[ the way he looks at her when he thinks she's engrossed in her study... how they slowly ensconce one another in bed, in their sleep... ]
... no, I do not think it. I think if I had not lifted my skirts for you first time, you would still be as you were then. It would not even occur to you.
[She's right, and it's a relief that she knows it. She could have never kissed him even once—though he'd hate to live in that reality—and Henry Creel would have eventually developed the same array of feelings for her. The depth and degree would have remained even if it took another path; after all, the river always finds the sea.]
Exactly. I still would have fallen in love with you. Being intimate is just one tiny, tiny fraction of how that love manifests. It's one fragment of an entire world you've opened for me, one I want to share with you.
[He will more than make up for how her parents deprived her. Henry will douse her in love and affection and ceaseless obsession until her cup runneth over.
Have they even made it to under the veranda? Maybe partly; maybe Henry's shoulders and back and hair still collect flakes of snow when she reaches up, and maybe she's sheltered. Doesn't matter. He bends down so she can loop her arms around him without issue.]
[ no. she can't, and won't. it feels good to have her ego fed in these little moments... and this, as generous as it is, will last her longer than anything before.
Takes it upon himself to just give her a real kiss on the lips, slow and warm, gathering snowflakes in his hair and lashes as he does. A bit of telepathy to file off the hard edges of her indignity-]
I'm just kidding. You can lick me anytime and anywhere you want. :)
[Yes, somehow the smiley face translates through his powers.]
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[Come now, he has more restraint than that. Probably.
Still a murmur against her ear-]
Is that a 'yes'?
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I don't know, Henry.
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Then let's just move over there, and let me kiss you. There's no shame in that.
[See where it goes.]
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Mm-hm.
[Shifts on one foot and turns them both to face the little arcane shop in question. Look at how it beckons, hmm?]
Your monster.
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I think your hormones are recklessly running.
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You make me feel like a teenager again. [(Not true. Teenage Henry was many things, but horny was not one of them.)] Shouldn’t that be flattering?
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[Yeah, he definitely wasn’t like this then.]
With you. It excites me.
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[ sex. ]
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[She has created a monster.]
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But I don’t want you think that this is all I find value in?
[Surely she doesn’t? Surely she realizes just how much of his world revolves around her, having nothing to do with sex? I.e. all of it.]
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... no, I do not think it. I think if I had not lifted my skirts for you first time, you would still be as you were then. It would not even occur to you.
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Exactly. I still would have fallen in love with you. Being intimate is just one tiny, tiny fraction of how that love manifests. It's one fragment of an entire world you've opened for me, one I want to share with you.
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her parents never gave her so much as an entire room's worth of love.
she reaches both arms up to loop around his neck. he'll have to bend lower so she can accomplish it. ]
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Have they even made it to under the veranda? Maybe partly; maybe Henry's shoulders and back and hair still collect flakes of snow when she reaches up, and maybe she's sheltered. Doesn't matter. He bends down so she can loop her arms around him without issue.]
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You are best thing about this city.
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Second best. I'm holding onto the first.
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But you can't convince me otherwise, either.
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probably because it feeds more than ego. ]
Bend over so I can lick you.
[ smooches HIS forehead. ]
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Sprezzatura… so very indecent, so soon.
[Bends forward. :) ]
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Takes it upon himself to just give her a real kiss on the lips, slow and warm, gathering snowflakes in his hair and lashes as he does. A bit of telepathy to file off the hard edges of her indignity-]
[Yes, somehow the smiley face translates through his powers.]
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Stop that!
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