He'd been so concerned that he'd made a mistake in his recitation that Hedylogos hadn't considered at all how Philotes might react to the content of what he'd written once he'd spoken it. He was also quite shy in every situation that was not with an immediate relative only, so nothing could have possibly prepared him for the very sudden feeling of having her lips pressed firmly against his.
It was possible she could hear his heart beat since it was pounding so hard in his chest that he wasn't not entirely sure it was not going to break through his ribcage. But even with his heart pounding, his breath caught in his throat and a liquid heat spread outward from his chest.
What did he say? What did he do? He was terrified. No one outside of family had kissed him before, and definitely not like this. He didn't want to be rude and push her away, but he wasn't exactly skilled at the kissing thing either. If he did something foolish his brothers would never let him live it down.
As delicately as he could manage without shaking, he asked, “you... enjoyed it?” But then, he realized that wasn't specific enough and he knew that just coming off... that... he'd need to specify. He wasn't good at talking to people he didn't know particularly well, but Hedylogos was definitely worse at any physical intimacy. “The... the hymn.”