Strictly Business [Closed] - Printable Version
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RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - megs - 05-12-2017
Her surprise played out on her features. Brows lifted towards her hairline, a slight widening of green eyes, before they knit together. She was frowning by the time he found the courage to look at her. He was firmly inserting her back into the assistant category, as he had done the day before when Renton was around. He kept doing that: opening the boundaries of their relationship, and then shutting them down again. Sometimes, Owen seemed like he wanted to be friends. Scarce other times, it almost seemed like he wanted to be more. And then he did things like this. Spoke to her in a way, that firmly reminded her of her position in his life.
Drusilla dropped her eyes from his face to the medals on his chest. She had meant to ask him about some of them when she’d been hiding her face against them, but hadn’t had the chance. “I’m not...afraid of you,” she said, firmly, touching on something he had said to Sophia. Eyes darted to his face, and then back down again. One of her ears fell lopsided, and she decided to forgive him about Sophia since he’d apologized twice for it.
“I didn’t like the way you used me against Sophia, but if you’re sorry then I forgive you. But the rest…” she trailed off, she shifted on her feet as her tail curled towards her back. “It was nice. I didn’t mind being close to you. I was pretty shaken up, and it was...comforting.” Whether she meant the cuddling, or the almost kiss, or both was unclear, but she wouldn’t specify. He could take her explanation for what it was at face value: that he didn’t have to feel bad for touching her.
“Thank you...for your concern.”
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - saronym - 05-12-2017
Owen’s mouth opened. It closed again. He clenched his teeth together. It wasn’t that he was displeased with her answer, quite the opposite. But he wanted to keep urging her to admit to him that she was intimidated and that’s how they’d ended up cuddling that way. He resisted the urge to push back.
He could only muster enough strength to say, “Oh.” He rolled his lips inward not sure what to do with the information.
“Sure. Of course.” He said with a wave of his hand when she thanked him so politely for his concern.
He cleared his throat and shifted on his feet again. “Anyways, you should go home and rest. I, uh, I’m going to-” he pointed behind him with his thumb. He couldn’t find words. His mind was working over what she had been trying to convey to him. “Do some work or something. I’ll see you tomorrow, then.”
He backed slowly from the kitchen, before turning from her and disappearing into his house.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - megs - 05-12-2017
The rest of the week played out uneventfully. Though, as far as events it was hard to cast a shadow over getting detained. By the Friday that Renton came to install the server as scheduled Drusilla’s bruises had faded and the only remaining reminder of the altercation was a slightly pink and scarred line that cut across her bottom lip. Drusilla still wasn’t sure if the mark would totally fade. Owen had become distant. Well, in actuality he had maintained the same amount of distance as always, but it felt like more given the cuddling on the couch. Truthfully, everything was back to normal and professional but for whatever reason that kind of ...disappointed her.
Now, she stood in the doorway to the server room. The usually locked door was wide open to allow Renton to come and go as he needed to do his job. Drusilla wasn’t present to keep an eye on her, but to keep him company and entertain herself. She was dressed for the outing they were to have when the technician was finished. A form-fitting dress that was blue lace over a beige slip. It had a scalloped neckline that had her collarbones on display and lacy sleeves down to her wrists. Matching blue pumps gave her height, and her hair was swept back into a pretty updo.
She leaned against the door and watched Renton. “How did your date go the other night?” she asked, eyes tracking him as he moved. “With that guy, with the…” she gestured with a hand near her forehead. “With the flippy hair,” she finished with a giggle.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - saronym - 05-13-2017
Drusilla wasn’t the only one who could be poised and maneuver in fitted and dressy clothes. Renton took to wearing a full three piece suit when he knew full well he’d be bending and stooping to plug things in, and moving around between Owen’s computer and the server to set things up. These facts did not dissuade him. With his pants pulled a little bit upwards on the thighs, revealing fashionable argyle socks, he was crouched at the server, tidying up the wires in the back with velcro straps. He scoffed in response to the question about his date, “When he found out if I was in computers he asked me to pirate video games for him.” He slapped his thigh and growled in frustration as rose and put his clothes back into order. “Can you believe that? For one thing, it’s not that hard to figure out. Two minutes of googling and you’ll get it. And for another thing, I’m not some hacker DJ, you don’t get to make requests, here. You know? Besides, he didn’t even want to pay.”
