The metaphor doesn't quite stretch far enough to encompass what Ro is trying to convey with it, but that is actually a good thing. It makes very plain that Ro is definitely not talking about dancing.
Ro hasn't been offended by his stolen glances or obvious interest. Could it be because he is interested in return? All this time, Caleb has assumed his flirting was merely friendly, just a facet of his personality. Has it actually been genuine? That certainly seems to be the precipice they are standing on now, with what they've mutually implied. Ro doesn't seem like the sort of person who would make advances, however subtle, without meaning it.
"You would like that?" Caleb repeats Ro's words softly, cautiously. When he looks up again, there is something close to fear in his eyes, as though it takes all the courage he has to continue this conversation. To maybe consider that someone might want him. To face that it might actually be possible to connect with someone this way, vulnerable as it might be.
Caleb licks his chapped lips, then gives a soft, humorless laugh under his breath. "I think the metaphor has gotten away from us a bit, so I will risk being a little more plain with you. I have not been intimate with anyone in a very long time. But you make me want to be. Which is--that does not have to mean anything, of course, and I will happily forget about this conversation entirely if you would prefer that." He is quick to reassure, heart pounding hard enough that he can hear it in his own ears. His fingers curl into the bedsheets, nervously bunching them in his palms. "It is just that I have felt...drawn to you in a way that I thought I might never experience again."
Thank all the gods and half of the Betrayers, they're dropping the metaphor. Ro actually blushes a bit, heat prickling in his cheeks as Caleb makes himself more plain.
"It feels too important for a metaphor," he says with a light laugh that's almost just a huff of breath. Half of the embarrassment is that he stumbled through it so badly that they need to leave it behind entirely. Ro's expression softens more as he listens, his eyes dark and intent as Caleb explains where he is in all of this. At least his flirting hasn't been completely misread. He's more in his element here: he doesn't press, doesn't rush Caleb through saying what he needs to say.
And when he pauses, Ro shifts closely, telegraphing his movements in the hopes he won't startle Caleb when his hand lightly rests over one of Caleb's where he's gripping the sheets.
"Well, I was flirting on purpose. With you." Because he'd done a bit of it with the barmaid downstairs mostly to put her in a good mood. Ro makes himself avoid too much of a digression and his thumb brushes lightly along Caleb's.
"It was your eyes," he says, because--well, it's true. He peers up at the other man. "And your hair, when I saw it in proper light. And... the way you'd hide a laugh sometimes when Nott was threatening me one minute and asking for something the next. We don't have to do... anything, if you don't want to. If you just want to feel it and know it's not being misread."
Ro isn't offering to forget the conversation entirely. But if anything more than a conversation, than these confessions, is a step too far, that's okay too. There are other ways to have physical intimacy that don't move as fast.
"But if you did want to, however much or however fast or slow, I'm... here."
Ro's hand touches his, too small to cover it, and Caleb's breath catches in his throat. But he doesn't pull away. He's not quite mesmerized, but very enthralled as Ro explains that his flirtation was intentional, and why. What his halfling companion has managed to see in him over the last few days almost sounds to Caleb like he is describing another man. An attractive man, a charming man, a worthy man. Surely it can't be him.
What Ro expresses, wanting him to know that this draw to each other is real and reciprocated, but they don't have to act on it--that means much more to him than even he could have expected. But if he does want to--
"Oh," Caleb says softly, breathy with surprise. His mouth tightens and his brow knits, his expression open but conflicted. There are a few long seconds of heavy silence as he weighs Ro's sincerity in the face of his own fear. But then he breaks into a smile, small and bashful. His face is warm, and getting warmer still.
Ro has made a sincere offer. If he wanted to, he could accept it. At whatever pace he wanted, in whatever way he would be comfortable. He hadn't imagined making this choice tonight--or at all. It is daunting. It is exciting. He wants...he wants. He doesn't know if he should, but he does.
"Thank you," he says first, and turns his hand over beneath Ro's. His fingers enfold it completely. "I--I had not expected..." He shakes his head, and glances up to meet Ro's gaze. He said he liked his eyes. "But I do want to. Very much. I am just not sure where to begin. It has been a long time."
A warm flutter rises in his stomach and Ro is sure he's getting pink in the cheeks, too, when Caleb turns his hand to hold his. Ro's fingers brush against the callouses on the other man's palm and his smile grows a little brighter.
Caleb's eyes seem darker in the warm lamp light and Ro feels just as charmed as he does when Caleb looks at him in broad daylight. Caleb has already made it known that he hasn't had this kind of intimacy in a long time; Ro really doesn't want him to feel like he has to dive back in. But he's encouraged even by the quiet assertion that Caleb doesn't know where to start. He can help with that.
Ro scoots closer, until their legs touch.
"Can I kiss you?"
Maybe that's too much, but the question is out before Ro can second guess it too much. That isn't a bad place to start, is it? A kiss can be lot of things and it needn't go any farther than that if it feels like enough. Ro has committed himself to learning Caleb's lines. The last thing he wants is to be the reason Caleb keeps himself closed off even longer.
Ah, yes. That would be the place to start, wouldn't it? Still, Caleb all but knocked flat by that gentle question--the smile on Ro's lips, the soft warmth of hope in his pretty brown eyes. He squeezes the smaller hand in his, bolstering his own courage.
"Ja, please."
The low rasp of his voice is barely louder than the crackle of the fire. Talk and laughter from the floor below filters up faintly through the floor, even at this hour, and Caleb feels...not quite safe, he never feels safe, but protected. Hidden. Swaddled, even, in the background lull of anonymous voices and the sound of flame splitting dry logs.
Without thinking, his tongue flickers out briefly to moisten his lips, dry and cracked in places, as his eyes remain pinned on Ro, anticipation churning his stomach. He is nervous, obviously so, but not in a way that is entirely unpleasant. He waits for his companion to make the first move; it's been so long that he fears he would be clumsy. Both of his past lovers were also human, like him. Allowing Ro to take the lead is good in that regard, as well. He can learn how best to go about this when his partner is barely more than half his size.
