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last online May 14, 2024 2:00:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 26, 2022 4:06:49 GMT
Cassie turned to his embrace like a flower to the sun, luxuriating in the attention. Goosebumps raised on her arms as he brushed his hands down them. Don't hide your pain from me. If only it was that easy. "I don't know if that's a promise I can keep, but I'll try."
She gave a soft "Mmm," of agreement as she followed him to the living room, eyes half-lidded. It was both from what was going on, and admittedly... a bit of a food coma setting in. Cassie settled down in his lap, legs to either side of him, dress hiking up. The hand not threaded with his moved to rest on his cheek, and she kissed him softly on the lips. She was trying to hold back, trying to go his pace. She could still feel him shake a little with nervousness, and see the anxious energy in his expression.
"Am I going to have to keep kissing you until you actually smile?" Cassie said softly, and she did so again, her kiss a little more insistent this time. "What a shame. What a struggle for me."
She kissed him again, again, again, and gazed at him as she paused to explain, "Your eyes are so sad, Luca."
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last online May 14, 2024 2:00:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2022 1:08:13 GMT
He reluctantly laid his hands on her thighs after she straddled his lap, and gazed up at her, mirroring her half-lidded eyes, while quietly panting through parted lips as his nervousness and anxiety increased. Part of him wanted this, while the other part was wondering what the hell he was doing making out with her, and so soon. He returned her soft kiss, gingerly caressing his hands slowly against her thighs, feeling her soft skin against his rough, working hands. He wanted to explore further, but he didn’t allow himself to. He whimpered a little, closing his eyes as she asked if she was going to have to continue kissing him to get him to smile. “You aren’t making it easy for me either…” he murmured with a sigh, and gazed at her again. “I guess you’ll have to try harder then.” He kissed her back repeatedly, all the while keeping his hands comfortably on her thighs. She was right about his eyes. He’s seen so much living this long already, and had a lot of dark secrets, regrets, and remorse. He smiled faintly, closing his eyes again for a slow few seconds as he remembered one incident in particular when he took his late wife to live in Washington, DC until she passed away, as she always wanted to visit the country’s capital. He winced at the memory, looking as if it was his turn to break at the detailed memory of his old partner’s sudden betrayal, and inevitable death as Luca defended himself, and quickly pushed it away before it could effect him more. It haunted him for a long time, and he tried to make it right. Seeing her was bringing out a lot of deeply-rooted emotion he'd never thought he'd have with her after seeing her again after so long, and in Astaria now. He breathed in and slowly exhaled when he gazed at her again, and then reached up to settle his hand against the side of her face, brushing several strands of hair behind her ear. “Can we just..lay here, and enjoy each other’s company?” He smiled apologetically, his thumb stroking her cheek. “I’m sorry. I knew I shouldn't have done this. I-it’s just…I guess I was in the moment, and... I’m not ready for this. Not yet. Mi dispiace…” While adding, “I won’t hold it against you if you don’t wish to stay and want me to take you home.” @mayhem
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last online May 14, 2024 2:00:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2022 1:49:50 GMT
"I will. I won't give up until I see your smile reflected in your eyes." Cassie shivered a bit more in excitement, feeling his calluses run down the outside of her thighs. She snapped out of it immediately when she noticed his panting getting shallower and shallower, and increasing in speed... and not in the good way. In the panic attack way. She scrambled out of his lap like she'd touched a fire, then put a hand on his shoulder and leaned back in, careful not to go too close. "Hey. Hey, hey, hey," she said tenderly, eyes searching his. "Of course, Luca. I have no problem taking things at your pace. In fact, it's probably healthy for me to have someone around to tell me to pump the brakes. So please don't apologize, okay? You don't need to at all."
She sat down on the couch next to him, and gave him a gentle smile. "Go home? Psh. My apartment's depressing, haven't even had the time to go to IKEA or anything yet, so it's just a white box with my mattress on the ground. It's so much better spending the night cuddling with a really sweet guy in his beautiful house. Cuddle time would be freaking awesome."
Cassie adjusted herself on the couch, grabbing her purse from the nearby side-table and dry swallowing a pill. She chased it from a mouthful of water from her water bottle. "Oh!" She said through the water. She took a second to swallow, smiling apologetically. "I hope this isn't an inappropriate thing to ask, but... if I could trouble you for a t-shirt and some sweatpants or something I could borrow for tonight, that would be really great. I feel like a sausage in this dress."
