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 Posted: Tue Nov 19, 2024 8:43 pm
   As he explained the local fauna, Ivy's eyes shined. She'd never really gotten to see a squirrel properly. Just a little blur from her window when she got the urge to sit by it. Or a deer here and there, grazing in the fields near her home. The idea of getting to go out and actually see one in person? Thrilling, exciting, bucket list item. It was genuinely hard to imagine anything else that would be as exciting. Until Alex mentioned feeding the ducks.
Mouth forming a small 'o', she looked up at him with wonder. "You're allowed to feed them?" The question died between them as he took her hands, guiding them under his shirt and over the ridged planes of his abdomen. Was... was she allowed to move her hands? Gods she wanted to. Ivy had barely been able to rip her eyes away from where her wrists disappeared under his shirt to find Alex's with the unspoken question. Unfortunately, he had seemed to misunderstand. Curse her natural glare.
"N-no. No. It's fine! Um. More than fine, actually. This is... nice? Like, uh, I don't know what it's like to touch anyone. Wait. Not like that. Well, yes also like that. What I mean is this is... I don't..." Oh god. Oh god. Shut up. Stop it. Too much. Now he thinks we're weird. What would Lord Stuffington say? Or worse? Percival.
Dropping her gaze back down to the floor, Ivy didn't know what to do. Every fiber of her being wanted to lean in, to let her hands trail around his waist, and to give in to the clawing need to curl into him that was growing within her. But how would he react? What was too far? Would he be angry? The idea of making the wrong choice was terrifying. Were social settings always like this? Her voice dimmed, becoming little more than a breathy whisper as she finished her rambling thought. "I don't know what's okay."
Despite the worry that was now clouding her features Ivy did not pull her hands away. There was a part of her that was too greedy for the contact to let go. A part of her she was struggling to give words to so that she could explain herself. Instead she took one breath. Then another. When he didn't seem interested in breaking that contact either she raised her head, trying to grasp the least embarrassing thing that she could right now. "Do you want to go for a walk?" She glanced back at her painting, still untouched. "I can clean up. Only if you want though."
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art room ✞︎ alex ✞︎ outfit
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Posted: Sun Nov 24, 2024 1:30 pm
Alex couldn’t help smiling a little when he looked at Ivy, her eyes shining with wonder as he described just regular old being outside. He hadn’t said anything that would have excited him, but she looked like a gothy Disney princess ready to go sing to some woodland creatures until her prince showed up. ”Yeah, sure. I mean, who’s going to stop you? Just take some bread and tear it up and toss it in the water. Actually, lots of birds’ll eat some bread if you drop little pieces on the ground for ‘em.”
Why couldn’t he have just stuck to talking about ducks or whatever instead of actually grabbing her hands and shoving them under his shirt? Damn, he was such a ******** idiot. But it was nice… He had just meant to warm up her hands, but obviously that had the added benefit of getting to just enjoy her hands on him. He kind of half expected she would pull back though, but until then he was just going to enjoy it.
Or… Ivy could straight up surprise him and say some s**t like she pulled it out of his own head. Sure, he knew what it was like to touch someone, but only when he ******** paid for it and only for short periods of time. He didn’t dare let his touch linger for fear that too much of his poison would seep through the skin. A short high didn’t hurt his partners much, it wouldn’t kill them, but he didn’t want to find out what would happen if he ever just spent the night next to someone.
”I get it… Believe it or not, I get it. You were kept away from people, so of course you wouldn’t have that kind of experience. It was different for me, but… With a power like mine, I mostly keep my hands to myself. So yeah… this is nice for me, too.” Alex hoped that maybe admitting as much would make Ivy feel a little less embarrassed about her own admission. s**t, there wasn’t anything wrong with actually just enjoying touch anyway, was there?
Ivy had the same question, of course, Just with a lot less worldly experience to base her answers on. ”It’s different with different people. It’s better to ask first since some people really don’t react well to being touched out of nowhere.” He should know; he was one of them. ”Tell you what, you don’t have to ask me, though. Just make sure I know it’s you. Like I said, this is nice for me, too.” It should have been embarrassing to say something like that, but it wasn’t. He was too focused on trying to make things easier on Ivy to be embarrassed by his own bullshit.
Alex wasn’t expecting Ivy to want to go for a walk right then, but he grinned and nodded without hesitation. ”Sure. If you’re sure; you were kind of busy before I showed up.” Truth be told, he definitely wanted to go on that walk, though. He wanted to be there with Ivy the first time she saw a squirrel or fed a duck or whatever. He wanted to see that wonder in her eyes for as long as it would last until just going outside was as normal for her as it was for everyone else. It was the cutest ******** thing and he was here for it. ”We definitely gotta swing by the kitchen and get some bread on our way out.”
