Beauty of the Beholder
Tags: Post-Canon, Alternative Universe – Adults, profanity, established relationship, sex, fingering, nudity, self-esteem issues, body positivity, romance,
NOTES: The two of them are aged-up here so that they're both adults, post-college, already in an established relationship and living together in the same apartment. Yes, Helga is still working on her self-esteem issues even into her adulthood (realism, y'know).
Helga closes her eyes.
She hears Arnold's voice speak softly from behind her. "Look, Helga."
She shakes her head – happy to keep her eyes shut, jaw clenched tight, focused more on the sensation of Arnold's body against hers, Arnold's hands warm on her hips.
"Helga," he says with just enough sternness this time that Helga's stomach does a little flip, and she can't help but listen to him.
She forces herself to open her eyes.
In the full-length mirror in front of them, she sees herself perched on Arnold's lap, completely exposed. She can see everything about herself, because she's naked, skin flushed, and getting redder as she continues to stare at their reflection.
They're in their apartment bedroom, sitting in an old armchair that Arnold has set in front of the mirror against the door. Most of the scene in the mirror is beautiful: the room and the chair and especially Arnold, perfectly elegant even in just his slacks, his mused blond hair glinting from the sunlight streaming through the curtained windows behind them, his bare chest showing the dips and curves of his pecs and muscles. His face over Helga's shoulder is handsome and serious – his usually bright, twinkling eyes have now gone dark and intense.
And then there's Helga, naked, sitting on Arnold's lap with her legs awkwardly splayed to either side of Arnold's, flushed and nervous and ever so out of place.
Her body is awash with an unbearable heat, a burning combination of arousal and embarrassment. A blush is spreading all along her usually blanch, pale skin – all the way down her breasts and Arnold's hands are hot on her bare skin. Heat curls in her stomach and pulses all the way down to her groin, which is getting more heated and bothered by their arrangement.
Her eyes jump away from herself to Arnold. Arnold's watching her steadily, eyes piercing, like he can see right through to Helga's heart – like he can see just how uncomfortable and confused Helga is at being on display like this. Helga's heart lurches painfully against her ribs and she pulls her gaze away from Arnold's, dropping her gaze to stare at the wooden floor instead.
Arnold raises a hand to Helga's chin, gently forcing her head back up. "Don't look away," he insists. "I need you to see it, Helga."
"I can see myself naked whenever I want," she complains. "I don't see what the point of this even is – "
"I need you to understand," says Arnold, voice still calm but no less intense as before. "You're absolutely gorgeous, Helga."
"But, I'm not," mumbles Helga, in defiance of the sudden bloom of warmth she feels at Arnold's words, like a fire kindling in her chest. She hates that she reacts like this, even though she already knows deep down, from years of attempting to unlearn her own ugliness that it's not true at all –
"Helga, you absolutely are," argues Arnold, left hand tightening its grip on Helga's hip. His right slides down to trace the contours of Helga's shoulder, the curve of her shoulder blade and the arch of her collarbone. "Your body is astounding."
Arnold's hands are warm and firm against her own skin, but it's his words that send a strong shiver through her body, making her squirm in his lap. She can see her reaction in the mirror and that makes it worse, sparks more hot shame in her belly that intensifies her blushing.
"Arnold – "
"Just look at how lovely you are," Arnold says quietly, hand sliding across Helga's chest, cupping one breast and squeezing gently. "You're like a goddess, Helga, like an impeccable statue – "
"Arnold, stop," tries Helga, because that's just ridiculous. It's ridiculous that she has to sit here and listen to this, especially now that she's shamefully getting off on it, each word from Arnold's mouth a bright spark shooting right to the mess of hot need coiled below.
"Do you want me to stop? Doesn't this feel good?" Arnold asks mildly, brushing a finger over Helga's nipple, just hard enough to send a tingle of pleasure rushing through her. Helga barely bites back a moan, but she can't help the way she arches into his touch. They both see it in the mirror, and she can see the triumph at the corner of Arnold's mouth before Helga concedes and grits out "don't stop."
