This Is the Start of Something Good
Title: This Is the Start of Something Good
Character Pairing: Justin/Padma
Prompt: By the book
Rating: G
Word Count: Word Processor says 940
Summary: "Your house is very clean."
Author's Notes: Title taken from this song. Also, as a happy disclaimer, nothing is mine.
Link to Prompt Table: Table.
Padma faced the steamed-up lavatory mirror; so far, she was dressed in her house robe and had a towel wrapped around her wet hair, and that was not suitable dinner (date?) attire (unless one were looking forward to inappropriate things, which she was certainly not).
The first thing she did when she arrived home was tell Parvati about dinner. Her twin’s face shouted from the fireplace, “OH MY GOD, HE FANCIES YOU, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO WEAR, SHUT UP, OF COURSE HE FANCIES YOU, YOU’RE FANTASTIC, YOU’RE NOT GOING TO WEAR THAT, ARE YOU? AT LEAST CHANGE OUT OF YOUR WORK THINGS AND WEAR A SHORTER SKIRT.” Ultimately, Padma just grabbed a jumper and a skirt and tied half of her hair back with a ribbon.
Dinner was brilliant, and she was pleased to learn that Justin was a talented cook. His flat looked recently cleaned; she could smell the faint remains of lemon-scented Muggle cleaning product, and there were tracks on the carpet where she could tell he had swept with that vacuum thing (those gadgets actually kind of made her nervous), and the glimpse she caught of his kitchen sink had some water droplets left over and a little mound of suds in the corner. Padma couldn’t help but smile at these observations.
(Later, when she would tell Parvati this, her twin would say, “You were alone with him in his house, and all you did was admire his cleaning abilities?”
Padma would respond with, “But it was so cute! I could tell he really put in the effort to make everything nice for me! You know I could never go with a slob-”
“YOU’RE SEEING HIM NOW? WHY DIDN’T YOU MENTION THAT FIRST?”
“I DON’T KNOW, AND I DIDN’T SAY I ACTUALLY AM SEEING HIM.”
“LIAR!”
“SHUT UP, I’M GOING TO BED!”
“YEAH. TO BED YOUR BOYFRIEND.
“HE’S NOT MY BOYFRIEND.”
“OH MY GOD, YOU’RE SO BAD AT LYING.”)
After dinner, Justin and Padma took a walk. Padma tried to walk and search for constellations at the same time with her head tipped all the way back. “D’you see any?” she asked, nearly avoiding an uneven slab of pavement.
Justin shook his head. “No, I do not. Isn’t is hard to walk like that?”
“Yes,” Padma answered and reached blindly for his arm to keep herself steady. “If I fall, you better not laugh.”
“I can’t make any promises.”
They walked silently for some time until they found a bench under a street light. “You’re house is very clean,” Padma blurted.
He chuckled and shrugged. “It isn’t usually,” he confessed.
“I could tell.”
“You could tell?”
“It smelled clean.”
“It smelled clean?”
“Like lemons.”
“Is that good?”
“It’s not bad,” Padma said and tried to keep a straight face. “It’s not my choice of scent, but it’s better than… dirty socks.”
“I’m very glad my house smells better than socks.”
Padma nodded and proceeded to suggest numerous other smells he should use in his home. After another lull, she mustered her courage and said, “You can kiss me.”
Justin’s eyes widened and he turned to face her properly. “What?”
“Maybe not here- tonnes of people could walk by, and public displays-”
“No one cares if people kiss on benches,” Justin pointed out while scooting closer to her.
With the crisp chill in the air, having his warmth nearer was a pleasant change and brought a blush to her cheeks. “It’s not… I just don’t want the world to see, I like keeping these sorts of things private, and maybe one day we’ll kiss on benches, possibly when it’s warmer and- see, it’s snowing now, who wants to kiss while shivering in a blizzard?” Though, Padma was exaggerating, as it was no where near a blizzard and had only just started to snow.
Justin covered her mouth with his hand. “Can I kiss you at my house?”
She nodded and licked his palm with an innocent smile. Even though she hated the cold, Padma liked the way the snow landed in his hair and clung to his eyelashes. Something about it was so simple and made her feel younger, but so much older at the same time.
“That was disgusting,” he said, but she shrugged and got up and held out her hand for him, which he took and once they reached his house, he hadn’t even let the front door close all the way when he bent over to cup her cheek in his palm and press a soft, yet eager kiss to her lips, which she gladly returned.
“You kiss by the book,” she said with a playful smile.
Laughing, he casually rested his other hand on the small of her back. “Doesn’t that mean it was a bad kiss?”
“I think you’re right,” Padma said and pouted. “It was the very opposite of bad.”
“Does this mean that I got something right for once?”
“Shut up,” she said and swatted his shoulder.
He mussed her hair and ignored her disapproving glare. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Actually, it’s after twelve,” Padma pointed out and nodded toward the clock. “Which is good, because who wants Valentine’s Day to be the day they get together? It’s so hectic and all the restaurants are booked up, so you can’t even get a table if you want to go out to celebrate it. The day after is much better. It’s less busy that way.”
Quite pleased, Justin pulled her a little closer to him. “I thought you weren’t looking for a boyfriend because you were so busy all the time?”
Padma shrugged and tugged him back down for another kiss.
