A Thousand Words

Where was Belle's convient cover to hide behind? Tatiana worked from the other side of her canvas with impunity, able to make the brunette blush non stop as she was put on full display without the ability to hide her embarrassment or move away from the situation entirely… it was a dirty move… bust she would have done the same to Tatiana were the roles reversed. Teasing one another was basically a sport. Seeing her girlfriend blush and giggle was a simple pleasure and a comfort she would never tire of.

Her blush only grew as Tatiana openly admitted to thinking about the two of them more intimately than they had been in the past. Belle thought about it often herself, that sense of wonder and anticipation of sharing themselves with one another. She wanted to feel the redhead, wanted to taste her… but she was willing to wait. Tatiana was worth every moment spent in that limbo.

It took her a long moment to respond, eyes drifting to the ceiling as she murmured softly. “I do too…” Half hoping it hadn't been heard. She didn't let the mystery linger however before following her words up quickly just in case they had fallen upon her girlfriend's ears. “Just want to make sure we do this right… so you don't have any regrets when it happens, ya'know. Make it special… our moment.”

“Not that we don't have lots of moments or that they aren't all great or anything!” She was quick to clarify in a hurried response. She worried often that Tatiana may have thought ill of her given some of her past matches in AFW when it came to intimacy. God, her girlfriend didn't even know about all the other boyfriend's or random hookups she had before the both of them started dating. What had once been a casual thing to do for fun had become a pendulum hanging over her head in which she wondered if the neck swing would ruin it all. She didn't want to cheapen what they had, not even a little.

“I need a drink.” She huffed in soft surrender, unable to escape her own mind from hounding her tirelessly on these matters. There was only one real way to loosen up and let go of what she feared and it was found in the bottom of a bottle, of that she was certain.

Belle was the strongest woman Tatiana knew. She was tough, she was skilled, she could swing her opponents around like ragdolls. She had solid muscles built from hard hours in the gym, and it felt like, when she was determined and driven, nothing could stand in her path. As far as Tatiana was concerned, Belle Christensen was the AFW’s #1 Badass.

With all of that in mind, it was amazing how cute she could be. It made Tatiana treasure moments like this all the more.

She had a warm, loving smile as Belle spoke, not even listening to what she said so much as she felt the tone, the care, the loving in her voice. These weren’t just hollow words meant to appease her and keep her happy, they came from a deep, sacred place. When Belle said something, she meant. Especially when she was saying it to her.

Tatiana perked up when Belle asked for the drink, and she immediately scooted out of the chair, keen to keep her girlfriend at ease. ”On it, on it.” She shuffled over to the kitchen, lightly padding along the floor as she went on her bare feet. ”And it will be special. I know it. I-”

She paused as she opened the fridge and pulled the bottle out, taking a moment to think about her next words, as a certain memory made its way to the front of her head. [color=#ff0000]”I think...I feel like, sometimes, you worry that I’m going to think poorly of you, or that I’ll take something you say the wrong way. It’s cute, but…”[color]

Tatiana closed the fridge and came back Belle’s way, biting her lip, considering her words carefully. This sort of talk, the more serious kind, never seemed to come naturally to her. Lack of practice. ”I trust you. You know that, right?” She held out the bottle for her to take. ”That never changes.”

Belle quirked a brow at the sudden movement from behind the canvas, unsure what was happening at first when Tatiana spoke. The quiet murmur hadn't intended to be a request, just something that slipped out and now it had her girlfriend running to fetch it for her. She was left speechless as the small act of attentiveness finding it equal parts cute and extremely touching the redhead had stopped everything to make her feel more comfortable. When was the last time she had something like that in her life… had she ever?

Tatiana was bright. Sometimes Belle wondered if she was too smart to be with someone like her… sure she ow e a business and made a tidy sum of money throughout her life but that was mostly thanks to Kaylee managing most of what she had be it directly or through hiring the right professionals. She simply brought the muscle, the acting, or her only real field of scientific intelligence in chemistry. Her girlfriend had her pegged dead on to the point she couldn't even hope to dismiss the claims with a joke.

