Reviews :
BanannaSammich : Thank you so much! No, Boss doesn't get a rider. Lickity has Tessa, Royal has Ace, Balba has Libby, Marble has Zed and Chester has Berri. Boss is different in which he's more aloof and doesn't really mind who flies him. It's really only Zed and Tessa that do, being Lickity's mate. The next story has a brand new flyer, in which our new main character will get :)
Song Listened To :
Firefly Trail by Trevor Kowalski
Be Kind (Stripped) by Halsey and Marshmello
*Chapter 238*
"You first," Mara whispered nervously; her and Lash had successfully reached the mouth of the dreaded, massive seaside cavern, once and for all, and like crossing a threshold into nothingness, both Lash's and Mara's bare feet stood solid on the cold, wet stone underneath them.
"Ladies first," Lash retort in a much firmer whisper as he leaned his head down towards her, a little. It was here did Mara flinch and soften her much closer gaze into the side of Lash's face, she bobbed a nod, as if to cheekily agree with his notion. She flagged her hand outwards, to hopeflly usher him forward, though he barked an annoyed chuckle and jostled their tightly linked arms, "I'm talking about YOU not me!"
"Could've fooled me," Mara mumbled with great cheek, though her's and Lash's voices tenderly carried into the dripping, dark cavern, to which they both nervously eyed each other. Mara finally inhaled a readied breath and bobbed a nod, and though she was previously against this venture, she resonated with Lash's words, the notion of having a boring, final night on the island was something she didn't want to endure. She shrugged a little, knowing that at least her night was now exciting, and not lonesome like what she had planned, "C'mon... Let's just... Use the glow of your eyes to get around, at least the moon is bright tonight. We won't have a hard time finding our way back to the entrance."
"And, User forbid something bad happens?" Lash wondered in a stab of terror as his and Mara's bare feet began to hesitantly shuffle into the cavern together.
"I'll cheat our way back to the common room... It's not like you don't have teleportation powers, either, dude," Mara muttered through her teeth, she cocked an eyebrow and shot the side of Lash's face yet another cheeky look of irritation, "I'm not fond of overusing my User powers, my guy, so... If we're in true peril, that very well may be the only 'get out of jail' free card I'd like to use, for the night."
"Fine, we'll go in until something bad happens, we'll chicken out and leave," Lash muttered as the two finally eased down the small slope into the seaside cavern; the crashing waves could be heard eventually dulling, the echo of reverberating noise cascaded all along the unimaginably dark cave walls. With the constant dripping of the wet, Lash began to feel his golden eyes glow a bit brighter. In a pitch black environment, he did whatever he could to allow the golden glow cast about the place. Only being able to see maybe ten feet ahead of themselves, the two cautiously grew deeper into the cave as Lash finally continued on with his little plan, "That, or... W-we'll go down in history. Team lonely coded bonfire explosion."
"Dub, we're not going to die," Mara suddenly blurt a hard chuckle she couldn't contain, she shook her head and grinned as her laughter softly coat the cave walls.
With a strange bout of happiness to swelled her heart, and shushed the fear, if only for a moment, she gently snuggled herself tighter onto Lash's arm. Lash raised his eyebrows and, although his golden glowing eyes casted down and to his right, where Mara was stationed, he firmly stared forward, once more, and was quickly reminded he was the acting-lantern, here. Although the weird sensation of butterflies and rapidly growing fear was something that began to coat his heart in entire confusion, he figured he could afford to get away with rather snuggly, romantic acts now that the two were entirely out of anyone's sights, including each other's. Lash bit his lip and felt brave, and with the golden stare of his held forward to the never-ending black abyss before them, he lovingly allowed his left hand to soak over the urgent grip Mara's hands had to the security of his right arm. In the soft rush of his cute bravery, he was floored to find Mara's fingers gingerly open in a sprawl, a tender intertwine their fingers so easily sagged to, as if this was a normal thing they always did.
"What do YOU think we'll find?" Mara whispered gently, the hushed tone of her delicate voice was quiet enough press into Lash's right ear, one of which he was grateful the angry splay of goosebumps on his neck couldn't be seen.
"I think we'll officially find Santa," Lash sharply whispered in sarcastic tease, to which Mara blurt a cute giggle and glued her eyes to the illuminated parts of Lash's face, his bashful smile could easily be seen grinning the cutest, dorkiest grin the dark could afford him.
"I don't even have to ask if you're on the naughty or nice list," Mara grumbled, she sagged deeper into his secretive care and relished in the way their fingers intertwined through the grip she had his right arm in.
"Oh, I'm at the TOP of the nice list, without a single doubt," Lash suddenly barked, though he flinched in surprise and forgot about the bouncy, grabby walls that eagerly echoed and reverberated his rather false statement. He scrunched his shoulders and hunkered tighter to Mara as he continued on through a whisper, "Santa and I are best friends."
"I'd be willing to bet," Mara grumbled, though as she opened her mouth to cutely continue their banter, a sharp noise of falling rocks could be heard to their direct right.
Mara suddenly hollered a high pitched, girly noise of pure terror as her incredible, powerful User coding popped in glitch lines and golden honeycombs, to which Lash also barked a hard, loud noise of unintelligible terror. The two urgently bounced and stumbled in solid fear, though as they awkwardly shuffled a handful of feet away from where they were originally stood, Lash dart his eyes firmly about the cave and only could find rocks, rocks and more rocks. Lash huffed a loud, shaky sigh as Mara grimaced a nervous giggle and grappled her forehead in dire, agitated though grinning terror. Lash clutched his chest and now firmly jostled Mara about, whom of which had successfully grappled her arms about Lash's middle.
"You scared the shit out of me," Lash hissed loudly in exaggerated irritation, though as his gentle, trembling hands came to the tops of Mara's shoulders, he lulled his eyes closed and accidentally encased the two in total darkness. Said bout of immediate pitch black nonsense had Mara suddenly uttering a long, drawn out, girly whine of rising terror, though with such, Mara urgently clawed her arms about Lash's middle and huffed a shaky breath into the broad of his chest.
"Hoookay! I'm ready to go home, Lash, I wanna go home, I don't care if it's lonely and boring!" Mara firmly muttered into Lash's chest, the tightness they both sagged into was something she was happy was done in the dark; she was certain her face was now bright red.
"Y'big baby," Lash barked as his eyes reopened and glossed to the top of his head, though in the brief lack of golden light, in his peripheral, he furrowed his brow and immediately noticed a bit of a calm glow a little further down the darkened bend. Lash raised his eyebrows and firmly peered through the dark, in hopes of catching a glimpse of said glow, though he warmly squeezed Mara's shoulders and jostled her a little, "Hey... You see that?"
"No-no-no, don't do this to me," Mara pleaded as she shoved her face and whole front tighter into Lash's broad figure, though he blurt a chuckle and continued to rest his hands to the tops of her shoulders, "I'm gunna teleport only MYSELF away if you keep screwing with me!"
"I'm not screwing with you, look! It's like a greenish glow, you see it?" Lash urged calmly, the sincerity in his voice proved to Mara that he was, indeed, not joking.
With shyness, she just barely peeled her eyes open to the darkness, she looked over her shoulder and remained lovingly squished into Lash's embrace, one of which he didn't ask for. As the two remained stationary in each other's arms, Mara raised her eyebrows in prickled surprise and now could definitely see what Lash was talking about. A lovely, jade-green hue of a glow that came emanating from around the darkened bend, Mara ever so softly began to peel from Lash's embrace so to inquire that the two head out and see what's up. Although Mara was prepared to now officially peel from any form of physical contact from Lash, she teasingly trailed her left hand down Lash's chest as she began to slowly step away, though she was floored to feel his right hand rush to cup her hand to his broad front. As both of their hands trailed down Lash's chest, with his hand glued to the back of hers, it smoothly morphed into official handholding as Mara further stepped out and lead the way.
