Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Printable Version

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Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Blade - 03-07-2016

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RE: Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Blade - 03-07-2016

Strawberry blonde bangs did a fairly good job of shutting off his view from her as she apologized again, asked him to wait a little longer, and then wrapped his arm properly. He was staring at his knees; one poked out a bit from a fraying rip. The view did nothing to help the way her presence set him on fire—caught somewhere between wanting to act and run for his life. He’d yell some more, but wouldn’t do any good and just make things worse. She was easy-to-scare sort and didn’t react well to his tendency to lash out when nervous. And now that he was bound to her it seemed like a pretty daft idea to lose his temper. So... he was pretty must stuck acting like a red-faced prat who couldn’t seem to really form words most of the time—who didn’t know what to do with his hands or his mouth even when he had her wrapped around him. Well, that wasn’t totally bloody fucking true. He’d kissed her in the library, had briefly summoned the stones to do so. Shite though, that had been a disaster as well, hadn’t it?

He thought so.

He didn’t hear the two men, too wrapped up in his own head and too focused on the branding pleasure her touch left on his skin under a thin later of bandages. But when she jumped up and pulled a sweater on his greenish eyes snapped to her, slips of blue becoming more noticeable.

He looked to the open door and a bolt of fear laced through him. Nevermind the fact that he wasn’t exactly human, could probably protect himself against fists if need be. He just tended to be the sort that avoided the possibility of having his skull kicked in like a tosser.

“...Which is less bleedin’ likely to earn me a few bruises?” he hissed. He imagined it was her brother and his friend. He still had the image in his mind of two bastards build like brick houses.

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RE: Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Hobo_Bob - 03-07-2016

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As Bard asked his question, the stairs creaked under the foot steps of her brother and her half-brother-like-friend. The sweater - much like the soaking red one discarded on the floor - was buttoned up and pulled over her torso to add much needed warmth and coverage. They were close to her door now, and like any girl would her little paws reached out to the door just as someone tried to open it.

"I-i'm changing, can't you wait...??" her teeth clattered to show she was feeling the hand of cold down her back from being caught in the rain as well as fear of being caught with a boy in her room. A man. She still wasn't sure how old he was, but needless to say he was older than she. By at least 100 years at the very least.

A male voice on the other side whispered in hushed angry tones before addressing her; an accent akin to middle eastern and american spoke out first."Alright little dove, we'll be downstairs. But hurry we have to talk."

An second voice rose, a little more angry, louder than the first and similar to Naya's own tone - which effectively made her jump and grip the door knob tighter. "Just get your stupid scrawny butt down stairs, okay!?" A fist hit the door to end the sentence.

More whispered tones and the pair departed. The creak of the stairs signaling the pair were headed down. A moment passed before she let a sigh of relief wash over her. Allowing her time to look at Bard and his anxious expression. "I think....since they're both angry, stay hidden for now. Just for now. I can work something out later to explain why your here." her heart began to hurt at the idea she had to keep her new friend a secret and that to not tell her brothers was almost a lie.

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RE: Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Blade - 03-08-2016

His muscles flexed and he was three seconds away from going back into his book, to becoming a book again, when Naya shot up and kept the two men from opening the door. He remained tense as she told them to go away—that she was changing. His heart skipped once twice as he listened. Neither of them sounded little by any means; the one had an accent brought about images of a sheikh. The latter was likely her brother from the way he talked to her; well... unless her brother was the polite sounding sheikh.

He doubted it.

When they were gone his gaze returned to hers, prompted to do so by her speaking. He let out a breath of his own and ran a hand through his hair, mussing mussy strands further. His eyes shut with the exhale and his chest felt lighter for it. The ‘just for now’ had him blinking once or twice and looking at her again. Did she think he wanted to meet either of them? Now? Angry or not, brothers—even ones that ‘adopted’ you—were not kind when it came to their little kid sis and a strange boy in her room. Man. Man, damnit. You ARE one. Really, the bint didn’t look like the sort that went without her hulking brother trailing her hide to keep her safe.

