Hierarchy of Need [t.r]

Chapter Twenty

"Merlin-" Tom's voice cut off as he fell into the water, nearly landing on top of Delilah. The water bit into his skin painfully, like daggers of ice cutting into every nerve. Tom emerged from underwater to the sound of Delilah laughing, it carried over the surface easily like ripple and met his ears.

"You find this amusing?"

"Incredibly."

"It's freezing."

Delilah hadn't noticed, for some reason it didn't occur to her in any mind. In fact, she barely even felt the water, it was almost like a phantom presence around her body, and the chill of the water was a memory. Tom himself was trying to keep his teeth from chattering as they floated around each other for a moment, their legs kicking out an occasionally touching.

"You look like you're about to turn into an ice cube," Delilah mused. He scoffed and began to swim back towards the rocky edge of the lake, his limbs feeling painfully stiff as they moved through the water. His eyes scanned to find a decent rock to haul himself out as quickly as possible without the chance of falling back in.

He took his robes off since they were weighing him down and threw them onto shore before grabbing hold of a jagged edge. Although she tried, Delilah couldn't take her eyes off him as he began to lift himself out of the lake, his white shirt now see-through and stuck to his back. She watched as his muscles shifted and strained, only looking away once he was out and turned around towards her.

Her cheeks felt on fire and were probably bright red, but hopefully he would just assume it was the cold. She swam over and he helped her out successfully this time, and Merlin was it hard to think straight as she was pressed against him for a moment. Hyper aware of his lean chest being visible through his shirt.

Once he was sure she wouldn't fall again, seeing as he was in no mood to help her out if need be, he dried himself off with a spell, Delilah following shortly after. Clearing her throat, she gestured towards the forbidden forest, "want to see if you can touch it?" The thestral was still grazing along the edge, unaware of their existence.

Tom motioned for her to lead the way as he shrugged his now dried robes back on, his hair was messed up though. "Are you nervous about exams?" It was a stupid question, Tom would pass all of his tests with flying colors. But he was being unnervingly silent. "No, though others are more vital than others. Considering what career path you choose."

"What do you want to do?" Delilah could never picture Tom at a normal job, though his brilliance would do him well in a Ministry job, it was no place for someone as complicated as him. And his ambition was vast, but a position such as Minister for Magic would be too noisy. At heart, she thought Tom was adventurous, his curiosity and yearning for knowledge always fueling him.

"I would like a position here," Tom said after a moment, not missing the look of confusion on her face. "Really? I mean there's no shame in being a professor but, I don't know," she shrugged, gesturing to the air around her. "There's so much more out there, and someone with your talents has a lot going for them."

"My talents?" He basked in the blush flooding her cheeks and she glared at him. "Shut up." Delilah quickly held out an arm, halting Tom from moving forward. Her eyes were trained on a spot a few feet in front of her. "Right there," she pointed between a knocked over trunk and a makeshift fence made of rocks.

Delilah knelt down and Tom did the same, their thighs pressed against one another. He couldn't see anything, so he made sure to keep his ears open. Every few seconds he could hear a shift in the dirt and a huff from a nose. He was beyond curious to know what the creature looked like, because the way Delilah's eyes were shining, the thestral was obviously something to behold.