Wednesday August 1st Absolute Lore returns to Deling
Since the temperature had hit the triple digits, Rinoa sat in her living room with the windows open, fan blowing, hair piled atop her head, wearing short yoga shorts and a tank top, and a glass of icy water in her hand. In her other hand was her phone, and on the screen was her most recent text from Squall, time stamped just over an hour ago.
He said that they were almost back in Deling, but were starving so they decided to stop at a restaurant first. He even asked if she wanted him to bring her anything.
Rinoa couldn't help but smile at that. "No, just bring you," she had murmured to herself, typing those exact words with a suggestively flirty emoji.
S.L: Should be back around 6
R.H: Drive safe! When you get here let's go on a movie binge.
S.L: Anything you want.
She set the phone onto the coffee table and pulled up her laptop. Last night she had finished uploading her approved shots from the tour and sent them out to their proper bands. With a soft sigh she drank from her water glass and set it upon the table. She opened up her photography page's social media and noticed that she had a new notification.
Fujin had shared one of the shots that Rinoa had taken from the last show of the tour. It was when Fujin was belting out "Here's to us" before the other bands had joined her on stage. Rinoa had shot up from an upward angle. The lights shone down on Fujin, illuminating her and creating glistening and sharp sheens across the studded belt that slung low across her hips. Her head was tilted back and the light gleamed beautifully over her cheekbones.
Fujin was the embodiment of the rock and roll siren she said she was.
"God she's beautiful," Rinoa muttered under her breath. "I can't stand her." She let out a chuckle and went on to read the words that Fujin had written beneath.
This was a remarkable tour. I cannot even begin to verbally express how honored and blessed I am to have worked with such talented souls over the last several weeks. We at Djin Theory got to play with some old friends of ours back from our times playing the streets of Deling and even got to play with a band that has been a part of our musical and lyrical inspirations. We have met so many fans across the entire country and can I just say that we love you all! You are the ones that drive us so hard. You are the ones that keep us going. It was an honor to have met some of you guys and thank you so much for coming out to see us!
And many, many, MANY thanks to our new dear friend, Rinoa Heartilly. You guys are witnessing these amazing and pristine and jaw droppingly stunning shots all thanks to her. You may have seen her sneaking through the crowd to snag some of these shots you are looking at!
Rinoa, your talent is far beyond your years. Your eye for detail and ability to capture so much raw emotion and feeling in a photograph is beyond awe inspiring. Thank you so much for capturing our final show with such beauty.
Here's to you, Rinoa, you talented angel.
We hope to work with you again soon!
xoxoxoxoxox
Rinoa scrunched her face and made her hands into little fists as she waved them above her head. "Ugh I can't hate her!" she squealed. She let out a long sigh and readied her fingers over the keyboard to respond.
It helps when I have such wonderful subjects! You guys are beyond incredible and I cannot wait to work with you guys again! =D
Rinoa cracked her knuckles and reached for her water. "I can't hate her, I can't hate her," she repeated to herself. "She didn't know…" And yet, Rinoa felt such a strong urge of dislike towards her. She looked at Fujin's beautiful face and wanted to snarl. "No! I am not this petty!" With a click she snapped the laptop closed and gently tossed it to the other couch cushion. "I'm twenty-five years old, goddammit!" she said, standing to her feet and crossing over the living room to busy herself by picking up random clutter and dusting her bookshelf.
A few hours later Rinoa's ears perked up when she heard the sound of a car's engine pulling up in front of the apartment. She pulled herself away from the sink where she had been rinsing out a mug. She was just drying her hands on her shirt when she heard a calm knock at her door.
As a glance at the clock told her that it was a quarter after six, she walked over to the door and swung it open to feast her eyes on the delicious Squall.
He was leaning a shoulder against the door frame and his stormy blue eyes caught hers with a smoldering heat that spread tingles all across her flesh. Rinoa smiled at him and snagged his shirt by the front. "Get in here," she said, planting a kiss to his mouth.
