Olivia Dunham (AltLivia) (olivialt) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2013-04-26 00:21:00 |
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Days where she had to go to work, it was easy to slip out of bed and ready herself for the day. But put her in a comfortable, albeit unfamiliar bed, laying in a stream of sun and with her body cuddled up to another warm body and there was no moving her before brunch time. The night before had them getting settled in Salem and the small urging that they were more than capable of sharing a bed as adults, to save them a little money on their impromptu weekend trip. And maybe giving her the minor excuse of getting to slide under covers next to him wearing her typical t-shirt and boyshorts as sleeping attire. Even before she’d opened her eyes, Olivia reveled in the feeling of another person in close quarters and was not interested in moving if she could help it. Instead, she actually scooted a little closer and simultaneously slipped her fingers into his, tugging his arm a little closer. “You awake?” Her normally husky voice was even lower with hours of sleep and tentativeness that was a blatant hope he didn’t pull away in awkwardness. Even without it being Lincoln, she liked cuddling. It had been way too long since she’d shared a bed with anyone, and she didn’t realize until that moment how much she missed it and didn’t really want to ruin the few precious minutes she was getting at this point. Lincoln wouldn’t admit it, but he’d been awake for awhile. The night before had been one awkward moment after another (from his perspective) and sleep had been hard to come by with Liv close by and barely dressed. Even though he hadn’t argued when she insisted they were adults and he didn’t have to sleep on the couch, he had laid down considerably more covered, arms carefully straight at his sides, and it had taken at least ten minutes before he’d realized his glasses were still on his face. But, once he’d taken them off and sleep had come around, all worries had fallen away in unconsciousness. Which meant, he’d woken up wrapped around her, legs tangled with hers and his face pressed into the back of her hair. By far, the best thing he’d woken up to in...well, probably ever. That fact had left him schooling his breathing and keeping his eyes closed long after he should have stirred. So, the sudden intrusion of her voice, sexy as it was, inevitably disappointed him. “...I am now,” he lied as he slowly pulled his arm from over her to smooth a palm over his hair. Rushing to move away completely wasn’t going to happen, but it seemed rude to not make some effort to get moving. He propped himself up a little to squint eyes at the clock on her side of the bed. “I...you know, I can’t even read that. What time is it?” Damn, she ruined it. The little noise that came out of Liv’s throat was a mixture of annoyance and embarrassment, and she didn’t even bother hiding it. She stretched a little, putting off actually looking at the clock and answering him, because if it was later than they’d planned, the two would end up having to scramble to get out of bed and ready. But this was a vacation on a weekend and there was not going to be any scrambling from her end if she could help it. So Liv just stretched and turned slightly toward him, tucking her body into his and adjusting as much as she could without disturbing the delicate balance of Platonic Adults Sharing Bed. That still didn’t stop her from re-tangling her legs in with his. “Who cares, go back to sleep.” Nevermind the fact that she had just asked him if he was awake in the first place. Or that this trip was her idea. And no doubt he’d probably end up pointing that out to her, and Liv’s brain just wasn’t caught up enough to cover her tracks and make excuses this early. “Sorry,” she mumbled, “just comfy. Warm.” The plan to reach for his glasses, and, in the process, subtly extract himself from the situation, abandoned him as she shifted. Lincoln figured that was fair. He was only human, after all. If she wanted to stay where they were, he wasn’t going to be the one to change her mind. Even if it was an acute form of torture and good God, she smelled fantastic-- “No need to apologize,” he murmured, cutting off his thoughts as he cleared his throat. “This is your trip. I’m...not in any rush if you aren’t.” Admittedly, he was a bit of a schedule nazi in his day-to-day life and it would drive him just a little crazy to deviate from the itinerary, but he was hushing that part of his brain as best as he could manage. “No hurry,” Liv mumbled, just a hair away from actually touching his skin with her lip. It was easy to pretend like she was just comfortably cuddling, but her brain had woken up enough to know that this was a potentially dangerous situation she was putting herself in. Dangerous for her hormones, anyway. How close she was to just leaning up and-- Liv cut off her own thoughts with an audible grumble, annoyed with herself. “God it’s been forever since I did this. Or anything other than sleeping in bed.” She didn’t have much of a filter even when she was awake, but sleep-brain was even less tactful. “I miss sex.” Apparently Lincoln was lucky enough to be privy to her early morning grumblings, even while being tangled up with her in bed. If she