This is getting to be a habit. [rp for lapsedsaint]

[aesthetic_mojo]

As promised, Charlie had a yo-yo delivered to the New York offices of the Department of Justice. She had it hand delivered, open, with clear indicators who it was for and from. Hopefully that would get it through any bomb detection fairly quickly. The rest of that day was spent furniture shopping. She spent a small fortune for very few pieces she would have to wait longer than she liked for.

Her last stop was to replace what they'd drunk and get another bottle of something wonderful. If he didn't come, they would last forever. If he didn't come, the universe would make much more sense than it did at the moment. Still, when he didn't come the first night, she worried. Not so much that he was blowing her off, but that his headache was a thing of real concern.

There was nothing in her schedule to keep her from being home in the evenings, so she settled into a pattern. As the sun headed for the horizon, she changed into loose clothes, made herself a pot of tea, and sat one of two folding chairs on the patio. The kittens played at her feet until the sun went down completely. With all the things to mull over, her mind went most often to the necklace sitting on the kitchen counter. In its way, it was easier to think about that than of the man who might or might not show up at her door.

Comments

[aesthetic_mojo]

She snorted. "Hell no would be the bowdlerized version, but yes, that's about it."

She held up her plastic fork, carefully considering it. "I was looking at some lovely antique silver yesterday. Art Deco--" She turned to stare at him for a long moment. Finally she put the fork down and looked down. "That raises an interesting question."

[lapsedsaint]

He nodded slowly, his food still untouched, his plate in his lap. "I suppose it does, yes." He licked his lips and reached for his cup. "What?"

[aesthetic_mojo]

She almost pushed him, turning it back to him to guess what question she meant. Only she'd brought it up and she didn't want to fight with him. "The question of if and under what conditions you will be coming back to my apartment." She started eating as though the question was perfectly natural and not the least bit loaded, right down to a soft moan of pleasure at a piece of lamb.

[lapsedsaint]

He leaned forward and set his place on the coffee table after a quick kitten check. He held onto his drink and glanced over at her before sipping it. "Well, since it's your apartment, shouldn't you be dictating those terms?"

[aesthetic_mojo]

She took another few bites, then shrugged. "My apartment means I say if you come in. I'm still baffled why you've come over in the first place. Pleased, but baffled." She picked up her drink and sipped it, not really wanting much at all. "When we aren't snapping at each other, I enjoy your conversation. I find you physically pleasing in appearance and action. So long as your work doesn't involve me, I see no real reason that you wouldn't be welcome here."

[lapsedsaint]

His eyebrow creeped up as she spoke. When she finished, he rubbed his forehead, then looked into his cup. "Suddenly, I feel like a bull brought to stud." He knocked the rest of his drink back, then set it down and turned to face her on the futon.

He chose his words very carefully. "I told you that you were not on my superiors' radar. I have no intention of pulling you there. That is not my job. If you've gone unnoticed this long, you must be going something right." He reached out and lightly touched her hair. "I have no idea what all of this means. I had successfully avoided temptation for twenty years, until the last time I was here. I have no idea what I'm to make of that."

[aesthetic_mojo]

She thought she'd offended him until he touched her. Leaning into his hand, she smiled faintly. "I was going for precision. I'm sorry if it lacked any passion." She turned and kissed his hand. "I'm so glad I didn't know how long it had been until we were well underway. I'd have panicked."

She took a deep breath and pulled back some. "I don't know what to make of it, either. It wasn't my intention when I invited you. Not at all." She looked down. "I meant to harass you about it, not end up seducing you."

[lapsedsaint]

"And yet, that is exactly what you did." He let his hand fall to the mattress between them, then turned back to pick up his food. He took a few bites, then sighed softly and set his food down again.

"If you don't want me to come around anymore, I won't. But if you do, I need to know why. To what end?"

[aesthetic_mojo]

"Oh, for the love of God, eat. You're making me nuts." She shifted back and tucked her legs under her, her plate going on the table. "I do want you here, but I'm not sure to what end. No more than you are about why you'd come, I'm guessing."

She closed her eyes for a moment, looking for words. "I like the way I have to think carefully around you. I like the way it feels to touch you."

[lapsedsaint]

He picked his food back up and concentrated on eating for a few minutes. She was right, of course. And he would probably think better once the food was gone. He did, however, scoot a little closer to her.

[aesthetic_mojo]

She let him eat in peace, smiling faintly. His earnestness was charming. When he was almost done, she sighed softly, reaching with her mind to lightly caress his hair. "How's your headache? I can't be doing much for it."

[lapsedsaint]

He leaned toward the touch, blocking out that she wasn't using her hand. He finished his food and set the plate down before answering her. "It's down to a dull roar, for now." He shrugged and bowed his head, rubbing his eyes a moment.

