melodiesoflife | Event || The Festival Of Light

Duster doesn't notice the strawberry because did Aoi just call this romantic? He moved right next to him and said that. There shouldn't be any reason to be afraid.

But he's tense an looking at his feet dangling over the edge instead of at the fireworks. He can't say no when this is getting romantic, but saying yes feels painful. Maybe he should wrap his arm around Aoi again, maybe he should look at him, maybe--

"Y-yeah...I guess that's why this is popular with couples." A non-answer in his eyes, but like hell his flushed face doesn't mean anything.

Well, blushing into the darkness isn't good enough, is it? Aoi needs him to admit it, so that he doesn't pretend this was nothing later on. He presses on.

"And you showed up 'cause I asked you to. You didn't just black out and wake up here with no memories of how you got here." Which had been a very real possibility. Aoi is really trying here, Duster, you don't even understand.

"That's, like, basically...you know, a date. Right?" He steals one of Duster's cheese cubes, but he ends up putting it back on the plate. It's too tense of a moment to eat. He just needs something to do so Duster's silence doesn't kill him.

Edited 2016-07-21 00:45 (UTC)

He doesn't care if Aoi steals his cheese. The fireworks are silent, despite their light illuminating the space between the two of them. Duster stares at the empty spot where they aren't touching.

"A..." A date. His hand grips on he edge of of the awning, the other hand that's closer to Aoi still on his knee.

"I...had to show up..." Why? Because they were friends? Because he wanted to figure out what happened on the 10th? Isn't this what he was hoping for?

His mouth opens and closes as he tries to sound out his answer, but he can't believe this is actually happening. Is this just a dream? He tentatively holds out a shaking hand, letting it hover over Aoi's. If he touches this illusion, will it disappear?

Just at this moment, Duster's eyes flick upward to look at his face for the first time tonight. There's hope in his own, bewilderment. The past few weeks have gone by so fast: this guy (who happens to be good looking) becoming a friend, they hang out together, bond over training, break apart, share an umbrella, and he asks him out on a date. It's almost like it happened out of nowhere.

Aoi translates fear to anger. It's his automatic reaction to being scared. And he's so afraid that Duster's gonna start laughing at him any second now. His eyes narrow, though his flaming cheeks probably make it look more ridiculous than intimidating.

"HEY, nobody made you come. You coulda said 'no', or gone with someone else. But you didn't. So, yeah, either it's a date, or else you're a dumbass who does romantic shit with his friends. And...that's fine...but...I gotta know which it is..."

He loses steam as he finishes, because he's pretty sure Duster's gonna run for the metaphorical hills and leave Aoi up here alone with the fireworks. Who's he trying to kid? Why'd he think this date thing was gonna work?

If it were any other person, the sudden violent change in Aoi's tone and that remark would have caused Duster to flinch. Not this time. He takes it as a good sign. His instincts tell him he can trust Aoi, and he can't run. He's just...upset.

Duster breathes in and takes the leap of faith. His hand lowers onto Aoi's forearm. His fingers tingle as they press down, and his entire hand goes numb. He can't tell if it's hot of cold, but it's spread to his palm, and it's spreading into the rest of his arm.

"..."

And he's not a dumbass.

Aoi's anger withers away, and he presses himself up against Duster's side, mollified. "Right. Good."

Duster obviously needs help here, so he puts his hand over Duster's and laces their fingers together. "Maybe, it could just be, like, a trial run. You know, to see if we wanna risk the moogle rumor mill. It's not like Tamekichi's gonna know you're here, right?"

Maybe if there's less pressure, Duster will be ok with it, and then Aoi can work on convincing Duster that a~~nother~~ real date would be a good idea. It's a process.

This is real. This is really happening. Aoi feels good all pressed against Duster's side, but it can be better. He lets go of Aoi's hand and warps his arm around his body, just like he did two weeks ago, and pulls him closer. It's getting hotter, but you know what? He doesn't have to worry about anything anymore.

"...I was hoping it would turn out this way." Rumors are going to happen anyway. What's wrong with proving them right?

Aoi snorts. "If you wanted it to turn out this way, you should'a freakin' said something," he mutters.

He sits in silence for a moment, watching a firework burst in the sky beyond them. It's nice, sitting with Duster like this...

