The Bubblegum Crisis Center > Extras > Fan Fiction
Instrumantatum Vocalle 2040 - Coming to Grips
It had been a week after Natasha and Linna's brush with death. A boomer assassin in front of the Hugh Gait building had nearly killed them. Natasha had been dropping Linna off after lunch when the boomer had struck. Luckily Natasha's 'Uber Corvette' had been able to deflect the opening shots allowing them to escape to cover. They had been able to return fire and slow the boomer down enough for help to arrive and Linna's co-workers had seen the exchange from the lobby. Natasha had been crouched down with a machine gun in one hand keeping her free arm out to keep Linna behind her. The boomer had stepped through the hood of the car blowing out the passenger side tire and ruining the suspension. Seeing that the boomer was only taking light damage Natasha had stunned herself as well as those that were watching when she pulled her service auto and handed it to Linna. In a good showing of teamwork Linna and Natasha alternated suppressive fire, reloading while the other fired and so on and so forth. The boomer had just realized that the fire they were levelling against it was next to useless and had begun to advance when two K-suit's from her section arrived and blindsided it. There had been cheers all around especially when the Manager boomer from Linna's office had walked out to discipline her for being late and Natasha had remotely deactivated it in mid stride causing it to topple down the stairs. Linna had visited Natasha regularly at the hospital while she recovered from the wounds she'd received. She had suffered second to third degree burns along her back and shoulders and her long hair had been burnt off below the neck. Aside from that and a few cuts and bruises she was OK. Linna had fared better, getting away with a few bruises and scrapes. Linna knew that what Natasha did took unbelievable bravery. It was scary enough to fight a boomer in a HARDsuit but Natasha had taken this one on in day clothes, she might has well have been naked. What was more was that she had been caught unawares and had fought back when Natasha had pulled her down into her lap. If it weren't for that, and for Natasha laying over her, she would have taken the first shot right in the face.
Linna had been allowed to go home a few days later. She had been kept in protective custody until Thursday. She figured Natasha was behind that; she'd have to ask her. Linna and Nene were there when she got out of the hospital around noon having taken their lunch break to come get her. Both were very surprised to see her new hairdo. It looked very much like Linna's although with some minor differences. Natasha didn't have her long bangs and had a bit more bounce on top. However, the trademark blonde with dark brown roots and ends remained. Nene ran up and hugged her, which caused Natasha to arch her back in pain and push Nene's arms back.
"Owwie, Owwie! Easy girl."
Nene recoiled apologetically.
"I'm sorry. You're ok right?"
"Yeah no harm done, its just a bit tender back there."
Nene breathed a sigh of relief and took Natasha's day bag. Linna walked up and gave her a gentle hug.
"Thank you for saving my life." She whispered softly.
Natasha patted her on the back awkwardly and smiled. "You're welcome."
They led her to a police mini-car that Natasha figured Nene had signed out. Linna hopped into the back seat and Natasha got the honours of shotgun. Sitting back slowly she buckled in. Nene pulled up to the food court that Natasha and Linna frequented and parked. Nisei was there with a few other co-workers and waved to Linna. She looked over to Natasha and Nene with a questioning glance.
"It's cool, the more the merrier right?" Natasha replied.
Linna smiled but inside was angry, she wanted to spend time with Natasha without her co-workers getting in the way and asking questions. Nene was part of the club so any slip-ups wouldn't have mattered. Now she had to be careful all over again and she just wasn't in the mood for it. As she expected the conversation was guarded and subdued. Her co-workers had expressed their elation that everything had turned out all right and had especially liked the part when their manager boomer had been switched off. For the most part lunch went well and no one brought up any touchy subjects more out of respect for the two officers than anything else, little did they know how raunchy and off colour these cops could be. Nene looked at her G-Shock and gasped.
"Oh shit! We're gonna be late!"
The others had completely spaced the passage of time given the conversation, which had begun to loosen within the last few minutes. Natasha leaned over to Nene and whispered into her ear.
Nene shrugged and went to start the car. Natasha stood gingerly. "I think we can get everyone in, it'll be tight though."
The looks of relief on the office ladies faces told her that they'd rather be scrunched up for a few minutes than suffer the wrath of the office boomer. The rear of the mini sagged with all the extra passengers, and the acceleration was painfully slow.
"And the P.T. Barnum express is off." Natasha quipped cynically.
