“I still don’t get why you’re doing it,” Travis said, pushing his hair out of his face, “You already impressed her enough for… y’know.”

If Nat wasn’t so anxious, she might have taken a moment to give Travis shit for not being able to say “sex”.

“Yeah, but I want… more than that,” Nat admitted, the last few words almost a whisper.

“Yeah? Do lesbians have some secret fifth base or something?” Travis joked, knowing full well that she was just as bisexual as he was.

“Shut up, you know what I mean,” Nat replied with a playful shove. “I like her. Like, a lot.”

“After one time?” he asked, sounding genuinely curious now.

Nat hesitated, readjusting the sling on her shoulder before responding.

“Okay, so maybe I have for… months.”

“Months?” Travis gave a low whistle.

Natalie felt her face heating up, remembering the very day her crush began. As if trying to explain away the embarrassment, she recounted it aloud.

“It was after practice one day. I’m smoking a joint in the shade and Mari” - she laughs, a softness taking over her expression - “she just swings by and says I should share.”

“You’re wasting all that smoke between hits,” Mari insists, holding out her hand. Nat’s world moves in slow motion for a moment when their fingers brush together. With more familiarity than Nat expected, Mari presses the smoke-stained, flimsy paper filter against her lips (had they always looked so inviting?) before dropping her mouth open slightly for a French inhale as she handed back the mostly-smoked joint.

“She starts talking about how she’s been waiting to be picked up for a while. She thinks they forgot, but she doesn’t sound surprised.”

“I’m used to it,” Mari shrugs, putting the roach out with the bottom of her shoe. “Honestly, I’m surprised when they do remember me.”

That statement resonated with Natalie to her very core. She was suddenly overwhelmed with the desire to take Mari into her arms. Instead, Nat took out a second, completely untouched joint from her jacket pocket with a bit of flair.

“Wanna start this one?”

Mari smiled, wordlessly taking the proffered weed as she looked around to make sure the coast was still clear.

“Paranoid already?” Natalie teased. “Are you sure you want more?”

“Pff, I don’t care if anyone sees me smoking,” Mari insisted, waving away the notion with a flick of her wrist.

“Afraid to be seen with me, then?” Nat asked casually, steeling herself for the answer and pulling her lighter from a jacket pocket. “The burnout slut who got held back a year?”

As Mari leaned in for a light, joint held an inch away from her lips, the two women locked eyes.

“You know I got held back too, right?”

The self-deprecating quips Nat already had at the ready disappeared from her mind, leaving only a gnawing shame behind. Not knowing how to respond, Nat decided to light the joint without a word.

“It really blows watching everyone else move on, huh?” Mari mused bitterly after taking a long drag. She really did understand.

“Almost as much as it blows being stuck having to do it all over again,” Nat sighed, “But not as much as realizing… no one is surprised.”

Mari hands the joint back, and the two of them share a look of commiseration, hands lingering slightly when they brush against each other this time.

It took a moment for Nat to realize she had been walking in silence, lost in her reverie. She cleared her throat before finishing what she had been saying.

“After talking for a while… I found out that we actually have a lot in common.”

“Like you and I do?” Travis asked after a brief pause.

“Kind of, yeah,” Nat replied. “That day felt like the first time someone else really saw me, y’know? And on top of that, Mari is just… so fucking pretty.”

“Y’know, you’re lucky we already caught something,” Travis told her, lifting up the two rabbit carcasses he had been carrying. “Pretty sure pining scares off prey animals.”

“You’re such a dick,” Nat groaned with a smile. “Remind me why I tell you anything?”

“Because you need a wingman,” Travis answered, silent for a beat before adding, “And I might give you shit for it, but I’m still going to remind you that this girl is really into you.”

“Yeah?” Nat asked, looking up hopefully.

“Oh yeah, she stares when you’re not looking, like-“ Travis demonstrated an exaggerated expression in the direction of a nearby tree that Nat could only describe as impossibly horny, lip-biting and all. She stifled a chuckle.

“Just like that, huh?” Nat didn’t realize it, but she began to walk with more confidence.

“Not always,” Travis replied, and Nat’s heart sank for a moment.

“She also looks at you like…” he swore quietly, searching for the right words, “Like… you’re the sun, moon, and stars; like it all starts and ends with you. Same way you look at her when you think no one’s watching.”

“Wow, Travis, you’re a poet,” Nat teased, grinning from ear to ear.

“Pshh, shut up,” was the response, but watching Natalie practically skip back to the cabin with glee kept Travis smiling the rest of the way.

-

“Do I get a hint?” Mari whispered, pleading eyes illuminated by the firelight as she squeezed Natalie’s hand under the blankets.

“If I give you a hint, it won’t be a surprise anymore,” Nat insisted, smiling at the way the other woman dramatically stuck out her bottom lip in response. “Now c’mon, the sooner we get to sleep, the sooner it’ll be tomorrow.”

“Sleep?” Mari asked, eyes wandering to the slumbering figures around them. “With a super secret mystery to keep me up all night?”

