Guardian
a Worm/Destiny Crossover
Chapter 25: Rated D for 'Date'
It was happening.
Tonight was the night. She, Taylor Hebert, was going on a date.
She wasn't panicking. Not one bit.
…
Oh, God.
In half an hour, she would be going on her first date. Ever. And she was going ice skating. She'd never been ice skating before. Hadn't wanted to, really, not until the words " we're going ice skating " spilled from Lisa's well formed lips. Now she found herself wanting to very much indeed, despite having no skill and no idea what she was supposed to wear. Also, she had no idea why that mattered so much. Lisa had seen her in costume, in plainclothes, covered in blood and in mud, sweaty and gross and everything in between. If that hadn't soured her opinion of Taylor, wearing the wrong pants certainly wouldn't. Logic dictated this, and was promptly ignored. Or perhaps overruled would fit better given how the cool, calm reassurance offered by reason seemed awfully tiny in the face of her rising panic, eagerness, fear, and the idea that maybe if she fell over just right while skating, Lisa would land on her and then – stop that, Taylor .
When, exactly, did she become such a pervert? This hadn't been a problem before. In fact, until after she became a Guardian, she couldn't really say when she last had a sexual thought. Which seemed odd for a fifteen year old girl. This train of thought also seemed odd, yet in keeping with the new theme of her being a pervert, but that was no excuse to continue it. So she stopped and returned to her closet. Most of the contents of which were actually on her bed.
She kind of wanted to tear her hair out, actually. Her clothes, none of which she'd had problems with as recently as yesterday, were now almost entirely unacceptable. She didn't know what to do, and it wasn't like she could call Sabah because...well...even Taylor could see that being more awkward and painful than helpful. Even though she could clearly hear Sabah's voice in her head telling her not to be stupid, she refrained from reaching for her phone.
So she fretted. Chewed her lip and paced and threw shirts around and generally acted like she was having some sort of episode. Eventually, the ticking clock and desperation drove her to a decision. She dressed, and had just stepped out of her room when the doorbell rang.
Fuck .
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"Shut up."
"I'm not saying anything."
"Shut up."
"I'm not saying anything...buuut if I was, it would be something like, 'This was your idea, Lisa, how could you be this bad at ice skating?'"
"....sposdtbermantic..."
"What?"
"I said...it's supposed to be romantic! I am trying to romance you. And I'm doing it with a giant wet spot on my favorite jeans."
"Oh. Um..."
"That was a lot dirtier than it was supposed to be."
"Uh huh."
"Well, it is now. So...how about we uh, skate on past this piece of awkward and laugh about how I can't seem to stay upright?"
"S-so you're saying you're eager to be on your back?"
…
…
"Wow."
"...sorry."
"Where did that even come from?"
"I don't know. Hey, did you see that kid just wipe out?"
"Don't change the subject, Taylor."
"I'm not! He just slid across the whole rink and took out that ice dancing class. It was kind of awesome."
"You can't get away from this. We are going to talk about how you, apparently, have a dirty mind. I did not know this about you, but I should have guessed. It's always the quiet ones."
"I do not have a dirty mind!"
And so it went.
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Then, came to an end.
Taylor ached for it not to. After nearly dying of embarrassment in the beginning, she spent the rest of their time on the ice slowly going to goo from just how perfect it all was. The chunk-chunk-chunk of Lisa's skates digging in as she continually failed to gain any skill or balance. How that led to her holding Lisa up, wrapping an arm around her waist that stayed far too long yet neither commented on. How, after letting go, Taylor found her hand being taken, gloved fingers twining with hers. Lisa's hand, warm and solid in her own. How, at the very end, cheeks cold-air red, there was a brief moment where they were holding each other up where they were so close she could feel Lisa's breath on her face. She could feel the entirety of Lisa's body pressed against her own. Warmth seeped in. It was a fluttering eye, thundering heart, almost kiss of a moment.
And that dumb kid ruined it. The same one who kept slide tackling the ice dancers decided that two girls made a better target than a whole bunch of adults and plowed into them. There was a brief, all too candid moment where Taylor honestly considered beating the shit out a kid four years younger than her. He must have seen his impending bruising in her eyes, because he all but crawled in his haste to escape. She turned her attention back to Lisa, searching for that close, intimate moment. But it was gone.
It all came to an end not too long after that when Lisa announced she was hungry. Or rather, her stomach did – with a long, rumbling, rather hilarious growl. So they made their way back to the benches, where they would exchange skates for shoes and head out to feed the beast. Or beasts, as Taylor was starting to feel the pangs of hunger herself. Anyway. It was as they were leaving that Lisa, balance restored and with entirely too much hesitation in her voice, asked, "So...did I do good?"
Taylor's free hand, for she was still holding onto her partner, trembled as she mustered her courage for what she was about to do. She swallowed, hoped her breath didn't stink, and just...did it. She swooped in, aiming to kiss Lisa on the cheek and say something like, 'That answer your question?'. That didn't happen. What did happen was this: probably concerned by her lack of a response, Lisa turned to see what was wrong the very instant Taylor's lips would have pressed against her cheek. They instead brushed over her nose until some magnetic force drew them down to her lips.
Thus did Taylor's first kiss occur; entirely by accident and lasting less than two seconds. If she possessed the ability, she would implode from embarrassment were the entirety of her mind not fixated on I kissed Lisa I kissed Lisa holy fucking jumping shitballs I kissed Lisa.
Lisa's eyes were wide, surprise writ large on every feature. She licked her lips, and said, "Uh...okay. I guess – I guess that means...yes?"
Taylor didn't know whether to apologize or try again for a better result. For the first time since becoming a Guardian, indecision paralyzed her.
