ROMANCE ANYONE?

"I agree," Arien said. It was much harder to tell if he was teasing or not. He gave Dan a little hug, just lightly holding him again Arien's chest with a smile.
"Though he's the cute one."

Dan looked at him, "How do you know what I look like for real? I'm kinda a doll currently."

"Yeah, but I got a general idea." Elliot giggled a little when Arien hugged Dan.
"Dan's definitely the adorable one," Arien said. He smiled, keeping Dan close.

Dan was definitely blushing, though at this point he wasn't sure if it could be seen.

Little pink felt dots had appeared on Dan's cheeks, which Elliot was quick to point out.
"Aww, we got him to blush!" Arien looked down at Dan, smiling at him.
"Like I said, adorable." He rubbed his thumb over Dan's hair, ruffling it playfully.

Dan hid his face embarrassed. He was still blushing as he hid his blush.

Arien grinned, lifting Dan up a little and nuzzling the back of Dan's head with his nose.
"You're especially adorable when you blush," he said quietly. He smiled.

"I get it, I'm cute. OK." Dan nodded and kept his face hidden. He was completely embarrassed.

Arien chuckled a little, holding Dan against his chest.
"You two make a great couple," Elliot mentioned.
"O-Oh, we're not a couple," Arien said. "Just… friends." Elliot reached over and poked Dan's head lightly, trying to get him to show his face.

"Yeah, we're just friend. We only really met at like the beginning of the week." He said and looked up a bit at Elliot.

"I've seen people get together in less time than that," Elliot said. He smiled when he saw both Arien and Dan were blushing. Arien pushed Elliot's hand away from Dan.

"I guess." Dan said softly and nodded.

Arien wrapped both of his hands around Dan, a lot more gentle then Elliot had.
"Still, we're not. Not yet." He winked at Dan, blushing a little.

Dan was fine with how Arien was holding him. He blushed a bit more when Arien said that. "Yeah…" he nodded.

Elliot gave an exaggerated sigh.
"You guys are too innocent. And that's coming from me. Why don't we play hide and seek?"
"What, so you can kidnap Dan?" Arien accused. He pulled Dan a little closer, rubbing Dan's back with his thumb.

Dan was quiet as they spoke, personally he didn't really wish to play hide and seek like this.

"Com'on, the human can stay with you!" Arien rolled his eyes a little.
"What do you say, Dan?" he asked.

"I'm fine with it as long as I'm not put anywhere." Dan said softly.

"I'll be with you the entire time, okay?" Arien asked.
"Great! I'll go get Aisen, we can all play together!" Elliot took off to go get this 'Aisen.'

"Alright. that sounds good." Dan nodded.

Elliot came back into the room, carrying a doll. Unlike Dan, Aisen was a jointed, hard plastic doll.
"Dan, Aisen, Aisen, Dan," Elliot introduced, holding Aisen close to Dan. Aisen offered his hand.
"Hey," he said. His right eye was black, the plastic around it cracked and dark.

"Um hello." Dan reached out and shook his hand.

"Nice to see you, Aisen," Arien said calmly.
"Good to see you too," Aisen replied, letting go of Dan's hand.
"So, you two ready?" Elliot asked.

Dan looked at Arien and nodded a bit. This seemed ok, at least this time he probably wouldn't be stuffed under any stuffed animals.

Elliot set Aisen down on the coffee table. Aisen closed his eyes.
"One," he started. Elliot took off into the house. Arien darted off, holding Dan close, to the attic.

Dan relaxed against Arien as they went off to the artic.

Arien balanced gracefully on one of the roof beams, setting Dan down on his knee.
"Sorry about making you so embarrassed earlier," he said.

"Oh it's fine, I understand it was just friendly banter between you both." Dan said and nodded.

Arien smiled a little at Dan. The attic was quiet, peaceful. Perhaps a touch eerie, but Arien fit right in with that.
"Okay then." He put his hand lightly on Dan's head, more like a friend than a pet, like when Elliot did it. He obviously thought of Dan as his equal. Even when he was a doll, small and adorable.

Dan smiled, "Um, do you know what is wrong with that other guy? His eye." Dan asked quietly.