emptynight | I feel an angel sliding up to me

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I feel an angel sliding up to me

Even for night, it was late, and Thomas wandered off on his own to gather his thoughts, bypassing the carnival games, the giant mud wrestling pit that the water arena had become, and the dance floor. He wanted quiet and found it in the wide green space set up with sports equipment. As soon as Thomas approached though, a bouncy blonde came over. "Hello!" she chirped. "Care to play a game? How about soccer?"

Thomas blinked, stunned by the unnaturally sunny presence, and pointed automatically at the playground equipment across the field. "I'm looking for the slide."

The ponytailed blonde's face fell. "Oh, well, if you want to play soccer or baseball, come back, you hear?" How she managed to make that simple, friendly sentence vaguely menacing, Thomas didn't know. He simply kept walking until he got to the wood playground structure. He was too tall for it by half, but it was as good a place as any for quiet, and, with only a little bit of ridiculous contorting, Thomas managed to tuck himself into one of the treehouse-like areas.

((Tag Lacci))

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Thomas blinked in mild confusion when Lacci said 'either of you', but when he thought back to what had happened at the mall, he shook his head. "It's odd hearing someone other than me think of it as something separate," he admitted.

He drank the last of his Coke and crushed the can into a flat disk against the wood of the play structure. "I'm not upset. I actually didn't know what you were doing," he admitted. "I just felt you like I normally do, and then it was... louder. Stronger, sharper, like it feels when I touch you. I didn't think you'd done anything until it told me you were inside my head."

"But it is. I mean, I felt it. And I hear him speaking to you - and very rude he was, too, I thought." She managed a small smile.

At his words, she scooted just a bit closer, and took his hand again. She couldn't quite look at him, but she wanted so much to explain. "It's- I shouldn't have done it. Not without asking. But it's- it's really nice." Her words were quiet, a wistful smile on her face. "I didn't really get a chance to do it right, but it's- it's sort of hard to describe. Like, like I'm under your skin, and you're under mine. Ed and I started doing it, sort of by accident. And I just- I just wanted us all to be close like that. That's all.

"But- you couldn't hear me. I don't know, maybe you think differently. Maybe it wouldn't work for you anyway."

"I'm not surprised about it being rude, I'm sorry," Thomas said. "It's..." He struggled for words. "It doesn't see the world like I do. It doesn't see you as Lacci. Everyone's a doe or a buck, as far as it's concerned. It doesn't seen anyone as more than food."

Lacci still had his hand and Thomas squeezed it, at the same time kissing her temple. "Sounds nice," he said sincerely, swallowing back just a twinge of envy. "But you probably wouldn't like being under my skin. Bob tried and thought it was too crowded."

His next words were spoken slowly, as if he was working out exactly what he wanted to say. Looking past the fear of someone else having glimpsed the Hunger, now that he knew what he was looking for, Thomas could identify what had happened when Lacci did whatever she did. "What little I could feel... It was like... I could feel everything you were feeling, but more than normal. It was all sharp and strong and crystal clear."

His lips quirked into a smile. "It might not work the same way, but it was nice, for what it's worth."

His words brought a hesitant, pleased smile to her lips. "I'm glad. I'm glad you didn't- that it wasn't too terrible. Aside from the abrupt meet-and-greet with the demon in your head." Lacci hesitated, but, in for a penny. "It took me a minute to feel you, too. He's- a little overwhelming, at first. But once I got used to it, I found you too." Her smile turned a bit shy. "Like- like velvet and steel, sliding against skin.

The smile faded a bit, but only so she could be a little more serious. "But you know, it doesn't bother me. To know he's there. I mean, we all have something like that - yours is just a little, more intelligent, is all. Granted, I still dislike being considered a doe." She smiled again. "But I don't think marching in there and attempting a logical argument would sway him much."

Lacci's description of what he felt like made Thomas' smile deepen and he draped an arm around her shoulders. "Nice to know I'm not all whipped cream and marshmallow fluff on the inside," he joked. "I'd never live it down."

Her description of the demon inside his head though, made the smile fade a little. "I'm glad you don't mind," he said honestly. "Because I don't like knowing it's there. That it sees people I care about as nothing but food." Thomas made a face. "The fact that it talks back is annoying too."

Thomas didn't bother telling Lacci that up until a few weeks ago, the Hunger had been locked up in a very tiny cage inside his head. "I'd never thought of it like that, you know," he confessed. "That we all have something like it inside. Just... not as talkative. It helps some, to know."

He marveled a little at how true that was. Justine did always know him better than he knew himself. There was hope. Thomas pulled Lacci a little closer, just to feel her against him, and laughed, lightening the mood a little. "So does this mean you'll tell me some deep dark secret now that you've gotten a couple of mine?" he teased.

Lacci smiled, finally, completely, genuinely. She'd gotten out everything she'd wanted to say. Thomas hadn't laughed in her face and left. They were both still here.

She moved closer easily, and her fingers drifted up his chest. "It depends," she said teasingly, "What do you want to know?" There must be something she could tell him; Lacci's brain rifled through the last month or so, trying to find something embarassing but silly-

oh Gods.

