cinderlea | (no subject)

(no subject)

[ Riku disappears first. Vanished in her sleep, in the middle of the night, collapsing in on herself in a shimmer of starlights. This isn't like last time. No warnings, no chances to say goodbye, no hesitation or resistance. She just isn't there.

Lea goes minutes after Riku, in the same way. But she's awake, lounging on her couch, having a conversation as she flips through her phone. Here and then gone, like a flame. This isn't the first time either of them have gone home, but it's the first time it's so abrupt. At least it isn't death. The last time Riku went home was seven years ago. She was gone for a month, and she came back with shorter hair and the Mark of Mastery. The last time Lea went home, no one really noticed. She thought she was used to it by now.

Things are different this time. Disorienting. Lea meets Kai in the training, for real this time. Riku has her memories, or at least most of them. They're hazy, dreamlike, but real. She has them all. She remembers how old she really is and how long she's been gone. She remembers everyone she cares about, and everyone that won't change here. She keeps her ice magic and takes what she's learned here to use there. But time is fluid. She doesn't feel like she's been gone for seven years.

Lea's are gone, for now. She lives everything new and fresh, with the dressing room appearing only in dreams vivid enough to unsettle her.

Things aren't the same for every world.

Things go better than expected.

The core story is the same. The heroes rescue the ones that need it, they bring everyone back, they defeat the darkness, and they go home. How and when and who — these things vary, but they do it all together and they go home together. And then their story is over, at least for now, and they come back.

Unlike how they went out, Lea and Riku reappear together on the beach. Coming back is just as disorienting, and neither has their phone, so they get their bearings and confirm memories with each other, of the dressing room and of home, and then separate to find their friends.

They've been gone two months. ]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[well. Isa opens her mouth and inhales like she's going to say something, but then closes it and lets the air back out. she's gone pink, so it should be fairly clear what she's thinking about. it depends on how um. advanced, Lea's imagination is.]

I meant it about the head exploding. I think we might both explode if I tried to actually put it into words.

[ She's not stupid, jeez. Or 15 anymore. Lea just has more experience with stupid shit and violence growing up. Now she's pink, and shifting up to rub the back of her neck. ]

Can I ask a dumb question?

[and where did she learn about anything besides the basics that they probably got in the school that i know they must've gone to but pretend doesn't exist, hm? did she find Xigbar's porn stash like my Axel did. /no.]

Go for it.

[ Look, she explored a lot once she was able to roam worlds freely. Axel should never have been left unsupervised. Now how does she phrase this in a way that doesn't sound bad, or make it weird, or make it seems like she doesn't have any idea what she's doing? ]

Why?

[ Nailed it. ]

[goddammit lea. y tho, you goober.]

You're right, that was dumb. So dumb I don't know what, specifically, you're asking about.

[you get your butt poked for that one, miss.]

[ Oh my god. C'mon, she knows that was dumb. She shifts up again, looking confused on how to phrase this. ]

I mean— why me?

[ Is it because they've known each other since childhood? Because they're bffs? Because she's here and available and they have heart confusion? Because she's literally and/or figuratively hot? ]

[o-oh. that stings a little for some reason, right in the chest. god, Isa's usually the one with enormous self-doubt. her whole expression softens and she bites her lip for a second, blinking back the wetness that just welled up in her eyes. her hands come up to cradle Lea's face.]

You idiot, it's always been you. There's no one else it could have been.

[ God dammit. You can't get emotional like that with her, she aborbs any strong emotions like that like a sponge, and amplifies it. She looks emotional and wibbly and also disbelieving? It's not that she doubts what Isa's saying, it's just that so much of their history contradicts it, while also making perfect sense. Lea doesn't know what to say, looking away so she can avoid tearing up because of Isa's reaction, but then she moves in to kiss her again. ]

[Isa gladly returns the kiss, because she gets it. that span of years was rough for both of them, and they're slowly recovering from it, but it was also an anomaly as far as things go for the two of them. Isa's known deep down that they were probably going to end up married or cohabiting or girlfriends or whatever since they were like, seven years old. it did seem extremely unlikely in light of the Nobody bullshit, but here they are, kissing on a couch in their shared apartment.]

[ She always felt they'd be together in some form, but when they lost their Hearts and started drifting away she figured everything there was over. Maybe Lea really is just an idiot then. Regardless... What did Isa put on after her bath? Lea's not going for removing clothes, but she does break away from the kiss and duck her head a little, pressing a kiss under Isa's jawline. ]

[idk comfy clothes of some sort, probably leggings and a big t-shirt. the shift gets a pleased little hum from Isa, and she tips her head back slightly. Lea is an idiot, but so is Isa.]

