[se] worth the wait

After returning, Vik grabbed her hand, and Shaelyn couldn’t help but smile. It was hard to imagine how different things had been mere weeks ago, and how easily they could walk around now, her hand in his, knowing this was exactly where both of them wanted to be.

“Yeah, sure,” she answered with a nod when he mentioned dessert. Something she noticed when holding his hand was how much easier it was to get through people heading their way. While she always had to sidestep, it seemed like people stepped out of the way for him, as if afraid to be run over.

Vik asked if she felt like ice cream or a waffle, and Shaelyn hummed softly. She preferred her desserts less… cold. But she also wasn’t very hungry, so the ice cream seemed like a better option. All she had to do was take very, *very* tiny bites or she’d be sitting through a brain freeze for the next half hour.

“One scoop of strawberry,” she hummed, pointing towards the ice cream. That would be enough, or she’d end up dying.

Meanwhile, her eyes scanned the road ahead, noticing one of the stalls that sold the powders used to throw around. Looking from the pink ice cream to Vik, a small smile crept onto her lips.

He’d look… maybe not good, but definitely different once he’d be covered in pink.

Unlike Shaelyn, Vik seemed to need the dessert. It was hard to forget why, considering his throat was probably begging for something to properly cool it down. She still felt a little bad, but distracted herself by looking around.

Being pulled out of her thoughts when Vik spoke, Shaelyn looked up at him in surprise, before taking her ice cream and chuckling. When he pulled her closer by her waist, she let out a pleased sigh, resting her head against his shoulder for a moment.

“Your clothing will look like a work of art,” she argued with a smile. No matter what, it wouldn’t be as ruined as this man had done to her underwear.

Vik mentioned the powder was probably not edible, and Shaelyn hummed. It probably wouldn’t hurt to accidentally eat a bit of it, which was good considering she had every plan of tracing the colour on his skin later that night.

Looking up at Vik for a moment, there was something she wondered, but she decided against it as she took a small bite of her ice cream. It tasted well, though she knew her warmth would cause it to melt far too fast.

“Does it help? For your throat, I mean,” she asked as she looked up again. “Should probably drink some honey tea tomorrow,” she continued with a soft mutter, trying to remember whether she’d brought any.

Vik noticed her eyes linger on him for a moment, causing Shaelyn to ponder whether she’d ask her question.

First, she asked if the ice cream helped and wondered if they should get some honey tea for it. Vik seemed to agree, and Shaelyn nodded. “Otherwise I can have it brought over,” she smiled softly. It would be no problem.

That left the question she actually wanted to ask, though.

“Does it bother you?” she wondered curiously, looking over her shoulder and nodding towards two girls who she’d caught staring at them. It was one of the few things on her little list of certainties she needed to have if they wanted to take the next step.

It hadn’t been easy. Despite consciously telling herself she shouldn’t get attached to the man who had taken her into some dark place to fuck without even knowing her name, she’d folded so quickly. So easily had she given her heart to the man.

Still, the first reason she knew this couldn’t be easy was the most obvious one of all: age. Not because she cared. By now, she had a pretty good idea that they could make that work without too much trouble. Despite the difference, they seemed to easily understand one another.

However, the world would see—and draw conclusions from a short moment. Like the girls looking at them now. So, Shaelyn asked if it bothered him, never once trying to move away from his touch.

A small weight lifted off her shoulders when Vik easily decided it didn’t bother him. The corners of her mouth pulled up in a smile, and she could feel her cheeks warm up a little when he pressed a kiss into her hair.

Gods, she loved this man.

“I’m glad,” she admitted softly, taking another small bite of her melting ice cream. She felt it was important to add, “It doesn’t bother me either. People have always stared.” From getting bullied in school to walking around in her seer’s attire at times, she’d gotten used to people looking at her, assuming things they could not know.

“What do you think of PDA? Like—actual. Not just this,” she continued her next question. Clearly, he didn’t mind the simple touches, affection, holding her—which was great. She would have hated it if he made her feel like their connection was something he’d try to hide.

Still, she was curious.

At her words, Vik was quick to tell her everyone should be staring. She shook her head with a light chuckle, though the words only deepened the light blush on her face. “As long as you are gawking,” she smiled back, though it sounded just a bit softer than she had intended.

Her next question was once again met with a witty comment, and Shaelyn pursed her lips slightly. She was glad as he went on, telling her it was fine as long as it wasn’t a problem for her.

