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Tweak says, "I'm Chuck Bass."

Essery Elizabeth Oakby (oakbye) wrote in wished,
@ 2010-10-03 21:21:00

Entry tags:

!2003: 10, !complete, essery oakby, severus snape

Who: Essery and Snape
What: Chess & Kittens
Where: Snape's office
When: Tonight
Warning: TBA

Essery came back just a bit earlier than she thought she might, but it was still after curfew and, on seeing what she'd brought back, Sinistra had offered just to keep watch until the last few lights went out about Hufflepuff, too. Which left Essery with her hours free - and with one very new tenant in her rooms to contend with. Honestly, she hadn't been expecting to come back with one, her jokes last week aside. Still, how could she resist that smooshed up face and those blue eyes peering up at her from the box outside the M&S?

It did leave her with a problem, though. She'd wanted to spend the night in another hard fought chess game - Severus was quickly becoming someone who she looked forward to talking with, and after their last conversation... Well, she had been looking forward to playing. And she doubted he'd want the kitten running about his office. Still, she couldn't leave it in her rooms alone, and she couldn't stand him up. So she found herself at his office door in a pair of jeans and an old charity tee-shirt, knocking, with the kitten purring and trying to climb out of her arms.

As soon as he opened the door, she was already apologizing. "I know that you likely don't want him here, but I didn't want you to think that I wasn't interested in playing. I can't leave him alone in my rooms, though, so I was going to take a rain - " before she could finish excusing herself, the kitten had managed to jump out of her arms and past him, into his office, and she was cursing under her breath and nursing a new scratch to her forearm.

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in_the_grass
2010-10-24 03:13 am UTC (link)

"A draw might be the best thing." The board could wait, but he was a bit afraid of what he'd think of it when he saw it in the sober light of morning. He didn't think he would have any regrets aside from sloppy play, but that might have been the wine's influence. No doubt when he woke up tomorrow he'd review it all, word by word, and find something worth worrying over. "I won't keep you. Or keep score, for that matter. You can come back with a clean slate."

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	oakbye 2010-10-24 03:17 am UTC (link)
	"But you could keep me..." Essery said it without thinking, and then she blinked and looked, for a moment, completely horrifying embarrassed. She turned a deep red, not able to meet his eyes as she gathered the cat up and stood up too quickly. "Right. Too much wine. I should... sorry." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

in_the_grass
2010-10-24 03:31 am UTC (link)

It was probably best that she wasn't looking at him; his reaction to something that unexpected was his usual inscrutable expression. It wasn't as could be called inviting. The moment she stood he regretted it, though - he thought he should do something, though he had no idea what. Unless it was simply drunken chatter (he didn't have much business thinking she would say something like that to him and mean it, he ought to have known that), in which case he should have ...

Well, he still didn't know. For someone who had so recently prided himself on being extremely brave, taking risks was suddenly incredibly daunting. He should have felt ridiculous for hoping that she meant even a little of it. "No, you - it's all right," he said, cursing himself. He stood. If she wanted to leave, he ought to let her, but he wasn't moving to show her the door. "Nothing to be sorry for."

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oakbye
2010-10-24 03:37 am UTC (link)

She failed a hand in a way that was supposed to be apologetic and still didn't manage to look up to meet his eyes,making an awkward sort of movement toward the door without looking up. "No, I... my fault. I drink and then whatever I'm thinking just sort of pours out apparently," even if that wasn't a problem she usually had. "Even if it's entirely inappropriate and now I can't seem to stop talking. And then ... right, not your fault."

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in_the_grass
2010-10-24 03:50 am UTC (link)

Severus didn't know whether to be pleased or not - she'd been thinking it, but maybe it was the wine, and she thought it was inappropriate, but inappropriate could go hang - but the frustration mounting as he failed to find some graceful way, some impressive way to resolve it all was pushing him toward not. "It's all right," he said, and at least he had managed to soften his voice a little, to look more startled than cold. Of course he would have liked her to stay. It would be easier to laugh it off, but he really, really didn't want to. "I - You can say what you like. I don't mind." He had tried to choose his words carefully, but they sounded terminally clumsy to him.

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oakbye
2010-10-24 04:01 am UTC (link)

At the door, Essery nearly tripped, but she did look up at him then. He looked... considerate, for him at least... and his voice was softer or she might have been imagining that?

She was still blushing, though, and embarrassed, and she really couldn't trust herself to say anything more to him. "Thank you." she said finally, and bit her lip, then turned to leave instead.

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in_the_grass
2010-10-24 10:39 pm UTC (link)

Severus made no move to stop her - it was clear she was uncomfortable, and accustomed as he was to seeing her cheerful and confidant, it took him aback enough that he didn't care to take chances. "Of course," was all he said, regaining some of his composure. The sense that he should have done or said something else - infuriatingly familiar - persisted after she left. He hadn't felt at a loss like this in a long time, and to push back the decidedly unwelcome confusion, he set himself to taking up the chess board. It didn't help very much.

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