unluckyant (unluckyant) wrote in doorslogs, @ 2012-03-29 04:18:00 |
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Entry tags: | hank pym, mary jane watson |
Who: MK and Adam
When: Backdated to shortly after the party
Where: Adam's apartment
What: Two friends who accidentally had sex at a masquerade party try to figure shit out.
Warnings: Sexy times and cuteness.
Adam didn’t have a whole lot of physical mementos of Seattle left. Some of them were lost, others thrown away, a few burned. He didn’t remember a whole lot of that time between Seattle and here, but he knew there was great effort to shake his memories like an umbrella in the rain. The one thing that seemed to stick around was a very old picture in a dirty frame of him and his former best friend at “The Waterhouse”. The superhero grinned as he held a stained bullet while Adam gave a goofy thumbs up. It was the first time he was shot and they were so damned excited about it. A youthful stupidity mixed with the adrenaline of being part of some kind of vigilante crew. Maddie K drifted in that circle, too, but Adam never had his focus on her. Honestly, he never had his focus on anything except fighting crime and keeping his friends alive.
Yeah, that really worked out, didn’t?
He was older now. Still a little goofy, eccentric, but that was getting less genuine by the day. There was no way he’d laugh about his friends getting shot now. Not after what happened. Not after all the things he could have prevented. He pressed his thumb on the glass of the picture, sighed and put it back in his study where no one visited. He needed to move on. This whole thing with Maddie was about trying to make things better. Maybe it was more than that. He never spent much time as a young man falling in love or looking for it, happy with temporary comforts with strangers and chemicals. This was different. He had deliberately stayed in contact with Maddie for years and the second their barriers went down this happened. He cared about her and it made him want to hold on even if it felt like he didn’t deserve it.
The doorbell rang and he looked around as if to make sure everything was presentable. He had a nice apartment decorated with modern shapes and colors. Some might find it a little cold, but it matched the personality of the doctor. Strange mixed with logical. He was dressed in slacks and a simple grey t-shirt that had some tears at the sleeves and seems. Adam wasn’t trying to impress her. If she was looking for some superficial put-on, she sure as hell wouldn’t have come to see him. Opening the door a little, he smiled at her, one hand on the frame as the other rested on the edge of the door. He saw similarities to the girl he slept with at the party. Things that had been there for a long time that he didn’t bother acknowledging.
“Hey.” Was all he could say. Lost a little in thoughts.
MK stood in the doorway as he swung the door open, arms crossed in a protective movement, but she still offered him a small smile. After leaving Simon, after making sure he was okay, she had freshened up a bit. She didn’t sleep, not at all, but put on enough make-up to make her look okay. She wasn’t trying to impress Adam either, but dressing up came like second nature to her, so her naturally curly red hair was pulled into a neat braid and she found a fairly casual dress, one that said, “I’m not trying unless you want me to.” Besides, if a picture got snapped of her looking not put together at all, her publicist would be quite upset. Still, she was covered up enough to leave some things to the imagination, even if Adam had seen all of her already. Well, at least a version of her.
“Hi,” she replied, smiling a little wider, and reaching up to tuck an errant strand of hair behind her ear. She looked at him for a moment, quiet and at a little bit of a loss for what to do or say or think. She had her share of one-night stands and a handful of awkward situations after sleeping with someone, but this was different. Really different. There was so much baggage hanging between them, and Adam was her vigilante’s best friend back in those days. In the days where they still hoped for happy endings and love to last and long lives. Now, she just wanted something to heal the wounds, even temporarily. And she cared for Adam, she really did, and maybe they could help each other move on.
She bit her lip and looked down for a moment in an uncharacteristically shy moment. He’d seen everything of her, knew so much more than a lot of people, and she wasn’t comfortable with that still. But still, she was there already, so she asked, “Sleep at all?” because she couldn’t think of anything else at the moment.
