jonathan mcnamara can kinda see the future (heimdalr) wrote in monte_logs, @ 2012-05-29 21:00:00 |
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Being away from Montenegro, even if it hadn’t yet been a full day, was exactly what Riley had needed. Distance from Jazz and Reeve, with their contracts and pushing for clarity, was helping to get her head in order, as was being around Jon away from the dorms and having to sneak around. Admittedly, they were sort of sneaking around right now, but if everything went well she was hoping they’d be able to stop all that. After spending the day doing touristy shit around the city they’d chosen to stop in -- little known secret about Riley, she fucking loved doing silly touristy shit -- they were both pretty hungry. Thankfully, they were able to find a smaller restaurant that had a menu both of them could agree on and where people didn’t give them a weird look for how they were dressed. They were on a fucking vacation, she was allowed to dress like a reject from the 80’s if she wanted to. Following the host to the table, Riley took a seat and started looking over the menu.Trying to keep her tone casual, she glanced up at him with a slight smile. “Good call on getting dinner, I didn’t know how hungry I was until we walked in here. Know what you want?” Thank goodness Riley had suggested getting away from campus. Between failing history, his sister, and Riley’s brother, Jon was feeling like he was being driven insane. Contract his ass. Sure, he wasn’t the epitome of maturity or anything, but at least he didn’t want contracts from the guys his sister chose to date. Fuck. Needless to say, Riley had come up with a great idea at just the right time. Growing up in a highly touristy area of the country, Jon wasn’t too keen on doing the whole tourist thing himself, but doing it with Riley actually turned out to be quite fun. Hell, he had even bought some cheesy tourist t-shirt that would make itself into his summer outfit rotation once they were back at school. And now he was going to get cheap diner-style food? He was really going to have to show her his appreciation for this trip later on tonight. “Cheeseburger and fries. Maybe a milkshake too. Too bad this place doesn’t seem to have any beer.” There were reasons Jon’s belly was just slightly pudgy. “You?” Maybe it was because they were away from the watchful eyes of everyone else they knew, or maybe it was because Jon just had a way of making her feel comfortable and safe despite her being the stronger of the two, but Riley couldn’t stop smiling. Not the type of partially smirking smile that she usually wore either, but a full-on making her cheeks ache with the effort grin. “I’m going with a bacon cheeseburger, fries, and a root beer float,” Riley decided, putting down her menu. Leaning back in her chair, she started nibbling on her thumbnail, trying to quell the sudden case of nerves that sprang up. She’d been trying to find a way to initiate a conversation about where they stood now and where they should go from here all day, but hadn’t gotten up the courage to say anything yet. Now, or after they ordered, was starting to look like as good a time as any. “We could pick up some beer before heading back to the hotel if you want,” she offered, her eyes flicking down to the hand poised in front of her mouth before she dropped it to the table. “You’re having fun, right?” “Oh, bacon cheeseburger,” he replied, though it was more to himself than her. Bacon sounded good right now. A person couldn’t be nervous or worried or even care about his private business becoming public knowledge when bacon was involved. Clearly. Drumming his fingers on the table, Jon looked up at Riley and briefly smiled. “Beer would be awesome. I’ll even pay for some of the good stuff.” There would be no PBR or Bud Lite for Riley this evening. At her question, he stared blankly at the menus for a few moments as he tried to decide what exactly she meant by her question. Jon didn’t have tons of experience with relationships, but he did know sometimes women made loaded questions. Sometimes. “I’m having a great time,” he answered with a happy tone in his voice that indicated he was telling the truth. His murmured statement went ignored as she kept her gaze trained on her fingernails. She’d never been one for manicures or other beauty treatments, but even she could admit her nails looked wrecked from all her biting and picking at them. Jolting her head up to attention at the sound of his fingers drumming on the table, Riley relaxed at the smile on Jon’s face. “I’m not gonna argue if you wanna cover the beer,” she agreed, pleased with the compromise. She would have paid for it since she knew he didn’t have a job, but she wasn’t going to say no