notfaking_it | [Eden]

[Eden]

While trying to come up with something that she and Eden could do together, Lily had a moment like the one in the bar. On the island it wouldn't be difficult to find something to slip into a drink, easier than finding something in New York and she'd done just fine there, but the consideration lasted barely a moment. There was a reason Eden didn't drink and whatever it was, Lily doubted it had anything to do with her inability to loosen up.

She would leave that alone.

Instead she'd instructed Eden to meet her at the smaller of the two waterfalls near dusk and to wear a bathing suit. It wasn't the most original of evenings, something she'd done plenty of times already and she was sure Eden had, too, but no one could deny that it was relaxing. She'd brought a bag with drinks -- both alcoholic and non-alcoholic -- and food, more than enough to mean they didn't have to go anywhere else unless they wanted to.

And for the time being, there was no one else around. The waterfalls weren't a well kept secret, she knew that, and it was just luck that there was no one swimming yet.

In the fading sunlight, Lily set the bag and her towel down by a tree, then rose up on her toes, stretching absently as she waited for Eden to join her.

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"They manage just fine," Lily answered, her grin turning slightly wicked as she thought about men she'd met, men she'd slept with, even the ones she's merely befriended. There wasn't a soul in the world who could say she didn't have a type when it came to men.

"Besides, it's you we have to worry about breaking hearts," she pointed out. "With your big eyes and all that pretty skin." She was teasing, of course, but she also meant the things she was saying.

Eden laughed, nearly a scoff, directly another splash Lily's way. "Oh, go on," she said, rolling her eyes. It wasn't as if she didn't think she was pretty. She wasn't arrogant about it or anything, but she was aware she was attractive enough, and comfortable in her skin besides. She didn't, however, fool herself she'd be breaking any hearts any time soon. It was her own she had to worry about more often than not, and even then, it wasn't the men she'd dated who'd done that, but the friends she'd lost.

"Maybe I should just stop hanging out around you," she teased. "With you distracting the guys around here, I might manage to find one heart to break."

"Or maybe we should just work together," Lily answered, splashing back as she grinned at Eden. There was something definitely appealing in that, part of the reason she'd wanted Eden to go to speed dating with her, though being in different groups had changed that plan a little bit. They could have fun, she knew that, no matter what they did.

"Besides, there are so many good looking men on this island, there's more than enough to go around," she teased, hooking her wet hair over her shoulder. "We wouldn't even have to share."

Eden laughed, edging closer to the falls. "Did they never teach you that lesson in kindergarten?" she asked. "I thought sharing was supposed to be a good thing." If they set their minds to it and went out for a night, she thought, Lily was probably right and they could have their pick of whoever crossed their paths. The thing was that, while plenty of other girls around here were more traditionally pretty than she was, a lot of them were also holding out for serious relationships. As much as the idea appealed to Eden, it wasn't like she felt the need to approach these things as all or nothing.

"Not when there's more than enough to go around," Lily said with a bright grin, drifting closer to the falls along with Eden. The sound was louder here, the water pounding down onto the pool they were in and Lily leaned back a little, looking up to the top.

"And there's definitely more than enough to go around," she continued, although that didn't surprise her. If you put a bunch of people into a permanent vacation scenario, they were going to start acting like they were permanently on vacation. And people were always just a little bit more free with themselves when they weren't at home.

There was for a girl like Lily who was so easy about putting herself out there, a better flirt than Eden. There was a time when Eden was good at these things, but she was out of practice. "I need to get back out there," she sighed. "It's just hard to figure out where to start, you know? It's not like there are a lot of clubs to hit up around here." And she couldn't just go to the Hub or somewhere like that. Someone would offer to buy her a drink, and though she wasn't keeping her sobriety secret, exactly, it didn't exactly make for a great flirtation opener. "We should just open our own."

"We should," Lily said, looking at Eden with interest. There was the Catscratch, which she loved, and the Hub and the Winchester, of course, but there wasn't anything like the clubs back home. There was nowhere to go and simply dance.