That moment at the door probably lasted only a couple seconds, but he could pinpoint each of them like snapshots in a photobooth. The way she showed with her barrier up, that nipping shadow with an electric bite. The way it fell a little and she offered him a smile that he had been thinking about since the party. That hint of shyness that no one would believe was there under all that confidence. He let it imprint in his mind. Something to store away for later if things ever got sour between them. At least he had proof she wasn’t all bright lights and walls that were too high to see over.
“Me? Sleep?” Adam grinned and swung the door open for her. “Should have put my journal away for a couple days. Not quite adjusted yet.” He moved to the black couch and sighed, leaning forward so he could run his hands through his hair. “Tried to keep a brave face for you. Practiced it before you got here. Harder than it looks.” Adam was crushingly honest sometimes. Yes, there were things he’d hide if it was important, but he always shared what he felt. What he thought.
“Before I met you at the party, my shadow ate someone else’s. She was a nice girl. A dancer. It turned into another shadow that attacked her.” There were a lot of things to think about at the party and his first encounter honestly slipped his mind until he started to worry about the damage he might have done. “Took the shadow back and vanished saving her. Then you showed up and everything was different.” There was a hint of relief in his voice. Like in a way, their similarities kept him from being just a horde of shadow ants on a wall.
She followed him into the apartment, admiring the decor and space briefly before returning her focus to Adam. She sat on the couch as well though kept a cushion of space between them, turning her body just enough to face him. For someone who hated being open with people, MK appreciated his honesty, always had, and laughed quietly. She knew all about brave faces, and it was a hard skill that had taken years and years to master, and even then, she hadn’t perfected a thing.
Concern flickered across her eyes at the mention of his first encounter, however, and she frowned a little. During their meeting, her shadow had been protective and slightly volatile, but not outrageously violent, and the idea that it could do that bothered her a bit. “Is she okay? Did you try to contact her?” She reached out and placed a light hand on his thigh and offered him another smile. “A good different? I like being the good different. It’s refreshing.” MK was quiet for a moment and scooted just an inch or so closer before she spoke again. “I think deep down we both knew we were really alike, right? Even if we kept stuff hidden.”
“She’s fine. Just a little mad, probably.” Adam knew it was a little like refusing to hold the door open for someone in the elevator. It was an offense to someone and gave them the right to stomp their feet and complain on the journals, but telling her it was him wouldn’t make it better. “I didn’t even speak with my own voice until you got Hank to quiet down.” He remembered the duality. The feeling like he was both himself and Pym at the same time. It was worse than having the man in his head. Worse than allowing him to go through the door. “These shadows. Scars. What have you. They don’t just go deep, they twist with the alters.” Adam had given this just as much thought as anything else he invested himself in. He couldn’t help it. Over-thinking was what he did.
He looked up at her when she moved an inch closer. “So, yes. Good different. Bad similarities, but it stopped me- Hank- from hurting anyone else.” Adam turned a little towards her, an apologetic look crossing his face like he knew there wasn’t any point in dwelling. But, wasn’t that what they had been doing for such a long time? He went quiet, taking a final sweep of their interaction at the party. “Won’t be able to forget like we wanted. Want to make you happy but-” His voice lit a little in that middle part before sinking back down. “Can’t ever forget.”
“Is he already causing you trouble? I don’t like that. I know...people who have trouble with theirs too, but they didn’t actually talk to each other, she and the alter. Maybe you can try that?” It was a useless wish because she knew if Hank wanted to be heard, he would probably be heard. Mary Jane certainly turned out to be stubborn enough to push for that, and she was hardly eighteen. The idea that their baggage on the Vegas side of things carried to the alters, however, brought a frown to her face. As much as MJ annoyed her, MK had begun to grow a little fond of her, in a sort of ‘pest that won’t leave so you’ve gotta learn to love it anyway’ kind of way. Plus, she wasn’t a bad kid, and she definitely didn’t deserve to deal with the heavy things MK dealt with on a regular basis. “I hope you’re wrong,” she said of it all. “Being a teenager involved with a superhero sucks enough. Mary doesn’t need my shit, too.”
