Little Spoon

Less than an hour later, Hope is putting the finishing touches on a sketch she had started a while ago. She's still in bed, still has Josie's surprisingly toned arm wrapped around her waist. Classes start in fifteen minutes or so and Hope knows that if she doesn't wake up Josie they'll both be late, but a big part of her feels very reluctant to move. Josie somehow adds another pleasant layer of warmth to Hope's usually heated body and she's much softer than Hope initially thought.

Besides, it kind of frustrates her that she hasn't had time to finish the drawing. Usually Hope would work in front of Josie and most times Josie would let her work, but this particular drawing was for Josie. It was of a new part of the lake Hope had found on one of her runs a long time ago. Back when she'd came upon it, it had a particularly bad day and Hope had ran with the intent to stay away for as long as possible.

She ran along the edge of the lake everyone knew about until she found the part that everyone thought was the end, which turned out to not actually be the end at all. Hope hadn't been friends with Josie then, so she had no one to show. Now she wants to show someone - Josie, specifically - but she needs to get the timing right.

"Are you drawing me?" Josie asks tiredly, her eyes still shut, her fingers blindly brushing against the edge of Hope's dulling pencil. Hope guesses that Josie hasn't seen her drawing yet, but she still panics and flips to another page quickly.

"No." She lies. "Just doodling. I promise I'll draw you sometime, though."

"Okay." Josie yawns and curls around Hope even more.

Josie seems to want something more with how she's burying herself into the mattress, tugging on one of Hope's arms. Hope sets her sketchbook down on the nightstand with a little sigh, willing to entertain Josie for a bit even though they really do have to go. Looking as happy as someone partially asleep can, Josie pulls Hope until they're both on their sides and Hope is confused for a second before she realizes what's going on.

"I'm not a little spoon."

"Lies." Josie replies. "You're very much a little spoon, accept it. Also, you're really warm."

Hope blushes a deep red at the cuddling and Josie's words that accompany it. "I know. I'm always warm, I'm a tribrid."

"Then what was all that complaining at the party about you freezing your tail off."

"One, I never said tail." She says, more embarrassment kicking in at the thought of the things she could have said to Josie while drunk. "Two, I may or may not have just wanted to get out of staying there any longer."

Josie just hums in amusement at that, says nothing else. No words are exchanged but Hope feels her hold get tighter, a little more firm, and she sinks into it - letting their arms tangle and their hands clasp. It's on the long list of random physical things Hope likes doing with Josie.

Maybe Hope still isn't the best with words, maybe she's still always thinking that her loved ones will disappear if she does the wrong thing, but this makes her feel a hundred times better. Holding Josie (or being held by Josie) like this makes the world seem better, like everything Hope cares about is easier to hold onto.

One of their phones vibrates, causing a dull buzzing sound to run through the room. It reminds the both of them that they have class.

"Shit. What time is it?" Josie sits up.

Hope feels a lot less comfortable suddenly but she ignores it and reluctantly gets herself up and out of bed. "Time for us to get ready for class."

They're kind of late, actually. So, Josie quickly says goodbye and then slips out the door with her gym bag in hand. That doesn't really end their time together, though. Josie changes clothes relatively fast and so does Hope and within about five minutes they catch each other again, while they're both heading down the stairs towards the same class.

Not that Hope really minds. She doesn't want to bother Josie with all this time they're spending together, but it's not like she can change her schedule. Besides, Josie doesn't seem mad about it at all. Josie simply greets her again with another smile and picks up her pace so they are jogging side by side to class, trying to beat the bell.

They get there just as their teacher is reaching to shut the door, both of slipping in at last minute. Hope ducks her head and starts walking to her desk immediately while Josie mutters an apology for being almost late (in a very Josie-like fashion) before following Hope. Unfortunately, they don't sit together in this class.

