Work Text:
“Brisk”. That was the word Lana used to describe weather like this whenever Mia was walking with her. Mia would have had some more choice words for how freezing it was, personally, but there wasn’t anything she could say when it was her who’d decided to wear a cute little dress to the Ivy Law New Year’s Eve party.
Why the hell did she do that? New Years! Obviously, that meant standing around at midnight in December. And then in January. A sharp gust cut through the plaza, and Mia shivered, her shoulders tensing. She wrapped her arms around herself as she scouted around for the woman who had invited her here, and who was the main reason she’d forced herself to step away from her textbooks for the night.
And there she was, tall and smiling, and pretty. Lana Skye, amicably chatting away to some of their peers. As soon as she laid eyes on her, the tension in Mia’s shoulders dropped, and a warmth settled in her chest that almost held its own against the cool night air.
Lana was far more prepared for the weather than Mia was. Practical as ever. Woollen coat, double-breasted. It was flattering on her! She cut a nice silhouette. Mia had found that she’d been thinking this more often lately about what Lana wore. Everything seemed flattering when it was on her. To be fair, there was plenty to flatter. She could look incredible in a t-shirt, and frequently did. Mia shook her arm about a little to bring herself back around.
It was very normal to admire someone like Lana Skye. She was bright, and she was composed, and she was, by all accounts, admirable. Very.
…Admiration didn’t feel like a strong enough word for how Mia felt when she finally locked eyes with Lana across the shuffling heads of the Ivy Law student body. In that instant, when Lana’s smile was directed at her, when she tilted her head and raised her eyebrows and waved, Mia’s blood rushed to her head. Her vision was a little dim as she waved back.
This dizzy feeling had become excruciatingly familiar whenever Mia began thinking about Lana these days. About the way her brow creased when she was paying attention, about the way her eyes sat when she smiled… about the inch of skin she’d seen when Lana stretched her arms up above her head, and her shirt rode up just enough to give Mia ideas… Ideas which were currently being exacerbated by how her face was catching the yellow glow of the streetlights, and how soft her eyes looked.
Mia watched as Lana turned away, resuming her conversation. Mia turned as well, availing herself of a solo cup and some cheap champagne, glad to not be under her scrutiny for a moment.
As she put the cup to her lips, hugging herself and rubbing her arm, she let her thoughts wander. How she felt about Lana was challenging. She understood Mia. She was funny, and she was witty, and she was magnetically intelligent. Mia swallowed a little too much of her drink, hard, and stifled a cough.
Lana was easy to talk to, so it didn’t make any sense for her to be so nervous. Lana never made her nervous, she made her feel very at ease and very… No, she wasn’t nervous. She was shivering because she was freezing. And only because she was freezing. Not because of Lana. Not because she-
“Mia. Good to see you.”
Mia spluttered, a little of her champagne dribbling down her chin. She whipped around, her face pink, and looked across at her. The grin that Mia was fairly well acquainted with looked charming as ever, and Mia was feeling some of its charm.
“Lana! Hi!” She wiped her face off with her hand and nervously squeezed the cup in her hand. It was rare to be looking down at her, but Mia was the only one of the two in heels. They were kind of killing her. Lana burst out laughing.
“Hello, yourself,” Lana grinned, while Mia couldn’t help but look at how she ran her middle finger along the ridge in her cup, the motion uncomfortably distracting. “I’m glad to see you made it. I was getting worried you’d sacked it off to study all night.”
She was worried? Mia’s jaw tightened a little, before she relaxed it, trying to seem effortless and cool.
“Well, I… All work and no play makes Mia a dull girl.”
Her jaw tensed up again, and she blinked for a little too long to be a blink, cringing. That was lame. When she opened her eyes, Lana was looking at her with a soft… affection? Though, the second Mia began to examine her, she prickled up and turned her head away. It wasn’t fair how pretty her side profile was, with her straight nose and her…her suddenly quite distracting lips. Half a thought formed about kissing them before Lana’s tongue darted out to wet them. Mia pulled her gaze back up to her eyes as Lana turned her head back to face Mia.
