Estrella James (thrice_charmed) wrote in tiberiusswann, @ 2011-12-07 21:10:00 |
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Entry tags: | bastian, estrella |
Monday - March 2nd, 2009
Who: Bastian and Estrella
When: Evening
Where: Bastian's apartment
What: Rorie is a dirty liar
Estrella had not been joking the night that she had told him how much she missed being able to take a bath. And she had been serious about taking him up on his offer of using his tub too, which she had done quite often, nearly every time that she stayed over at his place, which had been quite a bit since that first night they'd spent together. Point in fact, she was working that bathtub to her advantage right now as Bastian did a bit of menu planning for the rest of the work week.
Every since Friday, which was only a few days ago but felt like much longer, Estrella couldn't get the thought of Laura out of her head. She wanted to know who this woman was, what she had done, and, more importantly, whether or not Bastian was really over her. See whether they were dating or exclusive or just friends who spent a great deal of time together or what, Estrella couldn't be certain, but she was certain that she had feelings for Bastian, very strong feelings, and that the worry about this other woman wasn't going to go away on its own. She had to ask him about her. That's all there was to it.
"Hey Bastian," she called out loudly enough for him to hear her in whichever front room he was currently sitting, waiting for a response before she asked, "Will you come wash my back for me?" It was a ploy, of course, just to get him in the room so that she could casually bring that subject up and perhaps but it to rest in her mind just a bit.
~~~
Bastian was in the living room, papers scattered across the coffee table as he tried to work out the menu. It was always tricky, planning for seven days for so many people. There were deliveries to schedule, groceries in the fridge to use before they went bad, reuse leftovers. So many challenges. He'd figured out breakfast, the grocery list for those and was about halfway through lunch when he heard Estrella calling to him. "Yeah?" Considering this menu was three weeks out, he felt he could take a break to go help. "Sure thing."
Rising, he dropped his pencil to the table, already rolling up his shirt sleeves to keep them from getting wet. "Knock knock," he said as he walked in, closing the door to keep the heat inside the room. Bas knelt at the side of the tub, letting his eyes rove over Estrella's bubble-covered form.
~~~
Glancing over her shoulder when he entered the room, she smiled, but there could have been a little something a bit tense or off about it. "Hey," she said in a soft voice, inhaling a deep breath, that smile taking on a bit of a smirk as he allowed his eyes to rove over her form, Estrella doing nothing to prevent or inhibit his view. She liked the way he looked at her. It made her feel... sexy. But then the thought crept into her mind as to whether or not he had looked at Laura the same way and she frowned a bit as she shifted to sit up so that he could more readily reach her back.
~~~
Bastian noticed there was something off, but he brushed it aside. If something were wrong, she would tell him. It was one of the things he really liked about Estrella. He never needed to guess where he stood with her because she typically said what was on her mind. Grabbing a washcloth, he dipped it in the water and reached for the soap to lather the cloth. He started to gently scrub her back in smooth circles, starting at her shoulders.
~~~
She was reluctant to bring this up just because she didn't want to feel like she was pressing him to talk about something he may not be ready to discuss, but she couldn't just let it sit there. So she was quiet for a moment before she remarked, "Your friend stuck around for a while the other morning. I made him pancakes and we talked a bit." She kind of hoped that he would figure out what they had talked about without her having to say it, but knowing Bastian, even if he had suspicions, he wouldn't say much until they were confirmed.
~~~
"Rorie?" Bastian turned his head to glance at her. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I should have left you a note to warn you about him being on the couch." He continued washing her back, not at all concerned. "What did you talk about?"
~~~
Estrella looked over her shoulder at him and nodded her head. She smiled and gave a slight shrug of her shoulders. "No worries. He was nice enough." And then there was the question that she was reluctant to answer, so she gave a slightly vague response. "About you, mostly."
~~~
Even that wasn't surprising. They were both in his apartment, so obviously he would be a common factor between them. Still, they both knew very different sides of the same man. It took effort, but he kept his hand moving in controlled circles on her back, his voice steady, somewhat curious. "Oh really? And what did you share?"
~~~
"Nothing much. I just.. asked how the two of you met." Estrella could feel a slight knot forming in the pit of her stomach now, knowing that he had to know by now what it was that had her a bit off because of course he had noticed. So she may as well just come out and say it. "I don't want to be presumptuous. You know that isn't my thing and... Well we haven't even talked about what we are or what this is and I know we're taking things slow on that front, and I definitely respect that and I'm completely okay with that but..." She paused for a moment before she shifted, turning slightly in the tub so that she could more easily look at him. "I want you to know that, should you and I ever decide to be in a relationship with one another, that I would never violate your trust. And if I ever reached a point where I didn't want to be with you anymore, I'd tell you. I wouldn't just... Go off and do whatever without thinking of you at all."
~~~
Bastian froze when Estrella got to the heart of what they'd talked about. How he and Rorie met? Shit. It was a hell of a fun time, but he didn't think she'd be into that. He pulled back, ready with an explanation, but snapped his mouth closed when she continued. Wait. What? The confusion was evident on his face. "Okay," he said slowly, drawing the word out. "I didn't think you would." What on earth did this have to do with Rorie?
