infinity x infinity | Téo/Lia AU

[Lia Ayres]

Late September 1956
Hospital Wing
Evening

Lia was trying to focus on this pain potion, but it wasn't quite working. Her mind kept wandering away from her cauldron, distracting her with thoughts of the past summer and the beautiful girl working not too far away.

She hadn't planned to pick apart that love potion that had gone all wrong over the summer. It had been a weird situation and she had been content to leave it at that. But the nights were long when you couldn't sleep and she'd learned last year that it was better to be doing something than to just lay there and stare at the ceiling. With all of her schoolwork completed, her books read, and everything else she could think of done, it had just popped into her head. Something to occupy her time. Just go through the potion and determine why it had hit her so hard.

What she hadn't expected was to find nothing wrong with the potion. Well, aside from the fact that, outside of the euphoria-inducing bit, it didn't work. It was a dud. It was just a happy feeling potion, not a love one.

So what did that mean?

Lia bit her lip, glancing up at Téo again. She'd only come up with two possible answers to that question. The first, that she had made the entire thing up in her own head. And the second, that maybe, just maybe, she could have the slightest bit of a crush on Téo.

The older girl would never look at her, she knew. Not like that and especially after how she'd acted that day in the infirmary. But that didn't mean that she couldn't look at Téo, or think about her, or imagine what it might be like to kiss her. Not so long as she kept those thoughts in her own head.

Which was, admittedly, getting harder the more she got to know Téo. But she was doing her best.

She glanced over again, her face just the slightest pink from her thoughts, before returning her gaze to her potion. Time to add... Shoot. She'd forgotten to grab one of the ingredients in all of her distraction.

"Hey," she called to Téo. Any excuse to talk to the older girl would do, right? Though she felt silly at just the thought. "Can you pass me some porcupine quills? I forgot to grab them and I need to keep stirring this."

[Maria Teodora Wittington]

Since Lia was working in the apothecary, Téo was handling the rest of the Wing, which in the evening, was not a difficult shift. Tonight there were only a few students, all of which were sleeping, but Téo still did her hourly checks, just in case. One, in particular, was miserably ill, and she tried to keep an eye on that one especially.

Téo went to the nurse’s lounge, checking on some routine matters, and just caught sight of the large feline as he went prancing out of the Wing, going most likely, on his nightly hunt (now that he’d had his not allowed nap on the senior nurse’s desk).

She could’ve stayed in the nurse’s lounge, but she actually enjoyed Lia Ayres’ company, despite how the girl might feel about herself. So she had grabbed her sketchbook and bag and set up in there. Probably, she could help, but Lia was better at potions than Téo was, so unless she asked for assistance, or they needed to make a big batch of something, Téo stayed where she was, perched on a (cleaned and sanitized herself) part of the counter. Also, not where Lia was busy working.

The set of charcoal pieces she had were metallic, and varying, not just black. On the page, flowing from a highly detailed cactus were cracked off-whites and deep, obsidian, shimmering from each needle as if mortally wounded. But what poured out from the plant was a bold, iridescence of tropical green and Mediterranean blue, colors she’d only ever seen when she had been sent traveling for her art instruction as a child. It creeped out slowly like lava, thick and appearing to truly be moving and if touched, would feel like putting one’s fingers into a bottle of thick ink.

Téo was just about to add etching to the bottom of the cactus, the land it grew from and that had died, when Lia spoke. Her fingers paused on a piece of charcoal the color of rusted amber, looking up at Lia’s hey.

“Claro que sí,” she replied, smile easy, as she set the sketchbook aside, opened still, along with her materials. Grabbing the blue rag from her supply box, she hopped down off the counter and went to carefully retrieve porcupine quills, after she’d wiped most of the shining blues and greens from her hands.

Téo glanced at the time on the way over, keeping track of when she’d have to do rounds again. “Here,” she offered the quills up, letting Lia figure out how exactly she wanted to take them or do with them. Leaning over slightly, past Lia’s shoulder, Téo eyed the potion, “What are you brewing over here anyway?”

It was both parts curiosity and in a way Téo asking if the younger girl wanted help.

