feel it.

the grasp she has on his hand is much tighter, pulling him along to the portals so they can take the route she knows so well. “can’t tell you, it’s gotta be a surprise,” she teases, stepping off into the fire house only a few moments later. theo had been to her room millions of times, but she still held onto his hand tightly as if she was guiding him, pulling him down the hallway until they were in her room. “okay, sit on my bed and close your eyes —- don’t open them!! do you promise?” she waits to get confirmation and for him to close his eyes before she starts rifling through her closet. once she’s found what she’s been looking for she hangs her wings carefully on a hanger and strips off her t-shirt, sliding on the new soft chiffon babydoll with a smile. winny makes her way over to him quietly, not speaking until she’s right before him. “okay open!! i just got it yesterday – whattaya think?? is it nice?? do i look pretty??”

winny could never properly explain how she feels when she’s kissing theo. it’s electricity and calm all at once, like she’s falling into that lake with him and up to her neck in cold water and sitting in front of a fire at the same time. like every moment in her life has led up to this one. she’s a tiny girl in an oversized t-shirt, fairy wings fluttering at her shoulders, but she feels so big and special when she’s pressed up against him. her arms curl around his neck, pressing herself closer and trying to make herself taller all at the same time. she only breaks away when she’s out of breath, lips still tingling as she nudges her nose against his. “i wish i could kiss you forever.” she sounds like she’s in a dream, soft and breathy. “you wanna come over? wanna show you somethin’.”

well this was certainly awkward. obviously winny hadn’t told theo that she’d fucked zach — well, and she hadn’t really known his name until fox told her dray’s real name. but fox definitely didn’t want to be the one that crushed theo’s spirit, he could tell the two were in love and he didn’t want to ruin that. “yeah, well…maybe ‘e acts diff’rent when he’s tryna get in ya pants? dunno, never fucked ‘im. no’ really sure if ‘e fucks all th’ girls ‘e tutors, kinda jus’ guessin’. —– ya talked t’ winny much this week?”

“really?” she hums, clearly hanging on his every word. she reaches out, fingertips brushing over his chest and playing with his shirt as he questions her, but she doesn’t necessarily have an answer. “i dunno, i’m sure there’s gonna be one though. if not we’ll have our own party, yeah? me and you, we can get a bottle of wine and hang out in your room. that would be fun wouldn’t it?” his warm fingertips on the back of her neck only make her want to stand closer to him, stepping forward until her body is pressed to his. it feels so nice, like they’re a proper couple. “or we could go to the tavern, get a few drinks then go back to mine. whatever you wanna do, it’ll be fun as long as we’re together.” her voice is soft, slightly enchanted by his smile and touch— and she can’t hold herself back anymore. one of her hands meets his cheek tenderly, the small girl moving onto her tiptoes so she can kiss him. it isn’t like most of their kisses – passionate, but always leading to sex. it was soft and slightly timid, in a room full of people, no less.

“oi! didn’ mean t’ make ‘em cry, i apologized for bein’ kinda harsh. but i told ‘em not t’ come back. they can go t’ zach from now on, he’s a lo’ more rude than i am. but they’ll get wha’ they want, t’ get laid. i wasn’ gonna ‘ave sex with ‘em.”

winny takes a step closer to him, warming under his attention. “yeah, you said it was pretty when i showed it to you. i wanna wear that one, i wanna wear it for you. so you’ll think i’m pretty too,” she murmurs, biting down on her lip as a blush rises to her cheeks. her stomach flips with his compliments, turning her face slightly into his touch to kiss at his palm softly. “you wanna take me? to the party? i wanna go with you. theo, please?” she pouts slightly, batting her eyelashes up at him once more to try to persuade him.

“a shit one,” he answers, bringing his fist up as if he’s going to punch theo as he grins, his hand falling back down to his lap almost instantly. “well, like, i could tell ‘er an ‘er friend were jus’ there ‘cause like they though’ i was fit. they weren’ listenin’ t’ a thing i was tryin’ teach ‘em. they kept gigglin’. it was distractin’ the others, y’know? so i told ‘em not t’ come back. they were wastin’ me time. one ‘em looked like she was ‘bout t’ cry, i felt kinda shit for tha’.”

her heart warms along with her cheeks, a soft pink flushing along her features as he compliments her. “thank you,” winny murmurs, batting her eyelashes up at him as she tries to contain her smile. his question makes her blush even darker, because she’s particularly curious about if he’ll like her costume. “you know that one babydoll i have? that i hardly ever wear? that! won’t that look pretty?”

“With what ice-skates?” Alex laughed, “There’s a pool on campus, so when this is frozen over, I’ll probably just stay there.” He then opened his eyes, and as he turned back to Theo, he splashed him with a grin.

fox isn’t very impressed with theo’s ideas – never really is – and his expression shows just as much, rolling his eyes. “god, you’re an idiot,” he groans, throwing his head back and running a hand through his hair. “i said they were annoyin’, didn’t say i wanted t’ scare the shit out of ‘em. never tellin’ ya a story again.”

if they were set two years prior then maybe she would have some reservation about removing her clothes in a public place, but alas, they aren’t. mae is only fueled further by theo’s enthusiasm and once he starts getting undressed, she quickly follows suit – starting with her shirt, then her pants, and then, of course, her undergarments; the grin has all but left her face. “shall we count down from 3? do you want to do the honors?”

her once void expression breaks into a stretch of a grin, but to hide her amusement she buried her face into her hands. “right. oh, i have an even better idea. suppose we turn them into a toad and then drop them off at the biology lab. how even more devious, right? wait – scratch that. too evil. your idea is better.”

                   she wasn’t sure if her ears were following. when her guidance counsellor had suggested sophia go find a senior student if she was ever in any need of help, this was not what she had had in mind. maybe some advice on how to get the jerk in history of magic to leave her alone, or how to deal with her care of magical creatures book constantly trying to eat her, but not— not this.   ❝  i can’t— i can’t turn someone into a toad. that’s horrible ! and a cockroach well that’s, that’s even worse.  ❞

     and theo can’t contain his laughter, because she thinks he’s being serious and he’s far from it. “soph..” he murmurs, but he’s not entirely convinced she’s listening -- looks far too troubled to be. so he speaks a bit louder, reaching out to brush his fingertips over her elbow, an attempt to gain her attention. “sophia, i was kidding. honestly.. i think you can get expelled for that, so i advise you not to turn anyone into anything.” 

“yeah, i am. be on more teams if their let me, but two’s the limit i guess.” shit rule. he could make it work. if he put in the effort. “sorry, don’t really know a thing ‘bout you, though.” it could be an invitation for theo to talk about himself, if he wanted, but dray didn’t really care one way or another. he’d be more than happy to sit in silence and pass the bottle back and forth until it was empty.

“look, look, look!” she comes barreling down the hallway, barefoot and still in an oversized t-shirt. on her shoulders sit a pair of fluttering fairy wings. “i got my fairy wings for halloween!! and my dad charmed them to flutter!! isn’t that amazing?? don’t i look so pretty!!”