Who: Kathy and Benedict Where: Aubade 501 When: After this What: This is what happens when one takes the initiative. Rating: There's making out. Lawlz. And then a very disappointed blonde girl. Trust me, it will all make sense eventually.
There was no question that Kathy had fun while she was out with Eli. Good food, good friend, good laughs, and good (if not hilarious) advice. It wasn’t too late, around 10:30 or so, but it was much later than most of her nights out.
By the time she was knocking on Benedict’s door her cheeks will still cheerfully flushed and her knees were still tingling nicely. She had dressed casually for the night out, but had managed to dress up a pair of jeans and a purple blouse that by this point in the evening was just a bit wrinkled from all the lounging around she’d been doing after a few cocktails with Eli. She wasn’t exactly rumpled, but she looked pleasantly comfortable.
It had been a good idea to get out, and while she felt perfectly comfortable talking to Eli about her life, she couldn’t help but chuckle to herself about the state of the life she was on her way home to. She didn’t drink often, and she certainly wasn’t drunk by any stretch of the imagination but it didn’t stop her from feeling a bit more loose than she did most other days of her life.
When Benedict opened the door she couldn’t help her grin from being a bit lazier than normal, and her eyes held just a bit more of a mischievous glint than they normally did. “Uh oh she’s back, hide the junk food,” she teased.
His surprise was short lived, a quick glance over her form, making note of the pink cheeks, the bright smile, and found himself giving her an amused smirk all his own. “As if there are any after an evening with Evie,” he teased right back. He looked over her shoulder for any signs of a date but found no one else there, and found himself relaxing a little at the revelation.
He took a step back and opened the door wider, beckoning her to come in. “I do believe the girls are in Evie’s room. Though they might have fallen asleep by now.” It wasn’t late but evenings with Evie tended to require a lot of energy. “How was your evening? Well, I hope?” Propriety, and perhaps something else, prompted his question.
She wasn’t sure what he was looking for behind her, but he clearly didn’t find it as she stepped in and closed the door behind her, “She does like to shovel it in, it’s a sound plan, tell her I approve of it when she wakes up tomorrow.”
She was fairly certain that he was right about the girls being asleep, only because they both would have run in here to see her as per usual. And it was far too quiet in the house for there to be any sign of Georgie and Evie up to their old tricks. She supposed that direction was her cue to go and fetch Georgie from Evie’s room and take her home, but then he asked how her night was and she stopped in her tracks and smiled a bit, “I had grown up conversations in a grown up establishment,” she smirked a bit, “Though I will say that when you go to a restaurant with a child the waitress brings crayons...And if I’m honest, I missed that bit a little,” she said laughing.
“Ah.” Grown up conversations. How he did miss those, though the few non-work related ones he had these days involved the woman in front of him. Since the conversation was continuing and she wasn’t heading down to the bedrooms he gestured her down to the living room. There was an open bottle of brandy at the coffee table and the television playing softly but otherwise there wasn’t much anything going on. “I have it on good authority that they will give them to you if you ask nicely. Evie has long passed the age of automatic crayon giving but I believe some eye lash batting can go a long way.”
Maybe it was because she was nice and tipsy but she found her way into the living room easily and sat down on the couch, she crossed her legs and sighed comfortably. “I don’t think we were at the kind of establishment that caters to the crayon crowd, but I think Evie’s batted eyelashes would force someone to leave their post at the restaurant and go out and buy a box. Not a shady box either but the 96 colors box. I think I’m passed my batting eyelashes prime,” It was a compliment and said as such, but she was also fairly certain it was completely true. And truthfully, she had always been sensible, she had never tried batting her eyelashes. Which made her completely certain that Georgie’s newest “but I’m cute!” habits were coming from the adorable influence of the blonde down the hall.
“Nonsense,” he scoffed, sitting down beside her on the couch, comfortable distance away, as he usually did. “Your eyelash batting days are far from over.” He clearly meant it too, no hint of tease for forced praise in his voice. Kathy was a lovely woman. If she chose to bat her eyelashes at someone he didn’t doubt they would fall over themselves to find her crayons, or whatever else she might be wanting from them. He grabbed his glass, still a bit of brandy at the bottom. And though he knew she had quite a bit to drink already, he would be remiss not to offer her any. “Something to drink?”
