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[ He shifts and murmurs conspiratorially into her ear. ]

This is where you bluff and say "deal" to keep me from arguing with you.

But-- [ okay, his whispering is sort of distracting. ]

... D-deal?

Deal.

[ as if he did not just feed her the answer ]

Anyway, it's not much of a problem if you don't remember your birthday. I'll remember it for you, and then it'll be that much easier to surprise you when it comes!

It's true that I'm definitely surprised... b-but I'll be more prepared next time!

See that you are. But know that when it comes to surprises, I can't be beat! It's kind of my thing.

... Morgan's is a slow and humiliating defeat, in case you were wondering.

[ Maybe it's why they love pitfalls so much. 'Tis a beautiful union of both. ]

... [ Okay, that earns him a laugh, even if she muffles it. ]

I have known her for awhile... but you're exactly right. I think I'm glad that it isn't yours, or my birthday might have turned out differently.

[ Her laughter is far and few enough that it seems new every time. ]

... There's still plenty of time, you know. The nice thing about birthdays is that they last all day long.

[ your best friend could be standing outside your door waiting to terrorize you right this moment ]

[ She wouldn't be surprised. ]

I know... but you seemed like you were in a hurry to leave already.

Well, my plan was to let you have your peaceful morning mostly to yourself before dragging you off to who knows where. The start of your day sets the tone for the rest of it, don't you think?

That's-- well, yes, but having you with me for a morning is a rather wonderful start, I think.

[ and she said that almost without blushing. ]

[ At least she's not alone. He thinks about that for a moment and pinks happily. Then he carefully plucks the vase out of her lap and places it on the floor so that he can properly and wholeheartedly cuddle her, pulling her in by the waist and all but smothering her with affection. ]

Thank you.

[ If there was a squeak there-- he probably didn't imagine it. Noire is so red it almost feels like a fever has kicked in, but with the way her heart is leaping about in her chest, she's pretty sure this time... it's Morgan's fault entirely. ]

Y-you don't have to-- for something like that, I was just being honest!

[ But give her a minute and she'll yield, quietly nuzzling against him in an embarrassed sort of affectionate gesture. ]

Regardless, it was a nice thing to say! Thanks where thanks are due.

[ He closes his eyes and enjoys her shy return cuddle for what it is, which is adorable. Adorable!! And he will just sit here and continue to be mushy and gooey, fairly draping himself all over her. ]

[ It takes close to ten minutes before Noire feels brave enough to speak up. Birthday or not, she'd like to thank him, and if she doesn't do something now, she's likely going to either doze off like this or lose her nerve completely. ]

... Morgan, can you keep your eyes closed? Just for a minute.

[ He opens his eyes when she speaks, but quickly closes them again obediently. ]

Hm? Sure thing.

[ He doesn't bother asking why, seeing as how he'll probably understand soon enough. ]

[ He will, even if Noire is taking her sweet time with it. There's a hand passing lightly over his hair (and she thinks she might have to take off her gloves more often, to enjoy the feeling), and she'll fuss with his robe. Then, finally, with a breath--

She'll lean in to brush her lips very carefully against his. ]

[ The long silence only heightens his anticipation, and when she starts fussing with his hair and robe, his heart begins to pound distinctly faster. This type of teasing must be illegal somewhere in some world, or some sort of torture method--

And then he feels something soft against his lips, and a small shiver flashes through him even as he freezes up.

She kissed him.

Noire kissed?? him??

??? ???

.... ... ... ]

C... Can I open my eyes now?

[ Let her pull back first and do her absolute utmost to not look at him. Well, hello wall. You sure are fascinating-looking. ]

Y... yes?

[ THAT'S COOL, he'll come to her. With his sight restored, he closes the distance back up and carefully turns her face toward him so that he can press a longer kiss to her lips. What he lacks in finesse, he makes up for in enthusiasm as he ends up all but pushing her to the wall. ]

[ Noire emits a very muffled sound of surprise as she latches onto his shoulders; it's the first instinctive thing she does. There's that helpful wall behind her, but it still feels as though she's two steps away from falling, and that she shouldn't let go of him.

Not that she really wants to. She thought just working up the nerve to kiss him had done a large enough number on her heart, but like this, her chest and her face both feel hot enough to fry breakfast for all of the Shepherds on. He's so close, closer than he's ever been, and maybe she's just as clumsy as she tries to figure out how to kiss him back, how to make this less one-sided-- but nothing about this is bad. ]

[ As much as they've snuggled and enjoyed each other's close company over the past month, the contact they make now burns him up.

Of course, he has no idea how she should kiss him back, or how to kiss her back while she's trying to kiss him back. He's never kissed anyone for longer than half a second. So he's no judge, really. But he'll learn that maybe he should ease up a little, give her a chance to retaliate so they can figure this out together. Maybe even remember to breathe, because that's important and he feels a little lightheaded. ]

[ Breathing is definitely very important-- as is learning on the fly, as nerve-wracking as it is when the learning involves mouth-to-mouth contact and she only really figures out that it's better if she doesn't keep her lips firmly pressed together like-- a full minute later. And she only learns that when she tries to take a quick breath, and then Noire realizes that it actually feels really good.

But she still needs to breathe, and so she'll pull back, practically gasping and still hanging onto him. ]

M-- Morgan--

[ Why does her voice sound so strange, breathless, hardly a whisper? ]

[ He laughs breathily, as good as panting now, and leans back so she can sit up more comfortably. To say nothing of the way she says his name, which only intensifies the redness of his face. ]

Say, that was a lot better than when I kissed Raphael. I think I'm starting to see the appeal.

[ She's not going far, just enough to lean back properly against the wall. Her face isn't going to be any less red anytime soon, and she absently brushes stray bits of hair away from her eyes as she musters a smile. ]

You did say... you were attracted to girls, so that makes sense.

Mystery solved!

[ He straightens up his robe (important) and rubs his cheeks, which now seem to be permanently lit, before flopping with a happy sigh onto the bed beside her. ]

I was wondering when you'd go for it.

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