Pursing her lips, she considered his statement. No, they couldn’t forget or ignore it, could they? It was going to always be there, even if they turned a cold shoulder to it, bubbling under the surface and burning an overwhelming need through them. “No, we can’t.” She fell quiet for a moment again, pulling her hands to fold in her lap as her eyes drifted down as well. She felt so shy all of a sudden, like Adam seeing the darker, more broken side of her had shattered her bravado in the most alarming way. “I don’t think I want to,” she said softly, eyes moving up to meet his again.
He seemed surprised by her answer, partially because he felt the same way. Yes, the part that wanted to protect him wished that Seattle never happened, but it helped define who he was now. Adam was told to keep in line before he met up with the vigilantes and without them he wouldn’t be here with Maddie now. And, he surely wouldn’t be equipped to deal with someone like Pym. Adam reached to touch her wrist lightly. Maddie’s skin was still soft like he remembered, though clean without the scars. “Me, too.” He said at a whisper. “Liked you when we first met well enough. Wasn’t completely charmed.” Adam teased lightly with a thin smile up at her. Everyone was charmed by Maddie K, but Adam was always too busy bandaging up heroes and making plans. She was a friend of a friend and it would have stayed that way forever.
“Didn’t start to think about you until all I could do was call.” He moved his hand down a little to hold the top of hers and then leaned his head on the couch. It was incredibly messed up that they wouldn’t have been real friends if Seattle hadn’t blown up in their faces, but it still made him grateful in a twisted way. Just like how their shadows brought them together.
There was a part of her that hoped Seattle never happened either, a morbidly curious part that wondered what her life would be like if she had just stayed in her abusive home. But she would never give those memories away, not in a million years. That year and change of time spent with vigilantes and danger and bad things morphed and taught her so much, things that she still carried with her now. It taught her about real love and real loss and how to cope -- or not cope, really. MK wouldn’t be the woman she was today, that was certain.
She laughed despite herself and rolled her eyes at his teasing. “Might have been the whole teenager thing. I’m definitely more alluring and endearing now.” She turned her hand underneath his so that their palms met and laced their fingers together as her thumb brushed the back of his hand. It reminded her of the hotel, though Adam was certainly less sinister looking than his alter ego. She smiled softly and leaned her head back as well, kicking off her flats so that she could tuck her legs underneath her. It showed she was slowly getting more and more comfortable, or at the very least accepting what was happening. And what was happening, really? She couldn’t quite put her finger on it, but it wasn’t as scary as she thought it would be. “That’s how these things tend to happen.” She couldn’t admit having feelings for Adam in the same way he did her, not yet anyway, because she had spent so much time still hung up on their vigilante. Still, she squeezed the hand she held, and her other drifted up to play with his dirty blond hair.
He closed his eyes and smiled. Adam didn’t expect anything from her beyond an occasional companion. Someone he could confide in and the other way around. He was just tired of being so lonely and doing everything in his power to pretend that he wasn’t. Surrounding himself with patients who needed him tended to patch up those wounds temporarily, but he was starting to see through it. “Wasn’t just the teenager thing. Part of it, sure. I’m a bit older. I know better. Liked girls who read lots of books.” Adam grinned a little, opening his eyes to look at her again. Maddie was smart, but she didn’t run in the same league as him academically. Older nerds were supposed to know better than to show interest in some party girl.
“I managed to burn enough bridges before leaving Seattle, so any kind of friendships made after that were completely fresh and uninvolved. Nice, comforting. Could keep my space.” Adam leaned his head a little into her fingers. “But, then I’d call you and pretend like everything was okay and when I hung up I wanted it to be true. Tried for it.” He wasn’t in love with her and couldn’t honestly classify his feelings easily since they didn’t arise very often. But, she needed to know her importance to him. It was something he would have told her anyway, some other time. As a friend.
