Author's Notes - If you're not here for the spice (and keep in mind, it's simply Netteflix fooling around, no actual PIV is depicted), skip from the line "When they broke away for air this time, she made sure to slide down her hands from his nape to his chest to put a little more space between them to cool off a little." to the next line break.

Also since ffnet won't allow images and links like AO3 does, I've got a Spotify playlist and a link to the art featured to this mini-bang in my bio. Go check it out if you're interested! :D

Special thanks to annette_strap on twitter for making such cute Annie art! And for basically letting me inundate you in notes screencaps for like the past several months. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Hope everyone likes the conclusion to this. I usually shy away from nsfw things so this was venturing out of my comfort zone a bit. It was super fun though. Ngl. Hehe.

Recommended listening for this chapter: Blueberry Eyes by MAX feat. SUGA of BTS

Set list:
- Many, many napkins
- Borrowing clothes
- Long-awaited confessions

Encore:
- Obtaining consent in a spicy manner

Thankfully, after Felix came back with their order and they dug into their food, no further incidents occurred despite the delectable but messy melt-in-your-mouth flakiness of the battered fish. A few fries fell from the containers but that was to be expected when the owner took pity over the tray incident and deliberately overstuffed the cartons.

Peering across the table, Felix, who was already done with his meal, seemed to be staring at his phone absentmindedly. This wasn't anything new given that she was a slow eater but Annette felt the need to say something, anything to fill the growing void.

She did have the better part of her fries left, after all. They could be here awhile.

"So...how did you like the hot sauce?" she asked.

Felix perked up at the question.

"It was good. Definitely warranted being called extra-hot which surprised me. Most places overstate the spice level. I'd buy a bottle of this if they sold them."

"Oh, I'm glad." she chimed in. "Sadly, I don't think they sell it in bottles though."

"I figured. In any event, thank you for the meal. I'll pay you back on Wednesday considering...well, all of this."

"Ah, it's no problem Felix. Sometimes it happens to the best of us." she assured him. "It's happened to me so many times with the trays I should have warned you that there's a trick to getting the cups out without creating mass explosions in the process. At least neither of us had cream soda. That's a certifiable ruiner of clothes."

For the first time since her ice water shower, his expression relaxed somewhat.

"I'll keep that in mind for next time."

Annette's heart skipped a beat as she dipped a few fries into some ketchup and inelegantly shoved them in her mouth, wiping off some of the excess ketchup that dribbled down her fingers against her towering stack of napkins.

Next time.

She wasn't a religious person but she silently thanked the Goddess that Felix was either the most oblivious man on the planet or more willing to turn a blind eye than what she'd normally give him credit for.

Even so, it was still serving as another glaring reminder that their current arrangement of only seeing each other at concerts outside the rare group get-togethers with Sylvain and Mercie was on borrowed time. Thinking back on it, Annette begrudgingly conceded that concerts might have become more of a crutch for her somewhere along the line.

And now she needed to learn to walk on her own, even if it meant taking baby steps.

That much was made clear when she had such an overall pleasant time tonight outside of her moments of lizard brain panic. Especially when nothing felt particularly out of place or strange spending time with him. It didn't feel like a first of anything, but rather like all the other times they hung out before or after a concert.

"You have ketchup on your face."

Annette blinked. "Mm?"

Felix motioned to the right side corner of his lips. "You have it here."

Dumbly grabbing her napkin, she wiped down her mouth on her right side only to find that it was no dirtier than it had been when she inspected it after.

"My right, your left." he clarified.

"Oh. Oops."

She tried again. "Better?"

"You somehow smeared more ketchup on your face."

Looking down, Annette belatedly realized she'd used the saucy end of her napkin. Crumpling it up, she grabbed a fresh one.

"Hopefully, third time's the charm." she sighed before vigorously rubbing both sides of her face several times over for good measure before crumpling up the new napkin. "Felix, please tell me my face is ketchup-free. My dignity depends on it."

When he didn't immediately say anything, Annette half-expected him to come over and wipe the ketchup off her face with the pad of his thumb. And just maybe, the less rational part of her brain theorized, he'd linger a little too long and the closeness alone would inspire him to-

"Your face is ketchup-free," the real Felix belatedly confirmed. "But you look like you rubbed your entire face raw. You're rather pink."

