The six men shuffled in, selecting a booth in the corner of the crowded, hazy tavern. All six were tall, muscular and devastatingly handsome. Though many female eyes followed them all to their table, two stood out, because of their age difference from the rest. The first was older, perhaps in his mid-thirties with premature silver hair that was tied nicely back in a leather thong. The second was no more than 18, younger than the rest by at least 3 years, with short dark hair and cloudy blue eyes.
The four men in the middle age range immediately began scanning the room, taking in the various clanking of dishes, the many stout men filling the joint and the flurry of serving wenches. They had all piled into the tavern today for one purpose, to teach the youngest the ways of women. Though he was quite the heartbreaker in their village, he had been too preoccupied to have bothered with it, until now…
“Are you ready for your first lesson?” playful blue eyes that belonged to man with a long blonde ponytail danced at the younger dark-haired boy in the middle. He looked somewhat annoyed at having been made to come to this stupid tavern to pick up some easy serving wench, but he gave in as usual to his older brothers. They always seemed to be having so much fun without him.
“Don’t scare the boy, Zoi!” another blonde haired man chided, leaning comfortably back in his seat, already eyeing a particularly strong-willed, raven-haired wench.
“I’m hardly scared,” Darien chimed, but his comment was ignored.
“Let’s take it slow, Jade,” the aloof white-haired figure stated emphatically.
He paused for a moment then pointed to a bluenette who was standing just so the man next to her had a fantastic view of her cleavage. “Pay attention to each detail. That wench is not worth his time. Look at how she teases him and leads on the guy next to him. She wants attention, nothing more.”
Darien crossed his arms across his chest and sighed. This was going to be a long night.
“Good one, Kunz. Body language is also just as important. Sometimes, a woman can be saying no with her mouth and yes with her body. All women want to be swept off their feet, persistence and determination are really important.” Jadiete pointed at a voluptuous purple-haired wench who was smiling shyly but shaking her head at the man directing his attentions at her. “She is..”
“Smiling, which means yes, but verbally telling him no, classic case of mixed signals.” Darien murmured.
“Exactly. You’ll show up these fools yet tonight!” the older white-haired gentleman encouraged.
“The head shake implies: ‘try harder stupid’,” the silent brown-haired man interjected.
“Hey, this is my lesson here. Arty, Neph, back off,” huffed Jadiete.
“You were slow,” Nephlyte shrugged his shoulders, while the rest of the scoffed.
The young dark-haired boy kept a straight face and watched the man finally give up and leave the purple-haired wench somewhat disappointed.
“Aww, hey Arty, our lil’ Darien is growing up,” Zoicite grinned and ruffled Darien’s dark hair.
“Knock that off,” Darien grumbled, throwing his brother’s hand off his head.
The older, second white-haired man smiled comfortably, “You know the best way for the boy to learn is if you gentleman show by example.”
“Example?” Zoicite shifted uncomfortably in his chair while Nephlyte tried to hide his smile.
“Are you afraid, Zoi?” Darien scoffed.
“What? Me? Nev…” Zoi tried to sit up higher in his chair. When suddenly Kunzite stiffened, staring into the crowd, finally a sly smile crossed his face, transforming his arrogance into confidence.
“Alright, example it is. Darien, half the battle is picking the right woman. You want one that isn’t out to get attention or be a tease. It takes experience to pick them out on your own, its why Zoi fails so miserably all the time. Do you see that girl over there? The blonde one?”
All eyes turned curiously toward the blonde beauty, surrounded by men. The girl looked sensational, wearing her long, glorious hair down to her knees and a perfectly colored light blue corset that gave each man just enough of a hint at what was under it to tantalize him. Her hand ran through her hair playing with it coyly and flipping it whenever she was bored. Her eyes shined brightly and she encouraged the men’s attention without being too obvious. She smiled brightly enough to make any man’s heart stop and giggled with each suitor. She gave all the hopeful men equal attention but favored none.
“Look at her basking in the attentions of all those men. Shameful,” Zoicite said haughtily.
“Aw, Zoi you’re only made because you don’t have a chance,” Jadiete commented, glancing curiously at Kunzite who seemed to practically glow.
“Geez, Kunz. Don’t kill ALL your brain cells or are you chickening out?” Neph asked coyly.
“Watch and learn my friends, this is called cat and mouse. It is only for the advanced,” Kunzite said standing and quickly downing the rest of his ale.
The rest of the table watched eagerly as Kunzite elegantly approached the ravishing girl. He immediately caught her attention with his grace and mannerisms, he was in a different league than the rest of the men around her.
