01. don't look [New X-Men, 616 continuum]
Interlude: I'll See You in the Spring
He tells her not to look. Not to peek, not to even think of what he's got until he says she can. So Cess keeps her eyes closed, and for the heck of it, she lifts her hands to cover her eyes, the fingers on each hand fitting between the spaces. She even stretches them like a blindfold around the circumference of her head.
"Gross Cess. Just... gross."
She laughs and tells him, "You said not to peek."
"I didn't say go all taffy-fingers on me." She hears him moving about. And then she hears him stop. "Seriously Cess. Quit it. It's freaky as hell from where I'm standing."
"Can I look now?"
"Not yet." She hears the rustle of plastic, that strange sound of not quite crisp folding, with just a little stick to it. "Fine. There. You can look."
And when she does, her fingers returning to their normal shape she lowers her hands and opens her eyes. She looks at him like he's lost his mind.
"It's... puke yellow." She says, feigning disgust because it's something of a reward to see how Julian looks back at her as if she's just insulted him. "It's supposed to be gold."
"It's an ugly shade of yellow that's hardly even anywhere near gold." She crosses her arms and throws him her best take-it-back-to-the-shop look. "I'm not wearing it."
But Julian just shrugs and smirks in a way that lets her know that arguing is useless. "Fine then. Not as if you're my date." She wonders why she even tried.
The pillow she throws doesn't hit him squarely in the face, Julian being quick on the reflexes and easily stopping it mid-air. It makes her feel better though, and she flounces past him, going on tip-toe and brushing a quick kiss against his cheek. "Thanks for getting the dress."