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last online May 14, 2024 14:25:37 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2022 22:46:39 GMT
Luca's hands were callused and strong, but he moved them over her body slowly, curiously. Treating her like a fine porcelain figurine he was afraid to break. The grin he gave as he was rapt with attention for her made her heart - among other things - ache with want. She looked down at him as he continued trailing his fingers over her, saying softly, "Oh, yeah. I bet I probably look brownish-grey to you, huh? I'm bright, fire-truck red. Got pretty notorious in DC because of it. Seeing graffiti portraits of yourself on your daily commute sure is an ego booster, let me tell you."
Leaning in, she sighed and answered his other question. "I hate that it's an either/or situation, but you're right. I think maybe we should hold off for now, and go on the hike. I'm really enjoying getting to know you. I don't want things to go too fast between us, for both our sakes. And also... I'm pretty sure the kind of sex we were about to have would have probably laid me out for a couple days."
Her eyes flicked downwards, below his belt, as she gave him a final, soft kiss. "But, um... are you going to be okay with not doing it now? Because I can see you very much would still like to."
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last online May 14, 2024 14:25:37 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2022 1:07:52 GMT
Luca looked at her curiously when she answered him about what her skin tone was in her demon-like form. “Bright, fire-truck red?” He repeated, tilting his head like a confused puppy, which matched the expression forming on his face now. “Fire trucks are red? Huh…” He laughed at that. “Interesting. And you had graffiti portraits of yourself around DC?” He smirked. “I admit, I’m a little jealous I don’t have any graffiti portraits of me around here.” He said, chuckling. He nodded. “Yeah, I think we should wait to do this later,” he smiled warmly. He ran his hand down her arm and hand as his eyes followed his hand’s movement down her limb, and then interlocked his fingers with hers and gently held her hand as he then focused his eyes on hers. Smiling, he quietly said, “I’m also enjoying getting to know you in return.” Leaning his face closer to hers, and for a second, he shut his eyes as he smelled her scent again, and then whispered, “Just so you know…I have an amazing amount of stamina and endurance, and I’m nearly positive you’ll be laid out for more than just a couple of days…and I’m willing to back up that statement of mine with evidence later.” He winked. He glanced downwards when he saw her eyes flick down, and kissed her back softly before smiling in embarrassment as he leaned as far back as he could against the arm rest, with his hands clutching patches of his hair. He groaned, “Oh, for fuck sake. Thanks for reminding me,” he muttered with a cringe, and groaned again. “Oh my God. I’ll uh…I’ll be fine. Just give me a minute. Or two.” He tightly shut his eyes, still clutching at his hair.
@mayhem
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last online May 14, 2024 14:25:37 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2022 1:35:51 GMT
"Well, sometimes they're other colors, but in cartoons or whenever anyone thinks of a generic fire truck or fire hydrant, yeah, they're bright red." Cassie gave him one last kiss on his forehead, nodding in agreement, enjoying the feel of his warm hands in hers. Things were going really well between them. Why rush? They had as long as they needed. She scooted herself back a little, making to hop off the couch and go get her stuff ready, when he said what he said.
Her foot slipped, and she stumbled, grabbing the back of the couch to steady herself. Cheeks burning with a blush that could probably be seen through this form's red skin, she stammered, "L-L-Luca! Jeez! Have mercy!" Not that she knew that it was happening, but the way she smelled in reaction to that was... probably not improving the situation Luca was in. Covering her own face, she scrambled off the couch and slipped out of the room before he could make the situation any worse.
"Oh my God, you're not the only one that needs a minute, now!!" Cassie said through giggles, from around the corner in her bedroom. Her giggles slowly faded over the next few minutes, and she was finally able to concentrate enough to look through her closet and start packing. Parka, under layers, leggings, over-pants, boots... now where were the socks? The closet was a wreck now, but at least she thought she had most of what she'd need laid out.
"Hey, Luca? It's been a few minutes so I figured I'd ask if you were all good in there. You need anything? If you want, you can use my shower, the door's off to the right of you."
