Monday Morning in Denmark (NFB, distance)
Rikku fell asleep in Denmark, curled around a tiny gray cat, sniffling as the images of cathedrals and tombs whirled in her mind.
It was now early Monday morning, and she jerked restlessly in her sleep, not waking up enough yet to realize that a thin, blonde boy was wrapped around her, holding her tight.
Jude hadn't woken up enough to realize that, either. But he was still processing sniffles and jerking and a bad moody Rikku and so tried his best to comfort her, even mostly-asleep. With a faint kind of purring sound (didn't quite work the same way with a human throat), a blond head bumped against Rikku's chin, nuzzling headbutts of love as he wriggled closer.
Rikku snuggled closer, sighing a little and settling in and hair was tickling her face and ...
Her eyes flew open. "Jude," she breathed, and it was almost a whimper and it was really him. She squeezed as hard as she could and covered the top of his head with little kisses and oh finally, oh thank goodness, Jude.
"Hey, bra," Jude mumbled against her throat, nuzzling in some more. He'd get it in a second or two.
"Bra?" His eyes snapped open. "Dude!"
Theeeeere we go.
Jude clutched at her, already as close as he could get thanks to some rib-crushing clinging going on, and kissed her back. What else was he going to do? He'd left her - well, kind of - right when she needed him the most, and he was going to make it better, nudity or no nudity.
Wait. Nudity?
"Bra . . ."
Aw, screw it. Kissing now. Pants later.
Rikku was still pulling him closer, wrapping one knee around his and squeezing her arms tighter and if she could actually move inside his rib cage, she would have managed it by now. "Jude," she said again, dotting kisses over his face and trying to talk around them. "You're b-back, I missed you, Jude."
"'m sorry." His eyes squeezed tight closed, his nose bumped against hers or her cheek as he returned the fluttering desperate kisses. "'m so sorry, shoulda been here . . . well, not . . . y'know . . ."
"Jude," she murmured, and could she stop saying his name already, "n-no, not your f-fault and you were here and I made you come with me everywhere but I still m-missed you so much but it's okay 'cause you're back now and --"
She covered his lips with hers for a long, hungry kiss, and only half because she'd been about to say "Jude" again.
"I'm back," he agreed breathlessly when he could speak again, his eyes blinking open to look into hers and his cheeks flushed. One hand crept up her back to bury in her hair, more possessive and forward than he might usually be but it didn't matter because maybe the Judekitty was about to get out the claws and be possessive and protective for a while.
Rikku lifted one hand to stroke along his cheek. "You're back, you're so ... I ..."
She should be telling him useful informative things like "we're in Denmark" and "it's been a week" and "I took you to your classes," but none of that mattered.
"I love you," she said, voice shaking. "So much, so much, I ..."
Luckily, Jude knew all these things - well, kinda. He would remember them soon enough.
Jude nuzzled against her palm, kissing the base of each finger before kissing her again. "I know, bra," he murmured. "Love you too."
"I ..." That required more kissing, and seriously enthusiastic kissing at that. She wriggled against him again, placing a kiss on the tip of his chin and nuzzling into his neck. "Y-you'd be p-proud of me. I didn't ... didn't turn off. While you were gone. Not-gone, I mean. I ... I w-wanted to but I didn't."
Guh, wriggling. Jude was suddenly and abruptly reminded exactly what happens when he stops being a kitty, but Rikku wasn't going anywhere and he didn't want Rikku going anywhere, but . . . uh, oh yeah, talking!
He kissed the curve of her ear and nuzzled back, starting to blush. "I know, bra. Totally proud," he assured her in a mumble.
She shivered as his breath tickled her ear. "Y-yeah?" she asked. "You d-did? 'Cause I ... you know. I m-mean, it was hard, like, I d-didn't think I could, but ..."
She took a quick breath and kissed the side of his neck lightly. "I've ... I've never ... really done that before, you know? I mean, to just ..."
Don't talk about hard. Pleeeease don't talk about hard. Jude tried to surreptitiously shift his hips away from her, but forgot the leg wrapped around him and just succeeded in making things worse. Greeeeat.
"I know," he said again, squeezing her lightly and kissing her ear again. "Soon y' won't even need me . . ."
Rikku shifted her weight, not sure why he was suddenly -- oh. This was a cold-water thing, right? And ... wait, wasn't he naked?
