Room 407, Early Monday Afternoon: ZOMG BIRTHDAY WOOOO
Rikku bounced down the hallway. She was bouncing a lot today. Even taking her normal amount into consideration, that was. Hey, it wasn't every day you turned sixteen. Knock-knock-knock, knock-knock-knock-KNOOOOOOCK-knock!
If Jude took too long to answer, she might just be singing Cuban Pete and accompanying herself on the door.
Luckily for everyone, Jude was quick on answering the door. Well, relatively quick. Tripping over his backpack and landing on the floor with a crashing tuck-and-roll to his feet beside the laundry basket probably ate into his time. So did putting on the dorky little party hat he had unearthed from somewhere and shedding his shirt. That should probably have been in the opposite order, but Jude wasn't thinking like that. So he had to fix the hat before answering the door with a grin. "Hey, birthday girl."
Rikku giggled madly, clapping her hands. "Hi, you! Oooooh, a hat! That's so cute!" She jumped forward for a very enthusiastic sort of hello kiss.
"Sorry," she said, coming up for breath with a mischevious grin. "I hadn't kissed you since I was fifteen, so I was seriously overdue. Had to do it properly, y'know."
Enthusiastic hello kisses Jude was all over. He had a dopey kind of thoroughly-kissed smile on his face when she let him go. "Uh, yeah, totally. Awwwwesome."
Rikku laughed again, wrapping her arms around his waist and snuggling in. "So far, sixteen's been pretty fun. I gotta say, fifteen was hit-and-miss, there. Some definite highlights, though."
Such as boyfriends who were considerate enough to ditch the shirt before you showed up. Those were pretty high on the list.
Jude kissed the top of her head. "Bra, sixteen is going to be all highlights for you. No lowlights. I promise," he grinned.
There were certain advantages to ditching the shirt beforehand. No time wasted later on.
Rikku wriggled closer, still laughing. "You seem to be enjoying sixteen. It's got your recommendation and all?" Her hands were sliding slowly over his lower back. Mmmmm, skin. "I mean, you seem pretty happy with it, no looking back to fifteen or whatever."
"Yeah, I'd say sixteen, life is sweet. But remember bra, when you're growin' up so fast, you've gotta make the good times last." This recommendation may have had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that her hands were almost making him purr.
Rikku gave him a strange look at that, but continued her slow circles anyway. "Uh, any specific ideas on good times, then?" She leaned up for a light kiss. "To work on, I mean. So I've got the right idea and all."
"How much time we got before your workshop?" he asked instead, his hands on her back starting to think about venturing southwards.
"Hour, maybe two?" Rikku bounced a little. "But, uh, Mikey, and I don't wanna, you know, and then he comes in and ..." She was blushing. A lot.
Jude chuckled and kissed her again because that blushing was just too adorable. "I wanted to know if I should give you your birthday present now or later."
"Present? Really!?" There was a bouncy kiss for that. "Heyyyy, I thought I was getting a Jude. The shirtless variety, my favorite kind! With a limited edition party hat."
She reached up to play with the hat, giggling.
Jude graciously allowed her to play with his hat. "The shirtless Jude is only the first part of your present," he informed her, his fingers finally getting brave enough to try for a light pat on the backside.
Rikku giggled, using her fingers to muss up his hair. A lot. "There's more, too? No way. Man, this is gonna be a great birthday." She bounced a little, possibly brushing back against his hand. Totally an accident. Not encouraging at all. Really.
And Jude totally didn't happen to squeeze at that moment, nope. He nuzzled into her hands with another of his mellow little laughs and reluctantly starting drawing away. "Close your eyes."
Rikku giggled and jumped a little at the squeeze. In a good way. And then very patiently closed her eyes, still bouncing on her toes, only letting go of his hair when she had to. "Okayyyyyyy."
"Are they closed?" Jude waved a hand in front of her eyes.
"Yes," said Rikku huffily. "But if they weren't I'd just lie anyway, right? You should stick your tongue out and see if I giggle."
So Jude stuck out his tongue. "Ah 'ehh oh-hen 'ow?"