Lash felt a breath catch in his throat, the splash of gold all along the back of Mara's beautiful, pastel blue hair, he cocked an eyebrow and did absolutely everything in his power not to glance down at her thicker, beautiful legs and bare feet. She wore a light green t-shirt and a pair of darker cotton shorts to match, the grip on Lash's hand never wavered as the two pushed a little closer to the now much brighter, glowing bend. It was here did Lash squeeze her fingers and feel his heart begin to ache in the form of fluttering confusion. With the reminder of Chester's words now hung tight to his brain, he silently scoffed at himself; there's absolutely now way he could be in love, not him. He narrowed his golden gaze in whole confusion at himself and wondered just why this was all crashing down on him now, why the wistful sighing he had partook in, all week, now might as well be a characteristic of his. Before he could allow his bashful thoughts to run away from him, the desire to slip back into the dark and secretively hold Mara's beautiful, littler figure deep into his, the glow of his eyes began to mute as they rounded the bend, once and for all.
"... Ohhh WOW!" Mara hissed in alive delight, and as her and Lash finally removed their hands from the other, Mara cupped her hands to her chest in unadulterated surprise as to just what was in front of them.
A massive bow of a cavern, with a rocky, extraordinarily high ceiling, the whole entire place was coat with hundreds, thousands of glistening jade rock candy. With a swell of ocean water that suddenly came flooding in to the shallows below, the jade rocky candy, deep beneath the surface of the crystal clear waters, shone with turquoise, green pride. An enchanting sight, the little patch of the rocky terrain, they had been traversing, lead out into the gape of the shallows that sloshed about. With a gape of the cave to their left, the open ocean and sky could easily be seen through the gaps of the massive, crowned stalagmites, and with said rush and recede of beautiful, dark ocean water that spilled into the jade colored light, a gentle slosh of further, deep ocean water did what it could to come back into the cavern and slide away to its respective avenues of shallows. Mara looked about in enchanted wonder as the rock candy, from above, easily dripped with cave water and gave off the essence of rain. She grinned, opened her arms out a little and began to confidently step out into the gorgeous scenery.
"Holy... User in the sky," Lash huffed shakily as he clutched his chest and grinned, and though Mara cutely retort to his User statement, Lash wrinkled his nose and couldn't easily soak in the sheer amount of contrasted, saturated beauty all around him. He scoffed a small laugh and gently began to step out into the spray of dripping water that emulated rain, "Boy, were WE rewarded... The gang will NEVER believe us!"
"It's sooo beautiful!" Mara called out to the whole cavern, and as her voice bounced about the wet rocks, Lash narrowed his gaze and felt his heart continue to strike at the previously cold, deadened nerve endings of love that had a direct line to his brain.
Like striking gold, he finally huffed a catch of a breath and watched as Mara cutely twirled in the little drippings of rain that made her skin sparkle. He lulled his eyes in a soft long blink of disbelief and felt his heart begin to pound with surefire certainty, he was well aware he couldn't quite possibly allow this night to slip away from him without at least telling Mara how he felt about her, the fumble of emotions he was entirely certain he had no clue how to properly put into words. Although a massive challenge, he heaved a shaky, readied breath and was well aware he just had to await the right moment. Before he could get caught staring, he lightened up, looked above his and Mara's heads and gawked at the gape of gorgeous, glowing, dripping jade crystals. Following her idea, he choked a cute laugh as the two began to now confidently dance about in the supposed rain.
Their warm laughter soaked the cavern with new love, the bounce of their echoey voices melted together in a harmonious symphony of pure, unadulterated happiness, and though Mara was sure she'd never hear or see anything like it, she slowed her spinning and dancing as she came to the miniature little dead end of landing that hovered in the massive, centered gape of the glowing shallow waters. She grinned, whirled about and giggled as she finally caught sight of just where Lash was, catching her bearings was something she was struggling with due to the hard, never-ending echo the two had set upon the place. With said notion, Mara firmly flinched and realized Lash was much closer than she anticipated, and with the realization that he, too, was struggling in deciphering just his whereabouts, Mara choked Lash a cute noise of uncertainty as the two haphazardly bumped into each other, mid silly, twirling dancing.
"Ohp- sorry," Lash loudly grunted as he firmly recoiled, though in said urgency to catch his footing and hopefully not barrel Mara to the ground, he threw his arms out and cutely grappled onto Mara's upper arms. In a gentle yank he set upon the two, to bring them to immediate correction, he beamed a toothy little smile of apologetic glee and opened his mouth to shyly utter her a warm notion, "S-Sorry, I wasn't paying attention."
"S'okay, me neither," Mara mumbled cutely, though as she was sure their little twirling act of halted correction and a grapple of arms and hands, to further show steadiness would subside immediately, she felt a shockwave of confusion hit her brain as she found herself, yet again, feeling the desire to paw at Lash's broad chest.
With the only sound of dripping water, as well as the methodical rush of waves that sagged into the shallows before them, Mara raised her eyebrows and softly peered deep into Lash's eyes as her hands, once more, gingerly sagged to Lash's chest. She opened her mouth in tender confusion at herself, and though she almost allowed herself to think up an excuse for being a bit handsy, the sheer amount of times they've hugged and held hands in the past five minutes alone was on par for couple-status intimacy, she swallowed hard and stuffed it as she could feel Lash's gentle grip, on the backs of her upper arms, remain. They both almost nervously peered into each other's eyes, as if to raise both red and white flags in each other's faces, angry splashes of warning signals all so eloquently mixed with cute notions of defeat, as if giving up the cold, independent front they had been giving each other, was a secret they swore to uphold. Mara finally huffed a shaky giggle and peered deep into the lovely, misunderstood gaze of Sugar Rush's previous demise, a wildly misunderstood soul.
"I'm genuinely shocked our bravery was rewarded," Mara stated through a shy grin, the gap of her adorable, toothy smile, Lash narrowed his gaze a little and felt his heart just continue to soar, the soak of love that now began to drown him from head to toe, he scoffed a gentle noise of agreeing and was well aware he was fully doomed.
"Me too, I was sure we were goners," Lash mumbled, and though the two hung tight in each other's little cocoon of an embrace, he ever so slowly sought distance, as if to express to Mara that he desperately enjoyed the gap filled, though he was sure he was being too forward. Not knowing entirely just what she'd do, he ever so slowly took a step back and allowed his careful, gentlemanly hands to slide down her arms. Much to his whole surprise, her careful hands followed suit, in which they sagged into a grip of hand-holding, once more. With both their hands gripped between them, Mara side-eyed him in further growing cheek and was now confidently sporting a hard blush to her adorable cheeks; Lash patiently continued, though his teasing notions never let up, "I thought for sure you'd be FAR braver, there, Ms. User..."
"I may have incredible power, here, but it doesn't mean I don't get scared," Mara sneered, she beamed the widest, cutest smile she could afford and began to cutely sway their hands a little, something that had Lash's cute smile broadening, as well, "YOU, on the other hand, were very brave. For a normie."
"A normie!" Lash barked with a choke of an insulted laugh, though as Mara cutely grinned and threw her head back amidst their echoey laughter, once more, rain so gently pattered down onto their skin and clothes, creating a very twinkly, dewy atmosphere of reverberating love, as if they were simply celestial beings on a starry plane of jade, rock candy goodness. Lash shook his head and narrowed his gaze, though much to Mara's whole shock, Lash's gaze began to turn that familiar peachy show of blush goodness, one of which she only had witness staring back at either Koko, Wren or Berri, from their respective mates. Mara raised her eyebrows in an overflow of stun as Lash's shaky voice continued on, "Nah, I-if... If it weren't for my bravery, we'd've gone home, separately. Sadly."
