He almost leapt for the door when he heard the knock.

Renly did not look as happy to see him as Loras was hoping. He looked mildly irritated, actually.

'What happened?' Loras asked before Renly could say anything.

'Amber happened.' Renly said flatly. 'I'm really sorry, I know you probably wanted to spend the evening alone, but she just showed up.'

Loras tried to act like he didn't mind. He shrugged casually and stuffed his hands into his pockets. He quickly removed them, thinking he might appear as though he was forcing his casual demeanour – which he was. He was now wishing he had used his time in the bath a little more wisely. He just felt agitated and restless for no reason now, nothing would be done about that with Amber around.

He found Amber sitting in Renly's solar, feeding lioness a sliver of meat. Lioness was very ladylike in taking from her, and she quietly nibbled at it in the window. Amber turned and flashed a smile at Loras, which he tried to return, but was still feeling too annoyed at the fact she was even there to know if his smile worked.

'It's just like old times, isn't it?' Amber said, midway through dinner. Loras glanced at Lioness, who seemed to raise an eyebrow, even though Loras knew cats didn't have eyebrows.

'I suppose.' Renly answered after a moment of silence.

'Well, no, you're right,' Amber decided, musing over it while casually twirling her fork. 'it's not exactly like old times. For starters, I didn't have Lioness.' She then turned to feed Lioness another piece of duck. 'And you two weren't… as you are now.' She said, choosing her words very carefully after a quick glance at Loras.

'Mm.' Loras agreed noncommittally. He still found it strange how openly Amber was willing to discuss their relationship with them. He was reluctant to indulge her by talking about it.

'Oh, gods,' Amber said suddenly. 'I've just realised.'

'Realised what?' Renly asked her, slight amusement playing on his face when she didn't elaborate.

She flashed one of her classic smirks, before she sat back in her chair. 'I've just realised what your plan for the evening must have been.'

'Have you?' Renly inquired, his tone slightly incredulous.

'We've got your favourite meal,' she said, nodding towards Loras. 'and both of you look like there's anywhere you'd rather I was right now. You wanted a nice romantic evening, didn't you?'

Loras stared down at the table. Was it that obvious? Granted, she was right. But Loras found it very embarrassing that she even knew. Lioness jumped down from the window, wandering over to the bookshelf that lined the back wall of the solar. She padded around for a while before letting out a loud 'meow' in Amber's direction.

Amber got up from the table and made her way over to the cat.

'I'll just take some books off the bottom shelf, Renly,' she said, beginning to move one of the books. 'She likes curling up in small spaces.'

'What – no, Amber, don't.' Renly stammered, almost falling out of his chair to scramble to the floor and push the book back into place. Amber tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him.

'Why not? They're just books.'

'They're in order, alright? Just… just leave them be.'

'Renly, I don't understand.' Amber said with a laugh. 'You're acting very strangely.'

'Am I?' He answered quickly, getting up off the floor, but still carefully watching the books. 'I have no idea what you mean.'

Amber brushed off her skirts and stood up, exchanging a confused glance with Loras, who'd watched the whole situation unfold from his chair.

'It must be something really secretive if Loras doesn't even know.' Amber commented, scooping Lioness up off the floor and into her arms. 'Come along, Lioness,' she said to the cat. 'we know when we're not wanted.'

'Amber, please,' Renly begged her, following her across the room as she made for the door.

'No, no,' she said, still smiling as she briefly turned back around. 'you have your… fun. You'll be less irate afterwards, I imagine. We'll talk later.' She flashed a quick smirk, before she left with her cat, the door swinging shut behind her. Silence echoed in her wake.

'The books?' Loras inquired calmly, once a few moments had passed. Renly turned back to face him, running a hand through his dark hair and exhaling.

'It doesn't matter.'

'It seemed quite important.'

'Leave it.' He told him, his voice tighter than usual. Loras raised an eyebrow at him. 'I'm sorry.' Renly continued, his voice softening now. He walked over to him and sat back down at the table, dragging his chair around the table so it was no longer in between them. 'Can we just forget about the book?'

'Book?' Loras repeated.

Renly rolled his eyes at him and sat back in his chair, away from him. 'Gods, why do you Tyrells have to be so good at getting involved in other people's business? No one else would have noticed that.'

'You should know by now that I'm not everyone else.' Loras told him with a smirk. Renly caught it and couldn't help but smile at him.

'No, you're not.' He agreed. 'But please, can we stop all this about the book?'

