A/N: Once again, getting this chapter ready to publish took more time than I thought it would…
Things are still moving at a slow pace, like a swing that has just started to sway back and forth, but will gain speed and height eventually (me and my eternal love for imagery…).
No warnings for this chapter; it's innocent enough, and if you belong to that group of people minding certain details, I trust that you never started reading in the first place.
Final announcement:
This chapter is dedicated to another very special person. I'm grateful that she is out there and trying to prevent me from making any too obvious mistakes in my writing. Additionally, she has always been kind and supportive in every possible way.
For all those reasons, I owed her a dedication long ago… So dearest Kiariad, this is for you.
~°oOo°oOo°oOo°~
Pale light was seeping through the windows, partly grey, partly greenish white, the normal replacement of darkness in Midgar. The metropolis never slept completely, and just as well it was never really dark.
Most of the desks in the shared office room were deserted; another indication that it was quite late and most members of the Shinra Military department had already called it a day. So by now, the place was almost completely silent, despite the low clicking sounds created by a single computer keyboard.
Taking a deep breath, Angeal put down the papers he had been studying for what felt like an eternity. His gaze wandered aimlessly across the room and back, until it finally rested on the only other person present. It was actually easier to look at Genesis than to look away, due to the fact that the desks they were working on formed something like a t-shape, and whenever Angeal just lifted his gaze, he got an almost perfect side view of his friend. Nevertheless, he had tried to avoid watching him too obviously, as Genesis never appreciated any signs of too much attention. During the first days as a newly promoted cadet of the SOLDIER unit, he had made this point more than clear towards anybody trying: 'No staring, no whistling, no pet names and sure as hell no groping, unless you want to find out why exactly I was promoted into that unit in the first place. Take my hint, it wasn't for looks.'
Originally, it had been Angeal's suggestion that if they were both supposed to do office work tonight, they could at least do it sitting together, and Genesis had happily agreed. Angeal's task had been to compose a final report on today's meeting, and he secretly hoped that these were the last hours of his time he would ever waste on that matter. He had no idea what exactly Genesis was supposed to do, as his friend had only briefly mentioned that being on office duty yet again made him feel more useless than an underpaid secretary, a statement that told Angeal not to broach the issue any further.
At the moment being, Genesis seemed to be totally lost in his typing; his fingers were dancing over the computer keyboard in perfect, effortless movement. Doubtlessly the piano lessons he had as a child were still shining through, something his mother had insisted on, whereas his father had never been too pleased with it. Forced or not, Genesis had soon proven that his talent for any form of art also included music. The only catch had been that he hadn't really liked the classical sheet music he was supposed to learn and preferred to play entirely by ear, which neither his piano teacher nor his father had really appreciated.
Returning from that detour of thoughts, Angeal found himself trying to steal another glance of his opposite's face. For Gaia's sake, just a few months ago, I used to despise people staring at him like that, and now I'm not a bit better than any of them… It was that well-known, almost hypnotic fascination that kept him doing so, a fascination that shouldn't really exist, for in theory, he knew exactly what his best friend's face looked like. He had seen it for over a decade and memorized it so well that if he had possessed any artistic talent, he would have been able to draw a closely matching portrait without any reference at all.
A complicated task, as Genesis' features were as close to perfection as anyhow possible, all lines and curves clearly defined, yet of a considerable softness, representing the same breathtaking beauty only a few very talented artists were able to create. In addition, those features were framed by the most amazingly shaded strands of red hair. Auburn, Angeal corrected himself in his thoughts. That was something Genesis insisted on. While Angeal had never been aware of the fact that there were so many terms for different shades, Genesis had always named colours with the precision of a painter. Much to Angeal's surprise, the Shinra scientists seemed to share the same passion for exact terminology, and in one point, Genesis turned out to be right. His official personal file actually stated 'auburn'.
When his friend had voiced his satisfaction about that entry, Angeal had inquired: "Why is that so important to you?", and Genesis had replied: "Finally someone acknowledged what I claimed all along: it's auburn, not red."
Still smiling, Angeal had pointed out that he had always thought both terms basically meant the same, and received an answer in the voice of a still patient, but slightly annoyed teacher confronted with a difficult student: "Talking about hair, people frequently misuse auburn as a synonym for red, ignoring that this is not the case. Instead, it describes a colour between blond, brown and red. You see, it's neither of those, so it's a colour on its own, and that's why it has a special name. You wouldn't label dark blue 'black', just because it's somehow close, would you?"
