As the time rolled closer and closer to 8pm, Liren's anxiety increased with each passing minute. Was this actually a date?! Should he dress up? Technically, it was just a study session...but he should still look good, right? The dancer had emptied half of his closet already in an attempt to find a suitable outfit. His normal white robes wouldn't do, but almost all of his clothes were dancers' apparel that exposed a lot of skin. For someone on the shy side, he saw the irony in the outfits that he tended to wear, but light clothing truly did make it far easier to dance.
In the far corner of his closet, he spotted a black robe accented with gold that he hadn't worn in years. He plucked it out and examined it, trying to remember the last time he had put it on. The black was simple enough, but the gold trimmings that lined the edges of the robe added a bit of flair. It would do for tonight.
Liren slipped the robe on and checked himself out in the mirror. The robe was sleeveless and, like all of his robes, flared out at the bottom, leaving his legs completely exposed up until his black shorts halfway up his thighs. The black gave him a more mature look than his usual white robes, especially since he had pushed his hair back rather than leaving it in its typical bangs. In all honesty, he almost looked like a noble! A very scantily clad nobel. The boy glanced at the clock, realizing there were only ten minutes remaining, then rushed to pull on his black gladiator sandals that snaked up his calves to his knees.
"Okay...we're being forward tonight! Forward! Get the answers you want!" he told himself in the mirror. With an affirmative nod, he left his room to head to his fateful study date.
Even though Sylvain lived in the second dorm building, it didn't take long for the dancer to arrive. Taking a deep breathe, he steeled himself and knocked on the door, gripping the strap on his satchel tightly. A few moments passed before the door swung open, revealing Sylvain in a plain black t-shirt and red sweatpants that matched his unstyled hair. Liren's heart dropped as he suddenly felt incredibly overdressed. Had he misread the situation?!
"Ahh, my little dancer boy! I was afraid you were gonna ghost me!" Sylvain exclaimed, opening the door wider and ushering the shorter boy in. "Wow, I've never seen your hair pushed back. And I don't think I've ever seen you in anything other than white either!"
"I...just came from an event that I had to dress up for!" Liren lied, trying to cover the fact that he had seemingly misread the study date. Sylvain let out a laugh, then leaned in closer, examining the dancer's face.
"You know, you can never hold eye contact when you lie," the knight replied with a smirk, before pulling back. "You dressed up for me, didn't you?"
Liren let out a scoff, dropping his satchel to the ground and taking a seat at Sylvain's desk. He had to play it cool. "Why would I do something like that? You said it's a study date."
Sylvain raised an eyebrow at the boy's uncharacteristically sassy answer, then took a seat on his bed perpendicular to Liren. "Is it now? I mean, if that's what you want…"
Liren couldn't resist narrowing his eyes at the knight. It was clear that they were both flirting around the topic, but neither wanted to address it directly. Manuela's words echoed in his head once more and Liren knew he'd have to take the initiative this time.
"What I want is some answers," the dancer stated, surprised by his own directness.
"Hmm? I'm an open book, ask away," Sylvain responded cooly, placing his hands behind his head.
"Okay then, what's your relationship with Felix?" Liren asked without wasting any time. The question seemed to throw the knight off guard as he brought his hands back down and momentarily dropped his facade of coolness. A moment later, though, it was back up as he let out a playful laugh.
"Felix? We're good friends. He's been close with me since we joined the Lions. Why do you ask?"
"Are you sure that's it?" Liren asked, ignoring Sylvain's question and crossing his arms. There was no way Felix would have acted so aggressively if the two were simply friends.
"I mean, we might have had something for a bit, but that was a long time ago. We're just friends now," the knight replied. A shiver ran down Liren's spine as he realized Felix was a crazy ex. How terrifying.
"Oh, I see…" the dancer replied, though he still had more questions. "So who are you interested in now?"
"Woah woah woah. When did this Deer get so direct?" Sylvain responded, now crossing his own arms, but still holding his smirk. "There's someone I like. But I'm not gonna tell you until you tell me who you're interested in first. I've already answered a lot of questions!"
Liren averted his eyes, gritting his teeth in annoyance. It seemed like it would be impossible to make Sylvain confess first, but he didn't have it in him to admit his attraction either.
"No one! I'm not interested in anyone," he responded, turning his head and lifting his nose into the air defiantly. For a brief moment, a flash of disappointment once again broke through Sylvain's facade as the knight uncrossed his arms.
"Oh…seriously?" the redhead asked, a hint of sadness in his voice. Liren immediately felt a pang of guilt run through him. Sylvain had been honest with him when answering his questions, yet he hadn't given the same in return. With a sigh, he looked back at the knight.
"Okay, fine, there's someone I like too," he responded. Sylvain let out a laugh and pointed at the dancer's face.