Ro laughs a bit, blushing because he knows what comes next: he has to get closer. And, given his size... there's only a few ways to do that.
He squeezes Caleb's hand before he lets go, because he needs to balance as he gets up. On his knees, Ro walks himself closer and both hands reach to cradle Caleb's face. He luxuriates in that for a moment, thumbs sweeping across the other man's bearded jaw. As much as he'd to be in Caleb's lap - as easy as he knows it would be - that feels a little too presumptuous without being invited. So he looks up into brilliant blue eyes and coaxes Caleb to lean toward him a bit so their mouths can meet.
It's a gentle kiss, lips pressed together with enough pressure to feel pleasant but not so much that it feels desperate or urgent. It invites lingering and Ro can feel his heart beat faster with the way it feels. It's been a while since he kissed anyone quite like this, with intent. He missed it. They are both fresh and clean and in a comfortable place. Caleb smells like soap and his lips are a little chapped, but that's hardly a turnoff. It's rather familiar, actually.
Ro breaks the kiss the same as he started it, slow and gentle and he doesn't go far. His thumb rubs against the grain of Caleb's beard, then follows it.
"Okay?" he asks softly, not tentative but... wanting to check in.
Caleb's heart is beating very fast. Ro's small hands are warm against his face, his touch gentle in a way that makes Caleb's chest ache. It's been so long since he's been touched with such tender intent. Apart from Nott, no one touches him at all. His breath grows short. When Ro's lips meet his, he is barely breathing at all.
The kiss breaks his heart, then mends it again. Only now does Caleb let himself feel how badly he wants intimacy like this; how much he's missed it. He returns it perhaps too eagerly, and finds himself reaching for Ro without being fully aware until his hands splay over his back and his hip, spanning much of his smaller form. Gods, Caleb doesn't want this to end. His head tilts forward when Ro leans back at last, and Caleb takes a shuddering breath as his eyes blink slowly open.
"Ja. Very okay," he responds hoarsely. The way Ro strokes his beard feels nice; every point of contact between them feels almost too good to be true. He wants to continue doing this. His throat feels thick with emotion, far more than the situation should warrant, but Caleb has never pretended to be a well-adjusted man.
He wants more, and that would be much easier if Ro weren't kneeling beside him.
"You can, ah...come closer, if you like." Caleb smiles, soft and charmingly crooked. "You did sit in my lap the first night we met."
Caleb's hands cover a great deal more than they might on a person more his size, but for Ro it's wonderfully familiar. He can feel the warmth of Caleb's palms through the fabric of his shirt and his stomach flutters with excitement. Easy there, he tries to tell himself.
Ro's smile grows yet remains soft - just for Caleb - when he gets that reassurance. Unbidden, he feels warmth rising in his face when Caleb invites him closer, and reminds him that they've been much closer before.
"To be fair, we both had more clothes on." But gods, that smile is all the invitation he needs. It's exciting to see Caleb so... relaxed. At least relaxed enough that he can tease more effortlessly. "Hold still," he adds, eyes bright.
His hands move to brace on Caleb's shoulders and Ro does exactly that: he sits in Caleb's lap, not quite like he did on that first night in the cell. He makes sure he can still face the other man, and he's terribly aware of how little is between them. But he tells himself not to think too hard about that - this won't go any farther than Caleb wants, Ro is determined to that end. He won't let himself get carried away. Even if it's very tempting.
He reaches up to touch Caleb's cheek again, mostly just enjoying that he's allowed to touch this man. "I like this better than that first night," he admits softly. "Kiss me again?"
Ro'll let Caleb start it this time, but... he can get the wheel in motion, right?
Caleb is thinking very hard about how many layers are between them compared to the last time Ro was in his lap. Fewer. By a lot. He is wearing only the pants Ro found for him, without even smalls beneath. While Ro...Caleb becomes aware as the halfling takes his place that he is wearing smalls under that shirt, but as his legs spread around Caleb's, the shirt rides up his thighs. Gods, Caleb wants to touch.
With his face growing increasingly flushed, Caleb hums in agreement; he likes his much better, too, for many reasons. There is a flutter of nervous excitement in his stomach when Ro asks to be kissed. Eagerly, he does so.
Even if he is out of practice, Ro's lips feel good against his. Caleb's hand slides up his back to cradle the back of his neck, fingers combing through dark hair that he now knows feels as smooth as it looks. The kiss is too slow and decadently lingering to be considered chaste, but Caleb doesn't yet press for more than closed lips sliding against closed lips.
Ro is warm and soft, and Caleb squeezes gently at his hip as they kiss, wanting to touch him more but hesitant to venture over pare skin. The weight of him in his lap is perfect. Inevitably, his cock begins to stir as arousal burns brighter in his belly. Perhaps he would--or should--be embarrassed, when he knows Ro will certainly feel him stiffening against the round curve of his ass, but surely the other man must have expected as much when he climbed into his lap.
Ro closes his eyes as their mouths meet and his hand stays against Caleb's face as the other man brushes fingers through his hair. Caleb's hand is enough to entirely cradle the back of his head, and even if the kiss isn't deep, it's far from chaste. It's more than enough to get heat stirring low in Ro's belly, and that only spikes when he realizes he can feel Caleb's cock getting hard against his rear. He's done his fair share of flirting since wandering into the Empire, but it's been a couple of months since he was really with anyone.
Well, maybe it won't be quite as distressing then when Caleb feels an answering stiffness against his stomach. Ro knew what he was getting into, but it's still another thing to feel it as a reality. He tries to get a little closer, pushing up against Caleb's torso as the other man's hand slides over his hip.
"You can uhm--you can move your hands more. If you want to." He should say that, shouldn't he? Caleb seems both skittish and eager and Ro just doesn't want him to feel like he's crossing any lines when there really aren't many at this point. Ro wants to be touched.
