Somewhere on the Mainland; Sunday Early Evening

[totalwildcard]

You asked Harley, it was a pretty good Sunday, so far.

She'd started out her day with no plan, and yet by happy accident (and it was definitely an accident, and not someone somewhere making room in a shared schedule to facilitate things, or anything deliberate on the part of anyone directly involved!) she'd run into Marc, and that had sparked a simple and easy plan after all: to drive him to the mainland for dinner, at a restaurant she'd overheard someone talking about on one of her off-island jaunts earlier in the week. It was supposed to be a family-run, no-nonsense little Italian place, and exactly the sort of thing Harley was in the mood for, especially right now with the company she had.

So life was indeed pretty good!

And Harley's mood wasn't soured even by finding out there was actually no parking available right by the restaurant. After some searching, she'd managed to find a spot some blocks away - which was to say, she'd sniped it from right under someone's nose with a truly reckless move. Which had led to some blaring horns from other cars. Which was all good in Harley's book! She had more important things to be thinking about, anyway!

"And the tiramisu's supposed to be amazing," she was saying, as they got out of the car. "Like, 'someone's 97-year-old tiny little Italian grandma made it' kind of amazing. D'you think they'd let me order that for an app and not just dessert?"

(NFB for distance, for the one modded with permission + some NPCs)

Comments

[hasaknightjob]

Marc wasn't reading into anything. Though that was influenced by how he didn't yet have the full mental image of how they would end up.

"You first?" he asked. Which was case in point.

[totalwildcard]

"Uh huh!" Harley replied, stealing one last brush (for now, very much the last only for right now) of her hand along his chest as she stepped away, and up to the tub.

She brushed a little opening into the veritable ocean of bubbles, more out of impulse than anything, before carefully climbing in. She settled at her chosen end of the tub with only a faint splash, sitting with her back against the curved wall of the tub, knees pulled up for now so they poked just barely out of the water and the foam, largely so that he could see where they were.

Since she was now gesturing for him. "And now you."

[hasaknightjob]

"I'm supposed to give up on that view this fast?" Marc said. He took a sec to appreciate the visual. Then he carefully got into the water and tried to settle in front of her.

[totalwildcard]

"You're not 'supposed to' anything," Harley was compelled to say.

But then he was moving and she was busy accommodating him. Her legs on either side of him, she tried to coax him into leaning back against her. "Come on, right up against my chest, sweetie."

The water had a pleasant warmth, not scorching hot but warm enough that they'd be able to stay in it a while before it cooled down too much.

[hasaknightjob]

Marc leaned back, as much for maximizing room as anything else. Though of course being close to Harley wasn't exactly a hardship.

Once he settled in, then he was sort of dimly aware of possible implications and things being offered by this particular position.

Which... meant nothing, obviously. Coincidence. Both her offering and him accepting. Just making best use of the space was all.

Ahem.

[totalwildcard]

It just made sense, okay? And any guidance he got during settling down towards sliding down just enough that he could comfortably lean his head back against her shoulder was clearly just for Harley's comfort! As were the way her arms slid around him, and how her head tipped against his.

All of this was selfish, thank you very much. Honest!

[hasaknightjob]

And if Marc rested his hands over Harley's arms to keep them there that was just making room in a narrow tub. Wasn't like there was space for him to leave his arms at his sides what with her legs there and all. It was just physics! Or geometry! Or something!

Same with how he sort of rubbed his cheek against her. Just him settling into place where they both had room to be comfortable. Obviously.

[totalwildcard]

It was just math!

And not something in Harley settling a little while his physical weight settled against her.

So she smiled to herself, big deal. They were skin to skin, of course she'd smile.

[hasaknightjob]

Certainly not anything in Marc which eased at having Harley holding him against her. He'd need to have had lingering emotions that needed to be chased off for there to be something in him to ease at all. So, yanno. Obviously nothing relevant tonight for sure.

Marc closed his eyes.

"Comfy."

[totalwildcard]

"Mmm, I know," Harley replied, all hushed near his ear. "They don't make so much fun stuff to put in baths for nothin'."

The bubble bath solution clearly being a major part of the comfort. Of course.

[hasaknightjob]

"Meant you," Marc said. He ran his hand lightly over one of hers. "You're plenty bubbly."

[totalwildcard]

Harley gave a small, amused huff but didn't sound surprised. "I'm lower effort than the bubbles, too," she joked. "All I gotta do is just be here."

[hasaknightjob]

"Hmm, some effort," Marc said. He rest his hand over hers again, his thumb idly rubbing back and forth. "But you're worth it."

[totalwildcard]

"Oh, lower effort for me me," Harley replied immediately, "I wasn't talking about you."

Funny!

But she could make up for it by her other hand rubbing slow circles into his skin.

"Good, though. That ya think so."

[hasaknightjob]

"I mean you're still a pain in the ass..." Marc said. But even as relaxed as he was the teasing expression was evident.

[totalwildcard]

"Well look at you takin' the risk, then," Harley retorted, and pressed a kiss to his temple.

[hasaknightjob]

"What's the saying?" Marc asked. He cracked his eyes open just enough to look at her. "High risk, high reward?"

[totalwildcard]

Harley just snickered.

The sound was softer than usual.

[hasaknightjob]

Marc pulled Harley's hand down lower towards the center of his chest. Yes, that was over his heart but that was just because it was an easier spot for both of them to rest their hands. Nothing meaningful about it.

"Not where I expected the night to go."

[totalwildcard]

"Is that just a saying?" Harley wondered, as her hand settled again, fingers splayed against his skin like she needed to cover as much of it as possible. "Or did ya really have expectations?"

[hasaknightjob]

"We were going to a restaurant," Marc pointed out. "Felt like a reasonable expectation we'd get there."

Possibly unreasonable considering how often they got distracted in parking lots, actually.

[totalwildcard]

"Oh, that's fair," Harley admitted in a murmur. "'Less we got stuck in the car. That coulda kept us from the restaurant, too."

Because the parking lot memories were good ones.

[hasaknightjob]

"Kinda would've expected that," Marc said. He indicated their current situation with a nod of his head. Because doing so with his hands would've meant letting go of her. Which was bad for reasons of both their comfort and nothing else. "Didn't expect bath."

[totalwildcard]

"Oh, baths you should never try to expect," Harley teased, and nuzzled at the curve of his neck a little bit, as if that was making some kind of a point. "Baths will just come to you from the heavens when ya need one."

Joking? Joking.

[hasaknightjob]

That got a quiet laugh out of him even as he tilted his head to give her more room to work with.

"Pretty sure that's rain."