"You're looking for an eyeful?" He teased. A part of him stuttered in hesitation. He had so much shit going on, with all this stuff about his past and his family and his powers. And she was, well, the tenuously re-welcomed princess of Atherdale. However, all that could do easily be flipped right on its head. Instead of an obstacle, it was the reason to forge on. After all, who better to get involved with than someone who was equally fucked up?

He wasn't backing down. Pari's own chest was tight with uncertainty, but she reached up to unlace the first ribbon of her own gown. "Aren't you?"

Her move to plunge into this with a full reveal was a big step, from everything being so closely guarded to the most vulnerable moment he could imagine. But if Pari of all people was willing to go all the way, he felt he should meet her there. The fragility of the moment was not lost on him-- Pari's olive branches were often tenuous-- and he feared he'd lose her again if he made a wrong move. "I mean--" he stuttered, feeling like it was wrong to watch only to remind himself this show was for him. "Yeah."

Pari fought the burning of her cheeks as her nightgown fell lose, pooling around her hips. The last time she'd been this exposed in front of another person was... well, it was like wearing half a bikini, but she'd never been so self-conscious in a bikini. Context really did matter.
This is the worst, she thought miserably as his eyes drank her in; she’d put effort into dressing up around him, but her bralette was simple and white… and she was only in a bra (and a thin gown) in front of Feo. But as his gaze grew more open, revealing surprise and delight and desire and a host of other emotions that quickened her heartbeat, she found her own reluctance slowly seeping away.

"Wait so," he had to break the spell, just for a moment, and looked into her eyes again, "We're doing this, right? Right now?”

"I mean, I'm half naked in front of you." Pari bit her lip, considering him. "You... do want this, right? Tell me the truth."

"No, yeah," he said quickly. "Yes. I just think maybe I should run to the special supply in the bathroom before I make you wait fully naked in the cold."

"There's a special supply in the bathroom?"

"Yeah, of condoms. Didn't you hear Roo earlier?" He had to stifle a grin. "Even she was feeling the tension."

"Oh my god," she scoffed, rubbing her forehead. "That's what she was talking about. I was wondering why she was being so... what's the word? Like, not subtle."

"It was not subtle at all." He agreed. "Be right back? Don't get cold feet while I'm gone."

"Depends on how fast you get back," she teased.

Pari was a virgin, but she knew about sex. She hadn’t known who or when or how, but she’d had access to the internet and was paranoid enough about her first time to have done some research in years prior, to avoid any sort of embarrassment that would leave her looking naive, or worse — like a failure.
But none of her research had prepared her to sleep with one of her best friends. And none of her research had told her he’d be just as nervous as her, or that he’d be far more considerate. Pari had been prepared to go through the motions. She wanted this, sure, but even more than that — she wanted to be good at this. She wanted to make sure he’d be left with stars in his eyes and wanting more, because nothing would be more humiliating than Feofil’s disappointment.

But when she slipped out of the rest of her clothes, when he took her in his arms, all of her careful planning tossed itself right out the window. Her brain was on the fritz, and sparks flew between her ears instead of thoughts when they kissed, and it only became more confounding from there. She couldn’t recall having a single coherent speculation during their time together, which was more terrifying in retrospect than she cared to admit. It was like the second she began come together, he pulled her apart once again.
She’d also liked it more than she cared to admit. People didn’t touch Pari, and that was by design, but when Feo slid his lips across her skin, no matter where, she fought the urge to melt entirely beneath him, rather than holding herself back from shoving him away. Another thing she hadn’t anticipated. It was made all the worse by the fact that Feo paused intermittently, his hands tangled in her hair, and asked if she was okay. She’d had to confirm around her own impatient keening.

And she had known that some of it would hurt, especially since it was her first time. She’d expected a cramp, like her period, or a quick, sharp pain because hey — she was being impaled.
But before they’d even gone that far, Feo had taken great care to make sure it would go smoothly, that she’d have some idea of what it might feel like beforehand. Fingers weren’t exactly the same, but he was right. The sensation had prepared her for what was to come. And she did, and more than once, which had also been both unexpected and unnerving, again in retrospect. While she definitely had not protested against her own weakness during, or even after the fact, she found herself now morbidly marveling at how easily he’d brought her to her knees.

