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Ever have one of those moments that plays out in slow motion? You'd think it would've been the whole first kiss thing, which yeah, was true - but this was a different kind of moment, like one of those 'you're in front of the class in your underwear' moments.

Kainite sat there for a minute like a lump, just staring, his pinkish eyes wide and his face still very red. The negaverse was adept at handling moments like these (or something like these because how many officers were making out with cat boys), but as always, there was the negaverse method... and then there was Kainite's method.

He released one of Arthur's hands, he waved his fingers in the air like spirit fingers. "This is a dream." He paused to make a 'woo' noise. Like a ghost. "We're figments of your imagination. Go back to sleep." He made the ghost noise again, along with something that was probably supposed to sound like a mysterious wind blowing.

Then he stuck his hand out and made to pull a little more energy. Hopefully.

To be fair, Arthur wasn't the first or the last person to wonder just what kind of negaverse agent Kainite actually was - but for his part, he didn't see a big flaw in his plan. Someone could totally dream this!

(Why he was dreaming about a uniformed guy and a cat man making out when he had a family was beyond Kainite; maybe he was actually closeted? - wait, no, this wasn't a dream, that part was real, it didn't feel real but here they were.)

Kainite 'meep'ed when Arthur grabbed at his wrist to stop him, genuinely surprised, but he didn't fight him. Instead, he just went along with it, "Before it burns the house down!" or something. Wait did he actually say that? Oh god he did. Well, whatever!

He kind of stumbled a little as he got to his feet, but immediately trotted briskly to match Arthur's pace.

Wow he was tall.

It only really just occurred to Kainite as they took off running, and he was pumping his legs hard to keep pace, but Arthur's legs were just longer. Or was he just faster? Maybe both? Either way, even with lieutenant speed, it was a little hard to keep up, and he didn't know if he would've been able to if the mauvian hadn't been holding on so tight.

Honestly, he was pretty glad when they stopped, but when Arthur explained - "Oh, " and his face went red, Kainite rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Right. Of course. You're right. I didn't really think of that, sorry. - it's kind of easy to forget how frigid it is out here." He was aware it was cold, but it just wasn't the same when he was powered up. Ugh, maybe he shouldn't have left him laying out there so long to begin with? But then he wouldn't have met Arthur, so -

Suddenly, there was a brief flare of panic etched over his face. "Oh. Your mug. Did you remember your mug?"

Arthur really didn’t have to explain in any more detail than he already had, although he did super appreciate the quick kiss that came with it. A grin crept onto his face, and the lieutenant gave a short laugh.

“If I hated you, I wouldn’t be so worried about your mug, “ he pointed out, and he returned the favor. Kind of. He sort of missed lips and ended up kissing his chin instead. Well. Okay.

Only a little late did Kainite realize the mauvian was lacking his coat, too - and it wasn’t like he could offer him a jacket considering his uniform was so sorely lacking in layers.

Oh, wait! Of course! Maybe he did have something. Kainite untied the sash from around his waist and threw it up and around Arthur’s shoulders. “I don’t know if you get cold. - I don’t really like this, but - “ It seemed like the gentlemanly thing to do. Like a date thing.

There were so many date things oh my god.

Take a mental picture.

The streaming addict he was, it was hard not to think back to Jim and Pam’s wedding when Kainite saw Arthur taking a quiet moment to appreciate the sentiment. The lieutenant felt warned for a different reason, and for his own gratification - maybe without the literal clicking - he went ahead and took a mental picture for himself.

Kainite liked somebody - and they liked him back - and Arthur wasn’t secretly a giant snake woman which made him a thousand times better than the last ill fated crush right off the bat. “Yeah, no problem. I, uh - “ He felt like he wanted to say something a little more... more, but the words were actually failing him a little in lieu of things going so well all on their own.

“Find a place?” Kainite blinked then, reaching out to offer a hand. “To talk, you mean? - yeah, we could do that.” Maybe a walk down the beach? That sounded nice. “I promise not to try and drain anyone else.”

Kainite heard his mother’s nagging voice ring like an echo in the back of his head, dont go getting ahead of yourself Willie. Which he wasn’t, though, because Arthur was the one holding his hand, and Kainite was the one squeezing it warmly in his own. He might as well have been walking on a cloud, honestly.

“Other things?” A little vague. But he had to assume that was probably just his way of breaking the ice; if it was Arthur’s first kiss, then this was probably his first date too, right? “Ah, besides this... yeah, I mean, I watch a lot of TV, “ and then he wondered if maybe Arthur would be put off by that considering the quasi hot librarian vibe he had going on. His ears burned a little. “I mean, reading is good too. But I’ve always been a big movie and theater guy - I’ve had a couple of great roles, “ none, not one, “but my big break just hasn’t come along yet.”

He flashed a curious look up at Arthur. “How about you?”

(He really didn’t get that he hadn’t just missed the point, they’d left it about ten feet back.)

It literally took about halfway (if not longer) through that explanation for it to dawn on Kainite that he meant anything but being with like... spending time with. When it dawned on him that no, Arthur was talking about being with like BEING WITH, he immediately turned a few interesting shades, again, half because he was embarrassed and WOW THAT ESCALATED FAST (EVEN FOR HIM) WAIT THEY WERE JUST HOLDING HANDS -

“I think ... I got lost somewhere , “ he said very, very candidly, “Can you. Uh. Come again? Wait, no, okay, uh - “ Only with mauvians. Only with cat people. Cat people who couldn’t turn into cats. They were talking THAT and THAT with cats and - “So... I’m the only human you’d be dating?” which was honestly the big thing he actually cared about here. When it’d switched over to sex he didn’t know, wait, it had, right? WHEN?

TV talk was much easier to handle. “I used to watch Passions with my grandma, “ Kainite said, the only real soap opera experience he’d had beyond Joey’s character in Friends. Then, his chest puffed out a little, proudly. “Yeah, a few times!” A couple of extra roles. A few cable commercials. Literally nothing worth anything. But Kainite didn’t think so. Any day now! “Stage a few times, too!” Improv theater. Details. “It’s kind of my passion.”