Whoops, false alarm.

"Yeah, the um, napkins were a little scratchy." she fibbed.

Judging by his raised brow, he didn't look convinced. Which was kind of impressive in a pathetic way, considering that she was agreeing with the very reason he suggested her face was pink in the first place.

Not wanting to risk saying anything else that could possibly incriminate herself, she stuffed several ketchup-less fries into her mouth. He went back to peering at his phone some more for a few seconds before he stuffed it in his pocket.

"So uh, I know you're still eating but…I have to go in a few minutes to do some errands before the stores I need to go to close for the night." he informed her. "Since I can't walk you home, I'll cover a cab so you can get there safely."

Thankfully, she hadn't put the next set of fries in her mouth yet. Mostly because she was certain it would have been near-impossible to swallow with the lump growing in her throat now.

"I think I won't be much longer actually since I'm probably 80 percent potato at this point and I don't think I want to go full potato." she told him. "We can walk together until we have to go in different directions."

"Alright."

Still, if she was being honest with herself, she was grateful that he wasn't walking her all the way home. While she lied about her potato levels because she didn't want things to end just yet, the temptation of doing something rash in her current headspace was too great as it was.

She definitely needed a little more time and space to sort through a few things.

She owed that much to herself.

And to him.

And to them.

Sooner than a blink of an eye, Wednesday was upon them and Annette found herself scurrying out the door of her apartment a solid hour earlier than what he'd quoted her on Sunday.

The thing with Felix was that he never called.

So when he called her at six-thirty, saying he'd be at her apartment in a half-hour because their systems were down at work, it understandably sent her into a tizzy as she frantically packed up all her things like she was on a self-imposed scavenger hunt.

But from the moment she found his black car at the front entrance and saw him in his teal dress shirt with the tie removed and his sleeves rolled up when she plopped herself into the passenger's seat, all of that melted away.

"You look like you ran a marathon." he told her as she lobbed her overnight bag into the backseat. "You could have told me you needed more time to pack. Do you have everything?"

"Yes I have everything, Felix." she answered with a groan. "I have my keys, phone, wallet, change of clothes, unmentionables, socks, my toiletries bag, PDF tickets saved to my phone - do you think I'm missing anything?"

"Hairbrush?" he supplied.

"That's in my toiletry bag-" she started to answer before she realized it was a dig as she finger combed a few stray hairs. "-Ugh, you're so mean."

Yep, it all melted away because she wanted to roll her eyes and call him more names.

As he took the car out of park and began their drive, Annette decided not to hold back on the burning question occupying her mind.

"So, they really let your mean butt out free early, huh?"

"Not exactly," he told her. "They issued Lysithea's work laptop to me so I can work off-site. It seems as though my forced promotion has finally made me worthy enough in the eyes of my corporate overlords to bestow the privilege of working even more for them. It's novel, really."

She snorted at his diatribe. "Felix, you're so dramatic."

He glanced her way for a split second. "And here I thought you'd be even more dramatic right now. Pity."

Annette blinked.

"Huh, what do you mean?"

"I have the ability to work off-site now," he reiterated. "So what I mean is that I don't have to leave tonight. I can work from our hotel tomorrow."

The weight of his words hit her like a ton of bricks.

"So we can have our last hurrah together?" she wistfully asked.

"It might not even have to be our last." he told her. "We could go even further out so long as the dates lined up for your work and the travel time. That is...if you wanted to."

"I'd love to, Felix."

"I'll keep that in mind, then."

After he said the words, Annette noticed the top of his ears turning a little pink, curiously enough. She didn't dare bring it up though, opting for a lighter conversation as they had a full two hours drive ahead of them.

"So...where would you go if distance and time was no object?"

"With you? Or in general?"

"In general, say a location from this tour even just to keep it simple if you can't think of a specific place or dream venue." she specified. "Where would you go?"

To her surprise, he gave the question no pause.

"I have two answers to that."

"Oh?"

