He'd -- thought it was obvious too, but for a moment it was like he'd slipped off the deck, plummeting wildly with no idea which way was up. What if he'd read all of this wrong, what if she really still felt like a prisoner?
His thoughts are so slow and heavy that he's just stuck as a dear in the firelight. Her voice pulls him back, and he thinks he knows her well enough by now to know she couldn't fake the sincerity in that statement.
Before he can't think better of it, his hands find hers, holding them together between them. "I like having you along with me. And I enjoy having you on the crew. I--" He barely manages to push down whatever nonsense he was going to say about wanting to see her happy. "Know what it's like to feel caged. I don't want that for you, or for anyone who flies with me."
But his heart is tight in his chest and he can't deny, at some point, it became different with her.
Just when she begins to wonder if she was being stupid for noticing him as much as she has and in the way she's begun to, Balthier takes his hands in hers and makes it impossible for Aerith to think of anything but the things he says and the way he says them.
Were she more experienced with things sort of thing or more worldly in a general sense, she might have weighed the risks of giving into the pull she's felt between them all night, a pull that's exacerbated by the wine and made very difficult to question with him looking into her eyes and telling her he doesn't want her to feel caged.
But, she isn't, and so she doesn't. Instead Aerith steps forward, bridging the space between them as she brings herself up onto the balls of her feet and presses her lips intently against his.
The wine and their hands together and his whiplash of emotions mean that when her lips press against his he lets out a startled sound, but only for a moment before he kisses back, fingers squeezing hers.
And he absolutely should not be doing that. He is her captain, and her senior, and her kidnapper, and--
And he doesn't pull that far away when the kiss breaks, doesn't let her hands go.
"Decided to test out more of the wife role, did you?"
He doesn't have time to be witty or to protest, and it's a good thing he's still holding her hands because otherwise he'd be tempted to do something stupid like hold her.
"Are you telling me Aerith the wife wouldn't kiss her husband in front of everyone?"
"It's not ladylike," she answers quietly. That's not to say she wouldn't, but after a lifetime spent having the norms of what proper wives should and should not do, it's the only answer she feels right giving.
"And I think wife Aerith would enjoy kissing in a moonlit garden."
So caged she can't even fantasize freely. His heart aches. He knows what that feels like, and it's all the more painful not be able to just lift that weight from her.
"Well husband Balthier would enjoy kissing his wife however she wanted to be kissed." As should any partner she chooses. He gives her one last peck to make his point, but when he breaks he pulls her into a the tight embrace of a good friend, which really, is what she's becoming. "I'm so glad you're free from that place. That's not what life is supposed to be."
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no subject
Date: 2023-01-24 02:01 am (UTC)His thoughts are so slow and heavy that he's just stuck as a dear in the firelight. Her voice pulls him back, and he thinks he knows her well enough by now to know she couldn't fake the sincerity in that statement.
Before he can't think better of it, his hands find hers, holding them together between them. "I like having you along with me. And I enjoy having you on the crew. I--" He barely manages to push down whatever nonsense he was going to say about wanting to see her happy. "Know what it's like to feel caged. I don't want that for you, or for anyone who flies with me."
But his heart is tight in his chest and he can't deny, at some point, it became different with her.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-24 02:19 am (UTC)Were she more experienced with things sort of thing or more worldly in a general sense, she might have weighed the risks of giving into the pull she's felt between them all night, a pull that's exacerbated by the wine and made very difficult to question with him looking into her eyes and telling her he doesn't want her to feel caged.
But, she isn't, and so she doesn't. Instead Aerith steps forward, bridging the space between them as she brings herself up onto the balls of her feet and presses her lips intently against his.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-25 01:40 am (UTC)And he absolutely should not be doing that. He is her captain, and her senior, and her kidnapper, and--
And he doesn't pull that far away when the kiss breaks, doesn't let her hands go.
"Decided to test out more of the wife role, did you?"
no subject
Date: 2023-01-25 01:59 am (UTC)"It helps make it believable, doesn't it? Kissing in the garden."
But, she's already kissing him again after she asks, not allowing him the chance to answer.
no subject
Date: 2023-01-26 04:03 am (UTC)"Are you telling me Aerith the wife wouldn't kiss her husband in front of everyone?"
no subject
Date: 2023-01-26 07:19 pm (UTC)"And I think wife Aerith would enjoy kissing in a moonlit garden."
no subject
Date: 2023-01-26 08:55 pm (UTC)"Well husband Balthier would enjoy kissing his wife however she wanted to be kissed." As should any partner she chooses. He gives her one last peck to make his point, but when he breaks he pulls her into a the tight embrace of a good friend, which really, is what she's becoming. "I'm so glad you're free from that place. That's not what life is supposed to be."