"Yeah, we can ring them. They've even got sheet music to tell you how to play 'Mary Had A Little Lamb.' I'm sure the lads who live around here love that." A few minutes later they were at the top of the tower, Irina leaning against one of the windows and sighing.
"Oh, it's beautiful. Look at that view." She went around to the other windows, taking pictures of the whole of Cork City, while Mick beamed like he'd built it all himself. There was nothinglike someone seeing it through new eyes to make him appreciate what he had.
Her eyes are not new,his gorilla said cautiously, like it was concerned it might be wrong about that and couldn't figure out how it would work.
Mick chuckled.No, it means she's never seen it before, that's all.
A sense of relief washed through him as the gorilla settled down again, satisfied with the answer, though a minute later, as they began ringing the bells, it gave him a look mixed between indignant and outraged.It's loud!
But musical! Mick said cheerfully.And you don't mind the club so much!
You wear an ear hat when you play music for the dancers,the gorilla muttered. Mick loved that it grasped the idea of hats—he'd seen plenty of wild and zoo gorillas in pictures, using various things as hats—but that 'headphones' remained beyond it, conceptually. After they'd played a single song, Mick leaned toward Irina with an apologetic smile. "My gorilla would like us to find another way to have fun."
"It would? Why? How do you know?"
"Because the bells are loud, and it doesn't like loud noises," Mick explained, a little embarrassed.
"Oh! Oh, poor thing. Sure, of course. Does that mean you don't like them?"
"No, they don't bother me. But it complained to me."
Irina's brown eyes widened. "It talks to you?"
"Sometimes. It's pretty laid back, but I should have brought noise-cancelling earbuds to save it the headache here."
"Are you really not carrying earbuds around?"
Mick ducked his head, a little embarrassed. "I usually use over-the-ear headphones, so I tend to forget the little ones even exist."
Irina shook her head, obviously amused. "I'd lend you mine, but I use the smallest size…" She waggled her fingers at her ear. "You know, the silicon outer part that fits into your ear. I don't know what they're called. The tips, I guess. Anyway, mine are tiny and they'd probably fall right into your ears."
Mick couldn't help putting a finger in his own ear, like he was testing it for size. "I'd like to think theentirebud wouldn't fall inside…"
"No, they'd probably just fallout," Irina agreed. "I'd never thought about how differently-sized peoples' ear canals were until I got my first earbuds and had to wrestle the tiniest tip into place so they'd fit in my ears at all. Otherwise they were like…" She made an outward-explosion motion with her fingers. "Sproing!"
"I've never once thought of somebody's ears going 'sproing' before," Mick said, smiling, as they headed back downstairs.
"Because you've never had earbuds sproing out of your ears before," Irina said darkly, or as darkly as she could through the laughter she was trying to fight down. At the foot of the stairs she stopped suddenly, putting her hand on his chest and gazing up at him. "This is nice. This time we're spending together, it's just…it's nice. I've laughed a lot the last couple of days, and I've seen places around Cork that I probably wouldn't have without you, and I'm happy to see you even if we've only been apart a minute. It's really…nice."
It's perfect,his gorilla said, and Mick was inclined to agree. Aloud, though, he murmured, "I'm glad. I'm loving every minute of it, too. I knew it was supposed to be good, obviously. When you met your mate, I mean. But I didn't understand how comfortable it would feel. How…yeah, how happy I'd be to see you even if all I've done is turn around!"
Laughter sparked in Irina's eyes and she nodded, but let him go on with saying, "I'm glad you feel it too. I had no idea…well, you're right. Howniceit is."
Irina took a couple of steps back up toward the bell tower, putting her at level height with him so she could wind her arms around his neck and lean in to steal a soft, warm kiss. "Let's hear it for nice. It's underrated. I'm really glad I met you, Mick." Then she groaned and slipped her forehead to against his shoulder, mumbling, "But now I have to leave you."
Alarm leaped in Mick's chest and even his gorilla woke up in a burst of worry. "You do?"
"Well, yes. I have to go get ready for the competition tonight." Irina leaned back again to smile at him.
"Oh!" Relief burst out of Mick in a laugh. "You scared me there!"
"I meant to be dramatic, but not that dramatic! I'm not leaving Ireland or anything, or at least, not this week—" Her face fell, and Mick couldn't stop himself from gathering her close and tucking his nose into her neck.
"We'll figure that out," he promised in a low voice. "Let's not worry about it right now. You've got the competition to think about, and you and I will get sorted somehow. We have to. It's fate." He smiled into her shoulder, and she held on harder, giving a little sniffle before lifting her head again to smile at him with softly shining eyes.
"Yeah, we will. Fate wouldn't do us dirty like that. Are you coming to the competition tonight? I'll have them hold a ticket for you." Her face lit up a bit more. "I didn't think I'd have anybody to hold tickets for. I'm surprised how much it helps."
"I'll be there. And you'll be amazing."
