A/N: I really wanted to write something from the game's timeline, this is what I came up with. More suggestive than my other stuff, so warning.
It was hot. Ridiculously hot. Summer had arrived with a vengeance at Ericson's Boarding School for Troubled Youth. Clementine shed her jackets as she walked alone outside the gates. It was barely morning and already the heat was stifling. Clementine unbuttoned her star button from her jacket as she walked and fastened it securely to her hat so that she wouldn't lose it.
Today was the first day in as long as she could remember that she had nothing assigned to do. No hunting or fishing, no lookout duties to perform, no gardening to be done. And it. was. hot.
Clementine pulled her cap off and swiped at her forehead. AJ had been on lookout when she had left, he was worried about her going out alone but with James at the school now he was able to keep the 'safe zone' relatively clear of walker activity.
She arrived at the fishing shack and started following alongside the river. She had found a fairly deep pool of water a little while exploring after they had ended things with the Delta. The Delta. Clementine and the others had been worried for months that they would send another recruit vessel, but they never did. She thought, she hoped, that they were too busy with their wars elsewhere to bother them again.
That was a while ago now but they kept their guard up still just the same, which is why Clementine needed to make this fast. Violet was going to be furious when she found out that she had come outside the gates on her own. But their are some things a person needs to do by themselves. Laundry was one of them. Well, at least laundry was when you only had one outfit to your name.
Clementine reached the spot, just outside of the used to be 'safe zone'. A small waterfall poured water into the pool, gently swirling around before emptying out the opposite side. She kneeled at the edge and held her jean jacket under the cool water, waiting as the fabric absorbed the liquid.
She pulled the jacket back out, scrubbing at the blood stains and dirt spots with her hands before shoving it back under the cold water and swishing it around. Clementine wiped at her forehead again, sweat had started to leak in her eyes.
Forget this, Clementine thought, looking around warily for signs of human or walker. Finding none she pulled off her boots and socks as she listened hard and when heard nothing she pulled off her long sleeved shirt, followed by her tank top and looking around one last time, unbuttoned her pants and pulled them down.
Clementine grabbed her knife and set it in an accessible location at the edge of the pool. She dropped her clothes on a rock at the edge of the river before gingerly stepping into the water wearing only her underwear. A shudder went up her spine at the shock in temperature change.
The water wasn't deep, only coming to about mid thigh while standing. She shivered as she eased herself into a seated position on the river bed. The water felt nice. Clementine wanted to lean back and enjoy the feel of it but decided to get her work done first.
She reached for her jacket and pulled it back into the water. She held it under the waterfall, feeling relief as droplets splashed on her sweaty face.
After scrubbing her clothing, getting out as much dirt and blood as possible she laid them all out on nearby rocks to dry. It probably wouldn't take long with as hot as it was.
Clementine took her hat off and set it over her knife, then pulled her hair band loose and shook her hair free. It was starting to get too long, she was going to have to ask the others if they had any scissors and if not she was just going to have to use her knife again.
She stuck her head under the small waterfall, gasping as the freezing water took her breath away. Clementine closed her eyes, letting the running water massage her scalp and shoulders. She sighed, leaning back, enjoying the peaceful moment.
A noise. She shot her head out from under the waterfall with a start, frantically wiping the water from her vision while feeling around for her knife. She made contact with her hat and quickly grabbed the knife from underneath it, she stood ready to fight whatever threat had come only to look up and see a very angry blonde.
Clementine practically dropped the knife back on the edge of the river, before sinking quickly back into the water embarrassed. "V-Violet, what are you doing out here?"
Violet raised an eyebrow, "What am I doing out here? What are you doing out here?" Her arms were folded angrily across here chest.
"Laundry?" Clementine answered, trying to soften Violet with the biggest smile she could muster.
"Alone? Do you know how dangerous that is? No one is supposed to go out alone. That was your rule." Violet was absolutely fuming, Clementine sunk further into the pool.
"How'd you find me?" she looked sheepish.
"AJ." Violet said simply.
"What a rat." Clementine muttered under her breath.
"He cares about you and so do I. You're not invincible Clementine. You can't put yourself at risk like this. You didn't even hear me walking up until I was right on top of you!" Violet continued to rant.
Clementine smirked, "Right on top of me? Hmmm, that might not of been a bad way to get my attention." Violet blushed, unable to stop herself from looking down at Clementine's body, barely concealed under the clear water.
"D-don't try and change the subject." Violet frowned.
Clementine folded her arms over her chest, trying to sound upset as well, "I was just trying to get some laundry done and wash up a bit."
"You should have woken me up, I would have come with you." Violet sighed, sitting on a rock at the edge of the pool.
"There are some things that a girl needs to do alone." Clementine explained seriously, making Violet snort with laughter.
"What? Why?" Violet asked, her smile slowly turned into a frown as realization struck, "If you just want some time away from me you could just say so... I'm sure Ruby or even AJ wouldn't mind coming out with you... I just want you to be safe."
"No!" Clementine reassured, Kneeling on the river bed, facing Violet, leaning her folded arms against the rocks on the edge. "I would never need time away from you, if anything I want more time with you! It's just... this is embarrassing..."
"What is?" Violet raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"You, watching me... bathe..." Clementine whispered, looking anywhere but at Violet, cheeks glowing red.
"Seriously?" Violet laughed, "That's what you're worried about? There's no part of you I haven't seen already. Just last night I saw you in my bedroom," Violet started tallying on her fingers, "before that I saw you in the bell tower, the greenhouse, the fishing shack, that one time on Louis's piano bench-"
"Oh my gosh, Violet, stop!" Clementine grabbed her hat and pulled it on over her face mortified, even though no one else was around, "I just... this is just... it's different... I don't know..."
