shouldbe | pc; kaeya

[WELL. For how little time they've all had to get to know one another, that party could be considered a rousing success. More than that, it was fun, fun in a way Wave hasn't seen in a long time. But eventually people start trickling out, and eventually Kaeya and Wave are alone on his balcony.

Wave's lost her hat somewhere along the way (probably left in the lounge), but otherwise she's still dressed in the ringmaster costume because I think it's funny. She's sniped one of the bottles of rum from the party, setting it down next to her as she looks up to Kaeya and smiles.]

I don't know about you, but I can't say I have any regrets in coming here so far. That was a good party.

[And in spite of the bad memories she'd inadvertently brought up, she hopes he had fun as well.]

[Now that gets his brows arching. Frankly, he might be able to withstand this wet bubbling hell pit of only Wave's hands were on him. A man in his little peacock banana hammock can dream, can't he...]

By all means, get as close as you like.

[Kaeya is— not as inclined to lean back and relax, remaining perfectly stationary where he is, buuut draping his arms out over the cement to get some relief from the heat. That leaves Kaeya's arm splayed behind Wave, but she won't mind, will she? Please don't call him out.]

A natural hot springs of sorts? They're popular in Inazuma, but I've yet to find the time for a trip out East. A shame, really.

[Nnnnnnot really, actually.]

[Rousing indeed... quite a bit more than most parties Kaeya has attended in his life. Many of them were work functions and thus called for the requisite amount of stiff formalities and left little room for letting loose and truly indulging.

By contrast, this party has been quite liberating. He doesn't even mind leaving such a fun affair if only because Wave has blessed him with her continued company, sipping rum on the rocks while they take in the late evening view from his balcony.

He's left the devil horns on, but he's done away with his jacket and shirt, finding them much too oppressively stuffy to wear for a single moment longer. He hadn't hesitated to strip out of it, really, recalling quite distinctly how Wave's eyes poured over him by the poolside. More of a good thing never hurts.]

Indeed, and it was all the better with the life of the party leading the way. [He's referring to Wave, of course, bumping her shoulder with his own.] I must say, you doled out some pretty brazen dares. Did the atmosphere loosen you up a bit?

[Kaeya isn't Ai. He isn't, and Wave isn't looking for--doesn't want--him to be. But there's no denying the immediate warning ping! in the back of her brain as she looks at him, arms splayed out over the cement even as there's an invitation to slide in close to him...

Lords. That's dangerous.

She knows exactly what would inevitably happen if this were a different lifetime, a different situation, and yes, she'd walk into that trap with eyes wide open. She doesn't know if it's a similar sort of trap with Kaeya, not yet, but she's still going into it willingly, settling down next to him.]

I can imagine not, not with how busy you must be all the time. How much free time do you actually get?

[Don't mind her, she's just going to take this opportunity to trace her fingers over his hip. It's definitely just the water jets, in spite of her all but saying she was going to do it. Definitely.]

[On the one hand, Kaeya being shirtless is always a welcome sight. On the other, now that the party has died down a bit and she's had a bit of time to regain a little bit more sobriety, there's a part of her that wants to hide her face in her hands for a bit and scream because wow that sure was a lot of being absolutely shameless!

But Kaeya's not about to judge her, she thinks, and she'll be ready to face whatever comes from tonight in the morning. So she laughs, setting down her drink for a moment to slip the jacket from her shoulders (no use in scratching up his bare skin with sequins, right?) before nudging him back with bared arm.]

For a long time I've watched other people give out dares like that, but I always had to watch what I did or said, if I played at all. [Taking a sip of her rum.] But I'm not worrying about that sort of thing anymore.

Besides, we're all here for a good time, right? I figured if anyone had a problem with a dare, they'd say something about it. ...or up the ante. You and Sylvain certainly decided to make it a show.

[Not that she's complaining in the slightest, damn.]

