WHO: Rachel McKenzie and Geoff O’Connell WHEN: Backdated to 5/16 WHERE: Geoff’s apartment SUMMARY: Rachel is stealing Geoff’s ice cream And also his heart. WARNINGS: Prelude to adultness. Refusal to use proper dishes. STATUS: Complete
Rachel padded back down the hallway after checking in on Aidan, and made a pit stop by the freezer for some ice cream before rejoining Geoff on the couch in front of the tv. “He’s asleep.” She told him as she topped off the carton with a healthy slathering of chocolate sauce.
Geoff looked up from his tablet, the news article bright on the screen as Rachel took her place next to him. It was natural again now to put his arm above her on the couch, an invitation for her to come closer if she wanted to. “I have perfectly good bowls.” he remarked easily, leaning in to kiss her temple.
“I’m sulking. No bowls allowed.” retorted Rachel, but leaned into Geoff all the same, careful not to spill anything on his shirt as she readjusted her legs. “What are you reading?” She asked through a mouthful of mint chocolate chip.
“Heathen.” Geoff sighed fondly as his arm wrapped around her. It was an old, familiar position, one that he hadn’t really imagined having again. At least not with Rachel. But then here they were, a truce that was quickly spiraling into something more. That had generally been what Rachel did to him though. “Catching up on national news.” he looked back to his tablet. “There is a whole wide world outside Woodsbridge.”
She smiled up at him innocently before returning her gaze to the screen, and hummed in agreement. The outside world. What a concept.
It was comforting, in some ways, to know that the earth kept spinning on its axle, that Woodsbridge wasn’t the center of the universe the way it felt like it was, sometimes. It was equally depressing, in other ways, what with how little trust she felt towards the leaders of their country, but that was neither here nor there, and didn’t really feel the need to bring it up because they had enough to deal with at the moment, anyway.
“I missed this,” Rachel said after a moment of contemplative silence.
The smart remark was at the tip of his tongue really. They were easy, natural, and part of their entire relationship. But the fact was that Geoff knew exactly what she was talking about. He hardly expected a honeymoon period to last forever and while it had not been all that long, the truth was that this felt comfortable in a way that Geoff had missed.
“Me too.” Geoff leaned in and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. “Granted it used to be a newspaper. But I’ve been informed print is dead.”
“My library will be very upset to hear that,” she put on a grim face as her eyes drifted over towards Geoff’s own personal collection of books. “I imagine yours will be, too.” Tablets were great and all, and super-convenient, but physical books had a magic all of their own that she didn’t want to part with.
Rachel took another spoonful of ice cream, then, and snuggled closer, even though it wasn’t even cold outside or anything. She’d just always been the kind of person who enjoyed physical closeness. And Geoff knew this about her, of course, which is why he’d done so well with being affectionate towards her. At least in the beginning. “I like that.” She informed him. “Knowing that you missed me, too.”
“I’m just a little old fashioned.” Geoff answered easily towards his own collection. It was fair enough that probably most of what he owned were books. Though the convenience of digital especially while researching was not lost on him.
“I like you.” Geoff smiled as he leaned his head against hers for a moment. “Why wouldn’t I miss you?”
“You would, I just like hearing you say that you did.” Rachel amended with a smug smile. She did that a lot more, lately, smiling. Not that she didn’t smile before, because of course she did, but she’d catch herself smiling in her reflection when she hadn’t even realized it, or just felt herself smiling while doing something completely inane, such as paperwork. “I like you, too.” Like-liked, even.
“Really?” Geoff asked, smirking slightly as he reached to set his tablet aside onto the arm of the couch. He might as well give up the pretense of his attention being divided. This was all too new again for that to be true. Reaching out with his newly freed hand Geoff caught her chin and leaned in to kiss her softly. “More than my ice cream?” he teased.
She considered this question - or pretended to - while she applied more chocolate sauce to what was becoming more ice cream soup than ice cream at this point, but the contented sigh that came from her lips after Geoff kissed her probably gave the game up. “I guess so,” she teased back. “But what do you have that ice cream doesn’t?”
“Oh a few things.” Geoff chuckled as his hand strayed up to her hair. She was as stunning as the first time he had seen her in his office, speaking up before she had left and he would have no idea when their paths would have crossed again if he hadn’t spoken in that exact moment. If not for that moment how much of their lives would have changed?
For now he smiled. “I’m a lot warmer than ice cream for one.”
“Most of the time,” Rachel allowed, though she closed her eyes as his fingers lightly massaged her scalp. She was done with her ice cream after that, and set it aside before climbing into Geoff’s lap to straddle him.
And to reward him for playing along, she gave him a long, thorough kiss. “What's the second thing?” Rachel asked, as she busied herself with pushing up the bottom of his shirt to find said warmth on her fingertips.
Ice cream was abandoned for now and Geoff was happy to let the melting carton slid for now as he found himself with Rachel and really nothing else in his sight or arms right now. Kissing her was the easiest way to forget about the world around them and how it was crashing down in a unique way.
“You want me to go through the list?” Geoff chuckled, hands straying down her sides. “I’m only occasionally sweet.” he cocked an eyebrow and leaned his head back to look up at her.
Rachel shivered slightly as Geoff put his hands on her waist, warm, practically burning, and squirmed in her place, excited for their game to continue and the promise of what was to come after. “True,” she nodded, and leaned forward to rest her forehead on his, breathing in the faint scent of his cologne and shampoo and man. “But it’s very hard to resist you when are.”
“Is it now?” Geoff grinned, leaning in for another kiss as his hands settled on her hips. There was a life in Rachel that had always driven him, that spark that burned like fire. Five years apart and he still couldn’t believe that fire had an interest in someone like him.
Those years together gave a very good reason though to move this off of the couch. Taking a judge of his place beneath her a wild romantic part of him wanted to just lift her up like some rogue movie star. Instead he chuckled softly, his head falling back to smile at her. “What I want is to pick you up and carry you to bed. But you’re going to have to forgive an old man needing his lady’s help to do that.”
“You know very well what you do to me,” Rachel murmured in his ear, and ran a hand through his hair, reveling in its softness. It was long enough for her to grab fistfuls of, which was exactly what she planned to do in a very short amount of time.
With a smile that contained promises, she slid off of Geoff and grabbed the ice cream to put back in the freezer. “Just so you know,” added Rachel over her shoulder on her way to the kitchen. “You are such a dork.”