Room 323 [Thursday, Early Evening]

[comeoutwrong]

Relaxing as days without classes could be, they did have a tendency to give far too much time to think, and over-think about just about everything that had gone on in the last week or so. There was a good lot of stuff that fell into that frustratingly complex category, and Effy had spent her day avoiding that, by being out and about and doing things, cold as it was.

It was only on the way back she'd noticed the overabundance of candy canes, grabbed a couple from the cafeteria and was sucking on one as she pottered around her room and returned a couple of calls from Panda and Tony.

It kept her oral fixation satisfied and was probably better for her lungs. Win win.

[[Open door/post!]]

Comments

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

Alex slid his hand around to curl against the back of her neck, still light and loose so she could do what she wanted. He wasn't too concerned about her not looking at him considering there'd been instances when he'd done the same and he could wait.

Still wasn't saying anything though, taking a cue from her and just letting his hands do the work. One thumb moving against the back of her neck and the other tracing circles on her arm.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Really, it was nothing he hadn't already said to her in one way or another. Still had that scrap of paper pinned under the IOU, even.

But, that didn't really lessen her hesitation in glancing up and looking at him. Had to be done eventually, and once she had, she was stubbornly not about to look away again.

If she concentrated more on the circling of his hands, it did come a lot easier.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

And when she did look at him, he let a small smile pass over his face. If his hands hadn't convinced her that everything was fine, he'd try it that way.

They seemed to scare the shit out of themselves with words. Nonverbals seemed like the better way to go. And that meant his hands didn't stop moving, fingers didn't stop brushing up and down and around her skin.

He hadn't been something to anyone in a really long time. Maybe he didn't really know what to say or how to react so not talking for the moment, just seemed better.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Not talking? That was something Effy could get behind, and he could have a twitch of her lips into a smile in return.

At least it was a comfortable quiet, not one of those where she just felt like she was waiting for something to drop. Anything they did say would be likely to bring them directly back to that 'what now?' dilemma she'd avoided before. Far too complicated for her to want to broach that again.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

Alex leaned forward a bit, tracing that smile with the edge of his thumb, lingering for a bit. He followed with a brief, light kiss before he got close enough to whisper something in her ear.

"I only wrote it before," he started, "so I thought you might want to hear it. You're something to me too. You are."

He'd gotten to hear her admit that out loud and while his little note seemed to go over, he did want her to hear it.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"Good to know," she breathed, feeling that tightness in her chest loosening up a little just for that. Written proof was one thing, hearing it, somehow, was another.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Seemed like something you might want to hear," he said, dipping his head down to kiss one of her shoulders before sliding back to look at her. "I wrote it but you said it first. You did the hard part."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Effy lifted that shoulder in what could probably pass as a shrug. "You wanted honesty." That was what he'd got. A rare sort of show from her.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

Alex kept watching her for a few more moments before he shook his head and looked down.

"I never said I wanted anything from you, Effy," he pointed out, pulling one of his hands back to rub his eyes. "If you didn't want to say that, you shouldn't have."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"What makes you think I say anything I don't want to say?" It wasn't like he forced her into it. Effy was stubborn enough not to just do things because she thought someone else might want it.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"I don't think that," he said, not able to go as far as apologizing out loud but hesitantly dropping his cheek back against her shoulder.

"I don't, Effy," he said again, shaking his head against her shoulder. "One of those things that I've had happen in the past. Shouldn't have assumed."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"It was one reason," she allowed, slipping her hand around his neck. Couldn't deny that. If she thought he didn't want that honesty, she wouldn't have shared. "Not the only reason."

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"What were the other reasons?" he asked because the question was right there and he couldn't resist.

If she answered, well, he'd get his answer but if she didn't, he really didn't mind.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"Wanted to?" Effy suggested. Difficult as it might've been, it did take out a little of that uncertain pressure. She shrugged idly again, looking down at the top of his head. "You deserved to hear it."

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Changes things?" he asked after a moment, keeping his head where it was and not making it a statement even if he was pretty sure it did.

Somehow. Of course, asking her that question would probably be just as helpful as if she'd asked him. Neither of them seemed to know what was going on.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"Some things." Well, it wasn't something she could (or would, for that matter) take back. So yeah, it made a difference.

"That good or not?" At this point, yeah, she still wasn't sure on any of that.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"I think this is...unfamiliar," he said carefully, shrugging a shoulder. Of course, he was still trying to figure out what all had changed. He had a few ideas but yeah, not sure.

"Depends on what's changed, I think," he added, glad for his position because this was one of those conversations. "Good or bad? What do you think?"

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Effy was hardly any more an expert on these things than Alex. Usually, she wasn't the one that got attached.

"Not seeing the bad yet." He hadn't decided any takebacks were in order, and neither of them seemed to be taking it badly, just uncertainly.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Neither am I," he agreed, picking his head up enough to press a kiss against the side of her neck and a little higher near her ear.

Of course, this sort of conversation was taking them dangerously close to that 'what next?' question that seemed to loom. He figured he could avoid that for a little bit longer.

"You were right," he said, brushing some hair at her ear and kissing the spot behind her ear. "It is different."

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

"I can work with that," she decided quietly, closing her eyes as he moved his lips across her skin.

She did say she liked different, and that was still the truth.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

"Different kind of different for me," he remarked, moving his lips down her neck and across one of her shoulders.

"I don't know what to do now," he admitted, quietly and hesitantly against her shoulder.

Well, except to keep kissing his way across her and around her collarbone. That always seemed to work well and it made any talking easier.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Having something else to think about did somehow help. Her excuse for letting her fingers play along the side of his neck.


You know, other than the obvious 'just liked to touch' reasoning.

"That's not just you," Effy muttered in his ear. About the two least suitable candidates in the world for getting into this sort of thing. Even Effy knew that.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

Alex leaned into her fingers some, reaching to slide his fingers across her stomach, over her shirt. Yeah, that just like to touch excuse was a big reason he did find himself doing this.

"I'm open to suggestions," he said, pressing his nose and lips against her neck and breathing in.

[pastmewrong.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, Effy didn't really have any, as might be obvious by this point. Or if she did, wasn't at all good at voicing them.

"Let you know when I figure it out." For now, ducking to press her lips to his temple as she returned that pressure against his neck, seemed like as good an idea as any.

[fratboybitch.livejournal.com]

Yeah, Alex wasn't flush with suggestions himself. Sure, there were things banging around in his mind but they weren't quite getting to where he'd voice them.

Of course, his effort to avoid thinking about those sort of things wasn't working very well so he was going for the distraction of bringing his head so he could press a kiss against her upper lip and pull back a few inches to see her.

"This what you want?" he asked, keeping his questions up both to push her and to avoid revealing much himself. "This?"