Cassie looked in the mirror, making sure to check her hair, clothes, make-up—just her general appearance—one last time. She was going to meet up with a friend at a local bar to celebrate the anniversary of her coming to earth for the first time. It had been quite a few years now, and the twenty-two year old was more than glad she had come to live and train here, with Wonder Woman. If Cassie hadn't ever visited earth and joined the Team, she wouldn't have ever met him… The blonde then shook her head and walked out of her apartment door, excited to meet up with her friend.
The streets of El Paso were quiet as usual, and Cassie smiled as she saw a few children running around giddily, shrieks of joy occasionally being emitted into the cool spring air. The woman would then spot a few teenaged couples walking together, holding hands and laughing. A slight pang struck at her heart, but she continued to smile, nevertheless. Yes, it was hard to be here, alone, watching others who were experiencing the thrills of young love—something she had never encountered, no matter how hard she wished—and now never have that opportunity. All she had were these sporadic get-togethers with the man who still held her half-human heart. Fortunately, Cassie couldn't dwell on the past for long though, for a few minutes later she was entering the homey bar, glancing around for her companion. She spotted him at once, sitting at the bar, playing with the straw in his drink, and Cassie walked over to join him.
Now, the bar they frequented whenever special occurrences happened was neither seedy nor upscale. It was locally run, but well-maintained, serving as a family-friendly restaurant during the afternoon. There were jerseys and photographs of athletes, mostly from the college level, along with a menagerie of neon-outlined clocks and beer signs, and a single dartboard all hanging on the worn dark wooden walls. The floor was a spotless concrete, painted dark blue, to go with the pub's name: Blue Nights. Cassie always found this ironic, but her friend assured her it wasn't the reason he suggested it. There were also a plethora of televisions hanging in every corner, broadcasting a variety of sport events, which was the reason most of the patrons came to visit.
The bar itself made an assortment of drinks, ranging from a simple bottle of beer, to whisky, to varying cocktails, and the rare bottle of wine or two. The food was also excellent, between the wings, burgers, sandwiches, and pizza. And yet this wasn't the reason Cassie loved Blue Nights so much. She loved the people, the workers. Every time they visited, Phil was always here, a retired Air Force General, who never had more than one beer, but still managed to tell the most embellished and fascinating stories; there was also Bettie, a recently divorced mother of three, who had left an abusive husband at the encouraging of the other regulars and gotten back into school to be a teacher; then there was Dot and Willis, the owners, descended from the first African American slaves made free, of which they proudly boasted, who were always beaming brightly, laughing, and smelled strongly of peaches—they kept an orchard, just outside city limits.
"Hey," she called out to him, making him turn around. Cassie then saw his mouth move, but she heard no words; she was a little occupied with how marvelously handsome he was in that moment. His jet black hair was a little longer than usual—he was probably going to get a haircut soon—his black-brown eyes sparkling in the feeble light of the pub. As he smiled at her, she was blinded by his white teeth, and then simply took in his dark tan complexion, presuming that the construction job he had recently accepted had him out in the sun more often than usual. Then, naturally, she couldn't help but stare at his pectorals and arms, which his stylish black T-shirt hugged tightly, her eyes trailing down quickly to examine his dark blue jeans, which were baggy, but not too baggy. Eventually, though, Cassie came back to earth and awkwardly smiled, taking a seat on the spinning, blue-padded bar stool. "Sorry, what did you say?"
"I asked you how you were—after saying hi. So, how are you? You seem distracted."
Cassie shrugged her shoulders, allowing her painstakingly curled hair to flop in what she hoped was an enticing way; that's how she always acted. Never out rightly flirting with him, but hoping he would catch on, would notice that she wanted more. It never seemed to work, though… "Oh, I'm fine. Just a lot going on—you know, as far as the Team is concerned." Her friend nodded understandingly.
"Hasn't Nightwing been training you up to take over as the leader?" he asked.
"Yeah. It is so much work." Her companion sniggered to himself. "Don't laugh, Jaime! It's not funny!"
"It kind of is… You, working hard? Unspeakable!" Cassie rolled her eyes but smiled.
Dot then walked up to them, bringing with her a peachy scent. "What do you want, honeys?" The comforting black woman called every visitor to her business that, something Cassie found utterly endearing. "The usual?"
Cassie went to nod, but then Jaime caught her eye. "…Actually, Dot, tonight is a bit of a special night."
"Really?" she asked, placing her petite hands on her hips. "And what would the occasion be?"
Jaime looked at Cassie who was shaking her head in protest. "Today's the day that our dear Cassie here first came to good ole Texas. The first time she set foot on good, honest American soil."
