A Most Terrifying Engagement (closed)

[Poprockz]

She didn’t think she could open her eyes even if she wanted to. Not that she would want to with how safe she felt. When was the last time she had felt so reassured? She honestly couldn't remember. Her childhood's nights had been plagued by the shadow who haunted her, and even after he was gone his presence lingered and tormented her with the threat of his reappearance. Even when that itself eventually faded, she had never truly felt safe in the dark, always unsettled by a presence she thought she could feel within.

Now she was surrounded by the very essence of what lingered behind his eyes every time he looked at her. There was no expectation of reciprocation, nor pressure to accept what he offered. It was merely an open hand with a gift offered upon the palm.

While Vanta may not have needed to take a breath, Andrea did. And yet, in some ways she wished she hadn't had to. It seemed like such an enticing thing to simply continue to remain locked in their silent conversation.

"I can't wait to wake up..." she murmured, knowing that the sooner the morning came, the sooner she would have another chance to further explore this new Vanta who seemed to be slowly dismantling her walls.

——

The next day came with the realization that she was now on her period. It wasn’t entirely unexpected since she tracked that sort of thing, but she had been so caught up in current events that it had slipped her mind.

Andrea had to explain to Vanta that over the next five days, she was going to experience all the wonders that came with womanhood. When telling him that she would be bleeding during that time, she quickly followed that up with the reassurance that she wasn’t in any danger from it. It was a natural part of the reproductive cycle, though it would be painful at times due to cramps. Her cramps were not egregiously painful, but they were rather moderate and tended to fluctuate throughout the day, often becoming worse in the evening. Instead of being disgusted by all of this, Vanta’s first inclination was to ask if there was anything he could do to help or to make her more comfortable.

The fact that the first thing that occurred to him was that he wanted to ease her discomfort made her smile. At first she politely declined, opting to use other methods to soothe herself as she always had. However, at one point they were watching a movie together and her heated water bottle had run out of heat. At that moment she had been sitting between Vanta’s legs and had groaned at the idea of having to get up and reheat it, which was when Vanta had offered a solution.

Unlike a heated water bottle or rice sock, which could either end up scalding or tepid, Vanta was able to heat his arms to the perfect temperature. Wrapped snuggly around her and resting against her abdomen… it was heavenly. The first time he had done it she had sighed and leaned back against him with the reverent murmur of “oh… that’s nice.” What’s more was that it didn’t get uncomfortably clammy or anything, likely because Vanta was absorbing her sweat. She tried not to think about that aspect of it though.

And thus, it became somewhat of a ritual for them: watching a movie together in the evening while she rested in his warm embrace. He became familiar with five different types of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream: Cherry Garcia, Karamel Sutra, Phish Food, Dulce Delish, and Chunky Monkey. Every few bites of the pint she would nurse, she would scoop up a large spoonful and hold it up over her shoulder for him to eat if he wanted it.

During the rest of the day, they worked on various projects around the house uch as painting, fixing various things, packing, and checking for any issues that might have arisen. Vanta was exceedingly good at doing things she physically couldn’t, like exploring the crawlspace under the house to make sure there weren’t any issues under there. Apparently there was a family of raccoons under there. She wasn’t sure what she was going to do about it, but it was good to know.

Eventually the week passed and with it, so too did the red tide. She woke up the next day feeling refreshed, deciding that today she should reward him in some way for how supportive he had been that week.

Andrea turned on her side in the bed to face Vanta and propped herself up. Who knew if he was currently truly sleeping or simply miming the act so he could spend more time with her. Whatever the case was, she was getting used to him being there when she woke up, and she rather liked it, admittedly.

“I'm going to go take a shower... When I come back, you should let me know if there's anything I can do to thank you for helping me out this week.” she quietly mused out loud, willing to let him continue to sleep if that wasn’t enough to rouse him.

 

[Brandnewbuddy]

Vanta, who was currently in a much more mundane humanoid form than he had been the week prior, let out a long yawn and fluttered his eyes open as Andrea spoke. He smiled almost drunkenly at her and raised his hand to cup her face.