They don't sit together in a lot of classes. Josie has Lizzie (or more, Lizzie has Josie) and when they had chosen their seats at the beginning of the year Hope had dumbly wanted to put distance between herself and Josie. Hope spends most of her class time either sitting next to an empty seat or some nervous, silent person who still isn't used to sitting next to a Mikaelson even though the year is coming to an end.

The only classes she shares a desk with Josie in are Potions and Physical Education, and Hope rarely attends that second one. This is Defensive Magic 101, an extremely boring class that Hope knows she shouldn't have to take. In fact, the class is filled with a lot of witches who don't need to be sitting through any class on magic that end with 101, including Penelope Park. Who Hope, very unfortunately, sits next to.

Hope takes her sketchbook out from her backpack as soon as their teacher starts his lecture on blocking spells. She's surprised that Lizzie isn't glaring at her about her (permanent, totally not her fault) seating choice today. It definitely isn't her fault that Penelope shares her love for back rows.

"You smell like peanut butter." Penelope says. Hope would usually roll her eyes at the jab, but her blood boils at the thought of the protein shake.

She needs some type of release for her anger and Penelope isn't the person to help with that. Hope simply ignores her. She knows if she lets herself get caught up in an argument with Penelope, then she'll end up taking a page out of Josie's handbook and lighting the girl on fire. Alaric would never let her hear the end of it, but at least Lizzie would start cutting Hope some slack.

Wait, is Hope seriously considering lighting someone on fire? Maybe she really has been spending too much time with Josie.

"You should pay more attention." Penelope comments and Hope frowns, knowing this is going to turn into some petty insult. "These spells can really blow up in your face."

"Oh my god, get a hobby." Hope says finally. Penelope just grins at her, happy that Hope gave her a reaction and also got her reference to earlier that morning.

"I already have one."

The chair Penelope is sitting in tilts far back when she leans all her weight on it, but it doesn't fall. It's a lame spell, but Penelope looks pleased with herself. Hope sighs, takes a second to convince her brain that she's better than dumb teenage girl drama. Then her eyes find Penelope's one last time and notices that none of Penelope's attention is on her, so Hope curiously follows the other girl's gaze.

It's Josie. Of course it's Josie. Josie, who is doing her best to scribble down notes in two books - both hers and Lizzie's. Josie, who has no idea that she's being stared at by two girls right now. Josie, who somehow still looks awake and glad to be in class despite the early time and her doubled workload.

Hope can't tell you why, but she hates Penelope looking at Josie. It's as if Penelope hasn't gotten used to the idea that she can't have Josie anymore. Her vision suddenly feels a bit off, the edges of it turning golden like she had caught some sunlight in her eyes. Hope brings a hand up to her face and rubs at her eyelids, knowing that her irises are probably flashing a dangerous yellow at the moment.

She can barely control herself.

Hope's day doesn't go much better than that class. She skips the next two classes to go for a long run, knowing that she doesn't have any of those with Josie. The exercise doesn't help as much as it usually does, even though she was able to make it far out into the woods and back to school in a relatively short period of time. She must have run many miles, yet none of them tired her out.

When Hope got back that day for Potions, she was sweaty enough that she spent the first five minutes listening to Josie's complaints and crafting a potion that was pretty much just overrated perfume. The rest of class was pure tension. Not because of Josie or anything she was doing, but because Hope simply couldn't pull it together.

It was as if something rotten had gotten into her bloodstream. There was a building pressure behind her eyelids since that morning and an ache in her body that wouldn't heal. If she was human, then she would guess that she was sick. Her body could fight of sicknesses worse than a common cold, so Hope didn't think that was the case at all.

Whatever it was, it made the day pass in a haze. Hope wouldn't be surprised if she had fallen asleep halfway through the day. Usually she would go to the library to research stuff like this, but her legs and arms felt heavy by the time she got the chance and the library seemed so very far to her. She ended up bothering Dr. Saltzman, drowning and slouched over in the chair across from his desk.

"Is this the new monster of the week? Because I hate it." Hope complains.