"Do you think people would come?" she asked. There had to be more people on the island who were interested in something like that than just the two of them. The raves more or less proved that that was true.

"To a nightclub?" Eden shrugged, brow raising. "Yeah. I mean, maybe if it were only open, like, once a week on Saturdays or something, or just twice a month, and then it's... not exclusive, but a little more special. And less work." It wasn't something that had ever actually occurred to her before, but now that she'd mentioned it, it made sense. It didn't have to be anything big or serious, but with the right music and atmosphere, it could be a success, and if people wanted drinks or drugs, those were easy enough to come by without the club providing it all. "I mean, we all need somewhere to go out and relax. Go on dates that don't just involve dinner at the Winchester."

Lily agreed with everything Eden was saying and she fell silent, thinking about it. If nothing else, it would give the two of them something to do, something to concentrate on when the island sometimes offered so little. Lily had enough to fill her time, but it would be nice to have a project. A goal.

"We should do it," she said. "It's the sort of thing I've wanted to see here for months and it's not that we're lacking in places to go, but there's nothing quite like a club back home." A place where people could just go and get lost in music. Where nothing else mattered.

Eden nodded to herself, heading closer to the edge and pulling herself up to sit on the rocks near the fall. "We should," she said, the idea of it settling more and more into place. If they could get the building crew to build them a place, open up a lot of dance space, find a way to provide the music — the other places to go were great in their way, but something like this could be as good for single people or groups looking for fun as couples in need of a change in pace. It could really bring something, and it didn't have to be an enormous undertaking. "Somewhere just to dance and hang out. Or we don't even need a new place built, we could just get one of the huts in the jungle remodeled, knock the walls out so it's just a dance floor, and then it's... remote, has kind of a — an air of mystery, looking like a normal place. Dim the lights, get some music, we're set."

"I like that," Lily said as she swam closer. Carefully, she propped her arms up on a rock near Eden and leaned against it, keeping herself afloat. "I like that a lot. A jungle club, which is very fitting with the whole island theme we really can't escape out here."

And, like Eden said, it would have an air of mystery, which was something Lily loved even more. If she asked around, she was sure they could find someone to set up lights for them, a sound system, something that could really create an atmosphere. "It would be so easy, too. We wouldn't have to spend all our time making sure things were running smoothly. It sounds perfect."

If there was anyone on the island who would know how to create the things they would need, it was Tony Stark, and though he and Eden weren't exactly close, she knew he liked her well enough. Even without her ability, she could be very persuasive when she put her mind to it. Maybe if she could get a few minutes with him, she could convince him this was what the island needed; he'd backed the Catscratch, after all, she couldn't see why he wouldn't help with this, too.

"I think I know where to start asking around for help," she said. "We just have to pick a place and a name. I mean, it has to have a name."

"My only request is nothing too cheesy like... I don't know, 'Going Wild'," Lily said and although she was still grinning, she was completely serious. In general, she didn't take anything too seriously, but she thought if they wanted people to come, they were going to have to go with something a little bit better than that.

"Or 'Ape Shit'," she continued, laughing. "Wow, so I'm really good at coming up with lame club names that we definitely should never use."

Eden leaned forward, laughing, kicking up water. "Those are incredible," she said. "We not using either of those ever." In fact, the more she thought about it, the more she thought she was wrong. "Or maybe it doesn't need a name. Maybe we'll just be all mysterious and nameless and word of mouth."

That it was impossible not to say that word without automatically glancing to Lily's was potentially problematic, but she couldn't help it. Lily had an amazing mouth, a gorgeous smile. Looking up again, Eden raised her brow, pleased with herself anyway. No name was the simplest solution, really.

"I like that even more," Lily said as she leaned her head on her folded arms, looking up at Eden. "You're officially creative director of whatever we do together. You're the one with all the good ideas." And Lily would just come along for the ride, which she was sure would be fun, no matter what they did.

