The Prized Fighter

“You exist. That’s what you’ve done to deserve me.” The constant battle in their relationship; who deserved who? At this point, it didn’t matter, they had each other and that was enough for Kat. “Welcome to my world, Dominus.” She giggled, too excited to concentrate on one thing. “We’re going to have the best time. I can show you the Colosseum, the Pantheon. Everything. You’re going to love it, I know you are.”

Flint laughed, leaning further into Katrina, pressing her back against the bed. “You’ve got to show me everything... tell me everything you know... I want to hear it all. You’re such a great teacher...” He pressed his lips to hers, unable to contain his grin. “Also... there’s going to be lots of food eaten, right? Because I feel like you can’t go to Italy and not eat, like, a lot.” Food be damned, he’s really just excited to be in an entirely different country with this woman that he held so high in his heart.

Flint is laughing when she flings her food, watching as it somehow doesn’t spill everywhere. He had just enough time to set his aside safely before she’s flinging her arms around him, their lips crashing together. “How have I deserved you...?” Flint breathed, puling away for a moment. “No one would ever give a shit about inviting me to fuckin’ Rome...” He chuckled. “Damn... I can’t wait...” What he’s sure he mostly can’t wait for is seeing Katrina in her element, completely starry eyed and excited in the Eternal City, amongst the ruins of Rome.

For the longest time, Flint doesn’t know how to respond. The obvious answer is right there on the tip of his tongue, but for the moment it’s choked into silence by the mere fact that she was offering. Katrina Pelletier, the girl that was his and so very, very out of his league, was asking him to go to Rome with her. To leave the country, something he’d never done. Not even to Mexico and not even to Canada. “I... well...” Holy God, no one had ever wanted to offer this sort of thing before... never. “I’d love too... I guess I better get a passport but... Holy shit... yes...” He laughed, leaning over to press his lips to hers. “Thank you... thank you for inviting me.”

She chuckled, digging into her carton. After a few mouthfuls, she looked up at him, trying to hide the smile crawling across her lips. “So.. The university phoned today. They had an interesting proposition for me and I wanted to run it by you first.” She gave him no more information, did not say whether it was good, bad or a bit of both. It was one of her favourite things, letting other people’s imaginations run wild.

“Oh?” Flint began, trying to keep the worry from his voice. While they had an agreement here in this house, Flint would never get in the way of her career aspirations. He felt it very important that she continue her research, as history was extremely important to her. “What are they proposing?” He’s trying to keep his tone even, bordering on uninterested, when in fact he was always the opposite. He loved listening to her talk about what she loved.

“Counts for everything.” She smirked, stretching a little before rolling off the bed to join him. Taking one of the cartons he’d set out, she pressed her lips against his cheek. “Thanks, Shit Dick.” Snatching another carton, she made her way back to the bed, motioning for him to follow. Dinner in bed would be nice, besides, she had something somewhat important to ask him – and she knew just how to persuade him.

Flint snorted. Shit Dick. He had a feeling that one wouldn’t go away for a while. Grabbing his own dish, he crawled in the bed with her, making sure she was comfortable first before he opened the flaps and dug into his jasmine rice and tikka masala. “I’m going to ignore the insult...”

Flint shouldered his way into the room, pausing momentarily as he took her in, lounging on the bed, knowing full well how she looked. Taking a deep breath, he pressed further into the room, shutting the door and setting the bag of food on a nearby table. “Yeah, I know, I know...” Flint chuckled, pulling all the cartons out of the bag. “Got your favorite... should count for somethin’ right?”

“I’ll dream about you while I wait.” She teased, stepping in for another kiss. “Thirty minutes? I think I can handle that.” Grinning, she turned on her heel, heading for her room as promised.

Flint leaned forward, as though meeting her for another kiss. But Katrina was already turning, already out of the room. Sighing, he reached for his cellphone, pulling up the programmed number for the nearest Indian restaurant, and ordered. Thirty five minutes later, Flint appeared in front of Kat’s door, knocking lightly. While he knew that he had every right to just barge right in, Flint still liked to grant her her privacy.

Flint returned the kiss the brief moment that he could before Katrina pulled away. “You got it... be there in about thirty. Don’t miss me too much.”

“How about takeout? That way we can just chill here.”

Now it’s just humorous. And he can’t take anything seriously. “You can threaten me all you want but do you really want me cooking you anything?”

“Make me food, Shit Dick, or you’re not getting sex.”

“’Shit Dick?’ Come on, sweetheart. You’ve got better than that.”

“Yes, well, I’m hungry and you ate my Cheetos. I cannot be expected to properly insult someone under these conditions.”

“You’re hungry and I ate your Cheetos. Of course it’s a perfect opportunity for you to insult me.”

“I figured you’d have something better than that...”

“You let it sit too long. It burns down to nothing, you walnut.”

“Walnut? What kind of an insult is that?”

“I still don’t know how I managed to burn water...”

“– Well, get to cooking.”

“You want me to cook? You remember the last time I attempted that?”