...but is 'nice' gonna cut it, when Duster's back in the light of day with teasing moogles all around?

He snags Duster's t-shirt at the neck and tugs to bring Duster's face close to his.

"Fireworks are kinda lame, right? Maybe we should find some other way to entertain ourselves..." He leans in close, barely a breath away, and eyes Duster though heavy-lidded eyes.

Woah, now this is going fast. Duster's no stranger to kissing - he's tried things out with fans and one of his bandmates during his rock star days - but someone grabbing him by the shirt either meant he was in a world of hurt or security would be called.

What has gotten into Aoi? He's never seen him his flirty. That sudden change in his eyes, this distance...Duster wants to say something, but his lips are right there, his arm can't support him for long, and he's slipping closer...

His head is too heavy and cloudy to think twice. There's no reason to turn back. He closes his eyes and leans in, and lightly presses his lips against Aoi's.

...Why is his face on fire?

Duster's face is on fire because Aoi is so smokin' hot, duh. Aoi smirks into the kiss. Duster was the one to close the distance. He's totally on board with this. Aoi's a little drunk on victory right now.

He pulls back, still smiling. He wants to kiss Duster again...at least 20 times...in various places. But he also wants to not fall off the roof and crash to his death...and he doesn't wanna scare Duster off with over-eagerness.

So he rests his cheek on Duster's shoulder and whispers into his ear. "Still think Lust is the hottest Hero of Light?" If ge does, Duster better at least be smart enough to lie.

Here they are, watching fireworks (or not really paying attention to them), kissing, and whispering. Duster forgets his food and holds Aoi tightly with both of his arms as if to confirm that this is all real. The smell of cinnamon is strong.

Only...it's too much. It starts out as a smile, then a goofy grin. Santa's voice in his ear is the final breaking point, and he laughs. Not loudly, of course, he doesn't want to get caught by the crew, but he's shaking with how bizarre this all is.

Aoi jerks back when he the shaking starts. Duster's laughing? He narrows his eyes.

"Dude, what the fuck? I'm over here, tryin' to seduce you, and you're laughing."

He tries to scoot back out of Duster's arms completely, but he's got a pretty tight hold. He settles for reaching back behind him to his plate of fruit and grabbing a grape to flick at Duster's stupid laughing face.

The grape bounces off Duster's cheek and falls over the railing, plummeting towards the dark plains outside of Aqures Ixen. It ends up hitting a Geezard foraging for food tonight, and at the speed the grape is going, it kills the monster easily.

Meanwhile, Duster pulls Aoi in tighter and press his smiling mouth on his shoulder to muffle his giggles. He will have to suffer getting squeezed by a rock star.

"Sorry, it's just..." This is the Aoi he's familiar with. Duster leans back and looses his arms so they rest about Aoi's waist, looking at his boyfriend's flustered face. Boyfriend. The same guy as before, only different.

"It's hard to believe this is all real, and now you're acting all serious and flirty..." He can't stop grinning, but just to be sure he's not laughing at Aoi, he gives him another kiss on his forehead. Damn, this does feel nice.

Aoi huffs. "Duster, man, I've been flirting with you the whole damn time. Idiot."

He's happy Duster's happy, though, and that he's holding him, and that Duster seems to want him. So he guesses he can't be too mad or anything, since it's working out mostly the way he wanted. Aoi slides his arms around Duster and moves his hands up and down Duster's back in lazy strokes.

"And you still didn't answer my question," he grumbles.

Duster assumes that by "the whole time", he means the entire date. Everything before today was Aoi being his usual self, with some added kindness when he picked him up from the airport.

He wiggles in closer as Aoi rubs his back. That feels so good, and he can't find the shame in getting this intimate in their first date. Aoi's okay with it, so Duster's okay. No one can see them, after all.

"She's not datable at all." Still really hot, but he can tell Aoi needs the ego boost. He can tell a little white lie. "...You managed to beat her in rank the past few weeks."

Aoi is definitely one of the hotter people Duster has met. Those toned muscles, that confident attitude...how can he not thnk he's attractive, especially compared to Duster?

His smile fades. "I'm not the kind of guy people notice out on the street. I've only gotten asked out when I was Lucky the bassist, not Duster the thief.

"...But you asked me out anyway."

"Good." Lust's name comes off of Aoi's mental 'Third Nonary Game' list. Not that he was ever worried or anything.

