Sarah Miller // Stephanie Brown (itseggplant) wrote in ourtrueselves, @ 2009-12-22 00:13:00 |
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Sarah had never been very good at dealing with anything that she didn't like, she'd either run away from it or throw herself into something that was maybe a little self destructive. So really her options after the funeral were either to get so drunk that she threw up all over the well meaning - but infuriating - Upper East Siders or leave. She chose the leaving option, and had quickly packed a bag, grabbed her passport and drove to the nearest airport. She'd asked for the first ticket to Europe and after a quick conversation designed to make sure the girl behind the desk thought she was a rich kid with more money than sense and not a terrorist who just wanted to get on a plane, she had a ticket to Berlin. Then it was just a case of booking a hotel and getting on the flight. Thank god and the little baby Jesus for iphones and credit cards. There had been a pang of guilt when she was sitting in first class and waiting for the plane to take off, enough to make her e-mail her nearest and dearest to tell them that she wasn't dead in a ditch, or drunk in an alley or whatever ridiculous scenarios they might be coming up with, but was instead on a plane headed to Europe and she'd be back soon enough. It was just enough to stop her from feeling like a really horrible person. Everything went smoothly from there. The flight, the taxi to the hotel, checking in and going up to her room. Everything was fine for about an hour until Sarah realised that the solitude and isolation that she had craved twelve hours ago just wasn't what she wanted at all. Now she was just an American girl in a posh hotel room bored out of her mind because she was alone and couldn't even understand the TV programs. This was turning out to be such a great idea. James was quite aware that this was possibly not the best idea. When your girlfriend leaves for Europe after her parents die, it's probably a sign she wants to be alone and holy shit, he just mentally called her his girlfriend again. Tut tut tut, he was obviously becoming such a romantic and it was spreading like an unwanted virus. It hadn't taken much to blag the info, though. She'd used her real names and he hadn't had a hacking challenge in a while. Mostly because he didn't really want to seem like more of a nerd in front of Sarah. He didn't want her to see his geektoid side with the minions and the excitement of routers. He'd probably get his ass dumped. Or not, considering her other half seemed to like the whole Dungeons and Dragons crowd. So that was how he'd ended up with a box of Levain cookies and a flask of milk, standing outside what he hoped was her room in fucking Berlin. He knocked, because he was a gentleman or something like it. Sarah was beginning to get seriously emo. An emoness that would’ve rivalled Tim Drake’s, and no the irony of her running off to Europe after a parent dies wasn’t lost on her at all, she was just choosing to ignore it. It was so much better than thinking she was copying Steph’s ex-boyfriend. She was in the middle of once again trying really hard not to cry when there was a knock at the door, which was weird because she didn’t know anyone in the city and hadn’t ordered any room service. If the staff were that incompetent then she’d have to move to another hotel. However, when she opened the door it wasn’t incompetent staff. It was her boyfriend. At least James was as close as she was ever going to come to having a boyfriend and it was easier than mentally calling him a fuck buddy with feelings. She blinked at him a couple of times, then opened and closed her mouth like a goldfish while looking at him in complete confusion. “Um. Hi?” She asked. This was all a bit weird. Nice weird, but weird. “You wanna come in?” At least it had stopped her from crying. James looked her over wand tried not to look like he was judging the hell out of her. She didn't look too bad. For someone who's parents had died, anyway. She just needed something that was going to make her smile and the look right now wasn't so much crying or smiling so he'd have to do a bit better. "Uh, yeah, being that I just skipped the country," He said, walking straight through into the room. He shot her a friendly smile, "There's a lot of that going around." Sarah stuck her tongue out childishly before closing the door and going to sit on the bed. “Yeah, well, you’re just a copycat.” So her comebacks needed work. “There a reason why you just skipped the country? Or did you just miss me?” She pulled at one of her blonde curls, teasing it until it was more frizz than curl. Not a good look, but if he ditched her over having bad hair then she’d have to hurt him on principle. She drew her knees up to her chest and rested her chin on them. “Wait, is that a thermos? Did you smuggle booze across the border?” Confusion was slowly becoming the feeling and look of the day. "What can I say, I'm a romantic," James deadpanned, smiling both to lighten and the mood and because for once, it looked like he was going to win a friendly banter! Of course, someone had to die for that to happen and he felt badly about that but still, the moment of victory had come and he was going to enjoy it. "What?" He looked down and would have smacked his head if he didn't have his hands full. "No, it's just..." He passed her the ribboned plastic with the cookies inside it. "Whenever shit goes down, I always do these major stages things and one of them is cookies and chocolate