Snzzone

"You seem stressed."

The Wanderer barely kept himself from startling as Sethos leaned over his shoulder, staring down at the paper the Wanderer was currently trying to write.

Key word being try.

With everything that had happened recently, from giving his core to Sandrone in Nod Krai to dealing with a Dottore corrupted Irminsul, it was significantly harder to focus on his studies. One would think that Dottore being gone would make it easier to think, but no, his mind just kept spinning back to it, replaying everything over and over.

Not to mention the fact that Dottore had figured out who he was, without the help of being connected to Irminsul. Could the other Fatui Harbingers do the same? He was trying not to be too concerned about it, but if his presence in Sumeru made it a target…

"Hey hey hey, don't space out on me." Sethos waved a hand in front of the Wanderer's face, and the Wanderer batted him away with a glare.

"Try be interesting enough to keep my attention." When Sethos' expression didn't change, the Wanderer let out a sigh. "What do you want?"

"I want to know what's got you so stressed. More so than usual, I mean." Sethos lightly tapped the paper on the table, "I've never seen you struggle to write something before."

The Wanderer huffed, leaning back in his chair with precisely zero intention to tell Sethos about any of his internal thoughts. Sethos, thankfully, seemed to pick up on his unwillingness to talk about it.

"Or, if you don't want to talk about it…" He trailed off for a moment, clearly debating something. "I uh, I have some things in my apartment that I use to help me relax, if you wanna try them."

"…Are you propositioning me?" The Wanderer was pretty sure he wasn't, but still, it was fun to watch the way Sethos' expression change to one of nervous fluster.

"Wha- I- No! No, no, I just meant, like, essential oils and stuff." Sethos let out a slightly nervous laugh, "They're not always effective for everyone, but they help me relax a bit. I thought it might help you a little bit."

….Essential oils, huh.

Just thinking about them made him itchy… but.

He was well aware of the way Sethos… liked it when he sneezed. He was more subtle about it than the Traveler, but he wasn't that subtle. Not to mention the fact that the Wanderer had been subjected to the Traveler and Sethos' scheming multiple times already…

But Sethos didn't have that look in his eyes that he normally did when planning to mess with Wanderer in this way. Did he truly not even consider the possibility? Then again, he was pretty sure Sethos had only ever been witness to him sneezing from pollen, elemental energy or, ugh, sympathy. He can't remember a time he's sneezed from perfume in front of Sethos…

So… did that mean…

Hm.

He supposed… Sethos had been incredibly helpful during the most recent incident… and it wasn't like the Wanderer had ever specifically thanked him for his aid…

(Not to mention, Sethos had seemed plenty stressed recently too).

"…Fine." Wanderer grabbed his paper and roughly shoved it into the book he'd been using for references (which the Akademiya had recently started demanding he use), fully intending on returning for it later. He dutifully ignored the pleased-with-himself expression on Sethos' face as the other started yapping about some random subject or other as he started leading the way to his place, the Wanderer silently following behind him.

He'd better not regret this.

~

Sethos slid a box out from underneath his bed, and the Wanderer barely kept himself from cringing as a strong scent filled the air as soon as it opened.

He was maybe starting to regret this. Just a little.

"C'mon, sit down!" Sethos said, and the Wanderer, not wanting to draw any suspicion, quietly and obediently sat down on the floor beside him. "Now, where did I put the lavender…"

His nose itched. The scent… wasn't really fading. If anything, it was getting stronger even. The Wanderer could only hope his eyes weren't glowing already, he'd left his hat over in Sethos' entryway. He had nothing to hide his face with.

He was so focused on Not Showing Any Reaction that he got startled, again, when Sethos suddenly held his hand out to him.

"Jeez, you're jumpy today…" Sethos said, staring at him questionably, "…I guess that's just more evidence to how much you need this. Give me your wrist."

"…Why?" Despite asking, the Wanderer still held out his wrist to him.

"There's specific points where the oils get absorbed into the skin better-"

(Would that even work on his false puppet skin?).

Sethos let a few drops of oil fall onto the Wanderer's wrist, using his thumb to rub it into the Wanderer's skin, continuing his explanation, but the Wanderer was no longer listening.

Fuck that stuff was strong. Much stronger than he had anticipated.

His eyes were definitely glowing now. Thankfully, Sethos didn't seem to notice, moving to do the Wanderer's other wrist.

Still, the Wanderer wanted to hold out for just a little longer.

