Aubrey R. Kline (deklined) wrote in mnhttnprjct, @ 2010-03-18 15:00:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, aubrey kline, maxwell mackenzie |
max and aubrey fail at sex.
WHO: Aubrey Klein and Maxwell Mackenzie
WHAT: re: title: or maybe just Max does.
WHERE: Max and Prudence's apartment, District 5
WHEN: Evening of March 17, 2029
RATING: PWP, and I don't mean password-protected. ;)
MAX: Despite wheedling from two of the women in his life to attend the Paddytown Bash, Max had decided instead to spend Wednesday evening with a third: Aubrey Kline. And instead of going out with her friends like Max may or may not have claimed they would be doing, they decided to spend a quiet night in. Instead of beer, they drank wine, and instead of potatoes, they ate Chinese takeout, but Max's shirt was green. That had to count for something. Though he had bought a moderately pricey wine and poured it in stemmed glasses, he and Aubrey sat on the sofa, eating the Chinese food straight out of the styrofoam containers using the disposable wooden chopsticks that had come in the bag. He didn't worry about either of them spilling on what was effectively his little sister's bed, but he did wonder about what they'd do after dinner. He hadn't planned anything, but he liked having Aubrey around, and it didn't seem worth it for her to have come all the way out from District 3 just for some Panda Express. "So," he said. "Do you want to watch a movie or something?" AUBREY: None of the girls really liked to do anything on St. Patrick's. Which wasn't the biggest disappointment in the world, not when she had someone else to spend the day with. While on the weekends Aubrey was all about hitting the clubs, there was something about an extra large crowd of people who wanted to get as drunk as possible that was severely unattractive to her. But spending time with Max, now that was nice. It felt relaxing to just recline against the couch and eat her food with the chopsticks. She had decided that it was better to just play it cool. There was nothing wrong with his respect her and her body, and she needed to stop worrying so much over what was, ultimately, not the most important thing in a relationship. She smiled at Max over a chunk of pork supported by her chopsticks. "A movie would be fine," she said. "I'm really open to anything." She took a bite and then set her chopsticks down to take hold of her wine and take another sip. "It's nice to have a quiet evening here," she said. Without Prudence, is what she meant. MAX: "Yeah, it's nice," Max agreed. He leaned over and kissed her -- on the cheek, so she wouldn't have to taste his kung pao chicken breath. Rare was the occasion that Max decided to get drunk, especially considering the effect too much alcohol could have on his voice. And now that dress rehearsals for the last opera of the season loomed ahead, he couldn't risk any damage from downing pint after pint of Guinness. A few glasses of wine with dinner were fine, but he'd just feel more out of place than usual at a bar or club tonight. His pocket beeped, and he pulled out his iHolo to check. A text from Sam, telling him Prudence was fine and that he should have come. Some immigrant party with loud rock music was the last place he wanted to be. "Sorry, it's just Sam," he said, as he quickly punched in a reply. "I asked her to keep an eye on my sister at that concert. "Anyway, anything in particular you'd like to watch?" He paused for a moment, and then amended: "Or do. It doesn't have to be a movie, if there's anything else you'd rather do." AUBREY: She smiled at Max as he kissed her on the cheek, angling her body closer to him. Aubrey crossed her ankles and took another bite of her food, although she was feeling pretty full. "Oh, that's sweet," she said. "Nice of Sam to keep an eye out on her. I hope she won't get into any trouble." She certainly wouldn't have gone to that party even if it had guaranteed her a spot in the city council. She took hold of her wine glass and leaned against his arm. "I don't know," she said, thinking. "Maybe we should just skip the movie." It wasn't every day that they were hanging out in his apartment without Prudence around. And while Aubrey felt confident that sex was not a necessity in their relationship, it didn't mean that she didn't want to be able to enjoy herself with him. Her leg ulcers had been acting up last week, and she'd been far too shy to even make out with him. She figured it would be just her luck, the first time he felt ready to go for a new level in physical intimacy, that she'd have to act shy and unwilling. None of her friends, outside of her closest three, even knew about the ulcers. And she really wasn't willing to share that part of her life with Max. Not yet. She tilted