[Daria] With An "Uh", And An "Um" [6/?] (PG-13)
Title: With An "Uh", And An "Um" (Part 6 of ?)
Author: Kimmie
Fandom: Daria
Type: long fic, ongoing
Rating: PG-13 (so far)
Disclaimer: Daria was not written by me! I only wrote this fic.
Summary: A "What If?" What if Trent moved to Boston after the end of the canon timeline?
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When they got back to the apartment, Daria followed Trent into the kitchen. They made quick work of putting away most of the groceries, but made a point to put the produce, as well as items for their dinner, on the counter they would use as a prep area. When everything else was put away, Trent grabbed for a large cleaver and broke the silence that had been hanging over them since his confession on the way home. "Where's the cutting board?"
The corners of Daria's mouth quirked upward as she opened a drawer a few inches from Trent and extracted a flexible cutting board. Trent smiled and went to work chopping up the pineapple. Daria couldn't help but admire his long fingers as they moved carefully across the pineapple's surface. Her mind started drifting toward fantasy when she noticed Trent's fingers coming near her face. "Here," he said, pressing a small piece of pineapple to her lips. She opened her mouth and allowed the fruit entrance, enjoying the sweet, tangy bite of it. She murmurred her enjoyment and Trent laughed as he popped a chunk into his mouth. "We should go ahead and get out the Tupperware or whatever."
"Sure," Daria said as she rummaged around in a cupboard for several containers and matching lids. She passed them over to Trent and picked up the pomegranate from the counter. "The pomegranate is a fascinating mystery," she said as she turned the fruit over in her hands.
"Oh?" Trent asked as he chopped pineapple into chunks and added them to a plastic container.
"They're used so often in so many different mythologies, but they mean different things to different people. To the Greeks, they're a reminder of Persephone and how she was tricked into eating a few seeds so that Hades could keep her with him for as long as possible. Hera wears a crown in the shape of the top of a pomegranate. Yet they're considered a symbol of fertility and good luck." She peeled the sticker off and rolled it between her fingers. "The Jewish faith and Christianity often consider pomegranate to be the fruit of the Garden of Eden rather than an apple. Many other cultures consider it a symbol of fertility and love, but it never can seem to shake the pall of being associated with both keeping Persephone in hell and in making the crops wither during the barren season."
"Didn't Persephone love her husband?" Trent slid another piece of pineapple into his mouth and chewed thoughfully as he looked at her.
Daria held the pomegranate in front of her. "She learned to love him and came to rule the Underworld with him during the barren season before she had to return to help the crops grow."
"So she loved and was loved. I think it was worth it."
"Hmm," was the only reply Daria gave. She approached the counter and got out another cutting board and a smaller knife. "The least I can do is help." She pulled over another container, then split the pomegranate and deftly began separating the arils from the bits of white flesh and dropping them in the container.
Trent's fingers appeared in her peripheral version to pluck a few arils from the container. Her eyes followed it's path to his mouth and stayed to witness the strong movement of his jaw, the escape of a single drop of juice over his bottom lip, his tongue darting out to halt it's path. She sighed softly, then quickly dragged her attention back to her task at hand. Only a moment later, Trent's fingers were again at her lips. "You should try it." Her mouth opened and she felt three arils hit her tongue, barely coated with the sweet juice. Her mouth closed on Trent's thumb slowly and she sucked on it softly for a moment before retreating a half step and chewing carefully.
"Daria, if you can't take me staying here, I understand. I'm sure I can find someplace else."
"No," she said firmly. "Don't leave."
"But if I'm going to make things too difficult for you," Trent trailed off and glanced down at his thumb, nearly dry now, but lightly stained with the pomegranate's juice. "I don't want to make you do anything that you don't absolutely want to do."
"That's just the thing, though. The things I want to do are the exact same things I shouldn't be doing."
"Doesn't that tell you what you want, though?"
