She wouldn't be wrong about his own missed happiness, nor would she be wrong to assume there were parts of it he'd given up on for himself. It was why he'd held back; respect for her, yes, but that crippling fear of breaking his own heart by falling for someone who wouldn't -- couldn't -- return his feelings.
It couldn't be farther from his mind as he's so wrapped in her, every move of her body, every breathless sound egging him on. It's hardly moments before his cries mix with hers, the fervor with which she clings to him as her muscles tense and flutter making him kiss her back just as ravenously, whimpering as his speed increases. Feeling her orgasm against him, hearing the dazed way she calls his name, he has no chance -- and the coiling tension pulls him rigid as he gasps her name right back. In it's place is a languid, satisfied warmth, a shakiness of exertion and disbelief.
Panting, he lets his weight down onto her, smiling and smiling as he cups her face, pressing much gentler kisses to her. "Aerith," he sighs, "I love you."
Her arms stay around him, though the hold she keeps on him with her limbs loosens as she all but dissolves underneath his weight, a happy, breathless sigh escaping her. Turning her head while she snuggles into him, Aerith nuzzles his neck before looking back up at his face with an awed smile.
"I love you," she murmurs back between kisses, her hand brushing his cheek. "Do I get to tell you so every day?" Her eyes narrow playfully despite the post-climactic flush still lingering on her face. "Do I get to show you?" This had been a lot of fun after all.
The gentle was she continues to shower him with affection is almost as staggering as the sex. That and how radiant she looks, flushed and glowing and spent and so utterly happy. His face is starting to hurt from smiling. He's trying to burn the sensation of all this into his memory, and then she asks her questions, and he laughs at both of them.
"You are a pirate now, which means you can do whatever you like." He smooths her hair away from her face, kissing her brow. "But I'd like both those things."
He wants to stay here laying with her forever, but he can feel himself starting to soften, and he knows it's going to be harder to move the longer he waits. "I need to go clean up," he says. "And then I'm going to hold you until you insist you need to get out of bed."
Before he does, though, he holds her tight, kissing her deep one more time, pressing their hips together and just enjoying being so wrapped in her. Then he shifts, arching his back, and hisses as he leaves her, already missing the contact. "I'll be quick," he promises, kissing her shoulder before he disentangles. When he catches himself in the bathroom mirror, he can't quite believe how happy the man grinning back at him looks.
She groans petulantly when he tells her he needs to get up, detangling her limbs from around him as she plants another series of lingering kisses against his lips, a giddy part of her musing over how
"Hurry back." As he moves out of bed she finds herself rolling to the side after him, watching him retreat to the bathroom with a wide grin on her face. Once Balthier's out of sight Aerith flops back onto her back, covering the jubilant look on her face as she shimmies left and right for a moment, lost to her excitement.
It's the thought that she isn't sure if she's supposed to get dressed again that brings her back to reality, and as she glances around the room she catches sight of his dresser - the undresser. The sight gets a laugh out of her, and she forgets about her worries, instead doing what she can to tame back her hair before tossing the dressing gown off the bed and onto a chair.
Aerith fluffs the blankets as she slips back between them, hair smoothed and still undressed. When he returns she's sitting up, greeting him with the same happy smile she wore when he left.
"So," she tilts her head towards the dresser. "It works I guess."
It’s surreal to come back out and see her grinning at him from his bed. Natural, like she’s always belonged there. He retrieves the towel he’d abandoned to toss on the floor, but paused at her comment halfway into bed, following her gaze.
Then he shakes his head, sliding in next to her and wrapping around her, sighing despite himself at the pleasure of just feeling her skin against his. “Mmm I suppose it does. I wouldn’t know — you’re the only person I’ve brought up here.”
Once Balthier returns to bed, Aerith is quick to wrap her arms around him, first snuggling up to his side as he settles before shifting around so that she can comfortably drape over his chest and smile down at him, flushing giddily when he tells her that he hasn't brought anyone else to his quarters like this.
