Who: Aurora and Hua Mulan What: New Year's Eve Celebrations When: Backdated: Tuesday, December 31st. Evening Where: Fullerton First Night Rating: Mostly Family Friendly Status: Complete
Mulan was nervous as she waited for Aurora. She hadn’t known what she should wear so settled on nice dress slacks and a tight sweater that hugged her in all the right places. She stared at herself in the mirror, then went to wait in her small living room. This was just...friends going out. She wasn’t about to pretend it was anything else.
That way led madness.
Aurora wasn’t sure if this was just her and Mulan going out as friends or if the other woman was expecting more. Ruby had suggested she just ask Mulan, but she’d been too nervous to ask, thinking it’d make things more awkward after that kiss. So, not knowing exactly what this was, she’d chosen a pair of skinny jeans, boots and a nice top then had headed out to pick up Mulan before she let her nerves get the better of her and chickened out. Reaching Mulan’s place, she texted the other woman to let her know she was outside.
Taking a breath and putting her most 'serene warrior' face on, Mulan pulled on her jacket and opened the door. She couldn't help her smile when she saw Aurora - it was impossible not to, but she didn't let herself think about that for very long. "Good evening."
Her eyes fell to Aurora's lips and she swallowed. She wondered what flavor that lipgloss was. She swallowed again and darted her eyes back up, hopefully before her distraction was noticed..
When Aurora saw Mulan coming outside, she made sure the passenger door was unlocked so she could get in without waiting, “Hi. How’re you?” She asked, biting her bottom lip gently as Mulan got into the car. Once she was securely inside, Aurora pulled away from the curb and headed towards Fullerton. She forced herself to stay calm as she drove, not wanting to give away how nervous she was by accidently speeding up or hitting the brake too hard.
Mulan buckled up, then rested her palms on her knees and sat there a little bit stiffly. Her eyes kept darting over to Aurora as she drove. She wasn't the most social person so she didn't know how to do small talk. But she was willing to try. "You look...nice."
She should have expected that, after all, it wasn’t like she’d never had a friend tell her that she looked nice, but it felt so different coming from Mulan. “Thank you. You do too.” She glanced over at Mulan as they reached a stop light, “I hope it doesn’t wind up being too cold tonight.” She was ready for the weather to go back to normal already. The snow had been nice and different, but she missed the warmer weather. This must have been how people in most of the rest of the United States felt in winter.
Mulan was glad it was cold, it would excuse the reddening of her cheeks. And she wouldn't mind being stuck somewhere with Aurora...they could cuddle close to keep warm... She stopped that thought before it went further and shifted uncomfortably. She wasn't used to shaving her legs and it felt strange.
"This'll be my first New Years in the states. I think it's already past midnight in London."
Aurora always shaved her legs, even in the winter and didn’t know about the ‘if you shave your legs then it’s a date rule’ so she hadn’t given it a second thought when she’d showered earlier. “Do you still have family out there?” Someday Aurora was going to have to take a trip to Europe as a whole, but right now she just couldn’t afford it. As the light turned green, she started driving again.
"My parents, yes. But I'm more used to being away from them than my brother is. I think he appreciated me dropping in for Christmas, since they couldn't be here with us." Christmas in her family had always been a big group affair, but she hadn't actually been home for Christmas between the time she was in the army and when she'd gotten discharged. Then twice before she and her brother had moved out to the US.
"How was your Christmas?" She shifted again. She was drawn to Aurora and she couldn't let herself be. But was that the warrior from the dream talking?
“They must miss you,” Aurora couldn’t imagine not being around her parents for holidays, especially Christmas. “I spent it with my family. They don’t live too far from here.” Her old apartment had been a little further away, so she was grateful to Ruby for letting her know when the apartment down the hall from her had been empty. “Is your brother younger than you?”
"I'm sure they do but they're used to it by now." Mulan nodded her head. "He just started University. That's one of the reasons I'm out here, I can keep an eye on him but still be far enough away that he feels like he's on his own. But close enough that he can always count on me."
