Anna might be (elatedorgassy) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2016-12-01 12:07:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, agent washington, anna of arendelle |
Who: Wash and Anna
When: November 19
Where: Local fancy schmancy hotel
What: Birthday celebrations, Three Little Words
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete!
Medieval Times was an absolute blast. As far as birthday presents went, Wash was really kind of proud of himself for getting Anna and himself tickets to see the show. He’d been a little nervous at first considering beer and ale were on tap, but none of the serving staff gave him any kind of “in character” guff for not drinking. The excuse of being the evenings “designated driver” may have helped him out in that regard. However, as soon as the King and Queen took their thrones and announced the night’s events, all thoughts about beer went right out the window and never once came back.
The show was amazing! Jugglers, a jester, and a joust. And since Wash has bought the birthday package, Anna herself was treated like the princess she was, which really was the point, after all. And just being able to be there and see Anna’s smile light up her face made everything Wash had been through the past few months worthwhile. There really wasn’t anything Wash wouldn’t do to see Anna smile.
He had another surprise for her once the show was over. Instead of taking her back home, he took her to a fancy posh hotel where he had gotten the two of them a suite for the evening. Was he spoiling her? Yes, he was, but you only turned twenty-one once and the occasion needed to be celebrated right.
Anna could drink. She could drink now, legally, and didn’t need to lie about her age anymore if she wanted to buy a drink-with-a-capital-d. But she didn’t want to. For some reason it didn’t seem important. Besides, if Wash wasn’t drinking, she didn’t want to rub it in his face. Anna didn’t need booze to have a good time.
Good times were had. All night. The food was amazing, the entertainment was wonderful, and she kept getting compliments on her dress. It was the one that had come from her Dreams, the one she wore on her birthday in them. People must have assumed that she was cosplaying herself, which was silly and funny at the same time.
Then they headed to a hotel, and Anna felt full, happy, and a little sleepy. She grinned as she stepped through the threshold into the suite, and took it all in. It was really nice. She felt pampered. “Wash,” she tossed her coat on the back of a chair and turned her full attention to him. “You didn’t have to do all this.” But she liked it. Very much.
Wash stood in the middle of very comfortable looking suite. The sheer size of it made him pause for a moment. His first apartment wasn’t even this large. Supposedly the bathroom had a jacuzzi, and while Anna’s house had a hot tub all it’s own, there was something just lavish about having a hotel room with a jacuzzi tub in it.
He watched as Anna took it all in, smiling a bit to himself. When she turned to him, his cheeks reddened a little bit and he shrugged slightly. “I wanted to,” he said. “I felt bad that I couldn’t join you for the party with your friends and I wanted to do something really nice for you.” She had been there for him through a dark time. He wouldn’t have blamed her if she hadn’t wanted anything to do with him after losing her temper with her ex, or if his addiction had scared her off. But it hadn’t. She had been right there when he had gotten home. Anna was special and Wash had not felt this way about someone in quite some time.
“Besides,” he laughed a little sheepishly, “you only turn twenty-one once, you need to celebrate as much as you can.” He started towards the bedroom with its large plush bed, “the bed room’s in here if you want to put your stuff down. Wait until you see this bed. It’s supposed to be huge.”
Anna beamed over at him. Wash didn’t owe her anything. They’d talked about it early on, after they started the with benefits part of their relationship. This was just good friends who happened to like having sex. Lots of it. And, of course, Anna had fallen for him. She’d had these feelings for a long time, though she was doing her best to squash them. She didn’t want to get her hopes up, didn’t want to put him on the spot or make him feel awkward. He was one of her best friends, she would never do that to him.
So all of this? Pretty unexpected. It felt romantic and special in a way that Anna hadn’t really hoped for. It was hard to squash her feelings down when he’d gone so far to make her happy. She nodded, then collected her jacket and overnight bag. “Someone suggested that I celebrate for the whole week, but I don’t think they knew how much I already planned on celebrating. Last night with Elsa, tonight with you, tomorrow’s the party… then Caroline and I are headed on a road trip for three days, then Thanksgiving, then Pop Culture Con?” She spoke nonstop as she headed into the bedroom.
Her words stopped, though, as she stepped through the doorway. “Wow.” The bed was huge! Anna was almost certain they would lose one another in those covers.
“It really is like partying for the whole week.” Wash chuckled, “Maybe even the whole month.” And he was glad that he could be a part of that.
He came to a stop beside Anna and echoed her sentiment. The bed was what was referred to as a California King, with more pillows than could ever be considered necessary. The comforter was stuffed with down and looked soft and warm. Wash looked at Anna and grinned. “Wanna try it out?”
