summary: two time all star paige bueckers is clingy and kind of tipsy, and can’t get azzi off her mind for more than two seconds. sexual content: strap-on sex, whatever. established relationship.
a/n: people kept saying it looked like paige had a strap on the orange carpet so like idk hi sorry first smut kinda nervous ෆ also loved this pic of azzi so i used that for the header instead of like the actual outfit she wears in the fic. also not proofread, i’ll come back to it later!!
wc: ~3.5k
it’s been less than five hours since paige last saw azzi. the pair met up for a late breakfast that azzi believed would be better categorized as lunch, but paige insisted it was brunch. “nobody’s eating breakfast at two in the afternoon, paige,” she told her.
“i’m eating breakfast.”
“nobody other than you.”
paige conceded quicker than she usually would, mostly because she was tired. the adrenaline from their game last night kept her from taking a nap on the plane despite her exhaustion from a week of back to back games with what felt like no time to breathe. she felt everything hit her all at once at the receptionist’s desk and it took everything in her to not fall asleep standing upright. when she finally got to her room, she dragged herself through her routine before finally collapsing onto her bed and falling asleep.
paige propped her head up against her hand, watching the buildings pass her by. she straightened in her seat and craned her neck to look past the passenger seat and out at the traffic ahead of them. the traffic was one of her least favorite parts about all star, whether it was media vans, other players and their respective entourages, or fans camped outside hoping to get lucky enough for an autograph. she straightened her tie and leaned back again. her face felt warm but she was feeling good. “traffic’s crazy, huh?” she asked, looking to kill some silence since she figured they’d be there a while.
“yeah, feel’s like we haven’t moved in over ten minutes,” the driver responded, glancing at her in the rearview mirror.
“it usually this bad out here? or is it just during stuff like this?”
the driver made a so-so gesture. “depends on the day.”
paige nodded and turned to look out the window again. she fidgeted with the temples to her sunglasses. she wondered what azzi was wearing tonight. she had asked her to show her but she refused and told her to just wait. paige really didn’t like waiting, but she knew her gorgeous girlfriend would be worth it. she’d wait a million years if azzi asked her to. “how long you been doing this for?” she chirped up. “driving people around. chauffeuring,” she moved her hands in a steering motion.
“around ten years,” he replied.
“woooow,” paige responded with another nod, this time a little bigger and slightly more dramatic. “you meet any cool people? you meet any really famous people? you gotta have met some real famous people.” she normally wouldn’t have been this chatty, in fact, she usually felt bad about talking so much in ubers or things of the like. however, tonight she was buzzing and her inhibitions were lowered significantly. she’d pregamed earlier, maybe a little too hard, but she didn’t think she looked too bad.
the driver chuckled at her antics, shaking his head. “you’re one of the more talkative people i’ve driven, that’s for sure.”
“really?”
“really.”
paige let out a small laugh. it was light and airy, the type she did when she felt shy or like she had been put on the spot. she settled against the door and checked her phone, her notifications were full of different versions of “where are you? you here yet?” she considered responding but ultimately decided against it. she left it on her thigh and leaned her head against the window. she felt antsy. she had half a mind to just tell her driver, “just let me out here, i’ll walk the rest of the way,” but didn’t for a mountain of reasons. even three shots in, she knew that it would have been slightly inconvenient at best and plain stupid at worst. she’d probably be tired and sweaty by the time she got there, and it certainly would’ve killed her buzz. she slumped in her seat again. she raised her hand to trace shapes into the air with her finger.
she remembered how she used to draw on the fogged up windows during rainy days as a kid. her parents used to tell her to stop because it left behind marks, so she started to smudge them out with her hand after she was done. paige remembers thinking she really cheated the system with that one but her parents totally knew. she only really started to understand what they meant when she was old enough to drive her little brother drew around and he started leaving tiny doodles on her windows.
she could see the building now and sat up straight. she ironed out her shirt with her hands and smoothed out her hair. next, she checked to make sure her slickback was actually slicked back and not full of random lumpy spots where her hair didn’t want to cooperate. the car idled by the sidewalk for paige to exit. she turned her body to step out but first waved to the driver and thanked him for the ride as well as putting up with her chattiness. as soon as she stepped out, she could already hear her name being called from four different directions. she smoothed her shirt out again and made sure she didn’t look like she just rolled out of bed.
paige was still thinking about azzi. she expected to have seen her by now. maybe she was still getting ready? she was thinking about when she inevitably pops the question and how tonight made her so sure she would want to do a “first look” when they get married because she doesn’t think she could survive waiting all night. she knew azzi probably wanted to see her get all teary eyed as she made her way down the aisle, and she knew she’d definitely tease her about it later. not that they’ve spoken too extensively on the subject, paige got too shy whenever she wanted to.