"Look up Rhodos Coast Club and Galatea's Horseshoe Tavern."

"Ok."

Pulling out her phone, the first thing she did was pull out her maps app to see just how far these places were. After punching in both venue names, she soon learned that the Rhodos Coast Club was a certifiable cross country jaunt at 11 hours west with Galatea's Horseshoe Tavern trailing behind at a paltry-by-comparison 6 hours south-east.

Next, she looked up the venues' web pages to find some photos and the rest of the particulars.

In addition to being in wildly-different directions, the venues themselves couldn't be any more different based on the pictures she found.

Horseshoe looked like a well-loved dive bar full of blue-collar rustic charm while Coast Club was this immaculately-sculpted but covered outdoor venue tied to a beach resort. It sported tiered seating built around a central stage, like a mini-arena but in a more intimate setting, almost cozy in the same way acoustic sing-alongs at bonfires were.

"I can see the appeal of them between the super low stage for Horseshoe and how Coast Club has all the seats wrapped around the stage. I'm guessing there probably isn't a bad seat in the house." she remarked. "What do you like about them?"

"Beyond what you already said, the acoustics are very good," he added. "Coast Club is the most impressive outdoors venue I've been to and a childhood friend owns Horseshoe with her husband. She was the drummer for the band I showed you, actually."

"Oh, really? That's very neat. I guess it would make perfect sense for a musician to make a great venue for music. Were you ever able to go to her venue yet or was it just Coast Club?"

"I did when it first opened. Ingrid told me I'd be disowned as a friend if I didn't since she pulled a few strings to find a local band I liked for their first official show." he told her. "Ironically enough, my then-job disowned me after I called in sick for a few days to go to her grand opening. I ended up bartending for her for a few months until I found my current job."

Annette giggled. "Somehow I find it hard to imagine you bartending."

"You've seen the pictures, it's not a fancy establishment." he pointed out. "Efficiency in getting someone hammered is more appreciated there than a gift for vapid small talk. It was always meant to be a temporary arrangement anyway."

"Fair enough." she conceded. "You think you'd make it out there again?"

"I'd like to. My schedule's been a fucking mess for the past few years but maybe it can be remotely possible now." he said before pressing a few buttons to switch from FM radio to CD and put the track on pause. "But regardless of that, I did find the True CD last night. Did you still want to listen to it?"

Ah, mystery solved, Annette thought to herself, True was the name of the band.

"Absolutely."

As Felix pressed play, Annette discretely started to look up Thea's tour schedule just to see just where both dates landed.

After a quick search, she found that both Horseshoe and Coast Club were at the end of the tour in the middle of Verdant Rain Moon. Horseshoe was the very last date on a Sunday and Coast Club was the Saturday of the prior week though it was already sold out.

While she wouldn't think too hard on this information at this moment, Annette made sure to leave a note in her phone about it for safekeeping.

Right now, all she wanted to do was lose herself in the beautiful and moving music resonating in Felix's car.

The trip to the hotel was pleasant and largely uneventful outside of Felix's uncharacteristic decision for them to eat in his car led to a rather messy spill on her part - she'd dropped the dipping sauce for her chicken nuggets and the resulting splatter got all over her shirt. And her socks, weirdly enough.

Thankfully, nothing dribbled onto his seats as she at least had the foresight to place the takeout bag on her lap - her light-wash jean shorts needed all the extra protection they could get, after all - but the sweet and sour sauce was very red and the work shirt she was wearing was very pastel pink. Napkins could only do so much.

So naturally, her first order of business upon checking into their room was to unpack and change into her sleep clothes for the night since she had nowhere else to be.

The only problem was that upon unzipping her overnight bag and dumping all the contents on her bed to organize things, it turned out that she had forgotten something after all when practically tearing up her own bed yielded no results.

While she had every single thing she'd listed off to Felix earlier, the one thing she hadn't said was the very thing she'd forgotten to pack. Moreover, she'd ended up packing some thigh high socks instead of a regular set because they happened to be the same grey colour too.

Karma clearly had it out for her, apparently.

The only silver lining in all of this was that Felix didn't witness this in person as he'd stepped out to go to the closest drugstore for a few things because there were zero alternatives available in a small town after 9 pm.

