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“Are you almost done?” Fig asks, dramatically sprawled out across the pillows on Adaine’s bed as she watches the girl scribble down notes in her spellbook, like she had been for the past hour and a half.
“You’re the one who asked to join me while I study,” Adaine murmurs distractedly, “I told you it’d take a while.”
“Alright, yeah, but I didn’t think it’d take this long. Also, I thought you’d be doing like… a bunch of cool magic stuff. I thought this’d be fun.”
Adaine snorts. “Being a wizard is way more boring than whatever you had in mind, unfortunately. It’s a lot of this.”
Fig huffs, sitting up and resting her chin in her hands as she watches Adaine, watching her gaze flit across the paper as she traces down a sigil.
“I can see you pouting in my peripheral vision, and I should just warn you I’m only going to go slower if you keep it up.”
“Adaiiiine.” Fig whines. She isn’t trying to be annoying, but she also totally is.
Adaine finally looks up, tilting her head at Fig and giving her a look. Unfortunately for her though, no amount of frustration can hide the affection in her gaze, and Fig revels in that.
“I will cast one spell. If you stop pestering me.”
Fig gasps, ears perking. “Deal.”
Adaine’s mouth curls into a small smile as she rolls her eyes, glancing down as flips through a few pages of her spellbook, before softly gasping as she lands on a page.
“Alright, I’ve got one. Now move back.” Adaine says, gesturing for Fig to scoot backwards as she adjusts, propping up her spellbook and bringing her hands together.
Fig has never been able to help the way she admires Adaine as she casts a spell. The way her hands move with such precision, the quiet whispering as she says the incantation under her breath, the way she manipulates the spell materials between her hands. It’s almost intoxicating, near impossible for Fig to pull her eyes away.
That quiet admiration is abruptly interrupted as Adaine shoots her hands up, a brilliant and bright array of colors spraying from her palms and at the ceiling, the sheer force of which sending her backwards right into Fig’s lap with a startled squeak.
The two sit in a stunned silence for several seconds as they both process what had just happened before they break into giggles.
Fig looks down at Adaine. “You alright?” She asks when her laughter finally dies down, leaving her both amused, and desperately trying to be so normal about the fact that ohmygods Adaine Abernant is currently in her lap.
“Yeah, I’m- I’m fine,” Adaine says softly, “I just hadn’t expected it to be that strong.”
Fig scoffs, “yeah, no kidding.”
The two sit quietly. Fig looks back up at the colors splattered across the ceiling. “How are you even gonna clean that?”
“I have… no clue.”
Fig laughs at her, “good job, babe,” she teases, patting the girl on the shoulder.
“Shut up.”
Fig just grins down at her, “you love me.”
Adaine rolls her eyes, “unfortunately.”
The reaction only makes Fig’s grin wider. She tilts her head, “oooh, bold words for the girl who is currently in my lap.”
That clearly got her. Adaine’s face flushes, and she makes a move to sit up. Fig stops her before she can, though, placing her hands on both of her shoulders and firmly but gently holding her down.
“Ah-ah, before you go-“ And before Adaine can say anything, Fig leans down and kisses her gently. She holds it for a few seconds, before pulling back, “gotta pay the toll.”
The reddish-pink blush on Adaine’s face only darkens, her eyes wide and lips very slightly parted.
The sight is both incredibly funny, and very slightly concerning to Fig. She can’t help the quiet laugh that comes from her. “You okay?” Even though the reaction is thoroughly amusing, she probably should make sure she hasn't gone too far. Just to be safe.
“Y-yeah, that was— that was good.” Adaine sits up, clearing her throat, “that was… really good.” She murmurs, shortly before she smiles the absolute dorkiest smile Fig has ever seen on her. Fig feels like she’s going to die on the spot from sheer cuteness.
“Yeah?” Fig asks, tilting her head as her hands just happen to find their way onto Adaine’s waist, “you liked that?”
“Yeah, I just…” Adaine glances away, the smile that is absolutely killing Fig not fading in the slightest, “I just kinda forgot we can… do that now.”
Fig raises an eyebrow. “You forgot we can… kiss?”
“Yeah. I forgot we can kiss and stuff now.”
“…you do know we’ve been dating for like 2 months now, right?”
