Welcome to Gaia! ::

"Of course, " Kain said proudly, like this wasn't the first bottle of wine he'd actually opened. Which naturally made him the ideal person to pour out the wine, offering Arthur a filled glass with a vibrant grin. Which was a lot easier with him so close, and the lieutenant was beyond elated to see the little shifts of the mauvian that showed yes, he wanted to be here, and yes, he wanted to be close.

Immediately, he stabbed at one of the meatballs with his fork and set to nibbling at it. Trying to find a few clips of you online, Kainite almost panicked a little before Arthur got to the part about the soap opera, because that immediately told him that he wasn't actually looking for Wilbur, but, "Oh, you mean the character like me?" he asked, laughing a little with a slight flush to his cheeks. "Yeah, I'd really love to see who it was!" Or anyone else like him. Maybe it'd give him more of an idea who he should be auditioning for, heh.

"It was a busy week, " he admitted. "I went out for a lot of auditions, and it's one of the busier times for my, uh, day job." Valentine's Day. Not quite as crazy as Christmas (nothing was), but...

Even so, he'd never had any issue immediately mailing Arthur back, did he? "How about you? - how was your week?" he asked brightly, holding out his half-nibbled meatball for Arthur. "Want a bite?"

Granted, they were eating the same thing. But it was a couple thing to do, right?

Kainite wasn't sure if he should be flattered or kind of uneasy. Not like it was really that much of a big deal to him, but - "I mean. Doesn't that make it kinda easy to find me outside the uniform?" he asked, frowning a little. "If you've already found me - isn't it kind of the same as tracing my email?" Just to be clear, though, "Not that I'm not flattered you went to all the trouble, " because honestly, even his own parents weren't remotely interested in the little bit parts he had. It also kind of made it harder to blow himself up as anything remotely important in anything, but...

Ironically, Kainite didn't really love wine either. But he knew it was romantic and Arthur had gone to a lot of trouble to get it to him, so he drank it like he'd done it a million times and made a pleased little sound once he'd had a good sip. It burned a little on the way down. With that and the way he was feeding Arthur, it felt so official and romantic.

That was interesting, though. "Mauvians have a headquarters?" was the first question, and then, "Do you all live there? - what kind of library? Like, mauvian stuff, or fiction, or something else?" Then, he made a face, nodding while he was taking a nice bite of his pasta, obviously to the bit of sauce he splattered on his cheek. "Too cold for much of anything. Winter's really miserable after the holidays are done, don't you think? Not that I'm personally miserable, I mean there is good in everything, just - I'd much rather have flowers than dirty snow at the side of a road, you know?"

This was, he realized, the perfect opportunity to look like a badass. Or something resembling one. He reached out and let his hand rest on Arthur's leg, a grin on his face. "Trust me. Any other time, and I'd be delighted to have you in my life - " and he wanted to make sure that was super clear. " - let the consequences be damned. It's my general. He's got a beautiful wife and all, and he's also a really great friend of mine, probably my best - " sure he was, "and if someone can find me, they could probably find him, too. I wouldn't want to cause any trouble for him, you know?"

Kainite grinned broadly. "Still though. Super flattered. - I could totally monologue for you some night if you wanted?" he offered cheerfully.

Ohhh, a safe place. Not a place Kainite expected he'd ever see (for good reason), but it was nice to know it was there. "I wondered how you could stay hidden when your energy signature was so strong, " was how he rationalized it. It was good to know Arthur had somewhere safe to be. "There's different talents, " he said, nodding to himself. "Like acting. Some people are good at action, or improv, or drama, or humor - slapstick - but that doesn't mean any one actor is less valuable than the others." He patted Arthur's back, hand lingering there. "You're very talented. If anyone's telling you you're not, it certainly shouldn't be yourself - in the worst times, that's all you've got."

Without breaking for pause, Kainite leaned forward and snatched up the noodles, playfully resisting on giving up the fork.

"Hurt?" Kainite looked genuinely confused about that. "I mean, there's the risk of injury in any fight, I suppose, but... no. My boss is a really great guy. I wouldn't trade him for anyone else."

Then, Arthur leaned in, and Kainite's heart immediately began pounding (this was it this was it)... up until he asked for dessert.

"Oh." Well, damn. He really should've made cookies or something, huh? How inconsiderate not to think ahead! Granted, he hadn't known dinner was going to be involved. "Uh, sure I can! I think there's a cupcake place nearby. - or cheesecake, maybe? - are you in the mood for anything in particular?"

Okay. So a candy. He must have really wanted it considering he set down his fork and everything, squeezing his leg super intently like that. “Like a lollipop? - or jellybeans?” He blinked curiously, and it was like the thought process was tick tick ticking away behind those pink eyes, until - “Ah, wait, do you mean... actual candy or...?”

“Oh.”

Kainite’s cheeks burned.

“Ohhh.”

Yes, saying it again helped.

He needed a line. Some sort of beautiful, artfully delivered line to make up for that. Sexy and sauve and -

“Okay.”

OKAY. That’s what he went with. WOW.

So instead of saying something, he did something instead, reaching out and sliding a tentative hand along Arthur’s leg, flashing him what he hoped was an imploring look. Because the wanting was mutual and all.

Kainite was not a big drinker. Alcoholism ran in the family, or so he was told. He didn't know if it was actually true or not. His family said a lot of things to try and curb behaviors before they got started. Realistically, Wilbur had never been an especially rebellious kid - which carried right over into how he acted with his general - and breaking off to do acting was kind of the bolder things he'd done. Which fed right into being gullible, yeah, but he preferred to think he had a unique take on the world.

Still, he could guess in the moment that being drunk might've felt kind of like being around Arthur. Warm all over, head swimming: it all added up to a kind of drunkenness. His fingertips sparked against bare skin, and Kainite slid fingers into long, white hair as he kissed him, and murmured back warmly, "Me too." Too all of that.

For a second, Kainite almost panicked - not because Arthur was doing anything wrong, but he worried he'd lose track of whatever he was doing in a heartbeat with the way that Arthur's hands felt on him. Also he might've made a mildly embarrassing noise or two in a voice that didn't really sound like his, even if he knew it had to be. Wish I had this sort of range on an audition he thought in the back of his head, although it was hard to be wistful with this kind of attention.

"Would it be okay to - ?" he thought to ask, tugging at one of the buttons on Arthur's jacket because let's be real, it was very much in the way of a lot of potential touching, because even if his fingers were shaking a little more from silly nerves he kept trying to throw off, he did want to.