“That’s so Kunz, picking the hottest girl in the room,” Zoi whined.
Even Darien’s interest was peaked, as the men watched Kunzite speaking to the blonde, causing her smile to disintegrate. He handed her his empty ale mug and calmly headed back toward the table as she left the ring of disappointed men.
Artemis chuckled as the rest of the brothers looked flabbergasted at a very smug looking Kunzite.
“Whatd you say?” Darien asked.
“I asked her to get me a refill,” Kunzite rumbled smoothly.
“What?” Jadiete asked.
“How’s that going to do anything?”
“Watch and see,” Artemis suggested, pointing to the beauty returning with a full ale mug.
Kunzite quickly wiped the smile off his face and waited for her to approach. The girl, who felt underappreciated in being told to get another drink for this arrogant man, practically threw the mug at him, sloshing the ale onto the table.
Her blue eyes looked expectantly at Kunzite as she crossed her arms across her chest. “Thank you,” Kunzite said smoothly, ignoring the split liquid. He reached for his cup and took a sip, while she waited, tapping her foot. “Would such a lady be willing to join our humble party?”
She arched an eyebrow, somewhat surprise and dropped her crossed arms. “What?”
“I’m afraid we have no extra seats, but if it would please my lady, I would gladly offer my lap.”
“What!?”
“If it is objectionable you are more than welcome to go back to your fan club.” The others watched Kunzite in awe as he never lost his innocent, polite manner.
The wench looked confused, she was speechless and he took advantage of her silence. “A beauty such as yours should be spent with more deserving company. Surely you are aware of that?” he calmly held her hand in his and kissed the back of it tenderly.
She was obviously flustered by the show of chivalry, retorting the first thing that popped into her mind, “And you think you deserve me?”
“I will leave that your excellent judgment,” Kunzite said in between his tantalizing kisses.
She turned back, glancing at her diminishing ring of suitors and then at Kunzite. His kisses caused goose bumps that rippled up and down her flesh. Finally she nodded and promptly sat on his waiting lap, while Kunzite winked at Darien.
“Wow Kunz,” Zoicite gapped open mouthed at the beauty sitting contentedly in Kunzite’s lap. “Do you even know her name?”
“Mina,” she chimed happily as he lightly ran his fingers up her arm.
“Charmed,” Kunzite purred. “I’m Kunzite and these are my brothers.”
“We are trying to teach our young protégé here, how to properly pick up women,” Jadiete pointed to the boy in their midst.
“Oh, well this should be very educational,” Mina stated, half lost in Kunzite’s grey eyes.
“Oh, it will be!” Kunzite purred.
The other men at the table exchanged glances, surprised by the intensity the two were already emitting.
“Well,” Artemis broke the silence. “Who’s next?”
Everyone looked around guiltily, but no one offered. Zoicite shrunk in his seat, the second youngest and least confident of them all.
Finally, Nephlyte sighed dramatically. “I suppose, I’ll do it, you ninnies! He looked around for a moment until he spotted someone who caught his attention.
Darien watching him carefully scanning the room. Kunzite was the brother he most respected, but Nephlyte was the one who always taught him something new. Perhaps this night wouldn’t be so bad, if Neph could give him a few… manly tips.
“Alright, she’s the one,” he said, pointing at a tall brunette standing by the kitchen door in a cooking apron. She had soup stains spilled down her pale pink bodice and several tendrils of wavy chestnut hair had escaped the ponytail she had tried to contain her tresses with. The girl was talking to a server about some menu item. The glow in her eyes and the smile she exhibited were friendly and open. “Kunz’s women are too much trouble. I prefer the ones with beauty from within. See how happy she looks? See that she isn’t trying to flaunt? That makes her my primary candidate…”
“She looks like she could kick your ass, Neph,” Jadiete retorted, eyeing the girl’s formidable biceps.
Nephlyte shot him a death glance, then continued. “She’s the kind of girl only a real man can handle. That’s why I like her. I could actually see myself having a decent conversation with her,” he said pointedly looking at the silent couple still lost in each other’s eyes at the end of the table. Darien nodded his head in approval, probably not the girl he would have chosen, but a decent prospect none-the-less.
Nephlyte stood and straightened his tan tunic. “The best part about these kinds of girls is that they’re usually unaware of their beauty. That makes the direct approach the best option. I think a bit of poetry might do the trick.”
“If she doesn’t kick your ass, first,” Jadiete pouted.