Suddenly, those fluent movements stopped. "Angeal?"
In the mood of the moment, the addressed could not resist and returned a teasing: "What's the matter, sweetie?"
The answer came at once, in a rather unkind voice: "Are you kidding me? I told you not call me anything containing the words 'sweet' or 'cute'. That's too girly, and it's not like I'm wearing a dress, is it?"
Angeal couldn't help but chuckle at that statement, a fact that Genesis chose to ignore when he continued: "Do you know how to spell 'disappearance'?"
Imitating the 'three steps' technique known from military orders, Angeal replied: "First: I thought writing was your personal talent, not mine. Second: This program you are using should have spell check, anyway. Third: Why exactly do you need to know?"
"First: This is about spelling, not writing," Genesis played along with the game, "Second: The person using this computer obviously turned off half of the standard functions; and I can't be bothered to reinstall them. And third: Marlowe wrote that damned word in every second line of his report, using at least three different creative spellings, and therefore I'm no longer sure what version is the correct one…"
"Why are you typing Marlowe's report anyway? Wouldn't that be his task?"
Genesis sighed. "Of course it would. That's a report about the condition of some ground floor training rooms for the maintenance department, and is due tomorrow, but all he came up with was that handwritten scribble no one would be able to read. Unfortunately, he's on duty tonight, somewhere in downtown Midgar, and so the executive director suggested that since it's only typing work, someone office-bound could do it, which in case of that stupid pointless report here happened to be me."
"Oh joy. Why don't you replace a few of those 'disappearances' by, let's say, 'gone missing' or 'vanished'?"
"I can't possibly do that. He's going to kill me if I change any words in his precious outline…"
"Too bad actually, since you are such a genius with words…"
"Too bad it's a report, not a novel, and therefore the words required aren't exactly poetry…" Genesis sighed again, and turned back to his typing. As he lowered his head, a strand of hair fell into his face, and with a gesture so typical of him, he removed it absentmindedly.
For Angeal, that simple movement was enough to turn an already present feeling into something stronger, deeper. It was completely irrational, a sudden desire to reach out and touch that hair himself, as he had done countless times before, ever since their childhood. He precisely knew how it felt, yet it had started to feel quite different lately. The longing became so strong that it almost hurt, yet Angeal decided not to give in and tried to focus on proof reading his report instead. To no avail, of course.
Strange, how most people who recently fell in love wish for that initial infatuation to last forever, or at least as long as possible. Angeal on the contrary sometimes wished it would wear off sooner. That sort of emotion was just too intense, and for a person not used to express feelings openly, this intensity was irritating, if not frightening at times. And that was not the only issue to be considered. Although they had both agreed to give it a try and therefore officially entered that state called 'dating', standing openly by each other was definitely out of question, at least for the moment being.
The reason for that decision was not fear of odd looks and comments such a relationship would have caused. It was mainly because of the profession they had chosen, as a romantic relation between fellow SOLDIERs would have been considered 'very out of line' by their employer for a number of reasons.
As someone had once put it: "Shinra doesn't really care about the sexual preferences of their employees. As far as they are concerned, you could be a masochist or even a paedophile; it doesn't matter to them, as long as it does not interfere with your job. But as soon as they think your judgement or your ability to function is affected, a perfectly ordinary affaire between office colleagues can be enough to cause intervention."
One of the core rules for commanding officers in the Shinra Army demanded Don't let your feelings hamper your judgement. In the heat of a battle, you had to see every person around you according to rank and abilities as a strategic instrument, a weapon; and you were not allowed to value a certain person's life higher than the lives of others, at least not if that evaluation was based on emotional reasons only. Therefore, the strongest feelings officially tolerated were friendship and camaraderie. The same applied to any other department of the Shinra Company, but love seemed to be considered most inappropriate in the military units. Still, it was a more or less well-known fact that there were and always had been people ignoring those rules. Only if you chose to do so, you had to keep it hidden, as good and as long as possible. In a way, this unwritten law was even stronger than the printed ones.
