Posting the prompts now so that everyone has plenty of time to prepare for the very first Chenrich Week! And if you notice one of the prompts being on a particular date... Yes, that's intentional c; We gotta celebrate, after all!
Saturday July 9th - Friday July 15th
Day one - Jamming Session
Day two - Birthday
Day three - Date night
Day four - Summer
Day five - Stargazing
Day six - Foosball
Day seven - Road trip
Day x - LARP/(TT)RPG
To clarify: 'Day x - LARP/(TT)RPG' is a bonus prompt. This one isn't tied to any particular day. If you can't come up with something for a certain prompt, you can use the Day x prompt instead! Or if you just feel like doing an extra one, that's totally fine too!
Just make sure when you post your entries (on here, Ao3, or Twitter) to use the tag ‘Chenrich Week’ and the tag for the prompt of that day as follows: (example) ‘Day One Jamming Session’, ‘Day Four Summer’ etc. So that it can be easily found and reblogged or retweeted!
When you post on Ao3, you can add your entries to the Chenrich Week 2022 collection!
This blog and @celebratingchenrich are not the same! I do not run the other account nor host the Chenrich appreciation event, but I do support them! The more Chenrich, the merrier!
friends, if u love chenrich, please consider following my sideblog @celebratingchenrich!! dw, im not gonna stop posting abt chenrich here, but i will be hosting a CHENRICH WEEK from that blog in september! and that sideblog will have all the info and details, so follow for updates :3
Posting the prompts now so that everyone has plenty of time to prepare for the very first Chenrich Week! And if you notice one of the prompts being on a particular date… Yes, that’s intentional c; We gotta celebrate, after all!
Saturday July 9th - Friday July 15th
Day one - Jamming Session
Day two - Birthday
Day three - Date night
Day four - Summer
Day five - Stargazing
Day six - Foosball
Day seven - Road trip
Day x - LARP/(TT)RPG
To clarify: ‘Day x - LARP/(TT)RPG’ is a bonus prompt. This one isn’t tied to any particular day. If you can’t come up with something for a certain prompt, you can use the Day x prompt instead! Or if you just feel like doing an extra one, that’s totally fine too!
Just make sure when you post your entries (on here, Ao3, or Twitter) to use the tag ‘Chenrich Week’ and the tag for the prompt of that day as follows: (example) ‘Day One Jamming Session’, ‘Day Four Summer’ etc. So that it can be easily found and reblogged or retweeted!
When you post on Ao3, you can add your entries to the Chenrich Week 2022 collection!
"Golden Hour"
I am head over heels with the new LiS game. I genuinely haven't enjoyed a story driven choice game in so long. Went in not expecting anything and ended up loving it from beginning to its end. Narrative, characters, performance, all of it is just *chef's kiss*
Please reblog, do not repost or edit!
I’ve been itching to draw some sweet kisses, basically more self indulging comfort art, but I didn’t want to go for the ‘draw this kiss meme’ style.
So why not the classic die roll? Specially if it’s fitting for these two big nerds from Life is Strange? ;)
And whatever the nat20 stands for in a kiss, that’s not up to me to tell you. ;B
Please do not use/edit this work in any way!
Just had to draw them! This game is amazing and Steph and Alex are just so damn adorable. And Steph is probably one of my favorite characters from the entire life is strange series <3
And here's my third Chenrich fic! It does contain Wavelengths & episode 1 spoilers, so if you haven't played the game yet but are planning to, maybe save this to read later! Also, if you haven't read my other Chenrich fic 'Oh girl, it's you', please do so! There's one element that connects to one in that fic o3o
I commissioned Kuki and they drew a scene from this fic for me, as seen above. Please go give her some love! <3
There will definitely be more Chenrich fics from me, if you want to be notified when I do, consider subscribing. That way you'll receive an email whenever I post a new work on here.
Want to thank Tati for beta-reading for me & the Katertots for hyping me up <3
I also made a Chenrich playlist which I listened to while writing. I made a LiS; True Colors inspired playlist as well, which I also use sometimes while writing. Feel free to take a look at them, more songs will still be added in the future.
Enjoy! o3o
HERE’S the link to the writing on Ao3.