Owen was descending the stairs which ended right near the server room door. He was in a terrible mood and so a frown pulled at his brows over storming grey eyes. His mood was partly because he was buttoned up and stuffed into fitted black slacks and a navy blue button up. He hated dressing up. Felt as if he couldn’t breathe. In his childhood, dressing up had always been associated with his bad behavior. A punishment for being naughty.
He didn’t really have anyone to frown at regarding his current state of dress, except himself. He had willingly and willfully dressed himself this way so as to attend the fancy lunch Drusilla and Renton had planned without inviting him. The thought deepened his frown. Renton was his friend. Drusilla was his assistant. He was clearly the common denominator. He was in the center.
The stairs creaked under his weight and his shining dress shoes made a certain dull clicking sound as he descended. He stopped silently at the foot of the stairs standing directly behind Drusilla in a dress that clung to her body in ways that drew a feeling of jealousy out of him.
Renton tilted his head somewhat to peer around Drusilla and had a full view of his grumpy friend. Bright blue eyes tracked the length of Owen’s body and he pursed his lips looking unimpressed. “Put a tie on.”
There had been no discussion as to the fact that Owen was inviting himself to lunch. Such things were not required. Renton could tell not only from the determined pout on his friend’s face and his get-up were sign enough they’d be having a third. Good because he had already called and added a third to their reservation knowing that Owen was too needy to be left out.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - megs - 05-13-2017
Drusilla laughed as she stopped leaning against the door. She wasn’t laughing at his misfortune, or the fact that another date had gone poorly. He just had a way with words that was deliberately entertaining. So, even though he was probably bummed about the date, he turned it into something amusing. “I guess this is a bad time to ask you to download some movies?” She smiled brightly, ear twitching atop her head indicated that she was joking. She smoothed her hands over the front of her dress to sort out any wrinkles; tail swayed behind her knees. The ear closest to the stairs swiveled towards the sound of Owen coming down them. Her head shortly followed, and they sprung to attention as she laid eyes on him. She watched him approach, looking good and frowning about it. Drusilla knew how he felt about dressing up. She cocked her head at him, wondering why he had done so. She smiled at him. “You look nice,” she complimented, since dressing up was such a pain for him. He moved close enough that looking at him was awkward to she turned her attention back on Renton. Owen moved to stand directly behind Drusilla, her tail immediately curled upwards towards her spine, brushing the length of his leg before it settled.
Owen and Drusilla seemed to wait patiently as Renton looked over the taller man. One of Drusilla’s ears fell lopsided when Renton demanded Owen put a tie on. She looked over her shoulder and up at Owen, piecing together that he was inviting himself to lunch. A possibility she had not been prepared for.
“I’ll pick one out for you,” she said suddenly, neglecting to hear if Owen would fight the idea of wearing a tie because she knew Renton would be unmovable. She quickly disappeared up the stairs, heels clicking. She easily maneuvered through Owen’s room, and to the topmost drawer of his dresser that housed and displayed a colorful array of ties that he rarely wore. She’d already had one in mind as soon as Renton had said tie; it was black silk with a subtle geometric pattern. She pulled it from the line up, running her thumb over the material as she closed the drawer.
She left the room and descended the stairs and rejoined the men where she had left them. She held out the tie for Owen. “How’s this one?”
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - saronym - 05-13-2017
Drusilla’s joke earned her a toothy grin from Renton, blue eyes sparkled at her. They flicked upwards to take in the sight of her ears twitching with her own amusement with herself. Adorable. It was as if she was laughing at her own joke. He put his hands on his hips, “You know I’d do anything for you, my dear.” Their joking was interrupted by Owen, of course, who refused to be left out. Drusilla complimented him but any words of thanks were choked in his throat at the brushing of her tail up his leg. His heart skipped a beat. He suddenly felt a pulsating of heat all around his body.
Owen didn’t take kindly to the remark that he needed a tie, although he could tell in comparing his own outfit to theirs that he would be under-dressed in comparison. Still recovering from the unexpected contact with Drusilla, Owen had no witty repartee to return to Renton. He remained silent.
“You don’t -” Drusilla was already flitting off to fetch him a tie. “...need to.” It was useless. He stared up after her as she mounted the stairs mystified at the physics that kept her dress bouncing perfectly and in just the sort of way that kept him from seeing anything underneath. How was it possible.
Renton’s hands were still on his hips and he stared Owen down while Drusilla mounted the stairs, “Where’s Sophia?” He asked pointedly.
“Work.” Came Owen’s distracted reply.