“Well, thank you for coming out to play,” she laughed gently, almost affectionately, “You look… That’s a nice dress on you.”
“Oh, ah, thank you. I wish I had a little more on me.” Mia flicked her fringe out of her eyes and smiled uneasily, “I should have worn a coat.”
“Do you want mine?”
Mia scoffed, laughing a little as she shuddered from the chill. “Are you kidding?”
Lana was looking at her, dead earnest, her wide eyes full of sincerity. “Well, it is a little bracing, but I don’t mind the cold. I have a sweater on anyway.”
The idea of wearing something made warm with Lana’s body heat made Mia’s head swim a little bit. Swallowing, Mia nervously laughed again. “I can’t take your coat, Lana.”
“Suit yourself. Offer still stands if you change your mind,” Lana shrugged, smiling again and tilting her head, “We can huddle together instead. Like penguins.” She took a step closer to Mia, standing to her side and patting her on the back, inviting her to walk with her. Mia’s knees felt quite weak and she prayed she wouldn’t go over her ankle in these heels with how inclined to stumble she felt.
It wasn’t long until the countdown, she assured herself, and she could go home and have incredibly uncomplicated thoughts about Lana on her own without embarrassing herself in front of the object of her… her attraction, maybe. Mia was almost disappointed that Lana had put her hand back in her pocket after touching her so briefly. She entertained the idea of her arm relaxing around her instead, her slim fingers resting on her hip. …Tracing up her side. She almost crushed her cup in her hand.
“We could.” She was mumbling now, both hands fiddling with the cup as she walked further into the plaza with Lana. Mia could feel the heat radiating off of her and instinctively leaned in closer when they stopped amongst the crowd. Lana stiffened up, and Mia could hear her breathing falter in its steady rhythm for a second before she very quickly took a swig of her drink. Her hand shifted, the wool of her coat prickling against Mia’s bare arm as she gently nudged her. While the static in Mia’s mind was clearing, Lana spoke.
“Keep close. It’s busy.” Her voice was soft and quiet, barely audible over the crowd.
Keep close…? Now that Mia could think again, she realised just how close they were. Close enough for Mia to smell her perfume, to feel the curve of Lana’s hip against her own, to feel Lana’s knuckles brushing against her own.
She opened her hand and hesitated. It would be astoundingly easy to just slide her palm over Lana’s, close her fingers, and hold her hand. She’d done it before. She’d dragged her up to dance, she’d arm wrestled her, she’d been led through crowds… But it was a bit different to simply, gently, hold her hand because she wanted to.
She ran her thumb over her own fingers, looking at Lana’s jaw as she drank from her cup again. She was turned away, looking up at the countdown on the projector. Mia followed her eyes. Ten minutes wasn’t long. When Lana took her cup away from her lips, she stayed looking away, blinking and letting her eyes flicker everywhere except Mia.
“Mia,” she murmured, turning to face her, “I’m glad that we’re friends. Here’s to another semester.”
Lana’s cup was raised towards Mia, just a sip left in it. Mia gently touched her cup, much more crinkled than she thought it was, to Lana’s.
“Yeah,” She muttered back, breathless, before cracking a smile, “Another semester of poring over notes and pouring out wine?”
Lana looked down at the champagne left in her cup, chuckling. “That’s a good one.”
Mia mirrored her, staring into her own drink, before tipping the last of it into her mouth.
“Nothing would give me more pleasure.” Lana’s voice was soft, and she followed Mia in drinking the last of her champagne. She extended her hand to take Mia’s empty cup, and they locked eyes as Mia placed it into Lana’s waiting palm. Lana sighed as she stacked them together, mumbling something about putting them in the bin before she walked off.
It was markedly colder without Lana next to her, and Mia’s gaze lingered on her as she took quick strides toward the bin, raking her hand through her hair.
Now that she was alone, Mia couldn’t help but think. Nothing would give Lana more pleasure than… staying up late with Mia and discussing law. Mia cut herself off before she could imagine that there was anything other than law on Lana’s mind.
Her brilliant, brilliant mind.
She felt a flush over her cheeks that wasn’t anything to do with the nip of the midnight chill. As she watched Lana walking back, her expression composed and her hair newly tousled, the flush intensified.
