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She hadn’t really meant to do it at the moment. Really, she hated to pry. But her ability just meant her world was a little louder than everyone else's. Maybe its why she seemed to crave silence. The voices around her seeped into her mind, invading the silence. They were a quiet whisper in the back of her mind, barely noticeable, just enough to be present. If she pushed hard enough, she could single them out, spread out her radius, targeting specific people and push through the boundaries of their brain to hear what they had to say.
Sometimes she didn't need to push. In some moments others became more prominent. It was natural, the ebb and flow of voices. Sometimes it wasn’t voiced thoughts, but feelings, and images that flooded her brain. She had grown used to this invasion of her privacy (though one could argue it was the others invasion of privacy) and had come to accept and maneuver through the thoughts of others. It rarely stopped her in her tracks. So when a certain image and thought passed through her, she felt herself still.
Delilah was pressed up against the wall of the training room, soaking in the ice-cold feeling the metal wall brought to her back. It soothed the tense muscles, and chilled the sweat that rolled down her body from sparring with Mai. As someone trained mostly in long distance fighting she had been pushed to incorporate more hand to hand combat in her routine. There had been too many close calls as of recently. Or really only one. Someone had enough strength to cut Delilah from their mind, snapping on her within an instant. If Mai had not ripped him back and landed a nasty hit to his head, she was sure she would have had some sort of broken rib.
So here she was, back pressed to the wall, training gear on, and long white hair pulled back into a bun. Her eyes tracked the movements of Mai as she dashed around the ring with Touya in tow.
Though she was still regaining her strength, Mai was easily the best in up close combat. Her ability meant she didn’t need to be, but she had prioritized it in school.
“You never know when you’ll be left without your ability.” She had replied when Delilah questioned, shrugging it off as she fiddled with the end of her braid. It had long since become a nervous habit she had noticed. Images flashed through her mind of a younger, happier Mai dancing around the ring with her former team. She was young, sixteen or so, laughing as she dodged swings from a girl with skin the color of ash. The girl was well built, easily much taller and bigger than Mai, but she seemed to be laughing as well. The two danced around each other as the latter coached her through new moves, new diversions, offering help as the shorter of the two spun her staff around. It was a sweet memory, and Delilah could feel the warmth that flooded Mai’s brain at the reminder.
“Daisy’s ability meant that hand to hand combat was her more prominent form of fighting. When she realized I couldn’t throw a punch to save my life, she insisted I picked up some sort of weapon.” She had said, fingers tracing the sides of her new staff Lillian had made her.
“I thought a staff would be best. It’s close combat, its light, and I’m pretty agile. It gives me an excellent sense of balance…” She trailed off, before continuing a little quieter, “I also didn’t want to actually hurt anyone enough with a blade of some sort.” Her eyes seemed to narrow as she uttered the last part, nose scrunching up in displeasure.
Now, Delilah looked on as Mai swung her staff like a scythe, swiping through the air as the blade attempted to find purchase in the side of Touya’s armour. Lillian sat on the cold floor next to Delilah, waiting his turn for a chance to spar. Though he looked rather content to sit and watch. The ocean blue of his eyes never left Mai’s form, and Delilah watched as they flicked back and forth in an effort to track her. His cheek was pressed into his scarred hand as he balanced his elbow on his knee, posture slouched without worry of keeping up the confident facade. All eyes were on the ring, not the two of them.
Lillian had insisted on being the one to redesign the girl’s weapon of choice. When had explained the design, Delilah had been surprised at Mai’s request for a blade. But it was clear this was Mai’s weapon, and he designed it to be for her, and her alone. Light, elegant, thin, and with the choice to be charged by his own ability. So as it swung through the air, the haze of a blue and purple aurora followed, hot and blazing. If Delilah hadn’t known any better, she would have thought it was his way of laying claim over her. She carried his weapon, designed by him, fueled by him. A muse of sorts. Even now, as his eyes sought her out, she couldn’t help but see the pride in them. The way the corner of his mouth twitched up in a smile when the blade sliced through the air, or how it seemed to be one with its wielder.