Ro leans up for another kiss, and this time he parts his lips a little in invitation; his tongue flicks out to tease over Caleb's.
Tonight, reality feels like an especially good dream. When Caleb recognizes the hard shape of Ro's cock against his stomach, his breath hitches. Real desire courses through him, pervasive and demanding--thrilling, when Ro invites him to move his hands. Permission is all he needed.
"I want to," he murmurs, and slides his hand down from Ro's hip to his bare thigh as the other man leans up to kiss him again. Caleb moans at the brush of his tongue, and recognizing that for an invitation as well, he meets it with his own, pressing past Ro's parted lips to lick into his mouth.
Caleb is unexpectedly thrilled by how much of Ro's thigh his hand can encompass. He squeezes, pulling his smaller form close against his bare chest. The halfling is small, but delightfully sturdy. The hint of softness to his legs, his ass, is inviting and arousing. His cock fills out steady with Ro sitting on it, growing hotter and harder beneath the thin pants he wears.
Ro's thrilled, too. He makes a noise against Caleb's mouth as the other man's tongue sweeps past his and as a calloused hand slides down over his thigh, and another whimper escapes as he's pulled closer still. He can feel the warmth of Caleb's skin through the thin shirt. Given that it's too big to begin with, and not fully buttoned, it doesn't take much to have it sliding off his shoulders, baring more skin.
He rocks against Caleb, letting his covered cock drag against the other man's stomach. Ro knows he's built a bit thick, helped along by years of climbing up and down rigging, of learning to ride sailboards and swimming. But despite all of that, Caleb's hand covers a good part of his thigh and Ro feels a dizzy rush of excitement.
His hands slide down Caleb's chest, feeling the shape of him after looking far more than he should've been since they met. He's lean, he could stand to have a month's worth of good meals, but gods, he's handsome. Ro meant that when he said it and it certainly hasn't changed seeing him down to a towel. And he really can't help but notice the feel of the other man's cock pressing up against the curve of his ass.
He lifts his hands enough to undo the rest of the buttons on his shirt and, after a moment of considering, he lets it slide off entirely. Caleb's seen the tattoo that climbs his left arm from wrist to shoulder, but there's another hidden on the inside of his right bicep, what looks like the silhouette of a seal and a smaller one inside it.
Caleb has lost himself in this so quickly, his mind clouded by pleasure and proximity, physical comforts he hasn't indulged in since before...since before. It's the best he's felt in months. No; years. Everything beyond this moment, beyond the man in his lap, is muted for now. He doesn't know when his mind last felt so quiet.
Ro rocks against him as they kiss, and he can feel the halfling's hands exploring his chest before they divert to finish undoing the buttons on his oversized shirt. As he sheds it, Caleb straightens up enough to see him, breath catching. He is lovely to look at, his dark hair contrasting lightly tanned freckled skin, some of it intricately tattooed. And it's no wonder his soft, round ass feels so nice against his cock.
"Gods, you feel good," he rasps, leaning down for another kiss. "This--this is good." It sounds like an affirmation more than a declaration, Caleb deciding for himself that this is something he can handle. Something he wants very badly, in fact.
Both of Caleb's hands now slide up Ro's thighs until he is holding the curve of his ass. His lips press to his cheek, then the pointed tip of one ear, but to trail down his neck would mean having to stoop into an awkward position.
"Perhaps," he murmurs, "perhaps you should, ah...take the lead?" he suggests. "There are many things I would like to do, but...as I said, it has been a while." That, and he has never been with someone Ro's size, and he would much prefer to receive some guidance than to guess and get it wrong.
He can't help the hiccup in his breath as Caleb's hands slide over his ass. The heat in his face deepens and he's sure Caleb can feel it against his lips as they press to Ro's cheek. He bites his lip as the other man kisses the tip of his ear.
Ro manages a nod, understanding the hesitation.
"Tell me what you'd like to do?" As he asks, Ro's hand slips between them, moving fabric so his calloused fingers can brush against Caleb's cock. "And whils you do, I'll touch you here."
The touch is light enough to be a question and Ro watches Caleb's face to be certain he isn't rushing too far ahead. When it seems welcome, Ro offers a slow, deliberate stroke. He's happy to take the lead if Caleb wants, but he wants to know what's running through Caleb's mind, too. Maybe he can move things in some of those directions. Especially when he imagines he'll like a lot of Caleb's suggestions.
Tall people are always going to be big to him, but stroking Caleb serves the helpful purpose of getting an idea of what he's working with.
It is very welcome, but Caleb's thoughts scatter like loose paper in a strong draft at that first touch. The mere brush of calloused fingers against his bare cock, hot and already almost fully hard, has him sucking in a sharp breath. The first real stroke into the next, and the next, feels like being unmade.
A breath leaves him raggedly, and his eyes flutter closed for a moment. Even Ro's smaller hand, rough as Caleb's own, feels incredible, novel, mesmerizing. His cock fills out in his grip with a heavy twitch. Reflexively, he squeezes again at the attractive curve of Ro's ass encompassed in his much larger hands.
Right. He is meant to be talking. Giving Ro some idea of where he would like this to go. It almost feels greedy, when even this feels like so much, but the part of his brain that is always a little horny still readily provides him with ideas. He has no idea what might be too much, so he chooses something he knows he'll like, and that he's pretty certain Ro will too.
"I would enjoy using my mouth on you," he offers breathlessly, eyes sliding open again to gaze down at his handsomely flushed halfling companion. Gods, just the sight of his hand on his cock-- "If you would like to...start with that?"
Caleb's cock is quite handsome and Ro lets his lips as it firms up in his hand, coaxed to full arousal while Caleb grips his ass and thigh. When the other man offers his answer, heat floods Ro's face, deepening the color, and he looks up at Caleb with a warm smile that isn't quite shy.
"Yeah, that'd be good," he assures. "Might need to reposition though," he says with a light laugh. Caleb sure won't be reaching him like this. Not like he wants to, anyway.
