Author's Note: Anemone, Dominic, AU!highschool and hickeys. Tell me what you think ^^
Disclaimer: I don't own Eureka Seven.
Mine
#
He had been in the very far corner of the relatively well-stocked library, quietly enjoying his only free period of the week among the serious, truly hard-core stuff (mostly consisting of heavy, forbidding-looking tomes of literature generally regarded with suspicion and much dread by his fellow scholars, gathering dust on the shelves for those exact reasons) and deeply engrossed in marvelling at Shakespeare's genius, minding his own business, when the storm hit.
The first – and only – warning that something was about to go horribly awry was issued by the librarian, known as 'Miss Whistle' to the less charitable members of the student population for her rather nasal breathing (otherwise known to the world as 'Miss B. Gondolin', with whom Dominic, as one of the few regular patrons of the facilities, was on good enough terms), who suddenly barked out the sharp reprimand normally reserved for inappropriate conduct: apparently, her library was a Shrine to Knowledge, a Temple of Learning, not an automobile race track.
"I'm really sorry, Miss," chirped a voice that Dominic even in his secluded corner ought to have recognized. "But this is an emergency!"
Brenda Gondolin, with her fifty-or-so years of experience of Life, wisely refrained from inquiring into the exact nature of this so-called 'emergency'. After all, at seventeen even the smallest mishap was often mistaken for an earth-shattering disaster; and so the librarian merely spared the slip of a girl, who had just burst through the doors as if her life depended on it, a disapproving glance before sending her along with a dismissive wave and a warning.
Dominic was still blissfully unaware of the gale force twelve drawing ever closer, happily thumbing his way through Othello, when he was overcome by the strange, prickly sensation usually accompanying someone staring intently and directly at you.
"I found you..." was suddenly purred over his right shoulder, and it instantly became absurdly clear that hundreds of thousands of years of survival instincts be damned: he stood absolutely no chance. "I've been looking everywhere for you."
Really, it went without saying that it was a damn miracle that he didn't tear off the page with Iago's celebrated speech right there and then.
After slowly counting to three in his head, extra careful not to make any sudden movements, Dominic turned around and (thankfully so, because Dominic would have freaked had it been anyone else murmuring those things in his ear) found himself face to face with his darling, darling girlfriend of nine months, one week and three days.
Though that said, even two hundred and eighty-three days – and counting! – of mostly happy but disorganized coupledom wasn't a heck of a lot, considering that he and Anemone went back much, much further than that; they had known about each other's existences since roughly halfway through second grade (well, he had anyway) when an unusually sullen-looking transfer student had appeared at Dominic's fancy private school one fine Monday morning, instantly getting on with classmate Eureka (Renton's next-door neighbour and therefore of some interest even to Dominic) like a house on fire. In fact, so utterly destructive was the Anemone-Eureka combo for any serious learning to take place that Dominic's only lasting memory from that particular academic period was the ever-changing seating plans to accommodate for Anemone's ingenious ability to somehow inch herself across the classroom over the span of a lesson to invariably end up next to Eureka by the time the bell had rung.
As for his own dealings with the feisty newcomer, they had initially been forced upon him by none other than their exasperated teacher, who by early December had realized that the only way to keep things somewhat civilized was to let the girls sit close – albeit not next – to each other. Dominic, as so it happened, was cast in the unhappy role as their only degree of separation and would dutifully spend the rest of the term ignoring the excessive amounts of girly giggling on either side of him and discreetly disrupting the line of communication making its way across his side of the desk he shared with Anemone. Unsurprisingly, his unwillingness to participate in her schemes didn't exactly score him any brownie points with his new desk-buddy, who on top of being loud and demanding also was a girl (and girls in general only ceased to be gross and cooties-infested until much, much later). Still, they had eventually formed a tentative alliance – against the teacher, whose fault it was that they were seated next to each other in the first place – and this in turn saw the gradual emergence of a proper friendship (in which he let her copy off their math homework and she helped him curb his inner nerd) over the next few years of largely uneventful middle school life.
