Cora Hale (impulsivewolf) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2019-02-24 21:51:00 |
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John rolled over in bed and brushed up against soft flesh and gave a small sigh that told of mistakes past and present culminating in this very moment. It wasn’t the first time he’d woken up in a stranger’s bed, nor would it be the last, but the morning was always the worst part. He wasn’t keen to get started but at least the awkward bit would be over sooner and John could go about his day. Here we go, he thought to himself as he took a deep breath and sat up. “Hello luv,” he said softly to the comfortable pile of hair and curves beside him. “Seems like we might have drunk a little too much last night, eh?” John suggested, though he didn’t feel like he’d got a particularly heavy hangover. Then again it didn’t take much to get him to a compromising position as history had so often proven. “So, can I get you a cup of coffee or something?” he asked, happily playing the ‘let’s get you out of the house so I can go about my life’ game. “Might even be able to shout you a slice of toast, if you’re desperate.” * Cora had slept great and she was so damn comfortable right now that she didn’t want to get up. And for a moment she thought about sleeping in a little bit more. But when she felt movement beside her, she opened her eyes quickly. Who in the hell was beside her? She didn’t bring anyone home last night. And she sure as hell didn’t go home with anyone and yet, from what she could see through her mess of hair, she wasn’t home. And then she heard the familiar voice. For a moment, she thought about not answering him, but then she wouldn’t get any answers to what in the hell was going on. She finally moved her hair away from her face and turned onto her back, looking over at John. “What the fuck is going on?” * Yep, there was that moment of stillness between waking and sleeping that told John the brunette had figured out what was going on and was working out how to play it. He gave her the time she needed to come to her own way of playing it and had to smile when he recognised the girl beneath the tresses as Cora’s face appeared. “It would appear, Cora my dear, that we’re naked, in bed together,” he lifted up the covers momentarily, “at least, I’m naked.” How Cora had got there was a whole other matter. “I don’t remember getting drunk, do you?” John asked curious to know how they’d ended up in this predicament in the first place. “Perhaps we were drugged and stashed?” he suggested with a shrug, which made about as much sense as anything else he could come up with. “Why anyone would stash me in my own house is another matter entirely. Not that I totally object,” John said giving her a lazy smile. “Or maybe it was your brother trying to shove us together?” he wiggled his eyebrows mischievously, “he clearly had a bit of a thing for me, you know?” * “What!?” She quickly checked herself and sighed a sigh of relief. She was not naked. She was still wearing her short shorts and tank top that she had gone to bed in. “No, I don’t. I barely had anything to drink last night. I didn’t even go out. I stayed in.” Which still didn’t answer the question of how she got here. She remembered going to bed and nothing weird had been going on before hand. “My brother wants me to become a nun. I don’t think he would do this to us.” As far as she could tell, Derek hated John. “He hates your guts and you know it,” she said as she sat up and took a better look around at John’s bedroom. “Okay, well, you need to get dressed and take me home.” Because she had a feeling that her car was not here, let alone anything else of her’s. * “Oi, that wasn’t an invitation to check out my goodies,” John said with a sly look her way, “unless you want to show me yours too.” That Cora had no idea what was going on at least made him feel slightly better about having no memory of maneuvering her into his bedroom either through drink or charm. If he was fair it would more likely take drink. “Me neither. I was working on a case,” John told her, “and then I crashed out dead-beat and sober as a judge.” He pulled a face, “your hair’s way too lovely to cut off and hide under a habit,” John said categorically, “which means your brother clearly doesn’t have your best interests at heart.” He’d known enough nuns to understand Cora would not only be one helluva shock to them but also that she’d hate it. “Hates me, does he? That’s a bit rich seeing as we’ve never even met,” John said with a sniff. Fine, if she wanted him dressed then dressed he could get. He threw back the covers and pulled himself out of bed, reaching for his cigarettes and lighting one. “You didn’t answer my question,” he said taking a cleansing lung-full of nicotine, “coffee?” He knew one thing for certain, he was going in the shower before taking her home! “Can we maybe take this slowly, darling, cause I’m really not a morning person, despite evidence to the contrary,” John told her looking down at his morning glory. * Cora was rolling her eyes. “You wish, buddy.” She wasn’t showing John any of her goodies. “Okay, so we both didn’t’ go out and we definitely didn’t meet up anywhere. The