Hmm. She certainly didn't care, if he didn't, and she wasn't letting go any time soon. She placed a quick kiss on his neck before leaning back a little and giving him a curious look. "Are you okay?"
She blinked, trying to process the rest of his words, but they ... couldn't possibly mean what they sounded like. "Whoa. Jude. Are you ... you're kidding, yeah?" She reached up to brush her fingers over his cheek again, staring. "Or ... you ... you have no idea, do you?"
He was. He did care, actually, but he wasn't going to do anything about it anyway. As long as she didn't look down. Or mind his, uh, cellphone digging into her hip.
His answer was elegant and suave. ". . . huh?"
Rikku had to remind herself that kissing did not help with thinking and talking, and that thinking and talking were totally important right now because of what Jude had said and thus she couldn't just pounce and worry about talky stuff later.
"You, uh. What do you mean, not need you?" She was staring as if he'd grown another head. "You ... you don't really ..."
Jude blushed and bumped his nose against hers. Hey, nuzzly headbutts were a hard habit to break. "I didn't mean . . . just that . . . sorry."
"No, it's ... you really don't get it, do you?" She wasn't upset, just ... shocked. "Jude. I don't ... I never, I ... all I've ever done is just ... pretend I'm okay and go on to the next point and sometimes I let that slip and sometimes it cracks anyway and ... that's ..."
She traced over his face with her fingertips, swallowing hard as she looked into his eyes again. "Jude, I ... I let myself fall apart this time, yeah? And ... and I ... I've never. Just ... completely let myself ... go to pieces, you know? It's ..." She took another breath, wishing she didn't suck so badly at explaining things.
Jude was rather thinking this was a conversation he should have with pants on. "I . . . I know," he managed, realizing how lame that sounded by now. "I just meant . . . I dunno. You got it now, maybe next time you won't need me to, like, make you stay in bed." Speaking of staying in bed . . . blush. Pants now, please.
"No," she said softly, eyes not leaving his. "You ... you really don't get it. Jude, I ... I only l-let myself fall apart 'cause I knew I had somewhere to land. I ... you kinda ... I knew it'd be okay, 'cause you'd be there with me, and ... I d-didn't have to be okay, if I wasn't. I didn't have to, and you'd ... be with me, and ... I've never ... I don't let people ... and not even when I'm alone, I just ..."
"O-oh." Jude's blush deepened, for a reason entirely unrelated to his previous blush. "Oh."
"Yeah," she said, voice wavering a little. "You, uh. I love you. I mean, I say it but I didn't know how much it all meant and that sounds ... it's ..."
She leaned her forehead against his, blushing and suddenly feeling like she was the one who was naked.
Jude kissed her swiftly and firmly and tried to pour all of his awkward teenage emotion into it, knowing that he had something very precious here and he could break it with stupid teenage-boy-bumbling and for the first time he didn't wish he was Jonesy. Because Jonesy would have already said the stupid thing and ruined it, and Jude never, ever wanted to hurt Rikku. So he kissed her and hoped the translator wasn't broken.
Rikku squeezed her eyes shut, wriggling closer, deepening the kiss and trying to say so many things at once. I need you. I missed you. I love you. I am so, so, so glad you're back. I'm not letting go for a while.
And some of this scares me.
The translator wasn't broken, and it made Jude start to tremble a little. He just kissed her like that would fix everything.
Rikku noticed the trembling and nuzzled in, kissing him harder, and then ... wait, was he trembling because he felt this, too, or ...
She pulled back suddenly, eyes shut. "S-sorry," she said, "I'm ... I ... I sh-shouldn't have ... said all that." Freaked you out.
"N-no," Jude stammered immediately. "No, it's . . . I-I-I f-feel the . . ." Gulp. He was doing it. He was ruining it. "S-same way?" he managed to stammer to a halt, alternating between shivering and trembling. Shivering because he didn't see Rikku's bare backside hanging out in the breeze and trembling because . . . well, that was because Rikku's backside was right where it belonged, just a bit below his arm wrapped around her and because he was scared.
Rikku opened her eyes to look at him, terrified and yet she couldn't be, because it was him and he was here and in her arms and that meant everything was okay, right? "You ... y-y-yeah?"
She nodded slowly, panicky and drowning all at once, and then impulsively dove back in again, kissing him hard enough to spill them both over.