Alaric has this big book in front of him that looks as if it's constantly on the verge of falling apart. It's marked with monsters they've dealt with before, things he thinks are coming next, stuff he's just plain interested in, more research about Landon's species, and a good portion of pages dedicated to siphoner research. There are multi colored tabs sticking out of the pages and the cover is clearly old from how badly it is battered.

It is rarely much help, but Alaric carries it around like it's his own child - honestly, he probably spends more time with his book than he does with the twins. Hope kind of hates seeing him break it out anytime a new monster invades the school, but it always helps a little bit so she can't really complain. Especially when the newest monster seems to be targeting her.

Except, Alaric shuts it after barely even reading a couple pages. Hope manages to give him a 'what the hell' look, but he shrugs. "You're just sick. You're a wolf without a pack, a witch without a coven. Supernatural healing or not, it takes a toll on the body and mind."

"I'm not sick." Hope protests weakly. "I'm a tribrid."

"You're also a teenage girl who needs some soup and a day off. Go to your room, Hope." He takes on this Respected Dad voice that Hope doesn't enjoy at all, but she quickly figures out that she feels much too weak to protest.

"Fine."

-

"I heard you're sick." Josie says, coming into Hope's room the next day with a plastic bag that's drooping towards the floor from all of its contents. "I brought a care package."

And yeah, okay, it's an incredibly sweet gesture that Hope had never thought she'd receive in her life, but she's also reluctant to admit that she's sick. She isn't sick. This is just her bodies way of screaming the word lonely at her aggressively, and then deciding to punch her in the face and steal all of energy too.

"Not sick. Just… aching." Hope explains and pouts when she gets nothing but an eye roll from Josie. Her frown deepens when the door shuts and she loses some of the distance between her and Josie.

"Wait, stop." Hope speaks up, finding the energy to shift into a more powerful looking position (hugging her knees didn't exactly radiate strength). "What if whatever this is turns out to be contagious? I don't want you to catch it."

Josie looks unphased. "Dad did some more research. He says it's a wolf thing, something to do with you insisting on being alone all the time."

"I'm not alone." Hope repeats Josie's words from earlier. "I have you."

This makes Josie chuckle and then blush (something Josie has been doing a lot in front of Hope this week). Josie persists despite Hope's protests and sets the bag down near the edge of the bed, lowering herself to get whatever she brought out of it. Hope sighs in defeat and stares up at the ceiling, already finding some strange calm in the slight rustling that Josie is making.

She has the urge to go out and find Rafael, just so she can take the alpha position from him. Then she'll have a pack. That's the only option she has of getting out of this - lord knows her soul wouldn't let herself submit to anyone. Following her natural urges would result in her getting out of bed, but also having to deal with a group of hormonal teenage werewolves following her around for the rest of her life.

No thanks.

Anyways, the Official Josie Saltzman Care Package is enough of a distraction for now. Josie doesn't call it that aloud, but she really needs to put a name to the collection of things she drags out of that bag. There's Vicks VapoRub, a lot of fuzzy blankets, a warm thermos with some type of soup in it, movies, three books all by the same author, a ton of different medicine that makes Josie look like a drug dealer, and then a tiny, stuffed white wolf.

Josie sets all of these things out on the bed. Hope stays silent as she watches her unscrew the cap on the thermos and hand Hope some chicken noodle soup along with a spoon. She then tosses the VapoRub and movies nearby, puts the stack of books on Hope's nightstand, and finally sits the toy wolf down near Hope.

Hope isn't sure what she's thinking when she absentmindedly picks up the little wolf. Maybe she isn't thinking at all, but she's definitely speaking. "I kind of look like this."

A confused look crosses Josie's face, then one of understanding, and then a bit of awe. "You do?"

"Yeah." Hope nods, giving the wolf a small squeeze, careful not to drop it into the soup on her lap. "Except bigger, of course. More badass. Less cute, but still. We're kind of twins. I should show you sometime."

"Really, you'd let me?"

"Yeah."

