By Fidget
A/N: Silly ficlet about Bob discovering Dot's little heart tattoo. Pretty silly, I'm warning you.
Thank-You's: To Tom, Claire Hunter and Prof. Sparky for beta-reading and doing a splendific job. Death to typos and misspellings!
Rating: Between PG and PG-13 for Bob's thoughts and general silliness (so, think I've said 'silly' enough yet?)
Dot opened her closet with mild interest. She was so used to wearing only the few things stored in her icon, she had almost forgotten the odd little outfits shunned to the hangers and collecting dust. Emphasis on little.
She fingered the sleeve of her purple dress fondly, a few memories rushing back to her. After a moment, she spotted another old skirt tucked away. She pulled it out, examining it, and felt her eyebrows raise themselves. She'd only worn it once, just as a sort of joke, but it was too...something to wear often. She grinned mischieviously, suddenly wondering what a certain other sprite's reaction would be...
He waited at the Diner, tapping the table impatiently. She had to show up eventually. She always did.
He was anxious to see her. Maybe he saw her every day, but it didn't matter. Dot was a substantial part of his life.
She swept in at that moment, eyes bright and as determined as ever. Her clothes were what shocked Bob, though; a tiny black skirt, white shirt and little black suspenders. It just didn't seem...Dot.
She smiled when she saw him, changing course to slide into the booth next to him. She did so, crossing her left leg over her right as she settled in.
"Like my outfit, huh?" she said with a sly grin, noticing how his eyes still lingered on portions other than her face. He nodded almost imperceptibly, running his gaze up her legs once more before actually greeting her. Something caught his eye.
It was a little black heart with an arrow through it, perched in plain view on the inside of her thigh. The inside of her thigh. This had to be new, he would have noticed something this...suggestive, sexy, tantalizing...un-Dot-like before. Or, it occurred to him at last, he would have if she had ever worn anything like this.
"You have a tattoo." he stated simply. Dot followed his gaze and her grin dropped.
"Oh."
Bob glanced back up at her face, now pointed at her own leg. "What do you mean, 'Oh'? You didn't know it was there?" Dot giggled a little self-consciously.
"No. I mean, no, I knew it was there, I just...forgot about it." She brushed the tip of one finger over it, evidently reminiscing about something. Seeing Bob's raised eyebrow, she added defensively, "I'm always wearing pants! I haven't had the opportunity to see it in years."
"In years? So, you never take a shower or anything?" She whapped him good-naturedly on the arm.
"I don't take notice of it anymore. Sorry."
"Don't be sorry on my account," he looked back down at her tattoo thoughtfully. "Any back story to this thing? Old boyfriend?" Dot laughed.
"No. It was something my friends convinced me to do. I was young and silly, and I was always drawing this on my leg with a pen. They told me I should get it done permanently and I listened."
Bob nodded, then grinned. "Didn't it hurt?"
Dot let out a small groan at the memory, leaning over to speak quietly to him. "Like a motherboard. Looked really funny while I waited for it to heal, too. It'll probably look funny when I'm old; actually, probably looks funny now."
Bob laughed quietly, absently touching two fingers to the heart. "Nah. I like it."
His wistful tone of voice and slightly glazed eyes made Dot burst out laughing. "I can tell!" she managed at last, and Bob snatched his hand away with a sheepish smile. After waiting a few dignity-crushing moments for Dot to stop giggling, he began to defend himself.
"Can you blame me?" he asked in mock-seriousness, prompting more snickering.
"Well," she responded with a sly grin, "Considering it's me we're talking about..."
Bob threw and arm around her shoulders comfortably. "Just as modest as you should be." Dot was about to snap off come-back when she realized the true meaning of the statement and blushed.
Mouse strutted in and saved Dot from having to think up a reply. She waved to the couple, then raised her eyebrows at Dot's skirt. She sat down across from them, looking from one to the other. At last, she grinned evilly.
"Dot, honey? You may wanna uncross your legs." she said sweetly. Dot glanced down at her left side, where the slit in her skirt bared her thigh up to her hip. Blushing deeper, she uncrossed her legs and smoothed her skirt to cover more of herself.
"Actually," she said quietly, "I should get going. I'm awfully busy today." She stood up to Mouse's derisive laugh.
"When are you not busy, sugah?"
Dot smiled and rolled her eyes. She managed to take one entire step forward before Mouse cocked an eyebrow and stopped her with a question.
"Since when have you had a tattoo there?!"
