"—okay, if you'll just—hold this piece here," Megamind says, and Roxanne, her shoulder pressed to his as they work on the Cumulus Accumulator, does as he directs, holding the gear out of the way so he can finish re-wiring the final portion of the new evaporative cooler.
He twists the last wire into place.
"Aaand—let go gently—"
Roxanne releases the gear carefully; it slips back into place.
"—there," he says.
"Is that it?" Roxanne asks.
She turns towards him, her shoulder still leaning against his, and he turns his head towards hers, their noses almost brushing.
Megamind can't seem to stop smiling; he feels ridiculously, impossibly happy.
Roxanne's smiling at him too, an excited grin curving her mouth, her blue eyes sparkling in the afternoon sunlight.
"Is it fixed?" she asks, voice eager.
"It certainly ought to be, Miss Ritchi!" Megamind says, grinning wider, and then his eyes drop to the beautiful, fascinating curve of Roxanne's smile, and he leans forward quickly and steals a kiss, the way he's longed to for years.
But it's hardly a real theft; Roxanne makes a pleased noise and when he breaks the kiss, she darts forward and steals a quick kiss of her own.
"—only one way to be sure, it works, of course," Megamind says.
"Ooh, are we going to test it?" Roxanne asks.
"If you'll just—" Megamind takes her hands and pulls her to her feet, "—stand—here, Miss Ritchi—"
Roxanne lets him lead her by the hand to the center of the roof, lets him take her shoulders and turn her so that she's facing the machine, a smile hovering around the corners of her lips.
—something about that—he told her that they're going to test one of his inventions and she's just letting him guide her, show her where to stand, and she doesn't look worried at all—
(Megamind thinks of alligators and deathtraps and the amused arch of Roxanne's eyebrow, the confident curve of her neck as she sat tied to a chair and—)
"Oh," he says breathlessly, looking at Roxanne with wide eyes. "Oh."
Roxanne tips her head curiously.
"What?" she asks.
"—I just realized," he says. "You—you trust me."
Roxanne blinks at him.
"Yes, of course," she says.
"That's why you never screamed," he says, shocked at the dawning realization.
"During kidnappings, you mean?" Roxanne says. "Yeah; I knew you weren't really going to let me get hurt. Plus it was—"
She cuts herself off, her face flushing.
"What?" Megamind says.
"—a way of annoying you," Roxanne says, and then makes a face. "Challenging you? Getting you to—pay attention to me."
Megamind stares at her.
"…I wanted you to talk to me; I didn't want to waste the time screaming," she mutters.
She looks away again, blushing harder. The wind blows her hair across her eyes, hiding them from him.
Megamind's breath catches, and he reaches out to gently brush her hair out of her face and behind her ear.
Roxanne looks at him again, looks at him up through her lashes. She smiles, crooked and embarrassed.
"I thought about screaming sometimes for you anyway, you know," she says, words coming a little too fast. "I thought it might make you happy."
Megamind touches her cheekbone lightly with his fingertips.
"I'm happy now," he says softly.
Roxanne smiles and tilts her head so that the curve of her cheek rests in his palm. He rubs his thumb over her cheekbone wonderingly and her smile turns sly and wicked.
"Not that I'm rejecting the possibility," she says, voice sweet, "of my screaming for you some time in private."
She smirks at him, that and her tone leaving him in no doubt as to what, exactly, she's implying.
He gulps, feeling his face go hot. Roxanne laughs.
"You're so fun to tease," she says gleefully, and turns her head to press a kiss to the palm of his hand. "But we were going to test the machine," she says, smiling.
"—test! Yes—right—" Megamind pulls the hand she kissed back and holding it cradled to his chest for a moment.
(wow—ohhh—oh wow)
"Right!" he says again. "Yes, so—you—stand there, Roxanne, and—ah, close your eyes."
Roxanne raises her eyebrows at him, but does as he says and closes her eyes.
There are small freckles, tiny, almost invisible, scattered over the bridge of her nose. Megamind stares at her for a moment and marvels that he is allowed to look at her like this, marvels at how beautiful she is.
And then he gives himself a mental shake and moves quickly back to the Cumulus Accumulator.
He's hardly going to test the machine for the first time on Roxanne; she is right; he's never going to risk her really getting hurt. He'll need to do a quick test himself, but he does want to surprise her; that's why he had her close her eyes. If this works, then it might actually be impressive…
Megamind picks up the control ring and slips it onto the middle finger of his left hand, then flicks the switch on the Cumulus Accumulator to start the generator. A quiet mechanical hum begins—okay, so far so good—
He holds out his hand, palm up, and spins the inner portion of the ring back and forth with his thumb, checking to make sure it slides easily. It does—good.
Megamind presses down once on the inner portion of the ring. There's a barely audible click, and then the cloud starts to gather.
It forms about six inches above his open palm, white and wispy at first, and then denser and darker.
