Chase Brent || Caleb Widogast 🔥 (weboffire) wrote in dunhavenic, @ 2019-12-14 19:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, * andrea, * jamie, c: chase brent, c: esther shaw |
LOG: Chase & Esther
WHO: Chase Brent & Esther Shaw
WHEN: December 14, Evening
WHERE: Charity Gala
SUMMARY: Chase & Esther escape and have a few minutes of peace and quiet away from the crowds.
WARNINGS: PG, they’re pretty tame.
Esther had not been wrong, she thought to herself as she pointed out a wine on the menu that was left on the bar, flashing a quick smile to the bartender. The wine had, indeed, been very good at this particular event. Though she'd only had two glasses and was about to cut herself off after this third out of fear of getting tipsy and thus saying or doing something embarrassing, she had to hand it to the winery or Salazar Industries themselves, because they had, indeed, thrown a rather good party. On top of the wine, the food had been as good as promised and the charity auction itself had been rather good. The music was nice and the people were fine -- though Esther had to admit that she was starting to get a bit weary of the last. That thought in mind, Esther turned to look through the crowd to find Chase. It wasn't very hard for her to do. Outside of talking to her brother and a handful of others that she knew from town, her attention had stayed quite squarely on the man she had come to the gala with all night. She had a feeling that would have been the case had she not come with him as well, a thought that she was less adamant to deny. (She was also less adamant to ignore the gentle squeeze in her chest when her eyes landed on him.) But he had warned her that he didn't like crowds and given that she was thinking that she could use a break herself, she had a feeling that he, too, was there. Smiling once more at the bartender when he set down the glass of wine, Esther asked, "One more thing. Do you know if there's somewhere someone could go to get some air that isn't outside?" Once she had gotten her answer, Esther took her glass of wine and made a detour past the table of hors d'oeuvres, making a plate of goodies and making sure to include anything she'd though Chase had seemed to enjoy earlier in the night. Goodies scavenged, she beelined back toward where she had left him before excusing herself to refresh her drink, not getting one for him after having noticed how slowly he was drinking the one he already had. Though she had given a friendly smile to the bartender, it was nothing compared to the warmth behind the smile she gave Chase when she reached him. "They had more of that chocolate mousse stuff," Esther said, holding up the plate for a moment before she shifted it to carefully balance it with her glass of wine to free up her left hand. All that time spent waitressing in Chicago seemed to have paid off. With her now free hand, she reached out and tugged at the end of his jacket sleeve before jerking her head in the direction of the side room that the bartender had said would most likely be empty. "C'mon." She tugged once more on his sleeve a bit playfully before starting to lead the way. "Follow me." Chase had previously resisted the urge to stare after her - it was creepy, even if tempting. When he’d first seen the dress, he had about fallen into the center core of the earth, and that had not lessened through the night. He had gone through a comedy of errors in his own head, trying to act casual as they had gone through the earlier portion in the evening. His first drink had taken off the edge, just a little bit, and now he nursed his second, not wanting to get buzzed, but needing something to do with his hands. Spending five grand of someone else’s money had helped give him something of a natural high, anyway. Bringing a book along would have likely been frowned upon, even if he had known Esther would have found it amusing. He permitted himself a stare when he saw her headed back to him, and her smile brought out one of his own in response. “Oh- Okay,” he was easy, when someone told him to follow, Chase followed. Especially when they had a plate full of delicious hors d’oeuvres. He didn’t quite know what to do with his hand, given how much skin she was showing, so he just let it hover over her back, not touching but still there. He reached up with his other hand and tugged a little at his tux collar, hoping they were going someplace he could loosen it. “Should I ask where we are headed, or is it a secret? Do you want help carrying that?” "Mm, definitely a secret." Esther handed off the plate to him, at least ensuring that they wouldn't end up losing all of the good food she'd gathered before they reached their destination. She noticed him fiddling with his collar and wondered if maybe she had actually been right in that now was a good time for a break for them both. It didn't take long for her to follow the directions that the bartender had given her, the room that he'd mentioned not all too far from the gala at large. "This is it," she said, pushing open the door and moving to find a lightswitch on the wall. With the light on, it looked like it might have been a room used for meetings or private wine tastings, with a table and some seating. Whatever it was, she was just glad to see that it was as empty as the bartender thought it might be. "I was needing a break from all the people," Esther explained, looking back to Chase with a small smile. "And I hoped you wouldn't mind me