He waved both hands. “’M good. Be just brill to stay ‘ere, pet. Fancy it much more than tryin’ to explain why ‘m in your room.” He paused a moment, brow knitting. It did occur to him, just then, that he would eventually have to meet both brutes—they were probably brutes, physically anyway—if she worked and lived with them. Which meant he’d also have to explain himself.

Damnation and sin. Why couldn’t she just live by herself and not have brothers?

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RE: Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Hobo_Bob - 03-08-2016

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Though Naya understood why he didn't want to meet her small family - especially right now - she didn't feel right being so sly. But how does one explain a magical book that turns into a man? There was no choice but to accept what Bard wanted and go downstairs alone. "Right...." her voice was soft while she moved away from the door and gathered the first aid kit from the bed. "Then-....just wait here. You can dry off and change if you'd like in the bathroom once they go to bed." She stood beside him, placing the tools and bandages back into the box before setting it aside and using a throw blanket on the end of her bed to wrap around Bards shoulders. She stood over him, both hands moving to run down from his shoulders to his arms before rubbing to help generate heat and warm him.

Just leaning down a little more would help get her lips against his again. 'Nope!! Not right now, don't think that...'

The room was still cold and the fire place not yet set with a fire making it all the more chilly. "Relax and i'll be back with some coffee. Or-...tea and a snack when I have a moment." Once she had him wrapped, Naya walked into her large-walk in closet to put on dry clothes. The door was slightly closed, just enough to let in light but Bard would not be able to see what she was doing until she walked out. Skin tight black tights and a long navy tunic with silver embroidery along the collar and sleeves covered her body once she emerged from the closet. Slippers on her feet and a shawl around her shoulders.

Naya wanted to remain up here with Bard, talk to him more and get to know what he was. But if she didn't do as her brothers asked, they'd seek her out again. Wet hair pulled up atop her head and kept in place with a wooden hair stick and she left the room. Door gently closed behind her without another word to Bard.

Once down stairs, the yelling and anger erupted. It was one male voice shouting, then a quiet muffled softer one followed with more shouting. This time both male voices. The voices rang loudly in the old home for over 20 minutes, resonating around the walls and yet the words were unclear. Not until the sound of something hitting the floor did all voices pause. The agitation in the air and the anger vanished, only the sound of rain hitting the roof could be heard.

All at once, there was laughter from three voices. Naya and both her brothers shared a chuckle and moved out of the hall by the stairs to the kitchen where more conversation was had between the three siblings.

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RE: Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Blade - 03-08-2016

He nodded as she spoke and grabbed the kit; though her close proximity did send his heart beating a bit faster. This was especially so when she placed the blanket over his shoulders—when she moved to rub her hands up and down his biceps. The dash of red was right back, brightening along the bridge of his nose and along his cheeks as he dared to look up at her. Unable to stop himself, he bit his lower lip even as he met her gaze and even as his line of sight traveled to her lips. She was quiet and he could tell the moment was lasting a bit longer than it should for people who weren’t planning on snogging.

Was she?

But then she was stepping away again. “Y-yeah... sure,” he mumbled as she slipped into her closet and went about changing. He did his best not to think about the clothes she was removing, or what all that bare skin looked like. He settled his gaze on the floor as he tugged the blanket around himself further, coiling into it with a sigh—a sigh he wasn’t sure was born out of his tumble of feelings or the evenings’ events altogether.

He nodded again when he emerged, for a moment admiring how cutely her outfit seemed to shallow her tiny frame. Bugger all... he’d probably find her cute in a brown sack made out of straw. This was his last thought before she left the room entirely.

For a long while she just remained on the bed, wrapped up and warm. But eventually his eyes began to travel around the room. In the background the TV was still on the Food Network; some guy with bleached hair was going on about a hamburger being ‘so awesome’ and packed with ‘a ton of flavor’. He huffed once before standing and adjusting the blanket; he held it mostly closed with one hand at his chest, a good bit of it fisted. He was tempted to poke at her bookshelves, but her desk was closer and so he glanced at it on the way—eyeing the pictures. Two men—probably the two ‘brutes’ he was worried about.

Bard shook his head and shoved blonde strands out of his eyes as he shuffled over to a bookshelf. This was the exact time the shouting began, making brows rise to near his hairline. He’d be worried about Naya... but... she wasn’t screaming for help.... so she was probably alright. He mostly just didn’t feel like checking the ‘journal’ to see what was going on—her story.