~~~
He looked confused. And Estrella wasn't sure why he looked confused. So then she, in turn, looked confused also. Obviously this needed further explanation. "He told me about Laura," she said simply, as if that should explain it all. And it should had Rorie not been lying through his teeth, a fact that she was entirely unaware of at this point.
~~~
Bas sat back on his heels, still confused. "Laura?" Okay, he really was lost. There was no Laura that he knew.
~~~
"Your... ex-girlfriend?" And now Estrella was even more confused. She exhaled a breath and then stated, "Rorie told me that you two met at a bar and had a few drinks and you were upset about Laura cheating on you and he was upset about, well, his ex or something too and..." This wasn't making any sense at all! "Is that not what happened?"
~~~
And now the light clicked on. Rorie created this story so that he wouldn't have to admit that he and Bas were a kinky one-night stand. There was no telling how Estrella would react to that. Now to figure out how to salvage this situation. She was obviously upset about the idea of an ex-girlfriend. "Ah, it's close. We met in a bar and had a few drinks, yes. He was talking about his relationship and was pretty drunk during it. Laura...." Shit, shit. How to explain a woman that didn't exist? "Laura was a woman in the bar. Not my ex."
~~~
Exhaling a breath, Estrella had to ask, "Seriously?" Yes, she was a bit upset. And now she was a bit annoyed on top of that because she had spent all this time worrying over nothing.
She moved to climb out of the tub and grabbed a towel to wrap around herself. "So he was talking about his ex and there was a woman there in the bar with the both of you and he just... Got confused?" That didn't really make much sense either, but since she didn't really drink, she had no idea the impact that alcohol could have on a person's ability to accurately recall things. "And there's no ex-girlfriend who.. cheated on you like.. seven months ago and left you completely heartbroken?"
~~~
Uh-oh. This was going downhill fast and Bas wasn't quite sure how to stop it. Dropping the cloth into the tub, he stayed on his knees, no matter how much the Dom in him wanted to stand. "I don't know what was going through his head, but I can promise you there's no ex-girlfriend who cheated on me."
~~~
Estrella huffed slightly and then she frowned, rolling her eyes as she remarked, "Well now I feel like an idiot." She exhaled a small laugh. "Here I am trying to reassure you because I'm worried that you think I might do the same thing and... Laura doesn't even exist."
~~~
Bastian rose to his knees, reaching out and tugging her closer to him. "Ah, don't feel like an idiot," he smiled, resting his chin against her stomach. "I feel so much better knowing that should we agree to move into exclusivity, I don't have to worry about other men stealing you from me."
~~~
Estrella had a bit of a pout upon her lips as she was tugged toward him but she went quite willingly. "I thought he was legit though. I didn't know he was... delusional." She laughed, moving both hands up to stroke fingers lightly through his hair.
~~~
Bas smiled up at her. "Rorie is Irish and Italian. He tells interesting stories when he gets drunk. Doesn't make him delusional." Because he could, he tugged the towel off and to the floor, pressing a kiss to her belly button.
~~~
Estrella inhaled a sharp breath when he tugged the towel off and then smirked a bit as she retorted, "He's delusional." She trailed her fingers lightly down along the line of his jaw before she added, "And I'm relieved."
~~~
Bastian chuckled, turning his head to kiss her fingers then finally rising to his feet. "Good. You didn't have a reason to be worried in the first place."
~~~
"Liar," Estrella retorted, a smile upon her face. "Laura was totally going to come and try to win you back." Her brow quirked slightly. "But what she doesn't know is that I'm from the D, baby." She smirked as she added, "I know how to cut a bitch."
~~~
Laughing, Bas grinned down at her, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and tugging her close. "Ah, blood thirsty, are you?" He leaned down to nuzzle her neck, still chuckling. "Sexy."
~~~
Estrella laughed a little and moved her hands down to his waist to give his hips a slight tug as she corrected him, "Territorial."
~~~
Bastian nipped her throat, his own display of being territorial. "I can work with that. Still bloodthirsty and sexy, though."
~~~
Estrella practically purred in response to that nip, tilting her head to better expose her throat to him. "You're sexy," she contested. "Not even fair. I never stood a chance against your sexual prowess."
~~~
Given her encouragement, Bas scraped his teeth over her skin. "Oh, and we're just getting started, Estrella," he whispered. "One of these days, I'm going to have to tell me in detail. Everything you want me to do to you."
~~~
Estrella exhaled a breathy laugh. "I know." She hummed softly in response to those words, a soft shudder racing up her spine before she leaned in and whispered in his ear, "Tag, Bastian, you're it." With that, she ducked quickly out of his grasp and ran out of the bathroom and down the hallway toward the front of the apartment, finding a place to hide. Granted, it wasn't the best place in the world as she was only crouching behind the sofa, but the point of the game was to be found, after all.
~~~
Well that was unexpected. "Running through my apartment naked and trailing water. Yup, great way to hide," he called after her. Picking up the towel, he flipped it in his hands, following her trail along the carpet. It would have been much more challengeing to use his nose. Knowing where she hid, he slowly crept closer, wondering if she would leap up and run.
~~~
Of course she was going to leap up and run when it became apparent that she was found. She even gave a small yelp of surprise to go along with it before she darted around the sofa on the other side and headed back down the hallway. Yes, of course she was going to his bedroom. She even hid behind the door, pressed back against the wall where she would be an easy target.