Ch 3.10: ❤ Diversions

Carline wasn’t even jealous about the lake anymore.

Walking with Elaina back to their dorm was an awkward affair. Elaina still hadn’t talked since mentioning she was from the north, and Carline couldn’t think of much to talk about either. They were off to war, after all, a war that Carline was only vaguely aware was happening, a thing she’d heard of throughout her life at dinner parties, always spoken of in light conversation.

She’d never liked that. It was maybe the greatest relief in her life once her aspect had awakened, been revealed to be Health. She remembered her parent’s disappointment at the time, but that was the one time she was happy that they were sad. It hadn’t helped her avoid this though, hadn’t helped her avoid anything really. She was still an Endrin student after all, a soldier in the making despite what she could do in a hospital back home, anywhere, really.

The two girls entered their dorm before Carline even realized they’d walked through the common room. “I’m probably just going to go to bed,” Elaina said, shrugging her jacket off and onto the floor.

“Shouldn’t we get Temmie out? Tell her what happened?”

“Tomorrow,” Elaina said, undoing her tie and bending over to take off her boots.

Stars, why was Carline like this? All she could do now was stare, stare down Elaina’s blouse, across her legs as her socks came off, at her face as she rose back up. Elaina herself didn’t seem to relish in taking her clothes off in front of Carline as much as normal though, too distracted for that. She hadn’t spent the whole day with pent up energy studying though…

Carline went to take off her own clothes as well. She’d gotten better about doing that in front of Elaina, not bothering to cover herself in the short moments she changed, though she still wasn’t confident enough to lounge around or sleep naked of course.

She could tell she was in a rush. As Elaina casually unbuttoned her shirt, Carline had already hung up her jacket and placed her boots next to the dresser, and she was soon caught up. I need… something.

She knew what she needed, and she knew how to get it too. It felt wrong though, for her to initiate something. What if Elaina didn’t want to do anything like that right now? What if she was really so tired she’d be disgusted by the idea of it, not just distracted?

But gods was Carline distracted herself.

“Hey,” she said, sliding her own shirt off. It took every ounce of willpower to not cover up immediately as Elaina turned, eyes locking eyes with Carline first, then drifting down. “You, uhm, didn’t tell me about the lake.”

“Right,” Elaina said, hands stopping, leaving her shirt hanging off her shoulders, buttons open as the fabric flowed over her curves, cleavage completely on display. That was something Carline loved, the casual moments of undress, the types of things you didn’t get to see for very long even if you were involved with someone, but somehow the sight of Carline herself undressing had frozen Elaina in this moment.

“You should tell me about it…” Carline continued, unclasping her skirt and letting it fall to the floor. She felt so exposed as she let go, being the one who was most undressed for once, arms pressing into her body. It was hard to believe that someone like Elaina could look and find someone like her attractive, but Carline knew the look on Elaina’s face, the stunned gaping as you stared at someone else. Despite Carline’s own reservations, Elaina clearly liked what she was seeing.

“Okay,” Elaina said, sitting on the bed as Carline stepped forward. She wasn’t even making an effort to undress herself anymore, only watching Carline.

I really am taking the lead this time, Carline thought as she reached behind her back, feeling her face burning red as she pulled at the clasp. “So, how’d the run go?”