The redhead emitted a short laugh before finally sitting up in bed, dishevelled hair and all.
"And now it's even more crap, because you've met me," she replied. "And no laundry list."
Grabbing him by the undershirt collar, Louise kissed him for the first time; long enough to not seem chaste, and short enough to not be intimidating to him. Pulling away, she wrung her hands together nervously.
To say he'd been expecting that would be dead wrong, but he recovers relative quickly and there's a moment where he's processing it, blue eyes clearly showing the 'math' he was working out in his head. But when he sees her start ringing her hands, he decides to eschew words, put his own hand on hers, and leans in to kiss her back.
When his lips touched hers, her eyes flew open momentarily in surprise--she hadn't figured that he might return her affections, at least not so quickly. She'd cottoned on to his 'hands-off' policy--one more borne out of chivalry, not nerves--and it served as something of a comfort to her, if she was honest. She'd avoided much dating since being back at the Yard, half because she just never bothered to make time, and half because most men were a bit too 'eager', to put it mildly.
But this was different, and she was glad for it.
Leaning back against the headboard of his bed, Louise placed both hands upon either side of his face and deepened the kiss slightly, just enough to make it clear she was more than allowing it.
And he fully intends to kiss her until one or both of them need to pause. But he doesn't lean in further, doesn't move his hands anywhere else but to let them slip into her hair. Chivalry was what he'd been taught way back when, but also that it was a woman's place to say exactly how much and how far she wanted things, courtesy of his aunt. It all boils down to not, in any way, wanting to hurt her. Either by withholding or giving what wasn't wanted. She'd been through enough. Enough people had judged her or used her or even just ignored what she was going through. He didn't want to be another of them.
He kissed her because he wanted to kiss her, but also because he wanted her to know that he wanted to kiss her. And when he could feel her needing a breath, he draws back to look in her eyes and offer a crooked little half smile.
When he pulled away, giving her the sort of lopsided grin which, quite frankly, made her heart flip over, the redhead's cheeks began to blush fiercely. Clearing her throat delicately, Louise chuckled nervously.
"Been wanting to do that for...quite a while," she admitted rather sheepishly. Drawing in a deep breath, she looked up at him, smiling gently. "Sorry." She sort of bit her lip as she said it, trying to ease herself out of awkwardness.
That just earns her a raised eyebrow, a genuinely curious expression.
"I'm sorry, but you kissed me. So unless you were somehow simultaneously kicking a puppy or insulting a nun, I'm not really sure what you've got to be sorry about."
He leaned in a little and made sure he had her eyes.
"I was pretty happy about it too, if you couldn't tell. So nice, I insisted we do it twice."
His glib remark caught her off guard and she burst out a moderate laugh. "I'm sorry it took me so long, then...?" she riposted, letting the question just trail off as she began to try and gauge exactly how long he'd been wrestling with the same feelings.
"And it only took a bottle of Patrón, a knifing, child trafficking, and you making and absolute bellend of yourself for it to happen," she added with a tiny smirk.
"I wish I could say that isn't on the normal side for me but..." head tilt. Wry smile. This is what you're signing up for, fortunately or unfortunately.
She just stared at him rather disbelievingly for a moment before responding, one corner of her mouth ticking upwards in a slow grin of her own.
"And do they all end like this?" she volleyed back, her hands gesturing back and forth between the two of them, "...with someone in your bed the next morning?" Azure eyes danced mischievously as she regarded him.
His admission made her chuckle, and she pushed a hand through her dishevelled hair before pushing aside the sheets, revealing her even-more dishevelled clothing from the day before.
"You've got a shower I can use, yeah?" she requested, gathering her belongings, but not before casting a seemingly winsome smile over her shoulder.
"Right near the front, to the left. Room's yours and I've got some things you can change into that I'll fold up and leave outside the door."
Matter-of-fact, companionable... not really any flirt to it, but there's still a smile on his face and some pink to his cheeks; it's anything but a brush off. He's trying to be helpful.