dragging you along for said break." Chase half expected some secret room, hidden behind a bookcase or a stone wall. But quiet would work just as well, and the moment they stepped into the room, he let out a sigh of relief. He pushed the door closed behind them and leaned against it, giving himself a moment. He nodded at the same time as he opened his eyes back up. It was obvious the break was welcome, as Chase had just hit his overwhelmed with noise and people limit. Esther didn’t drain him like strangers did, and to find company with someone that felt the same as him on introversion? It was nearly priceless. “I am happy to join you for a break. As I am such a selfless person.” They could still hear the music from here, drifting through the walls of the main room and into every little nook and cranny where people might hide. Chase pushed off of the door and moved forward so he could set his drink down on the table, giving him freedom to tug his bow tie undone. He let it drape around his neck as he undid the top button of his shirt. “Do you think they will kick me out if they catch me without a tie?” Following suit, Esther set her own drink down on the table before picking up some sort of goat cheese appetizer and lifting her chin to look at Chase. She popped it into her mouth while she formulated an answer, simply because she needed the time. For as nice as he looked all polished up in his fancy gala clothes, there was something about seeing him release the tie and undo the button that made her chest do that now too familiar squeeze. He looked like himself no matter what, but now he felt a little more like the Chase that she had gotten to know over the past month and some change since she had wandered into his life -- even if they were both still a far cry from loungewear on his couch. Esther leaned her hip against the table, then nudged the plate of food toward Chase in an invitation. "I happen to think you look even better now," she said, not really sure if that was better or worse than anything else she might have said off the cuff. Not that it really mattered in the long run, she thought; she wasn't trying very hard to be coy and had mostly failed at it when she still was. "If it comes to it," she continued, "I swear to defend your tie-less honor." Chase was terrible at taking compliments. He flushed red, which was likely a stark contrast to the pressed white shirt and black jacket. It took all of his willpower to not run his hand into his hair, messing it up, and instead used that to reach in and snag one of the little chocolate mousses he had fallen in love with when they’d first entered. They were bite size, but even if they hadn’t been, Chase likely still would have awkwardly shoved the whole thing into his mouth. He did, at least, wait until he’d swallowed before talking. As was polite. “I appreciate it. Without Mica around, I am afraid I am powerless.” And he wouldn’t tell his best friend, but the idea of Esther standing up for him provoked a far more base response, his heart rate doubled at the thought. At this rate he was going to have to take off more clothes just to prevent sweating through his jacket. That did remind him, though, and he looked up at her again. Being away from the crowd and not flushed from emotion might have left anyone else cold. “Are you comfortable? If you get cold--?” His hand reached up to tug on the jacket lapel. Esther couldn't help but notice that flush and she did her very best to suppress the pleased smile that came to her lips on instinct on seeing it. She didn't want to torture the man, but there was something decidedly nice about seeing evidence that she could make him blush if she really wanted to. At his question, she glanced down at her bare arms as though that was how she should gauge whether or not she was cold. The dress she had worn had been chosen after great debate and forcing Gabe through a series of opinions as she dug through her only recently stocked closet. Though Esther didn't know what to call this evening spent with Chase (though Gabe also had a series of opinions on that, too), she had wanted to look nice. She had wanted to impress him. A red, backless dress seemed to be a rather sure way to do it. Looking back to Chase, she shrugged one of those bare shoulders and said, "I'm okay now, but I might take you up on it later." Picking up her glass of wine, she swirled the liquid idly, keeping her gaze on him. "Thank you, by the way. I don't think I said that before. I know you were planning on coming regardless, but it means a lot that you were willing to hang out with me all night." It was becoming increasingly obvious at how easy it was to smile at her, especially compared to how Chase usually had a fairly robust resting bitch face. But Esther? Esther made him go through a range of emotions. He wasn’t unfamiliar with them, but he’d also never had them piled on each other so easily and so comfortably, as he did with Esther. Intelligent and a mind so similar to his, with the addition of gorgeous and … whatever this connection was they had. Hang out made his face twitch just a little, but he kept that contained as much as he could. So, not a date, then. He had gone into the evening unsure, with the girls having convinced him it was, but Chase remaining apprehensive. In this case, he didn’t love being right, but it wasn’t necessarily surprising, either. It did leave him shoving his hand into his pocket and reaching over to snag some more food to