RP: Milestones

[avabyrne]

Date: March 27, 2012
Characters: Ava Byrne, Rori Milburn
Location: Ava's place
Status: Private
Summary: Celebrating Rori's birthday.
Completion: Incomplete

Comments

[rori_milburn]

Drinks out had been fun, though Rori had made sure not to drink too much seeing as how she'd be going to Ava's after. Not that she was as much into drinking a lot these days. She'd had just enough she hadn't argued too hard with Cody when he said he'd drop her off (though really it was an excellent excuse to spend more time with Ava more than that she'd had anything to drink), and either Ava could drop her off or he could come back for her later. He was a good brother, she thought

[avabyrne]

"I'm glad you're here." Still holding Rori's hand, Ava let her close the door, then immediately leaned up for a kiss, her heart beating a little faster as usual as she leaned into it. It was always at least a few days between getting to do that. "And that you feel like celebrating." It wasn't that she had anything elaborate planned --some people weren't even into birthdays, so she didn't want to overdo it, and they tended to do things low-key when they were together. At least when they were here. Still, she was excited

[rori_milburn]

Rori leaned in and kissed her back firmly. She'd been wanting that kiss all night. A birthday wasn't a birthday without a kiss from her girlfriend. They didn't get nearly enough time together, though that wasn't anyone's fault, really. They both had work they had to deal with, and the closer it got to Canon's foaling, the more times she slept at the barn. "You know you didn't have to do anything for today though." Though it was nice, coming from Ava. It didn't make her feel as old. "It's been pretty good. Feelin' like an old woman now, though," she half-joked. "Nah, I could nibble, but nothing huge right now. Maybe later." Not after drinking even a couple of drinks. She leaned comfortably against the counter, watching Ava contentedly. "Don't be sorry, you're fine. Missed you."

[avabyrne]

"Of course I did." Ava grinned and waved that off. "Wish we could've taken the whole day but life is annoying like that." At least they were together right now, though. Since she was spending more time out in the field she couldn't always tell when she'd be called away, so she was grateful for all of her spare time.

"Okay, later if you want, I've got the makings for some quick things. And yeah, 29's soooo old," Ava teased, though she hoped Rori wasn't seriously worried about it. She shifted closer to Rori at the counter. "It's really nothing, anyway. You've done so much in a pretty short time, and there's so much time to do everything else you want to do. Plus, you know, you're super-hot. Trust me, I know."

She flushed under Rori's gaze. "I always miss you," she said quietly, and dabbed a bit of frosting off her spreader, offering it to Rori on her finger. "You're going to love this cake," she said matter of factly.

[rori_milburn]

"I wish we could have too," Rori said. It was too bad, but she had the barn and the horses and Ava had a job, and so they had to make time whenever they could. Rori didn't mind making the time, and they did decently well. "But at least you're doing more field work now, yeah? That's what you've been wanting, right

[avabyrne]

"Mm." Ava nodded and leaned her hip into the counter as she spread frosting over the cake. "It's been good--bit of a promotion, and more interesting. Just a lot harder than I expected. I'm still getting used to being at actual crime scenes with, you know, everything that goes along with that

[rori_milburn]

Rori grimaced in sympathy. "God, I can't really imagine," she said. It had to be hard, Rori knew. She didn't envy Ava that in the least. Rori dealt with some gross things, but with the exception if the occasional horse kick, it was decidedly if the animal not human sort

[avabyrne]

"Not really fair for them to be putting pressure on you then," Ava decided. "You'll do it on your own time, if you want to." It seemed like she really did. Which Ava had already known from things she'd said in the past, but she hadn't known that Rori was feeling down about not having those things yet. Maybe it wasn't even just a birthday malaise, but something more longstanding

[rori_milburn]

"They mean well," Rori said quietly, shrugging. At least, she thought they did. But it still didn't mean it was right, Ava was correct about that. "I will, eventually. Just feel like I'm a bit behind or something, sometimes, ya know?" she said, wondering if Ava ever felt that way too. "I'm really not too bad about it all, except when they're nagging. I mean, I want some things, yeah? But I'm also mostly happy with where I'm at now." A girl friend, her horses, a foal on the way

