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

I mean, I could just jump into things, but that's not very fair.

[like what she did just was. /uh]

Should I, though? Would that be a better or worse way to deal with it? Maybe I should seduce you.

[WHY IS THIS SO HARD it almost makes her miss the days when she was just angry a lot and tired the rest of the time and if she got horny she'd just go and have it taken care of.]

[ "Good luck with that." No.
"You can try." She will.
"I'd like to see you try." ...well. ]

... Being honest here, it wouldn't be hard. Not for you.

[ The main point of evidence is that moment in the doorway that time, and that was before everything hit the fan and shit got real. She can easily resist bullshit flirting and more serious moves from anyone else, but Isa? ⓧDoubt. ]

Yeah, that's true.

[this is what's happening here. what an asshole. alright, fuck it, cards on the table time, and being as relaxed and good-humored about it as possible. she didn't get where she is today by being a shrinking violet.]

Okay, which one would fluster you more, if I just went down there—

[she gestures vaguely towards Lea's knees, as if a) it's a long way away and b) that's where the relevant parts are.]

And went to town, or if I laid up here and gazed tenderly into your eyes while using my hand.

I—

[ No, she's a goner. It was so casual and relaxed, too, and now she's— not uncomfortable, but anyone watching would be able to see the heat and flush rise up in her face and neck. She's bright red and struggling to form words as a result of such clear mental images, and finally gives up, looking away and tossing her arm over her eyes. Consider her seduced. Pathetic. They went from avoiding blatant evidence during makeouts to so obviously horny she's speechless. Good job. ]

[god. it's so easy. Isa snorts in amusement and reorients herself so she can bundle Lea up in her arms and tangle their legs together. Lea's also gettin' kisses all over the parts of her face Isa can get to around the arm.]

I'm sorry, that was mean. But those are your options with me, you know that. Either I ask politely about it or I just do it, or I guess the third option is I open an artery for you before your skull explodes from the pressure.

[ So everything but her eyes and forehead, really. She scrunches up her face at the kisses, but only because she's embarrassed, and if one lands on her mouth she'll return it if there's time. More of an attempt, really. But she's not moving her arm. ]

Why don't I just let you do what you want, and... if I change my mind, I'll just say stop. Not like I'll know the difference before it happens.

[ Tender gazing is impossible, unless she wants to give Lea a real heart attack. ]

[well, Isa won't force the arm to move, and she really is trying to think of some way to do or say things that won't just make things more... not worse, but more like they already are. she doesn't want Lea to be uncomfy. :( and! she is trying to make jokes to lighten the mood! but since that isn't working, she's going to go for the new combo of horny + emotions that she's just thought of, and by she i mean me.]

What I want is for you to feel good, maybe even get off, but mostly just feel good, because I was a shit to you for a long time, and because you're my best friend and I love you.

[ Ah fuck, here goes the dokis. She's getting kind of overwhelmed by all these feelings (that aren't necessarily new) being right on the forefront, and she's still red, but that startles her enough to lift her arm and peek at Isa from under it.

She means as a friend, right? Right. ~~What if she doesn't though.~~ Still, it's coming from Isa. That makes those last two statements world-ending important to Lea. She's hesitating because she's stunned and grounded by it, and because the first part of is embarrassing and blunt. But they're adults. This is her best friend. Jesus Christ. Get it together. ]

Kiss me.

[success! \o/ and you can love people in different, and multiple ways, but sure, let's go with as a friend. Isa's aware she doesn't exactly hand out "I love you"s every day, which is why she's a little pink now, but she does mean it. she meant all of it, and they are adults but they also kind of became adults under not-great circumstances that maybe didn't prepare them for actually having functional relationships.

anyway. Lea gets a soft, brief kiss, and then a longer one, easing back into things slowly so Isa doesn't get ahead of herself, or spook Lea again. she also rests one hand on Lea's hip, because yes. baby steps again, but there are still clothes involved.]

[ She's basically been at Isa's mercy since they were born, so this is nothing new, and it's not like she has intense feelings of weakness when on her back. But she is in a position where she can't get away, and escapes have become her go-to when she felt like she couldn't go toe to toe with someone. It's fine, though. There's tension, but she's forcing it down, because for fuck's sake, it's Isa. She just needs something to do to occupy herself, so it's not just actions being directed at her. A passive person she is not. (Just lazy.) Starting off with putting her hands on either side of Isa's face, at her jawline, fingers tangling into the back of her hair. Kissing is fine, she knows how to do that at this point. ]

[Lea could be on top again, Isa doesn't have any strong preferences in either direction. but the hands are lovely, she likes that very much, and hopefully the little wiggle she does to get even closer conveys that, along with a soft hum. what if she slides a hand into Lea's hair? it's not as easy, the way she's positioned, and it's really more that she has her hand under Lea's head, but hopefully it won't get trapped under there. her other hand's actually relocating to boob territory, since she didn't before, just to feel and maybe rub a little. this is another aspect of this that she has no experience with, but she can pretend otherwise. mumbled against Lea's mouth:]

Is this okay?

[ God, why are they like this. Lea's grinning a little, briefly, pressing her forehead against Isa's. ]

Yeah, jeez, you don't even need to ask.