For her part, MK really didn’t know what she was looking for with all of this. Adam had been a constant in her life for years, his calls a slight irritation at first and more for nostalgia than anything else, but something changed over the years. She cared for him, definitely, as a friend, and did see similarities even before the night at Passages. MK always thought no one really understood her hurt. Felt sympathy sure, but no one was truly empathetic. Wren hadn’t lost a boy she loved, she just walked away from him. Nell had a checkered past with men, but again, none of them died. They were all just assholes. And with the others, well, she wasn’t much aware of anything. With Adam, though, he understood better than the rest of them could. They had lost the same person, and that, more than anything, brought them together.
She chuckled quietly again. “Okay, old man. Bookworms are so 2009. Boring,” she teased, fingers tangling deeper as he leaned into her touch, and a charming little smirk sneaking up the corner of her mouth. “Clearly, I need to remind you to stay young. I’m real good at it, promise.” She listened to him continue with full attention and a sad smile tugging on her lips. She hated the idea of him shutting himself away from anything or anyone involved in Seattle, but then again, she did the same exact thing over the years. He and Nell were the only parts of Seattle that remained after a while, besides that heart-shaped locket that always hung around her neck. “I’m glad I could be there for you, then. Even if, y’know, I totally didn’t know it. Talking to you helped me not go off the edge, too. Or as much as I couldn’t.”
Adam gave a short laugh, tired of worrying her with things that he’d been carrying like that necklace she still had around her neck. Something changed on his face, like his hearing went out for a moment. Pym didn’t talk to him, but he forced senses out while electrifying others to his will. Didn’t make suggestions, but brought the worst doubts to the forefront and twisted them into something Adam wasn’t used to feeling. Everything used to be so by the book. So clinical. Friends came second after saving the world, right? Then, where did that leave Maddie’s hands when they tangled with his hair? That smile she flashed just at the right moment?
He blinked as if someone slapped him awake and he looked at her, doing his best to hide that fear Pym was twisting into his gut. “Tomorrow I have to let him through the door.” Adam whispered, pulling up the hand in her lap and kissing the fingertips gently. His eyes unfocused again, thinking about the consequences but then realizing it didn’t matter so long as Pym gave him peace.
She didn’t notice the change in his demeanor, not at first, too focused on the slightly playful teasing, but she did notice eventually, and her eyebrows creased in concern as the hand playing with his hair fell to cup his cheek. “Hey, you okay?” she asked as he was still zoned out and as she fought the urge to slap him across the face to snap him out of whatever reverie he got pulled into. He seemed to drag himself out of it after a moment, but MK still felt worry licking at her brain. The brush of his lips against her fingertips placated her slightly for a second before she snapped into it again.
“You think it’s safe for everyone in there? For you?” She sighed and frowned a little again. “We can figure out something before you go through. Just in case. What if I go through with you?” She was far from an expert in all things comicbook lore, but Adam had told her enough about Hank Pym that caused her great concern. An abused ex-wife and a vendetta against the Avengers? None of that seemed good in her book. “If he pisses someone off and he gets hurt, it carries over here, Adam.”
“No, not dragging Mary Jane into this.” Adam said sternly in his doctor voice. “Pym would use her as leverage against me if he had the chance. Leverage against the Avengers.” He couldn’t believe he just said that with a straight face. As much as he loved comic books as a child, it was unreal that he was taking it seriously. “Who cares if I get hurt? Might be for the better. I die, so does Pym. He can’t hurt anyone here or in Vegas. Someone else can run the clinic. One of my nurses can get a promotion.” He moved away from her and stood up, mind racing with what he could do.
“Shouldn’t carry over. Not fair. Bad enough that I have to worry about ficitional characters, now I could hurt real people, too?” He turned his back to her and crossed his arms over his chest protectively. “Can’t allow it to happen. If I moved, he’d drive me insane. If I stayed here, he could kill half of the community. No options.” Adam had come to peace that people in the Marvel world might die thanks to Pym, but he couldn’t accept that it would hurt real humans in Vegas.