He spins the inner portion of the ring slowly clockwise and the cloud begins to dissipate again; he spins the inner portion counterclockwise and it gathers once more.
Accumulation is working then; time to test precipitation.
Megamind clicks the ring twice this time, then twists it slowly counterclockwise; rain begins to fall from the miniature cloud. He turns it back clockwise and the rain stops again.
Precipitation is good; now for the last test.
He clicks the ring three times and twists the ring counterclockwise and little flashes of light begin to dance in the tiny cloud, and a soft growl of thunder comes from it. Megamind twists the ring a little further counterclockwise and the flashes get brighter, faster—a little further and—
A miniature bolt of lightning zaps his palm. Only a little stronger than a static shock, but definitely unpleasant. Megamind twists the ring clockwise again until the flashes of light dissipate slightly. He waits for a moment, checking to be sure he's found the safe setting again; no more lighting comes.
Good; good—he clicks the ring once, bringing the ring back to the accumulation setting, then walks to Roxanne.
Her eyes are still closed; Megamind moves to stand in front of her, finding the best, most dramatic place to stand, arranging his hands so that the cloud is hovering above both of his open palms.
(his heart is beating hard, the way it always does when he's getting ready to unveil one of his inventions for her, but this is different, because it isn't just an evil plot this time; she's here because she wants to be.)
"Open your eyes, Roxanne," he says.
She does, eyelashes fluttering and he sees her eyes focus on him, and then she gasps, her eyes going round as she sees what he's holding.
(Megamind drinks in that reaction greedily: the wide eyes, the quiet gasp. He knows that expression, that sound; it's what Roxanne does whenever he's actually managed to surprise her. Megamind cherishes each and every time he's ever gotten her to give that reaction, and he cherishes this time most of all.)
"—how?" she breathes.
"The ring controls it," Megamind says. "Would you—would you like to try?"
Roxanne nods, eyes still wide.
"Hold out your hands, then," he says.
Roxanne does, mimicking the way his hands are held: palms up, chest height. Megamind moves his hands so that they're over hers.
"Slip the ring off my finger and put it on yours," he says.
She does it carefully, sliding the ring over his finger and then onto her own, her hands still under his. Megamind looks at her face and then he opens his hands, letting the storm pour off his palms and into hers.
"Oh," she says, wonder in her voice, her face shining with joy. "Oh, wow, Megamind, this is amazing."
Megamind feels a warm brightness fare in his chest and spread through his body. Amazing. She's wearing one of his inventions and she thinks it's amazing.
"The ring controls it?" she asks, looking up at him.
"There are three settings on the ring: accumulation, precipitation, and lightning," Megamind explains. "It's on accumulation right now; that controls the size. You turn the inner portion of the ring with your thumb; counterclockwise to increase size, clockwise to decrease it. To switch between the settings, you press down on the inner portion of the ring until you feel a click. One click is accumulation, two clicks for precipitation, three clicks for lightning. You probably don't want to increase lightning at all when you're holding it like this, but! If you'd like to try out the other settings…"
Roxanne clicks the ring twice for the precipitation setting and turns the ring with her thumb. A rain patters down from the tiny cloud, water falling onto her palms, spilling over her hands.
She laughs, a joyful, breathless sound that catches at Megamind's heart.
Roxanne twists the ring further clockwise and the rain falls harder, flashes of light inside the cloud dancing softly over her face and hair.
Megamind takes a sharp breath, thinking of her half-teasing comment about him calling her a goddess. She looks like one, now more than ever, her hair tousled by the wind and eyes shining as she holds a storm in her hands.
Roxanne clicks the ring once, changing it over to the accumulation setting again, and turns the ring counterclockwise, lifting her hands up. The cloud grows, rises, over her head, and she tips her face up to feel the rain, arms still upraised.
She laughs again, and looks at him, lowering her arms.
"Eeyore cloud!" she says, pointing at the storm over her head that is now the size of a table rather than a softball.
Megamind gives a startled laugh.
"I—suppose it is, isn't it?" he says, "That, or Charlie Brown!"
Roxanne laughs again and twists the ring counterclockwise once more, and again the cloud grows and rises, spinning itself out of the air until it's hanging above the Lair, completely covering it.
Rain falls over the Lair, splattering onto the roof, pattering onto Megamind's skin. Roxanne clicks the ring once, spins it counterclockwise, and the rain falls harder. She tilts her head up and laughs again, and if Megamind didn't already love her, he thinks he would fall in love with her at this moment.
Then she looks at him again and smiles, light of the storm dancing overhead, water sliding over her skin and through her hair, and Megamind cannot help but reach for her.
His hands go to cradle her face and Roxanne winds her free arm around his neck, pulling him close and kissing him.
The heat of her mouth is intoxicating; a warm bright point in the cool rain, and Megamind pushes his fingers into her wet hair and kisses her and kisses her. Roxanne makes a beautiful, soft, happy noise and kisses him back.
