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| What A Feeling!; 05/23 - Night - (Simon, Ali) | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 29 2014, 10:39 PM (1,275 Views) | |
| Dazzler | Jul 26 2014, 07:11 PM Post #31 |
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I'm the best at what I do, and what I do is roller skate
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Totally amazing. Yeah, she was using those two words a lot but when they fit, they fit. And for Simon, they more than fit. Every inch of him, totally amazing. Not that she couldn't absolutely come up with others. She had a whole list in mind, ready and waiting. Beautiful. That was another one. Didn't matter what anybody thought about that word not applying to guys, Ali knew better. It did, without any doubt at all, especially to some. Simon Williams was right at the top of that category. As flawless as if he'd been sculpted that way. Definitely a masterpiece in more ways than one. One that she could touch, and wanted to. And the way he was looking at her? Well, had she mentioned she was a fan of approval? She was pretty sure she had and Ali was pretty sure that's what she was seeing there. She liked that look a lot and it made her feel...a way that nobody else had in a long time. Yeah, she was definitely in trouble, but it maybe the very best kind of trouble ever. So, if he wanted her to do a spin or two? Or however many he liked, really, that was absolutely her pleasure. Once upon a time, she'd been a better than average dancer - came with the performing territory - and even one've Millie's Models for a little while (that definitely had come with a lot more weirdness than she'd expected), so she could do all kinds of turns. This, though, seemed like more of a dance-type twirl moment, so Dazzler went with that, doing a couple of easy twirls. If he wanted the full view, that should do it. “Mhmmmm….” Simon murmured and that was definitely approval she picked up on there. No guessing required and what more could she ask for? Well, okay, she could think of a few things (or a lotta things, but they'd get there; it was more fun if you spread it out a little), but the former singer settled for a widening of her own smile and a decision that that didn't feel like quite enough just yet. She'd always prided herself on putting a little extra into every performance. This one deserved that if anything ever did. With that in mind, a couple of pirouettes got thrown into the mix for good measure. Could've probably used a little polish after all these years, but not bad after Camp Hell: California Edition. Even if she did say so herself. Her opinion wasn't the one Ali was interested in, believe it or not. That interest (all kinds of interest, really) went to the dark haired man she was still smiling at. And at least temporarily resisting the urge to get closer to again. The dimples and the smiling, those were very, very good signs. Also, just really amazing to look at. “Perfect,” he judged it, and Ali was pretty sure at that point she couldn't have smiled any brighter or wider if she'd tried (Well, brighter in the literal sense she could manage, but flash blindness was overrated.) “Utterly perfect.” Actually, okay, she did give it a try, because a compliment like that totally deserved all the smiling she could possibly manage. So did he, for that matter. Now, before she could give in to all sorts of distracting impulses, it was his turn. That was a view she did not want to miss and, you know, claim to equal privileges and all that. The way he lifted her hand, bringing it to his lips was an amazingly nice little extra reward. One that had Ali letting out a soft, warm little sigh before she'd even thought about it. He was just completely wrapping her around his little finger, did he even know that? If he did, she couldn't really mind at all as he released her hand, did a very nice pause for effect of which she totally approved, crossed one leg over the other at the ankles and...oh! Oh, that was all kinds of awesome. A smooth, well-executed double spin, ala Michael Jackson, that was a completely perfect choice. No beating the King of Pop for smooth moves, and Simon had no trouble at all pulling that off exactly like it should be. "You have excellent taste," Ali told him with her very best, approving return smile as he grinned and his arm wrapped around her back again. Right where it felt exactly like it should be. "And I do like the way you move. Consider me impressed." Moving in closer again, now that there was nothing at all to get in the way and which she'd have done even if he hadn't already been drawing her that way, Ali slid her own arm around his waist. Mmm...yeah, better. Also very amazingly nice. Not to mention, putting her in a much easier position kiss him again which was very much on her mind at the moment. “Shall we?” Simon asked eyes on hers and leaning in a little again and, well, they absolutely could almost anything he wanted right now. Anything at all. Like getting in the hot tub. Definitely that, too. "It'd be kinda rude to keep making it wait, huh?" Or let it get cold. That would be almost tragic, but so would passing up the chance for another kiss. So she did what