Espresso

Curtains and Waltzing

The aged furniture would either have to be given to charity or spruced up if it was going to work. The windows were going to need a scrub, let alone the floor. There were a lot of wooden beams above her head as well; they didn't appear to suffer from woodworm so Ellie had her fingers crossed that they could remain supporting the building.

There were some faded yellow curtains hanging across some of the booths at the far end of the room so those would have to be taken down. The booth areas themselves weren't too bad, the large, oak tables could be polished along with the benches. A couple of seat covers would go nicely and Ellie could already imagine the colour fabric that would be a perfect match for the ageing wood.

"This isn't you warming up to the idea of a new building, is it?"

Ellie rolled her eyes, but couldn't help a smile forming on her lips as Robin weaved her arms around her wife's waist.

"Just because I can imagine how I'd decorate the place, it doesn't mean I've wrapped my head around the logistics behind it all, ok?"

Robin planted a kiss lightly on the brunette's cheek. "That's fair enough I suppose." She moved a few of the barstools and tables from the middle of the room and shoved them to the side of the bar and underneath the large panelled windows. "Come here," she said, holding out her hand.

The brunette raised an eyebrow but took her wife's hand. Robin pulled her close in a single, swift motion before leading Ellie around the room as if waltzing in their own ball.

"This is ridiculous."

"Dance like no-one's watching is what people say, including me. I'm the only one watching and if you can't dance in front of me than the world has come to an end."

"I don't mean it like that," Ellie said, gently kissing Robin on her perfect smiling lips. "It feels weird dancing when there's no music."

"Forgive me, ma'am," Robin said, bowing. "Which tune does the lady wish to dance to?"

"If you want to go out dancing," Ellie sang, her bright voice filling the creaking building instantly, almost forcing sunlight to shine through the smeared glass even though clouds filled the sky. The blonde raised an eyebrow at her wife's choice of song and pulled her close once more, joining in badly.

"I know a place," they sang, spinning around the room and giggling all the while. Their first dance hadn't quite been like that but it wasn't far off. "I know a place we can go."

Robin spun Ellie, the brunette pretending to swirl a dress even though she was wearing jeans. It put a smile on the blonde's face so no matter how stupid she felt, it was worth it.

"Where everyone gonna lay down their weapon, lay down their weapon."

The blonde pulled Ellie close once more and wrapped her arms tightly around her wife, not wanting to let go or let the moment end. There hadn't been time to be themselves like this since Bailey was born; that hadn't been his fault, but it was nice to finally get a chance to breathe.

"Just give me trust," Robin sang, not quite aware that the brunette had stopped as she stared into the blonde's eyes. "And watch what'll happen."

"We haven't danced like that since our wedding," Ellie muttered, her voice barely audible as her nose was practically touching Robin's.

"You're right. You also haven't sung like that since you were in the shower yesterday."

Ellie leant back from her wife, shock clearly all over her face.

"The bathroom door isn't soundproof, I would've thought you'd know that by now sweetie."

The brunette put her head in her hands and Robin laughed, cradling her wife's head. "Don't worry yourself about it; your voice is beautiful."

Ellie tutted and shook her head, feeling her cheeks burning up. "Not sure I can say the same about your voice, Ro."

The blonde jokingly punched her and leant in for a kiss. For some reason, the pair paused in the silence. It wasn't like their first dance; that ended in Ellie's dad breaking them apart to dance out of time to whichever song he'd bribed the DJ into playing. There was just something about the way Ellie looked in the moment, something about her hair maybe? Or her smile? Nothing had changed and yet there was just something.

Breaking her out of the trance, Ellie pecked her wife on the lips and laughed. "I hope staring into space when you go to kiss me doesn't become a thing 'cause I already have my twitchy ear and I'm not sure we can have any other type of quirk at the moment."

Robin laughed and hugged the brunette from behind, placing her head on her shoulder. "I apologise for not kissing you; you looked so spectacular that all I could do was take in your beauty at that moment and appreciate just how lucky I am."

"Oh shush, you're being silly now."

"Aha! Your ear is twitching! What're you thinking about now, huh? Don't tell me it's about curtains though 'cause if you're thinking about curtains and not me, I'm going to be rather upset."

Ellie turned around and went onto her tiptoes to get closer to the blonde's ear. "For assuming that I think curtains are more important than you, you're going to have to wait until this evening to find out what I was thinking."

"That's fine by me then," Robin said, laughing a little. "I shall leave you and you're perfect little ears alone while we clean this place up. That's a promise." She took Ellie's hand in one of her own and kissed it softly. Maybe they could be at their own private ball after all.

A/N: Ahh how cute was that? Ok so I know it's been ages since I last updated but hopefully, this makes up for it??

Well done to those of you who got the Carmilla (movie) reference! Let me know what you think in the comments, as usual, and I'll try to update a bit quicker next time XD Enjoy folks!