Felix's guilty passion for romance novels

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With the stack of newly-purchased romance novels tucked tightly under his arm, Felix continues exploring the marketplace with you. He may have been shy upon your initial discovery of his secret hobby, but after you've revealed just how many cosplays you've made, just how many fanfictions you've written, just how many character playlists you've listened to, just how many charms and prints you've purchased, just how many wildly detailed metas you've read about plot analysis on tumblr...

Yeah, you could say you understand his obsession with a popular series. Just a little. Just the tiniest bit.

"So, if I am to understand this correctly, 'cosplaying' for the most part involves the art of sleep deprivation and wielding a hot glue gun with great effect?" Felix muses, his expression the very picture of seriousness.

"I am. So proud," you gasp and grin in return, Felix snorting and rolling his eyes. You've been winding each other up since leaving the book stall, and even knowing full well you're teasing, Felix still looks guiltily pleased that he can share this with you. For as many times as he scoffs at the idea of getting caught in spicy love-twists rather than the plot, you also catch his glances when he thinks you aren't looking, the soft hitch of his eyebrows as he smiles at you, grateful.

"So here's the real question-" you start, only realising how many questions Felix would perhaps rather set himself ablaze than answer when he immediately turns bright red.

"By all means. I am at your disposal," Felix manages, his blush reaching the tips of his ears as he holds the stack of novels ever more tightly, bracing himself for the worst. There did seem to be quite the variety of citrus fruit in the pages you caught a glimpse of, and from the way Felix has become abruptly fascinated with anything other than meeting your gaze, you suspect you may not have even reached the best bits.

"-If you could cosplay any character from the story, who would you choose?" you finish, you can't help an apologetic squint as his shoulders wilt in relief.

"Well, Chadrick, clearly," Felix retorts with a huff, as if this question is well beneath him. He fixes you with a piercing look, as if daring you to draw any conclusions from the fact. But you're only quietly giggling at Felix's steadfast passion for his swashbuckling hero, you know exactly how he feels.

"Though between you and I..." Felix relents, and with an expression that's just a shade too flustered for the care-not manner he's aiming for, he pauses right in the middle of a busy shopfront to affect a scathing grin. "...I think I'd make a rather passable villain too."

You both stand facing each other, his eyes dark and sparkling as his mouth scrunches up at the corner, he's paying no mind to any of the nobles or streetsellers weaving around you. And you realise he often looks like this when he tries to make you smile, when he quotes some pointed and renowned passage, when he leans over to whisper something of his acid wit. The smile he offers you in return couldn't be less villainous if he tried.

"Humor me a moment," says Felix, and despite the cryptic quirk of his eyebrow, it comes out as hopeful as he offers you his arm.

"We're going back for more books, aren't we," you laugh, playing along. "We've forgotten Chadrick's supplementary voyages on the fjords of fervour... his treks through the rivers of restlessness-"

"What an absurd suggestion," Felix snaps, his arm tucked snugly in yours as he resumes a brisk pace through the market. "To imply that I didn't already own those volumes not minutes after their release."

You tuck a smile against your cheek as he guides you between the stalls, his palm uncharacteristically warm as his fingers cage gently around your arm. You're both so caught up in wherever he's taking you that before you know it you're jogging, ducking around corners and beneath colourful canvasses like a couple of street urchins.

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