milk so...." He gestured with the thermos at the cookies, "Cookies and milk." Sarah smiled, a proper genuine smile that she hadn’t really managed since before the funeral, it was actually really good to have him here. Although she wasn’t about to stroke his ego and let him know that just yet. Cookies and milk though? She never would have guessed that was part of his coping mechanism, but it was actually really sweet. “Okay, so you get points for this. I don’t know what you can exchange them for, but you’ve got them.” She moved her legs and crossed them, undid the ribbons and the plastic, and then shoved a cookie into her mouth. And, oh wow these were amazing cookies. Really, really amazing cookies. “Do you want one?” She finally asked, after finishing the cookie. “Or are you just in it to watch me try and fit a whole one in my mouth?” "Is that like relationship points?" James teased with a cheeky grin, "Can I save them for the next time I fuck up for time off for good behaviour?" James flopped down and shook his head, producing another pack of four. There was no way he was punishing himself more than his parents were probably going to for him disappearing for the third time in a year. He passed her over the flask to wash it down and then inserted half of one of the cookies in his mouth, with a downright pornographic sigh. "Well worth it," He told her, through his mouthful of cookie dough. "Figuring you can get more milk somewhere in Berlin," He said, looking out at the window. "I assume they got milk from cows in Berlin." “If you never call them that again, then they can be those kind of points. You can exchange them for sexual favours.” Sarah grinned, taking the flask and washing the cookie down. “Or for time off for good behaviour, but I can’t promise how much. It depends how big the screw up is. If we’re talking major then you’re in the dog house, Jaybird.” She smiled and leant over to kiss his cheek. “Thank you for skipping the country. You really didn’t have to.” Her aww so sweet moment was then stopped by her looking at him strangely. “No, they get it from cats.” She deadpanned. "I don't reckon we're much in the mood for sexual favours," James said, in a more solemn tone than he meant to. Clearly, he required more cookies to make him feel less melancholy and more full of sugar. "I don't mind ever stalking, er, following you out of the country." He was not the little stalker boy of the family. Even if he did stalk, he did it in a large, manly way. "Especially when you're doing the whole need to get away thing. I don't think I'm missing anything anyway and if I am, I'll figure it out." He was pretty sure she was joking so he just smiled at her, "Selina would clean up around here, then. As long as it was humane and all that jazz." Sarah shrugged, he was right. She wasn’t really in the mood to put out, the furthest she wanted to go was probably a snuggling marathon. Not exactly the kind of think most people connected with her but whatever, like she cared. “When most people hear that someone needs to get away they don’t exactly break out the credit card to follow them.” She pointed out, shoving a quarter of a cookie into her mouth. “You’re such a stalker boy.” She mumbled around a mouthful of cookie. “She’d rule the city with an iron… whip?” She offered before smiling and ducking her head. “Oh god, my jokes need so much fucking work.” "I didn't, I took the MTN," James said, making a face at the beam-me-up-Scotty technology. He was always a little afraid that parts of him wouldn't make it but the things you do for love, right? "Besides, I figured you wanted to get away from the situation...not me." The thought suddenly hit and he felt vaguely uncomfortable, "Was I wrong?" “No! No, no, not wrong.” Gee, Sarah, how many no’s were in there? “You’re the one person I don’t want to get away from. I love Andi and Indigo, Luke, and everyone but they… I just needed a break from them. I love them to death, but they keep making sure I’m okay. Or it feels like they are. You… oh god, can I stop talking now?” She could feel her face burning from all the blushing she was doing. “You’re different. So I wasn’t trying to run away from you. I seriously need to shut up now.” That sure was a lot of no's and since when did he start thinking like a Kansas farm boy? "Well...I'm glad. That's awesome. That's really awesome." Just one more awesome, Jamie-boy, just one more and you're a total dork. He burst out laughing and shook his head, "Yeah, can we both just stop talking before we make total freaks out of ourselves?" He was kind of proud of being different, but he figured that puffing out his chest and doing a what-a-feeling!esque YAY about it was going to make her think he was drunk and he wasn't. There was possibly a bit of a sugar high going on, which was really badly timed, but he could also just be happy about it. "I think you're nice and different too. Or something. Just gotta shut up." Sarah couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of the whole thing. Both of them were being complete spazzy dorks about the whole thing, which was nice in a way but was also really, really ridiculously embarrassing. She buried her head in her hands, and wondered if it would be possible to hide behind her hair. It wasn’t like she didn’t have enough of it. “Okay, we’re both amazing.” She summed up. She flipped her hair out of her face and ripped off some more of her cookie and ate it. “So, you brought me cookies and have made me laugh. What’s next on the agenda, Boy Wonder?” She asked. "We're amazing, we're practically