kept making these noises he couldn’t decipher, Lincoln was going to have to ask for clarification. No, okay, that probably wouldn’t happen. He would just do the same thing he was doing right then, which was trying find some happy median between tense and crossing the line. The words out of her mouth weren’t helping matters any. “I--yeah, I get it. It’s...been a while,” he admitted quietly. His eyes had clamped shut somewhere along the line, and they stayed that way as Lincoln breathed out a shaky sigh of a laugh. “Between normal FBI work, the bridge and getting snatched away to a third alternate universe, I can’t even tell you exactly how long. And...well, I’d be lying if I didn’t admit this is riding the line between helping and making it worse.” The urge to immediately apologize for saying that much was almost impossible to ignore, but he swallowed past the dryness in his throat and convinced himself not to run away. It would figure Lincoln would be a little less restrained in a setting like this. Where it was damn near impossible for her not to just slide a hand down or lift her head a slight bit. But given he was rarely anything other than polite and constrained around her, Liv had always assumed Lincoln wasn’t interested - or he was keeping his distance for other respectful reasons (like the fact that he shared a face and a life with her dead best friend) that she’d long since pushed away as a non issue in her head. She still hadn’t given into the urge or mustered up the courage to poke him about heavy topics. Not when it was bound to make things awkward and Liv was the kind of person that prided herself on keeping the awkward at bay. But here and now in yet another alternate universe and out of their shared apartment, she contemplated her next chess move. “You know,” She leaned away and detangled her upper body, so that she could stretch luxuriously against the pillows behind her, hoping to draw his attention to the topic with not just her words. “If that’s an itch I can scratch for you... We could have a mutually beneficial partnership outside of work?” That... came out much stupider sounding once the words were out of her mouth, but there was no going back now. Forcing his gaze away from the strip of bare skin she’d exposed by stretching, Lincoln was fairly sure his eyes probably looked glazed even as his focus narrowed to her face. There didn’t seem to be any words to properly respond to that question. None that he could find in the long space of silence that followed, anyway. So he turned away from her long enough to grab his glasses from the nightstand and nervously shoved them onto his face. “I...they...that’s...I’m pretty sure there are rules against that sort of thing?” he eventually stuttered, stuck somewhere between grinning stupidly at the confirmation that she was at least attracted to him and outright panicking. He wasn’t generally a rule breaker. And if she was going to be taken out of his cell, he’d have preferred it be for more than just sex. “I mean, not that I’m not--uh, wow, we really need to turn on the air in here.” Liv covered her mouth to stifle the laugh that came out with his glazed look. The hand had the double purpose to cover up the minor relief that crossed her face with the addition of his glasses. She didn’t need the reminder so much as it was one of those constants she’d gotten used to, and liked. But she knew it also meant he was putting on his Lincoln face, and with it came the adorable stuttering and flushed face. A slow smile crept up her lips and she let her hand fall away from her face so she could give him a long once over. “Yeah, for what? Relationships. Marriages. It’s not like we’d be going around telling everyone we did the dirty for a little stress relief. It’s not like either of us are swimming in dates.” She reached out to snag the edge of his shirt, just so he couldn’t run away if that became his inclination. “Going to need a cold shower, soldier?” Lincoln likely couldn’t have been more torn than he was in that moment. On the one hand, Liv was half-dressed and they were actually having this conversation. On the other, he wasn’t really a friends with benefits kind of guy. And it was disappointing to think the options might be only this or friendship with no room for anything more substantial. But he couldn’t think of a way to say ‘sorry, I don’t want to have sex with you because I’m really hoping you’ll wake up one day and realize I’m not your dead partner and maybe we’d be great together in more ways than just one’ without sounding like a jerk. So, he settled for more stammering. “Yes...well, yes. I suppose that’s not--I don’t really know how closely they pay attention to that sort of thing, but I’d hate to risk...I have absolutely no idea what to say right now.” If it weren’t for her grabbing his shirt, he might have laughed. But, instinct overrode anxiety and he reached to brush a strand of hair off her cheek with his thumb. “I’m guessing I don’t need to say it at this point, but I feel like I need to make it clear that it’s a...very tempting arrangement.” “I think you could use a little risk now and again, Lincoln.” Her throat dropped into the pit of her stomach when he reached out to touch her, and Liv sucked in a breath. If she’d known what he was thinking, she was more likely to