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“Can I touch you?”
Celes frowns vaguely and so does Shannen, as they both turn to look at Langley.
“What do you mean? Where?”
“Under that skirt,” Langley answers, nodding feverishly.
Shannen groans and rolls his eyes. “Where else,” he says rhetorically, moving a few steps around the enclosed space where the High Priest has left them waiting for the last half hour, as he officiates the preliminary ritual.
(Both Shannen and Langley had to study much more than they were prepared to do for this. They had to learn about the preliminary ritual, and then the ritual itself, and then the additional ritual and finally the conclusive ritual. Lots of rituals involved in a wedding, apparently, at least at this level.)
Celes blushes, immediately clutching his legs closed in a reflex. “No you can’t! Also, this isn’t a skirt.”
“What is it, then?” Langley blinks confusedly.
“A tunic!”
“You’re wearing one too, idiot,” Shannen snorts, “Just longer.”
“Ah!” Langley seems genuinely surprised by the notion, “Right. Of course. Well, it doesn’t change my request. Can I touch you there?”
“Absolutely not!” Celes insists, raising his voice a little. “Why?!”
“I’m nervous,” Langley answers honestly. On the other side of the tiny door separating them from the central square of the court there’s a huge crowd of people waiting for the three of them to show up. Exchange vows. Get married. Turn into a solid reality what has been nothing but a dream up until a few months ago, when Celes finally managed to get the council to approve the revolutionary changes he made to the Book of the Laws regarding life partnerships and marriages.
“That is no excuse for inappropriate obscenities!” Celes protests.
“You serious?” Shannen raises an eyebrow, “Everything is a good excuse for inappropriate obscenities, if you ask him.”
“And I’m right!” Langley answers, getting closer, “Come on, let me get my hands down there. Just a little bit. Just to calm my nerves. I’m agitated. There’s the whole city out there.”
Shannen rolls his eyes and groans. Then he turns to Celes. “Are you sure you still wanna marry this dork?”
“Absolutely,” Celes nods, and then slaps Langley’s hands, which, like tentacles, are trying to get underneath his clothes, “Lang! Come on. You just have to make it through the next three hours.”
“Three hours?” Langley blinks in a panic, “I don’t know how to make it through the next three minutes, my beloved. I am wrecking. Here, I’m wrecked. I’m a wreck.”
Celes sighs and shakes his head. “Can you please just tell me what is wrong with you? I’ve never seen you so agitated. There must be a reason.”
Langley swallows and looks away. He is embarrassed about this, that much is obvious. He clearly doesn’t want to share the reasons behind his hectic behavior. But he understands quite soon that Celes is not going to budge about this, and he knows better than to expect any support coming from Shannen in this specific socio-historic conjuncture, so he ends up sighing too, and he surrenders.
“I’m just afraid I’m gonna mess things up,” he confesses. Celes can see, even though Langley’s trying his best not to show it, that he’s teasing the pointy ends of his canines with his tongue. “I’m sure if I don’t do something to calm myself down these little friends will pop out and I will scare everyone away, or sound ridiculous while we pronounce our vows. And then your uncle’s gonna kill me and everyone will know.”
Celes frowns confusedly. “Everyone will know… what?”
Langley looks up at him for a second and then averts his eyes again, embarrassed. “That I’m not worthy. Of any of this.”
Celes tenses for a second, looking intently at him. Then he exhales, moving a few steps closer. He hits him gently with his shoulder and then rests his forehead against Langley’s cheek. “You silly, silly vampire,” he whispers, “Believe me, there’s nothing unworthy about you. If anything, the fact that you’re worried about it proves the contrary. That said,” he adds with a smirk, as he parts his legs a little, “You may touch me, if you want. Just to calm yourself down.”
Shannen opens his eyes and mouth wide as he witnesses Langley mewling with gratitude and slip his hands underneath Celes’ tunic, reaching straight for his dick. “Celes! Are you even serious? That’s what he was aiming for right from the start! The reason why he put up the I’m-not-worthy show! He’s an actor and a liar and you just fell for it!”
“And you had never used so many words all together,” Celes answers, raising an eyebrow, “Besides, you’re always too stern with Langley. You know he suffers from self-esteem issues.”
“Oh, please,” Shannen growls.
Unseen, Langley smirks.