[Paul's charm is a discipline he began his training in earlier than any other weapon. Before he could curl small, clumsy fingers around the hilt of a knife, he could smile winsomely and curl them around a heart. Flirtation is just the most recent nuance of a well-developed system, and he learned at the feet of a master of the fluttering lash and the coy invitation.
But that training only ever went so far. There was an abbreviation of practice, a sharp line his mother cut through the teachings of her order. Paul can promise almost anything with a crook at the corner of his lips, but he's never learned how to give any of it.
So when Kaworu leans over him, luminous and mussed, his slim fingers hot where they curve along his face, Paul's wide eyes aren't feigned. The tentative splay of his hand where it's slipped to Kaworu's waist is not played at. The hitching tremor of his breath isn't a performance for anyone.
He shouldn't be surprised. Isn't this what he agreed to? Isn't this the flame he's played with all evening, finally catching on tinder?]
You don't have to.
[His boldness has deserted him. There's too much vulnerability in his voice, shy and faltering, and of course Kaworu doesn't have to - Paul thought he believed that, he'd push him out of his lap to await an entirely different conversation in the sober light of day.]
I've never- [he swallows a dry mouth, his hand still on the back of Kaworu's neck twitching] -I don't want everyone to see.
no subject
But that training only ever went so far. There was an abbreviation of practice, a sharp line his mother cut through the teachings of her order. Paul can promise almost anything with a crook at the corner of his lips, but he's never learned how to give any of it.
So when Kaworu leans over him, luminous and mussed, his slim fingers hot where they curve along his face, Paul's wide eyes aren't feigned. The tentative splay of his hand where it's slipped to Kaworu's waist is not played at. The hitching tremor of his breath isn't a performance for anyone.
He shouldn't be surprised. Isn't this what he agreed to? Isn't this the flame he's played with all evening, finally catching on tinder?]
You don't have to.
[His boldness has deserted him. There's too much vulnerability in his voice, shy and faltering, and of course Kaworu doesn't have to - Paul thought he believed that, he'd push him out of his lap to await an entirely different conversation in the sober light of day.]
I've never- [he swallows a dry mouth, his hand still on the back of Kaworu's neck twitching] -I don't want everyone to see.