keep his other busy. “There are very few people I would enjoy the company of here, and you are one. It has been my pleasure.” He smiled as he munched on the cheese he’d snagged. “And I am not just saying that because you saved me from making awkward small talk with Jessie’s father.” Having been about to take a sip of wine, Esther let out a soft snort of amusement into the glass -- incredibly ladylike, in such a way that would make her mother proud. "Well," she lowered the glass, "I'm happy to have been able to help you avoid that. As it is, you saved me from having to bring my brother as my date to the prom, so I ought to be thanking you all over again." Not that Gabe let that be an option for very long, in his needling. She wasn't too upset about that, though. She couldn't be too upset about anything her brother did, in all actuality. "You know," she continued, looking down at her glass of wine, "it's not often that I actually enjoy going to parties like this. Big crowds of strangers and me worried that I'll spill a drink on someone wearing a dress worth more than my car, that sort of thing." Esther looked back up to Chase then, a flash of a smile on her face before she finished, "But I've enjoyed this one with you, so maybe I've just been going to them with the wrong sorts." Again she shrugged a bare shoulder, then took that sip of wine she kept trying for, before she could actually turn bashful. She was wearing too much red for her skin to do the same. That all sounded so familiar to him, right up to his first choice having been just dragging Mica along. She was similar to Gabe in a lot of ways, from what he could tell, being the obvious lovable trolls that they were. He was smiling at her again, which was just a thing he’d have to get used to, it seemed. “I think there are ties here that are worth more than my car,” Chase admitted with an unabashed grin. Excessive wealth wasn’t something he felt people should be proud of, but that was a rant for another time. When he wasn’t blushing over her enjoying time with him. “I- I would first like to stay that I’ve enjoyed this one, when I would have normally left by now and had a miserable time- but-” It was cowardice to continue pretending like he didn’t want to ask, so finally, Chase built up the courage. “Is this considered a date? I thought it was probably rude to ask, but Mica had not shut up and I have been wondering--” Okay, now he was rambling, but at least the words were coming out of his mouth, and he raced to catch up with himself. “My answer would not have changed either way, for the record. But I promise you that you can do worlds better than …” he waved a self-deprecating hand at himself. “The baggage that comes with this package.” Esther wasn't sure if the relief she felt at his asking made her a good or bad person; she could have just as easily been the one to find that courage and gotten clarification, but she had been too worried about what his answer could have been. Like him, she would have wanted to move forward no matter what the case, but there was no part of her that hadn't hoped that she would be able to end this event without knowing that she'd just gone on a date with this man. Being able to actually get that clarification felt like one more thing she ought to be thanking him for. "I, ah," she started, not at all eloquently. She looked down, this time to just set her wine glass down on the table and free her hands. Once that was done, Esther looked back up to meet Chase's gaze. "I was hoping it might be a date. If that's something that you also wanted, of course." That hadn't been all he'd said, though. Esther pulled in a breath, feeling as though her thoughts were moving too fast. Normally she wasn't so bad at all this, but it felt so much more important with him. Maybe it was because of their dreams, maybe it was just because there'd been a connection from the start. Whatever it was, she didn't want to mess it up. "I don't know all of your baggage, but I do know that this package -- " Esther mirrored his own action, indicating herself with a wave of one hand, "comes with its own share, too. And we don't have to unpack all of that tonight or tomorrow... not until we're both ready. But, I do know that everything I've seen so far of this package -- " This time she reached out toward him, tapping the front of his jacket with a single finger, "has been nothing short of intriguing and surprising and lovely. I'm not sure I'd want to do better, if I thought I even could." Chase flushed red and huffed out a little laugh, shaking his head at her. “No one has ever described me as intriguing, surprising and lovely.” He snagged her hand as it tapped his jacket, and pulled her in just a step closer, gently. “I am beginning to think that I have been showing you an unfair side of me, maybe one that is too nice.” It didn’t stop him from continuing to be nice, though, or cause him to be an asshole. Truth be told, he was a little tired of running from everything good in his life. “So, a date…” Chase trailed off, little smile on his face. “It has been sometime since I have gone on one of those. “Is there any expectations of me?” He looked up at the ceiling with a somewhat comical expression of wonder and curiosity. “Should I have won that book set? Will that count towards my grade?” A laugh bubbled out from Esther at that, a mix of relief and giddiness and simple happiness all rolled into one. The laugh lingered on her face in a wide smile, all