let me leave or let me love you

Sohalia

This is a gift, it comes with a price
Who is the lamb and who is the knife?

The look on Koa's face was a balm for her nerves, and she blushed deeper at his quiet wow. She offered a shy smile as she approached, but she didn't linger long, jumping into the water before Koa could finish whatever question he had.

The water was warm and inviting, and for a moment, Soh was content to float there, enjoying the sensation against her skin. When she surfaced, she pushed her hair back out of her face and looked around - just in time for Koa to yell, "Cannonball!" and leap into the pool after her. Soh shrieked playfully as water splashed over her, laughing at Koa's goofy nature. Gods, she really liked him, and that made her more nervous than any questionable outfit she may wear.

Then Koa surfaced beside her, his arms going around her waist to pull her in close as she yelped in surprise; she laughed, perhaps a little anxiously, but with a great deal of affection as skin touched skin, sending goosebumps down her spine. She rested her hands on his shoulders, thumbs tracing light patterns on his collarbones. She felt a little dizzy from his proximity, from the feel of him against her, so much closer than she'd ever allowed anyone before.

And then he kissed her.

And she kissed him back, softly, at first, tentative and hesitant and shy; but remembering their stolen kisses from their first date, feeling the warmth of his skin against hers, the strength of his arms around her waist, she slid her hands up his neck to gently cup his face, her thumbs caressing his cheekbones as she deepened the kiss.

Midas is king and he holds me so tight
And turns me to gold in the sunlight

I always thought I might be bad
Now I'm sure that it's true

This time he lets her lead the kiss, taking the time to learn where best to move his head, how much he needs to tilt forward, when to lean into her, how to figure the jigsaw puzzle so that they fit just right. And fit they do, Sohalia a waif in Koa's strong arms, her soft hands electric as they graze over stubble, the curves of her melting into his grasp. His grip on her tightens as his eyes flutter shut, tongue darting out to taste her lips. He wants her, gods he wants her, with a flame of hungry passion that threatens to burn right through his gut.

One of his large hands has traveled down her back, teasing them both as it dips down low, tracing the curve of a slender hip with a sculptor's dedication. Now he slips it under her thigh, hoisting her lithe form even closer as he takes her in his arms. "Soh," he kisses down her neck, a prayer spoken into hollow collarbones. He pauses only to look up at her, copper eyes heavy with adoration and need. "I can't resist you," he laughs and sighs. "Who gave you permission to be so beautiful?"

'cause I think you're so good
and I'm nothing like you

Koa

Sohalia

This is a gift, it comes with a price
Who is the lamb and who is the knife?

He made it so easy, kissing him, and for those brief moments, Soh's world narrowed to encompass only the two of them, lost in a little bubble that shut out the rest of the world. She was quickly discovering that she liked to kiss and be kissed, and she was a quick learner. When Koa's tongue darted out to flick against her lips, she mimicked him, their tongues tangling momentarily, sending a wave of desire through her.

She gave a little squeak of surprise as he hoisted her closer, his hand burning where it grasped her thigh. She'd never been held like this, and though it felt strange and foreign at first, she decided quickly that she liked it, lifting her other leg to wrap tentatively around his waist. Her name was like a prayer from his lips, and she tilted her head back as he trailed kisses down her neck, a soft sigh of pleasure tumbling forth. When he paused, she looked down, her own eyes mirroring his desire. "Who gave you permission to be so handsome?" she countered, a little breathless, her voice a little husky. Then, emboldened by his clear adoration, she murmured, "Or such a good kisser?"

Midas is king and he holds me so tight
And turns me to gold in the sunlight

I always thought I might be bad
Now I'm sure that it's true

Soh, girl, you're not making it easy for Koa to maintain his gentlemanly ways. He groans as she wraps her leg around him,  trying very hard to keep her above where he is very hard. He hadn't thought her the type to be forward, and her brazenness is leaving him desperate and confused. There's a battle of wills waging with Koa, and the head with a brain is not winning just now.

He chuckles at her compliment, husky and delighted, but this time there is no glib reply. Instead Koa decides to speak with actions, pulling her down to reclaim her lips. The kiss is hungry, searching, his breath coming hot as he tastes her lips. Mouth moves on mouth, tongues dance on tongues: Koa is determined to show her just how good a kisser he can be. One hand tightens on her thigh; the other tangles in her blonde hair, pulling her into him, needy for more.

'cause I think you're so good
and I'm nothing like you

Koa

Sohalia

This is a gift, it comes with a price
Who is the lamb and who is the knife?

All logical thought had escaped her; her mind was now a tangled mess of feelings. The press of his palm against her thigh, the taste of his lips against hers, the sound of the soft groan as she wrapped a leg around him; it all combined in a rush of desire and want and need that she'd never felt before. At the moment, she wasn't sure she could remember her own name, where they were, which way was up. All she knew was drowning in the the feel of him.