Rating; M
Words; 5,092
It’s you & I
01.10.2021
As the breeze chilled, Steph tightened her grip on the mug in her hands. The tea smelled lovely and she carefully took a sip, deciding it was still a bit too hot for her to drink right away. She looked down at the lake, taking notice of the large amount of leaves that gathered around its edges. With summer ending, Haven Springs looked even more enchanting with the rich yellow, orange, red and brown colors everywhere.
Although Steph enjoyed summer, she did appreciate autumn in its own way. The colors were stunning and the chillier weather meant Steph got to wear hoodies and sweaters again, which she was actually looking forward to. She couldn’t help but smile excitedly as she thought of how it would also mean she and Alex would get to snuggle under soft blankets and cuddle up to each other.
As she thought of Alex, a fond memory resurfaced. The memory was still vivid in her mind as she thought back to when she first laid eyes on Alex, before she had even realized it had been her.
Just like any other day, Steph had been working in the radio booth and just finished a call with a listener. It had been quite a while already since she stopped doing the whole ‘radio psychic’ stuff, but apparently this one hadn’t gotten the memo. Or rather; they misunderstood the memo, as they asked her to make an exception for them. She tried to explain to them why she stopped doing it and thought that would be it, but they went ahead and asked anyway.
“It’s such a tiny question. All I want to know is which friend should I—”
Steph rolled her eyes, “The taller one! Thanks for calling.” And right after, she hit the button, ending the call. With a soft sigh she checked the computer and smiled as she saw an email from a listener. “Question from Richelle in Colorado Springs: How is Valkyrie doing?”
She looked through the window with a smile, finding the cat in question lounging on top of a bunch of records. “Val let me pet her the other day. And then, she bit me more gently than usual. We’re definitely getting somewhere.” She looked over at Valkyrie again with a hopeful smile, she had grown pretty attached to the rascal.
“All right, here’s a new release from The Wednesday. Let me know what you think.” Jamming to the music that started playing, dancing and kicking in the air as she looked for records to play next. It took a few moments, but finally she found two that fit the program. Now she just had to figure out which one she’d play first. As she carried the two records to the turntables and tried to decide, something in the corner of her eye caught her attention.
A young feminine looking person Steph had never seen before stood on the other side of the window. This she knew for a fact because if she had, she would’ve certainly remembered. Black asymmetrical haircut, round glasses, eyes a rich brown and a smile that dazed Steph. She noticed a nose piercing, several rings, a hand tattoo and headphones around the neck. They wore jeans and a hooded sweater, with a denim jacket over it, adorned with several patches.
Steph stopped dead in her tracks, absolutely captivated by this person. The music that was playing faded until there was no sound, besides that of her own breathing and heartbeat. Whoa…
They looked at each other for several seconds before Steph remembered that she was working and had a radio show to host. As an idea popped into her head, Steph smiled widely and walked up to the window, then pressed the sleeves of the two records against the glass. The person on the other side stepped closer and looked at the record Steph held against the glass with her right hand, then the one she held with her left.
When they pointed at the record Steph held up with her right hand, she removed them from the window, looked at the record of choice and smiled approvingly. Unicorn Sandwich it is! She wondered if it was wrong of her to think it might mean something that they went for this one rather than ‘Zombie Parade’.
There was a whirlwind of excited tingles in her stomach as they smiled at each other, she put away the ‘Zombie Parade’ record to be queued up later and placed the ‘Unicorn Sandwich’ record on the turntable. Steph walked back towards the microphone and hit the button for her to go on air.
“Citizens of Haven Springs, that was The Wednesday with ‘Bomb Squad’. Up next, a very special request from…” Steph looked to the side, meeting the stranger’s gaze with a smug smile, “some chick.” As the nerves struck, Steph turned to look away again, not daring to look at the stranger to see their reaction.
As the song started playing, Steph started to jam, still not daring to look at the window again. The giddiness she felt was almost overwhelming, but in the best way possible.
When she finally turned around to queue up the next record, Steph saw the stranger was gone and a pang of sadness crept into her chest. As she put the other record on the second turntable, she came to the realization that the stranger might be Gabe’s sister. Steph thought for a few moments, going over the stranger’s features again, there was definitely a resemblance between the two.
