A/N: Feedback is always welcome. :) Hope you enjoy reading!
Part I | Part II | Part III | Part IV | Part V
It took a few minutes for them to properly untangle themselves from the kiss. Alex lingered, putting a hand to Penny’s cheek to convey his affection, his grin laced with the slightest hint of tenderness. He let his gaze remain on the hazels of Penny’s and remained silent, his grin cracking into a small smile of amusement as he saw the brief flash of confusion in her eyes.
“Wha're ye lookin' a' me li' tha for?” She asked, sounding baffled and entertained at the same time.
He put on his most deliberately seductive and teasing tone, content to let her second-guess - “Oh, nothing.” – And savoured the taste of her lips, the fuzzy warmth that shielded him from the cold, “Too tender for you?
Penny’s eyes rolled so hard he could have sworn she would be falling backwards from the excessive teasing.
“What?”
“Was jus’ a question!” She retorted.
He decided to indulge her, grinning from ear to ear, with all his sincerity, “Hah, well, can't deny tha' I'm incredibly fond of you, really. Wouldn't say love, but definitely tha' feelin' of attraction and care, somethin' precious.”
A pause, and then he added, with an almost nauseating amount of sarcastic cheeriness, “I am absolutely sorry if I jus' hit you with that like a ton o' bricks.”
Penny stopped. She blinked her eyes at him and began to shake her head, convulsing into laughter at his comedic timing. She leant against him and snickered, saying, “Oi' ye know i'm fond of ye, silly.”
Smugly, he mused on whether he should jump at the chance to tease even further and let her be. He peered over his shoulder and caught the eyes of some staring patrons. They threw him a rather dirty glare and he shrugged at them in turn, uncaring, for the time being, at their reactions to his and Penny’s liberal banter and flirting. The noises within the tavern had long devolved into loud, rancorous laughter and cheering - He could see the silhouettes within moving rapidly, some swaying, others sluggish. The patrons outside were just as merry, but not as much. He noticed that a small number had liberally decided to forsake good manners and were blatantly pointing at him and Penny, whispering.
“Oh, I know. Wouldn't be toleratin' me otherwise, would you?” He said in a knowing voice, deciding that it would be better to play safe and not give anyone else an incentive to start even more rumours.
Penny acknowledged his point somberly, “Aye, li'ly no'.”
He smirked, half-sarcastically responding with, “Well, I'm glad me winnin' personality an' charmin' whims is keepin' you entertained enough.”
“Ain’ died of boredom ye’.”
He snorted, “Pffft. I'm fabulously entertainin'.”
She reached out to grasp his chin, and for a second Alex wondered if he was going to be kissed this time, until she began vigorously shaking his head from side to side. He grumbled his displeasure, but allowed her to toy with his chin, hoping that she wasn’t intent on giving him a sore neck for tomorrow, “Hmpf, makin' me deny it won't help your cause y'know.”
Notes: A bit more dialogue this time!