Daria felt her eyes burning again as emotions flowed through her. With the barest hint of tears clinging to her lower lashes, she made a decision. She stood on the balls of her feet and closed the gap between herself and Trent, letting her lips join his. His arms wrapped around her and he tasted of her lips, enjoying the sweetness that was hers alone, though candied by her recent snack. She pulled away and lowered herself down to stand flat-footed, letting her forehead press against Trent's chest. Her glasses dug into his sternum, but he didn't mind much. He relished her warmth, as well as the turn of luck in his favor. "We should finish up this fruit and get started on dinner," he said quietly. "Nothing has to happen."
"Even after that?" Daria pushed backward and gazed up at him thoughtfully as she pulled off her glasses to clean them on the edge of her shirt.
Trent smiled as he saw her eyes unadorned, and the smile grew bigger as her glasses went on and her gaze found focus again. "If that's all I ever get, then I'm still a luckier guy than most."
Daria laughed half-heartedly. "We'll, um, talk later, I guess. Tom should be home soon, and I have to figure out what I want to say."
Trent let her go and turned back to her cutting boards. "I'll finish this up. You can go think, or do something to keep you from thinking." He smiled. "Thanks, Daria."
"For what? The kiss?"
"For giving me a chance."
Daria nodded and left the room before her heart and her hormones overrode her brain and had her leaping on Trent and pulling his clothes off. She'd had a crush on Trent for years now. She had thought that it had gone away, but seeing him again and then seeing the person he had become had turned her world upside down. When Tom was around, she was still able to focus on things. With Trent, everything else paled. Did she really want everything outside of her boyfriend to cease to be important in her life? But hadn't she been like that in the first place with Tom? Hadn't that been how Jane had been with Tom, and the very reason they had fought? Maybe it was actually a sign of the start of a healthy relationship.
She sat on the couch and picked up a magazine from the coffee table, flipping through it idly while she thought, but not noticing any of the contents. She had gotten back with Tom, but why? Because he asked? Because she was lonely and hadn't met anyone else yet? They still fought over the most childish things sometimes, and he never seemed to understand that her course load was significantly heavier than his was, especially since he seemed to only have to take one course per semester that wasn't a load of BS. All of her courses required a ton of reading, a ton of writing, and much more thinking than any of his did. But he'd practically whine and cry if he wanted to go see a movie and she still had a paper to finish or another chapter to read. She didn't understand why he couldn't see a movie on his own, or with a friend, and it was especially infuriating when he got upset a time that she and Jane had gone to a movie he hadn't wanted to see at all.
That phrase embodied their relationship so much, though: she didn't understand. This was still just an extension of her first real relationship, but why should she have to drop everything to be with him unless she wanted to do so? And while their relationship had become a much more physical one (having birth control that didn't need to be taken every day and that wouldn't fail if she had to take antibiotics made it a lot easier to be willing), the physicality wasn't everything she could hope for. Even giving Tom the benefit of the doubt, it seemed like he should be more in tune with her by now. By the end of their copulation, he was always satisfied, and she rarely was. It wasn't to say that Trent would be better, sure, but watching his hands on that pineapple had certainly ignited her imagination. She never really fantasized about Tom. Daria knew that her mind was made up, but since Tom wasn't home yet, she ventured down the path of applying logic to her reasoning.
Even though she had told Trent earlier in the day that she didn't want this to cause dramatic upheaval before finals, wouldn't it anyway whether she dumped Tom or not? Wasn't it better not to prolong the inevitable? Wasn't it unfair to both of them if she kept him hanging on until Christmas break when he would probably expect her to visit his family? And if she already couldn't keep her hands to herself with regard to Trent, then things would just escalate. So, really, for everyone involved, it was the better thing to do. Finally, the thing that would make her happier would be the best thing to do.
So it was that when Tom walked through the door, Daria was ready enough with her thoughts to walk up to him and say the words that no one ever wants to hear: "We need to talk."