rockstars." James was aware that didn't necessarily make a lick of sense but what the hey, it didn't matter. "Uh...those were my mission agenda's, Blonde Wonder, but I guess we could..." He looked around the room for an idea of what to do when the cookies and milk were done and the giggling was over. "Uh, watch crappy German television or American television in German and see if we understand any of it?" That was a little pathetic, but he wasn't about to go out. "It's too fucking cold to go out. This whole skipping countries, pretty sure it's meant to be to somewhere warmer. Just an FYI for next time, yeah?" “Next time I promise there will be bikinis and drinks by a pool, but I wanted somewhere cold and wintery. I’m a New Yorker, warm winters would freak me the hell out.” Sarah nodded. “I already know my German sucks. I think I’ve already insulted somebody’s mother by accident. Or maybe asked if they fucked horses or something. They looked scandalised, whatever I said!” She stretched her legs out and leant back against the headboard. “If we’re lucky, they’ll have an episode of Law and Order and we can guess who did it from the tone and the acting. Or there is always the mini bar?” "Cause you're depressed cause your parents got killed?" James could have bitten his tongue off after that but it would have been too late. One of these days he'd learn to put his brain into action before putting words in his mouth but it wasn't going to be today. "Yeah, can I rephrase that and we go back to you telling someone their mother fucked horses?" Sarah’s smile faded and she glared at him as she reached over and hit him around the head. “You’re such an idiot,” She said. “Rephrase, very, very quickly before I think about kicking you out into the cold.” She crossed her arms and waited. Yeah, there were a million other things that would’ve annoyed her more but c’mon, couldn’t he have a little bit of sympathy? Or employ a brain to mouth filter? "Okay. Winter is setting a mood and you're not in the mood to wade?" That sounded a little better, anyway. "I think I'm going to swear off alcohol in case the filter gets worse than it is but you can attack the minibar if you want. I'm sure I'm less offensive to drunk people." There was also the other option but if she was mad, that might not be the best idea. "I...do have another idea," He moved from foot to foot, "If you want something other than Law and Order in languages neither of us understand." “I’m not having sex with you.” Sarah said. “I’m not in the mood-” Oh god did she just say that? Ugh, that was terrible and pathetic. “-and you were just a grade A idiot so I’m allowed to hold out on you.” He couldn’t be dumb enough to seriously suggest that though, could he? “Okay, spill it, Wonder Boy. What’s your idea?” She asked. He shook his head, before shaking his hands at her. "Nothing like that. It's just..." He gave a heavy sigh and just put his arms around her and gave her a pat on the back. Well, either she'd hit him, knee him or he was humiliating himself or there was a slim chance this is what she was in sore need of. "Just...um, that." Oh. That wasn’t what she’d been expecting at all. She hugged him back tightly, and closed her eyes tightly. She didn’t want to cry again, but the hugging and comfort just made her want to let it all out, and boy did that sound lame? She clung onto him in silence for a little while longer, not wanting to spoil it by opening her mouth and letting stuff just spill out of it. “Okay, hugging and snuggling it is.” Sarah said, pulling back from him a little bit and relaxing her hold on him. “Thanks. For the… yeah.” "Yeah..." He said, giving her a squeeze and for once, it wasn't on the ass. It was a little awkward but it wasn't as bad as it could me. He gave her a quick kiss on the hair and shrugged a little. "We could just do this. Maybe get warm and do that with some kind of food stuff and crappy television, what do you think?" “When did you become such a good boyfriend?” Yes, she used the ‘B’ word, but she really didn’t give a shit anymore. Even if she would probably get mocked mercilessly for it. “Have you been reading self help books? How To Be A Better Man?” That didn’t mean she could mock a little bit before he started though. “I think getting warm needs to be our first priority,” Sarah said. “Followed by food and not acting like complete idiots.” She kissed his cheek and smiled at him. Yeah, there was no way they weren’t going to act like huge sappy idiots, was there? At least here there was no one around to see them. “So. Getting under the covers with me?” "I can't believe you think I read self help books," James said, giving her a look that would do an emoticon proud, "I can't believe you think I read." Okay, the last part, obviously a joke, but he wasn't going to be told he was a sap in that round about way. He was not going to get mocked that badly. "I will, however, get under the covers with you." He smiled at her, and gave her a slight push on the arm. "We're not being idiots or boyfriendgirlfriendy. We're just...hanging out and having fun and having human feelings like the non-robots we are, yeah?" “I think you read comics for the pictures,” She joked, and took off her sweater before pulling the covers back and getting under them. She moved around to get comfortable before pulling them up to her shoulders. Ah, warmth, something Berlin was greatly lacking. James was right, next time she needed to run off somewhere sunny. “And maybe textbooks for school?” She asked teasingly. “Gotta love those wacky emotions.” She said. “I’m not