Angrboda (paintedfuture) wrote in blackpoint, @ 2015-03-19 22:56:00 |
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Entry tags: | liam jones, samah o'connell |
Who: Samah O’Connell & Liam Jones
When: Friday, March 13th 2015 - Night.
Where: A museum!
What: Sam takes Liam out for a night of fun… and breaking into museums?
Rating: PG-13.
Sam had the timing down perfect. He always had the timing down perfect. But in this particular case, there needed to be no mistakes. He didn’t want Liam getting into any real trouble. He just wanted to shake things up. And maybe show off a little. Anyone as decent as Liam, and as determined to stay on the right side of things, was also unlikely to have nearly enough excitement in his life. And if there was anything Sam was good at, it was this. “Okay, so I might have lied. A little,” he admitted, pulling Liam through the maintenance entrance to the museum and shutting the door before the temporarily deactivated security alarm cycled back on. “I wasn’t hired to transport artwork. I was hired to test their security system,” he added, whispering now as the darkness settled in around them. Technically, that wasn’t the whole truth either, but it was at least more true than what he’d told Liam to get him here in the first place. “On the plus side,” Sam smirked, pressing Liam against the wall with a forearm to keep them both out of sight, “if you do exactly what I tell you, no one will ever know we were here. And I’ll split my consultant fee with you.” Liam was used to being dragged into situations where he was uncomfortable or completely out of his element. People did it to him on accident, on purpose, because they thought he needed it or simply just because he made a good scapegoat. They rarely, if ever, listened to his warnings and censures, and he was used to that too. Sam doing it was a new one. He wasn’t surprised, given their first few conversations included getting into a little trouble, but the sudden shift and admission to lying was a little bit of one. His trusting nature did tend to fall for those kinds of traps easily, but surely Sam wouldn’t knowingly trick him. Right? Unfortunately for Liam, his brain muddled as soon as Sam crowded into his space. He’d never had that kind of swift reaction to anyone before, except maybe Eleanor Lohaki in seventh grade, and she dumped him a day later for a freshman. . He let his head fall back gently against the wall behind him, and worked to keep his breathing and body study as he surveyed Sam. “Testing the security systems. That--” Okay, so it could be true, but he was still too distracted by glancing down at Sam’s mouth to rationalize it. “I don’t need the money, Sam. What’s going on?” Since Liam didn’t immediately try to move away, Sam shifting his arm away, resting a hand on his shoulder instead while he took a quick peek around the corner. The two security guards worked on a predictable loop and a glance at his watch told him how much time they had before they needed to move. “What’s going on is that I was paid to find the holes in this museum’s security.” Turning back to Liam, he squeezed lightly at his shoulder and pointed down the length of museum with his other hand. “The same week, it turns out, that they’re hosting a new collection of rare restorations next to x-ray restorations of the same piece. It’s only just been put out on display in the last hour, so...I thought you might like to be the first to see it. Two birds, one stone,” he summarized with a crooked smile, excitement in his dark eyes. This was definitely his element, even if it was one of his less used methods. He couldn’t steal anything from this museum right after a consultation - that was a quick way to get caught - but he could get inside information on when the collection was being moved and how. If a piece didn’t make it to its new home, well, that was hardly a problem with the security he was vetting. Knowing they only had another thirty seconds, he leaned in and whispered, “Or I can send you right back out this door and do this the boring way. Up to you.” Almost immediately, Liam wanted to protest. Every muscle in his body tensed and he glanced towards the door more than a few times in Sam’s brief explanation. Okay, so, consultation job. Still illegal. Still wrong. Still had a potential of them being arrested, brought up on charges of breaking and entering, disappointing his parents. But damn if he hadn’t been looking at the information for this opening for a while. He wasn’t famous, and he definitely didn’t have any connections, so chances were low that he’d even be able to see it within the first few weeks. Ultimately, he gave in easier than he would have a few months ago, and he completely blamed Sam. “Alright-” His voice was barely a whisper, not wanting to draw attention to them. “But if there’s any sign of… anyone, you have to promise we leave? Neither of us need to be arrested tonight.” “I promise we won’t get arrested,” Sam countered, knowing they’d be getting glimpses of the two security guards more than once on his pre-planned route. Even if he had to pull a distraction though, he’d