You're It

Hope loves training. Taking a few hours to hide herself in the gym and sweat a bit is on the list of her favorite things to do, after being able to run around the woods in her wolf form. She loves the satisfying noise hitting a punching bag produces and the slight ache in her muscles (it leaves quickly due to her healing abilities, but it's good for the moments it lingers).

Not just that, but there's the present fact that Hope needs exercise as an outlet. Sure, drawing and painting relieves some stress but only a few things can help her release her anger.

On the rare - becoming more frequent - days that she trains with Josie instead of Alaric, Hope finds that it becomes a thousand times more fun. She knows she's supposed to be training Josie to protect herself from whatever monster of the week comes next, and she is, but sometimes sparring turns into a game of tag.

Like today, it's been hours since Josie approached her this morning to ask for another training session and Hope notices Josie getting especially tired. Hope is breaking a sweat herself but Josie looks spent (though she knows Josie wouldn't ever admit it), so Hope taps her stomach lightly with the back of her padded glove and then runs across the mat like a child.

Josie stares at her, confused at the considerably lighter hit and the sudden distance between them for a second, before she catches on. "Hope, are we seriously playing tag?"

"Yes." Hope beams at her and nods once. "Consider it an advanced training exercise. Which you're losing, by the way."

It takes about five seconds for Josie to catch her breath. If they did this months ago, it would have taken her much longer. Josie has changed a lot over the course of the year. She's put on some muscle, got a little more toned. She looks stronger now - could probably have a fair chance against Hope in a fight if it weren't for Hope's special abilities. It suits her well.

Still, Hope is unsurprisingly able to easily move away from Josie when she tries to tag her. Hope buzzed across the room at supernatural speed and grabs her water bottle, starts sipping it while Josie pours at her.

"No fair." Josie comments, only receiving a shrug in response.

Josie sighs and briefly leans against the wall behind her, seems to be planning her next move. Hope watches her because she knows Josie has always been more brain than brawn and could probably find some way to tag her. Also, Hope may be a little competitive.

Before Josie can get done taking her second step towards Hope, the tribrid is running away from her. Then, she's slamming into a magical barrier and landing on her ass with a small groan. Hope does what could only be described as a childish pout while Josie runs over to swat her arm in victory.

The fact that the school had magic running through its walls and Josie borrowed it often had slipped her mind. Hope sat up and went after her friend, ending up staring at a blank space of air when Josie suddenly melted through a hole in the floor and popped up at another spot in the room.

This went on for awhile, both of them using their supernatural abilities to mess with each other. Josie would mutter something and oil would appear across the mat, making Hope slip and slide. Hope would launch herself dramatically into the air and reach Josie with one large jump. It became a fair game because Hope made an unspoken rule that she wouldn't use magic, so it was wolf versus witch.

Eventually, Hope knew they had to wrap it up. Instead of telling Josie this, she comes up behind her and wraps her arms around Josie's waist, lifting her into the air.

"Wait!" Josie yelps in surprise at the action and her legs flail. "This isn't how you play tag."

"Yep. I'm carrying you to breakfast. I win, by the way." Hope adds that last part teasingly and is surprised when all of a sudden she's on the ground with Josie on top of her. She regrets teaching Josie that take down technique.

Josie is quick for a witch and gets Hope pinned for a solid second, looking pretty smug about it too. Hope rolls her eyes. She lets Josie smirk down at her for a good amount of time before easily flipping them over, making sure not to hurt Josie in the process.

While Hope feels fine, - maybe a little too happy about effectively winning their game of tag - the state Josie is in brings back memories of the other night. Josie's chest rises and falls quicker than it usually would, her face a pretty mix of pink and tan. Her hair is splayed out across the dark blue mats and her head tilts back, her eyes shutting in exhaustion.

Hope connects the image of Josie under her to one she had seen wolves do before as an act of submission, but Josie doesn't have wolf instincts.

