He grins down, breathless and giddy, loving the way his name sounds from her, the way she wraps him into her hold until it feels like that's where he's always been meant to be. "Aerith," he breathes back between kisses, tangling a hand in her hair as he slowly works his way to being buried entirely inside of her. He sighs, nuzzling against her, one arm working its way under her, wanting all the closeness he can get, cursing that they can't just stay like this all night.
She starts to speak and he chuckles, assuming she's going to say she's never done this before. "I know--" he starts, meaning to assure her she's doing wonderfully, when she starts again, words tumbling out.
For a moment, he freezes, speechless, entire body hot and cold. Then he kisses her, open-mouthed and ravenous, pressing himself into her as deep as he can go, crushing her to him with his arms. He'd been so careful not to let those thoughts in, not to be too much too quickly, he hadn't considered she'd already--
"I love you, too," he breathes, voice tight. He cups her face, stroking her cheek, taking a moment to just look onto that flushed, adoring face that he almost can't believe, not realizing his is its mirror. "My Aerith," he smiles. "I'm yours." Truth be told, he had been for awhile now.
That she shouldn't say it never crossed her mind, the words had just fallen out, shaken loose by the sheer joy being with him gives her, A joy that feels almost as good as it does when he sinks into her fully after putting on a rush of movement, his arms pulling her to him as she cries out, surprised and nearly overwhelmed with pleasure.
It's hard to believe anything could feel better than this, but Balthier is swift to prove that wrong when he turns her words back around on her, making her eyes well with happy tears when he tells her that he's hers.
"You do? Balthier." Her arms tighten around him, hands moving up his back to brush through his hair, holding him in a lingering kiss as a few tears slip down her cheeks. She can feel herself trembling against him, but it's hard to tell if it's from how happy he's made her, or how good it feels to feel him like this.
He's close and warm, and even though his hips have stilled every shift of their bodies reverberates through her nerves, making her wish they could just stay like this forever. "I'm yours, I'll always be yours."
Confusion crosses his face, even as he hums against the way she tightens around him, the slow pleasant fluttering of her opening as she reacts to being filled, her gentle hands in his hair again. How can she be surprised?
"Was I so good at hiding my feelings?" he asks, laughing, brushing a stray tear from her face even as one or two leak down his own. "Then I apologize. You've had my attention almost since you arrived. Certainly by the time I suggested you were my wife."
Always. It's such a huge word, but he wants to believe that's true, wants to stop pulling away because he might be wrong.
"I want to be yours forever," he breathes, chest hurting at how true it is, at how scared he is of admitting it, but how can he say her loves her and not be honest?
Her fingertips brush his cheek, catching one of his tears as she watches his face, awestruck and adoring. It's not that he was good at hiding it - later, when she looks back she'll realize he was terrible at it, it's just that this all seemed so much more real and true than what she was meant for. She didn't want to lead herself on believing otherwise and end up incidentally breaking her own heart.
When he tells her that he wants to be hers forever, Aerith kisses him again, her hands coming to cradle the sides of his face to prolong that embrace as a few more joyful tears fall. "I want that, so much. I want you forever, I want this forever, I never thought I'd have a life that made me happy until you."
He turns to kiss her palm, then the other, just smiling like an idiot. "Well, we have a lot of time you weren't happy to make up for, don't we?" And we he tilts his head to kiss her this time, he slowly starts to move his hips away from her and back in, moaning in contented pleasure. It's been awhile since he's done this, so much so that he's sensitive; no real matter, given that she is too.
"Tell me if anything hurts or gets to be too much," he says one last time, before he just loses himself to kissing her and rocking their bodies together, hands stroking over her skin, murmuring her name between shaking gasps of pleasure.
Part of her wonders if that isn't true for both of them, but when Balthier begins to move his hips again, the rush of reignited feeling the motion sends through her body pushes aside everything else but him, and this in a heartbeat.
Honestly, it's already too much, being here with him, knowing that this love she hasn't been sure what to do with is returned. However, she couldn't imagine herself asking him to stop any of this, not with him so close she's sure he that feels every twitch of pleasure in her muscles, the way her body begins to tighten and shudder around his cock every time he presses himself back into her, the way her heart beats against her ribs as she presses her chest against him, gasping his name between soft, blissful moans.