MK couldn’t help but quirk an eyebrow at his stern tone. Friends knew how unwell she dealt with being patronized, and especially how poorly she dealt with being told what to do. She didn’t want to drag MJ into it either, but if it was for the greater good, that might have to happen anyway. But she didn’t want to argue with him, and just watched him move away from her helplessly, pursing her lips just a little. This whole mess with Pym did not sit well with her one bit, and she knew down the road it would be a problem. “I wish there was something I could do -- something we could do. It’s gonna be alright though, Adam, I promise. You’ve got me through there, and I...know others here that share our door too. We’ll figure something out.”
She stood up and stepped towards him, keeping a small distance between the two and speaking to his back. “And there are people who care, jackass. Friends and colleagues and your patients. And I care if you get hurt. It’s not fair to me if you deprive me of a handsome face like yours, y’know.” She reached out and gently wrapped her fingers around his wrist and tugged at it to make him turn around. “I’m not gonna let you get hurt. We’ll figure something out, sweetheart,” she repeated with the most reassuring smile she could muster.
Adam barely heard her until she stood up and moved behind him. It didn’t matter what she said or if he actually mattered to her. He knew the best solution to a problem was to end it. He helped with that in Seattle many times and still thought if his old best friend just allowed him to kill that last villain, they’d all still be living happy little lives back on the West Coast. The jackass comment broke through to him, though and he smiled a little after she tugged him to turn around. “Maddie K.” Adam said softly, looking down at her hand before finally making some eye contact. “I believe you are the first person in existence to call me that.” He narrowed his eyes like she just invented a new color.
He closed the gap between them with a little ounce of courage. One hand on her cheek as he looked down at her. “Can’t promise I won’t do something drastic.” Adam’s voice stayed quiet. He didn’t like that former break into professional adult mode any more than she did. It was just an unfortunate side effect of having to possess some kind of authority in his job. “Don’t want to worry about it right now. Tired of worrying.”
His smile brought a more genuine one to her face. She liked it, his smile, and how it rubbed off on her mood. Made her feel happier. “Yeah, well, I like to keep it real. You should know that by now. I keep it so real.” Okay, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration because MK Robinson was all about being anything but real to most people, but there was some sincerity in her voice. What they shared make her less wary about being honest, at least with him.
The idea of him doing something drastic and outlandish made the corners of her mouth turn down into a scowl. She didn’t like when people she cared about took risks, especially stupid ones. And that would all be one big stupid one. For someone as smart as he was, MK thought he was being kind of blind. But he didn’t want to talk about it, and she understood that desire to push things to the side. So instead, as he bridged the gap between them and brought his hand to her face, she leaned into the touch and began to brush her fingers all over his arms and chest, fingers skating on the seam of the bottom of his slightly threadbare t-shirt. “We don’t have to worry about it right now,” she said, looking up at him expectantly. There was still a line,. A small one, but it was still there. The previous night wasn’t really them, but if they crossed this now, there was no turning back, right?
He was fully aware of the tiny line that no amount of snuggling and vows of friendship could cross. She could have just given him a comforting hug, maybe one of those smirks and be out the door like none of this happened. It’d crush him, but at least he’d use that solitary time to think of how far he’d allow Pym go before he took the ex-Avenger down with him. But, no he had to be selfish. She hadn’t going running yet and only a masochist would try to push her away any farther.