Anna grinned over at Wash, then dropped her bag before jumping suddenly up onto the bed. She wanted to see if it was as bouncy as it looked. Thankfully, she thought to kick her shoes off first. It just wouldn’t do to put holes in the comforter from her heels. The mattress was delightfully springy, and when Anna jumped up onto the bed, there was an explosion of pillows. A burst of happy laughter came from the redhead as she tumbled down into the bed.
Wash watched Anna as she sprang onto the bed and laughed as she bounced around, causing the pillows to bounce all over the place. Once Anna had bounced around a little bit, Wash decided he may as well join her. He wiggled out of his boots and climbed up onto the bed as well. It was far larger than his own and somehow even more comfortable. Wash felt as though he could just melt into the warm downy comforter.
“So what do you think?” He asked, smirking at her just a little bit and reaching out to smooth some of her red hair out of her eyes. “I did pretty good, right? A fantastic dinner and a fantastic bed?”
“It’s perfect!” Anna stopped bouncing so she could turn and cuddle up against him. It was absolutely perfect. The whole evening had been magical. With the jousting and the horses, and people complimenting her dress… And now the hotel and the big, comfy bed... (And she’d absolutely seen that tub, make no mistake.) Anna felt, more than ever in either of her entire lives, like a princess.
“You did amazing.” She said, eyes sparkling, lips smiling. Then she leaned in to kiss him.
Anna looked happy. There was something about the way her eyes sparkled that made Wash happy too. He settled on to the bed, one arm behind his head and the other under Anna so he could hold her to him. He smiled up at her before she leaned in to kiss him. He removed his arm from behind his head to place his hand on the back of Anna’s. His fingers tangled slightly in her red tresses as he returned her kiss. His hand then moved from her head to her back and his other arm wrapped around her as well.
His eyes had closed when they kissed and once Anna’s warm soft lips left his and Wash could breathe he opened them to look up at her. Words were playing in his mouth. He wanted to say them, but at the same time was afraid of what would come next. “Anna…?” He started.
Anna’s face was still close to his. She was a big time nuzzler. All the contact, all the time. Her head felt perfect with her cheek pressed against his face. But she gave him room to breathe, pulling back to look at him. “Yes?”
Wash didn’t want to ruin the moment by saying the wrong thing. He had never been good about this kind of thing, being honest with how he felt or at times even what he thought. But he knew he had to say something. Say it and let Anna decide for herself what she wanted. “I love you,” he told her softly, gently. “I wanted to tell you that for a while now.”
The seriousness with which Wash spoke sobered Anna up a little. Her smile faded just a little as she looked into his eyes, and then the whole world changed. Anna had felt her heart melt before, but always due to some crazy, ice magic (or some other Orange County Insanity) but this was totally different. New and exciting and terrifying and absolutely wonderful. Suddenly, her nose was burning with emotion, as if she might cry. It felt so good to share these feelings with someone.
Anna lifted a hand to trail her fingertips along his cheek. “I love you, too.” She said, then the smile was back, even as her eyes filled with water.
Wash had held his breath as he watched her reaction. It was funny how he had no problems facing the life threatening events Orange County was known to throw at them, often times without blinking, without having to think and yet it was moments like this - moments most people believed to be a normal part of life - that he often struggled with.
When Anna spoke next and smiled at him, relief swelled up and replaced Wash’s fear and apprehension, making it evaporate away as though it had been a dream. He smiled back at her happily and gently caressed her cheek, his thumb catching a stray tear off her cheek.
Anna’s hand came up to cover his against her cheek. She wanted to remember every detail about this moment for forever. She wanted to memorize the grey color of his eyes, the feel of his warmth against her body, the way her stomach twisted so amazingly when he held her close like this. Nothing could take this moment away from her. It was perfect.
She closed her eyes and leaned in to tap her lips against his. Once. Then pulled back and smiled up at him again. “You just made this the best. birthday. Ever.”
Wash smiled back at her. It had been an amazing night. Wash felt good, laying there with Anna against him. Her arms around him and smiling at him brilliantly. Like Anna, Wash wanted to remember this moment and how happy Anna was and how happy that made him. It had been a long time since he had felt this way about someone. And it was familiar and yet different. Different, but special. Good.
“I’m really glad,” he told her. “I was kinda scared, you know, that you wouldn’t feel the same way or...I’d scare you off. I’m glad you do. I really am.”
Eventually the pair of them would have to strip off clothes and climb under the covers. It was pretty late, and Anna had a thing or two to do still before bed. But talking about this was important. Really important. It was a big thing, and they needed to process it together.