[Lia Ayres]

She could have easily gone and gotten the ingredient herself without having to do too much damage control on the potion. Technically, she was supposed to keep stirring, she wasn't exactly lying, but it wouldn't have been the end of the world and the potion would have turned out fine.

But any excuse, right?

“Claro que sí."

Lia had no idea what that meant, always having studied French in school rather than Spanish. But based on the fact that Téo grabbed the ingredient for her, she assumed it was some sort version of 'yes'. It was right, what they said about Spanish being an attractive language. Especially when it was Téo speaking it. The words sounded like silk felt. Lia could listen to it all day long.

“Here. What are you brewing over here anyway?”

"Thanks," she said, taking the quills, counting a few out and snapping them in half before dropping them into the cauldron. Anything to distract her from Téo leaning past her shoulder, though her face flushed at the proximity anyway. "It's a pain potion, for more minor injuries. We were running low." She tossed in the final ingredient, stirring it twice clockwise, before leaving it to simmer. "It just needs about twenty minutes and it's done."

She glanced up at Téo, her heart fluttering just a little. This crush was so stupid. She needed to get over herself.

"What did it mean?" she asked, the question slipping out of her mouth before she could stop it, her curiosity getting the better of her. "The thing you said in Spanish?"

She bit her lip, her eyes drifting to Téo again, an idea sparking in her mind. It was probably dumb, she knew, but it would really be a best of both worlds situation. She could listen to Téo speaking Spanish more and maybe even pick up something useful. Her mum had always said that knowing more languages was beneficial, though Lia wasn't sure what she would say about using that to spend more time talking with a pretty girl.

"Do you think you could, um, teach me a few things in Spanish?" she asked, a little hesitantly. "While I wait for this to be done?" 

[Maria Teodora Wittington]

Téo watched as Lia snapped the needles in half, and threw in whatever else it needed, and she hummed quietly in response to the younger girl’s answer. She was about to go ahead and ask if she needed help when Lia turned around declaring it mostly done.

“You can ask for help if you want, you know.” The teasing note in Téo’s voice was still there as she spoke, but at Lia’s question, she couldn’t help the light laugh, “Sorry. It means ‘of course’.”

Sometimes Téo forgot or didn’t think about other people not knowing Spanish, but both English and Spanish were interwoven into her speech, too smooth and too ingrained to be changed and kept as one language only.

A bit belatedly, Téo realized she was standing a little too close to the other girl, and she backed up, maybe a bit too quickly, but the smile was still on her face. Turning, she went back over to where her sketchbook was. Leaning back against the counter, Téo was just in the middle of pulling herself up when Lia spoke again.

“Do you think you could, um, teach me a few things in Spanish?”

A full, warm smile appeared at that, as she got settled. “Do you really want to learn?” Téo was resting her weight on her hands, placed flat on the countertop, as she met the other girl’s eyes. After a few seconds, Téo gave an inviting sort of nod to the place in front of her, as if to say, come here, then.

“We’ve got--“ brown eyes flicked to the time, “--fifteen minutes before I have to do rounds again.” of course, she’d be right back, and they could continue because their shift wouldn’t be over for a bit. “Do you know any Spanish at all?”

That would help Téo figure out a starting point, but at the same time, she was both endeared by Lia’s interest in learning her language and more than a little intrigued why she wanted to learn in the first place, and she was pretty sure this showed on her face.

[Lia Ayres]

Lia shrugged. "I did ask you for help. I got to you pass me that stuff." She shot a grin up at Téo, knowing full well that was not what she had meant. But potions was kind of a solitary activity.

Not that she was at all complaining about Téo being there. Not at all. And especially not when she was so close to Lia. She was almost close enough that she could feel the heat off of her skin...

But all too soon, Téo stepped away. Lia did her best not to let her face fall, though she missed the girl's close presence immediately. For a moment, she wished that the older girl had been even closer, but she squashed down that thought quickly. She was being ridiculous.

“Do you really want to learn?”

She nodded, returning Téo's smile. She was genuinely curious, since it always sounded really cool, but Téo's response made her want to learn even more. The older girl nodded to the space in front of her, which she took as an indication to sit.