make sure Liam didn’t get caught. “You just have to trust me. And…,” he took another glance at his watch and murmured, “....be very, very quiet.” Snagging Liam by a forearm, he pulled him quickly down a hallway just in time to avoid the first guard heading towards their corner. At the end of the hall, he switched to Liam’s other side and reached up to spray something from a small aerosol can over the lens of an outdated security camera that was just starting to swing their way. With that done, he dropped back down to his heels and shot Liam a crooked grin. “When I say go, we’re going to take five steps to the left and then duck around that pillar, right there.” Sam pointed to the pillar in question and crowded closer, fingers tucking around the back of Liam’s neck. “Just follow my lead in three, two, one….go.” Five steps to the left. Liam followed instructions to the T, refusing to mess this up and get either of them in trouble or lose the job for Sam. Or get arrested, since Liam was still convinced that was an option. By the time he made it to the fifth step and had ducked around the pillar, his adrenaline was pumping and his heart was beating so loudly that Liam was pretty convinced guards from a mile away could hear it. Or maybe that was just the paranoia talking. He had noted the aerosol can, and growing up in the decades he had earned the move a silent chuckle and extra glance. He wanted to joke about it, to tease Sam about being stuck in a spy movie from the 80s, but he was taking the very quiet warning to heart and had his mouth clamped shut. So much so that he was fairly certain that he stopped breathing a few minutes before. That continued even through him reaching a hand up to gently wrap around Sam’s bicep, both for stability and the desire to stay close. When they stopped, Liam let his head fall back against the pillar and he let out a breath, closing his eyes in relief of one step being over. He dropped his voice down to something that are barely audible. “You’re going to give me a heart attack.” “You’re doing great.” Struggling to keep his smile cool instead of giddy, Sam patted Liam’s chest, then left his hand resting there so he could peek quickly beyond the pillar. He knew he was taking advantage of the situation to touch more than was absolutely necessary, but he didn’t seem able to resist that urge, either. “In ten seconds, I’m going to guide you into the next room,” Sam instructed, tugging Liam away from the pillar and turning him towards their destination. He started to put his hands on Liam’s hips, then thought better of it and just grasped his shoulders. When the time came, he whispered “now” and moved Liam forward until they were both tucked out of sight in a dark corner, hidden from the only other camera on their floor. “We have to wait here for two minutes. There’s another guard and his route is going to take him...well, a little close to us,” Sam smirked apologetically. Pressing himself against the wall, he reached across Liam and pulled him into the other side of the corner, leaving them pressed together from hip to shoulder. “Two minutes?” Liam whispered in return, trying to keep the panic down and miserably failing. He pressed up as close to the wall and Sam as he could go, practically flattening himself. His heart almost gave out at ten seconds, and now he had to idle here for two minutes. Turned out that two minutes definitely felt like a lifetime. More than a lifetime. His heart was still pounding fast and he was doing his best to keep his breathing under control, looking around their little corner like some door was going to magically open up and give them a safe way through. This was why he didn’t take risks very often, because no one needed that amount of adrenaline and panic pumping through their body. Voice still in the smallest whisper he could muster, Liam looked over at Sam. “You’ve done this before, haven’t you? You seem like you’ve definitely done this before.” “Well, technically, it’s a minute and forty seconds, but...yeah,” Sam smiled slowly and turned to watch Liam. This probably hadn’t been his best plan ever, but it was hard to regret it when he could feel the warm line of Liam along his side. He did feel guilty stressing him out, though. He opened his mouth to apologize for it, when Liam’s question made him pause, lift his eyebrows, and huff out a laugh. “I’ve done security tests all over the world, yeah,” he answered. It wasn’t a lie, and self-preservation was definitely nudging at his brain, but he felt the pull to be more honest, anyway. He didn’t think Liam would rat him out, but he might turn away and never look back. Which was enough to make Sam press a little closer and sigh. “I’m...I’m not sure how much more you really want to know.” “God.” Liam answered with a quiet, under-his-breath groan. He was regretting not just leaving when he had the opportunity, despite his overwhelming desire to now see it through. And get to stare at the collection, of course. It was hard to admit that yeah, this could be fun if he let it be, but instead his brain just flooded with the usual doubts and