ShadowSong [Book 1 & 2: Complete] [NaNoWriMo16/17]

Chapter 74 - Accusations and Flowers

Olivia woke up the next morning, sat up, and put on her glasses.

The first thing she caught sight of was her swimmers hung over the back of her chair in such a way that they were not visible if, say, a parent were to open her bedroom door. They'd been mostly dry by the time she'd got back with Cryo, but she hadn't wanted to--

Cryo.

It hit her like a two-tonne Manifested punch straight to the gut.

She touched the side of her neck, her lips, her skin burning like frostfire where he'd touched her. Him showing up on her balcony. The crash land through the trees. The glowing lake of auroralight, the riverweed, her blackout... and his kiss.

Starlight, her stomach was flipping now just thinking about it. It'd been so gentle, yet still firm. There was no doubt in it, just a clear kind of soft certainty. Last night had been the Cryo she'd always seen between the professionalism. The one who was her partner, her equal, who believed that she was enough. She--

Olivia dropped her hand back to her lap and stared at her fingers.

She was getting ahead of herself. Something after the kiss had been different. She didn't know what, but she'd heard it change with his hesitation, even as he stroked his thumb down her cheek.

Olivia grabbed her Liaiser with Viri snuggled beside her neck and kicked her blankets off. If nothing else, at least there hadn't been a Manifested last night. Apparently the Serpent had given up trying to keep them awake. Cryo's tactics might just have been enough to get the damn reptile to change tactics.

She went through her morning routine--breakfast, medication, dressed, packing her back and hiding those swimmers in a drawer--completely distracted. She wanted to believe that Cryo didn't regret kissing her, but at the same time... what reason did he have to like her enough to kiss her?

She had her experiences with him as Banshee. Some part of her had fallen for him in the last year they'd spent protecting the city together, even if she hadn't exactly acknowledged that until last night. But as Olivia... what did she have?

The fact that the only answer she had was 'Olivia wore a bikini' killed her.

Regardless, she had a long day ahead of her. Performance practice with Naomi was going to be a special kind of torture. The last thing she needed was to be worrying about whether a certain Featherbutt had feelings for her or not.

Though... isn't it better that he kissed Olivia and not Banshee? Cryo doesn't seem the type to care about showing skin, does he? Olivia directed her closed eyes to the ceiling and huffed. Okay, Olivia, cut it out. You look great in a bikini. Who can blame the boy?

Regardless, she was still brooding when Jason showed up in his Gleamer.

He stopped in his usual place and flicked up his visor.

He cleared his throat. "Ahem. good morning, Shadowheart."

Olivia's suspicions that he knew something about last night shot up a hundredfold. "...Morning, Frostsong."

Jason's gaze flicked to the side of her house. "Is it safe to ask whether last night was a success or not?"

"A success?" said Olivia, struggling to keep her volume down. The idea of Jason knowing about her kiss with Cryo felt... starlight, she didn't even know, but she was pretty sure she'd need a blanket to crawl under for the rest of the day. "You know?!"

Jason lifted an uncertain hand. "Uh, well, I was the one who asked the request of Cryo, which I apologise if it was out of line for me to do so."

Olivia's internal alarms breathed a sigh of relief. He was just talking about the swimming. She gave him a small nod. "Oh. Um, yes, you could say it was a success. And no, it wasn't out of line--it... it was actually really thoughtful of you to ask him at all."