He told himself it was because Liesel was the first person to try and get to know him — to reach out to him with open arms and accept him without caring about his past or see more or less than a teenage boy, uncertain about what he was doing and trying in vain to fit into a world for which he hadn't been prepared. Others along the way had reached out to him as well, sure... but something about his and Liesel's friendship had always been special. Or maybe just unexpected.

There were others Serge had been with, others he would continue to be with whose names he could care less if he remembered. His attraction to others lasted only as long as his physical needs, but with Liesel it wasn't just carnal desires. He'd known it was different with Liesel nearly since they’d met. They were still both young, still had their duties to take care of, but that didn't mean they had to completely ignore everything else about themselves.

Liesel was a better man than he was, though. He held true to his duties, to his promises. He put his people first, as well as his role as Senshi. Serge, on the other hand, was hardly as disciplined. Sometimes he wished he was more like Liesel. Friendly and open, rather than distant and ill-tempered.

Serge allowed Liesel to pull away from him, not about to hold him against his will, but was surprised when he was pulled with him. He lowered himself to his knees, balancing carefully over the young man he'd come to trust more than anyone else. Olive green eyes searched Liesel's expression, the look in his eyes, the smile on his lips, trying to decide what was going through his head. Surely this wasn't what he'd originally planned when he'd entered the room earlier. Usually Liesel was so difficult to convince that wine was almost always needed, but this time...

He leaned down after a few moments, their lips meeting in a gentle kiss.

The bottle and goblet of wine, left and forgotten where they'd been placed.