» 6; audio

[thenormalsquint]

Just because the lights are on doesn't mean anybody's actually home, or in this case, the shop's actually open. Sorry to break your little precious hearts, but there'll be no Visitors' Day specials today at Passione. Yes, I understand other shops are doing it, but not this one, mainly because we're closed at this hour of the night.

[And currently there are a lack of employees and such other things a business requires.]

Feel free to stop by and tell this lone worker hello if you care to, maybe bring me a coffee and a donut, maybe a late night dinner too. Just saying. It'll be your good deed for the day.


[ooc: Action/Audio welcome since she's at the shop. Everything is fair game except anything past S4 of Bones. Anything else she can easily forgot by *~*magic*~*.]

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[thenormalsquint]

[It's a temporary one, but it's there. Even then, Angela feels like she hasn't smiled like this in years.]

Is she happy too?

[threadthefire]

I don't know that happy is the word I'd use.

[Far from it, so very far from it that Cinna doesn't even know where he'd start to explain, even if he could.]

She's doing what she needs to be doing, I guess.

[He spins her again, pulling her back into his arms and starting a slow dance. It feels manipulative, this distraction, but this isn't a topic he wants to pursue. It's not one he can at the moment.]

[thenormalsquint]

[She can tell. But it all works out because Angela doesn't want to talk about it anyway. Let her play ignorant right now, pretend he doesn't have to go home in only a few hours.]

How long has it been?

[threadthefire]

For me - no more than a day, darling.

[He pulls her closer, comforting, just existing in the sphere of her arms and the scent of her hair.]

I imagine it's been longer for you.

[thenormalsquint]

A month.

[It's so unfair. Here he had to spend six months without her and she gets off easy with only four weeks. Why is everything between them always so uneven? It makes moving on harder than it usually is. She knows she'll have to eventually, as long as he'll be back in Panem and she's here, but right now, Angela just wants it to be them again. Just for right now.]

I'm glad you're safe. [The words that she doesn't say is that she's glad he's still alive, that while her arms are wrapped around him, she can feel the warmth of his skin, the beat of his heart, the scent of his cologne that her nose can pick out of a crowd anywhere.] I haven't moved anything.

[threadthefire]

You should. None of it's mine anymore.

[Fingers reach up to card through her hair, cupping her face to turn it up to his. He doesn't want her to wallow, he wants, needs her to move on because he knows there will come a time when he won't be able to come back. He'll be too far away. He'll be dead.]

[thenormalsquint]

[She knows this. There used to be a time when Angela could just pick up her things and move on without blinking, but she just isn't like that anymore. She doesn't know why or when she changed. Maybe it was with Hodgins. What they had was never broken off cleanly either and her method of moving on from him threw her into a forced celibacy that just made her sit and think about what she'd done for over a year.

Now here she is doing it again, this time with desire for other people burning, but wondering if she should try and be as behaved as he was. They're two different people, that's for sure. Something has to give now.]

We can't keep doing this, Cinna.

[Yet, she doesn't pull back from his touch. Even Angela's giving herself mixed messages.]

[threadthefire]

I know, I should leave.

[He stops moving, kissing her forehead lightly. It isn't fair, it's never been fair. And it won't be fair to her if he keeps showing up and dragging up all these old feelings.]

Make sure you eat something, love.

[thenormalsquint]

I didn't say leave.

[No, she certainly did not, sir. She just said they should stop. She didn't say right this moment either, at least not like this. This isn't a proper goodbye. Angela's not going to let this man kiss her like a small child and walk right out of her life for the last time without her putting something into it.

So it should be absolutely no surprise to him when she grabs him by his belt and presses their lips together harshly, like he's the air she needs to breathe.]

[threadthefire]

[He responds as he always does, kissing her back with a passion that always surprises him. Reaching up to bury his fingers in that hair he could smell in last night's dreams. She's probably damned them both with this, because he doesn't want to leave. Not like this.

But it hurts him, too, knowing that there's no future in it. That it's this night, maybe part of the next and he'll be back in Panem. Facing his death as like as not.]

[thenormalsquint]

[Not for the first time ever, Angela finds herself crying as she continues kissing him, fingers tightening in the folds of his clothing. This is it. This right here is their actual goodbye. Unlike the time she came for a visit or the time she came for her return, this time, it'll be the last time they'll hold each other like this. Every touch will matter more than the last because it will be the last time she'll touch him or the last time he'll ever be touched with care or love behind it.

And that last part is the one that makes Angela pull back and rest her forehead against his to sob softly. He's alive now, but if he comes back to visit, she's pretty sure he won't be and even then, she still unsure on exactly why.]

[threadthefire]

[He doesn't tell her not to cry, he knows that will be a waste. Instead he holds her, rocking her gently, running his hand over her back as soothingly as he can. He doesn't know if this will be the last time, or if it is merely the first of a series of hollow and ultimately painful encounters.]

I'm so sorry love, I don't know what to do. Do you want me to stay? To go? I'll do whatever you like, you know I will.

[thenormalsquint]

I don't know.