she always tried to do when faced with two really good choices: She took them both. First, and more important than even a nice, warm tub, there was just a little more leaning in and a little raising up on her toes (she wasn't exactly short by anybody's standards, but he was definitely the textbook definition of tall, dark and handsome) to be done. That incredibly nice feeling of her bare skin brushing and pressing against his bare skin, it just added nice little extra bit of awareness to the whole process. Then kissing him, softly and slowly, and taking a little time to spend some attention on his bottom lip with both of hers, because it was so very inviting. And hurrying over something like that? Yeah, also a tragedy. Still, hot tub waiting and they could continue this with added water, so Ali pulled back - still reluctantly, since moving away from Simon wasn't ever going to be anything but reluctant she didn't think - flashed a maybe just very, very slightly teasing grin his way and took his hand again. Because she wanted the contact, also because slipping and doing a faceplant in the tub wouldn't exactly be her most impressive move ever as she stepped over the side of the tub and sank down into the water. And it was good. God. Yes, that was amazing. Even more amazing with the jets on, so she leaned over enough to punch the control panel and start those up. She could practically hear her whole body cheering as warm water curled all around and over her. "This was one've the best ideas ever," Ali informed him with another smile as she slid away from the control panel and back closer to him again. Hmm...they'd left the wine over by the counter, but it was fine over there, really. He was making her head spin just fine all by himself. |
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| Wonder Man | Jul 31 2014, 11:33 PM Post #32 |
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Red Shades, Original Recipe. No really.
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His turn to spin? Oh he could do that. He could do it, and enjoy it a lot - though not as much, Simon had to admit, once he’d paid his homage to the King of Modern Movement, as he enjoyed coming to the end, and getting to snake his arm back around Ali, back in close enough to really get the ideal view of that absolutely amazing smile. “You have excellent taste,” she told him as he did, with a smile that made that very excellent compliment geometrically more excellent. “And I do like the way you move. Consider me impressed.” This was impressed? Oh, he liked impressed. He liked impressed a lot. He liked the way she smiled, and the way she was glowing, and he really, really liked the way she felt, soft and warm and slipping in closer again, an arm of her own around him, in a way that was as comfortable as if she’d done it a thousand times already. That really would be okay if she had, too. It would be fantastic if she had, Simon had to think. Or maybe that was imagine, but it all seemed to be parts of the same thing right now. A little dreamy, a little unbelievable and all kinds of fantastic. But they should still probably remember about that hot tub, right? After they’d managed to save it from the perils of overflow and everything. So, next question, as any good question in a situation like this should be, was definitely Ladies Choice. “Shall we?” Simon asked, looking at Ali, rather than the tub, but he was guessing she’d know what he meant anyway. And if she took that other places… well, that’d be okay too, but he definitely had the sense that they were on the same page here, and that page was definitely leaving the enjoy the rare and excellent bath opportunity while it was around, because that kind of thing didn’t happen nearly enough anymore. It only took meeting her eyes to know he’d been right about all of that. ”It’d be kinda rude to keep making it wait, huh?” she asked, in a way that had hopefully been intentionally rhetorically, because no sooner had he met her eyes again than Simon knew he was completely out of luck in the field of coming up with a witty reply to match. Far too gorgeous, and far too warm, and far too completely amazing, her bare skin brushing against his, for there to be any hope of coming up with a clever answer. In fact, Simon Williams had only one, and he really had to think he’d just happened to be the luckiest guy in the world as she leaned in and helped him carry it off. Kissing her - that was, for at least a little while - the only thing even close to on his mind, and if that made him rude to the hot tub, he’d gladly wear the shameful badge of disrespecting utilities. Utterly worth it. The woman in his arms, perfectly naked, soft, full breasts pressing against his chest while her mouth moved against his. The way it felt to run his hand down the curve of her back as he kissed her back. Nothing worried. Nothing rushed. Just a whole lot of perfect, all right there. She did pull back in the end, but that was only a minor misfortune to bear when coupled to a chance to see that grin flashed his way once again, or the way her hand slipped into his. And that wasn’t even starting on the view as she made good on her half-promise to the tub, stepping over the side