alnifolia | OPEN POST;

[ He huffs a single breath -- something like a laugh -- and steps inside. ]

I usually just down a few painkillers and hope for the best. But pancakes work too, I'm sure.

[ After closing the door, she makes her way over to the kitchen, pulling a chair out for Peter as she passes by the table on the way over (and look, no crashing into the counters this time). ]

Want anything? Water? Coffee? Tea?

[ Truth is, Peter's been by so many times by now, that he could probably help himself. But this is Kasumi, playing the good host because she doesn't want to let this get awkward. ]

[ What's funny is, being treated like a guest actually makes him feel all the more awkward.

Life is weird.

But he takes a seat as directed. ]

Just-- water's fine, thanks.

[ That's not too far-fetched of a reaction, really, seeing as she's pretty much treating him like patron in a restaurant. But all the same, she grabs a glass (which she can actually reach now, seeing as she has enough sense to stand up on her tippy toes a bit) and fills it up with water before setting it in front of Peter on the table, giving him a small smile.

She walks to another corner of her kitchen after that, pulling a (cute-ass) apron off of a hook on the wall and putting it on so she can begin to prepare the pancakes with the ingredients she's laid out on the counter by the stove, and she gets to work. She does shoot a glance over her shoulder at Peter, though, just to make smalltalk, because that's totally a platonic thing. ]

How'd you sleep last night?

Fine, thanks.

[ A white lie, but Peter is prone to lying. ]

What about you? Current hangover aside.

[ she does her best "everything is ok" chuckle and she continues on with the pancake preparation ]

I slept like a baby for once.

[ she hums a little to avoid any chances of awkward silences until she turns to look at him, playful look on her face. ]

Wanna put on some music?

Edited (it's not like I thought about this thread while going home...) 2015-03-24 23:28 (UTC)

[ ... Peter isn't quite sure what to do with this. He's finding it hard to get a read on her, to figure out if she actually remembers the shit that happened last night. (And if she doesn't, then he won't bring it up -- he doesn't want it be uncomfortable between them.)

So he just-- nods a little, going for a smile. ]

Yeah, sure. But do you need any help with anything? I've got a pair of perfectly good hands, after all.

I'll bet you do.

[ --that honestly just slips out, because even though they were very decidedly "friends" (or, come to think of it, maybe somewhat decidedly), they were never shy about flirting with each other. But given that something beyond flirting actually happened between them now, the comment comes off--differently. She can't quite place it, but it's not like any of the other times she's flirted with him, back when wasn't really expecting anything to happen, when she was perfectly fine with the way things were.

Now when she's said it, she visibly pauses, because she remembers how he held her the night before. She remembers herself in his arms, his "perfectly good hands" on the small of her back from having caught her fall, and their bodies pressed close--

Holy shit, Kasumi. What the hell is wrong with you? Get a hold of yourself. ]

Um. I actually--I'm fine. [ She clears her throat. ] My phone's docked at my speakers, DJ, so pick a song?

[ ... That pause is telling. Very telling, in fact, so much so that Peter's hands clench on the table.

He was prepared to let that comment slide -- they flirted all the time, after all, and he figured that this was just more of the same. But the way she just stops, something flicking across her face, tells him all he needs to know.

So Peter pushes away from the table slowly, stands, and moves to the kitchen. It's his turn to hesitate, though. He chews on his lower lip, trying to strings words together, before sighing. He leans against the counter and crosses his arm, trying to catch her eye. ]

I think you and I need to talk, first.

[ --Well, here it is. Maybe the thing to do here would be to respond with, "About what?" but judging from what just happened, pretending nothing happened? That's a facade Kasumi probably couldn't keep up.

Unless she gave herself some time and distanced herself for a while, which is a little difficult considering the fact that they're neighbors, and--running away was what she did when she lost Keiji. She hid herself away and shut down, letting her world go dark, and while the gravity of this situation wasn't quite that dire, she's trying to face her problems head-on, now.