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last online May 14, 2024 14:25:37 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2022 11:56:26 GMT
Luca nodded in understanding when she explained to him about the colors of a fire truck or a fire hydrant. There were times like this where he wished he could see colors normally. Since he was a small child, he always thought his colorblindness was normal, until he realized it wasn’t when he became interested in art. Getting someone to tell him what color something was…he wished he didn’t have to anymore. The only time it felt okay to ask what color an object was, was during interviews with witnesses, or interrogations with potential suspects. He smiled softly at her, closing his eyes for a second when she kissed him on his forehead, and when he watched her get off of the couch, his warm smile gradually changed to a devious one after she reacted to what he said to her about his endurance and stamina. “Mercy? I know not the meaning of such a word,” he chuckled briefly, half-jokingly, half-seriously as he remembered the number of times criminals cried to him to have mercy before he ended their lives. When he managed to get a good whiff of the scent from her reaction, it really didn’t improve the situation he was in. Maybe I shouldn’t have laughed at her, he thought with a regretful wince. Still, he snickered as she scrambled off of the couch and out of the room, and laughed a little harder when she told him she now needed a minute. He continued to lay sprawled on the couch as he waited for her to pack what she needed to bring on their day hike. He rested his arm across his forehead and rested his other hand on his stomach and rested for a minute, while he kept his eyes closed and focused on relaxing; thinking about things he truly hated did wonders, but his mind kept running back to thinking of Cassie, and their little make-out session several minutes ago. Playing back what she said to him before they made out suddenly, and how turned on he was after she admitted to killing a criminal. He groaned, grabbing his head with both hands again, and winced. “What am I doing…?” he murmured, eyes shut, as he desperately wished he could shut off his memory and thoughts just this once. Maybe once they’re out there on their hike, enjoying nature and being surrounded by it, it’ll be a lot better for him. When she checked in on him and asked if he needed anything, and then offered him to use her shower if he wanted to, he laid still as he thought about it. “Hmm,” he grunted thoughtfully. “Yeah, sure. I think I’ll take a quick shower,” he answered, even though he didn’t need it as he already took a shower when he woke up this morning. Maybe a cold shower was what he needed to help him focus, and not because he still needed to cool off from their “heated” make-out session. He moved off of the couch, and headed toward the direction of her bathroom. “I’ll be out in five minutes.” He told her as he passed by her room and peeked in briefly at her before disappearing into the bathroom and closed the door - carelessly keeping the door unlocked behind him. He sighed as he glanced around a little, until eventually stripping his clothes off, and getting into the shower to turn on the cold water as high as it could go. He stood underneath the shower-head as the cold water cascaded all around him, while closing his eyes, and leaning forward with his hands against the wall. Time passed, and his five minutes he said he’d be in there for, turned to another five minutes, and he was still in the shower. This time though, he was now sitting in the middle of the tub, with his knees to his chest, and arms wrapped around his legs, and eyes closed, while the cold water continued to pour around him.
@mayhem
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last online May 14, 2024 14:25:37 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2022 13:19:12 GMT
Cassie double checked everything she had, triple checked, even, and packed it all into a hiking pack. The last thing was toiletries. Speaking of - she was terrible with keeping time, but even she had the distinct thought that Luca had been in the bathroom way longer than he'd said he would be.
Cocking her head, she listened. With ADHD, you noticed things. Not the things you were supposed to, at opportune times, no - but random things that went unnoticed by others. Sometimes she felt like Shawn Spencer from Psych, having to create reasons why she'd noticed some random thing that no one else had. So. There was a distinct difference between how water sounded when it was hitting someone standing up (because the water was pretty much only hitting them) vs someone sitting (when a lot more of the water fell down to hit the tub).
Cassie walked over to the bathroom, knocking a few times before she cracked the door open. "Hey, Luca? You alright in there?" She paused a beat, then had a sudden realization, adding, "Crap, you haven't eaten today, have you? I had some toast when you were on the phone with Bell, but I never did see you eat anything, and now it's past 11. Let me know if that's what it is, or if I can get anything else for you in general, okay?"
