Samuel (voiceinthedark) wrote in low_tide, @ 2009-11-30 22:28:00 |
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Current mood: | confused |
Distance Between Them
Cowardly was the last thing that Boden could be called, but since his arrival in this new world and this new body he had been displaying all the traits of the behaviour, including avoiding his apartment and anything associated with this Boden’s life.
He had after many hours of wandering decided to bite the bullet and brave it, rummaging out the keys and finding his way back there with little problem, easily navigating the strange streets with an ease that could only come from having lived there a very long time.
Inhaling and exhaling was the only way in which Boden could insert the key into the lock and turn it, hearing it click with an ominous ease. It was now or never, go in or turn back, Boden decided on the former rather than the latter.
The door was opened for an all of sixty seconds before Boden finally took a step over threshold, fully immersing himself in this other man’s life; a life that assaulted him in personal decoration, photographs and a flashing answering machine.
Boden ignored the machine and pressed on further, finally shedding the jacket he’d wrapped around himself earlier, peeking at the contents of the fridge before familiarising himself with rooms. He got flashes of memories and one hit him quicker and stronger than others when he entered the bathroom, a memory of a brunette and certain closeness in the shower.
“Merde,” Boden murmured under his breath before lifting tapered tips of fingers to massage his right temple, trying to fight off a wave of nostalgia and push away the alien memories and regain his own. Memories that reminded him that this was not his world, his home and certainly not his… brunette, if there was still a brunette to speak of.
He left the bathroom in quick haste, feet taking him into the bedroom where sure enough there was a brunette in bed. Boden’s throat constricted and there was a brief look of panic before he all but fled from the bedroom, spending the next ten minutes murmuring to himself in French as he sought some solace in all this strangeness.
Said brunette that was dozing in Boden’s bed was one Charlotte Temple, known to her friends as Charlie. She was only sleeping lightly, so the sound of footsteps caused her to stir and she lifted her head, long brown hair curling around her face and arms as she lifted her head.
At first, she couldn’t quite work out what it was that had pulled her from the rather comfortable slumber she had been slipping into, drifting off surrounded by the smell of her boyfriend and the comfort of the fabric of one of his t-shirts against her skin. But soon enough she heard something approaching muttering in the other room.
For a moment, an alien fear gripped at her heart and she briefly thought that, maybe, there was a thief in Boden’s apartment, but then she pulled herself together.
Don’t be stupid, Charlotte, she chastised. It’s probably just Boden.
After that, she got to her feet, wearing a pair of socks, but that was all aside from the t-shirt that hung just low enough to cover her underwear but it left little to the imagination, her long legs took her towards the door of the bedroom.
“Boden?” she called quietly, rubbing at her eyes and then raking her fingers through her hair. Her whole face lit up when she hit the lounge and her eyes fell on him. “Hey you, when’d you get home?”
Boden froze and inwardly he knew it was the wrong thing to do because every good hunter knew better than to freeze when faced with a potential threat, it left you vulnerable and exposed. He swallowed, wondering when he had in fact swallowed half a continent, and turned to face the brunette.
Charlotte… Charlie… his long term girlfriend
“Couple minutes ago,” he answered, voice lower than she was probably used to. “I, uh, had to work late.” He looked at her for a moment and then recalled something. “When did you get back?”
Charlie tipped her head, wondering what was different. There was something. She just wasn't sure what. He was probably tired, and it had been at least a week since they'd seen each other.
"Uh, earlier on today. Didn't think you'd mind me crashing here... since I have a key and all..." she rubbed the back of her neck, feeling oddly awkward. Her toes turned inward, a habit that was nervous, and she took half a step forward. "How was work? Are you okay?"
Boden disliked the way in which his stomach twisted uncomfortably as Charlie did that… nervous thing she did. God, how did he know these things? How was it possible for him to take over this man’s body and his life, but still know almost everything he knew? It made no sense.
“Non, it’s fine.” Why he hurried to reassure her was beyond him, but it wasn’t exactly fair on her. She had a boyfriend and he was Boden so technically now she was stuck with him, poor girl. “I’m just- It’s been a long week, lots of problems.” And that was putting things mildly.
Charlie looked at him through her eyelashes, a smile on her lips even though her lower one was trapped between her teeth. She took a few steps closer and made eye contact with him. She had hazel eyes, with flecks of green.
"Oh? Do you wanna talk about it? I can get us something to drink and you can bitch about your week? Might make you feel a bit better?" She came to a stop in front of him, just close enough to catch a whiff of the distinct scent that was Boden. And she was close enough to him that he would have been able to smell her perfume.
She added, after a moment, like it was an afterthought, "I made you some dinner, too, I didn't know when you'd be back... so it's in the fridge."
He bitched? Really? That was an entirely alien concept to Boden who was more familiar with internalising and suffocating everything than he was to venting at somebody.
When she came too close Boden almost stepped back, out of instinct than anything else, but somehow he managed to refrain. Perhaps time with Mallory had bettered his ability to have people in his close personal space?