Ro leans up to kiss him again, licking lightly into Caleb's mouth to deepen it. His other hand braces gently against the other man's chest to keep his balance. When they part again, he gives a last few strokes to Caleb's cock before he pulls away entirely. Ro reluctantly gets out of Caleb's lap so that he can get further on the bed, leaving room for Caleb to arrange himself as he might like to.
"Depending on how we do this I can probably keep stroking you? Whatever you want." Look he's not going to start making demands when Caleb is offering to suck his cock.
Caleb makes a soft but terribly needy noise as Ro kisses him again, playfully dipping his tongue into his mouth. He is panting lightly when they part, not in the least from the way Ro is still pumping his cock in a small but steady hand. He aches to lose that touch, but reluctantly allows the halfling to slip away, because he is right about needing to reposition.
"I would like that," Caleb admits breathlessly, licking his lips. "But I want to be able to--to look at you. If there is not a good way to have both, I can wait."
Ro shifts further up the bed, which gives him the space to move. First he shucks his pants entirely, casual and unceremonious about their removal, which leaves him bare except for the bandages over his forearms that Ro had so gently and generously wrapped for him earlier. His companion has seen everything already. As he follows Ro up the bed to kneel near his feet, his cock, stiff and ruddy, bobs between his slim thighs.
"I am afraid my stamina is also...probably lacking," he admits. Though he also doesn't doubt that he'll be able to get it up again, given this is the first time he's had sex in years.
"That might be harder," he admits. If Caleb wants a good view, it'd be easier if Ro's not trying to reach him. He can't help a grin when Caleb removes the soft pants; he tries not to stare too much at his cock as Caleb gets closer.
"Oh, uhm--well, I could take care of you first...? And then if you bounce back..." Ro wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, then laughs and blushes deeper. "Or whatever you want."
If Caleb wants to just wait, Ro understands that, too. He just doesn't want Caleb to feel limited.
"I can bounce back pretty quick on a good day," he admits. It's something he's noticed when he's with taller partners.
Gods, he's sweet. Caleb feels set at ease by Ro's silliness and laughter and kind concern for his needs, and more than passingly fond of the holy man he'd met by chance not a week past. He's also quite pretty, laying back on this modest inn bed with that grin and that flush.
"Well, that seems like a point in favor of going down on you, friend," Caleb says with a curl of his lips hinting at playfulness, a subdued mirthful glint in his blue eyes that Ro has seen by now a few times. "So let me do that."
Ro is small enough that Caleb doesn't need to move much closer to lay his broad human hands on his thighs again, or to lean over him and kiss him. His hands slide up as his tongue parts Ro's lips, pressing with gentle insistence into his mouth. Caleb tugs at the waist of his smalls as they kiss, the final layer remaining between them, to begin pulling them down his legs.
"Far be it from me to argue," Ro answers, more breathless than he means to sound after Caleb offers that gentle insistence. The glint in Caleb's eyes is one he's seen only a few times, but gods, it's fetching. Ro finds himself quite attracted to the wizard's sense of humor, his quiet amusement, and his sharp wit.
He eases back more as their mouths meet in another kiss, lips parting easily as Caleb's tongue sweeps past them. Ro makes a quiet sound and he braces his arms against the bed so that he has more balance as he lifts his hips, trying to make it easier for Caleb to divest him of his last layer.
Ro's cock is hard and flushed, and nicely proportionate to his size. On his right thigh there's a series of jagged, faded scars in a semi-circle. A quick glance or touch will reveal a matching set on the back of his thigh. Ro tries to help get his smalls the rest of the way off, drawing his legs up some as Caleb pulls the fabric down.
Ro's smalls come off, and Caleb leaves them with the rest of the halfling's discarded clothing--which is to say, scattered on and around the bed. Finally, he can look at him entirely bare, and without the self-consciousness of stolen glances. He's an attractive man, his tattoos and scars are intriguing, and his cock is--oh yes, Caleb would like that in his mouth right away.
First, though, he can't resist licking crudely over the center of his palm to wet it and taking Ro's cock in hand, hot and stiff in the tight circle of his calloused fingers. This gives him a more tangible idea of his size, and Caleb is a little surprised by how appealing he finds it. He squeezes and strokes gently, curiously, as he trails his lips along his companion's jaw to his neck. His other hand covers the halfing's hip, his thumb brushing idly over his stomach.
"You will have to tell me what you like," Caleb murmurs, enjoying the warmth of Ro's flushed skin against his lips. "I have only had human lovers before, so forgive me if I am clumsy."
Ro's lips part in a quiet gasp of breath as Caleb's hand wraps around him. It's the callouses that get to him as much as anything else, bringing a deeper blush to Ro's face as the other man strokes him. He tips his head to make room as Caleb kisses along his neck.
"Oh--" He hiccups as Caleb's palm rubs over the head of his cock. "I've uhm. I've mostly only been with humans too," he admits. "I'm pretty sturdy."
Having Caleb so close to him now is overwhelming, but only in good ways. He's close enough that Ro can smell the soap on his skin, can feel the warmth of his body. Caleb's hand on his hip covers quite a bit of him.
"It's not that different," he murmurs. "I mean if uhm--if you wanted to be inside me that might take a little bit of work, but. Probably be the same if I wanted to be in you, huh?"
Caleb says he hasn't done this in a while, so Ro has to imagine it'd take some working up. His breath catches again and he rocks his hips up to meet the next squeezing stroke.
"But I like using my mouth, too. And uhm. There's always my thighs." Ro feels like he's just rattling off obvious options now, but he means it when he says he's interested in most things. Fucking, sucking, and everything in between.
With his hand around Ro's cock, Caleb isn't expecting to be the one flustered. But his halfling friend speaks so frankly--endearingly so--about their options that Caleb feels the heat in his own skin deepen, and he has to take a moment to collect his thoughts before replying, scattered by the images Ro's words paint in his imaginative mind.