@lupo
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last online May 14, 2024 14:25:37 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2022 22:13:59 GMT
The few knocks at the door brought him out of his deep thoughts with a quiet gasp, and quickly looking at the wall in front of him for a second, before looking toward the curtain acting as a private barrier between him and everything outside of the tub he sat in when he heard the door open. It wasn’t like he could be seen by her, as he was still sitting in the shower, but when he noticed she had only cracked the door open to speak to him, he relaxed a bit while she spoke to him. “I’m all right,” he answered, “Just uh…” Luca trailed off, glad she brought up food. He didn’t even realize it was almost lunch time. “Y’know…” He turned the cold water off and continued to sit as he let the excess water drip down his body. “I knew I forgot something.” He chuckled lightly, shaking his head in disbelief. He stood and pushed the curtain halfway open to step out of the tub and onto the mat beside it, and spotted what looked and smelled to him like a clean towel on an extra towel holder on the wall, and then wrapped it around his waist. He headed over to the door and opened it enough to talk to her about lunch - not minding if she was looking at him wearing only a towel, or if he was still wet from his shower. “Are you hungry too?” he wondered. “I don’t exactly want to eat too much when we’re going on a hike soon. So, something light and can give us some energy will be fine with me.”
@mayhem
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last online May 14, 2024 14:25:37 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 2, 2022 22:36:19 GMT
"I forget to eat all the time, so I know how it is." Cassie remembered all the times at work Bell had nagged her, ordered her food, cajoled her until she went out to get something with him. He was a good friend to her, too, as well as her boss. She went to close the door again, but stopped and backed up when she almost ran into Luca.
Keeping her eyes firmly locked on his face (after registering he was wearing nothing but a towel) she continued, "Yeah, I'm pretty hungry. There's a by-the-slice pizza shop right around the corner, I'll get a couple for each of us, if that's okay? I bet 'something light' for you still means extra cheese, sausage and pepperoni." She giggled a little at that, and patted him on his still-damp-from-the-shower shoulder.
This time, she had to stop herself from saying or doing anything untoward. Damn, did she ever want to, but we're taking this slow, she repeated to herself. That, and she'd just finally stopped being red, and she could hardly rock up to the pizza shop looking like a haunted house actor. She gave him a little wave, picking up her keys and wallet as she left. "I'll take a picture of what they have today, and you can let me know what you want, okay? I won't be long."
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last online May 14, 2024 14:25:37 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2022 21:29:24 GMT
“Ah, it’s not that I forget to eat…I was uh, a bit overwhelmed by talking to Bell again after so damn long,” he shrugged with a small smile. “I also usually stop at a drive-thru to buy breakfast on my way to work in the mornings.” He chuckled, feeling a bit embarrassed. “I’m so not used to this…calling off work.” Luca nodded when she mentioned the pizza shop around the corner from where she lived. “Sounds good to me,” he grinned, “Not really. I have to eat a lot because of a high metabolism, but I’d rather not have all of that on a pizza before I go hiking; otherwise…” He cringed at the thought. “No need to text me what they have today,” he said to her before she left, “I’ll just have whatever you’re having. Make it easier for you.” He winked at her and smiled warmly. As soon as she left, he closed the bathroom door and leaned back against it for a few moments, tilting his head back, and stared at the ceiling as he breathed out a heavy sigh as he ran his hands down his face. What the hell are you doing? He thought again with a grimace, before drying himself off, and rushed to get his clothes back on, and then waited for her in the living room. While he sat on the couch, he started to fidget and needed to walk around. He shoved his hands inside the pockets of his pants, and wandered around her small condo apartment. He looked around her living room, and ended up at the TV tray she was using as a side table, where she kept a lot of pictures of family and friends. He picked each one up, studying them for a bit before moving on to the next one. There was one of her and Syd she showed to him earlier. while she told him her story of what happened. Then one of her dad, Ben, which he stared at for a little longer than the rest before quickly returning the picture to it’s spot Cassie had it set at on the table. It was still hard to see a picture of his friend and partner when they were detectives in DC. There were many pictures of her family, of which he looked at with an expression of melancholy, as he missed his family and many of his relatives who perished throughout history in Italy, Germany, and Poland; most notably during the Black Death and World War Two. He only had so few relatives left, while he continued to live on. He picked up a picture of her with a four-foot-long Python wrapped around her, and managed to smile in amusement before setting it back down. He glanced around, noticing a painting on the floor, rather than hung up on the wall. He walked over to it and studied it. It was a painting of Venice, but it was more of a dream-like version of the city. Interesting, he thought, moving on to the kitchen, where his heart was saddened. He knew she moved in a few weeks ago, but he couldn’t help it. It looked so sad, as she only had bent plastic tools, salt and pepper, one chef’s knife, and a warped pan with burns in it. Her laptop is on top of the fridge, which baffled him.
"What the fuck?"
