dominic lucas callasantos is housetrained (yourlildogtoo) wrote in superbabies, @ 2013-05-12 00:52:00 |
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Whatever had happened had been weird. Dom was fairly sure he hadn’t had a crush on Kiki prior to Saturday but he had been beyond smitten. That was a word, right? He had texted his father, all in a panic, and Dom was still embarrassed by that. At least Vincent was good-natured in his teasing. Still, something had upset Lottie and he didn’t understand. So he had gone to track her down. It was warm enough that he didn’t need a jacket of any sort and he absently tossed a tennis ball between his hands. When he was close enough, Dom caught her scent on the wind and he smiled faintly, changing direction just enough to head without fail toward where she was. He gave no warning, just lightly tossed the ball so it bounced and then rolled past her feet. He waited, hands tucked into his pockets, with a half-grin. Well, at least it was over. That was the one thing Lottie kept telling herself, in between little sighs and pouting. She knew it was silly, that it was stupid, but she couldn’t help it. All that time playing fetch, she’d never realized, had never even thought, and then suddenly, she couldn’t imagine going without it. She blinked at the ball at her feet, then up at him, frowning at the smile on his face. “Hi.” She said softly, turning back to the ball. That made him frown in return and his shoulders slumped a little. If he’d been in wolf form, his tail would have tucked right then. “Did I... do something wrong?” he asked, his voice quiet. Lottie sighed. Yes. “No, you didn’t,” she said softly. “You were just being silly. Because of... whatever it was.” She closed her eyes and picked up the ball, rolling it over in her hands. Dom moved forward finally, shoulders still throwing off the body language better read by the canine-minded. He reached out and plucked the ball from Lottie’s hands. “But I did something wrong. Even if I didn’t mean or want to,” he stated. “Are you mad at me for it?” If he straightened, he would have had a full foot of height on her. As it was, he didn't know what was wrong and he was trying to make himself as small as possible. Lottie opened her eyes and looked over at him. He was upset, now, and though she couldn’t quite read the canine body language, she could spot well enough that he looked quite akin to a kicked puppy. It was hard to stay mad at him. “It wasn’t... wrong,” she said after a moment. “You didn’t do anything wrong, just... something I wish you hadn’t.” Dom immediately tried to go back over everything he'd done and came up short. He shook his head slightly, confused. "I'm not stupid but this... I don't know what--" He stopped, a soft frustrated sound being made in his throat. "Just tell me?" Lottie couldn’t help but chuckle at the sound he made. He really was an overgrown puppy. “Sit down,” she said softly, sliding down the wall and patting the floor beside her. “We’ll talk.” She smiled at him, and nodded toward the ball. “And then we’ll play, okay? Will that make you feel better?” The way he shifted his weight between his feet was rather akin to a dog wagging its tail but Dom looked thoughtful, rather than excited. Finally, he straightened and moved fluidly to sit down where she'd patted. "Okay. You get to go first, though." “Why do I have to go first?” Lottie asked, pouting -- though this time, obviously as a joke. “A gentleman wouldn’t bother a lady for answers. My mom says it’s a girl’s prerogative to be aloof and mysterious.” She chuckled and, after a moment of hesitation, hooked her arm around his, to lean against his shoulder. That was better. “You’re silly, you know that,” she said softly. “It’s nice. Makes me happy. I forget that I look funny when I’m around you, because you’re so busy being funny. You get so happy over little things, it’s impossible to not be happy around you, and... I got sad when you were paying more attention to Kiki than to me.” She sighed, and closed her eyes as she squeezed his arm a bit tighter. “Because she doesn’t need to forget she looks funny. She doesn’t need you around. I do.” "You don't--" Dom started to argue and stopped, frowning as he picked over his words a little better. "You don't look like everyone else, no. And this is new for you so you haven't adapted to it. But that doesn't mean you should need to forget," he said, voice low. "I like you, Lottie. You don't make me feel stupid or like I need to be someone I'm not. I can relax and be... me for awhile. I can usually only do that around my dad. My mom loses patience with me sometimes so I try to dial it back." He fell silent again but clearly wasn't done. "I don't... I'm not used to a lot of this. This is the first school I've ever been to. I never bothered making friends, really, because my dad and I were always moving around. And that was okay. It's how things were." He turned his head to look at her, not commenting on how she was squeezing his arm or the way her head was against him. "But you don't need anyone, Lottie. You're... strong. Brave. And gentle and a friend to everyone who will have you." Lottie pulled away after he spoke, looking up at him, and trying to find a way to respond. “I... Thank you.” she said eventually, looking down and blushing. “That’s very, very nice of you, Dom. I...” She chuckled, and looked up at him. “You don’t realize how incredibly, amazingly sweet you are, do you?” "I'm not sweet. I'm fierce. I growl at things," he said, grinning. Dom nudged her with his shoulder and ducked his head, doing his best to look adorable before he sobered again and looked ahead again. "I'm sorry if it upset you," he said slowly. "I don't... human body language is different and I don't read it as well most of the time. Dad's different but he's like an extension of me most times. I'm still getting used to not being attached to his side all the time." Dom fidgeted, uncomfortable suddenly. "When we were talking and I asked if it had been Sean... Who did you mean?" Lottie laughed at his grin, nudging his shoulder back and reaching up to ruffle his hair. “That’s right. You’re very fierce. All the squirrels around here are terrified of you.” It was nice to see him smiling again, to have him happy. At his mention of missing his father, though, she took his hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. His question gave her pause, and she looked down, blushing more. “Well. It’s. There really. It was more of a...” she fumbled, before finally sighing, and stretching up to kiss his cheek, giggling and blushing more. Oh. Oh. Dom blinked rapidly as his brain caught up to what was happening and put the pieces into place. "Wait. What? Really?" he asked, looking at Lottie with surprise. Clearly, he wasn't put off by the idea but Dom was more than just a little slow when it came to these things. Apparently. So, balls to the wall. You can do this, Dom. He smiled, a soft laugh sounding, and he leaned in to kiss her. It was chaste and hesitant--and his first kiss. Dom knew well enough to at least not slobber all over the girl. “Really.” Lottie, answered, giggling softly -- until he kissed her. And then she kissed him back, still gentle and chaste, but this time without the hesitance, at least. She giggled again as she pulled away -- snorting once or twice and then covering her nose in mortified embarrassment, even as she kept giggling. “Sorry,” she replied, beaming at him. “I’m just... really, really happy.” Dom shook his head, smirking, and reached out to pull her hand away from her nose. "Don't. There's nothing to be sorry for," he assured her. He winced, then, in a rather comical sort of way. "But I've never... I mean, this is... I've never done any of this. No idea how it works. Dad said that if a girl wanted to hold my hand or something, I'm supposed to hold her hand. Have lunch with her. Things like that," Dom admitted. "So I'm gonna apologize for being a total idiot... before I act like a total idiot," he said and grinned. “It’s okay,” Lottie replied, grabbing his hand and giggling again. “We’ll get lunch tomorrow, and even if you are being an idiot... I still think it’s cute.” She smiled at him, and picked up the ball again. “But for the time being...” |