That isn't what this is. Josie has no knowledge of what this looks like, so Hope doesn't focus on it. Instead she puts her gaze elsewhere, glancing downwards. Josie's tank top is up past her belly button and yeah, Josie has abs. They aren't as defined as Hope's but they're so obviously there, and Hope kind of wants to touch them.

Just to compare. Not in a weird way.

She drags her fingers down Josie's stomach and grins when Josie starts laughing uncontrollably.

"I didn't know you were ticklish." Hope comments, enjoying the pleasant sound and the feel of Josie's muscles jumping under her warm skin.

"St-Stop!" Josie gasps. "You win, you win."

Hope listens and starts to climb off of Josie with a satisfied grin. "That's all I wanted to hear."

The moment ends when the door swings open and Penelope steps in, holding a shake or smoothie of some sort. Penelope is wearing her usual attire, a plaid skirt hiked up to reveal her thighs and a white blouse with the top buttons undone. It doesn't give the impression that she's here to workout. In fact, Hope has never even seen Penelope step foot in the gym unless forced, so she guesses she's just here to mess with Josie.

Speaking of Josie, her good mood seems to immediately disappear as soon as she sees Penelope. Josie ducks her head and lowers her eyes once she's standing, avoiding her ex's gaze.

"Don't stop on my account." Penelope's eyes shift from Josie to Hope. "It looked like you two were having fun."

Since Josie says nothing, Hope speaks for her. "Did you want something or…?"

"I just wanted to bring you a protein shake." Penelope shrugs innocently. Hope assumes the shake is for Josie, so she's surprised when Penelope hands her it without even glancing at Josie.

Penelope wiggles her fingers at the both of them as a goodbye and leaves almost as quickly as she came. Hope watches the doors close with a raised eyebrow, but once Penelope is gone all she can do is check to make sure Josie is okay (she is, just a little quieter now and a lot more persistent on them going to grab a snack or take their respective showers) and raise the shake at eye level to inspect it.

"Why do I feel like it's poisoned?" Hope shakes the cup a bit to watch its contents swirl around. "I'm gonna end up dead in a ditch somewhere, aren't I?"

Josie must be a lot more trusting of Penelope's motives than Hope, because she takes the cup from her and tilts her head back a little to swallow a long slurp. At Hope's slightly shocked expression, Josie shrugs.

"I'm thirsty."

The second Josie gets done with drinking half of the shake and wiping her mouth with the back of her palm, the top pops off and the shake explodes. It goes everywhere. Half of Hope's face gets covered in the peanut butter flavored mixture while Josie is doused in it from head to toe. It would be a little funny if it hadn't been Penelope who gave them the cup and if the shake hadn't been made for Hope.

If MG had pulled the same stunt, Josie would've laughed, but it hadn't been MG. Instead, Josie looks cold and kind of grossed out by the sticky substance that is no doubt soaking into her clothes. She also looks like she's on the verge of lighting Penelope on fire (again), so Hope rests a hand on whichever one of Josie's shoulders is the cleanest in a way that she hopes is reassuring.

"Maybe we should go get a shower before we get breakfast." Hope suggests and Josie nods slowly, looking a little drained. "Come on, there's a shower in my room."

Hope follows Josie into the bathroom, mostly because Josie's eyes are glued closed to prevent any more protein shake from getting into them, but also because she feels oddly protective over her friend. She hasn't let go of Josie's shoulder since they left the gym and she's still reluctant to do so. Honestly, Hope is considering taking a shower with Josie (she has bits of the shake on her too) until she remembers that that's a little weird and she wouldn't want to push things too far, especially with the thing they did recently.

They haven't talked about it and Hope kind of likes it that way. Things aren't getting weird between them. They're normal. Still, Hope also feels a bit antsy. She expects them to talk about it eventually and she has no idea what Josie would say. Shit, she had no idea what she would say herself.

"Here." Hope says, leading Josie over to the edge of the bathtub. She isn't really ready to leave Josie alone quite yet. "I'm gonna help you wash it out of your hair, okay?"

"Okay." Josie replies, voice coming out small.