He responded by snaking his left arm around her waist and stepping forward, kicking the door closed with his boot. "God it's good to be home," he murmured against her cheek.
Rinoa felt her heart swell almost painfully. Home. Did he mean that her place was home…or Deling? Oh, whatever, he's here. That's all that matters, she thought, wrapping her arms around his neck and leaving a quick trail of kisses along the edge of jaw. "What have you got there?" she asked, pointing to the black plastic bag he carried in his right hand.
"Made a quick stop on my way here," he said, making his way to the kitchen. He shrugged off the black knapsack that was hanging off his shoulder and tore away the plastic bag. Squall pulled out a six pack and set it onto the counter. "Damn it's warm here," he said, tugging off his t-shirt and tossing it beside the beer.
Rinoa licked her lips at the sight of Squall's now bare arms. His chest was still concealed due to the sleeveless black undershirt he wore, but she could easily rectify that…
Squall reached into the six pack and pulled out a bottle by the neck. "I can't tell you how excited I am to be back in town," he said, twisting off the cap as he spoke. "I get to eat home cooked meals rather than fast food all the time, get to relax on my own damn couch rather than a van bench seat, and best yet…" He reached over and ran his fingers through her hair. "…I get to enjoy your company as often as we'd like."
A wide grin spread across her face and she let out a girly giggle. "Same," she said. "It'll be nice to see you more."
He raised an unopened beer bottle to her and she shook her head.
"No thanks," she said. "Don't really feel like it right now."
He just shrugged and sipped at his own bottle. "Suit yourself."
Rinoa pulled open a cupboard and rummaged through the contents, smirking when she finally was able to pull out a box of microwavable popcorn. "Oh! Before I forget…" She ripped away the plastic covering and plopped a bag of popcorn onto the counter. "I have a little present for you."
Squall lowered his bottle and cocked his head. "Oh?"
"It's in my office."
She took his hand and led her into the smaller room. "Hang on," she said, flipping through a stack of papers and books that were to the side of her monitor.
While she searched for his present, Squall casually lowered himself into her computer chair and tipped the bottle back to his lips. His eyes scanned across the surface of her desk and landed upon her Wacom tablet. "You have a computer, laptop, and a tablet," he murmured. "You use them all for your photography?"
"Pretty much. Mostly all the files are shared between them all. The tablet was handy when I was hanging out at the hospital with my dad. You know, smaller and less shit to carry."
Squall nodded and absently touched the tablet, bringing the screen to life. The image that came forward caused him to still, his brows furrowing. With his free hand he picked up the tablet and looked at the image of his face staring right back at him…with little doodles drawn upon it.
"Here it is!" Rinoa straightened up and then froze when she saw that he was looking at the picture of himself that she had 'edited.' "Oh…shit." She chewed on her bottom lip as she watched Squall stare at the tablet.
After a moment he turned his head towards her, his lips thinned into a straight line. Quietly he set the tablet down and slowly drank from his beer. "Nice work," he said finally. "I especially like the flies buzzing around the piece of shit you drew on my hair."
Rinoa released a nervous chuckle. "Hey at least I didn't post it!"
"Why'd you draw on my face?"
"Oh, um…I was mad at you for not telling me that you were leaving."
Squall nodded and leaned back into the chair. "Ah. I suppose that is well deserving." He glanced back at the tablet before looking at her face again. "But you like it so much that you made it the wallpaper of your tablet?"
"Yes." She waved her hand at him and handed him his present. "Anyways, here's your gift! Ignore the tablet. Focus on this only please."
Squall laughed and took the slim, rectangular box from Rinoa's hands. "Alright." He opened up the box and paused. He reached over and placed the beer bottle onto the desk so not to risk dropping it. "What the…"
It was the photograph of his mother in front of The Wishing Star, pristinely set into a pewter frame. The photograph itself was cleaner, crisper than he had remembered when he had seen it at The Limit. He raised his eyes to her.
