Niles' wicked tongue drove away most people, but somehow not Kiran. He was brash, cocky, rude- and annoyingly attractive. His shamelessness drew Kiran to him, until they often approached him on their own just to flirt with someone who didn't put them on a pedestal. Kiran wasn't nobility and had never been uptight, and Niles was a welcome relief. No one else needed to know Kiran could match him verbal spar for spar, or enjoyed one upping him in innuendos. As the grand summoner, they usually had too much work to focus on only one hero, but Niles was special. He was instant fun- maybe with a dash of something more.

"Oooohoho, come here often? Can't get enough of me?" Niles smirked and traced the curved edge of his bow, eye bright with mischief as Kiran neared him in the torchlit castle corridor. Niles spent a remarkable amount of time in the dungeons voluntarily, and Kiran knew they'd have an alarmingly high chance of seeking him out in the basement levels.

"Too bad you're all bark and no bite, so you claim." They wiggled their eyebrows teasingly and Niles scoffed. It was natural by now to greet each other like rowdy friends at a tavern, saying things that would make their purer teammates flustered.

Niles huffed and drew himself up. "Well well, what an assumption! I can't bite unless you get a little closer, my dove. Or are you going to fly away?" He winked, or perhaps blinked. The eyepatch made it difficult to distinguish between them, and Kiran assumed Niles took advantage as often as possible to send suggestive winks anyone's way.

Kiran stepped closer to him, smiling as he leaned back against the stone wall and let them get so close they almost touched. All they'd had were mere comments and banter. Did Niles actually want them too? Niles liked Kiran how they were, informal and friendly, was asking for more a mistake? "Do you trust me?"

Niles widened his eye and chuckled. "Hmmmm, with that expression? Of course not- I crave to know your devious mind."

Flirting aside, Kiran wanted him to feel safe with them. Niles did trust Kiran with his life- everyone trusted their tactician and commander. Kiran slowly moved a hand to rest on his shoulder, and the other on his cheek. Niles flinched in shock that they were serious enough to make a move, hesitantly pressing into Kiran's light touch after his initial recoil. "You flirt with everyone- do you genuinely like me, Niles?"

"Do you like ME is a better question? I'm a scoundrel scraped from the streets in- hmmmm~, ah-" Niles' bow clattered to the floor as Kiran kissed him. Their lips met messily, both of them eager and breathless. His light almost white hair was soft between Kiran's fingers as they kissed him deeply, relishing how right he felt in their arms.

Kiran had heard Niles talk about his upbringing enough to know about his rough childhood and how much he'd done that he'd never repeat. They knew him to be one of the most abrasive people in the castle with a mind always in the gutter, and Kiran couldn't get enough of it. Desire heated Kiran's face when they finally pulled back, panting and grinning. "You're pretty alright."

"Insulting. You've barely had a taste of me." Niles held Kiran close, nose to nose with them with his own hands around their waist. "Go on, tell me what you've thought about. I'd love to hear all your creative fantasies for gymnastics together."

"Depends." It wasn't fair if Niles got to have all the seductive swagger in the relationship. Kiran slowly dragged their fingertips along the edge of his jaw, drawing his eye up to theirs. "Do you actually bite, or would you rather be bitten?"

Niles kissed Kiran first this time, pulling them close for a surprisingly gentle exchange. He leaned his head back after breaking the kiss and seemed deep in thought. "I don't know, to be frighteningly honest. I'm sure your expressions would be beautiful if I had my way with you a little further downstairs. Even better..." he lowered his voice, low and seductive. "...I'll obey anything you want to do to me. Not too rough, but enough for me to know who I answer to, if you'd take me."

Niles seemed to swing any way Kiran pointed him at. "You want whatever I want, then?" His hips rocked suggestively against Kiran's and they pressed back against him, interest piqued with his soft noise of want. Kiran's palms rested on his shoulders and with a small exertion of force, Kiran had him pinned to the wall, only for a moment. They released him and reached for his hand to give it a squeeze. "I want something special with you. I want all gentleness until I figure out what we both like together." Kiran took a deep breath. "I want to do this /right/."

"I-" Niles finally looked flustered for the first time, face tinted pink as he avoided eye contact. He toyed with the hem of his tunic. Too much? Kiran worried and gave him a bit of space. "That's a new one for me."

"Do you mind if we court each other? Have a few dates, get comfortable?"

Niles frowned. "Sure, but don't you have standards? This isn't a playful tussle, you're talking about something real. Did someone dump you and I missed it? Why would you waste your time with me if you could have any of those true heroes out there?! Is it pity?!"

Kiran took a further step back and folded their arms. Niles still couldn't look them in the eyes. Kiran bit down any harsh retorts and sighed. They knew he tested people with his fiery spite, but hadn't expected it to be directed at themselves. "I want a relationship. It may be unconventional. I'm hoping it will be, actually. If you really want a rule to follow, could you please not talk about yourself in such a way? I like you. I could chose anyone and I choose you."

"Why?" He whispered.

"I'm your commander." Kiran gave his hand another squeeze. "I have authority over you, and you've never been pious, respectful, or even pretended to hold your tongue in my presence. I like that. I'm a commoner too, Niles. I prefer getting to be myself. I want someone who I don't feel I have to hide from or perform for."

"I wasn't kidding about having fun with you in a dungeon, you know that right?" Niles tossed his hair and resumed his low teasing tone. "Anything you want. I'll make it happen for you."

It was Kiran's turn to blush again. The constant flirting would take some getting used to. "We'll have fun- once we know we won't harm each other."

Niles affectionately fluffed their hair, making Kiran thankful for their summoner's hood. "Can't believe my tongue has more uses than I imagined, must we wait until we retire to your quarters, or do you like the idea of being in public? Ooooh the things I'm going to learn about you!" He leaned close and Kiran laughed, knowing he wouldn't really do something they didn't want.

"Niles! Private, please. Dinner too, I hope."

Niles was coming around to the idea of dating Kiran in the light of day and was and fully letting go of any modicum of a filter he might've had. They walked side by side as he rambled, dropping more pick up lines and flirts than usual. "Dinner, huh? Do I get to eat with you, or eat you out? Oh no no, what am I saying, perhaps I could kneel at your feet and let you feed me yourself. I can't wait to see if you bother wearing clothes to bed, I certainly hope not, although I won't mind helping you out of them..."

"Niles." Kiran's voice was stern and he almost stopped in his tracks at the sudden undercurrent of force in their tone. "Are you going to behave for me?"

A smirk spread across Niles' face to match his purring tone. "Oh, GODS no!"

"Good. Me neither."