Who: Cadence and Kurt When: Morning, January 16 Where: Kurt’s place What: Cadence is hung. over. Rating: Low Status: Complete
Cadence woke in a strange bed. She couldn’t help but curse the sun as it shined on the bed, pulling her from her slumber, making her wish her eyes could be removed from her skull. Which, by the way, was throbbing. With a moan, she lifted her hand to pull the blanket up over her head.
Kurt had gotten up early, and mixed up a hangover remedy from his days on a fishing vessel. It tasted worse than it smelled, but it should do away with the headache after awhile, if not some of the other symptoms of a hangover. He brought it into the bedroom and whispered. “Liebchen, I made you something for the hangover.”
"Too loud," Cadence whimpered, even though he was whispering. She slowly pulled the blanket from over her face and looked up at him. He was very, very handsome. "I feel like I'm dying. "
Smiling, Kurt sat on the edge of the bed, and put the mug on the table next to it. He reached over and stroked her hair. “Nien, you just over indulged. Do you remember last night at all?”
The smile on his face was reassuring, but she still felt like she'd been hit by a truck. She wasn't ready to sit up yet, feeling like she might pass out or throw up if she did. But she kept her eyes on him, then closed them add she tried to think. "I remember the warehouse... and the parking lot, I think..."
Kurt waggled his eyebrows playfully. “And after that?” He patiently kept stroking Cadence’s hair, running his fingers through the dark locks and enjoying their softness.
Cadence took a long moment to think about that. Then her eyes went wide as she remembered some of what transpired between them. Somewhat mortified, she lifted the blanket up over her head once more.
Gently, Kurt tugged the blanket back down. His smile was positively devilish, though not without sympathy. “It’s all right. I’m just glad it vas me who took you home.”
"I am, too." Cadence said, softly. She was looking everywhere but his face. "Ugh, I was so stupid last night. I'm so sorry. I owe you."
“Dangerous vords,” Kurt replied, playfully. He picked up the mug. “Please, drink this, it vill help vith your head.”
Cadence say up a little, slowly, wincing, then reached for the mug. The smell made her cringe, but surly she'd had worse to drink last night. "Thanks, Kurt," she said, then drank.
Kurt grimaced in sympathy, and watched her drink. He rubbed at her back. "Don't be embarrassed."
"How can I not be?" She asked, sounding ashamed and slightly bitter. Maybe more angry with herself. "I don't really remember what all I said and did, but I remember begging you to kiss me."
Kurt sighed, and cupped Cadence’s cheeks. “Look at me. I’m not upset vith you, or think any less of you. You’re still a vonderful voman. A horrific temptress, but a vonderful voman.”
Cadence's eyes finally met his when he cupped her face in his hands so gently. "I'm so sorry to tempt you,"she said, softly. Her head was pounding, and she felt like she might cry again.
“I’m sorry I was almost tempted,” He replied, seriously. “But that vouldn’t have been fair to you. It vould have been very, very wrong.” His face lightened. “I don’t mind being tempted.”
Cadence blushed deeply, though she wasn’t smiling. She was in too much pain and too much shame to smile in the moment. “I... I can’t believe the way I acted.” She said. “Though... I wasn’t lying. I don’t think. I did want... y’know.”
"It's hard to lie when you're drowning in vhatever it vas your friends plied you vith," Kurt pointed out. "A lesser man vould have given in. I prefer my lovers consenting." He kissed her brow. “Just know that the feeling is mutual.”
He was really good at making her cheeks burn. And stay burning. She was looking into his eyes, and finally a smile came to her features, her cheeks warm under his hands. “It’s mutual.” Cadence said, gently. “...I just... I need a little time to figure... figure it all out.”
"No pressure." Kurt's eyes burned into Cadence's. No pressure, but that didn't mean he didn't want her. Really, really want her.
She could feel it deep in her pelvis. She knew. She could tell how much he wanted her, and she wanted him just as much. But she had other things going on in her head and in her heart. Right now was a really bad time for her to make those sorts of decisions, with the hangover and the mourning, she wasn’t in her right mind. “Thank you,” she said, softly, lifting her hands to take hold of his wrists as he held her cheeks. “For everything.”