“earth to paige bueckers!” paige found herself with a hand waving in front of her face. “paaaaaige? you there?”
paige was pulled out of her thoughts, looking down to see who the hand belonged to. she tittered and cleared her throat, trying to act like janaé hadn’t interrupted her imaginary wedding. “huh? sorry, i was thinkin’.”
janaé laughed at her, “you’re good! you were just standing around looking lost. they’re waiting for you on the carpet.”
“oh shit, you’re right.” paige clasped her hands together and looked around, trying to play off her embarrassment.
janaé tilted her head, looking her over as she crossed her arms. she pointed at her and nodded once she reached a verdict. “you had some before you got here, huh?”
“some. some, not anything crazy. i’m not drunk if that’s what you’re implying.”
“nope. anyway, you see azzi yet?”
“not yet. but i’m sure i will,” paige scanned the room briefly and still no azzi. “she’ll pop up.” she leaned in to dap her up before pulling her hand away. the two spoke for about another minute or so before she finally left to head out onto the carpet.
it felt like paige had been answering questions for hours, but surely couldn’t have been more than an hour at most. unless it was… she wasn’t even sure anymore. she didn’t know what to do with her hands. she was adjusting her glasses constantly, if not her glasses then it was her tie. if it was none of the above, she was talking with her hands. she wasn’t drunk by any means, but the alcohol gave her just enough energy to be a little more animated. not that she was ever subtle, god no.
she finally caught azzi outside, and azzi heard her before she could even see her. “az!” she called out, cupping her hands around her mouth to amplify her voice. “azzi!”
azzi whipped around, eyes searching the sea of faces before settling on paige. she stuck her arm up to wave to her. she watched as paige “excuse me”, “coming through”, “lemme squeeze past ya”’d her way through the crowd until she was beside her. “you tired? you’re all huffing and puffing over there,” she teased. paige shook her head. “sure,” azzi added with a slow nod.
“no, just did a lot of talking. it’s hot. way too many people.” paige smoothed her hair out again. she quickly looked her over and her throat went dry. she knew what azzi looked like, she’d seen her a million times, but she never failed to take her breath away. “you look good.”
azzi smiled, posing with the back of her hand against her cheek. “thanks, p.” she straightened out again, both hands on her purse. she watched as paige tried to steal another glance at her and gave the air a little swat. “can you try to act like you don’t wanna kiss me for like two seconds?”
“i haven’t seen you all day!”
“hasn’t been that long. stop being dramatic.”
“can i be dramatic?” paige angled her head so that she was looking up at her, batting her eyelashes and giving her one of the worst puppy-dog eyes she was sure she’d ever seen.
“stop!” azzi took both of her arms and stood her up again. she was trying not to laugh but she couldn’t help herself. “what are you doing now? you going back to your room?”
“yeah, actually. you wanna come with? unless you still got stuff to do or somethin’… that’s fine.” paige stuffed her hands into her pockets and shrugged, trying to act like the fact that their schedules weren’t perfectly aligned wasn’t bothering her. of course she had her responsibilities and paige would never want to get in the way of that, she just kind of missed her. but at the same time, she was also over the moon for her. this was her first all star weekend, she didn’t want to seem clingy and annoying and ruin the whole thing for her.
“i got the jordan one next, but i got some time between then and now. i could swing by for a few minutes.” the car that had been arranged for azzi was now pulling up beside them, and paige couldn’t get the door any quicker. she stood by the door and gestured for her to climb in first before following behind her. azzi gave her a quiet “thank you” and squeezed her forearm.
traffic wasn’t as bad as it was earlier. it was a little darker out now, it was at that point in the evening when most cars turned their sidelights on before turning their headlights on completely. azzi settled into her seat and watched as the crowds slowly dispersed. “they’re gonna go stand outside the hotels now, aren’t they?” she didn’t mean to sound like they were hot shit and huge a-list celebrities, but she also knew that the wnba was a rapidly growing league and there were people who wanted a piece of that. whether it be resellers trying to get fifteen cards signed and resold for ten times the price or young fans hoping to meet their favorite players, it all came with the territory and often came hand in hand. “hotels, bars, whatever.”
paige nodded along as she spoke. she found herself having to consciously tear her eyes away from her lips because suddenly the car felt too warm and she couldn’t focus on what the other woman was saying. her eyes flickered between those gorgeous brown eyes and soft lips. paige forced a tight smile, trying to look like she was a good listener. she was a great listener most of the time, except for when she wasn’t and right now might be one of those times. she paid enough attention to where she could repeat back what she’d heard, maybe not word for word but she remembered just enough.
