Lip Nibble

A.N. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JESS!!!

He nibbled on his bottom lip in such a way that she found herself watching him through the corner of her eye.  It was his tell.  Whenever Casper was thinking, worried or even nervous he'd curl the bottom lip in towards his mouth just enough to press his top front teeth down onto it.  He did it quite a lot in lessons and she was starting to notice just how distracted she became whenever it featured prominently during a particularly focused lesson.  They'd be conducting an expierment and he'd nibble on that lower lip while concentrating on pouring the liquid to the correct measurements, or they'd be jotting down notes and the teacher would be talking too fast for Casper to keep up and he'd nibble on that lower lip out of irritation.  Before she was able to convince herself that it was just a factor of his personality; that Casper and his lip nibble were part of the package.  But now things were different.  Barney knew more about him and she knew there were more times when that nibble came into play.  When confronted by it, she was almost completely helpless to his wishes.

It was his tell, and Barney liked it that she was now able to distinguish each particular nibble when combined with the expression on his face.

She was currently faced with the nervous, slightly ashamed and just a little bit cheeky nibble as Casper stood outside her dorm trying to be all innocent despite it being after hours.  She couldn't smell any alcohol which meant he had decided all on his own to come without the aid of any Dutch courage.  Leaning out her door to check up and down the corridor to make certain no one had spotted a boy in the girl's dormitory and then grabbed his hand, quickly pulling Casper into her room.

"You're lucky I don't have a room mate," she told him as she walked back over to her desk and sorted through the papers, books and pens scattered over the surface.  "Make yourself comfy, I'll be with you in a minute."

As she tidied everything away she heard him flop down onto her bed, followed by the sounds of him shuffling about in order to get comfy.  She smiled to herself, her back to him.  While she was working her phone buzzed in her pocket.  Frowning, she pulled out the phone and checked the message.

It was from Casper.

"You can talk to me," she informed him, dropping the phone atop the stack of books and turning around.  He was laying on his stomach on her bed, arms wrapped around the pillow beneath him.  She gave him a grin and walked over to her bed.  "Just because you're my boyfriend now doesn't mean I'm going to put my homework aside whenever you get the urge to come sneaking into my room.  You could have at least tried the window first, instead of just knocking."

"The direct approach was safer," he said, grinning back at her.  "I wanted a pillow fort, but I don't have enough pillows in my room, and you make better forts anyway."

With an overly dramatic sigh, Barney flopped down onto her bed and Casper at the same time, bringing out an "Oof!" from her landing pad.  Crawling up properly onto the bed, she pulled herself to lay on her front beside him, giving him a playful shoulder nudge with her own.  "That's why you came?  Because you wanted a pillow fort?"

"And to see you, of course," he added with a cheeky grin.  "I haven't seen you in ages."

"You saw me in class."

"That was ages ago."

She laughed and leaned up on her elbows, brushing their shoulders together once more.  She didn't really know how she was supposed to act now that she had a boyfriend; she'd never had one before.  Not a real one, anyway.  There had been that boy in her class when she was about eight who proclaimed she was now his girlfriend and that they were to hold hands all day.  It quickly fizzled out as all things involving eight year old boys did, and the lad decided that playing tag and kicking shins was much more fun than hanging out with a girl all day long.  With Casper things were different.  They were still friends, and she liked that she could still fall back on how they had acted when they were 'just friends', but it was doing those things that boyfriend and girlfriend did that she was still feeling a little unsure about.

She wanted to kiss him.  She wanted to kiss him a lot but she was worried she wouldn't know when things should stop.  Casper was good, he never did anything that was too fast, but how did she know if they were going too slow?  They'd only been together for about two months - where should they be in the terms of relationship status by now?

Another sigh, this time less dramatic and more solemn.  Closing her eyes she leaned her head against his shoulder.

"What's the matter?" he asked.  She could feel the vibrations of his voice through his body.

She sighed again, and nuzzled into his arm.  "Are we...In the right place?"

Casper seemed to take a few moments to think about he answer, and Barney chanced a glance at his face in hopes to catch him chewing on his lip again.  "We're in your room - on your bed.  Shouldn't we be?  I know I shouldn't be, but you let me in."

She chuckled, leaning over and kissing his cheek fondly.  "I meant 'where are we' in the girl code for 'is this relationship going okay'," she explained.  She had made her mind up to just tell him she liked him, and ran with it.  Everything had turned out okay that day.  She really should stop thinking so much and just go for it.

Shaking her head, she smiled at him.  "You know what, nevermind."  Pushing him until he rolled over onto his back, she sat up and then sat on his stomach, legs either side of him.  Grabbing several pillows and the one he had been laying on, Barney set about turning Casper into the base of the pillow fort while ignoring his protests.  She couldn't pin his arms down and every pillow she set up he pulled away until they were all on the floor and the two of them were both laughing and panting.  Swallowing the lump that had formed in her throat, she leaned up and over him, looking down at his face.  Her red hair slipped forwards and framed her face.

Silence, destroyed only by the sound of their breathing filled the room.  Casper was holding his lip between his teeth as he reached up with one hand, brushing his fingers through her strawberry blonde hair, pushing it back and tucking it behind her ear.  She smiled down at him.  It didn't matter to him how fast or slow they went, and she could see it in his eyes and read it on his face.  He was fine with exactly where they were.  "Cas?"

"Yeah?"

She leaned in closer, bringing their faces merely inches apart.  With him suitably distracted, she reached out with one hand and willed one of the lost pillows into her hand.  Just as their lips were about to meet, she quickly sat up and dropped the pillow onto his head, laughing at his exclamations that she had cheated.  Flicking her hand, she removed the pillow to rejoin the others on the floor once more.  Without another word, she leaned down and kissed him properly, catching his bottom lip and nibbling on it with her own teeth.