and into the water. Trusting that the temperature was suitable from the easy way she sank down into the water, Simon followed, easing himself down carefully so that he was propped against the side of the tub while Ali shifted over to work the control panel. Mmmmm…. yeah, everything was better with a little light jet action, wasn’t it? Grinning back at her, when she turned again, he spread his arms slightly, inviting her back with a gesture that might not have been strictly necessary, but still felt absolutely repaid when she slid back over, smiling. “This was one've the best ideas ever.” There was only one answer to that, and it involved flashing a good amount of dimple. “Wasn’t it?” Simon asked, gathering his arms around her and drawing her gently in, so that her back was resting comfortably against his chest. Slowly, and slowly, he lifted his hands out of the water, running his fingers up over her back, and out to her shoulders, tracing the gorgeous lines, then leaning in to plant one soft kiss at the base of her neck. One, and then one more, and then… well, he probably shouldn’t completely let go of the fact that this was supposed to be a working engagement, should he? “So what do you think?” Simon asked, letting his fingers run back in to start working gently at a pair of knots just above Ali’s shoulder blades. “How do you tell people that have been forcefed everything, from all kinds of sides, for this many years, that Steve Rogers never died that night?” Where did you even start, with a message like that? |
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| Dazzler | Aug 2 2014, 04:13 PM Post #33 |
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I'm the best at what I do, and what I do is roller skate
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Never keep an audience waiting. That was pretty much Rule Prime of performing, but just this once Ali thought they could bend it just a little. Since the audience was a tub - even if it was a really awesome one - and the delay was for a really amazing, spine tingling kiss. Warmth and heat (and yeah, they were two totally different things if you were paying attention) and bare skin to bare skin. His lips against hers, soft and gentle, just like his hands. Confident, easy touches that swept along her back. Not at all hurried. It really was too amazingly good to rush, even if there was this whole list in her head that she kept adding new things to. Things she wanted to do with him, to him. But kissing him? That was part of every single one of them. Ali was kinda hoping kissing him would be a part of lots of things in general. Tonight. After tonight. For all of that, the hot tub could wait just a little longer, while something soft as smoke curled its way through her chest, twined itself around the center and settled there as two strong arms held her in against a broad chest, her own arm curved around his back, palms settled against smooth skin. Not too long, though, because it'd be almost a tragedy for that water to get cold and the rule after Rule Prime? Always leave them wanting more. Kinda included her, too, in that right now as she sent just a little bit of a teasing grin Simon's way, took his hand, and managed to get into the tub without incident. Since, trust her, there was absolutely no way to make faceplanting your way into a hot tub look graceful. Not even Greg Louganis could've made that look good. Simon, though? Yeah, he might be able to handle it. He definitely made getting in a hot tub in general look good, Ali decided, watching that completely spectator worthy sight from the corners of her eyes as she poked around with the jet controls. And generally thanked whoever might be up there listening for the inventor of hot tubs and hot water. Her body still kinda thought it might've died and gone to heaven after way too many cold showers for way too long. Some fun jets added into that? Just made it all that much better. But the way Simon was opening his arms, inviting her back over with him when she turned to smile his way again? Yeah, that was absolutely better than any of it. Or all of it put together. This was officially one've the best ideas ever. “Wasn’t it?” Simon asked, with another showing of those incredibly sexy dimples as he wrapped his arms around her and pulled her in as slid back against him. Right against his chest as Ali wrapped her arms over his for a few seconds, just to let herself feel how easy it was. To be right here, with him. So easy, if she didn't know better she might've thought she'd been right here all along. "Utterly perfect," she agreed, letting her hands drift down to rest on his thighs as his slowly rose out of the water, fingers tracing over her back, over to her shoulders. Then a kiss at the back of her neck that made her shiver, even in the warm, warm water. Then another that had her eyes drifting closed, head dropping forward to give him better access to...whatever he wanted as her fingers drifted over his thighs. From just above the knee upward, savoring the feel of his skin under her fingertips, tracing languidly over the heavy muscle toward his hip as his lips pressed against her skin again and she drew in a breath that was almost a gasp. Exhaled