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Light music played in the background as Nina leaned into the bathroom mirror to apply the last of her makeup. Lightly brushing over her eyelids with the pale pink eyeshadow, she hummed along to the jazz tune. She slowly turned her head from one side to the other to inspect her work, smiling when she was happy with the result. The apples of her cheeks were left untouched, as she decided to let her natural blush take its place. Placing the makeup brush back into its respective place, she reached for her lipstick tube. With slow movements, she twisted off the top and revealed the cherry red color that took residence upon her lips.
Glancing up at herself in the mirror, she twisted the tube, allowing just enough of the stick to reveal itself before she paused. It was the moments before that she always relished, the seconds of anticipation. She always made sure to do her lipstick last, waiting to see if he would make it in time. Her eyes were still holding her reflection's gaze when she heard the footsteps from the connecting bedroom, a five-second warning. One corner of her mouth lifted into a half-smile as she lifted the tube as if getting ready to apply it. She didn't even need to look to know when he entered the room, she could feel his presence the moment he stepped inside.
Taking a few steps inside, Matthias stood behind her, his white shirt buttoned halfway, to meet her eyes in the mirror. "And what, exactly, is it that you think you're doing?" He nudged the arm that held up her tube of lipstick.
"You know the rules, Matthias. You snooze, you lose." Nina lifted her eyebrows.
"Except I never lose. Not when it comes to this." He bent slightly to press a kiss to her right ear, relishing in the little sigh she let out.
Taking advantage of the now open opportunity, Matthias gently removed the tube of lipstick from his fiancée's hand, running his finger over the ring that sat on her own finger. He smiled against her skin, pressing another kiss behind her ear. He loved seeing that ring on her; luckily for him, she hadn't taken it off since the day he proposed. So, every day he got to admire the ring that reminded him they were going to spend the rest of their lives together. Intertwining their hands, he met Nina's gaze out of the mirror. She had turned her head to the side to watch him as he admired her ring.
"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you have some kind of jewelry kink." Nina snickered, her breath hitting his jaw.
Wrapping their connected hands around her body, he squeezed her close to him before lifting her left hand and kissing her ring finger. "Mm, maybe just for this one."
"Matthias!" She laughed.
"I believe we are getting sidetracked, Miss Zenik." Nina rolled her eyes. Matthias was insistent on using her last name as many times as he could before she officially became a Helvar.
But as for the task at hand, Nina would never deny him a kiss, not when she was itching to touch her lips to his. It was a game they played whenever Nina got ready for any event. Keeping track of the time it took for her to shower, get dressed and of her makeup, Matthias would appear just before those final touches. Once those red lips were painted, he missed out on his chance to kiss her. And Matthias never wasted an opportunity. Yet, even though she was as eager as he was, it wouldn't be like her to make it so easy for him.
So now, she tilted her head and puckered her lips like a fish, making an obnoxious sound to accompany it. Matthias simply laughed, used to her antics by now. He cupped her cheeks and pressed his lips to hers, making an equally obnoxious kissing sound as she dissolved into laughter. Matthias took that laughter into the next kiss, heart pounding as he felt Nina grab onto the back of his neck. Exhaling a sigh into her mouth as he felt her fingers lightly run through the hair there, Matthias was in bliss. It was Nina who took the kiss deeper, lightly squeezing his skin to let him know she wanted more.
"What do you say we just stay in tonight?" He murmured in between kisses, his hands already tugging at the bottom of her dress.
"Careful love, you're starting to sound like me." She whispered, giving him one more deep kiss before pulling away. It still baffled her sometimes that this was the man he was when they were alone. The lengths to which he had grown more comfortable in her presence made her heart warm. "Besides, I want to go out. I want to do something fun with you."
Matthias nodded, a smile on his face as he watched her. He couldn't help but allow his eyes to rake over her dress that he had been trying to get off her body just mere seconds ago. The sheer long sleeves allowed him to see her pale skin through the fabric, the rest hidden beneath the knee-length skirt. The dress was comfortably loose but hugged her figure all the same. His eyes lingered on her backside when she turned back to the mirror to finally apply her lipstick.
Nina looked in the mirror and cleared her throat when she saw his attention diverged. Matthias looked up with a sheepish smile, and rested his hands on her hips, aligning his body behind hers.
"Last chance." She held up her lipstick and he smiled.
He brought his lips down on hers once, twice, three times before letting go. "Can't promise that'll last me through the night."
"It never does," Nina replied, knowingly.
Matthias' laughter followed him out of the bathroom.
///
Much later that night, when they had returned home and gotten out of their nice clothes, Nina and Matthias fell into bed, exhausted. Date nights had been few and far between, they almost forgot how much it took out of them. But in a good way. After the week they both had at their respective jobs, they needed a night out to just do whatever they wanted. To just enjoy each other's company.
Matthias had signed them up for dance lessons and despite being the worst in the class, they still earned participation ribbons and a voucher for free drinks at the bar above the dance studio. And they had made new couple friends. The older couple they had spent the majority of the night with was more than kind enough to sit with them and indulge them with stories about their 40 years of marriage. The whole time they listened in admiration, Nina and Matthias didn't let go of each other, Matthias twirling the ring around Nina's finger with affection. That was going to be them one day.
The night was perfect, to say the least. They wanted a night to let go of their worries of the past week and they got that. As well as a glimpse into their future. And now, they were back in their hub, their safe space.
Their home.
It was past one in the morning and the room was pitch black now, Nina couldn't even see her hand if she held it in front of her face. They had slipped right into bed when they arrived, but she wasn't sure if Matthias had fallen asleep yet. She had been exhausted, but now that she was under the blanket, her whole body buzzed.
"I love you," Nina whispered into the dark.
"I love you," Matthias' response came almost immediately as he ran a hand up and down her arm. "I can't wait to spend forever with you."
Nina smiled, though she knew Matthias couldn't see it. Reaching forward, she searched through the night of his face, the both of them giggling all the while. When her hand rested on his cheek, her thumb slid over to his lips, tracing over them. Those very lips that she had kissed a thousand times, that had asked for her hand in marriage, that would soon profess his love for her in front of everyone they loved. This was the life she had been hoping for and now it was here. He was here. The man who would love her unconditionally. "Forever with you." She said quietly.