"And I can be the word of mouth," she added, smirking just slightly before she wet her lips. "I'm very good at that."

"So I hear," deadpanned Eden, slipping down to rest her arms on her thighs. Try though she might not to be obvious, it was impossible not to follow a motion like that with her eyes. The trick was trying to pretend she wasn't doing so. "You know, we might want some women at the club, too, just to keep things even. Not that I doubt your ability to take on flirtation duties with every man in the room."

"I can bring in some women, too," Lily pointed out, giving Eden a look, even as she grinned. There was Nina, but Lily wasn't sure how the other woman would feel if she went around telling people about the night they'd spent together. Instead, she said, "I managed to make Jeff Winger forget that he was sad about being turned into a woman for the weekend."

And that was an accomplishment. He'd been fairly grumpy when she'd first run into him and she also didn't think he'd have a problem with her talking about it with Eden.

Though Eden wasn't exactly acquainted with Jeff, she'd seen him around enough to know who Lily meant, and she could only imagine he'd been equally as hot as a woman. "Sounds like quite a feat," she teased, feet flexing under the water as she considered slipping back in, trying not to actively think about what Lily was saying. "As long as you plan on saving a dance for me."

"I won't have to save a dance," Lily answered, then pushed back from the wall of the pool and began to tread water a few feet away. "You'll get the first one, of course." If they were in this together, then they had to be in this together, all the way, and Lily was sure anyone else who might want a dance or anything else would be okay with waiting.

"Come on," she said with a grin. "We live on an island with nothing to do, I have all the time in the world to spend with the people I like."

With Lily slipping away, Eden couldn't help following, sliding back into the water to inch after her, pulled by her tide. She was the kind of girl anyone could get caught up in, Eden was sure. For a girl like her who'd lost so much of her own old confidence, Lily's was irresistible. "I'm honored," she says lightly, moving closer. "First on the list. Well, that's all the incentive I need, let's get started."

"With dancing?" Lily asked, though she was sure Eden was talking about the club. The opening was there, she couldn't resist taking it, even if that wasn't what Eden meant at all. Even if she was completely off base, even if she was shut down, she was sure it wouldn't affect their friendship one way or the other. That was what made it so easy. "Right here in the water? Without music?" There was a playful lilt to her voice, though, making it clear that if Eden wanted to do the equivalent of dancing in the water, she would be more than happy to oblige.

As willfully ignorant as Eden could play, it was impossible to miss the cues with Lily. The question was only ever if this was routine teasing or something she would regret not acting on. But life was short, and if anyone knew that, it was her. Maybe it was time to play right back, to push and see what happened. It wasn't like she could pretend Lily wasn't devastatingly attractive, or she wasn't attracted to her, though it had been ages since she'd been interested in another girl. Moving closer without fully closing the distance, she circled Lily with a sly smile. "Who needs music?"

"We don't," Lily answered with a slow smile before she closed the distance between them. Under the water, she could feel her leg brush against Eden's, the warmth of her skin, and her smile grew as she reached out to trail her fingers along the inside of Eden's arm. It would surprise no one, she was sure, to discover she was such a tactile person, that she relished in touching people and learning the lines and planes of their body.

"We have great rhythm," she continued, her voice low. "We don't need music."

Eden couldn't say she was caught off guard, exactly, given how flirtatious she knew Lily could be, but it still surprised her a little to find it turned unmistakably on herself. Not reacting was out of the question at a time like this, hands reaching for Lily's waist before she could tell herself not to. "We do at that," she said musingly. "Natural rhythm. Although you are undoubtedly the superior dancer."

"Even in the water?" Lily asked with a teasing smile, both her hands now sliding up Eden's arms, her fingers dancing lightly over Eden's skin. At this point she was talking just to talk, most of her focus on the feel of Eden's skin under her fingertips, distracted by the warmth.

"I don't know, you're holding your own," she said finally, turning her gaze back to Eden's. "Besides, the water takes away most of my advantage."

[Eden]

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