Dante "Inferno" Zaragoza - Death'll find you... (xolotl) wrote in repose, @ 2020-02-20 18:43:00 |
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Entry tags: | *log, dante zaragoza, leena bertolini |
[Log] Dante & Leena - Mistletoe - Complete
Who: Dante & Leena (Mentions of: Hector, Bruce, Selina)
What: Mistletoe and Questions
When: BACKDATED: Christmas - prior to party
Where: Dante’s house
Ratings/Warnings: Language. Always language.
Dante didn't like lying. She was quite good at it when she needed to be, tossing on this facade or that when a mission required one or when she needed to keep her murderous rage and intent under wraps. That was why it was quick - easy - to absently palm the small package of soy sauce, fortune cookies, and other items tied together in a baggie and stash it - tucked away in a spot that it could have slipped the bag and rolled to naturally - in her car in a place that would require a little looking to find. From here Dante and Hector had driven home - just slow enough that her father wouldn't say anything but - as fast as she could get away with. Seeing Leena already on the steps when she arrived around 9:55 was a bit of a surprise honestly, but…. "Hey." There was a half-grin offered to the other woman as Dante nearly bounced towards the front door with hands full of boxes that contained the Chinese food. She was... Excited. Happy. Even if she… Wasn’t sure she… Ought to be… It didn’t change the fact that she still was. “Wanna grab the door? Code’s 133759348.” Her head would give a nod towards the button panel to help direct Leena on the ask. From here it would be easy to get everything in the house and start digging into setting things up - giving Leena the mistletoe and thumbtacks to hang it in the livingroom doorway - while she had Hector help her sorting the food. It’d take a few minutes but Dante then would frustratedly let slip that the condiment baggie was missing and ever so sweetly ask if Hector could go look for it. Maybe it was just in the car? It'd give them about 10 minutes if she knew how her father looked for things and as he agreed - because he was the absolute best - to go look Dante would follow his footsteps long enough to know he’d exited the house before leisurely meandering towards the living room with a half-smirk aimed at Leena. “Ten minutes. Maybe five.... But probably ten.” She did not jump to her feet and start smiling the moment Dante pulled into the driveway. Did not. She waited like half a second and started forward, only to have the question stop her in her tracks. "Oh, yeah, sure." Between Hector and Dante, it looked like they had the boxes handled anyway, and she flipped the little keypad open to punch in the code. House unlocked, she grabbed the door and held it open for the both of them, maybe while bouncing a little on her toes until she was handed the mistletoe and thumbtacks. With something to do, she squinted at the area while trying to decide where the best place would be. Slightly inside the door, so people weren't jamming up the exit, but far enough away that they could also dodge if they didn't want to get caught beneath it. Mistletoe up, she caught the tail end of the conversation, enough to see Hector heading outside as she slunk closer to Dante, one hand automatically reaching out for hers. "Better make it count then. Mistletoe?" Eyes tried to catch Hector moving outside for a second more before she’d seem content to move forward. The hand would be taken up and a tilt of her head given with a thoughtful hum. “I guess we could.” The tone faked serious consideration poorly as Dante couldn’t help the slight playful tone underneath. She grinned as she took a few steps forward, their fingers loosely held together and stopped beneath the mistletoe. "Is it -- is it going to matter if he comes in here and we're still kissing?" Was Dante out? She guessed yes, but that didn't mean Hector was okay if she was. And she didn't really want to start a fight between the two of them. Honestly, Dante hasn’t thought much about Hector catching them past the uncomfortable game of 500 questions they’d play after the guests left about Leena. “Shouldn’t be, no. He’ll ask a lot of questions but...” There was a shrug of shoulders given here. “I mostly just don’t like being in his sights when he gets on a question kick.” Would Bruce ask her questions if he was here? She didn't think Selina would, no Selina would ask a single question, maybe two, and smirk before she went off and did something else. Leena tugged a little on her hand as if beckoning her closer. "Too many questions to bother with?" "Like a billion questions." It was an obvious exaggeration but her point of it being a ton was emotionally obvious. Dante would follow along with the tug. "He was a journalist before I was born." There's a little hint of a grin, her other hand stretching out to catch one of the loops made for a belt. "I promise to keep it to only one question -- after," she said with a little glance upwards to the mistletoe. Dante will allow herself to shift at the finger in her belt loop, stepping in a bit closer with half a grin. "Only one, huh?" Her arms shifted, coming to rest leisurely over Leena's