Character Pairing: Justin/Padma
Prompt: By the book
Rating: G
Word Count: Word Processor says 940
Summary: "Your house is very clean."
Author's Notes: Title taken from this song. Also, as a happy disclaimer, nothing is mine.
Link to Prompt Table: Table.
Padma faced the steamed-up lavatory mirror; so far, she was dressed in her house robe and had a towel wrapped around her wet hair, and that was not suitable dinner (date?) attire (unless one were looking forward to inappropriate things, which she was certainly not).
The first thing she did when she arrived home was tell Parvati about dinner. Her twin’s face shouted from the fireplace, “OH MY GOD, HE FANCIES YOU, WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO WEAR, SHUT UP, OF COURSE HE FANCIES YOU, YOU’RE FANTASTIC, YOU’RE NOT GOING TO WEAR THAT, ARE YOU? AT LEAST CHANGE OUT OF YOUR WORK THINGS AND WEAR A SHORTER SKIRT.” Ultimately, Padma just grabbed a jumper and a skirt and tied half of her hair back with a ribbon.
Dinner was brilliant, and she was pleased to learn that Justin was a talented cook. His flat looked recently cleaned; she could smell the faint remains of lemon-scented Muggle cleaning product, and there were tracks on the carpet where she could tell he had swept with that vacuum thing (those gadgets actually kind of made her nervous), and the glimpse she caught of his kitchen sink had some water droplets left over and a little mound of suds in the corner. Padma couldn’t help but smile at these observations.
(Later, when she would tell Parvati this, her twin would say, “You were alone with him in his house, and all you did was admire his cleaning abilities?”
Padma would respond with, “But it was so cute! I could tell he really put in the effort to make everything nice for me! You know I could never go with a slob-”
“YOU’RE SEEING HIM NOW? WHY DIDN’T YOU MENTION THAT FIRST?”
“I DON’T KNOW, AND I DIDN’T SAY I ACTUALLY AM SEEING HIM.”
“LIAR!”
“SHUT UP, I’M GOING TO BED!”
“YEAH. TO BED YOUR BOYFRIEND.
“HE’S NOT MY BOYFRIEND.”
“OH MY GOD, YOU’RE SO BAD AT LYING.”)
After dinner, Justin and Padma took a walk. Padma tried to walk and search for constellations at the same time with her head tipped all the way back. “D’you see any?” she asked, nearly avoiding an uneven slab of pavement.
Justin shook his head. “No, I do not. Isn’t is hard to walk like that?”
“Yes,” Padma answered and reached blindly for his arm to keep herself steady. “If I fall, you better not laugh.”
“I can’t make any promises.”
They walked silently for some time until they found a bench under a street light. “You’re house is very clean,” Padma blurted.
He chuckled and shrugged. “It isn’t usually,” he confessed.
“I could tell.”
“You could tell?”
“It smelled clean.”
“It smelled clean?”
“Like lemons.”
“Is that good?”
“It’s not bad,” Padma said and tried to keep a straight face. “It’s not my choice of scent, but it’s better than… dirty socks.”
“I’m very glad my house smells better than socks.”
Padma nodded and proceeded to suggest numerous other smells he should use in his home. After another lull, she mustered her courage and said, “You can kiss me.”
Justin’s eyes widened and he turned to face her properly. “What?”
“Maybe not here- tonnes of people could walk by, and public displays-”
“No one cares if people kiss on benches,” Justin pointed out while scooting closer to her.
With the crisp chill in the air, having his warmth nearer was a pleasant change and brought a blush to her cheeks. “It’s not… I just don’t want the world to see, I like keeping these sorts of things private, and maybe one day we’ll kiss on benches, possibly when it’s warmer and- see, it’s snowing now, who wants to kiss while shivering in a blizzard?” Though, Padma was exaggerating, as it was no where near a blizzard and had only just started to snow.
Justin covered her mouth with his hand. “Can I kiss you at my house?”
She nodded and licked his palm with an innocent smile. Even though she hated the cold, Padma liked the way the snow landed in his hair and clung to his eyelashes. Something about it was so simple and made her feel younger, but so much older at the same time.
“That was disgusting,” he said, but she shrugged and got up and held out her hand for him, which he took and once they reached his house, he hadn’t even let the front door close all the way when he bent over to cup her cheek in his palm and press a soft, yet eager kiss to her lips, which she gladly returned.
“You kiss by the book,” she said with a playful smile.
Laughing, he casually rested his other hand on the small of her back. “Doesn’t that mean it was a bad kiss?”
“I think you’re right,” Padma said and pouted. “It was the very opposite of bad.”
“Does this mean that I got something right for once?”
“Shut up,” she said and swatted his shoulder.
He mussed her hair and ignored her disapproving glare. “Happy Valentine’s Day.”
“Actually, it’s after twelve,” Padma pointed out and nodded toward the clock. “Which is good, because who wants Valentine’s Day to be the day they get together? It’s so hectic and all the restaurants are booked up, so you can’t even get a table if you want to go out to celebrate it. The day after is much better. It’s less busy that way.”
Quite pleased, Justin pulled her a little closer to him. “I thought you weren’t looking for a boyfriend because you were so busy all the time?”
Padma shrugged and tugged him back down for another kiss.