Lydia Martin (screamforus) wrote in blackpoint, @ 2014-11-04 20:00:00 |
|
|||
Parties were a Lydia Martin specialty and it was evident as to why with each one that was thrown. There was good music, a flowing atmosphere, always things to do and conversation topics. Good food and a smattering of underadge drinking rounded things out. But Lydia hadn’t thrown one of these in… a long time. After her birthday party had gone spectacularly bad, Lydia had taken a break from the whole party deal. Then they’d ended up here and Halloween always had been one of her favorites. Kira had teamed up with her and the pair had spent a good portion of the evening playing slutty hide-and-seek, but she’d mingled about with all of the people who came. Including Parrish, who had taken off his cop-face. Mostly. Enough to appease her. Her costume was little more than lingerie, but Lydia was unapologetic. Slutty Halloween happened once a year and it gave her an excuse to wear fishnets and a fake hook. Mixed drink in one hand, hook on the other, Lydia fenagled her way into finding a little free time. Reasonably sure the skinny-pants-encased ass was Parrish’s - she’d spent a lot of time looking at it but she was one drink into tipsy - her hook grazed over it as she moved around him. “Howdy, partner.” Aaron Parrish was conflicted. It wasn’t an unfamiliar emotion to him; he was usually feeling two ways about any old thing, but currently he was conflicted because he was a deputy and this was a party with a veritable array of underage people who were clearly drinking alcohol. He had decided to be less cop for the purpose of the party with the disclaimer that he’d step up and get angry if the party-goers were unsafe or too rowdy, but so far everyone was behaving themselves and all was well. Well, maybe not everyone was behaving themselves after all. Something had just touched his ass, and he jumped a little in his cowboy outfit, turning to see an incredibly-unlikely version of Captain Hook leering at him. “Lydia,” he greeted her. Eyes up, eyes up. That was more of Lydia than he had ever planned on seeing, and his attempt at being an unaffected party was pretty much doomed from the start. His crush on Lydia was both unprofessional and inappropriate and all those things that happened given that he was five years older than her, but at the moment he quieted the voice in his head that was telling him that retreat was always okay and turned up a smile at her. “Good party.” And it was a good party, even if he hadn’t been to one in years. Lydia’s smile was best described as the cat eating the canary, noting how his eyes flickered but he played it easy. He could deny it or ignore it all he wanted, but at this point Lydia was fairly certain he was putting up a good fight for the sake of his own conflicted morals. On a normal night, she was fine with it. She’d put him in the friend side of things as much as he’d done to her, dragging him out for adventures that involved putting up with her in close quarters, but still dating the occasional guy to remind him that she could. It was a fun little game in her head, but two drinks in and she was pretty tired of the game. One drink ago, the reminder that she’d showed up at his apartment and embarrassed herself in the process was still first and foremost. After finishing the vodka cranberry and moving onto another one, she’d swiftly reminded herself he hadn’t given her a lecture after. “Great party, you mean. You’re not being a wallflower, are you?” Lydia looked up at him with her coyest expression, fake hook reaching up to tap him on the snap-buttons of his shirt.” Because it’s a good book, but I’m honor-bound to make sure you mingle.” It took him a moment to realize she was referencing The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but only because he’d only seen the movie (for Emma Watson). “I’m mingling,” he said, realizing that he sounded a little defensive, but only because he… wasn’t mingling. “I guess I’m more lurking,” he added, shuffling his feet a little as he realized his social failures. The truth was there were a lot of younger people here, or people he was pretending weren’t drinking, and that sort of limited his social interaction. He’d only been here 15 minutes and had barely drunk more than a quarter of a beer. He knew he couldn’t say the same of Lydia, who while still coherent had clearly had a few. “It’s been a while since I’ve been to a party. How’s my creep?” For a tipsy person, Lydia thought she did rather well at masking it. Flipping her hair over her shoulder with the hook, she leaned back just enough to give him a once over. “Hmmmmm.” The judgement rolled off of her tongue, but she softened it with a smile. “I’d say your creep could use a little work, but I’m blaming the fact that those jeans just work for you.” Okay, so the vodka was making it so that she was