Destressing Aubrey
One-Shot
Pairing: Mitchsen
Rating: K
Aubrey all but slammed the door to the apartment that she and her girlfriend shared. The woman in question turned from her position on the couch to see the blonde dropping her briefcase on the floor, shrugging off her jacket before beelining for the kitchen to get a beer. "Bad day?" Aubrey looked over to her girlfriend and just groaned.
"You have no idea. You know, I love being a lawyer, but sometimes this profession irritates the crap out of me. I don't know how in the world you put up with me sometimes." Beca stretched, thinking of an appropriate reply.
"Because we're so much alike. I get you, in some ways at least. Somethings I really don't understand, but hey, there are things I'm sure you don't understand about me." Aubrey laughed.
"Of course there are babe. I have no idea why you got those ear monstrosities for one. Or wear so much eyeliner." Beca's eyes narrowed. "But that's all part of you and I guess over the years I've learned to accept it." Beca's face softened and just nodded in approval. The two woman had been dating for a few years now.
When the two initially met in college through their mutual friend, Chloe Beale, they had immediately butted heads. They were both stubborn, headstrong women, but with some encouragement and prodding from Chloe and a whole lot of arguing between the two of them, they decided to give each other a chance. Most people didn't understand how they had gone from enemies, to acquaintances, to friends, and finally to lovers. But those that saw them now would have never guessed that they had once hated each other.
"Well, there's your answer then. We've all got our flaws and quirks. But they're all part of what makes you.. you I guess. And I love you. So I'll take you, flaws and all." Aubrey smiled at Beca. Knowing what to say was an unexpected yet very reassuring talent that the brunette processed. The brunette usually hid behind walls of steel and sarcasm, but with people that she was close with, she was actually a big softie. "So tell me, what happened today?" Aubrey groaned, being reminded of her horrible day.
"One of our clients threw a huge fit." Aubrey started as she slumped on the couch next to Beca, handing the other girl a beer. "Accused us of not trying hard enough to defend him, even though our top lawyers spend hours on end on his case because it's a high profile and he is paying a lot. Which actually doesn't help because all he does is say that he's paying through the nose for our firm to represent him. And what's more, he's a sexist pig. You know I'm one of the top lawyers on the case, and in fact in the firm itself. But all this man does is berate me and he refuses to talk legal anything with me, saying he wants a male lawyer because 'obviously a woman wouldn't understand his superior intellect' or some bullshit like that.' Aubrey ranted. Beca remained quiet throughout her speech. The brunette knew that Aubrey hated being interrupted mid-rant. Once she got the sign that she was finished, Beca responded.
"You need me to go beat him up for you?" Aubrey laughed, but shook her head.
"No. Odds are he'd just hire us to charge you with assault. And I'd really rather not prosecute my girlfriend if I can help it." Beca just shrugged.
"Whatever. Offer is on the table. This guy sounds like a class A jerk. Why can't you just drop him?" Aubrey shook her head.
"Doesn't work like that. Even if it did, he has a high profile case. Our firm is basically contract bound to see it through to the end. It sucks, but he is paying through the nose, like he so often brings up." Aubrey took a long drink from her beer can. "I'm just so stressed out. I'm glad I mostly got over the projectile vomiting thing. I'd probably be blowing chunks on a daily basis." Beca wrinkled her nose in disgust. She remembered a few occasions where her girlfriend had gotten too stressed and spent the entire night in front of the toilet bowl. And a few times in public. It was a time that she didn't want to return to, for both her sake and Aubrey's.
Suddenly, an idea popped into her head. "Hey, you're free tonight right?" The blonde nodded her head.
"Yeah, I'm not due back in the office for a couple of days. I said I'd work from home. Why?" Beca stood up abruptly.
"I've got an idea of how we can destress you. Just let me go make a phone call." Without waiting for a response, Beca scooped her phone up from the coffee table and scurried away to their bedroom. The brunette wanted her idea to be a surprise. Leaving Aubrey sat on the couch in confusion.
Scrolling through her contacts, she found the specific redhead she was looking for and dialed her number. If Chloe agreed to lend Beca her studio for the night, the brunette knew it would be the perfect way to help Aubrey relax. Chloe picked up on the second ring. "Hey Becs, what's up?"
"Chlo, I've got a favor."
"I still don't know where you're dragging me and why you made me throw on an old t-shirt and shorts that I haven't worn since college." Aubrey would much rather have spent the night in the apartment, snuggling with her girlfriend. But Beca was having none of that. She insisted that going out would be good for her. And promised that it would just be the two of them.
Before she knew it, the couple were standing in front of Chloe's art studio. Aubrey looked curiously at Beca. "What are we doing here Becs?" Her girlfriend grinned widely.
"You'll see. I promise you'll love it." Beca pulled out the key that Chloe had given her a long time ago. The redhead would often ask Beca or Aubrey to watch her studio if she was out of town, which was often. Unlocking the door, the two stepped inside. Beca flipped the lights on.
What greeted them was a few dozen balloons, paint, a large roll of butcher paper, tape and a bunch of darts. Aubrey looked over at Beca. "What's all this for Becs?" The brunette looked incredulously at her girlfriend.
"Have you never done the art of balloon dart painting?" The taller blonde just shook her head, not even understanding what her girlfriend was referring to. Beca flailed her arms above her head. "Well you're missing out!" She walked over to the paint that Chloe had left out for them. She popped open one of the bottles and started pouring some of it into a balloon. Aubrey didn't budge from her spot, so Beca had to encourage her.