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last online May 14, 2024 2:00:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2022 6:49:24 GMT
Luca was nearing a panic attack until Cassie seemed to realize what was going on with him, and quickly moved off of his lap to give him space. His shoulders gradually slumped forward as he lowered his head and rested his chin on his chest, while he tried to calm himself down. He barely nodded, shutting his eyelids tightly and concentrated on his breathing. He tightened his grip on the fur blanket beneath him, careful not to accidentally grow his claws out in the process as his emotions were beginning to get a hold of him. But he listened to her voice and it was..soothing as she spoke mildly to him. While he sat there, he heard her mention how her apartment was like, and he quietly let out a chuckle. “That really is depressing…” Calmed down now, his eyes parted and he gazed over at her with a small smile. “You’re so sweet to me…” He leaned his head back against the back of the couch again, and kept her in his view as she rummaged around in her purse for water and a pill she took. When she asked if she could wear one of his shirts and pants, as she wanted to stay over for the night, he glanced down at her dress and bit his lip again; this time because of his thoughts getting lost in the gutter for a moment, and then he sighed and grinned. “Sure, no problem,” he quietly answered with a slight hoarse and tiredness in his voice, leaning forward. He sat there for a few moments, resting his elbows to his knees, and he rubbed at his face and tired eyes before standing up. “I’ll go find you something to wear in my room.” He crossed his living room to the beautifully constructed staircase, and bounded up the steps to head to his room. “I’ll be back shortly with a shirt and pants, Cassie.” He said before reaching the top of the stairs, and then disappeared from view as he entered his room. A couple of minutes passed, and he returned to her, holding a gray shirt and soft black pants without the elastic at the bottom of the legs. “Here you go,” he handed the clothes to her. “They’re a little big, but they’ll be a lot more comfortable than that dress, and won’t make you feel like a sausage.” He laughed, smiling warmly at her. “Go get change. The bathroom’s upstairs, across from the staircase. Hell, if you want to take a bath or shower, you can do that too if you want. I don’t mind. There’s extra towels in the closet in the bathroom.” While adding, “I’ll get the fireplace going and hang out down here in the meantime.”
@mayhem
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last online May 14, 2024 2:00:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 27, 2022 9:12:18 GMT
The poor man was riddled with anxiety, as plain as day, and Cassie's heart ached for him as he went through his internal struggle. She wasn't sure if she could do anything more for him. If she should. So she let him have a moment, watching as his face cycled through various emotions, and breathed a sigh of relief when he came back to her.
She chuckled a little as he agreed with her about her apartment, and gave him a small, knowing look when he called her sweet. She didn't say anything, but instead snuck a kiss in on his forehead before he got up.
Cassie gathered the clothes in her arms upon his return, and nodded. "Yeah, I think I will go take a shower and un-sausage myself," she giggled. "That sounds nice. I'll be back in like ten minutes." She padded off to the bathroom in her bare feet, secretly thanking her past self for leaving a random pair of socks in her purse that she'd forgotten to remove.
The bathroom was small, made of gray-black marble tile and wood paneling, with a lot of small touches and design details that showed remarkable care and foresight to user experience. Leather drawer pulls to avoid bruising and scratching a guest. Underfloor heating for the chill Oregon nights. Japanese space toilet. Cassie did a fist pump at the last discovery.
She stripped off and scrubbed up in the shower, noting everything left there to use was unscented. "Okay, noted, he's either allergic to fragrances or he's got a sensitive nose," she murmured to herself. Cassie wasn't a huge fan of over the top fragrances herself; artificial stuff made her feel sick to her stomach, so the only thing she used was body wash scented with cinnamon, clove and herbs.
Cassie shut off the shower, but stood there with her eyes closed for a few seconds, water trailing down her body. "God, no one I've dated before has ever been this kind to me. And it's weird but… it feels so comfortable, like I've known him for a really long time. Must be going crazy, listen to me talking to myself and everything." She toweled herself off, and pulled on the clothes he'd given her, folding her bra and dress and putting them in her purse. Looking at her shirt in the steamy mirror, she couldn't help but giggle. It was a souvenir shirt from Roswell, New Mexico featuring a UFO abducting a cow. She piled her curly hair in a sort of faux-hawk, and hung the towel up, heading back downstairs slowly and carefully so she didn't eat shit going down the polished hardwood steps in socks.
Cassie yawned, and plopped down on the couch, feeling her sleeping medicine starting to sink in. "Hey handsome," she said in Luca's direction, interrupting herself with another yawn. "What've you been up to?"
