(Five times Raffe didn't understand how humans worked and one time he did )
1. It was midnight and Penryn was still tossing and turning. Her fingernails were digging into her skin with a noise that made Raffe want to rip his ears off. She had her face in her pillow trying to "ignore" the small bug bites that were torturing both of them tonight. But, inevitably, she went into another scratching fit, this one worse than the last.
When Raffe had suggested that they go outside at night in the middle of the summer so he could be a romantic fool, he didn't realize the consequences of having such a tasty daughter of man. Mosquitos had attacked her like she was a juicy steak and they were a pack of starving dogs. She toughed it out, not letting on that she was being eaten alive, until she made it back inside with hundreds of bites on her legs.
When Raffe couldn't stand the sound of her scratching anymore (super hearing isn't always helpful), she got out of bed with a huff, striding out of their room in nothing but a t-shirt and panties. After going into the kitchen and bathroom (and making a significant amount of noise), she came back.
Raffe laughed at her when he saw the white powder covering her lower legs. She gave him a look that clearly said, I'm desperate, shut up asshole. And he obliged because he was desperate too.
She told him it was baking soda and water and it should help stop the itching. Good, he thought and expected the best. He expected her to cozy up to him like usual and fall asleep. What he didn't expect was for all of the baking soda to just fall off and make the bed feel like it had crumbs in it.
"You're making a mess." He murmured in her hair. He was just stating it, he didn't mean to make it sound like a complaint.
"Well, Raffe it's actually kind of working. I'll clean it up tomorrow. Just.. suck it up okay?"
Raffe kept quiet. They were both tired, irritable, and maybe just a little cranky. They both needed a good night's sleep and arguing right now wasn't going to help.
Raffe kissed her hair and pulled her closer against him. He would gladly 'suck it up' anyday for her.
2. Raffe was scared shitless of her driving, but she was euphoric. Her windows were down and she would occasionally stick her hand out the window of her small sports car to feel the rush of wind their speed was creating. She had some rock band's cd in her stereo and was playing it as loudly as Raffe had allowed her to.
Raffe didn't quite understand her music taste yet. He knew her favorite book genre, (she was a sucker for fantasy/ adventure with a hint of romance). He knew her food preferences, (sweetness is always over savory). And he knew that her favorite color changed with the day, (although, helpful to his ego, it's usually blue).
But her taste in music was something different. Some days she listened to the pop/rap stuff that was popular before the world went to hell. Others, it's rock, like she was listening to now. He knows that sometimes she would turn on the radio and listen to country music for the heck of it and she had classical music on her laptop. She said she listens to whatever she's in the mood for.
Fortunately for him, her mood was euphoric and she was in the mood for some angsty rock 'n' roll.
Unfortunately for him, she sang to everything she listened to.
She would hit the right notes but her tone wasn't great. Her body just wasn't made for singing. It was made for fighting opponents twice her size and keeping up with Raffe in bed. Nothing as dainty as singing. Maybe it was just him, being an angel and all. Maybe he was used to the perfect chorus that angels can make without any effort.
A song ended and another began. Penryn smiled at Raffe, stealing a glance his way.
"This is my favorite song." She said simply and Raffe perked up at that and listened to the lyrics.
It was a slower song, acoustic. Didn't match up with Penryn at all, until he heard the first line.
Ironically, the first line was, "My god is better than yours," but with further listening, Raffe realized it was about ignorance and the people ruining the world. Appropriate.
Raffe rested his hand on her thigh and listened more carefully to her music for the rest of the drive. Apparently, genre had nothing to do with Penryn's taste in music. Meaning did.
3. Penryn was pale and vulnerable as she buried her face in Raffe's chest and let him hold up her weight. She was sweating but her hands were freezing on his back. She had told him she was dizzy before collapsing in his arms. It was safe to say that Raffe was beyond worried.
She was still (barely) conscious as he carried her into bed. She had a fever and cold clammy hands. Raffe didn't know what the symptoms meant and didn't know how to help her. (The flu has to have coughing in it right? Heat stroke? Then why were her hands so cold? Is it just a fluke? A random attack to her immune system?)
He decided to treat the fever, because if he didn't do something he didn't know what was going to happen. He bundled her up in a blanket burrito, hoping she would just sweat the fever out and put a wet washcloth on her forehead, and he waited patiently.
Who was he kidding? He was a worried mess. He's never had to deal with illness before. The only thing he's ever had to nurse was his ego (and angel sword wounds, but those were expected). His strong, brave, determined daughter of man suddenly getting a mystery virus was not expected.
So he waited. Occasionally checking Penryn's temperature. And waited some more. Until he woke her up to eat some chicken noodle soup.
Her eyes fluttering open relieved Raffe because she had been sleeping like the dead. And the soft smile she gave him reassured him. Penryn took the soup graciously.
"This is good and all but did you ever think to give me a fever reducer? Midol? Ibuprofen?"
Oh. Raffe still had a lot to learn.
4. She had only had three swigs of his whiskey. How could she be drunk already? Raffe thought to himself as he dragged her out of the company of the Watchers. None of them were completely plastered yet but they were playing rough with each other and Penryn didn't need to be around that when she didn't know what was going on.
Penryn stumbled through two flights of stairs from the roof (which was where they had been before), clutching onto Raffe's arm like an anchor before they made it back to their front door. It was locked and Penryn had the key. Raffe reached into the back pocket of her jeans, where she kept the single key (it was because something about how women's pants barely had front pockets), and definitely not grabbing her ass a little, got the key to unlock the door.