Rikku laughed. "Okay, no fair! Now I'm giggling anyway but that's totally your fault!"
Jude grinned. "Okay. Totally serious now. Eyes still closed?"
"You bet," Rikku said, nodding. "Super-duper closed." And she bounced more. Hey, he didn't say she couldn't bounce.
Jude scrambled to unearth the project he had been working on for the last few days and tightened one more bolt, just to be sure, and turned back to her with it lying across his forearms. "Okay, you can open your eyes," he said proudly, if a little nervously.
He was pretty proud of the thing, actually. The body of the board had been ordered from a skate shop in Toronto for the flaming orange paint job, customized with a swirl at the top that was actually a pretty good recreation of Rikku's eyes. For the wheels he had cannibalized his spoils of war from last year's curbjam. Mike Dent's longboard now formed part of a makeshift bookcase.
Rikku stopped bouncing, took a deep breath, and opened her eyes.
He was holding out ... dude! A skateboard! Sweet! Bright kickin' orange and ... and ... it had Al Bhed eyes on it! Whoa, how did he ... no way, he couldn't have just found it like that, he ... the swirls and ... he must have ... he ...
"For me?!" she squeaked, clapping a hand over her mouth. "You ... you made this? For me?" She finally, finally tore her eyes from it to look up at Jude, a little breathless. "You ... really?"
Jude's shoulders were hunching in nervous embarrassment. "Y-yeah. For you. It, uh, the longboard was really too big and this way I can teach you more tricks . . . you like it?"
"It has my eyes," she said, eyes glowing, and voice wibbling just a little as she stepped closer and ran her hands lightly over it. "You ... and the orange, and ... you did this for me?"
She leaned forward -- carefully! no smushing the board!! -- for a very light kiss, then nuzzled against his face. "You are so awesome, you know that?"
Jude blushed a little, flattening the board against his stomach so that she could get closer if she wanted to. He kissed her back and smiled. "The guy at the shop asked if I wanted anything on it. And then I thought about you and the first think I thought of was your eyes, so I drew it for him and . . . yeah."
"My eyes?" she said softly, then blushed, snuggling closer. "I guess they do kinda stand out, huh? You ... you had someone paint this? Jude, that's so ..."
She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed.
Jude squeezed back with one arm, the other still holding the board. He kissed her lovingly. "I'm just glad you like it."
"I love it," she said softly. "Thank you so, so much."
And then she stepped back and pulled the board away from him - carefully! very carefully! - and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the undercarriage and the paint job and spinning the wheels, turning it over again and again and asking questions. "So, if it's shorter, that means it jumps better? For tricks and all that, you were saying. 'Cause it can turn quicker? Or why?"
"You're welcome." Jude perched beside her, smiling fondly at her eager inspection. "Shorter means easier to control, and the shape of the board's a bit different, yeah."
"So why do people have longer ones, then? You do something different with those?" She was running her fingers lightly over the paint, shaking her head and laughing a little. "Is shorter good since I'm kinda tiny? You were saying to land things you kinda STOMP down but things don't always stomp when I stomp 'em. Or maybe I do it wrong." She giggled a little at that, leaning over a little into his side, still checking out the board. Dude. Board.
"Longer ones are good for speed and distance or if you're, like, freakishly tall like my bro Konrad back home. That's why Dent had one, 'cause he was trying to get the extra speed." He slipped his arm around her waist, cuddling her against him.
"So a little one means I can do stuff that's more fancy? That's so cool. And it's orange and it has my eyes and ..." Rikku sighed happily, snuggling in. "I want to meet these people, you know? Konrad and Jonesy and Nikki and all of them. And this Dent jerk, so I can tell him I enjoyed his board a lot." There was an evil grin for that.
"It's your board," Jude said with a smile. "You get to name her. All boards gotta have a name. And next time I head home, you can totally come with me, okay?"
"A name," she mused, flipping it over again, still marveling. "What's yours named, then? I'll think up something good, honest. And ... you mean it, really? To meet your friends and see your mall and -- and your parents?"
She didn't sound nervous about that last bit. Really. It must be your imagination.
