insertmeathere | Would You Marry Me?

[Oh, they're wonderful! He's carefully identified everything there and researched all the species, explaining anything she's asked him to. It's fun stuff.

Now if only she'd come home, he has a surprise for her...]

She's coming back just now from martial arts training downtown. The classes are getting bigger, and she's definitely taking a vested interest in certain students. She smiled as she approached the house: she always liked hearing what Billy was inventing, how he was progressing. She didn't understand all of it, but knew it was important work, and enjoyed learning something new everyday. She, in turn, had a tendency to be an over and above wife: much like taking care of Sokka, she took care of the cooking and the laundry, and he in turn helped her when he sensed she was tired.

All in all, she was very happy.

"Hello, I'm home Billy!"

On any other day, he'd be near the door to greet her with a hug and kiss. But he's not waiting at the doorway today...instead, there's the sweet scent of running water coming from the back of the house. Perhaps he's waiting there?

Katara is instantly curious. She puts the keys up by the door closing it after her and suddenly smelled something very familiar in the air. It was like she was back in any of the Water Tribes: facets and showers couldn't recreate that kind of smell. She starts to walk toward the smell.

"Where are you?"

Drat---so the sound was her. It was ready, he hoped.

"In the spare room...well, it's not quite spare anymore."

When she arrived and swept back the new beaded curtain, she would find a lovingly constructed replica of a hot spring now occupying the room. Based on his own experiences, gifts from Renne, and stories from Katara's world, the design was intended to make the person forget that they were in a room in the house.

And on top of one of the rocks sat her eager husband, brushing wet hair out of his face. "Surprise?"

"What do you mean, its not a spare-"

The beaded curtain was new: she looked at it questionably, then went through. Her face flushed fairly bad as she felt like she was in one of those famous Ba Sing Se spas or spa in the Firenation that Zuko talked to her about. She walked toward Billy looking slightly dazed.

"Billy, this is...this is..." she was practically speechless, then ran toward him despite her aching body and hugged him tightly. "It's wonderful! Thank you, what made you think of it?!"

Squeezing her close, he presses a happy welcome kiss to her hair. Oh, how he was relieved that she'd reacted as he'd intended. Having to remodel this room again and face her wrath would've been a nightmare.

"You've been working so diligently lately, and with such long hours too. While I've been here researching and tending to the house, I've thought about your situation. I remembered the stories from your world, as well as a trick Renne used to do for me. Whenever I carried too much stress, he would use his powers to temporarily morph part of the floor into a hot spring and have me relax in there. Since I can't do that, I wanted a permanent structure for you."

She responded to the kiss by lightly brushing his cheek, looking gently into his eyes and returning it with one to his lips: light but passionate. She looked at the place a moment, grinning. "You thought I wasn't going to like it?"

She looked around, marveling. "You know, I honestly love every day we're with each other: we've learned so much, argued and compromised, and in the end, you're the person I'm looking forward to most at the end of the day. This is just further proof that you listen and do something like this to make us both happy. You're too good to me."

Just like that, the smile seamlessly transitioned into a kiss. He savored the moment, admiring how that happiness made her beautiful.

"I thought you might have another plan for this room," he admitted, still relieved that all had been well. He was feeling pretty good about things, and then when she spoke?

"Only because you deserve it a thousand times over and more. Katara, you've been building me up since we first met. There's so much I never would have done without your guidance or prodding. I've always valued opportunities to learn, especially with a partner as committed and energetic as you. Keeping up is half the challenge! I just want you to know that it's okay to slow down sometimes too."

And that, of course, was the purpose of this project. "Well...uh, it's here whenever you want to use it."

And Katara's kiss lingered a long while before she released him. She was by nature a passionate person, so it was natural that would flow to whoever she was with. With Billy, it was something that camne fairly easily.

"Been too busy to have anything concrete, to be honest," Katara admitted. " I always figure it might be a new room for all of the stuff you make. I know you could always use the room."

She shook her head, smiling. "If you think that, you kep selling yourself short. I can offer help, but in the end you're the one who took it. A lot of people wouldn't have bothered to take advice from someone younger than them, they would have thought their advice beneath them. While you may have valued my guidance, I always admired yoiur need to know things, your understanding of the world and the mechanical things around you. In the end, that's actually a trait we share, in different ways."