shoulders, absently crossing behind the other woman's head. "Hope it's a good one." With those words Dante would shift, leaning down a little bit to offer up the appropriate mistletoe related kiss. "Yep." It's strange, down on the ground to realize how much shorter she is, but then her chin is tilting up, fingers leaving the belt loop alone to stretch across her back. "Pretty sure it's an important one," she whispers and closes the distance, lips meeting Dante's gently. There's no intent to make this hot or lust-filled. It's mistletoe. Mistletoe is supposed to be some stupid, warm, sweet, little sappy thing, or at least that's what movies and books and songs say. It's dangerous her brain would not-so-helpfully supply and be hushed away because.... It's... nice. When it breaks her eyes are closed and Dante shifts to lean her forehead against Leena's. It is stupid, and sappy, and warm and sweet and she's a little relieved that it's not hot. Not with Dante's dad so close. When the kiss breaks, her eyes remain closed as well, her hands right where they are. "Hi," she says quietly and grins a little. "So, one question, and you can tell me if you don't want to answer it, okay?" Just as long as she didn't lie. “Hi.” There will be a smile, one that’s soft and maybe just a little awkward, but not negative in any way as her eyes remain closed. And this question? This question that her mind has been trying to prepare for at 100mph... “Sure, what’s up?” The words are soft, welcoming and open in encouraging the progression of the talk. Of course, with her eyes closed, she can only hear the lilt of the smile in her voice, the way her exhale changes with the tilt of her lips. "Is the reason why you want to keep your feet on the ground the same reason one of your legs is hotter than the other?" Dante feels her stomach drop at the question, everything in her head’s off to the Indy 500 with how all thoughts shoot off the starting line. A few muscles tense - she can feel it in her shoulders and her stomach - but she relaxes them. This is dangerous, you’re risking too much being so close to her. Her jaw tensed, but her eyes remain closed with a long, slow exhale. “Yes.” She can feel that tension in her frame, and her eyes open, but Dante doesn't pull away. She does answer, and Leena nods her head, accepting, and true to her word there isn't a question that follows after even though she wants to. This is one of those things -- it's one of those things that Dante has to be ready to tell her, and she understands those things all too well. The sensors must be off, the warming mechanisms must be damaged. She’s going to need to find time to recalibrate the whole heating system.... but when? There’s so much going on.... Maybe she should... maybe she should stop touching people until she can fix it? That would be safer, better... but Leena already knows so maybe Leena.... no.... no.... There will be a sigh and an opening of her eyes before arms begin to pull back but she hadn’t moved to extract herself from Leena’s grip, not yet. Dante honestly expects another question but.... There isn’t one and.... “Anything else?” Was she trying to get herself killed? Who the fuck even knew anymore. Leena lets her go, but her hands don't drop away yet, not until they have to. There's a question in her eyes but she doesn't smash it, even as she shakes her head. "I said only one. And -- you're too tense for a second one." All honest. "And I didn't want to ask you on the forums because they aren't secure, and I figured you wouldn't mind if I asked while we were in your house." Her brain’s calculating new escape routes, new excuses, new outs to the friendship they’ve started to form already. Dante knew this was a calculated risk, trying to be friends with Leena outside of a vigilante scope, and as soon as Leena sees the weighted vest in the gym her odds of increasing the risk of their relations would likely double. This was a bad idea, a horrible idea. Why did she ever- Dante will give a nod in response to the words of only asking one, her outward demeanor having been careful to not show any negativity. There’s five different things she wants to say here and... “Thanks.” A beat. “For not asking on the boards.” She watches a slight tilt to her head. As horrible as she can be with interaction, and she knows she is, she can still feel that tension in Dante's body while looking at her face that's -- it's schooled to not look like -- something. Panic? Fear? Worry? Something else? And oh, she knows that look of trying to pretend nothing is wrong. If it was her, she would want to be left alone while she figures things out, but she's not sure Dante is the same way. And then she remembers that day, in Dante's office. "Do you want to talk about what's going through your head right now?" “Nope.” The word is short, almost curt in its delivery. “Let’s just have a good day, yeah?” There’s a smile offered and she’s undoubtedly put a little room between them. There's still that tension in her mouth, but she nods and doesn't ask about the other things they said they would talk about while they were alone. It wasn't the time, and even as dumb as she could be with things, she knew that. "Yeah, absolutely." |