fandomtownies | The Magpie Emporium, Monday [20/04]

Fortunately (or unfortunately) for Steph, her version of being responsible was also coming in to work, and it was very unreasonable for anyone to expect her to pay attention to inventory and special orders this week but apparently nobody was reasonable.

Which, to be fair, could be blamed on the pollen.

So here she was, trying very hard to stay in the office (and grumble at multiple callers that no, they did not have any sexy dice in stock and it wasn't that kind of store) and not watch Vi shadowbox, but that was, well. Difficult.

"I'm thinking ice cream for lunch," she called out through the doorway, studiously keeping her head down. For now.

"Ice cream sounds pretty great." You know, it's not that Vi was deliberately wiping sweat off her face with the hem of her top at Steph, but she definitely wasn't opposed to Steph taking notice that she was doing it.

"Yeah, you are," Steph muttered, stealing a not-so-subtle glance at --

"You're also so not fair," she concluded as she looked up with a wry but affectionate smile.

Well, she couldn't stop looking now, thanks Vi.

Vi leaned in Steph's office doorway, because if she was doing that, she wasn't coming into Steph's office. "You know me, I play dirty."

Except that the doorway framed her so nicely.

Steph licked her lips and took a deep breath. "I'm aware. Believe me."

Did it? Vi wasn't paying attention to anything but Steph's mouth.

"Good," she said, eyes fixed on the movement of Steph's tongue. "Was worried you might have forgotten." Somehow.

Steph hadn't even meant to do that, was the thing.

"Not a fucking chance," she said, all but white-knuckling the edge of her desk to keep from getting up and throwing herself into Vi's arms. "But if you want to remind me later, just to be sure..."

Steph didn't need to do anything other than exist as far as Vi was concerned.

Luckily it was still early enough in the week for her to at least pretend to care about getting anything else at all accomplished. "I'd like that," she said, swallowing hard. "A lot."

Well then, she was quite the overachiever, what with the low-level smoldering look in her eyes as she watched Vi.

"Funny, so would I." Steph laughed, the sound a touch strained. "Just... need to stay out of arm's reach for a few hours."

Oh god, she made that sound excruciating. Because it was.

Vi ran her hand through her hair, because she needed to do something with it that wasn't reaching for Steph, the hem of her shirt lifting as she did so. "Oh, that'll be easy," she said, voice thick and husky. "We do it all the time."

Except for the part where they didn't really, actually.

Surely it was a complete coincidence that Saffron chose that moment to hack up a hairball.

"We're total pros at it," Steph agreed, not even able to keep up a completely casual tone for the length of that one sentence. Thanks, husky voiced Vi. "Just means it's going to be even better when we finally get home, right?"

After all, there was no other reason she might have.

"Right," Vi said, eyes on Steph still. "How long 'til then?"

Well, you hadn't had lunch yet, Vi.

It wasn't like she paid attention to anything Food Human said. Pfft.

"Too long," Steph groaned, and yes, it was highly overdramatic but it was just that dire, okay? "Think we'll be able to keep, you know, dessert to a reasonable amount of time?"

Probably not.

Food Human was supposed to pay attention to her, not the other way around.

"I'm sure we can."

Vi had a very flexible definition of reasonable right now.

She couldn't have Food Human getting preposterous notions about Saffron caring about her, or anything like that. Ew.

"Good, because I seriously think I might die if I have to go hours and hours without touching you." Hyperbole? What was that? Steph was too busy thinking about other ways that Vi was flexible to care about toning down any rhetoric.

Saffron only cared about the state Food Human left her bowl in. Which was woeful by the way.

"That would be the worst," Vi replied, completely sincerely. "I might have to give you a full check-over to make sure you're okay."

There was a pawprint sized indentation in the food! Which meant it wasn't full! Unacceptable.

"One of the many reasons I love you," Steph said, also completely sincere. The smile she gave Vi was warm and sweet, not intentionally seductive, but who knew if that was the effect it would have on a week like this? "I promise to give you complete and total access so you can be as thorough as possible, on one condition. I have to make sure you're okay too."

How was she supposed to survive under these conditions?

Somehow Vi managed not to pounce mouth-first across the room. Somehow. "Yeah, that can be arranged she said, mouth dry.

She wasn't. That was the problem. Anyone with common sense could see that. Snuggle Human got a pass on not noticing because Food Human was distracting her, though.

"You would think," Steph said with a shaky laugh, "that as... active as we are, this shit wouldn't affect us so much any more, but apparently that's not the case."

She wasn't complaining about it. Actually she was kind of delighted, because they were hopeless like that.

That just meant it was doubly Food Human's fault.

They were extremely hopeless. Honestly.

"You would not believe how affecting you are," Vi said, grinning dorkily at Steph.

An extra thousand years' jail for Food Human!

"I don't know, I might believe it," Steph replied, biting her lip and trying desperately to squelch an entirely disproportionate reaction to that dorky grin. "Since you happen to affect me enough to -- well. I'll show you after lunch."

And no visits from Snuggle Human!

"We could always have dessert first," Vi suggested with a complete lack of innocence.

No, Snuggle Human wouldn't look sad about that, what did you mean?

It wasn't like Steph would have bought it for a second if she'd tried to feign innocence anyway. "Oooh, unconventional. That's hot, babe."

Snuggle Human would get over it easily. She'd have Saffron, after all.

"I can think of a few hot things." Steph, she meant Steph.

And after all, wasn't that all Snuggle Human really needed? She'd be fine.

Steph arched an eyebrow, amused, and unconsciously licked her lips. "Things? Is that all I am to you?" she teased.

It was a foolproof plan. Saffron was a genius.

"Very hot things," Vi clarified, taking a step into the office.

This couldn't go wrong at all.

"Oh, well, that's okay then." Steph gripped the edge of her desk even harder to keep herself from hurtling bodily into Vi. "Hi. You look really good."

This was stating the obvious, but she felt it bore repeating.

It wasn't like they were that attached to each other.

Vi carefully shut the door behind her. "Yeah? So do you."

Neither literally nor figuratively!

"You smell good too," Steph murmured, closing her eyes and inhaling deeply. Could she actually pick up on Vi's scent from here (it wasn't like the office was that big) or was it just her pollen-amped imagination and very vivid recent memory? Could go either way. "Hi. I've been going crazy trying to not watch you all morning."

Just ignore their current nonsense. Saffron was trying to.

Vi took another slow step towards the desk, then another, watching Steph the entire time. "Was kinda hoping you would. Watch me, that is."

Yes, ignoring it. That was what her pawing at the door signified.

"I would have grabbed you by the front of your shirt and dragged you home hours ago if I had been watching you," Steph said huskily. "Bet that's what you really wanted."

And also singing the song of her people in case they hadn't realised she was on the wrong side of the door.

"You know me so well," Vi agreed, with a crooked grin, finally abandoning all pretence of trying to keep her distance.

Unfortunately for Saffron it was entirely possible that both her humans had just learned how to tune out her (magnificent, how dare they) song by now.

"And yet I feel like I should keep working on getting to know you better," Steph laughed, and wrapped her arms around Vi's neck.

Sure, if that was what she wanted to call it.

Clearly, Food Human had used her dastardly wiles on Snuggle Human to distract her.

Vi who was in fact extremely distracted by Steph's wiles, leaned in to kiss her hungrily. "That can be arranged."

Because it was, as always, Food Human's fault.

"You're so accommodating," Steph murmured into the kiss. "Yet another reason I love you."

Woe for saffron. Woe. Wooooooooooooooe.

"Love you too," Vi said, before using her mouth for other, better things.

The Magpie Emporium, Monday [20/04]

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