ArchivedLogs:The Big Night, Part Two

The Big Night, Part Two
Bad ideas get worse.
Dramatis Personae Alexandrine, Dan
In Absentia	2013-02-22 Dan and Alex continue their date.
Location <NYC> 215 {Alex and Ezekiel} - Village Lofts - East Village
It's a small two bedroom, but it's tidy and clean. The furniture is simple, a cozy sectional in an 'L' shape, with a coffee table set before the television mounted on the wall. The bland off white walls are dressed up a bit by art, primarily street scenes of New Orleans. The shelves hold plenty of books, and there is no shortage of scented candles scattered about throughout the apartment. The kitchen is a cozy place, a small table with two chairs by the windows, and a small copper pitcher filled with flowers. The cushions on the chair match the dishtowels, everything in shades of spring green and soft yellow. The hallway is short, with the bathroom on the left, a bedroom across from it on the right, and the master bedroom at the end of the hallway. Alex has told Dan to make himself at home, putting the banana cream pie away in her fridge. She comes back from the kitchen, sweeping her hair all over one shoulder as she slips out of her high heels to tuck them away by the door. A long handled lighter is picked up, and there's an array of candles lit to compliment the low glow of the table lamp by the couch. "You want some bourbon, or anythin'?" She asks him, looking up at him from under lashes as she lights a last vanilla candle. Dan's nerves are suddenly ramped up, now that they're actually in Alex's apartment, and the door is closed. He hadn't exactly expected to find himself here, and given leave to take his comfort, he isn't quite sure what to do. Shrugging off his coat while Alex is in the kitchen, he folds it neatly, and drapes it carefully over the back of the sofa. Then he's moving through the living room, looking at the art, and scanning the books on the shelves, noting which titles he's familiar with, in case the conversation turns intellectual. When Alexandrine returns, he turns to gaze at her, and there's a visible hitch in his breathing as she leans in to light the candles. What the hell is he doing here? He should just go, and call her tomorrow. Much safer. Yes, he'll go. Right now. "Bourbon'd be great," he says with a smile, and then motions to the living area. "You've got a nice place," he says, and glances at the hallway. "You said you had a roommate. Are they...." Going to come crashing in at any moment, and wreck this TOTALLY AWESOME thing in his life? "Home?" Alexandrine has left her coat hung up by the door, setting the last candle down. Dan might note there are still quite a few unlit in other colors, so candles may just be a habit of hers. "Ah like it well enough. You want your bourbon straight, Ah know, but do you want it chilled, first?" She moves to the small table in the corner with an assortment of bottles. " She pauses, looking over her shoulder at him. "Zeke? No, he's not do home this evening. Ah might have mentioned having a date." Dan smiles, and steps forward. "However it comes," he murmurs, his breath catching again as the candlelight catches Alex's unbound hair. I will never get used to that, thank God. He lifts a shoulder. "I'm not particularly fussy about it." His smile slips wider when it's clear they're alone, even though his heart is pounding loud enough to echo in his brain. "So, he cleared out, huh?" he says playfully, easing closer. "Should we hang a sock on the door?" She pours two bourbons straight up, turning to hand him one. "Me either. Take more time to get ice." She gives him a smile, her cheeks flushing. "He's a very nice guy." She frowns a minute at the sock on the door reference. "Oh wait... people at the dorms... got it. So stupid." Alex laughs at herself. "Ah didn't live in a dorm in college, see." Footsteps edge closer to the couch. "Come have a seat, sugar?" Dan laughs, and reaches out to take the glass, catching her empty hand with his free one almost as soon as it drops. "It was a dumb reference," he says with a quick scrunch of his nose. And maybe a bit too inappropriate. What was he suggesting? What does she /think/ he was suggesting? He follows to the couch, unwilling to let go of her hand until he's settled, and then it's only to rest his arm along its low back, creating a hollow suitable for snuggling, if that's what she intends. Otherwise, it just looks like he's relaxed. It might have been rehearsed a bit, earlier. "Have you lived here since you