adventchallenge Day 11: Yuletide Proposal
Day 11
Title: Yuletide Proposal
Fandom: Teen Titans
Featured: Melvin/Speedy (Roy)
Rating: T for Teen
Summary: It has been a long year. I has been an even longer week, and though her body is screaming for rest, she cannot tear herself from her front stoop . . .
It has been a long year. I has been an even longer week, and though her body is screaming for rest, she cannot tear herself from her front stoop, new cocktail dress snagging on the cement and shoes lost in shrubbery and bathtub alike (how they got there, she doesn't honestly know but she thinks they may have been victims of an altered version of hide and seek).
She sighs and smiles, allowing her body to sag with exhaustion. Perhaps it had been foolhardy to take on hosting a Christmas party for the entire clan, but she couldn't help but be anything less than proud and satisfied. The past year had been a mishmash of long-awaited successes: graduation, joining the Titans on an official basis, buying a house . . . a home for herself and her brothers . . . She had wanted to share her joy with her entire extended family, and everyone seemed to have a good time.
Now, with the house finally quiet and the smell of turkey and cinnamon and peppermint clinging to her clothes, Melvin allows her eyes to close, breathing in the crisp winter air. She's not sure how long she's out there, but all too soon, she is jostled out of her silent reverie by the sudden weight of a heavy coat and the voice of her erstwhile suitor/nemesis.
"You'll catch your death out here." Roy states without an ounce of pretension before settling himself nearby then resting his arm about her shoulders, rubbing her far arm. She only realizes then that she is shivering.
"I was just enjoying the quiet."
"You should have known it would get rowdy. Vic and Garfield haven't seen each other for awhile and then there was the bubbly."
Normally, if she weren't so dead tired, she would calmly remove his arm from around her and sneer. However, the superhero formerly known as 'Speedy' - recently appearing as 'Arsenal' - had been unusually well-behaved. She snuggles in close, soaking up his warmth. "You might be right about that." A beat then, "Thank you for helping me clean up."
"Not a problem."
Silence follows them but it is a full, comforting quiet. They know each other well, and though she thinks sometimes that she just might kill him when the flirting becomes something closer to assault, he's been a good friend to her and her siblings. Eventually, snowflakes begin to fall softly, filling the silence with a soul-soothing peace; and before she knows it, her head lowers to his shoulder as they simply exist.
But this too passes. Roy is not the sort to appreciate prolonged periods of quiet.
"It was a great party."
"Mmmm."
"You're beautiful."
She snorts indelicately, pinching his side.
"I love you."
This time her sigh is a reflection of weariness that has nothing to do with the events of the past week or past year and everything to do with the fact that she is tiring of his confessions. "You say that to every woman you meet?"
"No. I don't."
She's heard that before, not that it matters.
"But I'm willing to wait for the day you see that I mean it when I say I'm in love with you."
That is new. "Wait?"
"You're only nineteen. You deserve some time to experience the world and all it has to offer. I'll still be here when you're done."
A chill shimmies down her spine as she tilts her head to look at him, her mouth slack with the shock of realization. "Are you proposing?"
"In a roundabout way, yes."
Slowly, as if she is afraid to spook him into attacking her, she edges away from him, fully awake now and somewhat scared. "I don't love you, Roy."
"But one day you will." He says it in such a way that she knows he believes it with every fiber of his being, his eyes radiating conviction. (And a very small part of her quails with the knowledge that he's already half-way right.) "And when it happens, we'll marry, be disgustingly happy together, just us and our three children."
"Wait. Children?" She looks, he thinks, perfect and somewhat panicked.
"It's not hard to imagine. Don't tell me you can't see how you and me equals one good-looking kid." All gangly limbs, piercing blue eyes, and strawberry blonde hair.
"I'm only nineteen." She glances away, her cheeks suspiciously hot. "And I just broke up with my boyfriend of five years . . . "
His eyes soften even as they follow her slow rise. "I know. You have a lot of life to live before you should even start to think of settling down. I won't stand in your way; but I wanted you to know that I'm an option."
When she meets his eyes again, her body turned toward the door, the house, to safety, her expression is uncertain and - unusually - vulnerable. "And what if I meet someone else?"
He smiles but it's slightly pained. "I want you to be happy."
She sighs for a third time, moving toward the door, reaching for the knob. She pauses before entering, however, her back tense even when she hears the scrape of his shoes against the porch as he stands to leave.
She's still holding onto the knob as she listens of the shif, shif, shif of his shoes moving across the driveway, growing further and further away. Then something crystallizes, ringing through her ears, settling into her chest, and she clutches at his coat - still wrapped around her - gathering courage. "Hey, Roy?"
His steps slow then stop. "Yeah?"
"I'll try not to make you wait too much longer, okay?"
She imagines he's grinning now, can see in her mind's eyes his triumphant expression, feel the energy rolling off him even from a distance. He's probably going to do some sort of stupid victory dance as soon as he's out of eye and ear shot.
"I can be patient. Take your time."
Still facing the door, she nods and huffs an irritated, "Merry Christmas, stepchild."
"Merry Christmas, Mel."