(OOC: NFB, distance. To be continued in comments.)
It was now early Monday morning, and she jerked restlessly in her sleep, not waking up enough yet to realize that a thin, blonde boy was wrapped around her, holding her tight.
Jude hadn't woken up enough to realize that, either. But he was still processing sniffles and jerking and a bad moody Rikku and so tried his best to comfort her, even mostly-asleep. With a faint kind of purring sound (didn't quite work the same way with a human throat), a blond head bumped against Rikku's chin, nuzzling headbutts of love as he wriggled closer.
Rikku snuggled closer, sighing a little and settling in and hair was tickling her face and ...
Her eyes flew open. "Jude," she breathed, and it was almost a whimper and it was really him. She squeezed as hard as she could and covered the top of his head with little kisses and oh finally, oh thank goodness, Jude.
"Hey, bra," Jude mumbled against her throat, nuzzling in some more. He'd get it in a second or two.
"Bra?" His eyes snapped open. "Dude!"
Theeeeere we go.
Jude clutched at her, already as close as he could get thanks to some rib-crushing clinging going on, and kissed her back. What else was he going to do? He'd left her - well, kind of - right when she needed him the most, and he was going to make it better, nudity or no nudity.
Wait. Nudity?
"Bra . . ."
Aw, screw it. Kissing now. Pants later.
Rikku was still pulling him closer, wrapping one knee around his and squeezing her arms tighter and if she could actually move inside his rib cage, she would have managed it by now. "Jude," she said again, dotting kisses over his face and trying to talk around them. "You're b-back, I missed you, Jude."
"'m sorry." His eyes squeezed tight closed, his nose bumped against hers or her cheek as he returned the fluttering desperate kisses. "'m so sorry, shoulda been here . . . well, not . . . y'know . . ."
"Jude," she murmured, and could she stop saying his name already, "n-no, not your f-fault and you were here and I made you come with me everywhere but I still m-missed you so much but it's okay 'cause you're back now and --"
She covered his lips with hers for a long, hungry kiss, and only half because she'd been about to say "Jude" again.
"I'm back," he agreed breathlessly when he could speak again, his eyes blinking open to look into hers and his cheeks flushed. One hand crept up her back to bury in her hair, more possessive and forward than he might usually be but it didn't matter because maybe the Judekitty was about to get out the claws and be possessive and protective for a while.
Rikku lifted one hand to stroke along his cheek. "You're back, you're so ... I ..."
She should be telling him useful informative things like "we're in Denmark" and "it's been a week" and "I took you to your classes," but none of that mattered.
"I love you," she said, voice shaking. "So much, so much, I ..."
Luckily, Jude knew all these things - well, kinda. He would remember them soon enough.
Jude nuzzled against her palm, kissing the base of each finger before kissing her again. "I know, bra," he murmured. "Love you too."
"I ..." That required more kissing, and seriously enthusiastic kissing at that. She wriggled against him again, placing a kiss on the tip of his chin and nuzzling into his neck. "Y-you'd be p-proud of me. I didn't ... didn't turn off. While you were gone. Not-gone, I mean. I ... I w-wanted to but I didn't."
Guh, wriggling. Jude was suddenly and abruptly reminded exactly what happens when he stops being a kitty, but Rikku wasn't going anywhere and he didn't want Rikku going anywhere, but . . . uh, oh yeah, talking!
He kissed the curve of her ear and nuzzled back, starting to blush. "I know, bra. Totally proud," he assured her in a mumble.
She shivered as his breath tickled her ear. "Y-yeah?" she asked. "You d-did? 'Cause I ... you know. I m-mean, it was hard, like, I d-didn't think I could, but ..."
She took a quick breath and kissed the side of his neck lightly. "I've ... I've never ... really done that before, you know? I mean, to just ..."
Don't talk about hard. Pleeeease don't talk about hard. Jude tried to surreptitiously shift his hips away from her, but forgot the leg wrapped around him and just succeeded in making things worse. Greeeeat.
"I know," he said again, squeezing her lightly and kissing her ear again. "Soon y' won't even need me . . ."
Rikku shifted her weight, not sure why he was suddenly -- oh. This was a cold-water thing, right? And ... wait, wasn't he naked?
