After the Storm [Candice, Giselle]

Giselle was right, in a sense. Though Candice did not know what she was thinking and nor would she have told her so if she did.

For Candice was not a woman that one said 'no' to often, but equally not one that you said 'yes' to either. To keep saying yes was to invite the devil herself to dinner, to keep agreeing and appeasing and meaning it wholeheartedly was not something that any truly sane person would do. But Candice did not see the madness in her actions, they were all too reasonable to her, and so she was well versed in the taste of rejection without understanding that she was doing wrong. So, to her, Giselle's actions were perfectly in line with her desires. Just as she was blind to her own folly, she was blind to the greater deception of the other woman - who did so surprisingly enjoy playing the prey when they could easily have been the predator.

She quietly revelled in the sensation of Giselle writhing against her body as they remained somewhat entwined, the girl's hands now moving with genuine intent as they held on to her neck ever so tightly, but even that paled in comparison to those words. The night before had been nice and all, and she was glad that Giselle enjoyed it so, but this was Candice's climax. Hearing her plead for Candice to be with her, desperately insisting that she was already hers, and offering everything at that moment like nothing else had ever mattered before.

This was it.

An electric current surged beneath her skin, enough to make what few stray hairs she had stand on end, as Candice began to contort from the genuinely painful thrill. Were she a weaker woman, she might have accidentally released that energy and vaporised poor Giselle, but she was anything but weak. She was Candice fucking Catnipp and right now she felt like she could do anything. Swallowing that power was like she was riding the greatest of highs, so she scrunched up her face for a moment before letting out a muffled cry of satisfaction. Then she planted a passionate kiss right on Giselle's exposed neck, pulling away only after she had drunk her fill of this flowing ecstasy.

Throwing her head back, the covers long since discarded, it was an untamed mane of vibrant blonde hair that dominated the room in that instant. Her eyes might have been fixed upon the ceiling, but they did not see it as the object of her fascination was both far beyond it and infinitely closer - herself.

Had Candice been thinking about Giselle in that instant then she might have noticed her Blut activate, or have thought to pry the arms from around her neck ever so delicately, but she was not doing so. She remained knelt there with her back arched upwards, Giselle having crawled somewhat out from beneath her, for a fair few moments more. Even as she felt the soft touch of Giselle's lips upon her chest there was little response but a continued series of quiet moans. Hands ran through her own hair, pulling blonde locks in every which direction until finally the self-exaltation was done.

Were it Giselle's intention to poke at her vulnerabilities, then she would find that Candice was as unfazed as ever. Emerald eyes shone brightly as they peered down at the small face pressed against her ribs, a smile so wide and infectious upon her lips that it seemed she could at any moment burst into a genuinely hearty bout of laughter. There was no question of her self-assurance in that instant, she truly felt untouchable.

"Oh, I'm better than alright. You actually meant it didn't you, Z?"

Those strands that her hands had been holding up began to tumble around Giselle's head, though her hair did not run quite that far down her body. But her arms did make the distance, pulling her companion up from under her until they were both now sat on the bed. Not quite at eye level, given Candice's height, but close enough to it that neither was craning their neck anymore.

"Was I that good? Am I that good?" Suddenly everything was so serious. As serious as Candi could get whilst a childish grin was plastered across her face. She paused again, taking in the figure of the woman before her, a hand now resting lightly upon one of Giselle's own and scratching at the back of her palm ever so softly, "Of course I am, but how did you know that? A hunch? A lucky guess? A leap of faith? You knew me for all of a few hours and then here we are."

"Those were indeed things that happened. You would do well to treasure those fleeting memories, when you were blessed with a kiss from an angel."

But I did not take you for the type at first, I confess. I did not expect to win you over in a day, nor for you to go for me in turn.

Perhaps that was a mistake she had made. One she would most certainly not admit, for Candice never made mistakes. Assuming that Giselle was so different from herself. Physically, their differences went without saying, but mentally, there was more in common than she had expected. Was she attracted to that recklessness? Even if it was like looking at a mirror of herself, and she was so perfectly infallible, did it cheapen Giselle's admission of infatuation?