"That's right," Arnold says, low and husky, "lean into it for me," and Helga shudders at that, rocking against Arnold's lap. Arnold's cock is pushing up against her from behind, an urgent line of heat even through his slacks, but Arnold seems content to keep the full force of his attention on Helga herself, making a slow survey of the contours of her chest.
Helga can't stop watching Arnold's hands in the mirror. There's definite strength but also an incredible delicateness to them, his fingers tenderly cupping her breasts, rubbing at her perky nipples. Each touch sends a thrum of arousal through Helga, and she feels like a plucked string.
"Just look at you," breathes Arnold, and for a moment Helga is almost swept away in the wave of heat that rushes over her at the words. She wants to be Arnold's beautiful girl, whole body curving to push her breasts into Arnold's touch.
She gasps out a little moan, and that's when she catches herself, embarrassment jolting through her. She remembers that she's Helga, plain old Helga Pataki, and that this isn't right. It's not fair for Arnold to say these things, to touch her so carefully, like she's precious. "Arnold – " she gasps as she both watches and feels him lightly twist her nipple. She bites her lip, not even knowing what she wants to say anymore.
But Arnold just presses a kiss under her ear, hot and tingling on the skin of Helga's neck, and then suddenly, his other hand slides up to Helga's breasts as well. He's got one hand on each of Helga's nipples, with his arms crossed over Helga's chest so that she's pressed tight against Arnold's body.
"Arnold, please – " hiccups Helga, feeling the warm pressure of his arms around her with every shaking breath –
Arnold catches both her nipples and rolls them between his fingers, hard enough to make Helga gasp aloud, back arching, hips rolling against his lap. In the mirror, she can see the sudden tense lines of her body and, even as she's writhing from his touches, the subtle arches and curves of her own body.
"See?" says Arnold. "Look how sensitive you are, you're completely gorgeous like this Helga."
He's playing Helga like an instrument, fingers rough on Helga' nipples. Helga can see her own reactions in the mirror: the way her body tenses and rolls in time with Arnold's movements, her legs pressing close to Arnold's, every desperate twitch of her hips begging to be touched below.
"Do you see it now?"
"I – I don't know – " she manages. Her eyes keep catching on the way she looks in the mirror. It's almost fascinating, the helpless grace of her movements, the way her body looks, traced by Arnold's careful touches –
"Oh Helga, it's so obvious though." Arnold slides one hand down to Helga's stomach and holds her like that, one hand still cupping her breast, the other moving slowly over Helga's stomach. Helga groans at the sight they make, Arnold's fingers tracing further, lower, until he reaches just above her clit. She has to grind her teeth just to stop herself from whining.
Arnold's voice maintains some calm, but is getting a little hoarse. "Do you remember Gerald and Phoebe's wedding night? When you were in that beautiful violet dress? The one with the bare back?"
"Y – yeah – " Helga can't take her eyes away from the mirror. It's obvious that she's enjoying herself, open-mouthed and glassy-eyed, pushing down into Arnold's touch.
"I never told you this before, but I was watching you from a far, the moment you arrived," Arnold's voice is rough right next to her ear. "When I saw you, with that dress, the way you looked that night – Christ, Helga – "
His fingers make contact her clit at the same moment, making her gasp audibly and squirm against the solid heat of Arnold's cock right behind her. She moans unabashedly, aching with need, but Arnold continues to tease her. She feels his palm press into her groin, the phantom touches of his fingers around her clit before his hands slide back to her stomach, her hips. She's so, so, close to telling him that she can't take this. To stop torturing her.
"I was so hard by the time I got home, Helga," says Arnold, low but frank, and the words burn hot through Helga like a shooting star, making her grind helplessly against Arnold. "I wanted you so much, even now, I still always want you – "
Helga whimpers. She can feel how absolutely soaked she is below and there is no way Arnold hasn't noticed by now. "Arnold, c'mon – "
"Do you see it now, Helga?"
"Yeah, yeah," gasps Helga immediately, desperate for Arnold to touch her where she needs him to.
