[D8 EN Closed] Stars and Moon Align

[Hantei Genji]

Genji opened his mouth, then closed it, his fingers gently holding hers.

"Well...I...care for you Kogi-chan." He searched for her eyes, noticing the wetness around them. "Though I do not wish to hurt you. I...think..I, well. I would like to spend more time with you. A lot more time. Perhaps...even my whole life."

[Bayushi Kogi]

Kogi blinks away the moisture in her eyes, turning Genji back from a blurred shadow-figure to someone very clear--and very close, his pale eyes gleaming toward her dark ones. "I..." She swallows and starts again. "I care for you too. I don't--I don't know all of you yet. You're like the moon, different sides showing clear at different times. But I want..."

It's surprisingly hard, just to say I want with her whole face bare like this. She feels herself flushing, blood burning in her scarred and unscarred cheeks alike. "I want to see all of them. Not just once, either." Her fingers tighten a little in his, convulsively.

[Hantei Genji]

Genji smiled, and slowly moved her fingers to his lips, placing a small...awkward kiss on them. Was this how it's done. He touched them to his lips, then froze.

Trying to defuse the situation, he moved them back, blushing. "I..." He took a deep breath. "I would love that. Would you...would you care for us to make the next step together? To get to know each other, find new facets of the other, every day, every morning, every night? Because I..do. Only if you want to."

[Bayushi Kogi]

Oh. "That sounds... it sounds... I do want that." Kogi tugs Genji's hand closer and presses her cheek against it, lightly--the smooth side, not the scarred one.

"Can we?" Her lips move against his hand as she speaks. "Your family..." That isn't at all what she wants to think about right now, but she is too much a political creature--Bayushi's creature--not to.

[Hantei Genji]

Oh. "That sounds... it sounds... I do want that." Kogi tugs Genji's hand closer and presses her cheek against it, lightly--the smooth side, not the scarred one.

"Can we?" Her lips move against his hand as she speaks. "Your family..." That isn't at all what she wants to think about right now, but she is too much a political creature--Bayushi's creature--not to.

Genji's heart picked up at the touch of her cheek, his smile wide as usual, but...goofy. "Oh? My family?" He titled his head for a second, then smiled. "I think...I think I can convince Mother and Father. I spoke to your Lord earlier today...he...was open to the idea, and seemed to endorse it." He blushed, and his skin seemed to take on a soft glow under the moonlight.

[Bayushi Kogi]

"Lord Bayushi?" That wins a surprised smile, not as bright as Genji's--how could it possibly be, when she's only human?--but with its own kind of metaphorical glow, undimmed by the scars pulling a bit at the left corner of her mouth.

Kogi hadn't missed the scene in court this morning, and while later gossip will probably, mercifully skip over Hantei Kinsen's outburst in light of the much more consequential events that had preceded it, Kogi had certainly noticed and taken it to heart. But she'd had no idea Genji had been preparing his ground in advance like this. Maybe he really does know what he's doing--maybe this isn't just a fantasy destined to melt away with the spring snow?

"If he's on our side..." She doesn't say My lord can handle your mother, because that would be un-tactful. She thinks it pretty hard, though. "It won't make things too difficult for your father's Clan?" She lifts her head away from his hand to meet his eyes. "I'm not afraid of conflicts, Genji-kun. But I... I can't guard against things I don't know." Reflexively, her gaze starts to shift and become oblique again, but she resists the instinct and continues to match gazes with him straight across.

[Hantei Genji]

Genji's smile brrightened more as he saw hers. "Mother is...set in her ways, dometimes, but she does love me.," He chuckled. "She is caught off guard sometimes that I am not a smyll child anymorr. Father may dislike Uncle's methods, but he does respect my choice."

He hesitated. "My fsmily is not easy, I won"t hide that. I will not inflict that on you unknown.,"

His fingers wandered her face, enjoying the touch. They wondered over to the scarred dide, but difn't change a pattern.

