Checkmate - Chapter 28: Chapter 28

"All done," Althea declared as soon as she took a photo of Hana's back with her phone.
Hana tugged on her towel to recover her breasts before standing up. The painting was dry so she cannot be too careful. "Thanks for the painting, I guess... it was soothing... and for the massage."
"It's a pleasure, Hana." Althea handed her phone to her to look at.
Hana viewed the image with a childlike wonder. There was a myriad of fall colors, painted like a forest with bucks and leaves on a stream.
"An autumn painting," she murmured.
"I must say, warm colors suit you." Althea rubbed her palms together. "Years ago when everything had to be perfect, I lost my skill to perfectionism but now. You must not go credit-less anymore, my muse for you alone had made me regain the joy of painting. I am nothing without you. "
Hana's jaw dropped, not knowing what to say. "No problem," she said, blushing faintly. "I'm glad you liked me around."
"Oh where are my manners," she scolded herself. "Hana, do you want to take another shower to remove the paint and have dinner before you head to bed tonight?
"Eh?" Hana suddenly felt sad at the thought of easily removing Althea's hard work.
Althea smiled. "Don't worry Hana, if you liked the body paint I can just paint on you again. Your cheeks would be a wonderful canvas."
"Are you saying my cheeks are fat?"
"I say no such thing."
Hana playfully puffed her cheeks. "It's weird to see you so lively. I thought I was the energetic one between us."
Althea giggled. "I feel invigorated by painting out of my normal routine. I'm just getting started Hana unless you want to continue tomorrow."
"You mean... I can stay the night?"
"Of course," she unexpectedly closed their distance, and stretched her neck, causing Hana to stare at her torso. "Stay the night with me, Hana."
"Eh?" Hana could feel her world radiating up, figuring how she placed herself in this situation. "B-but my roommates? They would get worried."
"You can call and let them know," Althea said. "Also, you can borrow some of my spare clothes on the bottom drawer of the shelf."
"A-alright," Hana said, fumbling in her steps. "I'll change and make the call."
It took Hana half an hour to dress in the spare clothes she found after showering. A frown marred her face at the thought of her skin being paint-free. She wore a new pair of underwear but opted not to wear a bra because it wasn't her size. Besides, it was evening. Thankfully the shirt was thick and a size bigger than her usual that matched with some shorts.
Among all her friends, she called the gentle Fallon to break the news with. She received an earful from her even with all the noise from Samhain Festival because she left all of a sudden without any warnings. Hana contemplated sending a copy of the painting Althea drew on her back to Fallon but decided against it when the Finn was flabbergasted that she will be spending the night with Althea Lancaster.
"Please don't tell Liezel and the others," Hana begged.
"I will, but I won't guarantee they wouldn't know someday." Fallon said over loud music and chattering, "Especially Liezel, she can grill me like her mushrooms."
"Eh, I think Liezel knowing is okay. She's not a gossip."
"Alright Hana, you take care."
"Thank you, Fallon!"
Turning off the call, Hana headed outside to find Althea reading a pocketbook with one hand called 'Crazy Rich Asians'. Hana somehow found her rosy lips irresistible.
"Oh!" Althea closed the book. "You're done!"
Hana's shoulders jerked when she got caught staring but was saved when there was a subtle knock before the door cautiously opened. The Head maid slowly entered her eyes leisurely opening as if she was giving them some minutes to prepare to talk to her.
Hana doesn't know what the old woman thought they would be doing.
"Dinner is ready, milady."
There was a stone fireplace at least twenty feet long on the wall with the windows on either side and above it hung a life-sized oil portrait of a young woman who was so much like Althea. But it wasn't her mother's portrait. The woman looked different from Althea's artwork.
As Hana neared, she saw a woman much like Althea, except in the eyes. She wore a long and fluffy bluish-white coat dress, a bonnet, along with a gold necklace, petting an imaginary creature of an ivory unicorn.
Hana knew a little about art, but enough to know that painting is a masterpiece. The artist really captured the soul of the woman. She had never seen such hard, cold, and blue eyes emit such affection. That alone told Hana it couldn't Althea's mother even before she read the small metal plate fastened to the bottom of the gold leaf frame.
It was a painting of Beatrix the Affectionate—the foremother of the Lancaster Family.
Afterward the fascination, Hana seated beside Althea in the adjoining alcove where the meal was set ready for them.
The table was laden with sweet loaves of bread and cakes on glass stands, British mixed with French cuisine in sparkling white dishes, freshly delivered berries from a nearby farm, and of course it wouldn't be complete without tea.
