A House in Currant, Maine, Monday

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Anyone who hadn't expected Ezra to hightail it the hell away from Limbo City at his earliest convenience was a fool. Because he had. Immediately as soon as danger had been over, and straight back to Currant.

But not to his house.

Nope, to Ava and Cade's, where he'd made himself at home on Ava's bed until she figured out he wasn't leaving. (Even if he also wasn't saying what was wrong with him. But she knew something was wrong, and that was enough.) He'd slept restlessly, but with his nose buried in Ava's hair. The warmth of her against his chest.

Home wasn't a place, you see.

But he'd returned to his house, now. Scowling at the porch like it had betrayed him, somehow. He was a little more friendly to the fridge, though, now that he was standing in front of it: he was going to positively devour its contents.

Getting kidnapped and stripped of half his self was hungry work, clearly.

[ooc: NFB but open.]

Comments

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The low growl was accidental and automatic. Sorry, guess he'd missed her teeth. And her tongue.

Oh well.

His fingertips pressed harder against her back.

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And so was her moan. But then, she'd also missed his growl. Just hearing it made her stomach clench and her thighs squeeze--

She wanted to bit him again. Wanted to knot her fingers in his hair. Wanted to pull his face down to her throat and chest and lower still.

She didn't. Instead she pulled away just enough to break the kiss. And sat for a second, eyes closed, breath coming fast.

A single kiss left her whole body tingling. She had no doubts that he could devastate her with another if he put his mind to it. The hardest thing was not to beg him to try.

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For a few seconds after she pulled away, Ezra was holding his breath. Not on purpose, just on reflex. Sometimes he did it when he was very alert.

He kept his eyes firmly closed. Didn't move. Didn't seem like his place to.

This was the difficult part, wasn't it?

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And Kathy just laid her head down on his shoulder, keeping her arms wrapped around him. "I missed that," she said quietly. "And maybe when my heart stops racing a mile a minute, we could do that again?"

Kissing. Just kissing, especially with how incredibly disordered her emotions were just now. But progress.

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"Yes," Ezra sighed, quietly. "Maybe."

It sounded like he was just idly repeating her choice of words. But it was masking a very real uncertainty about whether he could keep himself in check.

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"Right now, I'm still kind of all messed up from the weekend," Kathy said, wanting to press reassuring kisses against his throat and realizing that was probably the worst thing she could do. But she didn't want him to think that she regretted their kiss. "I don't want to make anything more tangled than it already is. But I've wanted to kiss you since you showed up for Dante's graduation. Kissing you is thing I'm actually sure about."

She had to laugh there, just because there were so few things she could say that about.

"I think...I think maybe you and I should have a conversation sometime soon, though."

And she and Dante would need to have one soon, too. Because he'd asked.

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Ezra exhaled.

"About?"

Look, he had a hard time thinking straight right now. And talking was about the last thing he wanted to think about.

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Kathy sat up and looked him directly in the eyes. "What happens after I take you upstairs to your room and show you exactly how much I've learned in the years since the last time you took me to bed."

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Ezra only opened his eyes to look back at her about halfway through that.

And he groaned quietly, once she was finished. "Don't say things like that." It was complaint. Still seemed to somehow sound like she should say things like that, too.

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"You have no idea how much it's killing me not to say more," Kathy said, amused. "Especially since it's your fault--" she poked him "--I've got an anticipation kink, you know. One that does not get played with enough."

There! Nothing dirty in that at all. Technically. Ish.

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Her idea of 'not dirty' was so far off the mark it was adorable.

Ezra rolled his eyes. "You don't want to play this game with me." Seriously.

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Well...there hadn't been any specifically dirty words?

Okay, except kink but nobody was perfect.

Normally, she would have agreed with him, but then he rolled his eyes and her temper sparked. "Try me."

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Ezra shook his head.

"No."

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"Then it sounds more like you don't want to play this game with me."

She wasn't even saying that he was wrong. She just wanted it noted somewhere that she hadn't been the one to blink, this time.

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"That is absolutely correct." What? No, he didn't have any trouble admitting to that. This was a self-preservational move. "I'd like to hold on to my composure today."

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"Probably the smart move," Kathy admitted wryly.

She was still smiling a bit, though. Or maybe smirking was the better word for it.

Look, he smirked at her all the time. She deserved a chance to do the same, every once in awhile.

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Ezra huffed some mock exasperated sound, then gave her a quick peck of a kiss.

"I'm glad you came over."

There, that was a good change of subject.

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"I'm glad I did, too," she said, tucking herself a little more firmly against him. "Thanks for being somewhere I can escape to, for awhile."

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"Anytime."

Well, more or less. His arms wrapped themselves a little tighter around her again.

He'd be very content not to talk at all for a while, again. Just... enjoy the comfort.

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Comfort came in short supply sometimes. Kathy pillowed herself against his chest and listened to the steady thrum of his heartbeat, hand getting lost in his hair again.

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And Ezra's hand rubbed circles against her back.

Comfort could be hard to attain, but at least he was a master thief. He could always steal a little bit of it.

And right now, they needed it.