The boys stood in veritable silence, but Ren spoke up as Drusilla returned to them. “Lovely choice.” He complemented her selection with a coo in his voice.
Owen merely reached for the tie. The gesture was his sign that he approved. In truth, he didn’t recognize the tie. Didn’t even know he owned one that looked that way.
“Hurry up.” Renton scolded as he moved of with some wiring to Owen’s office, “We don’t want to be late for the reservation. I booked us for three,” he said as he left them at the stairs, “because God knows he won’t leave Dru alone with another man even if that man was a known homosexual for Christsake.” He was muttering the complaints to himself when he thought he was out of earshot.
“What was that?” Owen asked with a warning in his voice.
“Nothing!” Renton sang, popping his head out from the office before disappearing again.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - megs - 05-13-2017
Her tail swayed behind her knees, pleased at Renton’s verbal compliment of the tie, and Owen’s nonverbal one. Drusilla knew he could really care less about which tie he wore, but he hadn’t looked totally disgusted by it, so she took that as a check in the win category. Renton was snapping orders for Owen to hurry up, and Drusilla barely registered his voice, she had suddenly become very interested in the way the silk tie unraveled in Owen’s hands. Her ears swiveled to Ren’s muttering, and snapped upwards again when Owen called him out for it. She had most certainly heard with the technician had said and would have to ask him about it later. Did it have something to do with what had happened at the base? Did he worry, or think that she couldn’t take care of herself.
Her eyes tracked back to Owen, who appeared to be having trouble with the tie. He wore one so rarely and the fabric had left him puzzled. If Owen wasn’t ready by the time Renton came back, the techie would have an absolute fit.
“Let me help you.” The words were more a warning that she was going to be touching him than a suggestion. She took the tie from his hands and smoothed the ends over his chest to even them out. A gentle finger against his jaw insisted that he lift his chin for her. She upturned his collar and fit the fabric beneath it. She moved closer and rose slightly on her toes, still far from being eye level with him, but her face was closer to his, and her task. She worked slowly, knuckles grazing across his chest as she fashioned the tie into a perfect Windsor knot, because she knew Renton would accept nothing less. When she was finished she straightened it out, and fixed his collar, before smoothing the article down his chest, fingers lifting away from him just above his abdomen.
She took a step back to look him over again, a gentle smile indicating that she approved of his appearance. Drusilla glanced down. “Oh, your shoe's untied,” she observed aloud, before kneeling down to take care of the overlooked lace.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - saronym - 05-13-2017
Owen fumbled with the tie and it left him feeling stupid and inadequate. Somehow he’d missed out on learning how to tie a tie. It was something usually a father taught his son. He could feel his anger rising, bubbling to the surface. His mood was so off kilter he couldn’t get a handle of the damn fabric. Drusilla was offering to help him and already taking his tie. He let her have it almost jerking his hands away in frustration. “Fine.” He said, how voice was low a bare utterance that he would endure her help. Besides she had a way of making things right. Of taking care of him.
Endure was a proper word. She moved closer to him bringing the scent of her perfume and soft fingers under his chin. The light brush of her touch as she flipped his collar and set the tie under it sent a tingle of electricity down his spine. His heart jumped to quicker action. He gazed down on her, eyes down turned and focused on the task of dressing him. He probably would have died in that instant to feel her hand slide down his chest one more time. Just once more and he could die happy.
He was pathetic.
But then she dropped down to tie his shoe. for him “You don’t -” again she was too fast already kneeling at his feet with her head bowed over his shoe as slim fingers worked at the laces. He was left staring down the length of his body at her. There was a slight hunch of her shoulders which made her collar bones pop out. A dramatic hollow opened above the bone and below her shoulder muscle. One of the best parts of a woman that spot. That hunch to her shoulders gave him a little view down the front of her dress.
The act of letting her dress him felt entirely too intimate. Like something a lover would do for him.
And Renton’s impatient throat clearing from the doorway of Owen’s office emphasized that. “You two finished there? Can we get going?” He checked his watch and tsked. “They will give up our table if we are more than ten minutes late.”He turned around. It was a flounce of a motion, he was exasperated even with Drusilla then. “Man can’t tie his own damn shoes.” He was muttering under his breath again.
He had complicated feelings about the act he’d just witnessed. It was servile and certainly tortured Owen. And Renton absolutely reveled in witnessing the unraveling of his friend. Some part of his mind was screaming yasss queen. But at the same time he felt that Owen didn’t deserve to receive attention such from her. Asshole still insisting on staying in a relationship with some other woman while a perfect catgirl knelt at his feet to tie his shoes.