"Okay, um, I'm going to assume from how you look like a poleaxed deer you didn't mean to do that?"
She shook her head. Lisa's expression, for just a moment, showed something that looked a lot like sadness. Words came to her in a flood. "It's not that I didn't want to do that, I just – I didn't want to rush things but I'm not sorry I did it and oh God this whole thing just happened in the parking lot."
As one, they turned to the entrance. That kid waved.
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There was no real way to recover from that. So they didn't. Lisa drove her home in what had to be the most painfully awkward silence of her life. Several times she tried to say something – apologize or explain or something, anything to make the quiet go away. She couldn't. Even the most socially adept would have struggled in this situation, and she knew her own ability to be far less. She spent the ride berating herself, riding a whirlpool of I'm an idiot and what was I thinking down into the deep, dark depths of a proper sulk.
They stopped in front of her house. She couldn't say a word. Lisa wouldn't. The only sounds were the gentle rumble of the engine and of their breathing. Both of them were taking slow, measured breaths. For her it was an effort to keep from bursting into tears and another flood of words. She wouldn't begin to guess why Lisa was doing it. Finally, she couldn't take it anymore. She couldn't last another second in the car's stiflingly tense air. The snap and hiss of her seat-belt unbuckling was dully loud and she glanced at Lisa just in time to see her look away in turn.
That tore it. She was leaving. Her fingers fumbled their way into gripping the door handle and she mumbled "Guess I'll see you later." through lips that wanted to tremble and pushed open the door. She was almost out when she was stopped by slender fingers wrapping around her wrist. Hope soared in her. She turned.
Lisa's green eyes seemed vast and glittering and deep. She was so close. Close enough to kiss, but that had –
"I'm sorry." Lisa whispered against her mouth. She kissed Taylor again, deeper, sweeter. When she pulled away, her eyes glistened. "I...I need to tell you something, and I have to figure out how to say it. Can I call you tonight?"
Taylor's capacity for speech was long gone. She nodded. Lisa nodded back, let go of her wrist. The door closed, and Lisa drove away. Taylor stood there for a long second. Her heart was pounding hard enough to hurt, her lips tingled, and she wanted to cry and laugh and tear her hair out. She headed inside, barely aware of her own motion, thinking that there had better be a damn good explanation coming.
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It was taking a considerable amount of effort to be patient. This time, she knew for certain it had nothing to do with being a Hunter. She was so full of tension and anxiety that she'd near worn a divot in the floor during dinner. Noticing that his daughter had accelerated her heel-tapping to hitherto unseen levels, her dad asked that he be brought into the loop. Well. Not so much 'asked' as 'sat Taylor down and told her that, barring murder or selling drugs to puppies, she could do nothing to make him disappointed in her, so let's hear it.' It worked, and the entire thing came tumbling out of her. Halting, then in a flood. He listened, digested, visibly prepared himself, and told her that in regards to this, his advice would undoubtedly make things worse.
She threw her hands up, made a little squeak of frustration through clenched teeth, and went to be anxious in her room. If he was going to be unhelpful, he could do it alone. It was only a few seconds before she thought she might have made a mistake. Now it was just her alone with –
Her phone rang. Once. In that time she'd dived across her bed to snatch it up and open it. Breathless, slowly riding her comforter down to the floor, she said, "Lisa?"
A short pause. "Wow. I'm really not doing a good job of this, am I?"
Not even a little bit, she didn't say.
Lisa continued. "So...yeah. Sorry."
Taylor cleared her throat. "It's – uh – it's okay. I'm...probably not being very helpful."
"What? No. Nonono. This is, like, entirely about me. And! I can prove it! Buuut I need to tell you a story first. A story about, well...me."
"I – okay. I'm...I'm listening."
"Okay. Um, imagine for a second you have this condition. It's not – it's not fatal, or contagious, but there's not treatment, no cure, and you're stuck with it for the rest of your life. And, you know, bonus; this condition makes it impossible to have a relationship with anyone. Ever. You are doomed to a life alone and it...really...sucks, but you learn to deal. Adapt. Relationships may be impossible, but if you're careful, you can maybe manage a friend. You, uh, you with me so far?"
Taylor's imagination was working against her ability to speak, filling her head with images of such a sad and lonely life. She managed an affirmative sounding noise, which seemed to be good enough, for Lisa continued.
"So, you live like this for a few years. You don't recover so much as get used to it. You make up little games to keep yourself optimistic or at least sane. Then it happens. You meet that person. The one who bulls right through the little, coping mechanism filled world you've built and reminds you that you haven't been living so much as existing. Then the impossible. They want to be with you. They want to – to love you, or at least make love to you. Imagine how scary that hope would be."
Taylor's voice was hoarse as she replied. "I don't have to."
"I know. So..." a sniffle. "yeah. When I got my powers, it was like that. I couldn't even touch somebody without knowing every shitty little detail about them. Their kinks, their fantasies, their neuroses, all of it, all at once. It got better, I got better at using it, but it never really stops. Until you. I...I don't why, but when I look at you, you're all I see. My power just shuts up."
"So why did you – ?"
"Act all cagey and run off?"
"Yeah."
"I got scared. I know I gave you all of the wrong impressions but I want this, Taylor. I want – I want you. I want to be with you." A pause. "And because you have a dirty mind and no filter to speak of, I know you want the same with me."
"I am not that obvious."
"Sweetie, you so are. When I called your dad to tell him I was taking you on a date, he just said 'finally' and hung up."
"He did not."
"He did."
"That...explains a lot, actually. I – I do have a question, though."
"Fire away."
"Do you think it'd, um, it'd be okay if I kissed you next time I saw you?"
"Only if I don't kiss you first."
Smiles couldn't produce light, or Light for that matter, but Taylor would swear hers lit up the room.
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