Still, it was a temporary reprieve as it didn't change the fact that the clothes she packed wouldn't be suitable to sleep in. And so she swallowed her pride and texted him.

Annette: does the drugstore you're at sell any kind of undershirts or bargain bin clothes?

Annette: or any really big blankets?

A minute later, he texted back.

Felix: no, we're in the middle of nowhere

Felix: there's only food, health supplies and meds

Felix: I take it you forgot something?

Annette: yeah, my pjs

Annette: I'm fine sleeping in my shorts but I can't sleep in any of the tops I packed because they're delicate and new

Annette: I'd ruin them for sure if I did

Felix: you can take a shirt from my bag to sleep in

Annette: you're a life-saver

Annette: thank you

Tossing her phone on her bed and walking over to the bed closest to the entrance where his duffle bag was, she cautiously drew back the zipper and dipped a hand in to sift through the contents, trying not to make too much of a mess of his things. The only problem was Felix's personal wardrobe was completely devoid of colours other than black so it was hard to make heads or tails of anything within the confines of his also-black bag.

That was, until a flash of lavender called to her like a siren song.

Oh, the temptation was too good to pass up, she thought to herself as she plucked out his Strawberry Skies shirt from the sea of black and held it in front of her. Devoid of rational thought, Annette had to sate her years-long curiosity before anything else.

If this shirt transformed Felix - a man who was a full head taller and probably a good fifty to sixty pounds heavier than her - into a sihouetteless form, she had to wonder if it would render her into a certifiable amorphous blob.

Slipping out of her stained top, she tossed on the shirt and scurried over to the nearest full-length mirror on the right side of the TV on the opposite side of their beds. Staring at her own reflection, she giggled with pure unbridled joy - the shirt was beyond ridiculous on her and she was loving every single second of this.

The sleeves practically went all the way down to the crooks of her elbows and the shirt was so long, it completely obscured the visibility of the shorts she was wearing. And to top it all off, the deep neckline barely cleared the top of her light blue and white polka dot bra.

If she had a cinching belt and tights or leggings, it would make for a cute t-shirt dress outfit with the floral motif the shirt had going on but alas, Annette felt like a toddler playing dress up without it. The shirt was a smidge too long to make it work with her current thigh high and shorts combo. Right now, anyone staring at her would think she was pantsless and ready for bed.

Still, it would be a crime not to broadcast that she finally accomplished her long-threatened goal of stealing his shirt thanks to his charitable oversight.

Bounding over to her bed, she picked up her phone and doubled back to the mirror.

Annette crouched down at a creative angle so she could draw back the hem and neckline of the shirt just enough to show at least a sliver of her shorts and hide her bra altogether. Wanting to keep things fun and casual, she winked into the camera with a smile. The mess around her bothered her a little but she figured this would draw attention away from the fact she was wearing her prized shirt. Which she definitely owned. Yup.

Happy with the fourth take of the snap after a few minor pose experiments, she thought long and hard about the caption - this was her moment of victory, after all.

Annette: [photo image]

Annette: look what's mine now ;)

In the end, she decided to lead off with the photographic evidence of her spoils to create the most devastating impact.

And it must have been surely impactful if she near-immediately felt her phone buzz in her hand.

Felix: Annette, you can't just send that without a warning

Felix: I'm in public

Annette's stomach dropped. This was not the type of devastation she'd been anticipating at all.

Annette: I'm so sorry

Annette: I just couldn't resist, you know?

Annette: I can pick something else if you don't want me wearing this

Annette: ...Felix?

After frantically texting her apologies, she received no response. Maybe he was in the middle of paying for his things at the cash register? Perhaps he could be driving here now and had to put away his phone? Or-

Felix: it's fine Annette

Felix: I'm headed back now

Felix: don't get worked up over this

Annette: ...alright

By the time she heard the creak of their hotel door open and the click of the lock, Annette was in the middle of stress organizing her toiletries in the bathroom, having already tidied up her bed and stowed away all her clothes properly.

