Ethan and Kady make good on the notion of a repeat; before discussing the differences in Lycanthropy in their respective
worlds.
⚠It has fade in and out but there's references to sexual content as well as references to murder and death
Truth be told, Ethan had known exactly where he was going to end up when he'd sought out Kady that afternoon. While he'd been here just over a week now, and had the luck of a friend already on hand to commiserate with upon his arrival, he'd found himself taken quickly by the other woman. Even now, days separated from the haze of what he could only describe as magic, he was still hopeful for her company. There was a sense that she had the potential to be a fast friend and given the possibility that this pull from his time period could be indefinite? He was not going to be idle when it came to indulging the potential for a friend.
Of course, there was more to it then that. Attraction was quick and it was difficult to sift through whether it was his own or lingering from the roles they had been forced to play. And yet, when he'd spotted her after seeking her out and could tell that he'd not be rejected should he make a move, he knew the attraction was firm in his own mind. He'd bridged the gap and caged her in against the wall with his lips meeting hers easily.
This was preferable to any concerns of the time he'd left behind. The world clearly hadn't come to an end. Lucifer's plan to bring about the end of days wouldn't come to pass. How it would be remedied was still very much an uncertainty but the certainty that mankind prevailed was good enough for him. And so he focused on the here and the now and the promise of kinship with the woman he pressed against. When he broke free from the kiss, he breathed out, "And is this a pro?" with a smirk across his lips. A callback to the conversation they'd had not too long ago and one of which he'd been certain of without her even having to say or agree.
The thing with Kady was that she didn’t really like to beat around the bushes about anything. Why waste the time and energy when it could be better spent doing better things? Like practicing a bit more of her magic now that they were back to Derleth’s version of ‘normal’, whatever that actually meant.
Being greeted by Ethan when she heard the knock at her dorm door had only been partially unexpected. The way he pressed her into a wall and kissed her breathless, however… well. They’d already discussed having another go together, so this wasn’t too much of a surprise, and a very pleasant one at that.
Kady smirked a bit when he broke the kiss before letting her lips curl into something of a grin. “Oh, it’s definitely a pro,” she agreed before she closed the small gap between their mouths with another hungry kiss. Her fingers had been fumbling with the button and zipper on his pants, eager to get him naked again, if that’s something he was up for. If not? She’d take a nice make out sesh instead.
Amusement coursed through him with the affirmation. It wasn't as though he hadn't known the answer before he'd asked the question. He'd known the moment she alluded to other aspects of him as favorable. His grin subsided as she bridged the gap and when she moved to assist with the removal of his trousers, he took it as a que to follow suit. His fingers found the clasps of her jeans and undid them with ease.
When his own pants were able to be shed, he stepped from them easily and took the opportunity to break the kiss once again for a breath. In doing so, he brought his lips to press a trail of kisses down her neck. "Anyone else likely to come back soon?" He asked against her skin.
He knew he had housemates. He'd done little to make himself personable with them. It was on his 'eventual' list. Yet, he knew one didn't catch friends easily by walking in on scenes such as this and he didn't want to put her in an uncomfortable spot with her flatmates.
“No,” she breathed, head tilting back as his lips trailed over her neck and throat. “Probably not? Fuck, I don’t know.” Now she was second guessing it. “Tough shit for them if they do, I guess?” she added with a short huff of a laugh.
Kady licked her lips a little and as much as she wanted him to just have his way with her right there, maybe it would be a bit more responsible if they at least went to her room. Maybe it wasn’t soundproof but that was at least better than someone just walking in on them in the middle of a shared living space.
She sighed and pushed a hand against his chest gently, before her other grabbed one of his and she pulled him away from where they were and to her bedroom. It was small — they all were, unless you had a RA room, honestly. But at least it was private. She gently kicked the door shut behind them and took that opportunity to pull her shirt off over her head before she moved to lay herself down on the bed expectantly.