He wasn't going to just give in that easily.

And yet, he couldn't stop himself from rubbing his nose against his wrist- his wrist with the lavender oil already on it.

"HihhH-" The Wanderer hurridly shut off his breathing, but it was too late, Sethos' eyes had already snapped up to him.

"Oh, your eyes are- uh. Is the scent bothering you?"

The Wanderer waited until he was absolutely certain that letting out his breath wouldn't instantly trigger a sneeze before answering.

"What do you th-think?" …Okay. The small waver in his voice was… managable.

Sethos, though, suddenly looked hesitant.

"Um." He started setting the bottle down. "I can get a washcloth and wash it off of you-"

"It's fine." The Wanderer answered before he could even think about it. Sethos seemed like he was caught off guard, so Wanderer hurried to add- "I'm fine."

"Are you… sure?" Sethos asked- and the Wanderer would've sassed him had his breath not abruptly caught.

"Hh- hiIH—" The Wanderer pinched his nose shut, stifling a sneeze into silence. "Ggh… Just- just hurry up and finish putting it o-onnHhihh- hh-hH—"

"Uh- Okay, okay. Okay. If, if you say so." Sethos had that look to him again, and the Wanderer had to supress a smirk at the slight hint of nervousness in the other's voice. At least going through with this was actually getting him some fun results.

The Wanderer ended up stifling three more sneezes into complete silence before suddenly Sethos was shoving a pillow at him.

"Here just- muffle into this." He said, when he caught the bewildered look Wanderer gave him before he was snapping forwards with yet another silent stifle. "If you're going to… get worse when I add more then… you probably shouldn't stifle with your hands."

…Sethos was probably right. Keeping his hands, with the oil on his wrists, so close to his face definitely wasn't helping. And he did decide to do this to indulge Sethos specifically, so it would be best to follow along with what he wanted…

Still though, it took more effort than he wanted to admit to bring his hands down and grab the pillow- an audible "Hiih'NXTtii!" slipping out as he did so.

"Cute."

The Wanderer shot Sethos a glare, before his head ducked down into the pillow with another stifle. At the very least the pillow would hide his own blush…

"Hh'nXTiu!!"

Even though it didn't really seem to muffle the sound very well.

"Hm, well, I can't exactly get to your temples when you're like that…" Sethos mumbled… "I guess I should just-"

The Wanderer could hear Sethos moving, but chose not to pay attention to it, instead deciding to attempt to hold back his next sneeze.

"Hh… hih- hh-… hEH-… hhH…"

Sethos' fingers lightly touched the back of Wanderer's neck.

The Wanderer jolted, a noise inbetween a squeak and a- a moan slipping out of him before-

"hEH'xNtiu!!!"

…Fuck.

He shoved his face deeper into the pillow, hoping that the sneeze had been enough to distract Sethos from-

"Did you just- just moan?"

Damn it.

When the Wanderer didn't respond, Sethos hesitantly reached out to touch the symbol on the Wanderer's neck again.

Half expecting it, the Wanderer nearly bit down on his tongue trying to prevent himself from repeating the humiliating noise.

He failed.

"Holy shit, you did!" Sethos laughed- and the Wanderer briefly abandoned the idea of hiding his face in order to twist around and whack Sethos with the pillow, knocking him over. "Ahk-"

Unfortunately, doing so was enough of a distraction that-

"HehH'KShiu!!" A gust of anemo blew through Sethos' room, and the Wanderer in just the slightest bit of a panic dropped the pillow to pinch his nose shut again. "Hh'NXttii!! 'nXt- 'NTtii! —!!"

It took him a second to get ahold back on stifling silently, but when he did it- it almost seemed like his body didn't really want to stop sneezing. He snapped forwards with must've been about seven or eight more silent stifles before he felt Sethos grab hold of his arms.

"Woah woah woah, you're going to make yourself dizzy."

Not really, the Wanderer was pretty sure he'd survived worse fits than this without any of the telltale dizziness humans seemed to get. Not needing to breathe was incredibly useful on that front.

Still though, that didn't stop Sethos from trying to forcibly pull the Wanderer's hands away from his face. The Wanderer resisted for a moment, before once again remembering that he had indeed decided to do this to indulge Sethos.

He didn't resist the second time Sethos pulled- which unfortunately meant that Sethos tugged with just a little too much strength-

And the Wanderer's next stifled sneeze was muffled against Sethos' shoulder.