It breaks Hope's heart a little. Regardless, Hope stands and grabs the detachable shower head. "Lean back so the water doesn't get on the floor. You might want to take your shirt off."

"Shorts, too?" Josie asks. Hope can't tell due to the shake, but she thinks a small blush comes across Josie's face. "Just cause they're also wet."

"Yeah. Shorts, too."

Josie complies. She pulls her soaked tank top over her head, followed by her black shorts, and then looks up at Hope (or more, tilts her face in Hope's direction since her eyes are still closed) a little cluelessly. Hope takes the shirt and shorts from Josie and places them in the tub, deciding she can wash those off later.

She turns the water on and waits for it to reach an acceptable level of warmth before starting to spray it on the top of Josie's head. Hope makes sure to clean all of Josie's face and get the shake off her eyes before moving onto her hair. The brown tinted liquid becomes lighter as it leaves Josie's hair, disappearing down the drain.

Hope carefully runs her fingers through the locks, working out any tangles she finds. Even though the shake is off of Josie's face, she still keeps her eyes closed. It feels a little intimate, but Hope can't help herself. She has this possessive nature about her and watching Josie get hurt brings it out with full force.

Once Josie's hair doesn't feel sticky anymore, Hope rubs some shampoo into it and decides to fully wash it. She also sprays water along Josie's arms, but really can't do much when she's simultaneously trying to avoid getting Hope's underwear wet. Also, Hope can feel the parts of her body with protein shake on them starting to stiffen as the liquid dries.

"Uh." Hope says awkwardly, getting Josie to open her eyes. Josie looks down at her shake coated legs and Hope's unclean body, noticing the problem instantly. "You could take a shower if you want…"

"This is kind of nice, actually." Josie replies. Hope isn't sure what part of it Josie likes, but she nods anyways. It is kind of nice.

Besides, Hope is reluctant to leave the bathroom. She would if Josie asked, but Josie isn't asking. So Hope stands back up and strips her own shirt and pants off. She steps into the tub and makes quick work of using the shower head to clean herself off since there isn't as much on her and doesn't care about getting her underwear wet. Then, Hope beckons Josie to stand in the tub with her.

"Hey, is it okay if I…?" Josie trails off and Hope nods, so Josie starts taking her underwear off.

Hope is reminded again of how amazing Josie's body is. She has this distinct, pretty quality about her that makes Hope wonder why more guys aren't trying to date Josie. It also makes Hope want to draw Josie right now, but it would be an odd request for her to voice, so she says nothing about it.

Josie joins her in the tub and sighs when Hope starts cleaning her again. "Thanks for this. I'm really tired."

"No problem." Hope replies, dragging the shower head a bit lower so it sprays against Josie's collarbones. "The training is really paying off."

She notices the blush that comes onto Josie's skin almost immediately. It works its way across her neck and down towards her breasts, forcing Hope to look at Josie's boobs a little. Okay, a lot. Only because Hope starts wondering if they're more sensitive than hers (because from she knows, hers aren't very sensitive) and because Josie has the perky kind that is mostly shown in movies and Hope hadn't noticed before.

It must look pretty weird with the position they're in. Since Hope doesn't want Josie to get the wrong idea, Hope quickly cleans the rest of her front and then tells Josie to spin around.

"You could probably kick some ass, is what I mean." Hope clarifies. "Not mine, of course, but someone else's. Maybe MG. You should surprise him with that new takedown I taught you."

"What makes you think I couldn't kick your ass one day?" Josie asks and Hope finds herself smiling genuinely, because Josie has stumbled upon her bravado once again.

When Hope thinks about it, if Josie found some way to bind her then she could probably siphon enough magic from Hope to make her pass out. So yeah, Josie could kick Hope's ass under certain circumstances. Not that Hope would ever admit that aloud.

"My awesome, tribrid abilities." Hope responds. She washes the backs of Josie's legs and makes sure to teasingly flick her knee on the way down.

"Yeah, yeah. Whatever." Josie rolls her eyes but can't really complain because Hope is kind of awesome. "Did you get it all off?"