her head and kissed his neck softly. "We could just talk. Or just sit quietly together." MAX: "We could." He didn't dislike spending quiet time alone with Aubrey, and in the short month that they'd been together, they had only a few opportunities to be really intimate with each other. However, every time, Max couldn't help but feel that somehow she wanted more than he did, and he couldn't help but imagine that she were somehow different. Her arms were stronger, her lips were surer -- it was troubling. With Aubrey's head so close to his, he breathed in the scent of her shampoo, something flowery or fruity that he couldn't recognize. "You know that I don't care, so long as I get to spend time with you," he said, even though he wasn't sure if it was true. AUBREY: She turned her face to smile at him, running a hand through his hair, taking him at his word. "You're so sweet," she said. She smoothed her other hand down his arm and wound her fingers into his. "I really like spending time with you," she said. And it was true. "Especially when you sing for me," she said, winking at him before she kissed him softly on the lips, not worrying about his kung pao chicken breath. She fluttered her eyes open after a few seconds, to gauge his reaction. MAX: Eyes closed, Max returned the kiss, as softly as Aubrey had initiated it. He supposed his kung pao chicken breath wasn't so bad; she tasted like lo mein noodles. Soon, he pulled back a few inches. "Do you want me to sing?" he asked. "We could go to my room." It sounded bolder than he'd intended, but all he meant was that he kept his keyboard there. AUBREY: She couldn't help the small smile off of her lips as he suggested they go to his room. She knew, of course, where his keyboard was. Quickly, she tried to smooth her face back into a neutral expression. She didn't want to look like, didn't want to be a predator. "I'd love to hear you sing," she said. She stood, keeping her fingers intertwined with his. MAX: Max stood as well, and led Aubrey back to his room. He let go of her hand and motioned for her to sit on his bed, while he took the stool in front of his keyboard, his back to her. He turned it on and played a few scales to warm up before he twisted around to face her. "Any requests?" AUBREY: "Something from Frank," she said, lying down on his bed to relax. She smiled at him, one arm propped under her head to support it so that she could fully enjoy the sights and sounds. She always loved it when he sang to her. She'd never had a boyfriend that was so interested in music and things like that. "Unless of course you have something specific you'd like to sing." MAX: "I can work with that," he said with a smile. He turned back to the keyboard and tested out a few chords before he settled on "Strangers in the Night." Strangers in the night exchanging glances Wond'ring in the night What were the chances we'd be sharing love Before the night was through. Something in your eyes was so inviting, Something in your smile was so exciting, Something in my heart, Told me I must have you. He sang the first two verses, and when they ended on a long, sustained note, he stopped playing the piano and turned around to face Aubrey when he finished singing it. "Strangers in the night," he said, to conclude. He wasn't sure if it was the right message he wanted to send. After all, they'd just discussed recently that he didn't think he was ready to have sex with her. But it was just a song, one of Sinatra's most popular. She wouldn't read too much into it, would she? AUBREY: Of course, while she knew that he had used his religion as a reason to stay away from physical intimacy, Aubrey couldn't help but smile at him, her legs up in the air with her ankles crossed. Wond'ring in the night... What were the chances we'd be sharing love... Before the night was through. She knew it was a popular song, but she couldn't help but think that maybe he had picked it for a specific reason. "That was wonderful, Max. I loved it." She reached her hand out to take his hand again, smiling brightly at him and trying to lead him back toward her. MAX: Max to the proffered hand and joined Aubrey, lying side-by-side with her on his bed. "Thanks," he said, smiling. "I hoped you would." AUBREY: She leaned her body against his, resting her head against his for a moment and then kissing his forehead softly. She put an arm arm around his waist, her chin gently nuzzling his to try and get better access to his mouth. She kissed him softly, again. "I can't wait to see you perform on stage," she said. "It'll be really exciting." She smoothed her hand over his back. MAX: "If you can see me up there," he said with a chuckle. He was grateful to have been cast at all, of course, but he was only ever a chorus member. After