sure watching German TV is having fun, but it’s a start. Maybe tomorrow, if it rises above 25 degrees we can actually go outside and see what the city has to offer!” She faked excitement, opening her mouth wide in pretend shock at how truly exciting the possibility of leaving the hotel room was. “And we’re being a little idiotish. How about this? We can act like total spazzes tonight but no one finds out? So there will be no ‘aww, you two are so cute!!’ going on from the peanut gallery.” More commonly known as Andi. "And the WHAM! BOOM! and SHAZAM! parts, obviously." He did like those parts in comics without a doubt, but he did like the words as well. He kicked off his shoes and shrugged off his jacket (way harder than it sounded by the way) before pattering over after her and climbing onto the bed. "I have the textbooks on tape, as read by Christopher Walken. Awesome, awesome voice, that dude." "We can make it fun and guess what they're saying," James said, trying to get into the spirit of it. "No one would ever believe we were being oh-so-very-cute anyway, Sar. We're just not that kind of people. And by no one, I, of course, mean Andi." “I’d prefer to have mine read by Morgan Freeman. Let’s face it, that would be the most calming voice ever when having to learn about New York City crime stats.” Sarah said. “I kinda want him doing my satnav voice so the next time I get turned around in the ass end of nowhere I will be calm and relaxed!” “She thinks we’re adorable until we start perving on each other in front of her. Then she kinda wants to turn us both into frogs or something,” Sarah said. “So she’d buy the cute factor. She might just think we were both really drunk at the time, but she’d buy it.” She rested her head on his shoulder, “I bet they think we’ve just gone off for a dirty weekend.” "I don't think I'd be comfortable with God reading to me about engineering," JAmes said, but stopped for a moment, "Though I guess if he engineered the human body, he's gotta know something about it. Though considering how I feel sometimes, he really should read the manual a few more times..." It's possible he needed to stop rambling. "I don't really use satnav. Does it even work? I remember hearing stories about trying to go through rivers and shit." Wait..."Andi thinks we're adorable? What is she smoking and does she share?" He pushed his eyebrows up and down but collapsed into a fit of laughter, "Oh, god, I can't even do that. Dirty weekend be fucked." “I think he got a few things right about the human body. Yours is nice, at least.” Sarah said, trying not to make it sound like a come on although she was probably failing miserably. “And yeah, the satnav works, well it gets me from the city to wherever you are without driving me through any rivers. Or shit.” “Oh my god, the pun!” Sarah laughed, burying her head into the crook of his neck. “That was… oh god, that was worse than Dick’s.” She tried to take a moment to control her giggles, and failed. “No more puns for you, Jaybird. None at all!” "Yours is very nice too, sunshine," James told her before mentally facepalming. Sunshine? Yeah, if he'd like to stop being Dick or gay any time soon, he'd really enjoy it. "As I recaaaall, I went to see you the first time. It was pretty dismall weather too, but you were maybe kind fo worth it." There, that was so over the top sappy she'd probably get the giggles. Or maybe he wouldn't have to wait. "Oh, man!" He hadn't even noticed that one either. "When I'm nervous, I pun. It's my inner Robin, just deal with it and move it along." He tried to pull the covers up over him in a slightly childish 'just lemme alone' move that he didn't really mean. “Yeah, you did. It was the beginning of a beautiful friendship!” She said, going a little overboard with the melodrama, but she was a lot happier now than she had been when she arrived and dammit, she was going to embrace her good moods as they came along. “And my body is nice, thank you for noticing.” Sarah tried to pull the covers back from him and ended up lying on her back giggling. “What the hell do you have to be nervous about, Jaybrid?” She asked between giggle fits. "Enough with the black and white melodrama, I never did like Casa Blanca." He made a face at the whole old movie business. He, as a rule, didn't like them. There was an old one called Angels on me or something but that sounded like a bad porn. "You have a fucking amazing body. Should never forget it." "Boyfriendly shit, Girl Wonder. I can't be that casual when you're-- gimme that!!" He tried to pull the covers back to him, so he could resume his hiding underneath them. “How can you not like Casablanca?” Sarah asked, shocked. “It’s an amazing movie! I can’t believe you don’t like it. I watch it every Christmas, that and It’s A Wonderful Life. They’re my Christmas movies, so I normally end up crying like a girl.” Sarah attempted to wiggle her hips, but it didn’t really work from her position and she ended up bringing her hands to her face, “Okay, I promise not to forget it. Promise.” “Nope!” She tugged the covers back. “Oh, get over it, Hot Stuff. If you didn’t want to be my boyfriend then you wouldn’t have crossed continents. And it’s not like I’m talking relationships and weddings and babies. So calm the fuck down and stop being nervous. It’s just me!” Okay, did you maybe go a little overboard on the pep talk there Sarah? Just a bit? Oh yeah. "It's not an amazing movie. It's just a movie. It's not as a big a deal as it's meant to be. I don't mind It's A Wonderful Life, though so we could always watch that." James