Chapter 9: Exponential Love, Part I
Seifer | July 9-10
Quistis' invitation hung in the air between them like a cosmic love note.
The way she was wielding her femininity and speaking to him in unflinching language was demanding immediate action.
Seifer gave her a less-than-innocent grin and jerked a thumb in the direction of the staircase.
They effortlessly snuck away from the party and blended back into the outdoor nightlife amid a sparkling metropolitan skyline. A thick swelter had settled upon the city, giving everything the vertiginous feeling of a dream.
Quistis was struggling to adapt to the broiling temperature. "You're not hot?" she asked him with a hint of incredulity.
He stretched his arms over his head in a relaxed manner. "Heat's never bothered me."
"I don't have anything against summer—really, I don't." She pushed back sticky strands of hair from her forehead. "I just can't seem to stop sweating right now."
Seifer gave her a sideways glance. Admittedly she did look flushed. "Wanna take a break?"
"How about something cold to drink?" she counter-suggested.
He nodded. "The food district's coming up in a few blocks."
Quistis' eyes brightened. "I'd appreciate that."
As they walked on, she suddenly paused in front of a glitzy tattoo parlor, her face a picture of undisguised fascination.
Seifer grinned slowly. "Feeling adventurous, Quistis?"
She chuckled and shook her head. "It's not really my thing…"
"Don't deny it." He smirked. "Your eyes totally lit up just now."
Quistis shifted away, trying (and failing) to conceal her smile. "Back at the club, I saw the bouncer's tattoo and thought it looked like a work of art. I never realized that there's more to the aesthetic than just skulls and crossbones."
"You're missing out. Why not get one of your own?" he said slyly.
She turned to face him, her smile out in the open. "Do you have a tattoo, Seifer?"
"As a matter of fact, I do."
"As romantic as the idea sounds in my head, I'd probably regret my decision the next day." Quistis steered him away from the shop. "But, I'd love to hear all about yours."
Seifer tried to smoosh down his disappointment. He was thoroughly enjoying this unexplored side of her, but he supposed Quistis had her limits—just as he had his own. "I'll give you a hint. It's not what you think it is."
"No Fire Cross, then?"
"Eh...that would be kinda cliché."
Quistis scrunched up her forehead in thought. "I can't even begin to guess what it is. Would I be able to see it sometime?"
Seifer raised a brow at her. "You're acting so shy all of a sudden." He playfully nudged her arm. "C'mon, where's that fire I saw earlier?"
They had arrived at a fashionable colonnade humming with late-night chatter.
She sent a charming smile his way. "The fire is in the process of recharging," she answered smartly. "What are you in the mood to drink?"
"Recharging, huh? How long does that take?" He grinned at her coy language. "I'll have whatever you're having."
"The same amount of time it takes for us to walk from here to the Secret Area." Quistis snapped open her clutch and pulled out a slim wallet in the same Art Deco style as her barrette. "Of course, caffeine would boost the fire a bit. You can choose the drink."
"Sounds like you've got your formula down pat." Seifer's hand gently closed over hers and guided the wallet back into her clutch. "The caffeine's on me."
In a short time, the two were crossing beneath the floating lights of Garden with iced concoctions in hand. He could hear an off-tune chorus of lighthearted singing somewhere in the distance. The place had noticeably taken on a more free-spirited vibe ever since the weekend curfew had been extended.
"This really captures the essence of the Balamb Ocean," she remarked, lifting up the plastic cup to look closer at the brilliant blue liquid that swirled into layers of creamy white and sand brown. "It's so pretty."
"Not as pretty as the color of your eyes."
"Thank you." Quistis blushed up a storm and drained half of her drink before speaking again. "This has got to be the best beverage I've ever tasted!" she said with a happy little moan.
It warmed Seifer's heart to see her childlike delight. "Figured you might like it. It's butterfly pea flower milk tea." He shook his cup until the colors blended into each other. "Dirty style."
"That's quite a mouthful. What makes it dirty?"
"Dirty means there's a shot of espresso added. 'Cause butterfly pea flower is naturally caffeine-free."
Quistis grinned. "So you're a tea enthusiast."
"That would actually be Fu," he laughed. "She's got this pimped-out tea corner in her dorm. Sometimes when Raijin and I are bored we'll dick around in her room and caffeinate ourselves till we pass out."
She looked alarmed. "Please don't tell me you've actually passed out?"
