[stanley kowalski voice] BELLAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

[hydesout]

you know what, much like the AUs I'm just going to put down a catchall post for anything we want to do with them

Comments

[alamob]

[She watches him panic without making a move to interfere. Bella's not sure where she's going with this, either. It feels foolish, but natural all the same. Her fingers wrap around the back of his chair but hardly brush him.]

What're you frightened of now? Think I'll ... snap you up?

[hydesout]

No, of course not, I - there's nothing I'm frightened of.

[But he's definitely not doing so well. This requires more than just a spray or two. He takes about five doses.]

And you, are you...angry?

[alamob]

[That's bizarre. Obviously it's a symptom of the pressure he's feeling. If she were kinder, she'd retreat. Bella won't do that yet.

She leans away, though, considering.]

Not a bit. Why all this? Why the schoolboy fluttering? And don't give me nonsense.

[hydesout]

I'm not sure how I'm meant to answer!

[This whole thing is hard to deal with in every way.]

You must know already what I think of you - how I feel about you.

[But they don't talk about that, so he doesn't want to bring it up. But she asked.]

[alamob]

[But Bella only looks taken aback, perplexed. Evidently she did NOT know what he think and feels about her. She never wanted the discomfort of wondering.]

Something's changed, then.

[hydesout]

Has it? I wouldn't say anything has changed only...increased?

[Did she really not know? He thought it was obvious, and most likely obvious that he wasn't getting over it any time soon either.]

[alamob]

[Most of his behavior can be written off as typical Robert skittishness, but maybe that's more an indicator of how he behaves around women he's got a thing for.

Her other hand flattens into the table as she goes on the offensive, trapping him into his chair. This is now an interrogation.]

No, it has. I'm not what you wanted, remember?

[hydesout]

[This is now frightening, being trapped.]

That isn't true, precisely...!

[He never said she wasn't what he wanted. He just said there was something else he wanted. There is a difference. A big one.]

[alamob]

Not right for you, though.

[She won't say Lily because it's not about her, not remotely. Robert broke it off because he wanted someone he thought was weaker, who needed him as much as he needed the idea of perfection in a match. Someone delicate. Someone proper.

Bella's breathing too hard to be casual in this line of questioning.]

So how am I right today? Why?

[hydesout]

[Of course she's right about it all, to a T. Not something he wants to admit to, but it's true.]

Not just today, I - I realise that I was wrong. [About both her and Lily. And what he did.] I suppose that's what changed.

[alamob]

[Another of those impulses drives the uplifting touch and curled fingers below his chin, to make it more difficult to look anywhere but at her, and to really see him. See if he's hiding. See everything.

Her skin's dry, and cool from the late hour. She'd taken the gloves off for dinner..]

What d'you think could make up for that?

[hydesout]

[That hand on his chin might as well be strangling, with how much trouble it gives him in managing a reply. Even worse that he worries the medication might not hold out under all this pressure. His eyebrow twitches with a faint glow in his eye and a few veins bubbling up-- but it all receeds in the blink of an eye.]

I don't know.

[One of the reasons he hasn't tried. Although probably the least of them.]

It was mode important to be civil, and friendly.

[Hyde might try to put the moves on, but Robert wouldn't be about to try that...ever really, but at least not until reconciliation.]

[alamob]

[Maybe it's sadistic, but knowing he's suffered is partial recompense. She had to bury that pain and curse herself for being a fool in love.

If he's done the same, then that could be almost good enough. Her eyes on him are raw and hot.]

Well. This is what I'm like. Having second thoughts?

[hydesout]

[Does that mean the aggression she's showing him now (or anyway what feels like it to him, in his state), or in regard to the story? Either way...]

I'm not discovering anything new right now, you've already...made an impression. And I told you I find it attractive...

[alamob]

[It's a form of aggression and vulnerability, because it offers him a closeup of the emotional conflict in her frozen mouth and pinched brow.]

And you understand there's more?

[More than temper and wit and composure.]

[hydesout]

[He gives a little nod.] Yes, that's how I was mistaken before. But I do see now.

[Not just that she's also capable of being hurt, but that she's softhearted too. He's seen many more sides to her during this partnership.]

[alamob]

[Hey now. Don't spread rumors. Bella didn't get to where she is criminally for cutting corners.]

I think you do, too.

[The tips of her fingers shift, just shy of letting Robert lower his chin. She drops her head, inches from his brow, hesitating only once before tilting to deal him an open-mouthed kiss with lips that already burn from the whiskey and frustrated want.]

[hydesout]

[It's been coming for a while, really, so it shouldn't catch him by surprise. And yet it does. He seizes up, but for all that it shocks him and for all that Robert is just so shy about such intimacy, he still craves it - has for a long time now. His hand grips the table in front of him at first, but soon it finds Bella's waist, the other her shoulder.

The real problem is the way his head spins so he can hardly tell what's happening.]

[alamob]

[He's not permitted to check out of reality. What's happening is Bella stoops over a seated man at an obscene hour of the morning, the day's last meal flavoring her mouth. His hands are on her, and in a rustle of fabric, hers support the upward tilt of his head. They help him tip back, and be closer.]

[hydesout]

[He feels as if he can't breathe, and when he does, it's only her perfume and the heat of her mouth that fills him. And even though his hands pull her closer and he so willingly accepts the suggestion to tilt his head toward her, in another moment he pulls away.]

Bella -- I'm not sure that this is alright.

[He's seen she's no lightweight, but he doesn't know how much she's had to drink tonight. If she's not in her right state of mind, he shouldn't even be party to any mistakes made in kissing her.

much less sex.]

[alamob]

[Who said anything about sex? (She's thinking of sex.)

Bella pants, chest heaving and forehead braced against his. The angle's not fantastic for her back, but the discomfort is the furthest thing from her mind. The Hell does he mean, is it all right?]

Don't say you've bloody lost your nerve or had another revelation, or proposed, God forbid. Not after that.

[hydesout]

Hah, yes, well, I don't think that I had any nerve to begin with.

[At least he has a small laugh for that. But then he stands, taking her hands in his.]

I mean that I don't want to take advantage of anything.

[He doesn't want to ask if she's drunk because that seems rude.]

[alamob]

[The accusation disguises the thin line of tension running through her, the anticipation of another slap to the face. Bella's brush with heartbreak scalded and poisoned her ability to lay herself open for any other person.

But that tenseness vanishes, and she snorts outright. Her. Having too much. Bella arches her brows up at him; even heels can't bring them eye level.]

I look taken advantage of?

[hydesout]

I don't know, it's very sudden!

[LOOK HE'S JUST CHECKING.]

...And I've already done you wrong.

[But his heart still pounds in his chest, his fingers still twitch in anticipation of pulling her close.]

[alamob]

[She clucks.]

Not tonight, though.

['Night' is generous. First light hasn't broken and that's everything that can be said of the time. Blood rushing and her pulse hammering in her throat won't allow Robert to dither and delay another crushing kiss.

It ends with her arms constricting behind his neck and head, but Bella catches a breath and then it goes on.]