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Posted: Thu Nov 28, 2024 8:00 pm
The fact that it was nice for him too made her look back up at him in surprise. Then it occurred to her what he had told her only a handful of minutes ago. Poison. His touch was poison. Not everyone was like her, so Alex had to keep his hands to himself. The idea of it almost broke her heart. Like holy crap it was bringing tears to her eyes. Not being able to touch anyone when you were so freaking hot? Actually tragic. It also meant that she was the only person he could safely touch.
It felt like a spell was between them. Ivy was stuck in this moment, staring into Alex's eyes like he had this otherworldly knowledge and had chosen to let her take part. A sense of pride welled within her. Pride and something else. Longing. Longing for something that only she could give to him. Letting her hands drift further up, her mouth opened. "Would you hold me?" There was a silence between them. It didn't occur to her at first how that sounded. Then she realized what she said and regret flooded her. "Wait. Oh gods. No. That was-" Stupid? Moronic? Literally the dumbest thing she could have ever said with her whole mouth?
Pulling her hands back, she stumbled back to her feet. Why was it so hard to look natural right now? Other than the super duper hottie that she just asked to hug her like it was the most normal thing in the world. Next she'd be asking him to rail her in the garden like one of her books. Oh gods! She couldn't think about that right now. Not when he was right here and so hot and she was the only one who could touch him without beefing it or something.
Turning back to her painting station she hurriedly tried to start putting the paints and brushes away. "Sorry." She wasn't really that sorry. Embarrassed? Yes. Absolutely. Who wouldn't be? He was going to think she was some horny idiot. Which she was, but he didn't have to know that. No, instead she would move on from this like it never happened. Unless he wanted it to. Maybe. Wait no. Thinking like that would be too hopeful.
"I wasn't busy..." Pulling her canvas off of the easel she paused, her head dropping in thought. After a moment she returned to putting the canvas back on the drying rack where she had originally pulled it from. "I don't know how to..." Letting her voice trail off she stood there wringing her empty hands together. Why was this so hard to explain? Well, other than not having all the right words for it. And her mind was running a mile a minute on what he could look like shirtless. Underneath her. In the garden. Maybe that would have to be her next painting... No, focus! "What I mean is, I've always done the same things. Mostly. I don't know what it's like to not do them."
Oh. Oh no. In doing her best avoiding wanting to ******** him she'd now come too close to the truth. But then... Ivy raised her head, turning back to Alex. "It's kind of scary, don't you think?" She could feel her heart pounding in her chest as she asked. What did she look like? Probably like a deer in headlights. Still she held out her hand, pushing through the twist in her tummy. "I can show you where the kitchens are. If you, you know, haven't found them yet."
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art room ✞︎ alex ✞︎ outfit
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Posted: Fri Nov 29, 2024 7:43 pm
Ivy looked pretty surprised. Was it really all that strange? Lots of people liked to be touched, right? And somebody like him just didn’t get much opportunity to experience it. But Ivy could touch him; it was totally safe. And he was being really ******** greedy about it, but who could blame him? Opportunities like this were literally once in a lifetime. And Ivy was pretty ******** hot; who wouldn’t want her hands all over them? Seriously. He’d have to be dead or completely gay or something.
Alex was neither of those things. Ivy’s hands traveled up over his abdomen and then she opened her mouth and blew his mind. Hold her? ********, he’d love to, but then Ivy changed her mind pretty much immediately. s**t. He should have taken the opportunity while he still could have.
Should he say something? Alex hesitated a moment too long and Ivy was pulling away, stumbling to her feet. Yeah, all good things came to an end and all that. It wasn’t like they could just stay in the art room forever, Ivy’s hands under his shirt. And it wasn’t like they could go on that walk with her hands up there, either. Well, then again, maybe they could but it wasn’t like he’d actually expect something like that to happen.
”Hey, nothing to be sorry about.” Alex reassured her, offering a small smile. Why should she be sorry? For wanting to touch him as much as he wanted to touch her? Maybe not even as much; it was hard to imagine that anybody was as desperate for a little skin to skin as he felt sometimes. It was enough to drive anybody crazy.
She didn’t know how to… what? Alex watched as Ivy wrung her hands awkwardly. It was almost hard to believe this shy girl was the same one who had invited a random guy to ******** her. Then again… it wasn’t too different from her outburst just now. It was like the words just popped out of her mouth before she could think them through, leaving her embarrassed for having said them. That explained a bit, actually.