He grinned archly. "Kidding, of course. But there was this one time that Raijin had an allergic reaction to one of the brews. Thankfully we had an EpiPen on hand."
"Hmm," she mused happily.
"Hmm what?"
"I just realized I don't know much about Fujin outside of work." She poked her straw around to siphon up the remaining tea. "It's nice to discover new things about people, isn't it? Especially those who are naturally quiet. I feel like they've just got so much going on in their minds and hearts."
"Yeah," Seifer agreed. "She's a deep person for sure. And you know, she respects you a lot."
It looked like this was news to Quistis. "Really?"
"Really. Fu thinks you're—and I quote—'THE SHIT.'"
She shook with laughter as Seifer disposed of their cups.
"You should show up unannounced to Fu's door and ask her to serve you some tea. She'd freak out in the best way possible."
Quistis bent down to retie a troublesome shoelace. "I might just do that. You're blessed to have those two in your life."
"That's the truth," he said, admiring the view of her toned legs slanting out from beneath a pleated skirt.
"And I'm blessed to have you." Quistis looked up at him then, gaze reflecting the night sky. Her eyes were a nonverbal signal of faith in him, as if she was seeing nothing but potential in Seifer.
At a loss for words, he offered her a hand up from the ground. In that moment, he felt like he could cross a thousand chasms for her.
They passed by that one boy who was perpetually jogging laps around the premises. He gave a friendly wave to Quistis, who returned his gesture with enthusiasm.
He was glad that no one else was around as they finally made it to the dimly lit hallway of the training center.
THUD!
Seifer was blindsided when she pushed him into the wall. One of her hands struck the surface with subdued force, landing adjacent to his head.
"Wh—!?" His heart was hammering wildly. He blinked at her, confused.
And then he realized that Quistis was smiling at him in a non-threatening manner.
Her gaze remained steady. "I've always wanted to try this when I found a guy I liked. Against a wall." She leaned in closer, eyes twinkling with mirth. "What do you think? Does this make you nervous?"
Seifer grinned liberally. His blood tingled in the wake of her forthright confession. Quistis' restraint was what normally gave her power, but this? This was fresh and gritty, with just the right amount of roughness to provoke his hedonistic fantasies. "I see that your fire's back. So, what comes next?"
She froze. "Oh…I'm not sure. I hadn't thought about the next part." Her perplexed look was beyond adorable.
As Quistis hesitated, he flipped their positions with deadly accuracy. Now he was the one who had her pinned against the wall. "Something like this?" He inclined his head toward her suggestively, his mind assessing the dangers and pleasures of this hot evening.
"Seifer!" she squealed, her eyes darting up and down the hallway.
"Who's the one who started this? Hm?"
"Let's go to the Secret Area first," she said, looking flustered but pleased. She patted a misbehaving lock of hair behind her ear and escaped by ducking under his arms.
Quistis had gifted him with another moment that was untethered to propriety, and damn if that wasn't inviting.
The training center was virtually empty. Even the monsters appeared to be taking the night off. Someone had thoughtfully donated an iron-framed ottoman for the secluded hideout. The piece of furniture blended in surprisingly well with the pseudo-tropical foliage and industrial glow of the lanterns. The Secret Area was not exactly a comfortable haven, even with the addition of a bench, but it was well-suited for bleary lovebirds watching the sun come up. It gave its visitors the simultaneous feeling of weight and weightlessness, the type of place where people could reflect on themselves in a life crisis and mack on each other in a whirlwind of bliss.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Quistis. Her hair was slightly mussed by their earlier engagement against the wall: a scene that would be forever etched into his memory.
She had a way of lingering with Seifer, commanding him to come back to her again and again. "Other than the obvious answer, you mean?" he said.
"I mean anything." She unclipped her hair and shook it out. He was mildly impressed that the barrette had managed to stay on the whole night. "I want to know what's on your mind," she continued.
"Okay, then. I want to hug you, Quistis Trepe."
She put her hands on her hips. "You want to hug me, Seifer Almasy? Or you want to be hugged?"
"Is there a difference?"
"Of course there is," said Quistis didactically. "The first one is a service to me. The second one is your desire."
Seifer moved in front of her. "But desire is a greater thrill."
"It is," she acquiesced.
He leisurely wrapped his arms around her and she responded in kind. "Don't tease me, woman," he ordered in a low growl.
