Title: "I'm Hungry"
Fandom: Bishoujo Senshi Sailor Moon
Prompt: 302 (Book)
Character/Pairing: Mizuno Ami, Zoisite/Zane Murphy; Zoisite x Ami
Rating: T / PG-13 / Teen
Word Count: 1877
Summary: Zane needs food, and his stomach is not willing to wait for his girlfriend to finish her flashcards to get it.
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.
Authors Notes: College/pre-Crystal Tokyo. A bit of 'senior year is exhausting stress-relief' silliness.
"I'm Hungry"
Sometimes it paid to have a boyfriend in college, especially when he was just as much of an 'egg-head' as you were. When study dates that consisted of actual studying counted as legitimate quality time, the usual strain that academics put on a relationship was much easier to manage. Even if said boyfriend tended to be on the more aloof, 'I'm Too Smart For You Eejits And You Know It Why Am I Here Again?' side. (True, Zane was graduating early at the end of the year – as she would be next year – but he didn't have to rub their faces in it. Good thing he was an exceptional fighter.)
That particular night leading up to midterms found them both in the library, in the quiet little section they had scoped out the year prior that was hardly ever occupied save for them. She was sitting on the floor, her textbooks spread out on the table before her, while he was sprawled out on the couch she was using as a backrest. He had kicked off his shoes shortly after they'd arrived, and he had been nudging her with his toes for the past twenty minutes. Every time she glanced over at him, his face was buried in the textbook propped against his chest, but she would swear she could see the smirk on his annoyingly gorgeous face. The next time he prodded her, she captured his foot in her hand and drew a feather-light touch against its bottom. He squealed – actually squealed – and jerked his foot back. When she looked back to him, he was propped up on his elbow, the textbook fallen forgotten to the floor, and he was gawking at her. She smirked at him and looked back to the flashcards she had been studying.
"Stop it," she said, sending up a quiet prayer of thanks that he was so ticklish. He nudged her again. She shot him a pointed look, and he gave her his best puppy face.
"Hey, Ames," he said, and she rolled her eyes at the nickname. It wasn't one of her favorites, and he knew it. "Mo chara." Much better, she thought, thrilling at the way his brogue came out in his native tongue. She had never thought she would be the type to be so easily taken by accents, but Zane had a way of bringing that side out of her. "I'm hungry."
Ah.
She turned her wrist upside-down to glance at her watch. and she balked at the time. They had been studying nonstop for…egads, six hours now. The simple face told her it was just after eight – hadn't they planned on leaving around seven?
He nudged her shoulder again, and she shot him a perturbed (if slightly sympathetic) glare.
"Get your stinking feet away from me," she said, and he grinned at her in his 'I'm Adorable Don't You Love Me?' way (and damn it all if she really, really did, stinky feet and all).
"I'm hungry," he said again. He pushed himself up and bent over so he was nearly level with her face, a mischievous glint in his eyes. "Aren't you hungry, Ami?"
"I…" she started, but he was being so very distracting with how close he had moved. His eyes were exceptionally bright, and maybe she was hungry, but she was finding it hard to remember that with him quite so close.
"I didn't get lunch," he said, and her eyes widened as his stomach chose the perfect moment to make itself known. "And scratch hungry – I'm bloody starving."
Usually, this was the point of the evening where one of them would run out and grab some takeout, usually sandwiches from the little café at the front of the library. It was a convenient system: one could seek out sustenance while the other remained to study. Sometimes, on the nights where they didn't have as much work or were farther ahead than they'd anticipated, they both left. The problem tonight was that the café had closed ten minutes ago, and she didn't quite feel like leaving the haven of the library yet.
"So go get something to eat," she said, and he groaned as he flopped back on the sofa.
"I can't – I'm too weak, girseach!" he moaned, tossing an arm over his eyes for added affect. "I need food, but I'm too weak to fetch it!"
"Drama queen," she huffed before turning back to her flashcards. He lifted the arm slightly to peek out at her.
"I got the food last time?" he offered, but she wouldn't budge. "Ami! You're killing me here!"
"I'm almost done," she said. "Give me ten more minutes and we can go find something together."
"I'll be dead in ten minutes – I need food now!" he whined. She shot him another look only to find he was once again slouched all over the sofa, his head turned down as he looked at her from a nearly upside-down position. "I'm gonna waste away, and then I'll die, and I won't reincarnate this time, and you'll be so very sorry because you'll miss me so very much –"
"Unlikely," she snorted, but he prattled on as if he hadn't heard her. He probably hadn't.
"– and did I ever tell you my parents this time 'round are diabetic? That means low blood sugar, and bad things can happen if my sugar gets too low, and I feel it dropping now and –" he continued, and she finally slammed her flashcards down and glared at him.
