1996 [harry au]

XIX. Heat

n. sorry for the late update. (mature content warning)

Alexis;

"I'm pretty sure that makes...absolutely no sense, Harry," I insist, giggling with my nose brushing against his arm that wraps around my body. His unoccupied hand brushes against my thigh every so often, chuckling along with me. I lay between his legs, back against his toned chest.

I feel his lips move against my right temple as he speaks, testifying, "It makes plenty of sense. I almost drowned, and a mermaid saved me. She was extremely sexy. I swear...are you a mermaid?"

A loud laugh escapes my lips, and I exclaim, "Am I?! Did I grow a fish tail when we were in the lake?"

"Maybe you can control it! I don't know..." he defends himself, adding, "Either way, you're incredibly sexy."

"Stop it, you idiot -"

"Sexy," he growls, causing my laughter to increase. I look away, inevitably making more room for his lips to playfully kiss and bite along the exposed skin of my neck. I laugh uncontrollably at his actions, squirming and fidgeting and squealing.

In the moment of our banter, I feel movement against my leg, immediately turning to it. I see the dark beetle on me, and my instinct is to stop laughing and stare at it with slight shock. It lasts for a brief moment, however. I recognize the insect to be harmless. Though for a moment it stops, and crawls onto Harry.

With him, it's a different story. He notices almost immediately, and kicks his leg back and forth, screaming right into my ear. I laugh loudly, shouting, "Harry, it's just a ground beetle!"

"It's on my fucking leg!" He screams, trying to shake it off. I move away from him and his hysterics. He jumps up, screaming with his husky voice reaching impressively loud volumes. The beetle flies off, but lands on our blankets.

Harry continues his cries, jumping and making a big fuss out of things.

He turns to me, green eyes wide. "Gah, fuck! That thing is terrifying!"

I roll my eyes instantly, gently reaching for the beetle. It moves around on my palm, and I hope it does not bite me. Regardless it being harmless, it'll probably sting a little.

"You're being ridiculous," I tell him, trying not to laugh at his alarmed expression. His pink, soft lips are parted and his shoulders are evidently tensed. I move forward, hand raised so Harry can see the insect. He flinches. "Relax, it's a garden beetle. It's harmless."

"It looks like it wants to eat your hand," he breathlessly says, eyeing it on my hand. "And I know what it is. I just...I was in...shock."

My nose scrunches up as I laugh, trying to stop myself. "Oh really? So you wouldn't mind if I put it on your hand?"

Harry clenches his jaw, inhaling deeply. "Nah...," he chuckles, obviously nervous, "Not at all." He cocks his head to the side, shrugging.

"Alright," I sing softly, "Then give me your hand."

"Does it bite? Is it going to hurt? Is it poisonous? Is it - oi!" He shouts as the beetle crawls onto his hand. I grab onto his wrist to make sure the insect doesn't fall off.

I gaze up at him, grinning as he stares at the curious bug on his large palm. Harry inhales sharply and mutters, "Hey, you weird...big crawly thing."

"It's a nice beetle. It won't bite unless you freak out again like you did before," I explain to him, highly amused about how this is going. It starts to crawl from his palm, and he goes back into his panic, so I take the beetle out of our tent and let it be outside where it belongs.