"I scanned it in to my computer and cleaned it up a bit," Rinoa said. "The quality of it was lessened a bit when she scanned it onto regular copier paper but I tried my best to make it look like the original."
Squall ran his fingers over the corners of the frame, staring intently into the face that smiled up at him. He remained quiet, and Rinoa stayed standing near the end of her desk, watching him and trying to gauge his reaction.
Still not saying a word, Squall placed the frame back into its box and set it onto the desk by the tablet. Rinoa bit down on her bottom lip, her mind racing in wonder if she had upset him. Or perhaps the sight of his mother upset him?
He stood to his feet and slid his arms around Rinoa's waist, lowered his head and captured her lips with his own. His movements caused her to step backward, gasping slightly as she ran into the wall. He took the opportunity to prod his tongue into her open mouth. Slowly he pulled away, his teeth lightly nipping at her bottom lip. "Thank you."
Rinoa looped her arms around his neck and let her fingers thread through his hair. "You're welcome."
Squall crouched down and hoisted her up by grabbing the backs of her thighs. Instinctively she wrapped her legs around his hips and Squall maneuvered them out of the office. He fully intended to take her to the bedroom, to strip her from her clothes and drive himself into her so hard that she screamed and left welts along his back, but her tongue traced along the shell of his ear, sending shivers down his spine, that he dropped her onto the couch and immediately hooked his fingers along the waist band of her shorts.
Before Rinoa could get a word out, Squall had her shorts and panties flung behind him, her thighs resting on his shoulders, and his tongue swirling along the junction between her legs. Rinoa clamped a hand over her mouth, her stomach clenching as her nerves were overcome. Her eyes rolled into the back of her head and her free hand tugged her shirt upward, exposing the soft black cotton bra beneath.
She opened her eyes, a breathy moan slipping from her when she saw that Squall was staring right at her, his blue eyes darkened with lust, a fire within that scorched her with the lavish touch of his tongue.
His fingers plunged inside her, thrusting, massaging, caressing over her folds as his tongue and lips roamed. When her hips started bucking and her fingers clutched at his head he quickened pace, his other hand reaching upwards to fondle her breast and roll over her nipple.
Rinoa's spine arched and her head fell back. Her thighs clenched and tightened around Squall's head, trapping him and keeping him at work. She panted and cried out as she came, her entire body shaking and quivering. Squall's mouth continued its torture, riding out her orgasm to the last drop.
She whimpered. He wasn't letting up. His delectable tongue continued circling, pulsing against her despite her trying to pull away. His hands cupped her rear, kept her close. "Squall," she gasped. "I've already…I…"
He pulled his mouth away, barely, replacing his tongue with his fingers. "Again," was all he said.
Rinoa made a noise deep within her throat. She felt her eyes roll into the back of her head as Squall's fingers circled rhythmically across her drenched clit. "Fuck…but I…" She groaned and dropped her head back into the cushions, her hands gripping the back of the couch above her. "Squall!" she shouted, bucking her hips again as her second orgasm rippled through her.
He placed gentle kisses along the inside of her thigh, scraped his teeth across her flesh before pulling away.
Rinoa gasped, her head still resting against the back of the couch. Her heart pounded madly as she tried to catch her breath. Then Squall returned and pushed her legs upward so they rested along his shoulders.
His hand caressed the curve of her jaw. His thumb rubbed along her bottom lip. She poked out her tongue, caught his thumb between her teeth. Slowly he inserted his length into her, his eyes never straying from hers.
Her jaw dropped open in a silent gasp and her hands slid around his neck to bring his lips closer to her.
"God you are beautiful," he growled against her mouth, thrusting his hips forward until he was completely sheathed within her. With each thrust he felt himself plunge deeper, deeper inside her and felt his body align tightly with hers.
Rinoa held on for dear life. She felt her breath hitch when Squall's fingers slowly came around her throat. It was such a contrasting sensation. His thrusts and bucking of the hips were so jarring, so rough and so now, now, gotta have it now, while the touches on her throat were so gentle and light. Rinoa tilted her head back to look into his eyes. He was watching her, gauging her reaction.