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End: Chapter 6.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 11b NC-17
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17
Author: Kimmie
Fandom: Daria
Type: long fic, ongoing
Rating: PG-13 (so far)
Disclaimer: Daria was not written by me! I only wrote this fic.
Summary: A "What If?" What if Trent moved to Boston after the end of the canon timeline?
----------
When they got back to the apartment, Daria followed Trent into the kitchen. They made quick work of putting away most of the groceries, but made a point to put the produce, as well as items for their dinner, on the counter they would use as a prep area. When everything else was put away, Trent grabbed for a large cleaver and broke the silence that had been hanging over them since his confession on the way home. "Where's the cutting board?"
The corners of Daria's mouth quirked upward as she opened a drawer a few inches from Trent and extracted a flexible cutting board. Trent smiled and went to work chopping up the pineapple. Daria couldn't help but admire his long fingers as they moved carefully across the pineapple's surface. Her mind started drifting toward fantasy when she noticed Trent's fingers coming near her face. "Here," he said, pressing a small piece of pineapple to her lips. She opened her mouth and allowed the fruit entrance, enjoying the sweet, tangy bite of it. She murmurred her enjoyment and Trent laughed as he popped a chunk into his mouth. "We should go ahead and get out the Tupperware or whatever."
"Sure," Daria said as she rummaged around in a cupboard for several containers and matching lids. She passed them over to Trent and picked up the pomegranate from the counter. "The pomegranate is a fascinating mystery," she said as she turned the fruit over in her hands.
"Oh?" Trent asked as he chopped pineapple into chunks and added them to a plastic container.
"They're used so often in so many different mythologies, but they mean different things to different people. To the Greeks, they're a reminder of Persephone and how she was tricked into eating a few seeds so that Hades could keep her with him for as long as possible. Hera wears a crown in the shape of the top of a pomegranate. Yet they're considered a symbol of fertility and good luck." She peeled the sticker off and rolled it between her fingers. "The Jewish faith and Christianity often consider pomegranate to be the fruit of the Garden of Eden rather than an apple. Many other cultures consider it a symbol of fertility and love, but it never can seem to shake the pall of being associated with both keeping Persephone in hell and in making the crops wither during the barren season."
"Didn't Persephone love her husband?" Trent slid another piece of pineapple into his mouth and chewed thoughfully as he looked at her.
Daria held the pomegranate in front of her. "She learned to love him and came to rule the Underworld with him during the barren season before she had to return to help the crops grow."
"So she loved and was loved. I think it was worth it."
"Hmm," was the only reply Daria gave. She approached the counter and got out another cutting board and a smaller knife. "The least I can do is help." She pulled over another container, then split the pomegranate and deftly began separating the arils from the bits of white flesh and dropping them in the container.
Trent's fingers appeared in her peripheral version to pluck a few arils from the container. Her eyes followed it's path to his mouth and stayed to witness the strong movement of his jaw, the escape of a single drop of juice over his bottom lip, his tongue darting out to halt it's path. She sighed softly, then quickly dragged her attention back to her task at hand. Only a moment later, Trent's fingers were again at her lips. "You should try it." Her mouth opened and she felt three arils hit her tongue, barely coated with the sweet juice. Her mouth closed on Trent's thumb slowly and she sucked on it softly for a moment before retreating a half step and chewing carefully.
"Daria, if you can't take me staying here, I understand. I'm sure I can find someplace else."
"No," she said firmly. "Don't leave."
"But if I'm going to make things too difficult for you," Trent trailed off and glanced down at his thumb, nearly dry now, but lightly stained with the pomegranate's juice. "I don't want to make you do anything that you don't absolutely want to do."
"That's just the thing, though. The things I want to do are the exact same things I shouldn't be doing."
"Doesn't that tell you what you want, though?"