“Well, I mean—“ Adaine sputters slightly, “I just- we’ve been friends for almost 3 years, and now we’re more than friends, so it’s just like- it’s new, y’know? It’s new to me, so like—“
“Adaine, Adaine,” Fig cuts her off, amused at the sudden defensiveness, “I was kidding. You’re okay. It’s okay if you’re still getting used to this, I’m not upset.”
Adaine sighs softly. “... Sorry”
“Hey,” Fig brushes some hair out of Adaine’s face, “don’t apologize. You’re all good.”
Fig’s gaze has softened considerably as she looks at Adaine, hands moving back down to their previous position on her hips, lightly rubbing them with her thumbs. She would never say it aloud, but Fig can’t help but find Adaine’s jumpiness incredibly adorable.
That softness, however, is replaced by a smirk as an idea pops into Fig’s mind. “Y’know…” she murmurs, glaze briefly flicking down to Adaine’s lips, “if you wanna get used to something, I’ve learned the best way to do that is by practicing…”
Adaine tilts her head slightly, “what does that— oh.” A look of understanding dawns on her face that makes Fig want to melt. Gods, Adaine really has no idea how much she is killing Fig.
“Do you want to?”
“…Can we?” Adaine asks softly, an almost hopeful look on her face.
Fig snorts. “Can we?” She repeats back teasingly.
“Well, I don’t know- what am I supposed to say? I’ve never done this before.”
Fig laughs, “yes, I know, I know. You’ve just discovered you’re allowed to kiss the girl you’ve been dating for 2 months, even though we have kissed about a billion times, my bad.”
Adaine’s shoulders slump.
“I’m teasing.”
Adaine huffs, an adorable pout on her face.
“No but seriously, do you want to? Like… kiss?”
It looks like she tries to resist it, but that stupid, dorky smile once again returns to Adaine’s face, “yeah.”
Fig doesn’t need to be told twice. Hands still planted on Adaine’s hips, Fig leans in, shutting her eyes as their lips meet. Instantly, Fig feels the same sparks fly that she felt when she kissed her for the first time, because gods how could she not? She’s kissing Adaine fucking Abernant. She knows at least three guys and one girl at Aguefort who would kill for this opportunity, and she gets to do it whenever she wants! She can go up to Adaine’s room and kiss her (given she ignores the teasing from Aelwyn), just because she can! And of course kissing is nowhere near the #1 reason she’s dating her but damn is it a perk.
Fig had heard the metaphor of “finding water in a desert” a few times in reference to kissing, and had always scoffed at it. Surely, surely, nobody had ever felt that desperate when kissing someone. It was just hyperbole, right?
But gods, Fig sure as hell got it now.
It’s almost magical, the way Adaine can suddenly pull Fig in like a magnet, as if all Fig was made to do was just be as close to her as possible. Every small touch from Adaine, every quiet sound she makes, it just draws Fig in more and more.
Even the slight clumsiness of Adaine’s hands as she tries to find where to place them, eventually landing on the side of Fig’s face, makes Fig’s heart flutter. She is so hopelessly smitten for this girl.
As the kiss deepens, Fig’s hands only press closer into Adaine’s sides, fingers curling into her shirt like her girlfriend might slip away if she doesn’t keep a good hold on her.
Unfortunately, though, as much as Fig is enjoying this kiss, she does still need to breathe.
With her face flushed, Fig just barely parts from the kiss, her nose touching Adaine’s as she opens her eyes.
“How’re you doing?” Fig asks breathlessly, just barely restraining herself from going right back in.
Adaine takes a moment to respond, looking absolutely starstruck, her face pink and breaths heavy. Fig takes great pride in causing that.
“Good.” Adaine just barely whispers, like she remembered she actually has to verbally respond to Fig’s question.
Fig wastes absolutely no more time, and before either of them can say anything else she leans right back in.
As the kiss continues in, Fig finds herself wanting more of this gorgeous girl in her arms. The need to just be as close to Adaine as possible is overpowering.
So, in a moment of impulse, Fig’s hands move up to Adaine’s shoulders, and she just barely remembers to murmur ‘hold on’ to her before she pushes her back onto the bed, Adaine’s head nearly colliding with her now long forgotten spellbook as they land on the comforter.
Fig pulls back just enough so she can speak, “was that okay?”
