the kind of reckless that should send me running [ainsley]

[Leo Robins]

Leo couldn't remember having a day as good as this in a long time, possibly since his little sister's graduation party. He didn't often like to get his hopes up with girls, but when the one he'd met at the Tamarisk Tree the other day had written to him and asked to see him again, he'd been pretty happy, no doubt about it. She was exceedingly pretty, with her dark curls now cut to shoulder-length and cheekbones you could cut glass on. She had the nicest smile, too, and she was funny and smart and able to hold a good conversation on art and the Scottish wildlife and Hogwarts and everything else under the sun, which was about all Leo ever asked for in the girls he dated.

After a delicious lunch he had gallantly paid for at his favorite muggle cafe, which she seemed thoroughly charmed by as well, he'd offered to take her out to the park, where he'd spent quite a bit of time with his siblings and his nanny when they were younger. The park was convenient for being so close to Diagon Alley, and it was lovely to be in, all fresh green grass and a playground for the little kids and lots of shade underneath tall, leafy trees bearing brightly-colored fruit. All in all, despite the chill from the breezes that came even in England's warmest season, it was kind of the perfect summer day.

"You're not cold, are you?" he asked her suddenly, breaking their comfortable silence as they strolled easily through the park. "Because I know it's cliche, but I wouldn't mind giving up my jacket for you."

[Ainsley Rickett]

Ainsley glanced over sideways at Leo, finding herself smiling at him for no particular reason as they strolled through the park. She had spontaneously written to Leo after Addie had left her house the morning after she’d found out about Julian and Astraia in order to get her mind as far away from Julian as possible, and she was pleased that she really wasn’t thinking about Julian - at least as not as much as she’d expected - because Leo was actually fairly good company. They’d had a nice conversation over lunch, which he’d paid for, a gesture that had duly reminded her that she was on a date with an attractive twenty-year old who was easy to talk to and laugh with. Things were looking up, for the most part.

“Nah, I’m good,” she replied, despite the chill from the light breeze, “But thanks anyway, that’s so sweet of you.” She reached over to take his hand, then, intertwining their fingers easily in a sudden bout of courage, though in a much less intimate way than she had with Julian earlier that week. And there he was again, Julian Delaire still hovering annoyingly in her thoughts when he really shouldn’t have been, because she had no reason to think about him. At all. She was determined to completely get her mind off him by the end of this afternoon, because that was the point. She wasn’t even using Leo in the process, she told herself, because she genuinely was enjoying their time together, and he seemed to be as well.

Shooting Leo another smile, she teased, “So. Is this like your park of choice for taking girls to so you can impress them with the scenery and coincidental good weather, or is this your first time here under these circumstances?”

[Leo Robins]

Leo grinned at her, enjoying how bright her face looked when she smiled. "I try," he said, a little wryly, and laughed as their shoulders bumped into each others while they walked. It was nice, sweet in the kind of way his usual drunken hook-ups weren't, and she rather seemed to be enjoying herself, which was what he aimed for with girls, generally speaking. He felt her hand in his before he saw her move, and he was momentarily surprised that she'd been so bold -- then again, she was a Gryffindor, no matter how adorably shy she seemed at points.

Smiling, he laced their fingers together, giving her a gentle squeeze. This, he was comfortable with. Everything about their time together seemed so sweetly innocent, a far cry from some of his previous dates, and he found himself enjoying it more and more. Not that he wouldn't have loved to kiss her right then and there, but he also kinda liked taking things slow.

"Actually, the only other girl I've brought here is my sister," he admitted, winking at her as he slowed them to a stop under a tall oak tree. "My little siblings and I used to come here when we were kids with our nanny." He didn't bother elaborating on why they'd had a nanny take them here instead of parents, as it wasn't really something he shared on the first date. Or ever. "The coincidental good weather was another bout of luck, I suppose," he said with a laugh. "And you're the first girl to experience it with me, so. You should feel special."

He paused, looking up into the tree's branches and adding quietly, "This was my sister's and my favorite tree to climb. We used to race up and see who could get to the top faster." Leo wasn't entirely sure why he was telling her this, but it seemed appropriate now that they'd stopped underneath the tree. Plus, he liked talking about Cassie. She was the only steady girl in his life.