(preplayed with dude_its_jude via e-mail from cubicle hell. to be continued in comments. birthday, woo!)
If Jude took too long to answer, she might just be singing Cuban Pete and accompanying herself on the door.
Luckily for everyone, Jude was quick on answering the door. Well, relatively quick. Tripping over his backpack and landing on the floor with a crashing tuck-and-roll to his feet beside the laundry basket probably ate into his time. So did putting on the dorky little party hat he had unearthed from somewhere and shedding his shirt. That should probably have been in the opposite order, but Jude wasn't thinking like that. So he had to fix the hat before answering the door with a grin. "Hey, birthday girl."
Rikku giggled madly, clapping her hands. "Hi, you! Oooooh, a hat! That's so cute!" She jumped forward for a very enthusiastic sort of hello kiss.
"Sorry," she said, coming up for breath with a mischevious grin. "I hadn't kissed you since I was fifteen, so I was seriously overdue. Had to do it properly, y'know."
Enthusiastic hello kisses Jude was all over. He had a dopey kind of thoroughly-kissed smile on his face when she let him go. "Uh, yeah, totally. Awwwwesome."
Rikku laughed again, wrapping her arms around his waist and snuggling in. "So far, sixteen's been pretty fun. I gotta say, fifteen was hit-and-miss, there. Some definite highlights, though."
Such as boyfriends who were considerate enough to ditch the shirt before you showed up. Those were pretty high on the list.
Jude kissed the top of her head. "Bra, sixteen is going to be all highlights for you. No lowlights. I promise," he grinned.
There were certain advantages to ditching the shirt beforehand. No time wasted later on.
Rikku wriggled closer, still laughing. "You seem to be enjoying sixteen. It's got your recommendation and all?" Her hands were sliding slowly over his lower back. Mmmmm, skin. "I mean, you seem pretty happy with it, no looking back to fifteen or whatever."
"Yeah, I'd say sixteen, life is sweet. But remember bra, when you're growin' up so fast, you've gotta make the good times last." This recommendation may have had absolutely nothing to do with the fact that her hands were almost making him purr.
Rikku gave him a strange look at that, but continued her slow circles anyway. "Uh, any specific ideas on good times, then?" She leaned up for a light kiss. "To work on, I mean. So I've got the right idea and all."
"How much time we got before your workshop?" he asked instead, his hands on her back starting to think about venturing southwards.
"Hour, maybe two?" Rikku bounced a little. "But, uh, Mikey, and I don't wanna, you know, and then he comes in and ..." She was blushing. A lot.
Jude chuckled and kissed her again because that blushing was just too adorable. "I wanted to know if I should give you your birthday present now or later."
"Present? Really!?" There was a bouncy kiss for that. "Heyyyy, I thought I was getting a Jude. The shirtless variety, my favorite kind! With a limited edition party hat."
She reached up to play with the hat, giggling.
Jude graciously allowed her to play with his hat. "The shirtless Jude is only the first part of your present," he informed her, his fingers finally getting brave enough to try for a light pat on the backside.
Rikku giggled, using her fingers to muss up his hair. A lot. "There's more, too? No way. Man, this is gonna be a great birthday." She bounced a little, possibly brushing back against his hand. Totally an accident. Not encouraging at all. Really.
And Jude totally didn't happen to squeeze at that moment, nope. He nuzzled into her hands with another of his mellow little laughs and reluctantly starting drawing away. "Close your eyes."
Rikku giggled and jumped a little at the squeeze. In a good way. And then very patiently closed her eyes, still bouncing on her toes, only letting go of his hair when she had to. "Okayyyyyyy."
"Are they closed?" Jude waved a hand in front of her eyes.
"Yes," said Rikku huffily. "But if they weren't I'd just lie anyway, right? You should stick your tongue out and see if I giggle."
So Jude stuck out his tongue. "Ah 'ehh oh-hen 'ow?"
Rikku laughed. "Okay, no fair! Now I'm giggling anyway but that's totally your fault!"
Jude grinned. "Okay. Totally serious now. Eyes still closed?"
