A Brilliant Idea
They arrive at the apartment they share, tipsy thanks to their mutual habit of forgetting how many drinks they've had. The two of them collapse on the sofa, giggly and chatty and relaxed. The conversation has, unsurprisingly, turned to Roderich. Why they so frequently talk about Elizaveta's ex, Gilbert isn't sure, but since he was the one to initiate the conversation, he is in no position to protest.
"Remember when he was real young? He wasn't much to look at back then," Elizaveta says, laughing. It isn't all that funny, but Gilbert laughs too, and blames it on the wine. He isn't usually a giggly drunk, but Liz is, and as cliché as it sounds, her laughter is infectious. "What do you suppose happened?"
"Puberty," he answers, completely serious. "Puberty did like a...caterpillar to butterfly thing to him."
"Metamorphosis."
"Yeah. He was an ugly caterpillar and now he's a pretty butterfly," he says, now completely unable to contain his laughter.
"So..." She pauses for a second. "You think he's pretty, then?"
She's giving him a look and he isn't quite sure what it means. He blinks, trying to figure out if this is a trap and if so, how to get out of it.
He tries honesty, for a change. "Well…he's an attractive guy, sure."
With that, her eyes light up a little. "Hey," she says, as if suddenly coming up with a brilliant idea that she has certainly not been thinking about since they were teenagers. "What if…" she leans close to him and whispers in his ear.
"What? No way."
"Why not?" She lies down with her head on his lap, looking up at him with the kind of innocent expression that only the oh-so-very-not-innocent can manage.
"Liz, that's crazy."
"I don't know, Gil," she says almost absently, and runs her hand over his bicep with a calculated casualness. "I think it could be…fun." She does not add, and I've seen the way you look at him. It's the same way I looked at him when I first discovered my libido. She simply looks up at her boyfriend like her mention of "fun" was not just a theory but a promise.
And that look she gives him is possibly the sexiest thing he's ever seen. At least, that's what he tells himself was his reason for agreeing to it.