Which, of course, Wanderer would've found mortifying- if it weren't for the shudder that racked through Sethos' body.

Oh. Right. Okay. He could work with this.

He freed his hands from Sethos' grip, and before Sethos could process or react, the Wanderer adjusted his position, grabbing hold of the back of Sethos' clothes-

-and lightly positioning his knee in between Sethos' legs.

If he hadn't already been aware that Sethos' was aroused by what was going on, this would've confirmed it.

"Hh-h'XnTtiu!!" The Wanderer jolted forwards with another sneeze, his knee lightly nudging against Sethos and-

Oh. The sound the other made was-

(Wanderer wanted to hear it again).

He jerked forwards with another sneeze, and was rewarded with another one of those sounds-

Sethos' hand touched the back of Wanderer's neck, and the Wanderer's next hitching gasp was abruptly cut off by a moan of his own. Still though, he didn't protest as Sethos started lightly tracing the symbol on the back of his neck.

It felt… good. Really good.

The sounds it drew out of him were significantly more embarrassing than the sneezes though, but it wasn't like he could swallow those noises down when his nose was so i- ihh- itchy-

"hH'KShhii!!" Fuck, he was too caught up in how good he felt to stifle, a burst of anemo filling the room. Sethos paused in his tracing, and the Wanderer was silently thankful for it, as it made it so there was nothing to interrupt him from- "hH’IShKiiu!! Hh-heHH'IShiu!! hih-h- hH- haH'Kshiuu!! 'Ksh-'shh- hH'SHkii-'ksh!! hEH'KSHhiiu!!"

Sethos let out a cry, shuddering much more intensely than before, and it took the Wanderer a moment of post-sneeze fit haze to figure out that Sethos had actually came.

"…Tch. Pathetic." Wanderer pulled back a bit, letting go of Sethos' clothes. "Hh- 'KShiu!!"

Dammit. His nose still itched a bit. That lavender oil sure was effective…

"Gyah?!" The Wanderer jolted with surprise as Sethos suddenly pulled him back closer to him, returning to softly tracing the back of the Wanderer's neck.

"What, did you think I wouldn't return the favour?" Sethos asked, sounding slightly breathless. The Wanderer squirmed slightly, the pleasure from before returning immediately, and Sethos let out an inquisitive noise. "Hm, I wonder what would happen if I-"

A jolt of electricity sparked against the back of the Wanderer's neck, and abruptly he was biting down on his lip hard, the markings on his body glowing brightly for a completely different reason this time.

Sethos let out a light chuckle as the glow died down.

"Guess that was effective."

"Shut up." The Wanderer was tempted to smack him on the arm, and the only reason he didn't was because- "Hh'Nxtii!!"

"Alright alright alright. We should get that oil washed off of you… among other things."

"Hh- 'hd'ISCHhh-!"

Kaeya eyed him critically as they sat together beneath the great tree, then smiled again, that same cocksure smile that put Aether off as much as it drew him to him. That sense of something hidden, something beneath, something more Aether wanted to uncover. It was a game both of them were playing, and he knew it- but that made it only more of a thrill.

Besides... maybe he just liked the Calvary Captain. Liked what was real between the lies. Even if the lies sent him on wild chases for imaginary treasure- it kept life interesting.

Aether wasn't sure how much he liked Kaeya right now, though.

"Oho, seems our glimmering little Traveler is feeling a little itchy~ that's what now, three? Four?" That smirk. It was aggravating.

He glared at him, then watched his own gaze turn hazy, whatever itch plaguing him teasing him now, just like Kaeya. He sniffled, rubbing, and for whatever reason that seemed to make it worse- but that at least meant he chhould- could clear iIHH--

"Ah- ahDTJSHhh... hdhh... hH?- adTJSHIH-!!"

"Goodness," the cursed captain crooned. "That was a rough one."

Aether's glare was rendered less biting by the itchy tears in his eyes. He rubbed at them, and Kaeya tsked, gently pushing his wrist back down.

"Now, now, that'll just make it worse. I would ask what's causing you such trouble, but I'm certain I already know." He glanced down at Aether's other hand, and the traveler followed his gaze, finding the small collection of windwheel asters he was holding. He'd been in the middle of a commission for them when he'd spotted Kaeya beneath the tree at Windrise, opting to sit and rest with him for a bit, not wanting to miss the opportunity... but the flowers being the cause of this? He scoffed, and Kaeya's brows raised. "Oh? You're not allergic to them, then?"