"A-are you..." Mara narrowed her eyes, side-eyed Lash in an overflow of cheeky suspicion and showed her teeth amidst a gaping smile of shock, "... BLUSHING?"
"I've been holding it back this ENTIRE time, Emmy, seriously, YES I'm blushing, Y'HAPPY?" Lash finally barked as he urgently jostled their hands. Such movement caused the small amount of flailing of their still conjoined hands, he shook his head and continued on through a tremble of dewy, nervous giddiness, "It's not easy constantly having your mood hanging RIGHT on the forefront of your face, concealing it isn't easy!"
"Why are you blushing!" Mara cried with a hard laugh as she bent over a little and was now loudly lost in bashful laughter, to which Lash grinned and felt as if his heart was now flying at the speed of a hummingbird's wings. He staggered a nervous chuckle out of his figure and now could feel his palms sweat, which were gripped to Mara's, as if she was holding him to the planet.
"BECAUSE!" Lash argued in an empty threat of grinning shyness, easily trailed with their cute show of giggling and chuckling, he shook his head and allowed his confidently peachy gaze to gloss the night sky, just beyond their reach, the rush of glorious ocean water that sagged into their cavern, his aimless gaze got lost in it as the two softened. He shook his head, once more, furrowed his brow and finally gave Mara his certain eye contact of peachy, dewy newness, "Because..."
"Because...?" Mara goad warmly, she shyly softened and peered up into his eyes, though he bit his lip and looked as if he was on the brink of losing all of his marbles; he heaved a trembling breath through his nose and squeezed Mara's hands, as if to silently beg her to be patient with him, to cutely assure her that he was now bound to making sure she was on the same page as him.
"Because, I... I haven't felt this happy in, well... A VERY long time," Lash's voice was hushed, he softened and long-blinked in a further show of tenderness that easily cloaked the two, "For... For so long now, I've just been so put off by the routines my brothers have fallen into, with... Finding love and swapping codes. The more I'm around it, the more I'm... I-I don't know..."
Mara kept quiet and felt alien in this instance; for certain she'd never, in a million years, get this much trust and affection out of Lash's misunderstood soul, she froze and felt her heart begin to thud with hot certainty. She swallowed hard, the butterflies in her stomach now dart about in full agitation, she held her breath and felt it all to be extremely surreal with the way he laid his delicate, gentlemanly, and somehow seeking eye contact deep into hers, as if to politely wonder just what was becoming of the two, just what they had gotten themselves into. Lash sagged his shoulders and finally allowed himself the quickest, most polite dart of glancing eye contact to Mara's beautiful body, before him, and right as he was due to chickening out, he somehow felt as if his mouth and lungs were on a pulley system of which was clearly controlled by his heart and nothing more.
"... I want the same thing that you do," Lash quietly revealed, the sheer amount of tenderness he was willing to provide Mara, in this fragile moment, had her frozen in continued disbelief. She soaked in every single last ounce of his matured, softened, wise side, something he didn't ever dare to show anyone. She long-blinked in the true show of shy, blushing goodness the two were now drowning in, and as the grip on their hands only tightened, she finally breathed a shaky, knowing chuckle as both of their hands began to sweat and shake in each other's grip, "... I would quite enjoy discovering what it's like to have a lover."
Mara felt the atmosphere about them brighten with the twinkling, shimmery display of lovely goodness that glowed from the water underneath and about them, and it was here did they further prolong a tender show of full, unabated, adoring eye contact. As if the room was now spinning, Mara felt her pupils tighten as her brain firmly reminded her just what Lash had cutely revealed down to her heart, and her's alone. As she stared into Lash's handsome face, she felt overcome with a swarm of butterflies she was now certain was about to kill her. She opened her mouth to huff him a question, an agreeing notion, a thank you, anything at all, though she faltered and bashfully stumbled on a few words in which started a few haphazard, shy, stammering sentences of plucked cuteness.
"It's not me, it's you, I get it," Lash mumbled in playful defeat as he sagged his shoulders and looked off, and though the two finally sagged out of their hand-holding, Mara blurt a gentle, shaky laugh and cutely nudged the center of Lash's chest.
"I-I wasn't going to say that," Mara complained with a wide grin that was due to cracking her face in half, "I think it's a coincidence that we both want the same things."
"Yeah, I was just thinking that, actually," Lash eased, he sagged his shaking hands into his pockets and bobbed a nod, and though he shrugged and looked off in playful contemplation, he narrowed his gaze and eyed Mara, "Y'think we should... I don't know... Go our separate ways, do our own research, and report back?"
"Yes, so... YOU go that way, and... I'LL go home," Mara chirped with a firm nod as she gestured to herself, though they both blurt out into hard, cute laughter, the same laughter that made the cave sing with pure purpose, an overflow of adoration Sugar Rush was no stranger to, "I think it might be easier if we... Uh..."
"If we what?" Lash wondered softly, he dropped his playful act, and though his loving smile still held, he peered to Mara as if to be in a kind sweep of disbelief.
"N-No, forget it," Mara mumbled cutely, she fiddled her fingers and bashfully peered down to them in the tight proximity of her vision, though she raised her eyebrows in dewy cuteness as Lash tilted his head down a little and gained her eye contact; in the push of the envelope, Mara bashfully grinned as his trembling hands so bravely slid into Mara's, once more.
"What, you... Think it'd be easier if we just cut to the chase? Figure out whatever it is with the person right in front of ourselves?" Lash's deep voice so cutely wondered, he narrowed his gaze and shrugged a little as he finally stood to correction, "That'd beee... Damn, that'd be you. I don't know, a creepy, ugly jerk like me is really just standing here, basking in the light of a gorgeous individual so INCREDIBLY far out of his league."
"Stop it," Mara huffed as she looked off, lulled her eyes closed and beamed the widest, most giddy smile her face could afford, the splash of a peachy glow, that his eyes continued to firmly radiate, almost felt as if it were due to giving her a sunburn.
"Alright, well... Where do I sign? Let's get this over with," Lash mumbled in playful irritation as he took his hands out of Mara's and began to pat his pockets. He playfully looked off in disgruntled monologuing and showed his teeth in a grimace of a smile, "... Coulda sworn I brought a pen down here, with me, I knew we'd stumble into paperwork, for sure."
"Dub," Mara's easy, giggling voice soaked Lash's ears with love, though Lash raised his eyebrows in prickled cuteness and perked up.
"OH, that's right... Allow me to introduce myself," Lash pressed cutely, he held his hand out to Mara, for a handshake, though as she loudly giggled and shook his hand, he remained quiet; she shook her head and gestured out to his chest as they continued to confidently shake the other's hand.
"Sorry, I didn't catch your name," Mara mumbled through her giggling, though Lash dart his eyes about her face, in aimless, nervous searching, and finally gave her a confident little smile.
"Boyfriend," Lash chirped cutely, to which Mara's smile dropped in bashful shock, their confident handshake began to sag to gentle jostles of sweet uncertainty, to which Lash scoffed and pressed his hand to his chest in a gentlemanly fashion, "Er... Well... You can call me babe, baby, honey, I don't know what other silly pet names I've heard the other couples use... I guess the choice is yours."
Mara huffed a shaky breath and felt her insides turn to goo, and as she eased an eternally blistered, blushing, shy little grin, Lash's trembling free hand gestured out to her as he caught a breath, his deep voice crackled with the onset of newness now set upon the two.
"Y-Your name? Sorry," Lash eased politely, to which Mara shyly looked off, down to her feet, and back again to Lash's confidently peachy gaze.
"Girlfriend," Mara muttered through a cute giggle as she scrunched her shoulders, "I don't even have to list off the swathe of obnoxious nicknames you'll probably give me."
