golden (mileven au)

it's just a cloud

↬ 7 ↫

"Okay, look at that one right there! It definitely looks like a frog!" El shouted out, her enthusiasm very much obvious as she pointed a finger up at the sky above them.

Mike squinted his eyes, attempting to see a frog amongst the many clouds, but it was useless. "Yeah, I don't see it. It's just a cloud, El."

El scoffed, turning to shoot him a playful glare from where she laid next to him.

She had insisted they bring a blanket along with them to sit on at the park, specifically for when they cloud watched. Clearly, Mike isn't really the cloud watching type, given the fact that he hasn't been able to make out anything El claimed to see up there. All he could see were clouds, lots and lots of clouds.

"It is a frog!" She insisted once more, before another cloud passing by caught her eye. "Oh, look there! That one looks like a little heart!"

"Again, that is just a cloud!" He argued, part of him finding it amusing how she kept coming up with the most random things.

Eventually, Mike moved to sit up just a bit to get a look at how the dogs were doing. There was a fenced in area just to their left, specially for dogs to roam about, so Mike let them go free. By the looks of it, they were really enjoying themselves.

And so was he, because with the dogs occupied, El's attention was on him and him only.

Well, for the most part.

She was a little more focused on the clouds right now, but he was perfectly fine with that. He'd stay there all day and stare at clouds if that's what she wanted. Just as long as they stayed right where they were, with her lying so close beside him.

"You'd really think a Creative Writing major such as yourself would have the imagination to find things within the clouds." El teased, shaking her head in disappointment.

"Hey, I'm good with words, not clouds."

"Good with words huh?" El laughed softly, as she moved to sit up, scooting a little closer to him. "Okay then, why don't you write me something, Mr. Creative Writer."

"Write you something? Like what?"

"Whatever your little heart desires! I'm used to the gritty, non fiction stuff, so gimme something beautiful!"

"Okay, I think I can do that." Mike agreed, chuckling to himself. "What should this beautiful piece be about?"

"Anything you want! Bonus points if it makes me cry though." She shrugged, before she laid back down on the blanket and began searching the clouds again.

Mike followed in doing the same, but gave up on looking at the stupid clouds. He just watched her, admiring the way the sun rays kissed her flawless skin, the way her untamed curls fanned out around her, the way a tiny smile would play at the corner of her mouth each time she spotted something up there, putting her cute little dimples on show.

Yeah, he definitely knew what he'd be writing about.

"Oh my God, that one looks like you!" El shouted, while excitedly hitting his arm. "Wait no, that's the frog again!"

She burst out into a fit of laughter, rolling over to face him as she clutched her stomach. Mike joined in, laughing as he shook his head at her.

"You are crazy, El Hopper."

Her laughter died down a bit before she gave him a light shove to the arm. "And you, Mike Wheeler, are a lousy cloud watcher!"

Mike gasped, as if he took offense to her lighthearted insult. Their smiles grew wider as the seconds passed, before they both looked back up to the sky above them.

"Oh, oh my God, El! I totally see the heart now!"

•

"Jesus, how'd they get so filthy?" Mike snorted, as he took notice of how much dirt littered the dogs' fur.

They had just gotten back from the park and judging by the excessive wagging of the dogs' tails and the sheer warmth Mike felt inside, it was a successful trip.

"Well, we didn't exactly keep an eye on them." El laughed, while following Mike into his apartment. "We're terrible dog-sitters, Mike."

"Yeah, no kidding. I guess I'll have to give them all a bath now." He groaned, already knowing it would surely be a difficult process that he didn't want to get into. He also didn't want them to get dirt all over his apartment, so he didn't really have a choice.

"I can help, if you want?" El asked, the offer coming as a bit of a surprise to him.

He wasn't going to turn it down though, no way.

"That would be great! Are you sure that's how you want to spend your evening though?"

El nodded instantly, looking as thrilled as ever.  "Definitely!"

"Okay, let's do it then!"

Mike led the way to the bathroom, with all four dogs eagerly following right behind them. They gathered up everything Nancy had brought for him to use and got the water running, making sure to use a good bit of the fancy dog shampoo. Those dogs were filthy and Mike wasn't letting them roam around his apartment until they were spotless.

They decided on doing two dogs at a time, that way it would get done quicker and go a lot smoother. One dog for Mike, one dog for El. Should be a piece of cake right?

Turns out that was a big mistake.

As soon as they put the dogs in the bathtub, they both went crazy. One minute they wanted out, the next they were jumping around, then they were shaking out their fur, getting water everywhere.

"Oh God, this is a disaster!" El squealed, just as Oliver jumped up and splashed more water out onto the bathroom floor.

At this point, both their clothes and a majority of the bathroom were already drenched by the soapy water. It was a huge mess and it only got worse as the chaotic minutes passed.

Usually something like this would irritate Mike to no end, but El seemed to really be enjoying this, laughing so hard he couldn't possibly be mad about it.

"Maybe next time we should do this outside?" El told him through her giggles, as she attempted to shove a few wet strands of hair out her face.

Mike reached a hand over to help her, successfully securing her wet hair behind her ear. "Definitely."

El shyly thanked him, then went on scrubbing a not so compliant Thor's fur. Mike's attention went back to Oliver and soon two of the four dogs were as good as new.

They then moved on to the next two and a good fifteen minutes later, they had finally finished. After cleaning up the bathroom and drying themselves off, they made their way back to the living room.

And as if Mike's day couldn't get any better, El decided to stay even longer. The two watched a movie while eating the pizza that Mike had ordered, enjoying the rest of their night together, with all four dogs resting in their laps.

Eventually, El's eyes fell shut and she went to sleep right there on Mike's shoulder. His heart significantly swelled at the sight and he couldn't help but wonder how someone could look so beautiful simply sleeping.

Really though, he'd think El was beautiful no matter what, that was just a fact he had gladly accepted.

Mike shortly fell asleep too, with his head softly resting on hers, but not before sending up a prayer to thank whoever the hell is responsible for El Hopper and her love of dogs.