☤ seventy-six

[as_damaged]

[TEXT MESSAGES - POSTED ACCIDENTALLY]

(06:30) Cameron: changed my mind. come over here and we'll get that drink
(06:58) Cameron: hello?
(07:02) Cameron: i'm not waiting forever



[ooc; feels like the first time. Cameron's high, and doesn't realize she's not at home yet. Replies likely to be somewhat muddled since she's not quite herself <3]

Comments

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[intheblanks]

(07:13) Chase: your place?
(07:14) Chase: ok.

[Who would she have tried then, Foreman? Still not entirely sure what he's done to warrant the invitation, Chase makes quick business of changing into something less starched than work, more buttoned than casual, and heads over to knock at her door.]

[as_damaged]

[History has a way of repeating itself here. She fumbles the locks and opens the door with a smile, wide-eyed.]

Come in.

[intheblanks]

[It's been long enough for him that he doesn't immediately see the echo, although something's off. But he's distracted, letting himself be ushered in by a girl who usually keeps him at arms length in the doorway]

You're not dressed yet? I thought I was keeping you waiting. There's a deal on in the Blue Light, if you're up for that.

[as_damaged]

[She shuts the door behind him, manages to latch one of the locks before she closes the distance between them, intent on shoving him against the wall. What does it matter if it isn't the right wall?]

[intheblanks]

[Oh, now the memory trips the wire. She even smells the same way she had that night. Sweat, and scented candles and the faint remains of her usual perfume. He has long enough to catalogue them all before the moment catches up with him against her lips.]

Wait. [It's tough to maintain distance when you're the one against the wall.] Cameron, wait. You don't know what you're doing.

[as_damaged]

I know what I'm trying to do.

[She just doesn't know she's done it before. She's dizzy and breathless, leaning on him for support as much as to pin him, pausing for a moment to savor the anticipation before she leans up to kiss him.]

[intheblanks]

[He... really shouldn't...]

I mean...

[But it's too easy to let her act on the intention, and just for a second he closes his eyes as she kisses him and the possibility is overwhelming. And she'd hate him.]

you're high. Not the best state for judging what you'll regret in the morning.

[As far as he recalls.]

[as_damaged]

[There's a subtle difference between taking advantage of the situation and taking away from her; not that either is right, or that he should. In the morning, certainly, she'll see his perspective. Right now, she sees pointless hedging.]

I wasn't when I asked you over.

[She's not budging.]

[intheblanks]

You weren't?

[It's news to him. He blinks owlishly... and tries to catch her hands before they add to the onslaught.]

Why did you [the kisses are brief, heated, he can fit words in between] take them then? The drugs.

[He should be asking where she got them.]

[as_damaged]

[She's close enough to breathe an answer into his ear.]

Because I wanted to.

[Meanwhile she's pulling at his shirt. She wants to play, just not twenty questions.]

[intheblanks]

[Oh, god. Shirt untucked, half unbuttoned, he pulls her in against him just to slow progress, and finds himself kissing down her throat.]

It's not like you.

[Somewhere, she must realise that.]

[as_damaged]

[She just laughs at that, head titled back, mind swimming a little. Of course it's not like her; that's the whole point. Lacking the range of movement to pull the shirt off, she instead slips her fingers under the hem.]

Maybe that's not a bad thing.

[intheblanks]

I'm not saying it's wrong to let go once in a while.

[Navigating away from the wall is tricky, but if he could just get her sitting down for a while. Maybe the couch. Is that a good idea or a terrible one...]

But- look. You know how I ask you out, and you kick me back, and I ask you out again?

[It's happened a few times, even before this point.]

[as_damaged]

[As long as it looks like he's heading somewhere with her, she'll let them move. Just not towards the door.]

We're not going out. That's the point.

[intheblanks]

No, Allison. The point is that I keep doing that, knowing how it's likely to end, because I like you. Exactly how you are.

[Knowing how it's likely to end. As much as he couldn't look far enough to the future then, Chase can't honestly give himself enough hindsight to tell if that knowledge would change things.

The back of his legs bump the arms of the couch, still holding her.]

[as_damaged]

I don't want to talk about that.

[There's a warning edge in her voice. She knows he does; she doesn't want to hear it. This is supposed to be easy and meaningless.

At least she's stopped pressing him forward.]

[intheblanks]

But you wanted me here.

[Because he's the worst choice she could make. Can't argue that one with her.]

[as_damaged]

[She gives him a light shove, trying to tumble him onto the sofa.]

Stop trying to ruin this.

[intheblanks]

I'm n-

[It catches him enough that it works. He lands splayed in not entirely dignified position.]

I'm not. If you want company, I'm here.

[as_damaged]

[She rests one knee on the arm of the sofa, leaning in provocatively.]

Company? Don't turn into a good guy on me now.

[intheblanks]

[It's ridiculous how that stings. And he could spoil it all by saying something stupid like-

But he leans up and kisses her.]

[as_damaged]

[In her right mind, she'd never say it; least of all in her right time, knowing nothing except that something is wrong. In the moment, she doesn't think twice.

She doesn't pull back, stretching one leg and then the other over the arm to join him.]

[intheblanks]

[He smooths his hands down to the small of her back, bringing her down to lay against him in the scattered piled of couch cushions. Her skin's so hot under his palm, flushed with the high, and he can't match her for heat. The kisses, how he holds her, it's all far too gentle to meet the burn of first-time lust.]

[as_damaged]

[She's overeager enough for both of them, pressed against him, her inhibitions (tighter then, even, than now,) lost in the haze along with the uncertainty of the day, the anxiety she's not ready to face.

She pulls back only enough to return her attention to the buttons on his shirt, only fumbling a little.]

[intheblanks]

[He lets her hands make the trail up to his throat before catching careful, quick fingers he's so familiar with.]

I like you.

[If he's going to spoil it, it has to be now.]

I know you're freaked out about... today, but trying to be someone you're not isn't going to make it better. Trust me. It's just going to be one more thing to freak out about in the morning.