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 Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 9:15 pm
A warm breeze from the east had brought Sunday a fresh, salty air, scattered clouds, and perfect weather. The birds sung their throats raw, squirrels chattered their discontent over lost food, and the farmer's market was flooded with produce so cheap you could buy a meal from the coins dropped in the street.
It had been too suddenly warm to warrant restricting jeans, so Liberty had found a white sun dress, patterned with small flowers to wear to the stalls. The visible ranch-tan certainly gave her the upper hand in the stalls.
"Ah, no, you don't want that one."
Liberty found the green basket, filled to the brim with red strawberries hastily taken from her and set further at the bag. A darker skinned man, with good teeth and an even better smile bent behind the stand and produced a slightly bigger basket.
"The strawberries in this one are much better. I promise. They're smaller, but so much sweeter."
The redhead's grin matched his as she exchanged a five for a now heavy bag.
"I was hoping I would find these. Are you here every Sunday?" Green, expectant eyes watched him for an answer.
"Mmmmhmm. Right here." A calloused, scraped finger pointed towards his feet. "No Wednesdays, though."
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Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 9:44 pm
"Hey now," The feminine tone was warm honey, teasing rather than upset as its owner stepped forward to wag a manicured finger at the stall's owner. "Secrets don't make friends, Mr. Lieson." The man's laugh was full-bellied, and he took off his hat at the sight of her.
"Fortunately, you're already my friend, aren't you, Miss Hollister?" She couldn't argue with that, but pursed her red lips at him instead.
"Show me the goods, you cheeky man."
Though she'd previously glanced over the other customer as she'd approached, most of her attention had been on Greg Lieson and his conspiratorial camaraderie, rather than on the dress clad girl. Now, though, she turned to offer a friendly smile, only to find herself blinking.
"Libby?" The pet name came out as a surprised sort of sound, before the smile returned, brighter. "Hi." What a clever hello that was. Avery forced herself not to repeatedly look at the dress, then back up at the redhead, instead firmly locking her gaze on that honest face.
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Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 9:54 pm
The customer's attention had been on Avery Hollister's honey-voice. The effortless sass, and the way she swooped into Libby's space with hardly a thought.
The redhead had a full smile to combat Avery's blink.
"Hey." Liberty was impossibly excited. It turned her cheeks a gentle pink, and made the grip on her bag tighten. The last she'd seen of Avery, she'd had a tired head resting on Liberty's shoulder. The campaigns must have been exhausting for the woman, because Liberty had not seen her during classes.
She looked healthy. Happy. Absolutely fine. Liberty didn't know she was carrying the weight that had been suddenly lifted.
"How are you? Finding the perfect vegetable?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 10:06 pm
"Good!" Ave's hand went out, squeezed Libby's forearm. Ugh, she was so cute. It was warmer than she'd expected it to be, rare that it wasn't covered by a sleeve. "Great, busy." Better, now..
Things had been a little rough after the election, but it was nothing she couldn't bounce back from. There'd been work to do.
"Trying," She laughed, hazel eyes flicking away briefly to look over the collection of stalls, "It's a little difficult when the selection's so nice." She let herself take a nosy peek toward Liberty's bag, shifting onto her tiptoes to lean in and facilitate her interest. "What've you got?"
She, of course, was carrying a basket. The wood set off the navy blue of her dress nicely, and matched the color of her shoes.
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Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 10:17 pm
"Awful, isn't it?" Bright green eyes trailed after hazel. The entire lane was shaded with temporary structures, bright colors and white cloth.
When she turned back to Avery, Liberty's throat rumbled out a laugh. Tan, freckled hands parted the handles of the bag, moving it closer to Avery.
"Cucumber, strawberries, some really nice cauliflower. I'm hoping to find some good mushrooms and sweet corn." It was hard not to stop at full, red lips on the way to hazel. How long did Avery spend in the morning to get the lines of her lipstick to follow her mouth so perfectly?
"Do you think you might know where to find some?"
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Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 10:39 pm
"You know your cauliflower," Avery murmured in amusement, one hand gripping Libby's arm again for balance as she scoped out her [farmer's market] goods. "We can check over with Dirty Girl Produce. They have great corn." She couldn't help the thread of curiosity in her tone as she decided to lead the way to where the redhead needed to be.
"How many are you cooking for?" She hoped her question seemed casual and she hoped it wasn't for two, but it could be hard to tell with fruits and veggies. Not that it was any of her business.
Farmer's Market, though? She had this place mapped out.
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Posted: Sat Apr 27, 2013 10:48 pm
"I guess I do." There was nothing quite like its buttery taste without having to worry about the calories that went with it.
There was no hint of shyness as she followed, shoes tapping lightly on the cement.
"Only for one. Trying to get my roommates together for a dinner is impossible." Though, Liberty still tried every now and then, she had mostly accepted the fact they all lived different schedules and different lives.
"I haven't seen you in a while." Maybe it hadn't seemed as long to Avery. "Are you busy this week?"
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Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2013 2:05 pm
"That's too bad," Avery was able to express, genuinely. Liberty seemed like the kind of girl who was meant to eat at a huge, wooden table filled with loud laughter and louder personalities. "I'm getting together a group of friends to have a weekly dinner, sort of a private cooking club." It was an unspoken invitation, though, Avery certainly wouldn't mind a private cooking club of two, with the redhead. "I have some free time." Not really, but she would shift things around if necessary.
"Look," she indicated, the arm that held her basket stretching out as she pointed to ears of corn, and then an old woman's mushroom table just a few stalls down.