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last online May 14, 2024 2:00:42 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2022 5:01:16 GMT
While she went upstairs to the bathroom, he continued to sit on the couch, relaxing, and nodding off here and there. His Blue Bay Shepherd jumped up to lay down next to him, and he smiled and started gently petting the top of Oscuro’s head as the dog rested his head down on his owner’s lap. Oscuro eventually fell asleep beside him, and Luca closed his eyes as he leaned his head back, and tried to nap while Cassie was taking a shower. He couldn’t fall asleep when he realized the woman talked to herself. He grinned a little in amusement and listened to her talk about his choice in soap. While his was unscented, due to how a lot of it overwhelmed him, he wondered what kind she used, because her soap smelled good to him…not so strong either. When he heard her shut off the shower, he heard the water dripping, and then her talking to herself again. He smiled faintly at first when she mentioned how he was being nice to her, and then he grimaced when she felt like she knew him for a long time.” He groaned, tensing up every muscle of his body as he opened his mouth to scream, yet he kept it all in. Obscura sensed something was wrong with him and booped his wet nose against his hand to let him know he was there and wanted him to keep petting him. Luca sighed and gave his dog more attention as the animal slept. Once he calmed down, he scoffed. “You’re not the only one going crazy here, Cassie,” he muttered under his breath. He glanced over to the stairs again as she returned to the living room, and grinned, “Hey, beautiful,” he continued petting Obscura, who peeked his head up for a moment to look at her, and then plopped his head back down, burying his nose in the fur after curling up to continue sleeping. “Just relaxing with Obscura here before I go to sleep.” He sat up and leaned over. He pointed to a room adjacent to the living room. “There’s a guest room there if you want to go to sleep, which from the looks of it, won’t be long.” He chuckled. “I’ll be upstairs in my room to sleep. Obscura sleeps in my room, but he sometimes comes down to sleep on the couch when he knows he’ll have it all to himself. Lucia, well…she’s her own cat, and will be wherever she wishes to be in my house.” Luca hesitated before he stood, as if he didn’t want to leave her to go upstairs to sleep, as a part of him wanted to ask if she’d like to join him. Maybe later, if things go well for them, and if…he can bring himself to talk to her about their past. “Um…” He rubbed behind his neck nervously and smiled sheepishly at her. “Good night, Cassie. Sleep good, hopefully.” Another smile as he stood around awkwardly before walking away to head upstairs to his bedroom to sleep, with Obscura in tow.
@mayhem
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last online May 14, 2024 2:00:42 GMT
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Jan 28, 2022 10:41:46 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2022 10:41:46 GMT
TW: Flashback/dream of death of a parent
"He is really fluffy and nice to pet. What a good boy you are," Cassie agreed, cooing pleasantly at the dog as she reached down to provide pets too. She yawned yet again. "Yeah, sleep would be really good. Good night, Luca. See you in the morning." She wanted to kiss him goodnight, but he was already walking away before she knew it. Maybe that was for the best, given what had happened earlier in the night.
She went into the guest room, sleepily heading to the bathroom for a minute to brush her teeth with the toothbrush and toothpaste she kept in her purse. When you got tired at sometimes unpredictable times and intervals, you learned to go through life prepared. She adjusted her hair a little so it wouldn't dry weird, then rolled into the guest bed, falling asleep more or less instantly after she nestled down in the flannel sheets.
///
Dad had been on a job, he'd said. Which was weird, because she'd seen his partner from a distance in the crowd of customers one day at the Trader Joe's she worked at after school. By and large the Capitol Hill Police didn't send lone troopers or detectives anywhere. Weird, but she didn't think any more of it.
Until three days later, when she came home from the closing shift at one in the morning, to her dad writhing in pain on the stoop.
"I'll get mom," Cassie said, trying to breathe evenly, trying to keep it together. "She'll be able to-"
Despite the five deep, large, linear gashes in Ben's chest, he had the strength to grab her wrist as she moved to open the door. "Don't, Cass. Just stay here with me, and listen." Part of her wondered how the hell he'd gotten here in this state, given the street was completely silent, no cars, no other people... but there was no way he could have brought himself any further than around the corner.
"But Dad-"
"Shoulda known, nothing good happens to people named Ben in superhero stories." He gave a hacking, wet cough for a minute that she assumed was an attempt at a laugh, given the grin on his face. Cassie knelt down to cradle him in her arms, and as he'd asked, just listened. "As I've told you, before I met your ma, I wasn't a good person. Hell, wasn't a good person the first few years of our marriage, either. Took the easy way to getting her the money for medical school. Anyway. Thought I got out, but in the back of my mind, I knew it was gonna come to bite me in the ass, sooner or later. I'm grateful for all the years we got."