She gathered as much, and when she emerged from the room a half-hour later, Louise was perfectly put together, her hair upswept into a low chignon, makeup equally smart, and she smiled dryly at Sand as she moved towards him.
Upon reaching him, she simply smirked and reached out for his lapel, pulling him towards her properly, and kissing him gently, one hand moving to the nape of his neck to briefly stroke his hair before she moved away.
"Think I might try and get you used to this," she teased.
He's not a very experienced kisser. That's clear enough, the way his movements are slow and measuring, learning as much as learning her. He's very into it, though, his full attention on her and only her, on her touch to the back of his neck as much as anything else and those pale eyelashes, almost invisible unless you're this close, flutter a little at all of it.
He doesn't so much answer as very gently lean up and in to press a soft kiss just so against her lips before sitting back again. Yes, he'd like that very much. Any of it. All of it.
It wasn't that it was he who was feeling inexperienced; for her part, Louise hadn't engaged in such activity in...quite some time. Sand was possibly her first kiss in a year or more. Still, she allowed him to navigate the waters, and when he pressed the last kiss to her lips, she swayed backwards slightly in response, eyelids remaining closed for several seconds afterwards.
Stumbling backwards slightly after Sand let her go, Louise got her bearings. She barely believed what she was hearing.
"...me? You're all right with signing on to..to..." Her hands pointed to him, and then back to her. "...to this?" Louise's past was checkered, to say the least. Not very many relationships, and the most prominent one? Well, let it be said she was betrayed in the worst fashion. And because of it, she'd pay for her choice for decades to come.
To be fair, she had been referring to herself in her previous statement--not him. As it stood, Louise already felt she had baggage enough for the both of them--even despite Sandy's special powers.
"I--of course," she replied. "Of course I am...just was making sure all was agreeable on your end." [AWKWARD.]
He almost lets out another awkward not-quite-smooth line before reaching out to take her hand between his two. He just holds it for a moment before rubbing the back of it and looking up at her.
"Better than agreeable.
"Whatever anyone's told you? You're a lot better than 'agreeable'. Or at least I think so. Which I think is how these things usually go, but to be fair, not my area of expertise."
Annnd that's where she's got him because what even do you do?
Well, he supposes, this is where he starts admitting to certain things. Certain... logistical things.
"I'm headed back to the states sometime tomorrow, but the nice thing about what I can do is that I can be on this side of the pond in about a half an hour. So... I'm gonna guess we date? Text when we're both working or phonecalls or something? We do coffee dates sometimes?" He pauses. "Stop me when it sounds appropriate."
Louise cleared her throat, thinking of the planning of it all.
"A...half-hour," she repeated, somewhat disbelievingly. "And...erm, 'date' we should," she continued. "And all of this is MORE than appropriate."
The utter care and deliberation with which he'd handled this has been completely second to none. Well, at least, as far as the redhead was concerned, this was entirely uncharted waters.
"Well, I could go faster but weirdly enough, it gives me a stomach ache? I don't even know."
And he'll do that, sure, for work. But not when he wants to be agreeable for a date on the other side. But when she agrees, he can't help but give her a beaming grin, one that makes some of the shadows on his face disappear.
"And maybe... I could fly you over sometime. Let you see my city."
Or ask Alan to bring her but he'd wait a while before bringing up teleportation via broadcasting executive.
If there had been shadows, the redhead didn't notice them. Instead, she canted her head to one side, contemplating his offer.
"FLY me over?" she echoed. "To see your city."
She didn't hesitate much longer before she smiled broadly. "I'd love to. God knows I've grown a bit musty sticking about the English countryside so long." It was true--she needed a break, and a change of scenery, no matter how bizarre the circumstances.
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Let's pretend there's no "coffee breath" in RP.
"And now it's even more crap, because you've met me," she replied. "And no laundry list."
Grabbing him by the undershirt collar, Louise kissed him for the first time; long enough to not seem chaste, and short enough to not be intimidating to him. Pulling away, she wrung her hands together nervously.
"Sorry."
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But this was different, and she was glad for it.
Leaning back against the headboard of his bed, Louise placed both hands upon either side of his face and deepened the kiss slightly, just enough to make it clear she was more than allowing it.