Althea's family were absent, pretty much what the Head maid told Althea when they arrived at the manor. Still, it was weird, to dine at a long table filled with feasts when it was just the two of them.
The Lancaster family servants stood on a line around them, dutifully near when a member or a guest would want a refill or give a request.
Hana couldn't help but feel every attention was headed her way. She tried her best to act her best at what she learned at table manners in the western class she took years ago, but the stare the Head maid gave her left her rattled the whole meal through.
She flinched when Althea raised a glass of wine. "Let's toast, Hana!"
Hana followed her sample by raising her glass too. "O-okay!"
"Here's to you and here's to me, for the prosperity of our collaboration, to my recent win at the Samhain Festival, thanks to the girl that I know, admire, and love, who served as my inspiration. Bless upon to the girl whoever Professor Oakley chooses when morning comes."
"Cheers!" they clink their glasses together then downed the contents.
Althea dismissed the maids as they head for bed. She had asked Edith to prepare the guest-chamber where Hana shall stay an hour ago.
Hana didn't know why but she was sure that Althea was trying her best to rid the unnecessary presence of house servants around them.
They were heading towards Hana's room when Althea decided to take a detour to her bed-chamber to retrieve her old art notebook to show her while Hana waited outside.
Curious like a cat, Hana wondered what Althea's sleeping quarters looked like. And Althea wasn't getting out anytime soon. But it was in this complete mystery that Hana found comfort.
Hana had always found that beauty is reflected in what does not meet the eye, in what it is concealed for a rude observer, and whenever she would come across such a situation, she would thrive because once more, her intellect was being subjected to the unpredictable. She hated having to settle to what others commanded and follow a designated path that one couldn't possibly stray from.
So swallowing her doubts, she walked in and looked around Althea's bedroom. Large, and a bed fit for a queen, a massive bookcase, a large dresser, two overstuffed chairs, a dressing table between the two front windows, with its own small chair, plus a mahogany table with four chairs, it seemed a small room with all the cluttered things. Beneath all the ponderous dark furniture was a faded Oriental red rug with gold fringe.
Althea was living a luxurious royalty who loved books. She couldn't possibly live without the fineries of art, philosophy, and science.
"Like what you see?"
Hana's whole body shuddered for being caught looking around Althea's personal space. Seeing Althea in her bedroom on the night was so intimate. The room's owner was standing near the photograph stand of her mother. The Moonlit Witch costume hanging on her wall of awards.
"Sorry," Hana mumbled.
Althea leaned up against a wall, one sole of her feet against it to balance herself. Her head lolled back and she closed her eyes. "Come in, my room smells good, gives you a tranquil feeling every time you exhale."
Hana ambled near, shutting the door behind her. She leaned beside Althea, wanting to get closer. The situation was already intimate. Their proximity was adding the effect. Then it happened. That electric current surged between them, through Hana, and tugged at her core.
The pull was so fierce, she couldn't fight it. She didn't want to. Althea was close, so close, her head right next to Hana's.
She could hear Althea's breathing, feel her heart beating. The AC air was cold, but that's not what was making her tremble.
"Althea," her voice sounded whispery.
"Hmm?" she turned to face her.
"I want—" Hana stopped. She couldn't say it. She couldn't take the step.
Althea twisted her head and opened her eyes. "What is it, Hana? What do you want?"
Hana was shaking so hard.
Do it. Do it now.
"I want to kiss you."
I always have.
Althea dropped her foot, straightened up fast, and turned to her. She wet her lips. "I wouldn't stop you."
Hana closed her eyes. Opened them, reached out, and slid her hand down Althea's back. With her other hand, she threaded any fingers through her blonde hair. It was all happening in slow motion. Hana's hand caressing her head, pulling her close to her—and she did it.
Oh, God. Her lips were soft. She was warm, hot.
Hana wanted all of her. She was falling, falling, with nowhere to land that she had to step away. Hana opened her eyes and she instantly ceased kissing Althea's lips.
Althea stood there frozen; head tilted back, eyes closed. A rush of visible air escaped from her lips as if she'd been holding her breath, same as Hana. Then she seemed to deflate.
Oh no, she hated it.
Hana sweated, she did it wrong. "Althea?" her throat felt scratchy, panicking; tried to restart her heart. "Say something."
Althea's pretty blue eyes opened. She shook her head slowly and said, "By the Nine, Hana. What took you so long?"
"W-what do you mean?"
