“Mornin’,” Dob sleepily greeted, though he sounded a bit more coherent than he had earlier when he initially woke up. Merilwen felt more than heard a thoughtful hum as he lifted his arm from her waist and brought it up, tucking his arm under hers and laying his hand back down over her racing heart. “Are you okay?” he asked with concern after a moment. “Your heart doesn’t always beat this quick, does it?”

“Well, what do you expect after…” Merilwen started, though she trailed off as she sat up in the bed, her body instantly missing Dob’s warmth as his arm fell from around her. “You just KISSED my neck!” A hand went back to the back of her neck, where she could still feel the touch of Dob’s lips.

This time, Dob pushed himself up to sit up as well, his hair a messy mop over his forehead that would be falling into his eyes if it were any longer. “Was that okay?” he asked, sounding almost fearful that he might’ve overstepped. “I thought, since you were okay with the cuddling, you seemed…”

“Dob,” Merilwen interrupted, placing a hand on his shoulder, taking a brief moment to marvel at how small it looked compared to Dob’s half-orkish build, “I’m not upset. Quite the opposite, actually.” She took her hand off Dob’s shoulder to brush his hair aside so she could more easily see the bright blue of his eyes.

Dob grabbed Merilwen’s hand in his. “So it’s okay if I…” Instead of finishing his question, he brought her hand to his lips, watching Merilwen’s face as he placed a kiss to the back of her hand.

Merilwen could feel her face get red-hot in a very obvious blush, though she didn’t pull away, even though Dob’s gentle hold of her hand showed she could if she wanted to. She suddenly felt way too exposed, Dob’s eyes taking in every feature of her face. Her very red face. She probably looked as red as Prudence. Embarrassed, Merilwen looked away, letting her hair act as a curtain to hide her face from the adorable half-orc she called her friend.

Not deterred, and in fact feeling emboldened by Merilwen not pulling away or telling him to stop, Dob scooted closer. He made sure to give Merilwen an easy out, a method to escape should she decide she didn’t want any of this after all, but Dob had a gut feeling that if that were the case, she would be long gone out of the room by now. He reached up to brush Merilwen’s hair back over her shoulder so she was no longer hidden by it.

“Dob, what are you doing?” Merilwen managed to squeak out once her face was once again exposed and Dob’s was just a few centimeters away.

“You seemed to like the kiss to your neck and to your hand. I thought I’d kiss your cheek next,” Dob replied, brow furrowed in confusion.

“No, not that, I mean…” Merilwen stammered. Dob’s heart dropped when Merilwen pulled away from him, though she didn’t move far. She put a little space between them, but it was mostly to sit directly facing Dob, her legs crossed in front of her. “All of this.” She motioned vaguely with her hand, indicating Dob and the bed. “The cuddling, the kisses, the ‘I like being this close to you.’”

“Merilwen, you know I like you,” Dob stated, as though it were a simple fact that would explain everything. Which, Dob figured, it should.

“Of course. We’re best friends, as you said earlier,” Merilwen said. “But cuddling like we were, and especially the kisses, that’s not a friendship thing. That’s a… a romantic thing.” The word “romantic” sounded strained, like Merilwen struggled to say it.

Merilwen’s explanation only made Dob more confused. Of course he knew that. “Right,” he agreed with a nod. “We are best friends, but I liked being romantic, and you seemed to like it too.”

“I did like it, but…” Merilwen replied, fighting to find her words. Her mind was a fog of joy and expectations of betrayal. “You can’t just SAY these things and DO these things and make my heart flutter like a lovesick kid just because we’re friends and I’m here and you’re in a cuddly mood and the women you want to be with are actively plotting to kill us!” Instead of trying to sort through the noise of her brain, she just let it all tumble from her mouth in a heap. She didn’t even realize she was avoiding Dob’s gaze until she finished, finding herself looking at the blanket in front of her. She slowly looked up, wincing when she saw sadness in Dob’s eyes. Sadness always looked so foreign on his features. “Dob, I’m sorry,” she apologized, reaching over to touch Dob’s arm, though she hesitated. Maybe it would be better if she just turned into a cat and let him pet her while she purred and forgot about her outburst.

Dob, however, interrupted that train of thought by grabbing the hand that was reaching out towards him and scooting closer to Merilwen until his legs bumped into hers. “Merilwen. I liked cuddling with you because I want to be with YOU. Forever. I never said anything before because I always assumed you had no interest in ME.”

Merilwen could hardly believe her ears. She would occasionally entertain the idea that maybe Dob had a crush on her, but then he’d say something about Liliana that snapped Merilwen back to reality. Could he have really been crushing on her this whole time?

Dob’s hand that wasn’t holding Merilwen’s reached over to tuck a strand of her hair behind her ear. Now that she knew that this wasn’t just some fleeting cuddles, Merilwen couldn’t get enough of Dob’s touch, leaning her head slightly into the brush of his fingers.

“Can I give you that kiss on the cheek now?” Dob asked, a playful smirk across his lips.

Merilwen gave a nod, humming an affirmation. Never one for a dull moment, Dob instantly leaned in, pressing his lips gently to Merilwen’s cheek. Merilwen couldn’t help but giggle, suddenly feeling silly in her earlier doubt. When Dob pulled back, Merilwen decided she wasn’t done with him quite yet. She brought both hands up to cup the sides of his face, halting him before he moved much at all, and before she could talk herself out of it, closed her eyes and brought her lips to his.

Dob’s eyes widened in surprise when Merilwen pulled him into a kiss, and he could feel heat rising in his cheeks, but it didn’t take long for him to begin kissing back, his eyes fluttering closed to just focus on how Merilwen’s lips felt against his. One of Dob’s hands found its way to the back of Merilwen’s head, fingers brushing through her hair, while the other wrapped around her waist to pull her closer.

“Yo, Dob, you just missed one awesome-OH MY GOD!” Corazon exclaimed, walking into the room without knocking and instantly regretting it. He’s seen Dob naked before, he’s seen Dob in the middle of all kinds of shenanigans. But nothing could’ve prepared the pirate to walk in on Dob and Merilwen wrapped up in each other’s arms.

Both Dob and Merilwen made startled noises as they jumped at the intrusion and threw themselves backwards, out of the kiss.

“Hey, Corazon,” Dob greeted, sounding a little sheepish.

Merilwen, however, looked quite angry as she glared at the pirate. “Didn’t anybody ever teach you to knock?” she scolded.