Postgrad Partners

Intimate Interlude

-You seem to be getting a lot of notifications. Would you like to set some filters?-

Tori was staring at her phone as dozens of notifications poured down the screen like a waterfall for the last minute straight. The last time something like this happened was after the Platinum Music Awards, where the constant notifications made her old phone crash twice. Jade managed to look away from her game long enough to notice the flooding phone screen.

"Holy chiz," Jade blinked, "Looks like someone's got a few dozen more followers, huh?"

Tori gulped and unlocked her phone, accessing her social media profile to see the notification box with a 99+ icon over it. "Try...over 100 new followers...and still rising—what the hell?!" She scrolled down the alerts of new followers and links to Piper's article with her interview the other day. "I didn't know Piper's blog was so popular!"

Jade paused her game and looked over at the phone screen as well, "Looks like her blog post got around, too! Look at how many people shared it!" They both saw a few familiar accounts quote-tweeting the article with their own well-wishes for Tori.

Andre Harris - (AndreH)

"So proud of my girl ToriVega! For her record deal AND coming out! Follow this girl! She's destined for great things!"

Cat Valentine - (HappyCat)

"Nothing but ALL the love and support for my pretty friend ToriVega and her GF [no spoilers, but she's amazing too!]"

Trina Vega - (TrinAVega)

"Way to make it shine, ToriVega! I taught her everything she knows about singing! Really!"

Carly Shay - (iCarly)

"Congrats ToriVega on your huge break! Hope we can meet up and sing together again someday! Much love from Italy!"

"Well, there's the biggest crack in the dam!" Jade chuckled as she resumed her game, "That Carly girl's got thousands of followers thanks to her web show! Just don't let this newfound internet fame get to you like it did during that Slap challenge we did."

Tori laughed nervously as she finished adjusting her notification alerts to only her closest friends and placed it back in her bag. "Well, okay. I won't deny this is kind of exciting, but it's like I said back then: I'm still happier having those five real friends at the lunch table than 21 million friends on a computer any day..."

Jade smiled as she heard that little line again, even if she remembered making a dumb, snarky quip at her in response...which she decided to do again, "Oh, so I'm still just one of those friends?"

"Of course you are!" Tori replied plainly for a moment before smiling widely. "But you're also my super-special, extremely hot girlfriend, silly~" Tori poked Jade's side like a child, with Jade pausing her game again and rolling her eyes.

"Alright, you know what that sappy little line gets you, Vega?" Jade turned to face her on the couch, her brows raised in feigned frustration.

"A kiss~?" Tori kept up her playfulness through Jade's act of exasperation.

Jade leaned closer, making sure Tori kept looking her straight in the eyes, before she stopped just inches from her face "Nope. It gets you tickled." Not giving her any time to register that, Jade slid her hands under Tori's shirt and ran her fingers wildly over her sides.

Tori's surprise was quickly replaced by uncontrollable laughter as she fell back and tried to push her hands away. Jade, however, was able to easily pin her to the couch and tickled her a little longer before stopping and settling her hands on either side of her girlfriend's waist. As she tried to catch her breath, Tori looked up at Jade's face, beaming over her with a sincere smile and blushing as much as she was. "You know...we've been getting a lot bolder with our affections lately."

"To be fair, you started it when you pinned me to your bed that night," Jade winked and bit her lip. "After I told you I loved you—like really told you, I mean—and after that interview, you looked like you were ready to break the Roommates Rule again."

"Well...at least now, you've had something to eat," Tori smirked, "And no one else is here; nothing to stop us from making out now, right?"

Jade only replied with a smile and a kiss to Tori's lips. Her hands ran gently over Tori's stomach, softly humming to indicate she liked what she was feeling. The cold touch of Jade's hands against Tori's skin made her gasp into the kiss and raise her own hands up to the back of Jade's head and waist to press her down against her. It was Jade's turn to gasp at the sudden contact and suddenly break the kiss for air, looking down at Tori, who was just as surprised and out of breath.

"Damn, Tori..." Jade said between breaths, "Didn't think you had that in you~"

"Honestly, me neither," Tori, almost feeling lightheaded, took deeper breaths, "I've never been this...intimate with someone before."

"Wanna hear something crazy?" Jade grinned, leaning down and craning toward Tori's ear to whisper, "Neither have I..."

The proximity of that whisper made Tori shiver, then look up in surprise, "Never? Not even with..."

Jade cut her off with just a quick shake of her head, not wanting the mention of an ex to ruin the mood. "Consider yourself lucky, Tori...I know I certainly am~" She moved her hands up Tori's sides, catching the hem of her shirt briefly before Tori suddenly grabbed her wrists to stop her. "What? Is something...?"

"No, it's just..." Tori swallowed and looked away for a moment, "Not yet. I just want...that moment...to be special; maybe when we're better settled here, and without a screen full of virtual zombies next to us?"

Jade couldn't help but sigh as her heart sank a little, but she smiled nonetheless and sat up, pulling Tori up with her. "Fair enough. Even I don't think the living room couch mid-horror-gaming is the ideal mood setting." Tori laughed in response, glad to see the tension broken with humor and not frustration. Jade took advantage of the moment and left a lingering kiss on Tori's lips. "But don't think I'm going to be any less affectionate and teasing. You're still my cute little dork, after all."

With that cheesy smile she had pre-tickling, Tori replied, "You could say...I'm 'adorkable'?"

Jade met the cheesy line with a groan, an eye-roll, and a flick to the forehead, "Well, that just ruined the mood more than the zombies. Thanks, roommate."

Tori rubbed her forehead in a slight bit of pain, but then returned the kiss to Jade's lips, "Anything for my...girlfriend."

Tossing the tension aside with a shared laugh, the couple settled on cuddling together as the game's ending cinematics and theme song played on the TV.