"C'mon Posen. These balloons aren't going to fill themselves!" Aubrey smiled and shook her head. But joining Beca at the table, she also opened a bottle of paint and started to fill balloons.
Before the two even finished ten balloons, Beca had tried to sneakily get paint streaks on Aubrey's face. However, the tiny brunette wasn't as stealthy as she thought and Aubrey had caught her before she even got within six inches of the blonde. As punishment for that, Aubrey dipped her finger in a puddle of blue paint and smeared it on Beca's nose.
An evil glint came over Beca's eyes. And before they knew it, it was an all out paint war. The two circled the table, trying to one up the other. By the end, Aubrey had streaks of red, yellow, blue, green and all manner of colors all over her shirt, face, arms and any other places that Beca could get to. Although due to her longer reach, Aubrey had managed to come out on top. There was more paint visible than skin on the brunette.
Looking each other up and down, they both doubled over in hysterics. "You looked ridiculous Becs." The brunette in question just snorted.
"You don't look so pristine yourself Bree. Let's just get back to filling these balloons. I swear, it'll be worth it. This is so going to help you destressify." Aubrey was skeptical, but did as her girlfriend said. Although, just spending quality time with Beca was already helping her relax. So maybe Beca was on to something.
It was another ten or fifteen minutes before the two girls had enough paint filled balloons, to the point where Beca was satisfied. Grabbing a chair and the tape, Beca carried it over to one of the empty walls of the studio. She hopped up on the chair. "Bree, you mind handing me the end of the roll of paper." She said, pointing to the roll. Aubrey grabbed it and handed the end to Beca, who taped the end to the top of the wall, letting the length of the paper roll down to the floor.
Taping the sides of the paper to the wall as well, to make sure that it was secure, Beca climbed down and rolled out the white paper. She then ripped the end when it was a few feet away from the wall. Aubrey just watched as Beca repeated the process with another couple lengths of paper so that the wall was completely covered.
Handing her girlfriend the tape, "Okay, help me tape these balloons to the wall." Aubrey furrowed her brow in confusion, but trusted her girlfriend anyways. Beca handed her balloons and the taller girl put them up on various places spread out all over the wall.
Once they were all up on the wall, Beca took the tape back and replaced it with a handful of darts. "Okay, so pop the balloons." Aubrey cocked her head to one side.
"This is what all that was about?" She asked. Beca nodded her head.
"Well duh. I didn't just fill up a ton of balloons with paint and hand you darts so we could stare at them all night, did I?" Beca said like it was the simplest concept in the entire world. The brunette tried to demonstrate by throwing one of her darts at a red balloon, but ended up missing and just hit the wall instead. Beca blinked as Aubrey covered her mouth with her free hand, trying to cover up her laughter.
Beca just glared at her girlfriend. "I'd like to see you do better!" She said indignantly. Aubrey shrugged before taking a dart in her hand. She aimed at the same balloon that Beca had been aiming at. She let her dart fly and it struck its target, popping the balloon, splattering red paint all over the canvas. Some of the spray even reached to where the two women were standing, so they now had a few little red flecks of paint in addition to their paint war streaks. The blonde looked triumphantly over at Beca.
"Lucky shot." Beca grumbled. Aubrey leaned in and kissed Beca on the cheek.
"You know you're adorable when you pout." Aubrey whispered.
"I'm not adorable!" Beca protested. "I'm badass!" Aubrey laughed.
"Says the girl who dragged me all the way to our best friend's art studio to throw darts at paint filled balloons. If that isn't my idea of a cheesy date, I don't know what is." Beca just huffed.
"I was trying to cheer you up." Beca admitted. Aubrey's green eyes softened. She ran her hand up and down one of Beca's arms.
"I am happy babe. I'm happy to be with you. Doesn't matter what we're doing. Although I'll admit, I would like to throw more of these darts." Beca grinned.
"As long as you only throw them at balloons." Beca said cheekily. Aubrey playfully frowned.
"Darn, I was hoping that I'd get to throw them out the window and see where they land." Beca chuckled at her girlfriend's statement.
"Wow Bree, I think I'm rubbing off on you. Before you'd never crack a sarcastic joke like that." Aubrey shrugged.
"What can I say? I spent a lot of time with you. Now, are you going to keep coming up with ways to stall me? Because I think you need to redeem yourself from the miss you had earlier." Beca raised an eyebrow.
"Is that a challenge Posen?" Aubrey gave Beca a crooked smile. She was never one to back down from anyone, especially the tiny brunette
"Perhaps it is."
"Whoever pops the least has to do the dishes for a week?" Aubrey nodded vigorously.
"You're on Mitchell."
"You're so going down Posen." And the two spent the rest of the evening tossing darts at paint filled balloons. And Aubrey had to admit, it was some of the most fun she had had in a long time. But what got her the most was that Beca had went out of her way to cheer her up. It was one of the many, many things that she loved about her girlfriend.
A/N: Well, that was cute. I think. Wanted to take a short break from Bechloe to write another Mitchsen Oneshot. Got the idea from a list of prompts on DeviantART. Although the OG prompt was 'drawing on walls.' Then I thought about that scene in Princess Diaries.. then well.. yeah.
Hope you all likey. Mistakes are my own. I don't own anything. Yadda yadda yadda. You all know the drill.
A Charmed Vampire