to his offer. Riley tried not to let the brief silence get to her, but it was taking Jon a long time to answer a simple question. How hard was it to say if he was enjoying himself or not? “Good, I’d feel kinda shitty if you weren’t,” she responded, relief flooding her eyes as the waitress approached. Giving her order, she waited for Jon to give his and for them to be left alone again, the expression on her face and the way she was biting her lip a sign that she really wanted to say something but wasn’t sure how. Neither of them were much for beauty treatments. Seriously. Just look at his hair. Jon hadn’t really thought his pause was that noticeable, which was probably a good thing. Normally, he wasn’t the type of person to to over analyze things and generally just went with the flow. But Riley... well, things were different with Riley. He didn’t want her to be second guessing things even though he spent a lot of time doing that himself. Naturally, this all made sense in his head. Just like Riley, he was relieved there was a few moments where he didn’t have to worry about the right thing to say. Once the waitress left, Jon leaned back in his seat and grabbed his water so he could take a nice long gulp. “You know, I’ve never really done anything like this before. I mean, I’ve gotten up and gone places, but never with a girl. Or this far away.” He paused to take another drink. “My friends and I once up and drove to Virginia Beach, but that’s not really far from the Outer Banks.” Obviously they had more important things to think about than their looks. Like anything else. Riley didn't want to overthink things, especially not these kinds of things. She liked what she had with Jon because minus the sneaking around it was easy. When they were together she felt unburdened, like she didn't have to worry about anything. Then Jazz and Reeve had to go and ruin everything by forcing a spotlight to shine uncomfortably on their decisions. Now they had to figure shit out. Studying Jon as he spoke, she raised a single eyebrow as she reached for her own water. Taking a sip, she wanted to ask if restaurants gave people complimentary water (and sometimes bread) to make these moments less awkward, but then he'd know she was feeling vaguely uncomfortable. "I love going on trips like this. Usually I just do it alone, or with Reeve, but this time you were the only person I wanted to bring." Was that weird of her to say? Probably. "I guess what I'm trying to say is I like you. And this. And I kinda don't give a fuck who knows." The sneaking around part definitely was hard, but obviously worth it if Jon had kept trying to seek out her company. Perhaps in the beginning it had been for purely physical reasons, though as things went on Riley actually started to grow on him. He actually started seeking her company just to hang out and other ordinary things. Things had been great and then siblings had to try to become involved with things that didn’t concern them. Right now, Jon was thinking maybe Jazz and Reeve had ruined a good thing. He really hoped that wasn’t the case. “You’re lucky. I don’t think I could do spur of the moment trips with my sister.” Really. It would be a disaster waiting to happen. Living in the same house was bad enough sometimes. And then she said it. They were words Jon had been thinking to himself, but overall had been too afraid to say out loud, especially to Riley. “I like you too,” he blurted out to the point it may not have sounded like the actual words. It wasn't that there was any problem with sneaking around; Riley knew that certain friends and relatives might make Jon's life difficult if they knew, but Jon had also proven that he was tough enough to deal with her which meant he should be able to handle her kids and those jerks in the MMA club who felt protective of her for whatever odd reason. If anyone asked her, not only did she not need to be protected, but of anyone she dealt with Jon was the least likely to be a problem. In fact, the only issue she'd encountered wasn't even his fault -- he had no control over his sister much like she had no control over her brother. "Reeve and I were all each other had for a while, so... we're used to putting up with each other." She explained, though she was sure he knew that by now. When he said he liked her too, Riley let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding in. "Good," was her immediate reaction. "I thought you should know that." She paused, looking down again. "Reeve thinks you're gonna hurt me, that's why he has that contract." Other than his sister, Jon didn’t really have anyone that could potentially make his relation with Riley the former jötunn and his sister wasn’t really a threat. He was his own biggest threat of making