squanderlust | IC CONTACT

This is true, but there's some things to be said for taking things slowly, too.

[Severa's effort is accepted, and Lina presses back in that fleeting few moments, then biting her own lip once it ends. She draws her hands free of her hold on Severa, and use them to lightly brush through Severa's hair.]

I'm gonna be bugging you like, every morning to find out how your sleep was, I hope you're ready for that.

Oh no.

[she's smiling a little playfully, weighing the idea of just kissing Lina even more right now. she elects against it and keeps the conversation going instead, but her hands are just going to move to Lina's shoulders.]

I'll have to wake up every morning and text my best friend, and it'll probably be with good news? How will I ever adjust? I can't believe you're saddling me with such a burden.

[That gets a full-on actual giggle from Lina, who carefully shifts around so that she can sit on Severa's lap. She hadn't quite intended for this turn of events, but she wasn't complaining at all. She gives Severa a similar smile, going back to affectionately toying with her friend's hair.]

Such is the cross to bear of being friends with Lina Inverse, I'm afraid.

[and Severa's hands move to Lina's sides, then slip under her shirt and stay in the same place so she can impart some of her body heat to Lina. she's keeping her eyes on Lina and, quietly, enjoying having her hair played with. that's how she knows that Lina's special.]

You really need to start putting on warmer clothes if you're going to make a habit of this. No matter how cute the "just rolled out of bed" look is on you.

[At this point, Lina's quite comfortable in regards to body heat, but she's not going to protest this turn of events. There's a happy little hum that leaves her once she feels Severa's hands on her skin. Her own hands slip down, resting on Sev's neck - even if she's allowed to play with her friend's hair, she doesn't want to overdo it.]

If I do that, though, I can't go leeching warmth off of you. Not that I really need any excuse to get up close, but it's more fun that way.

You dragged yourself here dressed like this in the middle of winter just so you could get close to me?

[she tries her best to keep her tone sardonic, but a smile cracks that facade after a second. her hands move around Lina's sides to her lower back to pull her closer.]

You are a dumbass.

[Severa's words make her face darken, but her smile stays. She leans into the pull, brushing her forehead against Severa's.]

Well. I only ever claimed to be a genius at magic.

[With that, she closes the gap, dropping her eyes closed as she presses her lips to Severa's. It'a a slow, lazy, affectionate kiss, and keeps her from blurting out stuff that she'd gladly barge through to get close to Severa.

For now, anyway.]

[but this is the kind of kiss that Severa likes. there's a lot to be said for the hungry kisses, the ones where they're both excited to try out some new magical spell, the ones that she never thought Lina would be comfortable enough giving. but this is the kind of kiss that's got all kinds of emotions caught up in it that make Severa feel just as amazing inside.]

[she could think about kissing all night or she could just push, gently, back into it and slowly move her hands up Lina's back, lifting up the back of her shirt as she goes. she presses her fingers into her... "friend"'s skin just to touch and feel her with her eyes closed and even more of that pleasant warmth radiating from within her chest.]

Edited 2018-01-14 20:50 (UTC)

[It's one Lina prefers - and finally, one that's initiated purely on their own terms. No weird stuff going on to whip them into a tizzy, just two people really unsure of where they really stand with each other trying to figure that out.

There's a soft, sighing hum that leaves her as Severa's hands go up her back, while her own glide down the other woman's neck, and under the collar of her shirt - not enough to stretch it, though. The pace of the kiss remains languid, as Lina is quite happy to take her time with this.]

[part of Severa thinks it might be a bad idea to take this too far right now, that it might ruin the kiss or that this is just not the best time. a much louder part of Severa just wants to let whatever will happen happen without thinking too hard about it, because that's the way these things go with Lina sometimes and it's nice to just go with the flow.]

[she makes a quiet noise as she feels some resistance from Lina's clothing and stops pushing the back of her shirt up quite so much. her hands stay where they are, then after a moment her fingers start pressing small circles into Lina's back. even with that noise, she doesn't want to stop kissing anytime soon.]

[Lina's fine with things escalating, really - the prospect is what encouraged her to take the position she did, and make no resistance to Severa pulling her shirt up. In fact, her hands pull back just long enough to pull it up to her neck, and work her arms out of the sleeves, while working her best to keep the kiss linked, breaking it just long enough to ease the garment over her head.

There's a slightly flustered, but very contented expression on Lina's face before she resumes the kiss, finally pressing forward with her tongue this time, though keeping the same pace as before, all the while cupping her hands on Severa's cheeks.]