“…yeah” Adaine sounds stunned, but not upset, “that was… wow. Good. Wow.”
The girls both laugh softly, breath mingling.
Fig feels dazed, not only because she was maybe a bit overzealous with how fast she pushed Adaine down, but also because holy shit she is currently on top of Adaine Abernant. If she died right here, right now, she would die the happiest person on Spyre.
Fig can barely think straight, the only thing on her mind being the girls underneath her as their lips once again crash together. She wants— no, needs, more. Before she knows it, her hands are trailing down Adaine’s hips and slipping under her shirt.
As soon as her hands make contact with the soft skin, Adaine goes rigid, freezing up as if time itself had suddenly stopped. Even her breathing seems to still.
The sudden change is… jarring, to say the least. ‘What the hell just happened?’ Fig thinks to herself as she pulls back, half expecting to see Adaine’s eyes glowing with a very inconveniently timed premonition.
But, no, Adaine’s eyes are normal, aside from the fact that they’re staring up at Fig, wide and terrified.
Fig feels worry shoot through her like lightning. Had she been too forward with the hands under the shirt? Had she just triggered a panic attack? Adaine was pretty open about her life before Fig knew her, but maybe she had just unintentionally resurfaced some ugly memories Adaine didn’t talk about.
Fig scrambles off of her in a heartbeat, Adaine immediately sitting bolt upright shortly after. Fig puts her hands up, showing that they’re no longer near Adaine.
“Easy, easy, you’re okay, ‘Daine.” Fig says, keeping her voice soft and calm despite the intense concern, “you’re safe, you’re safe.”
Adaine’s gaze flicks to Fig, breathing unsteady. Fig had triggered something bad, clearly.
Just as Fig starts to back up to give Adaine space, the girl practically lunges forward into a hug with Fig, forcing all the air out of her as she lets out a soft “oof.”
Fig wastes absolutely no time. After taking a brief moment to process everything that had just happened she wraps her arms around her, keeping them loose enough that Adaine can pull away if she wants to, “okay, it’s okay. I’ve got you babe, you’re safe, you’re alright.”
She runs her hand up and down Adaine’s back, murmuring a string of reassurances to her.
Eventually, though, Adaine pulls back just enough for Fig to get a good look at her face. She looks so shaken, and Fig can see that she’s just seconds away from bursting into tears.
“Hey, talk to me girl,” Fig says gently, bringing her hands up to cup Adaine’s face, “what’s going on? Can you talk?
“Y-yeah.” Adaine mumbles, breath hiccuping as tears begin to fall down her cheeks.
“Okay, that’s good,” Fig uses her sleeve to wipe Adaine’s face, “can you take a breath for me?”
Fig gestures with her hand as she takes an exaggerated deep breath, which Adaine follows.
“‘S not a panic attack.”
“…Oh, okay, that- that’s good, then. That’s great.” Fig is both relieved and further confused at the new information. Relieved, of course, because she doesn’t want her girlfriend to have to deal with a panic attack. But also confused, because she now has absolutely no clue what’s going on. “Can you tell me what’s wrong then?”
Adaine shakes her head, before promptly sobbing as she tucks her face back into Fig’s shoulder.
“Okay, okay,” Fig brings a hand down to rub Adaine’s back, trying to do anything she can to soothe her, “I’ve got you, it’s alright.”
Adaine not being able to tell Fig what’s going on is… admittedly not great. But Fig can figure that out later. Calm down her sobbing girlfriend now, then figure out what’s gotten her this upset in the first place.
“You wanna lay down, hm?” Fig just wants to do anything to make Adaine comfortable, so when she nods in response to her question, Fig carefully lowers the two of them onto the bed, not daring to let go of Adaine as she lays down next to her.
And so, Fig lays there for gods know how long, softly whispering soothingly as she gently tracing random shapes into her arm and back.
Slowly, the tears pouring down Adaine’s face slow to a trickle, and her breathing calms, and Fig’s worry finally eases, just a little.
“Hey girl,” Fig softly murmurs, “you wanna talk about it?”
Adaine glances away, then gives a small nod.
“Great.” Fig hums for a moment, bringing a hand up to rub Adaine’s cheek as she tries to think of where to start. “Are you in pain at all? Does something hurt?” Fig knew that probably wasn’t what the problem was, but she also knew that Adaine sometimes had a hard time verbalizing pain, so Fig just wanted to make sure.
