well, for starts she keeps pushing his chest. the water circles around their bodies. she walks him until his back hits the edge of the pool. not much joking left to be had about the avatar thing and besides, she doesn't like talking shop with him. 

it's easier to fill the gaps in their conversations with actions like she's doing right now. fingertips trail over his chest. a flush crawls up her neck and it's from the heat, but it's also definitely from the idea she has in her head. 

"how about you sit on the edge here," she says, trailing her hands down to his bare thighs, "and i'll just -" and then she loses her nerve to be sexy, finds it mortifying more than anything, and covers her face with her hands. 

"sorry, sorry. gods, this is so embarrassing. i just thought maybe i would try, er..."

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

"mm maybe i'm a secret avatar and don't know it," she says with a smile, but she's prettyyyy sure that's not how that works. not that she really knows anything about all that stuff. she can barely sleep at night thinking about all the things bo and ollie are up against. 

and lance. 

"maybe i can take your mind off of it?" she says and pushes him lightly on the chest. 

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

this one doesn't open as darkly as the other co-op one that patched through to her phone, but it still has its own veins of creepiness that rub her the wrong way. with everything that's been going on with the game, she's tuned in a little more than usual to news. most of the folks she mentioned it to at the shop don't know what she's talking about, but they're mostly in their sixties so...

she has 0 clue what the first answer even means, the second one sounds awful, and so it leaves her with the third.

❤️ To learn about your studies of the Interdream Zone.

NISA OTOME

☉

"no, please. it's fine if my big, strong ranger captain can't handle some hot water like his girlfriend," she teases. she can stand just fine, but she keeps her legs bent, toes helping her stay afloat just at her neck.

her straw blonde hair fans out around her.

"very relaxed," she says and holds out her hands to beckon him closer. "but i want to be relaxed with you."

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

maybe she just has a higher tolerance for heat? the greenhouse can get pretty stuffy and sweltering at peak summertime. that or the fact that she's always just had tough skin. 

either way, the hot spring feels kind of magical. all her aching muscles relax. she half-closes her eyes and sighs, allowing herself to drift while lance works up the courage to slide in. his profanities dim the ambiance somewhat, but in a funny way. 

"if you can't handle it," she says with a grin, "i won't judge you."

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

there is a shameless admiration on her face for his physique as she follows him outside. when they do see each other, they have a nice routine together. this is a break from that norm, yes, but she has a feeling the night will be much the same as the others - exploring each other's bodies, talking about flowers and his work and her work, and about the future. 

he still hasn't brought up the whole moving in together thing again. she's grateful for it. why mess this up when it's so easy?

"don't be a baby," she chides and dips in herself. it's not that bad. and after a bit of getting used to it, she's able to slip completely in the water, all the way up to her neck. 

"oh, lance, please - this is wonderful."

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

he seems distant, but she doesn't mind. they're here to relax after all, right? and besides, he'd given her the go-ahead, so she hungrily draws up the hem of her shirt and tugs it off. 

her hands wander over his stomach, around his sides, stroking gently at the small of his back. then her thumbs dip under the waistband of his pants. 

"mm, you can't swim in jeans though. better take those off too."

LANCE VOLLANS

☉

it happens on accident, actually. some notification that she had tried to tap away but ended up clicking. she doesn't like the scarier routes and tends to stay away from them, but the choices at the bottom of the screen give her pause. 

she goes back to read the passage and settles down into her dining room chair, dinner forgotten for the moment. 

❤️ J-just admiring the view, sir!

DECLAN WALSH ROUTE

☉

it's just the creaking of the floorboards under their weight, the light scratch of hands over fabric, her gasp of anticipation swallowed by his mouth on hers. she sighs into him as he draws over her like honey, gently spilling warmth on her lips, trailing it down her side. 

she reaches up and around him; one hand fists in the back of his shirt because they haven't been this close in years and all she wants to do is hold on and not let go. the other reaches up to the locks at the back of his neck, twisting lightly.

and she's back, ten years younger, body taut with youth and anticipation and sheepish nervousness. she's making a happy noise in the back of her throat, stifling it as well as she can so she doesn't ruin the moment. and he's so kind to her, and he's so, so soft.

here and now, she breaks the kiss, inhales, eyes opening wide, and takes him in. her cheeks are flushed. her smile is radiant and then it's falling, though only so she can draw him against her again. 

boruta maher

☉

she's thought about this a lot of different ways. maybe even one day she'll admit that to him - how she would sit on her bed with the guitar in her lap or while she wound flower stems around each other. somewhere along the line, she had stopped wondering about what could have been and instead, turned to what might be. 

the floorboards creak when he moves. there's everything nothing left to say, but she can't bear another minute of hearing her own voice. butterflies blossom in her stomach as he reaches to tug the guitar away from her.

fingers curl in her jeans, breath hitching. he tucks her hair behind her ear, like he always has before he's kissed her, and as he nears it slips right back out, like it always has, and she closes her eyes. 

it's like coming home. it's like finding a piece of herself she hadn't known was missing. her hands come up to his face, fingertips light on his jaw, coaxing as she noses into him. and her lips part with a fervent need, drinking him in like a flower might sunlight. 

boruta maher

☉