Laura "X-23" Kinney (lil_wolvie) wrote in freedomtownic, @ 2021-03-21 19:08:00 |
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Entry tags: | bode knight (bode_knight), laura kinney (lil_wolvie) |
Who: Bode Knight and Laura Kinney
When: Last week, after this
Where: Mar-Vell Park, Freedomtown
What: Laura makes her life even more complicated
Status: Closed and complete
"There she is," Bode shouted with a broad grin as Laura approached him. They still had some distance between them which partially explained the shouting (He was also just happy to see her, but shh). He'd arrived not too long before, dressed in running shoes, boardshorts and a Liverpool F.C. soccer jersey. It should come as no surprise then, that along with that ensemble, he'd brought a soccer ball for them to play with. "Wanna play?" He called out again, not caring *at all* how loud and annoying he was being.
"Oh. My. God." Laura groaned as she walked toward him. Wearing a tiny pair of black nylon shorts and a matching black tanktop with black hiking boots, the girl crossed her arms as she gave him a glare that would have been scary if it hadn't been so sexy. "I don't even know the rules."
He honestly thought that she was adorable when she pouted. "Well, it's not like we have enough people to play a real game," he pointed out. Still, that gave him an idea to ask Billie if they could set up an activity within the community. "Still!" He kicked the ball in her direction. "Let's pretend that I'm the goalie and you have to kick the ball past me." Exercise! Yay!
While she'd never played soccer before... her reflexes and intuition (a combination of her powers and years spent as one of the world's most deadly assassins) enabled her to bring a knee up to hit the ball into the air, smacking it toward him as it came down with what would normally be a vicious roundhouse kick.
Bode lept over immediately in the direction that she'd kicked the ball in and caught it against his chest with a yelp(!). "You're stronger than you look," he said, exhaling to catch his breath. "I probably should have told you to kick the ball around to get a feel for it first," he admitted sheepishly. He dropped the ball to the ground to dribble it with his feet to show her what he meant, then kicked it back in her direction. "Have you been up to much lately?" He asked conversationally, not so much checking in on her mental wellbeing so much as genuinely wanting to know what she'd been up to.
"No." She would normally have left it at that simple answer, being as guarded and withdrawn as she'd been. But something about him made her feel comfortable opening up a bit. So she continued, beginning to mimic what he'd been doing with the ball as she talked. "I've been working. Serving as bodyguard to Katie's sister... gives us a chance to bond. It gives me a piece of Katie to cherish, and it gives her a sister, since I had planned on marrying Katie one day." She kicked the ball up to knee-height, bumping it up with her knee, then kicking it back towards him, with less force this time.
He caught the ball easier this time, having expected a harder blow. "I'm glad that you have Emily. She sounds like a little piece of home." 'Home' being Katie. He dropped the soccer ball to his knee, bouncing it to his feet and making a show of kicking it up and catching it with one foot. "Family's a precious thing, whether it's family by blood or family we make for ourselves." He finally passed the ball back. "Sorry," he blushed, "I feel like I'm lecturing you."
"I know that. If you were.... I would tell you to shut the fuck up." She said with a grin. She was teasing him... but she also meant it. "I've... finally accepted that she's never coming back. Which I know is progress." She bounced the ball back and forth from her left knee to her right knee as she talked. "And I know Grace loves me. And I care so much about her. I just wish I could get myself to feel the same way when I'm with her that I do wh-..." She cut herself off, shaking her head. "Nevermind." She said with a grumble, absently kicking the ball from one foot to the other.
Bode laughed, knowing that she was serious there. Laura was slow to opening up so he appreciated that she was trying. That, and he liked what he saw so far. He kept his eye on the ball, almost hypnotized by the movement, but his eyes flicked up to meet hers when she censored herself. "Hey, c'mon. There's no wrong way to feel something for someone," he said, completely oblivious to where that line of thought was going.
Frustrated, she went to kick the ball back to him, but her claw lashed out from her foot at the last moment, impaling the ball and deflating it instantly. "Damn. Sorry. I think I killed the ball." Sighing, she walked toward him, looking him up and down as she pursed her lips in thought. "There's something I need to know. For my own peace of mind."
Bode's eyebrows shot up. He almost joked that if she didn't want to play anymore then she didn't have to kill the ball, but he saw and sensed the shift of her demeanor and decided to button it on the joking. "Yeah, of course. I'm an open book, you know that."
She stared at him for a moment, clearly deep in thought. Finally, she took one more step toward him... before placing her hands on either side of his face, and pressing her lips to his for a long, yearning kiss.
While initially surprised, Bode kissed her back, matching her intensity as he set his hands on her hips and gently tugged her closer. He'd be lying if he said that he hadn't thought about kissing her, but he was respectful about the boundaries that they'd set up in their friendship.
This. This was what she had wanted to feel since losing Katie: passion. With Laura Palmer, there'd been physicality. With Grace, there was trust and caring. But nothing had caused that damn spark to re-ignite inside her heart. She gave his bottom lip a teasing little nibble, before finally pulling away, giving him a predatory yet somehow adorable grin. "Wow."
"'Wow' definitely covers it," Bode agreed. He exhaled and kept his hands on her hips, wanting to keep her close, to let the moment endure. Was it self-serving to go for another kiss? Probably. He cupped her cheek with one hand, finally connecting the dots. "Oh, you--really?"
"I shouldn't feel this way. Not toward you. I'm with someone, and that's the person I'm supposed to be feeling like this toward." Laura said, just a tinge of panic to her voice. She felt helpless... which was basically her worst nightmare.
Bode gave Laura a stern look, which was adorable more than anything. "You're okay. It's okay to feel that way." Now that certainly felt self-serving. While he liked her (a lot), he wasn't going to push. He just wasn't the type. "There's no time limit for how you should feel, or why you should feel, or who you should feel it with." He felt like he was lecturing again and let out a puff of breath. "You'll get to where you need to be. I believe that."
"You... deserve better than me anyway." She said, trying to keep her voice it's typical deadpan... but beginning to fail. She placed a hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes. "I've been nothing but anger, violence, and death from the time I was a child. You're... this bright ray of hope and optimism."
He held her gaze. "That's not all that you are. Or all that you'll ever be." She really did sell herself short, didn't she? "And I'm here because I choose to be, so no more talk about 'deserve'," he said, actually managing to sound stern.
"I hate feeling this." Laura said, sighing as she ran her fingers through her hair in frustration. "When I lost Katie... I told myself I would never let myself get that attached to someone again. All it does is open you to more pain. And I was doing such a good job of it, too. And then you had to come around, damn you."
Bode gave her his boyish grin, as if to say 'well, what can you do?' "It doesn't just have to provide pain," he pointed out. "There's a whole... gamut of emotions that you're forgetting." He paused and watched her. "And it's okay to feel those too."
"I.... but I'm with Grace." She said, clearly torn in two directions here. Torn between what felt like a real chance to feel again, and her responsibility toward the woman who had done nothing but love and support her through this. "I need to think, Bode." She mumbled, looking entirely frazzled. "I just... I need to go be by myself and think."
"Of course," he replied softly. He reached up to give her shoulder a reassuring squeeze, then took a step back to give her space. "Whatever you decide to do? I'll back you 100%."
She reached out, gently placing a palm to his cheek for a moment as she took a long look into his eyes, before turning and sprinting off.