That's what moving on was all about, right? Letting yourself feel again, and even if they decide to stay purely platonic, somehow, at least she won't regret not ever having tried.

So she lets her gaze meet his, and although there's hesitation in her expression, she responds, ]

I think so, too.

[ He takes a deep breath, and-- another, chewing on his lip again. Eventually he looks over at her, expression worried. ]

Look, I'm sorry about-- kissing you. I crossed a line, there. I shouldn't have-- done that. Not while you were drunk.

So if-- if I can make it up to you, just say the word, and I'll do it.

[ If chewing on the inside of his lower lip is Peter's nervous habit, biting down on the outside of hers is Kasumi's--and that's exactly what she's doing as she listens. When he's done, she takes a moment to try and figure out what to say. ]

I asked you to kiss me, so I'm pretty sure I share the blame on this one. [ She half-smiles. ] You're right. We shouldn't have done that while I was drunk.

But I'm not drunk anymore, and--I sort of... [ And here she draws in another sharp breath, and the way she looks at him is sort of--cautious, like she's searching for the answer in his eyes. ] I honestly wouldn't mind giving it another try.

[ uh.

Did she--

What? ]

You're-- gonna have to run that by me again. I'm not sure if I heard you right.

I said--

[ She steps in closer, and--she gently grabs onto the fabric of his shirt, much like she did the night before, looks up at him, and says, much like the night before: ]

Peter.

[ Fuck it. ]

Kiss me.

[ ... okay well that's a little harder to ignore.

On the bright side, Peter's pretty good at taking direction, so he hesitantly closes the gap. It's chaste and soft, like he's testing the waters. ]

[ Okay, well, the fact that he didn't say "Kasumi, you're still drunk," is good, right? And the fact that he does kiss her is even better.

So while the kiss is indeed chaste and soft, because she's testing the waters too, whenever they eventually pull away, the look in her eyes spells, "more."

Apparently this is what happens when neighbors who are attracted to each other and become really good friends let their sexual tension build up over the span of months. ]

[ He licks his lips when he pulls back, notes the look in her eyes, and he moves forward again--

-- and he suddenly wonders if she's just looking to-- blow off steam with him, or something. Given his reputation and what she must think of him (especially since their first main occasion to speak had been him hiding out from a one-night stand), that wouldn't be surprising.

So he hesitates. Because if this is just a one-off, then-- that's not what he wants. ]

What are we doing here? [ He asks it slowly, not quite looking her in the eye. ]

[ She'd braced for another kiss when he moved forward again, but when he stops, her brows knit together in slight confusion, and--oh. There it goes, the "what are we doing?" question.

Kasumi herself doesn't even know the answer to this question. There's a part of her that would totally be fine if this ended up just being another one of Peter's one... morning stands, and one of hers, too, but--she knows that if they did that, they may as well say goodbye to being friends. Because she's not sure that she could keep seeing Peter bring other people home if that happened, not sure she could do something like let him hide from whomever the next morning.

(And there was one time that she actually had to talk to one of his conquests from the night before, the next morning--before she and Peter became friends. Kasumi herself had just been returning from a night out, and happened upon the girl in the hallway right as she was stumbling out from Peter's apartment, this glazed look of euphoria on her face, and she must have been slightly drunk, still, because she smiled at Kasumi and said, "He said he's gonna call me!"

Little did she know. In any case, Kasumi would definitely not be able to do something like what she'd done, which was smile courteously and say, "That's nice.")

There's a part of her that wouldn't mind being friends with benefits, either. In fact, that may even be preferable, since she's not sure she could slap a "girlfriend" label on herself at the moment--but then there's a part of her, too, that thinks that maybe that wouldn't actually be so bad? Being Peter's girlfriend? They have a great dynamic, after all. But she's never seen him bring back the same person more than a few times, so she has to wonder if he even does relationships.

