#morningsquabbles

[asheespiquantpeculiarities]

More Ottersquabbles

Slowly blinking my eyes open, I listened intently. Something fell. Followed by scratching noises. I rolled my eyes with a huff. Apparently, the otter was still running about. I grabbed for the phone and checked... mmmmhn... still no message from Allan. Then... I should probably go and at least locate it. Maybe catch it? I stretched. And then yawned.

Alright. It was an otter. So I googled them. They apparently eat fish. Well... apparently, Allan had some salmon in the fridge. So I grabbed a slice... and scrunched it up.... and put it on a plate. And down on the floor. With a stick and a carton over it. Why not. It was a first plan.

A second plan... was simply following the noises. Which was a lot easier than it should be. This time, it came from the living room. More specifically, from the couch. There was some movement, too: The pillows rustled, moved around. So, I leaned against the door frame. And waited what would happen. After all, it would get out at some point. After a few seconds, the whole upper body popped out. With. With a chocolate-bar in it's mouth. I blinked. It almost seemed to blink back, before it scratched around on the pillows, dislodged them and ran away out of the room, scrambling for purchase. Since I was not too keen on chasing a panicked otter... I sighed and went to right the pillows and... ...frowned. There was chocolate. Quite a fair amount of chocolate. Expensive chocolate. Allan's favourite. This... was a stash of chocolate. And the otter had accidentally found it while trying to hide. I tilted my head a little and frowned. Why... was there a chocolate stash?

Did he really take it that hard? The recommendation to eat less chocolate? Or was it just a... stash. Existing since ages? Chocolate kept forever, so looking at the best before dates didn't really do much. Well, I would have to ask him. Until then, probably protect the stash from wild otters that grab slightly ripped packages.

I packed them all into a box and closed it, rearranging the pillows. Now, unto the otter-task... On the way back into the kitchen, I noticed he had slid down the corridor in our discarded clothes. Great. Another mundane task. I took all the clothes got picked up and discarded in the laundry box. Now, actually the kitchen. I furrowed my brows, as the trap I had set had apparently worked. There was a box running around in the kitchen. Noisily. Shaking my head, I grabbed another salmon piece from the fridge and held it close to one side of the box, lifting it slightly. A snuffling nose appeared from under it, motioning towards the salmon. I lifted it a little more. The animal followed the salmon smell, even when I took it away and took a few steps back, little claws scrambling on the floor, making scritching noises. It even climbed my leg up a little bit. For that, it received the salmon piece, which it took and then audibly consumed, curled around itself on the floor. It was adorable. So I pet it. It made a strange chittering noise and didn't run away, so I thought it was a good thing. Mh. I grabbed a pillow and threw it in the corner before I closed both kitchen doors. There were tiles. It would be fine.

[asheespiquantpeculiarities]

Ottersquabbles

CRASH. My ear and head twitched when I woke up from it. Slowly, I raised my head from under the massive amount of pillows and blankets. I suspected I looked the tiniest bit ruffled, since I hd slept here over night. And some devil convinced me not to put my hair together. (the devil was me, I was too lazy to find a brush in his flat, wasn't even sure he had one). But back to that noise. It seemed to repeat, albeit a little less urgent-sounding. Now that I was a little more awake, I also heard scratching and sliding sounds. I squinted a little in the direction of the floor. I didn't want to move. But Allan wasn't in bed anymore, so I had to assume he actually took his appointments seriously today... So, I had to deal with a... critter in his home. Probably.

Ugh. Draping a blanket around me, I crawled out of bed and started the journey through the flat. Apparently, my panties had ended their journey inside in the floor already. Huhm. Well. I slipped them on and dragged onwards, until I found his shirt. It was nice and soft and huge. It would suffice as hunting gear. I pulled it on... it went almost down to my knees. Sometimes I forgot how ridiculously tall he was. For that one moment that I wasn't reminded, at least. I let the blanket fall where I stood and continued. Most likely, it came from the kitchen... which also had the coffee machine, so... Yawning, I tapped over on bare feet. Floor heating was a beautiful thing, even in summer. Switching on the machine, I looked around and... yes. There was cutlery on the floor. That might have made the crashing noise. On the other side of the kitchen, there was a little more plastic laying around. Whisks and spatulas. I grabbed the cup of coffee, stepped over the plastic and followed the path of 'destruction'. When I stepped into the living room, I could hear scratching noises. I blinked slowly, sipping.

A little brown slinky ran past at the back of the sofa. To be honest, I was a bit flabbergasted. I ran over the floor and skidded, trying to stop and crashing into the wall. It apparently... wanted to run. This... was this... I frowned deeply. Was... was this an otter?!

