Here you are, dears- I had planned to post last night but by the time I had finished and was genuinely happy about it, my internet went AWOL.

Sorry, Bugg, btw. Didn't mean to leave you hanging.

So this is just a super duper fluffy piece- I was drowning in all the fluff.
Not that I'm complaining, I'm a fan of it.
Anyways.

Thanks, Ariel1179 for inadvertently inspiring a little bit of this. I hope you don't mind. heh. =]

S

Snowcones

Rick relaxed, letting his weight fall against the back of the bench and his arm fall across the shoulders of the woman beside him. His hand dangled on the other side of her, fingers tracing a pattern into her arm as his free hand balanced a paper cup overflowing with shaved ice and artificial flavoring.

Kate let her head fall on his shoulder, falling into the shape of his side she was convinced was made with her in mind, relishing the feel of his arm pulling her closer. His breath was hot and ever-present on her forehead, the slow in and out of his inhalation causing the loose hairs on her head to blow out a bit. She hid her smile in shaved ice and artificial flavoring.

Her hand reached for the one draped around her, lacing her fingers with his in a way that should have been awkward but somehow wasn't. She felt his lips, cold from the frozen treat, on her temple, unmoving. The simple gesture made her shiver, and it wasn't just the chill.

She pulled away, only enough to turn her head, looking up at him. "Your lips are blue," she informed him, matter-of-factly. Then her face was tilting.

Tilting up, up, and then next thing she knew the hand entwined with hers was pulling them closer until there was no space between them.

"Mmmm," he murmured into the kiss, his tongue sliding against her bottom lip, asking for the entrance she gladly gave him. At last they broke, his lips still hovering above hers when he spoke. "You taste like strawberries."

She smiled, her lips hardly brushing his as she did so, her nose pressed against his ever so slightly. They moved closer and closer, their foreheads now touching but their lips still only just, and she watched him turn into two as her vision doubled at the angle.

"There's two of you," she informed him, for a second looking confused.

"More for you to look at," he joked with a saucy waggle of his eyebrows, earning another wide grin and a musical laugh to match it. His lips ghosted over hers, playfully, and she nipped at his bottom one, his turn to smile. "You're beautiful."

"All one of me, huh?" She teased, her finger finding the funny button on the side of his waist. He wriggled a little at the poke.

"God help me if there we two of you," he told her. "I would never win an argument."

"You never win an argument now," she reasoned, burrowing her face in his neck, enjoying the warmth there.

"Although it could have its perks," he said, obviously taking deep thought into the light comment. She couldn't see his face but imagined the pensive look he wore when he thought too hard. "One of you could go fight crime and the other could stay at home with me all day."

Kate shook her head against his chest. "I'd get jealous."

"You'd be better looking," he assured her.

"I'd be better looking than myself?"

"You would. And better in bed."

"You'd sleep with the other me?" She lifted her head to catch his eye, pretending to be appalled.

"Well she wouldn't be at home with me making crafts," he told her, amused.

"I might have to kick my ass," she mused, again resting her head against him, taking another taste of her snowcone. After a beat of silence she laughed to herself, rather abruptly. "That made more sense in my head."

They both sat on the bench in Central Park, falling into a comfortable silence as the conversation dropped. He took another bite of his snowcone, as did she, and they didn't bother with words. And so began the ritual of Sunday afternoon. They watched people in the park, silently musing to themselves about their lives and their families or lack thereof. She painted pretty pictures of optimism and he a dark past threaded with mystery.

She hoped they never had to see what she had. What she did.

He hoped they got to have what he did- find the happiness he stumbled upon.
Well, technically he forced himself into it, but the sentiment was the same.

He wondered if the other people in the park were making a story for them; he and Kate.

It was long after the conversation had expired did either of them speak again, and it was he who broke the easy quiet. "I would love you more."

And again she was hiding her smile in shaved ice and artificial flavoring.

See? I needed gills after this one.

I think that made sense.

Anyways I really am sorry if anyone is out of character, although I thought I did fairly well there (my opinion may be only a tad bias).

Please review?

It means the world and strawberry snowcones.

PS- T will be smutty! hehe.