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“Have you even been on a ferris wheel, Lace?” Hornet asks me as our cabin comes into view.
I stand behind her, focused less on the incoming ride and more on the baggy red T-shirt she wears. It fits perfectly with her skinny-yet-muscular frame and leads flawlessly into the black leggings she always wears. A casual look for sure, but one that matches her composed poise.
God, she’s beautiful.
“No, why do you ask?” I respond, shamelessly adjusting my wording to hear her voice more.
“I just thought it was an unusual date location, is all,” she teases back.
“Oh please, if I’d let you choose the place we would be at the library nose-deep in music theory books.”
“You wouldn’t hate that, considering you always beg me to get better at the violin.” She gives me that most gleeful smirk she can muster, and she holds out her hand for me to take as I lead the two of us into the small cabin, where we sit opposite each other.
The doors close, and as our ascent begins I come to a very important realization.
We’re the only ones in this gondola.
Even though there probably is not enough space for two and Hornet definitely is not expecting it, I lurch over to her side and sit down on the bench, squeezing myself to be as close to her as possible. I take both of her hands in mine and sigh audibly. “Much better. You comfy, spider?”
“I should’ve expected you to pull a stunt like that.”
“You didn’t answer my question, babe.” I lean into her shoulder and play with her fingers in my hands.
“It is a little cramped, considering you are supposed to be on that side.”
Of course she’d be like this. “That’s no fun, though! And way too far apart for my tastes.”
“So I presume you will cling to me for the entire ride?”
“Yep!” I pop the P for emphasis.
“You are unbearable, Lace. I wonder what you would do without me,” she says in complete deadpan, watching the skyline of the area come into view.”
“Yearn, probably. That’s what I do whenever I’m not with you already, so…” I tug her sleeve to the side a bit and softly kiss her exposed shoulder.
“Yearning instead of studying. It’s a miracle you have stable grades in your courses.”
“Hey, who said I didn’t study, spider?” She’s right, but I don’t give her that victory. Nor do I want her to worry much. I mainly just let my natural intellect carry me through my classes.
I start twirling her hair around with my index finger. It’s long and wild and silver and silky and it smells so nice. Even I do not know how she maintains such perfection, but I certainly don’t mind its presence.
Hornet stands up to get a better look at the city around her. The ferris wheel is located where we get a really good view of the best parks around, and as it’s a perfectly cloudless late afternoon, we can see really far out.
I hug her from behind and place my chin on her shoulder, trying to find exactly where she’s looking. My hand remains with hers at her waist, and she rubs circles with her thumb. It’s really soothing, though I think she is doing it subconsciously. Is she nervous? How cute.
I catch both of our faces in the faint reflection of the cabin window. We’re both smiling, but it is hers that looks so real. I’m in awe at how she looks so alive, all the time.
Even her tired and overworked eyes look content watching the people go about their days in the city we increasingly get further away from. Poor spider. It would technically be hypocritical, but I should really tell her to get more rest.
“Enjoying holding me like a plush?” She asks. How adorable, she can’t even tease properly. All of her questions sound so genuine.
“Of course I do, spider,” I say as I squeeze her tighter. I really wish I could kiss her from this position.
She hums in response. “I do wonder what the view will be like at the apex.”
“I apologize for not bringing you during sunset.”
“Perhaps another time, Lace. For now, let us enjoy the ride we are currently on.” Oh, I’m enjoying it quite enough, spider. Having you in my arms is everything I could ask for.
That’s all these dates really are. No matter where we go, it’s just an excuse to hold Hornet as close as possible. Not necessarily something to be guilty about (probably), just simply a fact about how I like to spend time with her.
I see her brow furrow in the glassy reflection. It’s almost like she’s studying whatever she’s spying on below us. I use my free hand to brush my fingers against her cheek. I don’t get a reaction out of her, sadly, but her face is so soft I can’t stop myself. She’s chastised me enough for my lack of inhibition around her, but this is a date, so she lets me get away with it.
