(no subject)

[evolutionaryimperative]

They got together on most of Elle's nights off now, usually at her apartment. They had tried going out for dinner once, but it had ended up being more awkward than anything else, really. Talking to one another still wasn't their strong point. At least if they were at her apartment, they could give up on the pretenses of dinner and conversation more easily. Which is often what ended up happening. Gabriel doubted that was normal, but then again there was little about their relationship (was it a relationship? they had never labeled it formally as such, but it was beginning to feel like one) that was normal to begin with.

Still, the last week or two had been nice. Almost too nice. He felt restless from it, on nights where he wasn't with her he usually stayed at his apartment, locked up in his solitude, plotting his next move. A few nights ago he had went to a strip club he hadn't been to yet, and another blond, Daphne Milbrook, showed up missing on the news a few days later. The official report was that there was a serial killer in their midst, and most of the clubs were beefing up their security because of it. Not that he minded. He liked a challenge. It helped quell that darkness inside of his head. That darkness that threatened to ruin everything. After all, Elle could never know what he truly was, what he was truly like. She would never accept him. Even though she had promised to never hate him, he wondered if that was really true, if she could even keep a promise like that.

But all of that was pushed into the back of his mind (as much as it ever could be)as he knocked on the door of her apartment, a pizza in his other hand to add to all the other dinners they never ate much of. He was dressed like he normally did outside of work, black jeans and a black button down shirt, complete with his worn leather jacket. His hair was slightly gelled and spiked. The glasses, vest and ties were all at home, tucked away in his closet. They were just a costume, this was who he really was.

Or as close to it as he could ever show her, at any rate.

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[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

Her giggle was breathy, her lips quirked up as he kissed them. The softness of the kiss melted her a little, and her hips leaned into him; her hands fell to rest lightly on his back, her eyes hooded. She did smile for real for him. Was now as she buried her face against the cut of his shoulder blade. "I'll attack your mouth first. Won't even see it coming," she threatened.

[specialmonster.livejournal.com]

"You're going to kiss attack me?" He asked with a quirked brow as he served some of the pizza on each of their plates. "I guess I'll have to be extra vigilante then to make sure it didn't happen." Though truthfully, he didn't care if she kissed him with bad breath or not. He just liked her kissing her.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

"Good luck, hot shot," she drawled, struggling to temper her smile in her usual taunting smirk. Even though he couldn't see it. Even though her eyes were still bright. "I'm fast," she warned melodramatically, and punctuated her point by slapping one of butt cheeks and flouncing away quickly to get drinks from the fridge.

It wasn't okay. It just wasn't okay that he was bringing her out behind her cynical, bitchy mask. Bringing out some part of her she never knew was still alive.

[specialmonster.livejournal.com]

Well, it was equally unfair that she was making him smile and feel happy and light in a way that he couldn't honestly remember ever feeling before. It wasn't fair, but it seemed like they would both just have to learn how to cope with that, one way or another.

"I guess I'll just have to be quicker," He quipped back, bringing the plates out into the living room.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

"I'd like to see you try," she said, her tone careless and unimpressed. She grabbed a couple of beers, plopping down on the couch and setting them down with their plates. Her smirk still lingered as she reach for her plate, settling back into the lived-in cushions and layers of blankets as she took a healthy bite.

[specialmonster.livejournal.com]

"I might have to accept that challenge," He mused as he sat down next to her on the couch, his knee pressing against hers. He leaned in and grabbed his beer, popping off the top before taking a drink.

When she first approached him that night at her club, the night he ended up coming in his pants, he never would have expected for them reach such a sense of...normalcy. It was still kind of a shock to him that neither one of them had royally screwed things up yet.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

"You're on, Gray," she sung lightly, folding her legs up beneath her and resting them against his thigh. She liked that. His constant warmth and presence. Liked having someone to touch in the simplest and most innocent of ways. It had been a long time since touching like this had meant familiarity. Not money, or sex, or anything simple.

[specialmonster.livejournal.com]

It was so easy when they kept things light and simple like this. It was harder when they tried to talk about things that were real. He'd ask her about her family and she'd freeze up, she'd ask about other places he lived and he'd sharply change the subject. They both had things they just didn't want to talk about, and it was a careful dance to avoid them, but when they managed, it was so nice and comfortable like this that it made the rest of it worth it.

He leaned in, pressing a quick kiss against her lips before pulling away to grab his pizza and begin eating it.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

"Was that your idea of a warm-up?" she asked, her voice wry as she reached for her own beer to open. She pressed it to her lips and tipped it back to take a drink, then licked her lips clean of the beverage. She couldn't help but tease him. It had fast become her favorite thing to do during the long silences that often grew thick and awkward between them the past few weeks. Teasing was easy. It saved them from those awkward questions. The questions that made something nasty and sharp claw at her insides. The questions he avoided like the plague. He made it so obvious sometimes it aggravated her he kept his stupid secrets to himself.