She could see the trouble storming around in his head like a cyclone through an attic, but he forced it quiet and leaned in. His apartment wasn’t anything like the stairway they had first kissed. It had room with plenty of light that washed away any kind of mystery. She didn’t have a biting shadow to keep him at a safe distance. He didn’t have a shroud of darkness to keep her guessing. He’d have to be braver now, even if she had already accepted him back in, because he was the one that had to take the leap. Pressing his lips against hers, the kiss started gentle. Hesitant. But, it already had reminders of their time at the party. Of their connection. He knew it was still there, under the show they both had to put on to keep sane. It made him wrap his arm around her, remembering parts of her frame. It was different like a story told twice between a couple strong drinks, but the meaning was still there.
Usually MK would have retreated by now. Doing this with a stranger was always acceptable in her eyes because there were no consequences, not really. She could sneak out in the morning and forget about him the moment she picked up the next one. But starting something like this with someone she really knew, with a friend? Things could get messy. Still, she couldn’t get herself to leave, and she knew a part of her wanted nothing more than to stay, to be in his arms. To test and see if being with him could really help heal the wounds.
When their lips met, it sent an electric jolt through her. A spark of familiarity and difference at the same, but still something that felt right. She visibly relaxed, arching her neck upwards to meet him better because she was a tiny little thing and their height difference was more noticeable when they were standing. Pale fingers curled into the bottom of his shirt for a moment before they slid upward and over his chest to meet at the nape of his neck where they began to trace nonsensical patterns on the skin there. She pulled out of the kiss after a moment, enough so that her green eyes could meet his blue, and she asked with puffy red lips, “So, we’re really gonna do this?”
He smiled when she pulled away to look up at him. That green was easy to get lost in and he welcomed it. Losing himself a little wasn’t a new concept to a man who liked his share of hallucinations and trips, but here she was just quieting down the part of him that told him to worry. That he didn’t deserve happiness. That it would soften him too much. “Want to.” He said simply. His eyes flashed nervously. He was sure so far that she wanted it too, but there was always going to be a chance she’d find something a little better or walk out because it got too complicated. This was something he’d have to live with.
She spied the nervousness, and that made her smile, her eyes lighting up just a little. Things were going to get really, really complicated whatever happened from then on, and MK just hoped they could continue on regardless, whatever they might develop into. Still smiling, she nodded and said, “Okay. Me too.” She wanted to make him promise that everything would be okay, to play those childish games where you were sure everything would be okay in the future. But she didn’t want to build all of this on a lie. Things probably wouldn’t end up okay, but they could heal each other’s wounds for as long as possible. “Okay,” she repeated, watching him for a moment before leaning up to crush her lips against his. It was a more fierce embrace than before, all desperation and desire. Arms still around his neck, she tugged him closer as she tried to mold her body to his.
Adam made a relieved sound in the back of his throat without thinking and pulled her closer. The curiosity of whether or not it’d feel the same was inconsequential now. Just like how he couldn’t make empty promises about how they’d be just fine, he couldn’t rely on hanging to the version of her he met at the party. That was a thin fantasy compared to the reality of having her right here. Wanting him back. He wrapped long arms around her and let his hands rest on the sides of her tiny frame and let himself give into her.
He kissed her for much longer than someone simply searching for a hook up, but couldn’t help that almost youthful desire to have much more than some heavy petting. His hands moved up the back of her dress, finding a zipper and tugging it down. The straps gave way and he took a moment to look at her. He almost missed her scars. They were good reminders of how they got here, but she didn’t deserve to wear them so that anyone who got this close could see what was hurting her. And, in some secret way, he was glad that he was one of the only people who knew under that smooth, pale skin, they were still there. Waiting to be healed.
She let her eyes drift closed as she kissed him with a great ferocity, a desire, a need. She needed this just as much as he did, though she wasn’t admitting it as freely as he did. She pushed harder and further, as far as he would allow her. The kiss, the closeness, Adam, they were all consuming her, and she could barely breathe, could barely think while she pressed on. He quickly rid her of her dress, and after stepping her feet and kicking the garment to the side, she stood in just her underwear and bra and tried to exude her usual confidence. She was a model, for Christ’s sake. She shouldn’t feel so nervous about being so exposed.