Then high school rolled around and with it came a renewed, but hugely different, interest in the opposite sex and, of course, casual dating. And not to be outdone by their peers, they both did – date, that is – only not each other. Admittedly, hormones and something about the way she walked and talked and laughed and breathed had him toy with the idea of a Them once or twice at this point (okay, so maybe he had thought about it a lot), but it wasn't until Anemone – who had been sort of fickle, Dominic wasn't going to lie – showed a prolonged, unhealthy interest in Dewey (an older guy, a damn senior to Dominic's lowly sophomore, which meant that Dominic, who had yet to graduate from his braces and spotty face, couldn't ever hope to win against him) that he started to seriously reconsider their 'just friends' status. So when his fervent prayers were finally answered and Dewey screwed up big time by getting caught with another girl in the bushes behind the gymnasium, Dominic took it as a divine sign to step up his game. And all his hard work, expensive skin care products and subtle innuendos eventually paid off in their junior year when she pretended to get drunk on non-alcoholic punch at Talho's New Year's Eve bash, kissed him squarely on the lips as the clock struck twelve – and didn't even try to deny the fact afterwards.
The next two hundred and eighty-two days had been as close to plain sailing as things got with someone as emotionally turbulent as Anemone; her fiery temper, even without her super-vindictiveness when perceived wronged in any way and occasional bouts of irrational jealousy, was enough to drive even a saint to alcoholic beverages, recreational drugs and very loud music. Luckily for both parties, however, Dominic – for all his persistently good grades, involvement in both the Student Council and the marching band, and overall air of Good Kid – wasn't exactly an angel; something that Anemone had discovered shortly after their fifth official date, and which she had been absolutely thrilled to exploit for all she was worth ever since.
And Dominic obviously didn't mind the slightest, not when his Anemone simply was that perfect.
Still, perfect or not, she was eyeing him like a starved hyena would a day-old carcass; and, perfectly devoted boyfriend or not, she was sure to kill him stone-cold dead if she ever found out about that comparison – which to be fair was still better than being the decomposing scrap of meat in the situation. But then, Dominic supposed that he shouldn't worry about the consequences of Anemone finding out about anything unflattering anymore, seeing that he was probably about to die anyway; judging from her death glares anything else seemed highly unlikely.
Unless, of course, Dominic remembered whatever it was that he had clearly forgotten about and could atone for his sins before she got really mad and decided to revoke his Boyfriend Rights again.
"A-Anemone, what are you doing here?" he whispered in a suitably libraryish voice; causing a scene in front of Miss Gondolin, only to be unceremoniously thrown out by the same, was definitely not on his to-do list before graduation. "Aren't you, eh, supposed to be in class?"
He was stalling and she knew it, but what was he supposed to do? He needed all the time he could get to run through all their important dates and milestones. Was it her birthday? No, that was in April. Was it his birthday? Impossible. Valentine's Day? No. Christmas Day? No. Their Two Hundred and Eighty-Three Days anniversary? Somehow he doubted that very much, because Anemone maintained the adorable notion that celebrating too often would jinx them; and Dominic, for his part, was more than happy to forego all minor anniversaries for the rest of his life if that kept them un-jinxed and together.
"I'm on a bathroom break," she hissed back, coldly and in complete seriousness. "But don't you have something to tell me?"
Dominic hadn't been guilty of anything remotely serious since cheating on that English vocabulary test in fourth grade, but still he panicked. He blamed it on the adrenaline when his mouth moved without permission from his brain.
"...I d-do?"
That was a big mistake and Dominic immediately regretted saying anything, because her face instantly scrunched up with displeasure, leaving him no choice but to plead insanity and start babbling like an idiot:
"I-I mean, yeah, I do! I do! I was going to, eh, tell you but I couldn't find you between classes and I, um, I'm really sorry? Really sorry about that, eh, that thing, you know, that, ah, happened, eh, earlier?"
"What 'thing'?" Her eyes narrowed into slits. "You mean there's more?"
"Uh..." He had no idea what she was talking about, but it seemed that he had only made matters worse. "I mean... no?"
"No? No?" she fumed in a very quiet voice. "So what were you and Sunnivelle doing earlier? You looked real cosy together!"
"...what?"
"Don't even try denying it! I saw you!"
Dominic blinked twice as it slowly dawned on him where the conversation was heading. "But—"
"But what?" she demanded, puffing out her chin defiantly, and it was such a fundamentally (and irresistibly endearing) Anemone-ic gesture that Dominic nearly forgot his growing annoyance. Nearly.
"Christ, Anemone!" he hissed, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand. "Sunny and I were discussing calculus. You can ask anyone. We were standing in the middle of the damn hallway so there should be plenty of witnesses!"
"But I see you together all the time," she pouted, crossing her arms defensively over her chest. "And you call her 'Sunny'! You don't even do that for me!"
"You want me to call you 'Sunny'?" he countered with mock seriousness.
"Of course not, stupid!" she exclaimed, exasperation radiating off her in thick waves. "But how come she's got a nickname when I haven't!"
