( two )

[caipirinha]

my character gets into bed with yours, or vice versa;
what happens?
have you crawled under the covers for some friendly
cuddles, or are your intentions not so innocent?
are you planning some form of practical joke, or are
you just plain drunk?
maybe you just have no idea what's going on.

( adapted from the plurk meme! )

Comments

[davidsons]

[She smiles and lets go of his wrist, laying on her side again, resting her head on the pillow.

Usually comfortable with proximity, Riley kind of trusts Giles - knows that this awkwardness and shyness is actually honest, which makes her drop her guard even more. She can feel the heat from his cheeks, or maybe it's her own because she's a bit excited about teasing him like this.] I do. I don't bite. I'm also feeling like a wreck.

[disappearing]

[ Moving to sit himself in a more comfortable position, Giles forces his tense shoulders to relax, looking down at Riley with a calmer smile. Something about her disarms him terribly, but at the same time, he feels as though he can trust her too. There's just that something. ]

Well, if it's any consolation, I don't think you look like a wreck at all.

[ He means that, as well. To him, Riley looks as lovely as she ever does. ]

[davidsons]

[Her lips widen just a little, eyes narrowing, lazy and content and she reaches for his arm, making the tips of her fingers walk from his wrist to his elbow.] I usually say that flattery takes you places, but right about now, I'm so lazy I can't be sure.

[She grins] You haven't seen nothing yet. Just wait until we both get our beauty sleep, yeah?

[disappearing]

[ In place of inhaling - softly but noticeably - Giles merely blinks down at Riley's fingers on his arm, following the path they make towards his elbow, too distracted by the movement to respond to her. He swallows a little, tells himself to stop thinking about it, and turns his eyes back to her. ]

I'm afraid my beauty sleep'll probably be a disappoint. [ He sounds more amused than self-deprecating. ] I tend to look like this most of the time.

[davidsons]

[Her eyebrows arch, and she gives his elbow a very light smack, lips still drawing a mischievous, if sleepy, smile. Her hands are always reaching, lightly touching, even without intention behind it. ] Telling me that will only tempt me to keep you awake.


[A sigh, and she shifts, curling her other arm under the pillow, voice lowering into something a little more honest.] I've yet to be disappointed, Giles.

[disappearing]

[ Slowly, Giles finally moves to lie down on the bed properly, eyes turned up to the ceiling, hands neatly resting, one on top of the other, on his stomach. There's a little pause, and he breathes out gently, the first indication of him genuinely relaxing this evening, and his voice is soft. ]

Me neither.

[davidsons]

[She pauses, spends the moment watching his chest rise and fall, now that it's right in her line of vision. He's charming, a downright sweetheart with his shyness and awkwardness that contrasts against her bordering into obnoxious teasing and blatant ease. The urge to corrupt him and make him flush and stutter is like a given whenever they're hanging out, and yet, he's looking completely disarmed, no matter how devious she's feeling.

Sometimes she wonders if she's a bad person, for wanting to abuse that trust he gives her.]

Stop being cute. [She says it nonchalantly, joined by a fingertip pressing on his cheek. But it's more of an admission than anything else.]

[disappearing]

[ Riley is, to Giles, something of an anomaly. She is the kind of girl he used to chase, back when he was younger, a little more adventurous, in college, before Naomi came along. Naomi was stable and conventional, and his parents liked her. It seemed that Naomi was, therefore, the right girl. Even though Giles still doesn't know why it was that their relationship dissolved, part of him already feels as though it had always been inevitable.

But now Giles is the kind of man he has always assumed would repel or disinterest girls like Riley, even on a general level - he wears sweater vests and the occasional cardigan, for god's sake. Yet here she is, still talking to him, occasionally smoking with him. It's strange, but something that Giles is getting used to. Shifts from normality are all the rage, lately. ]

Sorry, [ though he doesn't sound very sorry at all, more like he's trying to crack a slightly uncertain joke, scrunching up his face when Riley pokes him ] I guess I can't help it sometimes.

[davidsons]

[She cracks a smile, shifts a little closer against him, keeps poking down the side of his neck and down his side just light enough so he can feel the tip of her nicotine-stained finger on him, searching maybe for a soft spot or a place where he's ticklish. Her voice is thick with amusement.]

What a shame. I guess I can't help but tease you for it, then.

[disappearing]

[ It won't be hard for Riley to find a sensitive spot; Giles was never very good at keeping a straight face, and near to his waist was always a ruthlessly ticklish spot. He utters a choked noise of surprise, wriggling slightly, turning his head to raise his eyebrows at Riley. He's trying not to laugh, but he can't help it, caught off guard by her audacious poking. ]

[davidsons]

[And she grins when she finds it, bites her lower lip and digs her finger a bit deeper, in a "stop me if you dare" fashion. It's mostly innocent, and at that very moment Riley couldn't come with a stupid "an angel and a demon walk into a bar" joke. Plus, Giles was warm - men were always interesting mobile furnaces, very handy - so if he moved, it was more than welcome.]