What in the world does an otter do in a flat in the middle of town?! After it shook itself,it stood up and... yeah. Definitely an otter. I sipped a little more coffee. ... I decided to go back to bed. There I grabbed my phone and wrote a message to Allan: 'Allan, there is an otter in your flat. Why. Should they stay?' It... it was too early for an otter in the city.

[asheespiquantpeculiarities]

Some more Squabbles

For quite some time.. nothing happened. Media-wise, that is. Both weren't exactly careful with meeting anymore. They did not announce 'in a relationship' on facebook or wrote mails to everyone they knew, but they did meet in broad daylight and Allan had barely a disguise on him (it's still annoying to meet too many fans on the open street, they took away time). And it worked out just fine. Her uniform was frilly, but not more head-turning than any other slightly extravagant outfit. And since she drew more attention than him, it did work quite well.

So, the first two weeks were just nice for her back: Beds were a lot more comfortable than walls. The availability of pillows was also a wonderful thing. Simply accompanying him home was a very, very nice. There were a lot more kisses involved than before. They made her blush more than expected.

"Are you in a relationship with Allan Riverson?" She blinked at the person in front of her. They looked something between angry and inquisitive. She was not actually impressed. "I maintain a steady supply of ice cream for him, which I will happily provide to you as well, that is what you are here for, right?" She said, smiling brilliantly, because they were standing in front of the counter. And people were waiting. Since the other people were more interested in sweet refreshments than my private life, the person was shuffled off to the side.

But sure enough, the first little post appeared on the internet, of both of them on the street, smiling, from behind. Plus a photo of the ice cream shop. And... that actually was a nice advertisement, right there. The owner was okay  with it and had a hearty laugh about the 'kids these days'. She could date whoever she wanted, sure, he said. It took another few weeks - and more photos - later, some people actually did arrive and asked me for Mr. Riverson, when arriving. She merely recommended his favourite ice-creams (from his twitter, I could reference it)

The next time they actually met - with a kiss, she liked it more than she wanted to admit - she sighed: "... soon, the hatemail will come flying. But for now... thanks for the influx of customers!" "... you have an influx of customers?" He said, putting his spoon down, looking a little nervous. "Oh yes, there are people asking for you," she said, and he looked around, a little bit unsure, "... we are closed, you know that, right?" "Well, yes, but..." He sighed, "... you still think it was a good idea?" She wiped a bit of ice cream from the corner of his mouth and licked it of her thumb: "I get to be outside with my boyfriend, I think that's definitely worth it" There was a tiny blush on his face, when he said: "I... like to be outside with my girlfriend as well" Possibly, there might have been a blush on her face as well. And the bed might be warmed a little afterwards.

[asheespiquantpeculiarities]

Afternoon Squabbles

"If you really think you can take it, we can make it public," he said, sitting down opposite of her chosen coffee table. She raised her brows, letting go of the straw to her milk shake for a second: "... what?" "You said I should think about it. And I did. I thought about it. And if you want to, we can make it public and we can meet properly," he nodded decidedly. She kind of stared. Then said: "You... want to make our... 'relationship' public? And don't crinkle your nose, you know we're not that traditional" The nose un-crinkled slightly. Then he said: "... I am not ashamed of you. At all. I'm... it's simply... I had relationships before... and... they didn't do well with... publicity" She chuckled: "Really? You think I'll crumble under smearing campaigns?" "It's not that easy, you know that, yes?" "Well, sure, thousands of people telling me to die isn't going to be great, but... I'm perfect. It's just a fact," she said, slurping her milkshake, "And I will take it as an insult if you continue looking so sceptical" Once again, he fidgeted: "... so... that's... a yes? We make it... official?" It was worth a bit of a thought. Honestly, she hadn't thought he would go there. "I could use any time I get photographed as an advertisement opportunity" "What?," he looked confused. "There are caps and uniforms of my place of work," she chewed at her nail, "I could just always use those... and use that as an excuse never to answer questions" "... it's... not that easy, I think," he looked unhappy again. "Well, it's not easy to ruin my back by travelling in car trunks either" "That- it was only one time!" At least he looked sorry. "But it did happen. And I don't know how far this will go..." she grumbled. "So, you really think... we should go there? You can't go back from the public, you know?" Looking sincere as he did, she tilted her head at him. "We can always break up, then the interest in me will vanish," she shrugged. "No" Once again, she laughed: "Well. Well, sure. We can. I might come to your home today" and wriggled her brows. "Uhm... well... we wanted to not- but. Well. If you'd like..." He blushed. It was worth it.

