note. warning for ~mature themes~ ohoho
In private.
"N-not in public!" she hissed, turning her cheek away when Cynthia leaned in for a kiss. The older woman arched an eyebrow.
"Why not?"
"People are watching..." Dawn muttered, gaze flicking furtively at the crowd of passerby and their pokemon. Her fixed grin was uneasy. Cynthia smiled - it was understandable enough that she'd be so shy, she supposed. Despite everything, she was still at that awkward, self-conscious age.
So instead, the blonde reached down to take her hand instead, twining her fingers with Dawn's and giving a gentle squeeze that the other girl didn't respond to. Dawn's grip was disappointingly slack. "People are always watching," Cynthia rebuffed quietly. "You're the champion now, after all."
"Yes, but..."
"I can't help it."
Dawn sighed and offered a wavering smile. "S-sorry, I'm just a little..."
"I understand," Cynthia cut her off, and tried to laugh softly. "Don't worry needlessly over it," and released Dawn's hand.
She knew theirs was a delicate dance. Dawn was young and relatively carefree, and there were those two boys - Lucas, wasn't it? and Barry? - who she still couldn't speak of without smiling in that certain and subtle manner that constantly broke Cynthia's heart. But Cynthia was a hunter. She'd chased down the girl with the same fervor she put into studying ruins, and eventually Dawn opened up under her research like the fragile pages of an ancient book.
It couldn't be helped, that she became more than a little possessive of that. Dawn was exquisitely beautiful when she was flustered and free from her usual careful self-control - pale cheeks flushed pink, beads of sweat sliding down her neck, straight hair in disarray, voice slightly raw from desire and need...
... But perhaps that was a different type of flustered than the hesitancy and aloofness the girl was emanating now. Cynthia cast her gaze downward. There were still some blank pages in the book that had yet to be filled in, if only Dawn would let her.
"Stop, stop," the other girl said suddenly, stepping around in front of the former champion with a determined look. But before Cynthia could ask why, Dawn's hands were on her shoulders, pulling her down slightly into that kiss she'd previously been denied. She broke off with a nip on Cynthia's lower lip, as if in reproach, and when Cynthia regained her composure from the surprise and arched an eyebrow again, she was pleased to see that Dawn's cheeks were slightly pinker than before.
"I thought people were watching?"
The champion rubbed her temple sheepishly and grinned. "You just looked so... I couldn't help myself."
This time, Dawn was the one to reach for and squeeze Cynthia's outstretched hand.