“you’re not listening, are you?” azzi asked, shaking her head.
paige feigned offense. she leaned back against the door dramatically, hand to her chest as if she’d been physically hit. “i am! i’m listening real good.” she let out a little scoff and frowned. “you were talking about the people outside.”
“i was.”
“told ya i’m listening. i can multitask. i’m a multitasker. i can look and listen.”
“you look more than you listen,” azzi teased. she leaned over to give her a little nudge. paige was making that face she makes when she thinks she just had her big “gotcha” moment. azzi squinted at her then turned away to look out the window again. she sighed loudly, pretending to be annoyed that paige was “right.” she could practically feel the blonde buzzing with excitement over winning their argument. she was stubborn and super annoying half of the time but azzi wouldn’t trade it for the world. if winning a stupid little argument brought a smile to her girl’s face, she’d proudly take that loss.
azzi made herself comfortable on paige’s bed. her legs hung off the foot of the bed, legs crossed at the ankle. she’d ditched her heels, leaving them somewhere on the floor under her. she was watching paige pour her a shot at the tv stand. “you gonna have one?” paige nodded, bringing the tiny plastic cups over and handing one to her. azzi accepted it but raised an eyebrow at her. “what happened to the glass ones?”
“i dropped ‘em when i was packing up my stuff. they broke.”
azzi nodded slowly but didn’t choose to press any further than that. it really wasn’t a big deal at all, she just wanted to know why she’d choose to buy a giant pack of plastic cups for one weekend. she looked down at her lap, smiling about the comically large stack of cups poking out from behind her. she sat up straight and held up the shot, “bottoms up.” she and paige took them together. azzi shook her head at the taste and blinked hard. that first shot was always a pain in the ass but it wasn’t awful. the burning sensation was something she couldn’t get past.
paige chucked the cup into the trashcan and moved to sit beside her. her hands went up to hold her face, thumbs gently stroking her cheeks. she didn’t say anything for a while. she just sat there, mesmerized by the gorgeous woman sitting in front of her. “i’m so proud of you,” she started, her voice now much quieter than it had been a few minutes ago. “i’m so fucking proud of you. you’re gonna do great tomorrow. you’re already great, baby.”
“you’re so cheesy,” azzi replied, leaning into her touch. her own voice was softer too. it had a little rasp to it that it got when she was drinking or when she was with paige. “i love you.”
“i love you.” paige closed the gap, tilting her head as she kissed her slowly. she urged her closer, keeping her hands on either side of her face. her fingers moved to massage the back of her head before one hand slid down to cradle the back of her neck. azzi’s own hands were set on top of paige’s thighs. she climbed into her lap and deepened the kiss, pushing back against her gently.
paige leaned back onto the mattress, letting azzi’s weight settle comfortably on top of her. her hands went down to cup her ass and gently squeezed. azzi let out a faint hum against her lips, arching her back slightly into her hands. she pulled away for a moment, shrugging off her blazer and tossing it towards the pillows behind them. “what time is it?” she asked, mostly to herself as she squinted at the digital alarm clock on the nightstand.
she was truly a sight to see. every curve and contour was accentuated under the warm hotel lighting. paige’s right hand roamed upward, landing on her waist. she looked with her briefly before focusing on her again. “you gotta go soon?”
“soon… not yet though. i got time.” azzi bent down to kiss her again, her own eager hands working on the buttons to paige’s shirt. she fumbled around with the tie, refusing the break the kiss again just to undo the stupid thing. paige propped herself up on her elbow to help her get her shirt off. she let go of azzi’s waist to work on her pants, loosening the belt just enough to be able to kick them off. azzi climbed off of her to get her own jeans off, abandoning them somewhere on the bed. she watched as paige pushed her hips up to slide her boxers down, biting her lip as she eyed the strap that she decided to wear under her clothes for whatever reason. “you came prepared, huh?”
“not prepared,” paige mumbled, guiding azzi onto her back and pulling her towards her gently. she leaned down to kiss along the side of her neck, hands working on undoing her bralette top. she tossed it aside, moving down the kiss the soft skin between her breasts.
azzi’s hand found the back of her neck once again, keeping her in place as paige skimmed the top of her breasts with her lips. paige settled comfortably between her thighs, letting the silicone brush against her. “god, paige,” azzi breathed out, voice cracking slightly as paige gave her nipple a gentle nibble with just enough pressure to get a reaction out of her, but not nearly enough to hurt. she always made sure to be careful, no matter how drunk she was. her attentiveness was one of the things that made azzi fall so hard for her in the first place.
paige shifted her focus to the other side, letting out a soft moan at the feeling of her hardening in her mouth. her hand slipped beneath her, keeping her body close. azzi’s free hand wandered lower, finding her clit. “touch yourself for me, baby,” paige mumbled, kissing the outer side of her breast. azzi let out a breathy “mhm”, teasing her own entrance with her fingers. paige kissed along her jaw, then planted a firm kiss on her lips. “i want you to look at me.”
azzi nodded, watching her through half lidded eyes. “fuck, paige… baby, i want you so bad,” she practically whined. she bit down on her bottom lip, trying her hardest to suppress any sound that someone passing by their room might hear. they couldn’t have picked a worse time for this. players were coming in and out of rooms between events and media, pregaming, or whatever other socializing they might be doing.
