Thursday, 10/4/07 Who: Frankie and Nate Where: Nate's room When: after dinner What: Nate apologizing.
Nathaniel's heart pounded heavily and his throat was dry. Here he was, waiting for Frankie to arrive so they could talk. He'd realised that relaxing and taking a chance to open up went better than he expected and was easy with Frankie. She was different than Vanessa, his previous girlfriend, more cheerful - and there was no focusing on their careers instead. For once, he had all the time in the world and it terrified him. He let medicine define who he was and now that he was without it by choice, he needed to form a new identity of sorts. It turned out, unexpectedly, that he wanted her to be around when he did. The question was, did she want to be with him? They had only been on one date after all and it was not much to go on.. For once he did not wear his usual navy blazer - clad in a black t-shirt and jeans, he sat on his bed, resting his elbows on his knees. His hair was not brushed back and fell in front of his face. This was the first time in a long while that he looked so casual and vulnerable.
Nathaniel had no idea what had come over him because ever since Tuesday he felt jumbled, confused and scared Frankie disliked him. In the back of his mind, the logical part of him knew that he was lonely and wanted companionship and he'd hidden away for long enough. His subconscious loved to make him unhappy but he wanted to make a conscious change to his behavior. He sat up straight and grabbed the book next to him on the bed, thinking through it without reading the words. With any luck, she would arrive soon to save him from any more fidgeting because he thought he'd go crazy from waiting too much longer.
----
Frankie had been very upset upon reading the journals on Tuesday. She'd had such a good time with Nathaniel on their date, and then to read such things, well, it made her wonder if she was being played yet again. It hurt all the more because she really had gone into this whole thing thinking Nathaniel was one of the nicest guys around, totally the opposite of a player or poser. But suddenly doubts had sprung up upon seeing other women talking about dating him. She was a lot more hurt than she'd let on to anyone else, because she was trying very hard to not let herself feel stepped on all over again. Frankie's heart had been through a lot in a very short amount of time. She felt like a total failure in the dating department.
But Nathaniel had helped ease her fears a little when he contacted her on AIM. Even though it worried her to do so, she believed him. It helped that he had someone like Starbuck as a best friend, so maybe it was more that she trusted Starbuck's judgment than she did Nathaniel's sincerity. Still, she hoped it was genuine. She hoped he really wasn't playing her. Vinnie seemed to believe in Nathaniel too, and above all, Frankie trusted her brother. He'd never steered her wrong before, and if he said Nathaniel was a good guy and worth getting to know, then Frankie would give it another try.
She felt very nervous as she walked to his his room. Her fingers fiddled with the zipper on her pink hoodie, sliding it up and down as her sneakers dragged slightly. She was wearing some old jeans that hung loosely on her little frame and were torn up along the hems and knees. The overall look matched her mood. She was feeling a little tattered, and being covered up like this was her way of trying to protect herself mentally and physically. She worried that Nathaniel would just want to end things to keep from having any sort of future drama.
All too soon, she was standing in front of his door. Frankie's hand rose to knock, but she hesitated for a few moments. She closed her eyes and took some deep breaths. She would have liked to have had a few drinks before coming, but that might have made things worse. Alas, she was totally sober and scared. But she forced herself to knock anyway, slipping a few stray locks of hair behind her ears a second later. Her messy ponytail needed to be readjusted.
----
He heard the knock on the door and his stomach churned again. Here went everything. Nathaniel rose from the bed, walking over to open it and stepping back to let her enter his room. "Hello," he said. Moments passed as he thought of how to put what he wanted to say - nothing came to mind. Nerves made it difficult for him to look her in the eye, but that was the part of himself with maschoistic tendencies. No, he had to stop this. "Last night... It was just reading. Lelia's nice, but she wasn't you," he said. "I know we only went out once, but the thought of you not wanting to see me again is hard to bear. You're... vivacious, beautiful, and..." It might seem like he was laying it on a little thick, he meant every word of it.
His gaze was intense upon her and held a hand out to her. "I just want to be with you. I don't know how I can prove it, but please -" He didn't know what was going through his mind just then, or compelled him to do what he did next. A hand rested on her lower back and he tilted his head down to kiss her softly. It only lasted a moment, but the expression on his face as they separated was both anxious and hopeful. Finally, he'd taken a chance. If she thought he acted inappropriately, then so be it, he'd back away and never bother her. His brow furrowed, body stiff from nerves.