[She doesn't actually know if she should send him away or let him stay here with her or make love to him one last time just to feel the finality of it all. Angela used to be so sure of her next move but love just confuses her nowadays and he's so warm against her that right now, the only thing she's sure about is not letting go.]

I thought you'd be dead. I don't know why. I just did. I had nightmares of you being back in Panem, being miserable and I know being back home is all we want here, but I wanted you to be happy and alive. I didn't want to be selfish.

[Most of all, Angela didn't want to be alone here again, but in the end, she will be. It's different here than it was back home. Being on the move always was her choice but the people she knew were always a phone call away. Here they leave as soon as she gets comfortable with them being around and then she has to begin again.]

[threadthefire]

Come, sit with me. Just... sit for a moment, will you?

[He gently pulls her towards the couch, site of more spent nights than was strictly necessary. Both with Angela and without, and now he just wants to curl up with her and tell her the truth. Pieces of it at least, while he still has the time to. Nothing that will affect Katniss or Peeta or Rue Or Finnick should they return, but enough so she knows... he's made his choices. And he has no regrets.

So she knows why.]

[thenormalsquint]

[When he asks like that, all she can do is nod and follow, wiping at her face with the back of her hand. Angela has no idea what's to come next and she's not even starting to wonder. For once in her life, her mind is completely blank except for conflicting emotions fighting for the lead.]

[threadthefire]

[He pulls her close once they're settled on the couch, continuing to stroke her hair. Pressing a kiss to her temple he takes a moment to enjoy the feeling again. The scent of her. The simple joy of having this life for a moment, parallel to the other. But he has to do this and the sooner it's done, the sooner they can get past it. If there is getting past it.]

You're not entirely wrong, Angela, to think that I should be dead. I fully expect to be in the next few days. [Or worse, but that's not something he's ready to dwell on overlong, despite the precautions he's taken.] You know home isn't a pleasant place, that there are things I'd like to change. And they are changing. After so long... I've played a part and the government knows it. They need me alive, in public, but not for much longer and when the cameras go dark on my portion of the Game... [She doesn't need him to spell that part out.]

[thenormalsquint]

[For the longest, at least in the beginning, Angela used to poke and prod for details about the secrets the people from Panem were hiding. Now she doesn't want to know anything and wishes she doesn't know the little bit they did tell her because it's all too much. It's confirmed everything she's been afraid of.]

...That's it.

[For him. For good. For everybody. No more him. No more them. No more every so often visits here for a romp for good old times' sake and some tears. Nothing more.]

[threadthefire]

I wish I could lie to you, but that's not fair to you or to what we have.

[Had? He kisses her temple again, one last breath of her scent before he makes the final offer.]

Do you want me to leave?

[thenormalsquint]

[Angela shakes her head, knowing damn well that she should really listen to logic and reasoning and tell him that they should eat dinner as platonically as possible and maybe he can give her advice on how to run a business and how to best distribute his belongings, but if this is really going to be the last time that they'll have what they'll have (or had), selfishness wins out above all.

She chuckles softly, but it sounds sad as she runs a few fingers through his hair.]

I'm afraid I want to be greedy today, but you're allowed to say no to me sometimes. Especially now.

[threadthefire]

I'm just as selfish as you are. If you want me to stay, I'm staying.

[He kisses the tip of her nose and gives her a squeeze. He would be content to just hold her the rest of the night, just like this.]

[thenormalsquint]

[The smile returns to her lips, small and still as sad, but it's there as her fingers ruffle through his hair, instinctively remembering exactly how he liked his scalp massaged.]

You're terrible for me. Always have been.

[threadthefire]

I feel much the same way.

[His eyes close at the simple pleasure. Part teasing, part just losing himself in the dream. That this is something real. That this is something he can hold onto. It's a lie, but it's one he's willing to believe just a little while longer.]

How do you want to spend the weekend, love? I've a feeling there's some things we need to talk about.

[thenormalsquint]

[There are so many things she would love to do this weekend, but it's inhumanly impossible to do even half of them in the little bit of time that they have. Honestly, before pleasure there's business to handle and Angela, as much as she wants to skip that responsible step, pulls away from Cinna just long enough to turn and face him.]

So... you and me. We're officially... over?

[It hurts to say it so bluntly, but there's no other way to pretty it up in order to make sure they're both on the same level.]

[threadthefire]

[He holds her tighter, wincing, not quite able to meet her eyes.]

I will never be over you. But if you're asking if it's wise for me to rip your clothes off right here, then I'm afraid I have say no, I don't think that's a good idea.

[He brushes the hair away from the sides of her face.] I don't think it's fair to you, love. I don't know that I'll ever be back here again.

[thenormalsquint]

Not quite what I was asking, but thanks for confirming my second question.

[There's a smile, something that has some actual amusement behind it because in the end, Angela will probably ask him that particular question again just to doublecheck anyway.] I meant after you leave here, after this. Should I wait for you?

[Not that she usually would or have in the past with any of her lovers, but with him, things seem different. Angela can't say he held on with hope for her, but considering the fact that they basically jumped back together like nobody's business, maybe it would be only fair if she gave him the same amount of time he did to her. It'll be hard and painful, but love hurts. It's the way it's got to be.]