Needs More Dragons (tags Dee)

[Finlay Eddelman]

Finlay Eddelman sprawled across the floor, sleeves rolled up to his elbows, chewing on the end of his paintbrush and squinting in concentration at the very large scroll of paper he and Delilah were currently attacking with bright colors. It had been exactly a week since the shootings, and while he hadn't known any of the injured well, the first day back after such horrifying events had been awkward. The school board was now much more paranoid about security, which meant that he had been asked to remove every single one of his hundreds of safety pins, and the large police presence had not made him feel the least bit safer. Nor, for that matter, had the school's insistence on clear or mesh bookbags. They were certainly cracking down, but if any of these new rules would really deter any determined shooters was far from certain.

So he had decided that he and Delilah needed a distraction, which meant breaking out the painting supplies. Together they were engaged in creating a scene of dazzling romance between a raven haired princess and a brave knight -- or at least, that was what the figures Fin was painting were supposed to be; the human figure was not his strong point. He was good with sewing and modification, not drawing and painting; that was Dee's talent. Still, even if he wasn't very good it was something he was doing with his girlfriend, which meant that he didn't really care all that much so long as she didn't care.

He crawled a bit closer to her; he would probably have spent more time kissing her and less time on the painting, but his father was stretched out on the couch, ostensibly reading War and Peace but Fin was sure the older Eddelman would have noticed had he and Dee started snogging madly.

"I think it needs more dragons," He offered, wiping the black from his brush on the color-splattered paper towel next to him and diving for the gold. "So the knight can rescue the princess."

[delilahamello]

Dee was very happy and content where she was at the moment. Not just physically, but emotionally and mentally as well. Sure her parents didn't give a flip about her and were gone from the house more then they were around, but she knew that she was always welcome over at Fin's at any time, and for any meal. She loved his dad, he was so casual and laid back about most things. She practically lived there part of the time, and that was good cause shew as as crazy about Fin as he was about her.

The shooting at the school had been horrific, and the new security at the building bothered the hell out of her as a few of the patrolmen recognized her from her druggie days and had stopped her on more then one occasion, but she never told Fin that. Why bother him with something so stupid?

Physically, she had not felt this good in a very long time, she was happy and healthy and in lo...in very much like.

At the moment, she and Fin were stretched out, working on a painting. Not for any class project, but just something for them. He had suggested the dark haired princess and her knight theme, something that had made her smile, and steal a quick kiss when his father wasn't looking. She smiled when he scooted closer, and she let her foot drap over his, kinda like they were holding feet instead of hands.

"More dragons are cool, they should be circling the castle..and we definitely need a moat in place...and what makes you think the princess can't save herself?" she grinned over at him, a grin on her lips.

[Finlay Eddelman]

"A moat, definitely," Finlay agreed, surveying the painting to find the perfect place to add a moat. "How many dragons we want?" He queried, golden strokes above the two human figures quickly forming scales, and then what was supposed to be a winged-reptile. He admired his handy-work for a moment, impressed with himself until his father glanced over at them.

"So why is the knight trying to slay eagles with a sword?" He wondered aloud at the pair.

Finlay rolled his eyes at his father. "They're not eagles!" He groused, "They're dragons." But he reached for the red; perhaps flames would make it more obvious that the flying objects were dragons.

He lifted the foot Dee was draped over, rubbing under the bottom of hers, "Well, of course the princess could save herself." He agreed quickly, hoping he hadn't offended his girlfriend by implying girls were somehow inferior. "She could, but that doesn't mean the knight shouldn't help her out since he knows she has to fight off dragons. He has the armor and the weapon, it'd be kind of jerky to let her deal with it alone, right?" He thought this line of reasoning should be acceptable; he wouldn't deliberately leave anyone to flounder on their own, even if they had the resources to help themselves, not if he had the means to help, but of course some people preferred to be left alone.

He placed his paintbrush on the edge of his paper towel and slid his hand into hers. "Would the princess rather fight the dragons on their own?"

[delilahamello]

Dee smiled. "I think we need...at least 3 dragons.." She told him. "That way, there is an odd number...like 2 of the dragons could be asleep, but there is always one watching over everything. so yeah..at least 3."

Looking over her shoulder at Fin's dad as he asked about the eagles, Dee couldn't help but grin. "Hey...don't knock the eagles...they were pretty bad ass in Lord of the Rings." She tossed her long dark hair over to the other side as she turned back to the painting in front of them.

Fin had quickly tried to cover himself, probably thinking that he might have offended her, but Dee was anything but offended. "Actually..I think the princess is very much appreciative that her knight is there, just in case something happens that she can't take care of on her own. She likes that he is there to help her, and that he respects that she can do some stuff on her own."

Her fingers laced with his when he took it. "No, the princess wants him there by her side, fighting things together for as long as they are able to." She said quiely "You know...I think the princess has a secret.." she looked over at Fin for a moment, searching his eyes. her dark hair kept his father from seeing what they were talking about. "I think the princess is ready to tell the knight that she loves him.." Her voice was quiet, so only Fin, who was just a few inches away from her, could hear her.

[Finlay Eddelman]

Finlay obediently began adding another dragon, a companion for the first. He supposed that even evil, princess-eating dragons got lonely sometimes. "Sure, but don't you think one of those dragons feels like a third wheel?" He wondered. Or maybe dragons weren't monogamous; it wasn't as though he had ever given much consideration to dragon mating habits.