Aurora nodded, smiling, “Well, I’m glad you’re not out here alone. And I’m sure he appreciates it. If I’d moved to LA by myself, I would have been lost even though it’s not that far away from here.” Moving with Ruby had been a good thing and she’d enjoyed the time they’d spent out in LA. “A lot of siblings don’t rely on each other like that, so it’s nice to see that.” A lot of people she knew hated their siblings for one reason or another, “I actually met a girl recently who is really close to her brother too. Makes me wish I had a sibling.”
"Family is important. Even if you have to leave your family behind," Mulan said. Her smile softened. "That's one reason I joined the army. I felt like I could contribute by protecting my family. I wish I could do something like that out here." She turned her head, watching the way the lights from the streetlamps coloured Aurora's hair. It was...distracting.
“That’s really nice,” Aurora glanced over at Mulan briefly and smiled, “I’m sure you’ll find something you can do here.” There were always things that people could do to help others. It didn’t take long after that to reach Fullerton where First Night was being held and after finding a parking spot, Aurora turned off the car and looked to Mulan, “Ready for your first American New Year’s Eve?”
"Terrified, but I think I'm willing to face it for you." Mulan kept her eyes on Aurora's. Everyone's advice had boiled down to 'just kiss her already' but she wasn't sure when that would be appropriate.
Aurora’s eyes widened slightly and she felt her cheeks flush once more, but she made herself smile and nodded, “Tonight is for you, not me.” She reached for her door handle and pushed it open then got out, waiting for Mulan to join her.
Mulan stepped out of the car, then walked around to join Aurora by the driver's side door. She reached for the woman's hand and then stopped herself. "I'd like to think it's for both of us."
Blushing was cute, and Mulan stared.
As Mulan came around to stand beside her, Aurora bit her bottom lip and nodded, “Okay. Yeah, it’s for both of us.” Not wanting there to be any awkward moments, Aurora gestured in the direction all the lights and music and noise were coming from, which was also the way a few other people were headed, “I guess it’s that.” Giving Mulan a nervous smile, she slid her hands into the pockets of her jeans and started walking.
Mulan followed her, eyes dropping to check Aurora out. She exhaled a fine mist of breath and smiled to herself. She decided they needed to at least clear the air a bit. "Aurora. We're okay, you know that, do you not?"
Aurora hadn’t been expecting that she stopped, brow furrowing slightly and nodded, “Yeah. I know. I mean, why wouldn’t we be?” If Mulan was talking about the kiss, Aurora had figured they were okay otherwise Mulan wouldn’t have been the one to ask Aurora to hang out tonight. Or go out. Aurora still wasn’t sure what this was and didn’t want to make it awkward by asking so she was just treating it as two friends hanging out and having a good time on New Year’s Eve.
"Oh. I guess... we are then." She still didn't know why Aurora had kissed her. Maybe she'd been curious and hadn't liked it. If so that was a cruel thing, but unintentional. She couldn't hate Aurora for it, but god did she want to do it again. She wanted a lot of things but didn't expect to get them. She thought over what others had told her, but now wasn't the time. Maybe after she'd had something to fortify her nerves she could see if it had all just been a fluke.
Aurora still didn’t know what had compelled her to kiss Mulan and it wasn’t that she hadn’t liked it, but she was just confused. She’d never thought about girls like that before, but there was something about Mulan that made her stomach do flips and she didn’t understand it. “We are.” Smiling she took a step towards where the festivities were.
The food smelled good, and there were games and rides. It seemed like a very carnival like atmosphere and Mulan kind of wished there was a game so that she could win Aurora a present. At some point during the night she'd taken Aurora's hand and hadn't really let go since.
"Do you want to go on that spinny ride?" The old 'she'll fall into me' trick.
Aurora had been having a good time throughout the night, just going with the flow. So when Mulan had taken her hand, while her pulse sped up, she didn’t pull away and figured it’d just be easier this way so that they wouldn’t get separated in the crowds. There were a lot more people there than she’d expected.