When they stopped in front of the Hugh Gait building Linna felt a tinge of panic as she relived the moment. As the office ladies exited the car Natasha imagined the clown cars in the circus, impossibly small disgorging a hoard of clowns. That thought alone made her laugh. Linna was the last one out and she put her hand on Natasha's, which was resting on the window frame.
Natasha felt her pass a piece of paper to her and gave her a nod to let her know she'd got it.
"Get better ok." Linna said as she waved good-bye.
Nene drove them back to work and made it just in time. Natasha went to her office and retrieved a few selections from her inbox and put them in her day bag. She informed her shift supervisors that she'd be back on Monday and that if they had any problems to call her anytime. She hopped the bus home and read Linna's note on the way. The note said that she'd like to meet her at the gym restaurant tonight around seven and that she needed to talk to her. Linna had signed her name with a heart dotting the I. Natasha got home and called the number on the business card of the police impound yard that had accepted her cars wreckage. After a few minutes she had arranged for them to release the car to a tow truck from Robocar. She then called Robocar and asked them to pick the car up and begin repairs. She closed the curtains and removed her shirt, which made her back feel a whole lot better. She looked herself over in the bathroom mirror and saw that there wasn't going to be any permanent scaring, the graft job they had done on her had been done very well. She'd still be sore for a few weeks, and she'd been advised against any strenuous activity, which was fine by her, she'd had enough excitement to last the next few weeks. She did her paper work until six and than got showered and dressed. She wore a low-backed blouse to aid in the healing and to reduce the infernal itching that she was experiencing. To finish off her outfit she decided to wear a pair of tight fitting jeans. Linna was already waiting at the restaurant and checked her watch, 6:37. She knew Natasha would show, but she was still apprehensive. She had done some soul searching over the last few days while Natasha was in the hospital and had come to a series of conclusions. She was about to share a few of the more important ones with Natasha tonight. She looked at her watch and rolled her eyes when she noticed that it hadn't even been a minute since the last time she checked. She looked around the restaurant, which was pretty empty, and noticed to her immense relief that the hostess was pointing Natasha towards her booth. Natasha waved and Linna waved back. Natasha walked over and took her jacket off and set it beside her on the seat. Linna winced when she saw the burn scars on her back, than flushed red as her temperature rose when she saw that Natasha was almost exploding out of her outfit, not badly, she wore the outfit well, but still. Natasha sat down and smiled. She noticed that Linna was looking at her chest. Looking down to see what was the matter she brushed away some lint.
"What? Did I spill something?"
Linna shook her head; she'd been caught staring.
"No, no you got it."
Natasha straightened her top and smiled happily. Linna couldn't understand how she could still be so happy with all the pain she must be in. She watched as Natasha waved the waiter over and ordered a drink and a menu. She looked down at her own menu, which was mercifully open, even though she wasn't paying attention to it. She jumped when she felt Natasha's hand on her shoulder. She had worn a sleeveless blue turtleneck and she could feel the warmth of Natasha's touch. Natasha pulled her hand back when she jumped.
"My god Linna. Are you ok?"
"Oh no, I'm fine, your hands were cold that's all."
Natasha touched her hand to her cheek; they felt warm to her. Her eyes went off to the right in thought and she shrugged. She looked up as the waiter set her drink and menu down and left.
"What's wrong Linna?"
Linna looked up sheepishly but her eyes betrayed the fact that she was terrified. Natasha was instantly afraid, did she know. If she did, how.
"Is it me?"
Linna shook her head and Natasha inwardly sighed, her secret was still safe. But that still left the fact the Linna was obviously distressed about something.
"So it's you?"
"Uh huh."
Natasha leaned down so she could see Linna's eyes and smiled. "Well are you gonna pout about it or tell me what's up huh? Where's the smile I like so much."
Linna laughed, she couldn't help it.
"There, that's more like it!" Natasha exclaimed enthusiastically.
"So you were going to ask me something?"
"Yeah. I just was wondering, I mean you saved my life and everything. And I wanted to know why."
Natasha sat back and blinked her eyes. "Well that's the silliest question I've ever heard. You know exactly why I did it."
When Linna looked confused Natasha continued. "Linna, it's my job to help people, and if I have to put my own life on the line in the process, so be it. If it had been Chairman Rosenkreutz I still would have done what I did. But that would have been because I had to."
"Had to?"
"Yeah, when you save lives sometimes you have to save the assholes too. Beside I wasn't about to let some degenerate boomer hurt my best friend." Linna blushed and looked back up at Natasha.
