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askapsec · 9 years

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The Science of Kissing

“I’ll kill him.” Trix glared at the people passing by. Most of them were Aperture employees, as expected, but she also recognized people from town as well as a mix of strangers who had the nerdy look of scientists. Exactly the type Cave Johnson was hoping to recruit with this ridiculous fiasco of his.

“I’ll skin him alive and kick his sorry damn carcass off the nearest cliff.”

A few people had glanced at her booth, but none of them had stopped yet, for which she was relieved. Craig gave her an awkward pat on the shoulder.

“It isn’t really Rick’s fault, you know,” he said. “He only suggested this because he thought he’d be running the booth himself.”

Trix growled. Leave it to Rick to think that a kissing booth was appropriate for a science fair. And leave it to Cave Johnson to decide the idea had merit... as soon as he’d twisted it into a different shape.

The fair itself was a weird mix of actual science and traditional carnival gimmicks. The plan, according to Mr. Johnson, was to try and recruit fresh talent to Aperture. Trix had thought it sounded like a disaster waiting to happen and was glad that she wouldn’t be involved except to keep the rowdies from getting rowdy. But then Rick had opened his fat mouth and Mr. Johnson had caught her laughing and now here she was, the prize freak in a Science of Kissing booth.

Someone was weaving through the crowd towards her, but the tension left as Kevin ducked past a father and daughter to stop in front of her, grinning.

She smiled back at him. “Heya Kev, having fun?”

“Space kiss?” He slid a couple of dollars towards her and waggled his eyebrows.

“Your first customer,” Craig said, taking the money. “On the lips,” he added, checking the payout chart.

“Aw, I could kiss you all day, sweetie.” Leaning forward, she gave him a kiss, amused to see a blush creeping into his cheeks.

She was only half-kidding, too. At least kissing Kevin was safe. She knew he brushed his teeth, and that he wouldn’t try and make it weird, and he definitely wouldn’t take advantage of her predicament. Well, beyond what he was doing now. He ducked his head, still smiling.

“Another satisfied customer!” Craig shouted, startling them both.

People had been watching. Of course they had. And now they took it as their cue to line up. Trix bit back a groan, put on an almost-believable smile, and prepared for a day of suffering.

It was almost as bad as she was expecting. Lots of sour mouths, overly hungry looks, sweaty palms, and outrageous boasting. But she only had to punch one guy for trying to get more than he paid for and that served as a good reminder to the others. There were a lot of idle times, too, and Kevin brought them snacks (and bought a few more kisses) to help them get through the day.

A few of the kisses went to women, a few went to children (on the cheek only), and one memorable one went to a quiet scientist type with a goatee who tried to hide his Black Mesa tie tack as he leaned in. She gave him a little more than the price demanded and grinned at the look he gave her afterward.

“Hope to see you around some more,” she teased. Mr. Johnson might spit on the ground whenever Aperture’s main competitor was mentioned, but by her way of thinking the best way to “win” wasn’t to beat your enemy, it was to make him want to join you. The scientist smiled, nodded, and walked away.

“Well, well, well, what do we have here?” said a familiar, unwelcome voice.

“You,” Trix snarled, narrowing her eye as Rick swaggered up. “This is all your fault!”

She’d been expecting him all afternoon. In fact she’d figured he’d be a permanent fixture at her booth.

“And what a gorgeous fault it is,” he said, leaning on the counter. “Not that there’s, uh, any faults in you. You’re looking... faultless.”

“You’re gonna look punctured if you don’t go away.” She glared.

His smile widened. “Now, is that any way to talk to a paying customer?” He held up a dollar.

Trix gritted her teeth. They were starting to gather an audience. Craig took the dollar and tucked it in the money pouch, keeping up the patter he’d been developing and oblivious to her mood.

Rick turned his head and pointed to his cheek. “Right there.”

She made a fist. It would be sooo tempting. But there were people watching and she wasn’t allowed to hit anyone unless they started something and when you got right down to it this was just Rick being his usual obnoxious self. Sighing, she leaned in and kissed the indicated spot.

“There. Hope you’re happy,” she muttered, as Craig continued his spiel. He was actually pretty good at it and in other circumstances she might have been impressed. Right now, though, all she wanted to do was crawl away.

“Not quite.” Grinning, Rick held up more money. “I think I wanna try that again.”

He’d paid enough for a kiss on the lips, this time. She gave him a long, hard look, taking in the tension around his eyes and the twitchy movement of his hands. He was still snarking at her, but she could see the sweat beading on his brow. She wondered what he was up to.

“OK, hot stuff,” she said, beckoning him closer. “Pucker up!”

He smelled of cinnamon sugar and as she pressed her lips to his she couldn’t resist sneaking the tiniest taste. Fried dough was one of her favorite treats. Rick twitched and pulled away, blushing. It was a small victory, but she savored it, licking sugar off her lips.

“OK, boys, who’s next?” She scanned the growing audience.