Quistis purred happily into his chest and let him stroke her hair for several long, glorious moments.
Her muscles tensed. "Do you hear that?"
Seifer glared daggers at the couple approaching them. They spun on their heels and retreated. He didn't much care that this was a public space. He wasn't going to let anyone disturb this long-awaited night with his goddess.
"Don't worry, I got rid of 'em. So what about you? What's on your mind?"
"So many things," she sighed. Quistis gently detached herself from him and perched onto the bench.
The way she regarded him with those sparkling earnest eyes reminded him of the young Quisty. Frustratingly smart, needlessly stubborn, and too compassionate for her own good—but with shining moments when she would convey a belief in persisting through hard times to make it to a better station in life.
Seifer sat by her in preparation for a heart-to-heart. "Tell me."
Why was he so damn afraid?
"How much time do you have?" said Quistis.
He feared that this might be a fleeting moment. One that could crumble away from his reality if he said the wrong thing, in the wrong way, with the wrong timing.
"All the time in the world," Seifer answered.
He feared that this night would offer no promise of permanence.
"Matron misses you," she said suddenly. "She was so sad that you couldn't come to dinner with us."
He feared that the slightest pressure would shift the outcome to either total acceptance or total rejection.
"I miss her too," he admitted.
Quistis started twirling a strand of hair. "When I was at the orphanage, Matron showed me an old photograph. It was the loveliest thing. You and I were sitting on top of this massive log at the beach. We were probably arguing with each other because we looked pretty grumpy." She laughed lightly. "Do you remember any of that?"
"You bet I do. I leapt off the log and sprained my ankle. Then you got all weepy on me and Matron had to calm both of us down."
She looked at Seifer with wonder. "How is your memory so intact? I couldn't recall a thing, and I can't describe how heartbroken I felt because of that."
He could hear the gravity of loss weighing on her. He stayed silent, contemplating.
"When we ran into each other at the library, you wanted to know what I've been reading," he began.
"I haven't forgotten about that!"
"It's this new book on neuroplasticity. It goes into how memories and dreams can manifest themselves in deceptive ways, on both a physical and emotional level."
Brainy, knowledge-loving Quistis was hooked on his every word. She tilted her head and looked at him with eagerness.
"It's kinda heavy on the theory and doesn't really go into practical examples. I've just been experimenting on my own to see what happens. And the best answer I can give to your question? Because I fight for my memories."
"Fight?"
His gaze hardened. "Maybe it's because I lost my mind before, but I won't relinquish it so easily this time." He paused to come up with the right combination of words. "Sometimes I feel like I'm trying to grasp the light at the end of a long, shadowy tunnel. But I don't let that feeling of helplessness stop me. Because remembering who I am is an active effort."
She straightened out her legs and tapped her sneakered toes together. "Can you teach me, Seifer? How to hold on to my memories. How to not forget who I am."
"Anything for you."
"Also, I owe you an apology."
"Huh?"
"For assuming you don't like to read books."
He grinned. "I dare you to get to know me, Quistis. You might find that we're not so different from each other."
Her eyes took on a dreamy sheen. "Perhaps you're right." She stopped tapping her feet. "I feel like I'm asking you so many questions."
Seifer chuckled. "Believe me, you're not." He moved closer to her side of the bench, and she carefully leaned her head against his shoulder. "I'll ask you something now."
"Have at it."
He ran his fingers through her silky hair, a habit he was sure he wouldn't be able to break. "What were your first thoughts when you saw me wake up from that nightmare?"
Quistis took a deep breath. "I thought…that you were—and still are—so much more than a survivor. You've been disrupted, but not toppled." She closed her eyes. "You showed me your open wounds then, and…and you compel me to live my life more fully. You're the most beautiful human being that I've ever had the privilege of knowing, Seifer."
Something inside of him burst, a kind of joyful unburdening. "Uh, wow. Thanks. I was not expecting that. Will you woo me with some more of your verses?"
Quistis giggled. The sound drove him mad. He would have to learn how to make more of those come out of her cute little mouth.
"Still on the topic of nightmares," he said. "Pick your worst one. What happens in it?"