"Tasha? Have you ever wanted something so bad, but had no idea how to get it."
"Yes. As a matter of fact I have."
Linna was surprised that she'd answered that, and even more she had answered yes.
"Really?"
"Uh huh."
"What is it? I mean, if you don't mind me asking?"
"Validation."
Linna repeated the word and looked even more confused.
"That's what I'm looking for, and I've almost found it, but not quite, so, what're you after?"
Linna looked around nervously and had begun tapping her fork on the table. Natasha reached over and put her hand on hers after a minute of tapping, which caused Linna to freeze. Natasha found that very odd, she looked up and saw that she was staring at her hand. Linna closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Natasha. I think, I think I'm in..." She paused and Natasha had the presence of mind to keep quiet, whatever she was trying to say was taking ever ounce of courage she had. She noticed that Linna's hand had made a fist under hers and she was trembling. "...I'm in love."
Natasha scooted forward, straightened her back and a joyful look covered her face.
"That's great! Who..." She paused when she saw that Linna had opened her eyes and was looking at her.
"...Me?"
Natasha slumped forward and looked off in no direction in particular deep in disbelief. Every now and then she'd look back over at Linna and then it was back into her head. She started to piece it together one by one. As she did numerous bits of data started to form a logical series of events, events she had dismissed as non important or events she had incorrectly classified began to form a pattern and that pattern went back a long freaking way. If what Linna said was true, and she had no reason to doubt it, Linna had had a crush on her for the last two months now. She felt Linna stand. "I'm sorry, I'll go, I didn't mean to embarrass you."
Natasha held her hand in place rooting Linna to the table. "Linna, sit down. You don't get away that easily."
Linna returned to her seat and swallowed uneasily.
"Why...why are you telling me this?"
Linna paused to bite her lip. Why the hell didn't she bite her tongue instead she wondered.
"Because, I... Look, can we not talk about it here?"
Tasha's blinked once in fascinated shock.
"Not talk? Linna, you're the one who asked me here in the first place!"
"Yeah, well. So." Her attempt at defiance fell way short.
"So? So? That's it? So. You say all that and when I ask you to back it up you say so."
Linna looked frantic. Her face was red and she began to look around nervously, a few people were looking but, thankfully, the majority where oblivious.
"I...I thought, I thought that..."
"That what?" Natasha interrupted. "That it would be different? Jesus Christ Linna! Where you thinking at all?"
Linna recoiled as if she had been slapped. She stood and replied with as much bravery she could muster.
"Well, I thought at least you'd be polite."
Linna straightened her jacket and walked towards the exit leaving Tasha in a stupor.
"Polite? What?"
Tasha was stunned. Polite? She leaned forward and cradled her head in her hands. What the hell did that mean? How the hell should she have reacted? Boy she had nerve, propositioning to her like that. While she thought she looked around from underneath her hair, a few people where staring, obviously reading way to far into it. She caught the waiter standing there looking out of the corner of her eye. She summoned him with a flick of her wrist. Dropping 500 Euro she stood and gathered her things.
She looked to the rubbernecks and smiled cynically at them.
"Do enjoy your evening."
Pecker heads, she muttered under her breath on the way out.
She didn't see Linna until she got back to the car. Tasha walked up to her side and opened the door and tossed her stuff in the back than hopped in and closed the door. She looked over at Linna through the window and hesitated. Well, it wouldn't be 'polite' to leave her here she mused. She leaned over and popped the lock and buckled in as Linna sat.
"Thanks."
"Your welcome." Tasha replied flatly.
About three lights later Linna turned to Natasha. She was looking at the road devoid of emotion, completely deadpan.
"Tasha. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said anything."
She waited for her to reply but Tasha barely moved, and that was to flip on the turn signal.
"Look, this isn't easy for me you know."
Tasha remained silent and kept looking at the road.
"Come on Tasha, don't be like that. I mean what do you want? I said I was sorry! Please? Look, you were right. I wasn't thinking. Okay, I admit it. I screwed up."
Tasha remained impassive. Linna was almost frantic. Why is she doing this? Why isn't she saying anything?
"Tasha. Tasha please. Say something. Just say something please, anything!"
Tears began to well up in her eyes.
"I'm sorry, I messed up, I didn't mean to. I'm sorry."
Frantically she reached out and grabbed Tasha's arm.
"Dammit Tasha why won't you talk to me?"
