would she have brought the topic up in the first place?
There was a very long period of silence before Aeria responded. Her voice was tentative but grew stronger as she spoke. “If we’re confessing, I’ll admit that I do also love you. Like I said, we might not get more chances to say these things.”
Again silence seemed to fall over the pair before the spurii spoke again. “I want us to be whatever we are going to become. I just want to stay by your side and see where this journey takes us. I think we can be many things to each other.”
Her hands had clasped his and she held them as she gazed into his eyes, her sparkling violet irises meeting his as they sat together.
The confessions had primed the mood, so the athlete gently grabbed the back of Aeria's head and pulled her closer, his other arm hugging her by the waist. Their faces almost touching each other, the laicar kissed his lover.
For a moment, Aeria went tense and then sank into the kiss, enjoying the depth and warmth of it. She let it linger for a few moments longer than she thought strictly necessary before breaking the contact and looking into Dante’s eyes. “Well...that was quite something! I’m not sure I expected it but I sure did enjoy it.”
Leaning in again, she kissed him gently and let her eyelashes flutter shut. She pressed her body into his and nearly melted.
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