smack him and not bother with a proposition before jumping him. But she was oblivious, and only stuck in her own thoughts that he still seemed torn and she was a little unsure of how to take that without just charging ahead. Like Liv always did. “When in Rome. We’re in another alternate world, they know we’re partners back home. We live together. If they don’t already think we’re having sex....” Liv’s shoulders lifted into an easy shrug, but there was no way she felt as casual as she looked. Her heart was pounding, her throat was still talking from somewhere around her stomach and her face was already flushed just from the close proximity and conversation. “But no pressure, if you just want to think about it. If it’s just more stress for you, breaking a few little rules....” Her voice trailed off and her smile morphed into something a little more challenging. If it weren’t for the fact that Lincoln had a keen eye for details, he might have missed the little signs that she wasn’t nearly as cool about this whole thing as she seemed. And if he hadn’t spotted them, he might have backed away just for fear of how big of a hole he’d be digging for himself. He was already into her. Physical involvement wasn’t going to do anything but intensify that. But he did notice the signs. And the dare in that smile twisted his own mouth into a helpless smirk. “Right. Right,” he murmured unhelpfully, pushing his glasses up onto his nose. “I suppose that makes sense. I just--Can you...hold that thought?” Decision made to say screw it and accept what he’d wanted from day one, what she was willingly offering at that, Lincoln was only halted by his own stupidity. Or more specifically, his morning breath. He held a finger up as he spoke and then rolled away from her to awkwardly scramble for his overnight bag. “Juuuust, one second. Don’t move. Please,” he insisted, toothbrush pulled from the bag and held up in front of him like a shield as he moved backwards toward the sink outside of the bathroom. “Seriously, I’ll be right back.” “What-” Just as she was about half a thought away from wapping a leg around him and pulling him in closer, he was off the bed and scrambling to the bathroom. “Seriously? Brushing your teeth? You don’t just have like.. a mint or something?’ Olivia’s joke followed him to the bathroom until he was far enough away that she just dropped back against the pillows with a long suffering sigh that she projected loud enough that she hoped he heard it. “Lincoln, I really, really don’t care if you have morning breath.” Liv was restless and flushed enough that she started kicking the blankets off of her and to the edge of the bed. Even with her protests of his brief departure, she couldn’t argue that it wasn’t a bad idea, and caught herself checking her own breath in her hand and fiddling with her hair to make sure it wasn’t sticking out every other way. For a typically low-maintenance and no-nonsense woman, that’d have to do. “If I had a mint, I’d have used a mint,” was his loud, but muffled insistence as he hastily brushed his teeth. His eyes stayed locked on the mirror, which gave him a clear enough view of her fussing and that was enough to have him smiling around the toothbrush. Half-assed brushing complete, Lincoln haphazardly ditched the toothbrush next to the sink and headed back for the bed. He was pretty sure his heart was trying to beat its way out through his throat, but goddamn it if he was going to let that give him pause. Not wasting any more time on doubts and concerns - two of which would be quickly catching up with him, but not just yet - Lincoln crawled across the bed, curled a hand around the back of her neck and pulled her into a kiss. He was still sort of looming over her, but one thing at a time. “Finally.” Liv announced when he found his way back to the bed, and not just for the fact that he was back, but for what came next. On any given day, Liv tried her best to not compare him to his alternate. Her partner of six years. Most days, she succeeded. Until he did something that reminded her of the other Lincoln and she’d pause and shake her head, and that was usually the extent. But the first touch of his lips reminded her of the time the other Lincoln had stolen a kiss - while she was seeing someone, no less - and it was hard to not subconsciously compare the two. Because this one was so much... Better. Any other day and she’d feel bad about thinking ill of the dead, but the kiss with her Lincoln had been awkward, badly timed, stiff and just lacking something. Or maybe they just knew each other too well. But this one? This was warm and soft and she was relaxed and open to him without the slightest bit of hesitation. Both of her hands curled around the back of his neck and Liv leaned up off the pillow to make the looming a little easier on him. When she had to break her lips off to give them both a second to suck in a breath, Liv took the opportunity to tease him. “ I gotta say, I didn’t think you’d go for this here and now.” Not giving himself time to panic meant Lincoln also didn’t have time to think maybe he’d gotten the timing wrong on this one. Just because an offer had been made didn’t mean he needed to leap on it right that second. But that thought was overshadowed by her mouth, by her touch, by the fact that kissing