Not Part Of The Job Description [Veritas: The Quest - girl!Nikko/Calvin]
Title: Not Part Of The Job Description
Fandom: Veritas: The Quest
Pairing: girl!Nikko/Calvin Jones
Rating: PG-13 for language
Spoilers: AU after the first four episodes.
Notes: Features girl!Nikko, the bottom of a cave, possibly snarking on France. And for storydivagirl because I know I wouldn't have as much fun playing in small fandoms without her.
"Huh."
"What?"
"That was…anti-climatic." And it totally is, because Nikko has been crushing -- or something -- on Calvin for months (or possibly years, it’s hard to keep track of time when she’s chasing after it all the time) and it isn't exactly a secret. Kind of like how Dharna wants to turn then all into zombies or whatever.
And it isn't even like it's romantic -- except they are in France. Stuck in a cold, dark, wet cave.
But she took a cue from Nike and just did it. They were huddled together against their will for warmth and Calvin smelled like wet dog and Nikko had let gravity carry her over and she had kissed him.
And Calvin hadn't kissed back.
"I don't know how to respond to that." He sounds stunned -- or stupid. With Calvin it might be a 50/50 split.
"Oh, I can think of a couple of things that might work - ‘Thanks,’ or ‘You smell like fish, mud, or a 2000 year old relic,’ or how about, ‘I'm totally gay and need better hair...’ Lots of things."
There is a moment of silence where Nikko can see the wheels in Calvin's brain turning. Slowly. And with great obtuseness. His brow furrows (such not a good look on him, but Nikko -- despite her better judgment -- finds it kind of endearing), and his lips press together as he thinks of things to say and then clearly dismisses them one by one.
Finally hearing, "I never wanted kissing you to be part of my job," is not what she had been expecting.
"Wait, what?"
"Listen."
Oh, good, it was frank and less-than-socially-skilled Calvin. She let out a breath and started to deal.
"This has been coming for a while, right? Not the cave, obviously, but the 'you and me' thing."
"Calvin, you're babbling."
"The price of genius," he says, waving a dismissive hand that nearly knocks against the cave wall. Chilled as they are, that would hurt like a bitch, and Calvin deals with pain in weird ways.
"Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to do that? Sure, sometimes it was just to shut you up when you're being a brat, but I've wanted to kiss you since I figured out that Vincent wasn't going to pound me into the ground if I tried anything."
"Jeez, Calvin, no wonder you can't get a girlfriend; you're horrible at this. I'm pretty fucking sure you tried to flirt and insulted me all in the same breath. I would be impressed, if you had done a proper job of either."
The sound Calvin makes is halfway between a laugh and a groan, and moves fully into a groan when leaning his head back means it hits the rock face too hard. He settles for leaning his head on her shoulder, one arm still wrapped around her.
"See, that was one of those bratty moments that I would've employed by ninja-like kissing skills. And then we could've gone back to saving the world."
"Again with the insulting, dude." She tries to look at his face, get a read on where he is physically, because they've been down here a while and the fall wasn’t exactly cushioned by magical feathers, and okay fine, the way Calvin's talking, she's a little worried.
But she will absolutely punch him later for the brat comments. Who cares if she's in college now and should know better?
For now, though, she'll treat it like he's got a concussion. She's freezing and wet, and her whole body aches, but she didn't hit her head. And while Calvin seemed fine earlier, the babbling thing? Not normal.
She just has to keep him talking.
"You're a pain in the ass, Nikko, but you're never boring. I like that. And you're hot. I like that too. And you can kick my ass at chess and Halo, and that's totally not fair, but again, hot. I guess I’ve got a thing for being slightly-emasculated by girls way younger than me."
There's enough of a pause for Nikko to formulate the beginning of a response, but then Calvin breaks in and ruins it all.
"Huh. Kinky."
Nikko goes for her default response and rolls her eyes. Calvin hates when she does it, so good thing he can't see her face, right? "First thing, it’s not that kinky because I'm not that much younger than you are."