Oh! He could stab Owen for letting her do that.
He felt indignant on behalf of Drusilla and decided, consciously, right at that moment that he would kiss her out of spite the first chance he got. If Owen wouldn't, then Renton would give her the affection she deserved.
Renton had turned away from them and completely missed out on the hand Owen extended down for Drusilla to help her back up.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - megs - 05-15-2017
Drusilla was unaware of the effect she was having on Owen. In general, and especially in that moment. She had considered that kneeling down to tie she his shoe was far outside of the realm of her duties, but everyday she found herself wanting to do more for him. Smaller and more trivial things, most of which she doubted he noticed, but nonetheless advertised her steadily growing affection for him. Renton’s huffy attitude from down the hall did not distract her from her task. She could feel Owen’s eyes on her, and she may have been a bit slow in finishing. “We won’t be late,” she reassured the impatient technician in a gentle tone. She looked upwards at Owen, making a playful face at Renton’s indignant attitude. Her ears flicked once again as she caught on to Ren’s grumpy mutterings. Finally finished, she slipped her hand into Owen’s, fingers curving gently around the side of his hand. Using the grip to pull herself up. There was something overeager in the way he lifted her from the ground, and for a brief moment she was nearly pressed against him.
Taking a step back, she smiled, almost nervously at him. Hands smoothed the dress back down over her thighs. “You look very handsome,” she complimented, straightening the tie once more. She started to walk away from him, following after their cross friend, until she realized he wasn’t following.
“Are you coming?” she asked, still smiling, one shoulder was angled towards him in a way that suggested she would offer her hand for him to take if he dawdled any longer. Her tail swayed behind her knees, because for a moment, she considered it. For a moment she wanted nothing more than to walk hand in hand with him. Instead, she turned away, heels clicking in the direction of the foyer.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - saronym - 05-16-2017
Indeed Owen had practically lifted Drusilla from the floor himself with just the one hand. It would have been easy to do. Her genuine compliment drew a half smile out of him. “I’m just trying to fit in with you two.” He admitted. He wanted to tell her how beautiful she looked in that dress with her hair swept away from pretty features, but he couldn’t. Not with Renton’s nosy ears trained on them, and not with the weight of everything unsolved that remained between them.So a veiled compliment would have to do. She would have to read between the lines. Sometimes, he felt he buried his meaning too deep. It was hopeless for her to gather anything meaningful out of that one remark.
He was lost in such thoughts when she drew him back to the moment, reminding him they had plans. He took a step towards her. Are you coming. She’d asked. He felt drawn to her. Magnetically, at that moment. He even reached for her, but she had turned away from him too quickly to see his offering hand there. Fist closed and forced down at his side, he strode to catch up with the pair.
The three of them left the house. They took Renton’s Audi, since Owen’s coupe couldn’t fit the three of them comfortably. Strangely enough, Renton turned the keys over to Owen smirking at Drusilla when he did so, “Let’s make him take us out, hm?” He said with a wink to her.
Renton opened the front passenger’s door for Drusilla. He let her sit next to Owen up front because he knew they both wanted that. Ren sat in the back behind Drusilla. Such was the same at the restaurant, Renton let Owen slide into the booth next to Drusilla while he sat opposite them. The techie was determined to facilitate, to play match maker. Despite these good-natured attempts, Renton couldn’t help but ask a bitchy question. “So what did Darcy do about the whole Shrader shenanigans the other day?” Ren asked to make conversation once they’d received their drinks.
Owen leaned back in the booth, he rested his arm over the back of the booth behind Drusilla’s shoulder. “Katanya lied for me. Said it was self-defense. So, I got one of those frowny dad looks, you know how Darcy does.”
Renton laughed. He certainly did.
“Anyways,” Owen continued, “there will be an departmental inquiry by central command.”
Ren rubbed his hands together at that juicy news, “So are you in on that? Do you get to help clean house?”
Owen scoffed and shook his head, “No that was the other thing Darcy did to me. Made me recuse myself from the investigation. You know since I broke a guy’s nose.”
“And orbital bone,” Renton added.
“Yeah.” Owen looked over at Drusilla to monitor how she was handling the choice of topic. His instinct was ever to protect her.