And it wasn’t surprising that Ivy was kind of stuck in a rut. What choice did she have when she wasn’t allowed to go anywhere or do anything out of the norm? Now she was finally out on her own, more or less, but she didn’t even know what to do with her newfound freedom. That would be kind of scary, now that he thought about it. Every new place, every new face, every new interaction fraught with pitfalls she didn’t know how to avoid. He couldn’t really tell her to just not be afraid of it, but he sure as hell didn’t want her being that afraid of him.
”Hey, Ivy. C’mere.” He reached for the hand she’d held out and pulled her into him, wrapping his arms around her. Damn, she was squishy in all the right places. One hand drifted up her spine and over her shoulder where he could appreciate her soft, bare skin. ”I told you, didn’t I? It’s nice for me, too. I’ll hold you anytime you let me.” The only problem was that he definitely liked this too much for his own good. He was trying to look Ivy in the eyes, but he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t looked right into her cleavage in the process. Ah, ********… Well, not like he ever claimed to be a gentleman. He had said he wasn’t a creep, though. ******** style="color: #6a7e8a">”It’s alright if you’re a little scared sometimes. Anything’s gonna be scary the first time around. But it’s worth it. And you’ve got me if you ever need a little moral support. So make the most of it, yeah?” Alex rested his forehead against Ivy’s and closed his eyes for a moment. He just wanted to appreciate the moment a little. ”You can show me to the kitchen whenever you’re ready, but until then? I’m going to just enjoy the s**t out of this, alright? Just slap me or something if I pitch a tent.”
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Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2024 7:22 pm
A small noise bubbled up out of Ivy's throat as Alex pulled her into him. As his hand drifted ever so softly up her spine she shivered into him, his face slowly moving up as he moved to stand against her. This was not a drill. He was actually hugging her. Just like she had asked him to. The soft brush of his fingers against her bare shoulder was enough to send a flurry of butterflies through her veins.
At first she didn't know what to do. Actually like she didn't even know what to do a small amount. This was more affection than even her parents were willing to give her and here Alex was dishing it out like there was more he could serve. At his full height he was, like, actually still taller than her. Even in the small heels she had been wearing. It made it almost hard to listen to him say that it was okay to be scared. Almost. But she did hear it. And then his forehead pressed against hers. For a moment she was wishing he would just lean down ever so slightly and bridge the gap between their mouths so she could really find out how his lip ring would feel in her mouth.
But then she registered what he said.
Slowly her arms came up, traveling up his back before balling the fabric of his hoodie into her fists over his shoulder blades. Part of her wanted to cry. Part of her still wanted to kiss him. The part Ivy listened to crumpled down, pressing her face into the crook of his neck. Smelling him had not been intentional. Holy crap did he smell good though. Like who knew boys could smell this good? Why didn't they teach this in school? Boy smell could make someone certified crazy. More importantly? She felt safe, nuzzled into his arms like they could both ignore the fact that her massive tracts of land were kind of in the way and getting real, real squished between them.
Taking in a deep breath to try to calm down so she didn't look even more crazy as she tried not to cry - which also happened to backfire on her and force her to breathe in more of Alex's scent and drive her even more crazy - Ivy let out a small laugh. "You don't even have a tent." Still keeping her face pressed into his neck, she scrunched her nose in thought. "Also, we're inside. How would you pitch a tent?"
Finally feeling okay enough to show her face again, Ivy pulled back. It took her a moment to meet his eyes after she did. The only thing that was preventing her from pulling back was that Alex had said himself that he was enjoying this. He wouldn't lie... right? Shifting one of her hands to weasel it up between their bodies was both easier and harder than she had expected. On the one hand, her ample chest pressed between them left plenty of space between them so she could wiggle a hand between them. It did, however, mean that the entirety of his chest was taken with her own being smooshed into him. So she let her hand travel further up, her thumb brushing gently over the metal imbedded in his lip before her hand found a resting spot on his shoulder. Her eyes flickered between his lips and trying to meet his gaze as she finally spoke again. "Is there anything else I should know before we go outside?"
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art room ✞︎ alex ✞︎ outfit
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Posted: Wed Dec 18, 2024 10:37 pm
Ivy made a surprised little sound and shivered against him before going still. Alex worried about her a little, knowing the poor girl was probably at a loss for what was happening or what was supposed to happen next. It was fine, though. It wasn’t like he was expecting her to do anything specific. As long as she was alright with being held like this; just because she had said it didn’t mean she couldn’t have changed her mind. But Alex didn’t think it was that, at least. Hell, if it was, he had given her full on permission to slap him, right?
Instead her hands traveled over his back before bunching in the fabric of his hoodie. Her face nestled against his neck and Alex smiled a little as Ivy seemed to make herself comfortable. Good. It would be pretty messed up if he was the only one enjoying this. And he was enjoying it a little too much. With Ivy’s chest squished against him and her soft breaths tickling the skin of his neck, he was definitely going to earn himself a slap. Worth it, though.