"You rather I stopped using your full name and started calling you 'Ane'?" Dominic could hardly bite back the smile threatening to spill over his lips. He really shouldn't encourage it, but her possessive streak was beyond cute. "Is that it?"
"No, that's horrendous! But that's totally not the point! What? Why are you looking at me like that?"
"Anemone, are you jealous?"
She scoffed, suddenly extremely interested in the polish of her shoes. "Why would I? I'm way prettier than her and definitely more popular."
"Well, you shouldn't be. Sunny and I are just good friends."
"Good friends who just happen to share the same taste in music, like the same boring foods, get each other's lame band jokes and—" She spit out, "—who used to be a lot more than just study buddies."
"We've been over this, Anemone. Sunny and I went out a few times before we decided that we were best off as friends, and this was long before you and me happened. Besides..." He allowed for a small grimace. "If I were to bear grudges against all your exes, I would—"
"Alright, alright, fine! It was just when I saw you, I just..." She faltered. "I don't know. I just thought... I don't know what I thought."
"Then don't think so much, unless it's about me." He winked playfully at her. "I'll allow that."
"Stupid."
"Yeah, sometimes you are a little," he replied lightly. "But don't worry, I like you anyway."
"Shut up," she grumbled, half-heartedly and without any real venom. "Dominic, was it really just about math?"
"Yes," he replied firmly, making a point to catch her gaze with his and hold it there.
"And that's all?"
"That's all."
"You swear?"
He nodded. "I swear."
"...okay," she whispered at last.
Dominic smiled. "Okay?"
"Okay," she confirmed, looking a bit sheepish.
"Good." He gave her hand a quick, reassuring squeeze. "It's not that I don't like talking to you, Anemone, but you should probably get back to class before they send a search pa...ah?"
As he was talking, her hand had slowly snaked its way up towards his shirt collar, hovering over the neat knot of his school tie for a perpetual two seconds before it yanked. The walls seemed to close in all around him, and it suddenly became ten times as difficult to concentrate.
He swallowed hard, trying to maintain his composure but failing miserably. "Y-You'll get in t-trouble."
"Hm...? Silly, silly Dominic," she whispered mischievously, wagging an index finger playfully in his face. "I never get in trouble."
She looked every bit like the proverbial cat about to pounce on a particularly fat and succulent canary bird, but even so Dominic told himself to keep calm; and more importantly, not to look expectant in any way whatsoever.
"But that's s-still no reason to... to... eh, to..." God, sometimes he really hated how much he loved the way she messed with his mind.
Then without warning she pulled him down towards her, and he felt something warm, soft and wonderfully feathery brush up against his left cheek and ghosting along his jaw line in the direction of his ear.
"A-Anemone!" he spluttered, partly shocked and partly in awe, because they would get so suspended if anyone saw. "W-What are you doing?"
"Anything the matter, Dominic?" she breathed against his skin, eyes all wide and unnaturally innocent. "Is there something wrong?"
"No! I mean yes. I mean no. I mean‒"
"Or maybe you didn't like it?"
"Ane—!" was all he managed before she pushed him back against the far wall. "Wait! Listen to me! This is the library, what if someone—"
"Let them." The mirth in her voice was dangerously contagious as she played with a few strands of his hair. "Relax. Nobody ever comes to this section. Well, except for you, maybe."
"Still!" he protested, desperately grasping for something logical to say, even as he felt his resolve melt away like butter under her soft hands. "It's hardly appropriate to... you know... in here."
"And your point is?" She flashed him her best Cheshire Cat-meets-Demon impression and Dominic nearly choked on his own tongue; the twinkle in her eye promised both terrifying and incredible things. "Besides, when have I ever been appropriate?"
Then, without waiting for a reply, she had gone for the throat and the ability to think coherently about anything at all escaped him completely.
"God, Anemone," he murmured hoarsely, awareness flooding back to him along with the realization that someone could walk in on them at any time. "That—"
"—was fun," she finished for him, much too cheerfully. "We should totally do this again."
"That'll leave a mark, won't it?" he sighed, cupping a particularly sore spot on his neck, mentally steadying himself for the avalanche of jeers and snide remarks bound to be directed his way courtesy of the bunch of immature jerks (Renton in particular) masquerading as his friends.
"So? You're mine, Dominic," she replied primly, as if she hadn't just ravished him among the dusty bookshelves in the school library, Miss Gondolin only a few precious sections away. "I'm just letting everyone know."