The brunette's eyes shifted as Tatiana came back into view. She had done her best to stay in pose even now, leaving her only to give her girlfriend a sidelong glance. She was smiling even though she didn't realize it.

Where had Tatiana been all her life? Every time they hung out she found herself asking herself this question. When would that gift that was this woman stop giving her more reasons to become enamored? She hoped never, good how she hoped. Just the admission of having her trust meant so much to Belle she couldn't express it in words… though her mind tugged darkly at her heart, polluting the sincerity of it all.

Trust was dangerous. Blind trust at least. She could lead Tatiana astray with that… she would never on purpose, would she?

“Yeah, I know. I just have a bad memory." She chimed in with after a bit of a pause, eyeing the bottle then Tatiana. “Going to need you to open that for me unless you want me to bite the bottle neck off or something.” She scooted her backside on the couch, wiggling her hips a bit.

“Front right pocket, I have a bottle opening with a fold out corkscrew.” Belle stopped fidgeting, waiting for Tatiana to go fishing in her pockets for there keys. The tool in question was on the ring somewhere. After another long pause. "I trust you too by the way... Sorry if I don't say it enough. I am sorta bad with all this relationship stuff. Teach me your ways."


Tatiana could feel her cheeks reddening when she came back and saw that smile on Belle’s face. The woman was naturally beautiful, no matter her pose or what she was wearing, but when she smiled? She could light up a room. She’d come to treasure those smiles, knowing they were something that few others got to see, and whether Belle knew it or not, it made Tatiana feel special.

She liked that. She liked it a lot. Maybe more than was healthy, if she was being completely honest.

At Belle’s suggestion, she kneeled and sat the bottle aside, careful not to knock it over - the last thing she wanted to explain to Valerie were strange smells in the apartment. With a innocent smile and whistle, she went for a pocket - the left pocket - and routed around there for a moment, using it as an excuse to tickle Belle. And feel her thigh a little bit. But more the tickling.

”Oh, your right. My bad, my bad.” She shifted over to the proper pocket and promptly popped out the keys. She settled down, Indian style, and started to work on opening the bottle. ”I mean, you’re my first girlfriend, too. So we’re both swimming in uncharted waters, you know? That’s what makes it kind of fun, like…like...”

Okay, getting the bottle open was taking a wee bit more effort than Tatiana had in mind. After a moment of careful fidgeting, she managed to pop the cape off and send it flying across the room, while only spilling a little on her pants. ”There we go.” Beaming with pride, she handed the bottle to Belle and stuffed the keys back into her pocket.

It was hard to stay still with Tatiana so close… the urge to just pull the girl in and lay her across Belle's lap was so very strong. She resisted though. Her girlfriend had put a great deal of thought and effort into all of this and she was intent to be the best damn model she could be to make it all turn out great.

"The other pocket Tat..." She hadn't even though twice about it when Tatiana had reached over to slip her hand into the wrong pocket. Belle had of course assumed it was an honest mistake at first until she felt those fingers mischievously rooting around, trying to tickle her. They almost got a smile out of her, almost… but she was committed to not only staying in position but giving the other woman a deadpan look.

"Yeah yeah, THAT right. Dirty… picking on me like this. When we finish up that painting I am going to make you pay for this." She tried to keep her tone as monotone and serious as she could muster, finding it hard to keep a smile from tugging at her lips.

Uncharted waters. That was an apt comparison. While relationships weren't new to her, one this healthy certainly was… well if you discounted all the hiding and sneaking about anyway. She wasn't ashamed of what they shared, on the contrary, she was proud. One of the most difficult things for her was not telling the world how wonderful Tatiana was, especially the Party Hard fans that still bombast Novae at Kaylee's behest.