Or… Ivy had no idea what the hell he was talking about. A short laugh escaped before he could shut it down; he didn’t want to laugh at Ivy. She just didn’t know. But damn, it was funny and kind of cute. He wasn’t even sure if he should tell her what he meant. Then again, it might not be a good idea to let her run off repeating it without knowing what he meant.
But then Ivy distracted him, her hand traveling up to his face where her thumb brushed over his lip ring. He was a simple man with a simple brain; a touch like that made him want to just lean in and kiss her then and there. Only two thoughts actually stopped him. For one thing, he didn’t want to push Ivy into anything she hadn’t signed up for. He had to keep reminding himself that she grew up locked away and isolated; she probably had no idea the thoughts she was putting in his head. For another thing, if he kept just doing what he wanted, they were never going to make it outside. And he wanted that too, maybe even more than he wanted to just kiss her. Seeing the wonder of new discoveries in her eyes was going to be more than worth it.
Right, things she should know before going outside. ”Yeah… It might be a little chilly. And the ground will be uneven in places. If you’ve got like a sweater or something and some comfy shoes… Though you look pretty hot in this dress, not gonna lie. Yeah, that reminds me. Pitching a tent… in my pants. You know, a hard-on. Sorry, not sorry; gonna happen when I’m this close to a pretty girl. Nothing some brisk outside air won’t fix; should we get going?” If he hadn’t just scared her off by being too damned honest. Well, s**t, he should have thought of that before he opened his big mouth. Maybe they could just… pretend he wasn’t just talking about his erection.
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Posted: Fri Dec 27, 2024 5:49 pm
When the laugh bubbled out of Alex she wasn't sure if she was supposed to be happy she'd made him laugh or upset he was laughing at her. Neither really mattered though. Instead Ivy was hyper focused on how it felt. How it made his chest shake against hers, how she could feel his breath fluttering her hair. Was... was this what her parents warned her about? Was this an addiction? Those were supposed to be, like, super bad and scary and they made people do bad things that were totally against a good judge of character. But this? This felt nice. This was something she could get lost in. Something she never wanted to end.
Alex was looking at her like he agreed. The look was enough to send another flutter through her stomach. Then he opened his mouth and a hot flush traveled down over her shoulders and disappearing under her dress. Oh my god. Oh my god he was talking about his d**k and I didn't even notice. I must look so stupid. What if he doesn't like me anymore? He called me pretty though. But do guys just... get aroused when any woman touches them? Or is it because he thinks I'm pretty? Is this...? Her racing mind trailed off as she gazed up at the duke. There were so many questions that were swirling around her head, but she couldn't seem to find the voice for them. Or the answers. Especially to the most important question that had trailed across her mind. Did she want this to be something they 'fixed'?
The choice wasn't entirely hers. He'd offered to take her outside and they weren't exactly doing that right now. In fact, if they did what was running through her mind at the moment Ivy was, like, ninety-nine percent sure that instructor Vincent would be both incredibly disappointed and also super upset. So instead of finding herself bent against and easel with her super hot new friend behind her and pulling her skirts up, Ivy peeled herself reluctantly away from Alex. The hand on his shoulder slowly slipping down to thread into his. Giving his hand a small squeeze, she tried to remember what they were supposed to do before they went outside. It was hard to remember when she was busy visualizing how hard he could be railing her right now.
Wait. Right. Kitchen. "Um the bread is..." Letting her voice trail off, she pulled him out of the art room and down the hall to the kitchen. It wasn't a particularly long walk, something she often found herself grateful for when she got so caught up in painting that she didn't realize how much time had passed and how hungry she was. Right now she was almost wishing it was longer. Between the filthy images in her mind that Alex could be doing to her and the new nerves that had settled down deep into her stomach, Ivy wasn't sure she was ready to get the bread and go outside. But every step brought them closer and the grannies in the kitchen knew her.
She stopped short outside, nervous energy making her hop on her feet as she looked over to Alex. "Um. I don't, like, I don't want you to get the wrong idea. About what's about to happen." Her free hand rose, gathering a fist full of her hair as she tried to hide behind it halfheartedly. This was going to make her look like she ate too much. Or like she wasn't satisfied with the amount of food Utopia offered. All while worrying about her diet, she didn't think to worry about releasing his hand as she finally pulled him through the threshold.
