The Lexicon

The meal had gone by quickly through laughter, and every morsel was consumed until both of them were full to the bursting point. They walked home slowly- somewhat waddling as though they were penguins. (David cracked the joke and made Annie laugh so hard she thought she would vomit. It might have mostly been due to the newborn nervousness stirring in her stomach though.)

When they reached her house again David unlocked and held the door open. Before he even had the chance to say, 'After you, my lady,' Annie wandered in and collapsed on the sofa. David chuckled as she held onto her stomach.

"Oh, I never want to look at food again!" she exclaimed. David laughed more and sat next to her, placing her feet in his lap.

"Should we let our stomachs settle before we head out on this mission, then?" he smiled at her. She looked up at him and furrowed her eyebrows.

"What do you think?" she asked. They grinned at each other after a moment, Annie's feigned seriousness disappearing.

"Yeah, let's hang out here for a while," David nodded, playing with her feet.

"Hey, stop that," Annie giggled, trying to twist her feet away from him. "That's gross. Those are my feet!"

"What? When did feet become gross?" David snickered, tickling her feet. "They're just feet."

"Since the beginning of time! Stop; I'm too full for this!" She laughed loudly and twisted away from him, falling off the sofa. But David had no mercy and held onto her feet as she fell, tickling her still. "Stop it!" She laughed more and kicked at him, finally pulling her feet away.

"Oh, no you don't!" David said, rolling off the sofa after her. Annie squeaked and kicked more as she tried to continue his torture.

"No, stop!" she giggled. He tickled her sides, and she tried to pry his hands away. They were both laughing then.

Finally he stopped tickling her, grinning down at her like he had won the lottery, still pinning her to the floor. Annie smiled back at him, tears in her eyes from all the laughter. Her smile fell as she realized the position they were in. Daydreams of how his lips might have felt came back to her and her cheeks flushed.

"Annie? Are you alright?" David asked, watching her intently. His eyebrows knitted together.

She gave herself five more seconds to think about what kissing him would feel like before she said, "Yeah, I'm fine." She smiled up at him again and raised her eyebrows. "Let me up now?"

"Oh, yeah," David laughed and stood up, holding his hand out to her. She took it and he helped her up off the floor. "Sorry."

"No, you're not," Annie laughed again, then held her sides. "Oh, I think I'm going to vomit."

"Oh, you'll be fine," David waved his hand to dismiss the thought. "I only tickled you a little bit."

"No, I think I ate too much."

"There's no doubt about that; we both did," he said. He caught her elbow when she swayed slightly.

"I seriously think I'm going to throw up," she said. Her hand flew up to her mouth when the first, small dry heave came. "Oh, God."

David quickly lead Annie to the bathroom. He held her hair back as she leaned over the toilet for a good half hour. After which she collapsed on the floor, David stroking her hair gently while she whimpered.

"No more binge-eating for you, miss," David commented. She gave a groan in reply. He laughed quietly though he felt very sympathetic for her.

Annie fell asleep like that, curled up against him with one hand over his. The fingertips of his free hand caressed her cheek. He watched her peaceful sleeping face, thinking back to earlier. He should have kissed her.

He should have kissed her, but he hadn't. Was he an idiot for not going through with it, or was he an idiot for even having the idea in the first place? A long sigh escaped him. He hadn't known her for very long, so he agreed that it had been a stupid thought.

Still he thought about it. He tilted her head so that her face was toward him, and softly kissed her forehead. Pain shot through his arm for a moment, but he did not regret that he had been so close to her. He didn't regret making her laugh.

When Annie woke up, it was to David staring at her. She gasped and shrank back a little, taking a moment to register that he was no threat to her. He gently ran his fingers through her hair.

"You okay?" he asked, watching her more carefully.

"Yeah, I just," she sighed and sat up, pulling her glasses from her face to rub her eyes. "I dreamed we were back at that place. It was horrible, and we're going to have to go through that crap again."

"You don't know that," David smiled. Annie admired the hope in his eyes and put her glasses back on. "There could be no danger waiting for us."

"On a mission that William has given to us?" Annie raised her eyebrows at him. "Think again. This time you might suffer worse injuries..."

"Don't think like that," David shook his head. "We're going to be fine."

"How's your arm?" Annie asked, gently touching his arm.

"It's doing much better, actually," he half lied. It was feeling better, but not by much, and her touch didn't hurt at all. "I'm feeling ready to go adventuring again. Are you ready?"

"If you're sure, then. Yes, actually; I feel quite a lot better now," Annie smiled and stood up. This time she held her hand out to help David to his feet. He took her hand eagerly.

"Let's get everything properly ready then," David said, the excitement in his voice making Annie feel giddy. "I'll carry the documents with me, and you should carry the stone. Actually... you should hold onto both."

"Why the change of heart?" Annie asked, furrowing her eyebrows. David thought that she looked so adorable like that.

"Just in case we get separated, I want you to have them," he said. "I want you to be safe."

Annie grabbed onto his good arm, eyes wide. "No way, we're not getting separated," she exclaimed. David's hand covered hers. "We can't get separated."

"It could happen," he told her as he slipped his fingers between hers.

"I thought that you didn't want to think like that?" the alarm didn't leave her voice.

"Well, I think it's about time I actually think about it," he responded, pulling her gently along to the room she was allowing him to stay in.

He pulled open the top drawer of his dresser, lifting the stone and papers from it. He handed them to her, and when Annie refused to take them he sighed.

"Please take them," he said quietly. "I need you to be the one to remain safe."

"David," Annie frowned at him.

After a long moment of silence she took the items from him. David gave her a weak smile and gently touched her cheek. The smile she gave him in return stretched his to be wider and more genuine.

"I'll put the papers in my bag," she said. Annie lead the way back out of the room, walking over to the sofa where their bags were resting. "You pick yours up. I think you need to be holding onto me too, while I hold the stone and imagine this tower we're supposed to end up in."

"That sounds good to me," David nodded.

David lifted his bags up off the floor and slung them over his shoulder while Annie put the documents in her bag. She lifted it up and stood and slung it over her own shoulder, stepping closer to David.

"Are you ready?" she asked. He wrapped his arms around her, smiling down at her.

"I'm ready to go anywhere with you," he said. Annie laughed at that.

"Right," she nodded. She closed her eyes for a moment, then opened them again, concentrating on the stone and what the tower would look like.

Swirling lights surrounded them, slowly clouding her vision. She couldn't see anything and for a moment she feared she had left David behind. But then the dizzying lights faded, and the two found themselves in an entirely new room.