“What, you want a bedtime story?” Nat teased, not expecting to see the delight that lit up Mari’s face at the suggestion.

“Do you… know one?” Mari asked, so quiet now that Nat could barely hear her.

Shit. Nat wracked her brain for any possible memory of ever having been told a bedtime story. I guess I could improvise? A bedtime story is just a story told before bed, right? Easy: you know plenty of stories.

Yet, not a single one came to mind. Nat was about to panic, until-

“Wait, I’ve got one!” Mari’s gleeful whisper made Nat feel equal parts relieved at not to have to think up a story and disappointed in herself for not coming up with anything. She tried not to let the feeling drag her down to memories of every moment she was put on the spot in class, silent in the face of a question, and someone else shouted the answer instead out of pity.

“So I only ever got to see my grandma a couple times, when I was little, but this is one she told me,” Mari began, clearing her throat before she kept going.

“There once was a beautiful kingdom, happy and peaceful - until a dragon moved in.”

Mari let go of Nat’s hand to put both of hers up like claws when she said “dragon,” and Nat stifled a chuckle.

“The people couldn’t fight against something so powerful. The only way they could stop the dragon from destroying their kingdom was by giving it regular sacrifices… human sacrifices.”

Nat had to stop getting distracted by Mari’s adorable gestures and expressions. Focus on the story, Scatorccio, she thought to herself as Mari wiggled her fingers to emphasize “human sacrifices.”

“Every week, the townspeople would draw lots to figure out who to sacrifice. This kept happening for months without anyone arguing; I mean, the dragon was leaving most of them alone. But then, one day, the king’s daughter is the one who draws the lot. The fucking princess.”

“Oh shit,” Nat whispers, now hanging on to every word.

“Yeah, the king is, like, torn.” Mari holds up her right, then her left hand as she continues. “On the one hand, he has to protect his kingdom. On the other hand, he’s sending his daughter to get eaten by a fucking dragon. So he tries to think of some reason he won’t have to do that, but there’s no way around it. So, the princess gets sent to the dragon as a sacrifice.”

“Seems like the king could’ve at least tried to make a decoy or something,” Nat muttered, more to herself than anything else.

“I know, right?” Mari agreed. “Anyway, when the princess first sees the dragon, she’s sure she’s done for. The thing is huge and angry and hungry. But just as the dragon opens its mouth, this knight comes out of nowhere!”

“He gets in front of the princess and starts fighting the dragon with his sword” - Mari began to put on an announcer voice, whether she meant to or not - “And it’s the knight, swinging his sword - but the dragon dodges! And it’s the dragon, growling and trying to crush the knight under his claws, but he misses!”

At this point, Mari was moving animatedly, hands gesturing so widely she almost slapped the sleeping girl next to her by accident - pausing her story to give a sheepish grin while Natalie giggled.

“They keep fighting until finally, the knight’s sword goes straight through the dragon’s heart! The dragon takes its final breath and the blood that falls from its body turns into a blooming rose bush.”

“The blood turns into a plant?” Nat looked skeptical.

“It’s dragon blood,” Mari said. “It’s like, magic or something. So, the knight plucks a red rose from the bush and kneels in front of the princess, presenting it to her.”

“And everyone lived happily ever after?” Nat asked.

“That’s the idea!” Mari smiled, taking Nat’s hand in hers and intertwining their fingers.

“Except for the dragon, of course,” Nat added.

“And whoever had to clean up the rest of it,” Mari nodded, crinkling her nose in disgust at the thought of having to deal with a dragon carcass.

Enamored with Mari’s adorable expression, Natalie leaned in and kissed her.

“I promise if I ever slay a dragon, I’ll clean it up so you won’t have to,” Nat assured her with a grin.

“My hero!” Mari exclaimed softly, holding both of Nat’s hands in hers as she pretended to swoon.

“Alright, princess, time for bed,” Nat insisted, waiting for Mari to turn around so she could snuggle closer.

As soon as she had Mari in her arms, Natalie pulled the other woman even closer, burying her face in Mari’s dark tresses.

“G’night.” Nat’s muffled voice already sounded sleepy.

“‘Night,” Mari replied with a yawn.

“Don’t let the dragons bite,” Van said, only a foot away.

Nat sat bolt upright to look at the redhead as if she’d materialized out of thin air.

“What? I like a good story, sue me,” Van muttered, turning around in her makeshift cot. “Looks like your girlfriend has more than one use for that mouth, eh, Nat?”

“Yeah, just like I have more than one use for this finger,” Nat countered, sticking her tongue out as she flipped Van off.

“So vulgar! Who knighted you?” Van whispered with feigned offense.

There was a pause before the three of them shared a laugh, giggling until Jackie began to groan and shush at them.

Lying down, Nat took Mari into her arms again. She would earn the comparison soon enough, she thought to herself. Hopefully, Mari would like what Nat had in store for her even more than she would a red rose.

[end chapter one of ?]

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Tag list (thank you!)

@jackiesnats , @xthesweetdreamerx , @baked-potatoes-rule

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