Paranoia

[Crystal Deboir]

Crystal looked around as he got the towels for her, and her eyes finally settled on an old graduation photo. Crikey! He had to be late twenties, early thirties. Crystal could have slapped herself. He didn't look over 25! She jerked her head back as he spoke, and just nodded absently. "Yeah, that's fine. A shower sounds nice," she said with a smile. She was glad she'd brought some of her smellygood soapy stuff with her. She knew how to pack quickly and in order of necessity, that was for sure.

She showered as quickly as she could, given the circumstances, and blow-dried her hair afterwards. When she got into her pajamas, which consisted of pink plaid flannel boxer shorts and a light pink camisole, she felt slightly uncovered. She snatched a throw that was on Jack's bed and wrapped it around herself, then pushed open the door from the bedroom and nosed into the living room, where she found he and the cat settled on the couch.

"All done," she said with a small smile. "What movie did you want to watch?"

[Jack Harker]

He settled her the best he could with a shower, then left her to her own devices while he headed out to the living room, completely oblivious of her realization about his age.  He hadn't even thought about that graduation photo, and why should he?  He thought she was older.

Fortunately, he found his cat, or she found him, by the time he got to the couch.  Arson had a habit of showing up when it was most convenient for her, purring and rubbing up on him.  "Hey there, baby, where've you been?  You'll have to meet Crystal when she gets back out."

Arson didn't have too much to say, but she meowed loudly at him, staring and then butting her head against his hand.  She didn't mind taking an active stance on getting attention, and they stayed just about like that right up until Crystal returned from showerland. 

"Whatever you want to watch is fine with me.  This is Arson, by the way," he told her, gesturing to the black cat that had settled herself on top of him.  "She's a weirdo, but she'll warm up to you once she realizes you'll give her attention."  Obviously, this was a guy who cared a lot about his cat.  He spent way too much time with the animal.

[Crystal Deboir]

"Well, hey kitty kitty," she said, sitting down on the couch next to Jack. She didn't sit too closely, though. She didn't need that cat freaking out. PenPen wouldn't come NEAR her now that Griffon had been dropping in, and it didn't matter how hard she'd scrubbed, she couldn't get whatever scent he'd left on her off. The dog would come close enough for her to think she was going to be able to pet him, and then he'd take off again. He certainly wouldn't take any food from her, and that pissed her off twice as much as the rest of it. Her parents had to feed him, or he'd starve.

She looked at the TV, and sighed a little. "Want to watch Troy?" she asked. It was long enough that she could watch a lot of it, fall asleep, and not feel guilty about it. She planned to do exactly that, too.

[Jack Harker]

Jack didn't notice anything regarding Crystal and the cat, since Crystal had settled herself further away.  Inevitably, Arson would notice Crystal, realize there was something she didn't like, and leave without making it obvious to Jack why she was leaving, or she'd surprise Crystal and not be weird.  It was all up in the air.  Jack had said she was a weirdo, and an attention whore.

"Troy sounds fine with me.  I haven't seen it since it was in theaters," he remarked, thinking about it once she'd mentioned it.  He'd liked it, if he remembered correctly, despite the infamous 'Brad Pitt's ass' scene that girls liked to bring up every time the movie was mentioned.  He could tolerate the scene for the rest of the movie.  It was good. 

He had to oust the cat to go put the movie in, which meant that Arson was alone with Crystal on the couch.  Maybe they'd do some bonding. 

[Crystal Deboir]

When Jack got up to put in the movie, Crystal reached over to try and pet Arson experimentally. She hadn't tried her luck with cats yet - dogs, birds, and even fish seemed to already be a bad route. This wasn't any different. She got about an inch from the cat's head before a low growl-meow harvested deep in the animal's throat. The cat hissed, and then removed herself from the couch in favour of a chair in the dining room, where she could see, but not be seen.

"O-kay," Crystal said, thankful her hand hadn't been scratched off. She adjusted the throw, and snuggled down under the blanket, enjoying how it smelled like Jack and his cologne, along with the faintest scent of smoke. She supposed that wouldn't ever go away, not really.

"Guess she doesn't like me, either. I'm bad with animals," she offered as an explanation, moving so he could sit back down. She leaned against him lightly, innocently.

