#anyhoo risa is a lesbian and pillar of her community and she and her many exes are cam and donna's link to lgbt culture

[haltandcatchfiretothemax]

FEMSLASH FEBRUARY 2020 #25: In which Cameron and Donna dance

[CN: food mentions; grown women referencing their sex lives]

(PREVIOUSLY: #1, #16, #21)

Ultimately, the couch was the hardest thing to find. Cameron wasn’t really sure what she wanted, though naturally, there was a long list of what she didn’t want: nothing overstuffed or with ‘overly big arms,’ nothing too soft, nothing too beige, nothing too floral, nothing ‘too modern,’ and most important of all, “Just, no leather, under any circumstances. It’s ugly and I hate how it feels.” 

Cameron also insisted on finding a secondhand couch, which meant weekend after weekend of visiting local thrift stores and flea markets, and then tag and estate sales, and then trying the thrift stores and flea markets again. There was a brief period during which, much to Donna’s frustration, Cameron considered trying to build her own couch (“I mean I’d take a class on it, or something, obviously, Donna!”) and a weekend where Donna finally convinced Cameron to visit a department store showroom and a department store furniture outlet, with no better luck. 

They did eventually start to find other things on Cameron’s list, though. At the outlet store, Cameron saw a carnelian-colored rug that made her think of all the red in Donna’s wardrobe, and Donna bought it for her as a gift, despite some protest from Cameron. At a flea market, Cameron found a small bookshelf and a coffee table, and at an estate sale, she and Donna found matching end tables. On a solo weekday trip to a thrift store, Cameron wound up buying a used television and vcr, and they bought lamps at a chain retailer of home goods. 

They brought each piece up to the room above the garage as they found it. The carpet proved tricky to get up the stairs, but the rest of the furniture was easy enough to move with each of them carrying one end. Staring at her pile of furniture, Cameron frowned, “I am not looking forward to dealing with the couch. Whenever we find one.”

With a sigh, Donna said, “About that, there is one thing that we haven’t tried: what about independent furniture designers?”

Cameron looked over at her. “You have my attention….”

“Risa has a friend,” Donna said. “An ex.”

“Oooh,” Cameron grinned, “as in, a lady ex?”

“Her name is Lex,” Donna said.

“Lex the Ex,” Cameron said.

“Her showroom is in San Francisco. We could go next weekend,” Donna offered. “It would probably be more expensive than a piece from a department store….”

“…but she’s an artist,” Cameron said, pointedly, “and she works independently. So, we, slash I, don’t mind paying her. Right? If we find something suitable?”

Lex MacDonald was taller, broader, and darker than Cameron, and she co-owned a small store full of furniture with her wife, who was also her partner and upholsterer. She’d been a carpenter for 20 years, made most of her pieces from recycled materials, and she had very large hands. The moment they walked into her store, Donna proceeded to flirt (read: enthusiastically complement and inquire about her work) with her . 

Cameron walked around the shop, looking intently at every chest, bench, chair, and end table. There were some pieces made with repurposed leather that nearly made Cameron reconsider her moratorium, but they were all arm chairs. Maybe someday, Cameron thought, moving further into the back of the shop. 

In a small section of upholstered, non-leather furniture, Cameron found an olive green l-shaped couch, whose placard said it was upholstered from a wool tweed blend. Something about the couch looked and felt old, like it had already lived a life in an old lady’s humble, middle class living room with other nice but inexpensive furniture. It had clean, straight lines, and sort of resembled that mid-century, Eames-style furniture that Donna loved so much but that always looked too small and too thin to be comfortable to Cameron, except that it didn’t look too thin, but it also didn’t look overstuffed. Gingerly, Cameron tried sitting in the center of the couch. It felt study, and more comfortable than Cameron thought it would.

Donna came to sit down next to her, and Lex followed. “I would give you the hard, ’that’s one of my wife’s favorite pieces’ sell, but, they’re all her favorite pieces. She gets attached to everything, and she has a hard time letting go.”

“Ha!” Donna cackled. “I know what that’s like!”

“Um,” Cameron said, “Do you mind if I lie down? And see if it’s long enough?”

Lex shoved her hands into her pockets and grinned, revealing a slight gap in her two front teeth. “It won’t be, but, sure.”

Donna got up, and went to stand next to Lex, and with a slight frown, Cameron slid off her sneakers, and then swiveled to lie down. She stretched out, and found that it wasn’t long enough, thought it was nice and wide. The arms of the couch were just the right size for Cameron to prop both her head and her feet on them, though. She rested her hands on her stomach, and looked up at the shop’s ceiling. After a minute, she sat back up, and looked at Donna. “Wanna test out the long end?”

Lex grinned, “I’ll give you two a minute,” and went back up front.

Donna smiled at her as she walked away, and then she carefully sat in the couch’s corner. She swung her legs over Cameron’s lap. “I like her.”

“I got that,” Cameron said. “Wait, you mean Lex, right?”

“I like the couch too,” Donna said.

“I’m a little envious,” Cameron admitted. “Do you think maybe I could transition from tech to carpentry? I love writing code, but sometimes I wanna make an actual thing. I think I wanna carpent, Donna.”

Donna swung her legs away from Cameron, and turned so she could lean agains the couch’s back, and rest her legs on the long end of the couch. Cameron rested her head on Donna’s shoulder, and putting her arm around Cameron, Donna asked, “Yeah? What would you carpent, for me?”