In the moment he took to look at her, MK caught her breath and untangled her hair from the braid, letting curly red tresses fall down her back. The marks were gone, and she was a healthier shade, and she was back to burying the damage deep, deep down. Even if Adam knew it was there, had seen the effects it left, she found it easier to try to forget it. And this is what it was all about, right? Forgetting. Her signature smirk found its place on her lips, and she helped him pull his shirt over his head before reaching up to find his lips with the same passion as before. Her tongue teased, and her teeth nipped, and her hands tangled in his light hair with ease.
He could sense the nervousness in her, even if it was covered with that starlett move of confidence she had probably practiced a thousand times. Strangely, he saw it as a good sign. He was nervous too and much worse at hiding it, which meant they were at an understanding. She wasn’t doing this out of pity or obligation to his feelings. That was enough proof. He carefully snapped open her bra and lowered his focus to her half bare body. His hand moved from her collar bone down below her belly button and lightly pressed his fingers against her, watching for a reaction. He wasn’t intent on teasing her for very long, knowing that it would slow the acceleration of desire he had for her.
His hand wrapped around her waist and moved them down on the couch. He discarded his pants and climbed on top of her, pressing his body against her as he started kissing her again. He took a little time running his hands over her again, feeling the parts he remembered from the party. He had thought that their time had run out then, that he’d have to memorize what he could and just store it away when he felt like dwelling on something lost. It was different now. Instead of desire mixing with desperation, it folded into eagerness. Relief that she was there with him again.
All his touches were maddening, but in the most amazing way, and she reacted in tune with each of them -- body arches and throaty moans and eyelids fluttering shut. The brush of his fingers against her skin and her most sensitive areas created electric shocks, hot burning spots that caused her to shudder in pleasure. She gripped his arms as they fell onto the couch, and fingers curled desperately into the muscles there. She kissed him back with equal fervor and eagerness and arched her body closer to his when he pressed his weight against her. Like she was hungry for the connection again, for that spark of familiarity and hope and healing.
Fingers wandered up and down his body, memorizing the dips and curves and hard edges that she hadn’t allowed herself to the last time. Before, as much as she buried herself deep in that connection they created, she hadn’t wanted to remember too much in case it might never happen again. She didn’t want another thing to be haunted by, another thing to hopelessly wish for. But now with the promise of him being there again and again, MK allowed it. Reveled in it. Consumed him greedily. Her hands wandered lower, brushing against his hardness in a slight tease, and then his ass, before moving back up his chest.
Adam opened his eyes from kissing her neck and looked up at her. Lightly pressing his forehead against hers, he looked into the green and caught his breath. They had crossed the line already, but this concentrated moment of anticipation felt like the final stretch towards something good. Something he needed. He paused long enough to look in her eyes for that silent acknowledgement of want and pushed himself inside of her. First moving in slow, long thrusts as if seeing how deep she’d let him in and then quickening the pace a little the more she filled him with want.
His body warmed pressed against her and he stole a couple more kisses from her before burying his face in her shoulder. Biting and kissing her neck as he gripped the edge of the couch. Adam could feel that last bit of fear lift off him. Sure, this was a temporary fix, but it worked better than any drug he could have taken.
MK uttered a small cry of pleasure that soon melted away into hitched breaths and quiet moans. Sounds that let Adam know that he was clearly doing something right. Her fingers dug into his shoulder blades, clawed at the skin there enough to leave red streaks from her nails on the skin. He wasn’t the essence of nothingness, not like the last time, and it felt weird and wonderful at the same time to have him be truly tangible. Truly himself, just like she was truly herself. She knew it wouldn’t last; the distractions never did. But while her heavy drinking just numbed the pain for a little while, just ushered it away back into its hiding spot, being so close and so connected with him didn’t bury the pain in a bad way.