It was like a swarm was descending upon them. First the servants who worked the kitchens had glanced up to see who had entered, then gone back to their work seeing the familiar face of Ivy went back to peeling potatoes or washing lettuce. Then realization set in and they seemed to forget what they were doing and approached the pair. Those who couldn't push in whispered loudly behind their hands, murmurs of Ivy bringing a boy ringing out clearly in the fakest hushed tones. Finally Petra shooed them all back to their work, helping Ivy with a basket of treats and bread scraps with a knowing smile. What the smile knew? Ivy did not know. But she did end up leaving the kitchen with a picnic basket and Alex still in hand. That was a win, right?
Standing back outside the kitchen and trying to ignore her embarrassment, Ivy found she couldn't meet Alex's eyes. "I, uh, don't actually know which doors go out." She mumbled, hoping he would take the lead from here.
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art room ✞︎ alex ✞︎ outfit
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Posted: Sun Dec 29, 2024 1:40 pm
Jesus, he was an idiot. Ivy was beet red all the way from her neck to her shoulders; why had he brought up boners? In particular, why the hell had he brought up his boner? But he couldn’t really take the words back and they were still true. He was too honest for his own good sometimes. At least Ivy hadn’t backed away or even looked disgusted. In fact, she looked more like she was thinking about what he’d said. Alex wasn’t sure what there was to really think about, but it wasn’t a bad thing. Hell, she looked like she might even have more questions and he’d be happy to give her more answers. About his d**k.
But for now, they would go get some bread and take a walk outside. Ivy stepped away and Alex immediately missed her warmth and closeness, but he was pretty happy with holding hands, too. Damn, he was pretty pathetic getting all hung up on physical contact like he was, but whatever. So what if it was pathetic? It felt good to touch someone and know that it wouldn’t hurt her. He could get used to that. He could get ******** addicted to that. There were a good half a dozen reasons that was a bad idea, first and foremost the fact that Ivy was too innocent and inexperienced to deal with that, but he was a little too selfish to just walk away from her. Ivy gave his hand a little squeeze and it put a smile on his face. Yeah… he could definitely get addicted to this.
Right, bread. Ivy led him from the art room and Alex trailed along, hand comfortably in hers. He’d never really bothered to find the kitchen; he ate when food was served and didn’t think about it outside of that. He had a fairly large appetite when he did eat, but he just didn’t actually think about food all that often. He was a little bit surprised by how short the walk was and made a mental note of the location. Not that he really expected to come back, but it didn’t hurt to know just in case.
The wrong idea? Alex lifted an eyebrow curiously at that. He was just talking about his boner; what could she possibly show him that was worse than that? Wait, what could happen in a kitchen that he would get the wrong idea about? It wasn’t like her boyfriend was going to be waiting in there naked, laid across a counter with a clump of basil leaves over his junk. Alex would be down to get the wrong idea about that as long as he could join in afterward, but yeah. It wasn’t that kind of party; nobody was going to be balls out in Utopia’s kitchen.
They stepped into the kitchen and at first Alex didn’t know what the big idea was. Everyone glanced at Ivy then went right back to their work as if seeing the busty student in the kitchen was a perfectly normal occurrence. That wasn’t really something that Alex thought of as embarrassing, but then again it wasn’t like he gave a s**t what other people were eating. It wasn’t even like Ivy was fat, not that it would be any of his business if she was. But since he was already thinking it… she really did have just enough squish to make it sexy.
In the time that it took Alex to reach that conclusion, the servants had done a double take and turned to swarm them. Alex was quietly startled, leaning back a little bit and shoving his free hand into his pocket. He didn’t want the kitchen staff to accidentally touch him and get poisoned. He looked over at Ivy nervously, but then he started to actually hear what they were saying. So Ivy coming to the kitchen wasn’t unusual, but her bringing a boy absolutely was. It looked like it was the kitchen staff getting the wrong idea. Alex briefly considered if he should at least let go of Ivy’s hand, but he just didn’t want to.
Eventually one woman in particular set the rest back to work and brought Ivy a basket with a smirk that definitely cemented that she thought this was a date. There were even snacks in the basket; they could make a little picnic out of it. s**t, were they on a date? It took a moment for Alex to process that; he’d never actually taken anyone on a date. Okay, now he was definitely getting the wrong idea; they were just going for a walk. And touching. A lot.
Ivy looked kind of embarrassed as they stepped back out of the kitchen and Alex gave her hand what he hoped was a comforting squeeze. ”Not sure what you were afraid of me thinking, but uh… sorry if I gave them the wrong idea. It seems like they really like you, though. That’s cool. C’mon.” Alex gestured with his head the direction they were going before leading the way toward the closest door leading to the outside.