“How are you feeling, spider?” I ask as we approach the ferris wheel’s zenith.
“I enjoy spending time with you, so I would say I am relatively happy.” It’s a simple statement, but it is effective for making my heart flutter.
“Happier than you are in your engineering classes?”
Hornet laughs a dry laugh of feigned exhaustion, as if she had emerged from a mind-numbing lab drained of energy. “Definitely.” I’m glad.
I realize I’ve been too sappy this entire time. Sure, this has been perfectly romantic, but it could also be deliciously fun, too.
“We’re almost at the peak,” I say with a smirk.
“I believe that is true, yes. It has not felt very long, though.”
I back away from the hug. “Would you mind turning around?”
She complies immediately, turning to face me expectantly. Foolish, shortsighted spider. You’ve fallen right into my trap, oblivious to what comes next. “Yes, why?”
I restrain the impulse to laugh at her cluelessness by lunging in for a deep kiss, locking my arms around her waist and devouring her lips ravenously.
They taste like bliss incomparable, as if the sun and moon conjoined to make the most radiant feeling of clarifying, electric warmth and soothing, shimmering cool. Even when I worry my own lips are dry and weak, hers are an oasis and a bout of pure ecstasy for them.
She squirms in my arms a bit, which only encourages me to get a better grip on her body. She’s mine, and so is her cute writhing. When her strong hands grab my shoulders, I lean into the feeling. I am hers, too, and she must not forget that.
She finds the strength to pull away for a moment, and I meet her bewildered eyes, surprised to be caught off-guard. “Lace,” she pants, and I want to hear her breathless voice almost as much as I want to kiss her some more. “Did I not say I wanted to see the view from the top?”
“I know, but isn’t kissing me so much better,” I say in a sing-song whisper. My spider does not reply, but the sound of her quiet swallow is downright euphoric. I cup her face with tender aggressiveness and lean in once more.
She does not resist any part of the kiss any longer, understanding my perspective. And god is she a good kisser. I do not know where she possibly learned how, but I let her take the lead before taking it right back, encouraging her to dive in even further.
Just as I devoured her, she devours me not through near-savage bites but by drawing out the kiss and weakening me before diving forth and biting down firmly. It causes no pain, for she is calculated and delicate. But I become hers to love, and she confers a sense of bliss and pleasure I scarcely believe is possible until she reaches the zenith of her control over the kiss.
When I have to lean back to catch my breath, my heavy pants caress her ears as she keeps going, kissing my neck and collar until my senses are entirely overloaded and I take a step back, jarred but thoroughly satisfied.
Somehow, she still has breath left in her to speak as I sit down and rest my head on the cool glass of the window. “You really did not let me see the view, did you… That was your plan, was it not?”
I try to answer, to come up with some dorky tease, but I am literally so out of breath I can’t even manage that. The city below us comes more into view as we descend once again, though my mind still buzzes with the sheerness of complete ecstasy.
After a while, I find the words in my throat, and I smile-giggle at her. “It was, dear spider. I was simply so deprived and so bored with such a normal date that I had to spice it up a little. I assume you did not mind?”
She sighs, flushing red a little bit. “Your sarcasm is unbearable. Worse yet, I’ve completely fallen for you in spite of it.”
“Or perhaps, spider, because of it?” Emboldened, I tease back, pretending as though I wasn’t completely disempowered by her hungry kisses moments earlier.
“I… would disagree with that cause-and-effect chain, frankly.”
“I’m sure that is what’s easiest to tell yourself, spider.”
The ferris wheel descends further, the city fades from sight, and soon it is time to disembark entirely. I take one glance at Hornet to promise her that the fun of the day is not over, but in that look I see… just how embarrassed Hornet is. I’m not exactly sure why, but it’s cute.
I guess we did kinda make out in public, but I doubt anyone saw us. It would be something my spider would be self-conscious about, though.