"You feeling better is enough of a reward for me Andrea." He said, an almost cherubic innocence radiating from him, "buuut since you offered, I do have something I've been planning for when you were feeling better," his face then contorted into a devious grin, "though of course if I have to wait till you're out of the shower, I'll need to change things up a bit." He laughed and then rose up on his elbow so he was mirroring her pose. He finished his joke with a gentle kiss on her lips.

The past few days for Vanta had been an experience that was unexpected yet very enriching. While the night of passion he and Andrea had shared had let him indulge and share his raw passion for Andrea but the last few days had allowed him to properly partner with Andrea. While he of course didn't like the discomfort Andrea had experienced, he liked being depended on by her as well as snuggling with her. Over the past few days, he had been given the opportunity to do tasks Andrea couldn't, comfort her and spend time with her doing acts that he enjoyed, not just because of the bits of ice cream (which he secretly always cleaned the carton of when Andrea was done and wasn't watching, but because he got to be with her doing things he found boring (though he would go to his grave before he admitted his boredom or that Andrea had a show or two that he had come to dislike and had to force a grin and focus on how it felt to have her in his arms to get through). It wasn't even a matter of proving his worth: they were becoming comfortable with each other. The passion was still there but was growing with Vanta now was a love born of familiarity.

That wasn't to say Vanta had only grown in his love for Andrea. He had made active use of her gifts whenever she was napping or he could send some of his mass off to learn for him. He had used the online device to start learning as much as he could. He of course not only learned how to better care for Andrea while she was on her period but also learned how to cook, about more current events, and how to act more-for lack of a better term-human. He of course held onto ideas for his nonhumanoid forms but he began to add little hairs and pores, to move his face a bit more naturally. He even started yawning involuntarily when he was tired or had just woken up.

He had even (when Andrea was fast asleep during a nap), even tried out the SPF suit. It had only been to the end of the driveway to grab some mail and on overcast days, but it worked! Suddenly far more options were open to Vanta and that had led him to the surprise he had for Andrea. He wanted to show her how much he had learned during the past few days by taking her on a date...oh it would be far but it would be outside with the woman he loved. The day was cloudy but only a light covering and the temperature was perfectly pleasant: just enough wind for there to be a gentle breeze but not chilly, and warm enough that light clothes or even no clothes at all would be comfortable.

Which led him back to the present. He smiled at her, "Just playing. I've been planning this surprise for a bit so I can wait a little bit before springing it on you." He let his hand drift down to her side, "though if I may make a request wihout losing my favor, I'd like if you wore a sundress today. Also, what would you like for breakfast? That's not my favor and I'm not taking a 'no.' He said, his playful smile coming back.

 

[Poprockz]

A sundress? Why did he want her to wear a sundress? Was this perhaps some sort of kink he had stumbled upon, or did he simply like the style and want to see what one might look like on her? It was an intriguing request, and one she could easily grant. Andrea owned two sundresses: a pink shoulderless one, and a white sunflower one. Both were cute, but she wondered which one he would prefer.

More intriguing though was this mention of a surprise. As far as she could tell, he hadn’t purchased anything on the Echo yet, and wasn’t able to go out and obtain something for her. So her best guess was that either he had made more presents out of his own shadowy form, or he had some sort of gesture to make like a serenade. That might be an interesting thing to see. Come to think of it, she wondered if Vanta knew how to sing, and not simply replicate noises.

In any case, cooking for her didn’t seem like something Vanta would offer to do if he wasn’t confident that he wouldn’t burn the house down, but who could say how well he could cook without supervision? It would probably be best if she had him cook something relatively simple, just to gauge where he was at and not make things too complicated. Besides, sometimes a simpler breakfast was all the more satisfying.

Andrea let her gaze linger on the lips he had pressed against her mere moments ago. It was strange- she could have sworn that his face was becoming more personalized by the day. Yet the changes were so subtle that she doubted whether or not she might be imagining it. Her eyes flicked back up to his. “Well, I supposed if I’m forced to have a delicious breakfast prepared for me, I think… I would like buttered toast, scrambled eggs, strawberries, and a few little sausages. I keep those in the freezer.”

“As for the sundress… I have two in my closet. I’ll hop in the shower and I’ll put on whichever one you lay on the bed for me. But!" She held up her finger. "Only if you have a glass of wine with me later." Perhaps if the clouds cleared up, they could find a shaded spot from the moonlight and stargaze a little together.