[It gives Claude a bit of conflicting feelings—not because anything is actively wrong, of course.
But seeing Dimitri's smile widen should be just enough... and it's not. Because he can also sense that faint hesitation, seeing the worry in his gaze. And really? It's not as if Claude can say Dimitri's feelings aren't justified. They've spent enough time together for Claude to understand that exploring these feelings is something new for Dimitri—and that Dimitri has every reason to have any measure of trepidation. Even if Claude is doing his best to be reassuring, it clearly isn't quite enough. In that respect, there's a realization that he needs to do more in order to ensure Dimitri knows it's okay.
Whatever trepidation he has—whether because of his own concerns of being inexperienced, or because he worries said inexperience would be some kind of deterrent to Claude—he needs to ease it. And if words aren't enough, then it stands to reason that he needs to do something, take some kind of action to assuage those concerns. Which... well, it's a bit easier said than done when he's really doing his best to respect Dimitri's boundaries and his pace. Not being able to rely on what he's always used in these situations is more challenging than he had initially anticipated, even if it's a challenge he'd like to rise up to face head-on.
How? Well, he can try to figure that out as he goes. These thoughts are all barreling through his mind at a frantic pace, jumbled and scattered in ways that only Claude himself would ever be able to reasonably decipher.]
That's right. Don't they say it's about the journey and not the destination? [Okay, so it's not really much in the way of action, but Dimitri seems to have a way of stumping him, of flustering him out of doing what he'd normally do, so he simply doesn't have actions for this just yet, barring the way he embraces Dimitri scooting closer. He closes his eyes contentedly as he leans his head against Dimitri's shoulder, relaxing a bit more. It's almost like a silent signal to Dimitri: he's comfortable this way. There's nothing to worry about aside just having each other's company.] No reason to rush through the best parts just to see the end result.
[The best parts, of course, being the fact that they can just exist this way, without dancing around their feelings or what they want. They don't have to worry about one-sided attraction or accidentally crossing lines that just friends simply shouldn't do under normal circumstances.
(And who knew it could really be just that easy? This is all brand new information to Claude, after all.)]
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But seeing Dimitri's smile widen should be just enough... and it's not. Because he can also sense that faint hesitation, seeing the worry in his gaze. And really? It's not as if Claude can say Dimitri's feelings aren't justified. They've spent enough time together for Claude to understand that exploring these feelings is something new for Dimitri—and that Dimitri has every reason to have any measure of trepidation. Even if Claude is doing his best to be reassuring, it clearly isn't quite enough. In that respect, there's a realization that he needs to do more in order to ensure Dimitri knows it's okay.
Whatever trepidation he has—whether because of his own concerns of being inexperienced, or because he worries said inexperience would be some kind of deterrent to Claude—he needs to ease it. And if words aren't enough, then it stands to reason that he needs to do something, take some kind of action to assuage those concerns. Which... well, it's a bit easier said than done when he's really doing his best to respect Dimitri's boundaries and his pace. Not being able to rely on what he's always used in these situations is more challenging than he had initially anticipated, even if it's a challenge he'd like to rise up to face head-on.
How? Well, he can try to figure that out as he goes. These thoughts are all barreling through his mind at a frantic pace, jumbled and scattered in ways that only Claude himself would ever be able to reasonably decipher.]
That's right. Don't they say it's about the journey and not the destination? [Okay, so it's not really much in the way of action, but Dimitri seems to have a way of stumping him, of flustering him out of doing what he'd normally do, so he simply doesn't have actions for this just yet, barring the way he embraces Dimitri scooting closer. He closes his eyes contentedly as he leans his head against Dimitri's shoulder, relaxing a bit more. It's almost like a silent signal to Dimitri: he's comfortable this way. There's nothing to worry about aside just having each other's company.] No reason to rush through the best parts just to see the end result.
[The best parts, of course, being the fact that they can just exist this way, without dancing around their feelings or what they want. They don't have to worry about one-sided attraction or accidentally crossing lines that just friends simply shouldn't do under normal circumstances.
(And who knew it could really be just that easy? This is all brand new information to Claude, after all.)]