She's never really offered to show anyone herself in wolf form. It isn't something you show, because it really isn't pretty. Only Landon and Alaric had seen her, but with Landon it had been an accident and Alaric had needed some fast saving when she had shifted in front of him. No one likes watching the whole bone cracking, painful part anyways.

Hope thinks that maybe Josie would like the part that comes afterwards, where Hope runs around free. She is kind of aching to show Josie how fast she can really move, how strong she really is. Besides, it would be way easier to just shift and carry Josie to that spot near the lake instead of making them hike out there in human form.

Then again, that would require Josie having to ride Hope and, well, Hope isn't sure she's ready to give up that much of her pride. She also has no idea how the mechanics of that would work.

"That sounds amazing. Thank you." Josie says and Hope can tell she's sincere. There's a moment where they're just smiling at each other, until Josie breaks eye contact and starts picking up items. "Okay, so the soup comes first. Then I'm going to put VapoRub on you and read to you until you fall asleep. If you can't fall asleep, we'll watch a movie. The movie is Twilight, because I encourage you to fall asleep."

Hope groans and glances over at the movies, frowning when she sees every Twilight movie ever made on her bed. She doesn't even want to know why Josie has those.

She chooses to follow Josie's instructions instead. Hope uses her spoon to eat all of the chicken and noodles floating around in the soup first, until there's nothing but broth left. Once she does that, she licks the excess liquid off the spoon and sets it down before picking up the bowl and starting to drink from it.

Josie, who is still sitting on the edge of the bed, rolls her eyes. "You're supposed to use the spoon."

"It tastes better this way." Hope protests and takes a pause to breathe and lick her lips once or twice. "This is really good soup by the way."

"Thanks. And it tastes the same with the spoon."

"Lies."

This only earns Hope another eye roll, but she doesn't mind because she can't see Josie doing it since Josie's face is blocked by the bowl. Hope finishes quicker this way anyways. She feels kind of like a dog while she does it, but whatever. She's ill (not sick, no cold gets to Hope Mikaelson), she can do what she wants. Though, Hope does not appreciate it when Josie makes a point of getting up in the middle of her meal to fill Yoda's bowl with food.

Hope and her cat make relatively the same noises when they eat. It's kind of a blow to Hope's self esteem.

Hope eventually sets down her bowl and watches Josie clean it by muttering a few words under her breath. Josie is getting better at that, too. The spells. Honestly, it's rare that a day passes where Josie isn't improving on something. The girl just keeps moving forward.

"VapoRub time." Josie announces once the bowl is completely clean.

She moves closer to Hope and opens up a small jar of the stuff, then dips her fingers in it. Before Hope gets a chance to question her about it, Josie is carefully rubbing the wax-like substance behind her ears and on the skin under Hope's nose.

After that, Josie pauses and eyes Hope's chest for a second. She eventually rests her hand on Hope's chest, spreading the VapoRub along the spot above Hope's breasts. This makes Hope look down at Josie's hand on instinct and then immediately regret it, because she feels an unwelcome throb if arousal at the sight. It isn't her fault. She hasn't masturbated in awhile and it's clearly getting to her.

The thing is, Josie's hand isn't even close to what a man's hand is like. So, Hope must be more affected by this illness than she thought. Josie's hand is soft like the rest of her body and also kind of small. It isn't large and calloused. It moves slowly and carefully, and Hope can tell that Josie has no intention of trying to turn Hope on with her actions. Hope has no intention of getting turned on but, well, here she is.

It could be because Hope's dumb, horny, teenage brain latches onto anything even remotely manly and just gets turned on. Josie's fingers are kind of long. Landon's were also kind of long. So, there. That's it. Her body is just confused and lonely and needs to pull it together before Hope ends up accidentally making Josie uncomfortable.

Besides, she doesn't want to blame this on Josie. She doesn't want to be that straight girl who acts like every gay or bisexual girl out there is trying to hit on her. Hope knows that isn't the case.