things difficult when it came to Riley. His own internal struggle of being Heimdallr versus being Jon did more for him than her brother or MMA ever could, but thankfully being Jon was winning this one. Now if he could just deal with siblings they would be all set. At the mention of the contract, Jon laughed. He really hadn’t meant to, but the whole notion of it was extremely ridiculous and somewhat archaic to him. You don’t draw up contracts to date people. At least not in a world that wasn’t a Hollywood movie. “Having sisters, I think I understand where he is coming from, but actually making up a contract just isn’t the way to go with that.” Pausing, he toyed with his fork. “If anyone should worry about getting hurt, it should be me. You could probably kick my ass pretty easily.” Much as she loved her brother, Riley wouldn’t allow him to dictate whether or not getting involved with Jon was a good idea or not. She had always been more emotional than logical when it came down to things and her heart picked Jon. Who was she to argue with that? Just because Angrboða and Heimdallr would have never even given each other a second glance was no reason for Riley to discount Jon. Especially not when Jon made Riley happy. Reeve and Jazz would just have to deal with it. Although she liked his laughter, Riley didn’t think this was all that funny. Her baby boy wanted to make sure that any guy who wanted to become seriously involved with her knew what they were getting into, that wasn’t something she could just laugh off. “Would you have preferred if he and Cyrus sat you down and gave you a talking to?” They probably would have. “That’s all the contract was, his way of giving you the dating my sister talk.” Unable to meet his eyes, she laughed shortly. “I could, yeah, but I wouldn’t.” He hadn’t expected it, but his heart picked her. In the past, Jon had definitely had crushes on other girls, but ultimately they never went very fair, mainly due to his own doing. His feelings for Riley were completely different and it had only been a few weeks since Jon had come to accept that. Like hell he was going to let anyone ruin this now. Jon wasn’t laughing off her brother’s concern; he was laughing off the manner in which he went about it. Concern was normal, but having an actual contract was just ridiculous. “It would have been better than making an actual contract,” he mumbled. Not that he wanted them to do that, though it would have been a bit more normal. “Soooo... we’re dating?” Nice transition. She was still floored by realizing she only wanted him. Strange as it seemed to her, Riley wasn’t exactly short on options as far as guys who were into her at the school. What she had with Jon trumped everything else despite her misgivings about them, but Riley was willing to take the chance. If she ended up getting screwed over by this those were the breaks. Riley wouldn’t justify Reeve’s mindset for Jon; she understood where her brother was coming from. They weren’t normal, and therefore had their own way of doing things. “You can look back over what you wrote easier than remembering shit,” she shot back without any real rancor. His next words brought a hesitant smirk to her lips. “Yeah... if that’s cool with you.” No pressure. “If that means I’m yours and you're mine.” The feeling was mutual, Riley. “I don’t need to sign a contract to remind me to treat you nicely and with respect, Riley,” he replied calmly because the last thing he wanted right now was a fight over this. No, he wasn’t going to sign the contract, but he didn’t need to in order to get the desired result. Jon could be an idiot, though his mothers had raised him not to be an idiot toward women. Reeve didn’t have to worry too much in that department. “Yeah. That is completely cool with me. Exactly what I was thinking.” If she knew that she'd feel a lot better, Jon. "What if I don't want you to treat me nicely, Jon?" It wasn't worth arguing over; while she understood and accepted Reeves' reasons she didn't agree with them. Riley did feel the need to give him one warning, though, as it was only fair. "My boys might want to kick your ass if you break my heart, so you know." Which, frankly, she found fucking adorable. "So then we agree, you're mine, exclusively, and I'm yours, and we'll be all together and shit. Cool. Good." This was going far better than she assumed it would. Baby steps, Riley. It took him this long to admit he wanted to be something more than just friends with benefits, so chances were he wasn’t about to spill his feelings anytime soon. Maybe next time. “Well that’s something we can talk over,” he answered slyly, hoping that they were on the same wavelength with this one. Thankfully, the waitress returned with their drinks and that gave