Happy New Year Everyone!
Disclaimer—I don't own Robotech or it's characters.
I'm really overwhelmed by the feedback!!! Thank you guys so much!!
Shawn,
Carolina (no it's not just you…the whole Minmei/Kyle thing grossed me out too, but it serves my purpose LOL)
Spherian
Sisselle,
Knights
Carla (7 more Carla's for the other chapters' feedback LOL. I definitely will visit the page as soon as I can…sit down and read even more great Robotech fan fic! As for whether I plan to follow the story; no. I'm doing my best to keep the characters in character, but other than that, no.)
Tracesy
K71
& Vixenne
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"It just took one flight…thank you." Roy glanced up quickly at the waiter who placed his lunch down on the table. He turned his attention back to Claudia completely, "…I knew I had found my calling."
"Just like that?"
His blue eyes continued to sparkle, and his words flowed with ease he now realized he had never felt before. "Just like that. Babe…"
Claudia arched her brow automatically, yet said nothing, deciding she actually liked Roy's address of her.
"…nothing ever grabbed my attention like that. I knew what God put me on this world to do. I just…knew."
Claudia smiled warmly, "Instinctively…"
"Instinctively." Roy nodded. "So I looked around at my options, and in the end, the military seemed like the best bet. They had the cutting edge technology, I knew that I would be making a difference…that was that. It wasn't easy though. Since nothing had interested me before, I kind of…vegged out through school. That's just how I am…"
"You tune out if you're not interested."
"Exactly. So my grades sucked, I had no one willing to go to the wall for me at first…and in the military, you need more than skill as you know, you need the brains to back it up. They need to know you can make the right decisions. So the odds were kind of stacked against me, but I was so determined, people eventually recognized how good I was. The rest is history."
"Sometimes I think that the only things that matter are the things you have…"
"To work for." Roy joined in, finishing the sentence with Claudia.
She laughed, as he nodded.
"Where have you been all my life?" Roy asked, his tone teasing, even though, as only he knew, the sentiment wasn't. Before she could come up with an answer, he allowed himself to add, "You're sort of like flying, you know."
"Now coming from you, I know that is a compliment, but comparing me to a Veritech isn't the kind smooth Roy Fokker line that has made almost every woman I know tear off her clothes for you…"
"Are you disappointed?"
Claudia shook her head quickly. "No" she had to break eye contact as she finished to herself,
"It sort of makes me feel…special. Like I'm seeing another side of you. The real you."
Of course, that would just be a silly thing to say…right now at least.
Maybe she'd say it one day.
"Good."
Claudia looked at Roy again as he answered and he flashed a smile at her.
He didn't compare her to a Veritech. He compared her to how flying made him feel.
There had to have been some sort of instant connection with Claudia that made him try so hard…that made her so different from the other women. Until Claudia, Roy found himself bored by the women he was attracted to. He saw their potential in the bedroom only, and after that, he always tuned them out. Claudia always intrigued him, and he worked hard at getting her to give him a chance.
The odds had been stacked against him, but now the determination seemed to be paying off.
He had to work for this moment. They had to work for this moment.
Which made it all the more likely that they would have a future.
Maybe he'd tell her all of that one day.
Claudia reached across the table, and Roy took her hand, lacing their fingers.
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Lisa stood in front of her mirror shaking her head at yet another, in her mind disastrous, attempt to find the perfect 'I put no sort of effort into this outfit' outfit.
If this were really a date, it would be easier. However, it wasn't. She was merely having dinner at her co-worker and now friend Rick's place, and she didn't want to look like she had put any thought into what she was wearing. Yet, she wanted to do something to make him maybe…just maybe…look at her as more than a friend…even for a second.
With a frustrated groan, Lisa pulled the shirt over her head, tossing it on the floor with the others before heading back into her closet.
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Rick opened his closet door and tossed his handful of items inside. He didn't have the time to cook and clean as much as he wanted to.
He was going to have to start keeping his place tidier on a regular basis he decided. If Lisa took him up on his offer and just dropped by whenever she felt like it, he would hate to have her see how messy he could sometimes be.
Not that it would surprise her.
Not that it should matter.
But, more and more, what Lisa thought of him was starting to Rick.
In fact…had he ever cleaned for Minmei? Cooked for Minmei?
Rick shook that thought out of his head and grabbed his car keys so he could go to the store.
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The movie crowd erupted in applause as the screen faded to black, signifying the end of the latest sure to be blockbuster from Minmei and Kyle.
The lights came up and Roy snuck a peak at Claudia. Was it just him or…
"Well, other than the eye candy was a waste of time."
Roy laughed, "We agree. But we should probably keep our voices down unless we want to be lynched..."