Her grin turned more shy than anything, and summoning the courage to say it banished the slow trickle of desire that had begun running under her skin. "All right. I'll confess. The day Pandora arrived, when I was all upset? That cake you were eating?" She couldn't help but glance around, and then lower her voice. "I baked it. Myself. Ed only helped a little. And I frosted it, too."

"Really? You should bake more often. It was delicious," Thomas said immediately. He fought back the grin that was threatening, simply because he could feel the gossamer-like embarrassment that had settled over Lacci. It was such a small thing to be embarrassed over. If he wasn't certain it would have earned him a headlong pitching over the side of the playground equipment, Thomas would have called it cute.

Remember his own foray into cooking that had require rescuing by Edward and Merrick, Thomas did grin. "Maybe I should ask you for cooking lessons next time, if that's what you do when you can't sleep." He steadily ignored the the fact that her sleep deprivation had led them down a less-than-pleasant road. "I saw you go outside during the day. Can you do that, without being hurt?"

Lacci nodded, resting her head against him, her fingers idly circling the buttons on his shirt. "I have to wear that ridiculous getup, or something similar, but yes. Going uncovered into direct sunlight isn't necessarily fatal, but it's an unnecessary nuisance." She smiled a little. "Maybe we could go for a walk, next time. Er- and Edward can stay inside." Gods, he'd been there too - she'd forgotten.

"Agreed. We'll leave Edward in a closet or something," Thomas answered easily, as if they were talking about little more than the weather. "Your choice of clothing was very... protective," he added diplomatically, his hand trailing lightly against the curve of Lacci's shoulder and up her neck.

A comfortable silence fell as Thomas' fingers traced idle patterns on Lacci's arms, back, and neck. "We should take a little trip," he said suddenly. "Maybe to the beach again, maybe somewhere else. Just the two of us." He grinned. "It's been a while since we've done anything together that was fun." And didn't involve heartfelt talks, he added silently.

His hands caused a shiver to run up her spine, and Lacci turned to press a kiss against his bare shoulder. Before she could get any further, he spoke again, and the offer surprised and pleased her. Lacci looked up, smiling in a huge and rather goofy way. "That would be lovely. Where? When? During the day? I could try to stay up, but I think I made myself immune to coffee when- over the last few days."

"We can go at night, so you don't have to worry about the sun." Thomas answered. "And I'm not sure where. Is there anything in particular you want to do?" He grinned. "It can be anything. I promise I won't tell if you want to go take a cooking class."

Her comments about coffee made Thomas sheepish. "You're not immune to coffee," he admitted. "At least, I don't think so. When you were staying up, I switched you to decaf, hoping it would get you to fall asleep."

"You- decaf-" Lacci just stared up at him, eyes incredulous, for a moment. Then she tackled him, half-knocking him over in the confined space of the treehouse, and managing to scramble on top of him. Her hands found his sides, and she tickled furiously. "Decaf?" she demanded, laughter bubbling up behind her mock-angry face. "Decaffinated coffee?? They make that? And you GAVE it to me??" Her tickling vigor increased.

Unlike Edward and Alice, Thomas and his sisters were never much for tickling, except Inari, and by the time Inari had gotten into the habit Thomas had been a bit too big for her to tickle. So Lacci's sudden tickling attack was completely unexpected and for a long moment all Thomas could do was lie there and laugh, trying futilely to curl up within the confines of the treehouse.

"I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he gasped out, mock pleading as he threw his hands out as a completely useless shield. When that didn't work, Thomas reached over and started tickling Lacci instead.

Lacci twitched violently, and half-fell off of him, landing in a heap of limbs and tickling fingers and giggles on the floor of the treehouse. "All right, all right!" she managed to say through her slightly-hysterical laughter. "I give, I'll stop, I'll stop!"

When Lacci half fell off him, giggling hysterically, Thomas stopped his tickling and kissed her instead, letting his fingers resume their earlier path of tracing lazy designs on Lacci's skin. "So is there anything you want to do that you haven't done?" he asked. "And there's always dinner and a movie." The way Thomas' eyes sparkled, it was obvious that he didn't mean food when he said 'dinner'.

"I don't think so," Lacci said thoughtfully, settling on top of him more comfortably. She propped up on her on her hands, looking down his chest at him. "But there may be a myriad of things out there that I haven't done that I would enjoy. I just don't know."

It took her a moment to catch the sparkle in his eye, and when she did, she grinned. "Typical male. Always thinking about eating. Dinner first, then the movie? Or both at once?"

"Both at once?" Thomas asked, his voice innocent. "We can split something during the movie."

He grinned, wicked and irrepressible, and kissed Lacci again. "Or we can take a ride and find something to do. Or maybe a flight." His hand twined through her hair, fingers combing through the dark weight of it. "Or maybe we'll find something else interesting to do. There's no need to decide now."

((Desquish! (http://godofcologne.livejournal.com/14074.html?thread=49914#t49914)))

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I feel an angel sliding up to me

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