[Ainsley Rickett]

Ainsley was reassured when he squeezed her hand, not that she’d doubted that he was into her, but she wasn’t used to this, as it was her first proper date with anyone and she couldn’t be sure if she was doing any of it right. She’d acted so quickly on writing to Leo, not even knowing whether he would respond or not, that she hadn’t had time to ask Addie about how she should act on a first date. She was on her own, she supposed, but she could probably handle it. She just needed to flirt with him, laugh a little more, maybe kiss him when the time was right…

Once the thought of kissing him came to mind, she was reminded of how she and Addie had kissed on her bed the other day as practice, and she suddenly felt a lot more confident, hoping that she and Leo would kiss simply so she could try out kissing a boy, and a really attractive one at that. He was twenty and therefore must have gone far further than kissing, she realized, but all she wanted to do right now was to see more of what kissing was like. Test the waters. Nothing more, obviously.

Clearing her throat and focusing her attention on his words instead of contemplating what his lips would feel like, she nodded. “Ah, I see. That’s nice, actually, about you and your sister,” she responded lightly, “It’s great that you used to bring your younger siblings here. I can tell that you care about them a lot.” She stared straight ahead as she registered his mention of the nanny, desperately not wanting to recall her own similar experiences from when she and her sisters were younger. Pretending like she hadn’t heard it, though, she went on with a laugh, “I do feel special, thank you. You’ve done a good job at making me feel special, so I don’t know if I should be worried or not…”

They’d stopped under an oak tree, now standing in the shade together, and she gently unlaced their hands, glancing at him curiously as she listened to his story. “You’re really cute,” she found herself saying, and then leaned up, closing the distance between them and pressing her lips against his before she could talk herself out of it. She was still smiling slightly, and mentally crossed her fingers that he wouldn’t be able to tell that she hardly had any experience kissing. He’d believed her when she’d told him she was seventeen, so she could also make him believe that she was a decent kisser if she tried.

[Leo Robins]

"I do care about them a lot," Leo admitted, smiling a little wistfully at her as he leaned against the tree, watching the emotions run through her face as she spoke. She was fairly expressive, which he figured came from being a Gryffindor - he knew he was, too, and so were most of his Gryffindor friends. Something to do with being brave and daring, probably. She had such a pretty face, though, he definitely didn't mind watching her smile. "It gets a little hard when they're both legally adults now, but you know. They're my siblings."

He laughed, letting his hand drop to his side as she pulled away, though she remained standing fairly close as she spoke. "Always feel worried when a guy makes you feel special," he advised her sagely, as if this was some great wisdom he was imparting on her, and he would have said more, hopefully without seeming too flustered that she'd actually called him cute to his face, if she hadn't interrupted all his thought processes by leaning up and kissing him.

Her lips on his were soft and sweet and she tasted like peach lipgloss and the honey mint lemonade she'd been drinking earlier. It was absurdly nice, and he found himself tilting his head to kiss her more deeply, reaching out and sliding his arms around her waist to bring her closer to him until their bodies were pressed together. She fit really nicely against his chest, and he brought one hand up to comb through her short curls, the other one splayed on her waist and holding her tight. She clearly wasn't the most experienced of kissers, definitely not as much as him, but she was also much younger and kissing her felt so good, he was hardly going to complain.

It was kind of nice, in its own way, kissing a girl like Ainsley, who wasn't the hot and heavy drunken snog he managed to snag during nights at the bar. Especially kissing her in his favorite park, under his favorite tree, surrounded by light blue skies and clouds and the scents of the trees and flowers around them. He grinned against her mouth as they slowed for breaths, murmuring, "This isn't your first kiss, is it?" even as he went in for another.

