There was barely a squeak, but Kyle had to sit up after seeing Ollie’s reaction.
"Hey," he murmured, lifting Ollie’s chin. "What’s wrong?"
Hazel eyes blinked up at him, glassy and confused.
The question should’ve been easy to answer. But Ollie wasn’t even sure why he was shedding tears.
Did he feel sad? Angry? No. Not even close.
He was overwhelmed. His heart kept somersaulting, and his brain kept thudding like it was being paid for overtime. And all because—
He wanted to say it too.
Because he wanted him to hear it and because he wanted to be brave.
So Ollie tried. He opened his mouth. Closed it. Tried again.
Nothing came out except a puff of air and puffed cheeks.
"I-I..."
Still nothing. And the blonde couldn’t understand why he was having this difficulty now, of all times?!
Kyle watched, both concerned and charmed, as the frustration piled visibly on Ollie’s face, his hair antenna showing clear signs that he was at wits’ end.
Then, without warning, Ollie tugged at Kyle’s collar, yanking him towards him with all the stubborn fire in his little body.
Eyes squeezed shut, he pushed himself up into a kiss—
—except it landed squarely on the poor man’s nose.
"..."
"..?"
"!!!"
"...hm?" Kyle blinked, nose-to-nose with a mortified blond mop who looked like he wanted to evaporate on the spot.
"WHA—?!" Ollie squawked, frozen in horror.
"You missed, but only by a little," Kyle confirmed with a twitching smile.
"AAAAHH—!" the blonde wailed, already trying to squirm away.
"Too late," Kyle caught him by the waist and the wrists, pulling him right back into his lap.
Their eyes met.
Kyle’s were warm, teasing. "Want a redo?"
Ollie stilled.
He was still mortified, but the determined first timer felt like he would never live it down if he didn’t succeed in this. And so, surprisingly, the teasing adjutant received a nod.
But now what? How does he prepare?
All he really understood were the instructions for the one initiating the kiss—so he tried it earlier, because the part about what the person being kissed was supposed to do? Vague. Frustratingly vague.
But he failed.
So now what? Should he just imitate those from the books?
So he puckered up, nervous and unsure. Just...waiting.
And it was the cutest thing Kyle has seen in a while.
So it would’ve been impossible to let his little star go that easily.
He leaned in, and Ollie felt his movement, his heart ready to leap out of his chest as he was kissed.
On the cheek.
"???"
Ollie made a confused noise.
Then Kyle kissed his nose.
"Wh—?!"
Then his forehead.
"Huh??"
Kyle chuckled. "I’m appreciating the appetizers before the main course. Didn’t Luca teach us about pacing?"
"Y-you!" Ollie squeaked, but the complaints grew more flustered than furious every time Kyle laid another kiss somewhere else.
And he sure took his time, gently kissing each spot that made Ollie squirm, every little protest making the experience even sweeter.
Finally, when Ollie’s breath hitched and he went utterly still, the meanie cupped his cheek.
So it wasn’t surprising that the mushy star got annoyed, struggling lightly, trying to free himself from Kyle’s arms—but he was too weakened by romance, limbs floppy like rollups that he practically fell onto the man.
Their positions shifted dangerously, and when Ollie’s eyes moved down, he hiccupped at how close they were—noses brushing, breaths mingling.
Then, like gravity had shifted its pull, their faces inched closer, breath catching and stilling. There was a hush in the air, the kind that settled before a storm. Every inch felt magnified—their proximity, the soft rise and fall of breath, the tick of anticipation.
Kyle’s gaze flickered to Ollie’s lips, and Ollie, dizzy from adrenaline and something headier, felt himself lean in without meaning to. It was instinct. Like something older than language, guided by feeling rather than thought.
It touched.
And it was soft.
An actual kiss.
Ollie’s eyes were still open, caught in a daze, like he’d just left the planet.
It was a delicate kiss—warm and tender and heart-thudding. The kind that made time stretch and shrink all at once.
But really, all it was were lips touching, but to Ollie, it was like an awakening.
When they parted, the blonde’s fingers went to his lips. His eyes were wide with wonder.
"I—my first k-kiss..." he mumbled, barely audible.
Kyle, with a slight flush on his face, smiled at him like he didn’t just nearly send him to the afterlife. "You okay?"
Ollie gave a shaky squeak.
But then Kyle leaned closer, voice low, "Then if you are...Can I have today’s main course?"
Ollie’s mouth gaped. "What?!"
"That wasn’t it already?!"
"Yes...But that was just the first bite."
It was.
Really was.
Well, theirs until a certain door hissed with a mechanical whrr-clunk.
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