anxiety. Sam’s continued talking did keep him pre-occupied, however, and he glanced over with narrowed eyes, not out of anger but more trying to suss out the situation silently. “I’m not dumb, Sam. And I know you know I’m not. Honesty goes pretty far with me.” He dropped eye contact to look back around their dark corner, as if making sure they weren’t being overheard, even with hushed whispers. “It just seems like there’s a puzzle piece missing.” Sam took a distracted look at his watch, a tense little chuckle slipping through his lips. “I know you’re not dumb. I also know you’ve got amazing timing for a shake down.” They were down to thirty seconds, which meant he had to keep his answer brief. But, if it was too brief, Liam might plant his feet on instinct. Sam sighed and rested his head back against the wall. “I’m a thief. Mostly art and collectibles. And only from people who can afford to lose them.” Sliding a sideways glance at Liam, he pointed across the room. He was a little surprised his hand didn’t shake, because his pulse had decided to gallop into anxious territory. “Now, in ten seconds, we need to run for those doors or we’re both going to get caught. Your collection is on the other side, and our exit is beyond that. Think you can stick with me until then?” “You’re a--” Liam cut off, not having enough time to actually say his piece. He had every thought from outrage and anger to understanding and getting it. Or rather understanding was his default. Either way, outrage had no place here, not when they were so close to the collection and the exit. Or being caught. He certainly wasn’t going to be their downfall. “Don’t worry about me.” His whisper was clipped this time, a little harsher than intended, and he amended softly, dropping his head. “I can stick with you, don’t worry.” Liam was light on his feet when he needed to be, and the run was silent and swift as he could make it. Narrowly avoiding the guard until the very last moment, when his foot slipped right at the door, and he tripped into the room, barely catching himself on the wall. It wasn’t as if Sam had expected a better response, but the drop in temperature still felt like a punch in the chest. He kept his face as blank as he could, though, resignation only flickering through his eyes as he nodded and led the run into the next room. As it turned out, Liam’s slip was timely. One step into the room, Sam spotted the new camera in the opposite corner, likely put there for the new collection since it wasn’t there during his recon the day before. The other cameras weren’t on a live feed - they were mostly for looks, and insurance purposes - which was the only reason he could get away with old school methods like spraying the lens. It was likely this one wasn’t any different, but it was an unknown. An unknown that was sweeping back towards them just as Liam tripped. Sam had only seconds to guess the arc of the camera, but he hurriedly caught Liam by the arm and shoved him around a pillar. They ended up crunched chest-to-chest in a small nook, next to a large plant and an oversized painting displayed on an easel. Sam had one hand lifted to shield Liam’s face from the camera, just in case, and one hand over his mouth to stifle any sound of surprise he might make. After watching the camera finish its arc a safe distance away, he breathed out and dropped his hands to press against the wall on either side of Liam’s shoulders. “Sorry. Had to improvise,” he whispered. A flash of guilt and something more heated passed over his face as his gaze dropped to Liam’s mouth. “We’re good now.” Even if he’d had the urge to swear or yelp or any other noise that Sam’s hand would have stopped, Liam froze up enough that it wasn’t an issue. His mouth clamped shut and he stilled, careful to not make any sort of noise following his almost disastrous trip. His hands were just barely shaking as he reached up to grab onto the front of Sam’s shirt to steady himself. As soon as Sam let go of him, Liam’s hands also loosened their grip, but with nowhere to go, he just ended up with flattened hands on Sam’s stomach. It was easy to get lost in the eyes gazing directly at him, easy to forget that he was supposed to be mad right now. Easy to follow Sam’s gaze downward and end up staring at the lips across from him. Easy to unknowingly tilt his lower body just slightly into Sam’s personal space. Breathing out, he nodded slowly, teeth gently worrying at his lower lip for a moment before finally bringing his eyes back up to meet Sam’s. “Yeah. We’re good.” A small, uncertain smile tugged at Sam’s mouth as his hands slid down the wall. Unlike Liam, he was conscious he was pressing closer. And completely aware that he was tipping his head to the side. What he wanted to do and what he knew he should do where two very different things, however. Then again, he’d never been very good at doing what he should. Knowing they had a few minutes before the guard became an issue again, and that the way things had gone meant this might be his only chance, Sam gave into the selfish choice. He shifted his hands to Liam’s waist and kissed him. Greedy