I'll follow behind you on rainbow road

[paragon]

Who: CAPTAIN AMERICA WANTS YOU
Where: The Baromanogerneson Residence (i.e., 5031)
When: May 9th
What: Mario Kart and subversion, two great tastes that taste great together.
Warnings: Please warn in subjects as needed!
[Open]

The thought had formed pretty much as soon as he'd opened the box that was left on the front porch. The people here need a way to talk. There are two rooms in the house where they would be free to do so. He'd come home one day — not long after the body had disappeared from the upstairs bathroom and all the cameras he'd ripped from their wiring between there and the garage had been put back in place in their absence with a friendly maintenance note left behind that all fixtures in need of repair had been seen to, along with a bill for the expenses — to find Natasha sitting on the bed, writing a note in Sharpie. He'd leaned against the door frame and watched her hold it up to the cameras and make a deal: Steve wouldn't break any more cameras, if they give them the privacy of their bedrooms. As there had only been the three of them at the time (despite the insistence in his head that the house has always been filled by his teammates, just as he remembers of the last few years before Wayward Pines), that had meant the master bedroom downstairs, and Bucky's upstairs.

It had actually worked, though Steve wouldn't have trusted the word of whoever's behind the cameras himself if it weren't for Natasha's daily inspections, and so far the deal's held.

But it's not — can't be — a luxury only afforded to them, for their own sakes. He's told others here and there, and he knows his friends have, too. It's not enough, but nor does he have a way to get people over without arousing suspicion. But then there's the Nintendo system. A little unorthodox, as far as his own methods go, but he'll work with anything he has.

He doesn't put it down anywhere in writing, letting news of the party travel by word of mouth and hoping that's enough to keep it out of the wrong ears. At least for now. There's a chance — a good chance — that it will eventually get the Sheriff's attention, but by then it will have had the effect it's supposed to and given the people here the chance to speak to each other truthfully. And if that comes down on anyone, it's gonna be the people prepared to deal with it.

The day of the ninth is a rainy one, a good day to stay inside and play games with friends. It also provides a good excuse to use the master bedroom just off the end of the foyer as a temporary coat room. Straight ahead in the living room, Mario Kart is all ready to go, and in the kitchen next to that, snack food and drinks are available.

((ooc: THIS IS A MINGLE POST. While I will be tagging around with Steve a bit, this is mostly to give people a chance to chat with each other without the cameras watching. Per Natasha's deal with the powers that be, the cameras in the master bedroom and Bucky's room upstairs have been removed. Natasha will be greeting people at the door and taking them on a "tour" (i.e., to the master bedroom to explain the camera situation, why the party's really happening, and that they are not to discuss the lack of cameras while elsewhere in the house). Feel free to wander in there any time for a chat, or simply enjoy some Mario Kart and refreshments! Commenting around is encouraged, and please note in your top-levels whether they're open or closed. If you have any questions for me I can be found on plurk (jeeps) or discord (jeeps#9644).))

Comments

[coy]

[ And there's the question of the hour. She has to bend the truth so that she isn't lying. Lying is bad enough, lying to him is worse and well, if she lies, he'd be able to tell.]

Magic. [ She says it honestly, she weaves the story she'd prepared in her head. She pulls away from him gently, moving to sit on the bed because she does feel worn out.] I died once and when I was brought back to life, I was able to do that. [ And that is, technically, true.]

[volitaunt]

[ He sits down next to her on the bed, goosebumps making his skin prickle. Died, and brought back to life.

Somehow that's more alarming than anything that's happened in the past few minutes. ]

Damn. [ Poe almost, almost touches her face, like somehow that will assure him that she's still present, as though she didn't feel very much alive when they were kissing.

What can he say, other than. Well. Damn? ]

You're all right, though. What you can do, it doesn't hurt you, does it?

[coy]

Oh, no, it doesn't hurt me at all. [ She looks at him with a reassuring expression, smoothing her hands over her legs slowly for a lack of something better for them to do.]

I just didn't know I could do it until recently so I'm still learning how to make it work, how not to use so much energy.

[volitaunt]

[ Poe flops backwards onto the bed, hands resting on his stomach. ] Then maybe, if you're up for it one of these days, I can take you flying.

[ He slants a smile at her from where he's laying. ] When we haven't got Resistance business to discuss.

[coy]

[ She twists to look down at him, her lips curling into a bit of an impish smile.] Yeah? I'd like that, actually. I've never been in a space ship before. [ She moves, perhaps foolishly, to lay down next to him, on her back, leaving an inch or two of space between them.]

I kind of don't want to go back downstairs. [ Because besides the fact she has to face one of her fears:] It's nice to just... be myself.

