The Fateful Heart 2

James held the pose for just a little longer before hid lips upturned into a sly grin.

“Then no one will recognize me!”

But just as he finished his sentence, the soap clinging to his statche slid down to his mouth, and he sputtered. The soap sud went flying through the air and onto Evaline’s cheek.

James stared at her for half a second before he burst out laughing.

James let out a hearty laugh as the soap sud landed on her cheek, and now whatever anxiety Evaline felt before had somehow been erased.

She looked at him with a fading smile, scraped the suds off her cheek, and then silently turned away as she continued to comb through her soapy hair.

... Only to grab the suds from her hair and quickly flick it over at him, grinning.

James felt a rush of relief as Evaline laughed, and it only fed into his laughter. It died down when she turned around but only bubbled back up again when she flicked more suds at him.

To have a fresh, blank, canvas, he briefly dipped his head underwater and came back up all wet. He grabbed some of the suds that dispersed into the water and dipped his finger into them like a brush.

Then he drew (at least, he tried to - who was to say he was successful when he couldn't exactly see it himself) two lines on each cheek, in an attempt to imitate whiskers.

"Okay, okay," he said. "But what about this one?"

Evaline let out a giggle as the suds landed on him, but James seemed to have something else in mind when he washed everything away and started over.

She watched him curiously, trying to figure out what he was trying to look like. There were two soap lines on each cheek. She didn't understand at first, but then it hit her.

He was referencing the day she said she'd made make him look like a cat if she could paint his face.

She smiled, her chest feeling warmer because he remembered that, and also because she remembered how, a few moments after that memory, his face scrunched up into the biggest smile she had ever seen on him as he laughed.

She was suddenly tempted to fill in the blanks herself with this makeshift paint-soap, but instead opted to show him instead.

"You're missing a little something," she said, coming a little closer and reaching out to touch the tip of his nose. "A little dollop, right there."

James crossed his eyes for a moment as he watched Evaline's finger boop his nose. He smiled, and he grabbed a soapy sud and reached out to do the same, putting a big dollop on her nose.

"Now we're matching," he said with laughter in his voice.

Evaline scrunched her nose as James returned the action, but with soap bubbles. She smiled and then looked down into the water to gather up her own pile of suds.

Now she had to do this.

She scooped the suds out with her right hand, acting as if it were a palette of paints. With her free hand acting as a paintbrush, she dipped her index finger into the soap palette and then sloppily started to 'paint his face,' so to speak. His own nose dollop, a third whisker, accents under and over his eyes.

"There," she said with a smile, admiring her silly work. "Now you're a cat."

James squinted his eyes as Evaline started putting bubbles on his face, but he couldn't help but grin as she did it. When she finished, he felt his face starting to burn, but he couldn't help but laugh.

He found his hand coming up to hide his face on reflex, but he faltered - not wanting to mess up the suds on his face - and he resorted to just looking down as he kept laughing.

This was so ridiculous, but it was a relief to feel somewhat relaxed for once.

With eyes shining with laughter he looked over to Evaline with a big smile.

"Meow." He was barely able to sputter it out before he dissolved into laughter again and sunk into the water, up to his chin.

It was endearing to see James like this, soap all over his face and laughing in the same way he had when she told him she would do this. He had the same smile lines, the same dimples, the same upturn of his lips. He didn't cover his eyes, so this time, she could see the wrinkles of his eyes deepen just a little as his smile reached it.

It was nice to see him like this. His smile was so contagious.

But then he meowed.

Suddenly, it was the laughter that was contagious.

An ugly laugh escaped Evaline's lips before she could even hold it back, and she instinctively slapped her hand over he mouth to muffle it.

"Did you just..." she tried so hard to say through the laugh. "Did you just meow?"

James barely managed to wheeze a "yes" out, but it was drowned out by a burst of loud, cathartic laughter triggered by Evaline's outburst. And it only got worse. Even though it was hurting to laugh, the heat seemed to disguise half of the discomfort, and all of the steam must've been getting to his head. He couldn't remember the last time he felt so stupidly giddy over something so silly.

