Other Things
Title: Other Things
Pairing: Naomi/Emily
Summary: But I love you like no other can.
Rating: R for language.
Word Count: 1190
You're too much of everything
and I'm just a man.
But you’re so many other things
that only I understand.
- Too Much of Everything by Corneille
Naomi figures out, about a month after she’d started, that Emily always suggests that particular nightclub because the blonde DJ is pretty hot, and whilst the jealous sex is nothing to complain about, Naomi tells her it’s hypocritical so Emily casually suggests they invite her to have a threesome and walks off cheekily as Naomi’s mouth goes dry.
She’s sacrificed a lot for Naomi, she realizes, and yes, sometimes doesn’t get quite enough in return, but then there are moments like when they were on the beach in Goa and Naomi read Proust and the two year deferral to Goldsmith comes crashing down on the redhead so hard she shuddered suddenly, causing Naomi to turn to her immediately with worried eyes and all fears of inequality washed away with the water.
Emily tends to put her hand on Naomi’s lap during dinner or in the parks and it’s sweet and secretly quite nice, but when they’re eating at the Fitch household and Emily drops her hand down, Naomi swats it away, fully knowing she’ll have to pay for that when Emily’s face grows grim, so Naomi takes a breath later at night and kisses her, full on the lips, in front of everyone.
Every now and then Emily calls Naomi up at work just to talk or to hear her voice and one particular morning it’s too busy and Naomi snaps at her, gaining a hang-up and feels bad about it immediately; cancels her meeting at noon and surprises Emily with her favourite cucumber sandwich and kiss for lunch.
Sometimes it feels as though Naomi’s trying to tell her something in her sleep; what with the way the blonde inhales loudly and her entire body scrunches into itself, pulling away from Emily, and with a soft and slow exhale, she lands back onto her, hands firm on her waist, legs comfortably intertwined, and for a false moment, Emily genuinely thought she’d lost her in the dark.
“So like, which one of you is the guy?” some obnoxious little girl asks when they come out to her and her group of friends when they spy the couple holding hands which Emily squeezes harder after the question is posed as she observes Naomi’s tensing shoulders and locking jaw, ultimately deciding to smile sweetly, respond “Neither of us,” and pull her girlfriend away.
At some point Emily drops the idea of getting a cat and it’s all fine and dandy until she realizes Naomi’s spoken to some friends she apparently has and concluded getting a pet pretty much means spending eternity together and some codswallop about a U-Haul or something so Emily huffs and drops the topic thinking it’s just too much fucking bullshit (it always is, with Naomi) but it puts the idea in Naomi’s head: “We should do that spending eternity together thing, though.”
Naomi’s aware that Emily daydreams about marriage every now and then when she caresses her left hand just so or stares longingly at elderly couples in the parks and trains and usually this would scare the crap out of her but the idea of Being With Emily for as long as she’ll have her is admittedly growing on her and so every time the blonde passes a jewellery shop, she starts spending a little extra time at the rings section and the phrase ‘Maybe Someday’ grows louder and louder.
Their first threesome is with a sweet brunette named Lisa who had a thing for Emily back when they were in middle school and halfway through it; Naomi is pleasantly surprised that the idea of Emily with another woman is not dreadfully upsetting as she had previously thought but is actually really fucking hot and she only finds herself getting wetter and wetter, especially at the sight of the redhead losing control around someone else’s fingers but dark hazel eyes still fixated on her, lips still mouthing her name.
They figure out in the winter, because they haven’t spent many together, that Naomi tends to like to wrap the covers around her waist whereas Emily likes to lift them to her neck and after a week of their temporary solution of having separate covers, Emily decides to bite the bullet and brings their single large blanket down past her stomach because she figures Naomi is all the warmth she needs at night anyway.
Emily brings up the idea of another threesome during breakfast in bed one Valentine’s Day and after Naomi’s swallowed her toast and jam after a coughing fit in place of yelling out, ‘Yes Yes Yes Please’ and the redhead nudges her playfully with a mischievous grin and a coy, “I know.”
Naomi loves travelling, and always has, so it takes Emily by surprise when she discovers the blonde has never kept a diary, prompting her to purchase her an orange notepad one afternoon and encouraging her to take daily memos which ultimately lead to nightly diary entries that clearly get too personal for Emily to sneak a peak, though that doesn’t stop her from playfully trying.
It was obviously terrifying when Emily first purchased her moped that made Naomi immediately start rifling through magazines and thrift stores for the perfect helmet and later goggles but it’s finally started growing on her right around the time it clearly starts growing on other lesbians who recognize it from afar and take their time hanging around it to flirt with Emily; a situation the redhead laughs off, even as Naomi fails to see the humour in it each time and simply mutters “Fucking Bristol” as she grips Emily’s waist extra hard when they speed off.
Naomi gets her first pay check for selling her thesis on the interconnectivity of English suburban family ideals and contemporary ‘third’ wave feminism and Emily locks her fingers around her neck, kissing her so slowly and whispering with a proud grin, “Don’t forget me when you’re rich and famous” that Naomi chuckles softly against her lips and replies, “Forget you? I can’t stop thinking about you.”
The first time they fuck in an airplane, Emily leads a nervous Naomi to the bathroom, and later they conveniently hit an area of turbulence right when Naomi’s got three fingers inside a slick and soft Emily and she comes twice before it’s over whilst biting down on Naomi’s shoulder that doesn’t much to muffle her desperate calling out; so when they come out and the flight attendants stare with secret envy, Emily is finally the one who blushes and Naomi grins with pride.
One late evening in particular stands out; when Emily’s dozing off on Naomi’s shoulder and after observing her for a while, the blonde wakes her gently and with the warmest, saddest smile; gently murmurs, “I waited a long time for you, you know” and though it sounds like a line Emily could equally honestly say as well, Emily understands the difference and what this means to Naomi; and she simply nods and smiles and kisses her tenderly with an “I know.”
Emily tends to know a lot of things, and most especially about Naomi, so when the proposal finally does come around and Emily’s already furiously nodding yes and slipping it on yet taking the time to ask, “Are you sure?” Naomi can only laugh and kiss her with an, “I think you knew I am before I did.”