There was a huff of amusement at her words as he hid a grin against her neck. If that was the way she wanted to go about this, he wasn't one to argue and his accompanying chuckle likely made this clear. He was used to a sordid reputation. What did it matter if her roommates thought him inappropriate? It'd be nothing new.
But the shove against his chest was a clear indicator and he pressed one last kiss to her collarbone before he stepped backwards. He was quick enough to reach down to the floor and snatch up his breeches with his free hand before following towards her room.
With no fanfare, he tossed his pants towards the corner of the room and then turned to fix his gaze upon her. He took a step backwards, leaning his upper body against the door and crossing his arms over his chest, as a devilish grin painted across his features. There was an enjoyment from watching a woman strip bare and he had a flash of memory to just a few nights prior when they'd been playing designated roles.
When she laid down, he pushed himself back up to his full height. "Reckon I ought not dawdle?"
Once she’d laid herself down on the bed, she wiggled out of her jeans and even pushed down her panties, kicking them off less than gracefully. If there was one thing Kady wasn’t shy about (though truthfully, she wasn’t really shy about anything), it was sex. She knew what she wanted and she was happy to take it if the opportunity presented itself. So what if Derleth had thrown them into some weird War of the Worlds type place? She had a very fond memory of their night together after the movie and she was keen to recreate that.
She flashed him a grin, scooting her way up the mattress a bit, and used an elbow to prop up her torso a little as she looked at him. Her dark hair was in its usual side part and cascading down over her shoulders as she eyed him. First his face and then the rest of him, before letting her eyes wander back up to meet his gaze.
“Dawdling would probably be a bad idea,” she stated quietly, but matter of factly, even if that grin was still pulling at the corners of her mouth.
He still kept his distance, eyes following along with her movements, as each article of clothing was removed. He always favored those who were clear about their desires and did not shy away because of social decorum.
With the affirmation of his statement given, he gave a silent chuckle and unfolded his arms. "Not prone on bad ideas." Immediately, fingers were sliding quickly across each button of his waistcoat till he could properly roll his shoulders to let the garment fall discarded behind him at the base of the door. He took step closers to the bed but didn't join her on it, instead dropping to his knees in front of her.
He surged forward to catch her lips once again as his hand slid up into her curls. The free hand continued with undoing the buttons of his button up.
She liked how easy it was for them to tease one another, but still show how eager they were for this at the same time. A little bit of foreplay never hurt, right?
Kady continued to watch as he moved closer, undressing as he went, but then suddenly he was eye level with her and crushing his mouth to her own and she couldn’t help the moan that was pulled from her throat at the kiss. She leaned into it, rolling onto her side a bit so she could keep the distance between them closed. But as it lingered, she shifted and turned enough so that she was sitting up a bit more, deepening the kiss with a fervor once she was in a more comfortable position as she pulled her legs around carefully and parted them just enough on either side of his upper body.
Then she brought both of her hands up, cupping his face, kissing him more. If you asked her what had gotten into her where Ethan was concerned, she probably would have shrugged it off -- he was a good fuck. But there was more to it than that, something she couldn’t quite put into words; all she knew was that she really, really liked being with him.
Whether that was residual from the previous week or not, she didn’t really care.
Finally she broke the kiss, her chest heaving slightly as she tried to catch her breath, and she nipped at his lower lip before speaking against them. “Real fuckin’ glad you’re not big on bad ideas. I mean… at least when it comes to this, anyway.”
There was a huff of approval from the back of his throat as she repositioned herself. Eager to shed the last of his clothing, he yanked it off as soon as the last button was undone, before surging back against her lips. Both hands dropped down, sliding against her back, until he was able to rest them against the small of her back and pull her closer to him.
The false memories had been a taste of what life could have been like if he'd had the opportunity to settle down. It would have never truly been in the cards. His Father had made certain of his designated path early on and any hope he may have had for such a simple life had been snuffed out the same night they'd lost Vanessa. Still? It was a pleasant glimpse.