As time passed Bard found himself on the bed with a dozen books or so, some classics, but others new—some he hadn’t read... per se. It gave him someone to talk to and he’d occupied himself with merry little golden-duty creatures and people cavorting around him and acting out their stories for a time. But... eventually he’d curled up, the chill of the room making him lethargic. When Naya arrived up in the room she’d find him in socked feet, his shoes on the floor, curled up in something of a fetal position—asleep. One hand would be on the pillow next to him as he breathed slowly in and out while the other half dangled off the bed with an an open paperback daring to slip out of his fingers.

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RE: Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Hobo_Bob - 03-08-2016

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It was so strange to see her half-brother strike her real brother. But Eric had gone too far with his anger. Sure, the desk was destroyed and they would have to pay for the broken piece she now knew to be over 200 years old. In his fit of rage, Eric made the comment about Naya being a complete nuisance sine she was born, perhaps would have continued that tirade with 'wish you were never born' but that ended when Alvah punched Eric in his chin. Sending the larger of the three to the floor.

Alvah effectively calmed down Eric and the three did what most well off families do. They hugged it out. No one was really hurt, the desk would come out of Nayas own wallet and all agreed to have some dinner then bed. All the while Naya and Alvah prepared dinner with Eric staying out of the way from the pair, Naya's mind returned to Bard. he was up in her room, cold and perhaps bored by now. Hungry or at least thirsty.

Like any host, she should make mention of something and bring a cup of water to him. An apple, anything to show he was not forgotten. Not after that gaze they held. The one just before she left that brought a tint of red to her cheeks.

It was not unnoticed by her brothers.

"Have you fallen for me again, Naya?" Alvah asked while he looked up at her. His hands carefully stirred the small pot full of broth for soup while Naya prepared veggies and thin slices of meat. Their own at home variation of shabu-shabu. Where Eric was built like a muscle head brick wall - not unlike what Bard had in mind - Alvah was thin and smaller. Still taller than she by a mile, but no where near tall for a man. All three had dark hair and dark eyes, light tan to their skin, but where Eric had deep sapphire eyes, Naya's were gold-speckled brown. Alvah's were charcoal grey. Almost black.

"N-no!! You're like my brother, how can you say that....it's someone else, okay?" Naya looked away from what her hands did for a moment to measure their reaction. Neither said anything, and only laughed.

"Sure sure, you found someone that's taken a liking to you already? You never leave the library!! Where did you meat him? Online?" Eric teased her, his chin slowly turning a bit red-purple from the punch.

The next hour went on much like this, brothers trying to be good siblings and get information from their sister about the guy she liked. Which was almost effectively shut down once the food was done. Eric cleaned up the dishes and Alvah sat in the sitting room with the TV on while he used his laptop. It seemed the night was over for now.

It took little explanation as to why she took a tray of soup and drink up to her room. Not the last or first time she stayed up late with a good book. But what she didn't expect was to find Bard on her bed, out cold with a book ready to fall from his hand. The tray was set on her desk and she quickly grasped the book before it could fall. For a moment, she kneeled on the floor and watched his sleeping face. He was so calm now in comparison to how he was before. Flustered and red with either retrained anger or something else. Bashfulness, most likely. Yet he had no qualms about sleeping on her bed.

Sighing as she watched him, a hand reached out and moved hair from his face before gathering the book he had been reading to put away on her shelves. Well cared for, as opposed to her clothes that she tossed in a corner.

He had not waken up after a solid 30 minuets she had returned. A fire was made, the soup she brought for him was cold by now and Naya sat on the floor, her back against the bed, watching a scary movie. Her lights had all been turned off, only the fireplace illuminated the room to her right. It was the very first jump scare and woman screaming that made her realize how loud the volume was. "Oh shhh-.....shnozle berry!!"

Quickly, she tried to lower the volume before waking the whole house. Nearly 1am, and the volume was nearly at 80%.

