[FIN] Scars of the Past

[TawnyAngel]

"Ah, come on you must play fair!" Zevran retorted with a laugh after a momentary pause, and he then stepped close to Abel again to hug him from the side. "I can't think of anything to respond to that," he admitted as he leant his forehead against Abel's shoulder.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"And why should I play fair, hm? Where's the fun in that?" As he rolled the second churro in the sugary mixture he chuckled again, then turned his head so he could press a fond kiss to the top of Zevran's head. His expression and voice softened as he smiled warmly down at the other man. How had he gotten so lucky...? "Oh, no? Then that means you agree! I'm glad you're finally acknowledging your cuteness."  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran grinned, not that his expression was visible, and kissed Abel's shoulder briefly. "Oh yes I remember you are terrible, so why would you play fair? That is my mistake." He then looked up at Abel, making his daft and slightly dazed looking grin quite visible after all. "I did not agree, but I did like hearing it. You are very cute yourself though, especially when you smile like that." Cute wasn't quite the right word in fact but he wasn't sure what was, Abel just looked so.... Something. Whatever it was he looked a lot of it.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Exactly!" One more finished churro went onto the plate before Abel worked on rolling the next, his movements growing more deft and assured with more practice. Zevran's adorable grin brought a similar one to his own face - wide, dumb, pleased, and full of affection and fondness - and he chuckled once more. "I don't see why you don't, you're always cute. And I'll say the same before you mention it: You're especially cute when you smile like that." A pause. "Or whenever you smile, really, I'm not picky."  

[TawnyAngel]

Geh! How was he supposed to deal with this all the time? It was really too much. He didn't want it to stop.

Zevran gave another of his little happy-nervous laughs and moved away from Abel to peer into the pan of cooking churros. "So you claim! Often, and without warning." How could he retaliate? "I think you're cute when you smile too... and especially when you play your guitar. That is very cute and most charming too; it is cute how much you enjoy it, and charming that you play it well." He could spend quite a long time just listening to Abel play and watching his fingers move deftly across the strings.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Abel beamed happily first at the adorable laugh and next at the sincere compliment, though his expression grew a bit more bashful as he averted his gaze to the churro in his hand as he set it with the other finished ones and grabbed the last one of the first batch and proceeded to roll it in cinnamon sugar. "I'm not great at it - my little brother's much better with a guitar than I am - but I do enjoy it. I'll play it more for you if you want though?" He enjoyed playing and singing as it was, but he enjoyed it more when he had company either to listen or join in. Even better if that company was his sweet boyfriend.

...hee.

"You really are such a sweetheart," he murmured as he leaned over and pressed another kiss to Zev's fine blond hair.  

[TawnyAngel]

Sweetheart again! Zevran grinned at Abel in silence for some moments until he gathered enough wits to say; "But I would much rather listen to you, as often as you would like to play." There were a lot of technically better players in the world than Abel but if given the choice between a private performance from the greatest ever to live and just sitting in the living room listening to Abel there was no question of what his decision would be. After a couple moments more Zevran added; "I and I would happily wager that your brother's smile is not half as cute as yours is."  

[BlackFireKitsune]

His beaming, silly grin remained firmly in place as he finished the churro and set it with the others. "I could play it this afternoon, if you'd like," he suggested, then took on a mock thoughtful expression. "Hmmm... Well, my brother hasn't been cute since he was like six years old, so I'll have to cede that point since it isn't hard to do. But my smile isn't nearly as cute as yours is," he said with a warm, fond smile, his voice soft as he reached up to cup Zevran's chin with one hand and leaned in for a kiss.  

[TawnyAngel]

Zevran turned away from his pot of oil - the churros looked to need a little while longer - and moved closer to Abel again. "I would like that, very much." Once again Abel's insistence on his cuteness left him lost for a response but happily he was able to avoid giving one by just lifting his chin slightly at Abel's bidding hand and leaning into the kiss.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

While the palm against Zevran's chin was more or less clean, the fingers resting against his cheeks were decidedly not, coated in oil and cinnamon sugar as they were. Abel drew away with a happy, contented sigh at the kiss, then smiled a completely innocent smile at his boyfriend, "Alright sweetcheeks, how're the rest of the churros looking? Almost done?"  

[TawnyAngel]

"Uh!"

Sweetcheeks?

Ahhhh, he had walked right into that hadn't he? That was actually quite funny, and for that it didn't make him feel quite so strange as Abel's 'sweet' compliments usually did. Zevran wrinkled his nose up at Abel and turned back to the pot without so much as twitching a hand towards his face. "Almost I think yes," he replied. He then smirked and added; "I hope you are prepared to use your tongue on my sweet cheeks a little later. Again, I am not fussy which." Two could play at being terrible!  

[BlackFireKitsune]

Ha! Well that had worked out perfectly, hadn't it? Abel grinned brightly at his accomplishment -- but it quickly morphed into a suggestive smirk. "I will gladly do so as much as you want," he said as he leaned in to kiss one of the sugary spots on Zev's cheek, then drew back and licked off one of his fingers, though he didn't bother with more than that. There were four more churros to cover in cinnamon sugar, after all, so he saw little point in cleaning off his fingers when he would only coat them in more oil and sugar in another minute or two. "I'm pretty excited about these churros still, I bet they're gonna be so good."  

[TawnyAngel]

"Excellent," Zevran purred with a salacious wink.

The flirtatious expression lifted a moment later and a small happy smile took its place. "Si! They should be," he agreed with a nod as he returned to the pan to check them again. "The first batch should have cooled enough to eat just as these come out too so we can try them while these are draining and rolling in sugar, or drenching in honey of course. I have never tried them with honey in fact so I would be interested to so so! A little experimentation is good for the soul." Which was he supposed a little like saying variety was the spice of life but he felt that the implication was different.  

[BlackFireKitsune]

"Oh, really?" He made a thoughtful noise as he peered at the churros he'd finished rolling, but... no, he'd wait. They did say they'd eat them on the couch, after all, so it'd probably be best to wait until then. "Hmm, well we can drench another one in honey if you want - I wouldn't mind trying one with honey too, actually - but I'm gonna have to ask you to get the honey... and the second batch," the taller blond said sheepishly as he waved his oily, sugary fingers in emphasis.

And then he threw his arm around Zevran's shoulders - making sure to keep his oily, sugary fingers away from the other man's clothes or his skin this time - and leaned his forehead against his boyfriend's temple quite happily. "You are absolutely right," he agreed wholeheartedly. Where would he be if he hadn't experimented with Zev? What kind of life would he be living if he hadn't grown so close to him? In both cases he assumed it wouldn't be nearly as free and lighthearted as it was, so full of care and kindness and warmth and a boyfriend he didn't deserve.  

[TawnyAngel]

"Really really," Zevran chuckled at his own needless response and leant happily into Abel's affection. "Maybe we can try two in honey; half for each of us, half for Vanessa and... half." He shrugged.

Zevran's smirking smile softened at Abel's fervent agreement and he moved his head slightly so as to rub his temple gently against Abel's leaning forehead. "I am very glad you agree," he murmured softly.

But then, churros. With a slightly regretful sigh Zevran pulled away from Abel again and kissed his forehead before stepping back up to the stove to hook the delicious fried strips of dough out of the oil.