So she kissed him back, riding the high of endorphins and (newly discovered) lust, whimpering softly as his hand tangled in her hair and his hand clenched on her thigh. She reached her arms around his neck, one hand pressing against his spine while the other ran up his neck and into his hair, her nails scratching lightly against his scalp. But then, in the back of her mind, a whispered plea, a sliver of fear, that she had no idea what she was doing, that they were out in public, that this was only their second date, that she didn't even know him that well, and what was she doing?

Her body rebelled against those silent alarm bells - she was enjoying herself far too much to want to stop now - but in the end, reason won out. She broke the kiss, her breath hitching in her throat. "Koa," she murmured against his lips. "Koa - wait -" She leaned her forehead against his with a shuddering breath, relaxing the hand in his hair to trail it down his neck. "I - I think we should slow down."

Midas is king and he holds me so tight
And turns me to gold in the sunlight

I always thought I might be bad
Now I'm sure that it's true

Koa could have stayed there forever, drowning in her kisses, swallowed by her embrace. The moment her fingers reache his hair our poor hero is done for, practically mewling into her skin as nails pull deliciously over his scalp. He wants more, he wants her, and it doesn't matter that they're in public, or that he's sworn to be a gentleman. Koa's brain is out of service, fatally deprived of much-needed blood. He is become a beast of lust and hormones,  and Sohalia his chosen, willing partner in this, the oldest dance.

That is, until she's not.

He gasps whe she breaks from the kiss, already reaching to pull her back. But the hitch of her breathy voice stops him, keeps him from closing that tantalizing gap as she leans her head to his. His own breathing shudders with heavy passion: he doesn't want to slow down, doesn't want to stop. The primordial beast inside him howls, desperate for release.

He looks at her through moist lashes, a rueful smile on his flushed face. "Yeah," agrees Koa, though it's another few breaths before he finds the will to do it, loosening his grip on Soh's bare thigh, untangling his hand from her hair.

Gently he pulls back from her, trying to create necessary space between their rebellious bodies. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't- I didn't..." Koa trails off with a shaky sigh. He feels foolish and a lkttle lightheadsd as he pointedly looks anywhere but at Soh, his chiseled face aflame.

'cause I think you're so good
and I'm nothing like you

Koa

Sohalia

This is a gift, it comes with a price
Who is the lamb and who is the knife?

Oh, don't worry, Koa, there was a very large part of Soh that also didn't want to stop, and for a moment, she worried that perhaps she had said or done the wrong thing by voicing her hesitation. But then Koa agreed, and she felt something inside her relax. They'd gotten a little carried away, that was all, and although her breathing was still a little unsteady and her nerves were quivering with the desire for her brain to shut the fuck up already, she knew that it was the right decision. Even as she lamented the loss of Koa's hand from her hair and the way his grip loosened on her thigh.

Koa pulled away, and she relaxed her grip on him, extricating herself from around his waist. Despite the warmth of the hot springs, she felt cold without him surrounding her, and she swallowed hard against the desire to jump right back into his arms. Surprisingly, Soh was less embarrassed than Koa seemed to be; for perhaps the first time, his cheeks were aflame, and Soh felt oddly powerful for having been the one to cause it. As he stammered an apology, she started to reach to touch his cheek, but stopped herself short, suddenly unsure of what was okay and what wasn't.

"I wanted you to," she assured him softly, a little nervous and unsure. Perhaps he was regretting it. Maybe he hadn't enjoyed it as much as she had. Gods, he wouldn't even look at her now. So she looked away too, her own cheeks heating with embarrassment as she moved to cross her arms across her chest defensively. "I'm sorry if I... did something wrong."

Midas is king and he holds me so tight
And turns me to gold in the sunlight

I always thought I might be bad
Now I'm sure that it's true

Bashfulness doesn't suit Koa; he wears it like an itchy sweater, fidgety and uncomfortable and bemused. But the cool evening air and the distance from Sohalia is doing wonders for his critical thinking, and he can feel the fog of hormone lifting just enough to peer through and see--

Oh. Oh no. He's fucked up.

"What--? Soh, no." He almost laughs at the ridiculousness of it, shaking his damp head and stepping back to the girl. Tender but firm he grasps her hands, trying to gently unfold her arms, to open her to him. "You did nothing wrong. I promise. We just got carried away."

For a moment her reflection in the water seems to shift: another blonde glares up from the surface, young and angry, her pain the product of his idiocy. He'll be damned if he hurts Sohalia the way he did Flora, all those seasons ago.

He lifts her pale hand from the water, bringing it to his face. "I should have stopped to check in with you," he murmurs against her knuckles, trying to catch her silver eyes. "I never want to do anything that makes you uncomfortable. And I'm glad you spoke up. Really."

