Healthy Appetites

## Content Information

Didi was tending the barbeque, cooking up a delightful range of meats and veggie options paid for by the university. She had on the most ridiculous metal-studded apron and her derby garb: torn fishnets, tight denim shorts, shredded tshirt.

“What’ll it be?” she asked, as someone came up beside her. Then she turned and had to adjust her gaze upward. “Ash! Wow, I always forget how tall you are.”

"Hay Didi! Ditto but the other way around" Arsling says grinning at her smartarsery "how about a burger please" Arsling adjusts her tie and stands next to Didi "it's been a weird morning for me, nice to get back to some semblance of normalcy"

The shorter girl cracked a grin and thought about that tie. One of these days she’d tug Ash by that tie and bring her down to her level. But it sounded like today wasn’t the day.

“You’ll feel better on a full stomach, I’m sure, though it’s a rare day that feels ‘normal’ around here. You wouldn’t believe the weekend I had.” She sighed, then shook her head. “How do you like it cooked? Cheese or no cheese?”

"Cheese definitely" Arsling looks curiously towards Didi "try me, I'll believe a lot of crazy nonsense" Arsling grins somewhat excited to hear this last weekend from Didi's perspective

“Medium rare good?” asked Didi as she doled out more slices of cheese and gathered her thoughts.

"Oh yeah sweet\* Arsling replies

“So, this weekend. Well.” She gave Ash an appraising look, wondering how much nonsense she really would believe. “Have you ever been up to the hot spring with the waterfall? Anything weird happen while you were there?”

"Yeah there was a snowstorm and Lavish well, 'Lavished' with two other people and I hung out with Gene, I ended up sharing an abandoned cabin with those four for a night, it was really really weird and uncomfortable, luckily, being the best dressed I wasn't absolutely freezing" Arsling smuggly adjusts her suit jacket and waistcoat "but yeah, that place is really weird, pretty though, I'll have to go up and finally get a good sketch of it"

At the mention of Gene, she pretended to be busy turning the hot dogs.

“Mm. I can see that being uncomfortable, that sucks.” She perked up, though, at the mention of going back. “I love the springs. Let’s hike up together sometime, and bring your sketchbook. I’ll make soup.”

She paused. “I love the spring and -- this is the part that’s going to sound weird, but… I think it likes me, too? There are supposed to be water spirits there and honest-to-god one of them felt me up while we were there.” She laughed it off. “I mean that or there are some very nice warm currents.”

"You were groped by a water spirit? You should put that on your CV because that's impressive" Arsling says sounding genuinely both impressed and amazed but teasingly stating "also noted: Water spirits like derby"

Arsling chuckles at her own joke "but yeah I'd love to go up there, didn't really get to appreciate it with Lavish about"

“Water spirits have good taste~” said Didi, taking the excuse to flex a bicep and grin over it at the other girl. Then she took a look at the growing line and returned to her task, delivering a perfect, delicious, medium-rare cheeseburger onto Ash’s waiting bun. “Tell you what, why don’t I give you the rest of the story on our walk up?”

Arsling smiles "sure that sounds fantastic" Arsling bites into the burger "damn you're good at this" she points to the brilliantly made burger

--The Next Day--

Neither had any classes the following morning, so they set out by the early morning light.

“Burgundy showed me this place,” said Didi. “Though we usually come up the long way, looking out for invasive species and stuff. This weekend though I came up with Iva and then a couple of other people showed up. It was still pretty chill though. Saturday was… a really good day.” She had a flush to her cheeks as she remembered Iva breaking the tension between them, then entrancing her with her glorious Gorgon form.

"Aww your blushin" Arsling points out smirking having wrapped herself up all warm for the trip "I mean doesn't seem to be much up here wildlife wise, beyond the squirrels and birds, oh and I think I read that their be wolves up here but they're mostly docile" Arsling says fiddling with her pencil "yeah, I came up expecting nobody to be there, but I arrived, one naked dude another dude poking that guy with a stick and then Lavish about to throw off their coat and get functionally naked, it was really awkward"

Didi just blushed more at Ash’s observation, but snorted at the idea of the wolves being *docile*. Did Gene tell her that?