She shifted closer and wrapped an arm around his neck, her vision focused somewhere beyond her. "I'm not sure if this counts as a nightmare. It's more like a recurring anxiety dream? But it's always the same script. I'm late to class—not as a student, but as an instructor. I've forgotten what the lesson plan is, and what assignments I was supposed to have graded. And then comes the dreadful realization that I've actually missed the entire term! Never showed up for a single class, let all of my students down. And on top of that there's this audit happening at Garden, so I'm pretty much done for. I know this can't even compare to your nightmares, but…"
"…but it makes you feel messed up, huh? That's how menacing the dream can be. Bleeding into your reality. Like it's lethal somehow."
"Yes, exactly! I couldn't have described it better myself."
Seifer turned to her. "I'm sorry for being a nightmare to you."
"What do you mean?"
"When I was your student."
"Oh. Don't be sorry…" Quistis turned to face him too, and their noses nearly touched. "I mean, it's true that teaching you wasn't a walk in the park, but I wouldn't have had it any other way."
He frowned. "Why be a glutton for punishment?"
"Maybe I was drawn to you because you weren't pleasant, meek, or well-mannered. Maybe I needed someone like you to keep me humble, so that I wouldn't get caught up in the vanity of wanting to be seen and praised."
"Vanity ain't your thing, but apparently bad boys are."
She blushed. "I'm serious, Seifer. I didn't know it at the time. It was something I came to understand later, after you came back to Garden."
He smirked. "So you're saying I was an integral part of your character development."
"Yes, very much so."
"And Squall? Was he a part of your development too?" Seifer hated to ask, but he had to know.
Quistis cringed. "Squall was a detour, I guess. Misplaced attachment. I was struggling with my independence and loneliness."
"You know what the difference is, between independence and loneliness?"
She shook her head no.
"Your relationship with yourself," he revealed soberly.
"That would explain why I felt so off-balance at the time. Some part of me knew we weren't right for each other, and yet I still approached him."
Seifer was unable to hide his distaste. "You actually confessed to Squall?"
"Maybe not in clear language. But it was practically a confession with the way I was acting around him. That was actually the last time I was here. The Secret Area." Her embarrassment was evident, the volume of her voice diminishing with each word—but somehow that made her even more lovesome.
"Forget that son of a bitch," he said without malice.
Quistis laughed ruefully. "I did forget. Ages ago, in fact."
He scowled. "Good riddance."
"When I saw how Rinoa had altered his world, I knew I could move on. Because in the end, all you want is for the other person to be happy."
"Yeah. I get that."
"Did you ever love her?" There was no jealousy in her question, just curiosity.
"Rinoa? I liked her. But no, I wouldn't call that love." He could tell the difference now, because love was the woman sitting next to him.
Quistis nodded in understanding. "Seifer."
"Yes, my lady?"
"Do you know why you're so special to me?" She grazed a finger along the back of his neck, giving him gooseflesh.
"Speak your mind." Seifer rested a hand on her skirt-clad thigh. "I'm listening."
"When I'm with you, loving myself feels less like a task. And when I recount the things I love about you, I realize that I'm the recipient of every one of those things."
His breathing grew jagged with desire. "I'm gonna make you recite these lines to me again someday. Or publish them. The Amorous Poetry of Quistis Trepe, First Edition."
"These words are for you alone, silly." She tweaked his ear.
"Yeah, but you're releasing the words into my care so I technically own them." He was feeling smug, alright. "Also, are you admitting that you can't live without me?"
"You sure know how to lay bare my secrets." A small sigh. "Yes, probably. My hope is that you don't grow tired of me." It was a statement of insecurity, but Quistis was only human. And she knew Seifer was only human, too. And he knew that they were both okay with the sticky truth of emotional frailty.
"That's not even within the realm of possibility. But if you ever grow tired of me, then I want you to do something." Seifer nuzzled into her neck and let her heat seep into him. "Close your eyes and remember this night. Remember how we danced together. The things we told each other. The way that we felt."
"I'll always remember." Her reply was spoken like a promise. "And I enjoyed dancing with you tonight, more than words can express." She grew quiet for a moment. "Why didn't you drink anything at the club?"
"Because I wanted my time with you to be pure. Not tainted, know what I mean? Didn't want alcohol to be an excuse for anything." He didn't know how much longer he could hold out on kissing her. His instincts told him to wait just a bit more.
"Thank you." She looked away bashfully. "This night has been perfect without it."
Seifer sensed that there was more on her mind. He waited patiently until she resumed the conversation.
Quistis finally swallowed. "I need to ask…"
"What is it?" He lifted his head and gave her his full attention.