Angeal had considered himself quite used to the rules of that game, for already his very first relationship had been a difficult one, based on the fateful attraction between a sixteen-year-old newly promoted cadet of the SOLDIER unit, and a nineteen-year-old SOLDIER second class. Despite their mutual doubts, it had worked out for quite some time, until they finally broke up because the other found it impossible to get used to the 'inappropriateness' of their relation, and to the three years age difference. Following that experience, Angeal had vowed not to get himself into such a situation ever again.
Still, a few months ago, he finally had to admit that he had developed unexpectedly strong feelings for a person who was not only a fellow SOLDIER, but also his best friend since their childhood. When Genesis had finally declared willing to give it a try – after an almost insane amount of ups and downs, mind you – Angeal had likewise decided to throw all his doubts over board. Fellow members of the same unit or not, this time, it just had to work out. And if it was necessary to keep the actual status of their connection a secret, well, so be it. To the outside world, they still were what they used to be ever since they had been six and five years old: best friends. Strictly spoken, that initial connection truly had not changed at all, it had just gained an additional dimension.
I thought I knew the rules of the game. But somehow, it feels like the game has changed… Much to his surprise, Angeal found himself having difficulties with that outside performance at times. Or was that mainly due to the fact that Genesis was playing his role a bit too well; that he still maintained a certain kind of distance even when they were alone? Or maybe especially then? Fact was, in one specific point, he seemed somehow hesitant to act according to the level their relationship was now on. More precisely, he…
In this very moment, Genesis stopped his typing again. He frowned, and looked down on the piece of paper for a minute, before he lifted it up and started to move it back and forth in an almost theatrical way, as if he was trying to see one of those three-dimensional pictures in it.
"How on this planet am I supposed to type that freaking report, if I can't read a single word properly? It's not like Shinra offers a compulsory course in deciphering hieroglyphs, is it?"
A reaction and a choice of words that was just typical of Genesis; and being so used to it, Angeal couldn't help but smile again. Despite that, however, he felt somehow caught. For the love of the Goddess, that's the second time I start thinking in that direction today. What's wrong with me?
Trying to stop those thoughts, yet somehow still partly lost in the desire that had filled them before they even got to that specific point, Angeal got up from his chair, and slowly moved around his desk in order to pick up an additional copy of his report from the office printer.
It hadn't really been Angeal's intention, and normally, sneaking up on Genesis was a thing completely out of the range of possibilities. Surely this was not only due to the heightened senses that came with being a SOLDIER, for if there was a match to Mako-improved hearing, it surely was the ability to move more carefully and unnoticeably that also stemmed from the same source. But even before, when they had still been in the infantry, Angeal had never been able to leave or enter their shared room at night without waking Genesis up, no matter what or how hard he tried.
In this very moment, he hadn't tried at all, and yet it somehow worked for the first time ever. Maybe Genesis had indeed been too lost in trying to make sense out of those cryptic signs on the paper, or maybe he had just let his guard down, knowing that there was no other person in that room except him and Angeal.
The last thing Genesis remembered was that suddenly, he felt something in his back, a movement of the air, only lightly, like a gentle breeze. It was just that, plain feeling. Not one clear thought formed on his mind, things happened too fast. In one moment, he had still been slightly annoyed, trying to make sense of the task he had been given, and right in the next, he was paralyzed with fear and the blood seemed to be stuck in his veins. His heart literally stopped beating, only to start again just seconds later in an uncoordinated, much too fast pace.
Lights flickered in front of his eyes, so bright it almost hurt. Involuntarily, he squeezed his eyes shut to block them out. Sheer panic still clouded his thoughts, and all he felt was his own much too fast heartbeat that echoed through his whole body.
Then suddenly, there was something else. He could faintly hear a voice, calling his name. Whose voice is that? The answer was on his mind, he could almost grasp it, yet something inside his head insisted: Don't go there. Stop it, right now!
"Gen? Can you hear me? For Gaia's sake, say something. Please."
Had the voice changed? It sounded so different right now… And suddenly, he was able to think again, as if someone had lifted a dark curtain from his mind. The panic was suddenly replaced by a surprisingly clear thought: Just another adverse reaction, that's all it is. It explained everything: the flashing lights, the inability to recognize familiar voices, the completely unjustified anxiety and the fact that his heart was beating so hard it almost hurt. Come on, get yourself together. That's nothing compared to what you have been through before.
As he had done it countless times already, Genesis tried to block out those confusing feelings of sickness, discomfort and panic by focussing on something else. Trying to evaluate his present position, he was in for a surprise. How the hell had he ended up on the floor anyway? Angeal must be worried out of his mind… Oh shit.