"Thanks boo." Belle gave a small smack of her lips at the air, sending a kiss airborne invisibly to Tatiana while secretly hoping she would get a real one in return. An exception had been made to moving now, one arm was free enough to grab hold of the bottle for now, though she held back taking a swing for now.

"Okay so having a girlfriend is new turf for you. What about little Tatiana? Who was your biggest crush when you were younger?" She wasn't so vain to assume it was her, after all Tatiana had been part of a circus, right? Traveling all over, meeting new people. Surely she had met someone or worked with someone along the way that caught her fancy.

The eagerness in Belle’s eyes was not lost on Tatiana - it never was. As much as she kind of hated to admit, she loved the way this beautiful, sexy woman looked at her, like she could hardly keep herself from embracing her at any given moment. She’d never thought she was ugly or anything, never had serious self-esteem issues, but she’d never felt sexier than when Belle was around and the magnetism between them started clicking.

Belle seemed to see things in Tatiana that she’d never seen in herself. She just wished she could do the same in return.

”Making promises you can’t keep.” She muttered in a sing-song voice, always happy to tease her girlfriend. She wasn’t sure what Belle meant by ‘making her pay’ but that was half the fun of things between them, never quite knowing what would come her way next. Would probably involve body contact, though, so there was that to look forward to.

An invisible kiss, sweet as it was, wasn’t enough to satisfy Tatiana, so she dipped in and pressed their lips together for a quick peck - well, it was meant to be a quick one when she started. Kissing Belle was like eating a potato chip, you could never just have one - her lips were too soft and sweet and hot for that. She had to have another, and another, and a little lick, and-

She managed to pull herself away after a moment, biting her bottom lip as she stepped away to stifle the urges. She skipped her way back to the canvas and went back to it, more eager than ever to do this and do it right.

”Me?” She popped up at Belle’s question, before going back to her work. It was still weird to have someone care about her past, she couldn't quite get used to it. ”Well, I mean, when I was young, I thought I was into this lion tamer, can’t remember his name. But I wasn’t, not really, I just thought I was supposed to be, if that makes sense. I didn’t really realize I liked girls yet.”

She tapped the brush on the side of the canvas, thinking a moment before she went on. ”My first real crush, though...probably Valerie. Before we became sisters, and it got weird. I looked up to her a lot, even before our parents got married, and she was always so radiant and glowing and just plain good at everything, so...yeah.”

She was just about to tell Belle not to tell anyone else that, before she realized how silly that request would be. For multiple reasons.

Another time in Belle's life, Tatiana wouldn't have been what she envisioned as her perfect lover. Most of her life it had been men. Attractive men who might as well have been made out of tissue paper with how much depth they had. In the end it always ended poorly and she was left with Kaylee… while she didn't look at her friend as a real lover, they had shared their fair share of moments though it was mostly at the behest of her friend. That was all done now, but for the longest time Kaylee had been her ideal woman though she couldn't really tell why.

Tatiana had changed all that. Made her a believer. She wasn't sure what she had thought was attractive in a person until they spoke, until they wrestled, until they had a moment. Now she was the only one she really thought about. An ideal woman she wanted to spend every waking moment with. Funny, kind, athletic and sexy. Someone that laughed at her jokes, challenged her wits, and was actually able to keep her on her toes in a fight.

"Is that what you think?" She crooned, eyelids drooping as she met her girlfriends gaze with a smoldering one of her own. She had just meant to tease, apparently she had been effective as well since Tatiana leaned in to meet their lips. She smirked, enjoying the small victory, then another came...and another.

She hummed happily into her lips, returning the affection softly as to not break her pose too much. She set the bottle down, fingers brushing along the collar of Tatiana's bathrobe, desperately wanting to find their way inside. She held back the urge, rubbing her thumb along the fabric until her girlfriend pulled back.