"Zane, honestly! Your parents are not diabetic – they're retired in Kinsale!" she huffed, and he blinked at her before his face screwed into a look of confusion. From the upside-down angle, his nose looked crinklier than usual. It was kind of adorable, in a 'I Want To Hit You Right There' sort of way.
"What's that got to do with…fine, never mind. I'm not diabetic. But I'm still starving!" he whined, and she rolled her eyes as she leaned her head back against the sofa. She turned her head to find he had shifted closer so that their faces were barely a breath apart. "Please? Find me food?"
"Five more cards," she said, holding up the handful of cards she had left to finish. Their evenings at the library didn't always descend into cajoling and bribery, but there had been the occasional evening where both were too absorbed in their studies (or, as was usually Zane's case, laziness) to be bothered with food. Those evenings usually turned into a battle of wills that would make Joji and Rei proud, as it always came down to who was more stubborn and willing to wait out the other. She usually won, given his child-like impatience and short attention span.
"Aaaaaaamiiiiii," he whined, dragging out the vowels in an especially annoying way. "You can finish them at home! I'm starving!"
"Zane Murphy, you –" she started, but he was having none of that.
"Star! Ving!" he enunciated, and she groaned as she rolled her eyes. When she looked back at him, he had resumed his puppy pout. "Food? Please? Preferably followed by cuddles?"
"What are you, five?" she snipped, and he grinned as he dashed forward to quickly land a kiss on her pouted lips.
"Five and a half, I like to say," he quipped, "but only mentally. Physically I'm much, much older – and aren't you glad?"
"Right now I'd be glad if you'd shut it and let me finish my studying," she said, and he chuckled.
"England's brought out the rude in you, mo chara," he said. "I like it. You're fiestier."
"You do realize, of course, that if you had just let me finish I would have been done with these cards ten minutes ago and we could have been out of this library actually finding food to rid you of your starving problem?" she asked, tossing the cards back on the table with a frustrated flourish. That mischievous glint was back, and she found herself suddenly suspicious. "…Zane."
"Actually, I'm not really hungry. Just bored," he said. He looked thoughtful for a moment. "Though, now that you mention it, I actually could grab a bite…Chinese sound good? Or I could pop in at the Tesco's and get us some sarnies, or…Ami? What's the look for? Ames?"
Her eyes had grown wide, her mouth slipping open as she gaped at him in something he wanted to call shock but looked more akin to horror. He backed up slightly, slapping his best boyish grin on as he hesitantly called her name again. She blinked, and the astonishment was suddenly gone and replaced by icy fury.
"Bored?!" she grit out, and he found himself trying to back up even more. Shame the arm of the sofa was blocking his path. "Bored?!"
"Now, now, mo chara, remember we're in a – yeeep!" he squeaked, scrambling over the edge of the sofa as she shrieked and tackled him. "Ok! Ok! Five more cards, just don't –!"
"Get! Out!"
They froze, both turning their heads to see Amber – a sophomore that usually pulled the late shift at the help desk, one Ami had personally tutored through most of her Bio 210 classes last semester – shaking in barely controlled rage. Zane hated to admit it, but it wasn't the first time she had kicked them out of the library, either. Usually because of him. Actually, usually he was the only one she was kicking out. She had a soft spot for Ami.
"Hey, Amber! Glad to see you! I was just trying to convince my Ami here that she needs to feed me, so don't you think –" he tried, but the blonde was still pointing towards the exit.
"Out!" she snapped. "I can hear you two all the way at the front – not ok, guys, really!"
Ami quickly moved off of him and back to the table, her face a burning scarlet as she mumbled apologies and gathered their things. She was moving past Amber just as Zane was pulling himself off the floor, and Amber reached out to catch her shoulder.
"Ami, sweetie, you know I love you and would never ban you from the premises, but seriously, mate," she said, "next time leave the pet home."
Ami bit her lip and glanced back at Zane, who was spluttering like Amber had just slapped him. She looked back to her friend and grinned. The blush was fading slightly, though a nice rosy hue still stained her cheeks.
"Don't worry. I will," she said. "Good luck on your midterms next week. Zane, come on. I actually am hungry, no thanks to you."
Zane watched her go, looking between Amber (who was smirking at him like he'd just been properly put in his place, which he honestly hadn't – honestly!) and Ami (who was walking away in that expectant way that showed maybe he was just the slightest bit whipped), and huffed. He ran after her, catching up in a few loping strides before falling into step beside her, and asked, "How did I become the bad guy here?!"
"Quite simple," Ami answered, not once looking at him as she pushed the doors to the outside open and strode through. "I was bored."
