Happy Birthday dear Emily

Lochlann was oblivious to Emily's stares but only because he was trying so very hard not to stare at her. he enjoyed the feeling of her hand in his, though, and when he did finally steal a glance, her face was flushed.

For some reason, that made his face flush.

He swallowed.

She trusted him. Fuck.

"Generally speaking, trusting me is a bad idea," Lochlann started to say, but when she said that she might be his best friend, Lochlann was overwhelmed by a sudden wave of happiness.

He couldn't help it.

He leaned down and pressed his lips to hers in a quick, surprisingly chaste, kiss.

It was like he had so much happiness he didn't know how else to express it except by kissing her, to try and share it with her.

When he realized what he'd done, Lochlann started to apologize.

"I'm sorry, it's just....thank you," he said.

He swallowed.

Christ, and now he was supposed to blindfold her after that?

There were a lot of reactions a girl could have after Lochlann kissed them.

Though there was always the magic that bound him from going further than a person wanted, if they weren't certain what they wanted or didn't realize they didn't want it, Lochlann could steal a kiss.

So, he'd experienced negative reactions from kisses before. He'd been slapped, which he most certainly deserved. He'd had the woah buddy maybe he shoudln't go there, and then Lochlann wouldn't go there. he'd also had the opposite, the pleasurable reactions, where it was just a kiss how did it end up like this.

Lochlann was asking himself that as Emily started to cry.

"Oh," he said, and he was already moving to bring her to him when Emily burried her face in his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and it was only because he was looking for a sign that he heard her say that she wasn't sure why she was crying.

"It's okay," he told her. "If you feel like you need to cry, you can cry."

He ran his hand through her hair, caressing her even as he held her against his chest.

He still felt the remnants of unexpected happiness.

"I'm here," he said.

Emily seemed to get a hold of herself so Lochlann let her go, although a little bit reluctantly. He always felt better touching someone and Emily was no exception. He shoved his hands back in his pockets and then, when she asked if that was the surprise, Lochlann shook his head.

"No," he said. "Well, I mean, it surprised me, too, but that wasn't the surprise I planned on. I mean, that was, uh, an unexpected surprise. I'm glad you liked it, too, but I'm sorry it made you cry."

He realized he was blabbing so Lochlann changed his mind and held his hand out to her.

"Okay, no blindfold then, but don't get nervous, okay?" he asked her, waiting for her command to go.

Lochlann beamed at her.

He couldn't help it. He hadn't planned on this outcome, but now that they were here it felt...it felt comforting.

"Does that mean you're not opposed to it happening again?" he asked her. He still had her hand and now he led her, more mindful of his long legs, through the city until the streets became more narrow and darker. He kept her near him but didn't seem to sense any danger around them.

Was it a date?

Lochlann considered it.

"It could be," Lochlann said. "But I think I'd like it if I could take you on a proper date, one that didn't begin with oh hey look at all the dead people in my life. You deserve better then that, Em."

He managed to say that without feeling too much. He was focused on his destination.

He was hoping, and he was feeling hopeful, that this might make it up to her.

"Would you like it to be a date?" Lochlann asked her. He grinned and looked around to check their surroundings. They'd be there soon.

Lochlann considered this. If he kissed Emily again, he had to feel something. Lochlann was not the best at getting control of his emotions. It was easier to press something down to feel it, but he considered this.

"Okay," he told her.

She bumped him with his shoulder and he felt reassured, but the little layer of guilt was still here.

"I'm afraid things like that happen fairly frequently," Lochlann admitted. "Well, not the uh, shooting part. But, people getting hurt I mean, and it's usually my fault. So I guess this is just a heads-up, uh, about that."

He chewed on the inside of his cheek again, then shook his head. No thinking about that right now. There was enough negativity about that tonight.

What would happen if they were on a date?

"Well," Lochlann said. "I would look for more excuses to touch you. And I would definitely try to kiss you again, preferably when you're surprised in a good way already to let you know how happy you make me."

He stopped suddenly, perhaps hoping she'd bump into him so he had an excuse to touch her again by steading her, but only if she did bump into him.

"We're almost here," he said.

At the other end of the street was a faint glow, and after a moment Lochlann would lead her towards it. This was one of his favorite places in the underground--he'd been here once with Cabel. It was just an alley between a few old shops, but the entire thing was strung back and forth with paper lanterns that were illuminated with multi colored flames. Even now, in winter, the flames burned brightly and gave the alley a slightly warm feel to the space they occupied.

A few of the shops were still open this late at night, with many of them catering to the island's nocturnal population, and Lochlann stopped outside of one of these shops.

"If this were a propper date, I would take you somewhere cheesy," Lochlann said. "Like a sweets shop that has unusual flavors so you can find something to enjoy even with all the other tastes."

He hesitated, searching for her approval or disapproval.