“i know, i know you do.” paige stood up straighter, pulling back slightly to angle the head against her. she rolled her hips slowly, coating the length of the dildo with her wetness. she rubbed against her clit, causing azzi’s breath to shudder. she finally pushed in and started moving her hips at a slow, steady pace as she gave her a moment to adjust. her hands settled under azzi’s thighs, holding her thighs up around her waist.
azzi pushed herself up slightly, supporting her weight on her elbows. she kept her eyes on paige like she’d asked her to, even if it felt like she was fighting a losing battle. she threw her head back, choking back a moan because she would die of embarrassment if she stepped out of this room right now and someone happened to hear them. “god— yes, baby,” she moaned, voice shaky as she tried to control her volume. “just like that… fuck me like that, babe!” her arms caved under her and she flopped back onto the mattress. paige could tell she was close, so she adjusted accordingly. she pulled her in closer, fucking into her just how she liked it.
“i’m gonna cum,” azzi blurted out. “fuck, ‘m gonna cum!” she reached up to grab onto paige’s forearms, nails digging into her skin slightly. it stung, but in the best way possible. her thighs tensed as she felt herself reach her climax. her features scrunched up as she swallowed down her gasps, letting out loud whimpers in place of them.
“cum for me, baby.” paige slowed down her thrusts but kept going as she let azzi ride out her high. she finally pulled out after a few minutes and eased up on her grip. she glanced towards the clock on the nightstand. she hated that she had to let her go but she didn’t want her to be late, especially if she was speaking. she pressed another kiss to her lips, cradling her face once more. “you gotta get goin’ soon, huh?”
azzi checked the time for herself and nodded. she pushed herself up and rubbed the top of her thighs as she thought. “yeah… yeah, i do.” her mind was still all foggy from what they’d just done, but she knew she had places to be.
“you wanna take a quick shower? you can use mine.”
“gosh, yes please.”
“i’ll get your stuff for when you get out the shower. just go, i’ll hang ‘em up for you. my stuff’s already in there. you can use it if you want.”
azzi nodded quickly, and made her way to the bathroom. she poked her head out of the doorway to look at her again, “thank you so much… i’ll see you later, right?”
“of course! round two?”
azzi wrinkled her nose at her. “round two,” she confirmed before shutting the door behind her.
dallaswings!paige bueckers x dallaswings!azzi fudd
wc: 4.1k [ao3 link]
contains: domestic fluff, established relationship, stupid little lesbians aww
summary: paige and azzi are both finally in dallas and azzi isn't having a very good day. she comes to spend the night at paige's. paige is apparently too busy playing minecraft to get in bed with her, but she eventually has something to show her.
a/n: Sighs really loud idk this is kinda some bullshit the prompt was so cuteness thank u anon but its so short im sorry guys. was gonna make it j a drabble but i dont give a fuck im calling it a oneshot
Azzi is irritated. She’s tired, and her hip randomly is hurting, and practice tonight felt like it was dragging on forever, and she nearly had gotten into an accident driving back to her apartment because apparently no one knows how to drive in Dallas. And she had gotten home and realized she was out of shampoo, so she had called Paige and asked if she could just shower at hers, and Paige had said of course. So she had showered and dressed herself in one of Paige’s old shirts and scrunched product into her curls and smoothed lotion over her skin. And she had gotten into Paige’s bed. And Paige has yet to join her.
She’s playing Minecraft. Minecraft, of all things. She’s playing with KK and Sarah, Azzi thinks, and she’d like to say it’s endearing and she misses when all four of them were in the same place doing the same thing instead of being halfway across the country from each other, but she’s finding it hard to think anything about this is cute when her legs have never hurt this badly in her life and all she wants is for Paige to crawl into bed next to her and hold her.
The lighting in her room is soft. The windows are dark outside and so it’s just the glare of Paige’s monitor and the warm light of a floor lamp in one corner of the room to illuminate where they are. Paige laughs at something Azzi can’t hear and it feels like the bedsheets are suddenly prickling against her skin. She furrows her brows. She’s laying on her side, staring blankly at Paige’s closet door, silently deciding between yelling, crying, or leaving.