Sure, maybe he sometimes got a little itchy when he stopped to watch them- he loved these flowers. The way they idly turned with the wind... but that didn't mean he was allergic, did it? It was just a human thing that happened sometimes.

Which in itself was contradictory, given he wasn't human... but whatever the goddess that stole his sister had done to him, to his power, seemed to have rendered him human enough for a sneeze on occasion. That still didn't mean he was allergic, because just human enough or not, he didn't have those. He couldn't be allergic to the flora of this planet, it just wasn't feasible. He couldn't exactly explain that, though, so he just huffed, shaking his head. No.

"Are you sure? You do still look rather tickly."

Sometimes Aether hated him. He felt his nostrils flare, rubbing at his nose with distaste. Stars above... "...hh.. h- hhHH..?"

Oh.

"snf- hhah-- hhADHT- mmnhff..."

Oh, this had to be some sort of torture.

"Hmm," Kaeya hummed, sympathetic. He watched the blonde scrub at his nose like a child, almost trying to paw it off his face, and couldn't help but chuckle. Hitch. Hitch- gasp-! Nothing. It was making his own nose tickle. "Good grief, here- why not try one of those flowers you're so certainly not allergic to, Traveler?"

Aether side-eyed him, then hitched, gearing up... for nothing. He whined softly and decided he had nothing to lose, he just- he had. He had to sneeze. At this point he even wanted to sneeze! He couldn't think for the itch, just removing an aster from the bunch, slowly bringing it to his nose. One of the pretty orange petals brushed beneath it, and-

"hhAH-! haDTSH-!! ahDTJSHhh-'TTSH!! 'TDSHOO!!!" Oh, gods, as the locals might say- what a relief. Aether groaned, slumping back against the tree, sniffling thickly. Oh, he hated this part... Kaeya held out a handkerchief, and he accepted it, blowing his nose, rubbing at it through the cloth.

"So," the other said, too smug for Aether's liking. "Shall we revisit my-" He was cut off by the traveler's glare, and laughed in disbelief. "What? Traveler, surely you can't still think you aren't allergic to the asters?"

He stubbornly shook his head.

"I didn't know our dear little visitor was a fool! What more evidence do you need??"

Aether rolled his eyes, which annoyingly still itched. It probably wasn't the flower that had finally made him sneeze. The contact against the tickly appendage had been enough to tip him over the edge, that was all! This hadn't proved anything, and he didn't have to worry about any reaction to these beloved flowers.

Kaeya couldn't believe the lengths of his stupidity. He'd have to make note of this. "Look," he said, some sincerity finding its way into his words. "As amusing as it is to watch you be your own undoing, I must insist that you very much are allergic to the windwheel asters, and should set them aside for now before this gets worse for you."

A shake of the head.

"Traveler."

Glare.

"Goodness, what do I have to do! Shove one up your nose to prove my point?"

Actually... that was a thought. Aether looked down at the asters. If he could sniff these and not sneeze, then it would be his point proven instead! He could have something to finally hold over Kaeya's head, and get the man off his back about his silly idea. The captain in question seemed to realize where his thought process was going, opening his mouth to try and warn him off it, but Aether was lifting the little bouquet long before then. He stuck his nose right into the center of it, taking a long, deep sniff.

And it was fine-

"hhHHH-!!"

Oh, no.

"ahDTJSHhh-!! t'ZTCHIEW!! TSCHH-tsch-tch-hHH-!! h'ADTJSHOO!!!"

Aether had never felt anything like this before- this all-consuming, burning itch that just made him want to sneeze, and sneeze, and sneeze. He gasped, completely overtaken by this, head snapping down once, twice, three times more- right back into the flowers, which only made him do it again- again! He felt the sensation of Kaeya taking the flowers from his hands, but couldn't do much in the way of reacting, because-

"KTSZH!! Hh- H'kttssh-'ktsh-'tsczh-"

"Trav-"

"AkTCHOO!!"