As Mulan suggested the ride, Aurora glanced in the direction of said ride, thought about it for a moment then nodded, “Yeah. Okay.”
They got in, and the ride started to spin them around. It pumped up and down too, and Mulan put her arm around Aurora to keep her in place. It felt...really good, but she tried to ignore the part of her that went off in her head. She was just being considerate!
Aurora didn’t ride a lot of crazy spinning rides, the majority of the theme park rides she ever went on were at Disneyland and boy was she not going to be able to look at that park the same again now that she’d started dreaming about actually being Sleeping Beauty or at least having been under a sleeping curse. As the ride spun, she screamed, which caused her to laugh, her hair whipping around and she wasn’t quite aware that Mulan’s arm had been around her until the ride ended and she realized it was the other woman’s arm and not a part of the safety bar.
Mulan's heart was racing and not entirely from the ride. She turned her head as the ride started to slow down. They'd be one of the last to come off, which gave her an excuse to breathe in the scent of her hair. She was grinning, because Aurora was laughing. Shit. Mulan had it bad and she was starting to realize how bad.
As the ride finally came to a stop, Aurora glanced at Mulan, smiling, her cheeks flushed, but this time from the wind from the ride, “That was fun. I don’t normally go on things that spin like that.” It was while she spoke that she realized just how close they were, “Oh. I hadn’t realized….were you afraid I was going to fly out?” She bit her bottom lip, trying to not make this moment awkward.
"Yes." She slid a hand up and down Aurora's arm and shoulder, trying to read anything in the woman's eyes that might tell her it was okay to kiss her. It felt like a good moment. She started to lean in.
Just as Mulan was leaning in, the attendant chose that time to come let them off the ride. Aurora wasn’t sure if she was disappointed or relieved, because she was still incredibly confused about the whole thing. Once they were off the ride, Aurora ran a hand through her hair, tossing it to one side then reached for her phone from her pocket as she tried to think of something to say, “Oh, it’s almost midnight.” Where had the night gone? It felt like they’d only just arrived, but in actuality they had been there for quite some time, “Want to go find someplace to get a drink before midnight.” Living in California, it was odd to think that in most of the rest of the world it was already a new year. The ball had already dropped in New York hours earlier and fireworks had gone off in other countries and cities all day.
Oh god... Mulan shoved her hand into her pocket, her other one wanting to take Aurora's but not. She had been saved from making a mistake, she was sure of it. "Yes, we should. The fireworks should be good, too.” And she’d be happy to get away from having to watch other people kiss.
Sliding her phone back into her pocket, Aurora started looking around to see if any of the food booths had drinks, “I think they have beer. I don’t know about champagne though.” She was sure that they had have some somewhere. What kind of New Year’s Eve First Night would it be if there wasn’t champagne somewhere?
"I saw some this way." She grabbed Aurora's hand and started to pull her towards a booth. There were little bottles of champagne that they had poured into glasses. She knocked hers back, then had another one poured to nurse more slowly.
Aurora picked up a glass and took a sip then pulled out her phone again to check the time just as someone stage mentioned that there were ten minutes until Midnight, “Well that answers that.” She turned to Mulan, “So, how has your first American New Year’s Eve been so far?” Perhaps she should have asked after midnight, but it would probably be too noisy after and they probably wouldn’t be able to talk again till they got back to the car.
"One of the best New Years I've had," Mulan replied, though her tone was a lot more even than her words. "I liked this. It's...low key and relaxing. I don't do well in fancy parties. Like I would just feel so stiff and..." She shrugged, moving closer as the noise of the party increased around them.
Aurora smiled, “Well I’m glad you’ve had a good time. I’m only good at certain parties. Small ones.” She never would have thought to go to the Stark party, especially when she didn’t think she’d know anyone else there. “If we hadn’t gone out, I probably would have just sat at home.” Maybe she would have checked in with Ruby to see what she was doing, but chances were she probably would have stayed home.
"I'm glad that you said yes." Mulan replied. She scooted a little closer to Aurora. "I wanted to ask you something. Do you...could we have a kiss at midnight? I’ll understand if you’re uncomfortable.”
