Shit. Ouch. Fuck. Ouch. God Damnit.
Greta couldn’t believe this was how her night turned out. Her thigh felt like it was pulsing, bleeding maybe? She could only be thankful that Joey and Maybelle’s place was nearby.
They left for vacation earlier this morning but Greta always had a key for emergencies, whether it was because she was hungry or in this case, a dog decided she was a walking milkbone.
Christ, this hurts like a bitch.
She felt around her purse for her keys, tugging the big octagonal one from the rest to unlock the door and let herself in. She closed and locked the door, throwing her purse on the side table as she limped her way down the foyer.
Within all her pitiful groaning and internal cursing, she failed to hear the TV playing in the living area she was heading towards and didn’t take notice of the lamps on and a small brunette staring blankly at her from the couch until she kicked her shoes off and looked up.
They both stared at each other in silence for a solid minute, eyes unwavering.
Greta shifted to her good leg, squinting at the woman who looked at her incredulously, like she was the intruder.
“Hi.”
“Hi.”
They still didn’t move from their spots, their awkward stand-off keeping them both rooted and on high alert.
“Hi.” Greta tried again.
“Hello.” The stranger muttered, this time with an unsure wave.
Greta frowned. “Are… Are you a robber?”
“What?”
“Are you a robber? Burglar? Stealer of… Maybelle’s seltzer water?”
The small brunette blinked at her, almost akin to a cat before she stood up abruptly. “Shoot! I’m so sorry, this looks so- I’m Carson! Shaw! I’m Maybelle’s friend, she asked me to house-sit while they were out of town. I, also, might possibly be taking advantage of their streaming services. I would never pay for Peacock myself. And oh! I also fed their plants.”
As Carson rambled on, flapping her hands around in little waves as her eyes flicked all over the room, Greta cocked her head to the side slowly, tongue touching the edge of her mouth in amusement.
She can’t tell if it’s the dog bite getting to her head or what was left of the whiskey sour she had an hour ago but she couldn’t help but find this woman positively endearing. Why had May never told her about this cute thing?
She shifted to her other leg and winced which caused Carson to finally halt her rambling, “oh my God, are you okay? Uhm?”
“Greta. I’m- fuck.” She let out a deep breath through her nose. “Joey’s my best friend. I have a key, I didn’t think anyone would be here.” Greta limped a step towards the couch to lean her hip against and then furrowed her brows, looking towards the other woman. “Wait, did you say you fed the plants?”
Carson looked equally as confused and a little concerned in regards to the redhead trying her best not to put weight on one of her legs and looking kind of distressed. “Um, yeah? Fern and Terri.” She pointed towards the two plants next to the bookcase. “Just like May said. Although, I didn’t know she named her plants but I mean, I have named my favorite pencils before so who am I to judge?”
Greta only stared back at Carson, trying her best to digest and understand any part of this conversation. Favorite pencils? “Okay, pause. Carson. Those plants are fake.”
Carson raised her eyebrow, unsure if this woman was just fucking with her now. “What are you even talking about? They’re right there.”
Greta stood up straight, took a breath before she managed to walk over to the bookcase, limping only a little this time. She grasped onto one of the very-green leaves before staring back up at the brunette. “Plastic.”
Carson walked up and grabbed a leaf too, feeling the smooth, waxy texture. She looked puzzled, her bottom lip pouting out and Greta could spot a hint of a dimple on her left cheek that it took everything in her not to poke.
Carson smelled like men’s cologne and a hint of something like raspberries and Greta found her body leaning in without her own consent. She caught herself and cleared her throat. “Hold on. So, did you feed Fern and Terri?”
Carson looked up at her in concern, still holding the leaf. “I thought these WERE Fern and Terri! They sounded like plant names!”
Greta let out a disbelieving laugh, almost delirious. “Ohhh, God. Okay, this is fine. Come with me.”
She slowly led them back towards a room in the hall next to May and Joey’s bedroom. It used to be a closet but they removed the door and inside, it held a three tier cage with ample shelving room.
Within the cage, there were many colorful toys and play slides and perches. Peach and green scraps littering the bottom lining of each level. At the very top, a tie-dye colored hammock hung up and two pink noses were peeking out over the edge.
Greta stuck her finger gently towards the space between the bars by their noses, watching their whiskers twitch as they tried to wake up. She smiled softly at them before turning her head towards Carson’s wide-eyed look of wonder at the small creatures.
“Fern and Terri are… rats?” She whispered as if she would accidentally disturb them if she spoke too loudly. Greta smirked at her before standing back up and grabbed for a bag of yogurt treats on one of the shelves above her.
“Technically, Fern and Terri are humans. They’re a couple of friends Jo and I knew back in school. They fought tooth and damn nail to convince the wives to name the rats after them.” She opened the little hatch and stuck two yogie treats into the hammock as they yawned and sniffed around.
