"Floe being gone makes me wish I'd given in once."

[a_digital_witch]

CHARACTERS: Marisa Kirisame and Floe Sibyll
LOCATION/SETTING: South Quad, Room 407
DATE & TIME: Evening, 9/25
WARNINGS: heavily implied f/f sexual activity (fade to black)
SUMMARY: Floe comes back to Reims and Marisa gives her roommate a very warm welcome while she was still free to do so.

Comments

[love_seriously]

Floe sighed as she trudged up the hall of South Quad. She had arrived back on campus that afternoon, but it was already evening by the time she made it back to the dorms. After being shuffled between office buildings, making sure her information was back in the school's files, and getting her schedule, it was a major relief to finally be walking down the familiar hallway once again. The last several weeks of panicking parents and frustrated phone calls to school administrators seemed far behind her as she stopped in front of the right door, setting her suitcase down and reaching in her pocket for her key.

She hesitated briefly. It was good to be back, of course...still, she'd been surprised to find out that she would be in the same room this year. Surprised, and a little bit nervous. Things had been a little tense when she'd last parted with her old roommate, after all. Oh, who was she kidding. Things had always been a little tense. Sure, the tiny part of her that had hoped the room would be filled when she returned was quickly trampled out by her excitement to see her friend again...but she paused anyway, taking a few deep breaths before picking up her bag and pushing the door open.

[a_digital_witch]

The sound of the door opening was covered up by the movie - some Kenneth Branagh adaptation of one of the many works of Shakespeare - so Marisa didn't notice right away. She chewed on the end of her pencil before pushing her hair back behind her shoulder only to make her glasses slide a bit down her nose. Giving a sigh of irritation, Marisa put the pencil between her teeth and then looked up as she adjusted her glasses.

And that's when she saw a familiar head of honey-blonde hair and clear, expressive blue eyes. Marisa froze and stared for a long moment, not sure she believed what she was seeing.

"...am I hallucinating?"

Unfortunately, that was said in Japanese.

[love_seriously]

Floe stopped in the doorway, momentarily distracted by the state of the room. It looked like a tornado had ripped through it- a blond tornado that was too lazy to pick up after herself. Floe briefly wondered if she'd even be able to find her roommate in all the mess as she glanced around the room...turning to the couch just in time to lock gazes with the other girl as she looked up.

There was a long moment of silence as the two stared, unmoving, before Marisa uttered something she couldn't understand. Floe let out the breath she hadn't realized she'd been holding and finally allowed herself a smile.

"I'm just gonna pretend that was something I could understand, like 'hello' or 'welcome home, dear.'"

[a_digital_witch]

There was another moment before Marisa blinked and then grinned.

"...it is you! I thought I was seeing things," Marisa said, this time in English. She sat up and shoved her books onto the kotatsu before taking her glasses off.

"Get over here and hug me, ze."

[love_seriously]

"The one and only!" Floe giggled, shoving the door closed and dropping her bag in the entrance. "I guess they didn't tell you I was coming, huh?"

She practically skipped across the room to lean down and hug the other girl tightly. If she was trying to hide her excitement at all, she was failing spectacularly at it.

[a_digital_witch]

Arms wrapped around Floe and Marisa practically pulled her down next to her on the couch. Normally, she would have tensed up a bit at the tightness of the hug, but she'd invited it and Floe was safe.

"Not one word... Though, I'd been wondering why they hadn't assigned me someone new. So glad to see you, ze." Nope. Not letting go.

[love_seriously]

"Figures- those guys have no clue what they're doing. You have no idea the hoops I had to jump through to get back in...well, whatever! I'm back now, and you aren't getting rid of me anytime soon."

She joined Marisa on the couch without protest, too content at the moment to even continue complaining.

[a_digital_witch]

"Good."

After a few moments of enjoying the hug, Marisa pulled back just enough to look up at Floe. "You know, I really missed you, ze. You being gone made me do some serious thinking about what I'd missed out on and all that stuff. You know what I mean?"

[love_seriously]

Floe tilted her head curiously. "I missed you too, of course. But...what do you mean, missed out on?"

She tried to imagine what Marisa could have missed by not having her around, and drew a blank. Oh sure, there were a few things she could think of, but none of them she should entertain. This was her roommate, after all....

[a_digital_witch]

"...the things I think about when I stop lying to myself. Regrets I don't want to have."

Her eyes flickered past Floe to check that the door was indeed closed before returning to look into the other girl's eyes. "Things like this..."

And that was when Marisa leaned forward to kiss Floe.

[love_seriously]

There was a half-second of hesitation as Floe's brain raced to catch up with the situation. This was the last thing she'd expected to return to; for a moment she was convinced that she was dreaming. A number of fragmented thoughts shot through her mind like bullets- things like 'roommates,' 'boundaries,' and 'finally.'

All were quickly silenced as Floe leaned in to meet Marisa halfway.

[a_digital_witch]

For all of Marisa's experience, she'd never kissed another girl before. It wasn't too different than kissing a guy, though Floe's lips and body was far softer than any man she'd been with. Her arms pulled Floe close as she kissed her before pulling back after a few seconds.

"I should've done that last term. I should've let you do that." Marisa licked her lips. "Tomorrow.... Tomorrow we're roommates again."

[love_seriously]

Floe lingered for a second longer, eyes closed, committing the moment to memory. Marisa's arms around her, Marisa's soft lips...if this was her only chance, she wanted to appreciate it all. She let out a breathy giggle as she finally leaned away. "And here I thought you weren't interested at all."

"Tomorrow, roommates," she agreed wistfully. Then she reached for Marisa's hand, her other arm slipping around the blonde girl's waist. "But tonight...?

[a_digital_witch]

"I lie really well when I want to," Marisa whispered. And she lied exceptionally well when she was lying to herself. All last year she'd been lying to herself about liking girls. And this year... with Floe not coming back, she just couldn't lie about it anymore and pretend she didn't.

There was no resistance when Floe took Marisa's hand and the one not captured by the other girl came to rest upon her cheek.

"Tonight... Anything you want," she replied softly, her face flushing a bit. "But you need to understand... I'm getting involved with someone else. This can only happen between us once... Only tonight..."

[love_seriously]

She listened silently, her face for once giving no hint of her feelings. As the other girl trailed off, Floe leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to her cheek, letting her lips hover over the spot for a long moment.

"I like you, Marisa," she whispered, inches from the blonde's ear. 'I've always liked you. And I think I always will, a little."

Floe pulled away and smiled at Marisa, her expression soft and utterly content. "That's why I want you to be happy! So if I can only make you happy tonight...then tonight is all that I want. I don't have to have anything else."

[a_digital_witch]

The words whispered in her ear were so soft and sweet. They made Marisa shiver, something Floe could easily feel. The level of attraction was a lot like the level she had toward Aya - another she'd always kept across a line. But the major difference here was the part of Marisa was screaming for Floe to take her was far, far harder to ignore than it was when it came to Aya.

And seeing the expression on Floe's face... Marisa felt wanted. Sometimes, that was just what she needed. Maybe things would've ended up differently if Marisa had let this happen last year, but she hadn't. Her heart belonged to someone else and that wasn't going to change. But Marisa just couldn't let this chance, this one and only chance now, pass her by.

"No regrets?" Marisa asked as she caressed Floe's cheek with her thumb.