Red Who: Matt Murdock and Elektra Natchios Where: Elektra's Apartment When: May 28, 2012, Backposted What: Matt and Elektra enjoy a quiet night after his birthday bash ends. Rating: PG-13 eventually skirting NSFW Status: Started in Gdoc, will finish in comments!
Elektra had insisted that Matt return with her to her apartment, which was not far from the Bell House where his party had been celebrated (an intentional move on her part when she’d suggested the place to Foggy, who’d been looking for venues). She also knew he'd not have touched much of the alcohol served at the party, preferring instead to mingle and further help his and Foggy's practice by making connections and keeping the clients that had been invited entertained. In a way, she knew that the party would always serve that function, and was prepared.
As they entered her place, she stopped him from moving to the dining table as he usually did when visiting, placing a hand on his chest. "Remove your socks and shoes, Matt." Elektra knew the request was strange, but did the same. Matt was blind, and she wanted him to feel the rose petals on the floor. Blood red and soft as satin, they were an effort she thought might be a new experience for him. They also filled the room with the softest hint of their sweet smell.
It was an odd request but Matt complied willingly with a faint smile on his face.
He didn't need to feel the petals to know that they were there. The smell of roses and incense gave him an idea of what Elektra had planned for the rest of the evening. He wasn't a presumptuous person but he had been accused of being a little too all-knowing at times and right now, he was glad that he had not been wrong in interpreting the signals.
He still remembered how her apartment felt but he let Elektra lead. She had always liked it that way.
She led him to the living room, where her gas-fueled fireplace was lit; he could hear the flames licking faux wood, warmth emanating from the hearth. She sat him down on the couch, and he heard the sound of ice clattering and dropping into melted water as she pulled a bottle of wine from the table in front of them.
Soon, two wine glasses were filled with a smooth red wine. Vintage, distilled in France, and well-aged, according to the strong scent it created as Elektra handed Matt his glass.
“Happy Birthday, Matthew,” Elektra said quietly, smiling as she watched the expressions on his face change to each sensation. She placed her hand gently on his leg and leaned back against the couch, her body forming against his and her legs pulling up and tucking to the side. “One more toast for the night?”
Without thinking, Matt's arm curled around Elektra, holding her close but loose enough that she could move away if she wanted to at any time. He leaned in close and placed a kiss on her head, inhaling the smell of her hair and smiling as he did.
"Thank you. Again. But if it had been up to me, I'd have skipped the earlier portion of the evening and headed straight here." he replied and took off his glasses. The pale pupils often bothered others but in the comfort of Elektra's home, he didn't need to care about anyone else but the two of them. He massaged the bridge of his nose before turning back to her. "To the most wonderful woman in the world." he said and took a healthy sip of the wine.
Elektra sipped her own wine, listening to his toast and scowling a bit. “It’s nice you think of me that way, Matt.” It was not something she could see. She hadn’t been anywhere near perfect, for most of her life. The truth was that since meeting him in college, she’d pushed to be better than she was. She wanted to be a better woman, but it was Matt that had led her down that path, even when she made choices she knew upset him. Because there was being the spoiled daughter of a wealthy ambassador, and there was changing the world for the better.
But even at SHIELD, she felt as if much of her time and ability had been wasted. She also had looked deeper into herself, wondering what she might be capable of if called to do so. The truth scared her, because she knew she would go as far as was needed to make a difference. Paradoxically, it was only with Matt that she felt free from that burden, free to set aside the darkness within her and simply be. That he could be simultaneously her strength and her weakness was a terrifying prospect. If there was one thing she was afraid of more than anything else, it was weakness.... helplessness.
Fighting the Scarecrow in Gotham had brought that into sharp focus. The villain had given her a clarity she might never have stumbled upon otherwise. And when Matt had held her in the hospital, she could see ahead to a time where she was with him, forever, and not part of SHIELD but helping him make a difference. Helping those in need that others were too willing to turn a blind eye to.
She didn’t know if she could ever tell Matt any of this. What he meant to her. That she loved him so deeply, even she could not see the bottom.
“The truth is,” and not the whole truth, Elektra left unsaid, as she paused and sipped her wine further, “you bring out the best in me, Matt Murdock, and that’s not a gift I think I could ever return in full.”
Matt gave Elektra an odd look. He set his flute on the table and shifted, pulling Elektra closer. He had run out of words to tell her how much she meant to him long ago but he didn’t need words to express how he felt then. He touched her cheek and tilted her head towards him. They had always been for each other, from the first time he had felt her heart skip in the gym all those years ago in Columbia.
Matt breathed her and touched his lips to hers. And then he kissed her.
There was a gentleness in his lips and the way he held her, one hand on her neck, his fingers entwined in her hair and releasing it from the fancy ‘do. She tasted like champagne, and her lipstick left the faintest hint of cherries.
The kiss was as electric as their first, but without the fear and uncertainty of those early days when they were just beginning to discover each other. Instead of a quickly burning intensity, Elektra warmed to his touch with slow familiarity and comfort. She kissed him softly, stroking his cheek with her hand, and realized in that moment that Matt was her sanctuary from fear. When she closed her eyes, she could still see those horrible memories from her childhood that had been brought to the surface... the brutal murder of those terrible men, their blood on her face and hair as she watched them, torn apart viciously by the terrifying ruler of that distant, miserable country. It no longer paralyzed her.
Matt, here beside her, was her rock and her refuge. For the first time, that old and violent memory did not produce fear or disgust; it washed away, with the tears she felt streaming down her cheeks. Tears not of grief, but of relief and release. She set her glass down and kissed Matt even more deeply, both hands on his face tenderly, holding him like precious crystal. Then she kissed his cheek, her lips traveling down across his neck, and tucked her head under his chin as she hugged his torso. Elektra pulled her legs up and lay against his chest, feeling his heart beat as she curled into a ball against him.