[The water isn't as unforgivably hot and bubbly as it could be, and that thought is what sustains Kaeya, keeps him from visibly sweating. Thinking is another increasingly difficult task, his answer coming with a moment's delay and a smile he has to fight to keep afloat.]

It depends, really. On a good day, I might get a several hour stretch all to myself to enjoy, but normally—

[—Wave's fingers find his hip, and he knows the jets are not to blame. The heat's clearly begun to take hold, Kaeya's reaction time considerably slowed, but he won't go down without a fight...! Fingertips spidering along Wave's shoulder, he allows them to curl around the tips of her hair, 100% fine and in total control of himself. Oh no, he's not dying at all!!]

...Sorry, where was I? Mm, actually, I'd be more interested in hearing what a woman like you does in her free time.

[Kaeya has some small regrets of his own, but only small ones! After all, he's content in the knowledge that when it's time to head home, no one who knows of his mischief and misdeeds will be following him there. That's what allows him to simultaneously be on his best and worst behavior, so with that considered, he doesn't mind acting out a bit.

Although... yes, there was that dare and all the chaos it wrought. You just had to go there, didn't you, Wave? Huffing, more amused than anything, Kaeya leans down and brushes her shoulder with a kiss.]

Such a bold dare deserves to be fulfilled with vigor. Ah, but you're not jealous, are you? If that's the case, you're welcome to drink the wine from my mouth as well.

[But he'd much rather drink it from hers.]

[Her smile grows, a hint of mischievousness in her expression. Are we having fun yet?]

Several hours to yourself, but normally...?

I'm afraid you'll be stunningly bored by any stories I have to tell. Coriolis has a number of beliefs that some might call positively antiquated.

[Some being her, that is. She probably wouldn't have felt that way if she'd never left it in the first place.]

That's why I came here. [Her hand wanders from his hip, sliding along the line of his abs just above the edges of that beautiful mankini.] I don't intend on going back once this is all over.

Edited 2022-10-29 02:14 (UTC)

[Oh, that's nice. Wave lifts her free hand to his head, running her fingers through his hair as he kisses her shoulder.]

You're going to make me admit to something I probably shouldn't.

"Jealousy" might not be the right word for it. If anything, I was thinking about how much I might want to be between the two of you in that moment.

[She's 100% going to blame admitting this on all the alcohol, but... she also probably won't deny, either.]

[Those fingers make him want to act out, but when haven't they? That's been a constant in the short time they've been acquainted, the fact that he never fails to goosebump beneath her touch. By now, she knows the nature of his powers, so it's not as if he can blame the cold no matter how brisk it gets.

Perhaps honestly truly is the best policy, if only in a limited capacity. Kaeya's realizing that now, so struck by Wave's admittance that he can't help but fess up.]

Ah, but then I'd have to share you. Hm... You're a naughty girl, Wave... more than I'd given you credit for, but you're always finding ways to surprise me.

[And make him jealous, apparently. That's a hard achievement to unlock, and yet here they are. Kaeya's palm brackets the wall, setting his drink aside to catch her by the chin, ensure she's looking at nothing and no one else.]

I ought to punish you for thinking such brazen thoughts.

[Holy shit.

Exactly what reaction she was looking for, Wave doesn't know--but damn, she wasn't expecting this. But she's definitely not complaining, either! There's a jolt that runs through her at the mention of being "punished" that she doesn't fully comprehend; a mixture of some strange sense of dread and apprehension that's at clear odds with the pulse of excitement at the situation and amusement that he thinks that she'll back down. It feels like her entire body has been set alight, heartbeat making itself suddenly known--Kaeya's definitely got her full attention now, pupils dilating as she looks up at him.

She might have had him on the back foot when they were visiting the pool earlier in the week, but he's definitely got the upper hand here.]

Is that so? [She swallows, licking her suddenly-dry lips, but it's not going to prevent her from goading him further.] Bold words. And how are you going to do that?