"Oh, dear." He was being pulled to his feet now, led to.. he had no idea, he couldn't very well see. Away, probably. Where he'd wanted to sneeze before, now he just wanted to stop. But no matter how often he sneezed, it just tickled, and burned-- maybe if he-

Kaeya, leading him to the little creek, glanced down at him as he pinched his nose shut. "No, no, wait--"

"NGT-! Knnxt- ngxt- nxGNT--"

"Traveler!" Oh, his hand was being pulled away from his face. Good, because Aether found that hadn't helped at all, it just pushed the tickling farther up, where it made things rapid and useless and ohh fuck he needed to-

"ahDTJSHhh- 'dtjshh- tdshh-tsh-tch-tch-hhAH-!! Nksh-ksh-ktch-kTCHOO!! Hh... hh-? Hahhh..." Kaeya sat him down by the sound of running water, supporting him for the final, grating "AhDTJSHhhOOOO!!!!"

That finally seemed to scratch at the horrible itching sensation, and Aether groaned, just complying as Kaeya directed him to wash his face. He was panting, stunned by the intensity, slumping against him as he recovered his ability to breathe. Never before had he felt anything like that, and he hoped he never would again. Kaeya nudged him to blow his nose, so he did, finally deciding maybe it was a good idea to listen to him.

"Well!" Kaeya said, once it seemed he'd recovered enough to prove the sneezing wouldn't start up again. "Do you believe me now, dear Traveler? Not only are you allergic to them, you're very allergic. I haven't seen anything like that since Master Diluc's incident last Windblume." Aether whined softly, and Kaeya sighed, gently patting his head. He didn't mind the blonde leaning into him for support after all that.

"...fine," Aether whispered hoarsely. "You were right."

"Oh, I do love those words."

First things first, as this is a very NSFW blog, only adults are allowed to commission me, I think this goes without saying but better be safe ┐(︶▽︶)┌

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(forgot to add to the sheet but any additional character is $3 per tier ( 〃▽〃)

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It was a typical day for the two princes in the kingdom of Seiyara. Elliot was studying, Ramir was working on his translations. The weather was excessively hot, so they were staying inside that day in the royal library, just the both of them. Though unfortunately, where there were books, there was dust - they just kind of went hand in hand, even if the shelves were cleaned regularly. As someone who spent much of his time in this library, Ramir was somewhat used to it, though dust seemed to affect his throat more than his sinuses. As long as it didn’t trigger his asthma, he could live with that, since he didn’t really care to use his voice much anyways. But unfortunately, Elliot was more the opposite. It wasn’t long into their work before it quickly, inevitably got the better of him.

“I… I’m s… sorry- going t… sneeze…” Elliot breathed suddenly, his hands rising up to meet it. And as soon as he did, Ramir could hear the itch in his voice so palpably - so much so that he could feel it himself, and before he could even register it, he was also on the verge of sneezing. W… Why now… He just managed to catch Elliot’s expression crumple before his own eyes forced themselves shut, his brow furrowed, and the tickle overpowered him-

“-nnSCHiew-! Hh… hh’SCHu-! Nhh- …nk’KSCHhiu-!”

“-n’NTtsh-!” Ramir echoed. Both he and Elliot sneezed simultaneously - although Ramir tried his best to silence it between his fingers. As Elliot came out of his typical fit, he caught his study partner’s bleary-eyed appearance, and Ramir quickly averted his gaze.

“Oh - bless you, too!” Elliot laughed, running a finger under his nose. “How funny that we sneezed at the same time.”

Ramir said nothing, just turned back to his work.

“I guess it must be the d… dus…” Elliot’s voice tapered off, and Ramir made the mistake of glancing up as it did, and saw his expression falter and break once more. Again? Damnit- now he was going to-

“NGHh-SCHhh-! Shh… SCHIu-! Ihi… ih’IHTSCHIUu-!” 

Ramir tried to stifle it, crushing his nose between his fingers to keep it as quiet as he could. “-nNGkt-! …Hh… ht-T’Schh-!” Ugh... Why the hell did it have to itch so badly?! This time it was strong enough to make him sneeze twice, and Elliot finished first, quickly enough to catch him in the act.

Elliot snubbed his nose softly, blinking back a few tears. "E-Excuse me, sorry… Um… Did you also just sneeze again…?” 

Ramir sighed through his nose. “...I guess…” He could only hope Elliot hadn’t picked up on why.

Except… he did. At least, he thought he did. He knew Ramir would just deny it if he asked him outright, though. So… he decided to test it out instead. Elliot leaned forward slightly, watching Ramir’s face closely, even though the other prince still wouldn’t look him in the eye.