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He kissed her because he wanted to kiss her, but also because he wanted her to know that he wanted to kiss her. And when he could feel her needing a breath, he draws back to look in her eyes and offer a crooked little half smile.
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"Been wanting to do that for...quite a while," she admitted rather sheepishly. Drawing in a deep breath, she looked up at him, smiling gently. "Sorry." She sort of bit her lip as she said it, trying to ease herself out of awkwardness.
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"I'm sorry, but you kissed me. So unless you were somehow simultaneously kicking a puppy or insulting a nun, I'm not really sure what you've got to be sorry about."
He leaned in a little and made sure he had her eyes.
"I was pretty happy about it too, if you couldn't tell. So nice, I insisted we do it twice."
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"And it only took a bottle of Patrón, a knifing, child trafficking, and you making and absolute bellend of yourself for it to happen," she added with a tiny smirk.
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"And do they all end like this?" she volleyed back, her hands gesturing back and forth between the two of them, "...with someone in your bed the next morning?" Azure eyes danced mischievously as she regarded him.
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"Uh, nope. Nope, that one's new. Not unwelcome, but definitely new."
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"You've got a shower I can use, yeah?" she requested, gathering her belongings, but not before casting a seemingly winsome smile over her shoulder.
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Matter-of-fact, companionable... not really any flirt to it, but there's still a smile on his face and some pink to his cheeks; it's anything but a brush off. He's trying to be helpful.
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Upon reaching him, she simply smirked and reached out for his lapel, pulling him towards her properly, and kissing him gently, one hand moving to the nape of his neck to briefly stroke his hair before she moved away.
"Think I might try and get you used to this," she teased.
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He doesn't so much answer as very gently lean up and in to press a soft kiss just so against her lips before sitting back again. Yes, he'd like that very much. Any of it. All of it.
"If you think I'm worth the trouble..."
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Drawing in a breath, she nodded slowly.
"ABSOLUTELY," she replied.
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"You definitely are. No question."
Just in case she was unaware of the fact.
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"...me? You're all right with signing on to..to..." Her hands pointed to him, and then back to her. "...to this?" Louise's past was checkered, to say the least. Not very many relationships, and the most prominent one? Well, let it be said she was betrayed in the worst fashion. And because of it, she'd pay for her choice for decades to come.
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"I dunno, you all right signing on with this?"
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"I--of course," she replied. "Of course I am...just was making sure all was agreeable on your end." [AWKWARD.]
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"Better than agreeable.
"Whatever anyone's told you? You're a lot better than 'agreeable'. Or at least I think so. Which I think is how these things usually go, but to be fair, not my area of expertise."
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"And not exactly my area of expertise, either," she added.
A beat.
"So, where do we go from here?"
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Well, he supposes, this is where he starts admitting to certain things. Certain... logistical things.
"I'm headed back to the states sometime tomorrow, but the nice thing about what I can do is that I can be on this side of the pond in about a half an hour. So... I'm gonna guess we date? Text when we're both working or phonecalls or something? We do coffee dates sometimes?" He pauses. "Stop me when it sounds appropriate."
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"A...half-hour," she repeated, somewhat disbelievingly. "And...erm, 'date' we should," she continued. "And all of this is MORE than appropriate."
The utter care and deliberation with which he'd handled this has been completely second to none. Well, at least, as far as the redhead was concerned, this was entirely uncharted waters.
...but she was more than willing to go for it.
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And he'll do that, sure, for work. But not when he wants to be agreeable for a date on the other side. But when she agrees, he can't help but give her a beaming grin, one that makes some of the shadows on his face disappear.
"And maybe... I could fly you over sometime. Let you see my city."
Or ask Alan to bring her but he'd wait a while before bringing up teleportation via broadcasting executive.
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"FLY me over?" she echoed. "To see your city."
She didn't hesitate much longer before she smiled broadly. "I'd love to. God knows I've grown a bit musty sticking about the English countryside so long." It was true--she needed a break, and a change of scenery, no matter how bizarre the circumstances.
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