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Kilniara watched as Joe slipped into the temple and felt her smile grow as he left, suppressing the giggle until he’d faded into the dark temple interior before leaping and turning, allowing her delighted cry to slip from her lips before she calmed herself and turned back to face the temple again. He… likes me! Should I ask him about the temple? No! He will tell me in time. He has hidden nothing so far. It is obvious he knows so much. Even the priest of knowledge seeks him out!
Kilniara stifled the desire to sigh and twist like a young girl, although she was still considered of prime marriageable age for the Acokzau. I can only be grateful that he knows that we do not marry as young as humans! She waited outside the temple, only twisting twice while waiting for him to return. As she found herself twisting once again, she took steps to distract herself and turned her thoughts to holding hands.
While it wasn’t something unpleasant in the least, it did seem strange to her. Initially, she found it pleasant if a bit strange, but not something that was of any great importance or impact. But as he explained and she began to feel his fingers caress over hers, she soon found her heart beating quicker while zoilshaing, her scales flaring outward in tingles. What did Joe say his people called it? Chicken bumping? No… goose bumping! Ha! A strange way to describe it, but on base flesh, it makes sense.
Kilniara broke from her thoughts when Joe brightened from the temple entrance, light seeming to glow over his figure and bringing him out of the depths of the temple darkness. Kilniara felt her face break out in a great grin, her smile large and resisted from waving. She found herself staring, strangely finding his base form incredibly attractive, despite its strangeness. Joe stepped up to her, but did not step to her side to continue their journey, instead coming directly in front of her to look down upon her, his own smile beaming into her’s and capturing her gaze.
Traffic parted around them as the two stood, staring at one another and she soon felt his hands tickling across her forearms before coming to rest in her palms, once again clasping her hands before interlacing his fingers with his. This was new, and seemed distinctly intimate in a way that surprised her. Her fingers slid through his, feeling his incredibly soft skin along his fingers before brushing finger tips across the back of his hand. She soon found herself unable to constrain herself, her fingers tracing across his scaleless soft back of his hands with her thumbs dancing in battle against his as she found herself driven to slide her thumbs all over his and into his palm to feel the softness of his skin.
They stood this way for some time until a harsh cry shook them from the reverie and the two turned to leave the temple, Kilniara stifling a giggle while Joe grinned at her with furtive joy. The two continued to hold hands while jetting across the temple square to escape the angry cry of the man they’d annoyed.
“You OK?” Joe asked with a grin.
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Kilniara giggled with a nod in response, saying nothing.
“Good,” Joe replied, his grin still as large, “Hope we didn’t tick him off too much.”
Kilniara nodded in reply, finding his turn of phrase as odd as always, but still, surprisingly, easily understanding it, “Yeah! Glad we escaped!”
“Is PDA not accepted here?”
“PDA?”
“Ah.. um… PDA stands for public displays of affection. It’s where a couple will show love for one another in public, such as holding hands or kissing.”
Kilniara’s eye’s shot up, shock readily evident, “Kissing? In public?”
Joe laughed, “Heh! Guess that’s a no then.”
“Your people will kiss in public!?”
“Some of my people do so. Mine specifically. It is… accepted, and even sometimes expected, as love between couples is… important. Although… there is a limit. You don’t want to go too far, but…”
“Is… holding hands seen as similar to kissing?”
“Yeah. It’s… functionally identical, although it is a … lesser form? Of affection? Still it serves a similar purpose as kissing.”
Kilniara soon found her embarrassment climbing, her blush spiking intensely as she realized what she had been doing with Joe. She glanced around at others, eyes seeking for mockery or rebuke but realized that she would find none as this was not an act understood by her people. And none of the base are scorning us, either. It is not a base act? Maybe it is something of his clan?
Kilniara’s embarrassment was quickly replaced by a much more prominent heat that seemed to boil through her as she realized that her holding hands was essentially the sign of lovers. Her heart bounced between fervent expectation and excited fear of what might come this evening while her mind tried to rationalize that Joe had specifically stated that such intimacy was not something he was sought or accepted easily. Despite this, her heart leapt fully into her fantasy of how their evening would play out and she found herself trapped in her own fantasy while Joe led their way to the dungeon.
Thankfully, Joe seemed to glean her desire to remain silent and simply seemed to enjoy clasping her hand while threading their way through the streets. Kilniara was able to calm herself by the time they reached the dungeon but soon lost her composure once again when she saw her brother and Garnedell staring at them as the stepped forward holding hands. She instinctively jerked her hand free when she realized they were being watched, embarrassment driving her to it but almost immediately regretted it when she felt the deep loss of Joe’s hand in her own, the warmth and softeness now gone.
She looked at Joe, worried that he would be angered at withdrawing her hand, hoping to that he would see her desperate plea to clasp hands again, while also shrinking in embarrassment as she realized that her brother and Garnedell had seen their intimacy.
Joe simply smiled at her, patting her shoulder before looking back to the two boys, reassuring her that he understood and would not push her to continue holding hands. She heard Joe speak to the boys, but was focused, instead on her own conflicting feelings. Despite the relief that he’d understood her embarrassment of being seen and that he wasn’t angry, she still felt angry that he didn’t understand and see that she wanted to hold hands again anyway. She sighed, then cleansed her thoughts and rebuked herself for her obvious contradictions. Fear came shortly after. Is he... ashamed at being seen with me? Maybe that is why he is not... She shook her head softly and hid a grimace. No... he held hands first... he's just stopping to be kind to me... relax! Besides, I took my hand away first! Kilniara found her emotions shifting wildly between ecstatic joy, worry, frustration, and chagrin. The day was an unpleasant distraction to her scattered thoughts. Another sigh soon drifted through her lips.
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