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Tweak says, "This is my BOOM STICK!"

mariawarrington (mariawarrington) wrote in 20somethings,
@ 2022-05-29 18:45:00

Entry tags:

c: kieran doyle, c: maria warrington, d: 2028 05, ~ complete, Ω: rp

RP: I promise I'm not drunk
Who: Maria + Kieran
What: Maria confronts the werewolf in the room.
When: 05/29/28; late evening
Where: Kieran's flat
Warnings: Knowing Maria, who knows, but brace yourself.
Completion Status: complete.

Maria had been avoiding Kieran (even at the office) since their awkward drinks. It had been over a month now. It was getting harder. First of all, he was always at the office. Sat in on every Group she helped run (felt like every at least). He was always just in staff room when she needed more staples or fresh coffee. His desk was right there as you walked in, all cluttered and there were his stupid piles of papers and files and she hated the sight.

She liked him. And she hated that. And then she'd made an ass of herself. When she'd thought he was gay, it was easy to pretend she just wanted to be his friend. To pretend that she didn't find him hot in a messy way. Pretend that she didn't want to impress him. Maybe that she wanted to be better, thanks to him.

But then she'd made an ass of herself. And he wasn't even gay. So she'd avoided him. And being the considerate person that he is, he'd let her. He'd not approached her at all unless it was strictly about Belby business. It was like he knew she felt she'd made an ass of herself. Or maybe he really thought she was an ass and he wanted to avoid her, too. Well. That thought had eaten away at her. She had never really cared if people didn't like her. But then there was Albie, and heartbreak, and Scorpius not being her friend after all... And her half-brother showing up and seemingly caring, in his weird, mean way. And then there was Kieran.

With his sob story and no-name-brand clothes and messy hair. She liked his messy hair, actually. But, she cared if he liked her. And she wanted him to like her.

So after a couple of glasses of wine at home, alone, on a Sunday night (and feeling proud that this was all she'd done all night), she stepped into her floo with a shout. His flat was still minimalist, and yet messy, but that didn't surprise her. She was reminded of the first (only) time she'd been here. She'd kissed him then, and it hadn't been a big deal. But he certainly hadn't reciprocated. "Kieran?" She called out for him, and he came, confused, down the short hallway. She assumed from his room. It was after 10, after all.

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kndoyle
2022-06-03 03:56 pm UTC (link)

It felt like the few nights leading up to the moon. Kieran tried to be responsible, crawling into bed around nine but found himself on his back staring at the ceiling. Maria had ended their day of hooky quiet and cold. Seeing her in Group, he thought he could understand why she hadn't been her usual confident albeit insistent self around the Assembly.

He turned towards he window for a change of scenery when he heard his floo activate and a familiar voice resonating in through the flat. It ten at night. What is she doing here? Throwing on a white t-shirt he shuffled out of his room into the common area.

"Maria?" He wasn't sure whether she was actually there leaning against his couch. Maybe it was a mistake. She'd meant to floo into one of her friends places.

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mariawarrington
2022-06-04 01:22 pm UTC (link)

Nodding in his direction she felt suddenly bashful. Gods, what was she even doing here? This had been a terrible idea. But she was here now, and there was an elephant in the room to slay. And so she stood up a bit straighter and said, "Yeah, just me. I hope I didn't wake you?" It didn't even occur to her in the moment to wonder why she was still on his floo list.

"I wanted to talk to you, but I should have just texted or something," she added, her bravado fading just a little.

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kndoyle
2022-06-04 03:35 pm UTC (link)

"I, I haven't been sleeping well." He admitted, embarrassed. He still had no idea why she was there, but he had no reason to lie to her. "I wasn't asleep." Something was off. The girl that had pulled him out of the office for drinks wasn't the same one standing in front of him now.

"It's a good think you were on the floo list still." He smirked a bit, he'd added her name after her hospital escape. "I figured if you got put on hospital arrest again you'd need a place aside from your own to go." She was smart, even if he had taken her quickly from Mungo's she'd be able to find her way through the hospital after a moon.