"Enough."
"One reason being over eighteen is so fucking glorious, Calvin."
"Good point."
"Thank you. And while I don't think there's a Thanks for Thinking I'm Hot Hallmark card, thanks for that too."
"No problem. So what I'm saying is, that even though you kissed me before I could kiss you, that doesn't mean that I haven't thought about it. A lot."
"But just never wanted it to, what, 'be part of the job'?" Oh, if she could so do air quotes right now...
"Exactly. I didn't want to be part of some undercover thing, or a-because-we-were trapped-and-about-to-die-thing."
"You have thought about this."
"Years, Nikko. Again, see the whole 'pain in the ass' commentary."
Nikko snorts, "You're totally fine, aren't you? No concussion, no crazy hypothermia, no talk of penguins --"
"I thought we agreed never to mention that."
"Pffft, you agreed. Check for crossed fingers behind my back next time."
"Duly noted."
They sat for a while after that, processing it all, until Nikko broke the silence.
"We're going to be rescued, y'know. Freak accident, no life or death situation at hand -- this isn't part of the job. You could've kissed me back."
"Listen," he starts, sitting up and leaning close enough that if there was enough light, they'd be looking at one another cross-eyed. "There are much better places to kiss you or for anybody to kiss anybody than in some dank, smelly cave some place in France that doesn't even have good cheese."
"Okay, if I'm following your so-called logic, by not kissing me back, you negated the kiss by not kissing me back."
"Correct."
"But acquired tacit permission on my part to start the," and now she did pull out the air quotes, even if the effect was lost, "Not On the Job kissage at some near point in the future."
"Correct again."
"You sneaky little fucker."
"This is why I always beat you at Risk."
"So," she starts, a leading tone in her voice, because she has totally not forgotten about how Calvin's apparently been thinking about kissing her for years, and wow, she knows his brain and the fantasy scenarios are probably endless, not to mention the missed chances. Dammit that's hot. "It's going to be a while before anyone finds us. Plenty of time for you to start telling me about those fantasies of yours."
"You really are irritating sometimes, you know that?"
"So you tell me. Often. But I think you like it."
Calvin cedes to gravity and slides back down the wall so he's pressed against her side again. It's not as "romantic" as it was before, but Nikko suspects that the trade off might be worth it.
"Remember Buenos Aries, when you borrowed Juliette's dress without telling her and then tripped on the bottom as you climbed the stairs at the hotel?"
"Yeah. I barely caught myself on the railing and totally remember hearing you laughing your ass off over my earpiece. You're saying that you wanted to kiss me then?"
"Absolutely. Or when you get out of training with Vincent and your hair's a mess and you're sweating like a pig."
"Calvin Jones, you are the weirdest guy I've ever met."
"Come on, that's not that weird. It gives me ideas --"
Nikko can't help it, she snorts. "Oh, I'll bet. You imagining me well fucked is such a turn on, I'm all flustered," she deadpans. But Nikko can't help how the whole thing is kind of sexy in a really bizarre way.
This apparently makes Calvin cough. Ha, victory! she thinks.
"That...Okay, that's exactly what I was thinking. Can you blame me? Besides, you totally have a thing for me, so don't act like this is a one-sided deal."
"Fine, it's not just you, but I'm not sure I've ever thought about it so specifically, and hell, I'm curious."
"And we're stuck at the bottom of a cave, our gear broken and don't have anything better to do until Solomon and Vincent happen to stumble along, right?"
"Exactly, and since the two of them tend to get into trouble, we might be here a while."
Next to her Calvin hums his assent and she really doesn't need to know how good that sounds until she is in a situation to do properly something about it.
"Should I start from the beginning?"
"Chronological order is under rated."
"I'll start there anyway. See, the penguins said --"
Nikko settles in to wait until the cavalry arrives while Calvin goes on detailing places and dates (and in one special case, a moon base) that he'd like to kiss her.
