CALL ME OUT 2020 EDITION

[blitzbrained]

ACTUALLY MADE AT THE START OF THE YEAR THIS TIME

1. check out my muselist (or dont)
2. pop a character on here u want me to tag
3. optional: pick someone you want tagging with
4. PROFIT

Comments

[spelleton]

Hm?

[ Ekkehardt is unruffled, as usual. Nothing ever seems to bother him very much, another thing that might make it hard to say things of this particular nature.

He does look faintly concerned. As much as a skull can look concerned. ]

Is something wrong..?

[accidentallich]

[Ekkehardt is good at looking faintly concerned. It's one of his many talents.]

No, no! It's not like that. It's not a wrong sort of thing.

[spelleton]

I see. [ He's not completely reassured, given that Gershom has a tendency to hide things that are pressing because he doesn't want to bother anyone, but...still. ]

What is it, then? If I might ask. [ He leans forward a little, peering at him. ]

[accidentallich]

I... that is, I...

[Shoulder Jail is telling him to just say it already.]

I like you. R-romantically.

[He can't say love, not again, but he doesn't want to be misunderstood. Even less than he wants to be a bother.]

[spelleton]

[ Ah. His expression is surprised, though it's half confusion (he's never thought of himself as particularly desirable) and half surprise that Gershom would say it at all, that he would want to.

To be honest, he doesn't know how he feels about Gershom. Well, no. He knows how he feels. But given that Gershom lives in an apartment all day and is a recluse who only sees the outside world rarely and other people even less, it feels like taking advantage of him to express it.

(He remembers what little Gershom has told him about the life he had before he became a lich; a young man enamored and isolated by someone who seemed to love him and showered him with compliments and gifts.

He remembers Salvador, crooning his old name through the door, and Gershom's fear.) ]

I...I see. [ It's more of an attempt to fill the silence than anything else. 'I like you too' in return feels terribly awkward, though it's true. 'Are you certain' seems like a rejection, but it's still a question he wants to ask.

(He can't help but wonder if he's someone Gershom should fall in love with, given the depth of everything Gershom doesn't know about him.) ]

[accidentallich]

[That's a response. It's not a negative response, but neither is it a positive one. Instead of getting a weight off Gershom's chest, it just makes him more anxious.]

Yes. So. Um.

[What does he do now? He had more prepared, he's pretty sure, but all his words have fled his mouth. He shrinks into himself, wrapping an arm around his torso.]

...I-I hope that doesn't bother you?

[spelleton]

It doesn't, no. I would be so bold as to suggest that it being bothersome is the last thing on my mind.

[ He reaches out, leans forward a little, hand just stopping short of Gershom's cheek. ]

May I?

[accidentallich]

Really?

[If Gershom could blush, he would be bright red right now. He nods, and leans his cheek into Ekkehardt's hand.

Ekkehardt's hands are warm. They suit him, really.]

[spelleton]

[ His magic runs warm; it always has. Even when he became a lich, temperature was something that he could fake much more easily than anything else.

He turns Gershom's face a little, his touch painstakingly gentle, to kiss his cheek. A light, chaste brush of contact, but unmistakeable. ]

[accidentallich]

[Somehow, the idea that Ekkehardt returned his affection had just not occurred to Gershom.

He startles for a moment, and then smiles, huge and bright.]

I'm so happy I don't know what to say...!