moved to the city?" "No, just,... Ah was sheltered, Ah guess." Alex's cheese are a little flushed, eyes dropping to her glass before she sips at bourbon. She's not thinking anything about his suggestion, sadly. Mainly because her mind is currently frantic with other things. She doesn't quite curl into that hollow for snuggling, though she's sitting close enough he could toy with her hair if he chose. "No.. Ah crashed with a friend of mine for almost two months before Ah moved in here." She shrugs, taking another sip of bourbon. "Listen, Dan, there's somethin' Ah need to tell you.. Ah shoulda told ya before, really, but Ah was ...Ah thought it might make you not wanna go out with me. Ah..." She clears her throat, looking towards the turned off tv, clearly having a hard time with the words. Putting that hair within reach of Dan's fingers is too much a temptation to resist, and he does begin to toy with those fiery tresses, curling a lock around one finger. The silkiness against his calloused skin brings a shiver to his flesh that can probably be felt in this proximity, and he forces himself to pay attention. Which is good, apparently, since her expression and actions cause a spike of panic in his chest, and he sips at his bourbon to cover any facial expression it might have generated. "What is it?" he says, and he leans closer. "I don't think there's anything that would make me want to stop seeing you," he confesses, and his eyebrows twitch towards a furrow before relaxing. "Especially in candlelight." Alexandrine lets out a broken breath of a laugh, before her eyes drag back towards him. Blues glance up from under lashes as her fingers tighten on her bourbon glass. "Ah.. " She'll tell him in a second. Really she will. But he's playing with her hair and saying all the right things... and she can't help him. Good lord save her, she's leaning in to press her lips to his. Dan's brain /reels/ when those lips he's watched all night are suddenly pressed against his, and the finger toying with that single lock becomes a spidery hand entangled in fire as he cups her neck and pushes into the kiss. The soft tip of his tongue strokes gently, hesitantly, along the curve of her bottom lip, encouraging the kiss to go deeper. Thank God. She kissed me. I hope my breath's okay. God, she's delicious. There's a faint whimper in the back of her throat as he pushes and kisses her back. Blue eyes are closed as she lets that kiss deepen, a shiver under his hand. Her head is spinning, she shouldn't be doing this, she shouldn't... She was supposed to.. She pulls back just a tiny bit, nipping at his bottom lip so she can set her bourbon down. Dan makes his own noise of pleasure when the kiss deepens, although his tongue is suddenly shy, allowed access. When Alex nips him, though, he pulls back with a loose smile playing about his lips, and he sets his bourbon on the low table as well. "That," he says in a hoarse voice, "was the most profound statement I've ever experienced." His eyes crinkle a bit, and he shifts his weight a bit closer, closing the gap to something more intimate. "I don't know how that would make me want to stop seeing you, though." He closes one eye thoughtfully. "I think your recon was flawed." Alexandrine blushes hotly, blue eyes downcast a moment. "Ah was chickenin' out, there for a moment." Oh hell's bells. She picks that bourbon up for a deep sip, setting it down with only a hint of a cough. "Ah've never really been on a date, before. Ah've never... done a lot of...dating things." "That was you chickening out?" Dan's eyebrows climb in surprise, although his expression is amused. "Well, sign me up for a cowardice charge, then." He frowns when Alex belts her drink, and leans in to listen carefully. Then there's less amusement, and more confusion, and he closes his eyes hard. "What are you saying? That this is your /first date ever/? In your life?" Now he's pretty sure that the redhead can hear his heart as it threatens to vibrate right through his ribcage. Then, suddenly, a weird wash of relief strong enough to be felt even by the non-listening telepath, rolls through him. Thank God he put together a good one, then. If it had gone badly.... "Wh-why would you think that would put me off?" "Went for coffee, once or twice?" She offers, a tiny shrug, But never a.. you know..date date. Dinner and dancin' and all that." She swallows hard, blue eyes watching his face. "Ah.. well, Daddy died, and Momma got super strict after that... there were pretty much no boys