[Ainsley Rickett]

Ainsley leaned in eagerly as he kissed her back, the smile fading as she was too preoccupied by the sensation of his lips against hers. It was nice, actually, much better than she'd expected - she hadn't doubted his kissing abilities, only her own, slightly, due to lack of experience. His hands around her waist and in her hair felt incredible, and as cliche as it was, he was making her feel like she was the only girl in the world. He was a really good kisser, she supposed, all other thoughts escaping her as she suddenly couldn't pay attention to anything other than him and his kiss and his body pressed up against hers.

Without thinking, one of her hands moved up to rest on the side of his neck, the other on the waistband of his trousers, not even realizing what she'd done until they broke apart for air, but she found that she couldn't be bothered with moving her hands now. "Course not," she whispered cheerfully, their mouths still very close until he kissed her again, and this time she parted her lips and slipped her tongue into his mouth like she'd done briefly with Addie, if only to prove a point. Julian Delaire was momentarily the last person on her mind, and she was somehow getting to kiss Leo under a tree in a park on a nice day. This afternoon kept getting better and better.

[Leo Robins]

The deepened kiss was even nicer than the first one, if that were possible, and Leo couldn't help the electricity racing down every inch of his body at the sensation of her wandering hands and her tongue in his mouth. He'd had plenty of good, even amazing, kisses in his time but there was something different about Ainsley, something sweeter and lighter and absurdly nice when he kissed her. "Good," he said in reply, a little out of breath in between kisses, "because I find it hard to believe a girl as beautiful as you has never been kissed."

Before she had a chance to reply, he bent his head, trailing his lips across her cheek and down her neck, peppering kisses wherever he went. Gently, he shifted both of them around, his hands on her waist guiding her back until she met the trunk of the oak tree while he found a spot on her neck that would almost certainly give her a hickey if he kept at it. He paused, not wanting to do anything like that without her permission, and opened his eyes, glancing up at her and appreciating the sight of her face once again.

"Let me know if you want me to stop," he told her, gently testing the waters by easing one hand up her shirt and skimming his fingers lightly across the bare skin of her stomach, his other hand keeping her steady against the tree trunk and his lips seeking hers out once again.

[Ainsley Rickett]

Ainsley was surprised when he called her beautiful, and she couldn’t deny that it gave her butterflies in her stomach, but she didn't have time to respond before he was kissing her again. She didn't know how she would have responded, either, as no one had really ever complimented her like that before - except Caleb, who didn't count, obviously, because he did the same to practically everyone. Despite promising herself she wouldn't let her mind wander to Julian and Astraia, she found herself rather smug at the fact that Leo thought she was beautiful. At least someone did. And that someone happened to be a very gorgeous, very considerate, as well as non-sarcastic and not leading her on unlike some people twenty year old who was currently -

Oh. Her breath caught in her throat for a moment when he turned her around and pushed her back up against the tree. She bit her bottom lip when she felt his lips slip down to her neck, never having been kissed this way before, and she also arched towards his touch when his hand went up her shirt. She could sense that he was testing it all out, seeing how she would respond before he went any further, and the gentleness and questioning of it only made her want him more. Even though she'd thought she only wanted to try out simply kissing, she was more than fine with going further, especially with his hands and lips currently where they were making her unreasonably breathless. A few hours ago, she couldn't have imagined the afternoon turning out like this, as when she'd left her house to meet up with him earlier she'd been a bit nervous - but here he was, seeming enthusiastic about snogging her, and she couldn't come up with a single complaint.

"No, don't stop," she replied breathily, clasping her hands around his neck as she leaned up to meet his kiss. Everything seemed a great deal more intense now with them pressed up against the tree, and she was glad that they were in a more secluded area of the park because this was most certainly not the type of position she'd want to be seen in by people passing by. That being said, she wouldn't have changed anything about it, actually feeling a sort of thrill that she was making out with Leo in public on a first date. It probably wasn't anything that anyone who knew her expected her to do, and that only motivated her more. She couldn't wait to tell Addie, though she'd probably never hear the end of it, she realized, one hand moving up further to run through his hair.

[Leo Robins]

Leo angled his head to kiss her more deeply, smiling as he felt her lean in to meet him, her hands wandering up around his neck. "All right," he told her softly, resting his forehead against hers as he took a breath. There was a moment where he just looked at her, soaking in the sight of her flushed cheeks and the smudged lip gloss on her smile and the sparkle in her hazel eyes. She was beautiful, and he wasn't entirely sure how this had happened, but it was definitely happening.