"See! You averted your eyes again-I knew you were lying," he replied, pleased with his detective work. "Gotta work on that, kiddo. Now out with it! Who's the lucky person?"
"You're really going to make me answer that?" Liren asked, feeling his face begin to turn red. "Isn't it obvious?"
"Hey, I can't be sure till you confirm it! I'm dying of curiosity," Sylvain responded, leaning forward with anticipation.
"Let's say it at the same time at least!" the dancer whined. He'd never confessed to someone before and he honestly didn't know if he'd be able to without hearing it from Sylvain as well. The knight brought his hand to his chin, considering the offer.
"Fine then. On the count of three!" the redhead agreed, bringing up three fingers. "3...2...1!"
"You!" Liren exclaimed.
"Dmitri!" Sylvain stated at the same time. The dancer's jaw nearly hit the floor upon hearing the knight's response. His already red face flushed even deeper in horrified embarrassment. Never in his life had he felt like such an idiot-he couldn't even think of anything to say. Sylvain stared at him with a shocked expression for a moment, before breaking into a hysterical laugh.
"I'm kidding! It's you, obviously! Dmitri? I could never," the knight replied, still chuckling at the prank. Liren stared at the Lion, too bewildered to even give a reaction. Sylvain finally seemed to notice, halting his laughter and rising from the bed to move closer to the dancer.
"Okay, maybe that wasn't the best time for a joke…" he admitted, kneeling before the boy and grabbing his hand. "I'm sorry! I know I have a reputation of being a playboy, but I'm honestly not good at this type of thing when I genuinely like the person. I like you! A lot!"
Liren took a deep breath, reorganizing his thoughts as he felt Sylvain's grip on his hand. It had been an awful time for a joke, but this time the knight seemed honest.
"So...it's not just a study date. And you're not pranking me right now?" he asked, looking into Sylvain's eyes to try to catch any hint of insincerity. The knight rose to his feet and pulled Liren up from his chair, still clutching his hand.
"I'm not pranking you and I'll prove it," Sylvain responded. Before Liren could react, the knight wrapped his arm around the Deer's back and pulled him in, locking their lips. The kiss only lasted for a moment, but Liren felt like his heart was about to explode out of his chest.
"Damn, I've wanted to do that for a while now," the knight stated with a smile, his arm still wrapped around the dancer. "Does that prove it to ya?"
Liren brought his finger to his lip, completely shocked at the sudden move. To be honest, he couldn't believe this was real. No one he'd ever had a crush on had reciprocated his feelings and for someone as handsome as Sylvain to be the one to change that...how was this possible?
"Guh…" was all the dancer could get out as tears welled up in his eyes. Sylvain's expression immediately turned to one of concern, worried that he had made the move too quickly. He removed his arm in case it was causing the shorter boy discomfort and backed away a bit.
"N-no, you're fine," Liren said, wiping his eyes and putting on a smile. "Sorry! I just...I've never had someone like me back. I can't believe it! I'm so happy!"
Sylvain let out a sigh of relief as he realized he hadn't been the reason for the tears. "How can that be true? A cutie like you? You could have any guy you wanted."
The dancer let out a laugh, shaking his head. "No way! And you realize I'm not a noble, right…? Is this even allowed?"
"That doesn't matter. And one of the things I like most about you is your background. I can never trust people because I'm a noble. It always seems like they're after my crest or wealth, but you've lived a life so removed from all of that. Traveling around with that performance troupe-I'm honestly jealous."
"It's true...those types of things were never a concern for me. I was always just happy to be traveling around with my sister and the other performers," Liren replied, a smile crossing his face as he thought back on his early days. "I'll have to introduce you to them sometime."
Sylvian's eyes lit up at the prospect. "Yes! You definitely have to! And speaking of introductions...are we going to tell people about this?"
"Mmm...well, we're still getting to know each other, right? We're dating but it's not like you're my boyfriend yet," Liren responded, unsure of how these things worked. Sylvain let out a laugh, placing his hand over his heart.
"Ouch! You wound me...so direct! I guess we're not, but yes, I'd say we're officially dating," the knight responded. "I think we should share it with our houses at least."
Liren suddenly remembered that sharing the info would mean Felix finding out. Still, he didn't want to ruin the moment or make Sylvain think he was embarrassed about it. He'd be able to find a way to handle Felix if it came down to that.
"Sure, we can tell our houses," Liren agreed, running his hand through his pushed back hair. Sylvain grinned, then stepped closer to the dancer once more.
"Great, now that the logistics are all out of the way, how about another kiss?" the knight stated, pulling Liren in. "And no crying this time!"
omg it finally happened xD ty for reading! plz sub/like/comment if you enjoyed!
