[Same,] Nepherage agreed. The heroic kaijin had a minor bias towards Alicia in regards to Zhen Liu’s love life, not enough to sabotage any existing relationships, but just enough that she would probably encourage further activity if it presented itself...like right now.
=Huh...gotta admit. It looks mildly awkward and a tad forced.=
[Well, she is technically kissing him out of a mix of spite and desire,] Hurricroak observed, [not a bad combo in the right circumstances, but still.]
[Kind of. Also, how is our lord handling this moment, also what is that buzzing, droning sound? It’s been going off for awhile now.]
[Wait...but what about Jin Fang?]
[Ah, right...can it really be pre-established if our lord and the previous guy whose body he’s in were different people?]
=Physically, yes. Mentally, sorta. Spiritually... questionable.=
While the other kaijin observed on with interest, Hurricroak fell into a pensive mood of sorts.
________________________________________________
Probably from the fact that they had been drinking tea literally seconds before this moment, Zhen Liu had the distinct taste of honey and lemons in mouth as Alicia had unexpectedly kissed him.
’Huh...not exactly romantic, but not bad?’
It felt awkward, mildly clumsy, oddly sweet and in general...very girl-next-door feeling if that at all made sense.
The fact that Alicia also happened to rock red hair and freckles, kinda cemented that look hard in Zhen Liu’s head.
"Ooh. Not bad Miss Goldshire," Bellona said with a smirk and a sip of her tea. Zhen Liu couldn’t read her mind, but he could tell that she was amused by the sight.
When the two separated, Zhen Liu couldn’t see his face but he could tell it was burning red...while Alicia’s face was equally burning red with a color not caused by the desert sun.
A semi-awkward silence fell over the area after the deed was done, neither participant unsure of what to say about the matter.
Luckily for our "intrepid" protagonist, Alicia broke the silence first.
"Well...the circumstances were less romantic than I had anticipated or had wanted...I was expecting more beachfront..."
"Yeah...wait, beachfront?"
"But still," Alicia quickly interjected in order to avoid having to explain some of her fantasies(that Bellona was completely aware of at this point), "that was...nice."
"Heh...yeah...it was," Zhen Liu agreed with a touch of embarrassment.
________________________________________________
<"It was"? That’s all you gotta say?>
’What? It felt appropriate.’
[Appropriate?,] Hurricroak followed up, [Maestro, the girl just mustered up the courage to kiss you on the face in a moment of spontaneity. You gotta positive feedback that kind of thing. It’s how you get that passione going.]
[Hurricroak’s right. You should have complimented her more or say something romantic.]
’Well that’s out of character. Nepherage, why?’
[I’m biased towards you and Lady Alicia getting together. I am born from her desire.]
’That...makes a weird amount of sense.’
=To steal a line from our lord, "silence from the peanut gallery",= Logos interrupted, =also, milord pay attention, Lady Bellona is making a move.=
________________________________________________
’Huh...I wasn’t jealous the last time I saw him kiss Jin Fang...but now I do...well, no time like the present to even it up then,’ Bellona thought to herself before drinking the rest of her tea.
She had expected Alicia to be flustered from kissing Zhen Liu, she could hear the inexperience in her head, she did not expect Zhen Liu to be equally flustered.
(Un)surprisingly, the kaijin in Zhen Liu’s head suddenly muted themselves, probably making comments about the kissing, and for some reason...she wanted to see if she could break that silence.
"Zhen Liu, could you turn your head this way for a moment?"
"Oh!," Alicia squeaked, surprised at how forward Bellona was. It was one thing to hear someone say they were forward, it was another to see it happen.
No prompt, no prep, no warning.
Bellona just straight up grabbed Zhen Liu’s collar the moment he turned his head and kissed him in a manner that would be more appropriately done by a dashing rogue and a princess...well...in this case, a daring princess and an inexperienced young man.
________________________________________________
[I used to kiss-I mean...If I had a partner, I would definitely kiss them like that. The hand on the cheek thing is new though, very intimate,] Hurricroak commented.
[Huh... I’m starting to understand why our lord ended up with Jin Fang more and more,] Nepherage observed.
[I know that presence.]
=Oh. It appears we’re about to be three for three on our lord being romantically/forcibly kissed...and this time from someone who knows how to push his buttons.=
[If I only had some popcorn right now!]
[Everyone please zip their lips, I am taking notes on how to be a "boss ass bitch" here.]
=And she’s in the cussing phase, wonderful.=
________________________________________________
"Phew. A bit more fierce than last time, right? I had some free time at home, so I read up on how to kiss more passionately. What did you think?," Bellona asked with a cheeky tone.
For a girl that had snow white fleece hair and was technically part magic sheep, girl was as fierce as a wolf...is what Zhen Liu would probably think if he could, but his brain was at half power right now and most of his blood was...elsewhere.
’Is...is this why people like that omega... something so much?,’ Zhen Liu pondered in a daze.
Unfortunately for him, it was gonna get worst.
"Oh! Hello Jin Fang."
"Jin Fang...apologies for the display of affection," Bellona teased, "I was just showing an example of how to kiss someone passionately to Alicia, and we didn’t have a practice dummy."
"What?," Alicia yelped, confused.
Jin Fang was initially planning to just drop off the tea and leave...but she had just been challenged, and who was she to refuse one?
Especially from one who was so transparently brazen.
"Your technique isn’t bad, but you’re missing something...rather important."
"Oh? What am I missing? Care to show the class?"
Zhen Liu was entirely present...but he swear they were flirting.
’Then again...more likely fighting?’