But Neph didn’t hear his brooding brother, he was already focused, calculating each move he would make. Even his breaths were timed, his steps planned to the second. He confidently strode over the girl, she noticed him about halfway across the room and quickly dismissed the server. Their eyes were locked and Darien leaned forward with baited breathe. Even Mina and Kunzite took some time away from each other to watch the spectacle. Nephlyte approached, his lips oozed silk, though the table was unable to hear. The brunette blushed quickly, but never looked away or lost her dreamy smile.
“A good sign,” Artemis smiled proudly.
“Too bad we can’t hear,” mumbled Jadiete. “Next person needs to make sure to bring them over here! The body won’t learn anything this way.”
Nephlyte reached up and softly ran his fingers through her feathery hair, taking one step closer so their arms touched. She glowed with pleasure.
“Can’t you almost hear her heartbeat quicken?” Mina breathed giddily as Neph took one more step closer, so they breathed the same air. All the boy’s air caught in their throats waiting for what seemed the inevitable. He said something more, then backed away, disappointing everyone including his chosen woman, looking at her shoes.
Neph laughed noticing her frustration and took her hand. He gestured back at the table and mentioned something else. She looked over at the men staring intently and she, too, laughed heartily. He kissed her hand and she nodded. He stood smiling and she pulled off her apron. He led her by the hand back to the table, where Artemis and Zoi stood up to allow the couple to slide inside.
Darien stared at Nephlyte with grudging admiration in his eyes, noting the techniques that seemed to work better than Kunzite’s. Jadiete ignored the newcomers, too focused on the raven-haired wench who walked past their table.
“So Darien, everyone, this is Lita,” Neph wrapped his arm around the girl and she smiled at everyone, shaking hands with each man as he introduced herself. “And you might already be familiar with Mina…”
“Mina?” Lita smiled teasingly, “Look at you! You finally picked one!”
Mina colored a little, covering it with her exclamation, “I’ve finally pulled you out from behind your apron! And you already have found a man.”
“Or he found me,” Lita added, smiling at Nephlyte.
“Alright, Zoi,” Jadiete stated. “Your turn, buddy.”
“Mee? Nah. I don’t want to blow you away with my brilliance.” Zoi stated with mock arrogance.
“Aww, come on!” Darien smacked his blonde brother on the back.
Everyone was silent as Zoicite scouted the room, he watched several wenches go by and several more bring ale to the next table. But his eyes continuously fell upon a particularly meek serving girl with dark blue hair who was washing a dirty table. Jadiete noticed his affinity for her and also noticed the raven-haired firecracker he had been eyeing all night laughing loudly at some poor fool’s jokes directly behind that table.
“Actually, change in plans boyos. I’ll take it from here,” he declared, stepping over Mina and Kunzite. “Watch closely Darien, I will hit two birds with one stone.” He headed directly over to the table with Zoi’s bluenette. Zoicite tensed, trying to keep his insecurity in check
Jadiete interrupted her cleaning with a loud, “My lady!” and pulled her unwilling hand down so he could get on one knee. She immediately blushed a bright crimson, obviously uncomfortable. Jadiete’s lips moved and the girl continued to turn red.
“What could he be saying?” Darien asked.
“I’m sure its nothing short of declaring is undying love with the way Ami is blushing,” Mina commented. The men turned toward her surprised. “What? She’s very shy, not very comfortable with men.”
“Well he is causing quite a ruckus, look at that girl,” Kunzite pointed to the furious looking raven-haired girl in a multi-colored dress. She and Mina were the only serving women who were brave enough to wear their glorious hair down, allowing soup, ale, and who-knows-what-else to get in it.
Attention turned back to Ami and Jadiete as the spectacle got more uncomfortable. She was trying to get her hand back, probably to hide in the kitchen, while he was holding her hand firmly making a bigger spectacle of his proclaimations.
“What on earth is that hooligan up to? He’s doing it all wrong, she doesn’t want anything to do with him!” Artemis said pointedly.
Mina smiled, “I think its working fantastically,” she giggled and pointed to Zoicite whose jaw muscle now protruded from his face, pure hatred leaked from his eyes.
Slowly the other’s noticed too, and began to understand. Just as Jadiete was about to lay another move on poor Ami, the raven-haired server walked angrily in between the pair, throwing him off balance and her back into the table she had just cleaned. She stalked off, but Jadiete was fast, and his plan had worked the way he wanted to.
