Pᴀɪɴᴇ (demisword) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-12-20 11:02:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, paine, rapunzel |
WHO: Paine & Rapunzel
WHERE: Rapunzel's home
WHEN: {backdated} late November
WHAT: Paine and Rapunzel have a lunch date, Paine meets Pascal and the pair redefine their relationship.
WARNINGS: PG
STATUS: Complete
Rapunzel had been working hard trying to get everything done for her latest deadline, which had included a bit of working on the weekend. It didn’t happen often enough to make her mad about this work life balance, but it was also enjoyable work to do. It also didn’t hurt that now she had her new buddy Pascal around to help keep her on track and entertain her when she needed it. She also had a lunch date with Paine coming up so that would be the greatest distraction and she wanted to be able to spend as much time with Paine as possible, so it was essential to get it all done now.
She was finishing up the last bit of her sketches when she heard the doorbell ring. She took Pascal off her shoulder, setting him on her work desk, and made her way to answer the door. A bright smile was given to Paine when she saw the woman on the other side, “Hey! I just have a tiny bit of sketching to finish before we can go, if you don’t mind. You’re welcome to come in and loom over my shoulder if you want.” Rapunzel hoped she wouldn’t mind because it would only take her a couple minutes.
Balancing work and life was oddly more difficult than balancing school and life. Having graduated, she’d assumed things would be steady but mostly the same, she was in fact wrong. Having just wrapped up with a client who she designed several bespoke bridesmaid dresses, Paine was looking forward to some time off, and spending it with Rapunzel was somewhat energising enough.
“Don’t worry about it,” Paine knew plenty about wanting to get the finishing touches done, heading into Rapunzel’s home at the invitation. “I don’t know about looming though, I know how much I hate that.” Billy tended to make a point on being on the other side of the room when he was over. “What are you working on?”
“I don’t really mind; I’m kind of used to it,” there was a brief period of time when Rapunzel had been practicing hand-drawn animation in school and to show off how it looked she always had people over her shoulder. It was also a usual habit at work to walk around to people’s work spaces and peer over their shoulders, but Rapunzel knew some people didn’t like it as much, “And I’m finishing up a bit of background on this scene that involves some animals on the farm. It’s almost finished, but needs a few more clouds and farm-y things in it.”
She lead the way over to her desk, which had a larger tablet on it, and the scene was already up there. It featured a cute duck and cow with a barn in the back, a fence, and she needed a bit more to finish it up. She sat down in the chair to finish it up before glancing over at Paine with a smile, “How have you been?”
Animating and designing weren’t identical in the process, sure, they were both creative sure, but one was more involved with other people than the other, and Paine really did hate when someone watched right over her shoulder as she drew. But since Rapunzel said she didn’t mind, Paine snuck a glance over at the work she was doing.
“It looks good,” farm-y things seemed to be coming along nicely, and Paine could see why Rapunzel wanted to get it out of the way before going out -nothing sucked more than coming back to a piece you’d started and lost the flow of numerous hours later.
“Not too bad,” Paine found that she tended to work a lot more than she meant to, possibly because she hadn’t figured out a suitable balance for things, “my cats are all finally getting along with each other, aside from a few minor temper tantrums.” She was lucky enough that they all seemed to like each other, but Cait had finally accepted Moogle. “But it looks like I’m not the only one with pet shaped news?”
Because that was absolutely a tiny little chameleon, wasn’t it?
“Thanks,” Rapunzel was happy with how it looked. She was drawing on her tablet that Caleb had helped her finally set up with. She clicked a couple buttons to get a new color and added some clouds while she chatted with Paine, “And yay! Cats can definitely take a while to get along; all that hissy is definitely a lot to handle. Hopefully they’ll all start having cuddle parties soon.”
She was drawing a quick couple sunflowers when she heard Paine ask about Pascal who was currently hanging out on a shelf at her desk. She paused to look up at him, held a hand out, and once he was firmly on her arm she held it out to Paine, “His name is Pascal and he came from my dreams, how weird is that? He’s pretty chill, which means he’s hopefully a good starter pet.” She wasn’t quite ready to commit to multiple pets like Paine did just yet.
Cats absolutely took a while to get along, it was why Paine was clearly insane for having so many. She really was just a walking poster for crazy cat lesbian. Oh well. “They’re so snuggly in the morning that it’s worth it. Just waking up with three or more cats cuddling into you? It’s bliss.” And probably a little why Paine had slowed down on the ‘nights out’ with other people. Why waste time with strangers when she could be doing something else with her time.