Tasha braked suddenly at an intersection causing Linna to be pushed into her restraints. When she looked back at Tasha she was looking at her, only her head turned. Her gaze was, was, well, unreadable.
"What am I supposed to say Linna?" She bit.
"I...I don't know."
Natasha breathed out in annoyance and turned her gaze back to the road.
Linna swallowed and put her hands back into her lap.
"I told you how I felt because it was the honest thing to do. I like you, I like being around you. I see you in this wonderful way and I...I guess I just wanted to know if you looked at me the same."
Natasha was bewildered at the crystal clear logic that that statement contained. Linna wanted to know. But why; why choose that as the way?
"So what you're really saying is that you, you know, want to, have an intimate relationship, with me. With me? Why? I mean that's what I don't get. Why on earth would you want to have me?"
Linna turned beet red, Tasha couldn't have been any more blunt than that.
"Because I don't want to be like that with anyone else."
"Okay so you admit you wanna have sex with me."
"I never said I wanted to have sex with you, I just said I was in love with you."
"Linna, I can read between the lines."
Linna sighed and kneaded her hands in her lap. Tasha paused and bit her inner lip in thought.
"Why me?"
"I just answered that."
"No that was a different 'why me'. This 'why me' is; of all the people in the world that you could be with, why me?"
"Because I just don't want to with anyone else."
"Look I know that but I need reasons, I mean there had to have been something that I said or did or whatever. I'm not fishing for compliments here, I'm just a little curious as to what it was you saw, see, in me, that would make you feel like that. It's because of my looks isn't it?"
Linna blushed again.
"Yeah, a little."
"A little?" Tasha asked incredulously.
"Okay maybe more than a little, but that was when I first met you. And then I saw Elise and Tony and how happy they were..."
"That's different. They love each other." Tasha bit.
"No they don't."
"What do you mean 'no they don't'?"
"I mean they like each other a lot, and they're, intimate."
"Okay, they're in love then."
"Okay, okay they're in love enough to want to do it. Happy?"
"Doesn't make sense, if they don't do it out of love they why?"
Linna sighed, who thought she'd be explaining stuff like this to her.
"Because it's fun and it feels good. Yes there are feelings of love between them but for the most part they do it because they enjoy it. You see?"
"But they're still in love."
"I love you. Does that count for anything?"
Tasha shot her a suspicious glance.
"Oh and that's not a loaded question." Tasha answered cynically.
The car slowed and finally stopped in front of Linna's building.
"So this is it huh?" Linna asked, not at all wanting to get out of the car.
"I guess so." Tasha replied.
Linna opened the door slowly and made her way around the car towards the entrance.
The sound of the power window on Tasha's side retracting caused her to turn around.
"Linna." She heard Tasha call after her. Slowly she walked back to the car and stood by the opened window.
"Look Linna. I'm sorry I blew up at you at the restaurant."
Linna put her hand on the windowpane and smiled softly.
"It's okay, I should've been prepared. Tasha? I just want to ask you to do me a favour."
Tasha squinted but remained silent.
"What is it?"
"Think about it. No really, just think about it, if you say no I'll understand but if you say yes..." Linna looked hopeful.
"Okay I'll promise I'll think about it, but I'm not making any guarantees." As she spoke Tasha hadn't noticed that she'd put her hand on top of Linna's and had patted it softly.
Both girls seemed to notice that at the same time. Linna blushed and looked at her, Tasha pulled her hand back inside and onto her lap and found she was blushing as well.
"Look, don't read to much into it okay."
Linna nodded although the corners of her mouth rose slightly as she tried to keep from smiling.
"Bye."
Tasha nodded and set the car into drive.
"Seeya."
As Tasha drove off Linna caressed her hand and let herself smile. There was hope, even if it was small.
On the way home Tasha was beside herself with emotion. She didn't know what to think. On the one hand she liked Linna and respected her, but that much? On the other hand she wasn't sure that it would work. What if she found out, what if she blamed her. She couldn't tell her, not now, not like this. But what if Linna didn't care?