He caught the raven-haired girl’s wrist right in front of their table. She turned around ready to slug him a new one, when he yanked on her arm quickly, throwing her off balance and right into his arms. He leaned over her and before she could say anything, kissed her mercilessly.
Darien’s eyebrow arched and even Lita’s mouth was open, watching Rei passionately making out with Jadiete right in front of them, obviously enjoying every second of it.
“Wow, Zoi, I guess he wasn’t after your girl after all,” Kunzite said, looking over at an empty seat.
Zoi was already up and comforting Ami, who was now happily no longer the center of the attention.
“I am so sorry for whatever he did to you,” Zoicite said, helping Ami off the table she had been shoved on. “You deserve better. Are you okay?”
“Yes, yes I think so.” She said allowing him to help her off the table.
“I am so sorry. He shouldn’t have used you like that,” he said again, reluctantly dropping her hand. They both stood there for a moment in silence, looking at their shoes.
“Well, it seemed to have worked,” Ami said quickly glancing at the passionate couple, then glancing away.
“Yeah,” Zoicite agreed.
Finally, he interjected before he lost his courage. “Let me make it up to you. Come sit with us at our table, meet my brothers.
“I don’t know…” Ami said flustered again.
“Please, allow me to buy you a drink. It’s the least I can do to make up for what my brother did,” Zoicite pleaded with both his voice and his eyes. It was his eyes that broke through Ami’s ice.
“Alright, I don’t think it would do much harm,” she said giving him her hand shyly.
They both joined the table, where Rei and Jadiete were busy exchanging explosive insults that everyone seemed to be amused by.
“So,” Artemis interrupted. “We now have everyone taken care of, but you my boy.”
“Hey what about you Arty? Aren’t you going to get your groove on?” Kunzite hollered a little liquored up thanks to Mina’s influence.
“Me? No, I’m too old for wenching. Which one do you want, Darien?”
The boy looked round hazily, he figured what could it hurt, plus the three mugs of ale made him in a more willing mood. He studied several women who served the tables with a flirty smile. They were all moderately attractive, that’s probably why they were working out front, but none of them inspired any sort of actual worthwhile feelings. “I don’t see anyone.”
Several members at the table starting pointing girl out, but he found something wrong with each. He was finally goaded into trying some lines on a red-haired server, but she politely rejected him for someone older.
“How old are you?” Mina asked suddenly.
“I’m eighteen, but…”
“Mina, you aren’t thinking of…” Rei asked shocked.
But Mina didn’t hear her, she was already off Kunzite’s lap and racing into the back room, where a 17-year-old blonde girl was chopping onions.
Darien bit his lip, fidgeting nervously and somewhat drunkenly trying to imagine the woman Mina would emerge with. He hoped he liked her, he hoped she would be someone he could be attracted to. His stomach began to squirm.
“So uh, who is Mina thinking of?” Darien tried to ask nonchalantly, sweat glistening on his forehead.
Lita smiled knowingly and exchanged glances with Rei. “Ami’s littler sister.”
“Oh really?” he said swallowing carefully. He tried not to imagine a blue-haired, frail dork who could barely look up.
“What is Ami’s sister doing here?” Zoicite asked curiously.
“My mom owns the place,” Ami explained.
“That’s Madame Luna over there,” Lita pointed across the room to a thirty-something blue haired woman with a yellow ribbon in holding her long curly hair out of her eyes. She wore a beautiful apron around her thin waist, she looked almost surreal. Even the young men noticed her.
Artemis swallowed audibly. “Wha… What happened to your fa THER?” his voice went up an octave when Luna leaned down to pick up a lone fork.
Kunzite bit his cheeks to keep from laughing.
“He died shortly after Serenity was born,” Ami’s brow furrowed as she studied his face.
“Do you have any other siblings we should know about?”
“Only the hot dish boy!” Rei nudged Lita, pointing to Andrew, an older blonde-haired boy.
But Rei’s squealing was cut short by Jadiete’s sharp gaze. All went silent for a moment until Madame Luna made her way over to the table. “Ami, honey, is everything okay?”
Ami nodded, “I’m fine, mom.”
“Well then, I expect this young man to show up properly to our house to meet us,” she pointed toward Zoicite harshly. The blonde boy quickly paled and sank in his seat until, in a bold move, Ami grabbed his hand reassuringly.
“He will mom,” she said softly.
Luna gave a curt nod, “I hope the rest of you enjoy your night.” She smiled and walked away. Artemis nearly choked on his own spit before scrambling over Ami and Zoicite to follow after.