He beamed when she admitted she didn't mind his presence and help. He wasn't really sure how to not try and help her, so it was good that she was okay with it. Of course, he sometimes wished he could help in a manner that was more obvious; slaying dragons was very overtly helpful in ways that silent support as a girlfriend attempted to straighten out her life was not. He appreciated how hard she tried, though, because if she had dropped back into her partying ways he wasn't sure they would still be together. He just couldn't keep up with that lifestyle.

He licked his lips nervously as her dark eyes bore into his. What was she thinking? He wished he could tell; but then she surprised him. She loved him. For nearly two months they had been shyly rebuilding a relationship ruined through neglect and sibling cruelty and tragic circumstances, and the word love was too strong to use for such a fragile state of affairs. But now she had breached their tacit agreement, and was pushing forward. Fin didn't think he minded much.

"I think we should let what we have dry." He suggested. "So the princess doesn't have to have us watch when she tells him." He glanced over at his father, who quickly looked away from the pair with a smile.

"What," Fin asked, "about root beer floats?"

[delilahamello]

Had she done something wrong? Was he not ready for her to tell him? Dee could feel her stomach knotting up as she nodded, capping the paint she was working with and leaving her brushes in the rinse jar. She stood carefully, moving the paper out of the way with a bare foot so that it wouldnt get stepped on as the pair headed towards the kitchen.

Finlay turned to face Dee once they were safely in the kitchen, away from the prying ears of his father. Not that he thought his father would really mind, exactly, but this was the sort of thing he would rather keep private. Big, public displays of affection were difficult for him, particularly as they had only just now got to a point where either of them were comfortable with these words. "Umm." He began, clearing his throat, "About what you said in there...." He glanced towards the hallway, then back to his dark-haired princess. "Iloveyoutoo." He felt both relieved at finally saying it, and a little stupid, as it slowly occurred to him that maybe that wasn't what she had meant and he had misunderstood because of what he wanted to hear.

She had made herself busy, pulling glasses out of the cabinet for the floats that he had suggested. he spoke, and she looked up at him, his words bringing a bright smile to her lips. "Yeah?" she asked, trying to play it cool despite the fact that her heart wanted to go hummingbird around the room. "What are you gonna do about it then...if I love you..and you love me.."

Fin could feel himself turning very bright red, so he hid himself in the refrigerator, rummaging for root beer for their floats. "Ummm," He answered as he emerged, soda in hand. "I guess I should kiss you." He leaned over, trying to kiss her while juggling two cans of root beer at the same time and hoping that his father would stay in the living room. He was torn between finishing making their floats, and running her off to somewhere his father wouldn't find them and making out.

Dee giggled, something that she hadn't done a lot of until they had finally managed to get together. "I guess you should." she replied, taking the cans of soda out of his hands with one hand, while the other slipping around his neck to pull him in for the kiss. Yep, she was at least a foot shorter then he was, but heels were good.

Fin allowed Dee to take the cans from him, because that meant he had hands free to wrap in her hair and around her waist. Kissing her was one of his favorite activities, and for some reason it seemed all the better because of the confession they had just exchanged. However, he eventually had to breathe, and with that he looked over to the root beer. "We still up for those?" He wondered, "We could sit on the front porch with them." And make out afterward, couldn't forget about the making out.

She melted against him, loving the feel of his strong hands in her hair. A shiver ran up her spine once they pulled apart to breathe, and she sighed happily. "I am always up for sugar and ice cream...you know that...front porch is good.." She grinned at him, hoping that his dad was gonna stay toward the back of the house

Twenty minutes later the pair were sitting on the Eddelman's front steps, empty glasses on the steps behind them and hands entwined. Finlay couldn't have been happier. "Whadda you think you'll do when we graduate?" It was something he only occasionally gave thought to, but as graduation loomed closer his father put more and more pressure on him to make some sort of decision, apply to some school or commit to a trade school. He kind of wanted to start his own fashion line, but he was a bit intimidated by the idea of attending classes for design. And a fashion line wouldn't exactly fit into his punk ideals, either...."don't go away and leave me."

Dee was leaning against him, her head on his shoulder and one of her feet tucked up under her. "A year ago, I couldn't have told you what I was going to do, but now.." She started. "I heard that USC has a art program that is supposed to be one of the best.." She looked at him. "It's not that far off, and they have a fashion design program as well....if that was something you were interested in.."

Finlay looked at Delilah in surprise. "You've really given this some thought." He commented, "Yeah, I might look into that. What kind of art are you looking at doing?" He wondered. She was so talented, she would surely be able to do anything she wanted. "It seems so far off, but it's really not, is it." He sighed, "I don't know if I'm ready to be an adult yet."

"Some, it's part of my NA and AA meetings. if I have something to focus on I'm less likely to have a relapse." she told him. "We still have a few months left to figure stuff out...it might be too late for me to get into anything right now anyway but I'll figure that out as it comes...I just..know that i don't really wanna be that far from you." she said, biting her lower lip.

Finlay wrapped one arm firmly around Dee's waist, "I don't want to be far away from you, either." He admitted. What he wanted, of course, was to obtain a job not to pay for schooling, but to pay for an apartment so that he and Dee could live together. That way they could be together all the time, instead of almost all the time. But he didn't want to seem too pushy, so he kept this desire to himself. "Oh, yeah. So I don't keep you occupied enough?" He teased, "I want to be your extracurriculars." He leaned over to give her another kiss; he was sure he would never tire of that particular activity.

Dee curled up more against him, just inches from sitting in his lap, not that he would mind anyway. "You keep me plenty occupied..." She was cut off as he claimed her lips again. She sighed into the kiss, feeling secure that no matter where life after Gould took them, they would be together.