For the next three days Tasha isolated herself. She stayed at work during Friday's lunch and didn't call on the weekends either. As a Sexaroid she could easily have done it with her, she was made for that. She knew she was physically capable, and the thought wasn't all that unappealing. Would it be possible to be friends still or would this change everything? Linna was the one person that Tasha felt even remotely comfortable around and she wasn't sure that going the next step would affect that. Well, she knew it would have an affect, but would it be positive or negative? She looked back on her life, all eight years that she could remember, and tracked her decision making process. It seemed that most of her bright ideas had originated as an unrefined thought, a feeling that this would be the right choice; humans called it intuition. So she asked herself what her 'intuition' said about this. To her disbelief there was no reply, she felt totally neutral about the whole thing. Well, she mused, what about the pro's and cons? Pro: She liked Linna. Con: Linna was a girl, so was she. Pro: As a Sexaroid she was made to service both sexes. Con: She was a Sexaroid; Linna was a girl. Pro: Linna felt sorry for boomers. Con: She also killed rouge ones. Pro: She felt comfortable around her. Con: To many things could go wrong. Pro: This might be the only opportunity at a relationship, however strange. Con: Pretty much the same.
When Tasha went into work on Monday she decided she needed some advise so she decided to ask the Chief.
"Chief, can I come in?"
"What do you want this time?" He huffed with a wry smile.
Tasha blushed and cringed; his response was part of an on-going joke. It seemed that whenever she knocked on his door she was always asking for something for Detachment 3 or for the CIC.
"Actually, I was wondering if I could get some, advice."
That truly stunned the Chief. Of all the things she could have asked for, advice would have been at the bottom of the list.
"Advice? About what?"
Tasha was beginning to have second thoughts and it showed, but she pressed on.
"Relationships."
Chief Roland fell into his chair, unable to stand. He looked from one side of the office to the other and then at Tasha, he studied her, looking for anything that would betray her real reason for asking. Was she trying to play a prank on him, was she coming on to him? What the hell was going on? When he saw that she was really unsure he knew she wasn't fooling.
"Sure. Okay. What do you want to know?"
Tasha seemed to smile a bit and made her way to the seat in front of him. As she sat Tasha was fidgeting with a loose string on his chair.
"Well, I was just wondering, how do you when it's right?"
"By right, what do you mean?"
"Well it's like this, there's this person I know, and I was wondering, when do you know that that's the person that's right."
"For you?"
Tasha looked away slowly as if trying to avoid the question, but knew she had to answer.
"Yeah, I guess so."
"I don't know, lots of things. Do you feel, um... good, when he's around?"
Tasha nodded.
"Well, what about your interests? Are you interested in the same things?"
"Not really."
"Okay, what about goals?"
Tasha thought about that and smiled.
"Yes. We both like helping people."
"Okay, that's a start. Um... Do I know this person?"
Tasha understood why he was asking, he had to. She smiled and shook her head.
"No, at least I don't think so."
"Oh." Nick looked visibly relieved.
"Well, I'd have to say go with your gut on this Tasha. It sounds like you have some things in common. And you wouldn't be asking me if you didn't care."
"I see."
"Look I know it's tough, when I met my wife she didn't know either, I was just lucky she put up with me enough to get married. Who ever he is I'm sure he's a nice guy, just give him a chance."
"Okay, I will."
Tasha stood and turned to walk out.
"Oh Tasha, one other thing."
"What's that chief?"
"If he does turn out to be a dirt-bag; all you have to do is ask, and I'll fix it."
Tasha blinked in surprise, this was the first time Nick had shown any sign of concern for her well being, in his own way, but a sign none-the-less.
"Thanks Chief, I appreciate that."
When she left he let out a long sigh.
"Goddamn girl reminds me of my own daughter."
Later that night, around seven she drove to Linna's building. And for the next ten minutes opened the door than closed it, arguing with herself. 'Jesus Christ! Why am I sitting here, either way, yes or no I have to tell her.' Finally she opened the door and stepped out. Slowly, in order to stall as much as she could, a practice almost foreign to her, she made her way inside and into the elevator. When the door opened to Linna's floor she pressed the Hold button. After pacing around a bit she let the doors open and saw a crowd of three people outside. They were all looking at her quizzically.
"Sorry."
She made her way past them and into the hall and walked up to Linna's door. She listened and heard Linna inside walking around. 'Shit. Guess I can't use the old I showed up and you weren't there routine.' Taking a deep breath she knocked. 'Well Tasha, this is it, the point of no return.'
When Linna opened the door she couldn't mask her elation; which didn't make the situation any easier.
"Tasha! Uh...hi."
"Hi."
After a few minute of awkward silence Linna snapped out of her stupor and took a step backwards.
"Sorry. Please, come in."
Tasha walked in and although she'd been here before it somehow felt foreign to her.