The record for ‘Zombie Parade’ was queued up on the free turntable now and Steph smiled when she looked up and saw the stranger again. This time their back was facing her and Steph frowned as she saw they approached Valkyrie, who was lounging on top of the display shelves that held the discounted records.
“This is gonna be interesting,” she whispered to herself as she watched with a grin as the stranger, assumed to be Gabe’s sister, held something in front of Valkyrie. “Is that…?” Steph looked closer and chuckled, “that’s Valkyrie’s toy.” She couldn’t hold back a chuckle when she watched the toy being thrown and Valkyrie pouncing on it, she just wondered why the stranger had grabbed the toy. But before she had the chance to linger on it, her question was answered as the hold list was now in clear view where Valkyrie had been lounging earlier.
Steph wanted to get to know this person, especially if it really was Gabe’s sister, but the fact that they had risked their hands by approaching Valkyrie did something to Steph she couldn’t quite put her finger on.
So the stranger turned out to indeed be Gabe’s sister. Steph felt bad that she had just rushed out the record store after Ryan offered to cover for her, but she didn’t really have a choice. Luckily she just got the perfect opportunity to apologize as Alex approached her while she was working on some character stats for the upcoming LARP in Denver.
“Alex, right? I’m Steph,” she said as Alex got to the table she was sitting at, “sorry for storming out like a crazy person earlier.” She bit the inside of her cheek nervously, hoping she hadn’t screwed up entirely. “Sorry I couldn’t hang out at the record store, I’ve got some time now, though, if you wanna chat?”
“Hey,” Alex replied, “it’s all good. Just checking if you need food or anything.”
“Oh, no. I’m good, thanks though.”
“So, is that record store inventory?” Alex asked, nodding towards the papers in front of Steph.
Steph grinned and shook her head, “No, it’s character stats,” she explained, “do you know what a LARP is?” She looked at Alex with anticipation, curious what the answer would be.
Alex smiled at her, “Sure, live action role play, right? Fantasy fighting in real life?”
“Yup.” Steph felt like she could scream from the sheer excitement and giddiness she felt. And even though she ended up losing the jukebox game, Steph wasn’t really upset. The fact that Alex had managed to figure out which song she’d picked did something with Steph, the same way it had earlier in the record store. However Steph did wonder if Alex had picked up the hint with her pick of the song.
“Guess I’m drinking…?” Steph said nervously as she eyed the shot glass. As she saw Alex watching her with anticipation, she picked up the shot glass, let out a sigh, and set it to her lips. She knocked back the entire shot, drinking it in one go. As she swallowed the substance, she made a face, but chuckled when Alex laughed in response to her facial expression. The sound of Alex’s laugh was one Steph could get used to hearing, it was a lovely sound.
A sigh left her lips before Steph opened her eyes again, smiling at the memories. She’d never thought she would be so infatuated with someone so quickly, falling for Alex more and more as time progressed. When they had first kissed Steph had felt so incredibly euphoric that thinking about it made her emotional. She had hoped, but never really expected to find love like this again. Especially not after the amount of dates she had gone on with several people back in her first year in Haven Springs. Despite going on multiple dates with a few, none of them stuck around. The connection she had felt with Alex early on, she’d never experienced with any of the others.
The sun was descending and with that, the evening chill started to set in. Steph repositioned the collar of her button-up jacket so that it shielded her neck from the wind chill, then grabbed her mug to drink some of her tea. Luckily it was still warm enough, which was somewhat surprising, but Steph was grateful for it. It wasn’t very appealing having to warm it up again, as that required getting up.
“Hey stranger.” Steph turned around at the sound of Alex’s voice and smiled lovingly when she saw Alex approach her with a paper bag in one of her hands.
“Hey babe,” Steph replied, reaching for Alex’s hand, “didn’t feel like cooking?” she asked as she nodded towards the bag.
“No motivation, sorry,” Alex answered and gave Steph a kiss before sitting down next to her girlfriend.
“Babe, you don’t have to apologize for that, come on!” Steph chuckled as she wrapped her arm around Alex, hand resting on Alex’s side, and pulled her close. “I missed you.”
Alex set the bag down, snuggled up against Steph and wrapped both arms around her. “Missed you too, glad to be home.”