He stood with uncharacteristically knock kneed stability. He looked at the group sitting in the booth, opening his mouth to say something, but decided against it and scrambled off before Luna could get away.
“Go get ‘er, Arty!” Jadiete hollered, despite Rei’s feigned protesting.
As soon as he was out of earshot the entire party exploded in laughter.
“Man, he’s got it bad!” Nephlyte chuckled.
“Go mom,” Ami smiled.
“That Darien, is exactly what NOT to do,” Mina said in between giggles.
“Oh look, Darien,” Lita pointed, “There is Serenity!”
Darien’s heart flip-flopped. All eyes turned toward the blonde walking at Mina’s side. Though Mina’s beauty was unmatched, Serenity’s own beauty did not diminish. Serenity’s golden hair didn’t tarnish next to Mina’s shiny brass locks, nor did her clear pale skin blotch next to Mina’s smooth porcelain. Though Serenity was a little shorter and less developed, Serenity was catching just as many eyes as Mina. It was a strange sight for a younger girl, or heck, any girl to hold her own beside Mina, something the young men didn’t see very much.
Darien tensed, not sure what to think. How was he supposed to get THAT! She was out of his league, by planets! His heart allowed itself a small panic attack, saved only by the adrenaline pumping through his system.
Mina and the blonde goddess approached the table. Mina introduced Serenity to each of the men, looking curiously around for the missing Artemis. After noticing several sly smiles be exchanged, Mina decided to drop it.
“And this is Darien,” Mina put her hands on both Darien’s shoulders. It shocked him back into reality and he realized he was staring.
“Hi,” she said pleasantly, holding out her hand to shake.
Darien just stared at it, in all it’s smooth, white beauty. It could have been made from marble for all he knew, he was star struck.
After several awkward minutes, Mina interrupted, “Serenity, why don’t you go get us a round of drinks.”
Serenity frowned, but nodded. As soon as she left, everyone descended on Darien asking questions, giving advice, and using examples. Darien didn’t hear any of them, he only saw her. Finally, he fazed into reality.
“I can’t do this!” He suddenly proclaimed. “I have no idea what I’m doing. This isn’t a practice girl, this is a goddess!”
Everyone quieted for a moment, surprised. Kunzite pushed the boy off the booth seat, “All the more reason to go get her.”
Darien turned and saw Serenity struggling with 11 ale glasses. He quickly pulled four of the glasses out of her hands. “I’ll help,” he stated.
“Uh… okay,” Serenity looked a bit weirded out, but continued to the table. Before she took two steps, he tripped and spilled several mugs of ale down her skirt. “Hey!”
“I’m sorry!” Darien declared flustered. “If your hair wasn’t so blonde and shiny, I…”
“You what?” Serenity demanded.
“Your hair, your face, you…” Darien gasped studying the perfection of her face, even furrowed in anger. Her eyes glittered, her lips glowed pink, and his heart nearly melted. “You make me go blind.”
“I WHAT!”
“No wait, you took that wrong! What I meant was… well, I thought you were just some dorky, awful, ugly girl who would be clingy and tragic. I mean from what everyone was saying about you and all. And now, after meeting you, wow! I feel dumber just being AROUND you.”
Her eye’s immediately picked up intensity, “Well! At least that isn’t too hard to accomplish, being your intelligence level was never that high to begin with. I mean seriously! Are you mentally retarded? What is wrong with you? If you’re done wasting my time, I’ll be leaving now!”
Darien was speechless, he looked over at Nephlyte for some help, but the man had his hand over his face trying to hide his silent laughter.
“New tactic time,” Jadiete whispered, even though Serenity could hear.
“Right,” Darien murmured pausing for a moment over Rei, leaning her exotic head against his chest, a smile popping on his face.
He lurched quickly, grabbing her clumsily and placing his lips messily over Serenity’s. She quickly backup and slapped his hard across the cheek for the entire tavern to hear. “How DARE you?”
She turned quickly, but after a desperate glance at Ami and Zoicite who sat on the outside edge of the booth, he caught her wrist and went down on one knee. “Wait!” He cried desperately, knowing how badly he was bombing. She turned looking unimpressed at his hand gripping hers. She looked at him expectantly. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Let me… make it up to you.”
Zoicite gave him the thumbs half-heartedly and encouraged him to speak more.
“Could I uh...” he looked pleadingly at Kunzite, “get another ale?”
“What? You think I would get you anything after all you’ve done? Mina, I don’t know what you were thinking but this is ludicrous! Besides, I just brought all of you…” Serenity said somewhat annoyed and confused pointing at all the full ale mugs still sitting on the table.