"Would you like anything to drink?"
"No, no, I'm good."
Linna moved to a respectable distance and sat down.
"So, how was work?"
"Oh, not bad, the usual."
"Light day?"
"Sort of."
"Anything interesting happen?"
"Not really, well, this guy did call in about his housecleaning boomer getting stuck in a tree." Tasha was feeling uncomfortable yet being here she found that even given the subject matter Linna had a way of making her feel more at ease.
"Really?"
"Yeah, so, what about you?"
"Same old, same old."
"I see."
Linna was beside herself in fear and doubt; what was she going to say, either way it was going to be hard for her.
"I thought about it." Tasha began. "You know, cause I promised I would. And I, well, I just don't know, I mean I know that you know that I know a lot about you, but you don't know anything about me. I mean, I'm anal; I'm a neat freak. I'm a total career woman, look, I've got very dangerous people after me, and you almost got hurt because of that."
"I see, it seems like you're doing a good job talking yourself out of this."
Tasha sighed.
"For three days."
Linna blinked, she hadn't expected that reply.
"For three days, and I keep having to start over, and every time I come back to the fact that I..." Tasha paused and than shot to her feet, she paced nervously for a few seconds than turned to Linna with a pleading look on her face, her hands held together in front of her.
"Dammit Linna! Why does it have to involve sex? Why that? Why can't it be something else?"
"What?" Linna couldn't believe her ears, the sex thing aside she'd pretty much said yes.
Tasha hadn't heard her and was still speaking.
"I like you, I like being around you, I may even love you, but why that?"
"It doesn't have to be."
"I mean what if... What?"
"It doesn't have to be, about sex."
"It doesn't?"
Linna stood.
"No, I'll take you anyway I can."
"You will?"
"Of course, I never wanted to push you away, I just wanted to be closer to you. I never told you just because of that; I want to be with you, and if we have sex, well, that'll be a bonus."
"Oh."
"Tasha, since we're being honest with each other, I'd just like to know why, why are you so afraid."
Tasha looked away and sighed.
"I had, bad, experiences. I, I never had any say. And I, I just don't want to be used like that again. And those feelings, you know, when you're doing it, for me all I remember is helplessness, that and dreading the next time."
Linna walked up and put her hand on her cheek and wiped aside a strand of hair with her thumb.
Tasha smiled nervously and shifted uneasily from foot to foot.
Th...Thanks. " She whispered.
"So, is this where we kiss and make up?"
Tasha smiled and gave her a warm look.
"A kiss is just fine."
Linna blushed.
Tasha fidgeted with her jackets zipper. Technically kissing wasn't really sex. Come to think of it neither was hugging, or snuggling. And it had felt nice whenever Linna had touched her or gotten very close.
"Look, I know how much this means to you, you'd never have brought it up otherwise. And, I'm not too comfy with the whole idea of doing this again. So, I'll only say this once. No third base, not yet."
Linna's heart almost skipped a beat.
"You mean it! For real?"
Tasha couldn't help but smile a little bit.
"Yeah. I do. But I mean it, no third base."
Linna ran her finger across Tasha shoulder to her hand and took it her own.
"First and Second are plenty fine."
"Easy on second." Tasha asked, holding her fingers close together with a sheepish expression.
"Please."
Linna nodded her head.
"Okay."
Tasha nodded back and sighed; looking around the room she didn't notice Linna raise her hand to touch her cheek. When she felt her hand she jumped, pulling away with a slight jerk. Linna pulled her hand away as Tasha regained her composure and the look of shock was replaced by one of embarrassment.
"I'm sorry." Linna offered.
"No, no, it's ok. I...I guess I should go huh? I've got work early tomorrow. Um... So I'll see you at six then?"
Linna nodded and smiled supportively.
"Yeah, six."
Linna walked Tasha to the door. She reached for the doorknob than turned to Tasha, grabbed her collar, pulled her in and planted one right on her lips. Tasha's eyes went wide with shock at the assault on her senses. Linna held their lips together for a few more seconds than pulled away. Tasha was still wide eyed and was blinking sporadically, staring at Linna. Linna opened the door and hung her head. Tasha had just stood there, she didn't close her eyes, hell, she hadn't even blushed; despite everything she had said. Linna just didn't see it.
"Seeya tomorrow." Tasha whispered as she stepped outside.