[It's just a boob, you nerd. If she delicately traces her fingertips along the back of Isa's neck, will she like that too? ]

[they're partially like this because i'm like this because it's been six decades since i rped anything resembling smut and the word choices are scaring me. /um. it is just a boob but she's never really done anything with boobs apart from her own, and too much of this is too foreign for her to stop being a dingus about it. she talked a big game several times but it turns out she's really more at Lea's level, send help.

the back of her neck gets a full-body shiver, and to retaliate, she is going to... do something fairly tame and try not to cut her face open while leaving a decent hickey on Lea's collarbone. if she also moves her hand and, say, brushes her thumb over a nipple, that's good too.]

[ Said it earlier: one day Lea's going to read about relationships and tops and bottoms and she'll be like "oh, that's our problem".

She shivers a little, too, because she never really knew any parts of her breasts could be sensitive like that. It's different when someone else is touching them, and when she's frustratingly turned on. Isa's mouth on her is nice, so much that she doesn't really want to do anything to interrupt what's happening here. If she gets a hickey so be it, right? ]

[like, yeah. Isa could conceivably be a switch ~~but given some of what's fallen out of my brain via my hands recently i'm not even sure of that much~~.

if Isa knew that Lea was frustratingly turned on she would feel a lot better and more confident, but communication is something these two still aren't very good at. Isa's ideal goal, without already knowing this, is to get her to that point by gradually working her way downwards, and hopefully by then they'll both be so horny that the awkwardness fucks off. Isa has wanted to do this for like at least eight years dammit, to someone else specific and then to basically anyone just for the experience. it's hard being gay when all that's happening is stuff to you, but Lea had it even worse than that, i guess.

shivering is a good sign, right? what if she just kinda finishes with that hickey and moves a little lower, until her face is near where her hand was, and leaves a kiss right over Lea's heart on the way before rubbing against her like a cat.]

[ Lea only had it worse in that she defaulted back to teenager behaviours when it came to relationships because adulthood is hard. It's bullshit, in fact, and that's how she's this old and only kissed one person despite hopping across literal worlds. Well, that, and all of her friends were like, ten years younger. Kissing the adult versions of them here would just be weird.

And really, was it ever going to be anyone else?

She covers the hickey spot with her hand, because it's surprisingly (to her) tender, and she feels vulnerable again with part of her chest exposed. But okay, sure, we're liking what Isa's doing with her mouth, why stop here? She turns red again at that last part, just because it's shockingly hot. ]

I guess I'm not mad about you having experience anymore.

[Isa snorts a little, because she really is making most of this up as she goes, but also ha. hopefully she's going to stop second-guessing herself soon and just do the things and stop being nervous and awkward about it. hopefully. goddammit.

y'know what.

listen here you dumb brain. Isa has things she wants to do and she's gonna do them and NOT feel like she wants to throw up from nerves. this newfound determination might be a little intimidating to Lea, but oh well. Isa lifts her head enough to leave a kiss on this breast and then the other, and then she shifts back up to give Lea a pretty intense kiss with a lot of possessiveness behind it. her hand goes back to Lea's hip with Intent, if the way she hooks her thumb into whatever Lea's wearing for pants is any indication.]

[ Holy shit. Jesus. She's not getting enough time to recover before something else stunning and erotic happens. Lea is not equipped to deal with this, but it's also preventing her from having time to freak out, so it's a win-win situation for them, right? Well, except maybe now, but— No. Not now. ]

Tell me you're not gonna stop there.

[just as planned. time to freak out is not needed here. Isa manages a surprisingly smug look for someone who was stammering over having their boobs touched, not twenty minutes ago.]

Which part? The kissing, right.

[she jests, that hand is definitely working towards making Lea's pants go away.]

[ ~~Bitch.~~ She's suffering down here, in multiple ways. ]

Hey good, you're back to yourself.

[ Is this sarcasm or a compliment? Hard to tell with Lea. She looks cocky, probably because she figures this is about the last time she'll be able to be cocky right now. This wasn't gonna happen yet, but now it is, and she's rolling with it. ]

[it's too bad Isa doesn't have ninxel's nose or she'd really be able to tell these things. also Lea's going to get asked at least two more times if she's sure she wants this, probably. one more time, for sure. also also that's definitely bare skin under Isa's hand. Lea should probably decide if she's planning on helping with pants removal or if she's going to make Isa work for it.]

Yeah, you can joke now.

Yeah, and I will.

[ Look how cool and put-together she is. Badass. Did her breath spike a little there? Purely Isa's imagination. ]

[the most badass. and that means Lea's imagining Isa's other hand dealing with pants now. if only these were tearaway pants, life would be a lot easier.]

I'm about to remove the rest of your clothing, are you sure about that statement?

[ She's kind of not paying attention to that, just like she didn't try to offer help. When has she ever made Isa's life easier? The question makes her grin, but she looks a little nervous. ]

When am I ever not?

[god. why are things this way, why do brains and emotions do this. why is Lea about to have an aneurysm from these activities.]

When you're busy making jokes to cover up the fact that you're a big dweeb. I'm gonna kiss you again—

[she does so.]

And then you're going to deal with your pants while I deal with mine so we're even.

[and she flops back onto the bed, away from Lea, and does that. get with it, Lea.]