“And how are you doing?” Renton asked of her, taking the cue from Owen.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - megs - 05-16-2017
Drusilla had been mostly silent since the car ride. She had chattered with Renton briefly when he would ask her questions, but she was more content to listen to the boys joke and bicker between themselves. She was, admittedly, distracted, by what Owen had said about trying to fit in with them. She could have been over-thinking the comment, but she was starting to think that Owen didn’t always say when he meant. She was notably more engaged at the restaurant and she was starting to catch on to what Renton was doing, by allowing Owen to sit next to her. Along with Sanders, he was convinced there was something more with Owen than a working relationship. Even with his handling of recent events and subsequent, but fairly unnoticeable, change in behavior, Drusilla still didn’t agree with them.
Trapped between Owen’s body and the wall, she stared down at the menu she had open on the table. She would have rather excused herself when they started talking about Shrader, but she didn’t want to request that Owen move for her. She chewed her bottom lip, nervously, one ear pinned backwards against her hair. Drusilla tried to look thoughtful at the the lunch options, more so than somewhat traumatized at the mention of Agent Jehorem. One hand was in her lap, covered by her tail that had curled into it, as it often did when she was comforting herself. The other rested between herself and Owen on the booth, her index finger tapped lightly on the vinyl.
“Me?” she asked, lifting her gaze and forcing a chuckle. The hand in her lap lifted to push airily at the cascade of bangs at the side of her face, but the other continued to tap against the seat. “I’m fine.” She emphasized fine in a way that implied her answer should have been obvious. “No permanent damage,” she continued, which was a lie, given the scar on her mouth and the visible terror that struck her at the mention of her assaulter. She reached for her drink, hand below the table still tapping away.
“And I just filed the last of my reports, so, hopefully it all blows over soon.”
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - saronym - 05-16-2017
Owen let his arm fall back down from where it was draped over the backside of the booth. The backing wasn’t actually a comfortable place to rest his arm for very long. He glanced over at Drusilla when she was brought into the conversation. A fleeting concerned look passed over his features as she claimed that nothing permanent had been damaged. But he’d seen that thin scar on her lip.
Briefly, his eyes dropped lower. They were drawn to locating the sound of light tapping. It was her index making that anxious rhythm on the seat between them. It was subtle and he wouldn’t have even heard it if not for a brief silence. He dropped his hand under the table under the guise of itching his thigh. But he left it there.
“It will.” Owen reassured the woman next to him that the whole ordeal would be in the past soon. The inexplicable need to shield her and offer her comfort had overcome him.
He surveyed Renton and the risk of exposure as his hand crept down the hill of his own thigh to the seat next to hers. Their friend across the table was buried in examining the menu and chattered about what he was considering ordering.
Owen’s pinky finger dared first contact. Tentatively, that smallest digit of his touched the smallest of hers. A mere breath of a touch over the back of her knuckle. The rest of his hand followed, tracking carefully and deliberately over the hills and valleys of her fingers and knuckles until his hand was over hers. He eased his fingers downwards filling the spaces between each of hers with his.
All the while, his gaze was trained on the menu laid out on the table in front of him. His mouth however, showed the slightest hint of pleasure, a twitch at the corner of his mouth. That subtle movement expressed the thrill he felt. To the extent that secret hand holding under the table between two fully grown adults could be thrilling.
Renton looked up from his menu, but Owen didn’t move his hand. The risk still seemed low. “So what are you ordering?” He asked of the two of them.
Owen frowned at his menu as if he was seriously considering it. His thumb skirted across the back of Drusilla’s hand once or twice before it stilled. “Probably steak.” He responded.
“Predictable.” Renton complained and then looked to Drusilla hoping she would indulge in something more interesting.
With his free hand, Owen lifted his highball to his lips and gazed at Drusilla appearing curious as to her answer as if no furtive touches were being exchanged under the table.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - megs - 05-16-2017
A faint smile appeared when Drusilla glanced up at Owen, thankful for the encouragement. The timed cadence of her finger stopped when he touched her. Her ears swiveled forward, but her eyes remained on the menu. She didn’t know if it was intentional, perhaps the repetition was bothering him, or accidental. Either way, she didn’t want to draw attention to it. It didn’t take long for his intent to become obvious, the rest of his fingers following the tentative contact of the first. She was looking at the menu, content to behave as if nothing was happening. She was sure Owen intended to hide the behavior from Renton. For more than one reason. Drusilla knew over one hundred languages and she was very sure that this menu was written in none of them. Digits flared outwards to facilitate his lacing their fingers together, and curled around his when they’d found a comfortable position.