[Jack Harker]

It actually startled Jack when Arson reacted as she had, since he'd never seen her do that before.  As he'd said, the animal was crazy for attention, and to turn down loving from anyone was beyond weird.  He stared after the cat like he was worried something was wrong with it.  "What's your problem, brat?" he called out, leaving the suggestion hanging in the air that perhaps he talked to her rather often.  Naturally, she didn't answer.

"Sorry about that.  I've never seen her do that before," he told Crystal as he reclaimed his seat on the couch.  Crystal saying she was bad with animals seemed like a bit of an understatement, but he couldn't imagine why.  There was nothing about her that he thought should set someone off.  "Don't worry about it, she's probably just jealous that I have a girl over who's not her.  Not that it's like that with you, but..."

Yeah, smooth move. 

"I'm sure she'll get over it."  He was already willing to get over it, having Crystal lean on him.  She looked damn good, all snuggled in that throw blanket off of his bed, and he was liking the situation already, even if it wasn't 'like that'.

[Crystal Deboir]

Crystal regarded the cat briefly, and then looked at Jack. "I told you I was bad with animals. I dunno, they just never take to me. I wouldn't worry about it," she shrugged, but her insides twisted into a knot and she felt that fluttery, bad feeling in her stomach that she did when bad things were afoot. Griffon. He did this to her. He took her... everything. He took everything, and he wouldn't give it back.

She sank into Jack, closing her eyes briefly, pushing the bad thoughts from her mind. I am here, I am with Jack, and Griffon won't find me, at least not for now. I just need to focus on the good things. She was awash with several emotions, but she put those to bed, and sighed. "I love this movie," was all she said simply, smiling a little.

She got maybe twenty minutes into it before she fell asleep. She was exhausted, and she visibly struggled to stay awake, but her body just gave out on her. She slept, for the moment.

[Jack Harker]

Jack shrugged her issues with Arson off just as easily as she explained it, just assuming it was some weird cat thing that had the animal upset.  He naturally had no idea what the real cause was, and Arson couldn't tell him.  He'd be best kept out of shapeshifter presences for awhile, or at least, the ones that were just a little more animal than most.  It was doubtful that one of those shifters would like her much.

Considering he was just a stupid, ignorant human, he had no idea that there was even a problem, and so her making herself comfortable against him was a good thing.  He liked that she'd relax there with him, and just her proclamation about loving the movie made it that much better.  He could tolerate the Brad Pitt ass scene without a problem for her. 

He found he had mixed emotions when she fell asleep.  First, he didn't dare move for fear of waking her, but he was a little disappointed that she'd passed out so fast.  On the other hand, she'd fallen asleep on him, which had to say that she trusted him, right?  And really, she'd had a long, rough day, so he wasn't too surprised.  He was just going to have to make the attempt not to fall asleep himself, since it WAS a long movie, and her deep, rhythmic breathing just might do the trick.

[Crystal Deboir]

Crystal woke up about halfway through the movie, and found that Jack had succumbed to the evening as well. She sat up slowly, and looked around. The cat was nowhere to be found, at least. That was good for her. She wasn't interested in loosing limbs because that animal could smell Griffon all over her. She stood, tugging the blanket around herself, and shook Jack lightly.

"Hey," she whispered. "Come on, let's go lay down."

When she finally managed to wake him up, he seemed as disoriented as she was, and she dutifully dragged him into his bedroom, laying on top of the covers with the blanket still wrapped around her. Really, her intentions were mostly innocent still - she'd sleep with this blanket, he could have the actual blankets on the bed. Then he laid down in his groggy state and wrapped an arm around her, and she was very still, debating on what to do.

On one hand, Jack was the exact opposite of Griffon. On the other hand, she knew that right now she couldn't trust herself to make any sort of decision without thinking about it for at least a week, given her state of mind.

Oh, screw it. She rolled over, nose to nose with Jack, who appeared to be asleep, and gave him the lightest kiss on the lips that she could. To.. thank him.

[Jack Harker]

Jack had actually, in his defense, been asleep when she woke up.  It took her actively trying to wake him up to get him to stir, and then he only got up because she was just about dragging him into his room.  He managed to, with her prodding, get into bed without making himself too aware of his surroundings, but the damage to his sleep had already been done.  His mind was slowly coming around, taking in what was going on, and...

And she'd just kissed him.

