After Dark
Sep. 22nd, 2013 09:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
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Things unravelled in the oddest of ways. Everything that had happened since she’d gotten to UNLV had been quite unusual. With so many different things happening Valerie had pulled away, secluded herself and thrown her focus into school and patrolling. Not that it really helped, because Brian was there in her thoughts, just under the surface. Reminding her of the dangers that being with him could lead to. The fact that there was a Watcher where she spent her daylight hours unnerved the blonde and she had to wonder if the woman would be against her seeing anyone. The Council liked their girls to concentrate on the supernatural entities. Then something happened, a change began to take place as she came to the conclusion that since Rhiannon also patrolled, taking a night off wasn’t a crime.
Valerie had felt the anxiety shift to something else, not anger, but a restless energy that she turned into purpose. Her entire life since she’d been called had revolved solely around her duty. Time for a change. Time for her to get a life of her own. Gathering up a few things, gum, wallet, keys, the blonde hesitated and turned to open the mini fridge freezer. Fingers caught the thin metal case she’d kept under the ice cube tray and slid it into her back pocket. All in all it was a bit bigger than a pencil case, half an inch thick, with a little clip to keep it locked.
She strode out of her room and through the dorm before it occurred to her that she hadn’t changed. It doesn’t matter. The voice in the back of her mind said, and Valerie nodded and continued onward into the night. Jeans spattered with paint, torn in places, and streaked with blood from accidents happening in patrol. After a few washes the dried crimson had turned orange, and most people chalked it up as some sort of paint or that she’d wiped pasta sauce down them. Blonde hair was hidden by the hoody, underneath it a clean t-shirt sported the same kind of artistic abuse as her jeans.
Legs might have been short but they carried her at a fast pace, and within half an hour she’d managed to walk straight to Brian’s apartment building. Valerie tilted her head back to take a good look at it, street lights casting it in a pale glow that seemed to emphasize how old it was. Small chips and cracks could be seen, the faintest hints of moss clung in sparse patches further up, and she splayed a palm against the bricks to feel the rough texture. Old, but oddly beautiful. Both hands lifted then to push the hood down as the blonde took in a slow breath and checked her watch. Nine at night wasn’t that late to show up unannounced, was it? Only then did she realise he might not even be in. Why hadn’t she called? Oh, right, fear.
Shaking herself out of it, Valerie gathered herself as best she could and knocked three times on Brian’s door. If he didn’t answer at least she’d followed through on her impulse, and that was better than nothing.
Valerie had felt the anxiety shift to something else, not anger, but a restless energy that she turned into purpose. Her entire life since she’d been called had revolved solely around her duty. Time for a change. Time for her to get a life of her own. Gathering up a few things, gum, wallet, keys, the blonde hesitated and turned to open the mini fridge freezer. Fingers caught the thin metal case she’d kept under the ice cube tray and slid it into her back pocket. All in all it was a bit bigger than a pencil case, half an inch thick, with a little clip to keep it locked.
She strode out of her room and through the dorm before it occurred to her that she hadn’t changed. It doesn’t matter. The voice in the back of her mind said, and Valerie nodded and continued onward into the night. Jeans spattered with paint, torn in places, and streaked with blood from accidents happening in patrol. After a few washes the dried crimson had turned orange, and most people chalked it up as some sort of paint or that she’d wiped pasta sauce down them. Blonde hair was hidden by the hoody, underneath it a clean t-shirt sported the same kind of artistic abuse as her jeans.
Legs might have been short but they carried her at a fast pace, and within half an hour she’d managed to walk straight to Brian’s apartment building. Valerie tilted her head back to take a good look at it, street lights casting it in a pale glow that seemed to emphasize how old it was. Small chips and cracks could be seen, the faintest hints of moss clung in sparse patches further up, and she splayed a palm against the bricks to feel the rough texture. Old, but oddly beautiful. Both hands lifted then to push the hood down as the blonde took in a slow breath and checked her watch. Nine at night wasn’t that late to show up unannounced, was it? Only then did she realise he might not even be in. Why hadn’t she called? Oh, right, fear.
Shaking herself out of it, Valerie gathered herself as best she could and knocked three times on Brian’s door. If he didn’t answer at least she’d followed through on her impulse, and that was better than nothing.
no subject
on 2013-09-25 01:00 am (UTC)Valerie dissolved into a fit of giggles as the pillow bounced off her head and landed on the floor. Legs thrashed as her upper half strained to put distance between them, as if she could go anywhere once her shoulders hit the back of the couch. “Bri-” Words were difficult when you couldn’t breathe,high pitched too, her face actually ached from laughing but she didn’t want to push him in case he ended up on the other side of the room. Instead she wriggled, snake like, as if slithering up towards the arm of the couch would grant an escape.
