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Two days ago, a trauma consult had turned into a tense conversation outside an elevator, and an hour and a half later had turned into a parking lot brouhaha.
All of that had happened before.
It was the part that came after the quarrel that neither had expected, usually these confrontations turned into either heated kisses and angry sex, or seven to ten business days of tense silence. Instead, it had turned into a real conversation. Yolanda had admitted she'd never wanted casual, but since Trinity had asked for it, she'd been using it to protect herself. Trinity had admitted that her feelings had stopped being casual months ago, and that she was just scared of what that meant. One of them, neither remembered who, had made a carefully non-committal offering. They'd both be on shift again the next day, with the following day off. So both had gone home alone that night, with the plan to go back to Trinity's place after work the next night, and spend the night and the morning together. A new frontier for the pair, that definitely abutted the border between situationship and relationship.
So it was, on this cool morning at the begging of October, that Yolanda Garcia, hair carefully wrapped, woke up slowly, two hours later than her usual, pleasantly sore, altogether nude, her skin decorated with at least a dozen deliberate bruises and contusions of various sizes. She let herself for a moment, consider that waking up like this, a beautiful woman having promised to make her breakfast, seemed like something that would be incredibly easy to become accustomed to. Although, what was said beautiful woman doing on a step-stool in her closet?
"What are you up to, up there Trouble?"
The resident made a series of noises in quick succession. A noise of triumph, as her hand seemed to grip a bag of something from the top shelf of the closet. A noise of surprise, as her head whipped around to see Yolanda sitting up in bed, still bare, watching her carefully. A noise of uneasy distress as the rapid movement unbalanced her position atop the stool. A loud thump as she landed, generous rear end first on the bedroom floor, thankfully cushioned with decorative pillows that had been eagerly tossed from the bed during last night's activity. Finally, a pained groan as the signals from her nociceptors transmitted through her nervous system informing her of the impact to the tissue that had definitely already been bruised last night.
All together it sounded something like 'ahA-Wha-ooOoh-THUD-owww'.
"Shit, are you okay, Trin?" She flung herself out of the bed, and towards the younger woman’s crumpled frame.
The resident sat up on her haunches. "I mean, it hurts. Especially because you were so insistent on leaving your mark last night, I didn't know you had that kind of spanking in you, thought your surgeon hands were too delicate to get that rough."
Yolanda smirked, pleased with herself, "Well, exclusivity makes a girl a little bit possessive, makes her want to leave a mark. Besides, like you have any room to talk, little miss teeth. I'm still shocked you didn't draw blood,”
A sharks satisfied smile grinned back at her under those captivating green eyes, "I've been wanting to do that since we met, Yolanda. Just to hear what sounds I'd get when I bit down like that."
"You know, when other girls say they want to know how I taste, they usually mean,-"
Trinity cut her off, her voice a pleasant threat, "That's why I'm very glad there aren't any other girls anymore."
"There hadn't been other girls at any point, Trin." It was true, before Trinity, Yolanda had kept a few irons in the fire, a roster of hookups. The second that scalpel hit her foot, though, she might as well have deleted all those contacts. She almost felt bad for ghosting them. Almost.
"I know. It’s just, I like knowing there aren't," the younger woman looked almost sheepish, quiet, replying with the voice that meant the truth was slipping out without being couched in sarcasm and cynicism.
Knowing vulnerability was still tender for her, and very aware of the gnawing in her stomach, she redirected, a gentle hand on Trinity's shoulder. "Me too. So what's in the bag, and what's the story with breakfast?"
Yolanda was learning to catalogue the various grins that graced her whatever-they-are's face. The grin that met her was mischief made manifest, "I hid them up there so he wouldn't steal them!"
"Fucking Avocados? You're ridiculous." She shook her head, unable to stop herself from grinning back.
"And you're crazy for me anyway," delivered with an infuriatingly pleased smirk.
"Yeah, unfortunately. Now, if you don't feed me soon, I'm gonna," she caught herself, having almost said something that could have implied something neither of them was ready for yet. "You know, leave, and get my own breakfast or something."
The younger girl leapt to her own feet, and planted a kiss on her cheek as she careened off to the kitchen. "Of course, madame, the Santos Signature avocado toast coming right up!"