“Do you know any Spanish at all?”

"I know hola is hello and gracias is thanks," she said. "And... tacos?" She didn't know if that counted as a Spanish word or that was just food. She wished she knew more, to impress Téo. "I took French when I was in primary school in the muggle world."

As curious as she was about the language - and she really was. She thought it would be very cool to be able to speak Spanish, even just a little - it was hard to focus on that when Téo sat in front of her, looking so casually gorgeous. They were hanging out in a hospital wing; how did she even pull that off? No one ever looked good after dealing with potions or sick people or whatever job you were doing in there. It really just made Téo all the more impressive.

Before she could stop herself, she found herself saying, "How do you say 'You're beautiful' in Spanish?"

[Maria Teodora Wittington]

Téo’s smile twitched upward a little more as Lia settled in front of her, reciting (not too horribly) the words she knew. Except one made Téo shake her head, laughing, “Lia. Tacos do not count.”

But she nodded a little at the French, “That might help, actually. If you’ve already learned another language.” A beat, as Téo tried to run through what French she knew, since Spanish and English had been very natural for her, and not something she saw as learning two different languages. “Tenses might give you some trouble, but I'll be here.”

“It’ll help if you can make the erre sound.” It was smooth for her, of course, but she knew not everyone could make the trilling sound that many Spanish words demanded.

“How do you say ‘You’re beautiful’ in Spanish?”

Téo had been seriously trying to remember what the hell the phrases were that were taught to children to help them learn when that question came out of Lia’s mouth. An eyebrow arched slightly, as she tried not to smile too much, “Well,” Téo started, slowly, studying the other girl, a mixture of curious and amused. “Depends. Who’re you going to say it to?”

It did depend, whether it was a boy or girl Lia had in mind, that was. She forgot that gender might give her pause, but learning another language already certainly helped this. Unsure of which she wanted, Téo decided to go with both, for teaching’s sake, “For a boy, you’d say, 'eres hermosa'.” she waited for a second, meeting Lia’s eyes, and she found the green still caught her off guard a little. She just wasn’t used to seeing that eye color, “For a girl, it’s the same except it’s--" Téo tried to slow down, and said it softer, carefully, "--'eres hermosa'.”

Téo stopped there, gaze flicking to the time briefly, and without warning, hopped down from the counter; leaning back against it instead, she announced, “You have eight minutes to practice.” Rounds were due then, but a playful smile pulled at red lips as she shrugged a shoulder, “With me here, anyway.”

She said it as if she was going to disappear forever in eight minutes, but really, she’d just be back after fifteen.

[Lia Ayres]

Tacos didn't count, which was disappointing, but apparently having another language under her belt did. She didn't know how much of her French she retained these days, given that she hadn't really practised much since being at school. But hopefully, it would come in handy.

Her motives for wanting to learn Spanish might have not been focused solely on the language, but she was genuinely curious. Two birds, one stone sort of situation.

“It’ll help if you can make the erre sound.”

"Erre?" she attempted. It kind of worked, the sound coming out in some semblance of what it was supposed to. But it definitely didn't sound like what Téo was doing. The older girl made it sound effortless, while Lia's sounded a bit more like trying to talk while driving over a bumpy road. She tried it a couple more times, though it didn't really improve much from her first attempt. "That's not right, is it?"

"...Who’re you going to say it to?”

Yeah. Like she was going to answer that. That particular answer required some working up to. So instead of responding, she just kind of shrugged, her face burning red. Thankfully, Téo just kept going.

"Eres hermosa," she repeated, the feel of it in her mouth a bit strange. She repeated it a few more times, considering it. It didn't really sound like the way Téo said it, but perhaps that was because of the difference in accents. It didn't sound horrible, or at least, she didn't think so.

“You have eight minutes to practice. With me here, anyway.”

Lia did know that rounds didn't take all that long and that Téo would be back shortly after she left. But the limit on time all of a sudden seemed almost now-or-never.