----
"Hey," she said softly in return. Frankie walked inside looking just as nervous as she felt. She couldn't hide her emotions in person like she could online. She was still fiddling with the zipper on her hoodie, and she even started biting on her bottom lip when Nathaniel failed to make eye contact with her. She worried that after his date with Lelia, that now he was gonna blow her off. Frankie felt like shit and was starting to wonder if this was gonna be how every single dating experience turned out for her. What the hell was she doing so terribly wrong that guys were running away from her?
Her insecurities mounted greatly in those first few seconds inside his room, and she was just standing there, not sure what to do. But then Nathaniel turned into this huge chatterbox. And he was complimenting her like crazy. She was a little thrown off by it all. Normally Frankie would have responded a lot sooner to such kind words, but she'd been expecting the opposite, so she was slightly dumbfounded at the moment.
It had thrown her totally off balance emotionally, and then he was grabbing her hand and telling her how he just wanted to be with her. Her face softened and she found herself smiling at him. She didn't get to keep that expression for very long though, because suddenly he was kissing her. It wasn't all that passionate in regards to it being all crazy making out, but it was a bold move for someone like Nathaniel. She kinda wished he would have kept going, but he pulled away and looked worried. Crap, did that mean he didn't like kissing her? Or was he worried that he'd made the wrong move. She looked totally the opposite of him. She was positively beaming, and the tips of her hair were sparking a bit. She reached up to his face and brushed her thumb over his forehead, "I know you're not gonna get wrinkles, what with you being a vampire, but you shouldn't frown so much. Especially not after kissing a girl. Might give me self-esteem issues... even with you calling me beautiful." She flushed a little and her smile grew, even though it seemed impossible for her smile to get bigger.
----
Instead of her pushing him away like he thought, Frankie smiled at him. Good sign? He breathed a sigh of relief as she told him not to frown. Very good sign. Nathaniel stopped frowning and took a step closer to her, saying, "I promise I won't frown around you from now on." With a hand cradling the back of her head, he kissed her again with more enthusiasm, though still keeping his mouth closed. His hand fell to her lower back and he held her close to him, deepening their kiss. It lasted a minute before he needed to take a breath of air. "What do you want to do now?" Nathaniel was up for any suggestion - including more kisses, obviously - but the question also applied to their future. Would they go out this weekend? Did this mean they were together? What kind of boyfriend would she want him to be?
The last time he had been this close to a woman... He wanted to treasure this moment if it never happened again and he stroked her hair, committing the texture of it against his fingers to memory. It was also a way for him to pause and see if she would make the next move. Nathaniel would do anything she wanted and all she had to do was ask - she'd discover that for herself soon enough. There were boundaries to be decided upon and more to learn about each other, which were only the beginning of the... newness of them. Right? Was he getting ahead of himself? He didn't want to jump to conclusions and screw everything up once again. The possibility of doing so terrified him.
----
Frankie wasn't used to this at all. This adorableness... and the openness. It was nice, refreshing. He made her feel treasured. It was different from the sort of want she was used to experiencing, which was typically a very selfish need someone else was pursuing with her. Nathaniel seemed to really care how she felt too.
When he kissed her again, her hair really sparked to life, little flames being flicked off a few stray locks here and there, and the crackle of energy was audible. She felt a little weak in his arms as she kissed him back, and then she was breathless when their lips parted. It took her a second to process the question he'd asked her. She wasn't sure exactly what he was asking, so her response was even more delayed. "Uh.. I..." she blushed a bit and laughed, "Sorry... brain's a bit slow after that kiss." She put her hands on his chest and looked at it for a second before looking back up to his eyes. He was a good deal taller than her, but Frankie liked tall guys. She liked him.
"Can I stay here for a while?" she asked, nibbling her bottom lip slightly afterward. Her eyes closed as his hand played with her hair, as more and more of it fell from her messy ponytail. She reached up and pulled the band out all together, letting the gentle brunette curls fall free.