'I don't understand how a book can cause all this fuss, but alright.' Loras told him. However, in his head, Loras had already planned to find out the mystery of the book. He'd just wait until Renly was somewhere else, holding court or asleep, even, and he'd unpack that shelf of the bookcase and find what was unusual. Whatever he was hiding must have obviously not belonged, otherwise he wouldn't have minded Amber rifling through them.

'Thank you.' Renly said with a relieved sigh. 'It's warm in here.' He decided, abruptly getting up from his chair and wandering off into his bedchamber. Loras watched him go, before he got up and followed, assuming he was intended to. By now Renly was at the door to his balcony, opening the door and cool air rushing inside, the breeze fluttering the netted drapes.

'It's not that warm.' Loras told him, dropping himself down to sit on the edge of Renly's bed. Renly shrugged and the balcony doors remained open. He looked like he was deciding whether or not to sit down.

'Amber was right,' Loras said. 'you are acting strangely.'

Renly sighed and turned away from him, pulling back one of the curtains to stare out of the open door and into the night. When he didn't say anything in return, Loras got up and went to him, instead.

'Tell me what's wrong.' Loras said quietly.

Renly just shook his head, a sort of smirk gracing his lips. 'It's that bloody business with the book, I promise that's all.'

'Liar.' Loras insisted, flashing a grin when Renly looked back at him. He broke a smile, gently grabbed Loras' arm and dragged him back into the room.

'I thought you were too warm.' Loras teased. 'Why come back inside?'

'Because I can't do this on the balcony.' Renly told him with a cheeky smile, placing a soft kiss onto Loras' lips. Loras raised an eyebrow.

'You know what else you can't do on the balcony?' Loras continued, leaving no space for Renly to actually answer him, before he pulled him back into the sort of kiss Loras had been eager for since they got caught. He felt Renly sigh against him, his hand coming up to rake through Loras' curls. Renly's tongue fought him for dominance, which Loras actually liked better than when someone won said battle. He'd never have admitted it verbally, but he was happy to let Renly win that one. Renly's hands slipped down to Loras' hips, pulling him closer, flush against him. He must have caught Loras' small gasp, because Loras' felt him laugh before he broke the kiss.

'Sorry.' Renly said, still half laughing.

'Don't apologise.' Loras told him, annoyed at himself for being taken by surprise like that. He didn't want to end things there. 'You didn't do anything wrong.'

He wound his hands round the back of Renly's neck and pulled him in again, pressing their lips together again. He could still feel Renly's smile, which he found a little endearing, even if he did feel as though he was being mocked. He knew he wasn't, but it didn't change the feeling. He hated being new at this. In his efforts to bring the intensity back to where it had been, Loras may have pushed a little too hard. He felt himself overbalance, which he could control, but Renly on the other hand, could not. Renly dropped back onto his bed, in a fit of laughter at having lost his balance, just grinning up at Loras. Loras felt like the gods had some sort of vendetta against him today, they were simply determined to interrupt.

'Oh, come on, don't look so sullen.' Renly told him, still grinning. Loras rolled his eyes and leant against the bedpost. 'Smile, Loras.'

'No.' Loras said flatly.

'Come here,' Renly took his hand and gave him a pull. Loras got the message, but didn't give in. Renly just pouted at him. 'I bet I can make you smile if you come here.' He gave Loras another gentle pull. Loras sighed and did as Renly asked, lying down next to him. Renly turned to press a kiss to Loras' cheek, which he tried not to let make him smile, though he wanted to. Loras turned into the kiss, letting Renly's set the pace this time. He'd learned his lesson for trying to go too fast. But, Loras had to admit, this was a different sort of kiss. This was smile raising. It was sweet. Renly moved away from him again, placing a very gentle bite to the side of Loras' jaw, then to just below his ear, but it was when he found a spot behind Loras' ear that changed Loras' mind that this was anywhere near sweet. The feel of Renly's teeth on that spot just sent shivers straight through him, and a moan he couldn't stop leave his throat. Renly ran his teeth over that same spot again, to illicit the same reaction. Loras could feel Renly's hand on the other side of his throat, very aware that Renly must have been able to feel how fast his pulse rate was at that moment. Renly shifted himself over, half on top of Loras so one of Loras' legs was between his. Loras felt his pulse impossibly speed up. He could still feel Renly's lips on him, moving down his neck now, nips and bites and kisses. He couldn't keep track even if he tried. Loras felt Renly's hand find its way under his tunic, tracing his ribs and softly sweeping down his side, leaving a tingling sensation on every piece of skin he touched. Loras could feel his blood rushing, hear it in his ears, it shouldn't have been as much of a shock as it was when he felt himself getting hard.