"Yep."

They climb out of the tub one by one and Hope hands Josie a towel so she can start drying off. Hope feels a little disappointed that they're getting out for some reason. She also finds it is a lot easier to breathe once Josie covers herself up with a towel.

"I have robes in the closet." Hope tells her. Josie nods and after finishing drying off, she goes out to get them. While Hope is alone she takes a towel and wipes the water off her body, getting done around the time Josie returns to the bathroom with a second robe for her.

She thanks Josie and pulls the white fabric around her body, then they walk out into the room together. It isn't said, but Hope assumes that Josie is staying with her for at least a little bit. She doesn't really mind. Breakfast goes on for another few minutes but this day starts off with a free period, so they're in no rush.

Hope walks around her bed to one of the cabinets and kneels down to grab a bottle of vodka from it (she's in the mood to spend the rest of the day, or at least the next few classes, buzzed) while Josie starts digging through her gym bag for something. She sees Josie kneeling by her bag with her phone and assumes Josie is texting Lizzie about missing the breakfast they usually share together.

"Is that Lizzie?" Hope asks, earning a nod in return.

Josie looks at her. "Is that vodka? It's barely eight."

"It's not like I'm going to get drunk from a couple shots. I'm a tribrid, remember."

"True." Josie turns off her phone and tosses it back into her bag without another thought, then gets on top of the bed. "Can I have some of that?"

Hope, still kneeling near the cabinet, raises an eyebrow. She had assumed that she would be taking a few fast shots and then putting the bottle away, since it was relatively early in the morning and Josie hadn't had anything to eat yet. Besides, she rarely ever saw Josie drink on a weekday.

It seems whatever Josie wants Josie gets when it comes to Hope, because Hope finds herself shrugging and getting on the bed a second later. She chugs what would probably add up to three shots before handing the bottle over to Josie.

"I thought you didn't day drink." Hope comments once Josie has lowered the bottle's rim from her mouth. She focuses on Josie's lips while she licks the alcohol off them and Hope feels a familiar tug in the pit of her stomach - realizes she hasn't touched herself in awhile.

"I don't, usually." Josie says. "Penelope just makes me frustrated. That's all."

"Frustrated how?" Hope questions and grins when Josie rolls her eyes and flicks her arm too gently to hurt.

"Don't be an ass."

"I'm not. I'm just a worried friend." Hope replies but she doesn't feel entirely genuine and she isn't sure why. "I haven't seen you hooking up with anyone recently. I thought you were… lonely."

Josie fiddles with the label on the bottle. "I'm not lonely, I have you."

Hope is sure that Josie doesn't mean it in any way besides the friend way, so she feels a little guilty when her mind jumps to the night they had spent together. Well, not together. That makes it sound like they had some one night stand that they now never talk about. It had just been a favor Hope did for Josie.

It's not like it could have meant more. Hope likes boys. She's sure about that. Her time with Landon had been short but they'd done enough for Hope to know that she had been into him. This thing with Josie (which she couldn't even call a thing) was just Hope wanting to help and Josie needing the help.

"About that…" Hope starts and Josie's smile fades enough to be noticeable, her thumb moving to scrape off some of the bottle's label.

"Hope, I just wanted to say I'm sorry if-"

"Do you want to do it again?"

"What?" Josie looks as if that hadn't been anything near what she was expecting and Hope shrugs. She takes the bottle back, tries to act like there isn't a growing bundle of nerves in her chest.

"Again." Hope repeats with a lot less confidence this time. "Do you want to do it again?"

Josie blinks, takes on this deer in headlights look that is very endearing on her face, before nodding. Her body visibly relaxes a bit while she seems to get used to the idea.

Hope sits up, puts the bottle away, and moves to get in the same position she had been in before. Except this time Josie doesn't move to join her, just stays where she is and lounges on the bed in her robe.

"I'm, uh, kind of tired." Josie explains. "I still want to, though."