I hold her hand tightly and all but drag her to the nearby ice cream stand. Knowing her, she’s going to be boring and get chocolate, but nobody’s perfect.
“You do realize how expensive this is for ice cream, right?” She asks after we pay for the dessert and find a bench to sit down.
“It’s good ice cream, though!”
“When we get married you’re sending me into bankruptcy, aren’t you?” Comes her dry reply. I swear, she’s either entirely serious in everything she says, or her very rare joke is played off with extreme sarcasm. It’s cute, and I should really teach her how to actually be funny.
“Already planning on marriage, spider dear?” The answer is obvious (of course she is, just look at how smitten she acts), but I want to hear what carefully-planned response she goes with.
“Well, someone has to keep you from doing anything unseemly during your later years. If it must be me, then I will have plenty of time to resign myself to that fate.”
“Awwww, how touching!” I snuggle up as close to her on the bench as I can. To show just how much that comment means to me, of course.
While Hornet has her basic chocolate which she eats with the urgency of a sloth, I work through my strawberry and mango cone at an acceptable rate. Hornet seems judgy of my much more sophisticated taste, but maybe someone who has their ice cream in a cup could never understand.
I speak up, resting my head on her shoulder again. “Babe, I’m exhausted. Can you feed me the rest of mine?” I hear an audible sigh, and I add a “please” for good measure.
“You’re going to make a mess if you try to eat in that position.”
“Fine…” I sit up and give her the spoon. Somehow, the strawberry and mango taste even better when my girlfriend is spoonfeeding it to me. I wouldn’t put it past her if she has some magic power that she’s been hiding from me. I’ll pry for that some other time.
“I still have no idea why you like fruit-based ice cream flavors of all things.”
“I’m sorry you can’t appreciate the value of rich and full flavors-” I’m cut off as she jams another spoonful in my mouth. That spider. It’s made worse by the fact that this is how she expresses her supreme annoyance. Sometimes I wonder why I couldn’t get a normal girlfriend.
“What was that?” She asks slyly.
“Something about how much I love you, probably.”
“Makes sense.”
We then take turns spoonfeeding ice cream to each other. Hornet very helpfully points out that you’re supposed to feed your ice cream to the other, not their own ice cream, but no way I’m eating chocolate ice cream. I have too much pride for that. Still, she eats it up like it’s stopping her from starving, which I have to admit is really cute.
Once, she looks up at me with her iridescent brown eyes as she leans over to get the ice cream. Maybe it’s the way the sun shines on her hair or how her eyes look like pure gemstones, but she looks so… loving.
My breath catches, and I restrain the urge to make out with her right then and there. I know I’m really romantic, but even I struggle to contend with how pretty she is sometimes.
There’s nothing else out there quite like her.
We finish up our ice cream and start heading home. It’s a short tram ride, but I can tell Hornet already laments the missed time studying that this date caused. As she looks at me again, I notice something.
“Looks like there’s still some chocolate on the side of your mouth,” I say, and Hornet has no idea what comes next.
“I do?” It’s like she doesn’t believe me, but I promise I’m not lying.
“Yeah, let me help.”
As quickly as I can before she wipes it away herself, I cup her face and kiss her, savoring the surprised gasp I smother between our lips. I make sure to get the ice cream before leaning in to deepen the kiss briefly before letting go with a satisfied breath. The flustered look she gives me is everything.
“I got it, don’t worry.”
“I- uh…”
“It tasted good. Maybe chocolate ice cream isn’t so bad after all. Or maybe I was getting that taste confused with the taste of your lips, spider.”
That makes her blush a deep red, covering her mouth in shocked embarrassment. I’m a lot and I know it, but I had to make the moment count. I take her hand and interlock our fingers gently, leading her home.
“I… should have expected that, honestly.”
“Did you enjoy it?”
“Yes, I certainly did.”
“I’m glad, spider.”
A pause.
“I’m glad too, Lace.”