The alcohol was clearly having some kind of effect on her, when he sat down she was pretty sure she got some kind of goosebumps which was silly, so she probably just caught a chill. The after effects of too much wine and far too much time spent discussing the man sitting next to her. She’d been told, quite plainly, to throw caution to the wind, but the longer she sat here the more her stomach fluttered (how ridiculous) with the thoughts that went along with those kinds of actions. She was going to smack Eli upside the head when she picked up Georgie after work next. He had that much coming at least. “Benedict, think of who it is you’re talking to, they never quite started,” she said with a genuine laugh. She thought over the decision to drink more and she was certain that if she drank much more she might never leave this couch, and certainly pay the price in the morning. “Maybe in a bit, I should give you a chance to catch up,” she said winking at him without really realizing that she’d done so.
Benedict’s answer was a low chuckle, listening to her suggestion and finishing the remainder of his drink before pouring himself another. Then he turned back to the woman beside him and her strange opinions about her eyelash batting abilities. “Think of who I am talking to, she says.” Another chuckle and a drink before he shook his head. “Your lash batting prowess is quite powerful, I assure you. And if they have somehow diminished in the passing of years then I shudder to think how easily your will would have been done when you were Evie’s age.”
She leaned her head back on the couch cushion behind her and closed her eyes lazily with a smile on her face as he chuckled. It ought to be illegal what that man’s laugh sounded like. She felt him looking at her and she opened her eyes and simply turned her head a bit to look at him, keeping herself comfortably relaxed against the couch and grinned, “And I haven’t even tried it on you, I’ll have to remember that for the future, though I’m sure you’ll just ask me if I’ve lost a contact lens.” She teased playfully.
Perhaps, though there was something in her voice that gave him pause. Another long drink, and another smile, this time an mischievous glint in his eyes. “Try it on me, then.” He finished his glass and set it back down on the coffee table, elbows resting on his knees as he looked back over his shoulder at her. “Let us see.”
She ran a hand through her hair as she laughed at his request. “Well that’s grossly unfair, not only do you live with the eyelash batting champion of the world, you’re also putting me on the spot when I’m less than completely sober,” she berated him playfully. She regarded him carefully, her eyes wandering from his face to his neck to his shoulders and his back, he was definitely looking mischievous and it was a look she wanted to remember later. Her eyes moved back up to his face, she wasn’t aware that she was admiring him quite so obviously, blame it on the alcohol.
“Alright, but remember you don’t get to laugh and throw me out on my ass, better yet, I should assure you ahead of time that I’m not, in fact, having a seizure,” she said before she cleared her throat (because clearing ones throat before batting eyelashes made plenty of sense). She felt ridiculous, but that was the best part of being under the influence, she didn’t feel ridiculous enough to stop. So she gave him her best shot, her mouth turning up into a hopeful smile, and she closed her eyes for a quick moment before giving him what she hoped was a good turn at batting her eyelashes. Her eyes were downcast for a quick moment before she gazed back at his face. She wasn’t entirely sure what she was asking for, she hadn’t gotten that far yet, but maybe the previous leering she’d done would speak better than an actual verbal request. Maybe.
Benedict was used to being appraised so obviously, and equally used to pretending to not notice it. The smirk never left his lips though he tried his best not to be so obvious. He was about to reach for the bottle once more when she called for his attention once more. He managed to keep his smirking to a minimum, trying to not to give her an opportunity to back out of it.
Her eyelash batting was a success, her expression easily making his grin wider and making him settle back onto the cushions of the couch. His arm rested on the back of their seat and he leaned in closer. “Eyelash batting was perfect, as suspected. So that does beg the question, what is it that you are hoping to gain in return.” Clearly he was curious, possibly had an idea as to what it was, and yet was still waiting to hear her say it.