But it was okay, she decided. Actually, this was good. This was fantastic, because now she’d had sex for the first time with someone she actually did trust; it had been… good, though she wasn’t willing to admit how good; and they’d gotten all of it out. The tension from the last month and the year before that, the warmth that rose in the pit of her stomach when he was near, now she knew what it felt like. That curiosity had been quelled, and… now things could go back to normal. One and done. Right?

Feofil stared up at rafters in the ceiling from his horizontal position on the bed, watching their shadows flicker in the warm glow of the oil lamp as Pari cleaned up in the adjoining bathroom. His chest rose and fell rhythmically as his breath returned to him, a sheen of sweat dotting his brow. Their bodies in motion had made the room warm despite the bitter cold just outside the window. With each exhale he felt himself returning to earth from whatever high heaven his mind had escaped to, and the chill crept back in as the fantasy ebbed. That had been-- quite frankly, amazing, almost indescribably so. To press into each other so wholly, skin against bare skin, so intertwined that they melded into one, it was like nothing he'd ever expected. Especially in contrast to his daily fight to tear Parisa's stubborn walls down. Tonight, she'd forgotten the walls and just... unlocked the door. And it had been stunning.

He wondered what had gotten into them. Was demon-killing some sort of aphrodisiac? It would explain the Altirian population. This wasn't a sane evolution of their relationship, at least not according to all the external variables. But somehow it had felt inevitable. The longing had been so palpable ever since their move-in that it had quite literally driven them both mad. What now? It was a big question. He rolled onto his side, enjoying the cool feeling of the silken sheets on his skin, and closed his eyes for a minute. Now, he figured, it was time to rest. What awaited them in the morning was not a problem for this moment. In this moment, all he would do was bask in the ecstasy and relief of it all.

Pari squeezed the water out of her hair, staring at herself in the mirror. What now?
Feofil lay just beyond the door, tangled up in the sheets, his bare body a reminder of what they'd been up to just twenty minutes prior. Part of her hoped that he'd passed out while she'd been gone; the other hoped that he'd stayed awake, waiting for her return. She took a long inhale, swallowing that part as far down as it would go. She wouldn't get her hopes up -- she didn't have any hopes to get up, actually. Except one. She hoped that they weren't awkward around each other now that this thing had come to pass, but that was it.

Pari's gaze dipped to the expanse of her neck and chest and then she slowly turned, letting it canvas her back. Feofil had been gentle, as he always was. He hadn't left any marks on her skin, almost as if the last hour hadn't happened at all. That made things easier... but somehow, the thought also made her stomach twist with uncertainty. Then again what was there to be uncertain about? She was the princess of Atherdale and he was her friend, but he could also be a condescending ass who had made it clear that he wanted no part in her spotlight. If he'd really wanted to be with her, he wouldn't have run away that first time. He held her up to some expectation that she inevitably failed, or she leaned on him too much and he couldn't measure up, because at the end of the day, they were fundamentally different people. They were wrong for each other on the most foundational level and the only reason he'd submitted tonight was because they were both stretched thin; emotions had been high after the events of the morning.

None of this was going to go anywhere. She wouldn't set herself up for more disappointment.

Pari twined her hair together in a loose braid and she picked up her discarded nightgown, not bothering to put anything on underneath as she slipped it over her head. She'd hated sleeping with a bra on but had hated more the thought of bolting from the house in that vulnerable state if they were attacked. But it was highly unlikely that demons would strike the same place twice in one night, and Feofil had already gotten an eyeful. Pari glanced at herself in the mirror one last time to make sure her hair was in place and that she didn't look too rattled before opening the door and stepping outside, accompanied by a warm gust of perfumed air.

Feofil roused at the sound of the door, lifting his head a little and cracking an eyelid. He'd pulled on his briefs to ward against the cold on his most sensitive of regions, but was otherwise giving himself some time to cool off before bundling back up again in his thick winter pajamas. "Hey," he murmured, a smile making its way onto his lips as he patting the space beside him, running his hand over the sheets. "Saved you a spot."

"Thanks," she approached the bed, shuddering in the cold. "Are you gonna wash up?"

"I should, shouldn't I?" He lamented. "But I don't want to just leave you here to the demons."