This thing with Josie and her is platonic. They're good friends. Best friends, actually.

"Alright, turn over." Josie instructs. Hope does as she's told and flips onto her stomach.

For a moment Hope thinks that the problem has passed, but then she hears the bed creak and suddenly feels the warmth and pressure of Josie's body resting on the back of her thighs. Problem not over. Hope feels her arousal surge through the roof at the small contact. She has no idea how to tell her body to calm down.

"Uh, what does this do anyways?" Hope asks. Josie's hands slip up and under her shirt, rubbing gently across Hope's skin. "Isn't this stuff for people with colds? I thought Dr. Saltzman said this is a wolf thing."

"He did, but since you aren't planning on taking over a pack anytime soon I figured it wouldn't hurt to try this." Josie replies. Some part of Hope likes the fact that Josie already knows if Hope were to get a pack, she'd be taking it over and becoming the alpha instead of joining one.

Anyways, Josie is probably right. It couldn't hurt to try any of this stuff (except the Twilight). Hope lets her eyes slip closed and enjoys the feel of Josie's palms on her back. She isn't usually sore from working out, but whatever this illness is has made her entire body ache and Josie's hands are definitely helping.

Hope feels the VapoRub start to grow warm under Josie's palms and sighs. Josie's movements pause again before resuming, using more pressure this time.

"You're really tense." Josie points out. "Do you want a massage while I'm here?"

"Yes, please."

It feels good. It feels really good.

Josie knows how to soothe her muscles easily and when to push on one spot or simply glide over it. Hope has no idea where Josie learned how to do all this, but she likes it. Likes it a little too much, because when Josie presses down near her spine Hope hums and shifts her position about a centimeter only to find that her panties are starting to stick uncomfortably to her.

Shit. It so isn't the time to be wet, but Hope can't help it.

"I can probably give you a better one if you take your shirt off." Josie says, her voice sounding innocent. Unknowing. "It'll be easier for me to reach everywhere that way."

"Yeah, uh, okay." Hope replies, like an idiot.

She sits up just enough to pull the loose shirt off her body. Hope isn't wearing a bra, but it's fine. They've seen each other with less on than this anyways. Besides, all Josie can see is Hope's back at the moment. Hope settles back down on the bed and rests her arms at her sides, hoping that she'll just fall asleep during the massage and not have to embarrass herself or anything.

Once Hope is less clothed than before, the massage starts to feel a little more… intimate. That's a weird word to use for this situation, but there is no other way to describe it. Josie presses the heel of her palm into Hope's back, drags it up until she reaches the nape of Hope's neck and then rubs that small spot with her thumbs. Her hands glide easily due to the VapoRub and it almost feels like magic.

Josie presses hard on one spot and Hope is surprised at how she just falls open for Josie, her legs spreading slightly wider on instinct and her lips parting to let out an accidental moan. Things are fine though, because Josie keeps going and doesn't pause or anything. People moan during massages. It's perfectly normal.

The moaning continues, even though Hope starts actively trying to stop it. Josie's (long, slender, beautifully tan) fingers brush against the edges of Hope's breasts with one particularly quick stroke along the sides of Hope's body. Hope swears she gasps like she's in a porno and she expects Josie to stop, but Hope must be imagining her noises coming out louder than they actually are because Josie silently continues.

It takes her by surprise, because Hope hadn't thought her breasts were that sensitive. At least, they usually aren't. When her ex-boyfriends had fumbled with them, she hadn't felt much of anything. When she touched herself, it got to the point that she would simply skim over her breasts because they never gave her much pleasure.

Things were different with Josie. Things were always different with Josie.

"My legs ache a bit too." Hope blurts out. "Could you massage them, please?"

"Sure, no problem. I think you're going to have to take your pants off." Josie says.

Right, yeah. That's what happens when leg massages happen, the legs can't be blocked by fabric.