as he felt, he kept the kiss as chaste as he could, slanting his lips across Liam’s like a hesitant, unspoken question. Liam rarely felt pure, unadulterated lust. He’d learned early enough in his life that it was a bit weird to not be a walking sex stick that thought of nothing else, but he’d also been surrounded by some of the most accepting people and never been made to feel like he was broken. There’d been a few dates through his school years, and of course the people his dad once tried to buy him for sex. But only one in a hundred really got a reaction swift enough from him that made his head swim, or his hormones shoot through the roof. They were in the middle of a museum, breaking in to see a collection and Sam had just dropped one hell of a truth bomb. It was the worst timing ever. And yet, still, Liam reacted like he was struck by lightning. His grip on Sam tightened again, and he leaned fully into the space of the other man, opening himself up more to the kiss then he would’ve expected from himself. It was a good minute before his brain finally kickstarted back to life and by then, he had to extract his hands from slipping out under Sam’s shirt at the same time as he pulled his mouth away. It was like another zap of lightning, only this time separated him from practically devouring Sam right there. “That was- definitely terrible timing. We gotta-” Liam reached up to run a hand over his face, half-tempted to smack a little sense into himself. “We gotta get out of here.” Sam was an opportunist by nature, but even he was shocked into stillness at the fierceness of Liam’s reaction. It was a brief frozen moment, though. Brief, and broken by a quiet groan in the back of his throat as he slid his hands around Liam’s waist. Stroking up, Sam curled his fingers into the muscles of his back and gave as good as he got. He hadn’t expected this, and he lost himself in the moment enough that when Liam broke the kiss, he had no idea how much time had passed. “Uhh…,” Sam stammered, unclenching his fingers slowly. Coherent thought took a few seconds longer. “Yeah. Yeah, we--that’s--we really should.” Forcing his gaze away from Liam’s face, he watched the camera for a full sweep and figured out where they would need to go to reach the exit before the guard came back around. Eventually, he turned back to Liam and smiled, still a little glazed in the eyes and not particularly trying hard to hide it. “One question...do you still want to see the collection?” It was, at least, somewhat satisfying to see Sam taken apart and as befuddled as Liam felt. His inexperience coupled with his swift reaction was embarrassing enough that had they been in light and had his skin shown it easily, Liam’s blush would have been easily visible. As it was, he was already feeling both overwhelmed and somewhat pleased that someone far more blase about… everything, actually seemed rattled. Because of Liam. But that didn’t stop his own overwhelming feelings, especially as Liam fell back into his own mind. And into the realization that it was a terrible idea to be kissing someone that he was suddenly having trust issues with. “Uhhhh,” Suave and clearly put together (or the complete opposite of), Liam shuffled his feet and couldn’t quite meet Sam’s gaze, or match his smile. “Just- Yeah. Might as well, since we’re here, but only for a few minutes. And then I’ve gotta go.” Feeling the chill of distrust set back in, Sam eased his expression back into a more neutral state. He’d argue that it was more for Liam’s sake than his own, but it was a defensive measure too. And it didn’t stop him from carefully linking his fingers through Liam’s, anyway. “Trust me for just those few minutes, then, okay?” With that, he led Liam towards the only unmonitored patch of wall he’d be able to view the collection from and, ultimately, hurried him towards the exit when a tell-tale whistle and the slap of a flashlight against a thigh let them know the guard was coming back around. He let go of Liam’s hand to disarm the alarm system and only touched him gently on the shoulder when it was safe to squeeze out into the alley behind the museum. After that, he dropped his hands to his sides, nodding his chin towards the end of the alley. “You’re parked down that way. I’ll call a cab.” Liam swallowed hard, remaining silent to the best of his abilities. Silence failed as soon he saw the collection, noise gathering up in the back of his throat like almost a whimper of need. Given that they had to keep on moving, though, he put a lid on it and followed after Sam, quieting himself (and reminding himself that it was definitely the collection he was being noisy over. Not any lingering… anything. Definitely.) and following without complaint. Once outside, he sucked in the fresh air and dropped down slightly, hands on his knees. He nodded to Sam’s comment, not arguing or insisting that he drive him. The drive would’ve been awkward enough, and Liam didn’t necessarily trust himself. “Yeah--I. That’s a good idea.” He stood straight, already backing away a few steps toward the direction of his car. “We’ll talk later, Sam.” |