"No used going back, now." He motioned for her to sit. "Something to drink? A smoke?"

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mariawarrington
2022-06-04 03:39 pm UTC (link)

He was so welcoming, even under such strange circumstances. It made her so mad! But instead of going off, she went with it and asked for tea. "Sorry you're not sleeping well. Seems to come with the rest," she knew he would know what she meant.

"I don't sleep much either," unless she had self-medicated, at least. "I just... I wanted to talk to you. I made an arse of myself and... I'm sorry." There, she'd said it. It was over. Right?

She followed him into the little kitchen nook, shuffling slightly in her gait. She was still feeling a little shy and a lot ridiculous.

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kndoyle
2022-06-04 04:08 pm UTC (link)

Kieran knew what she meant. Weres didn't sleep well in the best of circumstances. He didn't want to say that it was because her routine had changed so drastically after he'd corrected the misunderstanding. His confidence didn't come from a boisterous place but rather quiet and reserved.

He put on a pot of water to boil. Was that really all she'd come to say?

"I'd like to apologize as well, I should have corrected you that first day. Probably seemed like a bait and switch when I said it at the Leaky. That wasn't my intention." He understood that was something people did and he hated the concept and having someone think he had pulled something like that made his stomach churn.

"Cream and sugar?" He asked as the pot began to whistle.

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mariawarrington
2022-06-04 04:12 pm UTC (link)

She shook her head, "I made assumptions. You're under no obligation to discuss your personal life with a random volunteer you have to direct at your place of work." The words felt weird in her mouth; too formal, in a way. But she wasn't sure how else to do this.

Apologizing was not her usual forte.

"Lemon?" She asked, instead of his offerings. She liked sour things.

"I mean, you don't even need to make me tea. I probably shouldn't have come over at all. It's inappropriate." Since when did Maria care about things being inappropriate? Ugh. She hated that she liked him. It felt awful. Maybe she should stop volunteering all together, or find somewhere besides Belby to do it. This was the worst.

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kndoyle
2022-06-04 04:31 pm UTC (link)

"That's probably true." There were certain boundaries, he had a hard time keeping. Not from anything on toward, but because he was a calming influence in the office. There was too much stress in their work to begin with that having someone who didn't take it as seriously was important. He could make decisions when others couldn't.

"I mean, at this point the tea is ready. And what else would we do?" He poured two cups placing a lemon in hers and a packet of raw sugar in his.

"At least if you're still having trouble sleeping, the tea will help." He slid her cup towards her.

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mariawarrington
2022-06-04 04:54 pm UTC (link)

As he proceeded to insist she stay for the tea, not steaming and sat in front of her on the little counter, she felt her heart squeeze tight in her chest. He was so nice, damnit. "Takes something a little stronger to get me to sleep," she let slip, her walls coming down the smallest bit.

She bit her lip to stop herself from saying more. Kieran looked so good right now, she couldn't help but notice even if she hated it. He looked rumpled and stressed and the short sleeves of his tee were a little rolled up in a very James Dean way and he wore gray sweatpants like a porn star. She swallowed and stopped looking at him, focusing on her tea and taking a big gulp despite it still being hot enough to scald her throat the whole way down.

"Um, well, anyway, I'm sorry. I know you want to enforce boundaries, especially after I made such an arse of myself, and I'll do my best to heed them. Your boundaries. I mean. Well, after this. Because this is definitely not respecting boundaries, just showing up like this." She was rambling. She sucked at this. Had she learned nothing from dating someone for a whole year? Then again, Albie was just as young and dumb as her, and they hadn't exactly been the most mature in their relationship. There had been a lot of seduction and silliness and whining about her condition. Oh, that hurt, thinking of him, for the shortest of moments. More hot tea, yes, that was the solution. It burnt her tongue.

