InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "its/ it's! Know the difference"

Samuel Madin (tiger_says_rawr) wrote in bellumlogs,
@ 2010-07-18 12:36:00

Entry tags:

shere khan, wicked witch

Who: Sam et Kermit.
What: Wooing and courting. And other stuff.
Where: 703. Oh hey! He's going to surprise her and come down.
When: The night of this.
Warnings: Probably nothing above a PG-13 level but if Joanie becomes a woman in this thread, I'll make sure to let everyone know.

Sam was home before 7:00, in fact, he was home by 6:15 - early for him, since he often stayed in the lab until 9 or 10:00. But since he actually had a reason to drag his ass away from his work, that was all the better. First he made a stop to Nick's place of employment, and while he thought roses were nice, one thoughtfully picked singular flower was better (in his opinion) than a dozen just haphazardly chosen because they were in a bouquet.

He made sure to shower first because he smelled like he had been wearing a lab coat and latex gloves all day, go figure. Then, carrying the proffered rose, he went down two floors to Joanie's apartment, knocking a few times. It was ten until seven, so she wouldn't have left yet.

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wickedwicker
2010-07-18 05:03 pm UTC (link)

Before Sam, Joanie wouldn't have given a damn about how her hair looked. Her shirt would've been thrown on regardless of wrinkles, and she wouldn't have bothered to brush her teeth before going out. Now, there seemed to be a thousand things to consider before she set foot out of her apartment. Joanie had always paid attention to every physical flaw on her body, but now she actually wanted to do something about them all.

It was this desire to actually look like a human being that lead to her standing in her bathroom with a brush in one hand and lipstick in the other, staring in the mirror intently enough to set her reflection on fire. She had wrestled her hair into submission, grudgingly allowing it to fall in dark waves around her shoulders. A dust of eye shadow here, a bit of lipstick there, and she looked presentable.

With ten minutes to go, she glanced from her watch to her reflection. Twisting a strand of hair around her finger, she idly wondered how Sam would react if she showed up with a completely different hair color. The idea made her laugh, enough to dare it. Sliding her fingers back through her hair, she opened her mouth to begin the chant when a knock at her door silenced her.

Who the hell was that?

Tensing, she cautiously stepped out of the bathroom. Luther was still at work, and really, who else would be visiting her? She had told Sam she'd be up at his place, so it wasn't him. And Russell rarely left his apartment, it seemed. So who was it? As she walked to the door, she picked up her modified Taser on the way. It was small and light, with a cartridge pre-loaded.

Zeph bounded at her side as she rested her hand on the doorknob. After turning him pink, Joanie realized that it would be much funnier to simply change his color randomly when she was bored than return him to his natural red. At the moment, he was black with random patches of neon green, blue, and yellow. He was a blaze of nonsense as he darted from the door to the couch, tail erect and eyes alert. For a moment, she wondered if he knew something.

Holding the Taser firmly, she took a deep breath and opened the door. Her eyes widened in surprise and relief as it was none other than Sam, holding a magnificent red rose. "Sam?" she choked in surprise, letting out a nervous laugh of relief. "You almost gave me a heart attack!" Her gaze dropped to the Taser at her side, and with an awkward cough she hid it behind her back. "I didn't expect you, I thought...I was going up to your place."

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tiger_says_rawr
2010-07-18 05:48 pm UTC (link)

"I know, but I got home earlier than I thought and I just...thought I would surprise you? And not make you climb the stairs? I don't know." Really, he just wanted to see her and didn't feel like waiting. His eyes took in the sight of the taser before Joanie hid it behind her back. Nice! He cleared his throat sheepishly and held out the rose for her. "This is for you. Can you not taser me, baby? Please?"

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wickedwicker
2010-07-18 06:01 pm UTC (link)

Blinking in surprise, she looked to the flower. "Oh!" Her face flushed with embarrassment at the mention of the Taser, and she hastily set it down on the end table by the door that housed her keys, purse, and any random thing she happened to have in her hand as she passed it by. Hands free, she took the rose with a fond smile. "Thank you," she said, holding the door wide open. "It's really pretty."

As he stepped inside, she let the door swing shut. Smelling the rose absently, she glanced over her shoulder at him. "I'm gonna put this in water. D'you want anything to drink? I've got water, coke, and beer." As she headed into the kitchen, Zeph skittered up to Sam, green eyes full of recognition. The black-and-neon cat wound himself around Sam's ankles, purring loudly. Even from the kitchen, Joanie could hear it, and she snorted. "He's such a manwhore."