[volitaunt]

[ Poe rolls onto his side to get a better look at her face, which closes the distance, and then... wriggles backwards a little. To give her space again. To give them both space. It doesn't help that just laying together like this feels so natural. ] Y'mean because of the cameras? Being watched, all of that.

[ He flops onto his back again. ] It's driving me crazy, not being able to talk to Beebee.

[coy]

Yeah, I feel like... I have to always be on, [ She looks up at him as he rolls onto his side and looks at her. It feels familiar. In fact, she half expects him to drape himself over her, one hand on the bed by her head as he leans down to kiss her. But that doesn't happen, he moves back to his back and she feels her pulse slow.]

I'm sorry I can't do it to BB-8 since he's a robot but... You could call him up here if you want even if the cameras might think it's weird you're calling your droid to join in on a makeout session.

[volitaunt]

[ Poe makes... a noise. It is a startled noise, a wait, what, noise, and he looks over at her with an expression on his face that's somewhere between 'are we' and 'do you want to' and 'I thought we weren't???'

Poe is not a spy, okay. ]

[coy]

[ She laughs. No, she giggles, moving to cover her mouth before shaking her head. When she looks at him, she lets her hand slide back down to rest on her stomach as she speaks.] Think about it, they just watched us go into a bedroom, alone together. We're exes and there's been tension between us playing out for them. Boy liked girl. Girl liked boy. Sex. [ She looks at him, pointedly as if to ask: you get where I'm going with this? ]

So of course that's what they're going to think is going on in here.

[volitaunt]

[ Oh, Maker, his brain is going places it should not go while they're in this position. Poe covers his face with both hands and scrubs until his bangs are sticking up and his brain has been rattled out of the gutter. ]

Right. Well. At least we don't have to show off for them. [ He's going to keep his eyes on the ceiling instead of looking at her, because otherwise his brain will be right back to where it was thirty seconds ago.

Instead he pictures himself reaching out, finding her hand where it rests on her stomach, twining their fingers together.

Maker's breath, he hates whoever did this to them. ] I guess we should let someone else. Uh. Have the room.

[ Another slanted smile. ] In case they do want to make out.

[coy]

[ He's not the only one whose mind goes there, although she'd distracted by those thoughts by the way he reacts to having them, the way he rubs his face and...

She lets out a breath, looking over at him and noticing how steadfastly he's trying not to look at her. And when the words come out, she doesn't mean them to. But Caroline Forbes can be as impulsive with her words as she is meticulous with her planning.]

Is it that bad? [ The wanting her? Was it so horrible for them to want each other? To give in? She already knows the answer and yet, somehow it kind of hurts to think of it.]

[volitaunt]

[ That was the last thing he expected her to say.

It ties a knot somewhere between his chest and stomach, in that cavernous space where emotion and sensation seem to mingle.

Now he has to look at her.

He does. He sits up, rolls over, one hand braced beside her. ] It's that good, Care.

[ For a second, the bleak expectations of his own future hover unspoken before he lets them go, still not sure of the right words to shape them. ] It's that good.

[coy]

[ Suddenly he's there, exactly where she'd pictured him only moments before and it's damn near impossible to look up at him and not feel that familiar tugging sensation. It's that magnetic force that seems to keep drawing them together, the one that they, despite their best efforts, they've tried to ignore or set aside.

She understands what he's saying and she nods, ever-so-gently, afraid, for a moment, that if she moves too much, he might move away. ] Okay, [ she murmurs, repeating the word one more time before her hand lifts to touch his face, sliding down the column of his throat, then over his shoulder.

Fingers curl over the slope of it and she uses that leverage to draw him in, forgetting for a moment that they are definitely on her "brother's" bed. Her mouth is barely a breath away from his.] I'll go.

[volitaunt]

[ That isn't fair.

She has to know it isn't fair.

Poe closes his eyes, willing himself to be better than this. Trying to think about anything but the way she slipped her fingers over his skin.

He can feel her breath against his lips. ] I don't want to hurt you.

[coy]

I know, [ she murmurs softly, almost against his lips, her words practically formed on them. She isn't playing fairly, she's playing dangerously. There's a part of her that likes playing at being the temptress but there's a larger part of her that doesn't want to be that person, she doesn't want to have to coax him into this.

Her eyes flutter open, looking over his features as his eyes stay shut. She wants this, she wants him. God, could she be any more cliche? Falling into the same patterns over and over.

I'm indestructible, she wants to tell him. But that's not completely true. Stefan's face flashes in her mind and she lets out a breath.] I don't want you to hurt either. [ Her fingers slowly uncurl from his shoulder.] I'm sorry. [ Her voice is soft. Caroline doesn't want him to carry this guilt around with him, whatever it is.

