Girl’s Night #3
Aaryn nudged her. "Yes, we did. You were all—" She flicked her fingers out. "Poof with your magic, and—" She deepened her voice. "'Come with me, Aaryn. To my secret land full of secrets and dragons.'"
"I did not say it like that!"
"Might as well have!" Aaryn cried, snickering, and shoved her away as she leaned against a nearby tree. She paused and her eyes darkened, dragging. Then, "In your dashing black scaled armor, with your weapons."
Thea straightened and stepped in front of her. "Thought I was dashing, huh?"
"Oh, you were trying to be. You knew it," Aaryn accused, smiling. She curled her hand over Thea's shoulder and, once she'd successfully tugged her closer, gripped each sleeve of her torn shirt.
Thea pressed her palm into the trunk beside her head to catch herself. "Not my fault you were a princess who needed saving."
"I'm not a princess," Aaryn corrected, gaze following the line of her arm and along her face before finally—had her eyes always been so green?
"Might as well be," Thea echoed. Their shoes bumped.
"Does that make you my knight?" she asked.
Right then, Thea wanted to be her anything.
"Do you still need saving?"
Aaryn shrugged. Her tongue darted out to wet her lips.
Thea was helpless but to follow the movement before lifting her eyes again.
"I'm sure we could come up with something," Aaryn replied, smirking.
Her fingers tensed in the grip on her shirt, and nearby the sparks of the fire popped, but Thea could have sworn the fire was between them.
The weight of the moment drew her toward Aaryn like a dragon's paw upon her back, the bark of the tree digging into her palm as she leaned into her.
So close now. She could feel Aaryn's breath, and lifted her other hand from her pocket to grasp her waist over the belt, the smooth leather warm from the body it encased.
Her lips were full and waiting and Thea closed the distance between them, heart pounding at the proximity.
Their lips brushed, a test of a spark, and then they melted together like honey. Thea sipped from her full bottom lip as if she were parched, their mouths sliding and locking together, only to part for a breath before starting all over again.
"Thea!" a familiar voice called, and the moment froze, cracked, broke apart and fell away.
Thea pulled back and straightened her arm, resting her nose against it to steel herself, wondering what she'd ever done to deserve this.
Then she tilted her cheek against her arm, glanced at Aaryn, and found her cheeks flushed almost as pink as her lips, breathing hastened, eyes half-lidded and blinking quickly—processing—and decided she actually very much liked it right here.
Unable to resist, she lifted a hand to wipe at the shine of Aaryn's bottom lip before turning to—come face to face with a dragon. Who at one point might have been familiar, but was currently coated in sparkly orange dust.
“What happened to you?” Thea asked on a laugh.
“Starspark!” Aaryn chided. “What did you do?”
“He’s been rolling in moon blooms,” Thea mused. “It’s like catnip for dragons.”
Aaryn giggled and reached out for him, but Thea caught her hand as Starspark’s snout began to twitch. “He’s about to sneeze. Run!”
Starspark decided it was a game, and their screams of delight made the nearby druids laugh as he made chase.
Neither of them were paying very close attention as they tried to outrun a dragon, and crashed right into Runa. "I've been looking for you guys!" Runa said. Thea heard Starspark inhale, and spun them both around before covering them with her body.
As Starspark’s entire body swelled and released with his sneeze, the pollen caked into his scales burst into a small cloud. Between laughing and coughing, Thea was sure she’d inhaled half of it.
Thea slowly turned to glare at Starspark, and their giggles turned to howls. She glanced back over her shoulder. “What is it?”
“Your entire back is orange,” Aaryn gasped out through chuckles.
“Starspark!” Thea groaned. He didn’t look bothered in the slightest, and she stared him down as Runa and Aaryn brushed her back off.
Carissa finally joined them, holding a fist to her mouth to keep from laughing as she assisted.
Thea’s eyes were watering by the time she finally gave in. You win this one, she thought at the dragon.
"This is a beautiful celebration. Why doesn't Evergale do these? Oh, yeah—" Runa said and giggled. "Because Evergale sucks!" she leaned back and shouted, and nearby some others agreed wholeheartedly, toasting and calling out.
"Let's dance. You wanna dance?" Runa asked, and tugged at Thea and Carissa's hands.
Aaryn and Thea shared a look and let Runa drag them along near the fire, where a band had begun strumming. Playful notes filled the air, and...
Well, dancing with Aaryn and watching the golden light play against her skin wasn't the worst. Nor was the way they clumsily bumped together, not entirely by accident, even if an intoxicated Runa had more to do with it than anything.
Even Carissa, despite everything, cackled to the night sky at Runa's antics.