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Clarke hurriedly walked towards the café Raven had designated for their meet-up that afternoon. College has been kicking her ass this semester especially since she declared a double major --- both in pre-med and art and she was looking forward to meeting up with a friend before heading home for Christmas break. The place was packed with college students much like herself, hunched over hot cups of coffee, a carefree tinge obvious in their faces, finally being done with exams.
She jiggled, stomping her boots before crossing the threshold to the homey looking shop and vigorously unwrapped her scarf trying to shake the thick snow that accumulated in all her nooks and crannies. She scanned the small tight space filled to the rim for the signature ponytail, probable red jacket and exuberant smile of her friend but instead of finding Raven, her eyes caught something else and her heart stumbled in its beat.
Even though the girl was sitting at the farthest corner of the café, it was impossible to miss her. She just glowed and she hates being such a cliché, but it seemed like time slowed down and the woman moved in slow motion. She seemed like a vision, her long brown wavy locks bouncing with each small movement her hands made and when she bit her lip, a weirdly adorable action the brunette probably did unconsciously, Clarke almost joined the snow melting on the floor. This woman owned the most gorgeous lips she has ever laid eyes on and Clarke wasn’t able to stop herself from imagining how kissing this otherworldly stranger would be like, how soft those lips would feel against her own----
“Griff!!!”
Her wandering mind was rudely interrupted by the loud call of her friend coming from the bar with two cups of something steaming.
She hoped Raven didn’t notice her staring but that hope was soon crushed when she used an elbow to jokingly nudge her chin to close her gaping mouth closed.
“You need to stop drooling over that hot girl over there.” Raven joked motioning her head at the direction of the girl that literally made her breath hitch.
“What drooling??! What hot girl?” Clarke chanced ignorance to get away from being teased mercilessly by Raven but the smaller woman just smirked.
“You know, I only have a bum leg right? But my eyes are pretty clear, and not like I need to point this out more than I already do, but I’m a certified genius, got the test scores to prove it, and I don’t even need to have those creds to tell you have the hots for Ms. Hottie over there.” The now laughing soon to be engineer pointed out while nudging her in the direction of a small table with pieces of electronic junk aka Raven’s inventions holding their place.
~0~0~0~
She tried, honestly, Clarke tried her damn best to listen to Raven’s newest misadventures with spare parts and explosives but she just couldn’t tear her eyes away from the brunette across the room.
She tried being discreet, she wasn’t a creep but she was just drawn to her. She wouldn’t call it love at first sight, but she imagined it was damn near close to that.
“---- and everything went boom!!!” Raven enthusiastically ended her story but when she didn’t get the reaction she was waiting for --- Clarke berating her for her reckless affinity with dangerous compound explosives, she just gave up.
“Clarkeeee!!!”
“What?” Clarke turned her head guiltily towards her whining friend. “Sorry, sorry, I’m listening.”
“Just go on ask her out and get it over with!!!” Raven forcefully suggested pointing her thumb finger in the direction of the brunette who wouldn’t let go of her attention.
In the last 10 minutes, she already noticed a few key items about her. One, she was about their age, possibly a college student who goes to the same University they do, seeing a few library books with their school insignia in their table. Two, she was happily chatting away with the pretty girl in glasses across from her --- nope, scratch that --- she was enthusiastically signing with the girl sitting across from her with ease and it looked like a date. And third, the signing probably meant the pair were deaf, if the use of ASL was anything to go by.
“I can’t do that…” Clarke said dejectedly, slumping a bit down her chair.
“What??? Why not!!! Are you seeing someone?”
“No! You know I haven’t dated since that Finn cheating debacle!”
“Yeah, and that’s almost a year ago.” Raven stated, rolling her eyes.” I’ve been with and broken up with 3 and a half guys since then!”
“Three and a half???! How does the half happen?!”
“Don’t ask. And you’re veering off topic. The point here is, since we sat here, this is the first time you paid attention to me, and the sole reason this is happening is because we’re talking about the object of your affection.”
Clarke started opening her mouth to protest but she stopped seeing that knowing look on Raven’s face.
