He could see Kade freeze as the magic held him in place; but his focus was elsewhere, so the effect faded just as quickly as it had come. Slowly, Kade took a cautious step forward and dropped to his knees across from him.
“Sorry,” he said, his voice low. The confident, teasing tone from before was entirely gone now. “I thought... you'd be able to block it. I'm sorry. Are you alright?”
Nothing felt broken under his hand as he tentatively rotated his arm. It certainly smarted, and would probably bruise, but there was no evidence of any lasting damage.
“I think so,” Florian sighed, finally looking away from his arm to glance at Kade with a frown. But Kade had gotten much closer than he'd thought, and Florian nearly jumped in surprise. Gingerly, Kade pushed Florian's hand away and felt along his arm, his fingers probing along his shoulder. Florian winced at the contact, but it seemed Kade couldn't find anything broken or fractured either.
The pressure relented, but Kade's hand stayed on Florian's arm.
“I'm sorry,” he repeated, his eyes sliding from the spot on Florian's arm up to his eyes. “I really didn't mean to hurt you.”
“It's alright,” Florian stammered, acutely aware of the heat prickling on his skin where Kade had touched. “I don't think my dad would be mad about it, if that's what you're worried about.”
For the first time Florian could recall, obvious color rose in Kade's cheeks, and his yellow-orange eyes flickered away.
“That's not what I'm worried about,” he said, and there was a softness to his voice that Florian couldn't place.
The shirt, the moment they'd shared in the forest last night, and now his voice and this lingering touch...WasKade coming on to him? It seemed ridiculous when he thought about it, but what else was he supposed to think?
For a long moment Florian wondered if he should say anything, part of him wanting to keep quiet for fear he was wrong—worried that if he was picking up on something that wasn't there, being too forward now would only make things unbearably awkward later. But the rest of him couldn't believe that someone would be acting this way around him if they weren't interested.
So, tentatively, slowly enough that Kade could pull away, he lifted his opposite hand and gently placed it over Kade's where it rested on his shoulder.
“I really like spending time with you,” he said slowly, nervously keeping his eyes on the ground. He didn't think he could look at Kade while he said it. “So you don't have to worry about scaring me away, either.”
Kade was silent for a moment, and Florian's heart started to sink, fearing he'd been wrong after all. Then Kade's thumb moved under his hand, rubbing an almost imperceptible but comforting circle over his skin.
“I like spending time with you too,” he said, his voice low. He visibly hesitated, his eyes lingering on the stone walls of the castle around them, before adding, “Maybe more than I should.”
“Kade,” Florian blurted, more forceful now; and Kade's eyes flickered back to him. “Listen, I, um... I really like you. I think you noticed already.”
Kade was silent for a moment, then a small smile twitched at the corners of his mouth. “I noticed.”
“But... I don't know. This has all been crazy, you know, and everything’s happening so fast,” Florian stammered, gesturing around with his free hand. “And... Well, I just had a breakup a few months ago. So I don't... I mean, can we just do this slow? Whatever this is?”
Nervously, he made himself meet Kade’s eyes despite the heat in his face and the slight tremble to his fingers that Kade must feel on his own hand. But the other man's expression didn't change, and he seemed to think over the words for a long moment before replying.
“Yes,” he said, nodding once. “I understand. I need to stay focused on my job, too. Keeping the king safe, and keeping you safe: those are my priorities. Everything else has to come second.”
“But I do like this,” Florian interjected quickly. Kade's reply had been carefully neutral, maybetooneutral. “And I don't... I don't want to stop. I want to keep spending time with you.”
The slight smile on Kade's face widened. “Me too,” he said, and he carefully pulled his hand out from Florian's grasp and stood up. He helped Florian to his feet as well before continuing, “I don't think we'll get any more sparring done today. Want to go for a walk instead?”
“Um, sure,” he answered, mirroring Kade's hesitant smile. “Yeah. That sounds nice.”
Kade gathered the practice swords and put them away, before turning back to Florian and offering his hand.
“Ready?” he asked, his voice low and soft, almost vulnerable. Florian took his hand, interlacing their fingers. His heart was pounding so hard that he was certain Kade could feel his pulse; but the way their fingers fit together was more comfortable than he would have expected.
“Let's go,” he agreed with a nod, and he let Kade lead him out of the courtyard and out into the gardens.