Paige laughs again, harder this time. Azzi lifts her head off of her pillow to glare at the back of her head. She wishes her girlfriend could read her mind, could sense the irritation and the need clinging to her like sharp seeds stuck to skin. Her bun is a mess beneath her headset and it shakes a little with more laughter. Azzi sighs a little. “Paige?”
To her credit, Paige immediately straightens at the sound of her own name through her headphones. She turns to look over her shoulder and lifts the cup of her headphones off of one ear. Her side profile is lined with the sharp light of her computer, washing her out, making her feel so far from Azzi. There’s a glare in each lens of her glasses. “What’s up, baby?” She says it sincerely.
Azzi blinks at the outline of her face once. She props herself up a little more, elbow dragging up, her brows furrowing. “When are you coming to bed?” The same words have left her mouth multiple times since she herself had crawled underneath the covers. Each time, they’ve become less soft, the fraying edges of them hardening a little more into something closer to annoyance every time.
Paige’s head twitches as she turns a little to glance back at her monitor. She pouts, turning to look at Azzi again, blue eyes shining gray in the light from her computer that can pass through them. “Give me, like, ten more minutes, Az,” she says. It’s slightly pleading.
She’s turning to face her monitor again before Azzi even answers. She frowns at the back of her head, watching her settle her headphones back over her ears again. She looks soft, and that’s what’s so infuriating for Azzi. She’s wearing a worn t-shirt and pajama pants and her hair is washed and up. Azzi knows she smells like the nice lotion she’d forced Paige to buy for herself because she liked how it smells. She would like to be smelling that now, thank you, instead of trying to chase the scent off of her pillow case. “You said that ten minutes ago,” Azzi grumbles as her head finds the pillows again.
Paige laughs a little. Her keyboard and mouse click quietly. Azzi glares at the closet door, curling her legs into herself under the covers. The soft rustling nearly drowns out the sound of Paige on her computer. “I’m- I’m doing something, it’s taking longer than I thought.”
Azzi squeezes her eyes shut. “Tell KK and Sarah to finish it,” she says, face screwed up. Her head hurts in the way it always does when she’s too tired. It’s a dull ache, running from the base of her neck to her eyes, and she just knows the comforting weight of Paige against her back and the sound of her even breathing close to her ear would send it away.
“We’re not on the same world,” Paige confesses, laughing a little. And then there’s a momentary pause and she’s laughing harder. Azzi knows one of their friends has cracked a joke and the fact that Paige is laughing at it makes her even more irritated. It’s not even because she feels left out. She’s just annoyed that it’s not her that’s being given Paige’s attention, that she’d rather laugh at some stupid joke than be with Azzi. “We’re on different worlds, we’re just talking. I’m almost done, I swear.”
Azzi says nothing in response. Paige clearly doesn’t pick up that Azzi is genuinely irritated at this point, because she just goes right back to playing Minecraft, giggling at whatever Sarah and KK are saying and making her own jokes Azzi only half-gets. She pulls the covers up to her chin. They’re soft and smell just enough like Paige to feel like they’re teasing her.
She’s been laying in Paige’s bed for upwards of half an hour when she decides she’s over it, when her skin feels hot because of how annoyed she is that she’s not receiving Paige’s attention and instead is laying alone in a cold bed with light splashing over her despite it being too late for this. She huffs to herself and starts to get up out of the bed.
She doesn’t really have a plan, and when she catches sight of herself in her bonnet and Paige’s old clothes in the mirror held up on the wall, she knows she looks a little insane. She’s just rolled out of bed and she looks the part. The soft bags lining her undereyes are visible even from where she stands. She frowns a little at her own reflection, at the shine of her skin and the pout of her lips and the set of her eyes.
Azzi hasn’t even gotten to the door to leave Paige’s bedroom before the blonde is noticing her attempt at absence. “Azzi, wha’d’you need?” Her voice is tinged with laughter, bright and a little energetic and so far from what Azzi wants to be wrapped up in right now that she can’t even bring herself to lean into the sound of it. She just stops, hand not even reached out towards the door, face still a little crumpled with frustration.
“Sleep,” she says. She looks over her shoulder. Paige is looking at her, a little confused, still smiling slightly. She’s doing that thing again where she lifts one side of her headphones up and Azzi hates her body for betraying her when it runs a little warm at the way she looks doing that with her glasses on. “‘m going back to my place, can’t sleep here. See you tomorrow, love you,” she says, turning back over her shoulder again.
The sound of shuffling at a desk, of things being placed down and abandoned as a body lifts itself out of a chair. “No, no, Azzi, no,” she says. It’s almost cooed, which makes Azzi bite the inside of her cheek. She’s being petty and she knows it. She doesn’t care. She reaches out to grab the doorknob. “Don’t leave. You should’ve told me I was actually keeping you up, I thought you were chillin’ waiting for me.”