Lash long-blinked a few times, almost as if he was unsure if he had heard Mara correctly. He finally lulled his eyes closed, and as they continued to so softly hold in their now lightly jostling handshake, Lash finally lulled his eyes closed for good and tilted his head in mind-blown confusion. He huffed a shake chuckle, showed his teeth, kept his eyes closed and tightly furrowed his eyebrows, as if to still be rocked in full disbelief. With his free hand, he finally peeled opened his peachy gaze, looked off in aimless, grinning uncertainty and shoved his pinky into his ear in a teasing, dramatic fashion.
"Sorry... WHAT?" Lash choked in whole, blistered, blushing disbelief, the grin across his face assured to Mara that he was simply astounded that she cutely agreed to this now new, shivering little adventure they had been swept into.
"You... Introduced yourself as the boyfriend, I figured... I mean I'm the only girl here!" Mara firmly gestured her free hand and eased into shaky, adorable laughter, "It only makes sense, that's what we're on about, right? I-I mean... Did I get the wrong idea, here?"
"Holy shit," Lash hissed in grinning, boyish fervor, though he finally pulled his hand from Mara's, grappled his skull with the weave of his short, lighter grey hair through his fingers and whirled around in a now aimless meander of near-circling. He moseyed in a quick shuffle of about five feet away from Mara before he whirled back around, firmly peered to her through an ever-broadening grin of disbelief and dropped his arms.
"I-I can't believe it," Lash huffed through a shaky breath, he shook his head and blurt a cute chuckle, to boot, "I have a GIRLFRIEND!"
"That... IS what you wanted, right?" Mara now loudly urged in giggling, trembling uncertainty, "Are we on the same page, here? We both wanted this, right?"
"O-of course, I just could've SWORN you'd've struck me down, and NEVER agreed, holy shit, I-I... I could..." Lash firmly stammered his words, the peachy glow in his eyes held riled disbelief, he looked about in a grasping fashion and huffed a shaky chuckle of continued, suspended awe. He finally brought his elated gaze back to Mara and looked as if he was becoming out of sorts, though his bashful grin continued to shakily utter adorable notions of feverish uncertainty, "I-I could kiss you!"
"Wh-wait, what?" Mara chirped in a lilt of now pure, girly terror; she shook her head, strictly for the fact that it had been a meal, or two, since she had brushed her teeth. She beamed him a shy grin, one of which was ever widening, blushed cheeks and giddy hearts that were now too far gone to back out of, she shyly tucked her hair behind her ears and began to show reserved body language, "I-I haven't... Brushed my teeth, I wouldn't-"
"I mean, that's the next step, right?" Lash blurt with a nervous chuckle as he began to somehow map his way forward, like the blind leading the blind, he glanced about Mara's cute face and felt his heart race and race, faster than anything he had felt in a very long time. He shook his head as he finally came within Mara's little bubble and felt confidence flood his veins, the whole of his stomach was now just sapped with sickly sweet honey, the pump of blood through every single artery to his name, he was absolutely certain the jade candy rocks, about them, began to haphazardly spin as he so shyly and quietly carried on, "I-I've... Never EVER considered any of this, ever. Not in a million years."
"I have," Mara erupted into a small giggle fit as Lash firmly raised his eyebrows and peered a long and hard gaze of incredulous disbelief into her eyes, a further show to express just how unworthy he was, here. Mara shyly shook her head, swallowed a hard gulp and wondered if Lash was bluffing, or if he would, indeed, be brave enough to lean in and plant on one her, she felt a cold sweat come on, as if anticipating it all was going to end her, for good. She caught a breath in the back of her throat as he so slowly closed in on her, a desperation to deploy this field test right now, she cupped her hands to her chest and felt the weight of his lovely, addicting gravity, "I-I... I guess, just for the past week. But otherwise..."
"We're still not telling anyone, right?" Lash pressed quietly, he felt the strangest feeling come over him, as if he wasn't even in control of any of this, any longer, and as he began to so cautiously lean down, so to ease into Mara's more personal bubble, he was further floored to see her take a tiny step closer to him, to help him fill the gap. Lash slowed his roll, as did Mara, and as they peered into each other's gentle, half-moon gazes of peachy uncertainty, Lash allowed his whole demeanor to soften for her, the hush above a whispering notion he concluded onto her mouth, he could hardly believe she was mere inches from his face, in this instance, "I trust you... Do you trust me?"
Mara opened her mouth to answer, though somehow she felt a strange itch of a reversal hit her square between the eyes. As if wanting to get wholly swept away into romance, with a best friend she had so quickly made out of Lash, she felt her coding urgently blare warning signals, here. In the firm reminder that any romantic antics would eventually lead to swapping codes, she swiftly saddled Lash with the prospect of becoming a User; unfathomable power handed to someone who was previously Sugar Rush's hugest, scariest threat. As much as she wanted to shove away her mind's urgent warnings and truly believe her heart had this under control, that Lash was so certainly to be trusted, she almost felt a recoil of dread hit her skin. Just as she was about to likely cause damage to Lash's confidence, here in this instance, she held her breath and was about to so gingerly reach her hand for Lash's chest and halt him in his movement. Before she had a chance, the two jolted in hot surprise the second a much larger, scarier wave suddenly rocketed against the mouth of the cavern's watery entrance, which lead out to the black ocean beyond them.
"H-Holy shit, that scared me," Lash choked as he clutched his chest, though Mara was thankful that said crash of a scary wave, of which eventually dissipated to the quiet shallows they were near, ultimately causing Lash to take a step or two away from her.
"Me too," Mara mumbled cutely, though as the two tenderly brought their gazes back to each other, Mara tenderly peered into Lash's still somehow peachy gaze with a swathe of apologetic sweetness, as if to forever be cursed with her father's tender, slow-moving, caring nature, the urge to really see all aspects of this wild ride, the need to preserve her rare, fantastic, terrifyingly powerful coding.
Mara sagged her shoulders and peered hard into Lash's cute, uncertain disposition, though as they had gained distance, Mara began to frown. Lash's peachy gaze very slowly began to dull to that of a muted yellow, and it was in this gentle slip of being flung from the tornado of preparing for romance did they really see this whole situation for what it was. Lash finally heaved a long, dreaded sigh through his nose, looked down to his twiddling fingers and bobbed her a nod, as if to silently assure her that she didn't need to apologize for any of the notions that he was well aware she likely had prepared. He looked off, full on believing all of this was too good too be true, the nature of his terrifying, vengeful and rocky past, the pristine, untouched, beautiful sheen of her world-altering User coding, Lash nodded as his eyes glossed the shallows, as if to understand, here that whatever sweep of a fantastical romance they'd have, would strictly be devastating to the integrity of the beings about them, the sheer cliff sides they'd have to climb in order to get the palace on their side, Lash closed his eyes in defeat.
"You... Don't have to say anything," Lash muttered in sorrowful defeat, he scrunched his eyes tight and shook his head now through a little, pitiful smile, "Too good to be true, on my end... I'm... Sorry I did any of that."
"Lash," Mara complained tenderly, she dared to take a few steps closer to him, in which he didn't argue.
"Thank you," Lash's deep, defeated voice ushered, though as Mara opened her mouth to cutely rush him with affirmation, he shook his head and looked down in crumpling defeat, "You... You're likely the only woman on this entire planet to even so much as give me as much of a chance that you gave me. And... That's enough for me. So, thank you."
"Dub," Mara's warm voice cooed, she furrowed her eyebrows and tenderly sagged her hand into his, once and for all, and as they caught eyes, Mara narrowed her gaze and shook her head, "I-I... I know it seems like it maybe wouldn't be a good idea for someone like me to get too deeply invested in you, but..."