"How's your head?" he replied, changing the subject before their pelvises started to make decisions for them. He reluctantly pulled away, to let her focus on curing her hangover, and because if he stared into her eyes any longer he was going to forget how to breathe.
Her hands fell very slowly, reaching out for his as his he pulled away. The lost contact made her nearly whimper. As hard as it was to maintain control when he was looking so deeply into her eyes, she wanted him to be there with her. “Not great.” She said, honestly.
"It vill get better. And you've learned moderation!" He chuckled, disappearing for a moment then returning with a glass of water. "You'll vant this, too, vhen you finish that."
He counted himself fortunate to have met her.
Cadence took hold of the mug and sipped from it again when he left the room. She lifted it a few times, sipping small sips, quickly, trying to ignore the taste and smell. She didn’t want to know what was in it, but she trusted Kurt to give her something that would help. He didn’t take advantage last night, he cared for her, she trusted him completely. Surprising, considering they hadn’t known each other for that long.
She looked up when he came back in and gave him a smile. “Thank you.”
"Velcome." He sat in a stiff looking chair across from her. He was actually a lot more uncomfortable in this small apartment than he had been in her place. Probably because he felt a little self-conscious about the place.
He definitely didn’t want their first time to be here. If there was one.
Cadence still hadn’t even looked around his place with much interest. She was too busy watching him, too busy feeling terrible, too busy wishing she could be drunk again. At least pukey was better than feeling like her head was imploding. She held the mug with both hands, still sipping slowly.
“It gets better the more you drink.” She said, softly.
"Ja, that's the beauty of it. And the curse. The longer you drink it the vorse it tastes but the better you feel." He reached over and patted her knee.
“I’m feeling better.” She said, her eyes going down to his hand on her knee. She brought one of her hands from the mug down to rest on top of his, pinning it there.
Thank god for jeans. Kurt grinned. “Gutt. Hangovers are the vorse part of drinking, but they’re usually vorth if you don’t go overboard.”
“I don’t know if I’ll be drinking again for a while. For a long time.” She said, softly, her eyes falling closed. “And if I do, I’ll make sure I do in better company.”
"A little vine or a beer von't hurt anything." He moved his other hand to rub at Cadence's back, since she had his first one locked all up and taken.
Cadence gave a soft nod. She had wine with dinner sometimes with her father when she went to his house to help him out, or visit with him. But she wasn’t planning on drinking the way she had last night. The hand on her back felt good. She leaned in against him a little. “I know. I don’t mind one glass. But I was... I guess on someone’s twenty-first, everyone has to buy them a drink. It was just too much.”
"You didn't have to keep drinking. But I suppose it vould have been rude." Kurt smiled ruefully. "My first bender vasn't on my birthday, but I regretted it the next morning, and swore never to do that again! But some resolutions aren't easy to keep." He laughed. "Only a couple of times since, and I'm reminded vhy I don't do it that often every time. I think you really needed to forget, though, liebchen. No one vould blame you for that.”
“I didn’t know how much was too much.” Cadence admitted, shyly. She finished what was in the mug, and reached for the water to sip that instead. She nodded softly, not wanting to remember what it was she was trying to forget. But there it was, fresh in her mind once more. She closed her eyes for a moment. “Not a good way to forget, is it?”
“There are vorse, trust me.” He kissed each of her eyelids. “Perhaps ve’ll find a more constructive vay to grieve ja?” One that didn’t involve running out to sea, anyway. He wasn’t exactly the best example of ‘constructive.’
"Hopefully," Cadence said, softly. She'd hate to self destruct. Not that that was her plan, but it was a possibility. "I just don't understand how God could let this happen."
"God has his vays. He has a plan. That's vhat they like to tell us when someone bad happens, but I've never understood vhy. Vhat just, loving god vants people to suffer? Does he even vatch anymore?" Kurt shook his head. "But I've grown cynical. I'm not the best person to talk to about that."