Which was perhaps why Lia pushed herself to her feet, taking a step closer to the older girl. She bit her lip, suddenly nervous, but looked up at the older girl and said, "Téo, eres hermosa."

[Maria Teodora Wittington]

Téo couldn’t help the small, stifled laugh at Lia’s attempt to roll the letter, and had to actually cover her mouth with a hand, the smile obvious behind it. “That’s, um,” she started, slightly muffled, and removed her hand, “a good start?”

It wasn’t, but that’s why she was helping.

An eyebrow had arched at Lia’s not answer and blush; Téo could only think she was just embarrassed about liking someone, which many people were. For a second, she wondered, maybe because of rumors, particularly who Lia wanted to say this too. It could be a boy, though girls didn’t often tell boys they were beautiful (she had, and Thijs Märchen came to mind).

Téo glanced at the clock but mostly paid attention to Lia as she tried the words out, her smile a mix of entertained and endeared, just because it was Lia, and whatever her reasons, she seemed to be actually trying to learn the language.

“Not bad,” and it wasn’t. But they would have to work on the trilling sound, and Téo had been in the middle of thinking of the various exercises and things that could be done to help when Lia stood up. Téo looked a little surprised, but maybe she was getting up to do something with the potion, or needed to--Oh.

Her back hit the counter before the words even left the other girl’s mouth. If she had it in her to look away from Lia (she didn’t), she would’ve given the counter a very severe look. Téo opened her mouth, but nothing came out, and that damned counter still wasn’t budging. “I--" she tried again, finally ripping her gaze away from her and looked at the clock instead. “--have to do rounds.”

Téo slipped out from between the counter and Lia, disappearing out the door. To do rounds. Four minutes early.

[Lia Ayres]

Téo was laughing at her, which she took to mean that she hadn't done quite as well as she hoped. She frowned a little, trying to compare how it had sounded when she said it to how it sounded when Téo said it. There was an obvious difference, of course, but their accents were completely different. Perhaps that was what was stumping her.

But there were more important things that she wanted to think about. In particular, the gorgeous girl in front of her.

Téo backed away from her so fast that she briefly wondered if she smelled. She watched as Téo ran back into the counter before taking off for rounds even though it had definitely not been eight minutes yet.

If the older girl had looked back, she would have seen Lia's expression change to one of hurt and disappointment. Perhaps she shouldn't have been, though. She would have had to have been crazy to truly believe that Téo would think anything more of her than as just the potions nerd who hung out in the hospital wing apothecary more often than was probably normal.

She went back to her work, even though it was just simmering for another twelve or so minutes. They could probably use some pepper up potion as well. Anything to distract her from the sting of rejection.

Mid-October
Sometime after curfew
Fifth floor

It was a quiet night. They were supposed to be doing their own thing for patrols, but there was literally no one around, so she'd gone off to bother Téo instead. Patrols were less torturous with company anyway.

She'd mostly gotten over the whole rejection thing. She understood, of course. It was just a silly, schoolgirl crush and of course someone like Téo wouldn't think of someone like her in such a way. But that didn't mean that she couldn't stare at the older girl and think about her sometimes and try to find the odd excuse to spend time with her.

"I almost wish that someone would be out breaking curfew so we'd have something to do," she said as they wandered. It would break the monotony since it was at least a couple more hours before they would be able to go back to their common rooms. Not that she really wanted to find trouble, but it was something to do.

She glanced up at Téo, debating for the hundredth time if she should bring up the whole incident with the Spanish lessons. They hadn't really talked about it since then and it seemed like the longer that it didn't get brought up and they just pretended that it hadn't happened, the harder it was to considering mentioning. But Lia did feel kind of bad about it.

"Look, about that day in the hospital wing," she started, immediately losing her cool about the whole situation. She really, really shouldn't have brought it up. "Never mind. Forget I said anything."

She was such a dork.

[Maria Teodora Wittington]

Walking alongside the younger girl, Téo glanced, only occasionally, at her. But otherwise, she could act as if nothing had happened.