As she broke the kiss, he gave a quiet laugh. "You'll find, in time, not big on them on a global scale either." One might argue indulging in this was a bad idea given how little they actually knew of one another but it wasn't as though that'd ever been much of a concern for Ethan in the past. In fact? He knew far more about her then he'd done most of his lovers in his past.
"Let's see how good of an idea this can be," he spoke as his kisses drifted away from her lips and back down her neckline. A moment later, he was raising up from his knees to properly over her from and focus his attention completely on this present space of time.
She had some questions she certainly should have asked before they’d gotten to this point, which only added to the fact that maybe this was a bad idea in and of itself, but considering what had happened when they were trapped in Dunwich, well… it was a little late for that. If her world’s rules applied, anyway. Just another one of those shitty curveballs life liked to throw at her more often than not.
Their lovemaking was intense, passionate, and certainly more rough than it had been the first time. Less ‘husband and wife from the 1950s who are trying to get pregnant’ and more scratching an itch they both felt couldn’t quite be satisfied, though as far as Kady was concerned, they came damn close this time.
Her fingers were gripping against the headboard behind her as her orgasm seared through her, head to toe, and she bit down onto her lower lip to stifle the cry of pleasure that was pushing out of her throat. Her legs quivered from exhaustion, wrapped firmly around his hips as she came, and then as the feeling slowly died away her body began to relax a bit more underneath his.
“Fuck,” she breathed, a tired grin pulling at the corners of her mouth. She slowly let go of the headboard and brought a hand around to push back his hair from his face before she leaned up to kiss him.
When her hand came up to push his hair back, he tilted his head against her palm, leaning into the touch and quickly pressing a kiss to her palm. And a slight grin formed as he felt her shift to lean up into an actual kiss, which he met eagerly. He held it for a few more moments before he broke it to shift and roll over onto the bed next to her.
His arm extended as an open invitation for her to come rest against him and he turned his gaze to look towards her as he waited. "Couldn't express it better myself," he said with an exhale, as he focused on catching his breath.
The invitation was met with her taking just a few more seconds to catch her breath before she scooched her body closer to his, head resting against the crook at his shoulder where it met his neck. She smiled and closed her eyes briefly, enjoying the quiet of the room, before she turned and sort of lazily curled herself against his side.
“So how good of an idea do you think this is?” she asked after a moment, dark eyes open and looking at him as best she could, though there was an amused sort of smirk on her lips. “Cause if the sex is always that good…”
Kady was teasing. At least somewhat, anyway.
She draped an arm over his middle and let one of her legs lay across his before nudging between them, loosely tangling their limbs together.
Once she curled against him, he wrapped his arm around her and rested his hand against her shoulder. Bending down to press a kiss to her shoulder, he couldn't help but give a silent laugh to her question.
"Far as I'm concerned? Worth repeating multiple, multiple times..." This was said with a devilish smirk crossing over his features. "'Course, couldn't hurt to get to know one another a bit more."
A brow raised as he looked at her. "That trick you pulled the other day? Magic?"
As far as Kady was concerned, that feeling was highly mutual. Mostly about the sex, not so much about the getting to know one another aspect. She always struggled with that sort of vulnerability and even if she was a bit older, a bit wiser now, those walls were still -- at least one some level -- desperate to stay up.
Her nose scrunched a bit at his suggestion and then immediately relaxed at his question, realizing that --
“Oh, fuck.” She pushed up a bit so that she could look down at him. “Shit. Shit. That’s right. Um. Yeah, sorry, in my world we’re called Magicians.” Kady shifted a bit and dragged a hand through her hair, pulling it over to one side in how she usually tended to wear it. “Speaking of… uh. Was I absolutely hallucinating after I got shot by that alien asshole?”
There was a brow raise as she scrunched her nose up. It was a silent question of 'no?' If she were against it completely, he'd drop it entirely, but it wasn't as though he intended to dig deep into their respective lives and traumas. He could let this be as simple as a good fuck when needed. He'd done it plenty in his time. But there were the occasions when he found himself intrigued enough to ask questions and find himself getting to know his lover better. Brona came to mind the easiest and while Kady was not on the level of his affection for Ms. Croft, it reminded him of the beginning, when he was just trying to escape the sins at his back and uncover the mysteries that were held out to him by Malcolm and Miss Ives.
