arbitratour | Thousand nights, I repeated so many times

[ It's a valid concern, though Jae would hope he wouldn't be the type to go back on his word after trying to prove his sincerity. He shifts a little, if only to make sure that the both of them are comfortable, before he makes sure that his mug was set down as he frames both hands on her waist. ]

I ... eventually would have, I think.

[ It's punctuated with a small nod. ] Perhaps not this way, but ... yes.

[Her back arches a little as he slips both hands to her waist, a thrill running up her spine too fast for her to hold back reacting to it. The longer she sits on his lap, the more he touches her and interacts with her, the more her experiences with the illusion version of him seem so very different. Yes, already.]

I admit, it surprises me to hear you say that. What...how would it have been different?

[Maybe she still feels a little exposed and wants to find balance between them by getting him to talk more, or maybe it's just curiosity, but she can't stop herself from asking as she continues to sip her tea. It burns down her throat from heat and whiskey and hopefully ought to relax her a little.]

[ Jae lets out a hum, biting his lip a little in thought. He gets it, the situation is odd, and especially with how it had escalated in the way that it had. But it was the truth. ]

Mm. I probably would have been a bit more ... subtle about it? Fleeting touches to gauge your interest alongside talking more with you to get a feel for it.

[She nods with understanding. Their situation is strange and awkward, and unlike most humans there isn't a socially constructed idea of how a relationship is supposed to progress. There are so many factors that complicate things...

And yet his answers make sense to her. Even now, it seems like it wouldn't be a bad course of action.] Fleeting touches like this?

[She raises one hand up and brushes the back of her fingertips along his brow, drawing hair away and slipping over more before she lets her hand lower gently away.]

Mmhm.

[ He lets out a hum, tilting his head to lean more into the touches before she pulls away. ]

Subtle flirting remarks, perhaps chaste kisses like this.

[ He raises a hand to gently guide hers back to his face, kissing her palm with his eyes closed before he glances up at her with a small smile. ]

[Color rises to her cheeks, and Eun seems almost more shocked by the fact that she can be made to blush even after all she's seen, than by the kiss he offers. Her fingers curl gently against his face, as if they might capture the kiss to her palm rather than risk letting it fly away.]

I think I would still like those things.

[It cannot be all take and no give, however. Eun knows this, and hadn't she shown that she's as interested in having someone to touch as she is being touched? Held? Carefully holding her cup still, she leans forward, over the hand he holds, and presses a kiss to his temple.]

It feels weak to be a demon who wants a lover, but I find I cannot help myself now. [Not now that it's all in the open and within her grasp. Her lips brush down the side of his cheek, working her way to his mouth.]

Suppose neither of us are traditional, in that sense.

[ Even if he would've felt perfectly comfortable in properly courting her before tonight's revelations. The kiss at his temple is surprising, but he can't really bring himself to hate it, especially when her lips trace down his face to meet his own. He tilts his head to meet them that much sooner, eyes slipping shut again. ]

[Each moment that passes is one where Eun is carefully observing Jae through all of his senses, trying to make sure she doesn't miss any microreaction of distaste or discomfort with her there. Her touches are rather tame, as are his, but the potential for more and how easily he'd made her blush makes her feel shaken deep at her core.

She should try to use this as an opportunity to get under his skin, to find a weakness of his to exploit, but shamefully the thought doesn't even occur to her. Eun's lips meet his and she allows herself to truly kiss him in a way that goes beyond their fleeting touches before.

Her illusions are the work of a master, enough she can even mostly fool herself, but they seem pale in comparison to what she feels now. The true, human weight of a body against hers, the warmth seeping through their clothes and warming each other, and the unique sensation of skin against skin. She'll never ascend to Heaven but this is as close as it gets.]

[ Jae isn't surprised that she's tentative with the touches, and if it were under any other circumstances, he probably would be as well. Still, he wants to prove that he was indeed interested.

He wouldn't have been surprised if she took the opportunity to try and get something more out of him, shift the power dynamic again. But instead, the kiss deepens and he adjusts to let them both be more comfortable without accidentally dumping tea all over each other.

That would certainly be a mood-killer. ]

Thousand nights, I repeated so many times

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