“Did everything go alright?”
“Yeah, sold a number of records actually.” Alex relaxed her body a bit more against Steph’s and Steph rested her cheek against the top of Alex’s head. “Oh, and a shirt.”
Steph smiled widely and gave Alex’s side a gentle squeeze as she pressed a kiss on top of Alex’s hair. “Look at you go,” she whispered softly.
They made their way inside and onto the couch, eating their take-out dinner while watching a movie. Steph loved to see and hear Alex’s reactions, though she got a bit worried when Alex started coughing after she started laughing while chewing food.
“Oh shit.” Steph hurried to take Alex’s bowl and set it on the coffee table along with her own, then carefully patted Alex on the back. “You okay?” she asked with worry, feeling instant relief when Alex nodded and held up her hand to indicate Steph could stop.
“It just went the wrong way,” Alex said between a few coughs, her voice hoarse. “It’s because of how absurd this movie is!” Alex laughed again, without much coughing this time.
“I mean, I haven’t heard you complain so far.”
“Correct, I never said it’s a bad thing.”
“Touché, Chen. Touché.” Steph handed Alex back her bowl and grabbed her own, only to finish its contents within a minute. She leaned over to set the bowl on the table again.
After the movie ended, neither of them moved to turn it off, instead they let the credits roll by as they snuggled. Steph played with Alex’s hair while Alex played with the bracelets on her wrist.
“Hey Steph?” Alex asked and Steph hummed in response, encouraging Alex to continue. “I love you.”
Hearing those three words, Steph felt her heart skip. Her hand stopped moving and her breath got caught in her throat. Now her heart started racing in her chest, stomach filling with intense giddiness.
“I love you too, Alex,” she whispered. Her heart sung, chest glowing with happiness; the intense love she felt was dizzying. Steph held Alex a little bit tighter, unable to stop smiling, despite her cheeks aching.
Alex lifted her head, now facing Steph, wearing a loving smile, expression soft. “Hey, are you crying?” she asked, brows furrowing with concern.
At first, Steph shook her head, then nodded. Eventually she shrugged, “Fuck if I know.” Alex laughed, but not at her, that much was clear. She felt Alex’s fingers tenderly wipe a tear that had started to trickle down her cheek, which melted her heart even more.
“Are you okay?” Alex asked, this time Steph nodded with conviction. “Good, as long as that’s the case.” Again, Steph nodded. “I love you, Steph Gingrich.”
Before Steph had the chance to respond, Alex kissed her deeply. She kissed back eagerly, her hands holding onto Alex, not wanting to let go. Making out with her girlfriend still caused pleasant flutters to fill her stomach and chest, just like her heartbeat still picked up speed in response. Steph lost herself in it, her mind going blank while her body moved on its own. Hands traveling over Alex’s back, lowering more and more until her hands rested on Alex’s buttocks. With a smirk Steph gave them a squeeze, causing Alex to chuckle.
“Can’t help it that you have a nice butt,” she said when they broke the kiss.
“Glad you enjoy it, it’s the only one I’ve got,” Alex replied before pressing her lips back on Steph’s again.
As the water finally got to a pleasant temperature, Steph started to undress. She tossed her clothes into the laundry basket that stood in the corner and hung a towel onto one of the hooks beside the shower curtain. As she was about to step into the tub, there was a knock on the door.
“Steph?”
“Yeah, babe?”
“Is, uh… Is it okay if I join you?”
Steph blinked a few times, then started to smile. “Of course, as long as you’re sure. No pressure,” she answered while she walked towards the door. She opened the door just a little bit, leaving the initiative with Alex.
It didn’t take very long for Alex to open the door completely and step inside the bathroom, closing the door behind her. Steph stared at her feet as the nerves raced through her body, not quite confident enough to look at Alex directly as she stood naked in front of her girlfriend.
When she felt Alex’s fingers gently grab her chin, Steph finally looked up, biting her lip anxiously. The way Alex smiled at her made her heart melt, the fluttery feeling in her chest intensifying.
“You have nothing to feel anxious for, Steph,” Alex whispered reassuringly, “you’re gorgeous.” Alex sealed her statement with a kiss, pressing her body against Steph’s.