"Why you apologizing?'' He asked as he shifted to put his free arm behind his head and keep his gaze upon her. "Now, that is a bit peculiar, only 'cause I've heard of Magicians. Illusionists. Same caliber as any performer. Always a show, rarely real. Never real magic." He pulled in a breath, "Witches on the other hand..."
He let that thought trail off before he gave a slight frown to her question. She gave him an out. He could play dumb. It didn't seem kind when he'd just caught her off guard himself. "No, not likely," he chose as an explanation. It was a carefully selected phrase as he waited for her to let him know what she thought it might be.
It wasn’t that she was entirely against the idea of getting to know him better, but feelings were always complicated when you were fucking someone. And that wasn’t to say that there were feelings involved. Well, there were, but she was pretty sure those were just weird phantom feelings from when she was fake-married to him thanks to Derleth. And that was something she’d just deal with later and avoid bringing up with him entirely if she could.
“Technically I’m what’s called a hedgewitch ‘cause I’m not classically trained like some of the others. I was going to be, there’s a school in upstate New York, but I was involved in something I shouldn’t have been ‘cause of my mom and it got bad, so I had to…” Disappear without telling anyone where I was.
Kady bit back a sigh at the memory. She’d really fucked Penny up over that. Fucked herself up pretty badly, too.
Change of subject!
“Not likely that I saw you straight up wolfman out after I got hurt or not likely that I was imagining it from how much pain I was in?” she asked a moment later, her voice quieter.
"Hedgewitch," he repeated, letting it hang in the air for a moment as the rest of her explanation was given. He thought back to Hecate and her coven. Nothing thus far gave an indication that Kady's sort of magic user was at all similar to the other women but it was his best point of reference. Still, his expression softened as he absorbed her words.
It wasn't lost on him that she allowed the subject to divert without going deeper than she already had.
He knew something himself about how things could go once they started to get bad. It was, afterall, what the past few years of his life had been experienced for. He'd run and he got the impression she had too. Without much thought, he brought his hand to rest against any patch of skin he could and ran gentle strokes up and down with a small nod given as well.
"We got benefit of all that movie knowledge being shoved in my head not too long ago or I'd not have known quite what that meant," he stated before sighing and shrugging his shoulders. "Not something I'm keen on letting others see. Wouldn't have let you if circumstances were different."
“Hedgewitch,” she repeated in response to his and then gave a small nod. She could explain it better later if he wanted to know what exactly a hedgewitch was other than someone who wasn’t classically trained in magic.
Kady didn’t shy away from his touch and, truthfully, even appreciated the gesture. He seemed to have at least some sense of understanding what was going on without her having to actually say it outloud, and that was comforting in its own way. Talking about things from the past, from her world, was never easy with someone new. So she usually avoided it. Need to know basis, right?
“Well, still. You saved my life and I never actually gave you a proper thank you for that. So… thanks.” Even if she would’ve come back at the reset, not having to go through dying was a blessing. “Do you mind if I ask you something about it? Your, uh, wolfy condition.”
Wolfy condition. Ugh.
It wasn't easy for him to think of his condition as having any positive impact on a moment. Up until very recently, it was solely a source of destruction and pain for Ethan. He'd ripped through the lives of more than he could recount and that weighed heavily on his heart. Having finally found a way to control the beast within? To make peace with the fact that it was a part of him and he was a part of it? And to find a truce?
It was invaluable and he would always be grateful to Dr. Clayton for assisting him in the breakthrough. "You are welcome," he managed with a soft tone.
His head tilted inquisitively in response to her question and despite the amusement on his features from her choice term, it was clear he was waiting for her to go on.