“That kind of trouble certainly sounds like Lavish’s style,” said Didi. “Which brings me to *Sunday*. Speaking of naked… fuck, it’s embarrasing, I don’t usually go to frat parties… I don’t ‘’ever’’ go to frat parties! But Sunday morning I woke up stark naked at PLO with -- you’ll never believe it -- but with ‘’Tamzen’’ in my lap.”

She looked to Ash to gauge her reaction.

"Wow, Tam?! No wonder she was actin weird when she got back, that is certainly a really weird place to wake up" Arsling has a degree of awkward shock to learning this her cheeks turning red at some of the ideas of what they might've gotten up to the night before

Didi leaned forward with a grin like a gremlin and pointed, doing an impression of Ash from moments before. “Awww, ‘’you’re’’ blushing~”

Arsling smirks "yeah you got me, although unlike you I'm not embarrassed" Arsling teasingly boops didi on the nose "but yeah, that's a strange mental image"

Didi scrunched her nose and playfully bit at the air where Ash’s finger had been, returning to the hike with a grin.

“The Tamzen part was not unpleasant,” said Didi, with a lightness to her voice. “But being at a frat house with no clothes, that was no good. And Selene and Lavish and their gangs were there and doing their usual. Plus this *creepy* guy. Anyway we just wanted to *leave*, but then Lezly blocked Tamzen at the door and demanded she strip off her shirt and I got super pissed off.” She was scowling, now, and kicked at a rock. “Poor Tam was actually *doing* it, and Lezly already had this bundle of clothes in her hands, and I tried to grab the clothes but I wound up pulling her and she fell, and everything escalated from there. Got the whole ‘you’re trash, you’re nothing, I’ll destroy you’ mean girl treatment from Selene and I swear she would have hit me if Lavish hadn’t held her back.”

She sighed. “And then Tam…” She trailed off with a frustrated shrug.

"Oh Jesus, that really sucks, was Tam alright? Like that sounds humiliating, also Lavish helping a scenario? What stars aligned for that to happen?" Arsling asks curious, while debating saying the knowledge she picked up from Selene but holds back asking the innocent question "since Lezly is a bag of sticks I'm guessing you didn't mean to drop her?"

“Ha, right?” she laughed at the Lavish comment. Then, in response to the question. “No, I mean, she was being terrible but we just wanted to get out of there… with some clothes. I kind of lost track of my strength and I was pretty mad.” She brushed back her crest of blue hair as she drew in a deep breath and then sighed. “I don’t think she got hurt or anything, besides her pride. I hope. If she’d gotten hurt I’d feel bad, but just getting dropped on her ass seems fair to me.”

"Yeah more than fair, honestly really crappy of her to try to force Tamzen to get naked for no reason" Arsling makes a personal note to herself to not bring this up to Selene if they end up talking more, she'd rather give Selene less reasons to use her as monster bait "guessing you got your clothes back atleast"

“Someone’s clothes,” said Didi, with a shrug. “But yeah, you know that crowd: they’ll just be bullies to flex and feel important.” She pushed aside the thoughts of how good it had felt to see the look on Lezly’s face after, the affront and the hint of fear.

Changing the subject, she continued. “Oh, I hear the waterfall! We’re almost there.”

"Fantastic let's hope it's in the mood for coping a feel" Arsling says grinning at Didi getting out her sketchbook and flipping to her first blank page

That comment earned a raised eyebrow followed by a bright laugh. “Well, as the STEM major, I’d say we should recreate the conditions that led to this delightful phenomenon.”

She set down her backpack, then tugged off her well-worn NASA sweatshirt and her tshirt in one motion, peeking at Ash’s reaction before she turned her muscular back on the girl. “But that *would* require me to get naked.”

Arsling blushes again, as red as a rose although this time she's definitely the embarrassed one "em well... y'know what sure" Arsling says her curiosity about a water spirit groping something overriding the shyier parts of her nature

With the biggest grin on her face, Didi finished undressing, still facing away from Ash, and then stepped into the pool until only her head and shoulders remained visible.