The weight of Josie's body disappears and Hope takes that as her cue to shimmy out of her sweatpants, leaving her black panties on. She sets herself back on the bed and into the position she was just in, being joined by Josie a couple seconds later. The slight weight returns, except it's lower now - more on her calves than where it had initially been on her thighs.

The lack of pants Hope is wearing makes it so they have skin pressing against skin. Josie is still dressed for school, in a relatively small skirt, blouse, and blazer. The skirt leaves her legs exposed and so when she lowers herself, Hope feels the pleasant warmth of Josie's things resting against her legs.

Speaking of legs, Josie begins to massage Hope's. Josie starts low on Hope's legs, working up from her ankles to her knees until she's sure she's thoroughly gotten all of that half. Then, Josie shifts forward and starts pressing her palms into Hope's thighs, rubbing the toned muscles until they start to relax under her fingers.

Josie's hands slide down to the top of Hope's knees all of a sudden and she starts again, working her way up. She does this a couple times, inching higher up Hope's thighs each time. It drives Hope - or more accurately, Hope's traitor of a body - crazy.

"This okay?" Josie asks, whispering even though there's no one else in the room.

Well. Yoda is probably somewhere watching the show, but he's a cat. It really doesn't matter.

"Yeah." Hope gives a nod of confirmation, her face pressing against the pillow.

She jumps just a tiny bit every time Josie touches her thighs and her breathing slowly becomes more labored. Hope is having trouble not rolling her hips back to meet Josie's fingers or thrusting forward into the mattress. Her body knows it needs something in her. She keeps involuntarily clenching and feeling building frustration when all that she finds there is air.

On a particularly high swipe, Josie's hand brushes very close to where Hope (Hope's asshole of a body) wants it and she stops. "Uh, Hope?"

"Fuck." Hope groans, realizing she can smell her own arousal and that Josie can probably see it at this point. "Sorry."

"No, it's fine. Trust me, I get it. It happens." Josie says, because she's an amazing, understanding person. Hope knew on some level Josie would be cool about this and get the whole platonic, accidentally turned on thing.

"Thanks." Hope replies, feeling truly grateful.

They both don't move. It doesn't get awkward exactly, but it gets sorta uncomfortable. There is no protocol for this. Hope isn't sure what is happening in Josie's mind, but Hope is currently working out her next move. She wants an orgasm already, but she also wants to hangout with Josie and get her cuddle on later while she falls asleep.

"Hey…" Hope starts slowly, trying to gauge Josie's reaction. It's hard considering they aren't facing each other, but Josie hasn't moved away, so that's a good sign. "Do you think I could, maybe, get myself off real quick? If you stay then we could watch a movie or read or whatever, after. Is that okay?"

Hope can't see Josie, but she imagines her nodding. "Yeah it is. Do you want me to help?"

"Help?" Hope questions, feels herself clench around air again.

"Yeah. I could keep on massaging you, if that helps the process along." Josie explains. She uses no teasing tone and puts no emphasis on any words. It's just Josie Saltzman, being perfectly sincere.

"Okay. Keep going."

Another beat passes of neither of them moving and Hope quickly realizes she needs to be the one to start this. So, she lifts her hips just enough to slip her hand into her panties and touch herself. She tries not to feel embarrassed with how wet she is and reminds herself of the whole hormonal teenager thing, and how her body has accidentally twisted everything that's going on.

She is very wet, though. Much wetter than she had expected. Her hand glides easily along her slippery folds and even though Hope has never really tried this angle, she finds her clit easily and starts to play with herself. There's no other way to put it. Hope brushes her fingers along the edges of her clit, not touching it directly, teasing herself.

There is this part of her that tells her to keep on teasing for awhile, to let herself get worked up and let this drag on for a long time. She's in the mood to torture herself, but not in the right situation. Hope decides to get on with it and rubs herself firmer while Josie starts to massage the low part of her back once again.

It's a safe spot for Josie to touch - there really isn't sexual about it - but the extra set of hands on her makes Hope burn. She finally presses one of her fingers right on her clit and a small cry escapes her at how sensitive she is, how ready to be fucked by anything at this point.

