Because you are my manly man

I always hated Niko for helping Geron steal my sister away. He always hated me for being a bitch, which made me a complete loss for words on how we ended up on the couch playing an intense game of tonsil hockey. It had started innocently enough, him deciding to come over to watch the video that he gave me for Christmas, as we all four exchanged presents at Geron and Kit's insistence. It was his favorite movie, and when Kit had mentioned the fact that it was the first night I had been home in three weeks and I was planning on watching it, he showed upon my doorstep with popcorn and a wheedling smile. Against all better judgment, I let him in. I made the popcorn and he started the movie, perched on the edge of the sofa, unfamiliar remote in hand as he tried to navigate my DVD player. He had finally figured out all the buttons needed when I came back, with the tang of buttery, salty perfection slightly burned the way I liked it.

He made a face when the smell of carbon wafted towards him, but I silently raised an eyebrow and he conceded it was my house and he had mostly invited himself in. I plopped down on the couch next to him, the bowl in between us. My first mistake.

It was about halfway through the movie, while we were interspersing our commentary, when we finished the popcorn. I'd been working on the show for the last month at a breakneck speed and my body finally was ready to shut down and quit working. I slid down on the couch, my head on his shoulder, and my voice became low and mumbly, my eyes closing. I passed out slowly, not noticing when he slid his arm around me to make me more comfortable in his lap. I noticed his fingers in my hair, but in a groggy, sleepy way that meant I knew it later but at the time didn't care. The movie droned on in a light undertone as a buzzing in my ears tuned it out. I fell asleep.

When I woke back up, the movie was over, the static of the tv crackling as Niko couldn't get up with my dead weight in his lap without moving me. His fingers still brushed my forehead lightly, tracing patterns unknown on the skin there. I breathed in deeply, finally stirring and the hand vanished. I rolled onto my back, my head moving onto the other leg as well as I opened my eyes slowly. I stretched like a cat, arms stretching and my back arched. My head dug into his leg and he winced slightly, but I ignored it, I was letting him have a fantastic view down my shirt in return. I smacked my lips softly as my eyes fluttered into complete wakefulness.

“Comfy?” He asked, grinning down at me.

“Surprisingly, yes.” His hand wandered into my hair again, smoothing out the black curls. We stayed like that for several minutes, and I couldn't look at him. I couldn't and I didn't know why. I stood up abruptly. “The movie's over.”

Niko slung his arm over the back of the couch and tucked a numb leg over the other, trying not to wince as pins and needles set in. He didn't seem to be moving, nor did he seem to even hear me.

“I said that the movie is over.” He looked at me and a slow grin stole its way across his face.

“I know.” He stood up, a twitch in his eye belying his easy grace. Definitely a limb asleep.

“Well?” He reached out to touch my face and he snickered.

“You have the marks from the grooves in my corduroy's all down the side of your face.” I slapped a hand to my cheek and then gaped in horror at the spectacle I must be. His hand slipped under mine, cradling my head and then, against all reason, kissed me.

My sister had described to me the first time that Geron had kissed her. It felt like the world was exploding, and everything just seemed to float away. This was nothing like that. I'd kissed boys before, never really caring exactly what was going on, more just to feel the physical passion. This kiss was somewhere in between. Not quite mindblowing, but definitely incredible. I wanted nothing more than to throw myself into that kiss and forget all consequences of falling in love with someone. I knew that Niko wasn't who I was meant to be with, I'd felt who that was when my sister connected with Geron. It wasn't him, but Niko, he took care of me when I was sick, he kept me and my sister grounded and sane and most of all, he loved me. Niko didn't have someone that he was destined to be with. Melody had taken one look at him and thrown up her hands in disgust and dismay that someone could have such an utter lack of destiny. It made sense why he was hanging out with Destiny himself. He was probably a backup Incarnation, Choice. Niko chose to love me for who I was, and I could tell even though we both kept up the needed front of hate.