She took a grounding deep breath and slowly exhaled, reminding herself that he wasn't mad and that she could do this. The photo was only a slight miscalculation, not some grave sin.

And so she walked out of that door with a calm but steady stride. As she exited beyond the confines of the bathroom, she froze as she caught his gaze for the briefest of moments before he turned his attention to the shoes he was kicking off.

He had both hands occupied with two fairly-full shopping bags in his right hand and a six-pack of bottled water in the other. While she was fairly certain he could carry it all strength-wise, the bag handles looked like they were threatening to cut off his hand's circulation.

"I can take one." she offered, reaching out her hands.

"I'm fine."

The flash of panic crossing his features said otherwise but Annette let it go. And so did one of the bags' fight against gravity as the handle snapped and it landed on the floor with a resounding thud before he could catch it.

Without thinking much on it, Annette crouched down to help pick up the few things that tumbled out of the bag before Felix quickly set down the water and the other bag to start doing the same.

With two people on what was essentially a one-person job, it took no time at all to gather everything up - thankfully this bag didn't have any drinks in it so there weren't any explosions to clean up - but she belatedly realized her help had made things so much worse even though it had sped up the process.

When they were done gathering things, she stole a glance at his still-bowed head only to notice his ears had gone blazingly-red.

And that was when it dawned on her that he could see down her shirt this entire time as she was crouched over like this. Polka dots and all.

"...Felix." she softly called out to him after hiking up the shirt's neckline. When he looked up, he wasn't looking her in the eye but rather opting to stare at a spot on the wall right behind her.

It was now official - she couldn't stall this put-off conversation any longer.

"I'm really sorry if I accidentally made you feel uncomfortable." she apologized. "I thought it would be a fun joke with the picture since we have our running bit about this shirt and-"

"-Annette, stop. That's not it at all."

"What is it then, Felix?" she practically pleaded as she moved the broken bag behind her and got up from her crouched position, recognizing that this was definitely not a conversation to have on the floor. "I don't care what it is, please tell me so I don't spend the rest of tonight and tomorrow with this living in my head and taking up space."

"...Do you, now?"

The words sounded like a challenge. But at this point she didn't care - she was letting the chips and guitar picks fall wherever they may.

"Yes, I do. Please tell me."

Even before he said a single word after rising to full height, total comprehension struck her like a lightning bolt from the moment she locked eyes with him once more.

His pupils were fairly dilated, his amber irises melted into honey.

When she wasn't scared off by the intensity of his stare, it was then and only then when he chose to speak.

"You sent me a cute photo of yourself wearing my sleep shirt while the room's in disarray. It does something to a man." he plainly admitted, his gaze wavering a little. "...Especially a man who has wanted to ask you out for a while now."

Oh.

Oh.

The irony wasn't lost on her. Not one bit.

Knowing that she'd likely kill said man in front of her if she filled the air with too much nervous chatter or silence, Annette decided to be just as brave and make the words count.

"Now you know how I felt that day you sent me that picture when you must have accidentally thought I was saying you couldn't prove you were in the shower when our texts came in at the same time." she lightheartedly pointed out. "I know you weren't trying to be, um, captivating on purpose but anyone else would have gotten that idea. And...if I'm being honest, it was hard to look away. Especially as someone who hadn't been honest with her feelings at the time."

His hard blink was rather cute, especially when the weight of her words finally sunk in. And the creeping blush around the base of his neck? Even cuter.

"I genuinely didn't realize it came across that way." he sheepishly confessed. "So...I suppose that makes us even then?"

Annette smiled. "Yes, but only on one condition."

"Oh?"

"Even though you know the answer, ask me to be your girl. I'd like to hear the words."

"...I can do that," he affirmed, "Annette, I'd like to be yours."

As much as it amused her that he couldn't even follow her simple request, her heart also melted from the creative substitution.

"So you don't want me to be your girl? You just want to be mine?" she teased.

"I thought that was implied but alright." He paused slightly to clear his throat. "Annie, would you...be my girl?"

Upon hearing the magic words, her heart skipped a few beats. He'd never used Mercie's nickname for her before and it just felt different in his own way and yet so right.

"Yes. I'd very much like to be your girl, Fe."