She walked with her hands casually in the pockets of her trousers (men’s trousers, really, but they were fitted to her form), and briefly, had the thought that as a Prefect, she should probably not continue to modify the uniform as she did. Because she was also wearing the white-button up, but tucked in, and it clearly had been adjusted too. In fact, the only thing untouched was the red and gold tie (except it was loose around her neck, flowing into the shirt).

At least the Prefect badge could be seen pinned on her chest. Good enough.

Téo couldn’t help the laugh at Lia’s words. “I don’t think we’re supposed to hope for trouble,” though, she completely understood. Patrols could be dull if nothing actually happened. It was basically just going for a late walk but in designated areas. Also, you had to take these walks.

“Look, about that day in the hospital wing,”

Téo bit her lower lip, barely looking at Lia, except for one quick side glance. As they walked, she, almost out of habit, started rolling the sleeves of the shirt up, as if she was about to get to work on something. But she wasn’t. Only walking, and waiting for Lia to say whatever it was she was going to say, overly aware of her own breathing.

“Never mind. Forget I said anything.”

Unsure of how she felt about this, Téo let out a quiet breath. “Does that mean you don’t think I’m beautiful?” She looked to the side at Lia, while still walking, and the smile on her lips was teasing, voice light. Part of her was telling herself to stop playing with fire, but sometimes, she couldn't help it.

This should really not be one of those times. But Lia Ayres made it a little too easy to tease.

Fully not prepared for her to respond though, Téo reached out to touch Lia’s arm faintly to stop their walk, “It’s okay,”  she wasn’t really sure what was okay, but she was mostly trying to ease Lia’s clear tension on the matter, “And, we could always continue the Spanish lessons?” Téo shrugged a shoulder, the smile easy, “Has to be better than this, right? Have you tried making that, well, sound you need?”

Téo wasn't really sure what to call it since she didn't need to think about it much.

[Lia Ayres]

Maybe she was dumb to bring it up. Maybe she should have just let the whole thing go. Maybe she should have never even thought that she and Téo could ever be more than friends or whatever exactly they were currently. But it was far too late for all of that now.

“Does that mean you don’t think I’m beautiful?”

Of all the things that Téo could have said, that was the one that Lia hadn't expected. Her jaw dropped, just for a moment, before she composed herself again. "No, of course not!" she said, perhaps a little too loudly. "I definitely still think you're gorgeous and I'm sure most of the school would agree with me, in all honesty."

She stopped herself quickly, not wanting to make more of a fool of herself than she already had. She could feel her face burning red. Thankfully, it was Téo to the rescue.

“And, we could always continue the Spanish lessons? Has to be better than this, right? Have you tried making that, well, sound you need?”

She smiled at the older girl, pleased that she had changed the subject so expertly. She was lucky to have all of this happening with someone as good at solving this as Téo. This could have gone so much worse.

"I've tried." She stressed the last word. "I can't make it sound like yours though." She had actually tried really hard, convinced that if she could just perfect that sound and be able to speak a few words in Spanish to impress the older girl. But it hadn't quite been going as well as she would have hoped. She wasn't going to be impressing anyone soon.

"Any suggestions on how I can actually do it?"

[Maria Teodora Wittington]

It had been very difficult to keep a straight face at Lia’s reaction, watching as her jaw dropped, and it was even harder to keep the laugh out of her voice at the other girl’s (loud) outburst of words. Well, if they were going to run into any trouble, that probably scared it off.

Not that Téo cared either way.

Though, Téo had laughed a little at the whole school part. She was sure that wasn’t true, or at least, couldn’t possibly be true. That was a lot of people, and she didn’t think she was that pretty (or gorgeous, in Lia's words).

She caught the younger girl's smile though at her suggestion to continue the lessons, and easily returned it, her own pulling a little more at the corners of her mouth. Lia was nearly pouting at this point.

“Any suggestions on how I can actually do it?”

Téo did laugh here, lightly, “I do; try speaking a little louder,” A beat, as Téo glanced around where they had paused their walk, and satisfied there was no one to see them just lounging, she leaned back against the stone of the archway they had stopped in.