That’s when it happened.
Mai swiped her staff low, deactivating the blade before it made contact with Touya’s legs, sending him toppling over. A grin grew on her face as she whipped around to face Delilah and Lillian, throwing her hands up victoriously and dropping her staff to the ground. Delilah winced as it made contact, and expected Lillian to do the same as it was one of his most prized creations. But he just grinned, raising his fingers to his mouth and letting out a low whistle.
What they hadn’t expected was Touya to reach across the ground to swipe the staff, before swinging it at Mai’s legs and sending her toppling backwards on top of him. She made a rather un-cool ‘oof’ noise, before flailing on top of Touya whose laughter echoed throughout the room. He swiftly pushed her off before climbing on top of her, pinning her back with her own staff.
“You’re such a cheater!” She screamed, flailing as he pinned her to the ground. He just laughed, his normally cool and quiet demeanor replaced by that of a grin and playfulness. If she had wanted to, Mai could of easily slipped away. But she allowed him this small win, suppressing her own laughter.
Delilah had begun to laugh at the scene as well, bringing a hand up to her mouth before she was struck with a sudden intense wave of emotion, and a flash of images pushed themselves to the forefront of her mind.
Skin on skin, legs tangled together as a stronger physique held a much smaller, feminine body down. The tilt of a head, the sight of a neck covered in blossoming red and purple marks, an intense longing thrumming through her body, a chorus of sounds following it. Purple hair strewn out on a pillow, scarred hands pressing down on hips of the person it belonged to, and the overwhelming seer of jealousy pushing through.
Delilah felt herself yelp at the sudden takeover, hands flying to her mouth and covering it as her cheeks grew pink.
She was no stranger to the occasional indecent thought of others accidentally slipping through, but this felt intense. It felt like a private moment, a longing dreamt up by someone who craved another.
“Dee?” Mai questioned, suddenly in front of her, baby blue eyes searching up in concern.
“I’m fine, just- surprised was all.” Delilah replied, closing her eyes and rubbing her temples. Mai didn’t seem persuaded, but nodded. She looked down to the person sitting next to Delilah, who looked just as frozen up as she had been. Though it seemed Mai didn’t recognize this, smiling and turning back to the ring to grab her staff.
“Are you also gonna play dirty or will you behave enough to spar?” She called out.
Lillian sputtered, cheeks red as he fumbled out a quick yes, followed by a correction of, “Yes to sparring! To spar! Not to playing dirty!” He raced to get up, but not before throwing a wide-eyed look at Delilah who was still staring him down with red cheeks.
Not a word! His mind hissed out
Hey! I wasn’t looking for anything, it was you who pushed it into my mind! Delilah pushed back, forcing herself into his mind to speak. This didn’t help the growing redness on his cheeks as he realized what he had been feeling was strong enough to throw itself in front of her ability. She took pity on him though, it’s not like he wanted to share this information. And she did truly care about him and their relationship enough to offer an olive branch. She could feel his embarrassment, the shame that crept in. She heard him thinking how this would affect them, the guilt he had it ruining possibly one of the first true friendships he’d ever had over a stupid we-
Lillian please for the love of god stop overthinking this- She said, though her words echoed into his brain and not the room around them.
I won’t judge you for this. It happens to everybody. This isn’t the first dirty thought I’ve had to endure- A screech of embarrassment- NO- Not from you, dumbass just from people in general. I won’t tell anyone, and I certainly won’t judge. It happens, I promise. This doesn’t change anything.
Lillian let out a sigh of relief, before a small smile crept back to his face. Delilah could feel the relief flood through him like a cool feeling, and she smiled back. He began the trek up to the sparring mat, slipping under the bar there and getting into position in front of Mai. A cruel idea appeared in Delilah’s mind.
I just have to ask though… She started, watching as Mai grinned up at Lillian. He seemed to stutter in his actions, before replying.
And what is that?
Have you two actually had sex yet or?..
Lillian was on the floor of the mat within ten seconds.