Work Text:
Karl’s head was nestled between her shoulder blades, lazily kissing the back of her sweat soaked neck. His arms were wrapped around her bare chest and she held onto them tight. She could smell the motor oil from that bike he worked on, a train clanked outside, and the thick enough dark blue curtains she had forced him to put up in the off campus dorm room fluttered in the night breeze, leaving gaps that let the starlight glimmer in.
“What’s the matter, Aqua? You’re not usually this tense.” He asked after a moment. She kept quiet. “Did you have a bad day?”
“No. I… don’t know.” She finally whispered. The admission of something she knew deep in her gut twisting out.
“You always know everything.” he had stopped kissing her. She heard him moving around in bed, sitting up. She knew his cigar would be calling him, but he made no move. She curled up a bit more, then relaxed as she felt him run his hands through her short cropped blue hair. “Aqua.”
“You’re the one who’s been at school for 20 years.” She muttered.
“I think it’s more like 25 now.” He chuckled. She turned to look at him. His sunglasses were off, leaving just the mane of shaggy graying hair that he didn’t care to fight. Blue gray eyes that bore the edges of cataracts cloudying it, over a face with crows feet and concentration lines. His now naked body was a solid “Dad Bod” as people called it. Muscle was hidden behind layers of fat and a scar from some long ago heart surgery. He turned to look at her, and reached out, putting his hand on her cheek, thumb running along her cheek. She grabbed it.
“Aqua. Come on. What else do you have to hide from me?” He asked, eyeing down her breasts.
A lot. Why she was at the college. Why she was taking the classes she was instead of what she wanted to take. Pretty much everything but her name.
A body guard. A spy. Keeping Snow White, true ruler of her kingdom, safe and hidden while Snow White learned at college how to be a good ruler and politician. And for that, both of them needed a cover.
And then Karl Heisenberg walked into Aqua’s life.
And that was where all the current problems lay. Well the ones she could actually deal with. That would be a place to start.
“You know Maria?” She sat up and pulled his best sheet up to her waist. Not the greatest sheet, but she appreciated the effort. Still scratched sometimes, and after tonight needed a wash. Karl crossed his arms, also still a bit sweaty.
“Yeah, You have Math of the Incan Empire with her?” Karl asked. “Tall, kinda pretty, in it for the history-”
“She’s dating Alex from Caribbean History. Met over lunch and I could hear her talking about how she felt.” She curled up now, the sheet slipping down as she pulled her knees to her chest. He really needed to get new sheets. Karl had stopped moving, just tilting to look at her.
“And?”
“It…” She bit her tongue. He put his rough fingers under her chin and pulled, making them lock eyes. He really had some beautiful eyes under it all.
“Aqua. Tell me.” She knew some of why he was still at college after all these years. Stubborn and impulsive were two sides of him. Grudges would be quickly made and permanently held. And right now they had a good thing going. Comfortable. If nothing else a relief from her work as a body guard. But she had to be perfect. Aqua, the best bodyguard. The best student. The best at being in a relationship. And if she failed at being any of this… what would happen? Snow White could die. She would be kicked out and unable to protect Snow White. Karl… Karl could hate her. Would hate her. But if she lied here, then that was failing at relationships too.
“It didn’t sound like how I feel about you. At all.” The most gentle thing she could say, expecting his face to crack. Or maybe for him to just make a crack.
He didn’t. He just got quiet.
“Talk to me.” He said after a moment. “Or do I need to go back to kissing you until you talk.”
“I figured you would kick me out of bed and steal my clothes.” She replied, making a point to stretch so her breasts were in his eyeline.
“Are you trying to distract me?”
“Always.”
“Not going to work this time.” He settled back in bed, but still didn’t look at her eyes. “Stop being a coward.”
“Fine.” She muttered and braced herself. The words began to rush out of her mouth. “Maria was talking about how she always got these butterflies and planned their days around being able to see each other, and they are debating about changing some classes and -”
Karl started laughing, A deep chesty sound that caused some of his upper body to jiggle.
