With all that decided, Artie was just giving himself over to the cartoon. When Jimmy began to speak again, Artie lifted his head and looked at him. His brow began to furrow deeper with every stuttered half sentence that Jimmy managed to get out. Artie raised his eyebrows and used his free hand to try and coax the words out of Jimmy by making a 'come on' gesture with it.
At the first question Jimmy asked, Artie beamed and nodded his head up and down quickly. of course he knew that! He quickly shook his head and a baby thundercloud appeared. Jimmy could never do anything stupid and he hated it when Jimmy mentioned that he might, or could do something stupid. Finally, Artie exhaled upward, his hair rising in mild frustration as Jimmy once again wasn't making any sense.
Then it felt like Artie had been hit by a semi truck that didn't have any breaks. Artie's face withered slightly and he glanced away. He knew he wasn't ready to do boyfriend-type things - they were both so young and some of the stuff he'd 'accidentally' found online had been enough to make him slam his laptop shut. But he did like Jimmy like that. The answer to the question was easy. Artie gave Jimmy a smile and nodded his head very clearly. He leaned in and gave Jimmy a peck on the cheek. Quickly, though - before Jimmy could kiss him back - Artie reared slightly away and took his hand back.
He slid his right hand over his left and down his forearm: [Slow.] Then, he put the tips of his fingers together and pulled them apart - like making long taffy. Finally, he decided on a pictogram of the two of them, each riding a turtle. They held hands but the finish line was just a tiny banner in the distance.