----
He heard the crackle coming from her hair and oddly enough, that turned him on just a little more. It was satisfying to hear what had to be a positive reaction from her in addition to how she was kissing him in return. "No problem," Nathaniel said with a grin. Having her hair free for him to play with was a definite bonus and he curled the ends of her hair around his fingers. "Stay as long as long as you want." And then some. Moving back to sit on the bed, he gestured for her to sit next to him and reached for the remote to his small stereo. A soft harp piece started to play and Nathaniel turned back to Frankie.
"Tell me, does your hair crackle like that when you're kissed or does it become even louder?" Nathaniel was quite a man of experimentation.
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Frankie had learned over the years how to control her fire abilities quite well were most of her emotions were concerned, but it had only been in the past year that she'd experienced anything physical with a man, so those reactions were far less controlled. Her body reacted strongly to feelings of lust, and it was going to take her time to learn to tame it. But part of her didn't want to. Yes, she had to be careful unless she was with someone who was like her... able to withstand the flames. But she didn't want to rein it in too much, because part of the joy in being with a man was letting go of her inhibitions.
She felt such adoration coming from him as he continued to play with her hair, and she was glad when he said she could stay, because she wanted more of this attention. She joined him on the bed, sitting right next to him and taking hold of his hand. The music wasn't really her taste at all, but she wasn't paying all that much attention to it. Her focus was on Nathaniel.
"Um.. it does that for a variety of reasons. Sometimes when I'm really nervous, or if I'm angry, but yeah... a good kiss sets it off too," she said softly with a little blush. She laced her fingers with his and put her other hand upon the back of his, letting him feel just how warm her skin was. "My normal body temperature is about a hundred and five." Pulling one hand away then and holding it out in front of her, she brought a ball of fire to life in her palm. As she focused on it, the flame actually turned blue from the intensity of the heat. Then she closed her palm and extinguished it. "I'm glad you're not a water elemental or something like that." He wasn't fireproof or anything, but at least he wasn't an opposing element. "Still, you have to tell me if I'm ever... uh... too hot." She giggled at herself for that one.
----
The music was mainly for his sake, because Nathaniel discovered a while back that harp music was one of the best ways to calm himself. Part of him couldn't be controlled completely and that was his libido awaking after years of almost total neglect. Now that he had the permission to touch her, he took full advantage of it by playing with the ends of her hair for a little while longer. He wrapped his fingers around her hand, his thumb gently stroking her skin.
"Ah," he said after she told him nervousness, anger... and kissing started the sparking. A flicker of happy embarrassment appeared on his face. A hundred and five natural body temperature was difficult for him to imagine, but it made sense. Her skin was quite warm and a good contrast to his own lack of heat. The topic of warmth was forgotten as he watched her produce flame with fascination. "That's incredible," he breathed, the enthusiastic scientist emerging. "How large a flame can you produce? Do you normally control the shape of it?" Any more questions and he'd fall into nerd terroritory, but Nathaniel remembered the cannolis Zevira suggested he make.
He rose from the bed and walked to his desk, which had a lump of cloth on it. Removing that revealed a plate of cannolis and he returned to sit on the bed again with it in hand. "In addition to my apology," he explained. "Zevira tipped me off to make them. I tasted one and it was good, so I hope you like them."
---
If Frankie had known the damn music was holding him back, she would have sent a fire ball flying at the damn stereo. She enjoyed his touches a great deal and was starting to crave more of them. Her temperature had definitely risen since kissing him, and he surely noticed with his own body temperature being so much lower than that of a human. They were opposites in that sense, as well as so many others, but she had always thought opposites went well together. Her hair crackled under his finger tips, and the spot he was rubbing on her hand was warm enough that it glowed slightly.
She really would have rather continued on in that fashion... not a lot of words, just more of him touching her... but he was curious about her ability, and she knew the science nerd in him totally loved what she could do. She grinned at him and scooted away just a bit, unzipping her hoodie and pulling it off. She just had a plain white tanktop on underneath. Frankie held out the arm that wasn't right next to him and suddenly the whole appendage burst into flames. You could still see her skin under it, but the flesh was glowing a nuclear orange shade. She wiggled her fingers around, showing that it didn't hurt at all. A second later, the flames vanished and she looked just as normal as she had before. "I can do it all over. But my clothes aren't fireproof, so, yeah." She blushed at that. She'd ruined outfits in the past by setting herself on fire, and she didn't care to do that now. "I can make fireballs the size of basketballs, and yes, I can also control the shape of it, but a sphere is the easiest."