"Angeal?" he asked, hardly recognizing his own voice for a second.
"Right here, Gennie," his friend immediately returned. Although Angeal never showed any too obvious emotions, he sounded clearly relieved. "Sorry, but things happened so fast, I had no choice but to make you lay down on the floor. Anyway, just stay where you are, I'll call the medical department."
That definitely did it for Genesis. He blindly reached out in the direction of his friend's voice and got hold of Angeal's arm with a surprising precision. "No, you won't. I'm fine, just give me a minute…"
"You are anything but fine," Angeal returned. "I don't even need to take your pulse to know it's racing. That's dangerous, you know that."
"I know, because it's nothing I haven't been through before." Speaking actually turned out more difficult than Genesis expected. His own voice strangely echoed in his head, an irritating experience. Still he added: "Just give me three more minutes. If it's not working out, I promise you can call whoever you want."
Angeal seemed to consider that proposal. "Ok. Three minutes and not a second longer." His tone suggested that he meant what he said.
Genesis swallowed hard and focused again, this time on his heartbeat. Fast. Much too fast, for the second time today. He tried to avoid the thought that he was still at a complete loss with the question why this was happening. Instead, he started counting to ten, slowly, before opening his eyes. For a few moments, everything was blurred, but then his vision stabilized.
Seeing Genesis opening his eyes took a massive load of Angeal's chest. For a second, he had been close to panic, although this was state he hardly ever reached. Still, it worried him quite a bit to see that after a brief phase of adaptation, Genesis' pupils retracted considerably, although the light in the room wasn't even close to the intensity needed to cause such an effect. Being with the SOLDIER unit long enough, Angeal was able to read the signs. Extremely narrowed pupils signified the strong influence of Mako.
Suddenly, it began to dawn on him why Genesis had worn his sleeves two thirds down, despite the relatively warm evening. To confirm his suspicion, Angeal reached out for his friend's arm, but Genesis caught his hand midway. When they looked at each other, it was like speaking without words.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Angeal finally asked. His voice didn't carry any obvious undertone of reproach; it sounded more like a statement than a question.
Genesis held his gaze for a few minutes longer, before he lowered his eyes. "No need to worry. After all, it's just a standard procedure."
Well, in your case, it unfortunately isn't, Angeal thought; but as usual, he knew better than to say those words aloud. Instead he asked: "So that was the first of how many?"
Genesis looked up at him again. "To be announced. Originally, they said two or three, but with those procedures, you never really know… However, there is no official second appointment yet, in case you were wondering."
In that moment, Angeal saw nothing but honesty in Genesis' eyes. He was aware of the fact how effortlessly his best friend was able to lie, straight to someone's face, if necessary; one of his most frightening talents. Still, for as long as he could remember, Genesis had never used that ability on him.
"If there is a next time, be so kind to tell me in advance, ok? I won't insist on holding your hand, but at least I would like to know. It worries me much more to see you like that when I don't know the reason behind it."
With the very same honesty, Genesis returned: "I'll think about it."
Neither of them spoke for a while, until Angeal shook his head and stated calmly: "You and your damned pride."
Just a heartbeat later, Genesis returned in a matching voice: "You and your stupid honour."
"What has honour to do with this?"
Genesis closed his eyes again, before he tried to explain: "You know, protect those who can't protect themselves and all that jazz… There's nothing wrong with that attitude, but I'm a grown up person and I'm perfectly able to protect myself. I don't need someone to look out for me all the time."
"Sorry, but that comes as part of the package when you start dating someone." Angeal realized only after he said those words that they carried a trace of hurt. Just a tiny hint, something everybody else would have missed.
He expected Genesis to continue in his famous 'don't tell me 'cause I know better' tone, but he was in for a surprise. Obviously the other had noticed that hidden undertone, too. So Genesis sighed softly, and returned in a warmer, almost affectionate voice: "It's not that I don't appreciate it. Quite the opposite, I do, very much so. Maybe I'm just bad at being cared for, because no one ever really did. And I guess I'm still upset about that stupid accident and all those consequences… I didn't really expect that to last quite as long as it does…"
"Understandable. I guess your current situation would put everyone on edge, even me."