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tiger_says_rawr
2010-07-18 06:35 pm UTC (link)

Sam snickered and stepped into the apartment, then did a double take as he looked down and spotted Zeph with wild and crazy fur. "What did you do to this thing?" he asked laughingly, bending to give him a few scratches behind the ears. "And Coke is fine, thanks. I don't want to get drunk and have you try to take advantage of me." On second thought, maybe beer would be preferable. "So did you tattoo any asses today?"

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wickedwicker
2010-07-18 06:58 pm UTC (link)

She didn't bother hiding her laughter as he noticed Zeph's state of disarray. "It's an experiment," she called as she opened up the fridge. "During the full moon that failed, I figured out I can change hair colors." Twisting a strand of dark hair around her finger absently, she pulled two cokes out of the fridge and bumped the door closed with her hip. "I told you when we first met!" she barked, walking out into the living room and offering him one of the cokes with a grin. "I'm a gentleman."

Collapsing on the couch, she popped the top of her soda, groaning as he asked about ass tattoos. "No," she said forcefully. "Thank God. Had a consult for a pretty cool piece, actually. The guy wants a half-sleeve." She gestured to the region on her own arm. "With mythology influences." Taking a sip from her drink, she glanced to him. "What about you? Create an evil super soldier or something?"

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tiger_says_rawr
2010-07-18 07:26 pm UTC (link)

Sam rolled his eyes, but took the soda with a smile. "I wouldn't tell if you gave up on being a gentleman for two seconds." He sat down next to Joanie on the couch, raising an eyebrow as she described the newest tattoo conquest. "Like...lightning bolts or something?" he asked as he pulled back the soda tab. "And no, I didn't create a super soldier, unfortunately. I just went cross-eyed looking at slides under a microscope. World domination will have to come tomorrow."

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wickedwicker
2010-07-18 07:39 pm UTC (link)

"Isn't it my duty to protect your honor?" she teased, propping her feet up on the coffee table and leaning back into the couch. His question concerning lightning bolts made her snort. "Or something, yeah," she said with a grin. "He's going with symbolism. Waves, clouds, olive trees. All that." She pouted with disappointment as he revealed that he wasn't in fact working on conquering the world. "Now that's no fun," she moped. "Movies make science look fun and dangerous and sexy. Stop making it so boring!"

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tiger_says_rawr
2010-07-18 07:56 pm UTC (link)

"My honor has been long gone, sorry to say," Sam chuckled and it was the truth. High school, junior year! That was when he officially said goodbye to his honor. Scooting closer, he leaned in and draped one arm around Joanie. "Hopefully he won't regret that tattoo when he decides having clouds on his arm is kind of odd. What, you don't think I'm sexy anyway?" He pretended to be aghast at this.

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wickedwicker
2010-07-18 08:02 pm UTC (link)

She snorted. "So that's why you wanted to steal mine," she teased, prodding him in the side with her elbow as he scooted closer. Leaning against his side, she glanced up. "Hey, he's put a lot of thought into it. If that's what he wants, then..." She shrugged. At least that guy knew what he wanted. She was still debating. At his question, she smirked. "I don't know. Without the lab coat and dork glasses, I'm not sure I could call you sexy. Maybe just cute." She reached up to pinch his cheek, laughing.

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tiger_says_rawr
2010-07-18 08:13 pm UTC (link)

"Yeah, I collect the honor of women, and I put them all in a jar for later." He grabbed one of Joanie's hands, kissing the back of it before he returned it to her. "Yeah, true. Maybe it all has special meaning for him. I still don't know what I want. I mean, I have ideas but...." At the cheek pinch, he wrinkled his nose. "I wear my contacts most of the time but if you think glasses are sexy, well...! I'll wear them and talk dirty, scientific things to you."

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wickedwicker
2010-07-19 06:29 am UTC (link)

That sounded suspiciously like serial killing. Snorting, Joanie smiled lightly as he kissed the back of her hand. "Yeah, because that's not weird," she said casually. Though she supposed that at Bellum, it really wasn't. "And don't worry about it. Better to take your time then end up with something you hate." Grinning, she straightened up against his side. "Ooooh, dirty and scientific? Take me now, Nerdmeister."

