Touch Stories™

lotion

You are happily eating your food in a food court, after having done some satisfactory shopping at various small shops. It had been such a satisfying day. You had spent a lot of money, but a single glance at the multiple shopping bags lying at your feet and the wonderful taste of your food quickly take any traces of guilt away. You smile inwardly at the thought of using the new, foamy hand soap you bought that smells like your favorite fruit, at the thought of your shea butter hand lotion that smells so amazing. You think about the new book you bought, the latest installment in your favorite series. You can't wait to go home and open all the packages. It'll be like Christmas. No, it'll be like you're buying everything all over again. Wonderful.

Humming to yourself, your mouth full of food, you glance up from your plate and spot a familiar figure hunched over a small laptop a few tables away from you, back facing you. Your eyes widen as you swallow your bite of your food, because, woah, no way can that actually be-

The figure leans back in his chair, his long fingers running through his dark hair, and you catch a glimpse of the holes in his worn, grey hoodie.

You don't even realize that the bit of food you were about to spoon into your mouth has fallen onto your plate, and you close your mouth around an empty spoon. Huh, you think to yourself, subconsciously putting your spoon down and pushing your plate away from you, because, huh.

Gerard Way.

You have a sudden flashback to a tweet of his from a few weeks ago, and, heart racing, you look down into the smallest of your shopping bags. Your eye is caught by the neck of an intricately decorated bottle sticking out of it. The large bottle of lotion you bought looks as good as ever.

You look at Gerard, who is back at work, typing away on his laptop, then glance at your hands. Without giving yourself any time to think about it, you grab the lotion and make your way to where Gerard is sitting, your other bags in tow. You push down any nervousness that begins to bubble up in you as his face, in all it's stubble-covered glory, comes more into focus.

You reach his table, and, without looking at him, you pull the chair across from him out from under the table and sit down, clutching the lotion tightly in your hands. You are oddly calm by now, and trying to keep a straight face. When you look up at Gerard, he has now looked up at you, leaning back in his small plastic chair with his arms crossed. He's smiling a confused smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling and one side of his lips tilted upwards slightly, his eyebrows furrowed.

"Hello," he says cautiously, still looking at you curiously.

You give him a slight smile, and say nothing. Scooting forwards in your chair, you push the bottle of lotion across the table, towards him, and extend your hand, laying it flat on the smooth metal surface. You tilt your head meaningfully towards your outstretched hand, and glance up at Gerard, eyebrows raised.

You suppress a smile at his bemused expression; seconds pass in silence with Gerard simply looking between the lotion and yourself, attempting to analyze your expression. Lips pursed, he shuffles in his seat, and you tap the table lightly with your fingers in an odd sort of rhythm, drawing his attention back to the lotion in front of him.

You hear a sudden laugh, and even before you look up, you know that Gerard has understood; Gerard's face has transformed into a mask of child-like excitement, and he's giggling, one hand excitedly flailing on the table as he reaches for the lotion with the other. He's biting his lower lip and nearly bouncing off of his seat with the sudden energy. A look of understanding passes between the two of you, and you smile, properly, as he scoots his chair closer to the table in anticipation, squeezing some of the pale lotion into his hands.

You let out a small breathy laugh as he begins to put tiny bits of lotion on your hand, taking it in his. A sort of calmness settles over the table, Gerard's expression now one of  concentration, a small smile still on his face. You give a slight sigh and let the silence take over.

Gerard's hands expertly move across your skin, rubbing the lotion in with gentle, but thorough, circular movements. You watch his fingers press against your palm. He moves his thumbs over the curves of your palms, then turns your hand over in his to run his fingers over yours. Time flies by fast in the peaceful silence, and your eyes are barely open as he finishes off with your other hand. You feel warm and soothed, and barely register Gerard softly pushing the lotion back towards you.

He is glowing with satisfaction and you smile widely, feeling your eyes crinkle up as you do so. His face mirrors yours in its contentment and, giving Gerard a slight nod, you push your chair back to stand up and go on your way. The smoothness of your hands is so very noticeable as your fingers brush against each other when you pick up your bags.

Absorbed in your thoughts, you make your way out of the food court, already thinking of your various purchases. Gerard's curious gaze follows you out of the area before he goes back to typing away on his laptop, legs curled up underneath him.

This was impulsive. And, as I couldn't fit it all in Instagram captions, here it is.
~Uma

Alternate ending:

Absorbed in your thoughts, you make your way out of the food court, already thinking of your various purchases. Gerard's curious gaze follows you out of the area before he goes back to typing away on his laptop, legs curled up underneath him. Only this time, it was a Tweet he was working on instead.