She was attractive. Objectively.
She had a cute face and a strong gait, and she had a nice figure. Not that Mia was paying any special attention to her figure. Especially not when Lana would lie on her front in her shorts and t-shirt on Mia’s bed, leafing through her textbook. She folded her arms, uncomfortable. Lana’s fast walking brought her back soon enough for Mia to not fluster herself with any more unwelcome thoughts, and she stood next to her again. Lana’s easy grin was back on her face, gentle and friendly.
“I was thinking,” she began, and Mia smiled.
“Uh oh. That’s dangerous.”
“Cheeky. No, seriously, I was wondering if you had any resolutions.” Her hands were in her pockets again, and she was standing a little further away than Mia wanted her to be.
“Oh, uh, I don’t know.” Mia didn’t know. But suddenly, Lana had made her think. What did she want from the next year? …She was surprised with how selfish her instinct was. Immediately, the thing that jumped to mind was the woman in front of her. “I’m a bit too cold to think…” She awkwardly laughed, rubbing her arms.
Lana sidled closer, inviting Mia into one of her arms, and against her. “I told you to take my coat, didn’t I?”
Mia uneasily took half a step in, and Lana’s arm found its way around her back, her fingers resting on her shoulder. The touch made the hairs on her arm prickle up, and she laughed again, letting herself lean against Lana. She was kind too. It was hard not to entertain some sort of romantic idea of her… She bought Mia drinks, she drove her places, she… she was sweet. She’d make a good girlfriend for someone, probably. That idea made Mia pout. It wasn’t something she really wanted to say, but she’d make a good girlfriend for her, if Mia were interested in that kind of thing. She swallowed.
“And I guess you always know best, right?”
“You know me too well," Lana smirked, squeezing her around the shoulders, "Always.”
The clamour around them picked up as the minutes wound down. One minute to go, and Lana still had her arm around her. She pulled her in close again suddenly and chuckled.
“You know, I have some resolutions.” She was smiling. She had such a nice smile. The kind that quelled the butterflies in her stomach and made Mia want to smile back. Which she did.
“Oh yeah?” Mia teased, “You going to cancel your gym membership and get a new one?”
Lana laughed, looking up at the timer. “Well, that wasn’t what I had in mind.”
“Go on then.”
“Ah, you’ll laugh at me. But I’m sure you’ll find out sooner or later.”
Mia looked at her incredulously. “Oh, shut up. What do you mean, I’ll find out?”
“You’ll find out!” Lana squeezed her again, grinning. “You find everything out anyway, right? Genius.”
Mia flushed. Genius, huh? She leant into Lana’s side a little, the warmth against her skin meeting the warmth in her chest. Genius! That was nice to hear. From Lana. Around them, the crowd chanted down the last few seconds of the year she met Lana Skye.
Ten.
The year she’d spent the latter half of getting to know her.
Nine.
Getting to know how funny she was, and how intelligent, and how…
Eight.
Just generally wonderful she was.
Seven.
And she was here, next to Mia, right next to her - her arm was around her, for God’s sake.
Six.
Her very comforting arm, with tender fingers, settled tentatively on her shoulder.
Five.
Mia looked at her, her jawline, the slope of her nose... her lips, shouting along with the crowd. She turned to face Mia, nodding sideways to indicate that she should be shouting too.
Four.
But Mia was speechless, unusually. There was something about Lana, her nose and ears red from the cold, her grin that made one of her cheeks dimple, her eyes that crinkled half shut as she squeezed Mia closer and looked away again, up at the timer.
Three.
Attractive. She was attractive.
Two.
It might have been the champagne, it might have been the buzz of the atmosphere, or the noise of the crowd drowning out anything but the sight of Lana next to her, her hair slightly ruffled and her eyes soft and earnest…
One.
But Mia was attracted to her.
“Happy New Year, Mia!” Lana’s voice fought for footing among the cheers as she rubbed Mia’s arm excitedly, squeezing her tight and laughing. Mia just stared into her eyes, watching them widen and soften with affection as the corners of her smile dropped.
