[EP] A little fuss - OTA

[st_rikingblueeyes]

Some time ago, Corbie had found a calendar and counted back from the spring equinox. And then ahead from the winter solstice. And settled on a date. And then she’d done it again the next day. And again the next, until she was finally satisfied that she’d correctly translated between calendar systems and definitely had the correct date. Caroline had caught her at it and pried it out of her that Corbie had been trying to figure out when her birthday was and, wheels turning behind her eyes, Caroline had left it there. And Corbie had forgotten all about it.

Which was how she could be surprised now as she was shunted into the cafe that Caroline had bullied cake out of Pike and had possibly bullied other people around the inn to come eat it.

Okay, that wasn’t fair. It was a kind gesture, since Corbie hadn’t told anybody. Hadn’t intended on telling anybody. Growing up, her birthday was only so big a deal. She and Gran hadn’t had very much money for presents or treats, though Gran had tried when Corbie was small; they were both always more concerned with having enough to get by. Birthdays were for rich kids. Or at least bourgeois kids. And then there was just the part where… well, what was the point? They were here. It made doing anything special for anybody kind of hard. If anybody cared enough.

… Okay, she was being entirely unfair, because here were two people who had cared enough and had tried for her and it was incredibly sweet.

Unexpected tears in her eyes, Corbie laughed and flitted to the café door, calling out to anybody in earshot. “Come help me eat cake!”

Comments

[st_illfleshandblood]

"Make fun of me as much as you like, darlin'," Jackson invited her, and wrapped an arm around her waist. February 22. He would make a note of it somewhere, before he forgot, for all that he hoped, without much actual hope, that they wouldn't still be here a year from now. Nine months was a long enough time. "Come on, let's go eat that cake."

[st_rikingblueeyes]

"It'll come in its time, I'm sure." Corbie assured him, though she softened her promise of mockery with another kiss before leading him into the cafe to cut him a slice of cake.

[st_illfleshandblood]

"So what would you like for your birthday, darlin'?" he asked as he accepted the piece of cake. "That I could decently get you, given our current circumstances."

That sadly limited her choices.

[st_rikingblueeyes]

Corbie shrugged, handing him a fork before cutting her own slice. "This'd be why I didn't tell anybody. I didn't..." she paused. "I didn't wanna be any trouble, I guess."

[st_illfleshandblood]

Jackson frowned down at her, even as he swallowed his first forkful. "Wouldn't be any trouble, doin' somethin' for ya." If you didn't mind trouble, it wasn't much trouble at all.

[st_rikingblueeyes]

"Well, I mean," Corbie ventured, trying to put words to something that was so ingrained in her that she didn't need words to understand it, "being here makes it complicated. And I'm not much used to presents anyway. I dunno..." her voice lowered to a mumble, "how to ask?" Was that right? It felt close, but not satisfying. "What to ask for?" Bleh, this was hard.

There were things she wanted and things that were possible. She didn't see much overlap. Add in lifelong lessons, it was easier to just keep her mouth shut.

[st_illfleshandblood]

"So we're still stuck here a year from now," which Jackson really hoped wouldn't happen, "y'won't mind me surprisin' ya, then?"

Truth was, he had half a mind to surprise her in the upcoming days.

[st_rikingblueeyes]

Corbie smiled shyly around the fingertip she'd put in her mouth to suck off a little pink frosting that had gone astray. "Lumme, I hope we're not still here then, but... I mean, I wouldn't object?" It felt strange to think about anybody making the effort to surprise her. Gran would have called her spoiled if she expected anything (among other things Corbie couldn't and wouldn't think about for carrying on with a married man).

[st_illfleshandblood]

"I'll keep that in mind," Jackson told her with a half smile. He needed to start planning. Tomorrow.

[st_rikingblueeyes]

Ducking her head, Corbie took a bite of cake herself. "I mean, there might be one thing I can think of that I want..." she mumbled around her fork. Which was a dumb thing to say, because she was pretty confident the answer would be no and she just shouldn't.

[st_illfleshandblood]

"What's that, darlin'?" Jackson was all ears.