was not about to point out that he quite enjoyed watching the Santa Claus movie when he was young because either she would understand and be embarrassed too or she would laugh at him, which would suck. "...Gots ants in your pants, Miss Evans?" He asked, trying to sound matronly. "I don't mind talking about that shit sometimes. After all, my mother is suggesting you as a potential baby maker and I got to admit, those would be some pretty babies who could take over the world," And probably end up taller than him, he added silently. Wasn't that a terrible thought. “That’d be nice. I wonder if we can find an English copy in Berlin. I’ll ask the concierge tomorrow. Unless you want to go home, in which case it’ll be my DVD and you can pat my hair as I cry.” Sarah said. She stuck her tongue out at him, because nobody said she had to be mature about this. “Oh, shut up.” Sarah thought about it for a moment, that would be one pretty kid. “Our babies would be the cutest thing ever. Curly hair, blue eyes, and so pretty.” There was no arguing it. “Do you want to have kids someday?” With me? Was the unasked question, which would remain unasked for as long as she could contain it. "They probably do, I bet English and American people come here all the time for the warm weather," James teased, thankful to get some of his groove back. "We can go home whenever you want to go home. As long as I get home for Christmas, so my parents don't murder me. One life time of that was quite enough and don't get mad at me, I just heard what I said and now I feel terrible and would like to use those brownie points to get out of it and move on to something nicer." For instance... "Like, in general? Yeah, I'd like a couple of little ones running around. Someone to teach to swear, show to ride the bike and read bedtime stories about caterpillars to. What about you?" Something hit him then though, "Or did you mean with you?" So James was officially a bigger idiot than Sarah thought he was, “I’m not about to tear up every time somebody mentions parents and murder in the same sentence, but you could try thinking before opening your mouth.” She said, even if it left her feeling a bit like she’d been punched in the gut. “Let’s just keep the Christmas talk to what movies I’ll be watching and away from family stuff and all will be forgiven.” “Well, do you want to have them with me? Way off into the future.” Very far into the future, because she was really not ready to be responsible for anything more than herself right now. “Um, I think I’d like a couple of kids one day. When I’m about thirty.” "Uh, if you're okay with the carrying and giving birth and raising part, I'm fine with the sex, running after your random cravings and raising part," James shrugged, thinking about it. "As long as you continue to eat in that special Sarah way you have." He really didn't mind it at all, thinking about it. They could be impressive children, after all and maybe they had a duty to the world. Of course, there was a clincher. "How do you feel about pets?" Sarah thought about it, having kids with him would probably be better than most of the other guys she’d probably try to convince to do it with her. For a start, she actually liked spending time with him, that was probably important. “Yeah, I’m okay with that, and I don’t even realise I’m turning eating into a spectator sport most of the time, so I don’t think that’ll change.” “As long as you help clean up after them and there’s room then it’s fine. I refuse to keep a dog in an apartment, it wouldn’t be fair.” Sarah answered. “Why? Planning on buying me a puppy?” "As long as you help clean up after the kids, I can help clean up after the pets," James declared, mentally trying to sort everything out. Then had to stop himself, because he did not like things planned, with the possible exception of wanting a pool when he had a house. "As long as you don't mind a pool either." Though the idea of buying a puppy was a nice one, he really didn't think either of them were home enough to take care of something like that. Maybe when they finished college. Not that he was seriously thinking about that. “Deal.” Sarah said. “I guess there can be a pool if it was in one of the other boroughs. Oh god, we’re going to grow up to be boring people who live in a suburb, aren’t we? Promise me we’ll do crazy things when the kids are somewhere else, like rock climbing or base jumping or jumping out of planes or something?” She wasn’t sure if this was serious planning about their future, which was weird because a few months ago they were both very anti the idea of being a couple, but it was nice. A little bit nice, anyway, to have something stable laid out in front of her. Even if it didn’t actually happen, the idea of having a future beyond the here and now was… nice. Oh god, she was turning into such a fucking sap. "We'll still get into bar fights and flash people when there's little kids around, I promise." James told her, dutifully. He didn’t want to become boring either. He may not have wanted to get old and sappy, but he couldn't help getting old and apparently, they were both fine with being a little bit sappy. "We don't have to think about schools and college funds other than our own any time soon," He reminded her, so they didn't sound utterly ridiculous. “Oh man, I don’t even want to think about my own college fund right now. Anyone else’s might break my brain.” Sarah said. “And we can deal with the whole kid thing in ten years or whatever when we can give up the life of partying all the time.” And give up the life