She's brought these feelings on by herself, but that paled in comparison to the orgasm he brought her to against his thigh, and that occasion (though groundbreaking at the time) was nothing like the crackling tension coiling at her center right now. Even the muscles of her inner thighs seem to flutter, as she, determined to draw this out and feel it as long as she can, throws herself into kissing him, her mouth ravenous.
Despite her best efforts to focus, her climax bowls her over, parading through her senses, leaving her shuddering and crying out against him as her legs go tight around his middle, pulling her to him while she trembles.
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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Date: 2023-03-08 02:00 am (UTC)She starts to speak and he chuckles, assuming she's going to say she's never done this before. "I know--" he starts, meaning to assure her she's doing wonderfully, when she starts again, words tumbling out.
For a moment, he freezes, speechless, entire body hot and cold. Then he kisses her, open-mouthed and ravenous, pressing himself into her as deep as he can go, crushing her to him with his arms. He'd been so careful not to let those thoughts in, not to be too much too quickly, he hadn't considered she'd already--
"I love you, too," he breathes, voice tight. He cups her face, stroking her cheek, taking a moment to just look onto that flushed, adoring face that he almost can't believe, not realizing his is its mirror. "My Aerith," he smiles. "I'm yours." Truth be told, he had been for awhile now.
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Date: 2023-03-08 02:29 am (UTC)It's hard to believe anything could feel better than this, but Balthier is swift to prove that wrong when he turns her words back around on her, making her eyes well with happy tears when he tells her that he's hers.
"You do? Balthier." Her arms tighten around him, hands moving up his back to brush through his hair, holding him in a lingering kiss as a few tears slip down her cheeks. She can feel herself trembling against him, but it's hard to tell if it's from how happy he's made her, or how good it feels to feel him like this.
He's close and warm, and even though his hips have stilled every shift of their bodies reverberates through her nerves, making her wish they could just stay like this forever. "I'm yours, I'll always be yours."
no subject
Date: 2023-03-08 08:57 pm (UTC)"Was I so good at hiding my feelings?" he asks, laughing, brushing a stray tear from her face even as one or two leak down his own. "Then I apologize. You've had my attention almost since you arrived. Certainly by the time I suggested you were my wife."
Always. It's such a huge word, but he wants to believe that's true, wants to stop pulling away because he might be wrong.
"I want to be yours forever," he breathes, chest hurting at how true it is, at how scared he is of admitting it, but how can he say her loves her and not be honest?
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Date: 2023-03-08 09:31 pm (UTC)When he tells her that he wants to be hers forever, Aerith kisses him again, her hands coming to cradle the sides of his face to prolong that embrace as a few more joyful tears fall. "I want that, so much. I want you forever, I want this forever, I never thought I'd have a life that made me happy until you."
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Date: 2023-03-09 01:44 am (UTC)"Tell me if anything hurts or gets to be too much," he says one last time, before he just loses himself to kissing her and rocking their bodies together, hands stroking over her skin, murmuring her name between shaking gasps of pleasure.
no subject
Date: 2023-03-09 02:17 am (UTC)Honestly, it's already too much, being here with him, knowing that this love she hasn't been sure what to do with is returned. However, she couldn't imagine herself asking him to stop any of this, not with him so close she's sure he that feels every twitch of pleasure in her muscles, the way her body begins to tighten and shudder around his cock every time he presses himself back into her, the way her heart beats against her ribs as she presses her chest against him, gasping his name between soft, blissful moans.
She's brought these feelings on by herself, but that paled in comparison to the orgasm he brought her to against his thigh, and that occasion (though groundbreaking at the time) was nothing like the crackling tension coiling at her center right now. Even the muscles of her inner thighs seem to flutter, as she, determined to draw this out and feel it as long as she can, throws herself into kissing him, her mouth ravenous.
Despite her best efforts to focus, her climax bowls her over, parading through her senses, leaving her shuddering and crying out against him as her legs go tight around his middle, pulling her to him while she trembles.
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Date: 2023-03-09 03:32 am (UTC)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."
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Date: 2023-03-09 03:57 am (UTC)"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.
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Date: 2023-03-09 04:12 am (UTC)"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.
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Date: 2023-03-09 04:27 am (UTC)"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."
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Date: 2023-03-09 04:40 am (UTC)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.”
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Date: 2023-03-09 04:13 pm (UTC)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
Date: 2023-03-09 09:41 pm (UTC)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."