zora steele đź—ž kara danvers. (zorel) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2019-02-20 22:57:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, * kit, * terri, c: malachi lane, c: zora steele |
WHO: Zora Steele & Mal Lane
WHEN: Saturday, February 2, 2019; Evening; Backdated
WHERE: Hotel in Portland, OR
SUMMARY: Zora and Mal talk about taking the next step in their relationship.
WARNINGS: None!
PROMPT: Dance of Romance
Zora had not actually realized that she and Mal would be getting their own room in Portland until they’d checked into the hotel and been given their keys, but she found that she was grateful for the happy surprise. Back home, it was hard to find real time alone with Mal because she’d still been making do at her sister and Lyra’s apartment, and the Lanes , though perpetually well-meaning, didn’t quite grasp the idea of privacy. Wherever they went, they were surrounded by their favorite people. It was a good thing, the novelty of which still hadn’t worn off for Zora who was so unused to having every space feel like a safe space, but she knew she was long overdue for quality time with just her boyfriend. They finally seemed to be finding their footing, both as individuals and as a couple, and it was a new normal that Zora was thankful for every day. Though they’d never be able to recover from the time her father had stolen from them, they felt stronger now than they’d ever been before. And Zora felt like she was starting to know herself even better than she ever had. The day had been a busy one with the early flight, and the two couples almost immediately heading off to see to the actual reason they’d all flown out here--to support Vi as she finally visited her brother. But the day was nearly over now and, bellies full to bursting from the dinner they’d grabbed nearby, both couples had retired to their respective rooms to call it a night. But Zora wasn’t exactly tired. She was buzzing with the excitement of being somewhere new. It felt like a freedom that she’d never had before and she was too full of the possibilities of being here with her friends provided to close her eyes just yet, even if she’d already slipped into an old pair of Mal’s sweatpants and a tee she’d borrowed from either her sister or Lyra. She had her phone out, scrolling through the network which was currently filled with the photos of beautiful dresses and mask from the town’s annual masquerade ball that they’d had to miss this year. Struck with an idea, Zora closed out the network and pulled up Spotify, searching quickly for a specific song--the first one she and Mal had ever danced to. Then she walked into the vanity area and grabbed one of the sleep masks from the counter and slipped it on. Walking over to where Mal was sitting at the little table by the window, she bit her lip to stifle a laugh and then said, “I know we don’t know each other, but I don’t have anyone to dance with and I don’t think you have anyone to dance with, so I was wondering if maybe you thought it would be a good idea if we, you know, danced with each other?” And then she grinned, pressing play with her thumb and setting her phone on the table before reaching out her hand toward Mal. Malachi hadn’t been out of Dunhaven since he had returned the previous winter to help with his father’s recovery. It was somewhat of a relief, then, that this travel was alongside friends. Even if he hadn’t been invited along, he would have encouraged Zora to go, but he was grateful for the opportunity for them to spend more time together before school kicked back into swing. Things were actually good. Better than they had been in a long time, really. Mal had finally begun to feel like he didn’t have to keep apologizing for the events that had surrounded his abrupt departure from Dunhaven. Though he had kept up with a lot of his volunteer work, he was no longer actively punishing himself with a schedule that allowed him no time to breathe or think or sleep. He was happy to help support another of their friends who was doing something difficult. Family and friendships were both important to him, and he didn’t want to take those things for granted. It had been a busy day, all in all. He was glad to have a few quiet moments now with Zora, though they were both independently occupied for the moment. He was reading a few pages in a book that he had brought, sitting near the window, and almost started when he heard her voice close behind him. He had heard her get up from lounging on the bed, but hadn’t realized she’d come closer. He couldn’t help the laugh that passed his lips when he saw her with that sleep mask on, even as she said those words from that first night they’d met. They’d been so young. They still were, but back then...life had felt a little less complicated. All he had to worry about was this dance and the beautiful girl in front of him, “That’s the best idea I’ve heard all night.” He could almost hear those words echoing from the past as that song began to play, and it struck a chord. He set his book aside and stood, taking her hand in his and slipping the other almost tentatively at her waist like he had those years ago, “I’m Malachi. You can call me Mal.” Zora felt a small thrill as Mal’s arm slipped around her. She’d felt it that night, too, when this beautiful boy that she never would have believed would single her out to dance with him had approached her and tentatively pulled her into his arms. They were much older now than they had been back then, and they were different people now, too, molded by their circumstances, and maybe a little worse for wear than they had been back then. If anything, though, that electricity she felt at Mal’s touch had only grown over the years and, though she had wanted him back then--wanted more of his time, more dances, more looks--she wanted him in a much different way these days. She