“Oh that’s right, I’m sorry,” Darien sighed miserably, dropping her wrist.
She turned and walked away, glancing once over her shoulder before continuing back to the kitchen.
“That was pitiful,” Darien moaned, throwing himself in the empty seat beside Kunzite and Mina.
“It was pretty bad,” Jadiete chuckled as the entire table let out roars of uncontrollable laughter.
“Oh wow, I didn’t know it could get that bad,” Mina burst.
Darien put his head down on the table, trying to hide his face from the rest of the group. An entire tavern had witnessed his humiliation.
After the laughter died down, Jadiete patted Darien’s hair encouragingly, “Come on, Dar, at least you got a great story.”
“Great story? What are you telling him?” Mina asked seriously. “Get up! Go try again. Don’t let one failure get in your way. Show her how persistent you are, and how much you like her, go. Go!” Mina pushed Darien out of the booth for the second time that night.
“What the worst that could happen?” Zoi called.
“Oh, but don’t mention anything about her intelligence,” Lita added.
Darien walked away shaking his head. Some help they had turned out to be. Instead of going into the back kitchen, Darien avoided his miserable failure and decided to clear his head in the alleyway. The cool, peaceful night air struck his entire body soothing his nerves. He stood there for a moment, staring up at the stars. How could he have said those things? He closed his eyes and tried to think of something, anything that he could say to make it right.
But it was useless, just as he was useless, her appalled blue eyes glittered on this inside of his eyelids, he could almost still feel the sting of her hand against his cheek. It had been both painful and electric, the memory made him long for her touch. He sighed loudly, even the stars couldn’t make him stop thinking about her.
He started to head inside, depressed and read to give up, when he ran smack dab into a small, blonde creature. They both sprawled onto the pavement.
“Darien?” it asked, pulling the hair away from her face.
“Oh, its you,” he muttered miserably, watching the object of his misery, the beautiful Serenity, emerge from her hair.
She ignored his depressive tone and reached across him, to retrieve several bags of kitchen waste.
He was acutely aware of her warm body over his as she reached across. He reveled in her warmth. Then just as quickly she retreated. He found himself disappointed, but bit his lip ignoring it, she got up to leave.
He surprised even himself when he piped, “I apologize. I messed up tonight. I don’t think I could have messed up any worse. You just… well you…” Suddenly Darien burst into a hearty, maniacal laugh, at himself and this whole situation. “It’s probably better if I don’t finish that statement. It’s just not worth it.”
Darien stood and turned to go inside.
“Why don’t you just say what you want to say?” she shouted, fuming.
Darien paused for a moment, his back still facing her thinking. “Alright, you’re the most beautiful woman I’ve seen in my entire life.” He turned and faced her.
“Our father died when I was 15 and I never had time for girls, I never really wanted to. The only thing that has ever made me feel at peace, like I know my place in the world, is watching the stars,” he paused, not quite sure where his story was going. He decided to continue since she hadn’t hit him yet.
Darien glanced at the blonde beauty bathed in moonlight, staring up at the stars contemplatively and he knew just what to say, “When I saw you tonight, I felt more in alignment with the stars than I ever have, more at peace than I even knew possible. You become the only thing I can see and,” he pulled her chin down so she was looking at him. Their eyes locked with a start, and his stomach started acting up again, but this time he ignored it. He knew he was on a roll and was finally, finally doing things the way they should be done. “I want that feeling to continue. I want you to have those feeling for me, too.”
He finished, stroking her cheek with his thumb. He heard her breath catch in her throat and he smiled instinctively feeling an excited tug at the bottom of his heart. He leaned in and gently placed his lips on hers. His world imploded and all he felt was a white searing flash of pleasure and right-ness. She deepened the kiss and…
“’ATTA BOY!”
“I knew he had it in ‘im,”
“WOO WHO, LOOK AT THEM GO!”
“Aren’t they a little young to be doing that?”
An explosion of hoots and hollers came from behind them, forcing the emotion of their first kiss to some far region of their brains to be picked up at a later point. They separated reluctantly and Serenity jumped when she saw her mother watching her.
“Come on, you guys! Why’d you have to ruin the moment for the kid?” Mina asked hands on her hips.
“Let’s go Dar, back inside for another round, you can bring your girl. This is when the party gets started!” Jadiete exclaimed holding up his twelfth straight ale mug.
Rei rolled her eyes and led the staggering blonde man inside, leaving the younger couple to finish what they’d started.