"Fine!" Violet giggled at Clementine's embarrassment, "I'll turn around, is that better?" Violet rotated around on the big stone, facing the opposite direction.
Clementine sat back in the water, pushing her hat up so that she could see, staring at the back of Violet's head, "Well... not really, now I'm lonely..."
Violet laughed again, she stood up, picking Clementine's clothes off the rocks and started hanging them in a nearby tree.
Clementine looked at her questioningly, "What are you doing?"
"I'm going to need somewhere to set my clothes to dry if I'm going to wash them, right?" Violet asked. "If that's okay?"
Clementine looked blankly at Violet as she started removing her vest, "uh, yeah, of course." At Violet's smirk Clementine realized she was staring and looked away guiltily. She heard a slight splash as Violet's feet entered the water.
"Ah! Why didn't you tell me how freezing this water is?" Violet shrieked, chills going up her spine. She stood unmoving, waiting for her body to acclimate to the new temperature. Clementine grinned sneakily as she shot up, grabbed Violet around the waist and pulled her down into the freezing river. Violet gasped as she emerged. "Evil! You. Are. Evil!"
Clementine grinned and pulled Violet closer, nuzzling her face into the back of her neck, "Here, I'll hold onto you until you warm up." Violet leaned back into the embrace.
After a few peaceful minutes Violet turned to peck Clementine on the lips before sitting up and grabbing her pants from the edge, submerging them in the water. Clementine reached for Violet's vest.
"Wait!" Violet yelled, taking her vest from Clementine she unhooked her button, looked around for a second before grabbing Clementine's hat back off her head setting her button inside of it and placing them both on the riverbank.
Clementine reached up and patted her hair self consciously. Violet smiled and reached out to touch her hair as well. "I don't think I've ever seen you with your hair down, it's cute."
Clementine rolled her eyes, as she continued to flatten her hair down, "I've been meaning to ask you," Clementine took Violet's vest back and started soaking it in the pool, "what does your button mean?"
"I told you before that I spent a lot of time with my grandma..." Violet started scrubbing at her pants, "I think she suspected that I was gay before even I knew it. She gave me that button, saying something about rainbows and she loved me no matter what, I didn't have any idea what she was talking about, I was still more interested in cartoons than girls." Violet smiled at the memory. "It wasn't until the dead started walking that I realized what that button meant and what my grandma was trying to say by giving it to me. That she loved me for who I was and that she supported me... that meant so much knowing how religious she was... and considering how she... died... I like to focus on times like that, before her depression set in."
"I'm glad you have that memory of her." Clementine smiled as she ringed Violet's vest out and laid it on a rock, grabbing a shirt to soak.
"I feel like you know all about me, but I know nothing about you from before." Violet said, giving the brunette a sideways glance.
"There's nothing to tell really. Did you know that I have lived longer with walkers than without? Before doesn't seem to matter anymore." Clementine said, focusing on her work.
"It does to me." Violet smiled reassuringly.
"I was just an average kid really... I had a mom and dad... I can't even remember their faces..." Violet noticed a tear run down her cheek but she wiped it away quickly, "I had a pool and a tree house. I liked going to school, I hated playing soccer but my dad was desperate to find a sport I liked. He gave me my hat on my 8th birthday, it was his favorite baseball team and man was I a brat when he gave it to me." Clementine was laugh crying now, "All I wanted was a dog, how I begged for a dog! When I opened that box and found the hat inside I threw it down and stomped away, I was such a brat." Clementine shook her head regretfully.
Violet put a hand on her shoulder, "Who isn't a brat when they're a kid. I can't imagine you without that hat now. I'm sure your dad would be proud."
"Funny how things work out sometimes, huh? If you would have told me when I opened that box that it would end up being my most prized possession I would have said you were crazy." Clementine wiped her eyes off, looking fondly at her hat. "I need to find some sewing supplies and fix my 'D' before it gets ripped off completely."
"I think Ruby has some sewing stuff." Violet nodded as she laid out her pants and Clementine spread Violet's shirts on a rock.
"All done," Violet stretched and Clementine couldn't help but glance over her body as she did. "So... I still want to know why you were embarrassed for me to come down here with you. You didn't give me a good excuse."
Clementine sunk back into the water, "I don't know... Doing laundry, practically naked, bathing... it all seemed so... intimate... it made me feel vulnerable..." Violet opened her mouth to speak, "Before you say anything, I know. I know you've seen me and I've seen you but it's different when we're..." Clementine whispered, "not distracted..."
"Oh, I'm plenty distracted." Violet sat in the water next to Clementine as she slapped her on the shoulder.
"Doing chores like this together, just hanging out, makes this seem serious," Clementine waved her arm between the two of them, "it's different than sneaking around or doing our assigned tasks together... I know that sounds stupid..."
Violet nodded, "I want to be serious with you Clem, I want to see you vulnerable and be intimate, I want to hang out, I want it all... with you."
Clementine captured Violet's lips with her own, knocking them both under the waterfall with the force. They continued the kiss, tongues intertwining as water cascaded off the their heads, holding out for as long as possible before releasing one another and emerging with chests heaving for air.
"We have some time to kill while we wait for our clothes to dry... what do you say we add the waterfall to our list?" Violet asked, eyebrows raised.
Clementine looked around at their surroundings, finding that they were still alone. She smirked at Violet, pulling her onto her lap. Clementine wrapped her hands behind Violet's back, "I'm in."