the opportunity that was hard to come by | a chilumi fanfiction

[8] burning or thirsty for love?

Lumine, meanwhile, kept working and kept seeing Thoma. The event that they'd planned together took place and went smashingly, and he continued to grow on her more with each day they spent together. He seemed like the perfect package, smart and funny and hot, and she felt comfortable with him. It was a nice feeling.

Plus he was good at distracting her from the bizarre crapfest that was her friendship with Childe, or the lack thereof. They saw each other in group settings sometimes and there was the occasional text, but for the most part she had a hard time figuring out what to even talk to him about half the time. Things had gotten painfully awkward and she blamed herself for it, but she didn't know how to fix it, so she didn't really try. She figured time was the best thing for them, and that this was likely simply an adjustment period.

Or something. Really, she had no earthly idea about anything.

What she did know was that she really did like Thoma. They were taking things slow and he respected that about her, and after a month of nothing but kisses, a handful of makeout sessions and somewhat cautious handsiness, Lumine decided that she was ready to take the next step. She saw it as a way of exorcizing Childe from both her mind and her body to try to have that same physical connection with someone else, and if it worked, then maybe she'd finally feel truly free of him. Where was the harm in trying?

And so, a few days after the anniversary of their first date, Lumine went over to Thoma's very nice Inazuman cottage and cooked him an equally nice dinner. They talked and laughed and finished off a bottle of red wine that worked wonders for her nerves, and then afterwards they headed to his couch to watch a movie that he'd gotten for them. But they didn't make it thirty minutes in before the kissing started, and after she expressed her readiness to do a bit more than merely kiss and grope a bit on the couch, he happily obliged and took her to the bedroom.

At first, all was well. His bed felt nice and soft underneath her and he wasn't one to rush things, so he took his time in properly working her up and slowly undressing her. He was a great kisser and she appreciated that he took his time, and it kept her at ease through all the tamer stuff - touching, kissing, the warming up before the more significant things.

Plus he was hot and looked good with his shirt off, and that always helped.

She thought that she was going to do just fine until he got her bra off. She wasn't expecting the claymore to the heart that came when he groaned and dropped his head down to kiss all over her chest, which immediately made her brain unhelpfully flash before her eyes a vivid memory of Childe doing the same thing. The difference was, when Childe did this to her, he would do it with an unmatched level of enthusiasm and vocality that nobody could really live up to. He'd squeeze and grope her gently and then harder, rougher, almost enough to hurt before he'd bring his mouth down and make her almost lose it just from that, and all the while he'd be groaning and panting like he was enjoying it even more than she was.

Thoma, however... he wasn't doing anything wrong or unpleasant, but he had a hell of a standard to live up to and he didn't even know it.

She tried to clear her mind and focus entirely on the present, and for a few moments, she was mostly successful. He started kissing her again and there was some slight grinding taking place between them, and it felt fine. She was fine. They were fine. She could do this.

Then his hand went between them and, as he continued to kiss the hell out of her, he tried to start up some more direct contact. She let him, opening her legs a little to help him out, and when his fingers first brushed over her, it was pleasant enough. She thought that was encouraging. This could totally work.

He kissed her neck as the touching got a bit more serious. She closed her eyes and focused on the feelings and the sensations, wanting so badly to make it work that she knew she'd be devastated if it didn't.