[And just to prove that she's not going to give in so easily, she reaches out with her free hand to try and drift her fingers along his torso, trailing over the muscles he's been so kind as to put back on display.]

Edited (do you ever tag during d&d and then you reread it the following day and go "i can make this BETTER" bc i sure did) 2022-10-30 01:08 (UTC)

[So much fun, if you just ignore the way Kaeya's eye is beginning to swim in and out of focus, each response more delayed than the last. He's just totally relaxed, you know? Nothing to worry about!

Phew. He doesn't catch himself audibly exhaling pants until he is, redder than a lobster. He's aware of those slender fingers playing along his hideous mankini, but that's about it, all those words streaming in one ear and out the other. Her touch makes him bite his bottom lip, a fact he realizes too belatedly to catch and correct.]

...Ah. [Ah. Buffering...!] Then you'll stay here? I'm... not sure our gracious host will let you.

[Alright, maybe he should get out of the water like. Soon.]

[...ah. So this is what happens when you put Kaeya in the literal hotseat, huh? Wave can't help the small laugh that escapes her--she's gotta hand it to him, even after she called his bluff he certainly saw it through. It's enough to make her look on him fondly, reaching up to touch her finger to that bottom lip.]

I met some people a few years back. I'll go to one of their worlds instead.

[But that's all she'll say before she abruptly stands up, turning toward Kaeya to offer him her hand.]

All right, I think you've suffered enough. Come on.

[Does he trust her enough to let her lead him?]

[What can be said? Kaeya is only human, only a man, and the idea of sharing a woman who has caught his eye with someone else...? Yeah. That'll do it. Possessiveness it is not — he doesn't own Wave, would never be foolish enough to try — but his base instincts taking over, breaking through that mask of his.

He's always wanted to be desired, remembered, sought after, so that he might never be forgotten. With that in mind, he intends to leave his mark on Wave... or perhaps several. As many as she'll let him get away with, backing her into the wall and looping his arms beneath her backside to heft her up, let the moonlight frame her face.]

By making sure you never forget it.

[By making sure she never forgets him. Wave has a generous half second to issue a response before Kaeya's lips are on hers, tasting that residual alcohol and that rousing party alike.]

[Ah. He jolts at the touch of a finger on his bottom lip, but blessedly, it brings him back to reality... just enough to take her hand and follow her lead out of the hot tub. Thank gods.]

So you admit you were aiming to make me suffer? [kaeya, you did this to your own dumb ass,] I wouldn't have taken you for a sadist.

[Case in point: he doesn't think twice about letting her lead, so when that decision backfires and he's abruptly hauled into the pool alongside her, he's full of regret?! Oh, wow. He's never experienced a system shock quite like this, coming up for air with his breaths seizing in his throat and his eyes blown wide. Shock is a rare look on Kaeya, so take it in while you can, Wave.]

[There's an intensity to the look he gives her that sends another thrill racing through her veins--it's a look she's seen before, both in Coriolis and outside of it, but always from afar, always directed at someone else. It's almost enough to make her breath stop in her lungs to see it directed at her... Wave lets him guide her into the wall, unable to pull her eyes from his, and when she feels his hands beneath her ass, cool and strong against her bare skin as he lifts her, her own drink falls from her hands, forgotten.

How can she think about a drink right now? Kaeya's lifted her so that the moonlight falls over her, but she's looking at how it lights him from behind, filtering through his hair and cresting on the muscles of his arms and shoulders--how even with his face half-shadowed, she can see that intensity in his eyes.]

I--

["--wouldn't forget you" is the rest of that sentence, but then Kaeya's kissing her and everything she was thinking about dissolves in a rush of feeling, the stone at her back and the steel of his arms and the press of his lips against hers. Obligingly she relaxes into his hold, lips parting to deepen the kiss and one hand coming up to cup his jaw, the other tangling into his hair. He can do anything he wants as long as he keeps kissing her like this; right now all she wants to do is encourage him, using the little bit of leverage she has to meet him and match his fervor.