Came from my dreams wasn’t a sentence that Paine was used to yet; she sort of got that Orange County had something weird going on, she hadn’t heard about it anywhere else, but this dream thing was definitely a thing. So an animal from the dreams wasn’t just yet an incident that warranted running away. “Hey there,” but Pascal was just so cute, “definitely looks like he’s a little cutie.” For all that Paine had the kind of cold bitch look at times, she was gooey about animals and pets in general. “Is he your first pet ever?”
“That sounds adorable,” Rapunzel commented as she turned to look over her shoulder to watch Paine’s face when she spoke about her cats. It sounded absolutely adorable to have a bunch of cats hunker down in a bed with you and keep you nice and warm. It also didn’t hurt to listen to Paine speak and watch how her face turned into pure happiness when she spoke about them. It was really cute. Her cheeks turned pink as she turned back to finish up her drawing with a couple more strokes.
Rapunzel looked up as Pascal moved a little closer to investigate Paine and figure out if she was safe to approach. “I’ve never had my own pet before, but we had like a community dog we all took care of when I was younger and sometimes I go to the animal shelter to spend time with them and help walk them,” she explained before moving to save her work and then turned off her tablet.
Most of the time, Paine could talk at length about her cats, constantly. They all had their little personality quirks and the cute little things they did. But Paine probably spent too long talking about her cats on the best of days, she’s really gotten that crazy cat lady thing down early. “Small pets are probably a good starting point.” And Pascal was definitely that, but cute and possibly not too much hassle to take care of.
Paine didn’t know enough about lizard/reptile pet ownership. Shelters she did know.
“That’s really good of you,” Paine turned her attention back to Rapunzel as she shut her work down, “I’m sure those dogs appreciate your company more than anything.” Shelters were such a lonesome place for animals, it was possibly why Paine found it hard to stop taking in cats.
“Thanks, it’s a mutual appreciation,” Rapunzel admitted with a smile. She loved spending time with them and with the kittens so it didn’t seem like any kind of hard work to do. It was also really nice when she would go back the next time and the animals would be adopted. Hopefully all those worked out happily. Now that her computer was off she turned her full attention on Paine. Sometimes her coworkers remarked that having her full attention was like a shining sun because she just exudes warmth and happiness.
“So, now you have my total attention. I wasn’t sure if you had lunch ideas, but I really liked the idea of going on a picnic,” she flashed a smile at the girl and hoped that she would agree to it because she may or may not have a whole lunch packed in her fridge just in case and if she said no then Rapunzel would have lunches ready for her work days next week.
There was definitely something special about spending time with shelter animals, and Paine understood the affection there was towards those animals that just needed some love and help.
Paine wasn’t about to turn down Rapunzel’s attention at all, and with a last little wave at Pascal she returned the favour and gave Rapunzel her full attention -not just as bright as Rapunzel, but still warm and engaging. “A picnic sounds lovely actually,” Paine couldn’t really remember the last time she’d had a picnic lunch, probably before college. “I definitely don’t get outside enough, and it’d be nice to not have to talk over the din in a diner.”
At least she and Rapunzel could carry a conversation with fewer interruptions too.
Paine’s attention made Rapunzel blush just slightly and sent a little shiver down her spine. She wished that they had spent more time together by now, but the time they had spent together had been delightful. When Paine agreed to a picnic Rapunzel perked up even more and immediately got up to go gather everything, “Perfect! And you are a little pale, but that’s totally not a bad thing.” Rapunzel herself had a healthy glow about her from the California sun because she spent far too much time outside.
She wandered into the kitchen that wasn’t far from the area where they had been and started to fill the basket that was sitting on the kitchen counter in case Paine said yes. “There’s this really pretty Japanese garden I know of that we can go to. Does that sound okay?” She knew quite a few other gardens, so if that one wasn’t up Paine’s alley then she had back up.
Paine was a little pale, something she wasn’t self-conscious about, so she didn’t mind it being brought up at all. She guessed that the longer she lived in Orange County the more tan she’d become -at least a little, she’d need to get a tiny little colour about her. “I guess you’ll just need to make sure I get some more sun.” Some more lunches or whatever and she’d likely have some colour in her cheeks.
It took a lot for Paine to not just tell Rapunzel that anywhere was fine if they were having lunch together, she didn’t want to sound utterly corny, “That sounds really nice, yeah.” Honestly, Paine wasn’t exactly too sure of where she’d suggest, so at least Rapunzel had a bunch of ideas for lunch.