"Oh, is it now?" Dot questioned again, playfulness swiftly creeping into her eyes. "Cassie, honey, you were gonna tell us that… weren't you…?" The blonde merely grinned sheepishly in response. "Now, we can't have a celebration without a little bit of fun. First two rounds are on us." She winked and proceeded to take their orders, which did include their 'usual'—one large pepperoni pizza to share and each with a Sam Adam's.
The two made idle talk with each other, not really speaking of anything noteworthy. Jaime would ask Cassie about her classes, and then Cassie would ask Jaime about work and the Scarab—which would really be the only truly interesting part of their conversations. Cassie was, after all, one of the only people who knew the Scarab was talkative, after encountering Jaime having a loud disagreement with it and connecting the dots; it wasn't even that hard. "So, what's he had opinions on lately?" she asked, a bit of her brain buzzing from the finished drink.
"Everything," Jaime sighed, ignoring Cassie as she laughed at him. "He doesn't like my boss, he thinks my mom is overprotective, he still believes I should kill everyone in the JLA and take over, and he especially thinks that I should stay away from—" Jaime then caught himself, almost saying the person's name aloud.
"Is this the same person you still won't tell me about?" she asked, an eyebrow rising.
"Yep. You still don't get to know the person that he is very blunt about what he wants to happen to them. Right now, it's gone as far as 'tortured until all their secrets are revealed, followed by ripping them limb from limb'. It's actually quite… gory." Cassie then went quiet, picking up her third piece of pizza and munching on it, Jaime doing the same—only this was his fifth.
"Can I get you two more drinks?" Willis then asked, coming out from the kitchen.
"Yeah," Cassie replied, thanking the man after he filled their glasses from the tap. A silence then descended on the almost-couple, a nearing awkward silence. Cassie chose to break it. "What do you want to do after this?"
"I dunno. We could go back to my place and watch a movie or something?" Cassie nodded, knowing nothing would come of 'going to his place'. They were adults, super powered adults at that, and they had the ability to recognize when there was a certain sexual tension in the air—which there wasn't. Cassie knew that Jaime simply meant they would hang out as friends, and nothing more.
"Sure. Sounds good." They then continued to chew quietly, almost ignoring each other but not quite. Suddenly, though, Dot and Willis came bursting through the kitchen door with a little cake in between them.
"Happy… uh… anniversary, Cassie!" Willis exclaimed, a broad smile plastering itself on his face. They set the mini cake down in front of Cassie, whose mouth was agape. All the other patrons in the pub started applauding, a few people even whistled, and Cassie stood up, shouting her thanks at everyone. Eventually the ruckus died down, though, and she sat down, warmly thanking the owners. The blonde turned to Jaime who was grinning and slid the cake between them.
"Go ahead," she said. "Have some!" Jaime picked up his fork and the two dug in, enjoying the perfect moistness. It was delicious, but then, after her fourth drink, a little of Cassie's reason was starting to slip away. She placed the last bit of cake on her fork and pulled it backwards, letting it fly through the air and smack itself on Jaime's shirt. "HA!" she shouted, going into a fit of giggles, occasionally hiccupping.
"Whazzat for?" Jaime asked her, his speech slurring from his six beers. He examined his shirt sadly as Cassie continued to laugh at his plight; finally he decided on how to exact his revenge, and did so by scraping the piece of cake off of his shirt and rubbing it on Cassie's face.
"Hey!" she called out. "Don't do that!"
"Why?" he asked.
"'Cause I don't want you to." Jaime simply began laughing and Cassie picked the bedraggled piece of cake off of her face, placing it on the plate. "Well, I'm ready to go. How about you?"
"One more round," Jaime responded, gesturing to Dot and asking her to call a cab—there was no way he was driving them back to his apartment.
The round of beers arrived, along with the check, which the two split. They drank the frothy gold liquid after toasting to a multitude of things and much giggling. The two then slammed their mugs on the counter and called their good-byes to everyone left in the pub, heading out to the cab at about eleven-thirty. They clambered in the back seat clumsily, and the driver asked them where to. Jaime gave him his address after many attempts and the car began moving.
Suddenly, the two friends had nothing to talk about. There was utter silence in the cab the entire way to the apartment building, an unexpected desire building up in the air—a desire that both felt for the other. After what felt like an eternity to the two tipsy people in the back, the car finally pulled up to the apartment complex and the driver let them out after receiving his fare and wishing them a good evening. Cassie and Jaime then proceeded to stumble into the building, thankful Jaime's room was on the first floor.