Drusilla risked another glance at Owen from her periphery, and she was sure she caught that near imperceptible change of expression. She policed her own expression, suppressing a smile that would have been more noticeable than his.
It was getting harder and harder to convince herself that Sanders and Renton were wrong.
Renton was speaking, a glittering flash of purple in her mind, that was quickly overwhelmed by a deep midnight blue. “Can’t decide?” She teased the technician; her thumb mimicked Owen’s, a gentle caress across his skin. She glanced down at the menu quickly because in all the time they had been sitting together she had absorbed absolutely none of the entrees.
“I think I’m going to get the seared tuna salad,” she said, when she looked up to find both of the men looking to her for an answer. Admittedly, it was the first thing she’d manage to piece together in the mess that was her brain right now. When she had wanted to hold his hand earlier, she didn’t think that it was something that was going to happen. “It comes with a ginger soy dressing.” Her ears twitched as she took a delicate sip of her own cocktail.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - saronym - 05-16-2017
A crooked half-smile spread across Owen’s face when she revealed her likely order. Their hands remained locked together under the table but he leaned on his free hand. His elbow rested on the table and the way he leaned put him almost facing Drusilla. He had a mock look of intrigue on his face as if she’d said something so fascinating. “A dressing of ginger soy?” He said with more than a hint of jest. “So daring.”
Renton reached over the table and swatted at Owen's arm, “Leave her alone. And get your elbow off the table. It's rude.”
Owen took his elbow away and leaned back into his seat. He gazed over at Drusilla, his hand squeezed hers briefly, “Am I bothering you?” His index finger lifted away from her hand and scratched lightly at her leg which was within reaching distance before he returned his finger back to her hand.
More of that double meaning.
Renton pursed his lips and sipped at his cocktail. He regarded the pair carefully over the rim. This action briefly set off some warning claxons in Owen’s mind. Renton was merely wondering if they were now flirting with one another. He didn’t suspect anything under the table.At that point, Owen was almost beyond caring. He liked the feeling of her hand in his too much to end it prematurely. There was already a timeline on their secret contact, why shorten it any more? She felt like she belonged to him with her fingers all tangled with his.
The server stopped by the table to take their entree orders. He addressed Drusilla in terms of ‘and for your lovely lady’ while looking at Owen. The blonde seemed entertained by the notion. He made no effort to correct the waiter merely gazing over at (his lovely lady) Drusilla waiting for her to place her own order. Once she’d done so, Owen looked back at the waiter.
“She’ll have another round too.” He nodded at her only half-finished cocktail, he applied pressure again to her hand when he made the order for her. Owen also ordered a second of his drink to come with his meal.
Renton was sure by then that they were flirting. “Feeling frisky?” He sassed at Owen.
“Always.” Owen responded with a sort of smugness.
Renton rolled his eyes, "How do you put up with him?" He asked of Drusilla while Owen muttered 'rude' under his breath on the tail end of the question.
RE: Strictly Business [Closed] - megs - 05-16-2017
“You’re ordering a steak,” she countered, squeezing his hand back playfully. Usually timid, something about their touching was giving her the confidence to banter back at him. “Mine is going to have almost raw fish on it, so if that’s not adventurous I don’t know what is.” She was smiling as her free hand lifted to push at her bangs. Drusilla rolled her eyes as he continued to teaser her, one leg crossing over the other as if to distract from the goosebumps that gathered from that simple touch. “No,” she replied to Owen’s inquiry. “And it’s okay Ren, I think I can handle him by now.” Her brow lifted, nose wrinkling, as she continued to play along with his light teasing. Hand in hand at lunch with a mutual friend. It was almost too easily, too comfortable, as if they did it all the time. It just felt so natural. Her gaze flickered downward for a half-second, wanting to see the way they looked together.
Her ears pushed to attention as the waiter referred to her as being with Owen. He had a better view of their illicit hands all tangled between them, and she wondered if he’d noticed. Owen hadn’t corrected him either. She was left blinking up at the waiter, one ear falling lopsided, before she somehow managed to voice her own request.
Just as he had not corrected the waiter, she did not correct him when he ordered her another drink. With another one on the way she worked on finishing the one she had. She laughed softly as the two men went back and forth. She squeezed Owen’s hand again.
“Practice,” she confessed to Renton, with a subtle wink as her ears popped upwards again. “You just...sort of get used to him after awhile. ”