“What I see here my friend is an opportunity! Life is more than just surviving dude, you always say that, and here is your chance to seize the day! Ask her out!”
Clarke just shook her head no. She was waayyy out of her league.
Raven sighed before slightly raising her voice, sounding odd, like a pep talk is coming. “Are you not Clarke Griffin???
“Yes, I am?” Clarke agreed, curious where this was going.
“The Clarke Griffin I know is brave…” Raven stated with faux conviction.
“Uhuh.” the blonde hesitantly agreed again.
“The Clarke Griffin I know will take a chance!” Her friend continued starting to rise from her chair like a coach rallying her players for the championship.
Heads started turning towards the source of the commotion and Clarke tried to pull her friend back down but the black haired girl stood fast.
“And the Clarke Griffin I know is the smoothest motherfucking talker in all of the land!”
“Shssss!!!! Fine, ok, yes, just come sit on the chair! You’re causing a scene!” Clarke agreed just to get her down from her impromptu stage.
Her friend sat back down after bowing before her unwilling crowd to a bit of friendly hoots and laughter.
“You know, being the ‘smoothest motherfucking talker’,” Clarke used air quotes at the words Raven used to describe her, “would have been helpful, first, if she wasn’t deaf --- see them using ASL? And second, if she isn’t on a date right now!” she continued dejectedly.
Raven turned towards the two in the corner for a second before rolling her eyes at Clarke. “Dude, I know people, and I am sure, 100 percent that THAT is not a date.
Clarke frowned, unbelieving.
“It’s in the body language… I can spot it from here. DUH!” Raven shook her head, as if she couldn’t believe how dense she was being. They’re clearly just friends, there’s no tension for a first date and no unnecessary touching or heart eyes for a second or third date and they’re clearly familiar with each other. They’re just two people talking --- well, signing and catching up, just like us!
“Ok, fine.” Clarke relented, she saw her point. “But what about that other hindrance huh? How do I smooth talk my way into getting her number, Ms. I Know Everything! I can’t exactly use my handy pick-up lines here!
“Oh dear lord please not those horrendous pick-up lines!!!! Thank god you can’t use them! They should be banned from being uttered ever again!” Raven fake choked at the mention of her infamous pick-up lines.
“What? They’re great! They always worked!” The future Doctor defended. “They always got me laid!”
“Clarke, I’m your friend, so let me tell you this one time. Your pick-up lines suck. And the thing that got you laid is not those awful stuff that I don’t even know where you lift, it is the fact that you’re a pretty blonde bombshell, with an excellent rack, a million dollar smile and a brain half as excellent as mine!”
“I don’t know if that’s a compliment.” Clarke replied now smiling, “but I will take it as one.” She really does have an excellent rack.
Raven rolled her eyes. “Of course it’s a compliment!”
“But how am I going to ask her out???!”
“Dude, I mean you’re a future Doctor slash Artist! I’m not really sure if I would entrust my physical well-being with you or buy your paintings if you’re being this dumb! --- Have you heard of this amazing new invention called the internet??? Raven smiled, wiggled her eyebrows at her while pulling out her phone and opening up google.
~0~0~0~
Raven literally shoved her towards the most enchanting woman she has ever seen once she got on her feet. Armed with a hastily memorized set of signs lifted off the internet, (not the most trusted source of information) but she really needed to talk to her, to come closer as if she’s a moth, drawn to the brightness of the flame that is her. There’s this itch to see what color those eyes are so she could immortalize them in a painting. She already knew that this stranger would be the subject of so many of her future works and her fingers moved involuntarily as if they’re starting the process even without her trusty charcoal and sketchbook on hand.
She stood there like an idiot when she reached table not knowing where to start, how to call her attention without using her words but the two girls stopped their conversation and looked up at her curiously.
Clarke swallowed an imaginary lump in her throat, a habit she did when she was nervous before she spoke when she realized it was a useless effort, remembering she would be using her hands today instead.
With her hands shaking, she tucked her thumb into her open palm and performed a hasty salute - the ASL for hello, just like the video taught her and she saw her two audience look on, waiting for what she would do next.