She wasn’t entirely sure what she was expecting to hear, or what she thought he might say, but him declaring her a success was the last thing she expected, he grinned but before too long he was sitting back on the couch. She wasn’t entirely sure, but she thought he was now much closer than he had been and she turned to face him a bit better. She was pretty sure that her cheeks were flushing a bit more, but she hoped she could blame that on the earlier booze as well. She was supposed to be throwing caution to the wind, being confident, doing this that or the other thing...But all she could think was ‘God he smells good.’
“If I were any sort of proper flirt I’d have had an answer for you that was both innocent enough to be ladylike, and just saucy enough to get the point across, but I’m afraid you have a woman sitting on your couch who can’t think of anything clever to say at all. The cleverness is being overpowered by my desire to stop myself from telling you how lovely you smell,” then she laughed, “And god damn I did it anyway.”
Another low laugh. “I am flattered.” In his long life he had been complimented on a great many things before, but his smell wasn’t one of them. He supposed there was a first for everything. In turn he leaned in closer, almost close enough to press his lips to hers before turning his head. He dipped his head, nuzzling along her jawline, down the delicate lines of her neck and ghosting his lips over her pulse. “You smell even more lovely,” he decided, pressing a quick kiss to her throat before lifting his head, wondering if he crossed too far. Usually he was much less forward than this, particularly with inebriated women. “But I suppose I should not have told you that either.”
Of all the worries that had been running through her mind when she’d thought over what might happen if she “went there” with Benedict there was no denying that making an ass out of herself and being epically rejected by her next door neighbor was one of her top issues. It wasn’t that she couldn’t stand to be rejected, sure she preferred not to be, but the idea of being rejected by someone she considered a friend was worse. She’d have to see him all the time, and it would have always been hanging there between them.
That singular fear was pretty much alleviated when his face was close to hers and then she felt his breath and his lips on her neck. Her eyes closed and she sighed softly as a smile turned the corners of her mouth up a bit. That moment had been the height of her non-child related physical affection in a very long time. She wasn’t eager to see it end. “I think my delicate sensibilities can handle it,” she said softly before letting the liquid courage take over and she closed the distance between them once again and pressed her lips to his tentatively at first. Liquid courage got her that far, but it didn’t mean her heart wasn’t about to jump out of her chest from the nerves.
There was only a moment of hesitation before he was returning the gesture, for it had been quite some time since he had kissed a woman like so. A split second later he was dashing the worry away, deepening the kiss and slipping his hand through her hair to hold her to him. He was dimly aware that this was not the smartest idea, nor the most romantic. Granted, their daughters were sound asleep but they were still in his living room, easily the most accessible room of his home, on the couch kissing without a care in the world. She didn’t seem to notice this and he wasn’t about to enlighten her and ruin the moment, so he didn’t break away, instead sliding his other hand to rest at her waist.
Somewhere in the back of Kathy’s mind she was pretty sure this was highly inappropriate, but when he deepened the kiss and his hand moved to her waist she wasn’t thinking much about appropriate. She liked to think that she was life experienced, it was definitely the presence she had, but no amount of career or life experience could have prepared her for being kissed the way Benedict was kissing her now. She was pretty sure that even if she wanted to she wouldn’t able to stop. She didn’t exactly think Benedict was the type to make out on the living room couch like a kid in high school, in fact she hadn’t even done as much when she was a teenager. But this, this she could get used to. She turned her body slightly, moving closer to him so she could wrap her arms around him. One of her hands moving to the back of his neck while her other hand her rested on his shoulder gently at first and as the moment grew a bit more intense her fingers clenched in the fabric of his shirt.
Making out was something teenagers did, not Benedict. They were simply kissing. Never mind the differences, or the lack thereof, between the two. And though he had no plans of going any farther than simply kissing, he wasn’t planning on stopping anytime soon. When she turned closer and he felt her hands pull him toward her he didn’t protest. From her waist, his hand slid up her back, holding her as he urged her to relax back on the couch. The hand in her hair slipped back to her chin, tilling her head up as he broke the kiss only long enough to press his lips along her jaw and to gently nibble down her neck.