There's something about the slick feeling of her wet skin that sends desire shivering through his body in an electric current; he breaks the kiss to press his lips to her throat instead, kissing up the length of it. Roxanne turns her head a bit and kisses him on the temple—oh—and then their mouths catch each other again in another kiss.
Megamind has to break the kiss at last, gasping for breath; he leans his forehead against Roxanne's and cups the back of her head in his hand, the fingers of his other hand tracing the edge of her collar bone, sliding through the raindrops gathered there.
He wants—he wants her closer than this, wants—
"What are you thinking?" he murmurs, feeling the curve of her head beneath his palm, feeling her breath ghost over his lips.
"That I love you," Roxanne says, her voice as low as his.
Megamind takes a quick, shocked breath and she tips her head forward to brush their lips softly together.
She leans back and smiles into his eyes.
"And," she says, "that I'm not sure why you called this the Cumulus Accumulator when it should clearly be called the Storm Ring."
Megamind blinks at her.
"Storm Ring," he says slowly. "Roxanne, that is fantastic."
She gives him a pleased look and he laughs.
"Are you sure you don't want to be a supervillain?" he says, grinning at her.
"Are you sure you do want to be one?" Roxanne asks.
"I—" Megamind stares at her, taken aback.
A look of uncertainty comes over Roxanne's face.
"Sorry," she says, "I just—there's so much good you could do with this device! Droughts and wildfires and—"
"I—yes, I mean—I know," Megamind says, "and I'm planning on—um—I—I have several—technological research companies under false names that—apparently reverse engineer my evil inventions into technology useful for society—"
"I know that," Roxanne says, "I just—"
"You—wait, you know that?" Megamind says.
Roxanne makes a face.
"Megamind the amount of time I have spent researching you is really kind of embarrassing. And weird. Sorry. I don't want to freak you out."
"…uh…considering—the amount of time I've spent, um—planning evil plots entirely around you and—watching your reports, I'm pretty sure we are at least even on the—uh, the weirdness, Roxanne," Megamind says, mind still reeling, only half on what he's saying, because Roxanne researched him?
He's never been so flattered in his entire existence.
Roxanne's expression goes soft and surprised.
"You watch my reports?" she asks.
"Yes, of course," Megamind says, surprised at the way she seems to be surprised. "You're—you're a brilliant reporter, Roxanne; watching you work is always amazing."
Roxanne's expression goes even softer, and then she leans in and kisses him, her hand cupping his jaw and her tongue parting his lips.
"—you are terrible," she says, voice breathless and scolding when she breaks the kiss.
She bumps their noses gently together.
"—distracting me," she continues, "with the praise and the kissing when I'm trying to make an important point—"
Megamind makes a noise of protest as she strokes her fingertips over his jaw.
"—not even the one who started the kissing," he points out, tilting his head invitingly, hoping for another kiss. "—can't blame me."
Roxanne does kiss him again—yes! victory—and then she pulls away.
"It's definitely all your fault, Megamind," she says, voice so warm and affectionate that the words sound more like praise than blame.
Megamind grins and Roxanne makes a frustrated sound and leans away to look into his eyes.
"Anyway—like I was saying, I know you have companies with false names, but why don't you use your own name to help people?"
Megamind feels his smile fall away, but he shrugs and tries to smile again for her.
"Because nobody would let me help them," he says, trying to keep his tone light.
Roxanne presses her lips into a line, her eyebrows drawing together.
"…they might if you partnered with Scott Technology to do it," she says.
Megamind blinks.
That's—
His first, automatic response, is to say Metro Man would never go for that, but—
—but—
He remembers Wayne telling him that he's been bored lately, and, see, that just doesn't make sense, because Megamind has been rolling out the evil plots with his usual frequency, and it's not like they've been half-assed plots or anything, so—
(it doesn't make sense)
—So it can't be that Wayne's bored because Megamind hasn't been giving him enough to do as Metro Man; it has to be—
—has to be—
It has to be that Wayne is bored with being Metro Man.
—oh, but surely that can't be—
(Wayne looking shocked when Megamind suggested that he get a hobby, like it had never occurred to him that he was allowed to do that; his eyes lighting up when he talked about learning to play the guitar; the way he'd hung around the Lair awkwardly, trying to make friendly conversation with Megamind, like—)
"Roxanne," Megamind says slowly, "you are—you are absolutely the smartest person I know, do you know that?"
"…you think it's a good plan?" Roxanne asks.
Megamind laughs suddenly, loud and happy and hopeful, and wraps his arms around her waist, sweeps her off of her feet and whirls her around in a circle in the rain.
He sets her down and kisses her, pulls away to look into her face.
"I think it's a great plan," he says fervently, and Roxanne's face lights up.
...to be continued.
notes: I hope you enjoyed the update! Remember that the rating increase should be coming up in the next chapter.