Chapter Text
The warm light of early summer filters through the stained glass door of Rocky Mountain Record Trading, staining the whole store a shining gold as Alex swings the door closed behind her. The ‘on air’ sign above the door to the radio booth is illuminated, but that doesn’t mean much. The odds of Steph actively running her show are just about the same as the odds of her hiding out in the booth and working through a playlist to avoid customers unless entirely necessary. Something in the back of her brain prickles with an undetectable light, and though she can’t see Steph or her aura, Alex can sense a faint current of anxiety tugging at her from the booth. Letting her fingertips trail lightly along the crates of records lining the shop, she follows the shelves towards the booth, watching as Steph comes into view, no headphones on, head moving with the music playing as she scrolls idly through her phone, not having noticed Alex yet.
Admiring Steph in her element is as natural as breathing, and Alex takes in the strong slope of her shoulders, the sharp cut of Steph’s jawline and the plush curve of her mouth as she gnaws anxiously on her lower lip. Before Alex can step closer to the booth, a flurry of movement from Valkyrie jumping off a crate of records draws Steph’s attention, and she catches Alex’s eye, the barely there haze of purple flaring a little, undercut by a shimmer of gold, before fading. Rising to her feet, Steph offers up a small smile, uncharacteristically devoid of the brazen confidence Alex has come to expect from her, and a second later, the door to the booth swings open and Steph steps aside, letting Alex into the booth. Alex steps past her, and a ripple of tension and something soft and wanting shoots through her, making her breath catch in her throat for a second, catching her off guard.
“Aren’t you live right now?” She asks, reaching reflexively for something lighter to talk about, trying to defuse the nervous tension building between the two of them, glancing pointedly at the illuminated sign above the door.
“I mean, the playlist is.” Steph’s voice is light, and easy, following the pattern Alex sets. Teasing feels like the easiest way to ease into the higher stakes conversation that they both know is imminent.
“But then why are you hiding out in here, instead of at the front desk?” Alex’s question draws a snort of laughter from Steph, and it takes most of Alex’s fraying willpower not to follow the distractingly appealing shift of muscle in Steph’s arm as she reaches up to rub a hand over the back of her neck.
“Oh, well you know how playlists are. Unpredictable little shits.”
“Right.” Alex nods, smiling faintly. “I’m sure.”
The silence that follows is weighty, rife with that which is yet unsaid, at odds with the previous exchange. Alex can feel Steph’s green eyes tracking her motions as she crosses the small room, perching on the arm of the chair, looking around the booth at the recording and broadcast equipment, trying and failing to ignore the way her heart is pounding against her ribs. Steph leans back against a free stretch of desk, arms crossed, face schooled into a carefully constructed mask of nonchalance, but even without the indistinct halo of purple curling around her, Alex can read Steph’s uncertainty in the tight set of her shoulders, the way her fingers tap restlessly against her side, half obscured by her elbow. If she were feeling braver, she’d reach out to take her hand, soothing the ragged edge of Steph’s nerves, but as it is, Alex’s own hands feel like they’re trembling, even shoved into the pockets of her jeans.
“I-” her voice falters, and the nervousness pulling in her throat feels stupid and cowardly somehow, compared to Steph’s fearless declaration from earlier. I’m in. For whatever you want. The words echo in her head, and Alex swallows hard, trying to steady her breathing. “You know-” she tries again. “If you’re going to skulk around in here even when you’re not actually live, you should probably hire someone to take care of the front.”
Steph’s expression is quizzical, a small furrow forming in her brow as she studies Alex, trying to figure out where exactly she’s going with this. “Yeah?” She says after a moment, and Alex nods, pushing her glasses back up her nose reflexively as she glances away.
“Yeah.”
“Got anyone in mind, Chen?” Steph’s voice has a breathless, slightly strained quality to it, her unaffected façade from earlier abandoned as she studies Alex closely, the weight of her gaze magnetising, hopeful, and Alex couldn’t resist the pull even if she wanted to. She meets Steph’s eyes, squares her shoulders a little; takes a breath.
“I think I'd do a pretty good job.” It’s a minor miracle that her voice doesn’t shake as the words leave her mouth, but it wouldn’t matter even if they had, because all that matters in the moment is the way the booth seems to light up with the brilliant gold light radiating from Steph as a small almost disbelieving smile starts to tug at the corner of her mouth.
“You fucking mean it?” Her voice is hushed, almost reverential, and Alex just nods, not bothering to hide the bashful smile spreading across her face, a mirror to Steph’s own.
“I wanna stay here-at least for now-I wanna stay. With you. I want to be with you.”
In one fluid motion, Steph pushes up from where she was leaning against the desk, crossing the room slowly towards where Alex is still perched precariously on the arm of the comfy chair, a little of her usual confidence seeping back into her shoulders as the warm light emanates from her form.
“Y’know-” she says, voice fond and teasing. “I’ve never had anyone barge in to tell me that they wanted to be with me before.” Steph’s parroting of her words from earlier makes Alex roll her eyes, cheeks going hot.
“Fuck off,” she complains, but there’s no venom in it, just affection and relief.
“Nah.” Steph steps closer, taking Alex’s hands in hers. “Can’t do that when you just told me you wanna be with me. You’re stuck with me now.”
She’s close enough that Alex can feel the heat of her skin, and the thought leaps unbidden from Steph’s mind to hers, glittering with joy and tenderness.
I’m so fucking smitten.
Her thumb brushes over Alex’s shooting star tattoo as she moves closer still, near enough that Alex can feel her breath ghosting across her cheeks, and the open, flustered look in Steph’s eyes, the raw vulnerability of her joy, shreds through the last of Alex’s hesitation in one sharp blow.
“Guess we’re stuck with each other, then,” she says, chin tilting up as she tugs down on their joined hands, and the muffled sound of surprise Steph lets out as their lips collide makes Alex’s heart swell in her chest.
It feels like the rest of the world falls away, eclipsed entirely by the golden light surrounding the moment as Steph’s lips move against her own, soft and sure and perfect. Disentangling their linked fingers, her hands go to Steph’s hips, tugging her closer, and Alex lets out a faint hum of approval as strong, gentle hands cradle her jaw, one hand carding through her hair. There’s something careful and reverent about the movement, and Alex melts into it, letting her arms wrap around the form in front of her, revelling in the easy way Steph moves with her, pressing closer.
“Y’know-” Alex is breathless as she pulls back just enough to speak, noses nudging against each other, Steph’s hand still in her hair. “I think you’re the first person who wasn’t Gabe to care about me so-so fearlessly. Like-it never felt like-a question.” Her words are tentative, giving voice to the endlessly painful, vulnerable part of herself that’s soothed somehow, by the light radiating from Steph, by the gentle hand stroking through Alex’s hair. “You didn’t even hesitate, you just-cared.”
Steph leans her forehead against Alex’s, and there’s a thin thread of blue weaving through the gold, just for a moment, and Alex isn’t sure if the lump in her throat is an empathy thing or a reflexive reaction to the ache of the old scars of loneliness, rubbed raw by her confession.
“Well, yeah,” Steph says, voice heavy with compassion and affection, stealing another brief kiss as she continues “pretty sure I was sunk the first time I saw you. Never stood a chance. And there’s no getting rid of me now.”
Alex’s breath leaves her in a huff of something that’s either laughter or near tears, but it doesn’t matter. Nothing matters but the pure joy flooding through her, and the way Steph feels in her arms, and something that feels like coming home.
“I think I can live with that.”