His right hand dips to cup her cheek, to bring her gaze to him. "I want to go at your speed. You're in charge, okay?" His smile is tender and loaded with promise, his face still flush with lust
"Though I cant promise I won't fuck up sometimes. You're too beautiful not to want."

'cause I think you're so good
and I'm nothing like you

Koa

Sohalia

This is a gift, it comes with a price
Who is the lamb and who is the knife?

She focused on the way the water rippled around them, her brow furrowed as she considered where exactly she'd gone wrong. Because it had to be her, she was sure of it, her naivete or inexperience or something, somehow, that was entirely her fault. She didn't see Koa move, but she saw the ripples he caused, and she looked up nervously as he stepped back towards her, taking a gentle hold of her hands. She let him pull her arms from where they'd crossed over her chest, lift her hand to his face, and her heart melted a little bit with the sincerity she saw in his eyes.

She heaved a shaky sigh. She hadn't been uncomfortable, exactly, but this didn't seem like the time to discuss semantics. She leaned her face into his palm, closing her eyes briefly as her nerves settled and her reason returned. "Okay," she murmured, opening her eyes and offering a tentative smile. "I just - I guess it's pretty obvious that I'm not... used to this." She reached up to place her hand over his, intertwining their fingers, her silver eyes searching his. "But I - I really like you, Koa. And I really liked kissing you."

Midas is king and he holds me so tight
And turns me to gold in the sunlight

I always thought I might be bad
Now I'm sure that it's true

Koa smiles as she leans into his hand, thumb running tenderly over a sharp cheekbone. "Everybody's new at the beginning," he teases. "We can practice as much as you like." A wink to keep the mood afloat, another kiss pressed to slender knuckles as her fingers lace through his.

For all of his experience, the boy isn't ready for her quicksilver eyes, or the way his heart sputters and skips when she turns them up to him. Again his body tries to betray him, heat sliding down into the pit of his belly, desire rising up like dragonfire, a dark maroon in his cheeks. "I like kissing you, too," Koa says huskily, fingers twitching as he resists the urge to show her just how much.

He is a comet, pulled from his orbit into the light of her dazzling sun. He can't help it: he pulls her closer, leaning down to lay his forehead gently alongside hers. "Can I tell you a secret, Soh?" Koa murmurs, eyes shut, breath fast, her breath hot on his cheeks. "I don't think I've ever liked kissing someone as much as I like kissing you."

'cause I think you're so good
and I'm nothing like you

Koa

Sohalia

This is a gift, it comes with a price
Who is the lamb and who is the knife?

"Practice sounds good," she murmured, boldly meeting his eyes, her voice a little husky. She was impressed by how Koa was able to turn the mood so easily back to the flirtatious, inviting her to leave her worries behind. Gods, but he was everything she could ever want, at least in her naive young mind, and her fingers tightened where they interlaced with his. Her cheeks burned as he admitted that he liked kissing her, too, and something wild and animal inside her unfurled luxuriously at the compliment, satisfied and triumphant.

As he pulled her closer, her breath hitched in her throat, both hoping for and fearful of the kiss that she expected - but he simply leaned his forehead next to hers, murmuring his secret in a voice meant just for her. That triumphant voice in the back of her mind sat up, pleased and expectant; unsure what to say, Soh simply turned her head to press a kiss to Koa's cheek. "I'm glad," she murmured in his ear, her arms snaking up to wrap loosely around his neck. Then she pulled back, eyes twinkling impishly as she grinned at him. "You could always kiss me more," she suggested. "You know, just to make sure."

Midas is king and he holds me so tight
And turns me to gold in the sunlight

I always thought I might be bad
Now I'm sure that it's true

Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck, Koa has gotten himself in trouble here. For someone purportedly new to all this, Sohalia has proven herself an expert at seducing poor hapless Dragoons. She could ask the boy to get her the moon and he would probably try it; how, then, is he to deny her a request as simple and irresistible as another (and another and another) kiss?

But it's not just kisses, in the end. It's the whole thing that will spell Koa's ruin: the picnic, the way steam coils around them as they wait for night to fall, the stories told of constellations, the secrets whispered over interlaced fingers as they lay on a blanket, side by side. Koa will tell her things he doesn't tell people, things about his aspirations, things about his doubts. He will tell her that he hopes to be a man his sister can admire, a man his mother would have been proud to call her son.

And when they part he will be ripe with infatuation, swollen with it, entranced and consumed and ablaze. He will float home on shoes made of cirrus and dream of a girl with stars for eyes. He will wonder if, perhaps, he loves her. He will agonize as he waits for her return.

And when that glorious moment comes that they are reunited?

Why, my friends, we already know. Koa's heart will break.

{fin <3}

'cause I think you're so good
and I'm nothing like you

Koa