not subtle. At all. Not that Lydia ever really did subtle that well. To be honest, her lack of subtlety was typical Lydia. Aaron allowed himself three seconds of smug “aw yisss, she thinks I’m cute” before his morals took over the steering wheel. “Thanks,” he answered, offering up a slight smile before his gaze hit their feet (his cowboy boots, her incredibly-high heels). “It seems like everyone’s having a good time. You weren’t kidding when you said you knew what you were doing. And you’re, uh…” he attempted to look at her costume without actually looking at her costume, failed, and then figured she was smart enough to witness his failing, “a Captain Hook who’s… off the hook and ready to party. Right?” “One thing the show hasn’t been wrong about was how good I am at throwing parties,” Lydia confirmed, taking a sip of her drink to wash away the fact that she just mentioned the show. Eugh. With a slight shake of her head, she pushed it to the back of her mind again, compartmentalizing like the boss she was. Nothing was getting her down for this party, period. She followed his look and stretched her already lean body out to give him a better view. “There’s no point in dressing it up, I’m sluttied up Captain Hook. If you’re lucky, you’ll see Lahey running around as Peter Pan and Kira running around as a slutty Crocodile. We themed things up a tiny bit.” She’d brought up the show, and her immediate reaction to having done so was obvious. Aaron didn’t blame her, particularly with as nasty as the show could be to her, and consequently he picked up the next piece of conversation with a little more buoyancy than he’d previously managed. “I saw a Peter Pan that looked pretty DTF, if you don’t mind that anagram, yeah. I figured they were in your crew.” His smile was warm as he leaned against the wall. “Do you actually even like Halloween? Or do you just like ruling the party scene?” “I don’t know that I’d consider Isaac part of my crew, but… well. He’s acceptable.” It was as nice as Lydia came to compliments for someone who wasn’t Allison, and acceptable was a fairly generous term even then. But she didn’t hate Lahey, so he got a minor pass from her. “I like…” Lydia made a glance around the room before lifting one shoulder to shrug. “Parties, dressing up, occasional horror movies, candy. I guess if all of that fits the criteria, you could say I was a Halloween fan.” Finally she turned her slightly-lecherous gaze back on him. “What I like more is the fact that my bedroom has been locked and off limits…” Isaac was acceptable. Aaron decided he’d unravel whatever that judgement of his brother - at least in one world - entailed at a later date; his expression read curious, slightly insulted, but mostly good-natured. It was difficult to offend him, one way or another, even when Lydia was so clearly hitting on him in some attempt to get him to overwrite his good sense and get him in her bed. Aaron let her look him up and down, glad he’d only had a microscopic bit to drink and was in full control of his faculties. Because it wasn’t that he wasn’t attracted to her. He was - the show had that much right, at least. But he was also a bit of a goody two-shoes, and he was also very careful not to lead her on. Paige had expressed some concern over him doing that, and Aaron liked Lydia too much to fill in any roles she’d pre-cast him as without questioning their validity. “Sounds fun,” he said, and took a sip of his beer (some artisan flavor; he didn’t pay attention). “Privacy, yeah. I like Halloween just fine; have all sorts of memories of playing capture the flag, getting lost in the forest, back when Beacon Hills wasn’t crazy.” He guessed that was before the Argents had come, but he wasn’t sure. All he knew was that it hadn’t been scary like it was now. “Hey, Lydia. Got a question for you.” Tit for tat. She was being honest, and he was always honest. “Honestly, I didn’t know there was a time Beacon Hills wasn’t crazy. Just a time when we weren’t aware of the crazy.” Lydia leveled a look on him, lecherous tone taking on more of a serious, pensive thing. The same look she usually got when she was trying to figure him out and not making it very far. Pursing her lips, Lydia had the distinct feeling this wasn’t going to go the way it wanted to go. Or Parrish would once again surprise her. He did that more than she was used to, especially for a man. Either way, her nod was slightly jerky and not at all smooth like she preferred. “Go ahead, Pretty Eyes. I’m an open book.” An open book. If only. Aaron knew better than to blame any notions of unreadability on Lydia; it wasn’t as if he was all that good reading people when it came to interpersonal relationships. Criminals, sure. But for himself? God help him. “If I were to ask you out on a date - a real date, not a date that you declare is a date half to make me squirm - would