The way he said ‘you are welcome’ caused something in her to ache, just slightly. There was almost a pain under the words, in his tone, something she could tell he struggled with. Just as he’d reached a hand out to comfort her, she reached forward with one of her own and cupped his face sweetly. Her thumb brushed against his cheek in slow, tender strokes before she leaned down to press her lips to the corner of his mouth.
A more appropriate form of thanks, really. He deserved more than just the words.
Then she tucked herself back against his side, letting his limbs tangle with his again, head pressed to the crook of his neck. It was comfortable.
“How does being turned work in your world?” She paused then, eyebrows knitting slightly and only for a moment, before she tilted her head a bit to look up at him. “Cause for some stupid fucking reason, in mine it’s like a STD, so…”
His eyes closed momentarily as she cupped his face and as he felt her lips press to his own, he leaned into it and savored the comfort it exuded. It was difficult to accept the gratitude but he couldn't brush it off so easily in this position.
Most important of all? He was glad she didn't have to go through the pain of dying, even if she'd have been brought back the following week. The whole notion of coming back from the dead was far too sore of a point for Ethan to not prevent it when he could.
When she curled back against him, he brought his other arm around to wrap around her and reclined back to look up at the ceiling. With her initial question hanging in the air, his brows came together when she explained how it worked in her own world. "A venereal disease?" He repeated with some disbelief being pushed through his words. "Truly?"
Being properly wrapped in his arms like this was strange and yet she nestled into him more and let herself relax. What was the harm in enjoying their closeness?
A smirk tugged at her lips at his disbelief. Honestly, she couldn’t blame him. “Swear to god. Fucking a werewolf in my world turns you into one, which sucks for some people, I guess. Or a lot of them. Depends on if you’re the kind of dick who isn’t upfront about it before having sex with someone.”
She realized how that sounded. “Our situation notwithstanding, because clearly that’s not how it works in your world and we weren’t ourselves at the time. But in mine? One night stands end up being a bigger risk than they have any right to be.”
Ethan shook his head as he considered the ramifications of such a transference. His own knowledge of his curse was still incredibly limited and solely based around what he'd learned first hand or from the teachings of Kaetenay. "That's incredibly different from the way it works in my world," he murmured. "And I honestly never thought it could be worse than it already was but that may have changed my mind."
There was a nod of his head when she corrected her statement. He didn't think she was implying such but he appreciated that she felt the need to make it clear. "I've no intention of ever causing anyone to be like me." He'd rather face the gallows or firing squad first than ever curse someone as he was cursed.
His brows came together and he glanced down at her now. "I do hope you weren't worrying too much these past few days?"
Hearing him say that she might’ve changed his mind about the whole turning-into-a-werewolf thing made her snort quietly in amusement. It was the way he said it, mostly. Though far be it from Kady to admit that she might’ve actually found it kind of cute.
“Hm, worrying? Nah.” She shrugged her shoulders a little and smiled, lowering her chin again for comfort. “I mean… if it worked the same way in my world, it would kind of be too late, right? It would’ve sucked, but it’s not like there’s ever full moons here and I don’t think we tend to land places during a full moon like… ever. Though watch, now that I’ve said it, it’s probably going to happen next week or something. That’d be my luck.”
"That's one way to look at it," Ethan agreed. If that had been the case, she was right. What could be done about it now? They'd have already been unable to change anything about the circumstance and it'd have been all out of their control. He shifted, reclining back against the pillows, as he ran his hand back up and down her shoulder.
"Would do well if I didn't see another full for the rest of my days," he commented with a bit more weight to his words before pulling in a breath. "If it does occur? I believe I've got it under control." He'd still want to be restrained because trust in himself was something he did not have but he was fairly certain he could prevent himself from transforming entirely.
Kady’s eyebrows knit together a little at the tone to his words, but she paused before speaking again, her own voice back to being a bit quieter. “How long have you been a werewolf?” she asked.
“Like… is it something still kind of new for you or have you been dealing with it a while? It just seemed like you had a pretty good idea of who I was when you turned and even though some werewolves in my world are able to regain that level of self, I think it’s taken a lot of practice for them over years and years? I assume it’s kind of the same for you.