And to think up some specific ideas of her very own. Calvin can't have all the fun.
Fandom: Veritas: The Quest
Pairing: girl!Nikko/Calvin Jones
Rating: PG-13 for language
Spoilers: AU after the first four episodes.
Notes: Features girl!Nikko, the bottom of a cave, possibly snarking on France. And for storydivagirl because I know I wouldn't have as much fun playing in small fandoms without her.
"Huh."
"What?"
"That was…anti-climatic." And it totally is, because Nikko has been crushing -- or something -- on Calvin for months (or possibly years, it’s hard to keep track of time when she’s chasing after it all the time) and it isn't exactly a secret. Kind of like how Dharna wants to turn then all into zombies or whatever.
And it isn't even like it's romantic -- except they are in France. Stuck in a cold, dark, wet cave.
But she took a cue from Nike and just did it. They were huddled together against their will for warmth and Calvin smelled like wet dog and Nikko had let gravity carry her over and she had kissed him.
And Calvin hadn't kissed back.
"I don't know how to respond to that." He sounds stunned -- or stupid. With Calvin it might be a 50/50 split.
"Oh, I can think of a couple of things that might work - ‘Thanks,’ or ‘You smell like fish, mud, or a 2000 year old relic,’ or how about, ‘I'm totally gay and need better hair...’ Lots of things."
There is a moment of silence where Nikko can see the wheels in Calvin's brain turning. Slowly. And with great obtuseness. His brow furrows (such not a good look on him, but Nikko -- despite her better judgment -- finds it kind of endearing), and his lips press together as he thinks of things to say and then clearly dismisses them one by one.
Finally hearing, "I never wanted kissing you to be part of my job," is not what she had been expecting.
"Wait, what?"
"Listen."
Oh, good, it was frank and less-than-socially-skilled Calvin. She let out a breath and started to deal.
"This has been coming for a while, right? Not the cave, obviously, but the 'you and me' thing."
"Calvin, you're babbling."
"The price of genius," he says, waving a dismissive hand that nearly knocks against the cave wall. Chilled as they are, that would hurt like a bitch, and Calvin deals with pain in weird ways.
"Do you have any idea how long I've wanted to do that? Sure, sometimes it was just to shut you up when you're being a brat, but I've wanted to kiss you since I figured out that Vincent wasn't going to pound me into the ground if I tried anything."
"Jeez, Calvin, no wonder you can't get a girlfriend; you're horrible at this. I'm pretty fucking sure you tried to flirt and insulted me all in the same breath. I would be impressed, if you had done a proper job of either."
The sound Calvin makes is halfway between a laugh and a groan, and moves fully into a groan when leaning his head back means it hits the rock face too hard. He settles for leaning his head on her shoulder, one arm still wrapped around her.
"See, that was one of those bratty moments that I would've employed by ninja-like kissing skills. And then we could've gone back to saving the world."
"Again with the insulting, dude." She tries to look at his face, get a read on where he is physically, because they've been down here a while and the fall wasn’t exactly cushioned by magical feathers, and okay fine, the way Calvin's talking, she's a little worried.
But she will absolutely punch him later for the brat comments. Who cares if she's in college now and should know better?
For now, though, she'll treat it like he's got a concussion. She's freezing and wet, and her whole body aches, but she didn't hit her head. And while Calvin seemed fine earlier, the babbling thing? Not normal.
She just has to keep him talking.
"You're a pain in the ass, Nikko, but you're never boring. I like that. And you're hot. I like that too. And you can kick my ass at chess and Halo, and that's totally not fair, but again, hot. I guess I’ve got a thing for being slightly-emasculated by girls way younger than me."
There's enough of a pause for Nikko to formulate the beginning of a response, but then Calvin breaks in and ruins it all.
"Huh. Kinky."
Nikko goes for her default response and rolls her eyes. Calvin hates when she does it, so good thing he can't see her face, right? "First thing, it’s not that kinky because I'm not that much younger than you are."
"Enough."
