The floating lights around you as he holds you close and you square your shoulders setting yourself free to enjoy the night letting go of the things about Lan that hold you back and feeling happy and joy and laughter and seeing HIM and the tender way he cups your cheek in his palm, uncertain but warm and tender and says your name rough and soft, Maylu, not Sakurai, out on the balcony in the cool night air with ivy and roses around you and the twinkling starry sky about and his admission that he cares for you and that he would like to kiss you and the half-lidded dazed drunk look you give him as he leans in close, overpowered by his nearness and scent in a way you've never felt before, leaving you reeling, and Chaud with his first kiss which he may or may not have learned from romance films because he wanted some kind of preparation going into the situation but was not about to "practice" with this particular one the way he practices everything else, like business and net-battling, and though it is mildly awkward because neither of you have ever kissed before, it is soft and gentle and slow, the way a kiss should be, not rushing things, lips touching gently and softly parting to make that noise you know signifies a kiss, the way your mouths melt together when you kiss, just sort of give and take to meet each other, a soft hand to the cheek or the back of the head and the other curling around the small of your back, bringing you close to melt into each others bodies because it is warm and soft and tender and your breathing goes all funny because you can't remember what's up or down or in or out and you're pondering all the stupid little things that don't seem relevant in the moment like the way that your dress is crinkling around your legs or the way that you're standing funny and have to shift your feet and you're afraid to break the spell so you don't want to move too much but you also can't help being distracted by it and how your hair is tickling your ear or your mouth and the way you wonder if your lips are too wet or if you've gotten his lips too wet and you hope your breath doesn't smell and even though you know your eyes are supposed to be closed you can't help sneaking peeks because he is just so close and it's so novel to be kissed like this and also it doesn't hurt that he is handsome and really you just can't believe this is happening because it is Chaud after all who up until now has even only questionably passed for a friend, let alone a close one, and you have never seen him act in a specifically interested way around any girl and in fact thought he wouldn't be interested in dating anyone at all and yet here he is, seemingly interested in you for some reason and how did that happen, is there some kind of magic to all of this, it really is just bizarre and almost nonsensical that after all of this you would abruptly "find" each other in a way that you never imagined and he is so intelligent and funny (when he wants to be) and he laughs at your humor and he makes you feel smart even though you feel your intelligence in fact pales in comparison to his and the way he looks at you sometimes, you can tell that he is really LOOKING, really seeing you, and you've never been looked at that way before and it sort of awes and floors you and you really don't know what to make of it but it makes your heart seem to kind of skid and forget a beat or two and you feel, you feel, you don't know, important, you feel like you matter, because he is paying attention, and he thinks you are valuable, and he enjoys your company, and he makes you feel beautiful, and as he kisses you, keeps kissing you, coming back for more, leaving you dazed and dazzled, you wonder how you could have ever wanted anything else.
A/N: I know, I know, no one likes reading walls of text. I realize it's kind of a headache to look at, but it was a "stream of consciousness" session, and I felt that formatting it properly would change it too much. I'm rather fond of it as it is. Kudos and my gratitude to anyone who forged through this.