“I would build you a house, if I could,” Cameron said. “Not because I don’t like yours, but, just because. On principle.”

“That sounds lovely, but, you could also start smaller,” Donna suggested.

“Honestly,” Cameron whispered, “I’d settle for designing and building a piece of furniture that comfortably facilitates cunnilingus.” Donna’s mouth fell open in shock, but before she could say anything, Cameron asked, “Speaking of which, because we both know this is very important, do you think this will be good for making out?”

“I’m sure we could make it work,” Donna grinned.

“I can see it now,” Cameron said. “I’ll be sitting up in my pseudo-office tree house thinking space, in pajamas, covered in cheese puff powder, and you’ll come up to visit in nothing but a trench coat.”

Looking slightly horrified, Donna whispered, “…you really know me too well.” Then she said, “You’re being too hard on yourself, you don’t really eat cheese puffs anymore.”

“What can I say, Donna? You’ve changed me. You’ve made me a better man.”

Donna smiled at her. “You know, even if it isn’t exactly comfortable for adult fun, if you want this couch, we’re buying it. What do you think?”

Cameron realized that she’d forgotten that they were in a furniture store.  

Two hours and some traffic later, Cameron pulled the truck into Donna’s driveway. The couch hadn’t been cheap, but it hadn’t been horrifically expensive either. “Worth every penny, after months of searching!” Donna had declared while in the car. Cameron couldn’t help but agree with her.

Haley and Vanessa were home when they got there, and so Donna happily offered them money to help them get the couch up the garage stairs, which took about 45 minutes. By then it was late afternoon. “Lunch?” Donna asked. Haley and Vanessa went back down to the kitchen to raid the refrigerator; Cameron lingered, looking at her now finally complete pile of furniture.

“Doing anything later?” Donna asked. Cameron’s tentative smile stretched into a real grin.

Several sandwiches and two hours later, they returned to the room above the garage. They turned on the radio, and then they put the bookshelf under the big window, where it would support at least a few potted plants. They plugged in all of the lamps, and they moved all of the furniture out the way so they could roll out the carpet, and then they set up the television and vcr. They positioned the couch against the opposite wall, and then placed the end tables on either side. 

And then, they sat down together, just like they had at Lex’s store.

“Thanks for helping me with all of this,” Cameron said.

“You’re welcome. But also…my house, is your house,” Donna said.

They relaxed together for about half and hour before Donna said, “Okay, I’m definitely ready for some dinner. How about you, are you hungry?”

Cameron got up, slowly, and then stretched, hands skimming the ceiling. “What about pizza?” she asked. “I feel like after everything we accomplished today, we could and should celebrate with pizza. And/or your famous salad.”

Affectionately, Donna said, “I love that you pretend to love my salad, when what you really want is the pizza.” She switched off the lamp closest to her.

Cameron switched off one of the other lamps. “Who said I’m pretending? I love the candied walnuts. And also the dried cranberries.”

The radio was still on, and it was still set to the all ‘80s station that Donna had listened to while sorting through all the boxes she’d stored above the garage. It started playing “Don’t Dream It’s Over,” and Donna stopped. “Hey,” she said. “Would you like to slow dance with me?”

Cameron looked at her funny as if she thought Donna might be kidding, and then realized that she wasn’t. “We’ve never done that, have we?” 

Donna held her hand out. “Feeling adventurous?” 

Cameron took her hand, and let Donna pull her close. Donna put her arms around Cameron’s neck, and Cameron hesitantly put her hands on Donna’s waist. Then, after a second, she put her arms around Donna. They swayed together, in front of the new couch and coffee table, for the rest of the song, even though there wasn’t much space, and Cameron was stiff and a little awkward about it.

The song ended, and Donna kissed Cameron’s cheek. “We are definitely getting pizza,” she said. She went over to the radio, about to shut it off, when “Once In a Lifetime” came on. Donna turned back to Cameron, eyes wide with delight. She promptly turned the volume up. 

Donna start to nod her head along with the beat, only to stop abruptly so she could mouth the lyrics: “And you may find yourself, living in a shotgun shack….”

Cameron watched, also delighted, if a little taken aback. When Donna started to dance momishly to the chorus, snapping her fingers and swaying her hips in time, Cameron decided to join her. 

While Donna continued to dance, Cameron mouthed the next line: “And you may ask yourself, ‘How do I work this?’”

Excitedly, Donna grabbed her hand and mouthed back, “And you may ask yourself, ‘Where is that large automobile?’”

Gesturing with her free hand around the room, Cameron mouthed, “And you may tell yourself, ‘This is not my beautiful house…’.”

Melodramatically, Donna grabbed Cameron’s shoulders, and mouthed, “And you may tell yourself, ‘This is not my beautiful wife’!” 

The next chorus came in, and Donna let go of Cameron, and started doing The Robot. Cameron watched her for a moment, dumbfounded — in the many years that she’d known Donna, she’d seen her do many things, but never The Robot — and then she started to bounce happily, if tentatively, with the music. She watched Donna for a little longer, and when Donna started to sing or rather say along, “Same as it ever was,” Cameron grabbed her, and kissed her.

Donna threw her arms around Cameron, again, and kissed her back.