WHAT: Flirting through a torrential downpour WHERE: Camper outside Galdin Quay WHEN: When the rain started getting gnarly during the flood plot WARNINGS: Nah, just fluff STATUS: Complete
Things had been going really well with Marlene. Better than Iris had expected - or hoped. They had such similar senses of humor, both bawdry and sarcastic. It worked well; she'd even decided one of her new favorite pastimes was to watch bad movies with Marlene and heckle it from the comfort of the sofa. As long as there were snacks and drinks, that is. Can't heckle without proper nutrition.
They'd been halfway through Manos: Hands of Fate when the rainstorm really kicked in. It had been raining for a day? Two days? already and it had made for a really good excuse to just stay indoors and snuggle (another new favorite thing, she'd never really snuggled before). However, a crack of lightning nearby got her attention and she decided to get up to look out the window while Marlene was getting them refills.
Outside was looking pretty bad, she could see floodwaters building up outside. Maybe using the camper outside Galdin Quay wasn't the greatest idea. Honestly, she didn't think the ocean would flood. It was the ocean, after all. She turned away from the window and shouted towards the kitchen. "Uh hey, can you make this thing waterproof?"
Marlene hadn’t expected to feel even remotely serious towards someone when she’d started putting herself out there. Her longest bout of romantic feelings had never really panned out the way she might have hoped, and she was in no hurry to catch those feelings for anyone else. Finding herself interested in two absolutely gorgeous women had helped with that. Why pursue a romantic relationship at all when she had two wonderful options that she so thoroughly enjoyed?
That was still true. She cared for Iris. She cared for Thalia. But she couldn’t deny mere interest had deepened to infatuation, and with the amount of time she’d been devoting to Iris lately, it was hard not to feel certain feelings. They fit together, and every second Marlene spent with her gave her memories worth smiling over when they parted.
Like Iris, their bad film dates had become one of her favorite ways to spend time. Film wasn’t much of an interest in the wizarding world back home. Although she’d seen her share during time spent with Emmeline and Lily, thanks to their upbringing in the Muggle world, she could say with confidence she hadn’t seen a single one of the horrors Iris had inflicted on her back in those days.
Manos: Hands of Fate was somehow both uninteresting and disturbing, a combination that worked well for heckling and plenty of grimacing. Excusing herself to refill their drinks was a blatant excuse for a break, but she used it unashamedly anyhow. She returned from the kitchen with both hands occupied and passed Iris’ drink back to her, then turned to observe the rainfall out the camper’s window.
“I s’pose I can try,” she said with a shrug. “The Impervius Charm might do the trick, but it’s really meant for smaller objects.”
"I know a little water magic, but not the kind to stop all this." Iris accepted her drink and continued to gaze out the window. "I'm starting to think it'll never stop, at this rate." She took a sip and turned to look at her date for the evening. She knew they hadn't put any labels or definitions on this (and she wasn't in any hurry to, either), but she certainly could have worse company for nights like these. Especially since it looked like they weren't going to be getting out of there tonight without some kind of magical help.
She tilted her head to one side, deciding to give voice to those thoughts. "I suppose if all else fails, at least we'll be stuck together in this mess. And have to figure out some way to pass the time."
Marlene turned back to Iris, setting her drink aside on the coffee table before settling on the couch beside her. “I can certainly think of worse places to be during all this. Much worse company, too.” She grinned, scooching in close and reaching to trail her fingers along the collar of Iris’ shirt, blue eyes drinking in her gorgeous face. “And I’d say between the two of us, we can find a mutually acceptable way of passing time. Don’t you think so?”
"Oh, I've already got my mind on multiple ways, not just one," answered Iris, through a slight grin. " As long as you keep those fingers active." Look, she certainly couldn't be blamed for taking her mind off the rain that quickly. Marlene was gorgeous and very distracting. Therefore, she couldn't be found at fault for all of the rather dirty images rolling around in her head when she leaned in to kiss, and possibly nibble, those lovely lips.
She was maybe a fraction of an inch from doing just that when there was a loud burst of thunder outside that almost shook her right out of her seat, resulting in more of a face bump than a kiss.
Storms didn’t faze Marlene. They never really had, and the why was an answer she didn’t have. But, unexpected as that jolt of thunder was, it was Iris’ face colliding with hers that made her yelp in surprise. One hand automatically lifted to rub at the tender spot, but the stab of pain passed nearly as quickly as it had come. Both hands returned to Iris, taking hold of that beautiful face.
“Darling,” she murmured, “are you afraid of thunder?” There was no judgment in the question nor her words, just curiosity and a bit of concern.
