IT'S PEACEFUL IN THE DEEP.

   ❝ I’m always offering. ❞ Maybe not in the way most would expect, but in his mind he’d popped the question in a thousand different ways, never direct but always implied—-each hint was more genuine than the last, no matter how vague they might’ve been. With her this close, though, and her being so affectionate in a way only she could provide ( he’d leave that lipstick mark there just for that reason alone ), he wouldn’t mind dropping to one knee and popping the question right now if that’s what she wants. In fact, he’d do it ten times over, and she wouldn’t even have to ask. Actually, she might have to ask him to stop. Carefully, as if he might shatter the moment, he reaches forward to take her hands in his and steps just a little bit closer, leaving just enough space to breathe.   ❝ Have I ever mentioned that I love when you call me that? Because, I love when you call me that. ❞

   ❝ Seung, correct? ❞ Taeho didn’t need to ask—-at least, not really—-having been circling her for weeks, now. He was sure she’d noticed, too, though his eyes were a single pair in a room of hundreds. Still, it felt proper to do so, as if any of that mattered in an unholy place like this; such a thing would seem even sillier to the brothers he left behind, who knew him as the improper fool that he is. Leaning against the marble countertop of the bar, his eyes glazed over the rest of the room in a casual, flippant manner, before landing back on her with hawk-like precision. It was as if his gaze never left her at all, and in a way they never had—-ever since he’d walked through the door his attention had been on her and only her, even when it seemingly skirted around the room. He couldn’t tell you what the guy that he’d just spent half an hour speaking with looked like, but he could tell you the number she’d decided to work with tonight and exactly how she’d accomplished it with practiced ease. After watching her for so long, taking to her side like a moth drawn to a flame was easy, damn near fluid, topped off with a polite smile and the friendliest of ease.    ❝ Mind if I buy you a drink? ❞

starter call! length will vary.

The cheek-splitting grin that lights up his features is nearly suffocating in its entirety, turning his eyes into soft crescents and revealing every single tooth once hidden behind cheeks and lips. He ignores the fact that she seemed to be looking for a mistake, that she seems surprised that she can’t find one, because that doesn’t matter—-what matters is the blatant meaning behind her words.         ❝ Is that your way of saying you’d say ‘ yes ’? ❞

    ❝ Yikes—-that really looks like it hurts. You sure you’re okay? ❞

     ❝ I can come for my man and clean at the same time! Check the kitchen—-I did all the dishes, cleaned the counters and mopped the floor. ❞ He decides to leave out the fact that he most certainly slipped once or twice due to his erratic style of cleaning, and that he nearly dropped a plate while using the sponge as a makeshift microphone while he belted out Adele’s ‘hello’—-it just didn’t seem like necessary information, y’know? Carefully, as if he hadn’t just been sliding all over her wooden floors, he steps aside and does a grand gesture with his arm towards the kitchen door, wiggling his eyebrows in the process.     ❝ See? So sure about me not putting a ring on it, now? ❞

     ❝ You wanna tell me what’s going on?  —-not because you’re in trouble or anything, it’s just that I really wanna laugh at you, but I can’t really figure out what I’m looking at and it’s preventing me from finding this as funny as I’m sure it is. ❞

A hand goes to rest above the beating of his heart, and he feigns a look of hurt at the reply he was given, despite the fact that he knew the other male couldn’t see him—-the act is gone as quick as it came, though, and he’s just as quick to plop himself down in the chair next to Dru with a smile bright enough to put the fluorescent lights to shame.    ❝ No, that’s not why I’m here—-at least, it wasn’t, until you mentioned it, ❞ he pauses only to lean forward a little, trying to get a better look at the other’s face. ❝ I really hope you don’t greet everybody like that, by the way. Something bothering you? Or, is my presence really that off-putting? I should warn you the latter is definitely going to hurt my feelings. ❞

   ❝ Only a little. ❞ Sparing a glance at the neon sign overhead, the sight is enough to incite a lopsided grin that reveals little slivers of his teeth and lilts his words enough to make it painfully obvious that he’d laugh if he had a little less self control.       ❝ Mostly ‘cause this place is a hole and most locals know that already, but the obvious is there, too. Mind if I ask what brings you to the city? ❞

A high-pitched giggle is elicited from each and every hit that lands on his arm, and he can only speak through his laughter and the breathless nature they bring.        ❝ Ow, ow, ow! I never said I had it! You’re just assuming things, and I’ll have you know that HURTS! ❞