Apartment Above Luke's, Thursday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy was sitting crosslegged in her living room, surrounded by a truly staggering number of anatomically-shaped lollipops, hard candies, and other confections. It turned out that the company that had supplied Dite's with chocolates and candy had gone out of business and multiple other companies had sent samples to the store in hopes of scoring the contract. Kathy...wasn't sure what it said about the store or the island that it was considered a lucrative enough market for a number of stores to go to this much trouble.

But, she was determined to be a good manager and if that meant spending the afternoon trying a ridiculous amount of sexy candy to decide which she liked best, well, she was up to the task. As long as she took breaks for real food every few hours, she should be okay, right? And she had a pen and paper to record her observations (and had come up with several criteria to judge them on), making this all legit and aboveboard and not just an excuse to gorge out on penis-shaped candy all day.

So far, she'd noticed that the sour gummy boobs made the cut on her lip burn and the mold for one of the companies tended to make their chocolates look more like melted candles than anything sexy. Oh, and another company used cheap chocolate that tended to flake off which was just NOT attractive in something meant to simulate body parts. It was this kind of attention to detail that separated the good managers from the mediocre, see?

[Open! But probably slow as I'm still in training, so who knows what my schedule will be when this finally posts. Link to Anders' thread.]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

"Li--" The kiss probably shouldn't have taken her by surprise and yet it did anyway. There was a moment when she stood still in shock, mouth firm and unyielding, and then that moment was gone and she was kissing Anders with everything she had, telling him with lips, teeth, and tongue everything she was too hesitant to say aloud. One hand slid into his hair, the other wound around his neck to hold him closer as she used every scrap of memory she had to turn this kiss into a wild, explosive conflagration.

He didn't have to want her tonight. But she was still going to try to send him home aching.

[not_every_mage]

Well. If he'd surprised Kathy with the kiss, she'd more than returned the surprise with how quickly and thoroughly she'd intensified the kiss. His hands went to her waist, clenching tightly at the fabric of her shirt.

He was breathing heavily when they pulled apart too stunned to speak beyond a soft, "... Kathy!"

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm not going to apologize for that," she said, defiant like she expected him to demand she do just that. "I'm not pushing for more and I'm not trying to convince you to stay. But I wasn't going to pretend that I don't want you as much as I do."

[not_every_mage]

"You just surprised me," Anders said defensively. "I was going for a a 'hi, how are you' kiss and you turned it into 'hello, baby, let's get a room.'"

A beat. "I'm not offended, by the way. And I can't say i didn't enjoy it."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I saw it as a lot more of a, 'hey, I missed you' kiss," Kathy said. "But if you want to try again, I can see if I can land on 'hi, how are you.'"

[not_every_mage]

Anders tilted his head at her, smiling winsomely. "That sounds like the best idea," he said. "But 'hey, I missed you' isn't bad, either."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Good," Kathy said, stepping forward again. "Because I do."

Do, not did. But maybe he wouldn't notice that as she leaned forward to kiss him. Sweetly, this time.

[not_every_mage]

Anders smiled into the kiss, relaxing against Kathy in a way that was both familiar and somehow new. His hands rested at her waist, pulling her close against him.

[spin_kick_snap]

And her arms casually looped over his shoulders and around his neck, her leg sliding between his. "Better?" she teased, looking up into his eyes before kissing him again.

[not_every_mage]

Anders snorted in amusement. "I thin I'm remembering how to do this now, yes."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I don't mean to rush you," Kathy said, catching her lower lip in between her teeth. "Not for that. Not for anything."

[not_every_mage]

Anders leaned forward, dropping a kiss on her forehead. "I know. We just need to get to know each other again, is all. We don't have sex pollen this time."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Might be easier if we did," Kathy mock-sighed. "Now we're stuck with all this pesky 'thinking.'"

[not_every_mage]

"We could get drunk," Anders said. "That solves everything, doesn't it?"

He stayed close to her as he talked, barely a breath away.

[spin_kick_snap]

"We could," Kathy said and gave the option real thought for a moment.

But then... "No," she sighed and this time it was a real one. "We've already agreed that we shouldn't and I don't want our first time together again to be a mistake we regret later."

She didn't want to be a mistake he'd regret later.

"Another time. When we're sure."

[not_every_mage]

"I don't think I'd ever regret you," Anders said, even as he wondered if that was true. If he went to bed with her and something went wrong again --

He sighed, too.

"But if we aren't going to -- maybe I should go home."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You could," Kathy said softly. "And I could, too. So it's better if we don't."

She brought his hand up her her face and nuzzled it, then let it go and took a step back. Before, she might have argued with him about leaving just because they weren't going to have sex. But the distance between them was still fraught and she didn't want to accidentally step on an emotional landmine because she'd tried to force more conversation.

"Thanks for the milkshake," she said, giving him a smile. "And the visit. No matter what happens or doesn't, I'm always glad to see you."

[not_every_mage]

The problem was, once they'd brought up not having sex, it was hard for Anders to go back to talking about jobs or classes or anything else.

Better not to risk the minefield.

He smiled back. "Likewise," he said. "I'll see you later, promise."

And then he reached to snag some gummy boobs for the road.

[spin_kick_snap]

Amen to that. Even now, Kathy was a little too focused on the way his mouth moved when he spoke.

"Hey now, hands off my tits," she said laughing, tossing him a second package of candies to take along, too.

Sorry, Anders, the joke was right there.