She was left panting softly, rosy cheeked as her counterpart demonstrated far more self control than she had in this case. Belle swallowed hard, shifting slightly on the couch as she watched the redhead saunter away from her, a bit embarrassed by how eager she was for another sweet embrace.

She reached down for the bottle, taking a swing of wine… contemplating life for a small moment before taking a second. She let out a soft sigh, setting the wine aside before resuming her pose. "A lion tamer." She mused softly. She saw the allure, someone who worked well with dangerous animals. She could see Tatiana in that role. She seemed the type.

Her eyes drifted to the back of the canvas at Tatiana's confession. She couldn't help but feel a sudden twinge of hatred for Valerie. Not that she ever really liked her girlfriend's sister but this was something else… jealousy? The corner of her eye twitched for a moment. Why was she jealous? Especially since Tatiana and her were an item now. She wasn't particularly pleased with feeling like this… a change of subject was in order.

"Well, I'm glad you came around to me. Otherwise, who would paint me posed suggestively?" The lost would probably be pretty long given her degree of fame, but that wasn't the point. Belle snuck another quick swig from her bottle before retiring it for now. She could have nursed that bottle on her own for awhile if she didn't stop now. "How much more do you think?"

”A lion tamer.” Tatiana repeated with a soft chuckle, just thinking back to those times, trying to remember her mindset. It was an age ago, she was so young, locked in this little world of the circus. She traveled all over the country, but even so, she never really went anywhere, never stayed long enough to take in the new areas. It was always the same stage, the same people, the same smells, the same sights. The audience’s changed, but that was about it.

”I think I was more interested in the lions than anything else.” Her gaze went to the ceiling, lost in thought for a moment, before she centered back on the task at hand. ”I always wanted to get closer to them, go and pet them all the time, but Mama never let me because, well…lions. By the time I was old enough to really do that, we’d phased that act out of the circus. Still had the elephants, though, got to ride them a few times.”

She went to work with a broad smile now, imaging her and Belle on one of them. She could make that happen, too, once the circus got started back up and they were on the road again...and they finally figured out how to solve the Valerie/Kaylee problem…

She waved away at Belle’s comment, letting her hand drift above so it could be seen. ”Pshaw, I’m sure someone would come along and try it, sooner or later. You’ve got a perfect look for the canvas. That hair and those eyes and those cute little cheeks.” She giggled, perhaps a little too much, so much so that a snort snuck its way out. She managed to stifle it before it went too far, and hopefully before it gave Belle some ammunition.

”Not toooooooooooo much longer. Almost done, I think.” She nodded, and spared a glance over to her phone. ”Should still be good on time, too. Could have enough time to cuddle up with some Netflix, maybe try on some of those clothes? I’m up for anything.”

"I pet a lion once actually. Way back when, on set. Was the zoo episode when Kaylee fell into the lion pen, back when we were still really young. They cut that together pretty good actually. In reality that lion and her were never in the same space at the same time… the trainer let us get up close after though, if we wanted." Her eye had wandered to the ceiling as she recalled the day. There had been mommies too, and a lemur. Very placid animals… maybe they were medicated or something for the shoot.

"I don't blame your mom though. I wouldn't trust you not to ride off on the back of a lion." Belle glanced over to the canvas, giving her girlfriend a very knowing look even if she couldn't see her at the moment.

"It's fine though, you have me now. I am sort of like a lion... I've got the shaggy mane and I'm preeeeeety fierce. Some people tell me I am also brave." Her lips turned up into a slight smirk. "You are free to pet me all you'd like. Though, no promises I won't bite… just a little." Reclining on the couch she made the sound of lavish purring, trying to be as audible as possible.

"Cute… little cheeks?" They were on full display now, she was already blushing. This whole compliments from someone she cared about was still a weakness of hers easily exploited. This was a new one though. She had been complimented on her backside before by many a fan but her home structure as it relates to her face? Not so much. It was the sort of thing that only someone like Tatiana would say… and she loved her for it.

