BE BRAVE

(alternate ending to chapter 7)

 Curio decided to be brave.

He grabbed Octavian's suspended hand, not thinking twice before pressing it to his bruised cheek. He nuzzled Octavian's hand, eyes closing for a brief second. He had to tell himself that the hitch in breath he heard from Octavian wasn't his imagination, that this was something happening right here, right now.

And he fucking loved it.

Curio's eyes flitted open, fear gripping his heart. He eventually looked up to see Octavian staring down at him, star-struck, face full of fondness that he most definitely could get used to seeing. Curio noticed how his gaze dropped to his lips often, as though he couldn't tear his gaze away.

Licking his lips, Curio looked up at Octavian with hooded eyes. "What are you waiting for?"

In that moment, neither of them cared about the consequences. They both embraced bravery, leaning towards each other. Octavian took a step closer, until his legs were pressing against Curio's upper thigh.

Their lips met. It didn't spark fireworks, or create an electricity. It was a spark. A slow movement of their lips against each others was the picture of a sweet kiss, Octavian's hand still cupped against Curio's cheek. Curio could taste the garlic bread on Octavian's breath, mingling with blood leaking from the stitched wound on Octavian's upper lip. He didn't mind at all, pressing his spare hand to Octavian's muscular back, pushing him closer to him.

The spark was growing. Slowly but surely, they were becoming an inferno. Each kiss became more desperate, their kisses more crushing, as if they couldn't get enough of the other. Hands pawed at the other, touching, touching, trying to touch everything at once. It wasn't enough, would never be enough.

They quickly parted, sucking in a breath of air before colliding again. Curio leaned back on the bed, pulling Octavian down with him. He had little complaints, climbing on top of the man and deepening the kiss. Curio's hands wandered down, down, down, pausing when they reached the steel of Octavian's belt buckle. He fumbled with the clasp, feeling as though it couldn't be undone soon enough.

Octavian pulled away.

His hair was dishevelled, his lips bruised. Blood rushed down his lip, staining his lips and chin red. His face was flushed, and the faint smile that had been on his face had long gone.

"This was a mistake." And just like that, Curio came down from his high. His hands left Octavian, staring up at the man in disbelief.

"Couldn't have decided that before you pounced on me?" Curio scoffed, shaking his head. "Yeah, you're right. This was a mistake. I don't want to date an ass hole like you."

Octavian averted his gaze, running the back of his hand against his lip, mopping up the blood. Getting rid of the feel of Curio. "I'll send someone down to fix your face."

And just like that, he was gone. In the space of five minutes, Curio went from feeling on top of the world to crashing back to the ground.

-

so initially this was how chapter 7 would end while curio was having his lil time thinking about libertas. i thought that it was too much too soon for their relationship and i wanted it to have a bit more time to develop, so i decided to have a kiss scene much later on. tbh i thought about leaving the kiss scene to the next part - i still might ;) 

-thirdwheelchurchill