Sage slowly lowered his head to stare at the hand that caressed his hip. His body tingled; his breath lost rhythm. I'm anything but strong right now. Sage was so weakened by Taro's touch that he couldn't move. Taro's pupils were large and staring passionately. Sage absentmindedly licked his lips and Taro's gaze dropped to his mouth.
Sage's heart flipped when Taro stepped closer. "If you could get through a lunch like that without wavering your perfect smile, you can get through anything." Taro's voice was a deep whisper. There was no need to speak louder when their noses were an inch apart. "I could see it in your eyes that you didn't want to be there." Taro's hand curved against his side. His other hand lightly touched above his bellybutton with the tips of his fingers. "Anyone else would think you had a great time. But I know you just wanted to be in the garden, in the fresh air, watering the roses, rooting the autumn range. You crave simpler things because why else would you give in to such a simple touch?"
By now, Taro had moved his mouth to Sage's ear. His breath was warm. Oh god, I have given in. Sage wanted nothing more than to collapse into Taro's arms, just to be held, to be noticed, to be another man's centre of attention. "How- how do you see all that?" Sage was a little breathless.
"You showed me because you trust me." Taro pulled his face back to look into his eyes. "You're vulnerable, therefor you're true."
Sage circled his face, trying not to stare too long at his lips, but he couldn't help it. Taro licked his bottom one, and it glossed against the dancing fire behind them. His mind was screaming. What if someone walked in? What if someone could see us despite the curtains being drawn? What if Taro is just having fun? What if I get hurt? What if he kissed me? What if I enjoyed it? What if we ended up being more than friends? How would I hide that? Would I want to hide it?
Taro leaned closer and Sage didn't lean back. Their mouths were inches apart, then centimetres, then the tips of their noses touched, and Sage thought their lips would touch at any moment, and he didn't move, he couldn't.
Then Taro's direction diverted, and his mouth fell on Sage's temple instead, a much more modest place, but a kiss, nonetheless.
Sage's eyes temporarily closed as Taro's lips pressured the side of his head. Sage's hands lifted to grip Taro's elbows. He leaned into him, and for a moment, he was free.
Was it a glimpse into his future? Or a moment he had longed for ever since he knew that he liked men? Something changed within him, something stopped weighing on his heart.
Taro wasn't smirking when he pulled back. He didn't look smug, nor amused. Sage would almost say he was stunned, or dazed, or both. Taro cleared his throat, removed his hands from Sage's waist, and buttoned up the rest of his shirt.
"Would you like a warm drink before bed?" he asked, scooping Sage's clothes from the floor and putting them in the basket by the door. He then tended to the fire and put an extra towel in the bathroom.
"No thank you," Sage said, awkwardly tapping the ends of his fingers together. "I'll just go to bed."
"Me too."
Sage watching him storm to the light and switch it off. He heard Taro going to the bedside table and the wood creaking under his weight.
"Night then."
"Night-" Sage covered his eyes when the green glow of Taro's transformation engulfed the room.
Not wanting to stand in the middle of his room all night, he got into bed and slid under the covers. How odd, he thought. Maybe he regrets it. Maybe he suddenly realised how it can't possibly happen between us. That thought made Sage feel cold. If he does regret it, then it's for the best. I shouldn't have let it happen.
Sage convinced himself that Taro's sudden recoil was what he wanted, yet he still fell asleep with a gloomy pit in his gut.
The next morning, Taro was the same, too polite, distant, and rushing around sporadically. "What's the matter?" Sage finally asked after Taro made him button up his own shirt. "Was kissing my head really that bad?"
Taro froze with a hand in Sage's cufflink drawer. His green eyes looked him up and down. "If I'm honest, it took all my strengths not to pin you up against the wall and kiss you until you forgot where you were."
Sage must have resembled the definition of shock because Taro finally smirked. "T-Then why-" he cleared his throat. "Then why have you been so, uh, hostile since you did it?" His heart rang in his ears at the thought of Taro Vinea pinning him up against a wall. Stop it, Sage.