"Ja, that--that would take some work either way," he says in a slightly breathless husk. Both his lips and his beard brush Ro's neck as he speaks, hiding away there in the crook of his neck. He wasn't looking to explore options just yet beyond what he's already put forward--sucking Ro's cock--but gods, if Ro is making suggestions like this, he'll certainly give them consideration. Ro, it seems, is as interested in variety as Caleb himself is. "So I think for tonight, one of the latter two might be best."
They don't know how long they'll have the room to themselves, after all. And Caleb is, as he's mentioned, fairly certain it won't take much to get him off. Ro's mouth or his thighs would be...wonderful, honestly. Notably, though, he isn't discounting penetration as a possibility should this happen again--the mere thought of which makes him a little more short of breath.
The path of Caleb's warm kisses continues down Ro's flushed chest while his hand keeps his cock occupied, taking care to rub his palm across the head with each slow stroke in just the way that made Ro gasp.
Ro can only nod at first, though it's with enthusiasm. One of the latter two would be best, both for the sake of time and minimal privacy. But the way Caleb says for tonight suggests, maybe, that there could be other nights. And Ro realizes he wouldn't mind that at all. There's something about Caleb that's hard to ignore now that he's been allowed to see it. He doesn't think he'll be able to forget it.
"You can uhm--you can think about while you're busy," he says, voice tight as a little whine catches on the last word. Ro grips the blanket beneath him and he ends up rolling his hips, trying to meet the rhythm of Caleb's hand as the other man's mouth moves lower. Muscles tense and shiver beneath his lips and the scrape of his beard. After a moment, Ro shifts to rest his leg over Caleb's arm rather than under it. Given his size, it's just an easier position anyway.
He lets go of the blanket, but he's still tentative as he reaches to brush his fingers through Caleb's damp hair, testing to see if that'd be welcome. After seeing the scars on Caleb's arms, he wants to at least telegraph what he's doing enough that Caleb can ask him to stop if he needs to before Ro goes too far. But the nice thing about this position in particular is that he can still reach Caleb without much issue. He just can't reach far. But that'd be true even if he were taller.
Caleb pauses just above Ro's navel, where his line of kisses has led him. "I will be," he assures with a playful little quirk of his lips, which grows a little wider in encouragement as the other man's fingers thread tentatively through his hair. When he was doing this regularly, once upon a time, his hair was always too short to really grab. But he's thought about it plenty, and he's certain it is something he would enjoy. He does appreciate the care that Ro's hesitation demonstrates, though.
Gods, it's gratifying to hear his companion--his lover?--make these soft, eager noises when he hasn't even gotten his mouth on him yet. As he continues down Ro's stomach, his kisses turn slower, but hungrier, lingering. His tongue appears as he nuzzles into the crease of his thigh, and he wonders if Ro would enjoy him using his mouth elsewhere tonight as well. The idea of eating him out for its own sake, rather than just as foreplay, is appealing.
Time is limited, though, so he doesn't waste any more of it before getting started on what they've already talked about. His fingers slide down to frame the base of his sturdy little cock and Caleb drags his tongue across the head. The taste of clean salty skin is immediately enjoyable, and a pleased hum vibrates in Caleb's throat as he parts his lips to suck the flushed tip gently between them--then the first inch entirely. He could easily take more right away, he realizes, but he wants to ease them both into this a bit more--it is something to savor, personally, being the first time he's sucked cock in more than fifteen years.
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Ro hasn't been offended by his stolen glances or obvious interest. Could it be because he is interested in return? All this time, Caleb has assumed his flirting was merely friendly, just a facet of his personality. Has it actually been genuine? That certainly seems to be the precipice they are standing on now, with what they've mutually implied. Ro doesn't seem like the sort of person who would make advances, however subtle, without meaning it.
"You would like that?" Caleb repeats Ro's words softly, cautiously. When he looks up again, there is something close to fear in his eyes, as though it takes all the courage he has to continue this conversation. To maybe consider that someone might want him. To face that it might actually be possible to connect with someone this way, vulnerable as it might be.
Caleb licks his chapped lips, then gives a soft, humorless laugh under his breath. "I think the metaphor has gotten away from us a bit, so I will risk being a little more plain with you. I have not been intimate with anyone in a very long time. But you make me want to be. Which is--that does not have to mean anything, of course, and I will happily forget about this conversation entirely if you would prefer that." He is quick to reassure, heart pounding hard enough that he can hear it in his own ears. His fingers curl into the bedsheets, nervously bunching them in his palms. "It is just that I have felt...drawn to you in a way that I thought I might never experience again."
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"It feels too important for a metaphor," he says with a light laugh that's almost just a huff of breath. Half of the embarrassment is that he stumbled through it so badly that they need to leave it behind entirely. Ro's expression softens more as he listens, his eyes dark and intent as Caleb explains where he is in all of this. At least his flirting hasn't been completely misread. He's more in his element here: he doesn't press, doesn't rush Caleb through saying what he needs to say.
And when he pauses, Ro shifts closely, telegraphing his movements in the hopes he won't startle Caleb when his hand lightly rests over one of Caleb's where he's gripping the sheets.
"Well, I was flirting on purpose. With you." Because he'd done a bit of it with the barmaid downstairs mostly to put her in a good mood. Ro makes himself avoid too much of a digression and his thumb brushes lightly along Caleb's.
"It was your eyes," he says, because--well, it's true. He peers up at the other man. "And your hair, when I saw it in proper light. And... the way you'd hide a laugh sometimes when Nott was threatening me one minute and asking for something the next. We don't have to do... anything, if you don't want to. If you just want to feel it and know it's not being misread."
Ro isn't offering to forget the conversation entirely. But if anything more than a conversation, than these confessions, is a step too far, that's okay too. There are other ways to have physical intimacy that don't move as fast.
"But if you did want to, however much or however fast or slow, I'm... here."
