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“Hey baby?”
The day was coming to an end, and Charlotte was currently writing up her last report of the day before completely closing down for the night. She turns away from the paper, taking off her reading glasses and gently massaging the bridge of her nose, then looks at her girlfriend who was standing by the door of their makeshift office/second bedroom.
‘’What’s up?’’ Charlotte asks, slightly worried that Cordelia came bearing bad news due to her slightly nervous voice, and the way she was awkwardly standing there. She fiddles with her hands for a second, and the moment Charlotte looks back at the report, she chooses to speak up.
“Why would you pay for a bra when I could be holding your boobs for free?”
Charlotte looks up from the table again, though this time with her mouth open in surprise. She was momentarily speechless, her brows rising as she stared at the blonde’s ever growing grin. It takes her a moment to properly register what had just happened, and when it does it hits her with a laugh.
The delivery of what Cordelia had said was comedic, since her voice sounded so small yet so confident, and the suddenness of it added another spark to it. Charlotte was pretty sure she hadn’t laughed this much in a while, especially at such a wonky pick up line.
“Honey, if you wanted to touch my boobs you can just say so.” Charlotte says with a laugh, and Cordelia joins her a few seconds later. Though, Charlotte can’t help but notice the slight disappointment in Cordelia’s eyes and voice, making her feel conflicted. Did she answer it wrong?
She doesn’t get to question much about that incident, and forgets about it until the sun rose and they had both awakened in bed. It took a while for both of them to properly get out of bed and get dressed, since it was one of the few days they had where both had no events planned for the day, and that usually meant that Cordelia could keep Charlotte in there for an extra hour or two.
The second Charlotte had gone up to get dressed for the day, there seemed to be a slight switch in Cordelia. Her sleepy girlfriend who had just complained about the brunette getting up was suddenly more awake, and she seemed to be staring intently as Charlotte picked out a plain t-shirt to wear at home.
‘’Did you get that shirt for 50 percent off?’’
‘’Yeah? You were with me?’’ Charlotte questions, taking it on and smoothing out the material over her body.
‘’I think it should be 100 percent off.’’
Her movements stop, and she looks at Cordelia for a few seconds with a neutral face as she didn’t know how to react. She knows what Cordelia meant, and she was taken back by the second pick up line she had heard in twenty four hours, so her mind was taking its time to make up a proper answer.
Cordelia grins mischievously as she shuffles to the edge of the bed, reaching for Charlotte and pulling her closer by the edge of her shirt. Her hands lightly play around as they go underneath and lightly trace her skin, and Charlotte smiles softly at the blonde.
‘’That would be bad for the economy.’’ She replies instead, lowering the blonde’s hands from the hem of her shirt. Cordelia looked up at her, her blue eyes glistening in the lightly lit room, and Charlotte wanted to laugh at the puppy eyes she was subconsciously doing.
‘’No- I mean like--’’ Cordelia tries, fumbling a bit as her line had been ruined by Charlotte’s response. She laughs once she notices the light blush on Cordelia’s face as she tried to properly formulate the punchline,
‘’I know, babe. Perhaps after breakfast?’’ She winks, reaching for the comb on their drawer to brush her hair. Cordelia opens her mouth to say something, though she stops and shuts it instead, then picks up the covers and throws them over her head. Charlotte couldn’t help letting out a chuckle at seeing that, and she gently pats the top of Cordelia’s head. ‘’You’re only making this take longer.’’ She teases, and Cordelia lets out a muffled sound from underneath.
The rest of the day was rather boring, if their activities weren't counted, and they were both lounging around for a while in the living room. Both of them were sporting their own magazine, Charlotte’s about the upcoming spring fashion while Cordelia was reading more intensely about how to make macarons from a fancy, french baker.
As the minutes passed, as did their positions until at some point Cordelia had her head on Charlotte's lap and was just snuggling against her lover's stomach. They were both quiet, enjoying the peace that was often disrupted by someone or something, until Charlotte placed a hand on Cordelia’s head and gently played around with a strand of hair.
Cordelia instantly looks up, and Charlotte looks down at her when she sees the sudden motion. The blonde gives her an innocent smile.