'Sorry,' he heard Renly mutter against his neck. 'we should probably stop.' Though it didn't sound like he particularly wanted to. Loras realised he could probably feel how hard he was getting against his hip. Involuntarily, Loras shifted his leg, brushing against something equally as hard. Loras bit his lip. Renly lifted his head and met Loras' gaze. Neither of them said anything for a moment. The only sound was the breeze from the open balcony doors and the sound of their own hurried breaths.

'I don't want to stop.' Loras told him in a whisper, unable to tear his gaze away from Renly's glittering green eyes. The lack of light only seemed to make them sparkle more.

'Are you sure?' Renly asked him, his voice similarly hushed, as if talking any louder would ruin the moment.

'Yes.' Loras said honestly. Renly quickly kissed him before letting him continue. 'But I don't really… I don't know what…'

'That's okay.' Renly assured him, gently rubbing circles on Loras' hipbone with his thumb. 'We won't rush into anything. We'll go as far as you want to.'

'What about you?' Loras asked. He didn't want to stop Renly doing anything, he didn't want to set the boundaries. He didn't even fully understand what boundaries he was setting. 'What about how far you want to go?'

Renly just smiled at him. 'I'm older than you are, I suppose it's only natural that I'd want to do… more. But I don't know. I've not done this before, either.'

'You seem to know what you're doing.'

'Do you want to do anything, or do you want to talk about it?' Renly asked with a smirk. Loras shut his mouth quickly. He felt Renly move his leg against the front of his breeches, forcing a moan out of Loras' throat at the feeling of him rubbing against his cock like that. He forgot all about whatever it was he'd thought about saying, it didn't really seem important anymore.

'Gods,' Renly muttered, finding himself unable to stay away from attacking Loras' neck. 'you have no idea how much I want to undress you.' He told him, a well placed bite finding its way into the groove at the bottom of Loras' neck. Loras felt his breath catch in his throat. It wasn't that he was uncomfortable exposing himself like that, it was just… no one had ever seen him naked before. He couldn't place why that thought made him nervous, but it did. Clearly, Renly noticed this.

'I'm not going to.' Renly told him, looking back at him with a smirk. 'I know you're not ready for that.'

'Don't patronise me.'

'I'm not.'

'It feels like it.'

'Oh? And what does this feel like?'

A hiss escaped Loras' lips without his knowledge as he quickly felt Renly's hand against his breeches, delivering a soft squeeze to his erection through the fabric. He heard Renly laugh, but he'd shut his eyes by now. Renly unlaced Loras' breeches, Loras didn't even have a concept of how long it took, but he knew when he'd finished. Loras really tried to keep quiet when he felt Renly's hand stroking his cock, no fabric in between this time, but it was impossible to keep back the noises his throat seemed intent on making. He didn't have the resolve to fight himself over it.

He stopped noticing anything else happening in the room, his own movements seemed alien now, like he had no control of them at all. His hips seemed to move of their own accord, thrusting up into Renly's hand. He vaguely remembered hearing Renly's laugh, feeling it on his neck, but he wasn't sure. He was brought sharply back into reality when he felt Renly's teeth on that spot behind his ear. He wasn't sure if the noises he was making served as a warning, but he didn't get a chance to give any other sort of warning before he spilled into Renly's hand, moans mixed with Renly's name involuntarily escaping his throat. He could have sworn his vision went white for a moment, but when he opened his eyes the whole room seemed illuminated, even though there was only one candle lit in the darkness.

Loras took a few deep breaths, letting himself float back to reality, before he looked back at Renly. He flashed a smirk back at him before he got up off Loras and went across the room. Loras heard water so he presumed Renly was now washing his hands in the water bowl at the side of the room. He felt somewhat guilty for that, but Renly didn't seem to mind.

'Do you want me to…' Loras tried to ask, only now finding the strength to sit up and re-lace his breeches. Now it was Renly's turn to look guilty. He turned back to Loras and just shrugged, an uncharacteristically shy smile on his face.

'There's really no need.' He said eventually.

'I don't…' Loras then understood, simply raising an eyebrow at him. 'Really?' He said with a smirk of his own.

Renly shrugged again, smiling awkwardly. 'You make the best kind of noises, you know.'

Loras felt himself blush at that, but he was still smiling.