having been the star of Juilliard's voice class of 2026, he couldn't claim that it wasn't a complete dissapointment to realize where he stood in the real world. If not for preferential casting, he might have been even lower on the opera ladder. But that wasn't important. What was important right now was Aubrey, his girlfriend of a month. As she kissed him, he placed a hand carefully on her hip. AUBREY: "I'll bring my binoculars," she said, grinning at him. Even if he didn't have a starring role, it would be a lot of fun to know he was somewhere there. And his name would be in the program, too, of course. "Hopefully my mom is going to be able to join me." She kissed him again, putting a little more pressure on his lips, and holding the kiss longer. She reached her free hand back through his hair, her nails sliding softly over his scalp. Aubrey slowly turned her body over, leaning herself over his body before she kissed him again. She moved her hand from his back to his side, running slowly up and down his torso. MAX: "Put them on a stick and call them opera glasses," he said to the binoculars comment. Aubrey had mentioned that she had been to a few operas before, but it felt nice to know that she would be coming to La Traviata just to see him. When she started running her hand along his body, Max instinctively grabbed her hand. Though he gently twined his fingers through hers, he effectively stopped the progression of the kiss. AUBREY: She squeezed his hand and slipped her mouth from his lips to his chin, and then to his neck. She tried to slip her fingers out of his and hold his side, balancing herself as she shifted her knees to lean closer against his body as she kissed down his neck, her kisses slowly becoming less gentle as she they made their way to his neck. "Will do," she murmured against his skin. "I'll just use some duct tape. So I can be sure to look classy, as well as being able to keep a look out for you..." MAX: Max didn't respond. He couldn't help but feel that something was off, but he didn't know what. His beautiful girlfriend was basically lying on top of him, kissing him, touching him. It felt good, but -- but something wasn't right. He closed his eyes and tried to put his unease out of his mind. AUBREY: She moved her mouth slowly back toward his chin and onto his mouth. She kissed him with more vigor than she had earlier in the evening, her hand beginning to slide against his side again. She wasn't too bothered by him simply lying there. She wanted him to respond, of course. But if Liz was right, and he was a virgin... It wasn't as though he knew exactly what to do. She moved her hand from his hair to rest against his cheek as she kissed him deeper. MAX: When Aubrey ignored his reluctance to continue, Max pulled away. He didn't want to, but he couldn't kiss her back like she wanted. It was like he had some kind of mental block. "Let's take it easy?" he asked softly. AUBREY: She took a deep breath, moving her hands down to either side of him to hold herself up from him. "How easy do you want us to take it?" She asked. She tried to keep smiling, but she couldn't help but feel disappointed. She could understand him stopping her if she had tried to remove his clothing, or go beyond making out. But she didn't feel like she was trying to push him too far. MAX: "I -- I don't know," he admitted, embarrassed. She hadn't tried anything that he wasn't allowed to do, and he couldn't blame Jesus this time. "I'm just kinda tired, that's all," he offered as an excuse. AUBREY: She didn't know what to say as she hovered there for a moment. He hadn't seemed tired. "Are you sure that's it?" she said, running a hand to caress his cheek, looking worried. MAX: "I don't know," he repeated. How was he going to say this? He didn't even know how to explain it to himself. "It's just... I'm sorry." AUBREY: She gave him an understanding nod, even if she didn't understand. "Can I ask you a very personal question?" She didn't really want to have to ask this, didn't really want to have to go there verbally, but she was dying to know. MAX: Max swallowed. He didn't know what she was going to ask him, and he was afraid to find out. "Alright," he said. "Shoot." AUBREY: She gently pulled her hand down to his hand, and linked her fingers with this. "Max, are you a virgin?" She knew that he didn't want to go all the way because of his religion. But she still had a hard time believing someone, even someone with very strong moral convictions, could make it all the way to twenty five without falling somewhere down the line. MAX: Max waited a second too long before answering. "Yes," he admitted, finally. "I meant to tell you before, but I wasn't sure how to, you know. Bring it up. I'm saving myself for marriage." AUBREY: Waiting