Maybe it was just the steam from the running water, but Steph felt warm; very warm. Especially when she felt Alex move, hands brushing against her bare skin as Alex unbuttoned the shirt she’d borrowed from Steph.
When Alex broke the kiss, Steph felt herself gasp for air as she watched Alex undress in front of her. The button-up shirt joined the rest of Steph’s clothes in the laundry basket, the sleeves hanging over the edge. Steph swallowed hard as she watched Alex unbutton her jeans, slowly pushing the garment down until it was pooled around her ankles. With a kick the jeans ended up beside the laundry basket, followed by a pair of ankle socks. Steph was breathless as she looked at her girlfriend, who was now only wearing a bra and a pair of undies, right in front of her with only about half a meter distance between them.
“Fuck…” Steph breathed, turning red as she realized that she’d spoken the word out loud.
“So, that’s good…?”
Steph nodded, “Dude, yeah. I mean—I just—Yes. Yes, that’s great—”
“You’re really cute when you’re flustered,” Alex said, interrupting her stumbling. Steph felt her cheeks grow hotter until it nearly hurt. All Steph could do was just stand there, jaw slacked as she watched Alex’s hands reach behind her back. Just a moment later the black bra sagged down, the shoulder straps sliding down Alex’s arms. Steph felt like Alex had put a spell on her, as she couldn’t move and her mind was a hazy mess. She couldn’t look away even if she wanted to as Alex tossed the bra aside and hooked her thumbs behind the elastic of her black and white undies, slowly pushing the fabric down. Once it was past Alex’s hips, the garment fell down on its own, pooling around Alex’s feet like the jeans had done earlier.
Now both of them were completely nude, in front of each other, their cheeks pink and lips curled up into nervous smiles. Steph reached out and carefully placed her fingers on the legs of Alex’s glasses.
“Allow me?” Alex nodded and Steph carefully removed Alex’s glasses, then placed them on the table beside the sink. “Damn, Alex…” Steph whispered and let out a chuckle as she gently brushed her fingers against Alex’s cheek. “You’re so beautiful…”
“I can say the same to you, you know.” Steph blushed as she bit her lip, shaking her head with a grin. “But how about we get in the shower before the water gets cold?”
Steph whipped her head around, realizing she had nearly forgotten about the running water. “Right! Good idea.” Steph pushed the shower curtain aside for Alex to get in. After Alex had stepped into the tub, Steph followed and pulled the shower curtain back again.
As soon as the water hit her, Steph let out a sigh, the water’s temperature was perfect. She raked a hand through her wet hair, combing it back. When she looked down, she caught Alex looking at her and quizzically lifted her brow.
“I realized I don’t ever really see you with your hair back…” Alex reached out and tenderly brushed some hair from Steph’s face. “You’re so pretty, Steph.”
Steph wasn’t quite sure what to say, wondering if she was supposed to explain to Alex why she always wore her hair down. It was one of her insecurities and she wasn’t sure if right now was the moment to talk about it, when she was both literally and figuratively naked; it was scary.
“You don’t have to talk about it,” Alex reassured, putting Steph at ease. “You wanna help me wash my hair?”
“Of course,” Steph said and grabbed the shampoo bottle, honestly a bit relieved that the subject was dropped for now. She put a little bit of shampoo in the palm of her hand, put the bottle back and rubbed the gooey substance between her hands before applying it to Alex’s hair. With careful precision Steph massaged it into the roots of Alex’s hair, grinning when she saw Alex had closed her eyes, visibly enjoying it.
In turn, Alex helped Steph wash her hair and back. It was intimate, but pretty innocent. Nothing really happened, they just enjoyed their first shower together. It was incredibly nice and Steph felt warm inside. She was happy, truly happy. A year ago she didn’t think she’d be where she was now; still in Haven Springs, with an incredible girlfriend she loved and who loved her in return.
Once they were both clean, they rinsed off once more just to be sure before shutting off the water. Steph squeezed as much water out of her hair as she could, then grabbed the large towel and wrapped it around both Alex and herself.
“That was really nice,” Alex whispered softly, to which Steph nodded in agreement. “Thank you.”
“Thank you, Alex.” Steph smiled, resting her forehead against Alex’s. “I really enjoyed that.”