Claudia followed Roy's lead and stood, following him out of the movie theatre. When they were outside, he admitted,
"Everyone else seemed to enjoy it. I suppose that kind of unrealistic fluff definitely has its place during these times"
"If only it was that simple. Good versus evil, no shades of gray. The obvious heroes, and obvious enemies."
Roy stole another look at Claudia's serious tone.
"All with a nice dash of the oh-so perfect romance with of course the fairy tale ending. Please." she finished. "What?" she turned as Roy stopped walking.
"You sound more cynical than Lisa."
"Do I?" Claudia shrugged with a smile. "Sorry."
"Don't be sorry…just tell me why."
"Why?"
"What's your excuse for seeming so anti-romance?"
Claudia sighed, turning to walk ahead once more. After a moment Roy followed. "I'm not anti-romance. I just realize that it doesn't always come easily…and for some people it never comes at all. Not the real thing."
"But you think there's such a thing as the 'real thing'?"
"Of course!"
"Okay, so you're not insane." Roy deduced.
Claudia smacked his arm with her hand. "You know, we really have to work on the lines you give me…"
"We?" he emphasized, "I knew you couldn't resist me forever."
Claudia rolled her eyes and started to move away, but Roy reached out, grabbing her waist and pulling her back so she was in front of him. She giggled, the joyful sound causing him to grin as he wrapped both arms around her. She pretended to try and get away, though it was obvious to the passer-bys on the sidewalk that she wasn't putting up any real struggle, that is until Roy took the opportunity to tickle her.
Laughing loudly now,
Claudia managed to pull Roy's hands from her enough to maneuver
from his grasp, only to have Roy reach out once more, grabbing her
hand this time. She spun around as he pulled her back.
"Stop…"
she begged before he began the tickle attack once more. His smile
faded as he became lost in the deep brown of her eyes. "What?"
she asked,
Her eyes fluttered closed as he answered her, leaning in and kissing her gently. Without breaking their kiss, Claudia stepped closer to Roy, closing the space between them, deepening the kiss. She pulled her hand from his, reaching up and wrapping her fingers through his hair.
Now it was Roy's turn to wonder, "What.." as Claudia broke their kiss, only to smile against his mouth.
"When we first met, before you opened your mouth and ruined it…"
Roy laughed, giving her lips a small peck.
Claudia pulled further back to look into his eyes, "I remember wondering if your hair was as soft as it looked."
"Really?" Roy grinned. "So you fantasized about running your fingers through my hair, did you?"
"And there goes that ego…" Claudia turned around, taking his hand as they began walking again. "I did not fantasize. I was curious, for all of a nano-second.
"Until I opened my mouth and you realized how sexy my voice was…yes, that has been known to happen."
"Oh of course." Claudia pretended to agree.
"That's what I thought."
She looked at Roy for a second.
The thing was, the first time Roy spoke to her, her immediate thought had been that he had an extremely sexy voice.
"So I had you from the get go?"
"You're taking this way too far now."
"Okay, okay…" Roy relented. "But I am glad that some other guy didn't snatch you up in the meantime."
"Would that have stopped you?" Claudia found herself wondering.
"What kind of man do you take me for?" he pretended to be shocked.
When the answer was no, it wouldn't have stopped him.
Roy had the feeling that Claudia could have been married to the leader of Zentradis, and if she had given him some sort of sign, he would have agreed to clandestine meetings just for the chance to be with her.
There was a pull to Claudia that fate wouldn't allow Roy to deny, even when he thought that there was no chance, and that he didn't really want one, he just couldn't deny himself of her.
"Dinner?"
"Definitely."
Claudia and Roy stopped at the crosswalk, and he pulled his hand from hers to press the button asking for the light to change.
"Claudia?"
Claudia and Roy turned around, and she blinked, it taking a second for both of them to register who this guy was.
The club…
"Hi, Malcolm." Claudia smiled politely, not noticing as Roy took her hand once more, his eyes locked on Malcolm. They weren't together when Malcolm had asked her to dance back then so he had kept his glare to himself. But as far as Roy was concerned, they sure as hell were together now.
Who cared if this was just their first date…
"Nice to see you."
"You too. "
And if Malcolm didn't get that point soon…
Before Claudia could introduce Roy to Malcolm, Alicia reached their eyesight as she finished walking across the street, keeping her face calm as she saluted Roy and Claudia. Once again they stopped holding hands to return the gesture and Alicia moved past, heading to the left of them.