"One reason being over eighteen is so fucking glorious, Calvin."
"Good point."
"Thank you. And while I don't think there's a Thanks for Thinking I'm Hot Hallmark card, thanks for that too."
"No problem. So what I'm saying is, that even though you kissed me before I could kiss you, that doesn't mean that I haven't thought about it. A lot."
"But just never wanted it to, what, 'be part of the job'?" Oh, if she could so do air quotes right now...
"Exactly. I didn't want to be part of some undercover thing, or a-because-we-were trapped-and-about-to-die-thing."
"You have thought about this."
"Years, Nikko. Again, see the whole 'pain in the ass' commentary."
Nikko snorts, "You're totally fine, aren't you? No concussion, no crazy hypothermia, no talk of penguins --"
"I thought we agreed never to mention that."
"Pffft, you agreed. Check for crossed fingers behind my back next time."
"Duly noted."
They sat for a while after that, processing it all, until Nikko broke the silence.
"We're going to be rescued, y'know. Freak accident, no life or death situation at hand -- this isn't part of the job. You could've kissed me back."
"Listen," he starts, sitting up and leaning close enough that if there was enough light, they'd be looking at one another cross-eyed. "There are much better places to kiss you or for anybody to kiss anybody than in some dank, smelly cave some place in France that doesn't even have good cheese."
"Okay, if I'm following your so-called logic, by not kissing me back, you negated the kiss by not kissing me back."
"Correct."
"But acquired tacit permission on my part to start the," and now she did pull out the air quotes, even if the effect was lost, "Not On the Job kissage at some near point in the future."
"Correct again."
"You sneaky little fucker."
"This is why I always beat you at Risk."
"So," she starts, a leading tone in her voice, because she has totally not forgotten about how Calvin's apparently been thinking about kissing her for years, and wow, she knows his brain and the fantasy scenarios are probably endless, not to mention the missed chances. Dammit that's hot. "It's going to be a while before anyone finds us. Plenty of time for you to start telling me about those fantasies of yours."
"You really are irritating sometimes, you know that?"
"So you tell me. Often. But I think you like it."
Calvin cedes to gravity and slides back down the wall so he's pressed against her side again. It's not as "romantic" as it was before, but Nikko suspects that the trade off might be worth it.
"Remember Buenos Aries, when you borrowed Juliette's dress without telling her and then tripped on the bottom as you climbed the stairs at the hotel?"
"Yeah. I barely caught myself on the railing and totally remember hearing you laughing your ass off over my earpiece. You're saying that you wanted to kiss me then?"
"Absolutely. Or when you get out of training with Vincent and your hair's a mess and you're sweating like a pig."
"Calvin Jones, you are the weirdest guy I've ever met."
"Come on, that's not that weird. It gives me ideas --"
Nikko can't help it, she snorts. "Oh, I'll bet. You imagining me well fucked is such a turn on, I'm all flustered," she deadpans. But Nikko can't help how the whole thing is kind of sexy in a really bizarre way.
This apparently makes Calvin cough. Ha, victory! she thinks.
"That...Okay, that's exactly what I was thinking. Can you blame me? Besides, you totally have a thing for me, so don't act like this is a one-sided deal."
"Fine, it's not just you, but I'm not sure I've ever thought about it so specifically, and hell, I'm curious."
"And we're stuck at the bottom of a cave, our gear broken and don't have anything better to do until Solomon and Vincent happen to stumble along, right?"
"Exactly, and since the two of them tend to get into trouble, we might be here a while."
Next to her Calvin hums his assent and she really doesn't need to know how good that sounds until she is in a situation to do properly something about it.
"Should I start from the beginning?"
"Chronological order is under rated."
"I'll start there anyway. See, the penguins said --"
Nikko settles in to wait until the cavalry arrives while Calvin goes on detailing places and dates (and in one special case, a moon base) that he'd like to kiss her.
And to think up some specific ideas of her very own. Calvin can't have all the fun.