She gave him a slight nod and his fingers slowly squeezed. His other hand reached around and pinned her hands high above her head. She was completely at his mercy. A thrill raced through her veins and she felt lightheaded at the new sensations he was plunging into her.
Squall squeezed harder. "Just tell me if it's too much for you," he panted between thrusts.
Rinoa nodded and let her head fall back, relishing this new act between them. Along the backs of her thighs she could feel Squall's hip bones pound at her. She knew she would feel invisible love bruises tomorrow. Squall quickened the pace, and with that his grip around her throat tightened.
Her eyes shot open, a quick wave of panic shooting through her, and she wriggled a hand free and rapidly tapped at his bicep. Immediately he retracted his hands, instead sliding them beneath her back so he could embrace her. His thrusts calmed, slowing into smooth and rhythmic pulses.
"I'm sorry," he whispered. "Sorry. Are you ok?"
Rinoa nodded, moaning as she moved her legs to tighten around his waist. "Yes. Don't stop."
Squall suckled gently along her throat, his tongue laving across the area that he had squeezed too roughly. His speed picked up again, his arms keeping her in a sweet embrace. When he finally came he captured her lips in a long, deep, slow kiss. "You're beautiful," he said again, more of a groan than actual words.
Rinoa moaned against him, her hands trailing along his back, her nails digging in and leaving burning streaks across his flesh. She panted, desperately trying to catch her breath.
Still inside her, Squall rolled them over so that Rinoa lay on his chest. Gently he caressed her neck and massaged the back of her skull. "I didn't hurt you, did I?" he asked softly.
"No," she sighed with a tiny shake of her head. Hardly able to keep her eyes open, she simply placed a kiss above his pierced nipple. "I'm ok."
"You sure?"
With a light chuckle she managed to push herself up onto her elbows and kissed him sweetly on the mouth. "Yes," she murmured. "I'm just…not quite used to that. But I trust you. I know you'd never hurt me…at least not intentionally."
Squall cupped her jaw between his palms and stared into her eyes. "The last thing I want to do is hurt you. Or make you afraid of me."
Rina made a satisfied moan within her throat and kissed him on the forehead. "Never."
A little while later Rinoa had dressed herself back into her chill shorts and a loose t-shirt that hung off of her shoulders. Squall was lounging on the couch, wearing only his jeans and sleeveless undershirt, a beer in one hand while he messed with the remote control.
Rinoa pressed the start button on the microwave to heat up the popcorn she had completely forgotten about. "I can't wait to watch this!" she called to him. "I've been hearing really good reviews about it."
She glanced into the living room and felt her heart skip a beat at the sight of Squall looking so comfortable and at ease on her couch. He seemed so at peace, so…at home. She swallowed and turned her attention back to the popcorn. A blush crept up to her cheeks as she thought about how savagely he had fucked her just moments prior. She'd had rough sex before, sure, but with him…it was so different. With Squall there were two sides to his lovemaking, she'd had experienced that before with him, but each time the passionate roughness would go higher and higher. What if she couldn't come back down? Her body was still humming. She was still incredibly wet. She still ached for more.
Good lord he's turning me into an addict, she thought to herself.
"Hey, Rinoa."
She perked up and turned around. "Hmm?"
"Your remote's dead." Squall opened up the back of the remote and spun around the batteries. When that old tried and true trick did not work, he looked over at her with a sigh. "Bring me some batteries?"
"Yeah, I have some here somewhere…" The microwave beeped behind her and she pulled out the bag, placing it onto the counter while she rummaged through her junk drawers. "Oh, shit." Rinoa frowned when she didn't find what she was looking for. "I could have sworn I just bought some not too long ago."
"We don't have to watch a movie," Squall said.
"No, no," Rinoa pressed, shaking her hand at him. "I've been wanting to see this movie for a while. You are not getting out of it!"