“Hmmm, nothing yet.” She called back. “Though, of course, I wasn’t the ‘’only’’ one in the pool~”

Arsling's blush somehow managed to get even redder "well eh, admittedly I was going to use the spring when I first showed up so I guess... better late than ever" Arsling puts her sketchbook off and turns away from Didi "could you turn away? I don't like people seeing me undress" Arsling says quite embarrassed but still beginning to strip off her suit jacket and waistcoat

“Of course.” Didi turned away, then found herself trying to pivot an ear back to listen to what was going on before recalling that her little human ears didn’t do that. Given the way things went at this school, Ash could be any kind of monster under that getup.

But she didn’t smell like a monster. She smelled like… Didi couldn’t place it, but it was like a savory-sweet smell that hit her just right so that when she got wind of it she forgot everything else for an instant.

Arsling completely stripped off mumbling to herself about why she's doing this and why she's being so... reckless, Didi could be any monster under that skin, but ultimately Arsling can't bring herself to say no to this, she really wants to trust Didi and just feel intimate with someone after the last 5 years of being so closed off it almost feels like nirvana to her

"Ready" Arsling says as she begins walking into the spring

Didi had only half expected Ash to actually rise to the occasion, but she turned as she made room for the other girl to step into the water and looked up to meet her eye looking impressed -- and looking like it was a struggle not to stare.

“‘’Damn,’’” she said appreciatively, offering a hand to help Ash step down into the spring. Then as her brain cell kicked in again, “Feels nice, doesn’t it?”

Arsling takes her hand, smiling threw the embarrassment "Damn? A-am I that pretty?" Arsling asks in earnest as she descends into the her shoulders which were quite tense relaxing, she feels...safe and it feels good, even though a part of her brain, the part that is panicking about this entire experience is trying to get her to freak out and run away it's drowned out by the part of her that just wants to feel safe "it feels... heavenly"

At first Didi just nodded, and when she spoke her voice was a little huskier.

“Ash, you’re -- did you not know you’re gorgeous? Long legs, beautiful skin… and eyes… and hair. Even the way you speak, it’s musical.” She could see the other girl’s tense shoulders drop as the soothing water surrounded her. They were so close together, now, hands linked, and she could have kissed Ash then if she hadn’t been afraid it would startle her. Instead she studied the girl’s face, her lips, and took in the scent of her.

Didi went on, cracking a grin. “As for me, I ‘’know’’ I’m gorgeous… but it’s still nice to get confirmation from a pretty girl, now and then.”

She’d drawn Ash further into the spring, where little bubbles danced up from the sandy floor.

Arsling almost tried to hide her face from Didi in truth she was always told she was beautiful, even when she was sporting pigtails, but after her mother died she had a hard time believing it sometimes, she began "y-yeah your-" before jumping and giggling as the bubbles tickled her feet "oh wow yeah that does tickle" she says not realising that in her jump her ponytail had fallen apart causing what many would call a wet explosion of hair as it rushed into her shoulders and Infront of her face "ah damnit"

Then Didi was there, her free hand brushing the hair from Ash’s face and then cupping her cheek. She leaned close. “Go on,” she breathed, close enough for Ash to feel it. “Finish that thought~”

Arsling blushed again at the intimacy "you're gorgeous" Arsling finishes her thought an embarrassed smile reaching her face, in the last week she's realised that her company of friends also just so happens to be her type physically, although Arsling isn't really sure if she has a type of if she just finds everyone some degree of beautiful...unless they're trying to bite her face off that is

The closer Didi got, the closer she wanted to be. With surprising gentleness, she tilted Ash’s face towards her and closed the remaining distance between their lips to kiss her.

A little shocked almost puppy-like yelp is admitted from Arsling before she closes her eyes and just leans inputting a hand around didis waist and hugging her during this kiss feeling indescribably good as she just basically floats their in bliss

Mmm, Ash tasted just as good as she smelled and Didi loved that feeling of the other girl pulling her close, pressing their bodies together. She ran the fingers of one hand up into Ash’s beautiful hair along the back of her head, pulling her head closer as gently as she could given how turned on she was getting. It had become painfully obvious how much Ash wanted this, and Didi was delighted to help her overcome her fear and unleash her hunger.