Adaine, thankfully, shakes her head.
Fig can’t help the relieved sigh that comes from her. “Alright, good. That’s good… did- did I do something wrong?”
Adaine responds verbally this time. However, it wasn’t the answer Fig was expecting to hear.
“No, it—“ Adaine faintly shakes her head, shutting her eyes as more tears prickle in her eyes, “I did.”
“…what?”
“I did something wrong. I did.”
“What, no, Adaine—“ Fig is completely dumbfounded by that answer. “Hey, no, look at me.”
Adaine’s eyes open, glossy with fresh tears and full of shame and fear, like she’s just waiting for Fig to yell at her.
“You didn’t do anything wrong, okay?” Fig’s voice is firm, but still gentle. She wants to shut down this line of thinking as soon as possible, but doesn’t want to upset Adaine any more than she already is, “you’re not in trouble, you haven’t done anything wrong, you’re okay.”
Adaine shakes her head, sitting up and wrapping her arms around herself, looking away from Fig as more tears begin to roll down her face. “I did.”
Fig suppresses a huff. She isn’t a fan of how stubborn Adaine is on this, but making Adaine think she’s mad at her will do so much more harm than good at the moment. “I promise, you didn’t. I would have told you if you did something wrong.”
Adaine shakes her head once more, not budging at all.
Okay. Okay Fig can figure this out. If she can figure out what’s bothering Adaine when she’s fully unable to talk, or about to have a meltdown, she can figure this out.
Fig sits up, placing a gentle hand on Adaine’s arm. “Can you look at me?”
Thankfully, Adaine does. A start.
“Can you- can you tell me what you think you did wrong?”
Adaine takes a long, shuddering breath.
“I- I didn’t… I didn’t tell you something when…” Fig can tell by the strain in her voice that she is just moments away from sobbing again, “when we first started dating.”
Fig feels her heart sink, mind immediately racing to try and figure out what that could possibly mean.
“…O-okay, that… What do you mean? What didn’t you- what didn’t you tell me?”
Adaine looks away, and Fig reaches over and gently turns her face to look right back at her. “Adaine, what didn’t you tell me?” Worry seeps into her voice as she looks at Adaine, mind going through every possible bad scenario at a rapid pace.
Adaine tries to turn her face away, but Fig doesn’t let her.
“Adaine, talk to me. You can write it down if you need to, but you need to talk to me,” an almost desperation mixes with Fig’s worry, “please.”
Adaine’s bottom lip wobbles, and one of her hands comes up to fiddle with her hair. “Fig…”
Fig nods encouragingly, silently pleading Adaine to continue, feeling almost sick with concern at this point.
Finally, after an almost torturous silence, Adaine speaks, averting her gaze as she does;
“Fig I’m asexual.”
The words linger in the air for a long time, a wave of different emotions going through Fig. First, surprise, then relief, then confusion. That was what Adaine was so terrified of sharing?
“Okay.” Fig says, bringing her hand down to rub Adaine’s arm, “thank you for telling me, ‘Daine. I’m- I’m really glad you told me that, instead of feeling like you were forced to do something you didn’t want to do.”
Adaine eyes dart to Fig, now looking… just as confused as Fig is.
“Fig, I’m asexual… I- I don’t experience sexual attraction. Like… at all.”
Fig smiles faintly, “yeah, I know what Asexual means, babe. You’re okay, it’s okay.”
“…Fig.” Adaine’s voice is almost curt, stating her name like Fig is clearly missing something. Like there’s some sort of huge problem that Fig hasn’t picked up on.
“What?”
Silence once again hangs in the air as the two stare each other down, before it finally clicks for Fig.
“Did you— Adaine, did you think I’d be… upset?”
Adaine gives a firm nod.
Fig is left almost speechless by that response. Had Adaine seriously thought Fig would be angry that she was asexual? Of course, she knew there was probably nothing personal behind it, but she can’t help but feel a little hurt Adaine would assume that.
But, her feelings aren’t what’s important right now. They can talk about that later.
“Ad’, what… what made you think that?”
“‘Cause you aren’t asexual.” Adaine says it so matter-of-factly, as if it was so obviously the issue here.