Paige’s steps are quiet against the carpet but still quick. Azzi can sense her coming up behind her as she starts to pull the door open, can feel her soft heat trying to cling to her body in the way she always likes. “I keep asking when you’re coming to bed ‘cause I just wanna go to bed ‘cause my day’s been shit, but I get it if you wanna play with them. I’m just gonna sleep at mine.” She twists the doorknob and it clicks a little with the force at which she completes the action.
Arms around her waist. She pulls the door open, but it’s no use, hallway dark and lifeless in the yawning doorway as Paige presses her front against Azzi’s back. Azzi’s mind goes just a little fuzzier at the feeling. “No, no, ‘m done. I’d rather go to bed with you now than keep playing and go to bed without you.” Paige tucks her face into Azzi’s neck, mouth soft on the skin there. Azzi is so tired. She stays still in Paige’s hold, hand dropping from the door, just staring out into the hallway. “Will you stay? Please? I wanna cuddle.”
She huffs a little, but Paige readjusts her arms to pull her just a little more flush against her, and Azzi is finding it harder and harder to scramble and hold onto her irritation. “Now you do,” she mumbles. Paige laughs a little into her. The sound should probably just make Azzi more annoyed, but it’s so quiet and almost pleading that she has to squint her eyes and screw up her face to stop herself from fully melting back into Paige.
“Don’t be that way, please,” Paige murmurs. Her arms, grown from their thinner shape in college but still lithe as they snake around her body, move to settle her hands on her hips and turn her around. Azzi lets herself get flipped. Her face is still screwed up as she faces Paige. Warm hands slide from her hips to her lower back.
Paige squints back at her from under the frame of her glasses. It’s incredibly endearing, to Azzi’s dismay. Her hair is a little messy from taking her headphones off and her pajamas are so big that they’re almost dripping off of her and Azzi does love her so much. Paige’s hands move from her back to her face, palms flat and warm, fingertips gentle on her skin. Azzi just looks at her.
They both stand there for a few moments. Azzi’s resolve slips away from her like meat off a bone. She tries to stay squinting at Paige, tries to convince her she’s still annoyed, but she doesn’t think she’s doing a very good job. Paige’s expression softens into a half-smile and she smooths her thumbs over the thin skin of Azzi’s undereyes. “Can I show you what I was making?” Her smile turns a little more sly as she asks.
At this, Azzi scoffs, rolling her eyes. She’s smiling with it, unfortunately, and so it doesn’t really hold much weight. “Dude,” she says. Paige laughs a little. The shape of her mouth is gummy. Azzi is already losing her exasperation.
“No, you’re gonna like it, I promise,” Paige says. She repeats the motion of her thumbs, pads of them gentle against Azzi’s tired undereyes, a physical attempt to lull her into giving in. Azzi scoffs again. Paige’s smile turns crooked. “I promise! Come look, mama, please, and then we’re going to bed. Together. You’re staying ‘cause I wanna cuddle you.” She pouts a little at Azzi, bottom lip swelling as she draws her brows from under the frames of her glasses.
Azzi stares at her for a few moments. At the shine of her bright irises, warmed to something just bluer than a gray in the warm light of the bedroom, at the broken pieces of hair too short to be collected into her bun that hang around her face, at the way she’s looking at Azzi and holding her face and standing so close to her. Her chest is warm. She sighs. “Okay, fine. But it better be quick, ‘cause I wanna go to bed.”
Paige brightens. “It will be,” she says, eyes crinkled to thin crescents. Her hands slip away from Azzi’s face and reach down. The weight of Paige’s palm is familiar in Azzi’s and she lets herself be led back into the room, towards Paige’s desk instead of the mattress still rumpled with her attempt at escape. The monitor is bright and Paige’s headset is set haphazardly on the keyboard. She pushes Azzi lightly to get her to sit in the chair and picks up the headphones.
“I gotta go guys, it’s bed time in Dallas. Love you, talk to you later,” Paige says into the microphone. Tinny voices spill out of the ear pieces, saying words Azzi can’t decipher. Paige holds one up to her ear to listen as Azzi lowers herself into the chair, looking up at Paige. The older girl laughs a little. “No, shut the fuck up. Y’all just mad ‘cause you don’t got game like I do. I’m turning off my video games to join a beautiful woman in my bed, fuck you guys, goodnight,” she says, and then she leans across the desk to reach the mouse and hangs up on a call.
Azzi laughs quietly despite herself. She looks up at Paige, who’s still looking at the monitor, a slightly sheepish expression gripping her face. It’s illuminated palely by the light of her computer and Azzi grins a little at the way she looks. “What am I looking at?” Paige clicks around with the mouse for a moment and unpauses her game of Minecraft.