"That's easy for you to say… When was the last time your medical report contained more than just three letters?" Genesis returned, hinting on the fact that Angeal's medical examination file only featured a long column of red stamp prints reading NAD – the abbreviation of 'no abnormality detected'.
Angeal knew that he had left solid ground with raising this point in the first place, and so he tried to get back on track: "Maybe in this case, I'm the odd one out, not you. Mako might be a very powerful substance, but after all, it was never meant to exist in a human body. I could name at least ten people who suffered from similar side effects after a treatment before."
Looking at him with the ghostly form of a sad smile playing on his lips, Genesis replied in a very low tone: "Every single time?"
It was a rhetorical question, and they both knew it. True, adverse reactions to Mako were something every member of SOLDIER had experienced before – Angeal just happened to belong to the group of lucky ones for whom these reactions had been confined to the first weeks after the initial procedure – but it was also true that things next to never happened with that frequency or intensity shown in Genesis' case.
"Why do I always have to be different?" Genesis muttered, more to himself than to Angeal, who still felt the immediate urge to comfort him. "I'm sorry I did not tell you. But you have to believe me, it was not about keeping secrets. I just didn't want you to worry. You have been through such much fear and uncertainty because of me, and I want this to stop."
"It will never stop, because you mean too much to me."
"And you mean incredibly much to me, too. That's why I don't want you to spend your nights sitting at my bedside worried out of your mind whether I will make it or not. That happened three damned times already, and the distance between those events is getting shorter…"
Truth be told, Genesis had always been a rather sickly child, so Angeal had spend quite some time of their shared lives literally at his bedside, yet what he was referring to now were three specifically grave events – a heavy fever with nine, the major adverse reaction to the initial Mako treatment with sixteen, and his recent accident. In at least two of these cases, Genesis' life had been balancing on a knife's edge.
"You make it sound as if you did it on purpose. None of that was your fault, and if we ignore the incident when you were nine, those situations came as part of your – our – chosen profession. Call it occupational hazard, if you want. And while the distance might be getting shorter, at least the severity is going down. This time, I wasn't told at some point that you might not make it through the night. That's something, don't you think?"
Genesis still looked at him like an apologizing child. "Still, I will never be able to make up to you for those nights…"
"That's not true. You are here with me now, and that fact is making it up more than enough." In the silence that followed those words, Angeal discovered that he was holding Genesis' hand, tracing its form with his fingers, without being able to tell how long he had been doing so.
Apparently, Genesis realized the same thing in the very same second, but he showed no intention to withdraw his hand or to refuse the touch. Instead, he came up with one of those rare bright, almost angelic smiles, the sort that made Angeal feel all warm and fuzzy inside. He immediately felt that for the sake of this smile, he was ready to forgive Genesis almost everything, and surely enough something as ridiculous as not telling him about the true purpose of a medical appointment.
"Well, I should better get up from the floor," Genesis said softly. "It's not really comfortable, and I guess it makes me look quite stupid." He sat up in a rather fluent movement, and cursed that decision right in the next moment. Everything seemed to spin, and a raging feeling of nausea took hold of him for a few seconds. Only by closing his eyes and focusing as hard as he could on not passing out again, he managed to keep that feeling at bay.
Getting up from the floor, how many times have I done that before? Another one of those sudden, completely unwanted thoughts. Ever since waking up in the hospital the other day and feeling eerily reminded of a situation back in his childhood, his thoughts seemed to be drawn into this direction far too frequently for his own liking. Although his childhood memories included incredibly dear and precious moments he would not have traded for anything on the planet, the majority of them, the typical every-day situations, were rather events he did not want to revive. Well, obviously those memories insisted on reviving themselves.
"Are you ok?" Angeal's voice broke that dark train of thoughts.
"Of course I am," Genesis returned automatically. As soon as he became aware of it, he felt that this sort of answer was far from suiting the situation and added: "As you said before, I am here and you are with me. For this reason alone, ok is actually an understatement."
Surprised by the second part of this reply, Angeal could not resist any longer and finally gave in to that desire he had been feeling for such a long time now. He reached out to touch one of those strands of hair, to stroke it back gently although it hadn't really been in the wrong place at all. It was a slow movement, but once he finished it, he still felt unable to remove his hand, unable to stop touching. His fingers seemed to be stuck in place, halfway hidden in those silky strands, while his thumb gently moved over Genesis' cheek.