She's come to realize that most of his reputation isn't accurate, but she knows that unlike her, she's not his first. Still, knowing she's at least the first to be with him here makes her heart swell happily.
"I'm a very lucky lady," she says softly, ducking down to kiss first his shoulder before dusting a trail across his collarbone.
Balthier hadn't really let himself have an expectation for how Aerith would treat him after coupling, or gods, after admitting love, but it certainly wasn't the giddy way she snuggles against him then rolls onto him, continuing to shower him with attention and affection.
Which, when he reflects later, he'll realize was entirely absurd. Aerith doesn't hide her feelings, doesn't hold back, and he adores that.
As she kisses his collarbone, he hums, running his hand affectionately over her shoulder and down her back, tracing the dips in her skin. "That makes two of us."
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It couldn't be farther from his mind as he's so wrapped in her, every move of her body, every breathless sound egging him on. It's hardly moments before his cries mix with hers, the fervor with which she clings to him as her muscles tense and flutter making him kiss her back just as ravenously, whimpering as his speed increases. Feeling her orgasm against him, hearing the dazed way she calls his name, he has no chance -- and the coiling tension pulls him rigid as he gasps her name right back. In it's place is a languid, satisfied warmth, a shakiness of exertion and disbelief.
Panting, he lets his weight down onto her, smiling and smiling as he cups her face, pressing much gentler kisses to her. "Aerith," he sighs, "I love you."
no subject
"I love you," she murmurs back between kisses, her hand brushing his cheek. "Do I get to tell you so every day?" Her eyes narrow playfully despite the post-climactic flush still lingering on her face. "Do I get to show you?" This had been a lot of fun after all.
no subject
"You are a pirate now, which means you can do whatever you like." He smooths her hair away from her face, kissing her brow. "But I'd like both those things."
He wants to stay here laying with her forever, but he can feel himself starting to soften, and he knows it's going to be harder to move the longer he waits. "I need to go clean up," he says. "And then I'm going to hold you until you insist you need to get out of bed."
Before he does, though, he holds her tight, kissing her deep one more time, pressing their hips together and just enjoying being so wrapped in her. Then he shifts, arching his back, and hisses as he leaves her, already missing the contact. "I'll be quick," he promises, kissing her shoulder before he disentangles. When he catches himself in the bathroom mirror, he can't quite believe how happy the man grinning back at him looks.
no subject
"Hurry back." As he moves out of bed she finds herself rolling to the side after him, watching him retreat to the bathroom with a wide grin on her face. Once Balthier's out of sight Aerith flops back onto her back, covering the jubilant look on her face as she shimmies left and right for a moment, lost to her excitement.
It's the thought that she isn't sure if she's supposed to get dressed again that brings her back to reality, and as she glances around the room she catches sight of his dresser - the undresser. The sight gets a laugh out of her, and she forgets about her worries, instead doing what she can to tame back her hair before tossing the dressing gown off the bed and onto a chair.
Aerith fluffs the blankets as she slips back between them, hair smoothed and still undressed. When he returns she's sitting up, greeting him with the same happy smile she wore when he left.
"So," she tilts her head towards the dresser. "It works I guess."
no subject
Then he shakes his head, sliding in next to her and wrapping around her, sighing despite himself at the pleasure of just feeling her skin against his. “Mmm I suppose it does. I wouldn’t know — you’re the only person I’ve brought up here.”
no subject
She's come to realize that most of his reputation isn't accurate, but she knows that unlike her, she's not his first. Still, knowing she's at least the first to be with him here makes her heart swell happily.
"I'm a very lucky lady," she says softly, ducking down to kiss first his shoulder before dusting a trail across his collarbone.
no subject
Which, when he reflects later, he'll realize was entirely absurd. Aerith doesn't hide her feelings, doesn't hold back, and he adores that.
As she kisses his collarbone, he hums, running his hand affectionately over her shoulder and down her back, tracing the dips in her skin. "That makes two of us."