-
Yolanda found herself sitting at Trinity's surprisingly nice kitchen table sharing a meal with the two roommates. This had happened before, always dinner, usually takeout that she'd picked up on her way over, a peace offering to Dennis before inevitably disturbing his sleep, and providing Trinity some much needed food energy before an athletic evening. Something homemade, not takeout was a rarity. She knew Trinity cooked for herself and the farm boy regularly, but she only fed Yolanda on special occasions, like the time she got a good deal on a bunch of pork belly. Breakfast though, this was new. On the occasions that she did spend the night, she'd either just cram down a protein bar on her way out the door, or if they were heading into work together, just grab some awful drive through convenience on the way in. Avocado toast, on bread from an actual bakery, egg fried just the way she liked it? Another thing that seemed almost dangerously comfortable.
"You were really hiding avocados Trin? You could have just told me you were gonna make special toast on our off day." Farm boy was talking with his mouth full, demolishing his avocado toast with speed.
"You're not trustworthy with them and you know it Huckleberry." Trinity's tone sounded frustrated, but concealed a warmth of real affection for the boy.
"No no, that's fair," as he crammed another bite of toast into his mouth, she couldn't help but smile at the two roommates.
"Hey, Yola, what are you grinning about?" Green eyes met hers, curious, searching.
"What? A girl can't enjoy breakfast?"
"Yeah, wait. Exactly, since when does Garcia stay for breakfast?" Dennis was watching Trinity, his eyes searching and accusatory.
"Since we started..." Trinity trailed off, they had both neglected to use any specific words yet.
"Started what? You two started something?"
Before the younger woman could be forced to answer, she leapt to some approximation of a defense. "Eat your breakfast farm boy, we just had a productive conversation is all."
His eyebrows shot up. "You two, talked? Not just engaged in your ongoing competition to make the most disruptive to sleep noises you can think of?"
"Calm down, if you're good I'll buy you noise cancelling headphones for Trinity's birthday." She couldn't help but smile at the thought.
Trinity looked at her confused. "Wait, why are you getting him something for my birthday?"
She leaned over, her lips brushing the shell of Trinity's ear "because I already know what you're getting, and he's gonna need them."
She savored the flush creeping up the younger woman's chest all the way to her ears.
"Can I please eat breakfast without you two doing whatever that is at each other?" his voice was a whine.
Oh, this was too much fun, she adopted a saccharine tone, laying it on thick, "what do you think, baby, should we play nice for your farm boy?"
His eyebrows shot up to an almost medically concerning height. "She's calling you 'baby' now, Trin?"
The resident matched her tone, relishing in Dennis's suffering. "Oh, I suppose we can take pity on fuckleberry, darling."
"'Darling'? Really?" Dennis crammed the remainder of his avocado toast down. "well I'm going to get dressed and go be literally anywhere else for a few hours. I cannot handle a repeat performance of last night."
The two women laughed as he marched to his room, dressed in a hurry, and practically scampered out into the rainy morning.
After he had left, she let out a comfortable sigh. "This was nice, breakfast I mean."
Trinity beamed, clearly pleased. "Yeah? I'm glad. I made extra stops yesterday for the stuff. "
"You didn't have to do that, Trin."
"I like fixing food, and I don't know, I feel like, I'm allowed to cook for you now. Even though avocado toast is barely cooking." That same gentle voice of soft vulnerability.
The admission hit Yolanda beneath the ribs, "Yeah?"
"I mean it's just pan toast, a fried egg, and seasoning some avocado, it's not like its hard."
Her voice was soft, patient, "No, I meant, you're allowed to cook for me now."
"Obviously, because we're,..." she trailed off.
"Obviously." She smiled, thinking a dozen variants of how that sentence could end, enjoying them all quietly.
Trinity's voice was still gentle, "Do you have anywhere you have to be today?"
She thought about it, there were definitely things she could productively go home and get done today. Any other day off she'd already have taken a run. She knew Trinity probably would have gone for a run as well. A dizzy thought in her head wondered about going for a run together some time, making a habit of morning runs together. She dismissed that thought, down girl, getting ahead of yourself. All the same, all the errands, chores, that she might have been doing, the book she'd been meaning to read, none of it sounded as interesting as lounging on Trinity's awful couch and watching the trash TV that, for the record, and she would swear to this under oath, Yolanda could not stand.
"Not really, you?"