[disappearing]

[ He laughs again, feeling ridiculous and childish, squirming and wiggling and trying to bat Riley's hand away. Eventually he rolls onto his side, trying to protect himself, catching Riley by the wrist, tugging her so slightly closer in the process, his mouth curved into a broader smile than he usually allows himself. ]

What part of this, exactly, constitutes as beauty sleep?

[davidsons]

[Her mouth is caught in a wide smile of her own raspy laughter as she is faced with that question. She wriggles her leashed fingers playfully and she tries to figure out a quick answer.

It's not as quick as she wants, so she gives him a sheepish shrug.] It's... uuh... therapy?

[disappearing]

Therapy, right. [ He relaxes a little, eyebrows still a little raised, watching Riley with a sort of playful wariness, lest she attempts to make another ticklish attack. ] Well, if you really did like the idea of keeping me a way, your therapy's doing a good job of it.

[davidsons]

[She knows she's being a little brat. She kind of always is when she finds herself in a situation where she doesn't need to take care of her sister. It's as if she's compensating for the times she had to be a grown-up ahead of time.

She shrugs, as the most innocent of girls, her other hand slipping out from under the pillow, coming up to catch Giles' nose so very lightly.] Well, you're fun when you're awake.

[disappearing]

[ Giles crinkles his nose, huffing with laughter once again. He hasn't been given a chance to act like a boy in a long while - not that he would consider himself that old, drifting around in his early thirties, but he's not at an age when you are afforded many chances to be youthful again. ]

Yeah, I guess you're not too bad yourself.

[davidsons]

[She snorts. Taps her finger against the tip of his nose and tuts.] I bet you say that to all the girls.

[And because playing coy is not really her type, she can't keep that for long. Instead she just drops her trapped hand to her waist, not caring if it brought Giles' with it.] Now, seriously, do y'wanna sleep? Because you did look pretty tired before that grin got in your face.

[disappearing]

Only the ones that keep tapping me on the nose.

[ Giles' hand does indeed follow Riley's down to her waist, where it dumbly lingers for a moment before releasing her and withdrawing to Giles' side. He shakes his head a little, dismissively. ]

Would it be stupid say I don't really care? A little bit of grinning and I feel like I could probably do the whole day over again. [ ... er ] Well, not really, but- you know what I mean.

[davidsons]

[She chuckles, light and easy, and it's her turn to shake her head] Man, you're just way too flattering sometimes to be true. Someone else and I'd say you'd be trying to get into my pants.

[disappearing]

[ The comment subdues Giles a little, and he shrugs a little, his eyes closing. ]

There are better ways to win a girl over than just flattering her to death, in my opinion.

[davidsons]

Well, you're not "someone else". [She nods subconsciously, agreeing immediately. But her eyebrows are arched in curiosity. She doesn't think they ever talked about this kind of thing.]

What other ways would you use, then?

[disappearing]

I'd use time, honesty... there's no point thinking that everything'll fall into place immediately, and even less in allowing someone to think you're something that you're not. [ He pauses, laughing sheepishly. ] I suppose those things don't matter if you're not out for a relationship, though, but one night stands and the like were never really my thing.

[davidsons]

You do look like the settling type, yeah. [She's thoughtful and silent for a moment, eyes settling on the shadows cast by Giles' collarbone peeking under his shirt's collar. Pairing up in a setting like her home is difficult. She should know, she's partnered up with her sister, but it was duty and a blood bond and the loyalty that's inherent to it like a really bad Chinese trap that doesn't let you go when you get even closer. To end up in a stable relationship like the one he's referring to would only make things... unstable. It's another burden, another liability, another thing that Riley would have to worry about.

Their Harley's side-car only had room for one, after all.]

Honesty is a good policy to have even on those nights. [She tries to shrug cavalierly, trying to blow a stray strand of her hair that kept falling on her face. She had her share of close encounters with danger and disappointment in those, as well.]

[disappearing]

It hasn't really worked out for me so far, though, settling. [ Giles keeps his eyes closed, though his mouth curves into a somewhat rueful smile. ] I think the idea of settling suits me more than the act of it.

[ He thinks of himself as something of an emotional liability; god only knows if he gets through the rest of this year and remembers it when he reaches the next. His memory is so cloud nowadays. Things that happened only a few months ago are hazier than they ever were before, and in the mornings he spends a few minutes staring at the ceiling, waiting for yesterday to come back to him fully, going over the memories carefully when they do. ]

Honesty's often the best policy in general, I say. It has to be one hell of a circumstance for it not to be.

[davidsons]

Why do you say that? [It's an interesting concept, she figured. She never even considered settling down. Unless she built a fort in some kind of abandoned missile silo.]

[She nods, letting the rustling of her skin against the fibres of the sheets do the work of signalling an answer. Riley likes seeing him with his eyes closed. He looks comfortable. Even if she looked and was significantly relaxed around Giles, she still covets that tranquillity in his face and tries to get some of it herself. So she wiggles closer, skinny and scarred long arms wrapping around her stomach when she scoots into the gap of mattress that was between them, gangly legs twisting when she lays onto her back casually, eyes closing.]