They were both like hypnotized, completely lost in each other's eyes. Genesis felt his heart speeding up again and the blood rushing through his veins like liquid fire. Only this time, he was completely sure today's Mako injection had nothing to do with it.
Still, he decided to break that spell and whispered: "We shouldn't do this. Not here."
"Why not? Looks like there's nobody around but you and me; so what are you worried about?" Angeal returned in an equally low voice.
"That's a matter of principle. Deserted or not, it still is a public space and therefore a definite no-go."
"Who would have thought that you would be my voice of rationality one day?" With an affectionate smile, Angeal slowly withdrew his hand.
And Genesis did not know why, but right in this moment, he felt incredibly guilty.
Getting up from the floor, Angeal held out his hand again to help him up, but Genesis made a refusing gesture. "No, thank you. I got myself into that situation, and therefore I should be able to get up again on my own."
That sounds depressingly much like something your father would have said, Angeal thought involuntary.
Meanwhile, Genesis briefly ran one hand through his hair and returned to the desk as if nothing had happened.
Angeal frowned slightly, before he pointed out: "Anyway, you are in no fit state to continue working. I recommend you call it a day."
"Like hell I will. I have to finish that stupid report, otherwise Marlowe has a reason to claim that I can't even do a secretary's job properly…"
Sighing, but aware of the fact that there was no rational argument on this planet that would have changed Genesis' mind, Angeal pulled over another chair and sat down next to him.
"Ok, since I'm finished anyway and you shouldn't concentrate too hard, let's say I'll read and you type?"
Surprisingly enough, Genesis seemed to be in a cooperative mood. He handed Angeal those papers covered in an annoyingly small handwriting, before he leaned back to watch him for a while with a mischievous smile playing on his lips.
After a few minutes, Angeal had to admit that he had major difficulties with his part: "Goddess almighty, how did you manage to get that far in the first place? I would simply have written 'undecipherable' across the front page and returned it to Marlowe's desk."
"Well, it seems that reading cryptic writings is one of my few talents," Genesis replied, followed by a soft chuckle as he took the papers back. "Mind if we switch tasks?"
"Not at all," Angeal returned, and after pulling over the computer keyboard, he added: "Ok, ready to go. Let's hear it…"
In an emphatic tone, as if he was reciting poetry, Genesis declared: "It was in the dark of a scary night, deep down in the vaults of the Shinra Headquarters. Brave Sir Marlowe, our hero, on his eternal quest to discover any shortcomings of the maintenance department, courageously turned around a corner and found himself face to face with the most breathtakingly horrible enemy there is... a solitary rat."
"Is that what the report says?" Angeal inquired, hardly able to hide his amusement.
"Not exactly. That's just the summary of the first two pages, to give you a rough idea of its epicness."
"Well, in this case, it puts the adventures of King Arthur and his knights to shame," Angeal returned, in an effort to stay serious.
Determined to brighten up the dull task, Genesis continued to read out the missing two pages in his normal clear reading voice, broken occasionally by an almost dramatic declarative style that caused them to have laughing fits every time he did. Everybody else would have wondered how Genesis' mood could have changed so drastically in such a short a amount of time, but it was something Angeal was quite used to. Ever since his childhood, Genesis had been able to go from heavily depressed to extremely cheerful in a matter of seconds, and more than once Angeal had seen him starting to laugh while the traces of tears were still on his cheeks. In a weird way, that ability seemed to be something like self-medication.
"… are to take appropriate measures immediately. Fanfare. The end."
"Already? Too bad, that report should have at least three more pages," Angeal returned teasingly, while typing the last words.
Genesis looked at him for just a few seconds, before he acted on the spur of the moment and leaned forward to place a kiss on Angeal's cheek.
Surprised, Angeal turned around. "What was that for?"
"For being the most epic person I know. Without you, what would I be?"
Once again, they just looked at each other. This time, Angeal was completely taken aback by the sparkle that filled Genesis' eyes, changing their colour to an amazingly bright azure, and creating a deepened expression, something like… desire? Although just minutes ago, Genesis had pointed out remorselessly that this was not the right place to show any signs of affection, his opinion on that topic had obviously changed as fast as his general mood. What followed was one of the rare occasions when he was the one to start kissing, yet it was a rather innocent kiss, hardly more than a meeting of lips. One could have called it chaste, if it hadn't been for that passionate intensity and the sheer length of it.