MHA #6, Friday Evening

[firstofitskind]

It had taken a ridiculously long time to get from the causeway back to Verity's apartment. Mostly because Liam was... let's just say the combination of 'easily distracted' and 'uncoordinated' was working against him in that respect. And Verity's apartment wasn't even that far from the causeway, all things considered.

But they made it, finally, stumbling in through the doorway. Or Liam stumbled, and Verity just patiently guided him towards the couch.

"We're here already?" he exclaimed, surprised. Apparently, it hadn't seemed like such a 'ridiculously long time' to him.

[ooc: for she what's named in the post! also warning for uh. side-effects of drug use? sort of?]

Comments

[arboreal_priestess]

"Yes, you are very pretty," she assured him, giving him a little tug. "But we're going to shower now. Remember? Shower?"

You know what would be the worst possible timing right now? If the mice showed up.

"HAIL!"

Oh god.

[firstofitskind]

Oh! The mice! Liam liked the mice.

"Hail!" he responded cheerfully.

[arboreal_priestess]

"No, no, no, we are not doing this right now," Verity said, trying to push Liam down the hallway.

Verity was very short. This came with multiple disadvantages, especially when dealing with tall people.

"HAIL TO THE ARBOREAL PRIESTESS!" the mice greeted.

"Hail!" Verity huffed back. "It is time for Liam to take a shower."

"HAIL THE SHOWER!"

[firstofitskind]

"Hail the shower! Hail smelling great!" This proclamation was, apparently, hilarious, judging from the fact that it set Liam off giggling again.

[arboreal_priestess]

And, apparently, the mice all agreed, because they were also laughing and repeating that amongst themselves.

Verity was thinking of declaring the entire day a wash and just going to bed.

[firstofitskind]

"Hey, hey, what's wrong?" Liam asked, giggles tapering off as he noticed she seemed to find this far less amusing than either he or the mice did.

[arboreal_priestess]

"You still need a shower," she reminded. "You're covered in bits of Sleestak."

Fortunately, they'd both taken off their shoes in the hallway, but their clothes were entirely a lost cause at this point.

[firstofitskind]

"Right, right," Liam nodded. "Are you coming with me?" he asked, beaming at her. Even though he vaguely remembered she'd already had a shower of her own.

[arboreal_priestess]

"If we get there sometime tonight, yes," she said, leaning down and kissing a clean part of his face because, dammit, he was so stupidly cute. "But we're going to be good and just shower there," she added.

Booooooo.

[firstofitskind]

"Booooo," Liam announced, echoing Verity's narrative.

[arboreal_priestess]

That was a gratifying reaction, Verity had to admit. "You're too out of it to agree to anything else," she informed him. "So, tonight is PG-13 only till that wears off. Not even purple glowy for you."

For one thing, he'd probably get very distracted at how prettily he glowed.

[firstofitskind]

Come tomorrow, Liam would appreciate Verity's dedication to the concept of informed consent.

"Soooo. What counts as PG-13?" he was wondering instead, as he attempted to struggle out of his shirt. In the middle of the hallway. With one good arm.

[arboreal_priestess]

Glad somebody would be, because Verity was pretty frustrated by it right now.

"Kisses and maybe some dirty talk if you can stay focused enough to appreciate it," Verity said, snickering, as she watched Liam struggle with his shirt. Honestly, her money was on the shirt. "And, if you're good, I'll wash your hair in the shower."

He'd appreciate that offer when he realized how hard it would be to do one-handed.

[firstofitskind]

"Mmmm," Liam hummed appreciatively, finally free of the shirt. Which was now decorating the hallway floor. "That sounds nice."

[arboreal_priestess]

No, Liam there was sewage on your--wait. No. She did not want him with an armful of filthy clothes and a brain of Swiss cheese anywhere near her dance costumes. Carry on, Liam.

"Maybe even wash your back, too," Verity said, opening the door to the bathroom. "But that's it."

She was sticking to PG-13, dammit!

[firstofitskind]

Liam had turned his attention to his pants, until a thought occurred to him and he looked back at Verity, his eyes comically wide.

"... The mice aren't gonna follow us, right?"

[arboreal_priestess]

"No, no," Verity promised, pulling off her top. If anything, they were going to be examining all of their clothing for salvage and anything of potential liturgical significance. "The bathroom is a Holy Place, where gods and priestesses may meditate undisturbed."

Thank you, Great-great-grandma Healy

[firstofitskind]

Given that Liam had pretty much planned on burning all of his, if the mice could salvage anything out of it, well. Good for them.

"Ohhhhh," Liam said nodding as he actually stepped in to the bathroom. "Good, good. That's good."

[arboreal_priestess]

"Very good," Verity agreed, considering how badly she did not want to look up and see ten pairs of beady eyes staring at her on the toilet. "Err, should I step out for a minute?" she checked. "Give you a few minutes to--you know what? I'm gonna fetch us some towels."

Nice clean towels, giving Liam some alone time in the bathroom. Good idea, Verity.

[firstofitskind]

"I- okay?" he gave Verity's retreating form a confused frown. It wasn't like she hadn't seen him undress before, after all. "I'll be here!"

Yes, Liam. She was aware.

[arboreal_priestess]

They weren't even at 'I love you' yet, they definitely weren't at 'sharing private bathroom time.'

Verity grabbed some towels out of the 'clean' pile on the floor and stopped to feed the mice, updating her eldest priestess with news of the day, before heading back to the bathroom. She tapped on the door before calling in, "Liam? Can I come back in?"

[firstofitskind]

Which was, again, something he'd appreciate once he wasn't so easily distracted by things like, oh. Literally everything.

"It's safe," he called out solemnly. "Promise."

[arboreal_priestess]

"My hero," she snorted, dropping the towels off on the sink. She turned the water on, fiddling with the temperature until it was decently warm. "Okay, major couple's moment here," she said. "Time to find out if our shower temperatures are compatible. Relationships have been made and broken by this one little test."

[firstofitskind]

"Okay," Liam nodded, sticking his hand under the running water obligingly. "Seems fine to me," he reported.

Honestly, right now he'd probably happily go along with anything that wasn't scald-your-skin-off hot or freeze-your-bits-off cold.

[arboreal_priestess]

Verity was just happy he hadn't gotten distracted by the way the bathroom light refracted off the water droplets.

"All right," she said, pulling off the rest of her clothes. "Let's get in?"

On the showerhead was a hanging set of tiered shelves. Verity snagged her bar of soap and grinned at him. "Guess who gets to smell like peppermint and rosemary," she teased.