Ben gave a gurgle and a rasp of breath, shutting his eyes tight for a moment before continuing. "Dr. James Anderson. Hell if I know if that's his real name, but he knew everything about me, threatened to come after you guys if I didn't try to capture someone. So I had to try, even though I knew it'd come to this. Don't blame him, he was only defending himself..." He trailed off with a sigh, both because he was losing strength, and that he had come to a decision about telling Cassie any more about who, specifically, he'd been ordered to capture.
"He's the one that did this to you, didn't he?" She said, eyebrows knitting, shaking his shoulder. "Who is he?"
"Doesn't matter," Ben said with a small sigh, and a faint echo of his grin. His eyes were already beginning to glaze over. "None of it matters. I just hope the two of you make better decisions in life, and I told him as much, too. Look at me bein' a dad 'till the end."
Cassie leaned in and hugged him, not caring she was getting blood on her uniform.
///
Cassie woke up with a gasp in the dark, head spinning, momentarily forgetting where the hell she was. She hated when she had dreams that felt real... especially that one. After a minute or two, she registered there was a heavy weight on her chest - which, to her surprise, was working to calm her down. Two yellow-green eyes stared down at her in the dim light entering the room through the cracked door. Oh, right, Luca's cat. "Lucia," she whispered with a small chuckle. The cat began to purr, and Cassie petted her for a few minutes.
"Now," Lucia's meow sounded like, and she stepped on Cassie's face with a small paw. "Now. Nooooowww?!"
"Oh my God," Cassie laughed quietly. "You remind me of my boss, Bell. He's really a sweet guy, but it's an exchange a lot of the time. I promise if you get off me, I'll feed you."
At 'feed,' Lucia bounded off, skittering through the kitchen and down the stairs. Cassie followed her into the basement, feeling vaguely like she was trespassing. The cat paced back and forth near her bowl, meowing excitedly. "I know, I know. I'm looking for your food." Cassie opened the fridge, and sure enough, there was an open can of cat food, a fork balanced on top... and two 32oz container filled with blood and lumps, with butcher labels on them that read PIG HEARTS and BEEF HEARTS. She stared at them for a solid minute, eventually convincing herself that he probably made food for Obscura with them. She kept dead quail and rats in her freezer for Frank for six years, who was she to judge?
Cassie shut the fridge, fed the cat, put the can in the trash and the fork in the small utility sink. While Lucia chowed down, she looked around the downstairs sitting room... and the first thing that caught her eye was that unlike the bare upstairs mantel, this one was covered in photos. Some of which had probably been moved from upstairs, ahead of her coming, if she had to guess.
"Oh, cute, him and his grandma," she murmured, at a picture of him with a woman in her 90s sitting in front of the Reflecting Pool.
"Damn, granddad really was the spitting image of him," she mused. The black and white picture was of a young woman who looked like she was probably the old woman from the first picture she'd seen, and a guy that looked exactly like him, leaning against one of those bulbous old-fashioned cars.
Cassie paused at a considerably yellowed photo at the back that had burns on the edges, and put a fist to her mouth, trying not to burst out laughing. It took her a good several minutes to just... fully process what she was seeing. She wasn't laughing at these poor guys suffering through World War 1, God no, just the situation. Of course the only two friends she'd made since she moved to Astaria City were somehow both immortal and knew each other.
"Well, I know what's going on now," she said, picking up the photo of Bell and Luca in a trench somewhere in France, looking like hell.