She grinned. "Oh, but I do Billy...and you're joining me, Mr. Work aholic."

By the gods he loved her.

"There are other places to store my things, though I might have to invent a dimensional subspace to store them all eventually. Besides, I used some of them to sculpt this---that rock cutter really came in handy."

He raked his fingers through his hair then, giving her a proud smile. "We do, and I think that's why we found each other. Two seeking minds can't stay separate for long." Yes, that's part of his nerdy conceptualization of love. Don't judge him too harshly.

At that, he seemed prepared. "Oh, am I? Well I'll be following your lead, milady." He would've moved the swimming gear to the bathrooms just outside, but that would be a bit more presumptuous than he was comfortable with.

"I'm sure," she said, understanding most of what he's just said: dimensional subspace was not a subject that Katara was all too familiar with, after all. "And it came out beautifully, Billy. You really know what you're doing!"

Katara rubbed noses him with. "You know, you're really cute when you're explining our attraction as a meeting of minds, even though you know its more than just that. I've always liked that about you though. I always thought if you ever fell for someone, it would be because they were on par with your natural inquisitiveness and intelligence. Naturally, I never thought it'd be me!"

Katara raised an eyebrow. "You know, I know you're modest, but we ARE husband and wife. You can change or NOT change here."

And she gave him a bit of a wicked chuckle. As far as suggestive dialogue went, Katara was usually guilty. It made Billy slightly embarassed, which he knew by now Katara found endearing.

When she leaned close, he rolled a strand of her hair between his fingers and grinned. "You've pegged me again, proving once more that it was meant to be you all along."

Oh, there was definitely an embarrassed quirk to his mouth at that. His mind suddenly jumped back to their wedding night, turning that look into a smile that was just slightly daring. Could he really..."You'll find that I tinted the windows. We can see out, but no one can see in."

Was he planning ahead? He hid his daring little smirk by stripping off his shirt at the right moment, raising an eyebrow at her when it was off.

She giggled here: it wasn't her usual laughing at something that was funny giggle, but more of a slightly flirtatious, "I'm-really-happy" kind of laugh. "I could say the same for you. Only you would think up something like this."

And here, Katara was just as able to feel a little embarassed, though it was less that and more excited by Billy's initiative. "You really do think of everything!"

And then the shirt came off, and it was all Katara could do not to wolf whistle or have her eyes bulge. Billy had gotten quite fit with all of his training, and it wasn't like Katara not to notice. The muscles in his arms, the way his back flexed: she swalowed a little, then recovered.

"Show off," she said, grinning.

Of course, she stripped off her clothes, having her usual waterbender underclothes underneath. She'd been working out herself.

After all this time, his mouth still dried up a little at the sight of her. Oh, she was always gorgeous, even in the infirmary or after a long day's work. Especially after work, because all the sweat and dirt proved they were always working hard.

...and then maybe they could clean up afterward. Whoa, where had that thought come from? Shaking his head, he looked back up and couldn't quite stop his mouth from moving on instinct.

"I've seen so much beauty in the universe on our travels, but I'm so fortunate that my favorite and deepest love is right in front of me."

Eager to please his lovely wife, he shucked off his jeans (revealing simple swim trunks---he was bold, but not quite THAT bold today) and walked to the water's edge with her. "After you?"

Katara couldn't help but flush a little at the praise. She'd spent a long time helping others, making friends, trying to make the best out of bad situations, but in all that time there'd been no one to share all of that with. With Billy, going on like he was, looking at her in a way that only Billy did, she did feel beautiful, and she grabbed him into a hug.

"Sometimes you spoil me," she said, shaking her head. "And when tyoui say things like that, you mkae me want to spoil you in so many ways." Take that as you will Billy: Katara intentionally means it to be open ended. "But don't forget I'm just as lucky to have someone as handsome as you in my life, for so many reasons."

She got that: if he hadn't had trunks on, she would have been shocked. Billy was prepared for almost any situation. "With pleasure" she said and dived in, making small little ripples, waiting for Billy to follow suit.