"You bet," Rikku said, nodding. "Super-duper closed." And she bounced more. Hey, he didn't say she couldn't bounce.
Jude scrambled to unearth the project he had been working on for the last few days and tightened one more bolt, just to be sure, and turned back to her with it lying across his forearms. "Okay, you can open your eyes," he said proudly, if a little nervously.
He was pretty proud of the thing, actually. The body of the board had been ordered from a skate shop in Toronto for the flaming orange paint job, customized with a swirl at the top that was actually a pretty good recreation of Rikku's eyes. For the wheels he had cannibalized his spoils of war from last year's curbjam. Mike Dent's longboard now formed part of a makeshift bookcase.
Rikku stopped bouncing, took a deep breath, and opened her eyes.
He was holding out ... dude! A skateboard! Sweet! Bright kickin' orange and ... and ... it had Al Bhed eyes on it! Whoa, how did he ... no way, he couldn't have just found it like that, he ... the swirls and ... he must have ... he ...
"For me?!" she squeaked, clapping a hand over her mouth. "You ... you made this? For me?" She finally, finally tore her eyes from it to look up at Jude, a little breathless. "You ... really?"
Jude's shoulders were hunching in nervous embarrassment. "Y-yeah. For you. It, uh, the longboard was really too big and this way I can teach you more tricks . . . you like it?"
"It has my eyes," she said, eyes glowing, and voice wibbling just a little as she stepped closer and ran her hands lightly over it. "You ... and the orange, and ... you did this for me?"
She leaned forward -- carefully! no smushing the board!! -- for a very light kiss, then nuzzled against his face. "You are so awesome, you know that?"
Jude blushed a little, flattening the board against his stomach so that she could get closer if she wanted to. He kissed her back and smiled. "The guy at the shop asked if I wanted anything on it. And then I thought about you and the first think I thought of was your eyes, so I drew it for him and . . . yeah."
"My eyes?" she said softly, then blushed, snuggling closer. "I guess they do kinda stand out, huh? You ... you had someone paint this? Jude, that's so ..."
She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed.
Jude squeezed back with one arm, the other still holding the board. He kissed her lovingly. "I'm just glad you like it."
"I love it," she said softly. "Thank you so, so much."
And then she stepped back and pulled the board away from him - carefully! very carefully! - and sat on the edge of the bed, looking at the undercarriage and the paint job and spinning the wheels, turning it over again and again and asking questions. "So, if it's shorter, that means it jumps better? For tricks and all that, you were saying. 'Cause it can turn quicker? Or why?"
"You're welcome." Jude perched beside her, smiling fondly at her eager inspection. "Shorter means easier to control, and the shape of the board's a bit different, yeah."
"So why do people have longer ones, then? You do something different with those?" She was running her fingers lightly over the paint, shaking her head and laughing a little. "Is shorter good since I'm kinda tiny? You were saying to land things you kinda STOMP down but things don't always stomp when I stomp 'em. Or maybe I do it wrong." She giggled a little at that, leaning over a little into his side, still checking out the board. Dude. Board.
"Longer ones are good for speed and distance or if you're, like, freakishly tall like my bro Konrad back home. That's why Dent had one, 'cause he was trying to get the extra speed." He slipped his arm around her waist, cuddling her against him.
"So a little one means I can do stuff that's more fancy? That's so cool. And it's orange and it has my eyes and ..." Rikku sighed happily, snuggling in. "I want to meet these people, you know? Konrad and Jonesy and Nikki and all of them. And this Dent jerk, so I can tell him I enjoyed his board a lot." There was an evil grin for that.
"It's your board," Jude said with a smile. "You get to name her. All boards gotta have a name. And next time I head home, you can totally come with me, okay?"
"A name," she mused, flipping it over again, still marveling. "What's yours named, then? I'll think up something good, honest. And ... you mean it, really? To meet your friends and see your mall and -- and your parents?"
She didn't sound nervous about that last bit. Really. It must be your imagination.
(preplayed with dude_its_jude via e-mail from cubicle hell. to be continued in comments. birthday, woo!)