#a tease indeed

[thedummysdummy]

A Tigress Always Gets Her Way

I just got Victor's tiger New Year card and thought it needed just a little bit of a date to go with it. I hope you enjoy ^_^

“You’re making that face again.” 

Victor looked up from the carrot he was grating and lowered his eyebrows. Sure enough, the girl was right there, leaning on the counter and resting her chin in her hands. Her best ‘puppy dog’ eyes stared directly into his soul. “You know that face doesn’t work on me.” 

“Are you sure?” she asked, lifting one foot and tilting her head slightly. “You know exactly how cute I am!” Victor huffed and continued grating the carrot, while the girl puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. She was not going to be defeated! She had more than one strategy up her sleeve, after all. 

She slid around the counter to stand behind Victor and wrapped her arms around his waist. “What are you doing, dummy?” he rumbled, the tones vibrating in her hands. Without speaking a word, she set about undoing the buttons of his shirt and caressing his abs with gentle fingertips. “Mmm.” A pleased groan echoed in his chest and Victor pressed his back into her body. “Mmm. You’re going to delay dinner if you keep up with mischievous pranks like this, you know. How am I supposed to cook when you’re being sly?” His breathy voice told the girl she was getting exactly the reaction she wanted and a smile spread across her face. 

“I’m not being sly. I’m using all of my available resources to reach my goals, just like you taught me.” She nibbled at his neck as she finished unbuttoning his shirt and pulled it down over his shoulders. “This strategy is called ‘bribing the boss’ and I find it’s usually pretty effective.” A pleasant laugh shook Victor’s shoulders and he slid the bowl further back on the counter before spinning around suddenly and wrapping his long, warm arms around her. The world suddenly became very small as his intoxicating scent filled her nostrils. 

“Cheeky and a tease. I’m going to have to do something about that.” Victor spun back around to the counter with the girl still in his arms and lifted her onto the counter. He pulled down her shirt and nibbled her collarbone, hard enough that she gasped slightly. “How do you like your own medicine, hmm?” 

She laughed and kissed Victor on the cheek. “Perhaps I gave CEO Victor a little too much medicine. But it is all part of my strategy!” The girl placed her hands on his now-exposed pectoral muscles and beamed. “I think that’s enough convincing for now. Time to get back to cooking dinner!” 

The girl slipped out of Victor’s arms and hopped down from the counter while flashing him a bright smile. “Besides. I already bought the costumes! So CEO Victor has no choice but to say yes and attend the New Year celebration with me!” 

“If you were going to use that excuse in the first place, why did you feel the need to ‘bribe the boss’, hm?” Victor rumbled pleasantly, not bothering to return his shirt to its proper position. “Is it because you simply wanted to remove my shirt? You do seem rather fond of undoing my buttons.” A flush came over the girl’s cheeks, but she made no move to deny it. “That’s what I thought. Now, go wash up. Dinner is almost ready.” Victor waved the grater as if to smack her butt with it and chuckled as she hustled away toward the bedroom. 

What a dummy. 

~~~

Victor looked in the mirror and sighed, but made no move to remove the ridiculous ears, tail, and paws with which the girl had so eagerly adorned him. “Come on, we’re going to be late.” 

The girl came stumbling into the bathroom with her own costume partially on and the tail in her hands. “Victorrrrrr, I need help putting on my tail!” She gave him her most pathetic frown and held the object out toward him. Victor sighed, but accepted the costume piece and gently attached it to her waist. He did have to admit…she did look rather cute. 

“Alright, let’s go! Anna texted me that the food has arrived, so we need to get going! We don’t want the long life noodles to get cold before we get there!” She grabbed at his hand and Victor sighed. As if it wasn’t her that had held them up in the first place…

Yet he allowed her to drag him to the front door, paused long enough for him to lock it, and returned to pulling him toward the car. The venue for her company’s celebration was really only five minutes away, which was why they hadn’t felt the need to leave any earlier. But they failed to account for traffic at this hour, which extended the drive to nearly fifteen minutes. 

The girl bounced in the chair next to him with excitement, her little tiger ears wiggling with the movement of her body. A little smile tugged at the corner of his lips as he covertly glanced over at her before returning his gaze to the road. Childish…but she was his childish dummy. 

They finally reached the venue and the girl burst from the car the moment Victor put it in park. “Why are you in such a hurry?” he called after her, but made no move to rush. Nothing was going to happen to her between the car and the front door. He ensured the car was locked and leisurely strolled toward the building while straightening his ears and tail. The sound of music could be heard through an open window and balloons colored the light which struck the sidewalk. Scents of beef, garlic, and soy sauce pulled him in and bid him welcome to the brightly-lit room full of happy party attendees. 

His girl was already surrounded by Willow, Anna, Kiki, and Minor, all of whom were wearing some variation of tiger costume and laughing. Victor lingered in the doorway for a moment, just watching her in her element. Truly there was no deeper beauty than his girl when she was truly happy. 

Music filled his ears and time seemed to stand still as he leaned in the door frame with a twinkle in his eye. She turned in what felt like slow motion and beckoned him to her, hand extended for him to catch hold of as he had so many times before. 

So many more times than she even realized.

He couldn’t help reflecting on the other ‘new births’ that this girl had brought into his life as they celebrated this new year. From the sandcastle of their youth to the orphanage, to the roads where he saved her life in return, to LFG and more universes than he could count, the girl had shaped and renewed each rebirth of Victor. 

And that? That was why he played games, ate long life noodles, and waltzed across the ballroom floor at her request. And why he wore a silly tiger costume through it all. Because honestly, in the end? That girl had saved him. There was no request so silly that he would not do it to see that genuine smile on her cheeks. 

When the night was over, he pulled her into his arms and gave her a squeeze. She was surprised to see he had worn the ears through the entire party. But before she could say anything, Victor bit her ear and whispered, “You bribed the boss to get those, remember? Well, it’s time for you to pay up. Let’s go home.”

[sechuna-blog]