MHA #8, Thursday

[stykera]

It was getting colder. Not today, perhaps, but it was almost winter and overall the island was getting colder. This meant it was getting to be time for hot coffees (or teas) and more layers of clothing and more blankets.

More blankets were particularly important this year since someone had a tendency to hoard them in the night and Stark was not really inclined to try and steal them back even when he was cold. Adding more blankets to the bed (and to the couch) seemed like a better choice. Certainly an easier one. One or two blankets was enough when it was just him curling up under them but now he had a girlfriend...Faye who disliked being cold just as much as he did. Maybe even more.

He thought she'd like the blanket he'd found for her. He'd find out soon enough. And hopefully she wouldn't be too thrown by a small gift. As long as it didn't inspire any fleeing then things would be fine.


[For that purple-haired lady with a key]

Comments

[flourish_or_perish]

Look, some people just deserved more blankets, okay? It was like how she needed more sleep. You couldn't blame Faye for these things.

"Oh, good," Faye said brightly as she let herself in. "It still works."

She would have been pretty ticked if her lock-replacing work had been undone for no reason.

[stykera]

Some other people also deserved blankets though! Or maybe just cuddles to keep warm? He'd accept that. Blankets could be shared.

Stark looked up at the sound of the key in the lock, then grinned widely as the door opened. "It does! They didn't change this one." Stark would have yelled if they'd tried. "Or yours. I told him you were handling that yourself. And you'd tell him if you wanted him to do anything."

[flourish_or_perish]

"Annoying that that has to be something told to people," Faye noted with a raised brow. "Whatever happened to minding your own business?"

Not that such a policy applied to Faye, most of the time, but that was beside the point.

"But good. Security for everyone, I guess." And lockpicking challenges for her should she get bored!

[stykera]

Stark was going to raise his own eyebrow in return, just for a moment, because yes, someone in here did not necessarily mind her own business.

"More secure locks are probably a good idea. Even if they still don't keep out squirrels. Nobody's broken in here since you fixed mine. Very safe, in here."

Nobody had tried, either, but that was not the point. Clearly the lock worked!

"I don't know about the others. This one and yours are more important, anyway."

[flourish_or_perish]

Other people's business was interesting! But also Faye deserved her privacy, thank you.

(Faye also did not know the term 'double standard,' but if she did, she would feel that it carried no weight here.)

"I kinda wanna boobytrap 'em both," Faye mused. "Just in case someone does try something."

Smoke bombs. Ink explosion. Something harmless!

[stykera]

"Please tell me before you do."

That wasn't discouragement. That was just Stark not wanting either door to attack him unexpectedly. There would be screaming.

"That isn't the sort of surprise I'd enjoy."

[flourish_or_perish]

"You know I wouldn't let anything happen to you," Faye said with an affectionate roll of her eyes. "I'd totally warn you if I staged a bucket of water over the door or something."

She was just full of good ideas, see?

[stykera]

"Could we do that for Anakin?" Stark asked, perking up at the idea.

Yes, they were both going to hold a small grudge about buckets of water forever. What of it?

"But I know you wouldn't. Not on purpose. I got you something."

Speaking of surprises. Sort of.

[flourish_or_perish]

"What kind of something?" It was a testament to how far Faye had come as a person and in this relationship that that question was all curiosity and almost no suspicion. "And yeah, we can totally do that for Anakin but he'll probably just cheat more."

Fool her once, shame on Anakin, but fool her -- okay, we were into the dozens of times at this point, but the point was that Faye was onto this whole Jedi thing.

[stykera]

Maybe Anakin wouldn't see it coming. They could invite him over for food and just soak him instead? What could possibly go wrong?

"Just a little something. Well. Not very little. But not... nothing major." He was not a fool!

"It's on the couch." In the bag it came in because Stark was absolutely not someone in possession of any gift wrapping items.

[flourish_or_perish]

Oh, yeah. Anakin would never see through such a ruse.

"This?" Faye asked, wandering over and plucking the bag right up before taking a seat to examine the contents. "You didn't have to get me anything!"

Faye knew that if you said things like that, instead of the 'PRESENTS!!!!!' she wanted to shout, you'd probably continue getting presents.

