whitecaps - cosetty/frisson

Aelinor didn't know how long she had been at the beach, or even how deep she was wandering in the water. She was so lost in thought that her body was operating purely from muscle memory. Suddenly, something flew by her, snapping her out of her thoughts with an embarrassingly undignified yelp. Two things, actually. One of the white streaks passed alarmingly close her body. She could feel the displacement of the air as it went by. Her heart leapt in her chest, eyes wide and breathing shallow. It felt as if her entire chest was vibrating with the adrenalin. It took a few seconds to process where she was, let alone what just narrowly missed hitting her.

She noticed the surfboard first. It lay half on the sand, half in the surf. Oh. The waves that had seemed so gentle earlier were bigger now, carrying the board a little farther away with each pass. She was concerned that she had been up to her knees in the surf and didn't even realize. But if there's a board... "Are you alright?"

Aelinor spun around, face reddened with a fierce blush as she turned to the surfer. He was tall, and lean, but broad-shouldered. His wet hair was a dark bronze, but a few drier strands shone in the early morning sun. She remembered now: all the little signs that her brain had processed, and then forgot. The blue shirt lying in the sand. The distant figure of a surfer on the waves. She had even noticed him when she first arrived! Wasn't the number one rule in surfing that you never block someone's wave? With only a handful of people on the beach, it shouldn't be difficult to follow! And yet, here we are. Maybe I just have a talent at being at the wrong place at the wrong time.

Had he been calling out to her? She could vaguely remember a sound, something pressing at the back of her mind. Something-- no, someone trying to get her attention. She swallowed. He was handsome, and probably angry, which made her nervous on top of the shock of narrowly being knocked over by a surfboard and a very tall surfer. Therefore, the only natural reaction, of course, is to rapidly apologize.  "Oh, I'm so terribly sorry. I wasn't paying attent--"

His words processed, forcing her to stop more anxious apologies from spilling out of her mouth. She swallowed thickly. "Yes, I'm quite alright." Her voice sounded strange to her own ears, betraying her shock. "Your board didn't hit me." She wrung her hands in front of her, looking rapidly between the surfer and the ground. She was just waiting for it to happen, the anger and fierce words to tell her off for getting in his way. "I'm so sorry."

She could feel her blush spreading down her neck and across her chest. Her blue eyes flickered to the ground. That's when she noticed the blood. It spiraled down his leg, spilling bright red from a lengthy cut across his calf. This is all your fault, Aelinor! Pay some attention next time. "You're bleeding!" Yes. State the obvious, Ael. Brilliant. "I'm so so sorry! This is all my fault."

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Words: 534
Notes: Hope you had a good Memorial Day weekend!!! Hope this makes some sort of sense, haha.

The seconds stretched out in front of her. This silence was too much, pressing in around her. It was the calm before the storm, she was sure. Should she make a quick exit before he had the chance to speak? But he's bleeding. . .

And then the strangest thing happened: he apologized to her. It was nothing like she was expecting. She watched as his shoulders relaxed, as a twinge of worry past over his face. This whole time he was worried about having hurt her? Her chest tightened and sparked with heat at the same time, something warm and not entirely unwelcome. A small smile twitched at the corners of her lips. Aelinor was a big enough person to admit to herself when she had been wrong. She was wrong, thankfully so. This slightly nervous, worried giant was much better than the tight, broad anger she had anticipated.

Still, Ael made a mental note to never be in front of someone's board again.

Her body tensed momentarily when he reached out and put his hand on her shoulder, before she forced it to relax again. He had been much closer than she thought. Her blush burned across her neck; she was so jumpy it was embarrassing. His hands were rather large, she thought briefly, gentle and impossibly warm. How can anyone's hands be so warm I can feel it thought my sweater? That was the only thought of his hands she allowed herself, shaking her head to focus on other things. Like maybe the fact that the water lapping around their legs was tinged pink from the blood pouring out of his leg. Maybe focus on that, Ael!

"It doesn't hurt that much." Now, a real smile quirked at her lips. Yeah, sure. Unfolding her hands, she reached up and touched his forearm, using a light pressure to guide him toward the beach. She didn't think about his hands, forcing herself to look at his calf. "Let's get out of the water," she said, glancing up at his face. "I'll take a look at your leg. It's looks pretty bad." Aelinor mentally winced, adding a quick "please" afterwards.

The water was starting to numb her legs, and goosebumps spread across her skin as the wet skin met the slightly cool beach breeze. She couldn't suppress a shiver; it traveled up her spine and down her arms. Once they were completely out of the water, she dropped her hand from his arm and took a step back. "Please, sit down for a second. You're still bleeding." She glanced down the beach at where the surfboard floated in the water. "I'll just... get your board, okay?"

