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Ren could never say no to Martyn.
Well, that wasn’t quite true. Sure he could say no, he was fully capable of it, no physical reason he wouldn’t be able to. He still didn’t like to do it though.
And that’s why they had a jukebox now. A diamond wasted, but Martyn looked so pleased about it, an unfamiliar music disc in his hand. Maybe it wasn’t all bad.
“Excited to try this one out," Martyn mused, a smile on his face as he checked over the jukebox, presumably making sure it was in working order. "It's been a while since I've heard something other than cat or chirp." He stood up straight again, seemingly pleased with what he'd found regarding the jukebox— or hadn't, rather— and inserted the disc.
It was… slow. Certainly not the slowest he'd ever heard from a disc, but nowhere near as upbeat as some of the other discs out there.
If he had to choose something to compare it to, Ren would say it reminded him of mellohi, but only barely. It didn't sound nearly as sad, lonely, though it followed the same type of swaying rhythm— a rhythm Martyn had begun to follow ever so slightly in front of him, it was an effort not to stare.
"Oh, it's a waltz ," Martyn was still sounding unreasonably pleased, and Ren could hear the smile on his face, even looking away. "I haven't waltzed in forever," he continued with a soft sigh, just listening to the song.
It was beautiful, Ren had to admit. He didn't know what made it a waltz, compared to any other old song, but he wasn't about to argue with Martyn of all people, especially not about music.
"My liege, dance with me, just for a bit," Martyn spoke out of nowhere, breaking the otherwise silent air in the basement.
Ren blinked at that, startled out of his thoughts. "Dance with you?" He repeated, unsure if he'd heard the other right.
"Only if you'd like," Martyn quickly appended, and no, that wouldn't do.
"I…" Ren hesitated for a moment as the music swelled in the background. "My hand, I'm afraid I don't know how. Apologies."
He watched as Martyn blinked owlishly, trying to fight the embarrassed flush from such an admission from taking over his face. Then the other lit up, laughing lightly.
"Oh- I can teach you," he offered, a warm smile on his face that made Ren feel like he was drowning in it. "After all, a king should know how to dance, it's to be expected."
And he wasn't making fun of him, there was no teasing, no laughter beyond the initial realization— and even that was just one of mirth, no malice.
There was a lull as the music stopped, only to start up again from the beginning, and Martyn extended his hand.
Ren's face was, unfortunately, definitely tinged pink as he took the offered hand, his own hold gentle, as if Martyn could break under any firmer grip.
Martyn's smile only got wider as he tugged Ren closer now, ending up chest to chest as one of the other's hands landed on his hip.
"I'll lead for now," Martyn explained, unaffected by the closeness that was contrastly making Ren's heart pound. "It's easier to learn that way. We can switch later, my king, if you'd like to try."
Ren's nod felt clumsy, heavy crown weighing down his head, but if Martyn noticed he didn't say anything, busying himself with getting the two of them in place and proper. Ren’s hand was directed to Martyn’s shoulder, and Martyn’s was at the small of his back, making goosebumps prickle along his skin.
“We’ll start with a box step,” Martyn hummed, already whisking Ren away towards the middle of the room as he tried not to stumble. “Backwards, and then forwards again for you,” he explained, Ren allowing his words to wash over him, “right back, left to the side, follow with the right.”
He definitely stumbled now, trying to follow Martyn’s instructions while the other did the opposite.
“Perfect.” It was absolutely not perfect, but Ren appreciated the encouragement. “And now the opposite. Left forward, right to the side, and follow with left. One, two, three- Good, good.”
Ren’s movements were smoother this time, even smoother as they repeated the motions again, and again. Then Martyn began to move.
“Backwards a bit now,” he explained, his steps beginning to cover more ground, still just as smooth as before.
Ren’s, on the other hand, were not.
He had the steps down fairly well, or at least he thought he did, but with the added step of moving now, he was stumbling again and again. He caught himself each time, but not without growing embarrassment, face getting hotter and hotter.
“My liege,” Martyn eventually stopped moving after a particularly bad stumble, an embarrassing whine leaving Ren’s throat.
“Sorry- I-” He was far too flustered. This shouldn’t be so hard, he could do this for Martyn. “Having a bit of trouble keeping my balance, it’s nothing.”
Martyn’s lips were pressed tight together as he thought, still only standing as he looked over the other. Then he smiled a little again. “I think you might be a bit… overbalanced, it’s not good to practice so overburdened.” Ren’s hand was freed as Martyn raised his own hands up, fingers skirting by the base of the crown, not touching yet. “If you’d let me, I think we can make it a bit easier on you.”
Ren’s heart was pounding as he tried to gather up his words. “... Of course, my hand, whatever you think is best.”
And the heavy weight was slowly lifted off his head, off his shoulders, off his mind. Ren let out a long sigh, eyes fluttering shut for a moment as the tension drained from his body. The worst part was when Martyn had to pull away, moving to set the crown aside as Ren watched.
Soon enough they were chest to chest again, Martyn’s hand back in his own, and the light comforting weight on the small of his back. He couldn’t help but smile a little, already feeling lighter.
“Now, let’s try this again, hm?” Martyn’s voice was soft, barely audible above the music that had once again looped sometime during their exchange.
And they were moving once more. One, two, three. One, two, three. This time when Martyn began inching forward again, Ren had a much easier time moving with him.
It still wasn’t easy by any means, there weren’t too many steps, sure, but it was still a lot of new information to wrap his head around. Especially so close to Martyn— the soft look on his face was distracting enough, it was so much worse up close.
