AN: ... Conby in the cretaceous oneshot. Aka I am unhappy with how I used to write for this plot when I first started writing fic, and I was inspired to try it again. So... hope you guys like it!
(The cretaceous is a fun point in time to focus on 'cause the show doesn't tell us how Connor and Abby got together... and everyone imagines it differently. :3 )
Connor gripped the bark of the tree with his toes and one hand, balancing carefully as he surveyed the landscape before him. His shoes and socks lay at the base of the tree. Abby had gone out foraging, and he was keeping watch, a whistle on a string hanging beside his necklace to use in case of danger to alert her.
The whistle had been her idea, in the first few days here when he'd been too injured to accompany her. Now it meant that they didn't both need to go, as long as the other kept watch.
From his perch he could see quite a lot of the Cretaceous forest, and Connor smiled to himself as he spotted Abby's pale blonde head as she darted between the trees, headed towards the river that ran parallel to the spot they called home for now.
He saw no predators on land, and Abby would use her whistle if she needed help. He turned and climbed down from the branch, careful not to slip, and carried his footwear back to their shelter. He entered, dropping the shoes in a corner of the home they had built with brambles and branches, before moving into the area with their fire pit. Atop some rocks he'd pushed together to make 'shelves', Abby had placed the bowls they'd hewn together, and then they had put the herbs and berries she'd found into them. His laptop had died two days ago, he'd used up the last of the charge checking a file on paleobotany. They didnt' want to get sick here.
Connor paused, listening carefully, but Abby hadn't used the whistle, so he set to prepping for the fish she would hopefully bring back. leaves from one of the great ferns would be used to wrap and steam the fish over the fire, the bits of things they'd tasted and deemed edible worked as spices.
Connor smirked to himself as he began the prep, imagining their little shelter as a grand kitchen, even better than the one in their flat. As he shifted the brambles above him to let the smoke out, and then lit the fire after a bit of struggle - they'd run out of matches, and Abby was still better with firestarting than he would ever be - Connor daydreamed that he was a famous cook, making gourmet meals based on those they'd had in the past weeks in the Cretaceous.
"What're you doing, Conn?" Abby's voice startled him, and he turned around to grin sheepishly at her. She laughed at the look on his face. "playing pretend?" She teased.
"You're the one what said I should close my eyes and imagine!" He bantered right back. She laughed again, putting the backpack down to walk up to him. Connor stared at her, frozen. Not once had she even given a sign that she was interested in more than just friends, not since that day at the racetrack… All thoughts and confusion left his mind as she moved forwards those last few inches, and kissed him soundly on the lips. It wasn't exactly like the first, not quite as tentative or measured, but Connor was just as awestruck, and leaned forwards slightly when Abby finally pulled away. His eyes fluttered open to find her standing still, her own eyes still closed.
"Abby?" He asked, voice cracking. He wasn't sure what to think. She opened her eyes, meeting his gaze carefully, but there was a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye.
"Your turn." She told him. Connor looked confused. "I've kissed you twice, Conn. Your turn."
"Oh!" He blinked in surprise, and then smiled. "So… I have ta be a good kisser to be your boyfriend?" He teased, voice low. Abby smirked. She knew they'd probably have a lot of talking to do, she knew he deserved to know what had been holding her back for so long. But she'd finally realized she loved Connor Temple…. and she had no regrets about that. Connor's eyes were wide and dark as he invaded her personal space at her request, leaning down those few inches, tilting his head, moving impossibly closer. She let her hand trail across his shoulder, not knowing how or when she'd placed her hand there, and up into the hair at the back of his neck. His hair was soft, she noted absently, as he broached the last centimeter, and kissed her languorously. Abby sighed into his mouth, felt his hand at her waist.
When they finally broke apart, breathing heavily, Connor smiled hesitantly at her, a sweet, open expression on his face that made her fall in love with him all over again.
"So… does this mean I'm your boyfriend?" He murmured, breath ghosting warmly on her. They hadn't moved far apart at all.
"Yeah." She replied softly, "I love you." Abby added, feeling her heart warm at the awe in his beautiful brown eyes.
"Wow." Connor flushed, turning red from cheeks to ears, and she couldn't help but chuckle. "I, ah, I mean, I love you too!"
"Never change, Conn." Abby told him, kissing him lightly on the lips - making him speechless for a moment once more - and then turning away to start cooking the fish.
"Don't intend on it." He mumbled, sounding faintly puzzled. Her Connor was so adorably oblivious sometimes, Abby mused. After a moment he joined her at the fire pit, a huge grin on his face as they put the two vaguely catfish-like creatures, wrapping in large leaves, into a bowl-shaped rock, and in that, onto the fire.
The Cretaceous may not have been big on gourmet kitchens, or even a good meal they didn't have to hunt for, but it seemed that it was big on romance. And as silly as that sounded, the two realized that it fit them. They were best friends and soulmates and more, two halves of a whole, silly and strange and serious when it mattered. And that was perfect, even if it meant being millions of years in the past.