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RE: Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Blade - 03-08-2016

Pages did not need to sleep; Bard was odd like that. He enjoyed sleeping, sometimes even the act of pretending to sleep was enough: relaxing into a soft mattress, head cradled by a fluffy pillow, and the void of not having to do or think anything unless he wanted to. He’d had good practice at it, after all. Ever since...

His thoughts burrowed in the haze of color and self-induced dreams, ignoring the thing he actively refused to remember. He huffed in his sleep then, brow knitting. And then he pulled his arms closer to himself, one sliding under the pillow he was snoozing on while the other curled into his chest. His body relaxed again, all tension releasing—.

“Bloody buggerin’ fuck!” he exhaled in a half shout as he shot up into a sitting position, roused quickly by a scream. “Emma—!” he gasped next, looking about the room, blonde locks tinted in rose slapping against his cheeks. Where—!

And then it all came back to him as he heaved a few breaths, heart racing even as he took in the room around him: the bookshelves, the rain pattering the window, and the feel of a cotton bedding under his hands. Green depths moved to the telly and he exhaled. His eyes closed and he wiped a hand down his face before flouncing back on the bed. He didn’t immediately notice Naya, too shaken by the abrupt rousing. His nerves were on fire, but not because of one cute slip of a girl. This time it had everything to do with a nightmare he’d should have had better control of. He dreams were self-induced and so were his nightmares. He’d just... just slipped up.

“Jesus, Mary, and fuckerin’ Joeseph.... who turned the telly to the screamo channel?”

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RE: Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Hobo_Bob - 03-09-2016

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Naya could not get the changer to work, the volume of the movie much too loud for the time of night. So, she turned off the TV as Bard sat up and screamed the name of someone else. An Emma, he said. Perhaps just someone in his dream or a memory, it didn't really matter. But it did not stop the bolt of jealousy that flicked itself into her heart. She did not know the man, had no real possession of their relationship beyond working on a friendship.

But the kiss they shared.

The feel of his hands and his lips. The way his body felt as he clung to her. How his eyes looked dazed after their lips parted. It was all something she wanted to share with no one else.

"S-sorry..." her voice quivered after a few moments the pair sat in silence, "I didn't think the movie was that-...loud..." Small shivering hands and legs - not from the cold - pulled her onto the bed and sat beside Bard as he rolled to his back on her bed. He didn't look to be in pain, but he did at the same time. "A nightmare? Bad memory? Oh-..er....you don't have t-to answer that."

The shawl around her shoulders was adjusted to wrap around her while he pulled her legs closer to her body to seek out a little comfort.

The room was warm and it still felt far too early to sleep, but she could not stop the shaking in her body. Truly, Naya loved movies. Especially horror ones. But that could be a bad thing for her. Scared easily and skirmish with blood, she stayed away from those that people would call 'bad'. Goosebumps could be a bit much for her. But in an attempt to break her own fears, it often left her unable to sleep.

That, and with Bard in her room she wasn't sure she wanted to sleep anyways. "There's uh-....food if your hungry...." she murmured from behind her knees that were pulled against her body tightly.

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RE: Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Blade - 03-09-2016

Bard let out another sigh of an exhale, right wrist over his eyes, when the TV was shut off. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the quiet, though he was glad that the source of his sudden wakefulness had been shut off. But it also darkened the room; something he noticed even with his eyes shut. And that somehow seemed to make everything feel more... intimate. Which was doubly so when he felt a weight on the bed shift up beside him.

Naya.

His heart jumped once and he swallowed as images, memories, of earlier that day came back to him—like a movie on rerun right behind his eyelids. He was so fucking focused on her actions that he nearly missed what she was saying. What she was asking. For a brief moment his heart tightened, the only reprieve from the rush of heat to his chest at Naya’s tempting presence. Then the naughty thoughts receded—only to be replaced with another girl with chestnut strands. Younger, so much younger. That’s how he remembered her. It was easier to. Easier to forget why he’d become a hermit in his book.

She was shaking. Naya was.

He lifted his wrist from his eyes and slowly opened them to look at her through the shroud of dim darkness. Some part of him wanted comfort just then. And how easy and difficult that would be—both at the same time. Sometimes he really missed his older sister. Really... it wasn’t Naya’s fault he was such a daft idiot with a weak heart to fuckin’ boot.

