#* ic asks

tabby’s not prepared for this, whatever this is. she jolts in surprise and she swears that if her eyes weren’t open before, they sure as hell are now. a startled laugh forces its way out of her throat, too loud even in her own ears. she’s trying to ignore the heat she can feel creeping up the back of her neck, the tips of her ears because she’s pretty sure that if she doesn’t? she’s going to make a complete idiot of herself. she’s just not emotionally equipped for that today. finally, she whirls around, lifts her eyebrows at josh in a way that suggests she isn’t really all that surprised. hell, she’s not even upset, so much as she’s amused, if she’s honest.“in public?”

she doesn’t know why she’s surprised when he says shit like this anymore, really. this is the exact kind of thing that she should have come to expect, that shouldn’t even make her blink, and yet...

it feels like several expressions try to cross her face at once, transforming her expression in quick succession before settling into something in between amusement and embarrassment. should she be half as surprised as she is that she had to hear that? no. is she surprised regardless? yes.

“please, never make me hear you say that again. ever,” because it was cringy, because it almost hurt to hear, it was so embarrassing. “i am begging you here to literally never, ever, ever say that ever again.”

she stares.

and stares.

and stares.

and then, after another moment of silence, she loses it, collapsing against him and laughing. she should absolutely be encouraging him to never say that again, she should - and she knows it. instead? there’s no real way for her to make herself do that.

“depends what my lord and savior needs the minute for.”

“well, why wo-”

she sits up from where she lays, legs draped over his lap, when her brain fully catches up with what he’s said. it’s not that she doesn’t believe him - on which part of that statement, she isn’t sure - but... well, yeah, it kind of is.

she can’t imagine not liking josh, really.

“first of all: why the fuck would i not like you,” she sits up a little more, balanced on one arm so she can reach out to jab him in the chest as she speaks. “second of all-”

well, maybe there’s not a second of all.

shooting him an unimpressed look, she flops back down. “you’re bein’ too hard on yourself. again.”

for a moment, all she can do is blink at him owlishly.

“you can just say you’re a dumbass, josh, it’s okay,” tabby says, trying to keep the fondness from her voice, the grin from her lips. when it comes down to it, she thinks she fails miserably, but maybe she’s just biased. 

she leans forward, whispering like it’s meant to be a secret, “i’ll still like you.” 

tabby grimaces - doesn’t bother to hide it, doesn’t bother to pretend otherwise. there’s no point; ashley isn’t stupid, and she... well, she’s not got the best poker face on the planet. 

there’s a reason she doesn’t even gamble on stupid inconsequential games.

“well, uh,” tabby scratches her cheek, grimace morphing into something like a grin, a snort of amusement escaping her. her hands shove deep into the pockets of her jacket, “it’s not too late to turn back, butterfingers.”

she pauses, eyeing him from her side of the couch. at this point, she’s lost track of how many movies they’ve gone through. plenty of them have been bad enough that she almost feels bad making him sit through them.

almost.

a lazy grin slips into place and slides down in her seat to comfortably drape her legs over his lap. “yeah? what’ve you got in mind for the rest of it?”