But instead, Arnold stills, hands splayed across Helga's stomach and below her breasts, and Helga doesn't have to look at Arnold's face just to feel the intensity of his gaze. "Helga," he says, just a touch chiding, and Helga swallows.
She looks at herself in the mirror.
Maybe she's just dizzy with the lust coursing through her veins, but she looks – stunning. There's something intensely sexual about the way she's naked, flushed and disheveled, when everything around her is perfectly put together. It makes her feel strangely powerful, not like her plain, usual self at all.
She's biting her lip again, and she lets it spring free, red and swollen. She hears the shudder of Arnold's breath in her ear, and an answering surge of heat runs through her. Her whole body is alight, hyper aware and sensitive to all sensations of touch. Bracing herself on the arms of the chair, she grinds down hard against Arnold, feeling the slow, rough drag of Arnold's cock against her ass, watching Arnold's expression growing more heated in the mirror, breathing more labored.
"Yes, see – " says Arnold in her ear, low and hoarse. "You're absolutely perfect."
Helga can't be embarrassed anymore, she gives herself up to the hot thrill of Arnold's words. Arnold's hands slide down her stomach and clutch at her hips, hitcher her even closer, and Helga rocks hard against him, moaning.
"Helga," groans Arnold, "Helga, babe, I can't believe you're mine – "
"I'm all yours," she gasps, not able to hold back anymore. "Please, please just touch me – "
The words are barely out of her mouth when she feels herself hoisted from below. Arnold scoops her into his arms, carrying her to the bed behind before unceremoniously dropping her onto the sheets below. He immediately climbs over her, kissing her hard as she opens up to him in response, their mouths mashing together as they swallow each other's moans and gasps.
Arnold's hands are on Helga's thighs, spreading them apart, as Helga squirms and pushes into his touch in anticipation. He leans over her, breathing hard into her ear. "Fuck – Helga, I want to see you come first, but then I'm going to fuck you so hard that you forget everything else, everything except that you're gorgeous and mine – "
Helga's already there, she's already forgotten everything except this: her body pulsing hot with need and wanting him inside her already. She whines, long and desperate, when she finally feels Arnold's fingers push inside of her.
Helga moans and thrusts up blindly. She's dizzy with need and Arnold's fingers and hands feel like the answer to every prayer, every want. Each slide in and out is a pulse of pleasure, and she can't help herself from clamping down on his fingers as they twist and curl deeper into her. She feels a warm hand stroking her thighs.
"Shhh," breathes Arnold, kissing her belly. "It's okay, I've got you."
He speeds up his ministrations, fingers digging deeper into her cunt, curling them just at the right angle, and striking at that deep spot that makes her whole spine arch off the bed. She's rocking her hips desperately now, urging and cursing him to go even faster. Just when they reach a rhythm and speed that gives her what she needs, she feels him pull out his fingers only for his hands to reach for her hips, pulling her down the bed in one smooth move, and before she knows it, he's lapping at her clit.
Helga clutches at Arnold's hair with one hand, yanks a little meanly. "More," she gasps, and Arnold makes a needy, desperate sort of noise into her cunt that lights her up and slides one, two fingers back into her, driving in, in, in. Every sensation in her body concentrates on the places Arnold touches her at: his mouth on her oversensitive clit, his fingers fucking into her steadily, his other hand tightly gripping her hip and thumbing circles onto her hip bone.
It isn't long before she's crying out and clawing at the sheets beneath her, riding out the waves of pleasure, shaking apart with an orgasm that leaves her feeling empty, calm, at ease. Like a receding ocean wave.
She doesn't know how long her eyes have been closed until she feels Arnold kissing her eyelids gently, then cheeks, her nose, her brow. She opens her eyes to Arnold's glazed and enamoured gaze down at her. He kisses her again, and she can taste herself all over his mouth. He's probably painfully hard by now, she realizes at the back of her mind. She very much wants to see his control finally shatter.
She drags her mouth away from his, and after a small nip to his ear, says, "Condoms are in the drawer."
Arnold releases a full-body shiver, reaching for the nightstand drawer and pulling out a brand-new condom packet. He hands it to her as he settles back on the bed, shucking off his slacks and underwear. Helga feels her heart race at the sight of him – he is very hard indeed, with precome already slick on the head of his aching cock.