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kndoyle
2022-06-04 05:18 pm UTC (link)

"Something stronger." He understood that. A nip of the bottle was how he managed to sleep during some of the more terrible nights while at school. The Hog's Head Inn never truly cared what age you were. As long as you could pay. He found himself looking around the small kitchen trying to remember if he had anything for that. Probably not. "Not sure I have something stronger." He took a drink of his tea. A bit comforting, not exactly tiring though.

With each resignation it seemed she was getting more downtrodden. There was a question boring its way to the front of his mind. She'd flooed to his flat in the middle of the night in her pajamas to apologize. It didn't make sense. It wasn't her. Not the Maria he knew at least. "Maria." His voice was low, accent coming in thicker." "What are you really doing here? You've never cared about the boundaries before. And if I had I would've told you off the day we ended up at the pub."

He stared at her again. If she was truly here to apologize she would have flitted away back into the floo as soon as she apologized and he would've seen her at the office on Monday.

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mariawarrington
2022-06-04 07:30 pm UTC (link)

She shook her head, "No, you don't have to," when he mentioned finding something stronger. "Thank you for the tea," she added, finding her manners. She took another drink, as if to show her gratitude, but this time sipped at it.

And then he spoke like that, low and serious, and she couldn't look away from his lovely, sad eyes. Had she made him sad? Wait, what? He didn't want boundaries? He didn't want her to just be that weirdo volunteer to him? What was he saying?

He asked her why she was really here and she didn't know how to answer. There were fifty possibly answers flying through her mind and she wished there was a spell to stop them. "I..." She stumbled on words, probably looking all like a fish out of water with her gaping mouth and wide eyes.

"I wanted to apologize," she repeated, her voice getting stuck in her throat more than once. But then she shook her head, and unbidden the real answer came out of her, "I don't want boundaries," and she set her tea down and moved closer to him. She was in his personal space and couldn't look away from his perfect sky-blue eyes.

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kndoyle
2022-06-05 11:15 pm UTC (link)

She moved in closer to him than she'd ever been. He could feel his heart hammering in his chest. This was a bad idea. A voice in the back of his head said. She was a volunteer and he was technically her boss. Would anyone care? There were both Weres. Isn't that what matters?

She was still looking at him, her eyes looking deep into his. He was vulnerable around him, but her look made him feel completely defenseless. He leaned in, catching her lip with his own. He inhaled deeply before shutting his eyes and losing himself for a moment in her.

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mariawarrington
2022-06-06 12:23 am UTC (link)

Maria waiting, holding her breath, while he seemed to take her face in and make a decision. And then he was kissing her. She let him. And it was warm and soft and comforting in a way she'd never experienced. This wasn't mania, it wasn't drug-induced, it wasn't on a whim like it had been with Albie. She knew Kieran, and he knew her, and in a way she felt like a missing piece of herself was slotting into place as his lips touched hers.

She sighed into him, her body melting into his softly. Her hands came to his chest, gently, and she let him kiss her to their hearts' content.

When they quietly parted, she licked her lips and looked him in the eyes again. But then... She didn't know what came next. This wasn't frenzied and they weren't caught up in the moment in lust. This was new. Maria breathed deeply, calmly, and then smiled. A small smile, intimate, private. This smile was a secret between them.

"I should go," she said in a near-whisper, and then she nodded, still smiling that strange little smile. She didn't know why she should leave, but she just knew she should. "I..." She searched his eyes, "I should. But I'll see you at the office? And maybe... Maybe we can talk about... this later? When it's not the middle of the night and I haven't just barged into your flat?" Maybe he would ask her out, for a proper date. Maybe he would ask her to be his girlfriend. Her mind whirled with the possibilities. And all the while, that little smile.

Kieran didn't say anything, but he nodded, and walked her to the floo. She got up on her tippy toes to kiss him softly at the corner of his mouth, before wishing him a good night and stepping into the floo to go home. The last thing she saw before the flames took her away were his perfect blue eyes.

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