This entire post-floor conversation, they'd kept some space in between them as if they'd been attending some middle school church dance where the chaperone told them to leave room for Seiros.

Felix seemed determined to change all that as he took a tentative step forward. He still wasn't touching her yet but Annette suspected that would all change soon by how electric the air between them felt.

"...I'd like to kiss my girl, if that's alright." he asked, the words thick on his tongue. Her face grew warm in the most pleasant way as she nodded her approval.

With her granted permission, he'd closed the gap as he took another step forward, delicately placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned in to kiss her on the mouth. The kiss itself was a little chaste and all too brief, but it still managed to pleasantly linger in her mind's eye as their lips parted.

Though as she peered into his blown-wide pupils with only the faintest rings of honey-brown to see, she suspected that it wouldn't be hard to ask for more.

"Do you...want to kiss your girl again?"

" Yes. "

Between the heady nature of his tone and the simple anticipation of more, Annette felt the stirrings of want start to course through her body. As he lowered his hands to her hips and reclaimed her lips with more gusto than their first kiss, she looped her hands around his nape to anchor herself and busy her fingers so she couldn't be tempted to unbutton his work shirt.

He seemed encouraged by the small contented noises she'd make as they'd resume making out after taking momentary breaks to catch their breath, especially after the instance where he had to adjust his hold and ended up bringing her closer. Judging by the fresh helping of blush spread across his cheeks, he rather liked that particular squeak.

When they broke away for air this time, she made sure to slide down her hands from his nape to his chest to put a little more space between them to cool off a little.

Mostly because leaving things here at this juncture without taking steps to curb this growing thrum of energy in her lower belly seemed like a sure-fire recipe for frustration and a sleepless night.

Especially when the alternative meant chasing down her own relief and she was aware that she could be rather... loud when doing so. It didn't matter that he was now her boyfriend, that was definitely not an option right now.

"Good?"

Her measured plan went to pot when the huskiness of his voice shot straight to her core. Especially since if she didn't know any better, he sounded like he was hoping that her answer would be no. Maybe this was good. Maybe she could work with this.

"Better."

Felix raised his brows. " Better? "

"Yes, better." she reiterated. Her confirmation of word choice didn't help his amused look.

"So, better as in...there's room for improvement?" he clarified, "Or better as in this was good but you want more than what I'm giving you."

Bless him for filling the blanks, she thought to herself. Such a good and attentive new boyfriend.

"The second one."

"Alright. But you need to tell me what you want if we're continuing this."

His request shouldn't have come as a surprise to her but Annette went scarlet at the thought of stage directing her own pleasure. But on the other hand, the prospect was also rather exhilarating when considering how they worked well together in other ventures, covering one another's strengths and weaknesses. Who was to say this wouldn't translate here?

Even so, she still needed to know the boundaries of what was even in the cards to begin with. That would not change, regardless of the rhetorical questions she posed to herself.

"Felix...before I answer that, I need to know. How far would you theoretically want to go?"

His eyes and ears perked up at the question.

"Do you want my honest answer?"

"Is there any other kind with you?" she joked.

"I suppose not." he conceded. "I'd still like confirmation, however."

"Yes, go ahead."

"Theoretically, if you asked me to have sex with you, I would."

Annette died, right then and there, because all the blood left her brain to go between her legs. It was a miracle she was still upright, being dead and all.

"I did warn you," he reminded her. "But we don't have to go that far if you don't want to."

"I know you did." Annette acknowledged, swallowing the rather large lump in her throat. "And...I want to, but I'm not on anything so if you don't have any protection, we can't. But, um, even if we can't, I'd still like to do more because...I'm a little worked up. Not in an anxious way but ah..."

Annette cut off her own fragmented as heck sentence to bury her head into his chest, thoroughly embarrassed by her sudden inability to string words together.

Goddess, she'd sounded like a blubbering idiot. How did people function while aroused? Clearly, she'd had too many gaps between serious relationships to build up any sort of endurance.

And as if to add insult to injury, she could practically feel the vibrations of his laughter. "Horny. The word you're looking for is horny."

She unburied her head, if only to simply shoot him an indignant look.

