Okay.
Louis hated to admit it, but Noelle could be really fucking fun to hang out with.
"No, I'm serious," she was insisting, leaning against the kitchen counter and visibly struggling to keep the phone steady through her laughter. "He--he literally did win more matches with them. But he was so defensive about it."
"But--" Louis fought to keep his giggles at bay, tried to focus on the video and not Noelle's anecdote. Both were losing battles. Noelle's good mood was infectious, and the generous splash of
Fischer's Chocolate Melt
in his hot chocolate wasn't helping either of them. "But he started a
fistfight
?"
"At a convention! He literally practically did!"
"Why wouldn't he just wear different headphones?"
Noelle wiped a tear from her eye, shaking her head. "No, no, they--they had
better sound quality
, Louis, you don't get it,
everyone's
gonna be using them, it's not a femboy thing! It's not a femboy thing!"
"Was anyone else wearing them?"
"Yeah, a guy in booty shorts that said 'bottom text' on the back."
Louis clung to the oven handle as the laughter took him like a storm.
He'd had one mug and was starting his second. She was already on her third. She was really sweet when she was tipsy. Kind of a cuddly drunk, actually. Very quick to grab his hand when she was trying to explain something exciting, or to lean against him when vertigo took her.
Noelle also just loosened up so much in a one-on-one setting. He was starting to feel silly for all the paranoia earlier. He'd taken care to pour both their drinks, and he'd even waited to see Noelle start drinking before drinking himself.
"Oh my god," Noelle managed, panting for breath, "how close are those cookies?"
He glanced at the oven timer behind her. "Six minutes."
The first and second batches of almond cookies were already cooling on the counter, cut into the shapes of stars and cardinals.
"You wanna do another batch?" he asked. "Still maybe a couple of cookies' worth in dough scraps. Or can I..."
"Nah." She glanced at the scraps and giggled. "Go nuts. Enjoy the raw eggs."
"And raw flour." He scooped up the leftover bits of dough and carelessly popped them into his mouth, savoring the rich, sugary almond taste. He'd never had almond cookies before, but he definitely had to beg the recipe off Noelle later.
He washed the cookie dough down with a gulp of the hot chocolate. It was rich, thick and heavy, with a nice, boozey kick at the end mostly smoothed over by sweetness.
"No, but seriously," Noelle said, her alcohol-sweetened voice pulling him out of his thoughts, "you've gotta put them on." She held up the pair of headphones. "This next video seriously doesn't work at all if you can't hear, like, directional stuff."
He rolled his eyes. "No, I think I gotta... I gotta sit down." He giggled. "I'm pretty, uh, this stuff's pretty rich."
"Yeah, I may have overdone them a li'l bit." Noelle grinned, taking him by the hand and making her clumsy way back into the living room. "Sitting sounds... good."
She led him over to the armchair before the fireplace and gestured for him to sit, beaming at him. He let her get away with it this time--he vaguely remembered not wanting to sit here earlier, but he'd been in a much... grumpier mood then. He sank in gratefully, allowing his head to finally stop twirling a little as it met the back of the chair. The chair was cozy and soft and warm.
He sipped at his hot chocolate. The flames danced before him, licked at the logs.
"Here, let me take that." Noelle reached down and accepted the mug from him. He smiled in thanks. There was still hot chocolate in there, but it was probably for the best. This stuff was
heavy
.
His hostess turned and bounced away, humming happily. He giggled and enjoyed watching her go. Noelle was an adorable drunk. They seriously needed to hang out like this more often.
Louis stretched out in the armchair, enjoying the record player's soft rendition of Santa Baby in the background. As his head tipped back mid-stretch and the ear rumbles briefly swallowed up the music, his eyelids fluttered open.
His cheeks heated up. Oh, right. That was why he'd tried to avoid this chair.
The mistletoe.
He quickly returned to his normal pose. He could hear the clicking of heels, and a moment later, Noelle came back into the room with a bright smile on her face.
"Thanks," he said, smiling back at her. "I..."
"No problem!" Noelle handed him a steaming cup of hot chocolate. "Here you go!"