Arsling internally had a decent amount of panic but as far as most of her was concerned ‘in for a penny in for a pound’ before leaning into another kiss and gently pushing Didi against the wall of the springs

It was a thrill feeling Ash take charge like that after being so shy. It was just the energy she wanted to awaken in Ash, and she let out a soft sigh at the gentle impact. One hand stayed in that mane of red hair while the other began to roam.

Arsling grips Didi and begins taking charge

-fade to black-

Arsling basks in the aftermath of their encounter leaning nude against did underneath her “wow...i don’t know how or where their came from” she says this while basically using Didi as a pillow

With a sheen of sweat and spring water on her skin, Didi was splayed with one leg in the water, Ash’s head on her ribcage, and one hand idly tracing over the redhead’s bare chest as if connecting the dots of her freckles.

Didi let out an uncharacteristic giggle and shifted so she could better see Ash, pressing her own chest against Ash’s cheek in the process.

“Gods you’re fun,” said Didi. “That hunger…” A pleasant shiver ran up her spine.

“That hunger...that why they call it eating ou-” Arsling snorts unable to finish her joke due to the ridiculousness of it “oh god that was an awful joke” she says as she lifts herself upright “that was...fun yeah, god it's been a weirdly romantic week”

Didi facepalmed. “Oh no, she ‘’puns’’,” she said, in mock distress. As Ash moved, Didi stretched and slid back into the spring. After a couple of moments, she opened her eyes. “A romantic week? Been busy, have you~?”

Arsling blushes huh she didn’t think she could do that anymore after the last however long of activity “well i kinda...kissed Burgundy, was my first kiss as well” Arsling admits embarrassed “you were my first time”

With a grin, Didi bit her lip, not sure how much to tease the other girl. She decided to keep handling her gently; this was a vulnerable moment.

She waded over to the side of the pool and planted a kiss on Ash’s nearby leg. “You were wonderful…” Then she grinned again, recalling the sounds she’d made. “In case you couldn’t tell.”

It was a moment later, as she was looking her lover up and down once again as if to pounce, that she processed what Ash had said and her brows shot up.

“Hang on, did you say ‘’Burgundy’’? Burgundy Adisa?”

“Yeah we kissed in her car”Arsling says threw the embarrassment, using her wild and wet hair to hide her obviously red face “i-it was nice”

“Awww, that’s amazing!” Didi’s eyes were practically sparkling. “Burgundy’s really nice… yeah, I can totally see you two kissing.” She gave Ash’s thigh a friendly slap. “It ‘’has’’ been quite a week, hasn’t it?”

She raised partway out of the water and crossed her arms on Ash’s leg, resting her chin on top. Her eyes were practically sparkling with glee.

Arsling smiled “yeah it's weird Wednesday I'm here bitching at Lavish and their friends to stop shagging and Tuesday i'm here with you having had the most romantic week in my entire life, i haven’t felt this good since i was fifteen” Arsling says smiling at Didi part of her brain just kinda forgetting how she felt just a little while ago before entering the spring

“I think it’s different, what Lavish’s style of debauchery offers.” She got quiet and looked down for a moment. “Some people prefer it, I guess.” She shook her head, then gave Ash a faint smile. “Don’t listen to me, I’m just -- sometimes I get silly, after.”

Arsling smirked "So I believe I arrived here to sketch something and possibly someone?" Arsling says fully pulling herself out the water "eh did either of us bring a towel?"

Didi sighed. “Tempted as I am to keep it to myself, yes, I brought one big towel -- it’s in my bag, along with the soup and sandwiches, in case you’ve worked up an appetite.”

As Ash reached for the bag, Didi added. “Toss me a sandwich, will ya?” She stretched and lounged in the spring. “Then I’ll see what I can do about a pose for you to immortalize.”

Arsling reached in throwing a sandwich Didi's way before drying herself off, only shoving on her underwear and pants before picking up her pencil and sketchbook to begin sketching the springs

The ravenous Didi made short work of the sandwich, then rose from the spring and stuffed the cellophane into her backpack. She didn’t dry off just yet; instead she made for the waterfall, making a show of stretching and flexing in its flow.

“Ah, jeez, this is so much colder than I remember!” she declared.