“We could do it more often, if you’d like,” Alex offered with a smile of her own.
“Save water, shower with your girlfriend.” There was a moment of silence before they both started laughing. “Want to get ready for bed?”
They both dried themselves off with the towel. Once they got out of the tub, Steph hung up the towel to dry and put on the clean undies she’d put beside the sink. They brushed their teeth together and finally made their way to the bed, each getting into their sleepwear and snuggling up under the covers.
“So… You don’t think my ears look weird?” Steph asked nervously while picking at her nails, her heart hammering in her chest.
Alex lifted her head to look at Steph, a confused expression vaguely visible on her face in the dim light. “No…? Why would I?” Steph shrugged as she turned her face away from Alex, not sure what to say. “Steph, babe…” Alex sat up a bit and placed a hand on Steph’s shoulder, giving her a comforting squeeze. “I don’t see why I’d think they look weird.”
Steph turned back to face Alex again and could tell Alex was being genuine, which soothed her anxiety quite a bit. “Been told often enough that they’re weird.” Steph let out a deep sigh as memories started flooding her mind.
“I don’t know who told you that, Steph, but fuck them.” The expression on Alex’s face was stern, determined. “If anything, your ears are cute.”
“Cute…?” Alex nodded affirmingly in response. “You think my ears are…” Steph blinked a few times, a little dazed at what Alex just told her. “You find my ears cute?”
Alex leaned closer until Steph felt Alex’s breath against her ear, which sent a pleasant shiver through her body. “Really fucking cute.” The way Alex whispered into her ear made Steph’s head spin and she could’ve sworn her heart stopped for a second.
“Thanks,” she muttered with a small smile, fighting the tears that threatened to well up in her eyes. “That means a lot.” Steph found immense comfort in the way Alex held her as her eyes started to droop, a wave of fatigue suddenly hitting her.
“I know,” Alex whispered softly, holding Steph a little tighter. “I know.” Steph held onto Alex’s shirt as she gave in and let sleep take her, feeling safe in her girlfriend’s embrace.
When Steph woke up and opened her eyes, she was quite disoriented. She noticed that the spot beside her in the bed was empty. The sun peeked through the slats of the shutters in front of the windows, casting the apartment in a golden hue. The clock on the wall indicated it was still fairly early, not much later than when they’d get up when they had to work.
Steph sat up and rubbed the sleep remnants from her eyes, yawned and looked around the apartment. Although she couldn’t find a glimpse of her girlfriend, sounds indicated she was on the other side of the wall that separated it from where the bed was. Just a few moments later Steph also noticed the scent that filled the big open space, bringing an excited grin to her lips.
After quickly checking her phone, Steph threw the covers back and got out of bed. She grabbed a pair of socks from the dresser, put them on and hastily made the bed. Sort of. With a nonchalant shrug she made her way to the kitchen, her lips curling up into a loving smile when she saw Alex making what Steph assumed to be breakfast.
“Good morning,” Steph mused before she wrapped her arms around Alex from behind. She pressed a soft kiss at the nape of Alex's neck before resting her chin on her girlfriend’s shoulder, watching Alex’s hands.
One of Alex’s hands stilled, then reached back to rest against Steph’s cheek. “Good morning, how did you sleep?”
“Good, you?”
“Yeah, I actually didn’t wake up once.” The relief was clearly visible on Alex’s face, even from this angle Steph was seeing it from.
Steph smiled gratefully, glad to know her girlfriend had managed to get a full night’s sleep. “So glad to hear that, babe.” Steph turned her face a bit and peppered kisses all over Alex’s temple, cheek and jaw.
“I was trying to make you breakfast in bed…” Steph’s lips stopped moving, brows lifting in surprise.
“Wait, what?” Steph muttered, absolutely amazed. “I can just get back in bed?” Steph was already in the process of letting go of Alex, when she was stopped.
With a chuckle, Alex shook her head. “Hold on, you.” Alex turned around in Steph’s loose embrace and gently took hold of Steph’s chin with her thumb and index finger. “Not so fast. If that’s what you’re doing, it’ll be with me joining you.”