Oh, Katara knew how to hold someone's attention. The tips of his ears tinged red from just thinking about what she might mean. His thoughts putted along on their merry way as he watched her dive, perfect grace as always. No mere mortal such as he could ever hope to match a Waterbender's grace.

But that was why a water-themed gift was perfect for her, right?

Smiling broadly, he slipped down the gentle slope into the water. There were bench-like formations around one side for sitting, a longer one jutting out for reclining, and of course the center was plenty deep enough for a swim.

He swam out in her wake, improved from years of swimming after her but nowhere near compare. But where was she? Hmm.

She did indeed: you didn't get to be as wily as she was without learning a few things. Teasing Billy, after all, was somethings he had only recently learned to do: in THAT way, anyway. Normal teasing of Billy was just poking fun, this was deliberately to get him hot and bothered.

But in truth, she was actually very touched, and meant to show him so.

He'd improved too: Billy was the type to continue to do something and fail and fail until he got it right, and that was something she learned about him since Kang's lessons. She did wait as he looked for her, sinking into the water a moment before she raised her hand and a geyser of water shot Billy in mid air momentarily. Before he could fall with a splash, Katara was there, catching her husband neatly in her arms.

"Gotcha," she whispered, grinning.

It was too quiet for too long. That usually meant his darling wife was plotting something. Unfortunately for him, he never figured out what that was until it was---

---too late, and a geyser he certainly hadn't installed tossed him into the air. Katara wouldn't let him get hurt, of course, so he wasn't afraid when he landed in her arms. Just a little excited, laughing and nuzzling her neck as soon as he could reach it.

"Water beneath my wings, my angel?"

Yes, someone was feeling romantic tonight. Maybe it was the aroma he'd pumped into the water.

Edited 2010-09-15 18:06 (UTC)

Katara was more than happy to have Billy in her arms and yes, she actually did get that reference now (Billy wasn't the only one who could look things up, after all). When he touched her neck Katara trembled involuntarily: Billy may have been caught off guard, but he still did have a way of catching Katara off in his own way, especially taking advantage of her weaker spots.

She sniffed the water a moment, startled. "Hey, what's the smell?"

Billy couldn't help but smile to himself. She usually had the upper hand, but small victories were the sweetest. And really, they usually both 'won'.

Ah---he hadn't explained that, and he was sure aromas hadn't intentionally been introduced to areas like this for relaxation on her world. "It's the oil from the jasmine plant. Whenever something like this was done for me, certain scents would be added to create different atmospheres, usually soothing or simulating. A friend suggested jasmine's scent as warm and sweet."

And that was how he usually felt around her, so it was fitting. He took the opportunity to slip his arms around her neck and go in for a kiss. "Like you."

Katara would have seconded that. Billy, after all, was someone she didn't mind "beating" her, so long as it was equal between them.

Katara could have kissed him-well, actually, she was, right now. Jasmine, after all, had long been a smell she associated with Zuko's uncle Iroh, and by association her world. She did miss it every now and again, even with all of the work she and Billy did, but her own happiness was something she wanted for herself, and for Billy. The scent was mild, but pleasant.

She was going to try and tell him he was being corny but the words died in her lips: he meant it, after all, and all jokes aside, that meant everything.

"How did I ever get so lucky?" She exclaimed, reclining against him.

"We both did," he answered simply, rubbing her back with hands clearly engaged in holding someone precious. The original idea, after all, had been to ease her discomfort after a long and tiring day.

His hands moved in time with his breath, finding a starting rhythm that he hoped would help relax her.

And if she could have, she would have been purring in Billy's grip, but instead relaxed against him. She was more than relaxed now that she was home with him and showed him so by wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Thank you so much Billy. Not that I need a reason to say I love you, but you always manage to give me new ones everyday."

Those words still warmed his heart every time he heard them. Emboldened, he slid his hands to rest comfortably and then---picked her up and spun her around, if she didn't mind.

"Anything for my love," he whispered seriously, proceeding with the corniness without a care in the world.

"Well...except maybe eating fish, unless you were in trouble and eating it would save you," he ended with a slightly awkward chuckle.

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