“Welp you chose it no takebacksys” Arsling says teasingly as she sketches, after a few minutes she's done and excitingly shows off the sketch to Didi

The sketch has the springs in all their glory but the masterpiece is Didi damp and nude almost like a marble statue as the waterfall flowed off her shoulder and into a woman made of water appreciating Didi's form, the woman bares a slight resembling of Arsling “so what do you think?”

“Oh, ‘’wow’’! Hot ‘’and’’ talented!” She would have kissed Ash if it didn’t risk dripping on the sketchbook. Instead she went and grabbed the towel and wrapped it around herself, shivering but finding it completely worth it. “Truly, it’s amazing. And it reminds me that we should thank the water spirits.”

“Oh yeah they were...watching weren't they,, weird, but thanks i guess Water Spirits” Arsling puts her dress shirt on and begins to properly get dressed again her hair getting in the way “can you find my bobble i think i lost it in the spring”

“Your ‘bobble’...” She looked Ash up and down. “Well you like like you’ve still got all your pieces, so this dirty-sounding word must be Irish for…” She pursed her lips. “Your hair thing?”

“Wait Americans don’t call it a bobble what do you call it?” Arsling says bundling up her hair as best she can

“Uhh, a hair tie? Hair elastic? Scrunchie if it’s got fabric.” Didi shrugged, then quickly spotted the ‘bobble’ and stepped in to grab it.

When she returned to Ash, she reached up and grasped her gathered hair, gently but firmly, and drew her down for another kiss as she tied the girl’s hair up.

Her expression was smug as they parted. She’d let the tall beauty take the lead this time to ease her nerves; she looked forward to trying a firmer hand, and she suspected she’d get the chance.

Arsling smirked back “nice one shortie” Arsling said giving a quick forehead kiss back “we should get back to campus shouldn’t we?” Arsling says throwing her suit jacket over her back before looking back at you

“Oh yeah you should probably get dressed as well, as much as i do like your marble form” Arsling says smirking and blushing

“I would never have guessed,” she teased back, savoring the open air for another moment before reaching for her clothes.

Eventually both girls were on their way back down the mountain Arsling threw wit and totally not slightly awkward at all eventually got around to the question “So, what are we relationship wise?”

Didi made a show of thinking about the question, one finger on her chin.

“I believe the technical term is ‘hotties who just fucked in public,’” she replied playfully, making sure to catch Ash’s expression. “But if you asked me on a date, I probably wouldn’t say no~”

Arsling chuckles and blushes at the fucked in public statement before blushing even harder at the idea of dating "oh, that sounds great, I am trying to make plans with Burgundy, but i don't think she'll mind if I date you aswell"

“Gosh you’re cute when you’re embarrassed,” she teased. “Well, I’m poly myself. I’m a relationship anarchist, which means we get to decide what our relationship is. Talk it over with Burgs…” She paused and laughed. “You know they’re my roommate, right? My rule is no kinky stuff or sex in my bed unless I’m involved. But I’m fine clearing out if you need the space. Maybe I’ll go visit ‘’your’’ roommate--” Her face suddenly fell. “Oh, no, actually she probably wouldn’t-- never mind, forget that part. But yeah, like I said, ask me out and there’s a good chance I’ll say yes.”

She intertwined her fingers with Ash’s as they continued down the trail.

Arsling looks confused as she locks hands with Didi "wait Burgundy is your roommate and she didn't tell you we kissed? Although to be honest I haven't told Tam about it ether so...ah ignore my question, it's dumb" Arsling says blushing as she runs a hand threw her hair "oh yeah I watched the derby game last week, you kicked arse"

--Later at Carter Hall--

Tamzen was, unsurprisingly, buried in her homework when Arsling returned to their room at Carter Hall. She glanced up when the other girl entered and greeted her with a wide smile, setting aside a notebook absolutely covered in arcane sigils - Tamzen continued to insist that they were “circuit diagrams” or something like that.

“Hey Linny! You look...really happy, actually - I take it that you finally managed to get a good sketch of the springs today?"

Arsling was definitely beaming, in the relatively short time Tamzen knew Arsling this was a rare mood for her, she was usually friendly but with a tense edge around her, that tension seems to have disintegrated "yeah! Went swimmingly" Arsling winked and grinned at her own pun, she's definitely in a chipper mood.

