I wanna fade away with you

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

The tug of her fingers in his hair and the way she was shifting above him had the aviator resolute in his movements even as he moaned his own encouragements against her. Clasping at her thighs for support, the aviator closed his eyes in order to eliminate everything that wasn't Isla, everything that wasn't the sound of her voice or the taste of her heat, or the tremors of her body.

—gods, I love you—

oh. Right. He had said that, hadn't he.

Blinking up at her, despite what Mateo had said, Everest wasn't afraid. However else he might have said it, whatever when it might have spilled from his lips, he did feel it, wholly and completely.

Panting himself, as much from the labours of his affections as from still being endlessly enamoured by the Remedy, as Ever stands he's forced to quickly brace himself against the wall, his hands on either side of her, as he shakily makes his way to his feet. She'll feel the way the muscles of his thighs tremble against her and hear the breath he quickly sips in before pressing his lips to hers.

Blocking the majority of the water from splashing onto their faces, Everest parts just enough to seek out Isla's gaze, but no more than that. Dimples appear on his cheeks despite the slow spread of his smile. "I love you, Isla." He whispers softly amidst the sound of rain, just so she wouldn't think the words accidental when he'd said them before.

.

Isla

Likely holding onto Ever just as much as he needed to brace against her, as his lips meet hers again the Remedy is left afloat in something simple and pure, the likes of which she hasn't felt in long enough that it doesn't seem real, even as she feels it happening. Blinking open her eyes to gaze up at him as he parts just enough for her to spot the dimples in his smile, Isla can almost hear the words before he says them, and some ridiculous part of her wants to reach up and press her fingers over his mouth to stop them tumbling out.

Things like no you don't, or you don't know what you love, or that's not how things go for me fight for purchase on her lips, Isla biting all of them back and letting one of her hands drift to cup against Ever's cheek. It's true, though, that her track record is one tragedy after another. Her I love yous go to people who are married, or who die, or who don't return the feeling, and she's not sure yet that she can bear to put that curse on Ever.

Only it might already be too late for it.

"I'm falling in love with you," she whispers, as if to say it without saying it. "Every day a little more. And it makes me nervous."

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

A soft huff of surprise leaves the aviator's lips as his eyes search Isla's, inclined to disbelieve her almost as much as she might have wanted to disbelieve him. The only difference was, of course, that anyone would be silly not to fall in love with the Remedy, whereas to say Everest was an acquired taste was likely putting it mildly.

Finding some strength returning to his legs, Ever straightens somewhat. "Well," he hums thoughtfully. "You could always stop, I suppose." Raising an eyebrow, one of his dimples deepens as his smile grows lopsided before it disappears as his expression grows slightly more serious. "I know you're not supposed to say things like this so soon. You're probably not even supposed to feel them, but.." Colour floods into Ever's cheeks as he smiles distractedly, the thought of loving her making it almost difficult to stand still. "..I do."

Reaching for one of Isla's hands, he brings it to his lips. "I suppose if you're afraid of falling, just remember that you have wings, and so do I." He whispers, and if it's the ring finger of her left hand that he presses his lips against, it's probably entirely coincidental.

.

Isla

Thinking him serious for a moment, Isla's eyebrows raise incredulously before she huffs out a laugh and resists the urge to swat at him. "Right, of course. How silly of me not to realise I could just stop." She smiles, the pink flush to her cheeks only growing deeper as the aviator continues. "We can't always control the way we feel," she says in his defence, knowing everything he says to be true, all the way from the supposed tos right up to the feeling it anyways.

For instance, the butterflies that take flight in her stomach as Ever catches her hand and kisses it are absolutely outside of Isla's control, and she shivers in a breath to feel his lips against her fingers, stepping forward suddenly to slip her arms around him. Still beneath the warm jet of water, the heat that kindles between them is even more delicious, though Isla leans in to let her head rest against the aviator's chest for a moment as if to savour the feel of him, whole and real and here and loving her, despite whatever uncertainties come along with it.

"You know, I'd still quite like to go to the inn now," she murmurs, a smile in her voice. "If that's alright with you."

we're gonna separate ourselves tonight
we're always running scared but holding knives

i'd probably still adore you with your hands around my neck

Smiling crookedly down at her, Everest nods conceedingly. "No, we can't." He agrees. Though no part of him was unhappy about the way he felt for the Remedy, certainly he felt as though loving her was entirely out of his control. If it drowned him, if it doomed him, he was helpless to do anything other than to be thankful for the moments he'd been able to spend at Isla's side.

Looping his arms around her in turn and drawing her near, Ever presses a kiss against the top of her head as his fingers radiate starburst patterns across her skin. Wanting to whisper an endless stream of I love yous into her hair, instead, the aviator just thinks them, with all of his being, as he tightens his arms around her.

"Mm, I'll have to think about it." He chuckles dryly before reluctantly pulling back from her. Even with her bathing suit discarded on the ground and her makeup now a dark waterfall down her cheeks, Everest was forced to pause, utterly undone by her beauty. Exhaling softly, he swallowed, eyes lowering apologetically, as he turned to switch the water off.

"I'll meet you outside, when you're ready." Unable to leave without kissing her one last time, Ever shimmied into his shorts before doing his best to stealth out of the women's side of the changing rooms.

~FIN

.