Penryn giggled. "I knew you were just trying to get in my pants." She said and continued to laugh at her own joke.
She was adorable right now but she needed to be adorable inside, Raffe thought as he ushered her through the front door. He turned his head away from her for one second, and then he heard the flop of her hitting the floor. A giggle. And then a groan.
She reminded him of a baby deer the way she had fallen on her butt with her legs out in front of her.
"Nope. None of that." No need to get messy. "It's time to get you in bed." Raffe said lifting her up from her armpits. Now standing more or less on her own, she actually pouted at him.
"I don't want to." She said, stamping her foot.
"Then what do you want to do?"
"You." She said giggling again. And then she put her hands on his hips and pulled him closer, and he allowed it because he was also a little tipsy. And as long as she stayed awake long enough, where was the issue?
Then he remembered that it was Sunday night. And she had to get up early tomorrow to save the world. Maybe she had some important meeting with some foreign ambassador or something? Who knows? Certainly not her right now.
Raffe suddenly lifted her and threw her over his shoulder, causing her to squeal and giggle like a girl. He went to their bedroom and threw her non-too-gently on the bed. She clumsily sat up on her knees, trying to gain some of her dignity back (and failing).
If he would have had a shirt on, she probably would have used that pull him toward her. But he didn't. So she grabbed at his pants, trying to find a belt loop or maybe a pocket to grab onto, but letting her hand ghost over his dick before pulling at his waistband.
"Whoa now. I'm right here." Raffe said but Penryn, who was oblivious to his words, just grabbed his face and guided him to her level, pulling him into a kiss. The kiss was sloppy and short-lived because Penryn forgot that she could breathe through her nose.
Raffe climbed into bed with her to try to get her to settle down.
"Wait! We can't have sex with our clothes on, silly." More giggles.
"Yeah, about that." Raffe shook his head.
"You tricked me." Her voice was sad and defeated and Raffe never wanted to hear it that way again.
"Let's get ready for bed." He suggested and she nodded solemnly.
He got her ready for bed, tried to prepare her for the hangover she might have tomorrow, and compromised sex with cuddling before going to sleep (like they didn't usually do that in one form or the other anyway).
"I like you. Like like-like you." Penryn said in a small voice after awhile.
Raffe ran a hand through her hair, smiling to himself in the dark. Three swigs of whiskey had brought him this.
"Do you like-like me back?"
"Yes, I like you very much Penryn." More hair stroking. "I'd also like it if you went to sleep." He said pressing a kiss to her forehead. She nodded happily.
Three swigs of whiskey.
5. The lights were startling bright and the explosions were way too loud for his super-senses. But he still sat on the roof with her, watching her watch fire and smoke fly through the sky.
He thought this 'holiday' was frivolous and meaningless now. America wasn't quite a thing anymore. So there technically wasn't a reason for an Independence day. But people still wanted to blow stuff up apparently because someone put together a huge fireworks show.
The holiday might not be his thing but damnit if the sky didn't light Penryn's face up in the most glorious way. The explosions bounced off her eyes to reveal golden specks. And her skin was glowing with signs of health and childhood happiness.
He wanted to kiss her but didn't want to interrupt the show. They were alone up here, no annoying Watcher in sight. He settled by wrapping his arm and his wing partially around her. He squinted up at the fireworks. They were nice, just not as big of a deal as humans make them out to be.
He was still looking up when Penryn kissed his cheek. He turned toward her slightly to meet her lips with his. And suddenly, the fireworks in the sky didn't compare to the fireworks that were between them, as cliché as that sounds. They weren't even doing much, just kissing, but it was good.
Penryn bit her lip when they finally broke apart.
"Still think fireworks are horrible?"
+1. Raffe woke up to a sleepy Penryn snuggling closer to him. The room was filled with sunlight but he didn't feel rested either. But they had responsibilities.
"Penryn." He rubbed a hand down her back. "We should probably get up."
Penryn snuggled deeper between his side and the mattress. "Yeah, I guess we should. But I'm not gonna." She murmured.
Raffe moved his hand from her back to her side and tickled her. She writhed like he had shocked her, letting out a nonvoluntary laugh.
"Stop." She groaned.
"I don't want to get up either." Raffe admitted.
"Then don't."
"I can't just-"
"Say I'm sick and need help all day." Penryn lifted her head from his side to look at him. Her hair flopped in her face in a way that didn't look entirely bad on her. "We have a lifetime to fix the world, we can take a day off. And besides, I'm in charge of this and I'm declaring this a lazy day."
Raffe smirked at her. "What exactly are you in charge of? It certainly isn't me."
"Mmhmm." Penryn made the noise as she pressed a kiss to Raffe's chest. "Keep telling yourself that."
Raffe didn't argue because let's face it, he would do anything for this girl. "And what will we do on this 'lazy day?'" He asked instead.
"Well first, I'm going to get at least two more hours of sleep. And then I'm going to have a real breakfast for once." She paused and tried not to smile. Her hand was idly playing with the hair that was beneath his naval. "And then we can do other things, if you'd like."
Oh man. He'd like that very much.
So Penryn got to sleep a couple more hours and cook them a nice breakfast. And even though they didn't go into work like usual, they both had a very productive day by Raffe's standards.
After many fruitful hours with his daughter of man, Raffe was finally starting to understand.
A/N: Hello all! I'm hope you enjoyed this fic even though it was just self indulgent fluff. A couple things:
The song mentioned in the 2nd drabble is People Live Here by Rise Against which is an appropriate song for Penryn imo without just outright singing about angels.
Please review if you liked this, or if you didn't tell me why. Reviews keep me going :)