[st_rikingblueeyes]

Corbie could hardly claim to be shy when it came to anything to do with sex, and yet sometimes, when it came down to being fairly certain a person wouldn't be interested in what she wanted all of a sudden she was all blushes and squirming and darting eyes like a virgin. Even now, she couldn't stop wanting to please.

"I..." her face was bright red and she had to look away. "It's a bad idea."

[st_illfleshandblood]

Jackson chuckled, and set his plate of cake aside, taking a seat in the nearest chair, and her hand, to tug her closer. "Come on, now you've gotta tell me."

[st_rikingblueeyes]

Corbie set down her own plate reflexively. He tugged, she followed, settling on his knee before she'd even thought that through. Her face was burning. She opened her mouth to speak, and at first she couldn't say anything. Closed her mouth, took an exasperated breath, and tried again. "Ever thought of... sharing me with another man?"

[st_illfleshandblood]

That... had not been what Jackson had expected, and his eyebrows shot up in surprise, before he chuckled. "I can't say that I have." He brushed a lock of hair back behind her ear. "Do you have anybody in mind?"

He wasn't saying yes. But he wasn't saying no, either.

[st_rikingblueeyes]

It wasn't a no. At least not yet. And between that and the caress, she at least felt a little less like she wanted the floor to open up and swallow her. She still couldn't manage eye contact, but there was no hesitation in her answer. "Coby."

[st_illfleshandblood]

Huh. Jackson scrunched his brow thoughtfully, then shrugged a little, focusing back on Corbie. "We could talk."

[st_rikingblueeyes]

Now Corbie looked at him, because that wasn't the reaction she expected. Her breath hitched and she started to tremble. And when her brain caught up with her body and she realized her own reaction just to not hearing no, Corbie tore her eyes away and looked down at her hands.

Sometimes, embarrassment was just embarrassment. And sometimes when it struck just right it made a desire all the more needful. The feeling was sweet and awful all at once.

Calm down. No point in getting hot and bothered yet. "I mean, it's just a thought and you asked and I'm pretty sure he'd be up for it though I ain't brought it up yet and--" and she was going to keep babbling like an idiot but it was so hard to shut up.

[st_illfleshandblood]

When she trembled, Jackson used his arm around her waist to pull her closer to his chest, a faint frown on his brow. He kissed her hair, and then interrupted her with an, "All right, darlin'," meant to say that she was. All right. "Take a breath. It's all right."

[st_rikingblueeyes]

It was not as abrupt as shut up, Corbie, but the touch settled her in place of that. Corbie put her head on his shoulder and took a deep breath. And another. Then she nodded. "Yeah. I'm okay."

[st_illfleshandblood]

Jackson kissed her hair again, then nuzzled it gently, his arm warm and secure around her waist, his other hand on her thigh. "You sure that's something you want? In reality? Not just something you like to think about?"

He wanted to make sure, before he gave it much more thought, given how much she had worked herself up over it just now.

[st_rikingblueeyes]

That was a question that a person could ask about a lot of things they tried in bed. There was no guarantee that it wouldn't end in disaster. But Corbie didn't need to think. She nodded. "Yes."

[st_illfleshandblood]

Jackson accepted that with a nod. If she hadn't been a whore once, he might have insisted to make sure she knew what she was asking for, but all things considered, Corbie really probably did. "So you talk to him. And if he's amenable, then we talk." He paused, and then asked, "I take it you two have been intimate?"

It seemed logical. Jackson had no idea, but he didn't expect her to fuck nobody but him, and he figured she wouldn't even have brought it up - or him up, in any case - if Coby hadn't at the very least shown clear interest in him. She was nervous enough as it was.

[st_rikingblueeyes]

"Yes." That much Corbie wasn't shy about. What was between them wasn't exclusive and neither of them wanted it to be. She and Jackson were very fond of each other, but they did not love each other nor, under any circumstances, did Corbie think they could.

"Okay," she said, venturing a tiny smile, "I'll ask."

[st_illfleshandblood]

Jackson's smile echoed hers, and he stroked his thumb under her bottom lip, an encouragement for it to stretch. "I didn't think I'd ever see you fret over somethin' to do with sex."