“Man that won’t work when they break up.” He finished with a snort. “College relationships, actually any relationship, that burn that bright will burn out quickly.”
“But either way I started thinking and I’m… not sure I like you.” She finished, trailing off. Waiting for his response.
“I have no problem being your booty call.” He finally replied, reaching for the cigar. “Where did you put my lighter?”
“Hid it. And no that’s not it either.” She frowned. “It’s… don’t get me wrong. I really do like this whole” She gestured to him. “Look, it just feels crass to say it right now.”
“Aqua, I just fucked you for-” He went to check the clock resting on the far side of the bed table. “Wait, I may need to kick you out if you have that test tomorrow.”
“Karl.” She said seriously, and reached out to him. Much more elegantly. She knew the star light and moon light would be blossoming behind her. Twinkling on her sweat, breeze ruffling her hair, sheet wrapped just so that he couldn’t really look away.
He never really could. Cigar, not even lit, and abandoned as he reached out with his calloused hand to her face, to pull her into a kiss. She pulled back again. He pouted, and she ran her hands through his half knotted mess of graying hair.
“What I’m trying to say is… you’re maybe the first person I liked romantically. And, Karl, I had to record myself saying I wanted you carnally, then got myself drunk to show you the video. That’s not how people do any of this. And even then I… I don’t really get those… sensations you always hear about.” She felt herself… deflate a bit. It sounded SO STUPID just saying it like that. Romance was supposed to feel like walking on air, hearing songs, getting butterflies when you saw their pencils, and imagining growing old together in happy company.
She didn’t have any of that. Oh she enjoyed her time with him. He was well educated, de facto leader of a few clubs, crude enough that she felt comfortable just saying her mind when she could. Far enough away from this protection duty too. But they would never grow old when he was already about twice her age. When she could go for a while not thinking about him as a partner. When her personal questions always felt more polite and friendly, and not her classmates vacuuming up all their knowledge to pay it off later in some grand romantic gesture. To make your partner feel seen and heard.
How do you feel lonely even when you were in some kind of a relationship?
Before she could dwell too long on that, Karl Heisenberg kissed her. Beard tickling her mouth, tasting faintly of that cigar he almost lit, and then he broke away, only to start kissing by her neck.
“Listen. Aqua. Are you happy with this?” He whispered in her ear. She shivered.
“Yes.” And that was true too. He brought insights and made her laugh. Stole her away from work and gave her juicy gossip. He treated her like a person. Not a body guard, not a coworker, not a threat. To him, she was just Aqua. That girl he met in European Post Modern politics followed by that… disaster of a house party where she showed him that video. He didn’t run away after that.
“Then what does it matter.” He broke away. “I like you. You, at the very least, like my dick. But you wouldn’t hang around this long if it was just that. “
“What-”
“Aqua, I got no classes with you this semester. We spent an hour yesterday talking about Bio Engineering. You are many things, and that includes confident, kind, beautiful, smart, fierce-” He trailed kisses across her neck and shoulders with each compliment.
“You should have someone who likes you back in the same amount.” She muttered, not looking at him. She felt him break the kiss and she turned to look at him again, street light bouncing slightly off the paint and giving him the faintest glow from behind.
“Well, I don’t right now. I want you. And if you find someone else you like more, we’ll shake hands and move on.” He lay back on the pillow and kept glancing between her face and his cigar.
“So-”
“So as long as we are both happy, why change anything?” He replied. “Listen, when you get older you find out a lot of the things you cared about at twenty… mean a lot less now. “ He paused, went back to looking at her. “And also the stuff you do care about, it means a lot more.”
Aqua sighed, smiled, and moved so she could sit on his stomach before leaning over him, her breasts falling easily into his line of sight.
“Fine.” She finally said. “Want to get lunch tomorrow?”
“As long as you do well on that test.” he muttered, “Aqua, seriously, don't you have a curfew or something?”
She lay on him, and kissed his nose.
“Five more minutes.”
She left an hour later.