When Nathaniel got up, she watched him... curious about what he was doing. Her eyes opened wide when she spotted the cannoli in his hands. She was at a loss for words at first, not only because of his sweet gesture, but because she had no idea Zev was so damn sneaky! "I love them. Cannoli are my favorite." She grabbed one off the plate and took a big bite. A second later, she nodded with a smile as she ate the bite. Swallowing, she offered up, "Ok, these are wonderful. Not as good as my nonna's, but no one can make them as good as her. Is this your first time making them? Because you did a really good job."
----
The music was mostly for him because otherwise he feared he'd do something he might regret. In all his experience with dating, Nathaniel tended to go for women who were similar to him. He might not have expanded his horizons, but he felt secure in doing so. He wanted to touch her more yet it was not a good idea considering it was an easy way for him to do something inappropriate. He trusted his self-control to a good extent, but anything could happen.
She took off her hoodie and he took a moment to give her a once over, admiring her arms and bare shoulders. It had been a while and he was a sucker for any expanse of skin of a woman. Nothing could have prepared him for the surprise of her arm bursting into flame. "Wow," he said, impressed. His hand slid up her arm to see if her skin was any warmer. "That is incredible." Oddly enough, arousing as well. "I would suggest fireproof clothing, but I don't know if that would work well for you." He hoped that she could find a solution if she wanted it. Fireballs the size of basketballs was quite impressive. "That's a lot of power and I can imagine it'll only increase as you grow older." After all, he imagined her ability was a muscle like anything else, which would grow stronger with use.
He was relieved that she enjoyed the dessert and would have to give Zevira props later. Her reaction to the dessert was even better. "Thank you," he said. "It was my first time making them and I know they can't compare to a professional, but I'm glad you enjoy them." Giving her a smile, he waited until she finished eating before taking her hand. She wasn't mad, the cannoli were good, and she liked him. What else could he possibly want?
----
Self-control be damned! Frankie had waited far too long to have fun with boys, and now that she had an amazing man (as well as her amulet to protect her and the whole vampire sterility on her side), she really didn't see the point in taking things slow. She wanted him. NOW! But he seemed to be more interested in the whole fire thing. She shouldn't have distracted him like that. Because now his brain was focused on science, not sex. Damn. She decided it would be best if she only sparked in reaction to things he did from now on, rather than doing so on purpose as a demonstration.
"You could suggest no clothing at all..." she teased, biting her bottom lip a second later. She wouldn't exactly say no. He had told her how amazing she was, made her cannoli, kissed her in a way that made her dizzy, and she was already in his bed. Yeah, she was a pretty easy target at the moment. All he had to do was ask.
"They're delicious, but I'm gonna save a few to give them to Vinnie... if you don't mind." She put the plate on his night stand and out of the way. Frankie curled up to him then.. draping her legs over his lap and wrapping her arms around him. "You're really good at this whole... apology thing. I think you should make me grumpy more often just so I can enjoy you making it up to me afterward." She leaned up and gave him a good smooch.
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Nathaniel had waited until the woman he was dating said when she was ready and so Frankie's willingness would come as a shock. Getting to know her more gave him the confidence to do things regarding a relationship that he hadn't really done in the past. His interest in scientific things was quite powerful and distracting from anything else - next time, she might have better luck. He blinked at her comment and regained his focus. Honestly he had no idea how to respond to that. "Another time," he promised her. That had not been the first thing on his mind, but maybe the next time they met proved to be better.
"No, I don't mind at all." Nathaniel was pleased to hear that she liked them and even more so when she moved closer to him. Wrapping his arms around her as well, he looked at her with his slightly too serious gaze. "And you don't have to be grumpy to receive this kind of treatment. I will happily spoil you." He took delight in holding her, sneaking a hand up to stroke her upper back. Nearly all coherent thoughts left his mind and he kissed her forehead, more than happy that she had forgiven him. He did not want this to happen again.