while she edged in even closer than she had already allowed him to pull her in. This was actually happening, she let herself realize. She was never going to hear the end of it from Gabe. It was worth it. "I would probably still be blushing if you'd won it," she admitted, scrunching up her nose in an amused expression. "And it would have been such a waste of your friend's money, charity or not. So, if anything, I'd say not winning them only helps your grade. Not that you need much help with that in the first place." Esther tipped her head to the side, hair falling over one of her shoulders as she asked, "What about me? Do I get points for remembering you liked the little chocolate mousse things?" She arched an eyebrow, expression turning mischievous, her confidence returning now that she felt more certain about the evening as a whole. "Or how about the dress? It might have been strategically chosen to aid in a high grade." “It would not have been a waste,” Chase replied, firmly. He was all ready to tease with her, but still had to say his peace on that, with what was probably a too-serious expression. “They are important, and worth every cent.” Even if he had talked himself out of winning them. It hadn’t stopped him from bidding early just to get the price up, though. Chase did wonder how she could think she had anything less than the highest score possible, though, and glanced down at her bare shoulder and immediately flushed again. “...I have been trying not to stare at you all evening and failing, if you have not noticed.” Probably a little too truthful, but he swallowed the lump in his throat to get that out and there it was. “I would- ah- give you top marks?” This time there was nothing that Esther could do to stop the flush that crept up her neck and into her cheeks, though she didn't know which was to blame: his adamance over her books or the confession that he had been trying just as hard as she had been to not stare. She had dated plenty of people in her twenty-eight years and a handful of them had fallen between the time her first book had been published and before she had met Chase. Some had read her books, others had never even heard of them. But none of them seemed to appreciate her talents and the stories she shared quite like Chase did. It meant more to her than she could really put into words -- and given that words were her trade, that was a big deal to Esther. And, well. The fact that he seemed to appreciate the dress meant something to her, too. Esther smiled, one side of her mouth quirking up. "That's good to hear. I always was something of an overachiever when it came to my grades." She glanced down, as though reacquainting herself with the tux, then decided, "You get top marks, too, but not just because you look good in a tux." “As was I.” Chase blushed again at the compliment - oh, they were doomed to spend any time at all together just being red, he could tell already. He was also doomed to second guess every single move - but that was nothing new. His hand came up with the intention of touching her shoulder, but he just let it hover there in the air, not sure if he was being too forward. Previously, he had almost always been drawn to people who were the aggressors, who pursued him, told him what to do, what to wear. Chase was a relatively passive person, and honestly, usually happy to just have a direction without having to think too much. But there had never been any real connection with those people, no spark, no chemistry. Just … going through life. With Esther, it was obviously different, and made him want to charge forward. Which left him just inching forward, because Chase did not know how to charge anything. But he did know how to blurt things out in an embarrassing rush, though. “May I kiss you?” His eyes closed with a little noise, and he shook his head like he was about to take it back. “If that was too much--” "It's not." The words were blurted out just as rushed as Chase's own and Esther smiled an indulgent smile at the realization. Though there had been the tiniest glimmer of hope when she went into this evening that she would leave it having been kissed, she hadn't let herself really entertain the fact that it could actually happen until right now, at this exact moment. Her heart was bouncing around in her chest, but at least her whole face hadn't gone as red as her dress again. Esther stepped forward, shortening the distance between them even further. She lifted one of her hands, reaching up to let her fingers graze over his that hovered over her shoulder, then applied a gentle pressure until his fingers touched her skin. It was as clear permission as she thought she could give, though she was even more direct with his request. She tipped her head back, the corners of her mouth still tipped up, then said, "I'd very much like it if you'd kiss me, Chase." With her help, his hand ended up on her shoulder, and he was already leaning down with smirk on his face. “You are dangerous.” There was heat behind the statement, as he got a little closer, before finally bridging the gap between them and allowing himself the pleasure of kissing her. He was no saint, but Chase wasn’t one to rush things. And he didn’t, in this case, taking his time with a slow and gentle push of his body and mouth. He didn’t feel a rush to hurry things along, savoring the first kiss moment that people only got to experience once, and knowing it only got better as they got older. He wouldn’t