"What are your real intentions with me, Seifer?"
He could sense every part of her raw vulnerability: the heightened awareness, the anxiety of navigating change, the joy of discovery. She was gorgeously fraught with all of that inner activity beneath her placid surface, emitting faint traces of a resplendent motif. This was the Quistis he knew. This was the Quistis he treasured.
Hyne…she's still not convinced about my feelings for her. And I thought I was the only one who was afraid!
It was now or never. He would no longer allow any thoughts of 'what if' to quietly abrade him. Quistis' delicate soul was in his hands, and he held boundless influence to determine the course of their story.
Seifer's answer was simple. He desperately wanted Quistis to know that she wasn't just another in a string of romantic pursuits. He wanted her to know about his plans to build entire worlds with her. He wanted her to know unequivocally and without looking backward.
He looked at her with resolve. "I intend to love you as my woman, Quistis."
Rapture was in her eyes.
Born of a hunger that could no longer be curbed, everything seemed to happen all at once with little buildup.
He caught her mouth in a declaration of sovereignty.
Quistis nudged him into the railing, the cold metal unyielding against his spine.
His hand fought for purchase somewhere along the base of her scalp.
Her legs encircled his waist and slowly compressed him like an assassin's ribbon.
His other hand found the small of her back and dared to advance past that invisible line of decorum.
She pockmarked him with a tangled constellation of neck-kisses until his vision was seething in a midnight lake of stars.
He drank in every contour of her in a condensed study, in an unpredictable breakdown of friction.
Quistis' lips were a sweet entreaty, coming at him with the force of a gale.
Sometimes he could feel her receding—or was she just learning to adjust to his aggression?
She begged him to create a language with her: one that only they would know.
Seifer stretched out the length of their kiss, ensnaring them both in a humid limbo between safety and danger.
It was a call-and-response not unlike their intimate dance from earlier that night.
Their touches whispered of a dark and desirable world hidden just beyond the veil of reality.
They savored the taste and smell of each other with painstaking precision, treating this responsibility with a kind of sacred reverence.
It was borderline cruel how much this kiss would make Seifer long for her after it ended.
Heat radiating from their bodies and rising into the ether.
Furiously collapsing the boundaries between them, redrawing the boundaries, and redrawing them again.
Trembling and shuddering and fighting in a bid for oxygen.
Wrapped in the potent headiness of inexhaustible passion.
Hands and mouths weaving a tender lattice onto each other.
Scent of rain-soaked earth.
Fingers rippling across piano keys.
Flames licking timber.
Time slowed to a crawl as their kiss came to an end, but they stayed embracing each other for a long while after that.
Quistis was the first to break the silence. "Seifer."
"Mmm."
"I suppose we should get going," she said dejectedly.
Seifer buried his face in her tresses. "If that's what you really want," he murmured.
"Are you tired?"
"Does it look like I am?"
"No." Quistis smoothed down his hair with comforting strokes. "You seem wide awake."
"So do you."
She sighed wistfully in response.
He straightened up and grinned at her. "The night doesn't have to end here, Quistis."
"Oh!" she exclaimed, the corners of her mouth curving into a smile. "Would you like to spend more time together, Seifer?"
"The answer's obvious." He rose to his feet and tugged her hand. "Let's go."
"Where are we going?"
"Preferably someplace where I can run my hands up and down your body."
An intense blush crept up her neck. "Um…" she stammered. "Perhaps we can go to the movie theater, then."
Seifer laughed, pleasantly surprised. "I thought I was gonna get punched for saying that."
"It's just you and me right now." Fire danced in her eyes. "Maybe tone down the steamy propositions when we're with our friends, though."
"Oh, but I just love seeing you squirm."
Quistis really did punch him this time, in the shoulder. It only made him laugh harder. "Okay, okay. I promise not to openly seduce you like that. Although you're the one who suggested that we exploit the darkness for naughty purposes."
"Who says I can't multitask?" She crossed her arms and stuck up her nose with mock indignation. "I can watch a good movie while hugging my favorite person in the world, thank you very much."
Seifer beamed at his new designation.
"Do you mind a brief intermission?" said Quistis. "It would be great if I could shower and change first."
"Sure. I might as well freshen up too. But let's take a cab this time. Gotta conserve our energy." He gave her a devious wink.
"Rendezvous in front of your room?" she said with a grin.
He booped her nose. "Don't keep me waiting too long."