Kathy certainly didn’t make out either, she was 37 years old, an executive, and a mother. She did not make out on the couch with the “guy next door.” She was mature, and smart, and capable and so was Benedict. Clearly this was well thought out. She was fairly pliant in his embrace, he urged her to relax, and she didn’t require too much urging at all. Her limbs were loose from the alcohol, her limbs were loose from the fact that she was being kissed (and quite well), they were both lucky she didn’t just swoon and faint at that point. It was partly from the attention, partly from the build up from the evening’s discussion, and partly because it was all just...Very fun. She kept it together, she would make her very dignified exit eventually, and all would be well. It was a sound plan. Then before she could really object to the kissing party being over his lips and teeth on her neck and she titled her head to give him all the damn access he wanted. He was obviously trying to kill her, and she didn’t mind one bit. She was well aware that she had lazy smile on her face as she tightened her embrace and held him closer, her hands moving freely across his back. Her dignified exit strategy was scrapped in favor of staying on this couch for as long as it was possible.
Her mind shut down a bit, because thinking thoughts during a moment as fantastic as this was seemed like a terrible idea. She shifted a bit where she was half sitting and half lying on the couch, just enough to get more comfortable and to goad him to move properly on top of her. But they still weren’t making out on the couch in the middle of the night. They were adults. Respectable ones.
He wasn’t sure how much time had passed, having lost track of such things the second Kathy pulled him atop her, and he felt her hands trace the muscles of his back trough his shirt. He was too distracted by the curve of her smile that had to be memorized by pressing his mouth to hers. He had been too focused on her, the pleased sounds that fell from her lips that where echoed by his low hums and chuckles that rumbled in his throat. He was a gentleman first, a man second, but it wasn’t quite a conscious movement as his hand slid from her waist, fingers hooking playfully in the belt loops of her jeans before settling possessively on her hip.
All playfulness aside, and there was plenty of that, there was still plenty of kissing going on. Her hands were attempting to feel every part of his back and torso that she could manage to touch. She had no idea how long they’d been there either, she didn’t much care. Her hands had moved under the back of his shirt and her fingers brushing lightly on the skin of his lower back. When she felt his hand settle on her hip her leg moved slightly to hook around his and her foot dragged lightly over his calf, her jeans weren’t exactly the most comfortable thing to roll around in, but he was definitely not complaining. She was kissing him deeper, and a bit more intensely than she had been, she pulled away for just a moment to catch her breath. She was a bit breathless by that point but it didn’t stop her from busying herself with kissing his neck lightly.
It wasn’t too much longer before a thought occurred to her, it wasn’t something so sensible as ‘our daughters are asleep down the hall we should stop acting like 16 year old kids’ it was the complete and utter horror that she was such a complete and utter human relationship failure that she hadn’t shaved her legs all week...She wasn’t sure this little kiss fest they’d undertaken was going to go much further, but she decided in that moment that it was much better to be safe than sorry. Erring on the side of caution was her schtick afterall.
She pulled back slightly and put her hand on his chest to keep at least a small amount of distance between them, she smiled and cleared her throat just a bit trying to gather some kind of coherent thought. “I should take Georgia home,” she said trying not to sound like a complete freak. She failed pretty miserably, which just caused her to start wriggling and she damn near fell off the couch in the haste to move off of the couch. “Yes. I should definitely get Georgia, it’s late,” she looked at her wrist, “Oh yeah, look at the time,” she wasn’t wearing a watch. She brushed her hand through her hair nervously and headed down the hall to get her daughter. Unfortunately she had to make a U-turn because she went down the wrong hallway. “Whoops,” she said with a nervous chuckle as she passed back through the living room to get to Evie’s room.
She knocked, waited for the “come in” and ignored the gigantic smile on Evie’s face, the comment about “leaving so soon” and gathered a sleeping Georgie up and headed down the hall back toward the living room. Where she naturally had to face Benedict again, and for some reason the after kissing was much more embarrassing than the whole actual kissing and the getting to the kissing part...Shit. “Benedict...Enjoy the rest of your evening...” she said lamely. She really needed to get out of this place. Now. This was definitely one for the books.
Once she managed closed the door behind her, and before she made it next door she heard, quite loudly, from the other side of the door a very annoyed teenage blonde hollering “Papa! What did you do?!” Yeah she needed to get home. Her ability to eavesdrop from great distances was going to do nothing but embarrass her further.