(But what he maybe doesn't realize is that he's already guaranteed that Wave will never forget him; he managed that long ago.)]

To suffer? Not quite. But to see how far you'd go to not admit to bluffing? That, I'd do.

And this-- [And yep, this is where the both of them end up in the pool, Kaeya dragged after Wave as she abruptly jumps. It's cold, it's fucking cold, and she yelps as she goes under--but then she's laughing as she resurfaces, adrenaline racing through her veins.

Seeing Kaeya's shocked expression just sets her laughing harder, even as she starts pushing for the side of the pool.]

How do you feel now?

[She's planning on jumping right back into the jacuzzi, but she's not so sure that Kaeya will want to follow suit.]

[It's alright— he'd much rather swallow those words, feel them rumble against his tongue on the way down. Wave is a good girl (citation needed). She won't reject him now, not even if she ought to, and Kaeya knows that. Even so, he can't fight the bone-deep fear that the words on her tongue might be anything other than I wouldn't forget you.

He's better off assuming just as he's better off relenting to his bodily urges, leaning into that kiss and pressing their bodies flush against one another's. She ought not encourage him, but he's the last man who will scold her for it, leaving one palm against her cheek while the other crawls her body.

He's wanted to touch her like this since... oh, since he saw her in that high-hipped swimsuit, actually. Thinking about it now makes Kaeya laugh in the space between their kiss. Back home in Mond, a bit of bare skin — or a lot of it — isn't exactly a rare sight. There's just something about Wave, something he'll need to unpack, but he'll do that when his mind isn't occupied with the way her breast feels beneath his palm.]

[As his hands start to wander, Wave wraps her legs around his waist, hooking her ankles together behind him. If he's worried, let her actions be her answer: Yes, she's encouraging him, dragging her fingers through his hair and thumb rubbing against his jaw. No, she's not denying him, teasing his lower lip between her teeth, maybe nipping a little harder when he thinks to laugh. (What are you laughing at, huh?) Yes, his hands can wander, and she lets out a short gasp when she feels the weight of one at her breast, back arching the little bit it can as a shiver runs through her body.

But no, she's not stopping him, and she brings both hands to his shoulders as they continue, fingers questing and exploring over lithe muscle. He's thoughtfully already stripped to the waist, and yes, she means to take full advantage of that, ghosting the pads of her fingertips over his skin, grazing the barest tips of her nails, looking to find how sensitive he is to her touch.

But there's more she wants to do with him than she can reach like this, and she thinks he feels the same. So when there's a moment, a breath, she looks at him through half-lidded eyes, breathing out the question lowly:] Should we take this inside? Or continue it here?

[Either way is fine by her, but he's going to have to let her down at some point if he wants to get her shorts off, to say nothing of the rest of her costume! The only immediately removable piece is the bow-tie choker, and that's not as frustratingly in the way as the rest.]

[Ah... Saw through him all along, did she? Honestly, Kaeya is surprised. Pleasantly so. It isn't often someone catches onto his nonsense, much less as easily as Wave had, but then again? Perhaps he wasn't subtle with his hot tub hatred. A bit of both, most likely.

Once the shock wears off, he's back in a smile, following Wave to the edge of the pool but remaining in the water for now. The cold really does suit him much better, arms folded and draped on the tile separating the pool from the hot tub.]

In a word? Enlivened. [Oh, but not by the pool or the system shock granted to him by it. His eyes are squarely on Wave.] I've never met a woman so bold as to call me out, catch me off-guard, and dunk me in a cold pool of water all at the same time. I'm not even mad.

[Obviously not. He's rather intrigued, actually.]