admit he wanted this from the moment he saw her, that was too cliche, or something - because a trust had been built between them from that very moment, and kissing had been far from his mind. But that hadn’t stopped him from thinking about it dozens of other times. His fantasies barely even compared to the real thing, her soft lips under his own, matched with her soft skin as his hand trailed down her back to spread across it warmly. Even if she wasn't very successful at it in the past, Esther was no stranger to dating. She'd experienced plenty of first kisses in the past, many of which had been very nice, indeed. But, despite her dislike for romantic cliches herself, she knew that this first kiss with Chase was different. There was no real mystery behind why. Those failed romances of her past had lacked this charge that she felt with him, the obvious chemistry that was a relief to not have to ignore or feign denial over any longer -- for as terrible as she'd been at doing that in the first place. They had a connection and while she would have been fine had that never grown beyond the friendship they had fallen into, she was very pleased to feel just how well it translated beyond that. Because, as it turned out, Chase was a very good kisser. Like him, she'd thought about this moment more times than she was prepared to admit, but any scenario she had concocted paled in comparison to this exact one. She didn't remember when she had lifted her arms so they could gently rest on his shoulders to circle around his neck, but that's where they were now. One of her hands went so far as to bury her fingers in the hair at the nape of his neck as the kiss lingered on. The little room they had disappeared in was suddenly very warm and she was glad she hadn't taken his jacket. (His hand at her back was another reason to be glad for that.) Eventually the kiss had to end, as all kisses did. Esther was nevertheless reluctant as it did, moving slowly as she tipped her head back, another smile taking over her lips as they were no longer so thoroughly distracted. She made no move to step out of his space, instead staying close as she murmured, "I'm pretty sure you're the dangerous one here." When Chase pulled away, it was reluctantly, but with a little added force. He blew out a breath and his head dropped to a noise-less laugh. He did pull out of her space - he had to, otherwise he risked being overwhelmed. But he kept a connection, his hand trailing down to link fingers with hers just so they stayed touching even as he took a step back. The laugh was still bubbling up, and his free hand ghosted over his face, pulling features down with a rougher touch than the one he had used on her. When he finally leveled his eyes onto her, he actually allowed himself to take all of her in, head to toe, gaze filled with heat. “I am- but we agreed we did not have to talk about that now.” He could make light of his past only because he did not feel pressured to talk about it. But someday… there would come a time where he would have to talk about it with her, or he would have a bad day and have to explain, and he knew he risked losing this. She would wake up and see him for who he truly was, and he would not blame her for backing out of it. But that day didn’t have to be today, and he let his shoulders drop a little bit of the weight. “We should probably go back out and … human again. Then we will have an excuse to leave earlier, and maybe go to one of the late-night diners for real food?” It took a great deal of willpower for Esther to stay where she was rooted as Chase looked at her, a look in his eye that she knew was almost certainly being reflected back in her own. It wasn't just the pleasure of knowing that she was being appreciated by someone she wanted to be appreciated by, but knowing that said appreciation went beyond a sexy dress and a face full of makeup. She thought that she could have just as easily been wearing a sweatshirt and flannel pajama pants and he'd still have looked at her like that; at least, she knew that much was true on her end. He was right, though. "If we stay in here much longer, people are going to assume we've been up to no good." Esther gave him a wry smile at that, while she reached out with her free hand to tug on one of the loose ends of his bowtie, sliding out from under his collar entirely and then stowing it in his jacket pocket. Now he looked even more like the Chase she had started to develop this complicated mix of feelings for and the recognition made her wry smile turn more fond. "So we'll human a little, maybe dance once... then I want a giant cheeseburger with a pile of fries on the side." She squeezed their joined hands once. "Deal?" Chase huffed out another laugh, shaking his head at all of this. Not how he had expected the evening to go, in the least, but he had no desire to protest that or ruin it yet. So instead, he leaned in again and placed a gentle kiss at the side of her head, before dodging away to snag one of the leftover hor d'oeuvres with a shit-eating grin on his face. He looked back at her, over his shoulder, and shrugged. “They will likely assume that if I smile too much regardless.” He held out his hand for her to take, rather than his arm like he had done earlier. The tactile touch was something he always quietly craved, but had never pushed for. A leftover side-effect from a loveless childhood, according to his therapist. “Human. Dance. Cheeseburger. You have a deal.” |