"A User and a washed up, has-been, wannabe, power hungry tyrant of an asshole," Lash listed diligently, in which Mara flinched in offense towards his own outstanding character, Lash scoffed a silent, shaky noise and allowed his lovely eyes to assess Mara's beautiful face, the pristine amount of closeness she so bravely afforded him, "I just... Hope we can still be friends."
"We can be more than that," Mara insisted bashfully, she almost desperately peered into Lash's eyes, how badly she had wanted this spark, this snowball, to finally gain traction. Mara squeezed Lash's hand and shook her head in sorrowful softness, her gaze peered to him in a pleading show of romantic, warm desire, "I... I would love nothing more, Lash. Seriously... Please hear me."
Lash finally kept his words to himself and allowed his shivering heart to succumb to Mara's fragile, true confessions. She finally peaked a cute little smile, one of almost sorrowful hope, she long-blinked in tenderness and stayed close to Lash's disposition, the trembling bout of worries, hopes and fears that hung on their demeanors proved that they both would likely have to take turns reassuring each other of their own demise, they were each other's tickets to a whole world of pleasure and pain.
"What are you worried about?" Mara questioned delicately, and though she was aware of the answers, she wanted to hear Lash list it, as if to express she was here to quickly erase Lash's bullet points.
"Being deleted, quite frankly," Lash blurt a gentle chuckle, and though Mara confusedly furrowed her brows, Lash shrugged and shyly carried on, "Imagine... We broke the news to your parents. Just... Imagine the chaos to ensue."
"You think they'd delete you, because of your past?" Mara wondered tenderly, "You think that... They'd assume you're just with me so to gain that User-swap? You... You're not only here to shmooze my incredible coding right out from me, are you?"
"I would be lying to you if I told you the prospect of shared coding didn't cross my mind, Ems," Lash mumbled warmly, his honest eye contact held to her, unwavering, though he narrowed said gaze and shook his head in a further hush of tenderness Mara was shocked he had underneath his cold skin, "The crazy umph of coded-abilities would just the cherry on top... I... I care so deeply for you. I don't think you understand just how greatly you've helped me, in such a tiny amount of time."
Mara smiled and softly locked her eyes with their held hands, though Lash scoffed a cute little chuckle and shyly rubbed the back of his head with his free hand.
"Pretty presumptuous to assume that I'm in ANY sort of state to be fully prepared for sex, let alone swapping," Lash choked, he bugged his eyes and shook his head, "Hell, I was just about to KISS you and I was diving in entirely blind."
"I didn't presume you wanted that, right off the bat, but..." Mara narrowed her gaze and shrugged as they shyly caught eyes, "You DID just have us assume the roles of boyfriend-girlfriend... PRETTY sure swapping comes with the territory, eventually, right?"
"... Yeah, you're not wrong," Lash mumbled in embarrassed defeat, though just as he was about to further express his sorrows for having to end the ride so soon, Mara exhaled a small giggle and gripped his hand a little tighter.
"C'mon... I know of something we can do that will permanently determine if your intentions, here, are good or not," Mara stated with great warmth, "Cause... I'm wondering if you're battling with it, as well. Somehow, you've just spent the whole of your life inside your own head, you seem as though you're not even sure of your own name anymore."
"How are you the only person on this planet who can read me like an open book?" Lash gawked in quiet, smiling irritation, though as Mara gripped his hand a little harder, he looked off in begrudged irritation, "For User's sake, I have EVERYONE else guessing, but you?"
"Furthering the notion of maybe, just maybe... We're on to something," Mara whispered lovingly, she leaned forward just barely, her heart skipped a beat of delight as this tiny action was enough to bring the adorable, bashful, peachy glow of a gaze back to Lash's sweet disposition. She grinned and jostled his hand, "C'mon... There's somewhere we can go to end all of our wonderings."
"Where, your mother and father's house?" Lash garbled in full irritation, though as Mara suddenly flood Lash's raw, red honeycombs with the whole swathe of her unfathomable power, she suddenly whisked the two away to a far away land, with nothing but the unhinged, incredible ability underneath Mara's skin.
With the pop of air that suddenly proved the two were outside of the cavern they were dug into, Lash squinted and nervously allowed his eye contact to sprawl his new surroundings. He flinched as his pupils tightened, and although his brain rushed with confusion over the fact that warm, morning sunshine hit his face, he quickly gathered that the two had been teleported somewhere that was out of Sugar Sun's time zone, Sugar Rush as a whole having about four. It was in this bout of realization, understanding they were somewhere so incredibly far from Sugar Sun, Lash's golden eyes immediately beamed a hot turquoise over the raw sight directly to his left. The infamous churn of vanilla goodness, icy swirls of lovely death, the kiss of pink cherry trees with the warmth of the dark, chocolate bark, the incredible, dangerous, lore-ridden Vanilla Lake sat in all of it's cold, shimmery glory.
"HO-NO, nope!" Lash barked as he held his hands up and firmly began to scramble away from the lake's edge, in which Mara and Lash were mere feet from. Lash heaved a trembly breath and turned his back to both Mara and the massive lake, and with his hands still held up in whole defeat, his shoulders scrunched in pure terror, he shook his head and felt fresh adrenaline hit his system as he stormed away, "You wouldn't be able to PAY me to set my pinky TOE in that User-forbidden lake!"
"Whiplash," Mara barked in whining annoyance as she jostled her arms in desperation, she motioned for him to come back, though as he only barely looked over his shoulder, he firmly continued to march away.
"No-no-no, I've drowned in this lake before, I DROWNED," Lash urged loudly.
"Lash!" Mara shouted in full, detrimental plea, and it was only here did Lash nervously glance over his shoulder and slow his footwork. Mara's icy, urgent gaze peered to him in full begging, and though Lash's bare heels finally scuff to the lovely lake's white sugar sand, he softened his bright turquoise gaze and peered to Mara in a slope of scared softness. The way the morning sun glossed the top of Mara's lovely, light blue hair, the cute, though sad look of plea on her beautiful face, she slumped her shoulders and gestured her hands outward, "C'mon, Lash... I wouldn't bring us here if I was sure you'd be deleted."
"Mara, I can assure you, the lake would take me, JUST like it took me last time," Lash barked, and though his heart raced with rising frustration, his scared gaze still held in the vivid glow of turquoise. He finally faced Mara and only barely began to approach her, once more, to make conversing much easier, "I'm not starting off this new streak of goodness by just being deleted by a lake that can't be reasoned with."
"Lash, come on, I'll... I'll be right here, I won't let you drown," Mara pleaded in a further rise of softness, and as she reached out her right hand, her palm so softly came alive with her incredibly beautiful, powerful golden honeycombs, ones of which Ace and Libby had blessed her with. Mara softened, shook her head and remained still, for she knew this was likely one of the hardest things Lash had ever dreamed of doing. She bobbed him a small nod of encouragement and eased her words with caution, so not to scare him off, "C'mon... We can exterior swap, and if the lake turns on you, I'll protect you. I have Users, for parents, trust me... I've gotten the low-down."
"Mara," Lash mumbled in nervous question, his vivid eyes glossed the lovely churn of the lake; swirling, vanilla ice cream that seemingly stretched for miles across the clearing, a gorgeous, haunting location of life and death, Lash swallowed a hard gulp and desperately did what he could to not think about that fateful New Year's night where he was swallowed whole, "I... I have a TON of trauma revolving around this lake. I promise you, I WILL be eaten alive. I was last time."
"Well, this time's different," Mara huffed gently, she eased her affirming gaze tight to his and bobbed him a nod, a further show of confidence in his character, "You're a changed man, the makings of greatness... I believe in you, Lash. Truly."