in a way that was almost a sigh. “So what do you think?” Simon asked, which was funny, since she wasn't sure she had two thoughts to rub together right now. And, ohhhh. God, that felt good, what his hands were doing there, kneading at her shoulders. “How do you tell people that have been forcefed everything, from all kinds of sides, for this many years, that Steve Rogers never died that night?” Mmm...right. Working hot tub experience. Couldn't forget that, because there was just a ton riding on this and they had to handle it right. But, jeez, yeah. How did they handle it? It wasn't gonna be just your run of the mill, announce it with a blurb and a happy, smiling talking head kinda thing. This was... It was world shaking. Rolling her shoulders a little, since yeah that felt totally amazing, Ali turned her head to look back at him, expression considering. "Yeah, god, that's not gonna be easy, is it?" Or maybe it would and they just hadn't got far enough to hit on the exact right answer. "First, though, we make sure it doesn't turn into some kinda circus." That, she'd learned herself the hard way. "We can't put that little boy in the middle of something like that, or his mom and dad." Forget the uniforms and the codenames. They were people and they'd had their lives screwed with way too much already and that completely adorable little kid never asked for anything like this. He deserved better than being caught in the middle of some kinda media fiasco. Fingers still brushing idly along his leg, sliding down to stroke along the soft skin at his inner thigh, Ali paused, let out a breath. "We...make it really honest, maybe," she added thoughtfully, "He's the guy that fought for everybody's rights, and got all his taken away for doing it." Not just mutants, not just powered people, Captain America had been bigger than that. They needed to not make this about only people with powers or costumes at each other's throats, because it wasn't an in-house fight anymore and hadn't been for a long time now. |
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| Wonder Man | Aug 3 2014, 09:18 PM Post #34 |
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Red Shades, Original Recipe. No really.
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“Utterly perfect,” Ali declared, and since that said everything Simon wanted to say about this idea, not to mention this moment, he didn’t see the need to tack on anything more on top of it. It was utterly perfect. She was utterly perfect, and that wasn’t just about the fact that she was gorgeous, over every fantastically flawless inch of her, as his hands were telling him all over again as they ran up from the water, and over her back and shoulders. Or about the way she was touching him now, and the way her fingers set another set of warmed currents swirling as they drew up his thighs under the water, though that felt like the next best thing to perfection too. She was utterly perfect, and the utterly perfect back of her utterly perfect neck was just asking to be kissed right now, so he was going to take a little more initiative, and go right on ahead and to just that. Ali shivered against him when he did, and close as they were, that might just have been the sexiest thing in the entire world, Simon decided, as he did it again. Feeling the slight vibration as she exhaled again, and wanting to do very little else but just keeping on like this for as long as they both could stand it. On the other hand, though… after everything that had happened tonight, they really probalby shouldn’t be overlooking the multi-tasking part of the evening they’d been talking about, should they? Of course it was too much to ask to completely stop touching Alison Blaire while they got on to business though, and he really liked to think they’d done pretty darn well last night with their planning without having to give all of that up. Compromise, compromise, compromise, and when it came to the solution he hit on, trading kissing her neck for letting his hands get to work to easing some of those knots just above her shoulder blades, compromise didn’t seem like such a loss at all. So… what did she think, he asked as he got to work at that, not quite modest enough to suppress a smile at that way the massage seemed to have got her to relax back against him. Even if there were still these things that need to be discussed. Like how to tell the world, and especially this country, after everything everyone in it had been through for five or more years, that in spite of all they’d been told, Steve Rogers had never died that night of Inferno. That everything that had been built around that idea had been a lie. A knowing lie. Ali rolled her shoulders, then turned her head to look back at him, so Simon shifted his hands accordingly, the one over wider on her far shoulder, the other drifting down her back a little, finding another set of knots there. “Yeah, god, that's not gonna be easy, is it?” she asked, meeting his gaze. Simon shook his head slightly, since there didn’t seem to be much question of that, and since she seemed to already be thinking beyond that. “First, though, we make sure it doesn't turn into some kinda circus,” she continued a second later, looking