Niko paused, confused as I hadn't pushed him away, but I hadn't evidenced much interest in the kissing. I was too busy thinking. I slid my hands up his chest, and I felt his breath hitch. They found a comfortable spot on his neck and curled there, my fingertips on his pulse point. His hands, kept at a respectful distance in case he had to fend off a trained martial attack, now slid underneath my shirt to rest on the bare skin right above my skirt. My skin tingled like the time that I accidentally stuck my fork in the electrical socket. I still claim that was not my fault. I suddenly found the couch hit the back of my knees and the two of us tumbled down on top of it. His elbow caught my stomach and he managed to crack his head on my shoulder so we both had to pause and recuperate.

Sadly enough, my brain started working again.

“Why are you doing this? You don't like me.” I was desperate for something to make me want to stop.

“Does that really matter?” He propped himself up on one elbow, and grinned down at me. I squirmed under him and he bit his lip as I attempted to knee him.

“Yes! It matters a lot!” There was more squirming as I tried harder. His eyes were full of laughter and something else as I futilely thrashed.

“Why?”

“Because I made a pact with my sister to only kiss those who really like me.” I kept my eyes wide and doe like, innocence oozing from every pore.

“Try again.”

“Damn it.”

“You could, of course, keep squirming because honestly, I'm finding this quite enjoyable.” I froze immediately and he dipped his head to kiss the spot where my jaw met with my neck. His weight almost crushed me, as his ropey muscles relaxed and he pinned me to the couch.

“Bastard.”

“Bitch.”

Ah, back to familiar territory.

“That highlighted, why are you doing this?”

“Because I'm enjoying the little sounds that you're making.” I wasn't making any- oh. That sound. The little mewling sound I hadn't even noticed because I was far too distracted with his lips on my neck. I truly had regressed to a hormonally ridden teenager.

“Jerk.”

“Bitch.”

“Oh, inventive. Is that really your favorite thing to call me?” He tugged his lower lip into his mouth and thought about that one for a moment.

“Yes.” He answered definitively.

“You are hopeless.” I bit down on the place where his neck joined his shoulder and he made some funny little noises of his own.

“No, I'm hopelessly in love with you.” He froze, and I gently let go of his shoulder with my teeth. Oh, that was going to leave a mark.

“What?” I asked it gently and he rolled off of me so fast that he hit the floor after falling off the couch. He cupped a hand to his ear.

“Oh dear, I hear Geron calling me. Must be going.” He stood up and with a pained expression, scuttled towards the door.

I caught him around the knees, shoulder first.

“I asked you what you said.” I sat on his legs as he tried to squirm. “But by all means, keep squirming, as I'm finding this quite enjoyable. You know you can't make me move, you tried last week when I stole the remote.”

“Bitch.”

“Yet apparently, you love me.” I grinned at him as I shifted position slightly to grind his ankle into the hardwood floor. He winced and then bucked me off.

“Clearly I've been suffering from some deviation of Stockholm Syndrome, and for your information I wasn't trying to get the remote back.” I stared up at him from the floor where I'd landed, the beginnings of a large bruise throbbing on my rear.  “I was trying to cop a feel, and was rather successful thank you very much.”

“You were what?” I was outraged, and he had turned a faint pink.

“Look, it's your fault for prancing about in those skimpy tank tops all the time.” He thrust his hands in his hair and made it go all spikey. He looked rather like a hedgehog. I tried to contain my laughter as it would have ruined the momentum of my anger. “What's a boy that's attracted to you going to do when all of a sudden you want to watch tv and then ahh- Kiara skin all in my face!”

“You could have told me that it made you feel uncomfortable.” I stood up, my cheeks burning.

“Girl flesh. Being shown to me for free. More importantly, most of the time I kind of like you. You really think I was going to turn that down?” He snorted and for a moment, I saw his point. Didn't keep me from being angry though.

“Oh, and I suppose you came over tonight because you like me as a person, not hoping that I'd be wearing more tank tops to entice you to violate me.” My voice could have been wrung out and filled a bucket full of sarcasm. He rubbed his hands over his face.