Lash held his breath and peered into Mara's lovely, truthful gaze. He could feel his heart race in dire uncertainty, the rush of Mara's sweet and loving words, the eager, menacing churning of the lovely, glistening lake behind her, the stab of everything about this moment, he finally sagged his eyes to Mara's glowing hand, outreached and held still in pure patience. As he dragged his eyes to the lake behind Mara, he finally heaved a long, shaky sigh and lulled his eyes closed in entire defeat.
"... Please don't let me go," Lash whispered in a mumble of near-teary desperation, and as he inhaled a deep, shaky breath amidst a silent death wish, Mara narrowed her sweet gaze, shook her head and lovingly sagged her live-wired hand into Lash's.
"Never," Mara returned kindly, and it was in their sag of a jolt of coding, the back-step Mara took towards the lake, Lash held his breath and so hesitantly followed her lead.
As Mara took about five steps backwards, her left foot finally dipped into the shallows of the lake's shore, thus causing the incredible scene, in which Lash had a front row seat, to dip to that of a sheen of pure gold, the lake's waters bevelled with the pop of the insane amount of power it was suddenly blessed with. Knowing Mara was obviously safe to wade into the lake, Lash held his breath as his last step on dry land was taken, and as he hovered his bare right foot over the lake, he peered his sorrowful, teary look of defeated desperation into Mara's, one last time. In a tight grimace of his eyes and face, a show of his teeth in pure, gritted terror, he sagged his foot into the water and gripped Mara's hand as tightly as he could. After a moment of a sudden rush of warm water on his ankle, Mara continued to cutely drag him into the water, and it was here that his second step, into said water, was accompanied by Mara's chirp of a giggle, ladened in adoring surprise.
"Easy does it," Mara cooed in kind, cute anticipation, and as Lash nervously reopened his eyes and peered about the glorious sprawl of water, he choked a gentle noise of disbelief.
Lash narrowed his gaze in continued bewilderment as the very notion of color, love and trust hit his muted retinas dead on. The lovely gold of Mara's coding so eagerly mixed with Lash's, causing the lake to explode with all sorts of gorgeous, warm splashes of corals, peaches, and oranges alike. Lash sagged his shoulders, exhaled a shaky breath and allowed Mara to slowly continue to drag him out into the shallows, though once they were waist deep and right at the edge of a smaller drop off, she stopped and lovingly gripped both of Lash's hands. She grinned him a sneaky little side-eye and jostled their arms about as Lash's eyes glossed the gorgeous, colorful lake in raw, stunned disbelief.
"I knew all along you were a good guy, but... I'm SO glad you finally believe that notion as well," Mara rushed under her breath, she grinned and shook her head, "And now, you can't argue. The lake has given you its' answer... The lake doesn't lie, you remember..."
"I-I can't believe it," Lash hissed in hard, teary disbelief, though he gave Mara a kind smile of gratitude, "I-I'm... Grateful for that exterior swap. Otherwise I think the lake would've needed more convincing."
"... About that," Mara quipped as she squeezed Lash's hands and brought his mind to the task at hand, though in the jolt of realization, he understood that Mara had dropped their exterior swap long ago. Lash raised his eyebrows in hot surprise and yanked his hands away from hers in unadulterated shock, though they both beamed wide grins of floored surprise as Mara wiggled her fingers, which were now void of any of her exterior coding, "That was ALL YOU, babe!"
"DON'T DO SHIT LIKE THAT!" Lash suddenly barked with a wide grin, though as he choked a trembling laugh, he looked down to his feet and was absolutely shocked the lake had so kindly forgiven him, the rush of understanding that soaked his being, he shook his head and peered hard into Mara's eyes, once more, "I-I... I can't believe it."
"Well, y'better, cause it looks like YOU are the last being, in Arcade, to forgive you," Mara quipped with a girly shrug, she turned out to the lake a little, as if to insinuate she was due to taking a dive into it, "I mean, the lake's opinion is the end-all, my friend."
"That was NOT cool, I trusted you," Lash shakily argued with a small laugh as he pointed at her, though she cocked an eyebrow and gave him a sassy grin.
"Think on that statement, a little harder," Mara quipped cutely as she bent over a little and prepared to dive, "Look where that trust got you."
Lash raised his eyebrows, though just as he was about to cutely argue her, she jumped out into the water and slipped under the surface. Lash grit his teeth and felt a rush of adrenaline come over him, and with such, he choked a small, excited laugh and urgently dove out into the water after Mara. With the rush of warmth on his skin, the lovely kiss of forgiveness, the lake popped and bubbled in an envelope of care that begged the two beings of fresh, new love to come out to play. Lash sank under the water and dared to open his eyes; the lake bed was sprawled with huge, lovely, underwater blooms and lily-pad-like flora that glowed with warm pride. The raw, visual display of his and Mara's mixed coding so fervently being displayed had his heart racing amidst the hold of his breath, and as he could feel the golden glow of his eyes return to him, he popped out from the surface and grinned in floored delight. Just as he found a small rise of rocks to rest on, in the middle of the massive lake, he furrowed his brow and cutely looked about for Mara to surface, eventually.
Lash choked a soft noise, blew water off of his face a little and rubbed his eyes. He stumbled a little and got his footing on the cropping, under the water, and leaned against the exposed piece of land that peaked out from the lake's lovely, warm slosh. Said little outcropping of land had gorgeous, fluffy pink Sugar Rush grass growing on it, and though he was still waist-deep in water, he leaned his elbows on the soft land and now nervously looked about in a further show of rising concern for Mara's whereabouts. Before he could begin putting more urgency in his search, Mara suddenly popped from the surface, nearby, and inhaled a deep gasp. She flailed her arm out of the water a little and sank it back down under the surface, and it was here did Lash narrow his gaze and see that she had an object in her grip. Lash grinned in soft, boyish confusion as she began to dog-paddle over to the small bout of land he hovered at.
"Y'okay?" Lash eased with a happy chuckle as she came up to the outcropping, though as his gaze landed to just what was in her hand, his facial expression sloped to a sudden wash of entire, world-altering disbelief.
"Look what I found," Mara huffed in cute, unsuspecting curiosity, and as she grunted and sat on the exposed pink grass, she shivered and found a smaller, more shallow spot in the water to sit cross-legged in. She finally held up the gorgeous item and jostled it about in cute confusion, "It's a hammer! It looks like a perfect hammer that my great, great uncle Felix would have... I mean, I AM related to him, y'think I'd have any luck with this thing?"
Lash covered his mouth and crossed his other arm across his body, though as his hand messily slumped into his closed mouth, he narrowed his gaze and assessed the all-too familiar hammer in Mara's hand. Although Felix's hammers were typically just all gold, this one looked as if it had been marinating underneath vanilla ice cream for an eternity. Glossed in a frosty sheen of white and blue, it had small swirls of snow and ice crystals up the handle, the bell and metal of the hammer had succumbed to a glorious, marbleized silver and indigo. Lash scoffed a shaky laugh, shook his head and finally covered his face in a definitive K.O. to his shivering, molting soul. He beamed and did everything in his power not to well with tears.
"... Lash, this... Can't be the hammer my great grandmother told me about," Mara whispered tenderly, the slosh of the warm, glowing, crystal clear coral water about them was the only thing present, outside of yet another scoff of a laugh from Lash's figure.
"It is," Lash's deep voice croaked in delighted defeat, he shook his head and peered to it, still knocked-back from pure disbelief, "I-I... I can't believe you found it, I can't believe the lake didn't swallow it."
"Well, it's a hammer," Mara eased a small giggle and jostled it about, "The lake can't determine if the hammer is good or bad, it's inanimate."
"It seems like it was just yesterday," Lash pressed sorrowfully as Mara gingerly lowered the hammer and looped it into a small rung on her shorts, under the clear water. She bashfully brought her attention back to Lash, she had a small amount of height over him as she sat cross-legged on a more shallow platform under the water, where as he stood on a deeper platform and was waist-deep in the warm, glowing water about them. Although Mara had height over him, it was only a few inches; he shook his head and gingerly peered to her in a muted gaze of continued, teary disbelief, "I nearly killed Felix... That hammer hit me square in the temple. If the lake didn't take me, the concussion certainly would've."
