The Etiquette Of Hugs
They all come at him at once, all loud voices and cheering and flailing arms, and it scares him badly. So he reacts in the only way he knows, pulling out his De-gun and fending them off.
But they aren't a threat, they're just – relieved and excited and happy. Happy! With him! Megamind!
It's a strange, unsettling feeling, and he's bone-weary from the fight and the fall and the dehydration; and hungry, too. (Just a little.)
He's glad, so glad, that Roxanne is here with him; she feels like a rock, something to anchor himself to. It's Roxanne who pacifies all those jostling, confronting, terrifying people, and sends them away without letting them crowd him. She does it all, and he's so grateful he wants to hug her. But he's too shy.
So when she's sent off the last of the people, and turns back to him with a smile, he looks at her with all the gratitude he can put into his eyes, and she seems to understand. She slips her hand into his, and it startles him, so that his fingers jump against hers. (How embarrassing.)
He cautiously tightens his grip. Her hands are warm and small and firm, and she squeezes back and bumps her shoulder against his in a friendly sort of way.
'We did it,' she says quietly, and her eyes are sparkling.
He laughs, still a little disbelievingly, and says, 'We – we actually did! We won!'
Roxanne laughs with him; then she turns and flings her arms around him, just like she did before, giving him a warm tight bear hug. He startles (he really needs to learn not to do that), and then wraps his arms hesitantly around her. The hug feels like friendship and shared laughter and – hot chocolate with marshmallows, one of his deep and hidden weaknesses.
He's just discovering something: he likes hugs. Really likes them. He has now engaged in exactly four hugs with another being (Minion's cyborg suit doesn't count), so he can make an informed judgement.
He wonders cautiously if Roxanne would engage in more hugs with him, if he simply asked her when he felt like one? Or was the concept of hugging more of a spontaneous social gesture? He must find out.
Mental note: ask Minion if it's all right to ask for a hug.
He can't stop the little, hopeful twist at the corner of his mouth as Roxanne pulls away a little to smile up at him. Her mouth looks nice, smiling. But – but would she?
That shivery insecure feeling creeps back into the pit of his stomach. After all, he's not normal, ordinary Bernard now, is he? He's blue. And blue is different and strange and odd and probably there's no way she would kiss him now –
She kisses him.
Her kiss is soft sincerity and reassurance and comfort, and it makes him warm and shaky all the way through to his toes. It dissolves the cold shivers in his stomach, and he finds that he's kissing her back, awkwardly gripping her shoulders. (Where are one's hands supposed to go when one kisses someone? Where does the hug go?)
It's just as wonderful and breathtaking as the other, terrible time, but better, better, better. Because she knows it's him! She actually knows it's him, and she's kissing him anyway!
If this is what it means to be the good guy, he thinks he can probably get used to it.
And he must ask Minion about the hugging.