of running off to Europe whenever there’s something she can’t deal with, although she should probably stop doing that anyway. It wasn’t exactly healthy, even if it did mean that she was seeing the world. "Yeah, cause it'll involve going home," He told her, giving her a light on the head. It wasn't supposed to be condescending, he just wanted to remind her that she still had a decent enough home to come back to. "I am not ready to do my Christmas shopping. I think I want to hide from that too." “I will go home when I’m ready, thank you.” Sarah said, trying to put on a snooty attitude along with it, but it fell flat when she laughed at his complaint about Christmas shopping. “I finished mine ages ago. I’ve got almost everything wrapped too. It’s all just there ready to be handed over when I eventually get back home.” Although she didn’t want to think about what she was going to do with her parents presents. Leave them alone? Take them back to the shops or maybe even give them to charity? She had no idea. “I have no idea how you can leave it so late. Should I be expecting something from the gas station or Wal-Mart?” "Next Day delivery from Amazon," James nodded, solemnly. He really did love the internet age, where you could order a pizza or perfume. "Or I can just go into New York. There's nothing like beating old ladies to the last presents at this time of year. Really gets you in that old Christmas spirit." He had no idea what he was supposed to get her. He supposed that it was too fucking cold for some of that ice cream, jewellery was so overdone and lingerie would be more for him. Oh, that was a good idea... “That’s so terrible.” Sarah said, trying not to laugh at the mental picture of him actually getting beaten with a handbag by a little old lady. Don’t mess with New Yorkers, they could be mean if you get between them and a bargain. “If you come into the city then I can take you shopping. I promise to even stay far away from the shoe department! Any shoe department!” She didn’t mention anything about clothes, bags, lingerie, or anything else he might have problems being around. In light of all of that she could give up looking at shoes, she had a closet full of them anyway. “And if you’re lucky then there can be very public making out, to the point where people tell us to get a room.” "I'm not terrible, I'm brave." James reached over for one of the remaining cookies, breaking a piece off, "Just not brave enough to go shopping with you!" He liked girls, he liked their clothes but he didn't really want to know where they came from. It's not like you go for a burger and want to see the cow, is it? "We could always just skip the shopping and do that," He told her, before giving her a smirk, "How am I supposed to buy you something if you're right there, anyway?" “I could help point you in the right direction to make sure you get me something I’ll like?” Sarah offered. Although making out somewhere very public did have its advantages over dragging him around Bloomingdales again. He’d probably get her banned from the store if he destroyed another display. “Okay, fine, we can skip the shopping. I am way too good to you, by the way. I should be given a medal.” Still, there was an issue with that plan. “I guess if we’re going to do that then we have to go home before Christmas Eve, won’t we? There goes my impulsive getaway.” "I'm not that bad, I have survived twenty years of buying gifts for girls and I'll survive another." Of course, this is going to be the first time he was going to have a Christmas with a ~girlfriend~ so he'd have to be careful to get her nice stuff but he could do it. He was a Robin, for fucks sake, he could handle it. Enough people got in those short pants, right? "It's a week away, Girl Wonder. I do need to get home for Christmas or I'm going to get lynched. You're welcome to save me, if you aren't hanging with Andi though." Yes, because that was going to be a good idea. Invite her to Christmas, very non-committal. “Twenty years? So you were buying gifts when you were an ickle little baby?” Sarah teased. “I’m not that difficult to buy for, really. I’m obnoxiously easy, in many different ways.” She shrugged and pulled the covers even more around herself. “You don’t even have to get me something if it’s going to cause you problems. I’ll survive.” Yeah, right, she might survive but he probably wouldn’t survive the dry spell he’ll find himself in. “I have no idea what I’m doing. I need to talk to Luke about it, but I might just take you up on that if plans haven’t been made for me.” Christmas was one of the few holidays her parents normally made it back for, so leaving Luke for it was probably a bad idea, at least not without talking to him first. “You know what it’s like, you leave people alone for too long and they all start making plans without you." "I'm just that good," James nodded, putting his hand to his chest to try to show he was being sincere. "I know you're easy, but I feel like I should reward that with either something pretty or something good. I'm easy that way." He pushed himself up and nodded, "If you don't want to be with Luke or whatever, you know you can come. To dinner. If you want." He had to stop rambling immediately, because this is getting ridiculous. "I promise not to make any plans for you. It's cool, we'll just go with it and whatever works out, as long as I get home at some point." “I can go along with something pretty, or anything sweet, or I’ll settle for something that means well.” As long as there was a gift, Sarah would be impressed. Even if it was