[mp] safe and sound â—‡ killian

Not at all, Mavis mumbled, breath light against his jumper. She was tilting her head up again, and something seized in his chest, almost like he was going to cry – but also the opposite, a tension under his ribcage that was afraid and exploding with joy all at the same time. "Right, brilliant," he whispered back, moving back to press another light kiss there again.

Mavis called him on his stupid way of going about it, talking about boyfriend-girlfriend-ship, and he laughed again, cheeks dimpling. He wasn't really asking properly, wasn't sure how, but that certainly seemed like approval, certainly seemed like a declaration of their friendship moving into some new stage. He felt a little loopy, to be honest. It was probably hormones, some Nora-shaped know-it-all said in the back of his brain, but Killian paid it no mind. Bugger off, little voice, this is clearly the feeling of romance.

Mavis seemed a little deflated, though, just a touch, by how he had ended that sentence. A small crease formed between his brows, trying to feel out what wasn't being said here so he could just bloody well say it. He had been half hoping she would say that she was ready now, but he didn't want to pressure her, but what if it sounded like he didn't want to kiss her? "Uh, I think so, I reckon that would be best." Would it? He kept thinking, another line forming between his brows.

Killian pulled his arm up and over Mavis' shoulders, adjusting his sitting position so he was wedged sideway between the low table and the sofa, knees pulled up beneath him. "Well, I think the ideal order of operations would go something like, well, first I should say –" He reached for Mavis' hands, taking them gently in his, "Mavis Nandamuri, will you be my girlfriend? And then you would, you would say yes, and then," his right hand moved almost of its own accord, cupping the side of Mavis' cheek like he had seen in Nora's television programmes, thumb rubbing against her jawline. "And then, if you wanted me to, I'd kiss you right now, because I'd really like to kiss you right now. And if you didn't want me to, I'd respect that, obviously."

His heart was beating too fast in his chest, and Killian couldn't keep his eyes from dropping to Mavis' lips again.

Every inch of Mavis's face wanted to pull up into a somewhat confused scrunch, but she fought it as best she could. Of course, the Gryffindor wished to be kissed, and she had decided that she wanted Killian to be the one to do it, but how to get from where they were now to there seemed like such complicated math now. And she was typically so fond of Arithmancy. So asking if she should tell him when had seemed like a good idea at the time, but all of two seconds later, when Killian replied, Mavis wondered if that had been a mistake. If by asking, she had suddenly promised to tell him the exact moment she wanted to be kissed and by doing so had instructed him not to kiss her until that precise moment.

That was a terrifying thought, the teenager realized suddenly, and felt antsy where she was sitting. And just at that moment, Killian pulled his arm from around her and turned to face her, and Mavis stared at him. Could he read her mind? No, no, of course not; that was a silly thing to consider. Mavis turned toward Killian, sitting on her feet and bouncing energetically as he began. Her cheeks felt warm again when he reached for her hand, and she smiled at the way he'd said her full name. The idea that he could read her mind was goofy, and yet, here he was giving her a procedural breakdown on how things could go right when she needed it most. And merlin knew the witch loved a detailed list.

His hand felt warmer on her face than she'd expected it to, but it was the words that really did her in. Mavis felt like her stomach was full of Billywigs. She felt giddy and floaty and so nervous she could laugh for days. Killian's eyes fell, and Mavis's stomach followed. "Well... what if..." She began, sitting forward ever-so-slightly and tucking her hair behind her ear with her free hand. "What if I wanted you to kiss me now." It was such a forward thing to say, and while maybe it was the wrong thing to say, Mavis didn't care. Killian was so cute, and honestly, right now, at this moment, she could not possibly imagine a better lead-up, but mostly she didn't want to be in charge of the scheduling.

Mavis looked confused. Shit! thought Killian. He had broken it down too much, he had been too much of a nerd about it, and he had ruined it. Who wanted their first kiss to come with a script, Killian? Nobody! Killian's fingers on her cheek curled in, ready to pull away.