He didn’t even try to stop the blush that formed at the very idea of holding her, or her holding him. “Bad memory,” he confirmed for some reason, hoping she’d leave it at that. “You cold...?” he asked softer still, trying to meet her gaze in the dark.

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RE: Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Hobo_Bob - 03-09-2016

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Did books have nightmares? Were they the same as a human nightmare or did they dream differently? These things were all new and interesting, something only one would read about in a fantasy novel or from a movie, but to have it here in front of her. A man from a book. Was he from a romance novel? Did he have that 'urge to mate immediately with the face he saw first' or was that just her own imagination?

Looking at him from over her arms, she tried to smile to stop her body and mind from going into something she wasn't sure she didn't want. But, she did manage to reply to him with a little nod. It was easier to say she was cold than that she scared herself. "Y-yeah a little...." taking that moment to look at him through the unruly loose curls around her shoulders, Naya wanted to touch him. Play a hand in his hair or just wrap a finger around his. Anything to seek a comfort.

But instead, she moved from the bed and walked closer to the fire. Tossing in a new large log to burn a few more hours and squatted beside the blaze. "My brothers found out about the desk....I have to pay for the damages myself."

'Stupid, he didn't ask....well, what am I supposed to say to him right now? I can't ask about his nightmare...' Sighing, both hands moved to rub at her shoulders as she curled into herself once more. An image of the monster from the movie flashing in her mind just as the fire place popped.

Needless to say, she tried to jump back and ended up falling backwards onto the carpeted floor with a yelp.

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RE: Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Blade - 03-09-2016

He watched her, green eyes curious, as he caught the way she looked at him through loose auburn curls. Uncharacteristically, he wondered what she was thinking right then. What was going on in her head about him...? This moment...? Or, hell, maybe not him at all. He was probably being a narcissist, he thought as he sat up. His hands moved to keep him propted, one to either side behind him.

She was cold then; something in his gut twisted and he felt the urge to wrap her in an embrace become that much stronger. But fear made him incapable. Embarrassment did. A complete and utter lack of self-confidence did. His gaze had shifted downward and he contemplated that until she moved off the bed. His gaze trailed after her and his eyes softened—half because he felt like an idiot and half because he really wished she’d just...

...What? Reach out? Had he been that lonely? Over a hundred years in his book, was the natural instinct to reach out... to seek someone reaching out for him?

Maybe I wanted her to prod.

“That’s... ‘M sorry.” He hadn’t thought to ask about the fight. At all. But he did now. And he felt awful about it; though, she had no way of knowing why he hadn’t. About Emma. “Was that what all the fuss was ‘bout?” a pause. “You... ah... you ok? There... there was yelling. Didn’t ‘ear you doin’ any o’ it.”

When she yelped he jolted, reacting immediately. Right next to her, hands on her shoulders, steadying her—as if he could get rid of such habits. Ingrained, that’s what they were.

Protect the girl. Always protect the girl... always...

“Are you ‘urt, luv?” he asked, voice strained with worry as he looked her over, taking her hands to examine them as he knelt beside her. “Did you burn anything? A spark?” Gentle hands—soft. His fear made him forget. “You need to be careful,” he chastised sternly.

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RE: Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Hobo_Bob - 03-09-2016

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Before Naya could sit up on her own and laugh at her own stupidity, Bard was there beside her. Holding her and looking over her. She felt heat rise to her face instantly. Glowing from her cheeks to her neck and down to her hands where he touched. She wanted to tell him she was alright, laugh it off and wave his hands away if only to stop making her feel this tightness inside of her chest when he was near.

In the end, she could only move her hands from his and grasp the shawl around her shoulders to pull it tighter around her. Hold and squeeze anything that wasn't a part of Bard himself. "N-no, i'm okay. It just surprised me...." she forced a giggle.

There was a silence again. His questions still hung in the air and that need to curl against someone kept growing the longer she kept to herself. Her mind raced with things to ask him now that they were in a more stable situation. To pry and prod, learn about the book-man a mere 3-inches away from her. But she held back.

Her body wanting more than she was ready to seek just yet.