Her arm that was draped over his torso moved a bit, hand sliding along his stomach and then up to his chest, her fingers gently dragging along his skin and making idle circles against it as she talked. “We also definitely don’t have to talk about this right now if you don’t want to.”
He brought his gaze back to her as the weight of the question hung in the air. Though he was gazing upon her, there was a distant look to his features as he considered it and memory rushed back to a culmination of nights that had led to who he was now. The raid on the Apache village, the devastation Ethan had felt for his part in the massacre and the trigger being pulled on his own commander. How he'd dropped to his knees in front of Kaetenay and offered his life up for his sins. And how it had been Kaetenay who'd given him a fate worse than death and used Ethan's connections for yet another massacre.
He cleared his throat. "Few years." It was hard to say just how many at this point. He'd actively been avoiding the passage of time for as long as he could remember. As for awareness? "Therapy." He said this with some levity in his tone, because it was clear this topic of conversation was not an easy one for him, but it was true. "There is a doctor back in my time. Seward. She was helping me tap into a level of control."
When she felt his head shift a bit, clearly looking down toward her, she craned hers back again to look up at him and listen. Focused. She was asking hard questions and he was giving her enough grace to actually answer them, even if the answers were short.
“Seems the therapy has been working then,” she replied softly, tilting her chin enough to press her lips to the curve of his jawline. She let a silence fall between them then, for a few moments, before asking her next question.
Because a change of topic was probably needed.
“What do you want to know? I don’t exactly let people in easily, but you’re being nice enough to answer some heavy questions, so I feel like I should give back.”
"Quite grateful for it," he admitted with no shame in the statement. Seward had given him something he'd yearned for as long as he'd known of his affliction. An ability to control it and understand it. Still, his eyes closed and he exhaled at the kiss. The silence was welcome.
His eyes opened back up and he considered this. They were still very much strangers to one another by all proper definitions. "Generous of you," he noted before giving a shake of his head, "but we've got time. Weeks ahead of insanity, ain't it?" But, in an effort to not push away the gesture but also inject some levity to the moment, "Why is it you were disappointed you still recall how to make meatloaf?" Of course, he could barely suppress the grin as he asked this.
Kady liked to think her vulnerability was hard to come by, but there was something about Ethan that made her a little softer around him and she wanted him to be, at the very least, at ease with her. She hoped she was doing just that.
“Pfft, weeks. Maybe.” Her nose scrunched a bit. “Theoretically, sure, but people disappear from this place all the time. Whether they remember being here or not when they go back to wherever they came from… I have no idea.”
She was mostly just talking it out, but that realization kind of hit her weird and she gave herself a beat.
Fuck.
Once she moved past that, she looked back up at him and rolled her eyes, laughing. “You asshole,” she said with a grin, moving away from his side then to climb atop him, legs straddling his waist easily. She raised an eyebrow, smirking. “Because meatloaf is fucking disgusting, that’s why.”
"Maybe," he repeated as her words weighed down on him. He wasn't certain which his preference was at the moment. The sooner he returned back to his point in time? The sooner he'd see resolution to his part in the present Apocalypse. The only true solace he had was knowing the world didn't appear to have come to an end. Whether he lived to see the crisis averted or not? Still to be determined. But there was a part of him that yearned to be back in London, to know he assisted with the return of Miss Ives to peace and to the potential of time spent at Brona's side once again.
And yet? Here brought a sort of mental break from the chaos of home and it's present, even with the alien invasion he'd had as his first taste of life at Derleth.
It was truly difficult to say which was preferable.
Smirking as she shifted, hands easily moving to rest on either side of her hip, he reminded her by saying, "It's delicious." There'd been a slight thought of, perhaps, domesticity had been the issue of it all. He didn't press the question and instead leaned up to catch her lips once again with his own. The time for questions seemed to be at an end and given her current position against him? He felt falling back into carnal comforts would be readily accepted by them both.