wanted the things she’d wanted before but now even more than that, things she could only be given by the person who permanently held her heart as surely as he held her now. She couldn’t help the smile on her face or the flutter in her stomach at the mere thought that, though their words were more reflective of where they’d come from, this was a man whom she could call…home. At some point over the past several months, she’d let go of her fear of losing him and settled into a surety that, no matter what happened, they’d always find their way back to one another. “I’m Zora,” she said, reaching up to pull off the mask that wasn’t nearly as comfortable on as the packaging would have her believe. She let the mask drop to the floor as her arm went back around his neck. “You can call me, well, Zora. If you, you know, wanted to call me anything.” The events of the dance that night still went down in history one of the best things Mal believed he had ever done. Those beginning, fumbling moments had led him to her, and he had never really looked away. He had loved her from the beginning. It hadn’t been the fact that she was from Athena or her family had money or even that she was beautiful, even though she was. He’d become smitten with the fact that she adjusted her glasses when she was nervous, and developed a crinkle in her brow when she was reading. He had loved the moments when he could get her to laugh, and listening to her ramble about just about anything. He loved...her. Just the way that she was. Even with all the things that he now knew she had kept from him. They had both moved past all of that, and they were stronger for it, if a bit more world-weary. His smile only widened when she pulled off the mask that she’d worn. He could see her so much better then. “I think I’ll call you Zora,” Mal grinned as they continued to sway, turning in those gentle circles with only one another to guide their orbit. Unable to resist the temptation, Mal leaned in to capture a gentle kiss, “That wasn’t on the script. Sorry. I’m supposed to ask if you come watch any of the football games...that seemed the most likely place to see you again sooner instead of later.” “I am more than okay with improvisation,” Zora smiled, her chin still tilted up toward Mal, both reveling in the gentle kiss, and left wanting more. The latter was not an uncommon state of being when she was around him. “And I’m glad that I can finally answer that question honestly--I don’t enjoy football games, at all. I did everything I possibly could to come to the next one, though, just because I wanted to see you again, too.” Lifting a hand, Zora pushed her glasses up on the bridge of her nose and then let her head rest against his shoulder, her hand finding a new spot against his arm. Her tone taking on a more serious yet not unhappy tone, she said, “You know, there were days that I wondered what it would have been like if you’d never asked me to dance that night but, even on the worst days, I was so glad that you did. You’re the only person I want to dance with, Mal, and I don’t even care if it’s in a fancy dress or a pair of your old sweatpants that I’m never giving back to you. This is perfect.” “Playing it isn’t terrible, but even I don’t really like watching it,” Mal agreed with a small laugh. He had played in both middle school and high school and had been quite popular as the quarterback. He’d been good, even...but he hadn’t even watched many games since then, professional or otherwise, “I was very focused knowing you might be watching. I wanted to impress you, even if football wasn’t really the best way to go about that.” As she rested closer to him as they swayed, Mal smiled a little brighter. His hands tightened just a little at her waist as she spoke, as if to deny the notion that maybe he wouldn’t have asked her to dance...that maybe their entire trajectory towards knowing one another might have been different, “Us being together is just right, Zora. It always has been. I knew it back then, and that certainty has just grown stronger over the years. No matter if we’re dancing or studying or just existing in the same space...I always want to be with you.” Mal had spent far too much time apart, and he never wanted to return to what that felt like. It had been some of the darkest days of his life, and she - as always - was his light. If it was possible, after all this time, Zora still found herself falling in love with him all over again each time he said things like that. There was no questioning how much he loved her and she felt that every time she was near him. Her father might have tried to snuff that out, and may have even succeeded in making her believe it wasn’t true for too long, but she was more sure in the way they felt about each other now than she’d even been before Mal had left. She knew that they could, quite literally, go through the absolute worst experiences of their lives and come out on the other side of it together. She knew that, no matter what, he would always come back to her, and she would always wait for him. “I always want to be with you, too,” Zora replied, nestling closer to him, as if closer were even a possibility. “Even if that means watching football. I may not enjoy watching the game, but I love seeing you, especially when you’re doing something you enjoy, so I never minded going to the games, and I was always sufficiently impressed.” She smiled, tilting her chin up once more to look at him. “And I think I like this better than masquerade parties, too. No masks, just you and me. I think we should make dancing like this a thing. You know, whenever we miraculously have alone time together again.” Zora didn’t mind how full their lives were with people they loved, but she could admit that moments like this were rare, and incredibly precious. Mal hadn’t continued to play football in college even though