thoughtful. “We can't put that little boy in the middle of something like that, or his mom and dad.” Thoughtful, and god… she really was utterly perfect, wasn’t she? Of all the things in the world she could have gone to with this kind of thing, she’d gone to Steve’s son, and making sure he was looked out for in all of this. “No,” Simon agreed whole-heartedly. He might not have known Steve as well as some of the others, but on this at least, he was pretty sure he knew exactly what his former teammate’s wishes would have been. They’d keep Sharon, and her little boy, as far out of it as they possibly could. And… man, when she did that, with her hand, down the inside of his thigh, she did know just how much of a challenge she was making multi-tasking, didn’t she? Man. Man… ”We…make it really honest, maybe," she added thoughtfully, which Simon nodded in agreement for, though to be perfectly honest, he wasn’t sure he wouldn’t have agreed to absolutely anything at all that Alison Blaire might have said then. “He’s the guy that fought for everybody's rights, and got all his taken away for doing it.” Yes…. yes. Alright. He wasn’t so far gone that he couldn’t still use his brain, really. And if he told himself that a couple more times, he might even believe it, but for now, he’d just have to go for a good old Hollywood fake it anyway, and just tell his head that it was thinking better than he suspected it actually might be right now. “And keep the focus on him,” Simon added, picking up that thread, and not giving up on his attention to those knots. “Not what Tony, or Hank, or…” he paused for the briefest of moments, half-frowning, before pressing on, “-whoever, might have done, hiding him away. None of those details are going to help us, I don’t think.” And was that partly just because he still could barely bring himself to believe it, even about Tony? No. No, it was more than that, he really did think it was. “It can’t be another round of kicking a political football called ‘who did what to Captain America’,” he continued, thinking out loud, slowing down a little while he worked out what it was he was actually trying to say. What was the story that was true, both to what had happened, and to what their friend would want to be said about it. “It’s ‘what happened to Steve, and what are we going to do now’.” |
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| Dazzler | Aug 4 2014, 03:27 PM Post #35 |
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I'm the best at what I do, and what I do is roller skate
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Had she mentioned how really, really good he was with his hands? If she hadn't, Ali decided, then she was way overdue. Because he was. Awesomely good, the way those hands were kneading at her shoulders, working out knots she hadn't even realized were there until they started loosening up. Gentle but firm and sure. Exactly right, at least if he wanted to turn her into possibly the most relaxed person ever and make everything in her head go all fuzzy and indistinct. In a really, amazingly marvelous way. Perfect. Maybe she kept saying that, or thinking that, but it wasn't a thing Ali thought could be overused. Not tonight and not about Simon. Right, though. Working liaison and she could multi-task still. Really. This was a more than kinda important thing, so she could pull those foggy edges of everything together a little more and come up with some actual thoughts. Coherent ones, even, as she rolled her shoulders, just to get the full effect of how good that felt now, and turned her head to look back at the man behind her. Easy? God no, this wasn't anything that was even gonna be acquainted with easy. Or, if it was, they hadn't come up with how that was gonna work yet (not that they wouldn't, because they were awesome and, if it could done, they'd figure out how). Either way, Simon shook his head as she looked into those eyes she could've just kept looking into forever. Especially with his hand and fingers kneading down her back now and making her want to practically melt against him again. She managed to convince herself to settle for just arching her back a little, though, and keeping her head generally on track, fingers still stroking idly over his hip and thigh. Exploring slowly and gently and savoring every little bit of it. So, okay, not easy after all the crap that'd happened the last five years or so that'd spilled out all over the country to people who probably didn't halfway know what the hell to think about anything at this point. But, a thing or two did come to mind that seemed to be kinda top priority to her. Not dragging that little boy, Steve Rogers' son, into the middle of a media circus, that was number one. He was a kid, he hadn't asked for any've this and, god, even most adults - even ones in the business - had problems dealing with that kinda thing when they were thrown into it head first. No way they could let that happen to a little boy that couldn't be over four or five years old. His parents, too. They didn't need that, either, especially right now. So they'd do what they needed to to just stay the hell away from the whole 'media circus' idea all together. “No,” Simon agreed