allowed.." And other issues she so can not confess to him yet. She shrugs again, looking down. "Ah...some guys are put off by women who aren't.. experienced." Dan absorbs that, and offers a grunt that has no discernible meaning behind it, even with gentle scanning. "Shame," he says, rubbing a hand along his knee and watching it carefully. "That you'd be kept locked away like some princess in a tower." Then his lips are curling into a smile. "Maybe 'Pretty Woman' isn't that far-off an analogy, after all," he teases, stroking his hand along her back. "Wasn't that her deal? The fairy tale with the princess in the tower?" He leans forward. "Let's get one thing out on the table, now. I am here because I want to be here with you. I don't care about --" he flushes. "Well, that's not true. It's important to me that you shared that, and it's something I'll have to think about." He slides his hand back up to cup her neck to gently raise her head, and leans in closer to murmur the next. "But I don't intend to go away until you tell me to." Then his lips are on hers, again. Alexandrine laughs, a half bitter sound. "Well, she had reasons. Worried that without him around... Ah'd go into a tail spin an' be a bad girl, probably. It happens.. but then Ah went to an all girl Catholic school, and with dancin'.." She murmurs, before she's quieting, biting her lip when he's saying he'll have to think about it. "Ah don't want to you to go away.. " The rest cut off by that kiss, another whimper forming before her hand lifts to clutch at his shoulder. Dan lets the kiss linger, not pressing to deepen it, but managing to convey the heat that suddenly flares; a strange warmth that's familiar and unsettling at the same time. When she clutches at his shoulder, the hand on her neck slides down, finding the curve of her back and pulling her closer to his sinewy frame. His other hand finds Alex's knee, landing there lightly, his thumb gently stroking along the small hollow along the bone. When the kiss breaks, he doesn't pull back, prefering to murmur his words against her lips as he rests his forehead against hers. "Alex..." he whispers, a twist of pain surfacing from the depths to squeeze his eyes shut. "I...it's been a long time for me," he says with a shuddering, gentle exhale. "Not since..." his mouth presses into a smile-line, and he opens his eyes. "It's been a long time." Her hand shifts from his shoulder to cup the side of his face. She snuggles in closer to him, hooking her legs over his to sit more comfortably. Alex keeps her eyes closed, breathing softly as she can still feel the tingling in her lips. Her thumb reaches to stroke over his bottom lip, before she finally opens her eyes. "It's all right, sugar. Don't be worryin' yourself. We can figure it out, right?" She shouldn't be trusting him like this...what the hell is she thinking? She fits so easily in his lap, or over it. It's a kind of shock through his system that registers in a sharp, soft inhalation. His lips press against her thumb when it strokes across them, and the smile-line loosens into something more relaxed, though still troubled. "We can figure it out," he repeats in a shaky voice, and his tongue snakes out to wet his suddenly-dry lips. God, he can still taste her there. Why is he so /comfortable/? This is such a bad idea. She's too new. He's too broken. Aw, fuck it. The kiss that finds her lips now is not so chaste and reserved, but one of sheer desire, hungry with gentle aggression. Alexandrine couldn't tell him, because she's not even daring her powers to try and put him at ease. She's worried her own nerves will just spill all over. It is a bad idea. She shouldn't trust him like this. In her house. On her couch. Kissing her, for christ's sake, when if he knew what she really was... But she's kissing him back, arms stealing up around his shoulders to hold him close. There's not much conversation for a while, or much thought, beyond both parties considering what a colossally bad idea this probably is. Alexandrine's first date, and Dan treats her to a make-out session straight out of college, with much less groping. Half an hour later finds Dan's jacket tossed on top of his discarded coat, and his collar open, revealing a gold cross on a chain that threatens to spill out as he lays stretched out on the couch, braced above Alex and smiling fondly down at her. "You are beautiful," he murmurs, leaning down to plant a soft kiss on the lobe of her ear. How did he manage to be worthy enough for this? (Fade)