"When you say it like that, it makes it sound so much worse." she pouted.

He reverently kissed the top of her head. "Annette, I don't have the brainpower to argue semantics with you right now. There's condoms in the bag that didn't break. Tell me what you want and I'll do it."

In her lust-addled brain, his imperative gave her an idea.

"...What if I want you to tell me what you want to do next before you do it? I can tell you if it's something I'll like. Does that work for you?"

"It...does."

Judging by the added rasp in his tone, the proposition must have intrigued him on some level.

And as he moved one of his hands from her hip, little did she know she was about to find out how deep his intrigue ran as he traced the faintest line against the side of her neck.

"I'd like to start by kissing you at the collarbone and work my way up slowly. I can't promise I won't leave any bruises but I'll try not to. Is that alright?"

"Yes, I'd like that."

"Good."

It didn't matter that he had basically telegraphed his plan of attack, a poorly-stifled moan escaped her lips from the moment his mouth made initial contact with her sensitive skin as the anticipation alone served to heighten the sensation. As he made good on his promise to deliver more languid kisses northward, Annette's hands drifted south to the first shirt button still left buttoned up at chest level.

"Can I...?"

As his lips were still buried in her neck, the 'yes' he muttered into her skin with a slight nip sent shivers down her spine.

So much for not leaving any love bites, she thought to herself, strangely not caring as much as she normally would have as she unfastened his shirt's buttons one by one.

By the time she was finished, he'd thankfully took a break from leaving a trail of kisses up her neck to leave enough space between them for her to admire her handiwork for a good second - he was drop-dead gorgeous and it was practically a crying shame that he kept it such a well-guarded secret.

The band tee she was wearing now definitely committed war crimes against humanity, she reasoned. Goddess, she'd never understand what was so appealing to him about seeing her in this tent of a shirt. But as he looked at her like she'd hung the moon and the stars just for him, she resolved to simply feel grateful instead as she watched him shrug his dress shirt off and toss it aside.

"Can I have this back?" he asked, tugging at the hem of her borrowed shirt. Annette warmly smiled, lazily tracing the outline of his storybook tattoo with her pointer finger.

"You can." she informed him, slowly raising her own hands upwards for easier access. She was very grateful, indeed.

After he lifted the tee over her head, Felix wasted no time in reconnecting their lips together in a fiery kiss, deepening it further when he took her head in her hands and added some tongue for good measure.

But as steamy as this new development was, the lack of friction below the waist to satiate her growing need was starting to wear at her. Annette's breath grew more shallow as the fabric of her panties now constrained against the swell of her growing arousal, now teetering at that delicious precipice of exquisite torture. It was the very kind where she knew a single well-placed touch against said panties would make her soak through them entirely.

And it was the very reason why she chose to break away from the searing kiss before it ran its full course. Relief was needed, she decided, not more kindling.

" Change your mind? " he asked her out of concern, his dazed expression suggested he was caught somewhat unawares by her decision to cut things short.

"No, I...just want to change course." she breathed, trying and failing to hide the heady quality of her voice. "I'm...so wound up, I can't think straight."

"I see." he remarked in a low purr before placing another small kiss on the side of her jawline. "You should wrap your arms around my neck."

"Why?"

"Because I'd like to pin you against the wall, continue to kiss you senseless and see just how wound up you are for me before I do something about it." he crudely explained, gently caressing her some more. "Your legs could give out long before I take you to the bed."

If she'd been previously-convinced that all she needed was a well-placed touch to make her panties wet, Felix had proven her hypothesis incorrect as she was now well beyond that point already without so much as a single stroke.

In no shape to form coherent words, she wordlessly signaled her approval by following his recommendation to wrap her arms around his neck.

From there, he slowly pushed her backwards until she felt her back connect with the wall behind her, kept in place by his hands pressed against her hips and his mouth licking stripes up her slender column to send sparks wherever he went to wind her up even more. His earlier decision not to immediately unclasp her bra after discarding her shirt was now haunting her as she could feel her nipples stiffen to the point of distraction against the light padding.