She didn't wait for him to protest, just quickly walked down the beach to prevent the board from being sucked out into the ocean. Truthfully, she needed a little space to breath, if even just a few meters. She knew it would take a few minutes for her blush to completely fade, but she could take these few seconds to start calming down. She had to splash through the water to reach it. The first time she tried to pick it up, it slipped through her hands, but she got a good grip on it the second time. It was much heavier than she expected it to be. How do you even carry one of these, anyway? She half carried, half dragged the board up the beach, before unceremoniously dropping it into the sand. Well, now there was no danger of it floating out to sea.

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Words: 593
Notes: Thanks!

Just keep me where the light is.

Satisfied with the surfboard's distance from the waves, Aelinor stood up. There was sand on her legs and arms, and even a stripe across the waist of her dress where the surfboard had gotten it wet. She huffed, and pretended it was mostly out of annoyance and not because she was a little out of breath from dragging the surfboard up the beach--which frankly, it's cruel and unusual for a board to be bigger and heavier than her. Sand was so annoying to get out of clothing, after all. Maybe she was being a little dramatic.

Ael could already tell her blush wouldn't go away any time soon. She glanced in the boy's direction. He was probably watching her the entire time; how embarrassing. His shoulders were even shaking, and it definitely was not that cold. Cruel and unusual, indeed. You couldn't pay her to get on one of those things. He was still sitting, which was good. She half expected him to come after her. Maybe it's more painful than I thought... Her brow wrinkled in concern.

She shook her thoughts away, narrowing her eyes at the board as if to warn it against moving before she walked back over to him. It only took a few seconds for her to reach his side. He was smirking, an asymmetrical quirk to his lips that made her stomach flip. "Trouble?" Her voice was light, and slightly teasing. She glanced back at the board. Aelinor felt weird standing over him, somehow vulnerable. She kneeled beside him, smoothing out the skirt of her dress over her thighs. "Well, maybe for someone like me, but something tells me you have plenty of experience."

She was about to wonder exactly what he meant by 'all nurse-y or whatever' when she was struck by the absurdity of this situation. She didn't even notice how his voice skipped; she was too busy biting the inside of her lip to keep herself from laughing. She made his guy wipe out on his surfboard to avoid hitting her, even when there was an empty stretch of beach. She literally could have been standing anywhere else, but then he's concerned about her safety. Meanwhile, Ael was so flustered, she immediately assumed he'd get angry and started apologizing. Not to mention blushing profusely. Even just remembering it made her skin pulse with warmth. And all this time, she didn't even think to give him her name.

Actually, now that she thinks about it, it's less funny and more rude.

"Tristan," she echoed, a smile spreading across her cheeks. It was a nice name, if unusual. It fit him. "I'm Aelinor." She was unsure what to do now. It felt wrong to immediately go into... being nurse-y or whatever. Besides, there wasn't much she could do on the beach without any supplies. After a second's hesitation, she offered him her hand for a handshake. "It's a pleasure to meet you."

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Words: idk I was too lazy to check x-x
Notes: it didn't suck

He ducked his head at her words, which made a half-uncertain-half-satisfied smile quirk her lips. That wasn't a reaction she got out of people often. She was usually the one ducking her head and avoiding eye-contact, not the other way around! It made a warm feeling spread through her stomach. He's so... bashful, nervous, humble, polite, gorgeous... Don't read too much into this, Ael. You'll probably never see him again after today. He's just a guy. He's just a guy who needs some help. That's all.

They locked eyes during introductions, and Aelinor had to force herself not to stare at him-- Tristan. She couldn't tell what color his eyes were, not in this light at least. They were dark, though. Dark and deep, easy to get lost in. Her eyes flickered down to where their hands were clasped together. If she thought he was gentle when he touched her shoulder, his handshake proved it. His hands were much bigger than hers, the palms broader. Again, his hands were impossibly warm, and they wrapped around hers like it was the most precious thing on this beach. Stop reading into it, damnit Ael! It's just a handshake.

Delighted! He said delighted! Out of everything- delight. Aelinor felt delighted, especially when a laugh escaped his chest like its sole purpose was to brighten the space around him. Tristan literally looked brighter, although, maybe that was attributed to the rising sun. The day was slowly brightening around them, but Aelinor was too caught up in their interaction to notice. A warm tingle spread across her cheeks at the way he said her name, making her blush and smile at the same time. "It's just Aelinor. Ael, if you like..."

"What brings you out to this part of the beach? It's always nicer a couple miles up shore."

And then, all at once, he realized he was still holding her hand. He pulled his away quickly, and Ael immediately felt the loss. Goosebumps traveled up her wrist and arm, caused by the sudden loss of warmth. How do you just forget that someone's holding your hand? She chewed on the inside of her lip, deciding to bring her attention back to the bigger issue here: the bleeding calf.