Aurora should have expected that after the way the night had gone so far, but she was still a little surprised and she bit her bottom lip as she briefly contemplated the question just as the crowd around them started counting down. Another kiss might be what she needed to figure out if the other kiss had been a fluke. She just hoped that if things went south after this that Mulan would understand, “Um...yeah. Okay.” As if on cue the countdown reached one and everyone started yelling, Happy New Year.
"I know I must sound...desperate, but it's not that." Not entirely. Mulan was in damage control mode, already expecting a no answer. "It was just...if you don't wish it then we don't have...really..?"
Mulan cupped Aurora's face, her thumb stroking her cheek as she leaned in and kissed the other woman. This time she was more prepared for it, and when she kissed her, it was as though she were pouring two lives of emotions into it.
Aurora was also expecting it this time and shivered slightly as Mulan stroked her face. She wasn’t sure what to do with her hands, but her free one came up to rest lightly on Mulan’s arm as their lips met. It wasn’t really all that different from kissing a guy except that Mulan’s lips were softer than any guy she’d ever kissed, which was nice.
Savoring the kiss, Mulan couldn't hear anything else around her. She felt lightheaded and dizzy, and Aurora felt so warm against her body. She pulled her closer, daring to deepen the kiss, to see if Aurora wanted this. She tasted so good.
Surprisingly, Aurora just went with the kiss only tensing slightly as Mulan pulled her closer. It had been so long since she’d actually kissed anyone else that she hoped she wasn’t rusty, which was the only reason for her slight hesitation as she returned the kiss.
She noticed the hesitation, but when Aurora didn't pull away, Mulan moved her hand into the blonde's hair. It was like silk to her and it was the single best sensation she'd ever experienced. It was probably already long past midnight but she feared if she stopped this would never happen again.
The kiss felt like it lasted longer than it actually did and were it not for the person who bumped into Aurora’s shoulder, she probably would have continued the kiss, but the bump pushed her away from Mulan just a little and it was then that she realized a lot of people around them were leaving, “I...I think we might be in the way.” She pressed her lips together, a small smirk upon her lips, “Maybe we should join the sea of people.”
Mulan nodded mutely. She pulled her hand out of Aurora's hair and took her hand. She squeezed lightly, then led her through the throngs of people. She found a clearing area where they could wait for the worse of the rush to be over. She needed to let her head clear anyway.
She wanted to ask how she felt about everything, but she'd already put her emotions on the ledge just asking for a kiss.
Once they were away from the worst of the crowd, Aurora took a moment to consider her words before she spoke, “That was nice. I….I liked it.” It didn’t take a rocket scientist to know that Mulan had liked it and unlike with most of the guys she’d dated in the past, she hadn’t tried to immediately grope her, which had also been nice.
A giant grin broke across Mulan's face for a second before she tempered it down to a stoic smile. "You're a really good kisser, Aurora. I'm glad you liked it. I tried to... I didn't want to pressure you into anything."
Aurora’s cheeks flushed at the compliment and she dropped her gaze to their feet for a moment, “No. I’m not really. I...I haven’t kissed that many guys.” No one had ever told her that she was a good kisser before so she wasn’t entirely sure how to take the compliment. “And you didn’t….pressure me, that is. I would have said no if I hadn’t wanted to.”
“I’m relieved.” She was still grinning but her smile was now nervous. Now. Now was the best time for her to tell her she was interested. Now would be a good time to say ‘Aurora I really like you’ but she couldn’t make her tongue move any more.
“So….should we get going?” Traffic was probably going to be crazy with everyone else trying to leave at the same time, “Try and make it back before two.” It probably wouldn’t take that long, but Aurora didn’t want to chance it.
She nodded her head before she said something, but she couldn’t quite hide how much she wanted to kiss Aurora again from her eyes. Among other things she wanted to do to Aurora. Mulan blinked her eyes and then turned to guide the other woman to the car. She went how many years without wanting someone like this and then she meets this woman….