Josie drags her palms down Hope's body, scraping her nails over the curve of Hope's ass and coming to add pressure on her thighs. Hope does a couple more jerky movements before she shifts her hand downwards, moaning when two of her fingers slip in easily. She's slick and desperate and burning up like a furnace.

"Fuck." Hope turns her head and buries it in the pillow, trying to muffle her moans as she starts thrusting. Josie's touch remains relentless.

"How many fingers is that?" Josie asks suddenly.

Hope isn't expecting the question at all and her voice comes out rough and strained when she answers. "Two."

"Can you fit three?"

Yes. Yes she can, surprisingly easily.

Heat spreads across Hope's face as she gets the third finger in and starts using her thumb to rub small circles around her clit. She's sure a dark blush is painting her face (curse her paleness). All Hope can do is nod and hope that Josie sees the movement. Though, she isn't sure why Josie wants to know about how many fingers Hope can fit inside of herself.

All of a sudden Josie's palms rest flat against her ass. Hope has no idea what is about to happen next, but she doesn't protest. Soon, Josie is pushing forward and simultaneously making Hope roughly grind down on her own hand.

"Fuck, fuck. Oh my god." Hope moans loudly, having not had expected that at all. Josie keeps on driving Hope's hips forward by her ass regardless.

The hand Hope has caught between herself and the mattress is absolutely soaked. She can already tell her panties are ruined, but Josie is relentless and Hope is chasing what seems to be an amazing high.

In the heat of the moment, Hope shuts her eyes tightly and an image fills her head. In this image, Josie is under her with her legs wrapped around Hope's waist. Josie's fingers are digging into the firm muscle of Hope's ass, pulling her forward so they can grind into each other. It's this thought that fills Hope's mind as she cums.

For those seconds, Hope cares about nothing but her orgasm. She feels like an animal that has finally caught its prey. There's nothing quite like an orgasm to clear Hope's mind and wipe her slate clean.

After, she rests in that same position and slowly removes her hand from her underwear. She's breathing heavily. Her hand feels cool where the air touches it but the rest of her body is still very heated and the contrast is nice and kind of familiar, too. Hope feels amazing. Her brain casually fills in the gaps, deciding that image she had thought of during the end had been the product of her having the desperate need to dominate basically anyone and Josie just happening to be very close.

It's all okay. Everything is fine.

"Was it good?" Josie asks, sounding breathless and uncertain.

Even though she is nearly naked and tired, Hope turns around and grabs Josie. She flips them around so she is on top of her friend and then hugs her, laughing at the small squeak of surprise that Josie makes.

"Very good." Hope snuggles against Josie's front, wanting to stay there for a long time. "Thank you."

She doesn't stay there for a long time since she's naked and her hand is still wet and Josie probably does not want certain liquids on her. Also, they have a line. Hope is not sure where it is, but she's pretty sure that lounging around while almost naked on top of Josie crosses it. It isn't as if she's Josie's girlfriend or anything.

Hope gets up (feeling a little reluctant to do so) and finds her clothes, puts them back on but doesn't bother to keep on her panties this time. By the time she joins Josie back on the bed, the opening scene to the very first Twilight movie is playing and Hope groans, even though her good mood doesn't go away at all.

"No, no." Hope complains, crawling closer to a smiling Josie. "What happened to reading? I like books."

"Twilight is a book." Josie replies, getting a dry look in return from Hope. "Also, you shouldn't argue with someone who just helped give you an orgasm."

Hope sighs but doesn't protest when Josie turns her around and makes her the little spoon again. "Fair point."

-

After that, things pretty much go back to normal for Hope. She feels a lot better - not that she can explain to Dr. Saltzman or anyone about why. Maybe everyone who gets sick should just try having an orgasm. It really did help out Hope.