Rick coughed, ducking his head as he fumbled for his wallet. His face was still red. He was cuter when he was flustered. She watched him pull out a crisp bill and slide it across the counter to her. Her eye widened as she saw it and she placed her hand over his, covering it. Craig made a strangled noise behind her.

“Are you sure about about that?” She kept her voice soft so no one else would hear.

The $50 “make-out session” was supposed to be a joke. It was there more as an enticement than a serious offer and everyone knew it. Even Rick knew it. In theory. She gave him a closer look, wondering what she’d missed. It was hardly a secret that he had a crush on her; he flirted hard whenever he got the chance, but he flirted with a lot of women and until now she’d have said that if he wasn’t serious about any of it. Except maybe with Caroline.

Rick’s shoulders jerked in a shrug and he finally looked her in the eye. It was hard to separate any emotions in there. Fear? Hope? Bluster? Genuine attraction? She wasn’t good at nuanced emotions. He covered whatever it was with a smirk.

“Well, if you- if you don’t think you can handle me, angel, I’ll, uh, understand.” He started to pull his hand back.

Trix tightened her hold, tilting her head as she watched him. Was he calling her bluff? Or did he really want this? Was did she want? He arched an eyebrow at her and her decision was made.

“Alright, Rickyboo, you want the full package? You’ve got it!”

His eyes widened at the nickname. She handed the money to Craig and hopped the counter, landing beside Rick, who took a half-step back before catching himself.

“I bet you can’t wait to...”

She caught him mid-hesitation and kissed him. Start slow and then deepen it. There were a couple of catcalls as she wrapped her arms around him, pressing in close. His hands flailed before coming to rest, hesitant, on her lower back. The shock was clear in his eye, but he wasn’t pushing her away. In fact he was trying to keep up with her kiss.Time to add to the show.

With a spin, she pressed him against the the booth, rubbing her hips against his. He made a muffled noise in the back of his throat, fingers spasming against her waist. This was... probably going a little beyond the boundaries, now. If there were any for whatever this was. She broke the kiss, nibbling her way along his throat to his earlobe. He gasped, tipping his head back, his eyes rolling closed. There was scattered applause and more cheering.

Part of her knew she should feel guilty for taking advantage of him like this, even if he’d technically asked for it, but another part of her realized she... she actually wanted this. Maybe. Just a little. Her fingers brushed through his hair, turning his head so she could catch his mouth in another kiss. His own fingers grazed her cheek on the blind side. Smiling, she pulled away again, planting one last peck on his cheek before standing clear.

His eyes opened slowly, still unfocused, and she had a feeling that without the booth at his back he’d have fallen over. She stretched as the audience roared their approval.

“Well, Adventure Boy? Was that enough bang for your buck?”

“Hwaa.” He straightened, looking at her. “Haaa. Huh. Y-yeah!” He blinked rapidly, licking his lips and trying to regain his composure. “I- I guess that... that was... Yeah!”

“Good!” She smoothed down his hair, trying to rein in her own emotions. “Now, run along and enjoy the rest of the show. I have a booth to run.”

He made a few more noises, and she could almost see him struggling to come up with a witty comeback. He was so red he almost glowed.

“Right! You... you do that.” He hesitated, then turned to disappear into the crowd, getting pummeled with congratulations on the way. She blew a kiss at his retreating back and then made her way back into the booth.

“Next?”

She did a brisk business after that, but thankfully no one else opted for the $50 option. Kevin claimed a few more kisses and even Craig bought one at the end of the night, but she didn’t see any sign of Rick again. Maybe she’d overdone it.

After the booth closed up and Craig handed over her share of the profit (a hefty chunk of which went right back to Aperture) she headed out to the parking lot to get her bike.

Rick was pacing a track into the dirt and looked up as she approached.

“Hey! Uh... how- how’d it go?” He fiddled with his shirt, brushing out imaginary creases.

“A lot better than it might have, thanks to you.” She paused, wondering how to word her apology.

“Yeah, uh, about that.” He fidgeted some more and glanced at his palm. “I was thinking, y’know, maybe you and me... sometime... maybe...”

Relief flooded through her: he wasn’t upset. She smiled at him and he stammered to a stop.

“There’s an all-night diner at the edge of town. I could use some real food after today.”

“Yeah? Yeah! I know the one you mean! Uh...”

She pulled two helmets out of her saddlebags and passed one to him. “I figure I at least owe you dinner after earlier.”

“Ha! Funny. I- I was gonna say the same thing to you.” His grin was lopsided and he was blushing again. But at least he was too flustered for his usual cheesy pickup lines.

“We can do Rock, Paper, Scissors when we get the bill to determine who owes what,” she said, sitting on the bike and gesturing for him to join her.

“Sounds good to me.” He sat behind her, hooking his arms around her waist. “I think I already won anyway.”

She wasn’t sure she was supposed to hear the last bit, but her smile widened inside her helmet. In the end, maybe they’d both won. Revving the engine, she headed down the road with Rick as a warm, comforting weight at her back.

#stabbyfic #trixventure #based loosely off an otp prompt thing #still not really my otp but gosh these two are cute

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