“Well, if it went that well, I definitely want to see this sketch,” she replied, holding one hand out expectantly. “May I?” Tamzen might not be an artist herself, but she was always very appreciative of Arsling’s art.

Arsling blushed for a second “oh yeah sure” Arsling awkwardly flipped threw her pages before landing on her sketch of..well is it more of Didi or the springs is the question “Might’ve been a tad distracted when I made this one”

“I’ll say…” Tamzen murmured as she looked at the drawing, a slight flush spreading across her features. Her eyes glossed over the figure central to the sketch, not immediately recognizing the subject. “You really do capture it so perfectly...I wish I had your kind of talent.” She glanced up, still holding the sketchbook in both hands. “Can I look at your other sketches? It’s been awhile since you showed them off to me…” Tamzen seemed a bit distracted, as if she was focusing on Arsling’s art in order to avoid bringing up another topic.

“Oh sure!” Arsling says leaning back against a wall watching Tamzen as she does so watching the girl flip threw her book “you alright? You just look kinda offput if you get what I mean.”

“Huh?” Tamzen looked up from the sketchbook, momentarily confused. “Oh...yeah. Um…” her face flushed even darker. “Well...um…” She turned her attention back to the sketchbook, deliberately not looking at her roommate. After a moment, she took a deep breath in, then blew it out, the gust of breath ruffling through her long bangs. “So...um… you remember how I went to that party on Saturday night? The one at PLO?”

"Yeah, Didi told me a little bit about that, sounded insane from what she told me," Arsling said, being somewhat teasing as she watched Tamzens face, now she knows how Didi probably felt watching herself get flustered before she emerged from her awkward shell.

“Did she...um...did she tell you that I passed out face-down in her lap?” Tamzen asked, her eyes still firmly focused on a sketch of a grove of birch trees. *Yes. Trees are good...nothing awkward or sexual about trees...*

"Yep, and that she was completely nude...there are worse places to pass out" Arsling says smiling and blushing as she recalls the day’s events.

“Umm…” Tamzen’s face was absolutely scarlet by this point. “I…um...yeah…” She sighed, and tried to look at her roommate, even though she still couldn’t manage to meet her eyes. “Gods...I don’t want this to be awkward, because she’s your friend but...well...I…” Another deep breath. “I think I might...have just..*.alittlebitofacrushonher*.” Her last words spilled out of her mouth in a single rushed tumble of sounds, and Tamzen blushed again, and tilted her head down until she was hiding behind her hair again.

Arsling's face soon also gains a similar tone "well eh em, I don't have a problem with that but eh well" Arsling's kinda wraps a loose hair around her finger as she looks away as well "I kinda well…"

“Linny? Is everything o-” Tamzen had distractedly flipped back to Arsling’s most recent sketch, and she glanced down at it, suddenly seeing what she had missed on first viewing. Her eyes lingered along familiar curves, lovingly rendered. “Oh.” She closed the sketch book, and handed it back to Arsling. “I understand…” she murmured as she turned her attention towards hurriedly packing up her textbooks and notes.

She stood up, books cradled in her arms, held tight against her chest as if they were armor.

“I’m...I’m gonna go. Yeah...”

Arsling's expression turned guilty, feeling like she's accidently stabbed her friend in the back "it was a spur of the moment thing...she's not taken by me! you could still, well" Arsling's sentence is stuttered as her brain begins firing blanks trying to think of some way to, cheer Tamzen up or give her hope back as self hatred fills Arsling's body as a little voice in the back of Arsling's head tells her 'this is what happens when you let loose, you hurt people'

Tamzen hurried for the door, hands moving to seat her headphones over her ears. She looked back at Arsling, and gave her friend a smile that didn’t \*quite\* mask her actual feelings.

“Linny? I’m...I’m sorry I said anything. And...well, I’m happy for you. Really...I just...I just need some alone time.” She slid her headphones into place, and walked out the door. “I’ll be back after work!” she called out over her shoulder, before she disappeared around the corner.

Arsling goes into her room and leans against the wall sliding down to the floor something in her wants to be angry, but no matter how much she wants to be angry she realises that she has no reason to be mad at anyone, nobody did anything wrong except her, Arsling looks herself in a full body mirror positioned across from her and says "you fucking idiot" before slumping her head back down