He unlocked the door and they staggered inside, making for the couch. Cassie managed to plop down first, sighing happily as she did so, all at once aware of her love for the man who was right now sitting beside her. All of the lights were off in the apartment and the air was silent, save for their heavy breathing. "So…" Cassie began, not sure what she wanted to say. Just something, anything, to get him talking.
"So." That's not quite what she meant…
"Yep." Cassie sat there, staring up at the ceiling and feeling mighty needy. She wanted to touch him, hold him, kiss him… but how would he ever comply? They were just friends. It would be weird; he'd think she was a freak… No. She would just have to live like this, live as his friend and nothing more—
And then her thoughts were silenced by something much needier. At first, Cassie didn't know what exactly was happening—there were lips pushed gently against her own, lips that tasted of beer and pepperoni, but they couldn't be his. She was obviously dreaming; she had had dreams like this before, after all. And then the lips were gone, and the silence was broken by his voice. "Sorry. I just… I don't know what came over me." It was then that Cassie was finally convinced that this was most certainly not a dream, that he, in fact, had just kissed her, and that he was now apologizing for it. And, instead of forgiving him and letting the awkward silence come again, Cassie did the only thing reasonable. She threw herself at him.
Jaime gasped in shock, but saw her intentions clearly once her cherry red lips found his.
Kissing him was like a dream, Cassie realized. Oh, why hadn't she done this sooner? Why didn't she tell him earlier? All those wasted years… At first, the kiss was cute and innocent, their lips merely touching, meeting one another for the first time; but soon they had decided their lips had greeted each other enough, and Jaime's tongue was pushed up against her teeth, wishing to befriend her tongue next. Cassie finally loosened her jaw, and his tongue darted in, dancing merrily with her own; and while the two had never more than hugged, their hands were awfully well accustomed to each other's bodies.
Cassie's hands were currently placed on Jaime's cheeks, occasionally travelling up to his hair and then down to his tone chest. She finally came to the conclusion that that shirt of his was more trouble than it was worth, and she ripped it off, flinging it to an unknown area, and greedily sliding her fingers over his now exposed skin. Jaime, meanwhile, was quite preoccupied with her lower back, butt, and thighs. His tan fingers were running up her shirt, down to her firm butt and lingering there a bit, and finally trailing down to her thighs, causing the girl to let out a small moan every time he did so, which only encouraged him to continue.
They continued making out on the sofa until Jaime wanted to take control—which he clearly could not do, pinned under the blonde. "Hold on," he muttered and she obliged, not resisting when he swiftly picked her up and carried her to his bedroom, placing her on his bed. He lowered himself down and began kissing her again, fiercer, faster. Cassie's hands tugged at his hair, glad that he had decided to keep it long. Jaime then began trailing kisses down her jaw line, which made her shudder pleasingly, down her neck, to her upper chest. Cassie sighed happily, then, and yanked her shirt off, which was causing her to be awfully hot. Jaime then took the initiative and grazed kisses lightly against her stomach, which made her giggle. Cassie pulled him back up to her and their lips met a final time, endless passion and need pouring through them both. Their lips never parted once, for a full seven minutes, their tongues never tiring. Eventually, though their bodies demanded they stop, and the two broke apart, falling asleep almost at once.
.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.o.
Cassie yawned blearily and snuggled closer to the extremely warm, comfortable object in front of her. Creaking an eye open, though, what was in front of her made her heart skip a beat. Jaime was laying there, shirtless, fast asleep, arms wrapped protectively around her. For a second, Cassie was afraid they had… done something, but then felt that she still had her jeans on, him clothed as well. She let out a breath she didn't know she was holding, and nestled herself even closer to him, causing him to groggily wake.
She heard him yawn, saw him rub his eyes and open them, fear instantly filling his dark brown pools when he saw her. "Oh, no. We didn't—?"
"No," she told him, relief evident on his face. "We're both still… mostly clothed." She giggled at that and he grabbed her, pulling her close to him.
"I'm almost kind of upset by that."
"What?!" she asked, cheekiness clear in her tone.
"You know what I mean." There was a silence that followed Jaime's statement. A comfortable silence that didn't feel the least bit awkward. The two were just content to lie in each other's arms, happy that they felt this way. Eventually, though, the quiet got to Cassie.
"So… are we more than friends…?" She was nervous, frightened even, at what Jaime might say. When he opened his mouth to speak, she had to keep herself from holding her breath.
"After last night…? I'd say so."
Author's Note: ~Weeeee!~ I love Wonderbeetle!
Hope you enjoyed. ;D
Cordially,
LadyFrederic