Good Morning

Movie Night

Her skin prickles beneath his palms. Her breaths come faster, shallower. Her thighs twitch. She wants to kiss him forever, but instead, she pulls away, gasping, and looks up at him, her cheeks flaming redder than her dress, and Jay sees her pupils dilate with want, and he feels it too. They both feel it, and it makes their hearts pound like thunder, and they reach for each other.

Their mouths meet again. And once more. Over and over. Until Nya pushes Jay backward onto the couch cushions and kisses him there, while his hands slide up her sides, and hers find purchase at the base of his neck. The tips of his fingers tickle the exposed skin on her back, and she shivers in delight, pulling him closer with a whimper. His chest rises and falls rapidly against her breasts, and she presses herself into him, feeling his warmth against her skin.

The world seems to slow down. Their breathing becomes synchronized. There's no space left for thinking anymore, and nothing else matters except for them being close together, and how warm he is, and how nice it is to touch someone who likes touching you back.

And then, suddenly, everything changes. The energy in the room shifts and the tiny hairs on the back her her neck stand on end.

There is a flash of blue light and a burst of heat that sears across Nya's cheekbones, followed immediately by a loud bang. She recoils, clutching blindly for something solid to hold onto, but Jay has already pushed himself upright, and even as her vision clears enough for her to see where he is standing, she hears a distant rumble, growing steadily louder, as though a giant drum were pounding inside her skull.

Jay is staring at her, wide eyed and pale, as if he has just seen a ghost.

She blinks once, twice, stumbling backwards as she tries to orient herself.

"What...?" she stammers, trying desperately to piece it all together, "was that your lightning?!"
Jay nods his head slowly, wordlessly, as he stares at her, dumbfounded by what had just transpired.

Nya scrambles to sit up straighter in the chair, wiping at her face, and the first thing that strikes her about the scene in front of her is the absence of smoke. Wherever the lightning bolt had struck, there is now nothing but a faint whiff of ozone lingering in the air, and the smell of burnt popcorn.

"I..." Jay tries, finally finding his voice, "I'm sorry, I guess I lost control of my elemental power."

He looks so terrified yet surprised that it's almost endearing. Nya forces herself to smile, nodding reassuringly.

"Don't worry about it," she says lightly. "I'm sure you'll get it sorted soon."

He doesn't look convinced.  Instead, he looks down at his hands, trembling slightly.

"I... I could have hurt you. I might laugh and make jokes, and seem like an airhead sometimes," he says, panic slowly creeping into the timbre of his voice, "but my element is dangerous. I don't... I don't want to hurt you."

He looks so embarrassed and torn that Nya can't help but feel her heart skip a beat. For a moment, she thinks she might have misjudged him entirely. But then he relaxes, visibly exhaling, and nods.

"Okay, yeah, fair point," she concedes, smiling tentatively.

"Thank you," he says softly, taking her hand and pressing his lips to the top of it. He lingers there a few seconds, studying her with such intensity that Nya can practically see the gears turning behind his eyes. Then he releases her hand and takes a deep breath, steeling himself before continuing.

"If I ever lose control of my powers like that again, please tell me right away, okay?"

Nya fidgets uncomfortably, chewing at the inside of her mouth. "Yeah, I don't know about that, I was kind of distracted."