A Series of Unfortunate Events

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru looked back at Adara and Emilian, watching them for a moment before looking back up at Chase. "No, I'm not leaving you here." She knew that it would be hard to pull him away from his obvious intentions, but it would be just as hard for him to get her to drop it and go on to the club. The motion of his hand set off alarm bells in her head and she looked into his face, her eyes pleading, "Come on, don't do this."

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian wondered when he'd run out of things to teach her, and his eyes gleamed as some of the things he had yet to show her paraded through his mind. "Out here? Where anybody could see?" he asked softly, grinning. This time he couldn't stop his hand coming up to brush away the stray hair from her face, to trail down her cheek. I will tell her, he told himself, just not now...

But you should, argued another part of his mind, It would be wrong to tell her after being with her.

But there's no reason for her to know, we're not in a relationship...

And his thoughts followed that pattern and his hand fell to where just the very tips of his fingers held contact with her skin. He wondered faintly if the indecision showed in his eyes and if it did, would Adara even notice? He knew how she was when he touched her like he was.....

[Adara Snow]

Adara could feel something different, even with the demands her body was making. She'd become so attuned to every subtle physical nuance between them that Emilian's thoughts, and the hesitance she'd sensed before, were distracting. Adara bit her lip, her gaze rising from Emilian's lips to his eyes, which looked distant rather than intense. Her body told her to ignore it, to take him at face value, but she knew intuitively that the distance would only grow worse. "What is it, Emilian?" she asked, the words little more than a whisper.

[Chase Firebrand]

Chase actually looked at Dru this time, his eyes blazing shades of crimson and scarlet. His jaw was set, shoulders tense as he drew his wand. "If you don't see it, it didn't happen. Get out of here!" he said, ending his demand--his plea--in a low growl. "I'm not doing anything that doesn't need to be done. Just go, let me do this!"

[Druscilla Grace]

"No!" Dru said, grabbing his wrist to keep him from using his wand, "I'm not going to walk away and let you do something that stupid." Her eyes were hard as they looked up into his. She was afraid, just for a moment, if he'd turn his wand on her, but no, no he wouldn't do that. But if he was willing to attack Emilian in such an open space, then...she mentally shook her head.

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian chewed on his lip roughly, but he kept eye contact. He held his breath for a second before letting it out in a low, long sigh. "I...." he stopped, wondering how to tell her, he had no doubt he would tell her, it was only a matter of getting the words to come through his lips. He swallowed. "I made a mistake. The other day, just over there," he gestured to a spot on the shore a ways away from them, "I was down here." Thinking of you.

"This girl came up and started practically throwing herself at me and you know me I couldn't help it," he said in a fast, soft voice. "We went out in the water, I swear I only kissed her though." The story was out before he had a chance to stop it and his hands had taken one of hers, holding it tightly as though it would keep her from being angry. Why did he care if she was angry?

[Adara Snow]

Adara's heart seized, and she bit her lip--hard--as she struggled to hold back the threatening prickle of tears. She had told herself not to expect him to be with only her, but she had hoped, and that had been enough. "Tell me, Emilian; how could you not help yourself? I do not understand." There was a plea in her voice to explain, to help her see things his way, because she simply could not. He had held back for her before she had given herself to him. How could he not resist a kiss?

[Chase Firebrand]

Chase could almost see Dru's moment of fear, and it sparked a thought; if he stunned her, it would be too late. She wouldn't be able to stop him. But their relationship would be over, he had no delusions otherwise. There was a long, tense moment when he thought about it, then, shaking off the thought, his eyes narrowed and darkened. "Leave," he said through clenched teeth.

[Druscilla Grace]

Dru had been able to see the second where he had thought about it, and she held her breath until he spoke. "No," she said firmly, every part of her body tense. "I know you're smarter than this." There was no way that she would leave him, she was staying whether he liked it or not. Her fingers tightened around his wrist.

[Emilian Sota]

"No, no, don't cry..." he murmured, taking one hand from clasping hers and bringing it up to her face. "I...she was wearing a bikini," Emilian explained, as though that were reason enough. "I don't have control, I can't stop myself." His eyes begged her to understand, but he knew, some part of him knew, that she wouldn't be able to understand, not when he had kept himself away from her in the beginning.

[Adara Snow]

"You can stop yourself," Adara said, the words tense. "Did you not want me when we met, Emilian? Did you not stop when I asked you to stop? A bikini?" she repeated, stopping herself from going on. There was no reason he could give her that would not sound like an excuse, and from Emilian, who until this point had done her no wrong. But she was scared now, that she had been wrong, despite everything they had shared, the stories, the pieces of their souls. With Emilian, there had never been only a kiss. She could not conceive of it. Adara turned her face from Emilian's hand, looking wordlessly at the ground beside them.

[Chase Firebrand]

"Smarter than what?" Chase ground out, his voice rising. "Than to do something no one else is even willing to talk about? Smart enough to f***ing walk away and let him do God knows what to any girl he feels like? It's happened at least once, it almost happened to you, and you want me to just sit on my ass and hope someone else takes care of it? No. It's not happening."

Chase didn't pull his wand arm away from Dru, but reached with the other hand and switched his wand over, raising it with a smooth, purposeful motion. Confringo.

[Druscilla Grace]

"Chase!" Dru grabbed for his other arm but didn't touch until the spell was already out of his mouth. She glared up into his eyes, "And who says it's your problem? You're risking expulsion and prison, if you go too far. That's what's stupid!" She glanced back over her shoulder, praying the spell hadn't hit, but she couldn't see without turning her back to Chase, and she didn't trust him enough to do that. "It's not worth it!"

[Emilian Sota]

Emilian's hand suddenly felt chilled and he clenched it before dropping it back to her hand. "When we first met....I had just spoken to Lucretia the night before and," he paused, he didn't want to tell her. He really didn't want to tell her. "She bet me that I couldn't go a week without female contact. She said that if I could do it then she'd reward me. So I took the bet and then met you, so I had to keep myself from-"

He stopped, he heard a voice that was chillingly familiar, though distant. The second he looked up the lawns a spell hit the ground beside him, causing the earth to spray up. His eyes widened, "Adara, get behind me," he said, pulling his wand though he knew how useless the piece of wood was in his hands. He cast protego in front of them and tried to look through the shield to see where his attacker was.

[Adara Snow]

Adara was in shock, unable to move, despite the explosion of sand against her side, raining onto her hair and clothes. He hadn't stopped for her, he'd stopped to keep a bet. He'd done it for a reward--sex from a girl more worldly than she? Adara might as well have been stunned. She was quickly retreating into the safe places at the corners of her mind, where there was nothing that could hurt her.