Before she grasped the fact she was moving in, her lips were on Lana’s, and Lana’s hand was tensing away from her shoulder. She barely registered the sensation before she pulled away, her cheeks burning.
Lana’s lips were parted, her hard breaths turning to steam in the freezing air as they spilled out between them, meeting Mia’s own uneasy breathing. She brought her hand up to her mouth, covering it to try and convince herself she hadn’t pressed her stupid lips against her friend's.
Lana’s hand relaxed again, her fingers finding their place against her skin. Mia began rehearsing an apology, watching Lana blink and turn to the side.
“Wow.”
Mia couldn’t hear Lana as she spoke, but the movement of her mouth left little doubt as to what she said.
She picked up her voice and leaned in next to Mia’s ear, laughing as she stumbled over her words, “Very Happy New Year.” She pulled away, her grin stretching ear to ear. Her eyes flickered away from Mia’s before she let her pretty jaw follow them, tilting. She shook her head and puffed out a breath.
“Uhm, yeah,” Mia mumbled between her fingers. She brought her hand away from her face, her head full of static and her face hot. “Happy New Year.”
Lana’s eyes flickered over the ground around them, before she cast an equally skittish glance over the crowd, turning her head in a motion which Mia mirrored. Nobody was looking at them.
Soft fingers slowly cupped Mia’s jaw and turned her head back to face forward. To face Lana. She was looking down between them, chewing her lip. Mia watched her brows furrow, her eyes close, and suddenly she was leaning in, her breath tickling Mia’s lips. A shiver pricked its way down Mia’s spine.
When their lips met in another tentative kiss, Lana shifted where she stood, steadying her feet as her hands gingerly found purchase on Mia, both arms now wrapped around her. Her touch was electric, pushing chills through to Mia’s spine from each point of contact, and making her melt in.
Into her arms, into her kiss, into Lana.
Mia chased Lana’s mouth as she started to pull back, and threw her arms round her shoulders. She kissed her again, over and over, desperately pressing in closer, prompting Lana to stumble back slightly, but not to respond with any less eagerness than Mia had for her. When they pulled away from each other, Mia’s head was reeling.
Lana was adorable, her hair messy and her eyes wide. Watching Lana’s smile creeping up on her, framed by the lipstick that had smudged over her mouth, Mia couldn’t help herself. She planted more greedy kisses on her, feeling Lana returning half of them, trying not to give in to the grin that threatened to interrupt them. When Mia pulled away again, Lana was giddy, blinking fast. She brought her hand up to run her thumbnail along her bottom lip, her eyes darting off to the side. Mia had never seen her so fazed. So cute. She wrapped her arms around Mia again, pulling her close.
“God, Mia,” Though Mia could barely hear her, her name sounded like a prayer when it rolled off of Lana’s lips now. “You’re…”
Mia awkwardly laughed, squeezing her hands together behind Lana’s head. “I’m?”
“You’re,” Lana mumbled, “...You’re incredible.” She was trying to stop herself from smiling, but she just couldn’t. Her cheek stayed dimpled, and her breaths kept coming out in giddy half-laughs. “You’re incredible! God!” She pulled Mia closer, and Mia laughed too, crossing her arms over each other and kissing Lana’s nose.
“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this smiley.” Mia was one to talk. She knew she probably looked ridiculous herself, smiling just as wide as Lana, and judging from the lipstick smeared across Lana's mouth, her own must have been in a similar state.
“I don’t think,” Lana had to look away for a second, settling herself into a more serious expression, “I don’t think I’ve ever been this happy.” Her earnest look didn’t last long before she was grinning again, and then she was all over Mia, squeezing her tight.
Fireworks burst over their heads, and Mia couldn’t make out whatever it was Lana murmured when she buried her head in her shoulder. She just knew that it was followed shortly by Lana nuzzling into the crook of her neck while her arms tightened around her waist.
Mia fiddled with her friend’s hair, soft and loose between her fingers. She carded her hand through it, up to hold the back of her head, the other hand palming Lana’s shoulder. It was…comforting how right it felt. How well they fit into each others’ arms. Mia kissed the side of her head, nose pressed into her hair.
Happy New Year was right.