Here are visibly perked at the small snort from behind the canvas. She didn't say anything but took note to use that as ammunition later. It was fun making the redhead squirm, especially when they were snuggling and escape was impossible. Belle was looking forward to that, almost always.

"Sounds good. All this laying around and being admired is really hard work." She made light of the offer, but she was almost always pining over the time they had together hanging out and cuddling. It was few and far between the times they were in a private setting that let them be close, like a real couple, so much so that moments like these were so precious to her. When she lay in her bed alone at night, she always wished to have Tatiana there with her just to wrap her arms around her… all she had in her girlfriends place was a normal pillow that made for a poor replacement.

"Right, I do have all those clothes." She had almost entirely forgot but now she was looking forward to that. Belle had no doubt that Tatiana would make playing dress up fun, it had been one of the whole reasons she suggested it. The other was just the fact she loved spoiling the girl with gifts but there was only so many take can things she could have sent to the sisters at their apartment. This was a less suspicious way to put those clothes to good use… she also likes seeing Tatiana in her things.

"Let's do it all. Forever." The brunette let out a breathy sigh, one of wistful thinking and frustration. The fact the two of them had to still keep this a secret was annoying… the limitations to their time and activity were becoming more and more of a barrier for Belle as the days went on. She had become incredibly attached to what they had, to Tatiana in general. It was something she was always very bad with when it came to matters of love, but thankfully she had fallen head over heels for someone as kind hearted as Tatiana. She felt safe with her, able to present a more vulnerable side that most people never got to see.

”Gaaaah! So jealous!” Tatiana squealed in delight, then had a long, sad huff when she heard that Belle got to pet a lion, trying to imagine what that would’ve been like. They had such lovely, thick fur, especially the males and their manes, and she’d always wondered what it would be like to just bury her face in one, really get in there. She knew that Belle had, to put it gently, mixed feelings about her upbringing, but it was hard not to be envious of her, sometimes.

”You are brave.” Tatiana concurred, more than willing to go along with Tatiana’s self-assessment. ”I don’t know if I’d have the heart to do what you do everyday, stay busy, always working so hard...and you still find time for me.”

She peeked from behind the canvas, wanting to make sure Belle saw her smile. She was fairly sure that she was the ‘some people’, and that ‘brave’ had slipped in their somewhere amidst her frequent adulations. She knew she had a habit of lavishing her girlfriend with praise. Couldn’t be helped, but she was trying to get better about it.

She joined in Belle’s sigh. ”Forever. I like the sound of that.” It seemed like such a strange thing, to be thinking that far ahead. They were young, they were fresh, they still had plenty of life left to live, and they hadn’t known each other that long in comparison to most other couples that got serious...but the more time they spent together, the more Tatiana realized that there wasn’t anyone she wanted to spend time together with more.

If Belle popped a ring out now, right now, Tatiana would’ve been surprised, even cautioned her girlfriend about all the dangers they were stepping into...but she woudn’t have said ‘no’. She was sure on that.

The rest of the time flew by well enough, as they settled into a good grove, chatting about this, learning more about each other, having laughs, exchanging jokes. The time flew by, as it always did with Belle, and it wasn’t too long before Tatiana had completed her work to satisfaction.

It wasn’t perfect, probably not something that you’d find in a museum, but it was something she could be proud of. In particular, Tatiana was happy with the way she’d gotten her girlfriend’s face to look, really making an extra effort to get her eye color right and nail those rosy cheeks. The hair could’ve used a bit of work, Tatiana felt she could’ve done a bit job capturing how soft and wavy it was, maybe used more watercolors. The skin color was, perhaps, a shade too light, probably should’ve done better with the lighting in the room. And she could never quite draw fingers right, felt that she messed the lengths up.

But overall? Good.

Tatiana took a final look, had a deep breath, then pushed her chair away from her work, satisfied. Or as satisfied as she would ever be. ”Come and see.”