"Nggh. Fuck...Felix." she panted in a tiny voice as relief felt further out of reach as her hips canted against nothing but air. "Please, I can't take any more of this. I need you."

She rarely swore but it was more than warranted right now. Especially when every single one of her nerve endings was on fire.

"Need me how?"

"Felix, please..."

Mercifully, he loosened his grip so she was no longer pinned in place against the wall.

"Felix, please what? "

Unfortunately for her, he wasn't about to let her close the space between them as he kept her from leaning in. Throwing decorum to the wind, she let out a long sigh in exasperation.

"Felix….please touch me. Below the waist. Pretty please. "

"Since you asked me so nicely, I'll oblige."

If she wasn't hanging onto dear life with her hands wrapped around his neck, she would have swatted him for that.

"Ugh, you're such a troll."

"Am I now?"

He slid his open palm against the juncture of her thighs to give her some much needed friction to roll her hips against. Lightly stroking his thumb across the sensitive areas along the way, her body singing from the contact alone despite the layers in between them.

Heavens, it must have been far too long since she'd done something like this if it was affecting her this badly already.

"Better?"

"Y-yes."

"I'll be the judge of that."

Annette reflexively closed her eyes from the moment she felt him slowly unbutton and unzip her shorts for easier access to her panties. When the pads of his fingertips glided across the dampened pale blue fabric rather effortlessly, it was all over - there was no more hiding how embarrassingly-wet she was for him.

"You really need me, don't you?" he breathed in her ear.

She screwed her eyes shut tighter as he slid his hand underneath her waistband to directly stroke tight circles around her nub.

"Seiros, yes."

By the time she finally cracked open her eyes, Felix must have been satisfied with how boneless she'd become from all his ministrations since he shifted gears to take his hand out of her shorts and hook his arms underneath her thighs, preparing to carry her to his bed. As he adjusted his grip however, keenly felt his need as well as his arousal brushed up against her, visibly straining against the confines of his work pants.

"You need me too, don't you?" she asked, borrowing his own words against him. He didn't seem to mind as he let out a low chuckle, however.

"I do."

"I'm yours, Fe."

And with that, he made good on his earlier promise to kiss her senseless before taking her to bed.

The next evening, Annette was ever so glad Felix had made the executive decision to call in at 5 am and pretend like he had food poisoning to get out of work for the full day.

Truly, it was the most brilliant, if not straight up unorthodox, play to pick a reason no one would dare question. And also because she absolutely had no idea how she would have made it through this show if they hadn't lined up at their preferred time and missed getting rail entirely.

As they waited for Dorothea to come on stage after the surprisingly-entertaining opener finished his set, her legs were certified jelly and it was plain to see that the fanclub members attending this show were downright vicious and entitled.

They would have eaten her alive if she so much as left a smidge of space open. Having the rail to hold onto right now after hours of standing up was a godsend because she was fairly certain she'd be popping ibuprofens like candy otherwise.

Well, she'd still be popping ibuprofens regardless, but she'd probably be walking out of the venue with an even funnier gait.

Turning around to face him, she couldn't help but smile wide. Edged out of his spot at rail from a certified Karen, Felix had taken the spot behind her, more or less guarding her spot at rail by having a hand on either side of her own like her own personal shield.

"I can see the setlist from here. Do you want spoilers?"

Felix wrinkled his nose. "Absolutely not."

His answer came from a mile away and yet she still giggled. "I figured you'd say that, Mr. Concert Purist. But just a fair warning though, you're going to be really happy about three-quarters into the set list."

He gave her a level look. "Annette...that's still a spoiler."

"No it's not - I didn't say names of the songs."

"Annette…"

"In my defense, you like a lot of her stuff. That can't possibly narrow it down."

"Point taken but please stop talking about the set list. You've accidentally let things slip before."

"Ok, ok, fine. Maybe I have." she conceded, turning back around to face the stage.

As Felix quietly intertwined his hands in hers as the house lights grew dim and the crowd collectively gasped in anticipation of Thea walking on-stage at long last, Annette's stomach filled with butterflies.

While they might have come all this way to hear Dorothea's lovely voice once more, this right here was what made her heart sing.

And that was music to her ears.