"Maybe you are the best person to talk to about that." Cadence shrugged one shoulder, still leaning in against him. She held the water glass with both hands. "I don't want to hear about God's plan," she added softly. "I don't want to believe in an all powerful God who lets four year old boys suffer and die like that. So much pain and fear." She felt like she was going to cry again.
Kurt quietly wrapped his arms around Cadence. This wasn’t an evil that one could face down, and assign a face to. It had been a sickness, one of many that ravaged the populace. This had been worse than most. He kissed her cheek. “Vhat do you vant to believe in, then?”
Cadence sighed, melting into his arms. "I don't know." She turned to embrace him, but the glass of water slipped from her grasp. It was a spectacular tumble, as Cadence tried to get her hands on it again. She knocked it sideways, and the water came splashing out, dowsing them both.
Kurt laughed and jumped to his feet. "Verdammt!"
Cadence jumped up, too, wincing at her headache and now soaked through in her lap and tummy. She looked mortified, and still in headache pain. "I'm so sorry!"
"It's all right!" He tried to reassure her that it was funnier than anything. "Let me get you a towel." He rushed out, and grabbed a couple of towels. He shed his shirt and was drying himself as he walked back in, and handed her a towel.
Cadence set the glass down. It was a small blessing that it hadn't dropped to the floor and shattered. She turned when he came back in and accepted the towel, though her eyes were no longer on his face. And now her cheeks were burning again.
"I don't have anything in your size, but there is a clean robe," he offered, slinging the wet towel over his shoulder and around the back of his neck. He was aware of where her eyes were, and smiled bashfully. There were several scars crisscrossing his chest, including one over his heart.
Cadence nodded, using the towel to dry herself. She cleared her throat and shifted her weight, finally bringing her eyes up to his face and smiling shyly. Bashfully. To match his own. “I am pretty soaked,” she admitted, peeling her sweater off of her front. It was dripping. “...You sure you wouldn’t mind?” She asked, dabbing at her sweater with the towel.
Kurt struggled to keep his eyes on her face, and not on the state of her sweater. "I don't mind. Your clothing needs to be vashed anyway, ja? I can take care of that!"
“Okay.” Cadence gave him a smile. “Where’s this clean robe?” She asked, then tugged her arms through her sleeves and brought them out the bottom of her sweater, staying mostly covered. Her pants were soaked, too, though.
He politely averted his eyes, heading back to the bathroom and returning with a fluffy white robe. It was actually too short for him, so he didn’t mind letting her wear it. He could change, anyway. Maybe. If she wanted him to.
If he was uncomfortable and wet, she wouldn’t mind if he changed. She pulled the sweater up and over her head and held it against her chest as he went and got her the robe, covering her front with the wet sweater. Her bra straps, though, he could see on her shoulders. They were red. She reached forward and accepted the robe from him with a gentle “thank you.”
He couldn't help but smile a little. "Red is a gutt colour on you." He winked, then turned to leave the room so she could change in peace.
Cadence flushed. She gave him a little smile, then waited until he was turned to toss her sweater onto the bed and pull the robe up and around her shoulders. Then she tugged her jeans off. Her panties matched her bra. Satiny and red, very smooth on the skin. She tied the robe around her waist, and brought the sweater and jeans out to him in the living room. “Thank you for running a wash. I... uh... I think I’d prefer if my dad didn’t see dirt all over my back when I came home today.”
“Ja, I understand.” Kurt had changed pants and was wearing a t-shirt with a German band on it. He smiled at her, flushing a bit at the way the robe fell around her body. He busied himself with making breakfast, and snuck peeks at her as he did so.
Red really was her color.
Oh the things he might think. And he'd be wrong for the most part. But Cadence wasn't thinking too much about that now. She gave him a smile and set the clothes down on the sofa, then joined him in the kitchen. "I don't know how much food I'll be able to eat, " she confessed.
“Just a little bit, Liebchen, you need to restore your strength, and I enjoy cooking.” He flipped a hashbrown and winked at her.
She smiled fondly. "You're really too kind, Kurt. I owe you big time for all of this. "
"I take all forms of credit cards, kisses and cash," he replied happily.