Getting a bit more courage, she placed the same hand in the middle of her chest before joining both of her fore and middle fingers and crossing them in the middle for "I am" and signing her name slowly… C – L – A – R – K – E – stumbling a lot in her movements, her fingers tangling and twisting in a way she hoped was the correct way.
Oh dear god, she sighed heavily after getting the last letter out. The tremor that started in her hands now extended to her whole body. She was now shaking a bit, speaking in another language was not easy, and the fact that she is doing this with so little practice and in front of her crush was nerve wracking. Clarke was about to stumble through the rehearsed, would you go out on a date with me question, admittedly not her finest pick-up line but she had to make do – it was already hard to memorize everything as it is when the girl opposite the brunette with glasses spoke.
“Hi Clarke, I’m Maddy, and this is Lexa.” She pointed across the table to the girl of her dreams.
“Hello.” Lexa greeted with a small smile adorning her lips.
It was probably a few significant moments before Lexa cleared her throat to catch her attention. She was shocked and most likely blanked out and she hated herself for being so uncool when she blurted out, “you can talk and hear me???”
The two girls laughed not unkindly but it was Lexa who answered. “Well, yes.”
“But you were using ASL anddd…,” Clarke tried to explain, her cheeks reddening quickly at the wrong assumption. “I’m so sorry! I didn’t realize ---“
“Hey, don’t apologize, I thought it was sweet that you tried to learn the language to talk to us.” Lexa smiled and her green eyes shined. She continued to explain. “Maddy and I are classmates in this ASL course and we sometimes come here to practice. You know, so we get fluent with it.”
Clarke nodded before her mouth gaped, literally. They were green, She just realized what color those eyes were and they were the most beautiful shade of green she’s ever had the pleasure of seeing.
“We’ll, that’s my cue to go buy that donut I’ve been eyeing.” Maddy got up to walk towards the pastry display, seeing that her friend and this Clarke were throwing heart eyes at each other.”
Lexa threw her friend a sly look before nodding in agreement. “Fine.”
Clarke felt the pleasure build back up when she realized that they were being left alone with purpose and she started stuttering. I… ahhmm, sorry, --- Lex ---aaaa can I ahmmn, can I…. Sorry. I’m not usually this much of an idiot” the blonde apologized, “but I came over and practiced this entire thing in ASL to ask you something and now that I don’t have that, I don’t even know what to say anymore.
Lexa laughed, the soft and gentle sound like music to her ears. “Ok. I get that, so how about this. You say what you need to say in ASL and see what happens. Is that good?”
Clarke couldn’t understand why the ‘smoothest motherfucking talker’ Clarke isn’t surfacing right now. This is her chance! An array of her trusty pick-up lines are now readily available to her but she just couldn’t utter a word. Maybe it’s because she knew this isn’t a usual pick-up. That Lexa isn’t a random stranger she wanted to sleep with. She knew in her heart that she is going to be someone very important in her life and her nerves tripled with that recognition.
She nodded in agreement trying to remember what she learned and started her movements with an open hand in her own chest before joining all her fingers together with the exception of her index fingers which were pointing upwards towards the ceiling to meet in front of her before pointing to Lexa and holding her breath after the last action. Roughly translated, she hoped it was able to convey the question ME – DATE – YOU?
She was so damn nervous that she almost missed it when a grinning Lexa closed her fist tightly and moved it up and down, similar to a knocking motion.
She frowned and silently cursed herself when she realized she never learned what a yes or no sign would look like! She frantically searched for Raven who didn’t even hide the fact that she was watching the entire thing and the genius was already typing away at her phone for the required translation but it was taking too long and Clarke fidgeted where she stood.
Finally, it was Maddy who took pity and shouted from the cashier with a glazed donut in hand. “THAT’S A YES.”
And Clarke nodded in thanks before looking back and searching Lexa’s eyes for the confirmation --- they sparkled, and if that was not enough, the accompanying nod tied the deal. It was a yes indeed and Christmas couldn’t be merrier if she tried.