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last online May 14, 2024 2:00:42 GMT
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Jan 28, 2022 12:03:30 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2022 12:03:30 GMT
Luca didn’t sleep much as soon as he went to bed. Most of the time, he spent staring up at the ceiling, watching the fan calmly turn above him. The movement of the fan could’ve lulled him to sleep if his mind wasn’t constantly thinking about every detail of a certain moment from his past. He spent the rest of the time absent-mindedly playing his guitar, while gazing out the window. Obscura was the only one in his room who was sleeping peacefully at the foot of his Queen-sized bed, on top of the neutral-colored comforter. Not long after he put his guitar back on its stand in the corner of his room, he had fallen asleep, but only for several hours until he heard movement downstairs. He groaned, realizing Lucia must have elected Cassie to feed her, and covered his face with his comforter for a few seconds before flipping the whole thing off of his body when he realized he heard the young woman head down into his basement. “Aw, shit…” he murmured, sitting up, wincing as the bright morning sunlight shined through his window and blinded him momentarily. He sat on his bed, rubbing at his eyes and waited for them to adjust to the morning light, while he wondered if she looked in the fridge he kept down there, and then wondered if she was curious enough to take a look at the old pictures he was able to find while he visited Italy years ago to see his old family’s farm he once used to live before the Plague happened, and then pictures of him with his late wife. His eyes shifted around, glancing down to where the dog was on his bed, but Obscura had already left when the Blue Bay Shepherd heard Cassie and his cat sibling were finally awake. He sighed, getting up to change into clean clothes, and then brushed his teeth, hair, and freshened up while in the bathroom, moving quickly as if he were running late for work, before bounding down the stairs. He looked like he was in a daze until he waved at Cassie as he spotted her walking up from the basement, with Lucia following her close by curiously. “Morning, Cassie,” he smiled. Act natural, he thought, Maybe she didn’t bother and you’re just being a nervous dumbass like you always are around women. “Do you want some tea?” He asked her, heading into the kitchen, where he started ranting quietly to himself in Italian when he realized he forgot to put the leftovers from dinner last night away. Thankfully, he only cooked enough for two, but there were still a little left in the pans, but still, it made him so mad at himself, and he never forgets. The hell? “Buon lavoro, lasciando fuori il cibo, cazzo di idiota, Luca.” He laughed angrily as he threw out what was left in the trash can, and grumpily rinsed out the pans, and filled them with hot water with a little dish soap. He’ll worry about cleaning the dirty dishes later. He soon went over to fill an old tea kettle with water and brought it over to his stove to boil. While that was starting to boil, he went over to get a couple of mugs from off their hooks attached to the wall he used for the small collection of mugs he had kept around his wife loved collecting when she was alive, and carefully set them down on the counter, and waited for the water to boil. “Sleep well?” He asked Cassie. “How’d you like sleeping out here in the cabin? Different from sleeping in the city, isn’t it?” He also had a small apartment within city limits, but he barely used it, save for letting the street kids stay over there if they needed a better place to sleep, other than on the street or in a shelter. His cabin was his escape, from everything.
@mayhem
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last online May 14, 2024 2:00:42 GMT
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Jan 28, 2022 12:37:09 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2022 12:37:09 GMT
"Morning, Luca," Cassie returned, smiling sweetly at him as she stepped up into the kitchen. He still seemed nervous, but a different kind from last night. Wow, he really, really cares what I think, huh, she thought to herself. "Tea would be great! English Breakfast if you have it, or really any type of black tea except lapsang souchong. It tastes like drinking a campfire. I have no idea how my boss drinks it."
Speaking of which, she unlocked her phone for the first time since before dinner, and was greeted with a parade of notifications, all from Bell. 37 missed calls, 50 missed messages. She sighed heavily, mentally steeling herself to call him after she'd had some breakfast. She couldn't blame him for worrying, but this was a bit excessive. She locked her phone, and put it back face down on the table.
"Like a baby," Cassie replied, and it was true; other than the dream, she'd gotten really good, restful sleep. Yeah, every muscle in her body ached like she'd been hit by a truck, but that was the usual in the morning for her. It usually went away after an hour or so. "How'd you sleep?"
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last online May 14, 2024 2:00:42 GMT
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Jan 28, 2022 12:59:55 GMT
Post by Deleted on Jan 28, 2022 12:59:55 GMT
“Morning,” he repeated, blinked, and grimaced when he realized what he said. He sighed, rubbing at his face and then the back of his neck nervously. “Sorry. I’m not completely awake yet.” He chuckled lightly in spite of himself for being an idiot. When she told him what kind of tea she would like to have, and then brought up lapsang souchong, his eyebrows raised, as he looked at her oddly.
“Lapsang souchong…? That’s...oddly specific, Cassie...” he trailed off, thinking to himself as he went over to where he kept his collection of tea bags in a cupboard and searched for the English Breakfast he knew he had. “I don’t have the Lapsang souchong…haven’t had it in years. You’re right. It does taste like a campfire. That’s why I haven’t had it since then.”
He chuckled, when he thought about the first and last time he tried it. How his old friend gave him a cup of it, and how he forced himself to drink it with a grimacing smile, because he didn’t want to make his friend feel bad.
He grabbed a couple of the bags of English Breakfast from the box he kept them in, and put them in the mugs, and then a minute later, the water finished boiling, and he poured it into both mugs. He went over to her with both of their mugs in his hands, and handed one to her, and started stirring his tea as he sat down at the table.
“How’d I sleep…? Uh…fair,” he smiled, despite feeling tired. “It’s normal for me though.”
@mayhem
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