Althea cupped her face in a rush of deeply-rooted affection for her. "You are beautiful in a natural sort of way—so pure and genuine. There was no other person with whom I could share all these moments. You understood me in a way no one had ever done it, and such achievement was essential for me. I have always liked you, Hana, ever since we met that fateful day."
"Y-you're not joking, are you?"
"Trust me, Hana. How long have I longed for those lips to crash into mine? How I waited for you to show me, or tell me, that you feel the same."
Hana's cheeks warmed as she had given some serious thinking to Althea's words, to the way Althea had looked, to the way Althea had stared at her that day. Everything about Althea had been utterly confusing on the hot Monday morning when they had sat together on the gazebo talking, playing chess.
"Sorry, it took me so long." Hana could feel Althea's fingers curled around her shoulders. Althea closed her eyes again. It was a miracle that Hana understood what Althea wanted, and she gave it to her.
Allowing Hana to kiss her again, this time inviting her to do it more passionately and recklessly, Althea had reacted positively to Hana's touch that she couldn't help but grin. It didn't stop Althea from pulling her closer, wanting to feel Hana's body glued to her own.
"Will you be mine, Hana?" The blonde stared at her with such ardor that Hana could not help a dazzled grin to appear on her face.
Hana's cheeks flushed, "M-me? Are you sure, Althea?"
"Hana, I will ask you a thousand times if it will get my point across."
"Oh," Hana spoke softly. "Then thousand times yes, Althea!"
Something of a higher being possessed Hana's body as she pushed Althea up against the wall, even locking her hands above her head.
Hana captured Althea's waiting lips once more. Quickening their kiss' pace due to eagerness then slowed back down in a beat of passion. Squeezing her eyes shut, moaning, her head became dizzy. It was a good kind of dizzy, like floating in a dream.
Somehow, Althea took the charge. Her fingers twined with the dark strands of Hana's hair, Althea lifted her with her strong arms, inviting Hana to wind her legs around Althea's hips.
Hana was astounded by her own daring but despite it, she went on kissing Althea with the same passion as if it were the last time. She was carried over to the bed without any objection on her behalf. Carefully laid on the fluffy blanket, Althea went on top of her, supporting her weight on one hand.
The night grew deep and dark. Hana was lying in a soft silken bed when a welcoming sound met her ears.
"Hana," Althea's hot breath sent shivers down her spine. "I have rid Edith and the rest for the night, would you favor sleeping next to me?"
"I can?"
"Oh Hana, as expected, your answer leaves much to be desired."
"What?"
"Warm my bed, please."
Hana's heart pounded against her ribs. "Y-yes, I will." She knew she agreed, but she still wasn't prepared for this, before she could even think further, Althea's lips slide between hers, moving gently yet hungrily. Her tongue slipped into her mouth, wagging and feeling about.
Althea's hands roamed her back, going inside Hana's loose shirt.
Hana remembered she didn't wear any bra so Althea's touch was too overwhelming. She whimpered shakily as Althea proceeded to run her feverish lips down her throat, nuzzling over the crook of her neck. Hana gasped and arched her back, tilting her head aside to give her more access. Something about Althea's touch triggered sparks through her body. She felt as if her skin was set on fire.
Her mind twirled as the heat started building up.
"Althea..." Hana moaned, scared about what was to happen. She did like it—like whatever her body was capable of doing that she didn't know until now. But due to her values, and upbringing which are vastly different from the western ways, she's not emotionally ready. "I...I can't..."
"Me neither," she whimpered back, as breathlessly as Hana did.
All the motions stopped as if they were a broken clock that diffused its cogs and gears. Hana dropped herself into Althea's welcoming arms, panting as hard as she was. For a moment, nobody said anything.
"Sorry," Althea murmured after their raging breaths calmed down, covering her face in embarrassment. "I just couldn't help it. I may have been rushing into things."
"That's okay," Hana said, removing Althea's hand from her eyes so she can stare into them and show she's genuine.
"I'd love to do it with you, but I respect your decision and take things slow," Althea said, biting her lower lip.
"Thank you," Hana then hugged her beautiful muse and released a loud sigh.
She caught Althea staring at her, but the blonde girl didn't flinch when she was caught. They locked gazes for a long while until Althea spoke. "Sweet dreams, Hana."
Althea fluttered her eyes close, but Hana watched her, though Althea made no gesture, and as her saccadic chest movements repeated Hana suddenly thought that she was entirely blessed that Althea Lancaster was her girlfriend.