for awhile, Aubrey could understand. She could probably even manage to be in support of it, although it would leave her wondering and, she had to admit, probably a little frustrated now and then. But until marriage? She liked Max, but she didn't exactly imagine them together for years and years in the future. Not that she wasn't necessarily against them staying together. But, marriage? "Oh," she said. "That's... Quite a conviction you have." She hoped she didn't sound judgmental. But to realize that probably no amount of wine or short skirts was going to make things happen at the sort of rate she wanted was quite a mood killer. Aubrey knew that his conviction didn't make it necessarily impossible that they would still have sex, but she knew that after him being so upfront with her, she'd probably die of guilt, feeling like she had forced herself upon him no matter how things happened. She moved so that she wasn't hanging over his body, sitting at the edge of his bed. "I see." MAX: It didn't take genius-level perception for Max to see that she was clearly disappointed, and when she sat up, he joined her at the edge of his bed. "Yeah, I guess it's kinda weird nowadays," he said. "But I didn't date in high school, and I was always too busy to get really serious at Juilliard." He forced a chuckle. "You'd think I'd have been some really hot commodity, you know, a straight guy in the voice program, but it's such a small school. Dating can get kinda weird when everyone around knows everyone else." He sighed. "So I dunno. It just never happened, and now that I've been waiting this long, I feel like I oughta make sure that when I do make love to a girl, it's the right one. "Not that you're the wrong one," he added, after a second, worried that she might take what he said the wrong way. "It's just too early to tell." AUBREY: She nodded at his words, trying to not look too disappointed. "That makes sense," she said. Even though she had had a completely different experience in high school. Even if she had had to quit the cheerleading squad, she could hardly remember a time when she hadn't been dating someone. "I suppose so," she said, crossing her ankles and rubbing them against each other, looking down at them as she tried to come up with what to say. "I understand you wanting to save it for someone special, of course. That makes sense. And it's a lot better than what most people have done." Aubrey had regrets about her first time, so she could relate, at least, to that. "And I was thinking it was something like that... I only just didn't anticipate that you would want to wait until marriage." MAX: "I mean, I'd be lying if I said it wasn't hard," Max conceded. "I've thought about giving in to temptation, but I made that promise to myself years ago, and I want to keep it." He looked Aubrey in the eye, trying to figure out how she felt about his confession. He had definitely killed the mood here -- how about their relationship? Had he killed that too? He leaned in and gave her a short, chaste peck on the lips. "Sorry, babe," he said. AUBREY: "I understand," said Aubrey. But, feeling like it was a lie, she tilted her head to the side. "I mean, I guess I can't say that I understand. I don't have those sort of convictions for myself. I am certainly not easy, but I don't feel that it is something that has to be saved just for marriage." She might identify herself as Jewish, but she didn't feel the need to follow all the 'thou shalts' in the bible. To her, they were part of a different time. She didn't feel like the relationship. But there were questions buzzing in the back of her head. She certainly didn't want to talk about marriage with him. But a part of her wondered if he'd even consider her marriage material. He hadn't ever pushed her in an evangelical sense, but she knew that his religion was important to him. And it wasn't important to Aubrey, and it never would be. She hoped he understood that. Because, she figured he probably knew better than she did if they really had a future. "It's okay, Max." MAX: "That's good," he said, brightening. "I'm glad you're not taking it personally. I'm just -- I'm sorry for killing the mood." Instead of dwelling on it, though, he sought to change the subject. He took her hand and stood up. "You know, we never ate our fortune cookies." AUBREY: "No, of course not." She felt a little flushed at the idea of it. She would have been so embarrassed if that was the case. But if she was going to be kept from real physical intimacy, she certainly didn't want to also have to worry that it was because of anything she had done. "And, I'll respect your decision, of course." She took his hand and stood. "Oh, you're right. We did. Well, shall we?" Anyway, she was ready to change the conversation. |