"I don't mind taking things slow, though," he said, just to make sure she was aware. He'd had experience taking things way too fast, especially with younger girls, and it never ended well. But here, with Ainsley, things were a lot different in the light of the summer than they had been during his time at Hogwarts, especially with the way her fingers were threading through his hair. He shot her a smile and dipped his head to return to work on that spot on her neck that she seemed to enjoy him kissing quite a bit, judging from her reactions. His hands carefully inched her shirt further up her body, not wanting to take it off until she was ready but also kind of dying to see her without it.

[Ainsley Rickett]

Ainsley smiled shyly up at him when he pulled away, the feeling of his forehead resting against hers a very new but welcome one. As nice as kissing him was, she thought she could’ve stayed this way for a while, too, their foreheads touching and lips so close that that they were breathing the same air, in a much different way than it had been with Julian when he’d blown smoke into her mouth. Leo was different, not simply because he was older, and she’d found that even before they’d kissed, she really liked spending time with him - nothing about it was difficult at all. Not entirely knowing what to do with the sudden reminder of this fact, she shook her head, forcing herself to answer before she could press her lips against his again.

“It’s fine, really,” she murmured, and was about to add something so he would fully believe her when she felt his mouth against her neck again, and that combined with the way his hand was edging further up her shirt made her shiver involuntarily, her skin tingling everywhere he was touching her. How had she gone so long without doing this before? She was getting addicted to his touch, wanting to ask for more but unsure of how to put that desire into words without embarrassing herself somehow, especially because she’d never been in this particular situation. She didn’t even know if she was doing any of it right to begin with, but she took the hint of his hand moving up further and leaned back slightly, removing her hands from around his neck in order to pull her shirt up over her head and discard it onto the ground next to them. “Better?” she asked teasingly, which was an accomplishment because she was still unbelievably breathless, and tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear, now only in her bra and skirt.

[Leo Robins]

Leo had to bring his face up from her neck when she moved her hands, his pulse starting to race when he realized what she was doing. It wasn't that he hadn't seen girls shirtless before - far from it, actually, but the memory of all the other girls he'd done this with was far from his mind as he watched her toss her shirt aside, leaving him no obstacles for his gaze as it was helplessly drawn to the expanse of fair skin in front of him, covered only by her light purple bra. 

"Much," he said in reply, grinning as he trailed his hands fully over her bare stomach and leaned back in towards her mouth again. "By the way," he added, his lips brushing hers, "sorry about the hickey," and before she could answer, he slid one hand around her body to tap his fingers lightly over her spine, just enough to make her arch up towards him so he could bend his head and kiss her again. The fingers of his other hand, he left splayed over the front of her body, edging closer to the waistline of her skirt as they kissed. He could feel the shivers going down her body at his touch, bringing a smile to his lips even as he deepened the kiss, though he couldn't deny feeling the exact same tingling sensations himself with the way she was touching him.

[Ainsley Rickett]

Ainsley’s smile didn’t disappear when Leo’s gaze fell upon her in nothing more than her bra from the waist up, even though it made her feel ridiculously self-conscious for a moment, because she had never gotten nearly half-naked in front of anyone before, that too on a first date. She pushed aside any feelings of doubt, however, lightly replying, “I figured,” before his hands trailing along her midriff sent a jolt of electricity through her body and she suddenly couldn’t assemble a single coherent thought. His fingers on her spine didn’t help her much, either, but she managed to form a reply somehow anyway. “It’s okay,” she told him in response to the hickey, “Don’t worry about it.”

Distracted yet again by the feeling of his lips against hers, her hands impulsively moved towards his chest, and she began to unbutton his shirt, finding it much easier to do so when she pulled away to breathe for a moment and opened her eyes. “This is only fair,” she informed him in case he was questioning what she was doing, and carefully concentrated on getting all of the buttons undone before she leaned up to kiss him again, her hands now tracing patterns on the bare skin of his abdomen, hoping he would shrug his shirt off his shoulders.