Jon a moment of break as he fiddled with his straw, eventually taking a sip of the strawberry shake. “I’m perfectly aware they would kick my ass.” At least they weren’t Loki? “But that potential isn’t stopping me.” Baby steps, Jon, or just waiting for Riley to broach the subject first? It seemed to be a pattern with them that she was the one pushing for things to happen while he was sitting back letting the tide pull him along. "Whenever you're ready for that kind of serious discussion," she agreed, thinking that conversation would be much easier than this one. Offering a quiet 'thank you' to the waitress, Riley marveled at her root beer float before taking a sip. "Fuck, I forgot how good floats were," she muttered, before getting back to the subject at hand. "I'd be kinda mad if that potential did stop you, I know you have more balls than letting some brats scare you off." He had the stones, he just rarely seemed to remember that. That scenario worked well for him too. Their relationship was just starting and already Jon had something he needed to improve upon. Nice. Much easier than this one. “I’m not that stupid, Riley,” he laughed. It would take more than the reincarnated children of the Hag of Ironwood to keep him from something that made him feel happy. Hopefully things would settle down with everything in a week or two and this would all become one big joke. “What do you want me to call you? Girlfriend? Lady friend? Significant other? Ball and chain?” It worked mostly well for her. She enjoyed the aura of control it inferred, though even Riley didn't like wearing the proverbial pants all the time. This conversation had started out like she imagined pulling teeth might. "I don't know why you like to call yourself stupid even as a joke, Jon. You're not," she huffed, annoyance lacing her words. He was important once, and she wouldn't be around him if he really was an idiot like Reeve said. She'd get him to stop playing the fool one day, if it was the last thing she did. "I don't care, just not significant other 'cause that sounds lame, and not ball and chain since we're not married." The proverbial pants were kind of hot. Just sayin’. “Yeah, yeah. I know.” Somewhat. While he wasn’t intellectually stupid, Jon would be the first to admit he did stupid things. Jumping off a roof into a pool anyone? That wasn’t an example of fine thinking there. “Okay,” he started after a big gulp of milkshake. “Girl or lady friend it is then. You can feel free to refer to me as your awesome and hot boyfriend.” They were kind of hot, and could be just as hot on him. Occasionally. "Don't you 'yeah, yeah' me, jerk," she said with a slight snort, stifling the urge to whack his arm. Everyone did stupid things, in fact some might say Riley was in the middle of doing one right now, and she'd be hard-pressed to disagree. "My awesome and hot boyfriend, huh? I was thinking of just using my man, since we're adults. Or just mine;," she growled. That could definitely be arranged. Depending on who they asked, the same could be said about Jon. He was sure some fellow Norsemen would think he was losing his mind for getting involved with the former giantess. Hell, he even thought it himself at certain points but, fuck, Riley just made him feel happy. Right now, that was all that mattered to him. “I’m yours, Riley. No need to growl.” It was absolutely something that she’d appreciate, especially if she didn’t have to bring it up for it to happen. Happiness was more important than public opinion, at least that’s how Riley felt. Anyone who had an issue with her and Jon’s relationship could take it up with her fists. Or her boots. She wasn’t picky. She wouldn’t go so far as to say that what she was currently experiencing towards Jon was love, but it could get there someday and she wouldn’t mind. “Sometimes I just like to growl, Jon. Deal with it.” Jon could be full of surprises on occasion. “So I’ve noticed,” he said with a wink just as their food was brought to the table. For a few moments, he totally ignored Riley in favor of his burger, which was probably the first thing he had eaten since breakfast. Jon all but unhinged his jaw as he took a huge bite of the burger. Thankfully, he swallowed the food before he spoke. “If I’m lucky, maybe I’ll get you to do it later.” Riley liked a good surprise every now and then. His wink brought a blush to her cheeks that she was just going to ignore and hope he didn’t say anything about. Between Jon and James, she had blushed more in the past few months than in the entirety of her life. It was a good thing the food arrived when it did, since Riley needed the distraction. Still chewing her burger when he commented, she choked on her food. “Damn Jon, have some fucking faith in your skills.” |