“…yeah.” Fig says, once again not quite sure what Adaine is trying to get at.
“So- so that means you experience sexual attraction. So since we’re dating, at some point you will- you will want to—“ Adaine gestures vaguely with the hand that isn’t currently in her hair.
“…have sex?”
Adaine nods.
After processing that for several seconds, the pieces finally click into place. Fig finally understands what Adaine had gotten so worked up about.
Fig speaks slowly, wanting to make sure she had this right, “and you were worried that you not wanting to have sex would… make me unhappy.”
Adaine nods, bringing her hand up to wipe a stray tear from her face.
“…did you- did you think I only asked you out because I wanted to have sex with you?” Fig dreads the answer, but the question needs to be asked.
Fig lets out the heaviest sigh of relief when Adaine shakes her head.
“Well, no, of- of course not, but—“ Adaine looks away, wrapping a strand of hair around her finger, “sex is… an important part of relationships for- for non ace people.”
“Not for everyone.”
“For most of them.”
Fig sighs softly, shoulders slumping. “Ads’…” Fig brings up her hands to cup Adaine’s face, “...I’m gonna tell you something, and I need you to listen, okay? I’m not upset, but you need to listen to me.”
Adaine nods.
Fig takes a deep breath. “When I first asked you out, at no point was I thinking about ‘oh man, I can’t wait to have sex with her’… you wanna know what I was thinking?”
“…what?”
“I was thinking, ‘holy shit, I get to date this… incredible, funny, smart and absolutely beautiful girl who I’ve been best friends with since my freshman year, and I’ve been in love with for like… 2 years now. I am the luckiest person in fucking Elmville’”
Fig lets what she said linger, before continuing.
“I’m not dating you because I think you’ll be good in bed. I’m dating you because I’m in love with you,” Fig uses her thumbs to wipe at the tears on Adaine’s face, “and if you weren’t asexual, the only thing sex would be to me is a nice bonus. But it’s not a priority.”
Adaine places her hands over Fig’s, her breath shuddering.
“…you promise?”
“Promise.”
Fig guides Adaine’s head into her shoulder, the girl practically becoming putty in her arms as she sobs shakily.
“Alright, there we go, c’mon,” Fig softly murmurs, wrapping her arms around Adaine, “you’re gonna be okay.”
As she traces circles into Adaine’s back, for the first time since this whole thing started, Fig feels Adaine relax in her arms.
Adaine’s sobs are relatively short lived, and soon the room falls quiet, the only sound being Adaine and Fig’s soft breathing.
“Y’know…” Fig starts, pressing a light kiss into the side of Adaine’s head, “when you said you had something to tell me, I really thought you were gonna tell me something like… awful.”
Fig had never thought the laughter of someone could be so soothing, but, as Adaine quietly giggles in her arms, she can’t help but find it the most calming sound in the universe at the current moment.
“Yeah, I thought you were gonna tell me you had like… killed someone or something,” Fig snickers softly to herself, “and even then, that wouldn’t even be like… that big a deal, given the fact that we’re in an adventuring party together.”
Her and Adaine laugh together, and Fig presses another kiss on her head.
“Sorry I… freaked you out, I should’ve just—“
“Nope,” Fig interrupts, “no sorries. You haven’t done anything you need to apologize for.”
“But—“
“Adaine.”
“I’m just saying—“
Before she can say anything further, Fig tilts her head back and plants a firm kiss on her lips.
“No sorries.”
“…yeah, uh- message received.”
Fig snorts, before kissing Adaine one more time.
There’s a small smile on Adaine’s face as Fig pulls back again, “…thank you Fig.”
“My pleasure.”
Adaine nuzzles herself into Fig’s neck, letting out a quiet sigh. As she holds Adaine close, Fig’s gaze drifts over to Adaine’s spellbook, still open to Color Spray. The spell that had started this whole mess.
“You uh… you gonna finish studying, or…?”
Adaine groans faintly. “Fuck studying. I’m tired.”
“Ohmygods, I am so fucking glad you said that, if I had to watch you draw one more sigil I was gonna go crazy.”
Her and Adaine both laugh, a welcome return to normalcy as Fig pulls the two of them down onto the bed, Adaine snuggled up in her arms.
With a newfound sense of calm, the two peacefully drift off to sleep, curled up on Adaine’s bed together.