Rocks All Day, Dance All Nightside (Lexa)

[Malachite the Shoki]

Malachite grinned back and watched as Lexa dived down to the bottom of the pool.​

​

"I never get that wet fox smell... Except maybe when it rains. And then, I just take a shower. Lotta shampoo."​

​

Diving seemed like a cool idea. He was willing to bet money that there were fish, and probably some small channel feeding, and maybe draining, this pool. The blonde fox took a deep breath and let himself drift down, smiling at Lexa as he did. There were fish. He pointed a particularly stripy one out to her and smiled even wider as he laid back and looked around underwater. It didn't really occur to him that she was mostly naked. He was enjoying himself, and she was the person who was with him while he was.​

​

[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa smiled under the water, causing a few bubbles to escape her mouth. She pointed out a school of multi-colored minnows to Malachite, watching the striped one he indicated to her. They were so pretty! Even they glowed in the dark! Lexa looked over at Machi. Whoa... Was he always that.... ripped? No, seriously, that looked like some very rock-hard abs he had there. She'd never noticed them before.​

​

[member="Malachite the Shoki"]​

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

Malachite looked around in wonder at the fish, jokingly miming at Lexa that he was going to eat them. The way she was looking at him, smiling like that... Nobody ever smiled at him like that. It was beautiful. He also noticed her staring at his chest a little bit. That didn't hurt his opinion of her, either. Under some circumstances, he might have simply stared back, maybe gotten close enough to kiss her... But that would've felt wrong to him, at least at the moment. Right now, he just smiled and let himself be happy.​

​

[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa almost laughed. Of course, that wouldn't have been the best idea underwater, so she stopped herself before she took in a lung-full of water. Unfortunately, she couldn't hold her breath forever. She came back to the surface, sucking in a deep breath of air. Taking a moment to study Malachite under the water, Lexa started thinking about things. It had only been a week since Malachite saved her life. But she felt as if she'd known him for years. Every time he came to mind, all she could do was smile. She'd never felt that way about Azekor or her other friends. Machi... He was different. He was closer than a friend, even if she was the only one who felt that way. Lexa wouldn't tell him, though. It was better to remain close friends then reveal deeper feelings and ruin everything.​

​

She swam to the edge of the pool, near the entrance of the cave. She brought her elbows up onto the small ledge and propped her head on her arms, staring out at the bio-luminescent forest.​

​

[member="Malachite the Shoki"]​

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

Malachite watched Lexa swim up out of the water, thinking about her. She was pretty, and smart, and funny... and she accepted him as being a big, flaming, vampiric furball... and maybe even liked him better because of it? However affectionate he appeared to be, it was unusual for anybody to be affectionate back. So... maybe the affection was because she liked him? Or maybe he was totally wrong and liking her would just make things awkward. He didn't want to feel awkward, but... what if she did like him... Would it be less awkward to ask her? Maybe... or... no, he had to ask. He swam up to Lexa and leaned his head on an arm.​

​

"So... This is cool."​

​

[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

"Yeah, it is. I've never seen a place this beautiful before."​

​

Lexa said, continuing to gaze at the jungle. Even the stars, numerous and unending, seemed to shine brighter here. She gave Malachite a sideways glance.​

​

"Thanks for coming with me. It's a lot more fun with someone to hang out with."​

​

[member="Malachite the Shoki"]​

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

"I've been here by myself before... Being here with another person is nice, though. I'm glad I came with you."​

​

One of Malachite's tails sort of subconsciously stretched to curl around Lexa's waist. He glanced at it and turned a little red before looking back into her face and returned her sidelong look with a happy smile. A couple of his tails wagged absently in the water as he floated there next to her.​

​

"You... um... you sort of like me, right?"​

​

[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa was suddenly aware of a tail wrapping around her waist as Malachite spoke to her. The fur tickled against her skin. As the last sentence came out of his mouth, Lexa tensed ever so slightly. Crap. Had she been that obvious? She'd never really flirted or anything before, so she was unsure if she'd done it unintentionally or not.​

​

After a long minute of silence, Lexa replied.​

​

".......Sure...... Unless it's weird. I completely take it back if it's weird."​

​

[member="Malachite the Shoki"]​

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

Malachite's smile turned into a slightly awkward expression as he tried to assure Lexa that no, it wasn't weird.​

​

"Erm... Uh... Woof?"​

​

Wow. Real smooth. He felt like a frakking idiot for a second, and then realized that there was another way for him to communicate how he was feeling. The blonde fox put his arms around her and pulled her into a hug. Now that he was hugging her, it seemed a little bit easier for him to talk.​