“Here, let me show you,” she says, settling herself behind Azzi. Her arms come around either side of her, one settling its long fingers against the keys and the other resting against the mouse. She rests her chin against Azzi’s shoulder over the back of the chair. Azzi smiles a little at the way Paige so easily envelopes her, at the way she exhales a nearly silent laugh and Azzi can still feel it close to her ear. Paige starts walking her character towards a structure made of pink wood. “Okay, so this is our house.”
Azzi’s mouth twitches with a smile. She’s being shown the house she’s assuming Paige, KK, and Sarah had been working on. She’s surprised it’s so pink. “It’s nice,” she praises, taking in the large windows and grand roof and the decoration lining the outside of the house. It looks nicer than anything she thinks the three of them could come up with. “You used a tutorial for this?”
Paige laughs quietly. “Only a little. The back looks like shit, ‘cause I got bored before it got to the back. And the inside. But I wanted to do the inside myself, anyway.” Azzi laughs, too. Paige sprints towards the front, taking Azzi up to the door inside. She stops in front of it. “Look,” she says, raising a hand off of the mouse to point at the screen. There’s a pale sign next to the doors, and in dark, blocky text, it reads: “fudd-bueckers house :) <3”. And Azzi remembers that Paige wasn’t playing with KK and Sarah, and so “our house” really could only mean one thing.
“Oh, it’s our house,” she says dumbly. There’s a stupid smile crawling up onto her face. It’s almost embarrassing, how quickly she finds everything Paige does endearing, how she’s so in love with her that her face is heating a little because she had built them a house to live in in a video game Azzi wasn’t even playing with her.
Paige scoffs quietly, but it’s teasing. “Yeah. What’d you think I meant?” Azzi says nothing. She just stays grinning at the computer screen, watching Paige lower her hand again and hit the door open. “And I made it outta the pink wood for you.” She walks into the house.
“It’s nice,” Azzi compliments again. She tries to stop how big her smile is from bleeding into her voice, but she thinks she’s mostly unsuccessful. Paige turns around herself to shut the door behind her. An amused noise comes out of her throat and settles in the dip of Azzi’s collarbone.
The keys click softly as Paige leads them farther into the house. Azzi is led to an area she thinks is a kitchen, clean, white blocks lining the walls and a white door acting as what she thinks is a fridge. “Look, this is the kitchen. We have a- so there’s a bar, and an island with some stools. And then I also gave us two sinks, ‘cause I know you want two sinks in a kitchen,” Paige explains as she runs around.
Azzi’s mouth twists with an even bigger smile. “I do,” she agrees, because she does. She doesn’t even remember bringing that up to Paige. She finds it stupidly sweet, though, that Paige remembers that. Such a silly detail to keep locked away. She cocks her head slightly to the side and it rests gently against Paige’s.
She’s run to another area, this one with stairs circled around what Azzi believes to be a coffee table. Paige turns to look at the wall in front of it. “Then…here’s our living room, we got a big ass TV to watch stuff on. And I put the boxing painting on it ‘cause it’s like we’re watching a game.” She punches aimlessly at the television and Azzi laughs a little. Paige snorts softly with her. “Then…you come up the stairs, you got our dog,”
Azzi squints at the screen, an amused smile finding her warm face. Paige crouches in front of the brown and white dog sat at the top of the stairs with a purple collar. “You named it Rufus?” Paige just laughs and starts to feed the dog a piece of raw meat. Azzi snickers.
“Sarah told me to do it,” Paige says, running past the dog and into another room. “Then…this is our bedroom. And look. I put our beds next to each other.” She says it suggestively, voice going low around the stupid smile dragging her voice up, and Azzi laughs. “I thought a pink bed and a purple bed next to each other would be ugly, so we both just have a gray one, but I gave us both little nightstands with a pink and a purple flower. So we know which side is ours.”
And true to Paige’s word, Azzi notices the flowerpots placed on top of the blocks on either side of their bed, one with a pink tulip and another with a round flower of a lavender color. “That’s good,” Azzi praises quietly. Paige makes a sort of self-satisfied sound and then leaves their bedroom.
She goes further down the hallway. “Then…here’s the kids’ room,” she says, turning into another room, and Azzi starts cheesing so hard she thinks Paige can probably feel her smile where their heads are touching. Paige leads her character into a room with carpet and chests and bookshelves, and it’s so stupid, but Azzi goes so soft as Paige walks them around the room.
Azzi laughs a little. “Paige, there’s, like, four bunk beds.” She points at the screen, towards the corners Paige has tucked a large amount of beds into the room meant for their future children.
