sketchycharacter

And I'm not denying it.

[ More than the occasional.

She tilts her head to the side as she looks back at him, brow lifting when his gaze sweeps over her. ]

So... Where are your roommates at?

[He raises an eyebrow, but otherwise keeps his expression steady.]

Don't know. I haven't asked about their schedules.

[And he's suddenly regretting that, because now he can't say whether they're about to walk in or not.]

That's not helpful...

[ As much as she wants to reach out to him, her hands remain tucked with her arms. She does chew at her bottom lip as she watches him still, however, thinking that maybe she should leave before she does something they're both not exactly ready for and yet both want. ]

It really isn't.

[And if they're still working on getting fully in sync again, the look he gives her now should be easy to read. Longing, wistfulness, a little bit of lust...]

This roommate thing sucks, doesn't it.

[ Oh, Elena knows that look all a little too well. Which is why she blows out a heavy exhale, ending it on a breathless chuckle at the ridiculousness of where they're at. There's a shift in her tone then that he might know and remember, desire, low and a little husky. ]

It's like college all over again. We could try the ah, the sock trick.

[The tone shift only makes the lack of privacy worse, but he can't say he dislikes it.]

The—what now?

[He gives her a bemused look.]

Sorry, when I lived with people the only thing about socks that mattered was not leaving the dirty ones around to stink up the place.

The sock trick. You know. Sock stuck outside of the door so your roommates know that things are going down?

[ They can talk about this and keep their hands and lips to themselves right? Is that possible? ]

That's actually a thing?

[He laugh. Laughter is a good distraction from unfulfilled lust, right?]

Wow. Okay, that's definitely a new one on me. Seems like it'd just be advertising it, though.

It's to ward them off, give you privacy, warns them not to interrupt.

[ A decent enough distraction, as much as she wants to reach for him and yank him in. ]

And people actually respect that privacy.

[He sounds totally skeptical now.]

From my experience, yeah. Yeah they did.

[ Don't be so skeptical! It's a thing. ]

I can't believe that, in all the years you were out with Sully, you two never had a system in place.

[Okay. That sounds fake, but okay. She's the one who actually has experience with college living, after all.]

Never needed one. He got marginally more discreet when I started living with him—mostly he started going to the lucky lady's place instead of bringing her home, though. And the window of time where I was old enough to bring anyone home myself but hadn't gotten my own place yet wasn't that wide.

Besides, we had separate bedrooms. The weird part would have been breakfast the morning after.

Edited 2016-06-13 16:07 (UTC)

[ Maybe if they keep talking about Sully and his lady luck adventures that she'll feel less likely to get her husband pinned into the wall like at the hotel in Panama their first time. ]

That's always the worst.

At least you didn't have to worry about some jackass making a sound clip and having it sent out around campus.

[Maybe she won't be the one pinned this time, the way he still feels.]

Okay, if that's an actual danger of college, I'm glad I never went. There are enough ways to make fun of me without my youthful sexual prowess [such as it was] coming into the picture.

[ That gets a snort out of her. ]

Youthful? [ Hah. ] That sexual prowess is going to go down with the ship.

[ Meaning, from her experience, he's never stopped having issues with it. Or maybe it was just their chemistry, the attraction, how they'd never stopped jumping each other since the start. Even when they were well into their marriage, the intimacy and sex had never slowed or stopped.

Only when he began to pull away and focus on other things... ]

This may shock you, but I was not a sexual dynamo right out of the gate. Actually, I was kind of a late bloomer.

[Other things had always seemed more important, even after he'd started noticing girls. Of course, by the time he'd met Elena, things had been very different.]

It would have been a short, awkward recording, is what I'm getting at.

I was early. Right from the get go.

[ But that was all he needed to know. She's a little surprised at herself for saying it so openly, now of all times. ]

Right. Gotcha.

[Really. Now that's interesting to know.]

Oh, you wouldn't have given me a second look, then. Skinny kid with his nose stuck in a book? It took time to cultivate the roguish charm that worked its magic on you.

[Try to deny it.]

You're still pretty skinny. And right, working the charm on all the other wonderful ladies, testing it out before you put it to play for the one and only true love of your life. Uh-huh.

What if I told you it needed work right now?

Hey, I work out now.

[He'd flex, but that's probably a little overdefensive.]

It has been a while since I practiced. Wouldn't be that surprising if it's gotten rusty.

Oh yeah? Okay then, Big shot, show me your guns. Let's see 'em.

[ She has noticed that he's changed a bit since she'd last seen him. He'd filled out a little more, it had been good to see it when he had first appeared off the plane in Yemen. All that climbing around kept him in shape, and then some. ]

And unless you got someone on the side I don't know about...who knows.

[ Not that she would believe it. Or think it. Well, maybe a tiny slip of thought but nothing permanently ingrained in the back of her mind. ]

Edited 2016-06-13 17:00 (UTC)

[Working out had been a welcome distraction for him when he'd hit a wall tracking Drake's path and been left with nothing but his thoughts and the regrets about leaving Elena that he hadn't wanted to acknowledge. The results speak for themselves.

She doesn't get a display of the goods now, though. His expression slips into something less teasing and more serious, dismayed that he could ever have made her doubt him. Even jokingly, even for a moment.]

No. Not ever.

[ She goes silent as she watches him, studies the look on his face. Some part of her feels stupid for even bringing it up, for even jokingly questioning him. They'd been apart for so long that she could've never known; no phone calls had been made to keep in touch, no texts, no emails. And what were the chances that he would've told her if it had happened?

Elena leans away from the wall and goes to him, gaze searching his. ]

I'm sorry. [ Her hands lift to smooth along his jaw before cupping it. ] I shouldn't have said anything.

If it's what you were thinking, then yeah. You should have.

[He's not mad at her. How could he be? He's the one who left, who'd apparently been done with their marriage. Even if she'd known how miserable he was without her, it wouldn't be such a stretch to think he might take solace in someone else's arms, someone else's bed. It's his fault for not making it absolutely clear that it didn't happen.

He takes her in his arms, wanting to pull her close but needing her to be able to see his face and how serious he is.]

There was never anyone else for me, Elena. There's never going to be.

Edited 2016-06-13 17:27 (UTC)

[ He's that serious that he says her name, and it makes her chest tighten. ]

Good, because there's no one else for me either but you.

[ And because it's an opportune moment, Elena leans up as she pulls him down, her mouth pressing firmly to his. It's a needy embrace but only in the sense of needing to make him understand that he really is all she's ever needed or wanted. That she's sorry for ever doubting, and that she loves him. So much.

Here's hoping no one comes in to interrupt them because all she wants to do is share in a good, long kiss with her husband. Put one worry behind them, look forward to fixing the rest. ]

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