James 'Glitch' Murray (a_gambling_man) wrote in rrinitiative, @ 2013-08-27 13:15:00 |
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Entry tags: | autumn, autumn and jim, day twenty-two, jim |
Clashy Worlds
Characters: Autumn and Jim
Setting: His room, morning
Autumn had no idea what it was she was going to say. But she went, brewed coffee, dug up a thermos and poured it in, grabbed a tray, some mugs, and got an assortment of fruit and such to bring with her as she headed to Jim's new room. She had on one of his shirts, one of the button downs tied around her waist. She still didn't have proper clothes, so there was that. Either way, she got there and knocked.
For all that something about her last message had planted a seed of concern in his mind, it wasn't enough to stop him from smiling when he opened his door to see Autumn standing there. The heady aroma of the coffee and the sight of the fruit only made it grow wider as he pulled the door open. "You are in fact a goddess," he told her, one hand slipping beneath the tray to take it from her. "Nice shirt by the way."
She couldn't help but smile either, an immediate expression. Yes, there was a reason they'd hit it off. "Why thank you." she said giving a perfect curtsey when he took the tray. Then she walked inside, and shut the door. She was right back to not knowing what to say, but she figured she needed to start. "I'm gonna take it that you haven't spoken to Mazie."
Jim couldn't comment on how well executed the curtsey had been but he did know it was cute as hell, chuckling a little as he set the tray down next to the computer. The mention of Mazie caught him by surprise though and it was with a look of confusion on his face that he turned back to awesome. "Not since all the messaging just after the move," he replied, idly scratching his wrist. "Should I have?"
"Maybe it'll just be me she holds things against. Which, technically, I say she should." Autumn said. "But," she got herself some coffee, and poured him some too. "Here's the thing." she said, looking at him. "I didn't even know you knew her. I have no clue if you knew who I was. I am, or was, depending on what she rolls with, Mazie's girlfriend. And you're her friend, and there's clashy worlds I guess going on, and...yeaaaah."
It took a moment for what she was saying, and the implications behind it, to click but when it did, Jim's face fell. "Shit," he said, reaching out for the drink Autumn had poured for him, even more in need of the caffeine than he had been before. "I mean fuck, I had no idea...well I knew Mazie had a girlfriend but I mean I didn't know that was you otherwise...well I like to think I'm not that much of an asshole. Shit." He took a sip of the coffee, not even caring it wasn't how he usually took it. "So she knows then?"
Autumn took a drink of her coffee. "I don't think you're that much of an asshole either. That's clearly my job." she said. "But...yeah. So neither of us knew." That got confirmed, anyhow. "She knows. I told her about you. I'd had a fucking awesome day, I was excited, I wanted to share." she told him.
Despite the very much still present ‘oh shit’ factor and an uncomfortable twisting in his gut that came with the revelation he had in fact slept with his friend’s girlfriend, he was incapable of stopping his mouth from twitching up at the corner at Autumn’s words, an unmistakable fondness creeping into his expression. “It was an awesome day for me too you know,” he said over the top of his mug before taking another sip - the coffee wasn’t doing shit to help his lurching stomach but the warmth was appreciated, as was having something to do his hands.
Autumn smiled back, also unable to stop that. "I'm glad." she told him. It was nice to hear. After all, she'd been honest with Mazie that she'd want Jim again if she could have him. She still felt like they were very compatible, and could be chock full of surprises if they just were allowed to explore together. She still wanted to do that. It was just that this other stuff was happening and it needed discussion and consideration.
Still cradling his mug, fingers starting to tap a rhythm against it’s side, Jim moved to the couch and sat down, his expression turning pensieve. “So what did Mazie say when you told her? I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say it wasn’t great but she didn’t come find me and sock me one either so I figure it could be worse.”