[asheespiquantpeculiarities]

Morning Squabbles II

She stretched out under the sheets, the soft fabric stroking her skin. This was a nice morning. High quality fabric. An entire wall of windows (mirroring from the outside), a lot more space than she was used to. A single strand of hair hindered her vision, but a huge hand pushed it away, behind her ear. And he looked at her. A smile pulled at the corner of her lips. "... this is an awful lot of effort for a booty call, Allan-bear," Eva chuckled. He had smuggled her in the backseat of his car - she had gotten into it before he had gotten in - into his own flat. Going from the garage into his flat. It was getting slightly ridiculous, really. 

A frown formed on his face - as usual, she started to wonder if he objected on whatever she said on principle - and he said: "That's... not what you are" There might even be a pout involved. Eva giggled: "Suuurely not, mister 'I got a headache and that's the only thing that actually helps'" "But... seriously, I... this isn't what... do you really think that's what I come to you for?" His offended-ness turned defensive there. Oh, baby. I still raised a brow: "Since we have sex every single time we meet... yeah, yeah, I think so," not that I minded much. Not at all. "Yeah, because... because you started it every time? Like... you came onto me, so-," he halted, now looking confused. "Well, you wouldn't have come onto me, mister polite British man," he didn't even dare touching her in the beginning. He looked almost crestfallen when he said: "But... I... I would have liked to spend time with you without as well, it's not just... it's not just about sex!" Eva tilted her head: "It didn't ever feel like it... plus: You want to keep me a secret, so..." That's when he bit his lip: "I... it's not easy to be in the spotlight... constantly being watched isn't easy. And being my girlfriend will do that to you and-" She laughed: "Oh, sure, sure that's it. You are not just kind of ashamed of me" Again, he looked offended: "I- that's not at all what I am! I'm... I'm not ashamed of you! Just... the public... they would make things complicated and-" A laugh bubbled up: "Of course, honey, of course" "But that... I would... I would definitely spend some time with you without... I wouldn't mind if..." She cuddled up to him: "Think about that later, will you? Just keep in mind what I just told you," after all, it was nice to cuddle up to him. He was exceptionally well built.

[asheespiquantpeculiarities]

Noon Squabbles

"Huh, what are you doing here, puppy?" Eva said, looking up at the man who put a hand on her shoulder. Allan pulled his hat a little further into his face: "You did say you go to the market on Tuesdays..." "Aw, he listens," she said, receiving her fresh produce with a smile. Of course it produced a slightly offended frown on his face, it was adorable and worth it. 

She wandered to the next stall, filling the next conversation with smiles and the normal amount of heckling, while he was the slightest bit nervous. "How... how are you?" Eva shook her head at the nervous tone. There was not much doubt why he was here. "Oh, the usual, on the noon-break, acquiring fresh groceries... the weather is nice, isn't it? How are you?" "Mmmh... I got a headache that... isn't fun anymore. Not even the sun really helps," he said, fidgeting a bit. She smiled and paid properly, wishing the vendor a nice day. "Ah... and you... came to me so I kiss it better?" There were some spices missing in her kitchen, she would not simply leave it be, because Mr. Riverson felt an itch. He fretted. Of course he did. And said: "Maybe... a little more than that?" "Some gentle pets as well?" She smiled and once again and exchanged goods for money. "Miss Shuang..." He frowned. Waving my last vendor good bye I link our arms and I led him over the market: "... yes... I know... but this becomes quite a habit by now, doesn't it?" His hand squeezed a little bit tighter on my arm and looked a little to the side, saying: "Well... you are not at all opposed, as far... as I saw... up to now" "Oh, that is without a question! And I am very glad it also helps with your headaches," otherwise he might now want to do it that often, "But... at one point, we might need to find a proper place for that, shouldn't we?" "Well, it... would be preferable..." He was still not very happy. "Since you gave up our initial hotel room," she couldn't help but point out. "The movie has been filmed, it's over, I couldn't keep it anymore," he explained for the approximately tenth time. "Mh. But still... there should be a room. I mean... I'm not opposed to experimental places, but you get too nervous and cuddly afterwards..." The corners of his mouth went down. "Not that it's a bad thing, we should simply find a room... or you get used to the ice cream parlour's back room," because that was rather easy for me. He fidgeted again: "I can't... just disappear into the back room like that... that often" It amused her. Quite a bit. But he said: "But there is a hotel right next to here, so... I... took the freedom to reserve it?" "Oh, someone was sure of himself," it made him look away again, "... well, you have all the right for that" It was a nice gesture. He cared a little. Beds were pretty comfortable from time to time, really. It was a step in a nice direction.