[stykera]

"I wanted to," Stark said softly as he followed her to the couch.

"I saw it and I thought you might like it."

And he had ulterior motives. Cozy ones.

[flourish_or_perish]

"They're little Eins!" Or at least, little Corgis, but forgive her if she had one particular Corgi she was partial to. "Aw, Stark, thanks. You're right, I do like it."

[stykera]

"They are. I liked Ein." And Edward and Jet and everyone not named Spike, so there.

"I thought," he added as he sat down next to her, "Maybe we needed more blankets. For when it's cold. Colder."

"I'm glad you like it."

[flourish_or_perish]

"Yeah, it's gonna snow soon, isn't it?" Faye asked, looking appropriately dismayed. "We need as many blankets as possible. All the better if they're cute."

[stykera]

"There will probably be snow soon," Stark agreed. "And you do seem to like a lot of blankets while you're sleeping...And it was cute."

"You could," he added hesitantly, "keep it here if you wanted. Or take it with you. Whichever you like."

[flourish_or_perish]

"I could just take it back and forth with me," Faye decided. "Wear it if necessary."

Putting on clothes when one forgot something at one's next-door apartment was too much to ask, even hypothetically! (Sorry, neighbors?)

[stykera]

Would any of the neighbors really complain about that view? Stark certainly wouldn't.

"You could do that." He nodded, clearly pleased that she did seem to like the blanket. "Not that you need my permission."

[flourish_or_perish]

"Nice to have the approval, though," Faye decided, leaning over to press a kiss to his cheek. "And the blanket. Thanks. You're sweet."

[stykera]

"You're welcome," Stark said, ducking his head a little. "I am glad you like it. I just... thought it would be nice. Gifts are nice. I don't get to give them often."

But maybe he would now.

[flourish_or_perish]

"I mean, Christmas is coming." Seemed obvious to point out, and yet.

Presents were like the one part of Christmas that Faye confidently understood.

[stykera]

"Oh, there may be more gifts for Christmas."

Somehow Stark managed to get that 'may' out with a straight face.

"I think I like giving them."

And he'd sort of picked up a second job at the clinic again so there was even extra money for buying nice things. But not too nice in case that freaked someone out.

[flourish_or_perish]

Look, everyone here liked nice things, just not nice things with any kinds of trappings of significance.

"Maybe I should actually get you something, too," Faye said, as though the idea was only just occurring to her. (It wasn't. She actually had thought about this before now, shockingly.)

[stykera]

Someone was mostly too anxious to say 'I love you' out loud again. He was not going to be giving any significant gifts anytime soon.

"I think I'd like getting gifts," Stark told her. He didn't have much experience there either. "But I don't need anything else."

Well. Maybe a kiss. He was going to lean in and take one of those right now, actually.

[flourish_or_perish]

Well, those were given freely, so that hardly counted, did it?

"I don't think," Faye murmured, pulling back just enough to say so, "that the point is what you need. It's about what you want."

An easy concept for some, perhaps more difficult for others.

[stykera]

"I...yes. You're right."

Stark nodded, very slightly, before lifting a hand to brush back a lock of her hair.

"I have a lot of things I want already, too."

[flourish_or_perish]

"But there's always more." And Faye could not be wrapped up and put under a tree, though she did briefly consider it.

Seemed like an easy way out.

"I have some ideas, anyway."

[stykera]

That wasn't a present Stark would have objected to. Unwrapping Faye would be a delight.

"So do I," Stark assured her. Possibly too many ideas but he'd keep himself in check somehow.

"But for right now... this is good. More than enough." Because she was right there.

[flourish_or_perish]

"And we have weeks, anyway," Faye pointed out. "It's good that what you've got right now is good enough."

Because yes, she was right here. Maybe even more right here than she had been a moment ago.

[stykera]

"You are more than 'good enough.'"

Just in case there had been any question of that. Stark would be more than happy to prove he meant it.

"But you're right. Weeks. Plenty of time for ideas for things someone might want. Things they might not even know they want."

Getting something he didn't know he wanted had already happened once this year, after all. And she was still right there.