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tiger_says_rawr
2010-07-19 03:54 pm UTC (link)

Sam laughed, sliding his arms around Joanie's waist and pulling her to him, so she was almost in his lap. There wasn't any space between them, that was what he was going for. He kissed her lips a few times, one hand slipping up her shirt to rub her back - he just wanted skin, damnit, and she was warm. "Yes, I could talk about Punnett's Square. An offspring's genotype is the result of the combination of genes in the sex cells or gametes that came together in its conception. You like that?" He said 'sex cells.' That ought to turn her on, no?

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wickedwicker
2010-07-19 04:09 pm UTC (link)

Her soda was set down as he tugged her close, one leg slipping up to rest in his lap as she slung her arms around his neck. She was slowly getting used to this kind of thing. Though Joanie wasn't normally one for physical contact, it was nice to have on occasion. It made her feel safe in a way, even wanted. The kisses were returned gladly, and she didn't bother to try and hide the shivers that ran up and down her spine as his fingers played on the skin of her back. She grinned, bumping the tip of her nose against his. "Oh, man," she said, throwing an overly dramatic groan at the end of her very short sentence. "That's hot."

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tiger_says_rawr
2010-07-19 04:24 pm UTC (link)

"Isn't it? So basically, there's one sex cell from each parent. Sex cells normally only have one copy of the gene for each trait - " He drew the Punnett's Square on her chest with his fingertips, writing the letters inside each portion. "Each of the two Punnett Square boxes in which the parent genes for a trait are placed actually represents one of the two possible genotypes for a parent sex cell. Which of the two parental copies of a gene is inherited depends on which sex cell is inherited - it's a matter of chance. So I place each of the two copies in its own box, which has the effect of giving it a 50% chance of being inherited." This was all really just an excuse to touch her inappropriately (or actually, Sam thought it was pretty appropriate). "That's still hot, right?"

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wickedwicker
2010-07-19 04:29 pm UTC (link)

A light red colored her cheeks as his fingers traced boxes on her chest. She looked down to actually watch his fingers move, as if doing so would enhance her understanding of what he was talking about.

It didn't.

So she nodded along, doing her best to follow him but ending up in the middle of a bog. There was a reason she hadn't taken biology in college. As he finished, though, she glanced up at him with a grin. "Smokin' hot," she said with a slight laugh, leaning forward and kissing him. "You know what else is hot?" she asked, sliding her fingers through his hair while her leg oh-so-innocently shifted on his lap.

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tiger_says_rawr
2010-07-19 04:34 pm UTC (link)

Not that he expected Joanie to follow - genetics was not everyone's cup of tea and let's be frank, even Sam knew it was confusing as hell sometimes. But it served as a good distraction. He grinned, returning the kiss, lightly dragging his hands down her waist to rest on her hips. "There's something hotter than that? Go on and tell me," he said, somewhat squinty as she messed with his hair.

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	wickedwicker 2010-07-19 04:59 pm UTC (link)
	Her smile was wicked as she trailed kisses over his jaw. "Mmmmm," she murmured, leaning against him before pulling back enough to look up at him. "Telling me what you were spazzing out about on the phone earlier." She smiled, pursing her lips just slightly in a "kissy" face. "That's really hot." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

tiger_says_rawr
2010-07-19 05:03 pm UTC (link)

He shivered, nose pressing to her cheek before skimming down, and he effectively buried his face in the crook of her neck to leave kisses there - and also hide. "You are actually kind of evil," Sam mused and damnit, he couldn't talk about genetics anymore! So much for that idea. But he looked at Joanie when she pulled back, pouting slightly. "I wasn't spazzing, was I?"

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wickedwicker
2010-07-19 05:12 pm UTC (link)

Under normal circumstances, being called evil would have made her mad. Instead, she laughed and gave him a light squeeze. "Maybe I am," she teased, looking at him directly as he pouted. "Yes, you were," she said matter-of-factly. "You were totally spazzing." She prodded his pouting lower lip. "Is this the part where you tell me that you're an alien from the future or something? Because if you are, my heart just might break."

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tiger_says_rawr
2010-07-19 05:30 pm UTC (link)

"You are. But it's hot," Sam clarified, because of course he could be appreciative of women using their sexiness to get information, even if Joanie didn't realize she was doing it. "No, I'm not an alien from the future. Where do you even come up with these scenarios?" he laughed, his forehead resting against her collarbone. In between well-places kisses to the dip in the center, teeth grazing gently, he finally mumbled, "You can't guess, for real?"