[aesthetic_mojo]

She made the touch firmer, at first just as a kind of admission that she was doing it, then to explore for tense spots. "Where does it hurt? Behind your eyes, temples?"

She had a couple ideas for how to make him feel at least a little bit better, but she needed to know more about what was wrong.

[lapsedsaint]

He gave a soft whimper and leaned some toward her. His hand fell from his face and he closed his eyes again. "The whole front of my head. Started the day after I saw you last."

[aesthetic_mojo]

Since she didn't need him to move to get the right leverage or reach, she only shifted how she touched him. She started high, well above the hairline, and worked down toward his chin. "Women pay an awful lot of money for a massage like this. I want you to tell me if I hit something that hurts more."

As she worked, she tried to decide which of the remedies she should try first. She also tried to block out what Dagny had told her as if somehow he might hear her thoughts.

[lapsedsaint]

He nodded slightly and leaned back fully against the futon. Hands folded in his lap, he gave a soft whimper and shuddered. It wasn't that what she was doing hurt, it was that it was so incredibly odd feeling. That was the only way to describe it, odd feeling.

Her touch finally did hit something that hurt, as she worked back up to his temples. The sudden pain was excruciating and he jerked away from her, his breath hissing through his teeth.

[aesthetic_mojo]

She waited until he was still, then worked a little bit at the back of his neck and his shoulders to help him relax. "All right then. I won't do that again." She moved to sit right beside him. When she laid a hand on his thigh, she stopped rubbing him anywhere else.

"This is going to sound awful, but I'd like to get you into bed."

[lapsedsaint]

He raised an eyebrow and looked at her, amusement in his eyes. "You're right. It does sound awful. And like you are doing far less work this time to get me there."

Still, he slowly stood up, his eyes half closed, and waited for her.

[aesthetic_mojo]

"You should be glad I'm being nice because you're sick or I'd get upset at that crack." She stood and put her arm through his, grinning. "That wasn't work, that was pure out fun."

She led him into the bedroom, rubbing his arm as they walked. "You should take at least your shirt off, but the more you take off the better. I'm going to try pressure points and a couple other thing where I need to get at your skin."

[lapsedsaint]

He nodded. She's already seen him naked, already drawn him into her. No sense in having any shame now. Once they're in the bedroom, he stripped down to his briefs. After a quick glance at her, he climbed into her bed and sat, looking at her. "Back or belly?"

[aesthetic_mojo]

Another time and she would have watched him strip with an eye toward which part of him she would taste first. This time she watched for evidence that he was stiff anywhere or otherwise in pain. "On your back for now, since the pain is in front."

She ducked into the bathroom while he got settled, coming back out with towels, two small jars and two candles. After setting them all on the end of the bed, she sat down beside his hip. "Now comes the tricky part. I need to know how you define 'mumbo jumbo.'"

[lapsedsaint]

While she was in the bathroom, he got settled on his back and stretched himself some. The truth of the matter was that he was stiff all over from the constant tension of the headache.

His eyes where closed when she came back out and he didn't open them until she spoke. "Mumbo jumbo? No sacrificed animals, no blood, no calling down spirits to inhabit my body."

[aesthetic_mojo]

"Hmmm, there's beeswax in the candles, but I think that's about it. Otherwise there's herbs, oils, and more than a bit of hopeful thinking." She closed her eyes for just a moment as she felt around mentally for his lighter and fished it out to light the candles.

She patted his thigh, then went to work setting things up. The candles, made with fragrant oils, went on the floor on either side of the top of the bed. After a moment's hesitation, she slipped off her skirt, allowing her to move around the bed more easily.

She opened one of the jars, got some of the paste on her fingers, and started massaging one of his feet. "Tell me if this makes your head or anything else worse."

[lapsedsaint]

The initial touch caused him to jerk his foot in surprise. It tickled and he whimpered roughly. "Tickles. Gentle." He gave her his foot back, trusting her to not make him take it away again.

While she worked, he groaned softly. What she was doing didn't make anything hurt any worse, but it wasn't doing a lot for just his head. It was, however, starting to relax him.

[aesthetic_mojo]

She smiled slightly at his complaint, adding a little more pressure to keep from tickling. When she felt him give in to what she was doing, she changed what she was doing very slightly. There was nothing radical about what she did, but she was good at it. She wasn't sure that if his headache was from something Dagny did she would be able to cure it, but she could and would take care of the ancillary pain and tension.

After a little while she left his feet and started moving up his legs. When she got up to his thigh, she chuckled. "I didn't think the next time I groped your legs my hands would smell of rosemary."