That brief moment of clarity lingered at the back of Candi's mind as Giselle began to wrap herself around her once more. She had half the mind to break free from the embrace and make her escape, she'd already gotten what she came for and then some. A new little plaything, a pretty Quincy girl to be corrupted by the promise of fueling her secret excesses. If she left now then it would be the easiest test of Giselle's resolve, to see how she handled being dropped as easily as she was picked up. It would not even be hard to do so, and who was she to dare question her decision if she did.

But she is right there. Offering.

There was no alcohol clouding either of their judgements now, and yet Giselle was continuing to push forwards. It was enthralling to know that Candi was so enticing to her, a thought that only fed her ego and reinvigorated that domineering presence in her heart. Her own hand moved to Giselle's cheek, caressing it as she had done before and slowly she began to nod in response to that final remark.

"You dare to assume that I need your help?"

She lowered her head, drawing closer to Giselle as she quietly enjoyed the pull of the hand upon her neck.

"After all that I gave you, you dare ask for more?"

Closer and closer still, and then she was pressing her lips against Giselle's own.

As the pair broke apart, Candice had to mask her surprise as she had not expected such a response from Giselle. It was a pleasant surprise at first, for she did so enjoy being placed above gods and kings, but that mood did sour as she noticed the other woman slowly withdrawing from her.

Candi hated how fragile she felt at that moment. Why did she suddenly feel so exposed, so weak, so mortal? She had been so perfectly in charge of this whole situation right up until that moment, where suddenly she felt like the world itself had slipped through her fingers. Giselle had tried to pick away at her excesses before and she had paid them no heed, but suddenly that whole balance had genuinely shifted. They had teased that role reversal before, but it actually happening it was a different beast.

Who is she to bait us in and then turn aside?

There was a real desire to strike Giselle that crept into her mind like a dark shadow. To remind her that they might have been playing but this was still her game. And she could have done it too, but instead, she actually swallowed that urge. She hated that more than her previous fragility. Why was she suddenly giving Giselle this preferential treatment? She responded to so many other insults with violence and anger, why not now? Ugh. What was going on with her? Even still, she wasn't going to be toyed with. It was either on or it was off, and now it was very much off.

"Oh. -Of course, it would be improper to waste the entire day like this."

Wistfully withdrawing her own hand from Giselle's face, Candi retreated down the bed in a move that put further distance between them. She was rather sure that her clothes were still downstairs, but she was suddenly overcome with the desire to be covered so she began to bundle herself up in the sheets that had been so recently discarded. Wrapping them around her body in an impromptu dress.

"I should go gather up my things."

Sliding off the bed now, both arms wrapped around herself as she desperately tried to keep this sheet-robe from tumbling around her ankles, Candi made to stand. Her movement was more of an awkward shuffle than the elegant strides that had carried her around yesterday, but she did appear to be trying to keep some element of class about the whole thing - which only made it look more peculiar.

Candice tensed as Giselle took hold of her hand, pulling it away from the sheets that were wrapped around her and causing it to half tumble down as her other arm clamped as much as she could against her body. Not that it particularly exposed her, especially opposed to how exposed she had been before, but it still irritated her. She huffed and turned to look back over her shoulder at the woman who would hold her so, a woman who looked so calm and collected in a startling difference to that bubbly tease she had been before.

Perhaps she should have been more annoyed because it suddenly seemed clear that she was being guided down paths that were not of her own making, but this was one type of person she was used to dealing with. Someone who knew they were smarter than her and were smart enough to try to give her the illusion of choice to sate their own ends. In a way, that helped her find her feet again. That composure returned to features that once dared to flash with concern, as she took a seat again at the edge of the bed.

"My thoughts are my own, Z. You'll have to try a little harder than that. But I was here for it all though, wasn't I?"

A flat statement, delivered as such as she continued to face somewhat away and look backwards at Giselle. As if she were ready to leave at a moment's notice but there was something still that kept her there. It was only as she continued to sit there that the slightest hint of a smile began to creep across her lips, pulling subtly at her cheeks until it was close enough to a grin once more.

"As for today, I have business appointments I could still make and I'm not yet hearing any better alternatives..."