Out of the corner of her eye, Claudia noted as Alicia stole another look at them…
Was she going to be a problem? Because…
Claudia stopped herself; she and Roy were on their first date. She had no right to feel territorial…
No right, but that was exactly how she felt. "I'll see you around." Malcolm's voice reached Claudia and she focused her attention back as out of her view, Roy's eyes darkened as he attempted to hold his jealousy in check.
"Bye…ready?" she looked at Roy again.
"Definitely" he pressed the button once more and again they waited.
And as they waited Roy wondered if it would be polite dinner talk to tell Claudia that if she saw Malcolm again, it had better remain on friends-only level.
How in fact would one tell someone that?
Let alone someone as independent as Claudia Grant.
Especially after some talks, one date and a couple of kisses?
He never had to do this before, Roy sighed quietly. He never had to wonder how to talk about where he was in a relationship with someone…Roy looked as Claudia took his hand. They started across the street.
Alicia was just one…one of many…Claudia knew that. And if she allowed herself to get jealous of every woman who gave Roy a come hither look, she'd spend her time doing nothing but.
Besides, who know what exactly was going on between her and Roy. Obviously something…something that seemed to be special…but they had shared some talks, a couple of kisses and a date.
What was she supposed to do, tell Roy to let everyone know he was off-limits. How could she do that when she technically had no right to do that anyway…Claudia blinked as Roy pulled his hand away, before enjoying the butterflies in her stomach as he wrapped his arm around her waist.
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Lisa grabbed her small gift, a new container of the flavored coffee Rick seemed to enjoy so much and left her place.
It was a good thing she started getting ready so early. She had spent more time getting ready for this non-date than any time she actually went out. Wrapping her jacket around her she started the walk to Rick's place.
"That movie was so good…"
"I bet they're doing it in real life…"
"No, Kyle's waiting for me…"
Lisa turned at the group of girls who passed her. That movie must have opened today…perhaps she would see if Claudia wanted to go with her. Claudia would understand when Lisa got up to leave before the required Minmei/Kyle love scene all their movies had.
And it seemed that this one was realistic, at least to a group of giggling teens.
That thought led Lisa to remember her meeting from last night with Kyle. His look when Lisa told him Minmei was at Rick's…and that made Lisa wonder again if there was in fact something going on between Kyle and Minmei…
Of course, she was reading too much into it, she figured. She wanted Minmei out of Rick's life, with the small hope that perhaps it would mean Lisa could get a chance. Minmei having some sort of romantic relationship with Kyle would more than likely do that.
And lead Rick to a broken heart…Lisa sighed deeply. No, she couldn't wish a broken heart on Rick…
Here.
She stepped up the couple of steps and rang the bell.
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Rick closed the oven, checking his watch. Right on time, he noticed with a smile. "Coming!" he called, taking off his apron and tossing it on the table. Raking his fingers through his hair he walked to the front door, opening it with a smile…that smile that sent Lisa's heart into orbit.
So…
"Welcome to my humble abode"
Gorgeous. "Flour…"
"Flowers?" Rick was confused, even more so as Lisa reached up, brushing her fingers across the top of his hair…fighting the urge to wrap her fingers into it. He looked into her eyes as she finished.
"Sorry, you had flour in your hair. Am I too early?" Lisa realized her fingers were still near his hair and dropped her hand quickly, hoping to God that she didn't blush.
"Thank you, and no. Desert will be perfect by the time we finish eating." Rick answered, running his fingers through his hair again, and then realized that his hand was the culprit to begin with. With an embarrassed laugh he moved out of the way so Lisa could walk in. Excusing himself, he went down the hall.
"Deep breath, deep breath…" Lisa said to herself. She began unbuttoning her coat with one hand, setting Rick's gift down on the table with the other. Slowly she looked around…the first thing that caught her eye was a poster of Miss Macross herself. Lisa flipped the poster off and then turned around, taking off her coat.
Rick walked back in as Lisa closed the door, hanging up her coat on the back of it. "Hmmm" he admired the view, even more so as Lisa turned around.
It was those eyes…those beautiful green eyes of hers…not to mention her
"It smells wonderful…"
Lips…
Lisa's melodic voice brought Rick out of his haze and he smiled again. "Thanks again."
"And that's for you" she pointed.
"You didn't have to…" Rick said as he went over.
"Well, you seemed to enjoy it so much…" Lisa watched as Rick opened her gift. "Or do you already have some…"
"No, thanks" Rick looked at Lisa once more.
Wanting to…
Rick kissed Lisa's cheek quickly, turning away from her in case his nerves showed in his face. "It will go perfect with our desert" he called as he headed into the kitchen. "Have a seat!"
"Sure…" Lisa walked over to the set table and sat down. Seeing that she was facing…that…poster, she moved to the other side.
