Dedication: Written for Poke for the Gift Giving Extravaganza 2017. Sorry for being a tardy trash bag, but hopefully better late than never.
Warnings: Mild sexual references.
The sensuous curve of a man's arse, the broad plane of his back, shading trailing the spine…
"Was Seamus your model?"
Dean tugged the sketchbook from Luna's hands, cheeks colouring. "That's private, Luna."
Luna hummed, her gaze trailing around the room, taking in a plethora of oil paintings, charcoal sketches, splashed canvases. The smells of acrylics, glue, chalk and other, less precise scents, wafted around the crowded space.
Dean always had colour under his nails, specks of paint behind his ears. He was at home in his little art studio, that burst with the fruits of the man's creativity. All that passion channelled into creation. Luna let her eyes rest on an orange origami crane on the table, quashing the sigh that rose in her chest.
"Did you want some tea?"
"No, thank you," Luna replied. "Though I would like to borrow your hands some time."
Dean laughed weakly, tidying the brushes around his easel. "What do you mean?"
Luna perched the paper crane on her pointer finger, zooming the bird towards her nose in little circles. "I'd like to make something."
"Oh." Dean set down his brushes and pulled out a chair next to her, rolls of yarn tumbling to the floor. He kicked them under the table. "What would you like to make?"
Luna smiled wistfully, planting the crane on Dean's shoulder. "I don't know. I have so much… so much muchness inside that I need to get out."
"From the war, you mean?" Dean asked quietly.
"No," Luna dipped her head, mouth pulling up in the corners. "I'm in love."
"Oh! Oh, that's great, Luna. Who's the lucky guy?"
Luna raised a fair eyebrow. "There isn't one."
Dean rubbed the back of his neck, smiling sheepishly. "Sorry, shouldn't have assumed. So…you want to express your feelings then? To this girl?"
Luna nodded. "Can you help me?"
Dean snatched up a marker excitedly and rifled under the desk, pulling up a scrap of paper. Luna caught the crane as it started to fall.
"So, what are we thinking?" he asked. "Card? Banner? Some kind of extravagant declaration, like sky writing?"
Luna twiddled with the buttons on her dress. "I don't really know. I'm not very good at art."
Dean tapped his marker on the paper, dotting it red. "Maybe you could just, you know, tell her then."
Luna shook her head. "Words aren't good enough for this, Dean. I use words every day, for everyday things. They're plain and clunky."
"I know what you mean," Dean admitted. "They're a pale imitation of the truth."
Luna beamed. "I knew you'd understand, Dean."
He tapped the marker against his chin, spots gaining ground like a fast advancing chicken pox front. Finally, he sucked in a deep breath and nodded decisively. "I think I can help."
Luna cut through the thick with steam covering the mirror with her pointer finger, tracing triangles inverted with triangles.
"I…am…dead."
Luna turned to look over her shoulder. Ginny was pulling off her boots and socks. Her ginger hair, free from the constrains of her high ponytail, clung to her sweaty forehead like wisps of fire, and her cheeks glowed hot.
"You look perfectly…vital to me," Luna said.
Ginny stuck her tongue out. "Tell that to my arse. I feel like I've been jellylegs jinxed, for Merlin's sake. Jonesy bloody reamed us today."
"You love it," Angelina teased, grabbing her clothes from her locker.
"Not right now, I don't."
Ginny stood up and peeled off her jersey and shorts, then her sports bra and boxers, plopping the clothes into a pile on the bench. She stretched her arms overhead, then out in front, rounding her shoulders, and finally, back behind her, the dark buds of her nipples popping starkly against the pale of her breasts. Luna was transfixed by the freckle near her navel.
Ginny turned and jumped and into the shower. She groaned as the warm water washed over her aching muscles. She didn't bother pulling the shower curtain across. Soap suds clung to her curves for mere moments before the stream of water from the showerhead swept them down, down to the drain. Steam rose steadily, mixing in with the billows from the other shower stalls lined along the back of humid locker room.
So many freckles dotted Ginny's back. So many constellations to trace.
"Luna? Hel-lo, Luna?"
Luna blinked, tuning her attention back into conversation. "Yes?"
"Could you please pass me the towel?"
"Oh, yes, certainly."
Ginny accepted the towel gratefully, then dried herself off, wincing with every twist of her shoulders and bend of her knees. "You know what I need right now?"
"To run another ten laps of the field?" Angelina chimed in from her shower cubicle.
"Oh, shut it, Johnson. No. A full body massage."
