Doggedly Determined

He felt the tongue in his right ear before he heard the laughter, and reached up his hand, just as she swung up and out of his reach.

"Hello, Mr. Horrible Man", she stated merrily, eluding his grasp, running around the bench, and sliding in beside his right hand, with which he was wiping the spit from his ear.

"Yech, you've given me the willies", he said, not minding, really, and scrubbing at his ear.

"I know; for a second you thought I'd slipped in a slug, like that horrible episode on Star Trek everyone remembers, and shivers about", she sighed, pleased with herself.

"My personal favourite, gross-out wise," she intoned, ecstatically. He rolled his eyes.

"So; who have I defended you from today, in absentia?" She grinned at him, rubbed his nose with hers, drew back and crossed her eyes at him. "I'm exhausted, sticking up for you so often."

"I've never seen anyone get in so many arguments before", she said, mildly. "And really, when you've just been trying to do something nice." She sighed. "I'm sorry; it's all my fault, really. Had I not been all worried and expressed a need,  you would have listened to someone else, and approached it differently. Now all they can do collectively is try and ding you for not being generous enough in a specific WAY. How AWFUL for them that the generosity wasn't as SPECIFIC as had been hoped....the poor, bored things. It seems they detest the heroic. Not HALF as selfrighteous to wax rhapsodic about, as the villainous." She leered at him, closing one eye, like a pirate. "Ar; did ye buy me me new undies, loik I asked of ye?"

He burst out laughing.

"You are so incredibly odd", he said, breathing out. "I have no idea why I listen to you."

"Because you love making me happy," she stated, flatly. "I'm going with that, for now. It makes me feel incredibly vindicated, in the face of world controversy." She smiled enigmatically. "Pissers haven't got any bombs to crow about. I love it."

"Well, I have to go now", she sighed. She tipped her head to one side, eyeing him up and down.

"You look very cute in an annoyed way, you know." She grinned.

"Thank you so much for making me happy today", she said, softly. She ran her right index finger along his temple, gently, and along his cheek. The she kissed his left eye - and slipped her tongue in his left ear briefly, laughing as she slid off the bench and stood up.

"Yech" he said, smiling, but not really minding again, very much, at all.
He opened his eyes, looking up.

She was gone. Again. He smiled, just a little.

"See you soon, emoji", he said, softly, to the sky.