OMG that SUCKED major donkey balls.
Kysra
Title: Yuletide Proposal
Fandom: Teen Titans
Featured: Melvin/Speedy (Roy)
Rating: T for Teen
Summary: It has been a long year. I has been an even longer week, and though her body is screaming for rest, she cannot tear herself from her front stoop . . .
It has been a long year. I has been an even longer week, and though her body is screaming for rest, she cannot tear herself from her front stoop, new cocktail dress snagging on the cement and shoes lost in shrubbery and bathtub alike (how they got there, she doesn't honestly know but she thinks they may have been victims of an altered version of hide and seek).
She sighs and smiles, allowing her body to sag with exhaustion. Perhaps it had been foolhardy to take on hosting a Christmas party for the entire clan, but she couldn't help but be anything less than proud and satisfied. The past year had been a mishmash of long-awaited successes: graduation, joining the Titans on an official basis, buying a house . . . a home for herself and her brothers . . . She had wanted to share her joy with her entire extended family, and everyone seemed to have a good time.
Now, with the house finally quiet and the smell of turkey and cinnamon and peppermint clinging to her clothes, Melvin allows her eyes to close, breathing in the crisp winter air. She's not sure how long she's out there, but all too soon, she is jostled out of her silent reverie by the sudden weight of a heavy coat and the voice of her erstwhile suitor/nemesis.
"You'll catch your death out here." Roy states without an ounce of pretension before settling himself nearby then resting his arm about her shoulders, rubbing her far arm. She only realizes then that she is shivering.
"I was just enjoying the quiet."
"You should have known it would get rowdy. Vic and Garfield haven't seen each other for awhile and then there was the bubbly."
Normally, if she weren't so dead tired, she would calmly remove his arm from around her and sneer. However, the superhero formerly known as 'Speedy' - recently appearing as 'Arsenal' - had been unusually well-behaved. She snuggles in close, soaking up his warmth. "You might be right about that." A beat then, "Thank you for helping me clean up."
"Not a problem."
Silence follows them but it is a full, comforting quiet. They know each other well, and though she thinks sometimes that she just might kill him when the flirting becomes something closer to assault, he's been a good friend to her and her siblings. Eventually, snowflakes begin to fall softly, filling the silence with a soul-soothing peace; and before she knows it, her head lowers to his shoulder as they simply exist.
But this too passes. Roy is not the sort to appreciate prolonged periods of quiet.
"It was a great party."
"Mmmm."
"You're beautiful."
She snorts indelicately, pinching his side.
"I love you."
This time her sigh is a reflection of weariness that has nothing to do with the events of the past week or past year and everything to do with the fact that she is tiring of his confessions. "You say that to every woman you meet?"
"No. I don't."
She's heard that before, not that it matters.
"But I'm willing to wait for the day you see that I mean it when I say I'm in love with you."
That is new. "Wait?"
"You're only nineteen. You deserve some time to experience the world and all it has to offer. I'll still be here when you're done."
A chill shimmies down her spine as she tilts her head to look at him, her mouth slack with the shock of realization. "Are you proposing?"
"In a roundabout way, yes."
Slowly, as if she is afraid to spook him into attacking her, she edges away from him, fully awake now and somewhat scared. "I don't love you, Roy."
"But one day you will." He says it in such a way that she knows he believes it with every fiber of his being, his eyes radiating conviction. (And a very small part of her quails with the knowledge that he's already half-way right.) "And when it happens, we'll marry, be disgustingly happy together, just us and our three children."
"Wait. Children?" She looks, he thinks, perfect and somewhat panicked.
"It's not hard to imagine. Don't tell me you can't see how you and me equals one good-looking kid." All gangly limbs, piercing blue eyes, and strawberry blonde hair.
"I'm only nineteen." She glances away, her cheeks suspiciously hot. "And I just broke up with my boyfriend of five years . . . "
His eyes soften even as they follow her slow rise. "I know. You have a lot of life to live before you should even start to think of settling down. I won't stand in your way; but I wanted you to know that I'm an option."
When she meets his eyes again, her body turned toward the door, the house, to safety, her expression is uncertain and - unusually - vulnerable. "And what if I meet someone else?"
He smiles but it's slightly pained. "I want you to be happy."
She sighs for a third time, moving toward the door, reaching for the knob. She pauses before entering, however, her back tense even when she hears the scrape of his shoes against the porch as he stands to leave.
She's still holding onto the knob as she listens of the shif, shif, shif of his shoes moving across the driveway, growing further and further away. Then something crystallizes, ringing through her ears, settling into her chest, and she clutches at his coat - still wrapped around her - gathering courage. "Hey, Roy?"
His steps slow then stop. "Yeah?"
"I'll try not to make you wait too much longer, okay?"
She imagines he's grinning now, can see in her mind's eyes his triumphant expression, feel the energy rolling off him even from a distance. He's probably going to do some sort of stupid victory dance as soon as he's out of eye and ear shot.
"I can be patient. Take your time."
Still facing the door, she nods and huffs an irritated, "Merry Christmas, stepchild."
"Merry Christmas, Mel."
OMG that SUCKED major donkey balls.
Kysra