Arven's Scarlet Desire

Chapter Thirty-nine - Insomnia

Scarlet froze.

"What?" He said, taking her hand in concern, seeing her expression. "Are you okay? Are you remembering something?"

He searched her gaze, looking from one eye to the other for answers. His lips were close to hers.

Suddenly, without knowing she was going to do it, she pulled him close and kissed him.

Arven was taken completely by surprise, but it was a welcome one. He reciprocated avidly, his hands running up her back, his lips recognising the soft, sweet texture of hers. Together, although they didn't realise it, they both shared a recollection of the way each other felt, the wonderful sensory experience of closeness and warmth.

Then they heard someone coming down the hall, and suddenly they broke away from each other, remembering that they were back at the Academy, and they blushed, embarrassed, feeling somehow more teenage again in the environment of the school halls.

"I.. um. Thanks for saying that," Arven said.

"Yeah, no worries," said Scarlet.

They both wanted to say more - perhaps they should talk about the orders in their envelopes, but a gaggle of juniors were coming down the corridor, talking about Pokémon cards. They were discussing whether the Geeta card would be worth less now, or possibly more, like a collectors item. They barely noticed two seniors looking tired and awkward in the corner.

 Of course, none of the students yet knew how heinous Geeta's crimes were - so they couldn't know they were discussing the value of Professor Turo's murderer, directly in earshot of his son.

Arven mumbled something about being tired, and walked away, leaving Scarlet there alone with her thoughts on fire. She sighed, and decided sleep was probably a good idea. Maybe it would help her remember, anyway, so she was technically following the orders she'd been given. She headed back to her own dorm room, stopping by the Directors Office quickly to let the others know she was going to bed.

But she couldn't fucking sleep.

Every train of thought lead her back to Arven, and every thought of Arven left her wishing she could remember more... Her body craved him - she wanted to feel his skin, his mouth, his hair, his hands, but she had so little recollection of how she knew what that might feel like. Frustrated, she would force her mind to focus on other things - like the Team Star sting operation that was literally happening right now.

She wondered if Mela and Giacomo were allowed to be in the office while the body-cam footage was being streamed in. It might be too traumatic for them. They'd probably be in their dorm rooms - did they even have dorm rooms still? Mela probably did, otherwise she would've asked Scarlet if she could stay with her - and Giacomo would've asked Arven. That would be weird for Arven - he'd never had a friend sleep over. Scarlet wondered what his dorm room looked like. It was probably nice - and it would smell good - he was a decent cook, after all. He was always so tidy, he probably wouldn't be the type to drop his clothes on the floor and fall into bed - he'd've hung up his shirt first... damnit, Scarlet!

She rolled over and put her pillow on her head. Think of something else. Had Penny figured out where the Terastal Anomaly was, yet? The whole point of her being back here was to work with Professor Sada to figure out why it was in the Team Star base. Perhaps they would find it in the raid, anyway. Perhaps Sada wasn't really needed. She certainly seemed weirdly uninterested. That wasn't really unusual, though. She only cared about her research, clearly, otherwise she would've called at least once while Arven was recovering at their place in Cabo Poco. It had been kind of nice having him there, just on the other side of the wall... A few days ago she'd woken up at midnight to go to the bathroom, and on her way back to her room, she'd felt a strong compulsion to go into his room. She hadn't, of course, but actually, she was kind of getting that feeling again now. Not to do anything like that... just to talk to him. She could make up an excuse that she thought she remembered something about his Dad's book, and she needed to check it. Then she could sit on his bed, and maybe he would lean over to show her something... and then he would kiss her, and pull her down under the covers.... Stop it!