They have been working out a lot. The lack of eating and the surplus of Penelope's shenanigans must have drained Josie. Hope gets that, so she gets back on the bed and does this weird knee crawl thing until she's perched on top of Josie. Most of the work is done on top, right?

The position reminds her of something she had read about on some dumb sex website, suggesting things couples could do to spice up their relationship. She was bored and curious when she read it, feeling a little lonely at the time, but now it sparked in her mind. Hope flushes as the memory of it comes into her brain and Josie must be able to read her expression, because her eyebrows raise.

"What is it?" She asks, quieter now that Hope is a short distance away from her.

"I was just thinking about something I read." Hope admits slowly. "Maybe we could try it? It could help and you wouldn't have to do much."

Josie nods faster than Hope had expected her to. "Yeah, okay. I trust you."

Only because Josie had said she was tired, Hope undoes the ties of her white robe for her. She had almost forgotten that Josie is naked under there, but she's suddenly very aware of it when her hand brushes against the soft curve of Josie's breast. Which isn't what she intended at all, but her heart jumps at the contact - just because she hadn't been expecting it.

It's not like it's terrible, though. From what she felt, Josie's skin is incredibly soft and it's not like Hope has touched anyone else's boob before, so it's an experience. And Josie takes this sharp inhale of breath that sounds pleasant when it happens that has Hope wondering how sensitive Josie's breasts are once again.

She doesn't touch them anymore than she already has because that isn't the deal. They don't really have a deal, but whatever it is Hope isn't willing to break it.

Hope moves herself so she can get her leg between Josie's and holds herself up with her arms while she makes sure that she's set up right. She wants to do this properly for Josie. Hope sits back on her knees a bit, just to get the angle right.

"If you're about to scissor me then let me tell you, that's not going to work." Josie says, briefly stopping her with a hand on Hope's shoulder.

"I'm not going to." She replies and pauses for a second. "How do you know scissoring doesn't work."

Josie shakes her head, grins in a bold way that is unexpected. "I haven't had enough drinks to tell you about that."

Hope pouts, surprised that she wants to hear the story. Still, she drops it with an eye roll and goes on with what she had been doing. She pushes her leg farther up between Josie's legs until she feels wet heat press against her skin and earns a tiny moan from Josie. Hope presses further, adds more pressure and gets better results.

The hand Josie had on her shoulder hasn't moved and her grip tightens considerably when Hope starts moving her leg. Josie blushes with each moan she makes, digs her nails into Hope's arm, and avoids eye contact when her breath comes heavier, voice getting a tad higher than usual.

"Hope." Josie whines - actually whines, and she hadn't been prepared to hear such a desperate noise added to her name, but it's good. It makes Hope feel wanted. "More, please."

Her hands slide up to Josie's hips, gripping tightly. Hope uses her strength to lift Josie a little and drag her roughly along her flexed thigh. The robe Hope is wearing is falling off a lot, almost to the point that everything is exposed, but she doesn't really mind. She thinks that if anyone were to walk in right now, it would be hard to explain the position they're in, especially with how they're both almost naked.

"Better?" Hope asks.

It's only because she's a competitive asshole of a person, but when Josie nods frantically and moans louder than before, Hope adds some of her supernatural strength to the equation and smirks smugly down at her. She stumbles upon the thought that no one else could probably fuck Josie this hard and then immediately feels weird about the thought because that's not what she's doing. Hope isn't fucking Josie.

This is just impersonal grinding. A favor between two friends. Hope realizes that, but she's still super good at this favor - just judging by Josie's reactions and the slick rub against her thigh.

After awhile, Hope can tell Josie is close. And she wants this to be good, because Josie is awesome and she deserves to feel this way all the time. She's pushing Josie towards the edge when suddenly someone is knocking on the door.

"Hope? Josie?" It's Lizzie and she doesn't bother to wait even a few seconds before she starts knocking rapidly again.

Shit. Hope should have heard her coming. She had also completely forgotten to put a spell on the room so no one could hear them. That definitely would've been the smart thing to do, but when Hope came into the room she had been preoccupied and hadn't expected them to be doing anything like this. Now they have to deal with the wrath of Lizzie Saltzman.