her was everything he’d imagined it would be and not at the same time. He was still clinging to that thought when her teasing words broke through the haze and caused him to tense. “I...I didn’t...” Lincoln sighed, laughing uncomfortably as he propped himself above her with straightened arms. His brain was already starting to catch up with him so he staved off realistic worries with blatant honesty. “I might not have taken the time to think this through beyond the fact that I’ve...wanted to do that for awhile.” Liv was pretty sure that her stomach was doing somersaults, with the slightly unexpected words coming out of his mouth. Even with the obvious fact that he wasn’t as into this as she could’ve hoped, or that he seemed apprehensive over the entire thing, she still had a tendency to just zone in on one thing. It was probably a little more than unfair to him to run her hand along the morning stubble on his face and across his neck, or to keep glancing down at his lips while they were in close proximity, but Liv was far from a limp rag and even farther from being a fair person. “That’s okay,” Liv was back at glancing down at his lips, steeling her resolve in not pulling him down to her. “Sometimes you just gotta do what you want, and not what you plan for. Which was my way of saying you could, you know, do it again.” It was damn near impossible to focus on the reason his brain was setting off warning bells when she kept touching him, but Lincoln managed all the same. As much as he wanted this, he wanted the whole package more. But that didn’t stop him from pressing her down into the bed with another kiss, this one with a little more heat because he knew he was going to back out and goddamn it if he wasn’t going to enjoy himself before he did. When he pulled away, it was to roll slightly to the side of her and release an exasperated breath. “There’s just one problem with that...” he murmured, reaching up to take his glasses off and use his shirt to wipe them clean. It was a stalling action, but it did give him time to realize there really was a problem with not planning. “Planning is, uh, important? You know, for...technical reasons?” What was it about her that made him completely incapable of not saying something stupid during every conversation? Jesus. Liv was observant enough to tell he was stalling, and that feeling was enough to keep her firmly planted in her spot without rolling to follow him. Instead, she just ran a hand over her flushed face and let out a long breath. Even without his awkward stalls, Liv got the distinct feeling this wasn’t happening today. And not just because of technical reasons. “If you don’t wa-” Liv caught herself and shook her head slightly, not willing to finish that and put this on him. He wanted to kiss her, he stalled, he didn’t, she was being thrown for a loop and instead of facing it head on like she did everything else, Liv just sat up and swung her legs over her side of the bed, putting her back to him. “Hey, maybe next time we’re in Rome and we don’t need to hunt down a drugstore just to make this happen.” Lincoln grimaced at the start of her response, his mouth opening with the intention of babbling an insistent denial that it wasn’t about not wanting to, but she moved on quickly enough that he was spared that bullet. Because if he had said as much, then it might have come down to what his real reason was and God knows he’d botch that explanation. Still, her back turned to him made Lincoln feel like he’d already screwed up plenty. Shifting to sit next to her, he fussed with his glasses before straightening his back and glancing apologetically her way. “In the meantime...why don’t we tour the hell out of this town?” he murmured, giving her an off-kilter smile before grabbing her hand and pulling it up to his mouth to plant a kiss on her palm. He hadn’t put a lot of thought into that either, but it was killing him to think this might have been his one shot and he blew it because the future was uncertain. Liv didn’t pull her hand away from his mouth, and glanced over at him with that little smirk of hers, not letting her feelings on the situation and the disappointment in the back of her brain show on her face. But it had her glancing down at his lips again, and that just brought on a whole new stream of mixed emotions. “You know, I think that sounds like a damn great idea. But before that, I’m going to call dibs on first shower.” Liv leaned over to kiss him on the temple before lifting off the bed and starting toward the bathroom. She reached up to start twisting her long hair into a bun for her shower, knowing full well that her t-shirt was riding up as she walked. She tossed a look over her shoulder at him, which gave away that she knew full-well what she was doing. “And, you know, if that itch happens to come back while we’re out and you change your mind...” He didn’t bother to hide the fact that he was watching her the whole way, and he even managed to not blush at her teasing parting comment. Instead, Lincoln lifted his eyebrows and half-smiled. “You’ll be the first to know,” he joked before turning away to hopefully recover some semblance of cool while she was gone. He was going to need to talk to the powers that be at SHIELD. And soon. Or breaking the rules would be a forgone conclusion. |