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Posted: Sun Apr 28, 2013 2:30 pm
"Perfect." You'd think that Avery had found the holy grail with how she pointed to the corn. Owner of a proud smile, Liberty went to pick through the ears, pulling back a single husk to check the kernels.
"If you're looking for a taste tester for those dinners, let me know." The brunette hadn't explicitly given an invitation, but Liberty hoped it was a polite enough way to say she was interested.
Her concentration was only half on the corn, and her eyes kept moving over to Avery's basket. Some free time.
"I haven't gotten the chance to treat you to dinner, yet," Liberty's soft voice informed as she reached for another stalk. Fingers tapping along the bumpy under-surface, Liberty's eyes scanned Avery for signs of attention. "I'd like to. What would you say to going on a date with me this week?"
At least she could blame the flush in her cheeks on the heat.
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Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 12:19 pm
Treat you to dinner,
Avery's heart beat hard.
I'd like to.
Then it was racing, hazel eyes snapping over and locking onto the redhead as she non-nonchalantly examined an ear of corn. She couldn't decide if the casual-cool way of asking was incredibly sexy, or just endlessly frustrating.
What was she thinking? Was she being serious, or just messing around? They'd been flirting intensely since day one, and not a thing had come of it.
Why now?
"Um,"
Avery's cheeks flushed, a feminine sort of pink as she realized she'd been silent a little too long.
Should she play it cool, like Liberty? Shrug? She would rather just grab that freckled face and finally kiss it.
Instead, she went with something a normal human might do.
"I would say 'yes,'" her gaze flicked away, "If you asked."
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Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 12:28 pm
Of all things in her life, Avery's 'Um' filled Liberty with the single most pinpoint of terror. Being afraid of rejection, of failure, wasn't on Liberty's list of character traits. Yet, here she was, ready to bite her nails, make a scene, just to avoid the idea that the prolongued silence between them meant 'No'.
Instead, those green eyes focused intensely on the next ear of corn she put aside. She was about to open her mouth to excuse the question altogether, take them away from the awkward silence they were both now forced to be facing, when Avery's voice reached her again.
And all Liberty could do was give her that stupid grin. "I am asking."
"Go on a date with me." The drumbeat in her chest chimed a rough tune. Can you go right now? Liberty wanted to say. Suddenly corn and mushrooms were not interesting anymore. Nevermind that she'd already stacked three ears when at most she needed two.
"How about Tuesday?" Two days. Liberty could handle that, right? At the rate adrenaline was shooting through her bloodstream, maybe not.
Tell me you'd rather do something right now. Inwardly, the redhead scolded herself for being ridiculous. Outwards, those green eyes were focused on Avery, her body turned away from the corn.
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Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 12:29 pm
That stupid smile was driving her crazy. It was the perfect mix of friendly, confident, and embarrassed, and it made Avery want to crush her full mouth against Liberty's.
"That's still not asking," the husky tease anchored Avery, stopping her mind from racing ahead to a million clothing options and theorizing where a date with Liberty might go. Clearly, it would be different than their usual time together, since the redhead was purposely making a distinction in advance, rather than "hanging out" and "seeing where things went," like most young people [obviously, they'd gone no where, a fact that was endlessly frustrating to the brunette]. A traditional kind of gal, which was it's own special kind of hot.
Hazel eyes flicked up to green as Avery took a step closer, reaching out to take one of Liberty's ears of corn from the stack and dropping it in her basket.
A date on a school night? That wasn't a good sign... Was it?
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Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 12:30 pm
One woman's anchor was another's storm at sea. Liberty swallowed, paid for all three ears of corn, and stepped out of the way of everyone examining corn.
Was Avery just teasing, stalling? Looking for a way out? Had she actually been serious about that yes? Maybe it was one of Avery's for-fun--Liberty Marie you are overthinking and are stiff as a board.
The long breath in her chest was let out slowly. The urge to reach for Avery, use her for solace, was counterproductive. It was Avery who was driving her crazy.
"Would you like to go out on a date with me sometime this week?" the redhead tried for the third time. By now, everyone in the market must have heard her say it at least once.
Liberty hadn't made it through asking without turning beet red, but it had been a valiant effort until the last moment.
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Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 12:36 pm
Avery felt the same desire to reach out and touch Liberty, to make the chemistry and link between them a physical one. Instead, she resisted, watching as color climbed its way from Liberty's neck to her face.
The fact that Liberty had asked a third time - properly, rather than writing it off? In the middle of the farmer's market? Sure, no one was really paying attention, even if the poor redhead felt like everyone on earth was eavesdropping, but it meant something.
Avery found persistence attractive. Extremely attractive.
"I would love that," She gave in and allowed herself to squeeze Libby's forearm. "Tuesday, maybe?" Mischievous excitement leaked its way into a tone she'd intended to sound innocent.
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Posted: Sat May 11, 2013 12:39 pm
It was in the cab ride, Avery nestled against her shoulder, that Liberty had come to terms with how hard she had fallen; engulfed in the low hum of an engine, Lena and Kesslan's drunken foreplay, and a hot breath moving calmly against her neck, Liberty had felt an inexplicable desire to never go home.
At Tuesday, maybe Liberty was falling all over again. The excitement intoxicated her, and she passed back a cheeky grin. A few, wandering fingers found Avery's arm, not squeezing in return, but sliding down as she inched towards the mushrooms.
"I'm free on Tuesday."
The interest of mushrooms deteriorated rapidly. They didn't have sassy confidence, beautiful eyes, and a mouth she could lose the time while kissing.
"Seven?" she offered. Liberty didn't even bother to take a second look at the mushrooms of which she took hold. They'd be fine.
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