[avabyrne]

Ava smiled wryly. "I'm in the dictonary next to the phrase 'late bloomer', so I think I know what you mean at least on some level. Always a little bit behind the curve on what I should know and have by now." She watched Rori for a moment then reached for her hand. "I'm happy too," she said, "but wanting things is also good." And good to have someone to want those things with, when she thought about it. Her fingers closed more tightly around Rori's

[rori_milburn]

Rori giggled. Maybe Ava was a late bloomer, but she didn't see anything wrong with it. It probably would have been better if she'd been a late bloomer, too, but she'd just ended up doing a lot of struggling with things and then keeping it all almost completely secret. "I don't think you're behind the curve," she said honestly. Rori squeezed her fingers back, reassured that it was okay to want more, and she hoped that perhaps someday Ava might want more too

[avabyrne]

"You mean we can't just schedule a time when we're all free and then let the foal know when to come out?" Ava grinned. "That's like, antithetical to my whole worldview. I hope he and I get along." She broke a laugh. "Middle of the night works for me. I'm not really a deep sleeper

[rori_milburn]

"Goodness knows I sure wish we could," Rori said, slightly rueful. "It's always the worst possible time, whether you're sleeping or in the middle of something or goodness only knows what," she said. She snickered appreciatively at Ava's words, completely amused. "Yeah, but you should also get your sleep," she said

[avabyrne]

As usual Ava felt silly for rambling once she saw Rori's reaction. She could never quite stop herself from feeling anxious about things, but Rori was almost always more chill than Ava expected her to be--more chill than she might be herself, even. She watched Rori touch the ring, looked at her face, then settled a little bit. She seemed to like it.

"I wasn't sure if it'd be too much, or--I mean, I'm really glad you like it," she finished, bringing her arms up and into the hug. There wasn't any reason to worry about moving too fast or going too far, she told herself. She turned her face into Rori's neck and added more quietly, "happy birthday."

She nodded as she pulled back slightly, her mouth curving into a smile. She couldn't deny the pleasure she felt at the thought of Rori wearing the ring on her hand, even if it was only briefly. Though the idea of it being under Rori's shirt, against her skin all the time was nice, too. "Good," she said finally, "I think either way it'll look great on you."

[rori_milburn]

Rori held her close for a long moment, head tucked into Ava's neck briefly. She was very touched by the gift, and yeah, it was a ring, but it wasn't exactly that kind of ring, though it was something she really did like. It didn't give her a feeling of pressure or panic, just the warm glow of happiness that filled her. "Not too much. Just right," she murmured, arms tightening slightly. "Thank you."

Rori spread her fingers toward Ava, wiggling them faintly. "Put it on me?" she said somewhat hopefully. She would admit she didn't know which finger to choose, or which would fit best, though she wasn't really picky which one it ended up on, even if some fingers had more meaning than others. The chain was a very thoughtful addition, given that she did manual labor with her hands all the time, but when she was off she might very well take to wearing it on a finger sometimes.

[avabyrne]

Being in Rori's arms felt good, really good as usual, and Ava sighed a little and smiled, glad that she'd done this whole birthday thing right so far, had given her girlfriend something that made her happy. And they were pretty serious, at this point. It did feel right, giving Rori something that symbolized that.

She smiled and nodded, reaching for the ring and slipping it off the chain, leaving the chain in the box for now. She took Rori's right hand after a slight hesitation and slipped it on the ring finger. She'd researched it a bit, being her, and opinion had been split as to which finger a promise ring should go on, but Rori would likely get fewer questions if it were on her right hand. Much as Ava wanted her to wear it, she didn't want to make things difficult for her either. "Does it fit?" She bit her lip and flicked her gaze up to Rori's. Putting a ring on her girlfriend was a pretty heady feeling, she could admit. "I mean, you could wear it wherever it's most comfortable. I looked it up--of course," she added impishly.