Iris responded by briefly shaking her head. "I'll admit I'm sure I have a little trauma from a decade of darkness, but it just startled me, that's all." She smirked to accent the answer and did a brief visual inspection to make sure she didn't accidentally hurt Marlene. Thankfully it just looked to be superficial and not Marlene ignoring it to focus on her, sweet as that might be.
"But it is a bad storm, I suppose I need to hear you say 'darling' a few more times," she added, trying to bring the mood back away from the direction she'd accidentally sent it in.
Marlene chuckled, fondness painting every bit of her expression. She knew when she was being prodded away from a sensitive subject and she was susceptible to turning back if that was what Iris needed. There would be plenty of time for questions later – she certainly had them.
“Is that all it takes to comfort you, hm? My poor darling,” she murmured, dragging out the term of endearment with a bit of a drawl. She leaned in again and this time succeeded in capturing Iris’ lips to kiss her properly.
Instead of her usual quick-witted responses, Iris let herself enjoy the kiss and returned it enthusiastically. It was definitely a great way of ignoring both the storm and the past (the latter of which she was really good at, anyway). Instead of pulling away, she gently put a hand to the side of Marlene's face and moved herself as close to the other woman as physics would allow.
After what felt like what must've been at least an hour, she finally let her eyes open as she drew back a little, parting with a soft little nibble off Marlene's bottom lip. "That. That is exactly what it takes to comfort me."
“Yeah,” Marlene breathed, eyes closed as she soaked in the warmth of Iris’ hand on her face. When she blinked them open again, both of her hands moved to trail along her collarbone. “Can’t say I mind it either.” Her heart was, in fact, fluttering in her chest just from that parting nibble of her lip. The attraction that had been sizzling between them from the start had grown into a steady burning.
“You know, I really quite fancy you.” She put a bit of extra oomph onto that very English term, knowing Iris was a fan of the accent. “And I think…” One hand lifted to Iris’ curls, looping a loose one around her forefinger. “We can weather this storm together without drowning.”
"In water, at least," responded Iris, turning her head slightly to kiss the hand that was teasing one of her curls. She wasn't exactly sure what fancying entailed, but she loved the way it sounded and really hoped that it meant I really like you a whole lot and would love to see you naked at some point, because damned if she wasn't of the same mind. Though perhaps her slightly veiled joke about drowning in lust might have suggested that.
“I wouldn’t mind drowning in the other things,” Marlene grinned. It was really close to miraculous that there hadn’t been much in the way of physical intimacy outside of kissing yet. But despite her effort to keep her dating life casual, she was moving slowly, too. It had been a very long time, and she didn’t want to rush. But that was wavering more and more right now.
"Mm. In that case, maybe you should try that impervious charm before you magically lose your shirt," offered Iris, raising her eyebrows suggestively. Of course, that would mean that Marlene would have to get up (right? How did magic work, anyway?) and that would be a temporary loss, but one she could deal with. She was a bit excited at this point, because she was willing to go as slow as Marlene needed and this seemed to be speeding up a bit.
“Oooor I can take us to higher grounds if you don’t mind apparition,” Marlene proposed. “I don’t mind being trapped with you but perhaps somewhere less susceptible to flood waters.”
"Apparition? Like ghosts? No, no real concerns as long as they're peaceful," answered Iris, not entirely sure how that would get them to higher ground. Or how that'd be more comfy than this place.
“Different definition of ‘apparition’, love,” Marlene chuckled. She hadn’t really thought to clarify that, in this case, the word had nothing to do with ghosts. “In our world, it’s more like…” She paused for a moment to find the word. “Teleportation, yeah? It's a bit like using a Waypoint without having to trek through this downpour to find one.”
Iris looked a bit skeptical at first, but hey, it's magic. "Gods, if I could teleport…" It would certainly make vacationing easier. Or getting a drink from the refrigerator. Or really anything requiring movement. She could already see the pitfall of getting too lazy with it, though. She had to put those thoughts aside, though, because there was something more important occupying her thoughts.
"All right. Where are we apparitioning to?"
“Apparating, darling,” Marlene corrected her gently. She clasped Iris’ hand in both of hers. “Morningside? It tends to be a bit of a safe haven. What do you say to hiding out in my flat for a day or two?”
"It's like another language," teased Iris, slipping her hand into Marlene's. "Sounds like an amazing option to me, though if it gets worse I'm going to bug you about protecting my condo." She wasn't even going to bother sorting out logistics like change of clothes, a toothbrush, or any of that. That was for future Iris to figure out.