Once they were outside, Alex made his way in the direction of the lake. He didn’t walk crazy fast; Ivy could probably have kept up with him normally but he was very aware of her fancy footwear. Not to mention the frilly dress that would get dirty if Ivy fell. Damn, she really was cute dressed like that; the kitchen staff were probably wondering why she’d dragged in a boy as scruffy looking as he was. They were definitely an odd couple, but he didn’t ******** care.
As they walked, Alex pointed out everything he thought might be even remotely interesting to someone who never really got to do outside. Pretty birds, squirrels, different kinds of trees; whatever struck him as interesting. He wished he could have pointed out some nice flowers or something, but it was kind of late in the year for that. Speaking of… Alex stopped for a moment and pulled off his hoodie before wrapping it around Ivy’s shoulders.
”We’re not too far from the lake, but it’s definitely gonna be cooler closer to the water.” His jacket probably smelled like cigarettes and coffee, but it was better than being cold, right? Alex took Ivy’s hand once more and led the rest of the way to the lake. And they were in luck; there were several ducks swimming and splashing in the water. ”Perfect. All you gotta do now is tear up the bread into bite sized chunks and toss it into the water. Don’t worry about throwing it all the way out to them; trust me, they’ll come to it.”
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Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2025 6:54 pm
One slow blink. Then another. Gave them the wrong idea? What idea could they possible have that was wrong? All they had said was that she had brought a boy. Which was true. Alex's hand still in hers was proof of that. Also how was it cool that the staff liked her? Was it because it meant something special about her status that Ivy just didn't understand in this moment? Either way the compliment left her feeling jittery all the way down to her toes. Like in the good way. If only she could just let him know that there wasn't anything wrong with the kitchen staff seeing them together. But she didn't have enough time to point that out as he took the lead, pulling her along out the door into the fresh air.
Once they were out into the world Ivy's feet were on autopilot. Wide eyes weren't sure where to look. Sure, she'd been outside for, like, fifteen minutes when she was loaded up and sent off to Utopia and another fifteen minutes when she'd been unloaded and pushed into the school, but most of it had been dark and kind of scary and something she hadn't really wanted to pay much attention to. This was so much better than that. Who knew that looking at trees and grass and the sky up close was so much better than through a window or through paintings.
Apparently her enthusiasm was easy to notice, as Alex started pointing out squirrels and birds. Then the trees around her, telling her about the different kinds. There was an excited bounce in her step as she lagged just behind him, trying to take in everything around her. She didn't even notice he had stopped in front of her until she walked right into him. Stepping back, she looked up at him with her head cocked to the side. She'd shifted the basket to her arm while she watched him pull off his hoodie, raising her hand up to rub her nose where she'd smushed it into him like it would make the weird feeling go away.
The moment his hoodie touched her shoulders Ivy felt her stomach flip. But like, in a good way. "Thank you," The excited mumble was the best that she could squeak out in the moment. That was the hottest, most gentlemanly thing anyone had ever done for her. Right. The lake. Cold. That probably made sense. Maybe. Did water make things more cold? Ivy sure didn't know, but if Alex said so it had to be true. Also she wasn't going to complain about being wrapped up in the smell of him. Like at all. Ever. She'd taken in a deep breath of him while they were hugging and it was the best, most distracting smell in the whole wide world. If anything she would pay good money to get to smell him all year round.
Wait... Was that a bad thing to admit?
Not taking any time to mull over it, she threaded her fingers back through Alex's like he'd never pulled his hand away in the first place. They were only a few more steps away from the shoreline of the lake when he stopped, pointing out a few ducks. They were cute, squat little fellows and Ivy found herself dropping the basket, fishing out the old bread they'd been given before kicking off her heels next to the basket. A small giggle bubbled out of her as she scrunched her toes in the grass. The blades tickled her feet, but not in a way she found entirely unpleasant. Just... new. Different. Nothing like carpet or hardwood or tiles.
With her shoes off the back of her dress now skimmed over the grass, touching it but not quite dragging. She bounced in place for a moment, the hand that had been grasping his moving up Alex's arm to tug lightly on his elbow as she did so. "How big is bite sized?" Her excitement was bubbling over, unable to wait for him to actually answer the question as she was stepping toward the lake and her fingers slowly dragged off of his arm. She pulled her arms in close, testing her toes in the water for a second before deciding it was like a colder bath and letting her feet settle into the shoreline where the water came up to her ankles. The hem of her dress brushed the water, getting wet in the process. But Ivy didn't notice, not when she was busy trying to rip the bread into something bite sized.
Their mouths are so small, if my bite is this big... Her fingers ran over the crust of the bread as she judged how much of it could fit in her mouth. Then if I make it their mouth size it would be...? Ripping off a piece that was still probably too big, she tossed it weakly into the water in front of her. For a second the ducks didn't seem to notice, making Ivy's stance deflate. Then after one to many breaths they swam over, two of the duck each taking a half of the piece she'd ripped off and ripping it further in half before swallowing it down. Eyes wide, she turned slowly back to Alex. "Ohmygosh, did you see that?"