“You also have to--” Téo paused, as she decided how to word it, “know the movements of your mouth and tongue, you’ll need to relax them.” Even as she said it, she wasn’t sure how one consciously relaxed their tongue. An amused grin curved red lips at the thought, “You need to get a real feel for how your mouth and jaw work, essentially, it'll help.”

“And, well, actually,” she said, interrupting herself, voice thoughtful, “focusing on using your diaphragm while trying the others might be better.” Seeing Lia’s expression as soon as she said diaphragm, Téo laughed again (quietly, since they were supposed to be patrolling).

“It’s here,” Téo said, leaning closer to put her hand below the lungs, hand held gently but steadily just under Lia's ribcage. “We’ll just focus on the breathing for now,” she continued, “So. Breathe in deeply, and when you go to let it out, push against my hand.”

[Lia Ayres]

“I do; try speaking a little louder."

Lia looked at Téo, frowning. There was no way that it was a volume issue; people speaking Spanish didn't just shout all the time or anything like that. But maybe that was how to get the sense of it, and then once you could do that, you could drop back down to normal volume.

She was about to give it a try when Téo continued.

“And, well, actually, focusing on using your diaphragm while trying the others might be better.”

She looked up at Téo, a look of confusion on her face. "My what?" She was pretty sure that she should have known that one, given that she spent so much time in the hospital wing. But she mostly just did potions there and ignored the other stuff.

The wind about got knocked out of her as Téo stepped closer, her hand resting on the bottom of her ribs. Her stomach erupted in butterflies at the touch and she was having a rather hard time focusing on what the older girl was saying, too transfixed by her eyes and the scent of her hair on the feel of her hands.

“So. Breathe in deeply, and when you go to let it out, push against my hand.”

Except Lia couldn't breathe. She tried, but the fluttering in her stomach was too much and she couldn't get more than a little air in. Téo was so close and she was by far the most beautiful girl that Lia had ever seen, how was she supposed to do silly things like breathing? Her eyes scanned Téo's face, landing on her lips.

She did it before she really thought about it. She moved forward, her lips finding Téo's. But her mind caught up to her actions a second later, causing her pull away, a look of horror on her face.

"Um, sorry," she said, her face flushing. "So, um, breathing."

As if Téo was going to want to continue Spanish lessons after that.

[Maria Teodora Wittington]

As her hand rested near Lia’s chest, she could feel the girl breathe, but not the way she was supposed to. It had been more erratic as soon as she had touched her; Téo bit her lower lip a little, thinking to what Lia had said in the Wing before she ran away.

She had a feeling that she should probably take her hand away, to take a step back.

She didn’t.

It was an oddly still and quiet moment, as neither of them moved, and she’d noticed Lia staring at her. But the only thing Téo seemed capable of doing was avoiding the younger girl’s eyes, listening to the echos of the castle around them and Lia’s breathing.

Téo realized, belatedly, that her hand, the one just below Lia’s ribs, had lessened in pressure, and her thumb was moving rhythmically in a gentle back-and-forth motion. It was completely without her permission or knowledge and as soon as she realized it, Téo went to take her hand away-- when she felt Lia push against it, but not how she instructed.

There wasn’t enough time.

Her hand was trapped between them, and at this angle, she easily could’ve pushed Lia back, stopped the leaning in, stopped the brush of Lia’s lips against hers, but she didn’t move. Téo felt the breath ripped from her, losing it between the other girl’s lips.

When Lia pulled back, Téo still hadn’t moved, except to lean back even further against the solid stone of the archway. Brown eyes didn’t leave green, even as the younger girl rambled about the lessons, and all she could do was look and try to breathe.

It didn’t work.

At some point, the hand at Lia's ribs had slipped behind the girl and to the small of her back, fingers splayed there. When she pulled her closer, Téo’s other hand found Lia’s jawline, guiding until their lips met again. The thoughts telling her to stop, to run, this was wrong, were muffled as Téo's hand slipped from Lia's jawline and to the nape of her neck, pulling her more into the kiss.

[Lia Ayres]

Kissing Téo wasn't really like she expected. She wasn't entirely sure what she had expected, but it wasn't what she got. It didn't feel like when she'd kissed Polly or Pax Fellwater or Henry or anyone else. Perhaps that was what made it so perfect, leaving her wanting more even as she pulled away.