Squall frowned. "Wasn't trying to get out of it." He set the remote onto the coffee table and stood to his feet. "I take it we'll just go to the convienient store down the block?"
"Yeah, let me just change real quick." She sprinted to her bedroom and gasped when Squall easily fell in behind her, his arms looping around her waist and his lips at the bend of her neck.
"I don't know," he murmured. "I kinda like you with that 'just fucked' look."
Rinoa laughed and pushed him away, immediately fussing with her hair to make it more presentable. "I'm sure you do but personally I'd prefer it if you were the only one who saw me like that." She peeled off her yoga shorts and pulled on the first pair of jeans she could find. After a quick glance at her reflection she brushed through her hair and smoothed her hands down the length of her neck.
"Ready?" Squall asked, tugging on a shirt over his head.
"Yes!" Rinoa slipped on a pair of sandals and followed him out the door.
Rinoa veered towards the right and headed for the batteries while Squall stayed near the front of the shop and perused the magazines. "You sure you didn't want me to grab you anything?" he called to her before she disappeared from his sight. "You want beer or anything? Wine?"
Rinoa just shook her head and vanished behind the aisle gondolas. "I'm fine, really, not in the mood to drink tonight."
Squall just nodded and reached over to grab a bottle of wine anyway, just in case if she changed her mind later and was not in the mood for beer.
"Why, if it isn't Leonhart!"
Squall turned and saw Dr. Kadowaki standing behind him with a small paper bag bundled in her arms. He grinned and leaned in to give her a hug. "How are you?" he asked her.
"Oh, I'm great! Nothing too exciting or different going on in my life. So how did that tour of yours go, Mr. Big shot Rock Star?" she asked which a chuckle, shuffling the bag against her chest to free up her arm. She reached over and gave Squall a playful jab to the ribs with her elbow.
"It was an experience," he said with a laugh.
"Any new plans with the band now?"
"Tour wise? No. At the moment we're just enjoying being home."
"Oh good! Did you just get back home?"
Squall nodded. "Yeah, a few hours ago. So we're just relaxing. Probably going to start recording soon but that's about it."
"How wonderful!" Kadowaki's eyes traveled down to Squall's hands, which still held the bottle of wine around the neck. She smiled at him. "Having a special night then with someone to celebrate?" she asked with a hint of teasing in her voice.
Squall raised a brow and followed her gaze back to the wine. "Oh. No, just hanging out with a friend."
Kadowaki pursed her lips but didn't press the issue further. "Let me know if you need to come back," she said. "I know a lot of folks will be happy to see you again."
"Thank you, I will keep you updated."
She gave him a swift kiss to the cheek and patted his arm in farewell.
While Squall was busy watching Kadowaki leave, he didn't notice Rinoa standing in the aisle behind him, listening in. Her brows furrowed together for a moment as she replayed his words in her head. "Just a friend." With a deep breath she put on her nonchalantly happy face and rounded the corner, seeming surprised to find him there.
"Oh! What did you find?" she asked.
Squall held up the bottle. "Figured you might want some wine since you don't seem to be in the mood for beer."
"Why Mr. Leonhart," she purred. "You wouldn't be trying to get me drunk, would you?"
"Not at all, Miss Heartilly."
Rinoa playfully shoved at his arm and moved towards the cashier to pay.
Rinoa lay with her head in Squall's lap, licking the remnants of salt and butter from the popcorn off of her fingers. Squall was absently twirling an empty beer bottle between his fingers while he stared at the screen before him.
"Ack, that's a fun little nickname he likes to give me. I called him Lion-Fart once. He did not like that one, let me tell you, it was not a good day for me."
Rinoa instantly looked up at him after the little sheep onscreen had spoken. Rinoa's eyes were so large and wide, her mouth open in an adorable smile.
"Don't you dare."