What she does know is that she likes Peter. Really, really likes him. As more than just a friend. And she's not sure when that happened. ]

I don't know, Peter. What do want us to be doing here?

[ Woops. She'd gotten accustomed to deflecting this type of question with more flirting--to distract from the matter at hand--with other people. But Peter isn't other people. He's... He's really important to her. ]

That came out wrong--I just. I really don't know. I just know that I'm really into you. And... not really platonically.

[ There it goes. ]

[ He's not entirely sure if that's encouraging or not. "Into him" can mean a whole lot of things, after all -- could mean she just wants a quick one-time deal, could mean she actually likes him, could mean anything.

So he backs up a step, arms crossed over his chest again, like he's closing himself off. Even then, he tries for nonchalance. ]

Well, is this-- do you just want this to be a one time thing, or--?

[ She looks at him carefully, as though she's trying to find her own answers from him in his body language, because she wants to hear what he thinks, too.

But to his question, if she had to be honest to herself... ]

I really don't. But if you think that's a bad idea... [ judging from the track record of his that she's seen ]

[ He can't help his quiet sigh of relief at her answer, but when she continues, he shakes his head. ]

No, I just-- I thought maybe you weren't into the idea of-- dating, I guess.

[ After all, he'd never seen her with another guy, and early in their friendship he had wondered at that. But he never asked, seeing as how that seemed like a seriously personal thing to ask. And kinda douchey. "You're hot. How come you don't have a boyfriend?"

So he just assumed, figured she wasn't interested, and-- that was dumb, wasn't it? He should've asked. ]

[ --Dating. He might be right in that regard. Sure, she's had a few one-night stands, but she'd only ever really come close to actually dating someone twice since Keiji. One, with a guy her friend set her up with--he was nice to look at and all, but far too dry for her tastes. The moment he mentioned kids (even though it was harmless and indirect, it was their, like, second date), she decided they needed to stay friends. Then there was the guy who teaches her kickboxing class, and he was even nicer to look at, but. It just didn't work out, somehow. Probably more on Kasumi's part than his.

She never brought these things up to Peter because, honestly, even if he asked, she might have deflected, or turned the question right back to him.

Which, sadly, is exactly what she's going to do now. ]

I thought you weren't into the idea of dating.

[ He pauses, since, well, she's got him there. And that nervous tick comes back, biting on the inside of his lower lip, and he glances over at the stove top.

Another breath in, another out, and he says with obvious hesitance, ]

Not usually, but with you...

[ He trails off. It seems too sappy to admit it aloud, but he wanted to say, "with you, I wouldn't mind." ]

[ That--he doesn't say it, but her mind fills in the blanks, and honestly? She hasn't felt this stupidly giddy in years, it's actually really embarrassing, and the way her cheeks flush is a dead giveaway of that. And she's so giddy, in fact, that she steps in closer again, all but ready to just kiss him again, but--she hesitates.

How could she possibly, actually date him when he doesn't even know that she--should she tell him? Is "by the way, my last boyfriend died in a terrible accident," something you should tell someone before or after you start dating them? What if he decides he didn't sign up for her baggage when he learns, and changes his mind?

She'll just. Keep it to herself for now. Maybe it'll come up later, or something. She really doesn't want to ruin this moment. So up her hand goes, again, idly toying with the hem of his shirt. ]

But with me... what, exactly?

[ He winces a little, mostly because he really doesn't want to drag those words out into the open air. It's sappy and weird, and he's not a sentimental sort of guy, most of the time.

But that sort of giddy look on her face makes him relent, and while he's still not looking at her, he finally mumbles it. ]

I-- with you, I don't... mind trying.

❖
OPEN RP POST ① Pick a character ② Pick a prompt (or DIY) (shamelessly and selectively pilfered from bakerstreet's Random Scenario Meme) ③ Do the thing!. table code by betterdolphin

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