“I do,” she told him, pushing away just a little so she could look at him better. She didn’t even realise it might have sounded like an answer to the latter at first, before adding, “Want you to kiss me, I mean.”

Shaelyn was a firm believer that if anyone wanted to stop and stare, they could be given something to look at. Plus, she was highly curious what that ice cream of his would taste like on his lips.

Shaelyn had never liked hiding her feelings. She was much of an open book, only some pages hidden in the back. While she would keep things appropriate in public, she didn’t want to live life worrying that a touch would make the other uncomfortable or that a kiss would be too much, too exposed.

So, she asked. They’d spent quite a bit of time together already, but most of it had been inside his apartment, away from the world where none could see them. It had been nice, and much of it had proven to her how she’d love to spend her life with him—but life wasn’t always hidden away somewhere. She enjoyed the sun, the people, and would love for it to work like that, too.

One finger under her chin said so much more than words ever could, and she eagerly leaned in, one hand finding the side of his neck as she allowed the kiss to last for a moment, her tongue brushing his lip briefly before she pulled back.

“The pistachio is nice,” she joked with a wink, a cheeky smile on her lips.

“Want to move on?” she continued, looking in the direction of the stall she’d seen a moment ago.

With one hand against Vik’s neck and his arms around her waist, Shaelyn felt truly and completely consumed by his presence. The world around them faded as her lips moved softly against his, before teasingly letting her tongue run over his lip.

She pulled away then, knowing no good would come of letting that escalate. She drew her hand back as she stepped away from him, smiling at the soft noise of complaint.

“I know,” she grinned. “And I’ll make it up to you when we’re alone,” she promised teasingly with a wink. She took a step back, then turned towards the stall, holding her hand sideways as she walked, moving her fingers to indicate he should take it in his.

“For now, let’s grab some colour,” she smiled. The stall had several buckets of different colours, and, Gods, she just really wanted to cover him in some.

The stall was filled with different baskets brimming with colours, some brighter than others, but all of them mesmerising.

The idea was simple: people would ask for one or more colours, the stall owner would put it in a little container and sell it to them that way. Then, with a few colours in their pockets, people could move to the street and throw it at each other and strangers. People would often hug strangers or even touch them lightly to leave colouring. At the end of the day, everyone was a rainbow.

While Vik seemed distracted by the colouring, Shaelyn discreetly grabbed a bill from her purse that was more than necessary for a small bit of colouring. Handing it to the stall owner, she turned to Vik and picked up a single basket recently filled to the brim with neon pink. She weighed it in her hand before looking over at her man, who stood by some other buckets.

Well, surely this could be fun.

As she walked up to him, she asked, “Vik?” right as she threw the basket of bright pink in his direction, including the little basket which might land perfectly on his head if he didn’t move out of the way.

“Oh m—” she said, before scoffing and turning on her heels, running away like her life depended on it.

Shaelyn sprinted away, knowing she had a head start because of the way Vik froze up when she showered him in neon pink powder. Despite her high heels, she managed to get a little ways ahead before turning around.

That was her first mistake.

Watching Vik remove his glasses, revealing a clean line in his otherwise pink appearance, caused her to choke on her own spit, coughing and laughing simultaneously.

She took out her phone and accidentally captured a video instead of taking a picture, catching the moment Vik picked up the bag and turned in her direction.

Oh no, oh no!

Ending the video and somehow still managing to snap a picture, she pocketed her phone again before taking a step back. The corners of her mouth turned up in amusement as she yelled, “Have mercy!”

She knew as well as anyone, however, that she wouldn’t make it far before he’d catch her.

Knowing he was closing in on her, Shaelyn stopped running and braced for impact, letting out a squeak as she held her hands in front of her face to cover her eyes and mouth when the blue powder fell over her head.

As soon as the powder stopped, she shook her head, causing the powder to fly around, possibly hitting Vik as well when some of her loose strands of hair followed her movement. She pulled her hands away from her face and looked at him with wide eyes but a big grin on her face.

“I— You—” she started, before bringing her now blue hand towards her mouth and laughing. “Oh my god—” she chuckled, unaware that the side of her hand coloured the tip of her nose blue while she laughed.

“You’re so pink,” she continued, wrapping her arms around herself as her body shook with laughter. She wasn’t looking much better. With her crop top not covering a lot of her upper body, her shoulders, upper chest, and bare stomach were completely blue, as well as most of the shirt and a part of her red pants.

She looked like a Smurf.