Taro put the cufflinks back and faced the window. He stared up at the sky as if the clouds had his answer. Then he suddenly turned and blurted, "because I didn't expect a kiss on your head to feel so different." Taro ran a hand through his blond hair. "I like that we're friends, but there's something about you, and I don't know what it is, and it's driving me crazy. You have no idea how much I wanted to kiss you yesterday, but I didn't because I knew it would freak you out and I care so fucking much about your feelings. I have friends, lots of them, and I'm a very affectionate person. I hug my friends, I intrude their personal space, but nothing feels as powerful as when I touch you. I don't want to scare you off here Sage, but I'm being honest because it's not just you who could end up getting hurt." Taro quickly shut his mouth with a frown. "See, emotions make me all wordy and weird."
Sage had to sit down. Through the night, he convinced himself that Taro regretted getting close, and that maybe it was for the best. Taro had to sit down too, still frowning. Sage couldn't quite find the right words. He likes me. He actually likes me. All that flirting must have meant something to him.
"Your quietness is cute and all, but right now, I really just need to know what you're thinking," Taro said, rocking from side to side on Sage's swivel desk chair.
"I think..." That I like you too. "I don't know what I'm doing. I let you flirt with me, I let you act inappropriate. I even let you kiss my temple yesterday, but I'm still so hesitant."
"Hesitant about what?"
"About being more than friends," Sage mumbled. "I don't know why that terrifies me so much."
"Because you're thinking of the worst that could happen, and there's a lot at risk here." Taro flopped back in the chair. He rubbed his face with a heavy sigh and stared at Sage for a long moment. "I don't want you to think you like me just because I'm the first man to have paid attention to you in this way."
"And I don't want you to leave when it gets hard, because it will." Sage sat up. He had to think about the what if scenarios to figure out the right path. Taro liked him, but that came with monumental responsibilities. "I'm next in line to be king. This is not just an easy fling that might turn into something serious later. You're either in or you're out and I don't want to put that burden on you."
Taro hummed lowly. "Six months."
"What?"
"Six months. During this time we can be friends and see what happens. If we just can't keep our hands off each other, then I guess we'll have to think seriously about our relationship. If you realise that I am just an exciting first fling, and you want something else with someone else, then fine, I'll be okay with that. If I realise the responsibilities that come with dating a Prince is not for me, then fine, I'll just leave, and we can never see each other again."
Sage raised his brows in disbelief. "That's the worst idea I've ever heard. Taro, someone is guaranteed to get hurt with that plan."
"Or, we end up falling madly in love and live happily ever after."
"Is it worth the risk?"
"For eternal love? Yes." Taro shrugged. "Don't you want a little excitement in your dreary Prince life?"
"I do but this... this feels like too much," Sage admitted while his anxiety showed through his fidgeting hands.
"You're starting to overthink it-"
"There's so much that can go wrong!" Sage suddenly jumped to his feet and started pacing. "I can't believe I'm even having this conversation with you! Have I gone mad? What am I doing? This surely can't work, can it? No, surely it can't." Sage paced towards his fireplace and back to the chair. "It would have to be so secret, that's not fair on you. I'm not ready to tell anyone, am I even ready to even think about this? I don't think I know what I'm ready for and I think that's a sign that I just need to stop thinking!"
"Keeping it secret at first would be exciting. Think of the secret tension between us in public." Taro snorted when Sage stopped mid stomp. "You're the king of being dramatic. Do you get it? Because one day you'll actually be king, so I can say this and actually mean it."
Their eyes connected and Taro's grin was so wide, Sage couldn't help but to crack a smile himself. "You're unbelievable. I'm freaking out here."
"No no no, you're not freaking out." Taro tapped the chair in front of him. "You're just thinking too fast. Sit down before you burn a hole in the floor."
Sage sat, but his mind had started spinning at an alarming rate. "We should talk about this later."
"Yeah, when you've had a chance to think it all over," Taro said with a kind smile that made his green eyes glow.
Sage nodded and quickly added, "Thank you for telling me how you feel, despite it freaking me out. I would have forever wondered, if not."
Taro shook his head, still smiling. "Trust me," he said, trailing him up and down with drooped lids, "you would've worked it out on your own."