"Well, this part is closer to my house, for starters. The sand's nicer up the beach, but there are interesting things washed up in the rocks sometimes." Like you. Her face flamed. Okay, that was too much. I can't believe I even thought that. She examined his leg, and was relieved when she found that the cut wasn't at all as bad as she feared. It was barely bleeding, more like a raw scrape than a cut. The kind of cut that was ultimately superficial but hurt like hell. She paused, glancing up at his face. Should I tell him it isn't that bad? He's probably very capable of taking care of himself, anyway. She suddenly felt invasive and silly. She had overreacted when she discovered he was bleeding because of her. It didn't even require a bandage, just a good wash.

"Well, Tristan. It looks like you'll live." Stupid. She kept glancing between him and her hands folded in her lap. She felt ridiculous, her embarrassment preventing her from even looking at his eyes. She couldn't make herself do it, so she focused instead on where his cheek swooped smoothly to his hairline. Mistake! Mistakes were definitely made. Those cheekbones are unreal. "The cut isn't as bad as I thought. Only really needs a wash." She swallowed, gathering enough courage for the decency to at least look him in the eye before ... effectively bolting. Her neck burned burned burned, face flushed pink from her cheeks to the tips of her ears. Swiftly, she stood. The sudden movement caused sand to fall from her legs and clothes. "Sorry for taking up so much of your time."

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Words: 646
Notes: Sorry about the delay!

It was hard to keep track of everything she was feeling. Aelinor was used to feeling anxious, even flustered, but never had she experienced something so overwhelming. One minute she was laughing, teasing, and the next she was so embarrassed at herself she could feel her skin burn from ears to chest. It was difficult to pull in a full lungful of air; her chest felt constricted. She either moved too quickly or froze, no matter how much she wanted to smoothly tuck her hair behind her ear, like the billions of other times before. Ael tried, but her changing emotions trumped muscle memory and the movement was jerky and awkward. Her fingertips brushed lightly against her temple, numb and tingling. Her body was static.

Aelinor was sure that if she could look inside her head, the image would be static as well. Harsh radio static with sporadic bursts of clarity; billows of black smoke like in the District 13 propos with flashes of sunshine.

Part of her wanted to linger in the way he chuckled, in the quick rise and fall of his shoulders, in the easy wave of his hair and the not-so-easy way words past his lips. Sometimes, especially around his "Okay", his throat bobbed as if it was catching words that his lips simply wouldn't speak. It stuttered and fumbled, but Aelinor longed to sit and listen to the intricacies of him.

Another, larger part of her, fueled by the anxiety twisting in her stomach, wanted to run home and never leave the house again. She trembled where she stood, her body tensed to move immediately, yet at the same time she was rooted to the spot. She couldn't see Tristan when he stood after her, too focused on the particles of sand stuck to the sleeve of her sweater, but she felt him. She felt the air move as he shifted position, heard the angle of his voice change as he stood. She had always thought she was a tall girl, and compared to others her age, she was. Tristan still managed to tower over her by an good 6 inches.

Aelinor had never been as hyper-aware of another person in her entire life. She knew where he stood; knew when he shifted his weight; could sense his movements as he brushed sand from his stubborn skin. All this without looking at him, only at the way the light reflected off the tiny piece of shell and jewel and rock that made up the sand on her sweater. It felt like years, but was only a second, before Aelinor forced herself to look up at him, to smile, to say goodbye.

"I didn't have anything to do today, anyway" he tried to reassure her, but Ael was stuck on the movement of his throat, and the color of his eyes. Ael was stuck on the goodbyes she knew she should be saying. So, she simply looked at him for one drawn-out instant and turned her back, her body intent on walking all the way home, or maybe all the way across town, across this district. To walk and never stop.

"But, you know..." Perhaps this day was meant for the unexpected, because she did stop though it felt as if her lungs were vibrating. "I can always make plans." The static inside her dulled from all-encompassing to slightly annoying background noise. Aelinor chewed on the inside of her lip, biting back a small smile. She turned her head first, peering at him with one eye. Then, her shoulders followed, angling towards the water.

His cheeks were tinged pink, a look utterly charming and utterly humanizing at the same time. She bit back her smile a little harder, but she could tell the attempt failed. "With you, maybe." Something in her chest swelled, and Ael lost all pretense of hiding her smile. Instead, she let it bloom. He wanted to make plans with her? It sent a feeling completely strange down her spine. Perhaps it was meant to inspire giddiness, but instead it settled the anxious vibrations in her body. He wanted to make plans with her?

"Plans?" Her voice was shy, quiet and slightly disbelieving, but growing steadier with each word. "What plans did you have in mind, Tristan?" She paused, turning again to fully face him, nose scrunched ever so slightly in thought. She was running through a list of possible plans they could make, but was coming up blank.