[ She's not really going for anything in particular, and even if she was she wouldn't know where to begin. The intention here was just to kiss her under the neck, and then she gets distracted pressing her face over Isa's heart. ]

[that's fair, all of that. Lea getting distracted in that way is a nice distraction for Isa, whose brain veered straight back to comparisons and what-ifs and how easy it would've been to fuck up enough to not end up in a place where they could be together like this. she's almost getting emotional again, but contents herself with tangling her fingers in Lea's hair (still damp, i bet) and just breathing for a moment.]

[ There's a bonus here that Lea's face is at least partly smushed into Isa's breasts, but she really is there to listen to her heartbeat. It's familiar, and comforting, and she humms when she feels Isa's touch in her hair. Lea is just one long cat, there's no way she'll move while that's happening. ]

Only gets better from here, right?

[ Them, their lives, things like that. No more... heartloss or fighting or distance. ]

[better than a real cat in a lot of ways tbh. the only way this could be better is if they were in front of a cozy fire instead of a movie. also if there were fewer clothes, but baby steps still. she's never had anyone she could be close to like this except Lea, so she's allowed to feel possessive, right? right.]

Hopefully. If it doesn't I really am going to start knocking holes in this place until I reach some sort of agreement with it.

[it's not perfect, but it's pretty close. god knows they've suffered enough for several lifetimes.]

[ She's the only person who really has any right to feel possessive about her, and Lea wouldn't mind if she knew about it, really knew about it. ]

Could see how much I can burn down for you.

[Isa breathes out a laugh and rests her cheek against Lea's hair.]

That's probably the most romantic thing anyone's ever offered to do for me.

[ She snorts, turning her head up a little so she can look at Isa's face. ]

That? I'll have to step up my game.

[if it's possible to look wistful and content at the same time, that's probably how Isa looks. Lea's getting another little smooch on the mouth.]

I'm preemptively banning rose petals in the bed, but otherwise go for it.

[ Lea stares at her and gives a slightly bug-eyed laugh. ]

You ever see petals scattered around assume something went horrifically wrong.

[ Fuckin' Marly. She'll come up with something though, and it'll be ridiculous, because they both know that's how she rolls. This is not enough kissing for the present though, so she leans up again to get a proper (and hotter) kiss. ]

["i love you" spelled out in slightly burnt pizza rolls. that kiss is enough to make Isa's toes curl, and she hums slightly against Lea's mouth, returning it with equal intensity. can she have more skin contact? she's gonna just settle one hand against Lea's lower back, under her shirt.]

[ Let's be real, if she was gonna make a big deal out of saying that the first time that's absolutely how she would do it. Also don't give her shit for liking her pizza a little well done around the edges!!

Even if she goes up higher, Isa will only feel skin under there. Lea's sure as fuck not wearing a bra. She does break the kiss though, huffing because she's not practiced at this and needs to breathe. She shifts her weight to one side, running the other hand through her hair. ]

Show me what I'm doing here.

[do either of these girls even own a bra? what would be the point, they only barely have one whole tiddy between them. Isa almost looks startled at that. almost. queen of deadpan here, after all.]

You— alright. Should we just... take shirts off and just deliberately look and get that out of the way?

[she has no idea how this works, and is fine with basically whatever, but Lea's dumb baby virgin awkwardness is definitely contagious, the longer this goes on. removing one of the most immediate sources of awkward seems like a good step though.]

[ She's not a dumb baby virgin! She's just a regular virgin. She's almost pouting at her, in that kind of annoyed way Lea used to do on the rare occasion where she wasn't playing off being bested. You know, pre-Heartloss teenagers. But no, that's as good a plan as any, but if they have a conversation about it they'll just flounder.

She sits up, and if she has to straddle Isa's legs or hips then so be it; off goes the shirt. Now, her scar is visible, but so are the boobs. They're not necessarily very impressive boobs, and she's not the juggernaut Isa is, but the boobs are still there and she's still more muscle than she looks ~~even as a tol gay~~. ]

[god. shit. fuck. this is possibly the only thing Isa's ever wanted in her life, and she only just learned that. if she looks a little awestruck that's because she is. not over any one (or two) thing(s) in particular, just in general, and because she wasn't expecting things to go this way, not that things are necessarily going anywhere, but this is progress, and Isa isn't even noticing the scar since her heart feels like it's about to ascend from how much she adores Lea, and and and. this is Isa's face right now.]