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What Ro expresses, wanting him to know that this draw to each other is real and reciprocated, but they don't have to act on it--that means much more to him than even he could have expected. But if he does want to--
"Oh," Caleb says softly, breathy with surprise. His mouth tightens and his brow knits, his expression open but conflicted. There are a few long seconds of heavy silence as he weighs Ro's sincerity in the face of his own fear. But then he breaks into a smile, small and bashful. His face is warm, and getting warmer still.
Ro has made a sincere offer. If he wanted to, he could accept it. At whatever pace he wanted, in whatever way he would be comfortable. He hadn't imagined making this choice tonight--or at all. It is daunting. It is exciting. He wants...he wants. He doesn't know if he should, but he does.
"Thank you," he says first, and turns his hand over beneath Ro's. His fingers enfold it completely. "I--I had not expected..." He shakes his head, and glances up to meet Ro's gaze. He said he liked his eyes. "But I do want to. Very much. I am just not sure where to begin. It has been a long time."
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Caleb's eyes seem darker in the warm lamp light and Ro feels just as charmed as he does when Caleb looks at him in broad daylight. Caleb has already made it known that he hasn't had this kind of intimacy in a long time; Ro really doesn't want him to feel like he has to dive back in. But he's encouraged even by the quiet assertion that Caleb doesn't know where to start. He can help with that.
Ro scoots closer, until their legs touch.
"Can I kiss you?"
Maybe that's too much, but the question is out before Ro can second guess it too much. That isn't a bad place to start, is it? A kiss can be lot of things and it needn't go any farther than that if it feels like enough. Ro has committed himself to learning Caleb's lines. The last thing he wants is to be the reason Caleb keeps himself closed off even longer.
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"Ja, please."
The low rasp of his voice is barely louder than the crackle of the fire. Talk and laughter from the floor below filters up faintly through the floor, even at this hour, and Caleb feels...not quite safe, he never feels safe, but protected. Hidden. Swaddled, even, in the background lull of anonymous voices and the sound of flame splitting dry logs.
Without thinking, his tongue flickers out briefly to moisten his lips, dry and cracked in places, as his eyes remain pinned on Ro, anticipation churning his stomach. He is nervous, obviously so, but not in a way that is entirely unpleasant. He waits for his companion to make the first move; it's been so long that he fears he would be clumsy. Both of his past lovers were also human, like him. Allowing Ro to take the lead is good in that regard, as well. He can learn how best to go about this when his partner is barely more than half his size.
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He squeezes Caleb's hand before he lets go, because he needs to balance as he gets up. On his knees, Ro walks himself closer and both hands reach to cradle Caleb's face. He luxuriates in that for a moment, thumbs sweeping across the other man's bearded jaw. As much as he'd to be in Caleb's lap - as easy as he knows it would be - that feels a little too presumptuous without being invited. So he looks up into brilliant blue eyes and coaxes Caleb to lean toward him a bit so their mouths can meet.
It's a gentle kiss, lips pressed together with enough pressure to feel pleasant but not so much that it feels desperate or urgent. It invites lingering and Ro can feel his heart beat faster with the way it feels. It's been a while since he kissed anyone quite like this, with intent. He missed it. They are both fresh and clean and in a comfortable place. Caleb smells like soap and his lips are a little chapped, but that's hardly a turnoff. It's rather familiar, actually.
Ro breaks the kiss the same as he started it, slow and gentle and he doesn't go far. His thumb rubs against the grain of Caleb's beard, then follows it.
"Okay?" he asks softly, not tentative but... wanting to check in.
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The kiss breaks his heart, then mends it again. Only now does Caleb let himself feel how badly he wants intimacy like this; how much he's missed it. He returns it perhaps too eagerly, and finds himself reaching for Ro without being fully aware until his hands splay over his back and his hip, spanning much of his smaller form. Gods, Caleb doesn't want this to end. His head tilts forward when Ro leans back at last, and Caleb takes a shuddering breath as his eyes blink slowly open.
"Ja. Very okay," he responds hoarsely. The way Ro strokes his beard feels nice; every point of contact between them feels almost too good to be true. He wants to continue doing this. His throat feels thick with emotion, far more than the situation should warrant, but Caleb has never pretended to be a well-adjusted man.
He wants more, and that would be much easier if Ro weren't kneeling beside him.
"You can, ah...come closer, if you like." Caleb smiles, soft and charmingly crooked. "You did sit in my lap the first night we met."
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Ro's smile grows yet remains soft - just for Caleb - when he gets that reassurance. Unbidden, he feels warmth rising in his face when Caleb invites him closer, and reminds him that they've been much closer before.
"To be fair, we both had more clothes on." But gods, that smile is all the invitation he needs. It's exciting to see Caleb so... relaxed. At least relaxed enough that he can tease more effortlessly. "Hold still," he adds, eyes bright.
His hands move to brace on Caleb's shoulders and Ro does exactly that: he sits in Caleb's lap, not quite like he did on that first night in the cell. He makes sure he can still face the other man, and he's terribly aware of how little is between them. But he tells himself not to think too hard about that - this won't go any farther than Caleb wants, Ro is determined to that end. He won't let himself get carried away. Even if it's very tempting.
He reaches up to touch Caleb's cheek again, mostly just enjoying that he's allowed to touch this man. "I like this better than that first night," he admits softly. "Kiss me again?"
Ro'll let Caleb start it this time, but... he can get the wheel in motion, right?
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With his face growing increasingly flushed, Caleb hums in agreement; he likes his much better, too, for many reasons. There is a flutter of nervous excitement in his stomach when Ro asks to be kissed. Eagerly, he does so.
Even if he is out of practice, Ro's lips feel good against his. Caleb's hand slides up his back to cradle the back of his neck, fingers combing through dark hair that he now knows feels as smooth as it looks. The kiss is too slow and decadently lingering to be considered chaste, but Caleb doesn't yet press for more than closed lips sliding against closed lips.