If she was being totally honest, she expected the older girl to shove her off or run away or something. She'd made it pretty clear that she wasn't interested in anything like this with Lia the last time it had come up. Lia should have known better than to try and push her luck, but her brain didn't seem to work on the same page as her heart these days.

To her surprise, Téo's hand wrapped around her back, her other one on her jaw, kissing her again, ignoring her comments about breathing or Spanish or whatever she had been talking about. Lia wove her arms around the older girl's neck and waist, letting herself get lost in the intoxicating feeling of her lips.

She wasn't sure how long they were like that, too preoccupied with the feeling of Téo's kiss, her hands on her body, her warmth. It could have been days for all she knew, or maybe a few moments that just seemed to stretch out forever.

She pulled back, biting her lips nervously. "Um..."

What was she supposed to say? This wasn't at all supposed to happen and she didn't really have a plan for what happened next. The kiss had been amazing, but the last time she'd even tried to flirt with Téo, she'd basically ran away. So where did that leave them? What was she supposed to do now?

"That was um... nice."

She really needed to stop talking. She was not doing herself any favours here, not with a single thing that had come out of her mouth. Téo was going to think she was daft.

[Maria Teodora Wittington]

Téo’s brain hadn't caught up yet.

Even as she felt Lia pull away, effectively ending the kiss. But she hadn’t fully stepped out of their embrace. Neither of them had. Her hand was still at the other girl’s neck, and there was a steady pressure at her lower back, as Téo leaned against the archway.

She couldn’t quite look away but also was not looking directly at her, more so examining other angles, as if trying to understand the other girl better. Lia seemed to be producing words at least, causing Téo’s lips to twitch upward a little, despite the situation. It was more than she was producing or even comprehending at the moment.

Her hands were still on Lia. Waist, neck, in blonde hair and at the younger girl’s attempt at more words, Téo decided to attempt none. Before she could think, she was pulling Lia against her, bracing herself up against the stone, until their lips met again.

It was a movement; where she held the other girl against her, hand tightening where it held Lia’s waist, and the kiss intensified.

It was then that her brain caught up to her with frightening speeds.

“Lia,” Her lips met hers again because she was that close, and what was she doing? “Lia, wait.” in reality, Téo might’ve been saying this to herself just as much as she was to Lia. “We can’t.” Téo pulled back finally, enough to look the other girl in the eye, searching. “We shouldn’t be--”

--any of it. They shouldn't be doing any of this.

Shaking her head, while her breathing attempted to regulate, Téo ripped herself away, managing to maneuver herself out from between Lia and the stone at her back, because she couldn’t do this. What was she doing? “I have to go.”

Téo was already taking off down the corridor, in the complete opposite direction of the girl she was trying to rapidly leave behind.

[Lia Ayres]

Téo couldn't look at her when they split apart. She was still close and had her hands on her, but she was looking everywhere but Lia's eyes. As much as she enjoyed the older girl's embrace, the longer this went on, the more uncomfortable she became. Something was off.

Maybe she shouldn't be surprised. Téo hadn't wanted this, she knew that. It had been made pretty clear. And then this had happened and given where they had started, she really should have expected that this was where they were going to end up. She bit her lip, unsure of what she should do now.

But then Téo kissed her again.

She didn't know what that meant.

"Lia, Lia, wait. We can’t. We shouldn’t be--"

Why not though? What was wrong with this if they were both happy with it? No one had really cared when she was with Polly, nothing more than teasing or the usual stuff couples got hassled with in the corridor, much to her surprise. She couldn't see it being any different with Téo, and they weren't even really there yet. They were just snogging so far.

“I have to go.”

But before she could say anything or try to reassure Téo or anything like that, the older girl was gone, taking off down the hallway.

Lia stood there, watching Téo leave even after she had disappeared, trying to figure out what had just happened.

Late October
Immediately after Potions

She and Téo hadn't talked since the night they had kissed. Lia hadn't been sure what she was supposed to do or say. 'Hey, I liked snogging you, let's do it again'? She wasn't sure what exactly about it that had bothered the older girl so much, leaving her at a loss for how to start that conversation.