Things aren't even awkward with Josie, either. They talk. They go to class. They both stick to their schedules and make some sort of silent agreement to hang out sometime later in the afternoons together because that's what they do, horny teenagers or not. It isn't even a thing. Hope thought maybe she should say something so Josie doesn't get the wrong idea about whatever it is they're doing, but Josie doesn't start acting any different towards her.

Hope goes through most of the day feeling pretty okay. Nothing bad happens, but nothing really interesting happens either. Her and Josie pair up for a project together in Potions class since Lizzie wants to be partners with some other girl, and Hope really doesn't mind. She would usually work alone, but now she gets to spend more time with Josie.

Later that day, during lunch, Hope goes out into the dining hall for her daily bowl of vegetables and whatever meat they're serving that day. She usually grabs it and then heads elsewhere. Sometimes to the lake to draw or paint, other times to her room for some rest or more spell practice. It's rare that Hope actually eats with everyone else. Everyone knows she likes her alone time, unless Josie wants to hang out with her.

The dining hall looks the same almost everyday of the year. When Hope stands in line for her food that day, things around her are normal. Except she is not, because it's barely halfway through the day and she's suddenly feeling bored and lonely. There's a dumb part of her wishing for some monster to show up for her to slay, just for entertainment. There's an equally dumb part that wants to find a way to get Josie to ditch her classes and come to the lake with her.

She knows Josie is too dedicated to just randomly leave in the middle of a school day, so that offer is off the table. Hope moves another step forward in the line, still thinking over all her different options when she accidentally catches MG's, Lizzie's, and then Josie's eye, and is suddenly waved over. By Lizzie.

Really. Lizzie Saltzman is waving right at her with this happy smile on her face that Hope has never had directed at her. Then, Josie is joining her twin while MG frowns in confusion at what's going on. Josie looks happy to see her and they're friends, so there's really no point in trying to sneak away and go back up to her room - whatever Josie wants, Hope will probably give her.

Hope fills her bowl with as much protein as possible before picking up a lunch tray and heading over. She still feels a little off about the whole situation, due to the fact that Lizzie is uncharacteristically beaming at her, but sits down at the table anyways.

"Hi Hope." Josie greets her first, the smile on her face gentle and surprised.

"Hi." She replies and gives Josie a polite glance, though she's preoccupied trying to figure out if Lizzie is planning to murder her or not. "What's up, you guys?"

"Not much." Both Lizzie and Josie respond, doing that odd twin thing that they sometimes accidentally do.

The twins look at each other and giggle as if it's normal, but Hope seriously feels like she stepped into the Shining every time they do that. It's creepy.

"I can't believe you named my cat Yoda." MG says. He has a clear cup filled with crimson and he looks down at it sadly, mourning the loss of the animal's previous name - Thaal Sinestro, after the Green Lantern.

Hope shrugs and stabs pieces of chicken. "I had no idea how to pronounce that."

"It's not hard!"

"Okay, Thing One and Thing Two." Lizzie interrupts suddenly, leaning over her fruit bowl as if she has a secret to share. "You having an adorable feline in her room explains why Josie has been spending so much time there. I think I should extend an olive branch by bringing a movie to your place Friday night. We can all come, it'll be a weekly thing."

There's a second where Hope just blinks dumbly at Lizzie, trying to figure out what's going on. Apparently she's just been roped into coming to a (possibly weekly) movie night. That's in her own room. Where Lizzie makes all the plans and brings the movie but somehow gets to also end up not cleaning anything afterwards and cuddling with a cute animal.

Of course, Hope could just decline. Except she can't, because MG is already rambling on about how they should binge watch a bunch of superhero movies and Josie is nodding along, the brightest smile on her face at just the mention of the event. Hope's gaze shifts over to Lizzie and they lock eyes for a moment. While Lizzie grins all innocently, Hope knows that everything about this lunch was planned.

Well played, Saltzman.

"We are not watching Wonder Woman." Hope chimes in. MG looks appalled but Hope simply shrugs. "I'm not listening to you go on a rant all night about the Lasso of Truth or something."