No sooner than the door clicked shut behind her did the feeling of utter dread overcome her. Linna had kissed her; and it had felt good. Always before it had been in silent protest and emotionless obedience. But now it felt different, she didn't know why, but it felt better. She touched her lips with her fingertips and they tingled, she touched her cheeks and they where warm. In the silence she heard Linna crying through the door.
She meant it; she really, really meant it.
Tasha spun around and with the combination of the excitement of what lay ahead, behind the door and into the future, and remorse, for having made Linna cry, for not believing her. She knocked on the door.
Through the door she heard Linna exhale a loud whimper. "Great, now what?"
Tasha knocked again.
The door opened and Linna stood there sniffling. It took her a moment for recognition to take hold; even though it had been less then a minute she still couldn't believe that Tasha would be knocking on the door this soon. She noticed that she looked apologetic yet expectant.
Linna took a step back and for the second time that evening she stepped into the apartment, funny she thought; it felt familiar again. Linna closed the door behind her and had no sooner let go of the knob when Tasha leaned in and joined their lips. This time it was Linna's turn to be shocked. Tasha followed through by putting her hands on her shoulders, her fingers digging into her sweater. Linna's shock faded quickly; and she wrapped her arms and tongue around her friend.
When they parted they both let their heads rest on each other's shoulder, it was one of the benefits of being the same height. Tasha lips tingled and she thought she could still feel Linna kissing her, and taste her on her lips. She felt her sobbing and could hear her trying not to cry out loud. Tasha was worried, what was going on, she should be happy, shouldn't she?
Pulling her head back so she could look her in the face Tasha was still quite confused.
"Why are you crying?"
Linna sniffled and wiped some tears form her eyes, what confused Tasha the most was that through all of that she was smiling like an idiot.
"Because, I've never been this happy before."
"Happy? But you're crying."
"Tears of joy you dingbat."
"Oh."
While Tasha was making sense of her statement Linna put her head back over her shoulder and locked her arms around her waist. Tasha put her arms around her and patted her on the back. Every now and then she could feel Linna nuzzle her neck, occasionally kissing the nape. She finally closed her eyes and let her friend just hold her. The warmth was incredible and she was awe struck at the amount of body heat Linna was putting out.
After a few minutes had passed and Linna showed no signs of ever letting go she started to alternate from foot to foot trying to keep her legs from going stiff.
"Are you going to let go?" She whispered into her ear.
She could feel her shake her head no.
A few minutes later Tasha had given in to the situation. Linna felt so warm, and she could feel her heart beating against her chest. At lest she was still alive she mused.
"Linna?"
"Mmm hmm?"
"My legs falling asleep."
Linna loosened her grip enough to look down at Tasha's side. Blushing she let go but kept her hands on Tasha's hips, her fingers latching onto her shirt in a death grip. Tasha stomped her foot down a few times to restore blood flow and was rewarded by pins and needles. Linna helped her keep her balance as she balanced on one foot feverishly trying to kill the pain. She looked down at Linna's hands than to her flushed smiling face.
"You're gonna have to let go sometime you know."
Linna nodded as she wrapped her arms around her waist again.
"I know, but not for awhile, please."
"Okay. You know, I'm not gonna run away."
Linna loosened her grip slightly. Tasha couldn't believe it; that was why she was holding on so tight.
"Tasha?"
"Yes?"
"Please don't go. Not just yet."
Natasha smiled although Linna couldn't see. Wrapping her arms around her waist she interlaced her fingers together to form a solid grip.
"Okay, I can stay a little while longer." She offered.
She felt Linna shake her head.
"I, I don't want to be alone tonight, please?"
"Ok, I'll stay."
Linna released her death grip and Tasha followed suit and followed her as she walked over to the couch. Sitting down she gently pulled her into the cushions next to her and rested her head on her shoulders.
"This is like a dream come true for me." Linna remarked. "Ever since we first met I knew you were the one."
"I uh...wow. I'm not real good at this sort of thing, but, even though I wasn't looking for a relationship right now, I'm glad that you were confident enough for the both of us, to ask. And I want you to know that I think you're very special too."
Linna turned her head and kissed her on the cheek.
"Thank you, I promise I won't let you down."
Tasha put her arm over her shoulder and kissed her back and giggled.
"What's so funny?" Linna asked.
"Because, I've never felt like this before, I've never felt this good inside." Linna smiled and brought her head up and brushed her lips past Natasha's. Tasha pressed her lips to hers and they kissed long and hard, drinking from each others energy and holding each other tight.