“I’m not Rapunzel, but I’d still let you pull my hair.”
That one was definitely the dirtiest she had heard so far, mostly because Cordelia was able to deliver it in a more sultry voice, but it wasn’t enough to make Charlotte extract a reaction other than a smile
“You’d let me pull it without a reason.” Charlotte teases, her hands tugging gently at the back of her hair to make Cordelia tilt her head up. Charlotte presses a quick kiss to her exposed forehead, grinning widely before pulling back and pressing another kiss to her nose. “What is up with you and these horrible pick up lines?” She asks, and she notes how that makes Cordelia’s expression falter from her carefree smile.
“I just wanted to know how you’d react.” Cordelia answers smoothly, though Charlotte was more than positive that there was something more to it. Cordelia wasn’t the one to make these kinds of jokes, neither of them ever did, and she was more than positive that she was learning them from someone else.
Someone who unsurprisingly lived right next door.
When Cordelia decides that she is going to attempt making macarons, Charlotte prays to god that she wouldn’t burn their apartment down as she went out to get the mail from their mailbox by the entrance, and that is when she founds her culprit.
The coincidence was immaculate.
She had just gotten her mail out when she heard the front door to the apartment complex open, and in came the man she had been thinking about.
‘’Whizzer.’’ Charlotte greets him, giving him a slight nod. He looks up at her, shaking off the light sprinkle of snow he had on his leather jacket.
‘’Doc.’’ He answers back just as simply, giving her a smile, then they both stay quiet as they don’t know whether to end it there or try making some friendly conversation. Charlotte was genuinely not expecting him to be the one to initiate it, so she was startled as he spoke again.
‘’So, how are things going at home?’’ He asks her, trying to sound nonchalant, and Charlotte notes how that is the second red flag being waved. The first one being that Whizzer Brown was trying to make small talk with her at the entrance of their apartment. Whizzer never tried making unnecessary conversations with her, which is why she liked him. They had a mutual friendship where they acknowledged each other, and there was nothing more to it. It was great.
‘’Good.’’ She answers with one word, narrowing her eyes slightly as she watches him carefully.
‘’So nothing out of the ordinary?’’ Hearing Whizzer ask that could only entail one thing, and now she was more than positive that he had a part in this.
‘’Alright spill.’’ Charlotte orders him, and Whizzer wrinkles his nose as he tries to play innocent. ‘’You are terrible at being subtle.’’
‘’I am perfectly fine at it, you’re just good at noticing things.’’ Whizzer defends, and Charlotte only raises an eyebrow at him. He stands still, challenging her for a moment, though she doesn’t budge an inch as she stares right back. ‘’She’s trying to make you blush.’’ Whizzer finally gives in, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms, and Charlotte blinks in surprise. She had not expected that to be the answer, neither did she know why this, out of all the ways it could have been done, was the plan her girlfriend had chosen to go with.
‘’So you told her that using these awful pick up lines was the way to go?’’ She questions, furrowing her brows as she thinks of why
‘’Well, I have no idea how to please a woman with words, definitely not a lesbian either, so yupp.’’ He tells her, and she lets out a sound of understandment. That made sense.
She lets the information wash over her, now understanding why Cordelia had such a thwarted look on her face every time she tried and failed. It was a hard thing to do, Charlotte had noticed this herself when she was younger, that making her feel embarrassed or flustered took a good while to do, but she hadn't expected her girlfriend to try challenging her emotions.
Speaking of challenging...
‘’Can you give me one?’’ She asks him, a gleam in her eyes as she gets a perfect plan to take revenge. Whizzer seems to immediately be on board, and he smirks along with her. They might be good friends after all.
--
“Delia?”
“Yeah?” Cordelia answers, barely glancing up from the oven as she is sitting on the floor, knees against her chest whileshe watches the macaroons intensely to not make them burn. “Was there something for me?” She asks, not entirely focused on anything as it showed by her distant voice.
Charlotte walks closer to her, leaning her back against the counter as she watches the back of Cordelia’s head. ‘’Nothing too important, only a few advertisements.’’ She responds calmly, trying to set the mood into the usual. Cordelia nods absentmindedly, her fingers drumming her knees as she lightly bobs along to a song that was possibly stuck in her head.