Ro is warm and soft, and Caleb squeezes gently at his hip as they kiss, wanting to touch him more but hesitant to venture over pare skin. The weight of him in his lap is perfect. Inevitably, his cock begins to stir as arousal burns brighter in his belly. Perhaps he would--or should--be embarrassed, when he knows Ro will certainly feel him stiffening against the round curve of his ass, but surely the other man must have expected as much when he climbed into his lap.
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Well, maybe it won't be quite as distressing then when Caleb feels an answering stiffness against his stomach. Ro knew what he was getting into, but it's still another thing to feel it as a reality. He tries to get a little closer, pushing up against Caleb's torso as the other man's hand slides over his hip.
"You can uhm--you can move your hands more. If you want to." He should say that, shouldn't he? Caleb seems both skittish and eager and Ro just doesn't want him to feel like he's crossing any lines when there really aren't many at this point. Ro wants to be touched.
Ro leans up for another kiss, and this time he parts his lips a little in invitation; his tongue flicks out to tease over Caleb's.
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"I want to," he murmurs, and slides his hand down from Ro's hip to his bare thigh as the other man leans up to kiss him again. Caleb moans at the brush of his tongue, and recognizing that for an invitation as well, he meets it with his own, pressing past Ro's parted lips to lick into his mouth.
Caleb is unexpectedly thrilled by how much of Ro's thigh his hand can encompass. He squeezes, pulling his smaller form close against his bare chest. The halfling is small, but delightfully sturdy. The hint of softness to his legs, his ass, is inviting and arousing. His cock fills out steady with Ro sitting on it, growing hotter and harder beneath the thin pants he wears.
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He rocks against Caleb, letting his covered cock drag against the other man's stomach. Ro knows he's built a bit thick, helped along by years of climbing up and down rigging, of learning to ride sailboards and swimming. But despite all of that, Caleb's hand covers a good part of his thigh and Ro feels a dizzy rush of excitement.
His hands slide down Caleb's chest, feeling the shape of him after looking far more than he should've been since they met. He's lean, he could stand to have a month's worth of good meals, but gods, he's handsome. Ro meant that when he said it and it certainly hasn't changed seeing him down to a towel. And he really can't help but notice the feel of the other man's cock pressing up against the curve of his ass.
He lifts his hands enough to undo the rest of the buttons on his shirt and, after a moment of considering, he lets it slide off entirely. Caleb's seen the tattoo that climbs his left arm from wrist to shoulder, but there's another hidden on the inside of his right bicep, what looks like the silhouette of a seal and a smaller one inside it.
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Ro rocks against him as they kiss, and he can feel the halfling's hands exploring his chest before they divert to finish undoing the buttons on his oversized shirt. As he sheds it, Caleb straightens up enough to see him, breath catching. He is lovely to look at, his dark hair contrasting lightly tanned freckled skin, some of it intricately tattooed. And it's no wonder his soft, round ass feels so nice against his cock.
"Gods, you feel good," he rasps, leaning down for another kiss. "This--this is good." It sounds like an affirmation more than a declaration, Caleb deciding for himself that this is something he can handle. Something he wants very badly, in fact.
Both of Caleb's hands now slide up Ro's thighs until he is holding the curve of his ass. His lips press to his cheek, then the pointed tip of one ear, but to trail down his neck would mean having to stoop into an awkward position.
"Perhaps," he murmurs, "perhaps you should, ah...take the lead?" he suggests. "There are many things I would like to do, but...as I said, it has been a while." That, and he has never been with someone Ro's size, and he would much prefer to receive some guidance than to guess and get it wrong.
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Ro manages a nod, understanding the hesitation.
"Tell me what you'd like to do?" As he asks, Ro's hand slips between them, moving fabric so his calloused fingers can brush against Caleb's cock. "And whils you do, I'll touch you here."
The touch is light enough to be a question and Ro watches Caleb's face to be certain he isn't rushing too far ahead. When it seems welcome, Ro offers a slow, deliberate stroke. He's happy to take the lead if Caleb wants, but he wants to know what's running through Caleb's mind, too. Maybe he can move things in some of those directions. Especially when he imagines he'll like a lot of Caleb's suggestions.
Tall people are always going to be big to him, but stroking Caleb serves the helpful purpose of getting an idea of what he's working with.
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A breath leaves him raggedly, and his eyes flutter closed for a moment. Even Ro's smaller hand, rough as Caleb's own, feels incredible, novel, mesmerizing. His cock fills out in his grip with a heavy twitch. Reflexively, he squeezes again at the attractive curve of Ro's ass encompassed in his much larger hands.
Right. He is meant to be talking. Giving Ro some idea of where he would like this to go. It almost feels greedy, when even this feels like so much, but the part of his brain that is always a little horny still readily provides him with ideas. He has no idea what might be too much, so he chooses something he knows he'll like, and that he's pretty certain Ro will too.
"I would enjoy using my mouth on you," he offers breathlessly, eyes sliding open again to gaze down at his handsomely flushed halfling companion. Gods, just the sight of his hand on his cock-- "If you would like to...start with that?"
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"Yeah, that'd be good," he assures. "Might need to reposition though," he says with a light laugh. Caleb sure won't be reaching him like this. Not like he wants to, anyway.
Ro leans up to kiss him again, licking lightly into Caleb's mouth to deepen it. His other hand braces gently against the other man's chest to keep his balance. When they part again, he gives a last few strokes to Caleb's cock before he pulls away entirely. Ro reluctantly gets out of Caleb's lap so that he can get further on the bed, leaving room for Caleb to arrange himself as he might like to.
"Depending on how we do this I can probably keep stroking you? Whatever you want." Look he's not going to start making demands when Caleb is offering to suck his cock.
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"I would like that," Caleb admits breathlessly, licking his lips. "But I want to be able to--to look at you. If there is not a good way to have both, I can wait."