you say yes?” he asked, the words quick and even. It had been something he’d thought about for a while, something he’d mulled over left and right until it had been obvious that the thought wouldn’t go away on its own. He’d warned her ages ago, hadn’t he, that he needed something real? And she’d warned him that she was better at messy nothings, getting in, having fun, and getting out. So he asked his question and watched her, his expression open, his pose casual even if his heart was hammering in his chest far more than he ever would have pleased it doing so. She really had to stop assuming she knew what he’d say, since the surprise came swiftly and without Lydia being prepared for it. Anyone else and she would’ve laughed him off and changed the subject. Attempted to drag him to the bedroom she’d already referenced. Flashed a little cleavage. Men were easily distracted that way. Most - she could qualify that herself, since one that was an exception was standing there asking hypothetical questions about dating her. She didn’t date. Not really. Her last real relationship had been with Jackson, and after that had blown up spectacularly, Scott McCall had happened. Scott had been a mistake - major mistake - that she should’ve seen coming, so she avoided counting him as reasons for not dating. But Lydia had known Parrish wanted a real relationship, and still hadn’t let up. Not really. Finally, after a moment of silence, she tilted back her drink and finished it off while looking around the room at everyone except him, going with a more honest route than she was used to. “Yes.” He didn’t know what answer he’d expected from her, so when she’d answered in the affirmative, the overwhelming feeling of relief took him by surprise. Huh, Aaron thought to himself, guess I was putting myself out there for that. And seeing her pose, and collect herself, and have her deliberate drink, he couldn’t help but grin at her, something bright and unguarded and, he suspected, not at all cool. “All right,” he said, taking another sip of his beer. “Lydia. I’ll help you clean up this place after the party, then after, wanna go out with me? Somewhere nice, my treat?” Oh god. His dumb grin was almost enough to make her change her mind, but Lydia held firm and brought her head up high, chin sticking out defiantly. She was positive she liked him, that much she couldn’t deny and the fact that she’d even been honest to Allison, Kira and Stiles was telling. She’d paraded a dozen guys around in front of him, most of them she had barely tolerated. Dating a guy that she already knew put up with the real her was a totally new step. And Lydia hated stepping into new territory unprepared, which meant she reverted straight to sarcasm and flirting. “Does this mean I have to scrap my idea of taking you to my room and fucking you within an inch of your life?” Luckily for Lydia, Aaron took sarcasm in stride. It was, after all, typical Lydia and nothing he hadn’t seen in action from her direction before. Unluckily for Aaron, her tart response had been designed to have him grip the beer bottle a little more tightly, his gaze finding the floor particularly interesting as the color rose in his cheeks. So he was predictable. “Yeah, put that idea on hold,” he managed in a chagrinned voice, finally looking up and meeting her gaze. “At least temporarily. I’d appreciate it.” With a laugh that was probably more condescending than intended (sometimes she just couldn’t help it), Lydia reached out to pat his warmed cheek gently. “You’re off the hook, I’ve gone so long now without sex that I’m pretty sure it sealed up anyway.” Still, even with the reassurance, Lydia couldn’t help teasing him just a little bit before releasing him from the hook he was dangling from. “Your virginity will stay intact as long as you want, Pretty Eyes.” Her hand trailed down to quickly pat him on the chest as she took a few steps back, taking a quick glance around the room. “I have to sober up and mingle. Later tonight?” He opened his mouth to object - virginity, honestly - but caught himself before he fell entirely in her obvious trap. Aaron closed his mouth, rolled his eyes, and allowed himself a chuckle. For as straight-laced and careful as he was in his professional life, having a crush on Lydia Martin seemed to indicate some sort of tendency toward masochism of the best kind. “Later tonight,” he agreed, and caught her hand in his briefly, with a squeeze. For as much dodging as he did with her, sometimes literally, this contact felt like a good first step. To… whatever. Aaron knew as well as anyone that if anything happened between he and Lydia it stood a chance of being disastrous, but hey - he’d always been an optimist. It could be great, too. “See you around.” A half-smile, a head nod, and he stepped back, allowing someone dressed as a robot to maneuver between them. |