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"Hey Red Son!" Mei Greets, throwing herself on him and her arms around his neck from behind.
He jolts under the sudden touch, turning to face her. "Dragon-" He sighs. "What do you want?"
"Uh.. A hug? That's why my arms are around you." Mei waves her hands around frantically in front of his face, giggling at his protests when she does. Settling her chin on his shoulder, she breathes in relaxation, catching a whiff of a minty fragrance when she does.
She sits up, circling around him just enough to see his face more clearly and seating herself beside him at the noodle bar in Pigsy's restaurant. "Red Son, Are you wearing peppermint perfume?"
He raises a brow at her. "Of course not. Do you know how dangerous a combination of fire and perfume can be? I don't use perfume."
"Yeah, sure, but that minty fragrance coming off you says otherwise." She teeters playfully on her chair. "I think you're just trying to keep it to yourself."
"If you must know, it's lip balm." Red Son pulls the container from his pocket and brandishes it for Mei to see. A second later, he's fiddling with it in his hands. "It's the only one I have though, so I'm afraid I can't share."
"I know how you can share it." Mei says, puckering her lips in a playful way, her brows raised.
Red Son rolls his eyes, ever the image of uncaring and sarcastic, had it not been for the pink tint to his cheeks selling him out. "You would suggest that, wouldn't you?"
"You're the one who suggested it last time," She teases.
"Huh?"
"That night like, 3 weeks ago when you called me, you asked if I'd ever wanted to try kissing."
Red Son stares incredulously as the gears start clicking in his mind. He shifts awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck. "I guess I did do that."
"And..? Is it something you still want to try?"
"I haven't thought about it much, it might be interesting, I guess." Red Son decides, folding his hands together awkwardly.
"Well then, whenever you're ready." Mei leans forward, puckering her lips as she had before and waiting for Red Son to move. He did, reaching forward and hesitantly grabbing at her face, squishing it between his hands.
He has to remind himself not to laugh when Mei shoots him a glare between her squished cheeks, her lips even more puckered than what she had before.
"Shtop squishing mah face." She says, and all composure was lost as the two both burst out into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.
"Okay, okay," Mei wipes tears from her eyes as the laughter settles down. "You're not taking this seriously, are you?"
Red Son smirks. "What makes you say that, dragon horse girl?"
"That sly little face, first of all. Am I gonna have to initiate the kiss? At this rate, I'm starting to think you don't have the guts."
A snicker. "What? You think I'm scared of a tiny connection of the lips? I've faced far more threatening things than a little meeting between lips."
"Then kiss me, Red boy."
"I will." Red Son leans forward, peering into Mei's eyes as he's mere inches from her face. He blushes, covering them with his hand and gaining a protesting "Hey!" From Mei.
"Sorry, can't have you watching and spoiling the moment, can we now?" Red Son plays his best arrogant, taunting voice he can manage, totally betraying the butterflies already forming in his stomach. Mei growls as he releases a sigh. It's much easier not to get worked up when she isn't watching his every move, and so he continues to lean in until lips meet lips.
The locking of lips only lasts a second, being more of a peck, and as soon as it's over the two hesitate any further movement.
Mei clears her throat. "Can I.. Look again?" Red Son lowers his hand without a word, though as he does, he's certain he can see a pink tint to Mei's own cheeks.
"Well?" Red Son inquires. "What do you think?"
Mei's blush only spread, leaving her feeling like she was steaming at the ears, her face entirely red. "It, uh, it's very good. Definitely not what I expected."
Red Son smiles. "We should get you one of your own then."
"Huh?" Mei blinks, confused. "What?"
Red Son squints at her. "The lip balm, Mei. Not the kiss." And then she's flustered all over again.
"Right! I knew that," She laughs awkwardly. "The kiss? You thought I thought you meant the kiss? Oh man, that's a- Wow, that's really cute."
"You're no good with lies," Red Son cackles. "How unfortunate for you."
"I- Hey! I'm a great liar, you liar!" Mei stands up on the chair, stomping her foot down on the counter.
"Nope," Red Son merely kicks the chair with his foot, forcing Mei to plop back down onto it and cross her arms with a glare. "Points for effort, but I've honestly never seen somebody fail more at lying."
Mei raises a brow. "You've never seen Sandy tell a lie, have you? I'm as good as they come in my circle of friends."
"Low standards much?"
"Not as much as you'd think. Get off your high horse, sonny boy. Just because you caught me on an off day doesn't mean I can't lie." Mei states proudly.
"Alright then, prove it." Red Son wagers. "If you can manage to pull off a successful lie to pigman on your own, I'll treat you to an evening of whatever you want, completely on me."
"You could literally just ask me out on a date at this point. Sheesh, critique me for my lies and you can't even hide that question?"
"Well- I-" Red Son scowls uncomfortably. "Stop changing the subject, would you? Every moment you delay leaves you with less date time."
Mei grins at him and hops off her own seat, planting another quick kiss to his lips before heading off to the kitchen to find Pigsy, calling back to Red Son on her way. "Okay! Can't wait to fight virtual fantasy monsters with you for hours on end and totally outmatch you for all the top scores!"
"We'll see about that!" Red Son calls back.
And as the evening went on, Mei successfully pulled off her lie to Pigsy, if only with a little backup from MK(But Red Son didn't need to know that), and the two spent the remainder of their time gaming, eating dinner and just having a blast together.
By the end of the night, the two went to go their separate ways, and shared a hug before doing so. As they were close, Mei whispers softly into Red Son's ear.
"By the way, I cheated when lying to Pigsy and lied about not doing it."
"Filthy peasant," Red Son murmurs back, salty and accusative but no real malicious bite to it. Mei cackles in his ear.