The other women getting changed hummed in agreement.
Pale, tapered fingers running over tanned, freckled shoulders, knuckles digging into tight, wound muscle, rubbing slow circles, loosening the hunch that lingered there.
Luna jumped as Ginny hooked their arms together.
"What movie do you wanna watch tonight?" Ginny asked.
Luna inhaled the scent of strawberry shampoo that cloyed in the moist air, feeling the damp of Ginny's hair soaking through her shirt fabric. "I'm afraid I won't be joining you tonight."
Ginny's grin slipped. "Oh, that's a shame."
"Tis," Luna agreed. "I'll accompany you back home, though."
Ginny nodded and held Luna's other hand, before the pair disapparated with a split crack.
"Are you happy with them?"
Luna twisted her mouth as she surveyed her and Dean's work. "I'm not sure."
"Do you feel like you got out some of that muchness?"
Luna shuffled her creations around on the desk, twisting her mouth to the side. "Yes," she admitted. "I suppose I'm just quite nervous."
Dean patted her hand awkwardly, smiling in what he hoped was a reassuring manner. "That's understandable. Art can make you feel very vulnerable sometimes. But for what's it's worth, I think you did an amazing job. Definitely worth a few late nights."
"Thank you very much for your help, Dean. If there's ever any way I can repay you, don't hesitate to ask."
Dean nodded thoughtfully. "You know, I think I may have a slight Wrackspurt problem in the attic, if you wanted to maybe, um, check it out?"
Luna's eyes lit up. "Of course! What are friends for?"
The tell-tale crack of Apparation sounded outside the front door, followed by the click of the lock.
"Hey Luna, guess what – Merlin, why is it so dark in here?" Ginny tramped into the living room, handful of grocery bags rustling. "Whoa!"
Images of the two friends danced off the walls, light spinning around the room like sparkles from a disco ball. The girls at graduation. At the victory party of the Holyhead Harpies' first win with Ginny as Chaser. Having a picnic in the park, a ring of flowers levitating in a halo around Ginny's head, Luna laughing. In the centre of the living room, the corporeal Luna sat on the couch with two bracelets in her lap – the sources of the nostalgic light show. Ginny slowly put down the bags, flicked on the lights, and drifted over to her.
"Luna, these are beautiful. Where did you get them?"
"I made them." Luna nervously handed one over. "For you."
Ginny's eyes widened as she inspected her bracelet more closely. Intricate charms, all her favourite things: a broomstick, a strawberry, the Lipstick Witches logo, a sunflower.
"Wow. This is so cool, Luna, thank you." Ginny bent down and pulled Luna into a hug.
Luna nestled into her neck, heart beating rapidly. "Um, I did it because I, um, I-"
Ginny sat down next to her, listening expectantly. This was a lot harder to say than Luna had anticipated.
"It's just that sometimes when I look at you, or think about you, or maybe it's all of the time, actually, it's like I can't think of anything else, but in a good way, like my chest hurts, and…" Luna drew in and let out a big breath, feeling slightly dizzy. She reached into her pocket and drew out two more small charms. She handed one to Ginny.
"If you wanted, I would like this."
Ginny blinked, staring at the heart in her hands, engraved Luna. She glanced over at the heart in Luna's hands, engraved Ginny. Luna held her breath. Silly words, making everything messy again. She hoped her creation was communicating better than her mouth right now.
"Luna," Ginny said slowly. "Are you asking me out?"
Luna nodded once, not daring to breath yet.
Ginny's cautious expression broke into a huge grin and she squealed, scooping Luna into a crushing hug. "Oh Merlin, you are the cutest, sweetest, most beautiful, amazing, gorgeous – ooh, sorry." She let go quickly as Luna started coughing. "Sorry, I didn't mean to crush you."
Luna waived her hand. "It's okay. Um, so, are you –? Do you want to –?"
"Yes," Ginny beamed. "I would love to be your girlfriend. You know I've had a massive crush on you for years, right?"
Luna flushed crimson, shaking her head. "I've always just been happy you wanted to be my friend."
Ginny took Luna's hand. "I'll always be your friend. Always. But I'd like to try this. I…I really like you."
"I like you." Luna wrapped her arms around Ginny, the nerves skittering around her chest starting to feel more like excitement than anxiety.
"Luna," Ginny pulled back slightly, smile crinkling the corners of her eyes. "Can I kiss you now, please?"
"Definitely."
A/N: Please leave a review if you enjoyed this! All comments and feedback appreciated. 😊