Daria felt her eyes burning again as emotions flowed through her. With the barest hint of tears clinging to her lower lashes, she made a decision. She stood on the balls of her feet and closed the gap between herself and Trent, letting her lips join his. His arms wrapped around her and he tasted of her lips, enjoying the sweetness that was hers alone, though candied by her recent snack. She pulled away and lowered herself down to stand flat-footed, letting her forehead press against Trent's chest. Her glasses dug into his sternum, but he didn't mind much. He relished her warmth, as well as the turn of luck in his favor. "We should finish up this fruit and get started on dinner," he said quietly. "Nothing has to happen."
"Even after that?" Daria pushed backward and gazed up at him thoughtfully as she pulled off her glasses to clean them on the edge of her shirt.
Trent smiled as he saw her eyes unadorned, and the smile grew bigger as her glasses went on and her gaze found focus again. "If that's all I ever get, then I'm still a luckier guy than most."
Daria laughed half-heartedly. "We'll, um, talk later, I guess. Tom should be home soon, and I have to figure out what I want to say."
Trent let her go and turned back to her cutting boards. "I'll finish this up. You can go think, or do something to keep you from thinking." He smiled. "Thanks, Daria."
"For what? The kiss?"
"For giving me a chance."
Daria nodded and left the room before her heart and her hormones overrode her brain and had her leaping on Trent and pulling his clothes off. She'd had a crush on Trent for years now. She had thought that it had gone away, but seeing him again and then seeing the person he had become had turned her world upside down. When Tom was around, she was still able to focus on things. With Trent, everything else paled. Did she really want everything outside of her boyfriend to cease to be important in her life? But hadn't she been like that in the first place with Tom? Hadn't that been how Jane had been with Tom, and the very reason they had fought? Maybe it was actually a sign of the start of a healthy relationship.
She sat on the couch and picked up a magazine from the coffee table, flipping through it idly while she thought, but not noticing any of the contents. She had gotten back with Tom, but why? Because he asked? Because she was lonely and hadn't met anyone else yet? They still fought over the most childish things sometimes, and he never seemed to understand that her course load was significantly heavier than his was, especially since he seemed to only have to take one course per semester that wasn't a load of BS. All of her courses required a ton of reading, a ton of writing, and much more thinking than any of his did. But he'd practically whine and cry if he wanted to go see a movie and she still had a paper to finish or another chapter to read. She didn't understand why he couldn't see a movie on his own, or with a friend, and it was especially infuriating when he got upset a time that she and Jane had gone to a movie he hadn't wanted to see at all.
That phrase embodied their relationship so much, though: she didn't understand. This was still just an extension of her first real relationship, but why should she have to drop everything to be with him unless she wanted to do so? And while their relationship had become a much more physical one (having birth control that didn't need to be taken every day and that wouldn't fail if she had to take antibiotics made it a lot easier to be willing), the physicality wasn't everything she could hope for. Even giving Tom the benefit of the doubt, it seemed like he should be more in tune with her by now. By the end of their copulation, he was always satisfied, and she rarely was. It wasn't to say that Trent would be better, sure, but watching his hands on that pineapple had certainly ignited her imagination. She never really fantasized about Tom. Daria knew that her mind was made up, but since Tom wasn't home yet, she ventured down the path of applying logic to her reasoning.
Even though she had told Trent earlier in the day that she didn't want this to cause dramatic upheaval before finals, wouldn't it anyway whether she dumped Tom or not? Wasn't it better not to prolong the inevitable? Wasn't it unfair to both of them if she kept him hanging on until Christmas break when he would probably expect her to visit his family? And if she already couldn't keep her hands to herself with regard to Trent, then things would just escalate. So, really, for everyone involved, it was the better thing to do. Finally, the thing that would make her happier would be the best thing to do.
So it was that when Tom walked through the door, Daria was ready enough with her thoughts to walk up to him and say the words that no one ever wants to hear: "We need to talk."
-----
End: Chapter 6.
Part 1
Part 2
Part 3
Part 4
Part 5
Part 7
Part 8
Part 9
Part 10
Part 11
Part 11b NC-17
Part 12
Part 13
Part 14
Part 15
Part 16
Part 17