[Look, when you spend as much time with Ailanne as she has, catching on to nonsense becomes second nature. The man speaks bullshit so fluently that even if (when) he'd tell her the truth, it was still couched in deflection and bluffs. Wave can't help but laugh, hoisting herself up and out of the pool now that she's sure she doesn't need to worry about him.

Thankfully the jacuzzi isn't too far away, so it's easy enough to retreat back to it, the hot water tingling on her skin as it chases the cold away.]

I knew you could handle it. [She's matching him, similarly folding her arms and resting them on the tile.] You seem to me like the kind of guy that doesn't back down from a challenge.

[Which is absolutely a positive, in her book. She knows she's got a reckless streak, and anyone who wants to flirt with her had better be able to keep up.]

Besides, it felt good, right? Once you get over the initial shock.

[Oh, he never fails to goosebump beneath her fingertips. Whether it's in the hot tub or out here in the cool evening breeze, he isn't prickling up beneath anything but those fingers, warming beneath her touch. He doesn't mind the heat when it's hers. If anything, every errant touch makes him want for more, and it sounds like he isn't alone.

How blessed he is. He'd just been thinking about how terribly scratchy her costume is and how he'd love to work her out of it. He eases out of their kiss with a smile, but rather than let Wave down to walk on her own two feet, he keeps her hooked over his hips on the way back into his room. Toeing the sliding door closed behind them, he lays her out on the mattress and settles right back in above her, content to pepper her cheeks in little featherlight kisses. He'll get back to misbehaving soon, don't you worry.]

This is more comfortable, isn't it? I'd hate to scratch your back up on the wall outside.

[He'll let the implication there make itself. Brow waggle.]

[There's a certain sort of satisfaction in seeing those goosebumps rise, knowing for a certainty that they're due to her, that even if he were to try and obfuscate and claim it was the chill air, the both of them know the truth of the matter. She laughs as he steps back from the wall, wrapping her arms around his neck for stability as he walks them into his room--she won't try to drop down to her feet; being carried like this is a gift, this knowledge that he's not going to drop her, the feeling of being held close by somebody that seems to want her just as much as she wants him, and the feel of every plane of his abs against her body. She'd be a fool to give that up, and Wave smiles up at him as he lays her out, reaching out to put one hand at the back of his neck so she can ensure those little kisses continue.]

I hope the implication here is you're planning to scratch my back up in here instead. Well--turnabout's fair play, isn't it?

[And that hand at his neck is just going to work its way down his back, slowly and purposefully dragging a single nail a little bit harder over his skin. Her other hand is free to roam where it couldn't before, and she won't hesitate to run her thumb over his hipbone, gently digging into the dip where the bone disappears into his pants.]

Edited (phone tagging is suffering in autocorrect) 2022-10-30 22:19 (UTC)

[Now he's the one being read like a book, but she's right, isn't she? He shrugs, pulls on one of those smarmy grins, but he doesn't hide from the truth. Not this time.]

You can't win if you don't try. Who knows? Maybe the hot tub could have awoken some hidden love of the heat within me.

[He snorts a laugh because yeah, right. As if. Reaching over, the tucks a stray hair back behind Wave's ear and smiles wider.]

It did. Thank you for the new experience. Still, it did distract me from something important— the matter of your not wanting to go home. What's all this about other worlds?

[That's the implication alright. Kaeya smiles, and his grin's all teeth, betraying every last bit of his intent. He doesn't plan on going easy for her, that's for damn sure, but he leans in to press a kiss to Wave's cheek and rumble low in her ear.]

So you've given me your permission? I'll have you know there are no takebacks in this bed.

[She actually manages to get a sound out of Kaeya, something like an airy groan, when that single nail drags down his back. And here he thought it was her back running the risk of getting scratched up. Chuckling, Kaeya kisses a trail down her jawline, her neck, to begin peeling her out of that terribly itchy top.]

And you should know I won't mind it one bit if you make a mess of my back. You may find it necessary to hang on tight.

pc; kaeya

post-party undoings

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