"Well, yeah." Aoi's a little confused by the sudden turn in conversation. "Have you seen your hands? I want them all over my...er..." Welp, that's probably not the best thought to pursue right now.

He looks away from Duster and forges on like he hadn't just paused for some mental pictures. "And when you move, it's like you're dancing." And when he smiled, it was like the world wasn't a giant hell hole of cruelty and pain. But if Duster was laughing at him for asking him to watch fireworks, he definitely couldn't say something cheesy like that.

"So...people notice. But be glad they don't say anything, 'cause that's less people I gotta scare away from you."

All over his...

Duster's eyes dart downward, and his arms inch higher on Aoi's chest. It's nice to know he has sexy hands, but this is still the first date. Duster's not going to rush in even if his boyfriend is genuinely hot for him.

He hums a single, monotone note. It's a lot of praise from anyone, not to mention from a guy who goes out of his way to troll everyone he runs into. This is almost to the levels of obsession, and Duster feels a bit guilty for how bad Aoi had it for him. Scare people away? That never was an issue for him apart from fans, and even then, they were easily ignored.

"Aoi...you're kind of a jealous person..."

Edited 2016-07-23 02:48 (UTC)

Aoi sighs and takes his hands back. He's freaking Duster out, isn't he? He pulls away and turns to retrieve his plate. It's a pretty fascinating array of fruit, from the way he's focusing on it.

"Yeah. I, uh, didn't have much, growing up. And people kept trying to take away the people I cared for most. So...yeah. I learned, if you find something good, you gotta hold on to it."

He shrugs his shoulders, still not facing Duster. "I...I was just jokin' around. I'm not gonna bother anyone else. Forget I said anything."

Aoi isn't joking. He's lying, and that's worrying Duster more than anything else.

"No one's taking me away. Can you trust me on that?" He waits for him to look at him, but without an answer, he grips Aoi's shoulder and tugs it towards him. "I'm not the kind of person who abandons a friend, and especially not...my boyfriend."

Does Aoi expect him to walk away the moment Lust or Johnny makes eyes at him?

Boyfriend? Now who's moving fast, huh? Partway through their first date, and Duster already wants to call it?

Aoi lets Duster turn him. He does look at other attractive people, Aoi's not imagining it. But still...

"Yeah, I guess so. You're too nice to break a promise." Boyfriend. He's never actually thought about calling someone his 'boyfriend'. It's weird. He likes it, though.

"...I guess...if I'm your boyfriend...I should offer to get you a drink or something..."

He doesn't know how this really works. If you date someone and you want to keep doing it, doesn't it make sense to consider yourselves boyfriends? Even if there are other attractive people nearby, you don't cheat on your boyfriend.

"Good." As a reward, he plants another light kiss on Aoi's cheek. He's getting addicted to this. "I like you, and I want this to work out."

But he's afraid of losing Duster in other ways, isn't he? Zelda's death still hangs in his mind. And everyone's aware of how sudden Crystal Stasis strikes. If anything, he needs to prove to Aoi and he's going to be there.

"You don't have to yet. I don't want to miss the rest of the fireworks."

It's funny. 'I like you' sounds so freakin' middle school, but it sends Aoi's heart racing all the same. Duster's not even kissing his lips. Who knew stupid cheek and forehead kisses were so...amazing?

Thank god nobody else can see them up here. How's he supposed to look tough and cool when he's leaning his head against Duster's shoulder and tentatively threading his fingers with Duster's?

"Alright. Fireworks it is." They've got hours left of the airship ride, so they'll have plenty of time after the firework display ends.

Fireworks it is. Duster slides his fingers between Aoi's and closes his hand. Duster's just at the right height that his his aligns with the top of Aoi's. They can sit here forever if they wanted to. Just the two of them and the night sky.

Six months ago, he never would have thought he'd enjoy spending time with the guy called Santa. He was rude and kind of a jerk, and even though he got payback for his teasing, he wasn't that fun to hang out with. And now Duster knows a little more of the truth. He cares about his sister and his friends, violently so. Beneath all that...Aoi's a good guy. Duster is lucky to have someone like him.

He doesn't know what it's like to be in a relationship. A real, actual relationship where they like each other. But he'll do his best.

Event || The Festival Of Light

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