“I’m… going to sneeze…” he said again, trying to make his breathing static, his voice sound like he really was going to, wondering if that would be enough to-

“Nnhh.... -nNK’TSCh-! Hh… hnn…” 

Wow. As soon as Elliot said those words, he broke almost immediately - even faking it was enough to make him sneeze a third time. Ramir blinked his eyes rapidly open again, sniffing softly. When he saw Elliot staring back at him with a sneeze-free expression, understanding dawned on him - Ramir turned away quickly, hands still covering his face. 

Elliot couldn't help but smile. I can’t believe that actually worked. “Bless you - I knew it! I did make you sneeze.” 

“...Don’t… trick me like that…” Ramir murmured through his fingers.

“I’m sorry,” Elliot said, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ve just never seen someone react like that before to someone else’s sneeze. I didn’t even know it was possible.” 

Ramir didn’t know what to say, so he just looked down awkwardly, wondering how to move on from how exposed he felt. 

“But I’ve sneezed around you before, and I think this is the first time this has happened…” Elliot thought aloud.

It wasn’t the first time it’d happened - it was just the first time Elliot noticed. “...It’s not always like that…” Ramir muttered.

“So what causes it only some of the time, then?”

Ramir sort of knew. It felt contagious in the same way that seeing someone yawn did - sometimes he felt nothing, other times he could suppress it, and sometimes he couldn’t help it at all. He didn’t know what caused the susceptibility that made him sneeze like that in the first place, though, just that it was totally out of his control. For him, it typically only happened around people he felt comfortable with, though sometimes it caught him off guard. But there really wasn’t anyone Ramir felt more comfortable with than Elliot, so occasionally, when Elliot sneezed, he didn’t stand a chance. Of course, he was never going to say that out loud. So as usual, when he didn’t want to answer, he just responded, “I don’t know…” 

“Do you think you’re the only one who sneezes like that? Have you ever asked your doctor?” 

“Mmn…” Ramir half-shrugged, turning back to his work, hoping they could just move on from this…

Elliot could tell he was putting too much attention on him and backed down. “Sorry, sorry. Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. Especially Vivianna… she would give you a terrible time. Ah- if I sneeze in front of Vivi, and then it makes you sneeze…” Elliot groaned, slumping his forehead into his hand. “...she’s going to figure it out… and she’ll never let us hear the end of it...” 

Ramir’s face darkened and Elliot quickly waved his hands.

“Uh, but don’t worry, I’ll just never sneeze in front of her again and then she’ll never know!”

Ramir sniffed. “I don’t think that’s possible for you…” 

“Eh heh… you’re definitely right…” Elliot laughed ruefully. “I’m sorry I sneeze so easily. Most of the time, anyway.” 

“...You can’t help it, so…” 

“I wish I could a little… It’s so distracting. Look, we’re still talking about it…”

“...We’re only talking about it because of my… weird… reaction.” Ramir wasn’t sure what else to call it. There wasn’t really any other sort of way to describe it; even if he had been speaking his first language, he wouldn’t know how else to say it.

“It’s not weird! I’ve just never seen someone sneeze from that before and, well, uh… I sort of think it’s um… it’s cute…” Elliot mumbled. 

“Wh-” Ramir looked up abruptly, then froze when he saw the other prince looking away, flushed. Blood ran to his cheeks. Did he really just say-!? Just… how was he supposed to respond to something like that?! 

He had never been told he was cute before, even when he was young. He was serious and quiet, but unafraid to refuse when he didn’t want to do something - so not really what people would call adorable. And he was the same as an adult. He always tried to avoid things that would draw attention to himself, because attention was embarrassing. But… Elliot never tried to embarrass him on purpose. So… why would he… say something like that…?!  

The only explanation was… Elliot really did think he was cute. A guy saying that to another guy… that wasn’t common, unless they were romantically involved, or wanted to be. And Elliot knew that. He was purposefully hiding it less and less that he had feelings for Ramir. He wanted Ramir to know he liked him, and sometimes that meant being obvious, so that there was no other way that what he said could be interpreted. Besides, Elliot wouldn’t have said anything if he didn’t have a feeling that Ramir… was maybe having similar thoughts. After all, they spent so much time together, and during that time Ramir was often flushed and acting nervous and tense, but not the same way he was tense with other people… It just really seemed like… maybe Ramir liked him back.

It’s cute.

Except Ramir wasn’t the type to make a move, even when someone already did. If anything, he was the type to deflect anyone’s advances no matter how he felt inside. That was certainly what he had more experience doing. So it’s how he decided to respond.