Steph grinned from ear to ear and nodded, leaning down when Alex got up to her tippy toes to kiss her. When Alex turned back around to finish prepping breakfast, Steph let go of Alex and walked over to the record player. The stack of records underneath had been steadily increasing and growing. After several moments, Steph found one she felt like it would fit the moment. She carefully took the record out of its sleeve and placed it on the turntable, putting the needle on the record and letting the music fill the room.
She made her way back to Alex, placed her hands on Alex’s hips and they both gently swayed to the music. Once the breakfast was done, Steph helped carry the big tray to the bed while Alex carried the drinking glasses filled with orange juice.
The tray had been placed on the desk, along with the empty glasses, safe from the flailing limbs as Steph and Alex laughed with reckless abandon. Neither of them could quite remember what had started their laughing fit, though they didn’t deem it important to recall what it had been.
“Did I ever tell you about when I started doing this whole radio psychic skit?” Steph asked in between laughter, when Alex shook her head, Steph desperately tried to catch her breath. “Okay, so. This guy calls in to place an order—”
“Wait, while you were on air? Alex asked.
“Yeah! I told him, but he didn’t seem to care. So I was like ‘Well, whatever’ and took his order. It was nothing but break-up songs—and get this —for his girlfriend.”
“No!”
“Yup!” Alex snorted and Steph desperately tried to keep herself from laughing again, wanting to be able to tell the rest of the story. “So I tried to tell him that maybe his girlfriend was trying to tell him something.”
“Let me guess: he didn’t take it very well?” Alex asked.
Steph shook her head while waving her hands dismissively. “He didn’t get it and basically hung up on me, but then—”
“Oh no…” Alex lifted her glasses to wipe away some tears and waited for Steph to continue.
“Not much later his girlfriend, or I guess ex-girlfriend, called into the show.” Steph was struggling not to burst out into laughter again, as the memory replayed in her head. “Asking me how I knew she was gonna break up with him before she even realized. When I explained, she said the songs weren’t picked with that in mind.”
Alex rolled her eyes as she snorted, not convinced in the slightest. “Sure.”
“She tells me this whole story about her and her best friend getting into college, but then she gets accepted into her dream college and asks me to predict what will happen to their friendship.”
Alex stared at her with widened eyes, intrigued. “What did you say? You’re no psychic!” After a moment, Alex jaws slacked. “Are you?”
“Pfft, god no.” Steph chuckled and took a deep breath before continuing: “She’s being super persistent, so I’m just like ‘fuck it’ and grab my D20 die and roll it. Based on the low roll it gave me I just made up some bullshit story.”
“And then more people kept calling for predictions?” Alex asked with an amused grin.
“Bingo.”
“Wow, that is absolutely hilarious!” Alex grasped at her stomach as she had another laughing fit. “So,” she gasped, “got any predictions for me?”
Steph crawled over Alex, until her face was right above Alex’s and wore a smug smirk, eliciting a sharp breath from her girlfriend in response. “I don’t need a dice for that,” she said, “there’s a lot of adventures in your future…”
“As long as those adventures involve you, Steph, I’m more than ready for any of them.” Alex reached out and tenderly cupped Steph’s face with her hands, pulling a bit to bring Steph’s face closer to hers. “I’m ready for this next adventure… If you are…”
The way Alex looked at her sparked something inside Steph, a sensation not foreign to her. The warmth in her lower abdomen developed at a rapid pace, muscles tensing with anticipation. She studied Alex’s face and expression, searching.
“You sure?” she asked while tenderly brushing some of Alex’s hair out of her face.
“Positive,” Alex assured, smiling lovingly at Steph. If they had any plans for the day, those were promptly forgotten. Steph didn’t waste another second and crashed her lips into Alex’s for a deep kiss.
“Just… If I’m going too fast—if you need me to stop, use a safeword?”
“Don’t think I have one, yet. But I’ll let you know if that happens, okay?” To this Steph nodded, satisfied and put at ease enough to continue. Their lips found each other once more, not breaking contact until they had to catch their breaths.
It didn’t take very long for their sleep clothes to end up on the floor, along with their underwear. Hair messy and breaths labored, skin glowing and tingling.
Their first time together was special and intimate, soft and tender but passionate. One of many memories they would both treasure for months and years to come.