Her hips moved in tandem with his thrusts, and she wrapped her legs around his waist, allowing him to plunge deeper and deeper into her, until she felt herself moving closer to the edge, the noises eliciting from her swollen lips a tell-tale sign of how near she was. It was divine, almost, teetering over the line between friendship and something more. Nights with strangers she picked up at clubs didn’t feel like this did. Compared to this, it felt kind of cheap, tawdry. With Adam...well, she hated to think that it felt right because that was just cliche, but it was more important. Like he was.
Adam allowed himself to take a little more time than at the party. The fear of being discovered was gone along with the knowledge that their time was limited. Here, at his place, it was late and secluded. There was no need for some magical shadow to take them away. Falling under the influence of how good she felt and the passion that electrified between them, she kept him focused on her- on them. On the moment. Something a person like Adam was never well accustomed to. When he heard her come close, his hand traveled down to her thigh to hold onto it as he let himself fall over the brink.
The release followed by a soft sound through clenched teeth like someone had taken out a dagger wedged in his chest. A relief to the pain. He breathed heavily against her, back and chest beaded with sweat and arms a little red from the marks she had left him. Adam left ghost kisses under her collarbone and then raised his head a little to gaze up at her. Mouth wobbling into a small, happy smirk.
The rush of ecstasy that pulsed through her at her climax caused her to roll her eyes back, and she bit back a loud whine as best she could. It was like peaking on the best drug as it threw her head back against the soft cushion of the couch. Like she was on this natural high, and she didn’t want to come down. The lips on her chest caused the smallest shiver, and when her eyes fluttered open again, she spied the smirk crawling up his lips and met it with one of her own. Cool fingers reached up to brush against his brow, and she traced the planes of his face as if memorizing every minute detail. This time she would remember it. This time, she thought, all of this actually mattered.
His smile turned a little bashful as she examined his face and he closed his eyes to feel the cool press of her fingers across his face. It had been a long time since someone bothered to really look at him, to touch him with full knowledge of who he was under all that dorky doctor stuff he threw around as a shield. That part of him was still there, but it paled to that obvious sweet core. It worried, stressed and hid, but it remained the energy behind everything he thought. Everything he did. Maddie K didn’t know him before his time as a vigilante doctor that posted criminal’s faces on boards and crossed them out with red X’s, but she was seeing it now. Just a suburban kid a little too smart for his own good that just wanted to be allowed to be kind.
“Will you stay?” There wasn’t much a night left, but he had to rest eventually. He would have preferred her there, too, but he understood if she needed to run. They patched themselves up, there was no reason to linger with him any longer even if that’s what he wanted. Needed.
She caught the shyness in his smile, and that caused her lips to twitch into something softer, much more genuine. She appreciated seeing this side of him, one with kind blue eyes and quiet requests. It wasn’t often that she let herself see the real side of people anymore. Ever since Seattle, it was hook-ups and breezy conversations and meaningless time. Absolutely meaningless, if she was honest with herself. (She never was, and even one night with Adam wouldn’t change that.) His request caused her to smile again, a little wider this time, and she fell quiet for a moment as she just observed him. While she vaguely recalled promising Wren to come home right away, that could be easily remedied. Besides, Wren was probably tied up with whoever she had gone to visit. She nodded. “Yeah...I’d like that. But only,” she said with a clear teasing tone and a wide grin, “if you let me make you breakfast. I make killer pancakes, handsome.” She reached out and tapped his nose with her finger before leaning forward to steal a kiss.
He laughed, kissing her back before giving a single nod like they had a deal. “Good. I’m a great doctor, but a terrible cook.” Adam kissed the side of her face, his hand reaching up to run through her hair with natural affection. He knew they could keep constructing nights like this. Little worlds where they cleared the air, pretended they’d figure out a way to fix their problems and then allowed a little bit of feeling in. Even if it was going to hurt him later. Adam wasn’t out in the world risking his neck to fight crime. He didn’t have some resentment for old friends. This, right here, was something he could keep from losing. Adam was sure of it.