"I was kinda planning to lay on the couch, watch some shitty TV, but we can do something else, or you can go, if you want-"
Yolanda cut her off, leaving was the last thing on her mind. She tried to return some of the younger's signature snark, "Sounds great, what are we watching? Big Idol? American Island? Love Brother?"
She was obviously fighting a grin, which Yolanda took pride in, "I know you know none of those are real shows."
"Naked and Blind? Love and Afraid?"
Her eyes rolled theatrically. "Baby please."
The word crawled luxuriously down her spine, releasing tensions she didn't know existed. "You can put on whatever, as long as you keep calling me baby."
Trinity blinked, "you like that?"
"It's nice. Because we're, you know..." she hoped that the younger might finish the sentence that was making her nervous.
"Right, we are. Exactly."
Trinity turned on some insipid show where some bland parade of complex relationship drama played out in front of her. She figured it would probably be easier to follow if she could tell any of these men apart, but their faces, names all ran together. She was more interested in watching Trinity's face anyway. She was so animated, so invested. Watching the way her face moved as Brad or Dave or Steven carried out their foolish schemes.
"Can you believe him?" Yolanda had no idea who he was, or what he'd done that was so unforgivable.
She attempted a knowing tone, "Not at all, it's despicable behavior."
The scowl she received suggested her attempt was less than successful, "Are you paying any attention?"
"I'm having trouble following, but I don't mind."
Trinity sounded like she was giving in, "We can watch something else, it's okay, Yola."
She smiled gently, "Babe, I'm having a nice time. It's cute."
"What's cute?" there was a slight edge of defensiveness in her voice.
"You are. You're so invested. I'm learning from you."
"From me?"
She took Trinity's hand and pressed a kiss to her knuckles, "I don't watch shows like this, but I'm starting to see the appeal."
"You're sure."
"I'm enjoying myself. Although..."
Trinity snapped to attention, concern for the fragile moment evident, "What? What's wrong?"
"Do you have popcorn? I could go for some popcorn."
-
They were both lounging on the terrible couch, they definitely weren't 'cuddling.' Cuddling was something that couples did, or people who were dating, friends could cuddle. Yolanda and Trinity were not any of those things, because being any of those things would involve actually saying the word, and they'd both been carefully tiptoeing around it like an ascending aortic aneurysm. They were just lounging partially on the couch and mostly on each other.
Trinity's cellphone vibrated somewhere under Yolanda's hip.
"Trin, do you want me to get that?"
Trinity sighed, reluctance evident."Yeah I guess."
Yolanda rocked her hip up, "Can you reach?"
Trinity reached her hand across, hesitated a moment, and squeezed her ass before grabbing the phone.
“Hey, fresh!” She couldn't help but giggle at the unexpected gesture.
“It’s more fun now that we’re…”
“Is it now? I wonder what else is more fun...”
The R2 finally answered her phone, interrupting her train of thought. “Sup Huckleberry, you’re on speaker.”
“She’s still there? It’s like 2pm, she’s never still there that long.”
“You got a problem, farm boy?”
His voice was wary. “It’s just weird, you’re what, sitting on the couch, watching your shows together? Since when are you two like that?”
Two voices responded in almost perfect sync, before either of them could catch themselves.
“Shut up, farm boy, we’re dating.”
“Shut up, Huckleberry, we’re dating.”
A long beat of silence before three voices merged, yet again synchronized.
“Dating?” Green eyes found hers, Trinity's voice a reverent whisper.
“Dating?” She lost herself in sparkling sea-foam, her own voice cracking at the word they'd managed to say together.
“Dating?” The phone speaker cracked as Dennis's incredulous voice broke levels on the microphone.
“Is that okay?” She had to ask, to hear Trinity answer in the affirmative, she needed to know she hadn't overstepped, scared the girl away.
“Yeah. That’s okay.” The words were simple, the delivery was anything but, they'd put a name on the thing, given it somewhere to grow and thrive.
“Oh. Yeah if you two are finally officially dating, I’m staying at Robby’s tonight.”
He hung up.
The pair stopped lounging on the couch, and started cuddling instead. The operation of switching from one to the other was carried out with such delicate care that it didn’t involve movement at all.
She smiled, feeling Trinity’s chest pressing into her back, and allowing herself to enjoy the warmth and contact.
“Dating.”