She hadn't been able to stop thinking about that kiss.

It had been running through her mind the entire time she was in potions class, causing her to boil over her potion, making a mess and ruining everything. Professor Hartley already hated her and this was definitely not going to help her case. She wasn't sure thinking about a girl was going to be a good enough reason for the mess though.

They really needed to talk about this. For the sake of her school work.

She cleaned up quickly, wanting to catch Téo before they headed to their next classes. She followed the older girl around the corner, blocking her path.

"We need to talk," she said, biting her lip. She should have thought this out better.

[Maria Teodora Wittington]

She almost made it.

Téo had a feeling Lia wanted to talk to her (because of course she probably did, how could she not?). But all the looks had made it even more obvious. She had just got her bag over her shoulder and went around a corner when she found herself suddenly backed into it.

“Jesus, Lia,” Téo whispered, both surprised and oh, god now that she finally had caught her.

“We need to talk,”

Téo could feel the corners of her mouth twitching upward, watching as Lia bit her lip, amused by the fact that that seemed to be about as far as the girl had planned. She tried not to be endeared by this, considering they were just out in the open (okay, it was in a corner, but it was still a spot other students were walking by or pausing to talk or do god knows what).

All Téo could think about was the fact that they could see them and could even be within earshot. They were already getting a few looks for the proximity Lia had them in.

“Not here,” she grabbed Lia’s hand and dragged her down the corridor. She knew, just down two more, and to the left, there was -- there, Téo opened the door to the empty classroom and pulled Lia inside.

Shutting the, mercifully windowless, door behind her, Téo realized: she had just trapped herself in an empty room with Lia Ayres.

Damn it.

Running a hand through her hair, Téo pushed off the door, throwing her bag down on what was clearly meant to be a professor’s desk and leaned back against it. “Okay,” Téo finally said, hands gripping the desk’s edge, as she met green eyes. “What do we need to talk about?”

It was almost difficult to say with a straight face.

[Lia Ayres]

“Not here."

Given how Téo seemed determined to avoid being near Lia at all, the fact that she dragged her into the empty classroom seemed rather amusing. Unless it was because she was going to kiss her again, but somehow, she didn't think that was going to happen. Not that she would complain if it did.

“What do we need to talk about?”

As if she didn't know! Lia was sure that Téo knew exactly what this was all about, but was going to make her say it anyway. Which was a problem because Lia hadn't exactly thought all of this through. Though that seemed to be a theme when it came to her love life.

"About the..." She was going to say kiss, but there was so much more to it than that. There were so many questions flying around in her head and she wasn't sure it was just as simple as a kiss. Why did Téo run away? Why was it a 'can't'? Why'd she do it in the first place? "When we..."

Instead of trying to sort it out, Lia just stepped forward and kissed her again.

[Maria Teodora Wittington]

Téo waited.

She had to bite her lip again, as Lia seemed to struggle with her words. She really hadn’t thought this through. For a moment, she felt some guilt, because she did know what the younger girl wanted to talk to her about.

But Téo had no idea, whatsoever, what to say about it. Not even to herself.

An eyebrow arched a little, as she tried not to smile too much at Lia's next attempt at words. Téo was about to move to help because as endearing as it was, she felt a bit bad about leaving it to the other girl to--

Téo’s guilt flew right out the damned window as soon as Lia’s lips met hers.

She had backed up when Lia had moved forward, but there was nowhere to go, again, and she nearly lost her balance in the process. But her fingers were wrapped around the desk’s edge too tightly, knuckles white, as she leaned backward, as Lia kissed her.

Téo brought both hands up after a moment of hesitation, gripping Lia’s arms as she leaned back over the desk, finding herself kissing back.

“Lia,” Téo tried, in the in-between times that their lips would part briefly, “This isn’t,” she brought a hand up to Lia’s face, holding it there, as she kissed her once more, a little harder, a little deeper, "talking." her voice was quiet then, pulling back just enough to meet the other girl's eyes.