"She was upset." Autumn said, following him to sit on the couch as well. "For me...it's different, I suppose. And we'd never discussed exclusivity. You're just the first person that really caught my eye. Before you? There really wasn't anyone that I had that immediate 'want!' reaction to. So I suppose it was all fine, because there wasn't that in play anyway. She wanted me to be thinking of her, to consider her, but in me land, it isn't like that. My having sex with you doesn't have anything to do with my relationship with Mazie. To me...it's unnatural to limit things like that. Just cutting off connections that powerful with others, it seems ludicrous. Clearly to her, that's not the case. She was really angry and I totally get it, she isn't in the wrong or anything..." Autumn sighed and took another drink. "I'm just left not knowing if I'm right for her now. Because I'm not going to change. I have actually tried to do so with people before? And it never worked, even discounting my profession."
“Sounds like the two of you are singing from different song sheets which has gotta suck pretty hard,” he replied, expression rueful. “Is there anything I can do here to help at all? I mean I can back the hell off if you want, I don’t wanna be the reason things go sour.” Sure he wasn’t going to throw a party about it, he liked Autumn a whole lot, but Mazie was his friend and he didn’t want to hurt her anymore than he clearly already had.
“I think we might be.” When he mentioned backing off, Autumn made a face. "I would really hate that." she admitted. She sighed. "I'm not property, and I don't like anyone telling me who I can and can't hang out with, either. But I don't want you and Mazie's friendship to go south either." She shook her head. "This sucks." she concluded. "And I don't have a good answer."
"You and me both," he replied, an uncharacteristic melancholy slipping into his voice as, without even thinking about it, he shifted so his leg was pressed against hers. Autumn had hit the nail on the head when she said the situation sucked and, like her, Jim had no solution to offer - all he knew was that something wonderful had been given to him and now it seemed it was going to be taken away. "I just wanna do right by both of you ladies."
Autumn smiled, letting her head fall to the side to rest on his shoulder. "And that makes you a good man." she told him. "Unfortunately, it seems to me like good people get a raw deal a lot. I don't want anything to blow up either. Mazie's...she's amazing. I had no intention of fucking things up between us. Though, I guess that's me all over. I never have been good at relationships." she admitted, something she knew she and Mazie had never really talked about. Hell. It was something Autumn didn't do so well admitting to herself most of the time. "And I'm just starting to get to know your brand of amazing." she added, looking at him. "And I can just tell it would be worth it."
She shifted comfortably with him, very much hating what he had to say there. "It already is electric." she told him. Because for her it was. That immediate attraction, the intense and incredibly fun encounter they'd had. "I don't really know how to work this. Right now she's angry, and I'm sure she doesn't quite know if she's even staying with me or not. I can't un-do anything. And I wouldn't want to. I would just have gone about things a little differently. But still."
Jim couldn't not smile at that and pressed another kiss to her hair. "When you're right, you're right," he replied, setting down his drink so he could take Autumn's free hand. "I guess you've just got to give her space to figure what she wants."
"Yeah. And I guess I have to figure out for myself what I'm willing to live with." Autumn told him, setting her mug aside too. She gave the hand he'd taken a squeeze, focus there. She was quiet a moment, before continuing. "What do you want?" she asked. "Besides doing right by the both of us."
It was a simple enough question but he didn't rush into answering it, instead let his thumb trail over the back of Autumn's hand as if mapping out the bones and tendons beneath the skin as he thought. "On a purely selfish level I want you," he said, fairly certain she already knew that but feeling the need to confirm it in case she didn't. "I wanna know you better, figure out what makes Autumn tick." He smiled a little. "It's the engineer in me, getting down to the bare bones and working my way back out."
It had her smiling, and she was enjoying the feel of his touch. It was just nice, that little exploration, and she did nothing to impede it. "I love how that sounds." she told him. "I like doing that too. Working out who people are. What's important to them, what dreams they have, what nightmares. What lights the spark in their eyes or what's snuffed it out." She looked to him again. "Yours is very bright."
He didn't go so far as to blush but warmth did bloom in his chest on hearing that little affirmation and it only grew as Autumn went on. "Very bright huh?" he said, shifting so he could meet her eyes. "Now that's gotta be one of the nicer ways I've been described. Normally it's more along the lines of 'crazy bastard that needs to lay off the caffeine'."
She grinned at him as she held his gaze. "What can I say? I'm a nice girl. And you're a man who seems full of life. One of the first things people tend to lose when they're in situations they don't like is their sense of humor. Yours is alive and well. There's a playful streak in there that hasn't given up the ghost yet. And I like a man with a lot of energy to burn off. It's so entertaining getting to help with that."