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wickedwicker
2010-07-19 05:38 pm UTC (link)

"Good," she said with a small laugh. "Because I'll only get more and more evil as time goes on." Joking about it made the possible reality a little less painful, though her heart skipped a beat when she said it. Leaning her cheek against the crown of his head, she shrugged the shoulder he was furthest from. "TV," she said frankly. "I'm starting to wonder if Bellum is a weird reality show, so excuse me for trying to be genre savvy." The kisses to her collar teased happy little sounds from her throat. At his question, she blinked. "No, I can't." She paused. What if it was something bad. Suddenly, she pulled back, grabbing his shoulders and shaking him. "Is someone here stalking you? I think somebody was sending weird packages a while ago. Or is someone after you? Is it Dracula?" The more she talked, the more panicked she looked. "What did he do?"

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tiger_says_rawr
2010-07-19 05:52 pm UTC (link)

"I wouldn't be surprised if Bellum was - " Sam was cut off as Joanie suddenly shook him and he blinked, surprised at the sudden change in conversational topics. "Stalking? Dracula?" he repeated, sounding confused. "No, no, no. Joanie, no. Listen." There was obviously no avoiding this any longer, or else she'd start to think that he was secretly an undercover agent for the CIA or something.

He reached up and cupped her face in his hands, holding her gaze. "I love you. Who you are now, and no matter how 'evil' you'll get, no matter what happens, or where we end up tomorrow. I just wanted to tell you. Because I think it's something you need to know, and I wouldn't be able to forgive myself if something happened and I never said it."

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wickedwicker
2010-07-19 06:12 pm UTC (link)

Though she had absolutely no reason to be, Joanie was panicking. She knew that Dracula was dangerous. Christ, why didn't Aiden just kill him already? She was ready to vault into some form of action - likely a post to Aiden that was nothing but capslock - when Sam dismissed her unfounded fears. Settling just slightly, she bit down on her lower lip as he cupped her face in his hands. "Okay, but-"

Okay. Now she had a reason to panic.

Eyes wide, she stared at him soundlessly for a few long moments. It was rare when Joanie was rendered completely speechless, making this a real Kodak moment. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, as if she were trying to suck words from the air that would magically fit this situation.

How did you even respond to that? They had only been dating for a month, though time seemed to take longer in Bellum. And really, what did Joanie know about love? She barely said "I love you" to her parents, let alone anybody not related to her. It was a slippery word, one she thought was much abused. People loved movies and TV shows, food and books. But did they love each other?

"Uh..." Her mind was a blank. A white board with nothing written on it. She knew that she needed to say something, but she wasn't sure what. Her gaze fell on her right hand as it rested on his shoulder, surveying the skin that was still ripped and scabby. His justification brought her back to Russia, to the first thing she thought when she realized that she might die: "I never told the people I care about what I feel."

"I care about you, Sam." It wasn't love. She wasn't sure what "love" really constituted, but this was the truth. "And...it's really good that you...you know...were able to say that." She sucked in a slow breath. "When I- when I thought I was going to die, I thought about how I never did that. So..." She had nothing else. The hard part was over, but the sting of ripping off the band-aid still remained. "Now we know. There's no regrets."

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tiger_says_rawr
2010-07-19 06:22 pm UTC (link)

On the flip side, Sam wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that either. You 'cared' for a dog or a cat or even a fucking plant, but for a person? It was entirely different. He laughed a little, mostly out of shock that they were even having this conversation. "I've never said it to anyone before," he confessed. "Because it's never happened before. And I don't think it matters how long it takes. I think when you know, you just...know. There's never any doubt, and there wasn't any here."

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wickedwicker
2010-07-19 06:30 pm UTC (link)

Her eyes widened at that. How do you know something like that? She almost wanted to ask him for evidence, but cut herself off before she started digging that grave. No, that wasn't the right thing to say. Though what the right thing was, she didn't know. "Oh." That probably wasn't the right thing, either. "Well..." Her face flickered through a dozen expressions before settling on distraught. She didn't know what to say and it was starting to upset her. "I'm sorry, I don't...I don't know what to say and I'm trying to think of something and I can't come up with anything." Tears glimmered in her eyes, prompting her to pull away from him to rub at her eyes fiercely.