Ch 2.45: ❤ Confidence

Carline felt comforted by the word, “Carly.” Thanks to her parent’s insistence on her using her proper name, no one else had ever called her that, other than Flora of course. She’d always been too impertinent to listen to Carline’s parents when they chastised her, and even though Carline had been reluctant to answer to the name at first, over time it just sort of stuck between them, even though no one else would be afforded the same grace if her parents caught them using the nickname. She was honestly terrified of the idea that her father might one day here Elaina using it, what he would do in the face of a commoner even addressing her by her first name at all, but she liked it when Elaina called her Carly, and for now that was enough.

So much so that she was now walking through the forest, between the trees leading to the glade that she was slowly starting to think of as “theirs.” It was still on school grounds of course, and anyone could technically show up, but no one else had a reason to go that far out, and certainly not in that specific direction. That’s what she was telling herself anyway, her attempt to convince herself that what she was planning was safe.

“Are we going to the clearing?” Elaina asked.

“Uh-huh,” Carline said, still facing forward. She couldn’t afford to even glance away from her destination at the moment, not without risking losing her nerves.

“It is pretty nice out today,” Elaina continued.

“It is…” Carline was normally fine with small talk, at least with the people she really liked, but right now she was distracted by her plans. She needed to keep focus, maintain her composure for as long as she could.

And then they were there, had crossed the threshold without Carline even noticing. The clearing was as picturesque as ever, maybe even more so due to the cycle of the flowers. Some had began dropping their petals to the ground below, creating a rainbow of colors littered across the ground as streaks of sunlight fell between the trees from up above, new pink flowers blooming on their branches as well. It seemed like the entire grove was made for just them at this moment, a trail of flowers leading them across it, to the small pond on the far side.

“Guess we’re here,” Elaina said, setting her bag on the ground.

“Y— yeah,” Carline said, her mind catching up to her body.

Carline could feel her own cheeks burning, but she saw Elaina’s doing the same, and that made it a little better, somehow. She hadn’t told Elaina exactly why they’d come out here, but she couldn’t imagine Elaina hadn’t figured it out, not with Carline having specified to bring a change of clothes.

“So, uhm, I thought maybe we could bathe out here?” Carline said as she dropped her bag to the floor. “I mean, it’s a nice day out, and Flora said the water is actually kind of warm. We have showers and everything back in the dorms, but sometimes soaking in the water feels nice, you know? If that’s okay with you, I mean. I really probably should’ve asked first—”

“That sounds nice.” Elaina said as she started pulling at the buttons of her jacket. She turned around once she had it off, folding it up and laying it on top of her bag. Was it really that easy for her?

No. Carline knew it wasn’t just matter of fact for Elaina like it was for Flora. She was still embarrassed by the idea, her elevated heart rate and blood flushing to her cheeks were proof enough of that, but it was something she wanted to do anyway, so she powered through.

And Carline could do the same. She started unbuttoning her own jacket, eagerly keeping her eyes on Elaina as the girl unclasped her skirt. Should she be looking though? Elaina had said it was fine to look at her whenever, but Carline still had some residual guilt over just how much she enjoyed watching Elaina, even with permission.

But even beyond that, there was another potential reason for Carline to turn around. Elaina had started undressing first, and would probably be faster than Carline at it too. Would Elaina walk straight over to the pool of water, or turn around first, watching her undress?

Carline almost did turn around, stopping herself mid-rotation as Elaina slid her skirt down her backside. If she’d looked away before that, maybe Carline would have stood a chance, but once she had her eyes on it Carline couldn’t look away no matter how much she considered her own modesty.

And so she watched, idly removing her own clothes as Elaina pulled her boots off, her socks, her shirt over her head, finally sliding her bra off her shoulders, peaks of her breasts appearing from her sides for Carline to look at, and then finally removing her panties, her perfect ass coming into view for Carline’s pleasure, and then finally turning around towards Carline herself.

Carline was down to just her underwear and shirt by the time Elaina came fully into view, but she didn’t even care at that point. Elaina was still blushing, one arm to her side as the other cradled her breasts from below, not actually hiding anything, but still displaying her vulnerability.

“I guess I’ll go get in,” Elaina said as she started to turn.

“No!” Carline couldn’t believe the word had come out of her mouth, and so forcefully too. “Uh— I mean, it’s okay… if you watch.”

Elaina just nodded as she turned back around, eyes glued to Carline as she continued fumbling with her shirt buttons. It wasn’t easy to keep going, to show her body to anyone, but she wanted to be close with Elaina. For a long time she thought she’d only ever want to share this part of herself with Flora, but the moment Elaina called her “Carly” had changed things, had given her a confidence that she’d been lacking before.

It was strange, because she didn’t have exactly the same feelings towards Elaina as she did Flora, but maybe they could get to that point? Even if it didn’t get to that point, Carline knew that they could become closer than they were, more than they were, and she didn’t want to be the reason their relationship stunted.

Which was why she was reaching behind her back, undoing her bra clasp in broad daylight, preparing to give up something to Elaina she’d only given to one other person before.