She presses a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth before she moves to try and slip out from beneath him.]

[volitaunt]

[ He shifts his arm enough to stop her, opening his eyes. ] Don't apologize.

[ Poe turns a curl of her hair between the fingers of his other hand, wishing this could be simple, wishing he could kiss her without the risk of it meaning something. Except it already does. There's no way this ends in anything but hurt, and that's what gets him to let go of her hair, to sit back, to stand up.

He offers his hands to help her up off the bed. ]

[coy]

[ Once she's stepped away from this charged moment, she'll feel slightly frustrated that she didn't think to tell him that she could take care of herself, that she can make her own choices and isn't made of glass. However in this moment, she's a little dazed and confused.

She takes his hands so he can help her up and uses them to pull herself up off the bed with his help.]

[volitaunt]

[ He draws her right up against him. It isn't--

Okay, it is what he meant to do. He just wants to hold her for a minute, rest his face against her hair, feel the way they fit.

Now he's not being fair, and he knows it.

Poe draws back enough to look her in the eye, tracing the curve of her lower lip with the edge of his thumb. ] We're not very good at this.

[coy]

I'm very good at this and I remember you being pretty amazing too. [ Yep, if he's going to keep playing unfairly, so is she. She looks at him, feels the gentle press of his thumb just beneath her bottom lip, her own expression is heated.

He keeps saying that he doesn't want to hurt her but she thinks that this Sam and Diane, back and forth, will-they-won't-they might hurt her worse in the long run, once it stops being frustratingly fun.]

I'm a big girl, Poe Dameron. I can make my own decisions. [ There, she said it.] And I'm pretty sure that I could kiss you without it hurting me.

[volitaunt]

[ That makes one of us.

Which puts things in the perspective that he needed. He's been so preoccupied with the thought of possible future hurt that he forgot the present danger.

He's not sure he can do this without it meaning something later.

Though that's his problem, isn't it? If she wants this, if she's sure, then he can give her the moment. Poe relaxes against her. He brushes a few stray bits of hair back from her face, an excuse to touch her cheek. ] All right.

[coy]

[ The thing is, she doesn't want him to 'give her the moment', she wants it to be a two way street. And his two muttered words do not instill a confidence that he isn't just placating her in some way. It lacks the enthusiasm, the heat, she's seeking in this moment.

Seriously?

So instead of kissing him hot and heavy, she simply leans in to press a soft kiss to his lips, when she pulls back, she taps his chest playfully.] See? A-okay.

[volitaunt]

[ He laughs breathlessly, following her lips when she pulls back, keeping them centimeters apart.] All right.

[ This time, it's quieter, husky, and when he kisses her it's not soft. It's fingers-tangled-in-her-hair, arm-tight-around-her-waist rough. ]

[coy]

[ That's better.

She barely manages to smile triumphantly before he is kissing her. And it's more than just a little peck to her lips, it's full-on, stop someone on the street to tell them about it later, kissing.

Her mouth meets his with a pleased sort of hum, her hand lifting to hold the back of his head as she shifts in his arms so she's pressed closer. This is a fool's errand, probably, but she thinks that this far from the most reckless thing she's ever done.

Fingers curl into the hair at the base of his neck as her other hand moves to grab at his shoulder and pull him into her.]

[volitaunt]

[ He can feel every spot they touch. It's one of those phenomenon that fascinate him, in moments like these, the way the mind shifts to process the pang of sore muscles and injured nerves and the underscore pleasure of her grip on his shoulder.

He folds against her obediently, feels the brush of her shirt where his has rucked up, and hooks his arm down under her butt to lift her up and turn them around so she's got her back against the door. He breaks away to whisper in her ear:] This feels familiar.

[ He kisses his way from her jawline to the top of her shirt, barely brushing her with tongue and teeth. (Poe is an expert at not leaving evidence behind.)

Then it's back to her lips. ]

[coy]

[ Much, much better.

If he thinks he can feel every spot they touch, she feels it in about hundred more intense ways. She can hear his heartbeat, she can sense his pulse, she can feel very ounce of heat that his body presses into hers. The perks of being a vampire: heightened senses.

And that also means that she's a lot more sensitive to... well, everything. So when she's suddenly pressed against the door, her legs wrapping instinctively around his waist, she can't help the soft sound of pleasure that erupts from her lips when his mouth finds her throat. And she laughs breathlessly at his words.] Just a little.

[ When his mouth finds hers again, she kisses him back with an equal fervor, her hand burying itself back into his hair, tugging just a little, to be playful.] Feels better this time.