But he didn't want to let the joke die there. In one last laugh-riddled effort to make Evaline laugh more, he turned to her and meowed again, but this time, gave it his best effort to make it sound more convincing.

Of course, his meow became distorted as laughter overtook him and he accidentally splashed his face with a sudden movement of his arm.

Suddenly everything was funny, and he couldn't control it.

Evaline wasn't sure which was funnier: James going for a deep, serious meow, or an attempt of a deep, serious meow that got interrupted by roaring laughter. Either way, she couldn't stop the heaves of laughter from coming out, and it was getting hard to gasp for air.

"Stop it!" she said playfully through a fit of laughter, splashing some water towards him.

A full stomach, a steamy room, and James meowing was a recipe for unstoppable laughter.

James tried to stop laughing - he really did - but the more he fought it, the more he just kept laughing. He tilted his head back and sunk into the water, and when his mouth met the surface, he blew bubbles for just a second or two before laughing again and pushing his hair back out of his eyes. With water and soap no longer dripping into his eyes he was able to see clearly the big smile on Evaline's face, and it made his heart swell with a strange sense of happiness and relief.

Finally, his laughter started to slowly die down as he let this picture of her sink into his memory. Soapy, giggly, and laughing so hard she was practically wheezing.

Evaline tried to stop laughing. She really did.

But something about this situation after the tense anxiety of last night just made this so much funnier.

She had just repressed so many feelings this past year and especially these past two months, and it was like the door of repressed positive emotions opened and let it all out. It was so funny seeing James meow, but it was also so charming just to see him laugh. And this situation—how they got to the bath, how they somehow ended in this bizarre oasis—it was so incredibly laughable.

Evaline couldn't remember the last time she felt this free. This spirited, and joyful, and blissful. The beautiful mess of emotions fluttered inside like butterflies waking up from their cocoon, and it was getting dangerous.

Her vision blurred, and she felt herself being on the verge of slipping back. It was so rare for this to happen in this way, and in fact, she wasn't sure this ever happened—to her current memory, anyways. But she knew it was coming.

And she did not want that to happen.

A flicker of panic washed over her face for a second as the laughter suddenly hitched in her throat. Immediately, she attempted to take a deep breath before dunking in the water, completely submerging herself. She sat on the bottom of the tub for far too many seconds, letting the hot water burn her face and help wash away the euphoria by replacing it with a still calmness.

To distract herself, she quickly combed through her hair with her fingers, washing away the last of the soap suds. She felt her heart rate increase from the heat, but the calmness did wash over her, and she felt like she had full control again.

Evaline then straightened her legs and returned to the surface, gasping for air as her soaked hair stubbornly clung to her face. Catching her breath, she turned to look at James, knowing full well her face was red. From the heat.

"Don't make a wet cat joke," she said with a soft smile.

James watched Evaline laugh, but then worry flashed across her face and she dove under. His own laughter quickly subsided as she disappeared under the dark water, and he suddenly became very aware that he couldn't quite tell where she was underneath.

He didn't think she was going to pop up and scare him, but he didn't want to accidentally bump into her, so he backed away just a little.

When she finally came back up, her long hair was sticking to her face, and she almost looked embarrassed. And even in the low lighting, he could tell that her face was beet red. He had no idea what was going through her head, but he hoped he hadn't said or done anything to make her uncomfortable.

He grinned a little at her comment and reached over the side of the little pool to grab a wash-cloth and his bar of soap again. He started rubbing them together.

"Wouldn't dream of it," he said, meeting her eyes. "Besides, I'm the cat, not you."

Evaline met James's eyes and lingered her gaze for a second, but then she looked away, smile still tugging her lips. Any anxiety and insecurities she felt earlier were just about gone. It was nice.

She leaned against the tub, pulling her hair back and trying to wring out as much water as she could.

"You're right," she said as the water started to drip away from her hair. "Hard to open up at first, but a great friend once you get to know them. Right?"

James lifted his foot up towards him and stuck it out of the water, leaning back and scrubbing his heel.

"I feel like that describes both of us," he said with a little grin.