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“Um...I...I had fun, Mr.Malleus...” Idia trailed off, fiddling his thumbs. “I mean... for a guy that knows legitimately nothing about tech, I expected this to be awful. But I was proven wrong.”
Malleus hummed, tilting his head as he observed Idia. He seemed to speak somewhat easier since they had spent some time together. Being able to speak so boldly to him now as well… it made him happy. “Is that so? I won’t deny that I have very little knowledge of magic regarding the more mechanical variety....but I’m happy you had fun, Shroud.” He smiled. “It’s nice to have someone who enjoys more quiet, subdued places like myself.” He chuckled. “You’re quite the good listener and talker when you want to be too, surprisingly. I also had fun~”
“Huh...? With me??” Idia looked up at Malleus, not believing what he heard. “E-Even though I was awkward and just rambled mostly? You had fun too??? Wow...that’s unexpected…” Even though Idia had gone on and on about this and that, Malleus had, miraculously, stayed consistently engaged in what he was saying….no one could really tolerate his “fast talk” when certain subjects arose, except Ortho of course. He could have sworn he was secretly annoying him though…even if he didn’t show it outwardly.
“Of course, I love hearing you speak. I found our date to be very relaxing and informative as a result, I’d like to go out again. If you would allow it, of course.
“That might be..w-wait, wait! D-Date?! ” The flames of Idia’s hair burned brighter from the words, what was with this sudden development?! “Did you just say date?! Am I hearing this right? W-Was that what this was?!” He shook his head in disbelief, looking at the ground. “ Ugh ...don’t mess with me, Mr.Malleus. Who’d want to go on a date with a weird, nerdy otaku like me? Is this a trick?” He rubbed one of his arms, looking off to the side. “ This isn’t…a very funny j-joke… ”
The fae frowned. “Joke? Why would I be joking? I find you both interesting, knowledgeable, and very, hm....how do I put this... eye-catching .”
“E-Eye...ca-catching...interesting…?” Idia peeked at him from under his bangs, assuming the worst from the words. “T-This is why I stay in my room...being flashy...being noticed...I hate it. I know I look weird and people probably whisper about it but-“
“ Shroud. ” The raven-haired male’s stern tone paused Idia’s rambling. “I mean that you’re very beautiful, I don’t understand where you could have gotten all that from.” He reached out, running his long fingers through that fluffy, warm, bright hair of the other, smiling. “Quite beautiful indeed.”
“ B-B-B-Beautiful?? ” He repeated in disbelief, he had never been referred to as such. “I...I really don’t know what you’re talking a-about...y-you must have odd taste...”
“Is that what you think? Then… here... ” Malleus gently tilted Idia’s chin up to look at him, striking green meeting bright amber. “Your skin is as white as snow, your lips remind me of the deepest sapphires, and your eyes are like a golden abyss..I could look into them for ages.” He gently rubbed his fingers over reddening cheeks. “To prove you wrong about this ‘trickery’ you accuse me of,” Malleus started. “would you allow me a kiss?”
Idia’s face flushed deeply in an instant, his flames burning pink at the ends from the declarations. By the way… had Malleus always been this handsome?! “I-I don’t... I... ” He suddenly moved away from the other, hiding his face. “ A-Agh , this is too high level for me! I-I can’t! It’s no good! I don’t kn-know what you see in me...did someone cast so-so-some sort of weird spell on you.. o-or curse..?! ”
A slight chuckle left the others lips and he gently took Idia’s hands away from his face. “I’d like to see someone succeed at such a feat. But no, you yourself captivated me.” He was adorable, but it saddened him to hear the lack of confidence in both himself and in the words he was telling him. “You didn’t answer my question... may I kiss you, Shroud? ”
“ H-Hiiie !” Even though Malleus was being gentle, he couldn’t help but yelp as his red face was revealed to the other once more. “ K-Kiss—?! I..I’ve never-...I’d probably be n-no good at it—“ Idia’s eyes were darting all over the place, anywhere he could avoid looking at Malleus’ gorgeous face. “T-This isn’t the kind of route you w-wanna take, you’ll definitely r-r-regret it so—“
Malleus sighed, quietly lifting Idia’s chin again and leaning down. Idia froze when their lips met, his rambling successfully stopped. After a few seconds, they parted.
“There we are.” Malleus smiled down at Idia as the other got himself together. “That wasn’t too awful, was it?”
“U…U-Uhm…y-you’re unexpectedly sneaky, Mr.Malleus...” Idia mumbled, covering his lips with his fingers. “W...Was I…. Was I b-bad...? ”
“ Bad? ” Malleus echoed, not understanding what he was asking.
“ A...At the k-kiss! ” He managed, timidly peeking up at him. It was totally awful wasn’t it…his lips must have been the worst thing.
“Ah...” He gazed at Idia, not able to help his thoughts at how cute the other was. “Not at all....would you like to do it once more...? It would confirm it for sure if you’re truly curious…~” Malleus teased softly, running a few fingers underneath Idia’s chin. “I don’t mind kissing you again at all, Shroud…~ ”
Idia shivered, suddenly jumping back to get some needed distance. “My heart might combust if you do that again, so n-no thanks...” He quickly responded, putting up a x with his fingers over his lips for emphasis. “I...I guess...it wasn’t bad th-though... er …you weren’t I mean... uh ...” He twiddled his thumbs, once again looking at the ground. “The feeling…of your l-lips…was g-good… w-wait …what I meant was—“
Malleus stared for several moments before laughing, bringing his hand to his mouth to stifle it somewhat. Idia jerked his head up in confusion, assuming he had said something wrong. “Sorry, Shroud...you’re just so cute, I couldn’t help myself.” He gently put his hand on Idia’s back, starting to walk. “It’s getting late, allow me to walk you back to your dorm. Even if it’s a little, I’d like to spend as much time with you as possible after all.”
“C..Cute....? Should I be happy about that...? ” He mumbled more to himself than Malleus, gasping when he was suddenly nudged along. He side-glanced at the fae prince, slightly pink in the face. “U-Ugh...this is totally an ikemen style move...”
“Ikemen...?”
“N-Nothing, please d-don’t ask...b..by the way, Mr.Malleus, the extra gao-gao drakon I got you…how’s it doing...? Is it getting along with your first one…?”
Malleus looked over at Idia, gazing into his eyes fondly for a few moments before gently smiling. “Yes…thanks to you they’re getting along very well. More so than expected, actually…~”