“I think that’s something I can do for you,” any excuse to be outside was good with Rapunzel and it meant that she could spend more time with Paine obviously. She finished packing up the basket and took it in her arms, “Do you mind if I drive us since I know where it is?” She always wanted to check first before assuming someone would be fine with being the passenger. She moved to go grab her keys and get ready to leave the house with Paine.
“Are you kidding?” Paine didn’t hold back the grin, mostly impressed at the planning that Rapunzel had already put into things. “You’ve made lunch and you can take us there? I just get to sit back and enjoy the view?” And sure, maybe it was a little overused as a pick up line, but Paine wasn’t sorry that she was likely to enjoy being able to paying more attention to Rapunzel than anything else.
“I could get used to this.”
Paine's response was far more than Rapunzel expected and she was pleased that Paine was actually enjoying all of this in the first place. A small swarm of butterflies started up in her stomach and her cheeks turned a light pink color and Rapunzel just hoped it wouldn't reach the tips of her ears.
"I mean…. We can make it a thing…" she commented softly. They had never quite discussed what was going on between the two of them, but Rapunzel certainly felt something for Paine but always wanted to wait for confirmation of reciprocated feelings. She unconsciously took a step closer to Paine as she waited for her reaction. The comment was fairly vague and Rapunzel certainly intended for it to have multiple meanings.
“I would like that,” in all honesty, Paine wasn’t exactly what people would call stable. She got the feeling that Rapunzel understood an element of that. Working the type of work they did, relying on clients to keep things going, it meant that sometimes you could get sucked into nothing but work. And that had a hindrance on interpersonal relationships.
Paine hadn’t managed to maintain a lot of those friendships from college for that reason. But she wanted to try at least, and there was just something about Rapunzel that made her want to try it with the bright blond.
“We could make it a standing date?” Although she did hope that throwing out a loaded word wasn’t off target.
Those simple words sent the butterflies into a riot and Rapunzel did relax when she studied Paine. Rapunzel was the type of person that could easily go with the flow and adapt to situations. She knew it would take some time to work out how to properly make this work, but Rapunzel definitely wanted to try as well. And then Paine asked that second question and Rapunzel couldn’t help herself as she gave a small nod.
Teeth found her bottom lip and pulled for a moment as she debated what she wanted to do in that moment. And then she decided ‘Carpe Diem’ and leaned in to capture Paine’s lips with her own. No time like the present to make sure they were both on the same page of this book. Paine’s lips sent a small shiver down her spine and she had absolutely no idea how she had resisted this long to do this.
To say that the kiss was unexpected would be an understatement, but Paine was quick to adapt to most things and able to catch up with things before anything got awkward or mixed up.
One of Paine's hands steadied herself with a loose grasp at Rapunzel's side, keeping the blond close for long enough to return the kiss and make clear intent. It was thrilling in a completely different way from casual hook ups with girls she barely knew, probably because she knew she liked Rapunzel enough spend time with her more than just enjoy some company -there was something to getting to know potential partners, wasn't there.
Taking the chance to deepen the kiss, a little nibble at the lip Rapunzel just bit, Paine stepped a little closer without pressing too close, they did still have lunch to go to after all. Paine didn't really want to risk just trying to keep Rapunzel home.
This was definitely a good idea was all Rapunzel could think as Paine returned her kiss. She was thrilled that the other woman felt the same and they were about to embark on a new journey. And honestly, if it was filled with this then Rapunzel was more than happy. That nibble on her lips drew a noise from Rapunzel and she knew she had to break the kiss because she really did want to go to lunch but man, it was so tempting to say fuck it and drag Paine off into her bedroom.
She broke the kiss reluctantly and reached up to touch her fingertips to her lips, cheeks pink, and a dazed look upon her face. "I would apologize for just acting spontaneously, but that was worth it," her cheeks only turned a darker pink and her admission and her look turned fond as she took in Paine, "I promise you more of that when we get to the park, but I really don't want this food to go bad. Shall we go?" She held a hand our between them and was already anticipating the feel of Paine's hand in her own.
Paine had to press her lips together to stop from going in for another kiss, but she did understand why they should definitely hit the breaks for now. The bubbling excitement of something new with someone special would definitely lead to jumping ahead of themselves.
“Lunch is good,” it would also give them time to maybe talk about something before leaping, but Paine didn’t hold back from taking Rapunzel’s hand too. “But the promise of more of that definitely adds more awesome to this day.” A bright spark on an already great hang out.