It's Hard to Breathe

Plotting and scheming

Gisela awoke with a start. Her dreams last night had consisted of her and Fintan-poring over maps in a navy room, her and Fintan-tangled up, and her with Fintan-in side-by-side thrones. Getting up, she got ready, snatched breakfast, and left. Upon arriving in the classroom, she saw a folded note waiting on her desk. Her name was in familiar spiky handwriting, and Fintan didn't look at her.

Sitting down, she quietly unfolded the note. I'll be at your house, six o'clock sharp today, it read.

Gisela tapped Fintan on the shoulder repeatedly. After four repetitions, he finally turned to face her.

"Why 6 pm?" She wanted to know.

"Because I have to meet with my father today." He replied, following their no-secrets rule.

"So you'll leave my house at eight." She said.

"With or without you." He confirmed, winking.

Gisela rolled her eyes. "You are so immature, Pyren." She snapped.

He turned around to the front again, pretending to be hurt. A few seconds later, his note hit him in the back of the head. He turned around to glare at Gisela, but found her innocently taking notes on the teacher's lecture. He picked up the note off of the floor under his chair, and opened it subtly. 

If you stay at my house after 7, my mom says you can stay overnight. Pack a sleepover bag. The note informed him. He turned around, and nodded at Gisela. 

Should we invite anyone else after my training? Sis answering note asked. 

Sure, ask the gang at lunch. Her note replied.

Awesome, he mouthed at her as they filed out of the classroom.

She smirked in reply as they walked down the hall to their next class.

An hour later at lunch, when they all sat down, Fintan casually brought up the sleepover topic after Ruy was done ranting about the upcoming test.

"So, anyone up for a sleepover tonight?" He asked.

"Me!!" Everyone but Gisela and Fintan shouted.

Vespera mumbled it a few seconds later, still reading vivaciously.

"How about we crash your place, Gisela?" Fintan asked. "Let's say we arrive at, oh, I don't know, seven?"

"Fine." Gisela said. Fintan winked at her once all conversation was steered away from the topic of a sleepover.

After school, Fintan had his meeting. Then he promptly jaunted over to Gisela's house. A mere hour later, they were in Gisela's arena, training.

Fintan had stupidly wanted to spar first, without a lesson from Gisela, and was losing badly. Within a couple of minutes, she had him pinned to the wall.

"You're too good, Gisela." He grunted, trying to free himself to no avail.

"I know." She smirked, and pressed him harder. 

He snarled at her. She grinned triumphantly at him.

"Good luck getting free, Pyren. You'll need it." She said.

"Will I?" He asked, and used one arm to sweep his shamkniv at her face.

"Yep." She said, easily blocking the force of the blow with her moon blade that she snatched from a nearby rack, leaving the dagger still against his throat.

He growled under his breath, still trying to free himself. Than, he thought of something. 

Leaning in carefully, he tried to kiss Gisela. She met him, and all thoughts of fighting were abandoned as they intertwined, Gisela keeping her balance as they connected their lips. When they pulled apart, Gisela thought she detected a smolder of lust in Fintan's now-stormy eyes. She smirked at him. 

"Kissing me won't free you, Pyren." She said.

"Oh, yeah?" He said.

"Yep. I don't fall for dirty tricks like that." She stated.

"Humph." He muttered sullenly.

"Well, I could always to this!" He shouted, and twisted in a sudden burst of strength. Gisela kept him firmly pinned, to his dismay.

He groaned. "I've learned my lesson now. Could you let me go so we can start our lesson?"

"Fine" Gisela said irritably, and unpinned him.

He stood up taller, and said, "Teach me the first lesson now."

"Okay," Gisela said. "Here we go."

She raised her moon blades, and sliced lightning-like at the air, then ducked, stood up, kicked, and spun. His mouth gaped. She smirked at him.

"Now you repeat that." She instructed, giving him a look. 

He did it, clumsily and kinda slow. Her smirk widened. 

"You're doing it right, but your reflexes aren't fast enough." She smugly pointed out.

He groaned, and they spent the next 20 minutes perfecting it. At the end of that time, Fintan had it down pat.

"You're not bad when you work at it." Gisela commented as they sparred again.

Fintan swept his shamkniv at her face again, and she blocked. A few minutes later, he was pinned again.

"No dirty tricks to get you out of this one, huh?" Gisela smugly asked as Fintan struggled and swore.

"I can always try it, even though it won't work." Fintan annoyingly pointed out. He leaned toward her. She leaned toward him, and their lips met in a cautious tread. A few minutes later, they both sat down, still continuing their exchange. They kissed each other until Fintan could stand it no longer. 

Picking her up, he dumped her on her bed, while she glared at him. He climbed on top of her and they picked up the kissing with vengeance, Gisela running her hands through Fintan's hair while he kept them together. A couple of minutes later, they were flopped out, side by side, looking at each other.

Gisela broke the silence. "We should get ready for the crew coming over. I call first dibs on the bathroom." She stood up, and left the room. A couple more minutes passed before the door opened, and out came Gisela. 

Fintan couldn't see any evidence of what they had just done, and she looked perfect. He smiled to himself.

"Your turn to get fixed up. Hurry, would you?" Gisela said, pointing to the bathroom. He walked in.

Downstairs in the kitchen, Gisela was frantically finishing the mallomelt, custard bursts, carnissa root, and butterblasts. Putting everything on a tray, she dashed it to the living room, only to find Fintan sprawled out on her couch, flipping through channels without much interest. 

She set the tray down, then walked over to the rotating stand, and pulled out a bunch of movies, then set them on the couch. Passing him again, Gisela re-spiked Fintan's hair, and grabbed a few things from the dining room. She didn't miss the way his eyes trailed her every move, and ignored him. 

Soon, the doorbell chimed, announcing their friends' arrival. Gisela opened the door, and everyone spilled in.

"To the living room, everyone!" She said. As soon as everyone had sat down, Gisela explained the evening.

"First, everyone can claim a bathroom, then we'll get our sleeping bags set up. After that, they'll be dinner. Next, we'll watch some movies, or talk, or something. Then, bathroom times, and lights out. Sound good?"

All their friends cheered.