[and in that moment where they aren't kissing and Lina is pulling her shirt off, Severa smiles devilishly. this woman is going to be the death of her.]

You're so bad.

[it's quiet and gently teasing, and before long she's sinking back into the kiss and opening her mouth to let Lina's tongue inside. the pointed tip of her own brushes against it before pushing forward into Lina's mouth. her hands are still behaving themselves for the moment, staying mostly on Lina's back no matter how tempted she gets.]

[All Lina does in that brief moment is smile back, with only a slight bit of coyness to her expression.

Once their tongues meet, Lina's is quite enthusiastic compared to her hands - though her tongue isn't limited by the back of the couch, so she's got more freedom there, and periodically she presses forward against Severa with a faint groan. Her hands slide down, over Severa's chest and to her side - with the stir of momentum she's made, she's suddenly less concerned about the couch, and her hands snake over Severa's curves to reach just above her rear, slowly grabbing handfuls of Severa's shirt and working toward bunching it up, trying to find the bottom of it.]

[sure, Lina might not have quite such a limited range of motion, but Severa does have a lot more tongue to work with. if she felt like making this more interesting, she could, but she's enjoying having Lina take control of things too much to do that. instead, her hands snake up Lina's body, one coming to rest on the back of her head and tangling in her hair.]

[after a second, once she realizes what Lina's doing, the other hand moves down to the hem of her shirt and pulls it up to where Lina's reaching. being groped and pressed against with only a thin t-shirt separating Lina's hands and her chest is more than enough to make her body react. she'd pull the shirt off herself, but she wants to see Lina keep this lead and run with it. and she likes kissing Lina too much to break it again so soon.]

[Once the hands hit her hair, Lina lets out a sudden hum, and presses her body further against Severa in approval. She wants to protest when one leaves, but being presented with sudden slack in what she's doing is a nice enough trade-off. Since the feeling is mutual in regards to kissing, Lina is painfully slow about bunching the shirt up and moving it upward. Once she gets it high enough, however, she pulls away from the kiss with slightly heavy breathing, and eases the garment off of Severa carefully, then dropping it to the side.

Once that's done, she's not quick to return to the kiss - no, instead, she turns her attention to Severa's now bare torso, running her hands affectionately over the musculature in her abdomen, the curves of her sides and the swell of her chest, before her hands pause, and her eyes turn up to Severa's face with concerned curiosity.]

Hey, Sev... Is it okay for me to touch your scar?

[and soon she's shirtless, too, and looking up at a very attractive Lina and smiling up at her as her hands roam. she's been taking care of her body, and her own hands move down to touch at Lina's sides again, fingers brushing her abdomen while still giving Lina room to explore. then there's the question.]

[after a second or two of silence, she takes Lina's hand by the wrist and moves it, along with her own, to touch the scar between her breasts. Lina's hand first, then Severa's on top of it. the smile's still there on her face, but it's more subdued as she thinks about what that scar represents. how far she's come since it happened.]

I told you how I got this, right?

[it's been so long that she can't even remember—she does have three additional years of memories in there, after all.]

[Well, that answers that question. Her hand is tense at first once it's placed against the darker skin, but after a moment it relaxes, and her pointer and middle fingers are drawing soft, feather-light circles over as Lina stares down at their hands with a serious focus.]

Yeah, fighting Eris in Between, with Lucina.

[There's a pause, and her volume drops slightly.]

I wasn't sure if it would be awkward for me to give that area attention or not.

[What goes unspoken is 'because I know you've got feelings for Lucina, and you got this while protecting her - and things seem to just be going south between you two lately'.]

[right. of course she's told Lina by now. she's told Lina a lot of things by now. her fingers trail up Lina's arm and her hand comes to a gentle rest on her shoulder.]

Because I got it while I was doing my duty?

[she's not stupid. not about this, at least.]

I was acting as one of her retainers when I got this. [she really hopes Lina isn't great at picking up on Severa's patented half-lies.] Protecting people is what I do. I would have done exactly the same for you.

[she can feel her ears getting warm.]

[Lina's hand remains on the scar, while she mulls over the things Severa's saying. She's a bit bothered that Severa's trying to dance around things, because Lina's not dumb. Even if she was Lucina's retainer and was acting out of duty, Lina is more than intimately aware with Severa's tendency to go too far with her feelings. And some of that knowledge doesn't even involve them!

On the other hand - like she was worried before, things haven't gone well between Severa and Lucina lately, and it's not any of her business to pry. Maybe it's just her trying to emotionally distance herself from those feelings about Lucina?