What if I wanted you to kiss me now.

Killian felt some organ leap up and crash into his throat, punching his Adam's apple with the speed. "Oh," he breathed, his left hand squeezing almost immediately at Mavis's fingers. Oh. Okay. Killian licked his lips (wow, NOT subtle), suddenly aware how dry they were. Mavis' lips on the other hand, looked soft and smooth and...

He leaned in, panicking at the last moment about whether his eyes should be open or closed, and banged her nose.

"Sorry," he whispered, still very very very close to her mouth now. "I just, if that were the case, I think I would..."

The second attempt was better. It connected, his lips catching her top lip before tilting sideways and pressing into her there, warm and soft and gentle. His right hand, still cupping her cheek, drifted back so it was just under her ear, fingers disappearing into her hair. It felt radiant.

When an appropriate amount of time kissing had passed, Killian pulled back, the flush in his cheeks extending to and darkening his eartip. "Uh, so, um." Articulate, aren't you? "Was that..." He couldn't bring himself to actually ask if it was good. Just looked at Mavis, eyes wide, and prayed that the kiss had given them both some sort of telepathy.

Was time slowing down, or was that just Mavis's overactive imagination? She'd told Killian she'd like to be kissed now, and everything in the wake of that confession felt dramatically slower. It was like something out of a novel or, more likely, one of the storied articles in the Witch Weekly she and Magnolia pretended they weren't reading in Charms class. Mavis was so sure this was going to be the moment, and of course, she was nervous, but she also felt excited. Like some brand new electricity was coursing through her veins. Nervous energy she was unfamiliar with but not at all afraid of. This was Killian! Her Best Friend, Killian (well, one of her best friends, because she couldn't single anyone out of the Squad), and she trusted him.

And yet, she felt like her stomach was tied up in a knot as he leaned in toward her. In the seconds between Killian's hand on her face and the boy she'd never thought of this way (until Right Now) bumping her nose, Mavis ran back over her checklist. And then, with classic Gryffindor flare, Mavis chucked that list out of the imaginary tower in her mind and decided that she was ready for this. She was a strong, vibrant young witch, and she was fully capable of determining when and how she would like to be kissed for the first time.

Also, it was happening, so it didn't matter.

Mavis made a slight sound as Killian's nose collided with hers, something between an oof and a giggle, and the teenage witch prayed he would;t give up now. Killian apologized, and Mavis held her breath, and then he moved closer again, and time paused again. Like someone was playing a joke on her, Mavis felt like everything slowed down just before Killian's lips brushed against hers, and Merlin she was impatient. And then, finally the wait was over, and Mavis leaned into the kiss. It was beautiful and magical (and wet?), but also she loved it. She'd imagined her first kiss enough times that Mavis honestly thought she knew what to expect, but this was so much better. Killian tilted his head to one side, and Mavis tried to match him correctly. She realized she had zero ideas what to do with her hands, so she was thankful that Killian was still holding one of them. Fifty percent less to worry about.

Eventually, Mavis stopped thinking about it altogether. She stopped analyzing the way he tilted his head and whether or not his hand on her face was some unspoken cue that she didn't understand and just let her body do what felt natural. She was out of breath when Killian pulled away, and Mavis had mixed feelings about the pause. She wanted to keep kissing him, felt like she could do just that for the rest of her life, actually, but also, the break was nice. "That was... great," She admitted, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth and watching him.

"Was it... okay for you?" Mavis had no idea how the next five minutes were supposed to go. They had kissed, and that was great (it was AMAZING!) but now what? Silently, Mavis begged her mind to calm down, just to let her enjoy this moment before all of the over-analyzing began, but she was desperate to know what Killian was thinking.

Good god, this was lovely. It all clicked, suddenly – every crooning love song he had ever heard on the radio, every vapid quiz Nola had ever asked him to do, the romantic subplot of every book and movie he had ever read.

Because if romance and love lead to kissing, well, why would anyone stop?