“Why else would I like you if not as a person? I mean, forgetting the fact that you are always horrible to me. For the sex I'm clearly not getting yet?”

“I take offense at the use of the word 'yet'.”

“I've always been an optimist.”

“So, it is all about the nookie then.”

“Are you retarded?” He enunciated each syllable carefully and made me feel about two inches tall.

“Hey-” I cut myself off when he began to windmill his arms ineffectually.

“Have you seen how terrible I am with women? The fact that I talk with you at all is a miracle. The fact that you interest me is a one in a billion event. You can hold a conversation without batting your eyes at me, you can snark at me with the best of anyone I know, and you really, truly care about people.”

“What?” I blinked. I was trying to figure out that last bit. He sat down on the floor in front of me, crossing his legs.

“Look. Something about you just fascinates me and I'll be damned if I know why.”

“But you think I'm a bitch.”

“Well, you are.”

“True, so how can you still like me?” We were less than a few inches away from each other again, and his eyes were burning into me.

“I don't know.” He howled in frustration and then grabbed me.

“I don't appreciate being manhandled.” I tried to say it in as icy of a tone as possible but as soon as he knocked me down, my wrists pinned to the floor, we both knew that I was lying.

“Yes you do. The last time I did it, you were nice to me for a week.” He had picked me up and thrown me over his shoulder, carrying me away from the fight. Honestly, it was nice having a fight that I could lose every once in a while. I was strong and I knew it so sometimes it was nice to be kept humble.

“I believe you were taking me out of harms way, saving me. Of course I was thankful.” I snapped, careless of his feelings like usual. He stared at me for a  long moment and I almost felt the truth being dragged out of me. The truth that I missed him while I was in Los Angelos, and I really, really liked what his tounge was doing to my neck. His hands were creeping up my sides, making me almost tremble in ticklishness. Whoa, hands! Hands in new and interesting places.

“Then why are you having trouble breathing?” He gave a breathless chuckle and I made an annoyed sound in the back of my throat. Damn it, he had me there. He whuffed a breath into my hair. “Alright, if you really don't want to do this, tell me now or else I'm going to hold you down and have my way with you.”

I attempted to say no, I really did, but the word got stuck in the back of my throat. I coughed a few times and he pulled his hands out from under my shirt,  lifting off of me with a concerned expression, giving me room to breathe while I thought. Blood returned to brain and with it, cognizant thought. I loved him, but I loved to hate him. That was not a good beginning to a relationship, especially one that would have to fight a whole bunch of obstacles before it was through.

“What do you want?” It was a loaded question for him. All my searching and thats what I came up with. “What do you want out of this?” I attempted to wave my hands to encompass us and realized that they were still pinned.

“I love you.” Whoo boy, use the big guns already huh. “And I want anything that I can with you. I don't have a destiny, I have a choice, and I choose you.”

“But I do have a destiny. Someone meant for me. Someday they will find me, what then?”

“Then I let you go, if that is what you want. Definitely we won't get married until you meet them.”

“Married?” It came out as a squeak. Niko was a confirmed bachelor, I wasn't sure where I would fit in his life.

“Eventually. Just, something to put on the back burner. Not even to be thought of because this might all go horribly wrong tomorrow.”

“What happened to your optimism?”

“It was killed by my pragmatism for saying inappropriate things.” I couldn't help myself, I laughed out loud. Abruptly, I sobered.

“Yes.”

“Yes?”

“Yes.”

“Excellent.” He slid off of me completely and I gave a little sound of despair. Granted, the floor was a little hard with him on top of me, but the other side was so pleasant! He looped one arm around my shoulders and the other around my legs, carrying me to my bedroom. “No more turning back tonight. Are you certain this is what you want?”

“Absolutely.” I smiled up at him. “Tonight is. We'll take tomorrow as it comes.”

“Eeeeexcellent.”

“You are such a boy.”

“I still love you though you disdain me so.”

“Alright, take charge my manly man.”

“Your sarcasm makes me so happy inside.”

“Weirdo.”

And then we were done with words.