something bad she’d still get a kick out of it, or would when telling Andi and Indigo all about it. “I might come over after spending time with Luke, MTN it up to Albany where it’s green and probably all snowing and looking like a perfect Christmas card. You just can’t get rid of me, Ramble Boy.” She teased. “I know, I just bet that Andi and Indy are in the middle of planning where I’m going to be, what I’m going to wear and even what I’m going to eat.” She hoped she was wrong about that, or she’d be going very far away very quickly. Luke be damned. "I'll buy you something nice for the fact you are awesome and have sex with me. It's like we're married or something, only much better," James commented, then made a face at the fact the only other married couple he knew was his parents. "I'll do my very, very best," He saluted, trying to lighten the moment. "Yeah, you can make snowmen. This year, I'm doing bat ears. Come on, how can you turn that down?" He wasn't quite sure how he was going to get them to stay up but he'd give it a good go. "The witches of eastwick can spare you for a few hours of snow and food, I'm sure." “Present for opening my legs, huh? I can go along with that. Maybe I should’ve started demanding presents way sooner.” And maybe that makes you sound a little bit like a hooker, Sarah. “I’ve already got yours and I’m not worried. You do like the colour pink, right? And ruffles?” Playing him like this was way too much fun. “I’ll make mine a Batgirl, yours can be Batman. Even though I have no artistic skill whatsoever so it’ll probably look more like a Batblob.” She shrugged before kissing him lightly. “Okay, Boy Wonder, you’ve convinced me. I will at least be at yours for dessert and snow, okay? I’ll try for dinner if Luke makes other plans.” "Most girls do. Wow, may to make it sounds like you date hookers, keep up the good work," He made a wave motion with his hand and almost facepalmed impressively when he realised he's that out loud. He started laughing and roled away onto his stomach to hide his face, "I'm not Dick and I'm not..." He stopped and looked around at her, "Does anyone in the DCU even wear pink? Is it a forbidden colour or something?" "As long as the Batblob has Batboobs it's acceptable as a Batgirl." Besides, he noted with a far away look, "I know you're good with your hands when you put your mind to it." Sarah laughed and kissed the back of his neck before giggling again, “No, you’re Jaybird. It’s an entirely different kind of fail.” She smiled and brushed her nose against his gently. “There was the Flamingo dude, from when Jason had red hair in Batman and Robin. Then there’s Dick, he must’ve worn a pink shirt or something at some point.” She hit him gently on the arm, “Okay, you can stop thinking about my talented hands now because I don’t think I’ll be giving snow Batgirl a hand job! It’s a completely different set of hand skills.” "I don't want to have any kind of fail," James complained moodily, thinking that it would be nice just once to have everything go his way. In whatever life. "Yeah, but I was thinking of heroes or whatever passes for boy scouts in spandex these days. Are they ever into pink? Is pink banned? Is it evil?" The mulling thoughts of a slightly sleepy boy. He started laughing at the image of a hand job with a snow Batgirl. He knew Stephie had balls but he didn't think a handjob was really on the books. Besides, heating things up with snow was going to lead to a disaster. "I think about your hands any time I want, babe." “You implied that you date hookers, at least it’s a funny kind of fail? And don’t be moody, I’m supposed to be the emo one, remember?” Sarah asked. “I don’t know, I don’t think they wear pink. It’d be too showy and would probably attract too much attention. Because yellow is, um, not at all attention grabbing?” Sarah rolled her eyes, and pushed his shoulder gently, “My hands aren’t even my best feature. I thought you’d think about my boobs or legs in your free time.” "What do you have against hookers?" James asked, curiously. He'd figured with those heels, she'd have some empathy. He sat up straight and clenched his jaw, "Are you mocking my butt cape? I am very proud of my butt cape, Sarah. As we all know, Dick is just fashions darling." And if he managed to say all of that without his face falling or his eyes totally giving it away, he deserves a fucking medal. "I think about all of you, from eyelashes to tippy toes." With that, he gave her a quick kiss on the nose. “I think it’s more the implication that I’m a hooker as you date me. Sort of.” Not that there were really that many dates, they were more likely to spend a night in than go out. Sarah raised her eyebrows, unable to tell if he was joking or not. “Sorry for insulting the butt cape, Boy Wonder, but next time you fight crime try not to do it in target seeking colours.” She patted his chest gently. “Better?” She wrinkled her nose playfully, not bothering to hide the grin. It was an adorable thing to say. “I always knew you liked my toes.” She smiled. "You're not really a hooker," James said, mulling it over. She didn't look trashy enough. Sure, she had her days but didn't everyone? "I thought that was the point," He confessed, thinking again. All this thinking was going to give him one hell of a headache. "You dance about while the big guy does all the work. Sounds like my first date, too." "Yeah, if I can see them and they aren't being squashed by giant heels," He reminded her. He really did hope she took some of this to heart but what was the chance of that? He was doomed