[Leo Robins]

Leo laughed against her lips at her words, feeling how breathless she was as their kisses kept going, each one deeper and hotter and managing to somehow make every single one of his nerve endings feel like they were on fire. He couldn't find a response to give her, not now that their kisses were settling into a comfortable rhythm, broken only by their pauses for breaths and the sensations of their wandering hands. He startled a little under her touch when her hands slipped down to his shirt, at least until he realized her goal.

"Fair's fair," he agreed with a grin, breezing kisses over her cheeks as she concentrated on unbuttoning his shirt. When she'd managed her task and leaned up to kiss him again, he had to pull his hands away from her body in order to properly shrug his shirt off and toss it the ground next to her own shirt. Now that the cool, crisp breezes were hitting his bare torso, he felt suddenly a little cold, but her hands started exploring his chest and he promptly forgot all about the weather, focusing only on how ridiculously good it felt to have her touching his skin like this. He slid his hands back into position around her bare waist and kissed her again, losing himself in the feeling of her mouth on his and her hands on him and how nice it felt to be out here with her in his arms, kissing him like the world depended on it.

[Ainsley Rickett]

Ainsley found it consistently difficult to breathe for more reasons than one, especially as Leo pulled his hands away to take his shirt off his shoulders. She stared rather shamelessly at him, feeling a lot better about the entire thing now that they were both shirtless, and that clearly didn’t have anything to do with how nice and well-toned his bare chest and arms looked. Clearly. Trying to catch her breath again - which was nearly impossible at this point, as she was also breathless from all the kissing they'd been doing - she giggled at the sight of his shirt discarded next to hers on the ground, quickly glancing back up at him with the slightest smirk on her face.

“God,” she said quietly when they broke away from another set of kisses that were getting hotter and hotter, his wandering hands and the feel of his lips eliciting a small moan from her, and she added, voice barely above a whisper, “You’re really amazing right now,” which didn’t make all that much sense, but she didn’t care. Her hands trailed down his abdomen, fingers beginning to skim across the bare skin right above the waistband of his trousers, and suddenly Fuck you, Julian made its way into her thoughts, very unexpected but accurate nonetheless. Ignoring her traitorous mind for reminding her of Julian again, she pulled Leo in for another kiss, relishing the feeling that she seemed to have some sort of control over him. She certainly wasn’t used to this, but it was pretty damn brilliant.

[Leo Robins]

Leo wasn't really the type to feel self-conscious when standing half-naked in front of girls, nor was he really shy about taking off his shirt around people, but Ainsley's gaze was piercing in the best of ways as she stared at his chest. He could see the slight smirk on her face and it mostly made him want to kiss her more, so he did just that, their chests practically pressed up against each other as they resumed making out. Everything, from the fresh air on his skin to her hands dancing across his chest, felt amazing, his whole body tingling from the combination of electric sensations.

The way she moaned softly into his mouth only helped to make him more confident as he ran his hands up and down her body, leaving one rubbing random patterns on her stomach and the other slipping down just far enough to reach the hem of her skirt and start sliding upward on her leg. "You're pretty amazing, too," he had time to whisper breathlessly to her before her own hands wandered down to far more dangerous territory than just his abs, and he couldn't stop himself from inhaling sharply at the feeling of her fingers hovering just above his waistband, tantalizing as she brushed his skin. "Jesus," he found himself murmuring into her mouth in appreciation at their next kiss, which seemed somehow more passionate than before, like she was channeling excess emotion into the movement of her lips on his.
 
Without really thinking about it, he dropped both hands down her back until he could lift her up off the ground, still kissing her as deeply as he could, and then he lowered both of them gently onto the grass, taking care not to crush her as he landed on top of her. Here, he found with satisfaction, he had a much better vantage point of her whole body, and his hands resumed their exploring both under her skirt and up top on her already-bare skin.

-- fade to grey --

[ooc: why grey?? because they're not actually having sex??? i think?? i'm not sure who even knows what these dorks are up to when we're not watching them tbh]