His sharp senses caught the scent of rose and cherry and he was immediately taken to a moment in time where his mouth had been on her pulse, right over where that scent was the strongest.
"Uh, thank you." He cleared his throat and found himself yearning for the familiar safety of a fringe.
"You're... welcome," Charlie said, looking a little puzzled at his thanks. "Are you sure you're alright?"
She moved past him, her hand touching his chest and brushing across his shirt, making the contact linger as long as she could before she moved to the cupboard and got out two glasses, pouring the nearest alcoholic drink she could find into them.
She turned and leaned against the counter. "You want one?"
“Yeah,” Boden answered somewhat quickly, trying desperately to reassure himself more than he was the Charlie.
He barely refrained from moving away at the touch to his chest, feeling an odd feeling of… longing that didn’t sit very well with his more familiar knee jerk reaction of distancing himself, pulling away and putting as much distance between himself and the other person.
Boden’s eyes cut to the glasses and he gave a nod of his head. “Oui.” Right now alcohol was looking very tempting.
Charlie's lips curled into a gentle smile as she poured them both a drink and then screwed the lid back on the bottle. It was replaced pretty quickly on the counter.
"You gonna come get it or do I have to walk all the way back over there?" she asked, a soft tease in her voice. She tipped her head to the side, holding one of the glasses out to Boden, watching him over the rim of her own glass as she took a sip of the drink. Goosebumps raised along her arms. The linoleum of the floor was cold and it was shivering up through her.
Boden hovered and felt for a moment like turning and leaving, just walk away and never look back. This was all too weird and… domestic, something he was unfamiliar with and he wasn’t entirely sure how another man’s memories affected him and caused changes within. It wasn’t right and it certainly wasn’t comfortable, it was going to take some serious adjustment.
He tilted his head and observed Charlie for a moment, gauging her like he would any potential threat, before deciding it was safe to approach, although he still kept distant from her. “Merci,” he muttered as he picked up the glass and swallowed it back in one go. It wasn’t like he had to worry about it going to his head given his metabolic rate which due to his demon heritage was faster than most.
“Rough day,” Boden murmured in explanation. Why he felt the need to explain himself was beyond him at this moment in time, but he did and that was worrying.
Charlie was confused as to why Boden was suddenly keeping his distance. A frown flickered across her face before she visibly kind of pushed her barrage of questions aside. "You're welcome," she murmured into her own glass, ducking her eyes away from him for a few seconds.
They only raised again when he explained about his day. "Makes sense," she offered quietly. "Sometimes it just follows you home." She lifted a shoulder in a shrug. "I heard your show though, sounded good." She listened every day if she could.
Boden used the glass as an excuse not to look at Charlie, turning away to wash it up in the nearby sink. “Lots of technical problems.” Lies, but Boden couldn’t exactly jump into another man’s skin and make it fit, not when this Boden had practically everything he had lacked in the other world.
“Was your trip okay?” She’d been away, out of town, that much he knew.
"Yeah," Charlie said, eyes tracking Boden's movements. She stepped aside, keeping a distance between them - apparently that was what he wanted - even though it was kind of hard for her; she hadn't seen him for weeks and the first time they see each other he stands away from her like she's got the plague or has sunlight shining from every pore.
She wasn't about to lie to herself, it hurt.
"Long flight, longer drive. Too many people, the usual." she lifted her shoulders and held her now-empty glass between her palms, rolling it back and forth.
Boden nodded his head, lost for words. He didn’t do small talk, he never had, he saw no use for it as it served no purpose. “That… sucks.” Boden supposed that was the correct response to what Charlie had said, but how did he know? The other him might have swept her up into a hug, but physical contact still brought him out in hives, figuratively speaking anyways.
This must have been the first time since he’d inherited that infernal phone that he wished it would ring and give him an excuse to leave. It was the sound from the alley that dragged Boden’s attention away and his eyebrow lifted, senses picking up on ragged breathing as if somebody was being chased.
“Do you hear that?” He asked before he realised he’d spoken aloud, cursing the familiarity he’d fallen into with Mallory on their combined hunts.
"It does," Charlie said with a tiny smile, feeling the distance like a physical ache before she rubbed her hand through her hair and put the glass on the couch. She pushed it along the counter. It left a little watermark behind it.
"Hear what?" she asked, frowning and tipping her head a little like that would make her hear better. She heard nothing, though. She frowned at the expression that moved across his face after he spoke.
He was acting really weird.
Boden was locked in, very little could break his concentration when he got this way. "I just..." He struggled for a moment until he merely pushed away from the nearby counter. "I think I heard something outside, I just..." Struggling again, he impulsively cupped Charlie's face and dropped a kiss on her mouth before he was moving for the door.
Somebody was in the alley and from the sounds of things they were in trouble. Maybe he could help, do some good, it might help make this world make more sense.
[NPC Charlie was written by Willow]