Sometimes she found herself wanting to ask again instead of moving on to the next topic. Thinking about how he'd clutched at her and made her swear to never hate him. But then she'd remember her own secrets, remembered she couldn't even admit those to herself.

But that wasn't important. She didn't need to know the things he didn't want to share. And for right now, she just took another pointed bite of her pepperoni pizza.

[specialmonster.livejournal.com]

"Of course, I'm only getting started," He quipped back. At first, when she had teased him he had been quiet and unresponsive, but he was quickly learning how to answer back and keep up with her. It was much better than the long strings of silence that threatened them any time he didn't joke along with her.

Sometimes he felt selfish because he wanted to know everything about her, but he knew he couldn't return the favor. Even though she had promised not to hate him...how could he honestly believe that?

But he didn't dwell on it. Instead he flashed her a devious grin before leaning over to steal a bite from her piece.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

"Hey," she admonished, reaching to weakly shove his shoulder as a smile blossomed on her lips. Much too late, she pulled her plate away as if to protect her assaulted food from his mean teeth. "Eat your own, you pig." Just to be even, she leaned over without preamble to steal a bite from him, too.

[specialmonster.livejournal.com]

"I was just showing you how quick I could be," He chuckled softly, eating another bite from his own piece now. "Don't challenge me if you can't handle it." Though really, it was cute the way she overreacted. So cute that he grabbed her bottle of beer and took a swig of that now, just because he could.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

Her eyes flashed playfully, and she lunged to grab his face forcefully the moment he swallowed. The kiss was sloppy and quite frankly unenjoyable, but it was a kiss, and she even managed to slip him some tongue, her arms hooking around his neck like a trap. "Well, what do you know?" she sighed, pulling back and snatching her bottle from him with a victorious smirk. "I win."

[specialmonster.livejournal.com]

"Not yet you don't," He countered.

It wasn't a great kiss, and he certainly wasn't satisfied by that. He grabbed her bottle from him and placed it on the table, along with their plates before grabbing her wrists and shifting quickly so that she was pinned beneath him on the couch. He leaned down, claiming her lips forcefully.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

Maybe if he had done that a few weeks ago, a small part of her would have freaked out. Said something snarky and tried to reclaim control. And the slight panic was there, speeding her heart and making her hands tremble with a rush of adrenaline. But she wasn't afraid of his weight on her, or his hands around her wrists, even though she let out a surprised squeal and struggled, trying to move her face to the side before their lips met. And she was laughing gently against his mouth even as she submitted, her lips softening and parting.

[specialmonster.livejournal.com]

He of course, had no idea that something like this might freak her out at all, he just saw it as part of the game they had been playing. Besides, they were was something definitely exciting about having her pinned underneath him like this, at his mercy. It appealed to his many, many issues with control. He deepened the kiss as her lips parted, sliding his tongue past hers as he he shifted his weight slightly, one of his legs straddling each side of her now.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

She couldn't help but tug at her restrained wrists, her chest still beneath him even though she wanted to gasp in heaving breaths. She shuddered at the caress of his tongue, writhing to see how much she could move, but the friction it made against his body was distracting. She lightly, playfully bit the tip of his tongue as it explored her mouth, sucked it because it was something she could do.

[specialmonster.livejournal.com]

He groaned softly, keeping the tight grip on her wrists as she moved against him. He playfully nipped at her lower lip as he felt himself harden against her.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

"I still win," she murmured breathlessly against his lips, into the small space he granted her. She needed to break the intensity of him pressing her down, the shackle of his hands. "You can't just say I don't because you're a sore loser."

[specialmonster.livejournal.com]

"And you don't just win because you decide you do," He murmured, still unaware of the fact that his actions were making uncomfortable. If he had realized it, he probably would have let her go, no matter how much he was enjoying himself.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

"I didn't," she whispered, her nose nudging against his. Maybe affectionately. Her eyes bore up into his, mischievous and guarded. She felt like all they ever did was size each other up. And that was fine. It kept her on her toes. She didn't want him to know she was uncomfortable unless it was a real problem. "I kissed you with pepperoni breath first. You agreed to those terms."

[specialmonster.livejournal.com]

"And yet," He murmured in a thoughtful, amused tone of voice. "I don't feel like I lost at all." It was kind of true. They were constantly sizing one another up, both afraid to let down their carefully placed walls. Afraid to lose.

At least it kept things interesting.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

She blinked at him once, her lips turning up into an almost smirk at his smug words. She flexed her fingers, wriggling a little from side to side against his hardening cock. "Don't you think you should use your hands and mouth for others things if you want to keep winning?"

[specialmonster.livejournal.com]

He smirked in return at her words. "I suppose that would be a good idea." And with that he leaned down, claiming her lips with his own once more. His hands let go of her wrists, finally, to slide down her body, groping at her as they did so.

[electrocutesy.livejournal.com]

He claimed her small, relieved sigh too, Whatever tension in her limbs that had seized her relaxed their hold gratefully, her hands falling to his shoulders. She kissed him back this time, arcing and dipping into his hands with little gasps.