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art room ✞︎ alex ✞︎ outfit
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Posted: Thu Jan 09, 2025 9:12 pm
Watching Ivy slowly blink with a complete lack of comprehension reminded Alex that this girl was raised in a tower. She wouldn’t know what those knowing looks between the ladies of the kitchen staff likely meant. She wouldn’t know that they were likely even now gossiping about her and her new boyfriend. Not that he hated the idea, he’d be ******** lucky to have a girlfriend like Ivy, but it wasn’t like that. Didn’t she already have a boyfriend? That guy she wanted to ******** in the hallway. Which probably meant he shouldn’t be pawing all over her, but whatever. That was tomorrow Alex’s ******** problem. Today Alex was going to take a walk in the woods with that loser’s girlfriend.
And it was worth it. It was everything he had imagined it would be. Ivy was wide eyed like a little kid who had never even seen grass up close. Hell, she kind of was that kid. It left Alex feeling warm inside to be the one introducing her to the outside. It was probably the most wholesome ******** moment in his whole goddamned life. Like… maybe what it would have been like if he’d ever had a little sister. Not that he thought of Ivy as his little sister; that would make s**t pretty weird since she was also ******** hot.
It was a weird dichotomy. Sometimes he looked down at Ivy and he just wanted to jump into her cleavage and live there. And other times she did something cute and childlike such as running right into him and rubbing her nose afterward. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the fact that he both wanted to ******** her silly and tuck her in at night with a bedtime story. He should probably keep both of those thoughts to himself.
Fortunately, Ivy was plenty distracted from whatever the ******** was going on with him, especially when she saw the ducks. The next thing he knew, she had kicked off her heels and was excitedly asking him how big bite-sized was. ”Uh… You know, just little enough for their beaks.” He’d never really had to explain bite-sized and felt a little silly trying to. But whatever, it wasn’t like Ivy was really waiting for an answer, anyway. She was soon in the water up to her ankles, her dress skimming the surface.
”Just a little smaller than that, maybe, but you get the idea.”” Alex advised as Ivy dropped the first chunk of bread into the water. She looked a little disappointed by the initial lack of swarming fowl, but the duke wasn’t worried; the ducks would notice soon enough. And when they did, Ivy’s face lit up like a festival making him smile openly and warmly as he looked at her. ”You’re ******** cute, you know that?”
Right, they were talking about ducks. ********. But she was ******** cute. ”I saw. Go ahead, give ‘em some more. They’ll stick around as long as they think you’ve got food for ‘em.” Alex thought if he had Ivy’s talent with canvas, this would be what he would want to paint. She looked like a fairy tale princess in her frilly gown, feet bare, standing in the water to feed the ducks. It was perfect, like the only thing that didn’t really belong there was him.
Nah, ******** that. He wanted in on this moment, too. Alex stepped into the water, boots and all, moving slowly in hopes that he wouldn’t startle the ducks away. He didn’t reach for the bread though; he wanted Ivy to get as much joy out of this as possible. He got joy out of being there with her, right next to her, a part of this fairy tale scene even if he sure as hell didn’t look the part of a fairy tale prince.
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Posted: Sat Jan 18, 2025 6:07 pm
A little bit smaller. That was easy enough to do as she turned back to the ducks and the bread in her hands. Fussing her lower lip between her teeth, she concentrated on ripping off and even smaller section of the bread. Once she did, she flattened her hand so that she was holding it out in front of her. "Like this?" She'd asked as she turned, surprised that he was so much closer than expected. Like he was staring at her from the edge of the lake. Looking at her the way the heroes from her books looked at their lovers. No. It had to be the lake and the ducks... right?
The look on his face was making her warm, forcing her to turn her attention back to the ducks before she burned up in the heat of his gaze. She tossed the little piece of bread that she had already torn off to them. Watching them hoard over the pieces was magical. All it prompted her to do was pull off several more pieces to toss to the little feathered creatures before realizing she was the one having all the fun. They were supposed to be doing this together. And here she was being a bread hog. He was going to hate her forever because she was the bread stealing fun hog. Then she started trying to tear the loaf in half so that she could give her guide to the outside something to throw to the ducks too.
A splash behind her had Ivy's head whipping back to the shoreline. Alex was joining her. In the lake. First her mouth formed into a little 'o' shape as she looked down at his feet. Which were still in his shoes. A question crossed over her face, one that tumbled out of her mouth before she even thought to filter it. "Do shoes stay on in the water?" Was she making some horrible faux pas? Letting her gray eyes drift over to her exposed toes, she wiggled them. But then, he hadn't said anything when she'd done it. Was he being polite?