It was torture, ridiculous, delicious, sweet horrific torture, and Valerie wasn’t sure if she could take it. Worse, he was actually telling her things she wanted to know, and instead of saying something interesting back all she had to offer was a snort of laughter before her hand clamped across her mouth.
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on 2013-09-25 04:06 am (UTC)“Yes, Valerie? I’m sorry, I didn’t catch that.” He wiggled his fingers and tried to use his body weight as leverage so that it was more awkward for the blonde to slither out from under him. Somewhere in the carnage of limbs and pillows and couch cushions, Valerie’s knee became wedged in Brian’s diaphragm. One tiny, flailing nudge and the keyboardist was airborne. “Whuu—!” He flipped and landed in the cramped space between the upholstered piece of furniture and the coffee table. The latter tipped backwards. Papers full of music notes sailed into the air.
He coughed hoarsely and started laughing.
“Okay, okay!” Brian put up his palms in surrender, shielding his face from an imaginary onslaught. “Please don’t beat me up.”
no subject
on 2013-09-25 04:36 am (UTC)The blonde scooted to the edge of the couch and swung her legs over to sit up. “Are you alright?” She asked, pressing her lips together after as she watched him make a joke about it. Okay, he could roll with it, but that didn’t make it any less embarrassing. There was nothing sexy about suggesting a couple of knee pads and a crash helmet for the rare occasions a rogue limb might strike. Pale fingers scooped up her shirt and she tugged it on sheepishly. “Told you I’m a danger to be with.”
Valerie clasped his hand and stood up, pulling him onto his feet so she could correct the table and pick up the papers that had fluttered to the floor like lazy butterflies.
no subject
on 2013-09-25 05:47 am (UTC)Brian tugged the papers out of her hand. He sought eye contact with the slayer and tossed them into the air again. Under the breeze of his ceiling fan, the pages scattered far and wide. One fluttered gently onto the record player, which continued to spin as though nothing had changed. “It’s okay, I don’t care,” he said. He stood behind Valerie and wrapped his arms around her, chin resting on the curved mound of her shoulder. He slowly rocked from left foot to right.
“How many things have you seen me knock over?” He kissed her through the cotton shirt.
This was his girlfriend. His girlfriend. No doubt he would do many dumb things in her presence in the future, and he’d remind himself each time that he was lucky that Valerie was around him to see them.
no subject
on 2013-09-25 06:25 am (UTC)“You are like a magnet, do you know that?” Fingers squeezed the flesh beneath them, released it, just to scratch across his chest and down his arms. “The closer you are the more I want to touch you.”
Valerie drew in a slow breath, let her eyes meet his, “Half of me wants to run out the door because of it, the other half…” The blonde went up on tiptoes to find his ear, she breathed against it warmly for a second before finishing in sultry purr, “Wants me to do things to you until you ache in ways you never knew you could.”
no subject
on 2013-09-25 06:51 am (UTC)“Okay…Wow.”
He rested his forehead on her shoulder and took a deep breath to calm down. He didn’t know what to do about the shot of heat in his groin, though. It wasn’t listening to reason. The telekinetic knew he’d be hearing that whisper in his dreams for weeks, if he ever got to sleep. It wouldn’t be on his stomach tonight; that was one thing he knew.
That was the thing about Valerie, who was sweet and vulnerable and shy, but every once in a while, she’d get up the nerve to say or do something really salty and it exploded his brain, just by sheer contrast. With effort, he shook the fog from his brain. “If you do that again, I’m stealing your pants and throwing them out the window. Then you can’t leave and it’s just me and you and your lack of pants, and you know where that’s going.”
no subject
on 2013-09-25 07:24 am (UTC)Two small steps brought the blonde over to Brian, she leaned down as if to kiss him but stopped mere millimeters away from his mouth so she could breathe in a cheeky tone, “Then again I could wait, and next time I show up I’ll have the sense to wear a pair of shorts under my pants so when I say something like, you’re the only one that’s ever touched me like that, I’ll be prepared or you know, I’ll just make sure to run.”
Was it fair to say that, like that, right in that moment? No, but it sure was satisfying to Valerie, who gave a gentle pat to his knee and stood up. “I need a glass of water, what about you?”
no subject
on 2013-09-25 07:43 am (UTC)“I’ll get your water. And some ice. But you can’t have any of that, it’s for my… yeah.” He pointed haphazardly at the kitchen and went in search of clean glasses and the pitcher of refrigerated water.
One of these days, he thought. Revenge.