steve—robinson:

ava-macpherson:

Ava squeaked as Steve picked her up, not fully registering what he had said until a few seconds later. She hung on to his shoulders tightly, afraid she might fall. Ava enjoyed the rush of bouncing up and down as Steve carried her off until they reached the living room and once she was put on the couch, she pressed her lips together. “Thanks for the ride,” She chuckled, leaning back into the cushion for a second. She let out a sigh, feeling content with her state. The situation with Anya was the farthest thing from Ava’s mind right now, which was good for her. She didn’t like to worry and tomorrow she’d have a clear mind of what to do about everything, and even if she couldn’t do it on her own, she knew she could count on Steve’s advice for help.

Ava trailed her fingers along the armrest of the couch, watching them go over the seams in the fabric before tapping them lightly. “Hey,” She began, turning back to face Steve. “Dance with me.” She smiled slightly. Ava wasn’t normally one more dancing unless she was out partying but those days were clearly behind her now, not that she had a choice. Being intoxicated was the perfect excuse to put her mind in that setting again, just to let go of everything she knew for a little while and move her body without really thinking. Ava stood up, taking Steve’s hand in hers, barely giving him time to object. She attempted to pull him from the couch, trying her best to do so and lead him into the middle of the room.

Steve grinned and nodded. “No problem.” He told her. He sighed, feeling pretty content—really, actually just great. He hadn’t felt like that in a very long time. It was kind of euphoric. That’s a really good thing. Maybe it was just the combination of the drinking and befriending Ava. Everything so far was just literally going so much better than he expected as of late. Steve was lost in his thoughts about it all when Ava spoke. He looked over at her and smiled. Dancing. That’d be a really nice thing, and he’d catch her in case she slipped again. Steve was about to say ‘alright’ but she already brought him up, taking him to the middle of the room.

He placed one hand on her waist and his other hand held Ava’s free hand. Steve sighed. “Should… one of us start singing or humming… or do we just slow dance in general? Or do you wanna jump up and down? I can do that too.” He was actually really excited about dancing now. Where were the Squatters, now that he thought of it? He kind of wished they weren’t homeless and were living here so that he could snatch whatever music they had. That’s what he’d been doing for the past 12 years anyway to keep his music taste up-to-date. “I personally like both, but jumping up and down might make you queasy and tired.” Even as he talked, though, he had been leading Ava into a casual slow dance anyway. It was fun.

Ava placed a hand on Steve’s shoulder, letting him hold the other in his with a content smile across her lips. “Who needs music?” She replied, her eyes catching his with every intent of holding his gaze. “Unless you’d like to sing for me, in which case, be my guest! That’s just another thing to compliment you on.” She teased, her smile fading into more of a smirk. The two moved in sync in silence for a moment, the taste of vodka still lingering on Ava’s lips, not that she was complaining.

“Good point,” She agreed with a nod, biting the corner of her lip for a moment as she contemplated the thought. “Slow dancing is fine by me, besides, you seem like you’ve already got it down.” She squeezed his shoulder gently before loosening her grip and following his lead. Dancing like this was somehow relaxing. They moved in small circles, repeating it one time, then another and so on. A thousand questions ran through Ava’s mind but she chose only one to ask, the least interesting of them all, “Why are you so nice?” She asked, not that he needed a particular reason but the only time any guy had been truly nice to her was when they wanted something so she figured it couldn’t hurt to try and get an answer out of him. Steve was strange, not in a bad way though. He was just different than the people Ava was used to which was a pleasant change. Ava could feel herself nearly tripping over her own feet, stopping the movement for a minute to gain her balance back and then moving along with Steve again. Somehow she felt an odd sort of comfort from him, one she wasn’t used to and she wasn’t sure if it was a good thing or a bad. Ava didn’t trust people easily, especially after her friends, the people she had trusted the most, left her for dead.