It took effort for him to pull away – it was a little hard to breathe like that, and he did enjoy breathing. Not as much as kissing, but, uh, significantly. This was nice, too – looking at Mavis' lips, somehow fuller than before, her skin (beautiful), her eyes (beautiful) and just. Wow. Mavis.

The pause between was and great concerned him, slightly.  Was it nerves? Or was she afraid of hurting his feelings? He glanced over at his notes, abandoned – if she decided that she didn't want to be boyfriend-girlfriend, actually, he would have to rewrite hers, and that would be such a pain. And, furthermore, embarassing.

"Was it okay?" Killian exclaimed, eyes wide. "Mavis, it was amazing." He shook his head – how could she be asking such a thing? Simply made no sense. Killian bit his lip, which was suddenly sensitive too, expression open and vulnerable. "Uh. Would you like to uh, do that more, at some point, like now, or later?"

Killian repeated her question, and Mavis bit down on her lower lip as she waited for the answer. Amazing. Amazing was such a good word; Mavis could work with Amazing. Her smile brightened considerably, and she nodded quickly. She felt the same; wow, it was such a good feeling to be on the same page about this, Mavis realized. And she also realized that she wanted to talk about kissing less and go back to kissing some more.

And Killian was on that page too; Mavis bounced a little at his question, but more importantly at the ridiculously adorable way he had posed it. Since when was Killian Buckley the absolute cutest boy in all of Hogwarts? Had he always been this charming, and Mavis hadn’t been paying attention, or was he especially wonderful now because she was paying attention? It didn’t matter, she decided.

Nodding some more, Mavis gave him what she hoped would be a cute shrug. “Now is good, I’m free now,” She giggled as she leaned toward him again, forgetting not to smile too much as their lips met again and her teeth hit his. “Sorry,” She mumbled in between, kissing him again, her palms moving to rest on his chest. And momentarily, Mavis decided she could do this forever, OWLS, their friends, and sleep be damned.

Now is good, I'm free now. Killian's breathing stuttered for a moment, torn between all-consuming infatuation and a breathy laugh. He almost missed her leaning in and the front of his teeth clicked against hers again. "S'okay," Killian whispered into the small space between them, quickly cut off by Mae's mouth on his. Didn't mind it much. Didn't mind the pleasant pressure of her palms on his chest, either. Enjoyed it, rather. He wanted to fold one hand on top of hers there, but he wanted his hands everywhere Mavis would permit. Her waist, her hair, her shoulders, her back, anywhere and everywhere. The appendages in question hovered a hairs length away before he tentatively settled for one on her waist, the other cupping a beautiful brown cheek.

The Valentines would get finished sometime soon, Killian thought distantly. They had the whole afternoon. There was no rush, no need to pull away. Later his hand might cramp from writing all the notes that remained, later her might drip candle wax onto a note or two. Later. There would be later.

Killian pulled Mavis a little closer, thumb running over her cheek. There would be time for all that, later. Now, there was just the two of them, warm and soft in the common room.

[out]

Kissing Killian might have been the best thing Mavis had ever been a part of, and though she had very little time for thoughts now, she was pretty sure that was true. On the list of things, she had little time for was taking breaths of air. The young witch nearly forgot to as Killian’s hand found her waist. She felt like little bits of lightning shot up from where his fingers pressed against her shirt, and she dared to wonder what his hands might feel like on her skin. Another jolt of lightning, and Mavis pulled away to take a quick breath before returning to Killian.

The excitement was like electricity buzzing around her, in her ears and her racing heart, and Mavis forgot the world around them. Maybe another student would want to sit down on the couch, maybe Magnolia would come crashing through with the latest gossip, but right now, Mavis wasn’t worried about any of that. It was just Killian and her, and she liked that. She liked that a lot, actually.

Killian pulled her closer, and Mavis was quick to reciprocate as her hands moved up his chest and rested around his neck. She had no idea how much time had passed, but there was no more teeth-clinking, just kissing and smiling and the occasional break for breaths, and it was lovely.

/end