If that's the case, then by all accounts, Lina should feel better about this than she does, because that potentially takes a competitor out of the running, but it just makes her sad for Severa's sake. Even if on one level, she wants to be the only one in Severa's affections, she doesn't want Severa to get hurt for that to happen...

God, this is so complicated. Maybe she shouldn't have asked about the scar.

She nods, keeping a neutral expression.]

I see, and I know. I'd gladly leave my safety in your hands.

[She smiles a little, leaning her head over to rest her cheek on Severa's hand.]

[Severa should be satisfied with that answer, but at the same time, she knows that she hasn't been the best about this sort of thing. to Lucina or to Lina. there are... a lot of complicated emotions going on. and though she doesn't think that it would be easier to stay closed off anymore—she loves that there are people she trusts behind her walls for everything it means—it's. complex.]

[her own hand goes up to Lina's cheek, and for a second it might look like she's going to kiss her again from how intent her eye contact is. instead, she says something quietly, but with a degree of certainty behind it that almost surprises Severa herself.]

You should tell me what's on your mind.

[they've both been doing this too long. it won't work, Severa hiding her emotions behind getting physical with somebody she cares about. Lina will see right through it and Severa will just berate herself for it anyway.]

[With as much as she was content to let it go for now, Severa's words, and the tone behind them catch her off-guard, enough that her heartbeat jumps up and she feels the acidic feeling in her chest that comes with panic - it's not like she's done anything bad here, but she just wasn't expecting that kind of statement out of the blue. Her hand draws back from the scar, and both her hands rest in front of her, lightly rubbing each other. She stares down at them, because gods, this is likely going to cross uneasy territory.]

Well... I felt like there might have been more to that scar's story than just you doing your job. That's why I wanted to make sure you were okay with me acknowledging it, so I didn't carelessly step on someone else's toes.

[She pauses, then bites her lip for a moment.]

Our situation is pretty complicated, so anything I can do to not add to it needlessly is good.

[Severa's quiet at that, trying to think of the best way to defuse what she knows is a tricky situation. it's not like she's worried about Lina exploding at her or running off to the mountains; no, she just... wants to make Lina feel better. which means giving up more information that maybe she shouldn't be telling Lina, because it makes Severa herself look useless, but... damn it.]

I knew how I felt about Lucina long before Eris. I don't know if she knew it, and I know I didn't have the words for it until after we both came back to life. And I don't... when I really think about this scar, I don't usually think about any good feelings about Lucina.

[her hand comes away from Lina and she places three fingers on the scar gently, her head tilting down to look at it.]

The truth is that she died first. Before I could even do anything to protect her. So when I think about this scar, a lot of the time I just think about... that failure. How she might not have died if I'd been a little faster and how I can do better if it ever happens again.

[she looks back up at Lina.]

I'm okay with people paying attention to it because I'm... the two of us are the only ones who know what it means. [that's a deliberate choice of words.] The only toes you'd be stepping on are my own.

[Lina's expression stays fairly neutral and solemn for the most part while Severa explains things, and for a time, she manages to stop fidgeting her hands, and keep them still for the majority. As Severa finishes, though, she does look a bit more melancholy, and there's a knowing look on her face - something Severa might expect to see someone from home make when they talk about their wars.

Her stomach's dropped, and mentally she's kicking herself. She assumed too much for the sake of trying to avoid distressing Severa, and failed that in new and exciting ways. Her shoulders drop slightly.]

I'm sorry, Sev, I didn't know. The last thing I'd want to do is make you relive something like that...

Edited 2018-01-15 05:37 (UTC)

[but even though Severa is speaking very seriously, her expression is still soft. she doesn't want to make Lina unhappy by speaking her mind, and really, Severa was the one who invited this whole conversation to begin with. she recognizes something in Lina's expression, but stops focusing on it so intently when she speaks up again.]

It's okay. I relive it enough on my own that it doesn't really bother me when other people do it.

[her hands both move down to Lina's and holds them loosely, carefully. hopefully this is the right thing to say.]

I wouldn't mind making some new memories about it.

[Thankfully, Severa is a wonderful distraction from Lina's own rough train of thought, and she finds herself making an exasperated, but restrained sigh at her friend.]

Sev...! That's not really encouraging, same way as your point of view on the nightmares. Remember you're talking to a dumbass that's really invested in your happiness, you goof.

[She takes in a breath, slightly red-faced about how frank she just was, and steels herself as she lets it out, squeezing Severa's hands.]

So, new memories, huh?

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