Paige snorts. “You’re not tryna have eight of my kids?” She knocks her head to the side, gently coming into contact with Azzi’s before letting their heads just rest against each others’ again. Paige laughs a little. “I took a buncha beds from a village and I just…I needed to use ‘em up. We can have a reasonable amount of kids and they can use the extra beds for…I dunno, jumping on.”
Azzi screws her face up to keep from bursting out laughing. She holds her breath for a few moments, feeling the way Paige is still breathing evenly against her, listening to the sound of the keys, feeling the warmth of her own chest. “That’s nice,” she eventually says. Paige makes another satisfied sound.
Paige walks back down the hallway to the stairs to mess with the dog. “And…yeah. That’s our house tour. Wha’d’you think?” Azzi sits there and watches, amused, as Paige makes the dog stand up and sit down over and over as she waits for Azzi’s approval. The dog’s nametag flashes at Azzi again - Rufus, she’s reminded - and she grins stupidly.
“You’re such a…gay nerd,” she eventually lands on. Paige grunts in protest. Azzi laughs a little, looking at their dog on the screen, feeling the warmth of where their heads come together and where Paige’s arms brush hers to reach around her. Paige stops messing with Rufus.
“Bro, I sit here and I build us a beautiful house with my bare hands, and I decorate it the way you would want, and you call me gay and a nerd.” She’s grumbling. It makes Azzi laugh, the sound bright and real, lighter than the way she’s felt for most of the day. Paige huffs close to her ear. “My girl ungrateful as hell. Prolly can’t even wife her up, ‘cause she’d just call me a gay nerd for asking to marry her.” She can feel Paige start to straighten back up from leaning over her and she laughs.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it. It’s nice, Paige.” Paige fully parts from her now, a grin lighting Azzi’s face, laughter spilling out of her. She turns around the chair to look up at Paige, blonde brows drawn and bottom lip sticking a little bit out again. She crosses her arms. “Stop, now you’re the one pouting. I’m sorry! I love the house, P, it’s really nice. I’d love to live there with you. Stop it, babe, stop looking at me like that,” she says, still giggling through it, and Paige breaks a little to laugh with her.
Paige points a little over Azzi’s shoulder towards her monitor. “Do you actually like it?” She’s smiling a little as she asks, almost giddy. It’s adorable. Azzi can almost feel the press of her own dimples digging into her molars because of how hard she’s grinning.
“Yes,” she answers, and Paige’s smile turns a little lopsided and gummy. Azzi reaches her hands out in a silent ask. Paige answers by holding her own out and grabbing Azzi’s. “And I like that you were still thinking about me. I was lonely in bed without you, ‘m glad you were at least thinking about me while playing,” she says softly, still smiling.
Paige looks at her and her pupils are so large and round that Azzi can feel her own heart swelling a little at how sweet she looks. “‘m always thinking about you,” she says, voice quiet and sincere, hands warm where they’re held in Azzi’s.
Azzi doesn’t remember how she had gotten annoyed at Paige for this in the first place. “Aw, my little gay nerd,” she all but coos, and Paige laughs a little, looking down and away from her. Azzi smiles at the soft warmth of a blush that just barely pricks her cheeks from underneath her glasses, strawberry against cream. “I really like it. Thanks for showing me.”
Paige looks at her again. She smiles, almost sheepish, and Azzi pulls on her hands a little to get her to stumble closer to where she sits in the chair. Paige bends over and presses a chaste kiss against Azzi’s lips, both of them smiling a little, and Azzi is pleased to note that she really does smell like the nice lotion. “Time for bed?” She asks the question against Paige’s lips. Paige just hums.
She turns her PC off first, and then she walks over to the floor lamp to turn that off as well. Azzi watches her from her chair with a smile. She only gets up when she remembers she probably doesn’t want to try and feel her way to the bed through the dark, walking towards the bed in comfortable silence. “Y’know, I could think of many, many things to do to you in that bed that wouldn’t be nerdy.”
The lamp switches off. The room is dark now, Azzi climbing up onto the foot of the mattress. “Would still be gay,” Azzi counters as she wades towards the head of the bed while on her knees. The comforter is soft and swallows her actions, making them slow and lazy as she gets closer and closer to the top.
Paige groans. “I can’t win,” she complains, and Azzi laughs as she flops down into bed with her, her weight familiar and comforting as they sift through the mess of the covers until Azzi’s back is pressed against Paige’s front. She’s warm, and she’s happy again, and Paige is softly sighing close to her ear. She laces her fingers through Paige’s where they lay splayed over Azzi’s abdomen. Paige gently squeezes them back through the dark.
OUR PLAN IN THE LAST FIFTEEN SECONDS WAS TO GET JESSICA SHEPARD THE BALL??????? JESSICA SHEPARD/?????? JESSICA FUCKING SHEPARD????? THAT WAS OUR PLAN?????? JESS SHEPARD???????