One Minute to Midnight

[socksonfeets]

ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT

01➝ Comment with your character name/canon in the header.
02➝ Tag someone before the clock runs out on New Year's Eve: you have one minute to be braver than you have all year!
03➝ Get the kiss you've been looking forward to or crash and burn alone.

Posted early for your convenience! :)

Comments

[aviophobia]

Didn't think I'd make it back in time. This place is a damned zoo.

[He holds out a glass of champagne to Rachel.]

How much time do I have? Less than a minute, isn't it?

[gotbottle]

Thank you for going, I appreciate it.

[She takes the glass with a smile, and glances up at the giant clock.]

And yeah, now, like... forty-seven seconds or so.

[aviophobia]

Good. Wouldn't want to have gone champagne-less. Be a travesty.

[Forty-seven seconds. He can do this. It'll be quick - just down and then back up. Chaste. Easy.]

[gotbottle]

Yeah, you can't screw up a tradition. Like, they say what you're doing when the new year starts is what you'll do all year? So screwing up is probably a bad idea.

[Speaking of traditions... should she kiss him? She wants to, but she doesn't want to be pushy or creepy or something. But then is it insulting if someone's standing right there when it's midnight and you don't kiss him?

Twenty-seven seconds to decide, she guesses.]

[aviophobia]

Yeah, I've had too many years I started off screwing up. I'd like to not make that a tradition, if I can.

[Fifteen seconds.

Down and up. Easy.]

[gotbottle]

Me either.

[She should. Yeah, she should kiss him, better to have to apologize for going too far than to risk hurting his feelings by not trying. She'll do it.

The crowd starts shouting along with the countdown. Five, four, and she looks up at him, touching his elbow to make sure he turns toward her, already calculating how far up on her toes she's going to have to go to reach him.]

[aviophobia]

[Three, two ... one.

He turns towards her at the touch to his elbow, and he takes in a breath, leans down, and brushes his lips over hers. Chaste, quick, easy - and back up.]

[gotbottle]

[She meets him halfway, just as brief and chaste.

...Wait, wait. She met him halfway. Which means... he met her halfway, what the hell just happened?]

Um. Happy New Year.

[champagne gulp goes here.]

[aviophobia]

[Drinking champagne, yes, good idea.]

Yeah. Happy New Year.

[Did he just kiss her or did she kiss him?]

[gotbottle]

[She's not sure what just happened, either.

...Only that it was great. And she'd do it again. Or let him do it again, or let it happen again, whatever the hell happened.

Down goes the rest of the champagne.]

Do you want another drink? I'll go, you got the last round.

[aviophobia]

Yeah. Another drink sounds great. I'll, uh, hold down the fort here.

[gotbottle]

Okay! Be right back.

[And she kinda flees. Because what was that even.

The place being such a madhouse actually works in her favor; it takes a bit to get another round of drinks and find Leonard again, and by the time she does, she's pulled herself back together. She nudges him with her elbow when she finds him, handing over a bourbon.]

Here.

[aviophobia]

Thanks.

[He takes the bourbon, trying not to look too relieved, and takes a healthy swig of it.]

Not bad. What'd you get?

[gotbottle]

Whiskey sour.

[A double, from the looks of it. She sips from it, looking up at him.

...Oh, god, think of something to say, quick.]

...Do you have any new year's resolutions?

[aviophobia]

I think I'm just gonna try and make it through alive. Anything else is gravy.

You?

[gotbottle]

...I thought I might try giving fearlessness a shot.

[aviophobia]

Not a bad one to go for. Any particularly fearless goals you have in mind?

[gotbottle]

...well, for starters.

[And up she leans again, brushing another kiss over his lips oh god but look, she did say she was going to try this whole fearless thing out, how's that.]

[aviophobia]

[...that's awesome, is what that is. This time, he doesn't pull back straight away, but puts a hand gently on her waist. His touch is light, hesitant - if you don't want this, that's okay - but it's clear he very much does want it.]

[gotbottle]

[She pauses at that, because--this is probably really sad, but she wasn't expecting that, wasn't expecting him not to just press on, but to make sure this was what she wanted. Never mind that she'd started it, he still wanted to make sure.

Her hand moves to cover his, to press it more firmly against her waist, to tell him that yes, it's okay. And to underscore that to show him that yes, she wants this, she's sure, she reaches up and wraps her arms loosely around his neck, renewing the kiss softly. It's fine, it's just fine, this is what she wants.]

[aviophobia]

[Okay, good. He presses his hand closer to the curve of her waist, tilting his head slightly, a deepening of the kiss. His hand practically spans the whole of the small of her back, and it makes it easier to pull her closer.]

[gotbottle]

[Oh, that's nice, that's-- oh my god is that really his entire hand, the feel of it splayed across her back and pulling her closer making her breath catch for a moment. She hums softly against his mouth, turning her head the opposite direction, drawing him in even deeper.]

[aviophobia]

[He isn't sure if that little intake of breath is a good sign or a bad sign, but she's not pulling away and slapping him, so he decides to take it as a positive. His lips part slightly and he catches her lower lip between his, teasing it, to see if she's game for that.]

[gotbottle]

[Oh, she's game, if the tiny little squirm against him, accompanied by another little intake of breath, is any indication. And if he can tease, so can she; the tip of her tongue darts out, lightly following the curve of his upper lip.]

[aviophobia]

[He actually moans a little at that - he doesn't mean to, but it's a surprisingly erotic sensation. Moments later, his own tongue sneaks out to play with hers, meeting it halfway, tips brushing together.]