Charlotte takes that as the perfect time to attempt what Cordelia had been trying the past day. ‘’Hey, did you take horse riding lessons when you were younger?’’ she asks, knowing damn well that the answer was a no since they both had a large dislike for horses. There is a second of silence before Cordelia responds.
“No?” she says, confused as she finally looks up at Charlotte. Her brows were knitted together, and Charlotte smirks delightfully as she knows that she had Cordelia off guard. She walks away from the counter and crouches down, sort of looming over Cordelia and making the blonde shift her body towards her and lift her head up as she thought Charlotte was going in for a kiss. But the doctor stops. She only leans closer, her voice dropping an octave lower.
“Because you’re sure good at riding me.”
She had to hold in a laugh while she watched the flash of realization hit Cordelia, making the blonde blush vividly as she let out an indescribable sound, then covered her face by pushing it between her knees. It was getting harder to not snicker once Cordelia’s hands were lightly but hastily nudging her arm.
‘’Char!’’ She squeals once she regained her senses, though her face was still plenty red as she finally looked up. ‘’That was mean!’’ She complains with a dramatic flair added to her tone. Charlotte could only raise an eyebrow at the irony. Even if Cordelia’s pick up lines were cheaper, they had both done the same thing against each other. Cordelia seemed to understand that as soon as she was met with Charlotte’s look of skepticism.
Charlotte could read exactly the second it hits Cordelia, since her emotions were as obvious as an open book, so she just nods to save her girlfriend the trouble of talking. “I know what you’ve been doing.’’ Charlotte confirms, and Cordelia lets out a groan as she covers her red face with her hands.
‘’It’s stupid, isn’t it?’’ She says defeatedly, slumping back against the oven door, and Charlotte sucks in a breath. It wasn’t percisely stupid, just more… gullible.
‘’Your attempts were quite adorable, honey. Though maybe not for me.’’ She confesses, and Cordelia nods silently. Charlotte purses her lips. ‘’Did you really think Whizzer’s advice was going to work?’’ She asks her, and Cordelia shrugs and looks up at her with a pout.
‘’No, but I wanted to try.’’ She mumbles out.
‘’Why were you even trying this though?’’
‘’Because you always make me blush!’’ Cordelia says, as if she had arrived at some big conclusion, though Charlotte was still lost at sea. She tries to find anything that sounds remotely reasonable to what Codelia was trying to get at, but her mind was blank.
‘’Is there a problem with that?’’ Charlotte says after a minute.
‘’No, but sometimes it feels like… I don’t know.’’ Cordelia starts, throwing her hands up in frustration before letting them drop, only to get caught by Charlotte’s. The brunette slowly intertwines their fingers, then tilts her head and looks down at Cordelie, who was staring up at her with large eyes. She watches the blonde take a deep breath, then look away from Charlotte’s gaze. ‘’It just feels like… You have lost interest, or something.’’ She confesses silently, and Charlotte frowns immediately.
Before she can say anything, Cordelia quickly pipes in again. ‘’And I know its dumb to think that! I just want to make you feel what I do… Or try to make you feel that.’’ She corrects awkwardly, her head tiling along animatedly as she tried to explain her point of view.
Charlotte nods, taking in what Cordelia had just said and exhaling. Sometimes she knew that she should be more open about what she was feeling, but it never felt necessary for her. Besides, Cordelia was the only person who had seen her more expressive side. ‘’I do feel that way, baby. I just show it in other ways. You know that, right?’’
‘’Yeah, I know.’’ Cordelia nods, looking at their hands between them instead of at Charlotte. The doctor gives her hand a tight squeeze, making Cordelia crack a slight smile and finally look at her again. ‘’I guess I just wanted to see you flustered.’’
‘’You have seen me flustered.’’ Charlotte states instantly after, making Cordelia perk up.
‘’I have?’’
‘’Yeah, remember what you did earlier?’’ Charlotte asks her slyly, and it takes a second for Cordelia to understand what she was referring to, and the look on her face was certainly worth the macarons burning to a crisp.