only thing I can think of is that this is some weird OC thing.” Why the weirdness would shove them in a bed together, she had no idea. And she really didn’t want to find out. “Right?” she said in agreement. “And let’s not forget the no sex thing. Nope, I’m not becoming a nun no matter how much my brother wants me to be one.” She shrugged. “Just a guess by how he was speaking to you over the network and how he was bugging me about you.” It was annoying when Derek acted like that, but she knew he would act that way since he always did the minute she mentioned a guy. “He’s over protective of me since I’m the youngest. He’ll get over it.” She hoped. “Hm?” What question had she ignored. She tried to think but he already asked it again. “Oh, right, uh, sure?” If he wasn’t going to be in a hurry to take her home, the she might as well take what he was offering. “Oh god,” she shouldn’t have followed his gaze. She quickly looked away. “Maybe you should go take care of that.” * “Can’t blame a bloke for trying,” John answered, purely for his own entertainment rather than actually attempting to put the moves on Cora. After all, how would she resist? Her, the model and him the grizzled, old detective who’d washed up in The OC from abroad! He knew when he was out of his league and wasn’t ashamed to admit it. “So this is the famous OC shenanigans I’ve heard so much about, is it?” John asked with a slight smirk, “I have to say I don’t have too many complaints so far.” Whether his opinion would change was a whole other matter but waking up with beautiful ladies (or gents) was fairly high on his list of likes. “God forbid there’d be no sex,” John replied with a soft laugh, “present company excepted, obviously,” he had to add. Smartarse to the end, him. “Your brother sounds like a huge dick, which I’m not usually averse to, but in his case I think I’ll pass,” he said shooting Cora a smirk. “You might be the youngest but you’re hardly a child. What business is it of his who you sleep with?” he wondered aloud as he smoked his first tab of the day and started to feel a little more normality. “Coffee for two, coming right up,” John hadn’t turned fast enough to miss the look on Cora’s face or the comment which had him chuckling to himself. “Can’t be the first one you’ve seen. It’ll sort itself out while I sort out the coffee,” then he could take a piss without risking taking an eye out. “Milk and sugar?” he called as he headed down the stairs. A second later he seemed to slip and he was getting a good dose of carpet burn on his arse as the stairs paid him back for his unannounced visit. Upstairs he heard a thud. “You alright up there luv?” John called as he tried to get back on his feet. * “Take me out to dinner first.” Hey, if John could say things then she could say things right back. “It is,” she said before asking, “Didn’t you see the zombies a few weeks ago?” If he hadn’t, she’d like to know how he missed of all that chaos. “I’m sure you’ll be given something to complain about soon enough.” And this is what made her help him the first time they met. They easily played off one another quite well. “He can be one sometimes. I know that. I tell him all the time that I can take care of myself. But he doesn’t listen. It’s not any of his business. I tend to keep a lot of things to myself because I don’t want to hear it.” She kept looking the other way. “Obviously not, but that doesn’t mean I want to see yours right now.” If it were under different circumstances, fine, whatever. But none of this was normal. “Yeah, both, thanks.” She ran her fingers through her hair and then threw the covers off. She had been sitting on the edge of the bed, still trying to wake up when she felt an odd pull in her middle and then before she knew it she was hitting the floor with a thud. “Ow…” She quickly sat up and looked back up at the bed thinking maybe somebody pushed her, but nobody was around. It was still her alone in the bedroom. “Yeah,” she called back, “I just fell off the bed…” She slowly stood up and tried to sit again, but stopped when she felt that tug again. She took a few steps away from the bed, wondering what the fuck was happening and if it had to do with her waking up in John’s bed for no reason. * “Sweetheart, I already offered you coffee,” he answered with a broad smile, “not to mention the hospitality of my home!” She wanted dinner too? The cheek of her. “How about you buy me dinner instead. Show off your 21st Century modern femininity?” John suggested, “though you should know, I’m not that easy. I won’t fall in bed with you just because you buy me dessert,” he told her. “Heard about the zombies. Hid from said zombies,” he answered, “cause I’m not a fucking idiot,” he told Cora, being clear on that point. “That a regular thing in these parts?” he asked, wondering what he’d got himself into with this whole OC gig. Perhaps he’d fair better back in Blighty after all? Or he could wake up next to a model… tough choice, that. “Never understood that instinct in blokes,” he said with a shake of his head. “On the one hand you’re a stud if you shag around but your partner of choice is a slut because she made exactly the same choice you did. Stinks of machismo,” which