“Oh, wow.. I– I feel like an idiot.” Carson blushed, biting her lip and staring at her feet. Greta turned around and looked at her, a smile tugging at her lips.
“You’re not an idiot, they should have been more specific. I can help you feed them? They should have some cut veggies and stuff prepared in the fridge already for them.”
Greta closed the hatch and secured it before tugging the still-blushing brunette over to the kitchenette. She showed her what dishes to place the veggies and nuts and seeds into and what portions are best.
She also helped Carson get used to taking them out of their cages and petting them without worrying about hurting them or dropping them. She laughed watching Carson squeal as Fern tried to burrow herself into the hood of Carson’s sweater.
For awhile of this, Greta forgot all about why she came here in the first place until she bent down to check the lower lining of the cage and her jeans rubbed against the raw bite on her thigh and she let out a pained groan.
Carson gasped, worried as she placed Fern to scurry back into the cage and hurriedly closed and locked the hatch. She bent down to hold Greta’s arm and helped her stand up. “Are you okay?!”
Greta let out a hiss through her teeth. “Yes… A dog bit me on my way here.”
“WHAT?” Carson screamed, making Greta and the two furry rodents jump. “Shit. Sorry, come here.”
She led Greta back to the living room. Before she could get the redhead to sit on the couch, Greta began to unbutton her jeans and pull them down her legs. Carson let out a soft gasp, blushing not for the first time tonight as Greta pushed them further.
She could feel the eyes burning into her as she did. “I can’t get to the bite with these on. Too tight. Can you grab me something to clean this with?”
Carson finally was able to pull her eyes away from the long tan legs and jumped into action, scurrying faster than Terri to find a first aid kit from the bathroom. “What happened?” She shouted from the other room.
“I ran into my ex a couple blocks away. Her girlfriend has a new dog who she clearly trains really well.”
Carson came walking back out with a kit and a small trash can and set the kit on the coffee table. “And it bit you??”
“She said, she’s harmless, you can pet her. I was in a rush to a show and didn’t even want to but I thought it’d get me the hell away from there quicker. FUCK.” She yelped as the alcohol wipe stung the bite as she swiped over it.
“I kneeled down to put my hand out and instead of sniffing my hand, the little shit went canines deep into my thigh.” She squeezed her eyes shut as she attempted to thoroughly clean the wound.
Carson did her part by grabbing any bits of trash to throw away. “How big was the dog?” She worried her lip.
“Like. I don’t know, ten pounds? I forgot my handy dandy scale at home so I could check.”
Carson looked down and pressed her lips together, obviously trying to hold in a laugh. At the silence, Greta glanced at her and then glared. “Hey. This is not funny. It hurts.”
Carson held up her hands in surrender. “Sorry! I’m sorry, Greta. You’re right. That super rude baby bully really shouldn't have messed with you.”
Greta pouted and set down the box she was holding, looking pathetically down at her leg.
Carson laid her hand out next to Greta’s, palm up. Greta looked at it before grasping onto it lightly. She met Carson’s gaze who looked a little unsure until Greta gave her a shy smile.
“Maybe you should take a shower? You could clean it up a little better in there, then I can help you bandage it. I can go see if they have some spare sweats or something for you?” She stood up from where she was kneeling, still holding Greta’s hand.
Greta stared at their joined hands and smirked up at Carson, scrunching her nose. “You're not gonna help me clean it up, too?”
Carson’s eyes almost bugged out of her head, her mouth opening and closing as she tried to utter any coherent word before Greta finally giggled.
"I'm kidding, Shaw. I'll do that." She kicked off her pants the rest of the way and eased herself off the couch, wincing slightly as she padded her way towards the bathroom.
She could hear the sharp intake of breath as she passed by Carson and into the hall, almost forgetting herself that without any pants and only her cropped tank top, her lacy black panties were on full display and her ass was in Carson’s full, uninterrupted view.
Not one to miss an opportunity, she leaned against the wall and bent over to take off her socks. When she chanced a look back, she saw Carson licking her lips and tossed her a wink. “Order us some food or something while I’m in there? I shouldn’t be long.”
Carson shook her head, her shaggy waves bouncing along with her. “Oh yeah, yep, of course! Italian alright? There’s a place nearby that makes the best spaghetti this side of Manhattan, hands down.”
Greta poked her back out of the bathroom, her eyes twinkling at the awkward and cute not-quite-a-stranger. “You sure know the way to a woman’s heart, huh, Shaw?” She giggled as Carson grinned and rolled her eyes before she closed the door.
As Carson ordered in, cleaned up and double-checked on the rats who were happily full and snoozing again, Greta washed up in the shower, smiling to herself as she thought about how much differently the night turned out.
She could not wait to see where the night would go next.