"Dang... I-I mean I was told all of the stories from the past, the crap that Vanellope and Ralph went through, but... It's so interesting hearing it from the other side," Mara stated softly, and though she desperately tried to keep all of this light hearted, she could see Lash still struggling to come to grips with the reality that he, indeed, had entire proof that he was a good person. Mara scrunched her shoulders and gestured to him, and amidst a cute giggle of understanding, she narrowed her gaze and shook her head, "Mistakes were made, but wrongs were righted... Do you doubt the lake's judgement?"
"... No," Lash huffed shakily, as if the word was something he had to force out of his lungs, though the second his ears actually heard it all for the clarity of truth that it was, he scoffed a gentle chuckle and looked about in still-teary disbelief, "No, I don't doubt the lake's judgement... Not anymore."
Mara smiled and sagged her shoulders, she peered to Lash for everything that he was. His anxious, muted eyes glossed about the lake with a twinge of suspicion, as if he was wondering if the Lake maybe had a delayed reaction and was due to slipping under, shortly. He swallowed hard and huffed another small, silent chuckle of disbelief as his eyes trailed the beautiful, white shoreline all tidily lined with thick, never-ending cherry forest on all counts, and before he could get too lost in all the drama, Mara cleared her throat in tender readiness and so lovingly reached her hand for Lash's lower arm, under the water. Upon gingerly gripping his skin and getting his attention, she cutely began to pull him a little closer to the edge of her platform, and with his hesitant steps into her personal bubble, he raised his eyebrows in dewy, curious surprise and held his breath in boyish wait.
"The lake gave you its' blessing," Mara's lovely, mature, womanly voice glossed Lash's figure with the universe's definitive conclusion, and as she narrowed her gaze for emphasis and eased him her adorable, gap-toothed smile, she squeezed his arm and so dutifully coat their little bubble with fresh, new romance, "There's your permission slip on this grand field trip you sought to join..."
Lash scoffed a cute little laugh and looked down and to the side, to the water aimlessly sloshing between them, though as the two cutely hovered in each other's gentle presence, Lash cocked an eyebrow and wondered if this was a diligent reset on their little spark of love, their new embellishments of permanent titles added to their friendship. In a very daring swing of revisited emotions, Lash inhaled a shaky breath and so bashfully glanced to Mara's cute, plump lips. He softened in doughy nervousness as his eyes began to sag to a true show of muted minty-ness, as if the peachy show of certainty wanted to shine through, though first-time jitters very easily got the better of him. He opened his mouth to somehow begin asking Mara questions he had no clue how to ask, and though he fumbled, he finally huffed a shaky sigh of defeat as Mara blurt a cute giggle. Lash felt his heart begin to pound in solid, delighted terror the second Mara so gently pulled him a little closer, so close that his hands and arms shakily, yet comfortably sagged to the cross of Mara's lower legs, under the warm, glowing water.
"How come you're so nervous?" Mara's voice ushered in hushed love, she shook her head just barely and was grateful to catch Lash in sweeps of such close proximity eye contact.
"I-I just... Don't know how to handle what's coming," Lash volleyed in a greater show of hushed softness, than what Mara was delivering, as if it were a secret; he raised his eyebrows in a tender slope of heart-squeezing delight the second Mara eased a kind smile and allowed her eyes to follow the handsome, faded markings on Lash's face.
"'Course you do," Mara doted softly with a smile, their little bubble of secrecy was now painted in warm reality the second her gentle pointer finger began to so sweetly trace the cy-bug markings that crowed the side of Lash's temple and brow. Lash softened and sagged into her tenderness, his heart was pulsing a constant thud of squeezing anticipation, the easiness of her continued notions he now was near-begging for, "I know you have love in you. I've seen it... I'm currently seeing it."
"I could've sworn this would be easy," Lash's voice stated above a whisper, his innocent, needy gaze peered into hers, as if to purely beg for all of her camaraderie; she giggled and continued to lovingly trace the markings on the left side of his forehead, markings that were mirrored on both sides of his face.
"It can be," Mara assured with a small nod, and as the two stood about a foot from each other, Lash gingerly allowed his left hand to hold Mara's lower right arm in his careful grip, as if to assure to her that he didn't want her to let up on her cute, physical doting. Mara so lovingly traced her pointer finger in repetition, slowly back and forth, on the bold, faded marking on his left temple, though her eyes peered into his with curious adoration as her whispery notions filled his heart with desire, "Are you scared to fall in love?"
"Yeah," Lash assured quietly, certainly. He lulled his eyes closed in a shaky show of desperately trying not to succumb to vertigo, though he re-opened his gaze in bewildered, tender delight as Mara's hand finally let up the gentle tracing and so gingerly hooked under the back of the left side of his jaw.
"What if I fall with you?" Mara whispered cutely, her eyes gingerly glanced between both of his minty-colored eyes, to his mouth, and back into his eyes once more, and much like being sat in a dream, Lash softened his gaze and felt his heart jolt with the realization that the two were gingerly sagging into each other for good.
"... That changes things," Lash assured in a shaky whisper, and as Mara eased a sweet smile of certainty and pulled his head a little closer to hers, he shakily held his breath and braced for likely the scariest, most amazing thing he had ever done in his entire life.
Like two dying stars that finally had had enough of the burnout, Mara inhaled a steady breath and was thrilled Lash so carefully followed through with the movement she encouraged, and with an easy press of warmth, the two slowly melted into a careful tilt of a kiss. Lash raised his eyebrows in a sweep of cute surprise and allowed his hands to so cautiously grip Mara's lower arms, and as her wet hands cupped Lash's face and encouraged him to reel in, to assure him that he was definitely wanted here, their wet lips gently peeled in a hover of mere inches, the shaky, silent, hot exhales they delivered in becoming-revved curiosity, and with certainty that nearly leaned down and pat Lash atop the head, he bravely lulled his eyes closed a little tighter and dipped in a return for more of her new love. As the two melted into another kiss, one with a touch more depth, Lash finally inhaled a trembling breath his stiff ribcage was begging for, the brave actions of allowing his hands to so carefully reach for Mara's waist, under the water, he felt his heart begin to thud with adoring certainty with the feel of her wet arms that began to so slowly crawl about Lash's strong neck.
Lash smiled on their first kiss, the gentle give and take of a slow stir of bubbling passion, he was floored to feel Mara's arms slide to the back of his head and further confirm that their fresh ember of love was something she now needed, endlessly. As the innocent presses of their kisses began to dip into soft gapes of tilted passion, Lash inhaled her sweet scent and felt his head spin amidst the itching action of his arms doing whatever they could to grip about her little waist. With a tug, Mara hummed a cute, knowing drone of a noise through her nose as Lash snuggled her to him, and with said tug, Mara unravelled her legs and allowed Lash's figure to stand between the spread, on the shallow outcropping she still floated on. Lash furrowed his brow in a pang of love-struck grief and allowed himself forgiveness, allowed himself to love, everything this new spark of certainty that the universe allowed him, he was well aware this one-up, he was given, was rare and not to be taken for granted. In a slide, his needy hands so lovingly travelled up the dip of Mara's much smaller waist and to her upper back in a scoop of protection he was almost adamant about proving he could provide her.