for going with a girl that's so big. “I think that’s because you’ve never paid me in shiny things.” Sarah pointed out. “Which I’m actually okay with, so don’t go out and buy me an Edward Cullen replica or anything.” Ew. Twilight. Sarah sniggered, “You realise I’m now imagining your first date being supervised by Batman, don’t you?” A cartoonish Batman with a permanent glower and eyebrows painted on the cowl telling him what he should and shouldn’t do. “Hey! I rarely wear my giant heels around you anymore!” She kept her heels at three inches and below, it often turned into a clothing nightmare. “And right now my feet are bare and a little cold so watch what you say!” "Ew." James laughed and pulled her close, "Hey, what makes you think he didn't supervise dates?" Alright, the idea of that was more amusing than he was letting on but he didn't want to upset the delicate balance of warm bed, hot girl and winding down. "I can take it," James grinned, batting at her feet playfully with his own. "I have a lot of stamina." Of course, not stamina he wanted to use. He just wanted to hang back, take her mind of things and watch crap television. “If anyone would need a chaperone it’d be you.” Sarah teased gently. She rested against him, and tried to hide a yawn. She wasn’t tired; she was just content and happy, really genuinely happy, for the first time in what felt like forever. “I know you have a lot of stamina, and I promise we’ll use it tomorrow.” Because there was no way she was leaving the hotel until she had to. Berlin made Manhattan look toasty. “Right now, you’re gonna have to use your stamina to just put up with me. I know that can be difficult sometimes so you'll need to use a lot of it.” "It's a good thing I don't have one anymore, or you'd be in trouble." James was really far too old to be worrying about people watching him trying to get laid. "Thank God," He laughed, giving a heave of a sigh. He wanted to do her, obviously, but he also had a little patience. Especially as they'd have to shower and it was really fucking cold out there. "We can do whatever you want, Girl Wonder. You know that. Just say where and how high to jump." “It wouldn’t stop me. I’d need shame for that, Boy Wonder.” Something Sarah was lacking a good deal of. Sure, she probably wouldn’t get down and dirty with him in front of someone but she’d probably try. Or she would at least try to give the chaperone the slip. “You make it sound like I have way more power than I do.” Sarah said. “But I’m happy enough just being here. As long as you don’t say anything awkward until morning, because then I’ll have to kick you out of bed and into the cold.” "Yeah, you haven't got shame. It's one of the reasons I like you so much." They were something of two of a kind in that way. They were both perfectly willing to put on a great show for the world. "No, I tell it like it is," He shrugged. He didn't have a problem with her having the reins from time to time. Or most of the time, anyway. "Define awkward?" He knew he had a big mouth and that it wasn't always a good thing. " Is there a scale here?" “Here I thought the reason you liked me was my mouth and the things I do with it.” Sarah said. “Although if you mix that with my lack of shame, I guess I can see my appeal.” It was sweet, but she didn’t believe that she had that much control over anything, even him. “You’re just still a little smitten. I’m sure my shiny appeal will wear off for you one day.” She covered up another yawn, no she wasn’t tired at all. “Awkward’s anything I wanna hit you for. If in doubt, don’t talk.” "One of many things, I can assure you." James snickered, thinking of her actually being quiet for once in a while. It'd never happen. Not without some kind of voice box freezer. "I don't do smitten. I think you're hot. That's that." It really did feel quite that simple. Who else would he face his fear of the pingy bra with? Who else would he chase across the world? It wasn't likely he'd do it for just anyone. "Not sure I know how to do that one," He confessed. Sarah didn’t believe it for a second. It was more complicated than being hot, there had been a lot of guys who had thought she was hot but none of them would do half the things for her that James had. Most of them probably wouldn’t have even noticed her absence, let alone chase her half way around the world. “If you say so.” “Let me help.” She said, before covering his mouth with her hand. “There, now you can’t talk.” James shot her a look before biting a little bit of her palm mischievously, while trying not to crack up laughing. Well, really, she ought to know better! “Hey!” Sarah laughed and took her hand away. “No biting, Jaybird.” She really should’ve known better than to do that. “I’m afraid you’re stuck with the possibility of putting your foot in it and then sleeping on the little couch over there. Without a blanket.” The likelihood of her actually kicking him out of bed was slim to none, but he didn’t need to know that. "Then how about we both just stay here?" James suggested, stroking her hair back lazily. He wasn't sure what else they could do, considering it was cold enough to freeze off his balls off out there. Hopefully, someone would deliver pizza to the lobby. Sarah kissed him briefly and smiled, "I like that idea." The day had started in the worst possible way, but everything had got better since James had turned up. He just had that weird effect on her, and could brighten up even the darkest moments. He could also turn her into the biggest sap in the world, but she didn't mind at all. Not really. |