Hmm. She certainly didn't care, if he didn't, and she wasn't letting go any time soon. She placed a quick kiss on his neck before leaning back a little and giving him a curious look. "Are you okay?"
She blinked, trying to process the rest of his words, but they ... couldn't possibly mean what they sounded like. "Whoa. Jude. Are you ... you're kidding, yeah?" She reached up to brush her fingers over his cheek again, staring. "Or ... you ... you have no idea, do you?"
He was. He did care, actually, but he wasn't going to do anything about it anyway. As long as she didn't look down. Or mind his, uh, cellphone digging into her hip.
His answer was elegant and suave. ". . . huh?"
Rikku had to remind herself that kissing did not help with thinking and talking, and that thinking and talking were totally important right now because of what Jude had said and thus she couldn't just pounce and worry about talky stuff later.
"You, uh. What do you mean, not need you?" She was staring as if he'd grown another head. "You ... you don't really ..."
Jude blushed and bumped his nose against hers. Hey, nuzzly headbutts were a hard habit to break. "I didn't mean . . . just that . . . sorry."
"No, it's ... you really don't get it, do you?" She wasn't upset, just ... shocked. "Jude. I don't ... I never, I ... all I've ever done is just ... pretend I'm okay and go on to the next point and sometimes I let that slip and sometimes it cracks anyway and ... that's ..."
She traced over his face with her fingertips, swallowing hard as she looked into his eyes again. "Jude, I ... I let myself fall apart this time, yeah? And ... and I ... I've never. Just ... completely let myself ... go to pieces, you know? It's ..." She took another breath, wishing she didn't suck so badly at explaining things.
Jude was rather thinking this was a conversation he should have with pants on. "I . . . I know," he managed, realizing how lame that sounded by now. "I just meant . . . I dunno. You got it now, maybe next time you won't need me to, like, make you stay in bed." Speaking of staying in bed . . . blush. Pants now, please.
"No," she said softly, eyes not leaving his. "You ... you really don't get it. Jude, I ... I only l-let myself fall apart 'cause I knew I had somewhere to land. I ... you kinda ... I knew it'd be okay, 'cause you'd be there with me, and ... I d-didn't have to be okay, if I wasn't. I didn't have to, and you'd ... be with me, and ... I've never ... I don't let people ... and not even when I'm alone, I just ..."
"O-oh." Jude's blush deepened, for a reason entirely unrelated to his previous blush. "Oh."
"Yeah," she said, voice wavering a little. "You, uh. I love you. I mean, I say it but I didn't know how much it all meant and that sounds ... it's ..."
She leaned her forehead against his, blushing and suddenly feeling like she was the one who was naked.
Jude kissed her swiftly and firmly and tried to pour all of his awkward teenage emotion into it, knowing that he had something very precious here and he could break it with stupid teenage-boy-bumbling and for the first time he didn't wish he was Jonesy. Because Jonesy would have already said the stupid thing and ruined it, and Jude never, ever wanted to hurt Rikku. So he kissed her and hoped the translator wasn't broken.
Rikku squeezed her eyes shut, wriggling closer, deepening the kiss and trying to say so many things at once. I need you. I missed you. I love you. I am so, so, so glad you're back. I'm not letting go for a while.
And some of this scares me.
The translator wasn't broken, and it made Jude start to tremble a little. He just kissed her like that would fix everything.
Rikku noticed the trembling and nuzzled in, kissing him harder, and then ... wait, was he trembling because he felt this, too, or ...
She pulled back suddenly, eyes shut. "S-sorry," she said, "I'm ... I ... I sh-shouldn't have ... said all that." Freaked you out.
"N-no," Jude stammered immediately. "No, it's . . . I-I-I f-feel the . . ." Gulp. He was doing it. He was ruining it. "S-same way?" he managed to stammer to a halt, alternating between shivering and trembling. Shivering because he didn't see Rikku's bare backside hanging out in the breeze and trembling because . . . well, that was because Rikku's backside was right where it belonged, just a bit below his arm wrapped around her and because he was scared.
Rikku opened her eyes to look at him, terrified and yet she couldn't be, because it was him and he was here and in her arms and that meant everything was okay, right? "You ... y-y-yeah?"
She nodded slowly, panicky and drowning all at once, and then impulsively dove back in again, kissing him hard enough to spill them both over.
(OOC: NFB, distance. To be continued in comments.)