was exactly why John had taken such delight in winding Cora’s brother up so much. He hadn’t been able to help himself. “There is nothing wrong with my cock, I’ll thank you to apologise!” John said with a slight drama-queen flounce that would have worked perfectly on Drag Race as he turned to see to her request. “You could give a bloke a complex,” he said with a wink back at Cora to show he was playing around. What the actual fuck? John felt a couple of tight tugs, urging him to back his way up the steps a few paces. “Err, Cora? It’s possible that OC bullshit has kicked in,” he told her, as if falling out of the bed wasn’t signal enough. “I can’t walk downstairs,” though he decided to omit the carpet burns for now. “Something’s stopping me,” and John had a good idea that something was Cora Hale. * “Oh-ho-ho. I see how it is. You just want me to buy you food. I see right through you,” she teased. “I bet if I found your weak spot, you would be putty in my hands and naked in my bed.” And now it made sense. “I pretty much hid too,” she told him. “Weird occurrences? Yeah, it’s pretty normal here.” She was actually pretty surprised that he thought it was all fucked up. Not every guy saw it that way. “I totally agree. Why do guys get to go around boasting about how many girls they’ve slept with, but when a girl does it, she’s a slut and every other bad word in the book? It’s all such a bad way to think.” She laughed and then flipped him off. “Dream on. Aww, poor you. I feel so bad…NOT.” Cora was already starting to make her way out of the bedroom. “I’m coming, hold on.” * “I may have my good points, but at this time of the day I’m still very much thinking with my stomach,” John answered. “Sweetheart, my weak spots would fly at you full force if there was a chance of you getting naked,” he teased back. He wasn’t hitting on Cora, just playing around and it seemed they both knew the rules and it was a shared amusement. “I may act like a hard nut but I’m big on survival,” John said taking a drag of his cigarette. “I’ve not been in town long but I’ve learned a fair bit about the weird and wonderful since I arrived.” He saw the surprise in her eyes and couldn’t help smile. “We’re not all Neanderthal’s, luv,” John said with a slightly hurt expression. “Some of us are also capable of seeing a woman, or a bloke, able to decide her, or his, own fate as a positive,” and as long as hooking up wasn’t interfering with their general sense of self-worth, what the hell was the harm? “It’s a control thing, mostly, the abuse men give women,” he told Cora. “Little men who can’t see beyond their own mucky desires want to shove you into a box and keep you there. Highly questionable, all of it,” as were the men who perpetrated the slut-shaming. “And just when I take the moral high ground you attempt to put my cock in a stifled box of its own making,” John shook his head. Alright, this was getting weirder by the minute. The moment Cora started to move, John started to slip down the stairs. “Remind me to invest in a better carpet,” he grumbled as he pulled himself to his feet and gave his burns a rub. “Seems like there’s a distance element involved in this particular oddness,” John told her as Cora came into view. “It’s like we can go so far from one another but no more. Which could be fucking annoying, not least when a bloke’s trying to make coffee,” he said with a sigh. * “Well, the longer you stay here the more crazy you will see.” Cora only knew all about it because she lived here all of her life. She knew when to stay in and when it was safe to go out. “Oh really? I don’t know. I think most of you are.” She smiled oh so sweet at him. “Are you trying to turn this around on me now? Hmm, not going to work, Oh Naked One.” Cora had seen start to move the closer she got to him. “That’ll teach you to walk around naked,” she teased. “Well, that just isn’t going to work. I have stuff I have to do and I’m sure you do too.” How are they supposed to do their jobs if they couldn’t get away from one another? “This sucks,” she muttered as she started to follow John down the stairs and into the kitchen. * “Not sure I’m going to be able to leave anytime soon as it stands,” John admitted, though he hadn’t gone into details about why he’d ended up in the States, he was sure he and Cora would have the conversation at some point. “I can’t go home and my old life is pretty much burned, so I’ll have to deal with all the crazy,” he told her. “Can’t be all bad if I end up waking up next to models,” John told her with a smirk. That smile might work on most people but he just flashed her a skeptical smirk. “To be fair you’re not exactly in the most progressive industry, so I’ll let you off this once.” Only Cora knew what she’d faced with pervy blokes and though he was naked as the day he was born at least he wasn’t trying it on with her. He was classy like that. “Yes, I’m feeling incredibly vulnerable right now and you’re not helping,” John answered with a chuckle. “Hey, my house, my rules,” he answered with a stern look her way. “Besides, it’s not as though you were invited,” John teased right back. “You’re right, I have stuff to do but at least my work’s fairly flexible,” he replied