You've Ruining Everything!
Fandom: The Penumbra Podcast
Ship: Chance/Mary-Anne
Word Count: 485
Warnings: None
Note: This was a prompt from lavosse on tumblr. "Can I send you a prompt? Chance/Mary-Anne + "you've ruined everything!" except with a stipulation: no angst"
"You've ruined everything!"
Chance took her hat off and held it to her chest as Mary-Anne stood in front of a bundle of balloons. Even her impressive bustle couldn't hide that many at once. Besides, one of young'uns had gotten tangled up in them, and they jostled around her noisily.
"Well, I reckon I can go back out and come back in again if it'll help."
"Oh, it's too late now," Mary-Anne huffed, turning her attention to the entangled boy.
Chance dropped her hat on the table and sauntered over as Mary-Anne busied herself with the strings.
"What's the occasion, ma'm?" she asked, stopping just before crossing the threshold of respectable distance.
"It's your anniversary!" Billy exclaimed. "We made a cake and-"
"Billy shush now," Mary-Anne hissed, standing quickly. "He just means that it's been precisely a year since I came to stay with you and the children and…well….don't you think that's something worth celebrating?"
Mary-Anne finished in a challenging tone. She had been preparing herself to take the defensive for days. Chance could be a little thrifty and Mary-Anne just knew she wouldn't approve of spending their resources on something unnecessary as a surprise party.
"I do, indeed," Chance replied, reaching behind her back. "That's why I went lookin' for this."
She tugged an envelope loose from her belt and held it out to Mary-Anne with a grin. Mary-Anne took it and unfolded the paper within slowly. It took her a few re-reads before she realized what she was looking at.
"I know how you've been on about being a worthless bunch of squatters, so I tracked down the rightful owner of this place. And I gotta tell ya, that was no easy task. Turns out he plumb forgot this property existed. More than happy to sell it."
"You mean, this place is yours now?" Mary-Anne asked, breathless.
"Ours," she corrected. "If you put yer name down there next to mine."
"Oh, Chance, this is so wonderful! But I didn't get you anything. I thought this party would be - oh, but it's nowhere near enough to compare to something of this-"
"You don't gotta get me nothin' Mary-Anne," Chance interrupted. "But if'n you want to help me out on a job, I know somethin' real valuable I got a mind to steal tonight."
"Chance! Really! After you go through the trouble of-of-"
Mary-Anne realized Chance had drawn closer, mischief in her eyes as she rested her hands on Mary-Anne's waist gently.
"Oh." She turned her eyes away with a sheepish smile. "I see. Well, I suppose I can make an exception. This once."
Chance leaned in with a short laugh and captured her lips in a passionate kiss. They were surrounded by the hooting of some of the older children, and Mary-Anne could feel her cheeks burning. But it didn't stop her from wrapping her arms around Chance's neck and pulling herself closer.