Ro shifts further up the bed, which gives him the space to move. First he shucks his pants entirely, casual and unceremonious about their removal, which leaves him bare except for the bandages over his forearms that Ro had so gently and generously wrapped for him earlier. His companion has seen everything already. As he follows Ro up the bed to kneel near his feet, his cock, stiff and ruddy, bobs between his slim thighs.
"I am afraid my stamina is also...probably lacking," he admits. Though he also doesn't doubt that he'll be able to get it up again, given this is the first time he's had sex in years.
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"Oh, uhm--well, I could take care of you first...? And then if you bounce back..." Ro wiggles his eyebrows suggestively, then laughs and blushes deeper. "Or whatever you want."
If Caleb wants to just wait, Ro understands that, too. He just doesn't want Caleb to feel limited.
"I can bounce back pretty quick on a good day," he admits. It's something he's noticed when he's with taller partners.
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"Well, that seems like a point in favor of going down on you, friend," Caleb says with a curl of his lips hinting at playfulness, a subdued mirthful glint in his blue eyes that Ro has seen by now a few times. "So let me do that."
Ro is small enough that Caleb doesn't need to move much closer to lay his broad human hands on his thighs again, or to lean over him and kiss him. His hands slide up as his tongue parts Ro's lips, pressing with gentle insistence into his mouth. Caleb tugs at the waist of his smalls as they kiss, the final layer remaining between them, to begin pulling them down his legs.
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He eases back more as their mouths meet in another kiss, lips parting easily as Caleb's tongue sweeps past them. Ro makes a quiet sound and he braces his arms against the bed so that he has more balance as he lifts his hips, trying to make it easier for Caleb to divest him of his last layer.
Ro's cock is hard and flushed, and nicely proportionate to his size. On his right thigh there's a series of jagged, faded scars in a semi-circle. A quick glance or touch will reveal a matching set on the back of his thigh. Ro tries to help get his smalls the rest of the way off, drawing his legs up some as Caleb pulls the fabric down.
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First, though, he can't resist licking crudely over the center of his palm to wet it and taking Ro's cock in hand, hot and stiff in the tight circle of his calloused fingers. This gives him a more tangible idea of his size, and Caleb is a little surprised by how appealing he finds it. He squeezes and strokes gently, curiously, as he trails his lips along his companion's jaw to his neck. His other hand covers the halfing's hip, his thumb brushing idly over his stomach.
"You will have to tell me what you like," Caleb murmurs, enjoying the warmth of Ro's flushed skin against his lips. "I have only had human lovers before, so forgive me if I am clumsy."
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"Oh--" He hiccups as Caleb's palm rubs over the head of his cock. "I've uhm. I've mostly only been with humans too," he admits. "I'm pretty sturdy."
Having Caleb so close to him now is overwhelming, but only in good ways. He's close enough that Ro can smell the soap on his skin, can feel the warmth of his body. Caleb's hand on his hip covers quite a bit of him.
"It's not that different," he murmurs. "I mean if uhm--if you wanted to be inside me that might take a little bit of work, but. Probably be the same if I wanted to be in you, huh?"
Caleb says he hasn't done this in a while, so Ro has to imagine it'd take some working up. His breath catches again and he rocks his hips up to meet the next squeezing stroke.
"But I like using my mouth, too. And uhm. There's always my thighs." Ro feels like he's just rattling off obvious options now, but he means it when he says he's interested in most things. Fucking, sucking, and everything in between.
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"Ja, that--that would take some work either way," he says in a slightly breathless husk. Both his lips and his beard brush Ro's neck as he speaks, hiding away there in the crook of his neck. He wasn't looking to explore options just yet beyond what he's already put forward--sucking Ro's cock--but gods, if Ro is making suggestions like this, he'll certainly give them consideration. Ro, it seems, is as interested in variety as Caleb himself is. "So I think for tonight, one of the latter two might be best."
They don't know how long they'll have the room to themselves, after all. And Caleb is, as he's mentioned, fairly certain it won't take much to get him off. Ro's mouth or his thighs would be...wonderful, honestly. Notably, though, he isn't discounting penetration as a possibility should this happen again--the mere thought of which makes him a little more short of breath.
The path of Caleb's warm kisses continues down Ro's flushed chest while his hand keeps his cock occupied, taking care to rub his palm across the head with each slow stroke in just the way that made Ro gasp.
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"You can uhm--you can think about while you're busy," he says, voice tight as a little whine catches on the last word. Ro grips the blanket beneath him and he ends up rolling his hips, trying to meet the rhythm of Caleb's hand as the other man's mouth moves lower. Muscles tense and shiver beneath his lips and the scrape of his beard. After a moment, Ro shifts to rest his leg over Caleb's arm rather than under it. Given his size, it's just an easier position anyway.
He lets go of the blanket, but he's still tentative as he reaches to brush his fingers through Caleb's damp hair, testing to see if that'd be welcome. After seeing the scars on Caleb's arms, he wants to at least telegraph what he's doing enough that Caleb can ask him to stop if he needs to before Ro goes too far. But the nice thing about this position in particular is that he can still reach Caleb without much issue. He just can't reach far. But that'd be true even if he were taller.
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Gods, it's gratifying to hear his companion--his lover?--make these soft, eager noises when he hasn't even gotten his mouth on him yet. As he continues down Ro's stomach, his kisses turn slower, but hungrier, lingering. His tongue appears as he nuzzles into the crease of his thigh, and he wonders if Ro would enjoy him using his mouth elsewhere tonight as well. The idea of eating him out for its own sake, rather than just as foreplay, is appealing.
Time is limited, though, so he doesn't waste any more of it before getting started on what they've already talked about. His fingers slide down to frame the base of his sturdy little cock and Caleb drags his tongue across the head. The taste of clean salty skin is immediately enjoyable, and a pleased hum vibrates in Caleb's throat as he parts his lips to suck the flushed tip gently between them--then the first inch entirely. He could easily take more right away, he realizes, but he wants to ease them both into this a bit more--it is something to savor, personally, being the first time he's sucked cock in more than fifteen years.
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