After Zootopia, Squall put in Young Frankenstein, and he and Rinoa went back and forth with quoting the movie in its entirety to the point where Rinoa got up in the middle of the room and danced along with Gene Wilder to "Puttin' on the Ritz." Squall only shook his head but the wide smile couldn't help but be plastered on his face.
When they decided it was time for bed, Squall lay on his side and traced lazy circles along Rinoa's bare spine (he insisted she go to sleep in the nude, just in case). He watched her close her eyes, a tiny smile on her lips as she quietly moaned to his touch.
"Mmmm, that's feels good," she murmured. "I love your hands."
"My hands love touching you."
Rinoa chuckled and blew him a kiss.
Squall lifted up onto his elbows and ran his fingers through her bangs. A soft smirk curved into his lips as he watched her sigh and snuggle closer into her pillow. He leaned in and placed a quick kiss to her forehead and shifted himself so that he exited the bed.
Rinoa moaned softly and opened her eyes. "You ok?"
"Yeah, just going out for a smoke," he said, pulling on his jeans discarded from earlier.
"Ok."
Outside, Squall looked out to the sky as he blew out a stream of smoke. Where Rinoa's apartment resided, he was actually able to see some stars, more than he was able to back at his place. Her patio faced the canyon entrance she lived near, where street lights were very few and far in between. It was something he hadn't yet noticed.
He thought about the photograph that Rinoa had so kindly reprinted and then professionally framed for him. It was an exceptionally thoughtful gift. No girl he had been with had ever given him a gift with so much meaning, so much intimacy, so much…feeling, before. He was overcome with so much emotion that he had to have her, had to become one with her. He needed to touch her, to taste her, to be inside her. Her luscious screams, they had to fill his head. Her breathy moans had to fill his mouth.
She was more than he could ever have wished for. She was more than he ever thought he deserved.
He took one last hit off of the cigarette before crushing it into the concrete.
Nothing made him happier than knowing that he was going to crawl into bed with the woman he was crazy about and being able to wake next to her in the morning.
He made his way into the bathroom and lifted up the toilet seat. He thought about ways he could thank her for the gift she had given him. There had to be something he could do that would hold as much meaning to her as Raine's picture did for him. A small itch at the back of his mind suggested that he get a hold of Rinoa's father for ideas…but that got ignored pretty quickly.
Squall straightened his jeans, tugging at the belt. "Shit," he muttered when his lighter slipped out of his pocket and dropped into the wastebasket. With a groan he picked up the basket and set it onto the bathroom counter. With a quick glance he deduced that there wasn't much in the trash so it wouldn't be much of a hassle to dig through it for his lighter. Luckily nothing gross was inside.
He shoved aside the flaps of tissue and used cotton balls until he found the black lighter settled at the bottom. He was just about to grasp his fingers around it when he saw something else plastic beside it. "What…?" His breath stilled and he grabbed the plastic stick rather than his lighter. His mouth ran dry when he realized what he was holding in his hand. The little pink plus sign practically glowed against the white plastic surface.
Squall wet his lips with his tongue as he tried to gather his thoughts, but rather than focusing on one train of thought, his mind only honed in on that little pink plus sign. Suddenly he thought back to how Rinoa declined drinking tonight. He had even poured her a small glass of wine and she took barely even a sip. In fact the glass was still sitting on the coffee table.
He thought about all the times that they had had sex, and that each time he produced a condom. Even tonight, when he rushed at her in the throes of passion, he was able to step away and roll one on. It was a goal of his to never create a bastard like himself, a child who would never know who his father was. Granted, his relationship with Rinoa was a far cry than whatever was between his parents, but he was adamant about using condoms always. However…and this is where he started kicking himself, he always finished inside her.
There was still that tiny, miniscule chance.
The longer he stared at the pregnancy test the harder he tried to analyze Rinoa's every move. He couldn't make sense of it. But there in his hands was a positive test, one that had clearly been in the trash for at least a full day.
The longer he stared the more terrified he became.
Zootopia (c) Disney
Young Frankenstein (c) Mel Brooks.