​

"I, um, don't find it weird at all for... reasons... Like... I like you, too?"​

​

[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

"O-oh..... That makes thing a little..... Easier, I guess."​

​

Lexa said, her voice slightly muffled as Malachite pulled her into his chest. It was very soft, even if it was wet. She wasn't quite sure what to do now. She'd been positive he'd friend-zone her.​

​

[member="Malachite the Shoki"]​

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

Malachite smiled again as he mussed up Lexa's hair a bit.​

​

"In hindsight, I probably should've been able to guess... I mean, you called me cute before we even left Nar Shaddaa."​

​

He leaned down a bit so that her face was actually level with his, smiling a little bit wider.​

​

"You also sort of... helped me a lot? And I kind of would've kissed you then, except it felt wrong... And, um..."​

​

[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Oh, Hell. Malachite was getting closer to her face. And then he brought up kissing... Lexa could tell where this was going. She could feel the color starting to accumulate in her cheeks.​

​

"R-really? You wanted to.... On Nar Shaddaa.... I couldn't even tell. I just thought you liked hugging people...."​

​

Her heart felt kind of like a bird in a cage. Wait! She wasn't ready! Wasn't there supposed to be music or a romantic setting or something? Then again, a glowing jungle pool was fairly romantic... But that wasn't the point! Lexa had never done anything like this before! What if something went wrong and Machi changed his mind? Her body was practically screaming anxiety.​

​

[member="Malachite the Shoki"]​

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

"I do like hugging people. You were just... um... nice to me about it, I guess?"

Malachite's tails twitched nervously under the water and he glanced away, not really sure what to do. He was making Lexa nervous or something. The thought of that made his ears go droopy, and he backed away a little bit.

"It's alright... we'll just, um... pretend this never happened..."

[member="Lexa Kimene"]

 

[Zayani Brin]

W-what? No! She couldn't just let this end before it began! Lexa's thoughts were so conflicted and dizzying that she finally just did the only thing she could think to do. She reached up, grasped the back of Malachite's head, and pulled him into a kiss. All of her thoughts suddenly melted into a cozy warmth that spread from her head to her toes.​

​

[member="Malachite the Shoki"]​

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

Malachite's thoughts went something like this: Umm... Okay... Wait... What? WOW... He felt his arms drop down to Lexa's waist and he picked her up into his arms, still not pulling out of the kiss. A happy growl escaped him as all his tails wrapped around her and the feeling of being even warmer and fuzzier enveloped him. When he finally pulled away, it was by less than an inch.​

​

"So... you're gonna tell me which of your buttons I just pushed there, right? Because... um... I enjoyed that a lot."​

​

[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

"U-um... Well.... To be honest, I don't even know."​

​

Lexa shrugged a little bit. It had started out as a desperate plea of some kind, and then it turned into sheer pleasure. Was a week really long enough for someone to know that they liked another person? Was it healthy to even consider dating that early? She didn't know. but it looked like she was going to find out.​

​

[member="Malachite the Shoki"]​

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

Malachite pulled away a little bit more. He was feeling confused, now. It wasn't that he didn't like Lexa that way, but it sort of felt like he had dropped himself on her.​

​

"I made this really awkward, didn't I?"​

​

Despite what he said, he still smiled tiredly and slipped his hand around hers.​

​

[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa smiled back at Malachite, interlocking their fingers.​

​

"No. It's just... Different for me. That's all. I've never actually kissed anyone before."​

​

It had been very nice, though. His lips were even softer than his fur.​

​

[member="Malachite the Shoki"]​

 

[Malachite the Shoki]

Malachite smiled and gently squeezed Lexa's hand, chuckling at the thought of his first "kiss".​

​

"The only other um... person who ever kissed me thought I was a werewolf and tried to kill me with silverware."​

​

He squeezed her hand and gave her a kiss on the forehead.​

​

"Don't worry, you're excellent."​

​

[member="Lexa Kimene"]​

 

[Zayani Brin]

Lexa giggled, trying to picture Malachite howling at the full moon.​

​

"Have no fear, Machi. I won't be going for my silver bullets any time soon."​

​

As she talked, she felt something rather large brush past her feet. Her face suddenly switched from happiness to slightly horrified shock.​

​

"Uh, Machi? P-please tell me that was one of your tails....."​

​

[member="Malachite the Shoki"]​