Mara eased a small, shaky giggle through her's and Lash's needy, slow-moving act of gaining, gaping love, and as Lash finally smiled in the midst of the recoil and returning motions they so smoothly fell into, he bashfully fluttered his eyes open and parted their kiss, though not without the hover of their foreheads, the gentle wrinkle of their noses into each other's. He huffed a shaky chuckle onto her mouth and peered down to the bridge of her nose, the lovely little freckles on her cheeks, his peachy gaze confidently splayed their close proximity with concluded certainty, and it was here did Mara close her eyes in bashful, grinning knowing. She giggled on Lash's smile and hugged her arms about his neck in full adoration, an entire show of unhinged love she was more than ready to supply him, as if she was the luckiest girl alive. Lash grinned and hugged his arms about Mara's back, though as he was successful in catching her in another kiss, they hummed noises of pure adoration for the other amidst their stirring.
"So, are we falling in love WITH each other, or just... Falling alongside each other?" Lash cutely wondered, his voice crackled as he kept the volume to his playful side lowered, though Mara grinned a wider smile and blurt a cute giggle on his wet mouth. Lash showed his teeth, the peachy gloss on their wet skin was near-live wired and ready to be put to full use, "Cause... I just need to know before we plummet."
"Did the kiss really not make it obvious?" Mara cutely mumbled as they hovered before one another, as if they wondered just who would succumb to a further show of kisses.
"No, I might need more to get the point," Lash muttered as he glanced back down to her mouth, he finally hugged his arms a bit tighter about her middle and softly tucked in for more, "Let's see..."
Mara hummed a noise, as if Lash had interrupted her in the process of replying to him, though she lulled her eyes closed and giggled as Lash successfully caught her in another melt of a kiss, the way she draped her arms about his neck, she felt as if the lake was certain to start pulsing to the thudding of their conjoined heartbeats. She heaved a shaky, relieved sigh through her nose as the two stirred in the gentle gape of further passion, the pull and return of their ever-deepening kiss, she bravely grappled the collar of his shirt and almost was certain she was due to firing off all sorts of green-light signals in his direction. The way his body sagged deeper into the lazy spread of her thighs, the careful cradle his strong arms had about her, he furrowed his eyebrows and felt as if cupid's arrow had finally struck his heart; with such a raw feeling he was entirely certain would never bless him, he heaved a shaky breath of soft panting onto Mara's face and lulled his eyes closed in burning anticipation.
"W-Well, I discovered one thing," Lash started cutely, his deep voice trembled in above-whispery deliverance.
"What's that," Mara cued in a returned whisper of warmth, though Lash fluttered his peachy gaze and allowed a soft haze of eye contact.
"I love you," Lash admitted confidently, and though he could see Mara want to reel in whole entire shock, he was thrilled she opted to allowing a wide, girly grin to fly instead.
"I love you, too," Mara returned, and though her heart raced with the rush of everything, the caution of diving in head first, she closed her eyes and eased a shaky giggle as the two were all smiles, the pop of lovely water that coursed about them, she held onto Lash like he was simply a life-saving buoy in a vast, endless ocean of love that was due to drowning her. She rushed a shaky, cute notion on his mouth and was thrilled he kept her close, "I knew you had it in you..."
"Your little ticket to this vacation was given the chore of playing watch-dog on me," Lash mumbled into her face, to which she scrunched her shoulders and blurt a cute giggle as they finally eased and allowed a little bit of head room between them. He poked her back, near her sides and grinned as she twitched and giggled louder amidst his light tickling, "I don't think falling in love was on the agenda, little lady."
"That's not how love works, my guy," Mara blurt with a harder laugh as Lash eventually let up on the tickling, though as they sagged a little, Lash let his hands slide to the dip of the sides of Mara's waist as she pressed on, "Y'can't plan stuff like that."
"What if the lake ACTUALLY took me, Emmy, I mean, really," Lash mumbled in cheeky defense, he furrowed his brow and shook his head, "What would you have done?"
"I don't have to think about that, cause I was certain the lake WOULDN'T take you," Mara volleyed with a great amount of girly sass as she shrugged, "Hence... The fake exterior swap."
"Yeah, don't ever pull a stunt like that, ever again," Lash huffed darkly, though he still held onto a boyish, playful smile, "That sucked!"
"No, you're just upset because you were wrong about yourself, and I was right," Mara sneered with a nod and a sneaky little smile, she did everything she could to allow her hands to innocently, yet seductively, trail down the broad of Lash's chest and wet shirt; he visibly inhaled a shaky breath and relished in her touch, the glow of his peachy eyes only grew more vivid with her gestures, "That's something you should just understand right now. I'm always right."
"... Was that in the terms and conditions that I blindly agreed to?" Lash grunted in playful, smiling irritation, to which Mara nodded and removed her hands from Lash's chest, in which she finally sagged her hands into his and readied herself.
"Yep!" Mara chirped happily, though in a flicker of lovely, coral-colored, User-powered umph, Mara was quick to teleport the two all the way back to Sugar Sun Island, underneath the still, midnight stars, the glow of Mara's front patio that now beamed across the top of her head, they both flinched in surprise and finally came to grips with the reality that they were now dry and stood in Mara's dim stoop. She raised her eyebrows in cute surprise and squeezed his hands, "... I don't know about you, but I'm okay without anymore scary caves or field trips."
"Yeah, me too, holy shit," Lash choked quietly, he long-blinked in curiosity and looked about their lonely, quiet, dark cul-de-sac; everyone in their vacation group was securely tucked away, in their own resort home, asleep for their final night of island fun. In the downswing of excitement, Lash bobbed a conclusory nod, raised his eyebrows in polite strictness and understood that this was Mara's cheeky segue of assuring him that she was due to tucking in for the night, and with such, he began to so tenderly back-step out of her presence, the drag of their conjoined hands finally part as his deep, gentlemanly voice ushered her definitive sweetness, "Thank you, for everything, Mara... Everything."
"Y'leaving?" Mara questioned in a dainty pluck of sorrowful disappointment, to which Lash bobbed a nod, as if to know that said notion was for certain what Mara would want, though as he slowed his scuffed footsteps, he raised his eyebrows in a gentle prickle of surprise as she cupped her hands to her chest and looked as if she was battling with herself.
"... I was?" Lash pressed, his voice lilted in hopeful curiosity, he cocked an eyebrow and eyed her in sweet disbelief, though he scoffed a small, silent laugh and narrowed his gaze amidst a gentlemanly smile, "Should I...?"
"...Stay?" Mara tenderly wondered above a whisper, though their eyes held glued to each other's in hot, becoming surprise at the prickle of realization that visibly came over their figures, as if their little ember of love had previously had an expiration time, for tonight, though was now given an endless amount additional hours. Mara heaved a shaky sigh through her nose, sagged her arms and bashfully glanced back to her own front door, one of which glowed underneath her patio light and was cutely accompanied by fluffy moths. She aimlessly looked about the ground near her before she came to her own little bout of a decision, and as she dragged her knowing, smiling eyes back to her brand new boyfriend's curious gaze, she softened and narrowed her certain, matured, lovely gaze, she repeated her previous notions with now conclusory certainty, "Stay..."
Lash raised his eyebrows in a prickle of world-altering surprise, and though he tried not to look way too taken aback, he stood frozen as Mara gingerly took one step down her stoop, gripped Lash's hand and began to slowly tug him up into the lovely embrace of her front door. Lash swallowed hard, raised his eyebrows in pure disbelief and felt a quick slap of deja-vu come over him, the usher of tugging she previously laid on his heart as she brought him into the lake, his eyes glossed her front door as she began to pull him through another brand new threshold. As the two so silently melted into Mara's home, hand in hand, the door clacked shut in tenderness, officially sealing the two inside a never-ending vat of pure, certain goodness the game now firmly radiated, an unrelenting show of changed hearts and new starts.
A/N : Hey loves! I drew Mara's and Lash's first kiss! It's on my Instagram, username Vyntastic - you may have to scroll down a bit because I've been diligently participating in Inktober this month haha
