Stormy remains in stunned silence even after he pulls away. The absence of his warmth against her face leaves her cold and bare, and she watches him, wide-eyed, as he explains what he thought would have happened.

"I would never--"

But she doesn't have a chance to explain. He reaches to stop her and turn her around, leading her back into the throng of familiar faces. They all blur together as she parses through information given to her. His palm holding her shoulder keeps her grounded, and she eventually blinks back into reality as he begins to word vomit and ask for her to speak to him.

Can we be cool again?

It almost makes her want to cry. To hide her glassy eyes, she turns quickly, slamming her shoulder into his chest and wrapping her arms around him tightly. Stormy presses her cheek firmly into his chest and holds her breath so that he wouldn't hear her quiet gasps of relief and grief.

"I'm sorry-- I'm sorry, I won't. I won't keep you in the dark, I'm sorry."

Her fingers twist into the fabric of his jacket, holding him tighter.

LANCE VOLLANS boruta maher DEREK HOFFMAN

☉

The boat lurches, slows, so that Kazimir Wynter might rejoin them. It wasn't safe for him to swim solo, to swim at all, really. It made sense, but it puts all of them in greater danger, probably.

Turns out, even with all of their preparation, even with the imprison, even with the dampening of the boat and themselves.. it isn't enough. At least, not enough to prevent all of it.

Because not every Quilfish is built the same, and that means some of them are capable of self-destructing instead of exploding. Frankly, if you ask her, its the same fuckin' move, but she didn't build the pokedex, or the laws of the Pokemon world. That's what shes thinking about as she is thrown from the boat because the self-destructs flip it.

She groans as she comes to, blinking stars from her eyes and leaning hard into.. a steel shield. It seems that in the fall, her Aegislash had done its best to catch her in the bend of its shield-forme as she landed. Whether or not the Pokemon was super successful was another story.

Her head rings and she slowly rises to her feet, pressing her palm to her temple to check for blood. Once the room stops spinning, she squints and glances about the room. Aegislash hovers near her, sticking close.

"Where are we?"

Through the glass wall, she can see the people who had climbed into the other boat. But from what she can see, they were stuck in a brand new trap. There didn't appear to be any obvious exits, and though people's lips move on the other side of the glass, she can only hear the chatter of her own group.

"Is there a way out? Do we dig?"

AU4OI5zs

notes:
- crashes out of the boat.
- notes the glass panel but doesn't know what to make of it
- wonders if they should be digging their way out, but waits for instruction
- last thing she wants to do is open up another water geyser

illeana reyes FERNANDO SILPH kim cole-essam

☉

"Yeah."

She says it, but the conviction just isn't there. It's as if halfway through her insulting she has lost her mojo. Probably because he didn't deserve it, and she's realizing far too late that she's being defensive and prickly. It's too much, the pressure she feels on her shoulders, that sometimes it's all she can do but to lash out to relieve some of it. She's being real bah-humbug about a gift, especially around Christmas.

"What?"

But there it is again, that spark of flame. He knows how to ignite it, by pointing fingers, by turning red, by blowing the entire situation even further out of proportion.

"Feeling you up? Our fingers touched, not our butts."

She has half a mind now to splash her coffee all down the front of his shirt and walk away. But he is paying for her breakfast, and he is still standing here. Most people probably wouldn't.

"Why are you even still standing here?"

Because he had been holding her hand.

aaron faust

☉

Not a fan of sweets?

Stormy blinks, surprised, but pulls the plate back only for Razz Kingsman's Meowstic to make a movement suggesting he might like it. She sets the plate back down and returns to her own. But before she can properly dig in, DEREK HOFFMAN continues to exist in her peripheral vision, giving her anxiety and stress.

He might give her time to finish her pie, but his presence is overwhelming and she ultimately does not. Not before his hand falls over her own and pulls her away quicker than she can say.. anything. Instinct begs her to pull away from him, but surprise at his closeness and his request keeps her stuck to him.

She doesn't even have a chance to wipe her mouth of the blackberry pie.

So they melt into the crowd and pop out the other side. She stares at him, wide-eyed and confused, as his attention shifts up to the bough of mistletoe hanging over their heads. Stormy swallows, awkward, before following his gaze back over to the bartender who is dangling the dare above their heads by a string.

"I--"

His statement surprises her because this entire time she has been convinced he hated her. After what she had said, after how she had reacted to him, threatening violence because she had been so afraid--

But his lips brush against hers in a slowly deepening, warm kiss. It is far more than a brief peck on the cheek, and it causes her ears to turn red. She stares back at him like a deer in headlights, thinking and overthinking even while wrapped up in his attention.

Stormy does not pull away, however, unable to deny the warm feelings in her chest while they kiss.

LANCE VOLLANS boruta maher DEREK HOFFMAN

☉

"Just say shit. No one likes a faker."

She frowns, her fingers tighten around the cup but she can't seem to realize that she's holding his hand closed around it, too. So she just keeps on fighting and growing more frustrated and embarrassed. That made-up, intimate scenario that she had lived through suddenly felt less like a daydream.

But this type of foreplay was so fucking lame, dude.

Her yank pulls him closer and in turn, her face grows redder. Her grip tightens, however, because what else is she supposed to do? Let go? How stupid. He's the one-- he's the one--

And then he releases the cup, brushes his fingers against her wrist, and takes her breath away all in the same motion. She hesitates, locked on his reddening face before dropping down to the way his hand now brushes against her skin. He is staring at her but she can only see the frustration in his gaze rather than any inkling he might be flirting. Or might have been flirting.

"... Oh."

She uses her other hand to hold onto the cup and shift it to the other, thereby releasing his hand. This time she takes the cup from the bottom, pulling it away gently in the hopes that he's finally let go.

"Well you could have just said that instead of being a dick about it."

aaron faust

☉