When he peered inside her refrigerator, there was only a carton of eggs, bread and butter, as well as two cans of energy drinks. Nothing else. “Wow…” he murmured sadly. He was tempted to go grocery shopping one day and bring her food and supplies for her kitchen. He walked into her bedroom, where he only glanced briefly into on his way to the bathroom, and didn’t get a good look at it the first time. He stopped, realizing her bedroom was like the rest of her home. The first thing he noticed was her mattress on the floor, with sheets and a comforter thrown to one side. He raised both eyebrows as he stared at it before noticing there was a lamp plugged into the wall, but it was also on the floor. He glanced over to the window, and then across from the window on the other side of her room, was her closet. He peeked inside, spotted a recursive hunting bow she mentioned to him during their conversation at his cabin, hung up at the back of the closet. There were clothes, coats, and some very sexy looking clothes one would wear at night clubs on hangers, too. Biting lightly on his lower lip in thought, he finally closed the door, and headed back to sit and wait for her to return with their pizza they were going to eat for lunch before they headed out for their hike after he stopped by his house for his backpack, which was always ready to go. He returned to the couch, sighed, and waited.
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last online May 14, 2024 14:25:37 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2022 22:07:14 GMT
Cassie wondered about his remark as she walked down the street, through the alley and around the corner. Something about how embarrassed he'd looked at expressing he wasn't used to calling off work piqued her interest. As she arrived at the pizza shop, she sighed; the line snaked out of the open-air section where the counter was and down the block a little. Which was to be expected at lunchtime. Might as well use the time to text Bell. >C: Bell, how often does Luca take a day off? >B: If he's still like how he was before? Never, if he has his say. His wife and I practically had to kidnap him to get him to go on vacation.
Her phone nearly slipped from her hands. >C: ...He called out of work today to spend more time with me. I didn't ask him to, but he did. >B: WHAT?! On his own? Oh, Cassie. Holy shit. Pretty sure he loves you.
At those last three words, her phone did slip from her hand, landing straight on her foot. It was her time to order, too, naturally. "Ow, Christ, gimme a second," she groaned at the guy behind the glass divider. She got her phone, collected herself, and continued, "Two cheese slices, and one chicken parmesan, but can you cut it in half? Thanks." Money exchanged hands, and she zoned out waiting for her pizza, still thinking about Bell's text. As she picked the box up and wended her way back home, she let that train of thought go, because it'd only been 3 days, for God's sake. Another one replaced it - he really did seem familiar, like she'd known him a while, and the fact she couldn't remember was vexing her. "I'm back!" She announced, bringing the pizza with her to the couch. "I got us each a cheese, and then a chicken parm to share, because they really do put a lot on there." Glancing at him sidelong, between bites of her cheese slice, she said, "You haven't been to DC or lived at DC at all in your life, right? Because I really feel like I've met you before."
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last online May 14, 2024 14:25:37 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2022 10:51:51 GMT
Luca smiled when she returned with their pizza. “Yay,” he exclaimed. “I thought I smelled pizza getting closer outside.” He chuckled lightly, shifting around a bit on the couch, while he decided to try the slice with the chicken parm first. “Thank you for the pizza.”
He took a bite out of it, and quickly appeared satisfied with the taste. “Mmm, this is good.” He said while chewing, and continued eating the slice.
While he was busy finishing his first slice, he couldn’t help but notice her glancing over at him sidelong as she ate. He ignored it at first, but when she asked him if he had ever been to DC or lived there any time during his life, he choked on the edge of the crust he was about to finish, but was able to stop himself before he had a coughing fit, or worse. He stared at her, eyes wide like a deer caught in the headlights of a fast-moving cargo truck. Fear washed over him, but fought to stay calm. He winced.
This could go one of two ways, he thought worriedly, Might as well tell her now and get it over with. If the subject of her father is brought up, then…I’ll deal with it. She’ll find out sooner or later, so why keep hiding it from her. It’s not exactly fair for me to hide the fact that I’ve lived there and knew Ben, her, and their family.
He stopped himself from rambling on in his head when he realized he was biting on his thumbnail. He calmly dropped his hand to his side, and finally gazed over to her. It was obvious he was going through a dilemma for a brief moment, but then he finally coaxed himself to answer. “Y-yes, I’ve…been to DC before. I..uh…” He trailed off, avoiding eye contact as he went on, “I've lived there before I decided to move here almost ten years ago.”
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