"Well, I don't have my wallet, so..." she just wished that she tasted a little better. "I should brush my teeth first."
Kurt grinned at her. "Unopened toothbrush under the sink!"
"Sound like you plan to have random girls over. Clean bath robe, spare tooth brush..." she was kidding at first, then started to realize it was true. He was absolutely set up for a booty call. She turned to go brush her teeth and splash some water on her face, trying not to think about who the brush might have been reserved for.
Kurt blinked his eyes, then looked around sheepishly. It was partly true. "Never hurts to be prepared. But the robe came vith the rooms."
Cadence took a few minutes in the bathroom. She washed her face and hands, brushed her teeth, and ran her hands through her hair as best she could. Her hair tie went the way of her phone, so it seemed. She'd have to borrow Kurt's so she could call her father and tell him she wasn't dead. She came back out feeling much more human.
Kurt had eggs and hashbrowns waiting for her. He'd combed his air but it still looked mussed and was sticking up in little tufts here and there.
He stared at her.
Cadence paused, turning around to glance behind her, then back to him. "What?"
“Uh. Nothing. You just look really good...”
"Oh." Cadence blushed deeply. "Thank you?" She said, breaking into a shy smile as she came in. He had this way of making her feel attractive in a way she wasn't used to. Her previous boyfriend had called her beautiful, sure, but it never made her feel so attractive. Sexy, even.
“Vhatever you’re doing going to dinner vith someone like me, I just don’t know.”
"Well," Cadence stepped over to him and touched his arm. "You asked."
“You didn’t have to say yes,” He put his hand on hers, smiling down at her. He liked having her like this. Around. In the morning. Even if there hadn’t been a very fun night.
"Of course I did." Cadence said softly. She found that looking into his eyes was dangerous. She got lost, and the world melted away. "How could I not?"
Kurt threw caution to the wind and kissed her suddenly.
It was sudden, not entirely unexpected, and very welcome. She was, however, caught a little off guard. But after a split second of surprise, she lifted her arms to wrap around him and returned his kiss.
She tasted a lot better than she had last night, and he relished the taste of her and the feel of her in his arms. He broke the kiss, and gave her a little eskimo nose rub. "Ja, I've been vanting to do that all night."
Cadence was grinning. She couldn't stop, even if she wanted to. Which she didn't. She was really glad he'd let her brush her teeth. "You can do it again, if you want to."
Kurt slipped one hand around the back of her neck, and lifted Cadence up against his body, searing her with another kiss.
She'd never been kissed like this before. Not really. Her toes curled and a deep breath escaped her as she did her best to keep up with the way he was kissing her. Her hands wrapped around his back, feeling his firm and warm skin through his tshirt.
It was a kiss that didn't want to end. Kurt rubbed up and down Cadence's back, nibbling her lip and trying to not scare her off.
Cadence went up on her toes as she kissed him, giving a little more pressure, a little more urgency, but then pulled her lips away and brought her forehead to rest against his. She was slightly breathless. "You make my knees weak."
"I von't let you fall," He mumbled, through shortened breath. He felt the urge to cough again, and turned his head to do so. "I mean that, Cadence. I von't let you fall."
Her head lowered to rest against his collarbone, snuggling close in against him. She gave a little sigh and let herself believe him. For that moment, whatever it meant, she was in someone’s arms who didn’t judge her. Her knight in shining armor who wasn’t going to let her down. She closed her eyes and let herself live in that moment. Whatever was going on between her and God, whatever sadness she felt, or bitterness, it all melted away. And she let herself be comforted.
“I don’t like the sound of that cough,” she spoke softly, after a long moment.
“It's just a cough, liebchen." Kurt replied. "I've had vorse out at sea, and vorked through it. And...if it is more than just a cough, I vill get help, ja? I'm not that proud."
"Okay." Cadence said, still cuddled against him. She couldn't bear losing another loved one to that flu. "Let's have breakfast."
Breakfast, and then maybe a cold shower, Kurt thought. He rubbed Cadence’s back and smiled. “Ja, okay.”