His eyes didn't open for about 5 seconds while he figured out if he'd really felt that, and then when he opened his eyes to look at her, he hesitated another few seconds.  She'd kissed him.  Yes, she had.  He also had an arm around her, which he thought he'd done when they laid down, but he couldn't be sure.  He was sure of what was going on right then, though, and he was very slow and deliberate about giving her another soft kiss in return.

Nothing like moving too fast on a poor girl who'd been victimized twice in the same day.

[Crystal Deboir]

Crystal was traumatized, yes, and that might have had a lot to do with the outpour of emotions she was feeling, but she wasn't really focused on the 'why' so much anymore as the 'who' and the 'what'. She accepted his kiss, because at first she thought she was dreaming - she realized, though, as she opened her eyes and became more comprehensive to the situation around her, that she was wide awake. That seemed to go over well.

She kissed him back, a little more aggressively, something more founded. She sat up slightly, resting on one arm to try and stabilize herself, considering she was still swathed in a mass of blankets. One arm snaked across him, planting itself firmly on the bed, so she was effectively hovering over him, at least on the upper portion of her body, resting almost against his chest.

She leaned back suddenly, unsure of what she wanted. She felt like she needed to say something, and at the same time, she didn't. She was a little shocked of her own behaviour, though, and let it hang in the air for a minute.

[Jack Harker]

Aggressive was good.  Jack could handle aggressive, and though he really wanted to flip right over and see what the limits were, he behaved himself as she settled into a position somewhat hovering over him.  Yep, this he could handle, or so he thought right up until she leaned up and hesitated.

Uh oh. 

Too fast! 

Something was wrong, probably something he'd done, and he froze while she sat there undecided, not really sure what to do.  If he'd been absolutely certain of his abilities with women, he wouldn't still be single, so he knew better than to just DO something and hope for the best.  They couldn't just sit there and stare at each other, could they?

"Are...you okay?"

[Crystal Deboir]

She stared at him for a minute, and in that instant, a lump thoughts rushed through her head.

He's too old for you, Crystal. He won't even remember your name tomorrow, much less want you around. And Griffon, well. There's not going to be even a chance to explain anything - he always seems to know when other people have been near me, I can't even imagine what he's going to say when - but Griff isn't here now. Nobody's here now, nobody except us. Just Jack, and me. Yeah... sounds kind of nice...

She smiled at him. "Yeah," she said softly. She leaned in and gave him a little kiss on the lips, and the nuzzled his nose, something more affectionate than intimate. "Yeah, I am." There was another half-second before she leaned in again, this time continuing her kissing from earlier - the aggressive kind.

[Jack Harker]

To be totally and completely honest, he'd thought they were done when she backed off, then went for a kiss that was much less aggressive and much more friendly and affectionate.  That sounded to him like she'd changed her mind, and maybe he should be sleeping on the couch. 

He was about to offer, but she seemed to change her mind back.

Aggressive.  Yes, he could handle that, hadn't he already said it?  Yes, he had, and he could.  Fiiiiiiiine with him.  He rose to the occasion, rather literally considering how she was hovering over him, pressing his mouth to hers and positively invading her mouth.  There was really no other word for it, since that wasn't even quite a kiss anymore, but as long as she didn't mind, he wasn't going to worry about it.  He'd set one hand up on her back, right at the edge of her pants, and was rubbing at the skin just at the waist, while the other was tangling itself in her hair as he kissed her. 

Hopefully, he wouldn't embarrass himself and REALLY get it tangled.  That would SUCK.

[Crystal Deboir]

Crystal was fairly involved with the kissing for a few more minutes, before she started to feel like it wasn't enough. She'd been hard to satisfy lately, her attention always wandering to more and more things, ideas, designs... "Hold on," she said. She sat up for a brief second, and just whipped off her shirt, tossing it into the darkness. It could be heard landing with that soft sound that fabric always made. "There."

Wow. Go Crystal.

She grabbed Jack, and directed him to the right, situating herself so that he was mostly on top of her. Basically, she was making it clear that she was expecting him to conduct himself accordingly. Inwardly, something inside of her just curled up and died, but Crystal had found that the only way to avoid the thoughts of suicide or grief and memories of pain was to just swallow it up with other emotions, and this was the only outlet she had at the moment, so she was taking it. Screw the consequences, basically.