Anna lifted her head up on one elbow so she could see him better. Curled together, it felt so right. But his words made her heart twist a little. “You were scared? Seriously? Why’s that?” Didn’t he know how she felt about him? Wasn’t it obvious?
It wasn’t not obvious. Anna could have easily left him when her ex showed up. She could have left him when he disappeared for a week. She could have decided that he had way too much baggage – too many issues – to be worth her time and effort. She could have said she didn’t want to be involved with an alcoholic, recovering or not. She could have done any of those things and Wash wouldn’t have blamed her.
But she hadn’t. She had been right there when he’d gotten back from Yosemite and she listened to him confess his demons without judgment. She had called him her hero. Wash still wasn’t sure if he was hero material, but for Anna, he wanted to try.
“I was seeing a girl last year,” he told her carefully. “Her name was Kyu. I did love her very much, but things happened. Things started to fall apart about this time last year. I wasn’t…” he trailed a moment trying to remember. His memory was better than it had been in a while, but that short time between getting Epsilon and his ultimate break from reality was still a mess. All he could really remember clearly was seeing Kyu cry. “I wasn’t doing well,” he said at last. “I couldn’t trust my own mind. I was dangerous. I wanted to protect her and ultimately I felt as though I had to protect her from me – from what was happening to me, so I forced her away. It was a mistake and I regretted it the moment she left. But I thought it was for the best and that I really wasn’t good for anyone. That’s when I think I really started hitting the bottle harder than I should have.” Kyu wasn’t the whole reason he drank, but she was a casualty of what was going on in his head.
Grey eyes moved up to meet Anna’s. “Then I met you and everything changed. You’re beautiful and bright and the way I felt when I was around you – I hadn’t felt that way in a long time, Anna. A really long time. And I’m scared that I’m still not good enough for someone as good and as kind as you. But I want to try to be. I want to be the hero you see me as.”
Well, it was fair. They hadn’t talked much about Wash’s ex(es), but Wash had met Anna’s. It was probably something they should get to know about one another, full disclosure being the best policy for people who … who what? Who were in love with one another, and spending amazing nights together, and… Anna would have to figure all that out eventually.
She nodded, listening. Her fingers splayed across his chest, feeling his pulse through his shirt. For a moment she wondered if she should encourage him to go find her--find this woman who he loved so badly and felt so guilty for pushing away. If he loved her so much, shouldn’t he fight for her? But it sounded like that part of his life had passed, and now he’d moved on. And Anna felt a little selfish at how glad she was that he was with her here and now.
“Thank you for telling me about her.” She said, very softly. Her eyes lingered on his, green fixed with grey. “I just--I want this to be real so badly,” she admitted in return. “I’ve wanted this for a while now. A long while.” She was almost embarrassed to admit how long. “You are my hero, just by being you. You don’t have to work at it.”
Kyu was the first woman Wash had ever really loved and you never really forget your first love. But that wasn’t the same as still being in love with the person. Kyu was gone. Wash may have pushed her away, but she had chosen to leave in the end and she wasn’t coming back. Wash couldn’t say if it was for the best. It was what it was. Maybe he had been given a second chance to get it right - or maybe...maybe it was to get him ready for this.
“It’s real,” Wash promised. He covered her hand on his chest with his own. “I love you.”
Anna couldn’t help but smile. It was bright and happy, and took up her whole face. She leaned up and in to rest her forehead against his. “I love you.” A moment passed where she just absorbed how amazing this was. Love. It was the best thing ever. Then she pulled back, playfully. “You know this means you have to break up with all your other girlfriends now. Because I’m not all that fond of sharing.”
Wash took in a deep breath. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment with Anna’s head resting against his. His arms were around her again, holding her close. It had really had turned out to be something of a perfect evening.
His arms loosened a little when Anna pulled away and he opened his eyes to look up at her. “My other girlfriends, huh?” He grinned a little sheepishly. “Well, I would, but I’m kinda not sleeping with anyone else.” Which kind of begged the question, really. “If you’re not interested in sharing me, does that make us a couple?”
Anna lifted her hand to trail fingertips along his jaw. She liked it when he’d been a while without shaving. The scruffy look was really good on him. His response didn’t really surprise her. When would he have had time to sleep with anyone else? Over the summer they’d been together several nights during the week, and then he was… well, other stuff came up. A part of her had wondered. And she’d kissed other people, but… “I haven’t, either. So, I guess so? If you want to be. I want to be.”
Wash couldn’t help the smile. He had always kind of wondered if Anna had been with anyone else, but it hadn’t ever been his business. Not really. Now? He pulled her close to him again and kissed her gently and tenderly. “Yeah,” he said with a smile against her lips, “I want to be.”