"Oh!" He stared at the mug in his hands, accepted without thought. "Thanks, but I wasn't gonna..." She was leaning over him, giving him a full view of her chest, her breasts pushing out that tight red sweater. He let his eyes linger a little too long before he tore his eyes away. "... gonna--"
The chair suddenly got a bit warmer, and a lot softer, as Noelle plopped down in it right next to him. She gave him a coy smile and took a sip from her own mug. "Well, I'll finish off yours when I'm done with mine, then. But it doesn't look so good, does it? Getting a girl drunk while you stay stone-cold sober?" She winked.
He giggled sheepishly. "Hardly stone-cold." He squirmed a little. "It's... a little cramped."
"I could get in your lap?" she teased.
The heat in his cheeks rose to a fire, and he knew from Noelle's raised eyebrows that his blushing was not subtle. He started to reflexively raise the mug to his lips, then stopped himself. He seriously couldn't take another drop. This stuff was
heavy
. All he'd eaten since he'd gotten here was liqueured up hot chocolate and raw cookie dough.
And, he primly reminded himself, as Noelle made herself comfortable next to him, he hadn't seen her pour it this time. Hadn't he meant to be careful? Hadn't he been so insistent on pouring the drinks himself?
It all seemed a little silly now. Sure, Noelle was a little full of herself, but that was another word for confident, wasn't it? And she was being so sweet to him.
Although sweetness could cover up other things.
He felt the softness of her hips pressing against him. Felt her hand brush against his and send goosebumps up his arm. Felt her cuddling up closer. Her chin rested against his shoulder.
"You... okay?" He barely managed to get the words above a squeak.
"Mm. Sorry." She smiled dizzily up at him. "It's cold outside~"
Louis was burning up. His mouth was dry. He stared into her piercing green eyes, tried not to notice her half-parted ruby-red lips, how her full breasts were squishing around his arm... how her posture pulled her sweater up a little, showing off the inward pull of her waist, the swell of her heart-shaped hips...
A high-pitched beeping cut through the record player's distant recording of
Let It Snow
. They both jumped, and then Noelle laughed. "Oh my gosh, the cookies!" She sprang to her feet. "You just--"
Before she could tell him to stay put, he stood up, too. He wasn't letting her coze up to him like that again. He wasn't sure what he'd do, but it felt strangely... dangerous. He felt a little faint, standing up so abruptly. He'd definitely been sitting for too long.
"Come on," Noelle sang, taking a deep drink of her own hot chocolate and skipping back to the kitchen. "Let's get some cookies!"
He smiled weakly. As they entered the kitchen, he remembered just in time to set his mug on the counter. Best to just remove that temptation entirely.
Steam rose as Noelle bent over--he averted his gaze, blushing--and pulled out a tray of fresh almond cookies. They'd positively melted, more like one big cookie than a whole tray of them. "All done!" she sang.
"Great!" He beamed, reaching as if to take the whole tray. "So, I'll take
this
cookie, and you..."
She giggled, setting the tray on a potholder and retrieving a spatula. "Hush, you. It's just a very liquidy dough, so it all kinda, you know, dissolves." She cut out a square and put it on a napkin, then, as an afterthought, darted back to turn off the oven. "But it's
so
worth it. You have to try one already."
"Yeah, I..." Louis hesitated as he noticed the oven's clock for the first time. Oh, god, was it already that late? "I-I dunno, actually. I should probably be..."
He trailed off. One cookie wouldn't make or break anything. He was being paranoid again, letting Natalia's sleepy ramblings get to him. He accepted the cookie with a grateful smile. "Actually, sure. Just one, though. My stomach is not happy right now."
"Well, you're the one who wanted to go walking around the place!" She giggled, moving in close. "I kinda liked you just sitting in that chair. You're fun to... you know. Pamper."
His breath caught. To cover his embarrassment, and give him time to think of a response, he practically shoved the cookie into his mouth.
Louis loved almonds. He sometimes brought a bag of almonds to the game and idly snacked on them while they were setting up. The promise of an 'almond cookie' had probably been at least half of why he'd been persuaded to stay to begin with. The crispness of the edges, coupled with the gooeyness of the center, was perfect. It was like a sugar cookie, but so much better, and so much more
