For this kissing prompt, "Small kisses littered across the other’s face." Wrote this for my Chargestep kids because hi I'm in Fallen Hero hell.
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Mary’s door was unlocked, when Julia tried the knob.
That gave her a moment’s pause. Mary had relaxed considerably in the time they had known each other, but she never left her apartment door unlocked even when she was home. It was a worrying sign adding to an already bad night, and all it did was put Julia even closer to the edge.
If something’s happened to her–
Julia stopped that thought before it could fully form, taking a deep breath to calm herself down as she felt discharge building up in her mods. She pushed the door open slowly, making her way gingerly down the short hall, and blinked when she saw a lamp was on by the couch.
Mary was sleeping on the couch.
Julia blinked, and felt every worry that had started to coil inside of her relax. She briefly went back to close and lock the door properly, then quietly made her way quietly into the apartment proper, letting her steps become heavy enough that she was making enough noise to wake her friend up before she got too close. Better safe than sorry; Mary had never liked being surprised, even as she relaxed.
It worked; Mary jolted briefly, somehow always managing to successfully pull herself from the depths of sleep to complete wakefulness in a way Julia had never been able to do, and after blinking a few times slumped back into the couch when she realized who had come in. “Hey.”
“Hi.” Julia gingerly set her coat down over the back of the couch, sitting down when Mary briefly moved her legs; her friend didn’t hesitate to drape them back over her lap, and something about the casual intimacy made her heart twist. “You left your door unlocked.”
“Really?” It was a lazy drawl as Mary cracked open an eye to look at her, smiling slightly. “I had no idea.”
Julia smiled back, something wider and warmer. “So you did do it on purpose.”
“Don’t make a thing of it,” Mary sighed. “I just thought you might come by when I heard some of the speculation about your date on the news.”
Julia grimaced, looking away. “Mierda. Already?”
“You did go out with him in a pretty public place. And you are Los Diablos’ most eligible bachelorette.”
“Ay, don’t remind me.” It was a sigh as Julia rubbed her eyes, trying to dismiss the date from her mind. It hadn’t even been a bad date, really, as far as these things went; the man had been perfectly nice, if forgettable, and by now she was more or less used to speculation about her love life being splashed all over the headlines.
It hadn’t been a bad date, but…
There was a soft rustle of clothing as Mary shifted, and a moment later Julia blinked as she felt her friend’s fingers gently run through her hair. She turned her head to look back at her, curious, and the other woman hesitated before she swallowed. “Are you okay?”
“You’re just… acting weird.”
Maybe she was, Julia thought. There was certainly something weird about sitting out on a date with a man, and all she could think about was how she’d wished he was Mary instead. He’d been perfectly nice, it hadn’t been a bad date, he just… nothing about him had been right.
“Did he do something?” Mary asked, and the dark tone in her voice snapped Julia out of her reverie.
“What? No, no he didn’t.” Julia reacted without thinking, her hand coming up to rest atop Mary’s as her friend subtly tensed.
Mary scowled. “You’re still acting weird. If anything happened–”
The rest of Mary’s sentence was cut off as Julia leaned in and kissed her, the words muffled against her lips before the other woman gave up with a small sigh and leaned into the kiss in a way that made her heart throb dangerously. She wasn’t melting into it–Mary never did, not truly–but she was kissing her back, she was relaxing, and that was enough.
It hadn’t been a bad date. It just hadn’t been what Julia wanted.
She still didn’t know what to do about that.
The problem with kissing Mary was that every time Julia did it, she wanted to keep kissing her. The problem with kissing Mary was that every time Julia pulled away, she wanted to immediately lean back in. She was aware of how late it was, but even as she started to ease back she couldn’t quite help herself; a kiss was pressed to Mary’s nose, then her forehead, and when Julia realized her friend was still leaning into it she hummed and pressed more kisses along her face, lingering until she was finally content enough to pull away.
Mary’s eyes opened slowly, her gaze hazy for a moment or two before she shook herself back to her senses. “You’re an idiot,” she murmured as she pulled her hand away, but her voice was too soft for it to be an insult.
Julia smiled, and it looked as soft as Mary’s voice. “You always say that.”
“It’s always true.” Mary got up now, taking a moment to stretch before she sighed. “Go wash that stuff off, it’s late and I’m tired.”
Julia got up with her, absently letting her hair down now that she remembered it was still up. “You didn’t have to stay up for me.”
Another kiss, light and quick against her cheek. “I know. I’ll join you in a minute.”
It was no rush, Julia thought as she made her way into the too small bathroom and turned on the sink, but she couldn’t deny the urge to hurry through her routine all the same.
After all, she was finally doing what she wanted.