Seifer was helplessly enamored with Quistis and it had only been…fifteen minutes or so since they officially started dating?
Hyne help him.
Within half an hour they were on their way back to Deling City for round two of lovey-dovey high jinks.
"I'm covering the cab fare," whispered Quistis in that bossy tone he had grown to adore.
Seifer held up a hand in stout refusal.
Her fingers swiftly targeted his torso with the intent of tickling him into submission. He jerked back and tried to wrestle her away. Damn, she was strong!
The cab driver glanced at them via the rearview mirror with the blasé look of one who regularly put up with the hormone-fueled capers of young couples.
"Truce," he pleaded in between gasps.
Quistis withdrew her attack, eyes crinkled in silent amusement and breath coming out in appealing little huffs.
"I don't want you to pay." He pulled out his wallet. "And you don't want me to pay." He presented a shiny piece of plastic. "So how 'bout a compromise?"
Her mouth fell open when she saw the name printed on the credit card. "Why do you have Squall's card?"
Seifer grinned. "He told me to splurge for myself. It's part of my overtime pay."
Quistis didn't look convinced. "Right," she said suspiciously. "The Commander willingly handed it over to you, and there was absolutely no underhanded behavior involved."
He crossed his arms. "Ask your BFF if you don't believe me."
She turned to the cab driver. "Excuse me, sir. May I use your line for a call?"
The man grunted and waved a hand in the direction of the backseat console.
"What the hell!" grumbled Seifer. "You really don't believe me?"
Quistis' fingers flew across the dialpad, and the connection crackled to life over the speakerphone.
"Hello?" answered a voice.
"Hi Xu, it's Quistis."
"Hey girl! Wow, you're up later than usual. Still out partying?"
"Yes, kind of. Quick question—did you give the company card to Seifer?"
"Yeah, it's a special allowance for his OT hours back in May. You know, for the bootcamp event."
"So this is something that Squall normally does…?"
"Only for our circle of friends, so try not to mention that to the rest of the staff." Xu paused. "Um, why do you ask?"
Quistis looked acutely horrified at her faux pas.
Seifer decided to rescue her from further embarrassment. "She just wanted to thank the Commander for treating us to a night on the town."
Xu coughed in surprise. "Seifer?"
"Hi to you too, Xu. Gotta get going now, or we'll be late for Q's tattoo appointment."
"Wait, what!?"
He disconnected the call and turned to Quistis, who was anxiously drooping her forehead against the window. "I am so sorry," she said miserably. "I am a terrible, terrible person for doubting you."
Seifer pulled her into a soft hug. "You can't be perfect all the time."
She held onto him with tacit gratitude.
The driver gave the two lovers a wistful smile before dropping them off in front of the theater.
"So," said Seifer. "Does Xu not sleep at all?"
"She has insomnia," explained Quistis.
"Oh. Like Nida."
"No." She smiled. "Nida just stays up late with her for emotional support."
"D'aww. I still think they're the most unconvincing couple of all time. But hey, if the relationship works…"
"It does. They seem to understand each other well. Plus, how can you say no to a guy who bakes desserts for you on a weekly basis?"
"Why does this make me feel like I gotta up my game?"
"You don't have to." She laughed with easygoing warmth. "I like you the way you are."
Seifer squeezed her hand appreciatively. "Going on double dates with them will be interesting."
A goofy little grin appeared on Quistis' face.
"Slasher?" suggested Seifer.
She shook her head. "Historical drama?"
He made a face. "Action?"
"Rom-com?"
He pointed to one of the movie posters. "That one claims to be an action rom-com."
"Okay! Let's go with that one." Quistis scanned the marquee. "The next showing isn't for another hour, though."
"That works," said Seifer. "Just thought of something we can do in the meantime."
She looped an arm through his. "Lead the way."
"It's just downstairs."
They hopped off the escalator and turned the corner into a small arcade.
When Quistis realized where he was taking her to, her eyes widened in surprise. But he could see the enchantment cracking through her exterior. She had been thrown into a head rush, that was for sure.
Seifer aimed a fetching smile at his woman.
"Wanna get inked with me?"
Author's Notes: The "against a wall" scene + dialogue was borrowed and modified from a K-drama called Where Stars Land (2018) and the line about hugging vs. being hugged was taken from another K-drama called My Kids Give Me a Headache (2012) [which also goes by the title Childless Comfort].