as he made coffee and chucked a couple of slices of bread into the toaster. “Alright, what’s the plan? We can’t get away from one another so does it mean I get to shadow you while you work?” he gave Cora his best lascivious grin. “Today might not be so bad after all.” * “That doesn’t mean you have to stay in the OC, though.” She was pretty sure he could live anywhere else if he ever got tired of the craziness that this city brought to its residents. “It’s not always good thing that’s happen. You’ll see it for yourself the longer you stay here.” It wasn’t like he was completely wrong. But even after all the bullshit that she deals with, she still likes what she does. Or she’d quit and find something else to do. “Oh, good, I have you right where I want you,” she joked. “Hey, trust me, I wouldn’t mind being in my own place. I didn’t ask to get magically dropped off here.” As John busied around the kitchen, Cora wondered how far she could go before that horrible feeling happened around her middle. Just to test it she started to walk slowly away. “Well, I don’t have anything to do today. But tomorrow, I guess you’ll have to come to the photoshoot with me. I hope you do mornings.” She finally stopped when she started to feel that horrible tug. “Well, I think this is as far as we can get away from each other without getting tossed onto our asses.” * “It rather does, I’m afraid to say,” John replied with a wry smile. “When I left home this place was bought for me, on the proviso I stay put and out of trouble,” a tall order, even if he did say so himself. “The deeds aren’t in my name,” he told Cora, “at least not yet. So I’m stuck, for the time being, at least.” Unless he got totally suicidal and headed back to Liverpool, which didn’t seem like the best short-term plan. “So what else has happened?” John asked, curious to know what he had to look forward to. “If I’m just where you want me, you are one twisted woman, Cora Hale,” he replied with a soft laugh. “A rough naked bloke on a short-leash is your kink, is it?” John grinned and stabbed out his cigarette. “Just be grateful you didn’t get dropped in after curry-night,” he told her. “You might not have got out alive,” John chuckled. “To be honest I’d rather be at your place,” he told Cora with a smile, “something tells me your line of work pays better than mine and you’re probably more house-proud too.” John managed to forage for a couple of clean mugs and plates to put toast on as Cora went to work on her exploration. “That feels bloody horrible,” he said as she pulled to the end of their tether. “Like going over the top of a roller coaster without the fun.” He put breakfast down on the kitchen table and sat down, “so, other than not being naked, how do I behave at a bonafide fashion shoot?” John asked. “And, for the record, I fucking hate mornings,” but he might make an exception for this. * “Oh. Well, I guess you can’t leave the OC then. I guess you better stay out of trouble then.” Cora would be there all day if she were to tell him everything that happened. The list was quite long. “Let’s see, snow, creepy snowmen, and electronics going haywire are just a few things. The list goes on and on.” Cora smiled. “It really is. You don’t know how much I have to hold myself back right now,” she told him, still playing along. Did he seriously just say that? Ew. “Oh? Well, my place is pretty nice if I do say so myself.” Not like his house was all that bad. “You can say that again.” It did feel horrible and she quickly made her way back into the kitchen just in time for coffee and toast. “Well, you’re going to hate tomorrow then,” she told him as she sat down at the table and took a sip of her coffee. “Gotta get up at six am.” * “I know this is going to come as a huge surprise,” John said with a smile Cora’s way, “but I’m incredibly bad at keeping out of trouble.” The way they’d met should have given her all the information she needed on that score. As for the rest he felt his inner curiosity stir, “and does anyone have a clue what’s behind the weird and strangeness?” he asked, attempting to keep the copper-inside at bay and almost certainly failing. Perhaps there was a mystery to be solved here. He chuckled, glad that he’d at least been stuck with someone with a sense of humour. “You just work on your self-control, luv, cause something tells me you’re far more than I could handle.” The look on Cora’s face was worth it, though John tried not to look too smug at his achievement. “How about I give you my opinion on that later,” he suggested, “cause I doubt you’re going to want to spend your entire time here. I mean, I doubt I even have a shirt that’d fit you.” John took a bite of toast and sat back, “christ. You’re going to bloody kill me with your commitments, aren’t you?” he said with a shake of his head. “How about we stay up till six drinking and approach it that way?” John suggested, knowing that Cora would never go for the idea, however appealing it might be to him. * “Well, keep your trouble making ways to yourself until thing weirdness ends.” Cora did not want to get into any kind of trouble. She wanted a trouble free time until they were free from one another. “The real actual truth? No.” She tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and laughed. “You have no idea.” Well, she had no doubt about that. Not to mention she wanted her own clothes. She didn’t want to wear somebody elses. “I guess you better pack some stuff up then if we’re going to be hanging out at my house.” She took a bite of her toast and shook her head. “How about no. There will be no drinking until six am on photo shoot days.” * John raised a mischievous eyebrow and smirked, “but where would the fun be in that, darlin’?” he asked Cora. He got it, she didn’t want him fucking up her job and he’d respect that, for the most part anyway. So long as she could handle that he was likely to need to amuse himself, or go crazy while they were tied to one another. He looked over at her and frowned, “or they’re not telling us the truth. Cause, I mean, what government has ever secreted information from it’s people in order to do it’s own thing, eh?” Sounded more likely to John, anyway. In another life he could have fallen heavily for that laugh and the way she threw back his digs. He laughed with her and gave her a challenging smirk, “like that, is it? Interesting!” In this life, though, John had to remember that he was on the run from some very bad people, who’d happily break a beautiful woman just to pay him back and he wasn’t about to have that on his conscience. So it was a game. Just a pretty fancy. “If we’re spending time at your place, do I need to come in body armour or have you neutered your brother yet?” John asked, remembering the delightful exchange they’d had on the network. “Not sure he’s going to appreciate having me around much, Cora, luv,” he pointed out as he chomped down the last of his toast and washed it down with coffee. “Right, come on then, I’ll throw myself in the shower and either you can join me or grab a book,” he told her with a smile, “and then I’ll pack an overnight bag - with plenty of booze, if we’re starting drinking at six am on shoot days,” John shot back with a teasing grin. * “The fun would be in keeping my job,” she told him. “They probably aren’t telling us the whole truth. I don’t think they ever will.” She tried not to think about ti most of the time. She just wished whatever was going on would just stop so that they could all live normal lives. “Just like that,” she told him with a huge smile. Cora rolled her eyes and waved it off like it was nothing. “Derek will just have to suck it up and act civilized. We didn’t choose to be stuck together. It’s just something that we have to deal with.” Honestly, she wasn’t too worried about Derek. He was off dealing with is own stuff. She finished off her own toast and coffee and stood up. “I think I’ll wait outside the door. “Oh, haha. Come on, let’s get moving.” She grabbed her plate and mug and put it in the sink and then waited for John so that they could get up stairs without a problem. * “Well if you ever lose your job, I’m sure I can fix you up with something,” John said with a sly smile, “in fact perhaps I should be pushing for that outcome,” he teased, knowing Cora would probably castrate him if he lost her the job she loved. “I think you’ve hit the nail on the head there luv,” cause why would an experimenting government ever tell it’s citizens anything? “I guess we’ll just have to check things out for ourselves, eh? We can become the great conspiracy theorists of Orange County,” John said with a chuckle. He met Cora’s smile head on with one of his own and answered, “cause I’m an absolute pussy cat? Keep your illusions intact, luv,” John grinned, “or back up your game.” “Derek is about as civilized as an alley cat,” John answered, “and probably pisses on his territory too. Now I come to think of it, your perfume is rather strange,” he said with a teasing smirk at Cora. If she believed he’d survive the encounter, so be it. “Just remember that if he kills me, you’re going to spend however long this curse is programmed for tethered to some seriously rotting meat,” John warned her. He waited for Cora to get up and headed upstairs, “I thought that might be your option,” he answered with a grin. It didn’t take him long to shower and shave, as well as he cared to and even managed to get dressed, without help from his new friend. * “I’m sure you could, but I like my current job. Let’s make it so I can keep it.” Cora shook her head. Nope, she did not want that outcome. She would murder him. “Or we disappear because we’re looking into stuff that we shouldn’t be looking into.” Cora sighed. If Derek could just not be around this whole time, that would be great. She didn’t want him going all feral the minute he were to see John. But since Derek was dealing with the whole werewolf thing, she kind of figured he’d just stay away for awhile. “Funny,” she said with a slight roll of her eyes. “Gross.” Once they were back up the stairs, Cora took a seat next to the bathroom door. She figured that would be a good enough spot so he could do everything he needed without either one of them feeling that nagging pull. When he was finished, she stood up and gave him a once over. “Well, look at you. You look human,” she teased. And once John had everything they headed out. It was time to go home. |