Jim chuckled. "You're awfully good for a man's ego you know. Good thing I'm not the arrogant type or I might start getting all kind of ideas about myself, build a robotic suit of armour and start flying about saving people. Of course I'd have to grow a goatee if I was going to go down that road...and develop a drinking problem."
Autumn reached out to tilt his face this way and that, by a gentle touch on his chin. She narrowed her eyes skeptically, then shook her head. "No. The goatee isn't going to be a good look for you. So, that idea's scrapped. I'll just have to occasionally skip my glowing praise of you in favor of other things. Though I do like the mental imagery of your robotic suit of armor. I would want to affectionately refer to it as 'Asimov'."
"No goatee, check. Any other sartorial advice? Granted we're kind of lacking in options right now, not that I'm not appreciating the casual Friday kind of vibe that's going on these days." His smile turned onto a full-on grin at the suggested name and it was a struggle to not lean down and kiss her in delight. "A woman who knows her sci-fi, there any buttons of mine you don't wanna push? Cause I'm telling you now, if you know your way around an engine block you're gonna find me grovelling at your feet and marvelling at the perfection of you."
"No, I prefer to just steer people as they go." she told him with a smirk. She really liked that he was pleased with her knowledge there. When he continued, she had to laugh. "Sorry, no perfection exists, I don't know that much about cars. Sadly, I fall short." She gave him a pout. But then she smiled. “You could teach me, though.” she told him. “I would be happy to learn, and I’m not the kind of girl who shies away from getting her hands dirty.”
The pout was all kinds of adorable and really wasn't helping with the urge to kiss her that he had yet to shake. Of course then it was followed with a line that was basically Jim cat-nip and his thoughts promptly went careening down a distinctly unhelpful path. "You want to be careful saying stuff like that to me Autumn," he said, managing to smile as he raised her hand and kissed it. "Cause I'll take you up on it and get us both into all kinds of trouble."
"I like trouble." she told him. Of the right kind, anyhow. "But what else have we got to do? Teach me something useful." she encouraged, all but batting her eyelashes at him. She would enjoy it. And it wasn't like her own mind didn't go interesting places too, the both of them all dirty... "I promise I'll be a very good student."
It was official, Jim was doomed. "Well you got a fair point there," he said, smiling crookedly. "What do you fancy learning? There's the clunker in the workshop that Reggie's working on, I'm sure he wouldn't mind letting us poke around there. Or I can teach you how to spot weld and you can get your Flashdance on." His smile turned knowing before adding. "And I don't doubt your work ethic for a second."
She laughed. "Smart man." she told him. "And both. Why choose just one activity?" she posed. "I'm good for anything you want to toss in my direction. Why don't you pick something, and we'll go from there?" she asked, reluctantly pushing herself to her feet, though she kept hold of his hand and leaned back, trying to let her weight pull him up with her.
"Alright I will," Jim said, laughing as she went to pull him up. It was so tempting to resist, tug her back down and keep her beside him, but he behaved himself and used his free hand to give the extra leverage to bring him to his feet. "Lemme talk to Reg about the car, see what sort of gear there is kicking around the shop we can play with and I'll make the call on which we tackle first."
"Excellent." Autumn said. "Want me to meet you there?" she asked. She'd take any time spent. She would probably have rathered staying in the room, continuing to get to know one another, but she was attempting to behave too. Even if she very much didn't want to.
"You wanting to get into this right away then?" he asked, feeling a little stunned yet undeniably charmed by her enthusiasm.
"Bet your ass." Autumn said. "I do best dealing with stress by keeping active. And learning something new? Especially something where I can work with my hands? I'm all about it." she assured him. "So, let's roll."
Jim grinned and threw a quick salute in her direction. "You're the boss," he replied, reaching down to reclaim his coffee mug and drain its contents before holding it out of front of him like a soldier leading a charge. "To the workshop!"
Autumn grinned, and there was a bounce to her step as she killed the last of her coffee too. "Yes sir." she said, knocking off a perfect salute. It was possible she'd played a few military scenarios out in her time. Then she headed for the door, already looking forward to this.