"I know you're in there." Lizzie says and the doorknob jingles, but it's locked. "Josie only hangs out with four people and three of them were at breakfast this morning."

Josie gives Hope this panicked look that Hope really has no idea what to do with. She can tell that Josie still wants to keep going, mostly because they haven't stopped. Hope had stilled as soon as she heard the knock but Josie kept on pushing up, grinding against her with much less force than before. Hope didn't even think Josie realized she was doing it.

Hope got hit with an idea all of sudden and, getting a stroke of bravery, she reaches down and starts to find what she's looking for. Lizzie's knocking gets louder but Josie's eyes are locked on Hope. Josie almost lets out a moan when Hope's fingers come to circle around her clit, but Hope uses her supernatural speed to clamp her hand around Josie's mouth.

The look Josie gives her is downright dirty. Hope can hear the noises Josie is making - breathy and satisfied - while Hope touches her, but she's almost sure that Lizzie can hear nothing through the door.

"Come on, Jo." Hope says, because they're in a hurry. "Cum."

It takes that and one more hard press against Josie's clit for her to cum. She moans, long and low, when it happens but the sounds come out muffled due to Hope's hand. Speaking of Hope's hand, when she moves it away it's soaked and the smell isn't unpleasant and Hope kind of wants to raise her fingers to her mouth and taste what Josie tastes like, but she doesn't. That would be too far and besides, all of this is already an overload on Hope's senses.

Instead, Hope wipes her hand on the already ruined sheets and climbs off the bed to go answer the door. She only cracks it open enough that she can poke her head out, but it's enough that Hope can clearly see Lizzie's crossed arms and pissed off expression.

"Hi Lizzie." Hope greets, trying not to seem suspicious. "What's up?"

Lizzie wastes no time in beginning the investigation. "I know my sister is in there. She wouldn't be anywhere else. I'm fine with your training sessions, but at least give Josie a break from cleaning your super suit long enough for her to eat and- do you have a cat?"

"No. Of course not." Hope lies. She looks around the area for any sign of Yoda but finds none. Predictable, considering his ability to disappear at the weirdest times.

While Hope doesn't see anything, Lizzie lowers herself to the ground and grips at air for a moment before her hands clamp around what seems to be nothing. She stands up again and clutches a ball of invisibility in her hand, a ball that meows and then suddenly shows its fur and tail and annoying little face. Hope is at a loss for words, wondering why the cat has to gravitate towards both Saltzman twins and her in trouble.

One twin is enough for Hope, why can't it be enough for her cat?

"Okay, yes. I have a cat but-"

"Oh my god it's so cute." Lizzie squeals, rubbing his body in a way that makes him purr and lean into her chest. "What's its name?"

"Yoda." Hope replies. It's bizarre. She's never seen Lizzie be so caring.

"Despite that very nerdy and unfortunate name, I love him. Let me feed him some meat or something from the kitchen and I won't tell my dad." Lizzie beams down at the cat and yeah, this is more in character for her.

Blackmail and forgetting about Josie once a cute male catches her eye. Typical Lizzie Saltzman behavior.

Hope sighs, just glad that Lizzie doesn't question the robe or the location of her sister or Hope's probably flushed cheeks. "Fine, but don't get caught."

"Oh please, I can be subtle." Lizzie says and then takes off down the hall with a happy Yoda in her arms.

After shutting the door, Hope turns around and slumps against it. She looks at Josie, notices that she's curled up under the blankets now. Josie is also asleep, snoring softly in a way that reminds Hope of a cute puppy in the middle of a slumber.

Hope wishes she could fall asleep that easy. It would be a blessing. Right now isn't the time though, because they have classes in less than an hour and she expects (hopes) Lizzie will come knocking on her door to return her cat before they have to leave. There's not much to do until then.

So, Hope crawls into bed with Josie and doesn't protest when she sleepily throws an arm around Hope's waist.