Outside, the rain pattered on the roof and she listened. Tried to relax. 2 minuets became 3, and then 5 before Naya moved to face Bard. Cheeks still glowing in the heat yet chocolate doe eyes seeking out his while she spoke. "I'm a dolt, I know...." she smiled nervously, biting her bottom lip while she tried to form words to verbalize, "My brother was a bit mad about the whole...uh...desk thing. But Alvah put him in his place. Eric likes to show his strength, picks on me often but Alvah is usually there to stop him from getting carried away..." Naya chuckled and sniffled a bit. "It was kinda loud, wasn't it....sorry you had to hear all that."

Looking away from his eyes to his hands, she moved closer to him to take one of his hands and gave a heavy sigh. "That-....in the library..." her cheeks flared up again and her voice started to squeak, "The kiss....it was so you can stay outside your-...book, wasn't it. N-not that I didn't enjoy the-...uh....it. But that was the main reason. Was it?" She sighed then and let his hand go to ruffle his hair.

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RE: Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Blade - 03-09-2016

He was mostly certain her hands weren’t injured when she pulled them away; though, he’d still been looking them over—wrists too—like a paranoid parent. Even as she pulled them away his grip had been solid enough to feel the slip of skin against skin firmly. And that gave him a start. He released them immediately, ghost of a brand reemerging and blood running hot once more: to his cheeks, along his arms, across his chest and...

His pants suddenly felt uncomfortable and that made it all worse even as he tied to ignore it.

Fuckin’ cockstand.

The giggle didn’t help, but he was relieved that she was ok. She’d had enough missteps in the last twelve hours or less to last him a lifetime. The very thought was enough to have him glance at the fire—to make sure it wasn’t going to topple, the log she’d dropped, and fall to the floor. They didn’t need an out of control fire to deal with next.

He hadn’t realized how long Naya had gone on being silent until she spoke again. Hie eyes flashed to her as she called herself a dolt. “Well... was an old desk anyway.” He shrugged. “Nothing lasts—.” He stopped himself and then started again. “Most nothing lasts forever, anyway. It doesn’t matter as long as you’re not ‘urt. Your brother should know that much.”

As she moved closer he stiffened, heart jumping and his throat tightened. He was still looking at her even as she looked down at his hands. But his gaze moved quickly to her hand holding his as she took it. His heart hammered then—pounded like an unrelenting drum within his chest. Somehow... somehow he heard her—even when she slipped her fingers up into his hair. He gasped at that.

“I...” he started, frozen almost. “No... I...” He refused to close his eyes because he knew now that it would make the sensory overload that much more. “I didn’t do it on purpose,” he managed, a hand fisted on top of either thigh. “I... was ok bein’ alone. ‘Ave b-been for a while now...

“But... but you...” He trailed off and sighed once, choking on his own bloody stupidity.

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RE: Never A Bad Thing [Closed] - Hobo_Bob - 03-09-2016

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Mostly she agreed with him. The desk was old, it should not have been out and ready to be used by people in the library. But it was. It was bound to break at some point. Under the weight of someone's body might not have been the most obvious, but that's how it happened. Nearly exploded. Naya stifled a chuckle at that thought.

She watched the way he reacted to her. From the way he stared at her hands in his and not her face as she tried to look into his eyes. The burn across his face and the heat rising from his body and scorching her. Naya was the one touching him, he was not reaching or touching her. But it still felt good. He felt good.

Her hands slowly pulled away from him as he replied to her.

'So he didn't have the intention of-....whatever this is. An accident, basically. Nothing particular about me, but the opportunity and the timing....' that thought weighed on her heart. Although he cut himself off from replying completely, she felt that it was enough what he said.

"Oh....okay. Yeah...alone can be nice too I think." she tried to smile whole heartedly, but all she could muster was a twitch of her lips and slide herself away from him. Giving him room and giving herself a reason to defend herself from what she felt. It was a stupid thing to think he freed himself to attach to her for more of a reason than it was an accident. That she was interesting or something made her particularly special to summon him. If it took a summoning at all or if it was his own will.

She could not help put pull into herself again and bite on her bottom lip in thought. "I'm sorry-.....it was me."

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