He grabs a nearby pillow and motions for her to lift her hips before placing it beneath her. When she is arranged to satisfaction, she rolls on the condom while Arnold takes steady, deliberate breaths from above her. His hands settle on her hips as he gently pushes in, while she shivers at the sensation of him entering her. When finally, finally settles inside of her, he releases a long, shaky breath. The feeling of fullness makes her ache just a little, still sensitive from before, but she chooses to savor the feeling.
Arnold pushes forward and in, splaying Helga's legs, leaning down so that they're face to face. He buries one hand in Helga's hair and holds her tight as he starts rocking in and out of her, talking the whole time, "that's it – yes, oh Helga, you have no idea how good you look right now – "
She whines and presses into Arnold, nuzzling his face instinctively and pressing her heels to his sides. Arnold's got a better range of motion in this position and he pounds even harder into Helga. Each thrust knocks a helpless cry out of Helga, making her fingers dig into Arnold's arms. Helga's certain, in some distant part of her brain that can still form coherent thoughts, that nothing could ever feel better than this.
Arnold kisses the side of Helga's cheek and then shifts, bracing himself on one arm and grabbing Helga's hip with the other, thrusting in just as Helga begins to feel another build up of pleasure from the pit of her belly.
She loses track of everything – her hands deathly tight on Arnold's arms, her whole body lit up like she's got fire in her veins, and can barely breathe through the building sensations.
Distantly, she can hear Arnold's voice, hoarse and uneven as he breathes hard above her. "You're perfect, Helga, you're so absolutely, devastatingly beautiful, god, I love you so much – "
Helga's own voice is loud in her ears, a long, broken, half sob. She's so incredibly close again, the tension growing unbearable, like her body could splinter into a million pieces at any moment –
"Helga", Arnold says urgently, "Helga, I can't hold back anymore, are you close?"
"Yeah," Helga gasps out, "Yes, Arnold – "
"That's it, come on," pants Arnold. He leans in closer, lips barely touching. "I've got you." And with that he kisses her just as he pushes Helga right into the peak of a wave, piercing her right at the precipice and without warning Helga is arching off the sheets, screaming into his mouth before finally collapsing back down.
Arnold's still moving, driving into her, and Helga can't recover from the absolute overstimulation of the moment. Arnold's voice is growing rough, chaotic, his rhythm becoming more erratic, "Oh god, Helga, you look so – oh fuck – "
All Helga can do is whimper as Arnold pushes as deep as he can go into her, once, twice more, and trembles there, releasing a long, agonized groan. Feels him twitching inside as he spends himself within her. He buries his head into the crook of Helga's neck, close enough that Helga can feel his racing pulse.
They stay like that for what feels like days, weeks – sealed and breathing steadily together – before Arnold slowly shifts on the mattress and carefully pulls out of her, disposing the condom in the wastebin by the bed. He collapses next to Helga and pulls her close.
Helga presses her face into Arnold's neck in response, focusing on continuing to breathe out slowly.
"How are you doing?" Arnold asks quietly, bringing a hand to stroke Helga's hair gently. It sets off a cascade of shivers through Helga's body, a collection of pleasant aches, and she shivers.
She grumbles in reply without bothering to move her head away from the crook of Arnold's neck, hears and feels Arnold chuckle lightly in response. He kisses the top of her head, weaving fingers through her locks.
"Well, Helga? Do you get it now? Just how beautiful you really are?"
Helga feels herself flush, heart soaring. She lifts her head slightly, turns it to see the pure warmth dancing in Arnold's bright eyes. She wishes this could last forever: the way she feels sore and perfectly sated, and the way Arnold is looking at her, warm as the brightest summer day.
"Yeah," breathes Helga, hugging Arnold tightly. "I think I do."
This Rule 34 contribution to the Hey Arnold series was heavily inspired by: Reinamy's absolutely wonderful shortaki fics – especially those featuring Helga's self-esteem issues, and SpikeMonster's -beautiful- shortaki drawings. Check them both out!