he probably could have. His academics had been good enough for him to get a scholarship based on that merit alone, and with that being the avenue he had wanted to pursue, he had taken to that path with vigor. It left his time more open. Instead of going to practices all the time, he actually had more time to study and to hold the part time job at Java Chip. He grinned and brushed a kiss to her hair, “You cheering me on helped keep my love alive for the games anyway.” As he kept swaying there with her, Mal chuckled softly at her reminder that moments like this seemed to be stolen and few, “I’d dance around the kitchen with you back home even if my parents were there.” His smile didn’t falter, but Mal did wonder what it would be like to have more privacy with her on a more consistent basis. They had stepped back into their relationship slowly at first, but now they’d grown just as close as they had been before if not more-so. Back then...young as they were, Mal had been planning to ask her to marry him. He hadn’t reconsidered that path just yet...someday. But there were other options available to them, and his mind drifted to a recent conversation he’d had with his sister, “What...would you think about the possibility of making sure we have more alone time together? Not just on the off chance, whenever the planets align, but...consistently?” Zora didn’t even have to hesitate before she replied, “I’d think that would be perfect. Now that I have you, again, I want to keep you all to myself.” She smiled, pulling back just slightly enough to where she could meet his eye. “I don’t know how it’s possible given what both of our lives consistently look like, but if you have an idea, I’m all ears.” She didn’t know how to change their situation, but she knew that she wanted to. It had been helpful, at first, having her own space to learn and grow and figure out who she was but, as she became more and more confident in who she was, she also became more confident in what she wanted and what she wanted wasn’t necessarily helped by space, or their lack of alone time because what she wanted was him, and everything they were meant to be to each other. Mal’s thought had been somewhat impulsive, but now that he was considering it, there was sound logic to the possibility. Moving in together wouldn’t be the most outrageous thing to ever be suggested. Even though they were still in college, Mal thought they were rather mature for their age. They’d been through a lot of trials, together and apart, and found their way back to one another through incredible adversity. “We could get a place together,” the suggestion rolled off of his tongue easily, though he followed it up a few moments later, “With our sisters moving in together, it’s made me think a little. You’re going to have to find somewhere sooner or later, and there’s no reason why we couldn’t. No matter what our schedules looked like day to day, we’d always come home to each other. I know we’ll both still have to spend a lot of time studying, but that’s never been a problem for us before. We can at least think about it anyway? If that’s something you’d want to look into…” Zora had been planning on looking into more scholarships to cover housing on campus now that her parents were no longer involved in her schooling or her finances for various, obvious reasons. It wasn’t ideal considering that the semester had already begun and the chances of actually getting housing now were slim to none, but she hadn’t known what else to do. She certainly couldn’t afford to keep an apartment alone and she doubted Lyra was going to stick around much longer after Remi moved in with Waverly. But this. This felt like such a perfect solution that she didn’t know why the thought hadn’t occurred to her before now. Her features brightened and her eyes widened at the prospect of starting a home with this man that she’d loved before she really knew what love was, wherever that home could be. “I don’t want to think about it,” Zora replied, almost too emphatically. “I think it’s a great idea and we should definitely do it. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in recent years, it’s that I can handle anything as long as you’re by my side. I can’t think of anything I’d love more than knowing that I could come home to you and, no matter how hard the day was, it will be all right because you’d be there. So yes. Absolutely I want to look into it.” Mal had been staying out of the dorms and with his parents both out of an effort to help out at home and trying to save money. Much of his scholarship money had been reinstated when he transferred back into Dunhaven University, by some miracle, but he hadn’t wanted to put any kind of burden on his parents to pay extra for dorm when he could use what was left over after tuition for books and supplies that would otherwise benefit his education. The Lanes hadn’t minded having him home, especially in the interest of healing how he had left so unexpectedly before. Still, it felt like maybe it was time to put what he had saved to good use. He let the relief sink in before she even spoke, the expression on her features telling enough for him to know that she was in instant agreement with his suggestion. A broad smile crossed his lips the moment that she agreed, his heart feeling practically buoyant. Mal wasn’t sure what his family would say, but he hoped they’d extend the same support that they always had towards their relationship. He stopped their slow spin then, leaning in to capture another kiss in his excitement. The moment that their lips parted, he suggested, “When we get back into town we can start looking, then. I think Waves would have told me if they’d found a place so we should still have a little bit of time, but it can’t hurt to see what our options are. I think we can make it work, Z. It would give us more time for us.” |