[Bayushi Kogi]

Kogi half-closes her eyes and draws a slow, careful breath as Genji's fingers brush across her scars. When was the last time another person touched her face? She can't remember; years and years. Her own hands flex in the water, unsure where they ought to be.

"Lots of families are... complicated. At least you have one." Her lips quirk wryly--have they been doing that in secret, under the veil, every time she says something in that dry, slightly grave tone? Probably. "If my parents were still here... no, I can't really imagine you in that picture." A tiny shake of her head, not enough to shake away his hand from her cheek. There's no anguish in her voice at the mention of her parents; at most, it's another old scar, healed serviceably if not perfectly.

Carefully, hesitatingly, one of her hands floats up out of the water and begins to trace his jawline with her fingertips.

[Hantei Genji]

Genji leaned in to her touch, while his own was gently, very gently, brushing past the scarred tissue. He seemed fascinated by her lips, his golden eyes lost and transfixed.

"Mhm...well..perhaps you will too then." He smiled, it was a big, goofy smile. "You might regret it at some point, though."

His fingers and hand slowly traveled to the back of her head, his fingers tangling in her hair. He seemed to enjoy the sensation. Awkwardly, he started to pull her closer, gently. Hopefully with minimal hair tugging.

[Bayushi Kogi]

Kogi takes a beat or two to process (and enjoy) the sensation of fingers in her hair. "Don't regret, make a plan. Your uncle says that," she murmurs. Slightly belatedly, she catches the intention behind the pull, and her other hand finds its way to Genji's shoulder as they drift closer together, until she can feel his breath...

--
((Awkward first kiss go time? ))

[Hantei Genji]

(oh yes)

Genji leaned in, gently tugging Kogi close, his warm lips meeting hers....like a wet fish.

IS THIS IT?!

[Bayushi Kogi]

Bump!

Not quite on the level of a wet fish, really. Genji is, well, warm-blooded, and good-looking, and smells a lot nicer, after all. But a truthful narrator is bound to admit that neither he nor Kogi actually knows what they are doing. Kogi is eager but also tense, in part precisely because this is unexplored territory; no one's ever told her--who on earth would have?--that a good kisser knows when to relax.

Two pairs of young lips sort of... smush together uncertainly.

[Hantei Genji]

Bump!

Not quite on the level of a wet fish, really. Genji is, well, warm-blooded, and good-looking, and smells a lot nicer, after all. But a truthful narrator is bound to admit that neither he nor Kogi actually knows what they are doing. Kogi is eager but also tense, in part precisely because this is unexplored territory; no one's ever told her--who on earth would have?--that a good kisser knows when to relax.

Two pairs of young lips sort of... smush together uncertainly.

Genji tried turning and twisting his lips, like how he saw mom and dad do it once. Surely it'll work wonders!



Or not.

Slowly releasing his hand, he moved a bit back, hoping that his blush isn't that evident. "I..you are wonderful Kogi-chan." He's gonna need some pointers on this kissing thing. Really, which mouth pieces goes where?!

[Bayushi Kogi]

Luckily for both Genji and Kogi, when you are young and infatuated, even a mutually inept kiss is exciting. Kogi's eyebrows, drawn together in concentration (that was the first mistake!) arch upward as she looks into Genji's eyes. "You are, too. You really are." She sounds almost surprised, as if this wasn't supposed to happen to her.

"And, well, we'll practice that."

[Hantei Genji]

Luckily for both Genji and Kogi, when you are young and infatuated, even a mutually inept kiss is exciting. Kogi's eyebrows, drawn together in concentration (that was the first mistake!) arch upward as she looks into Genji's eyes. "You are, too. You really are." She sounds almost surprised, as if this wasn't supposed to happen to her.

"And, well, we'll practice that."

Genji smiled widely, then started drawing her in for a hug. "This...this is real, right?" He sounded amazed, his heart beating like a drum. Like a drum. Like a drum.