take three :: lucina

Lucina watched, genuinely impressed, as Henrik somehow sat on the surface of the water as if it were semi-solid. She'd never seen someone from Ughdarras do that before. She didn't even know someone from Ughdarras could do that.

She slowly waded over till she was next to him and gently put her hand on the water next to him. It sank in a little bit, but didn't break. It sort of felt like jello or something. How freaking cool! She grinned up at him and took the hand he offered her. "You are just full of surprises, Henrik Selway-Sommers."

Henri beamed, surprising himself at the lack of embarrassment he felt at her compliment. When she got closer, he reached out to her and pulled her up effortlessly, wielding the water underneath her to give her a sort of boost.

As soon as she was sitting in front of him, Henri realized keeping two clio stable above the water was much harder than just one. He knitted his eyebrows together as he tried his best to keep them afloat, but within seconds they'd both slipped through the surface, splashing back into the water.

He laughed out loud as they resurfaced. Wiping the water from his eyes, he looked at Lucina, who was in front of him. Very close in front of him. She was so beautiful. Without realizing what he was doing, Henri took a hand and gently pushed some of her wet, tangled hair out of her face. He moved slowly, as if this was all deliberate, as if he was practiced and did this all the time. And leaned in to kiss her.

Luce was still grinning as Henrik pulled her up on top of the water, but her expression turned into one of shocked surprise when the surface beneath them seemed to break like a water balloon, sending them both crashing into the pool. She joined him in laughing when they resurfaced, and was about to ask him if he'd done that on purpose when he reached out and brushed a strand of wet hair out of her face. It was a smooth and confident motion that made her pause. It was almost more surprising than falling into the water had been.

Is he actually going to...?

Yes!! He went for it! Henrik leaned in, no hesitation, no fear, all confidence and kissed her. It was a little kiss, close-mouthed, but there was still something hot about it. Confidence was sexy, especially in someone who was so seldom confident.

She had a little smirk on her face when he pulled away. "I thought you'd never do that," she said.

He didn't realize what he'd done until it was over, but when it was over he wanted to do it again.

Lucina wrote:I thought you'd never do that.

He wanted to ask if it'd been okay; both if it had been okay that he'd done it and if it had felt okay--if it had been an okay kiss at an okay time, but he was at a loss for words. Her small half-smile told him she seemed happy enough, seemed like she wasn't put off by it. He'd kissed her and she was smiling.

He'd kissed her and she was smiling.

The alcohol was wearing off, but Henri paid no mind to his insecurities as he leaned in again. It was staggering and electrifying and new. This was all so new, he was so overwhelmed and in over his head, but the only thing he could do was move forward so that was what he did.

"I didn't think I would either," he told her as he pulled away again. "And I'm not sure what to do now," he said truthfully. Though the vodka induced buzz was waning quickly, he still felt like he was flying. Perhaps it was just adrenaline keeping him running now. Keeping the stutter from his voice, the shake from his hands.

Henrik wrote:And I'm not sure what to do now.

"Really? You can't think of anything?" Luce asked mischievously, flirtatiously. It wasn't like she wanted to, like, have sex with him or anything, but they could definitely do more than just a few little kisses.

Lucina, Tuli said suddenly. Luce found herself annoyed by him choosing this moment to talk. Don't you think you should be a little careful?

Careful? With Henrik? Luce almost laughed in her head, what did she have to be careful about with him? What, like he was going to try something?

No, I mean, be careful with his feelings, Tuli explained, also annoyed. This might be a bigger deal to him than it is to you.

Oh whatever, it's just a little kissing, Luce dismissed. It was harmless. Practically nothing, just a little bit of fun. Ignoring Tuli, she put her arms around Henrik's shoulders and kissed him more deeply.

Henri lost himself in her, letting her lead the kisses into something deeper. He didn't know what to do with his hands as they made out, but was only able to worry about it for a second before instinct took over and his hands found their way to the back of her head. He threaded his fingers into her wet hair, and tried to keep up with Lucina who was obviously way more experienced than he was.

When they broke apart, he literally had to take a moment to catch his breath. His chest rose and fell quickly, his heart hammered loudly. Could she hear it? She had to be able to hear it.

Lydia was watching from the edge of the pool with concern. She too was trying to adjust to the way the alcohol had clouded their minds, but now that it was wearing off she wasn't sure she wanted Henri in the pool anymore. His first kiss--it was magic, like it should have been. And Lydia was happy for him, and glad that he'd been able to make the first move. Proud. But Lucina was more experienced, and had less inhibitions. She would probably feel comfortable doing things that would make Henri hate himself in the morning.

"You're beautiful," Henri finally said. He dropped his hands, let them fall to his sides underwater. "I...I'm not sure how this happened." He looked around. The water rippled gently away from them, shining silver from the reflection of the moon. How had they gotten here? From cards to making out in the Ughdarras arena. He turned back to her and gave her a smile that rested somewhere between amusement and shyness.

Henrik wasn't such a bad kisser for a first-timer (she was making a fairly safe assumption there). Though it was clear he didn't quite know what to do, he at least wasn't gross and sloppy like a lot of guys. When he pulled away and dropped his hands to his side, she kept her arms around his shoulders.

"I...I'm not sure how this happened."

Luce smiled and tilted her head to the side. She could see the shy Henrik coming back a little bit. Well, maybe this was a good place to end the night anyways. "Does it matter?" she asked. "We had a good time, didn't we?"

Does it matter? Henri repeated to himself silently. It did, he thought. At least to him it mattered. But he nodded to Lucina anyway, in regards to her last question. It had been fun. More than fun, really.

"What time do you think it is?" Henri asked, glancing up at the sky. A cloud drifted overhead, casting a shadow over the pool and darkening the night. They had to have been out here for over an hour now, playing in the water and laughing at nothing. Though the settled students didn't have a curfew per se, they also weren't supposed to be coming in at all hours of the night.

"Mm, late enough to head back if you want," Luce said, letting her arms fall back to her sides. She waded over to the edge of the pool and climbed out, shivering as the cool night air hit her bare skin. She turned back to Henrik and smiled. "Dry me off?"

Presumably he did so, and the two of them got dressed and began the journey back to the dorms. It was a quieter journey than when they'd come here, but a comfortable quiet, not an awkward one. When they got back to her dorm building she thanked him for a fun night and went inside to put pj's on and go to bed.