“You’re doing so well.” Martyn’s voice was dripping with adoration, and when Ren accidentally stepped on his foot he only let out a soft breath of a laugh, continuing with ease. “You’re a natural, when you aren’t so wound up.”
“Nice to have such a complimentary teacher,” Ren teased a little, allowing himself to be led around the room now, finding the steps easier and easier with time. “Probably wouldn’t learn as well with anybody other than you.”
Now it was Martyn’s turn to blush, turning his head away slightly. Jealously, Ren noticed his steps still didn’t falter.
“There’s a lot to compliment,” Martyn finally said, as if that explained anything. “And not only your dance abilities.”
“Oh?” Ren’s head cocked at that, and he tried not to think about how dog-like that was, lest he start getting embarrassed again. “Such as?” Alright, maybe he was fishing for compliments just a bit.
Martyn hummed, still not looking directly at him again, though that soft expression hadn’t disappeared even with the dusting of red across his cheeks.
“Your leadership,” he started out with, eyes closing for a moment as he thought. Still dancing though, the nerve. “Your bravery, your loyalty. Perfectly fit to be a king.”
Ren tried not to be disappointed. “Ah, right. Of course. Thank you.”
His breath caught as Martyn suddenly looked him in the eyes again.
“Of course, even if you weren’t a king,” he murmured, ignoring Ren’s slight stumble, “you’re still incredible. You are kind, gentle, but also harsh when you need to be. You’re handsome, of course, and you feel so strongly about everything, it’s admirable.” Martyn’s hand gently squeezed his own as Ren tried to get his brain to cooperate again, melting under the verbal affection. “Not to mention how cute you are when you don’t notice your ears perked up, or your tail going a mile a minute,” his tone had turned teasing again.
Ren was stumbling again at that, face bright red as his attention immediately went to stopping that from happening. This time Martyn followed him down with a yelp, the two of them collapsing against the jukebox, Martyn's hands on either side of Ren, holding himself up above the other only barely.
Aside from the music, there was silence from the two men, just staring at one another. Ren's embarrassment had disappeared yet again, a different warm feeling bubbling up in his chest. Were Martyn's cheeks pink too?
The disc stopped, and it was just the sound of the two of them breathing.
"... Hey." It was barely a word more than a breath, Martyn's voice almost silent.
"Hey," Ren murmured right back, just looking up at him.
The comfortable silence was broken by an unfortunately familiar and embarrassing repeated thud, and Ren squeezed his eyes shut.
"Is- is that your tail?"
"Yeah." Ren was sure he sounded just a tad hysterical, and he couldn't help but laugh when he opened his eyes again. "Sorry I- I know we were having a moment."
And the music started up again. And Martyn, whose face had been unreadable the last moment or two, burst out into a fit of giggles himself.
Now both of them were laughing, and Ren honestly hadn't enjoyed himself this much since their first couple of days in this world. Martyn all but collapsed on top of him, careful not to crush him of course, but muffling his laughter into Ren's shoulder.
The thudding hadn't stopped, creating a horrible sort of dissonance with the rhythm of the disc, and that only made Ren laugh harder for some reason, clutching to the elf on top of him as the two of them shook with laughter.
It took until the music died down again for their laughter to do the same, and Ren's eyes were watering— maybe a bit more than just that.
Finally Martyn pushed himself up again, a big grin on his face as he ejected the disc, saving them from another loop of the waltz. Good, Ren wasn't sure he could take another, not right now.
"This is so stupid," Martyn laughed a little again, and Ren wished he could hear that sound forever. "We're so stupid. That wasn't funny at all."
Ren laughed again too, leaning back some more onto the jukebox, his tail still happily wagging away. "It really wasn't," he agreed, not making any move to get away from the situation though.
They spent a couple of minutes catching their breaths, glancing at each other and having to quickly turn their heads away as they started giggling again. Such behavior was unfit for a king, but… he didn't have to be a king right now, not with Martyn.
Martyn, who he trusted more than anyone else, the only one he even dared let him see him like this right now. The only one who could build him up with just a few words— and could likely do the same to break him. Ren trusted him not to, though. Ren trusted him so much.
"Martyn, can I kiss you?" The words fell out of his mouth before he could even think about it, his ears suddenly pressing flat against his skull. Probably not his brightest idea ever, if one could even call it an idea.
"Oh, Ren, absolutely."
Martyn didn't seem surprised by the question by any means, which maybe Ren should have been worried about regarding what that meant for the obviousness of his own behavior, but he couldn't be pressed to care.
Ren surged up to press his lips to Martyn's, and the other met him halfway, making him melt.
Maybe Ren should have been worried about how easily his knees turned to jelly, but with the block behind him holding him up it was far from a problem. And Martyn's lips against his own were keeping him properly distracted.
When Martyn pulled away Ren couldn't help but whine softly, his face bright red. He'd been turned to putty in so little time.
Martyn didn't seem to be faring much better, his own face red, the tips of his ears pink, but a smile on his face nonetheless. "What?" He asked, as if he didn't very well know exactly what Ren wanted.
"You're so mean to me sometimes," Ren huffed, shifting so he was actually sitting on top of the jukebox now, crossing his arms.
"I am not," Martyn scoffed, "anything you want, Ren, and it's yours. You just have to ask."
He was so mean.
"Martyn."
"Ren."
Ren fidgeted for half a second. "Kiss me again?"
And he did.