Scrambling, she was trying to go back and get her shoes to wear in the water with him. That was clearly the polite and sensible thing to do. But she was also juggling trying to rip bread and not paying enough attention to the silt and moss under her feet. The very slippery silt and moss. That forced her to stumble forward into the very broad, hot chest that she'd been touching maybe thirty minutes ago.
Going down was a blur. Somehow she'd managed to take him with her, though it maybe wasn't that surprising given her size. While Alex was definitely taller than her, it wasn't by that much if they were willing to be entirely honest. Despite her small girl energy Ivy was tall. What did surprise her was how their legs tangled together and how even landing into him he felt nice to touch. That he looked so beautiful there, underneath of her in the lake. So much so that one hand came up to absently brush his cheek. "Lovely." The thought passed her lips absently as she admired him, unaware that it was spoken out loud. This was something she wanted to paint.
Then she realized he'd broken her fall. A look of horror crossed her face as she scrambled to separate their legs. Not to pull off of him. No, simply so she could crawl into his lap and straddle him. The bread was forgotten as the now torn and squished loaf sat in what little space was left between them. Her hands were climbing up his arms, down his back, then back up again to thread through his hair and a panic that left her pressed up against Alex in a manner that was less than ladylike. "Did I hurt you?"
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outside ✞︎ alex ✞︎ outfit
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Posted: Mon Jan 20, 2025 2:29 pm
Alex nodded when Ivy broke the bread into smaller chunks and looked to him for confirmation. She really was ******** cute, concentrating on tearing up the bread like he was going to give her an exam later or some s**t. He tried to remember if he ever felt as innocent and full of wonderment as she looked right then. For him, tossing bread to birds was just something he did when he’d eaten all the good parts of his sandwich already. It wasn’t magical, even if the ******** were pretty cute. Ivy made it magical, like having a second chance at childhood through her eyes.
Ivy gave him a surprised look when he stepped into the water with his boots still on and he gave a shrug. It definitely wasn’t normal to keep shoes on in the water, but he didn’t really have a chance to answer before Ivy was scrambling back toward the shore. He put out an arm, opening his mouth to tell her it was fine-
And then gravity went sideways. Alex landed heavily, a whoosh of air leaving his lungs and a large splash startling away their adorable feathered friends. Well, s**t. But he wasn’t sure he could really complain…Even stunned and breathless for the moment, he was acutely aware that there was a hot girl laid out on top of him, her massive love pillows smooshed up against his chest. s**t, no wonder he was winded; those knockers knocked the wind right out of him.
But even his dirtiest thoughts stood no chance of going uninterrupted when Ivy brushed her hand against his cheek and said the kind of word nobody ever ******** said about him. Alex stared up at her wide-eyed, mouth slightly agape, but what did he even ******** say to being called lovely? If he was a cute girl he could get away with a shy little giggle or some s**t. Hell, maybe he should do it anyway just to make her laugh.
It was probably for the best that thought never made it past the drawing board as Ivy suddenly panicked and pulled away from him. He figured she just wanted to get to her feet, maybe try to get her dress out of the lake water before she wound up completely soaked. Somehow it never even occurred to him that she would straddle his hips instead and start feeling him up…
Okay. Realistically, he knew what this was. Pinky had done the same thing… Leaving Alex to wonder just how common this scenario was that he had found himself pinned by two different cute girls who then decided to check him for bumps and bruises while he tried not to think about how close they were. He might be the luckiest guy on the planet. Or maybe he was some god’s favorite laughingstock. Either way, his hands found their way to silky smooth bare thighs, idly caressing up toward her hips.
It wasn’t until his gaze moved to her chest that he thought about how ******** wrong that was. He knew better. He sure hadn’t fondled Pinky just because she was distracted with checking on him. Guilt ate at the duke as Ivy asked if she’d hurt him, but he still didn’t drop his hands. They remained where they rested on her thighs, neither advancing nor retreating. ”Nah, you didn’t hurt me. I’m fine. And don’t worry, taking your shoes off was the right move. I only kept mine on so I wouldn’t risk hurting the little guys.” The reminder that a duck just brushing up against his ankle could have completely ******** this fairy tale moment brought down his mood a bit, but Alex smiled anyway. That was something he was ******** used to; what he wasn’t used to was having someone like Ivy that he could touch. It was no wonder he couldn’t keep his hands off of her, but that was still no excuse.
”Come on, we should probably get back inside and change into dry clothes before we get sick. Don’t worry, we’ll come back out some other time. It’ll be even better when Spring rolls around.”
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