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Tweak says, "I love you, IJ. :-*"

Karin Shepherd | Tiamat (sheltering_sky) wrote in paxletalelogs,
@ 2011-07-30 10:36:00

Entry tags:

dionysus, tiamat

I Am Here
Who: Ben & Karin.
What: The house mother finds a new ward.
Where: The Pax Letale lobby and beyond!
When: 11:59 p.m.
Warnings: None yet!

It was not the first time Karin found herself unable to sleep, and by now she had come to accept that it would not be the last. She had tried yoga, turning off the air conditioning in her ground floor flat, letting the room warm up as she went through every position she knew. When neither the heat nor the postures – meant for relaxation, meant to focus the mind and calm the body – failed to help, she had turned to wine. But with half a bottle of well-aged Malbec behind her she still did not feel even the slightest weight in her eyelids, and her bed still seemed a million miles away. So she padded, tipsy, into her bedroom, pulling on a pair of black leggings and a tee shirt she’d stolen from Fee, and spent a quarter of an hour searching for a matching pair of ballet flats. Finding none she settled for the pair of flip-flops – Roxy, a blinding shade of pink – she ordinarily wore only to the beach. Still toeing into them, she left the restless comfort of her apartment, and struck out for the dimly lit lobby beyond.

Maybe the pool.

The thought seemed foolish even to her, but pleasantly so; when she managed to sleep at all, she dreamt of the beach, the crashing of the waves both a comfort and a torment. Though the beach was out of her grasp for the moment, the pool would not be; perhaps there, she thought, she might find some peace of mind.

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[Apologies for slowness - work kicked my arse!]

debauched
2011-07-31 08:03 pm UTC (link)

It was late, which meant Ben was more awake than ever, buzzing even, every nerve ending sparkling and fizzing. He'd not made a huge night of it at the club, had been overcome with the desire to leave the dancefloor and walk barefoot down the street, feeling the concrete still warm from the day beneath his feet. Instinct had carried him back to Pax Letale and home. He swung the door to the lobby open carelessly, finding himself face to face with a neighbour he didn't recognise - so few of him that he did, even when straight, that it wasn't a great surprise.

"Hello," he grinned, looking far more overjoyed to greet a stranger than anyone should.

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[No problem, my dear! Eff work!

sheltering_sky
2011-07-31 09:23 pm UTC (link)

"Hello," she answered, sounding far less awake than he. Her eyes flickered up to meet his, seeing in their glittering depths a kind of heightened awareness, a false sort of wakefulness she thought she recognized. It took a moment for the truth to sink in, but it did; his was a look she had seen many a time while at work, that of a party animal fresh from its natural habitat. She glanced down to his feet: bare, a development she now found entirely unsurprising. Tired though she was, she could not resist sharing what she felt should be obvious, feeling it her unspoken duty to do so. This, at least, was a narrower topic than his evident intoxication, and an easier subject to broach upon a first meeting.

"You shouldn't be out like that," she chided. One slender hand lifted, gesturing, palm-up, toward his naked skin. "You'll step on something. Even the lobby isn't always as clean as it is tonight." She shook her head, mumbling what sounded like tetanus just below her breath.

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	debauched 2011-07-31 09:33 pm UTC (link)
	"I haven't stepped on anything yet," he pointed out, stepping back and hopping on one foot to show her the sole of the other - undamaged, but very definitely dirty and he laughed as he nearly lost his balance. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	sheltering_sky 2011-08-02 03:23 am UTC (link)
	"You will." She peered down at his feet, unconvinced that his ill thought out decision had not yet come to bear painful fruit. She reached out to grab him, perhaps a moment too late, rocking them both on their feet. "I was just headed out to the pool. Want to join me? Get some fresh air?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	debauched 2011-08-02 06:32 am UTC (link)
	"Mum? Is that you? Have you followed me to America and hidden inside a hot girl?" he asked, peering at her as if he truly believed there might be body-snatching afoot. The pool. Water. That sounded altogether glorious, didn't it? He nodded enthusiastically, apparently ready to trust her again even if she was his mother in a different skin. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sheltering_sky
2011-08-03 12:55 am UTC (link)

Karin flushed, color rising to her high cheekbones as much from frustration as embarrassment. Whatever reaction she had anticipated in answer to her chiding, his response had surely not been it. She blinked, blankly, her glittering eyes regarding him with something new - almost wariness. "Crass," she said, muttering beneath her breath, though the word sounded unsuited the moment it had slipped free. As if in apology she threw him a weak smile, tipping her head toward the door leading out toward the pool.

"I'm Karin," she said. Her footfalls padded quietly against the marble floor as they made their way outside. In short order they reached the door; she paused a moment, holding it open to him. "I don't think we've met."

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[AGH, I NEVER RECEIVED THIS COMMENT. SO SORRY.]

debauched
2011-08-15 11:33 am UTC (link)

"Just a touch," he grinned, apparently not affected at all by any venom or insult that word might've held. He'd been called far worse, would be again and he was sure of that. Plus, there was something in the way she smiled afterwards that suggested she'd meant no real harm.

"Ben. S'me, not you. Obviously. I'm Ben," he confirmed, following behind her before moving through that door. "No, we've not. I'd remember. Probably."

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	[No problem :) ] sheltering_sky 2011-08-17 12:29 am UTC (link)
	"A pleasure." Her tone was flat, even, giving no indication as to the degree of sincerity in her words. She padded over toward the pool, silent as the door slammed shut behind them. She toed off her shoes when they reached one of the tables, pushing the flip flops beneath a nearby chair. "So how long have you been here?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	debauched 2011-08-17 12:31 am UTC (link)
	"God. A few weeks? A month?" Time wasn't something he did well keeping track of, let days get away from him without noticing. He supposed there were worse ways to live. Following suit somewhat, he flung his own shoes away, letting them scatter noisily across the tiled floor. "You?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

sheltering_sky
2011-08-17 01:33 am UTC (link)

"Almost a year now." Her feet shuffled on the textured concrete, a hushed sort of whisper marking her footfalls as she moved to the pool's edge. There she lowered herself to sit, easing her pale feet into the water. She opened her mouth as if to speak, briefly considering mentioning her sister having moved in as well, but a niggling hesitation, its origins unknown, stayed her tongue. Her voice was light, dreamy when she spoke again, her words interrupted now and then by the faint splashing of her feet. "Sometimes it feels like I've always been here."

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debauched
2011-08-17 10:19 am UTC (link)

"That's... Deep," he murmured, a strange giggle threatening to bubble its way up from him, but he somehow held it back. If pushed, he'd confess he'd never felt quite so at home somewhere, not even back in his childhood house. It sounded trite and absurd to say aloud, but it was true. "Think I get it, though." A pause and as suddenly as the idea came to him, he flung himself bodily into the pool, clothes and all.

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	sheltering_sky 2011-08-17 11:57 pm UTC (link)
	Karin blinked as fat droplets of water spattered across her legs, seeping through her leggings and shirt. She arched a brow, watching her neighbor swim in the chill, night-dark water. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	debauched 2011-08-18 12:00 am UTC (link)
	Swim was probably too kind a word for what he started off by doing, simply splashing about and enjoying the cool water against his skin, the way it hugged against him. "Thought you were swimming?" (Reply to this) (Parent)