whole-heartedly and she'd never doubted even for a second that they were on the same page there. He was that kinda man. The kind that was as amazing on the inside as he was on the outside. Kind and sweet and thoughtful, to go right along with the face and the body and the smile that were to die for. One in a billion. More thinking then, since that seemed to get a little easier now that she'd got it going again. So, with this, they kept it honest, maybe. Real. No smiling, talking head, propaganda machine. Not for this, and that got a nod from Simon so Ali thought maybe she was at least getting somewhere close to the right track. Steve Rogers was the guy that'd fought for everybody else's rights, and he'd got all his own rights taken away because of that. That was looking a lot like their bottom line, wasn't it? “And keep the focus on him,” Simon added, picking up that thread, and not giving up on his attention to those knots which still felt so completely fantastic as she shifted just a tiny bit, turning her face up and tilting it back enough so she could see his face better. “Not what Tony, or Hank, or…” he paused for the briefest of moments, half-frowning, and it wasn't hard to guess why. She'd seen the look on his face in that meeting, “-whoever, might have done, hiding him away. None of those details are going to help us, I don’t think.” All she really wanted to do just then was hug the hell outta him again. Yeah, losing friends was the worst. Watching friends lose themselves, and not being able to do anything about it, that wasn't any better. "Not even a little," Ali agreed, letting her head kinda rest against his shoulder as one arm lifted out of the water and then back and up, fingers curling around the back of his neck. "Nobody'd win that kinda tug of war." Not exactly the hug she wanted to give him right now, but it was a little more contact until she could get to that without throwing off the trains of thought too much. “It can’t be another round of kicking a political football called ‘who did what to Captain America’,” he continued, thinking out loud, and that was easy, too. Just listening to the sound of his voice. Thinking along with him. About things that mattered. It'd been a long time since there'd been anybody she could really do that with. “It’s ‘what happened to Steve, and what are we going to do now’.” Yeah. Yeah, that where her own head was going with this. The last damned thing they needed was something else that came off as 'just another bunch of crap between super-heroes that leaves the rest've the country in a mess in its wake'. "Make our case with the facts, and the man," Ali replied consideringly, fingers still playing along his leg as she thought about that. Yeah, definitely good. "Proactive and not reactive. Skip the blame game and the he said, she said," she added, "as much as we can." Like presenting to a jury, you didn't wanna bog it all down in arguing about relatively petty shit in the scheme of things with the defense. Especially when you didn't have the whole story yet. It'd torpedo facts and actual credibility in a hot second. "Keep it as glitz and pomp free, and as genuine and human, as we can make it all. This is the kinda thing that should stand pretty well on it's own, right?" They could spin it, guide it all, obviously. And would, the pink haired woman mused, head still resting against his shoulder comfortably. But maybe with a lighter hand. She hadn't known the guy even close to as well as Simon had, but he'd always seemed like one've the most real people she'd ever met. Somebody that absolutely believed in what they were doing. That wouldn't be a bad thing to be able to build on. "And, y'know, I'd kinda like to know what he wants, once he's back and up to it." They'd have to break the whole thing initially, but yeah. It was Steve Rogers and it was his life, he more than deserved some say so. |
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| Wonder Man | Aug 5 2014, 08:51 PM Post #36 |
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Red Shades, Original Recipe. No really.
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Oh man. Ali was looking up at him as he’d frowned and stumbled his way through that thought, wasn’t she? Not really a set of things and feelings he’d wanted to drag up into this all over again. The complete opposite, in fact: those details (not to mention those feelings, suppressed as quickly as he could, but not really disappearing either) weren’t going to help them. Something about the look that met him from the pair of blue eyes that met his did help though. Smoothing off some of the edges so they didn’t feel quite so sharp to think about. And the way she settled her head against his shoulder then, well, that helped even more. ”Not even a little," Ali agreed, raising one slender arm out of the water, circling snuggly around the back of his neck. “Nobody’d win that kinda tug of war.” No. No they wouldn’t. All they’d get was even more people ripped apart. Simon let out that breath he must have been holding without realizing, leaned in a little more, and wrapped one of his own arms across her stomach, fingertips playing a gentle rhythm at her side under the water. Thinking out loud as he did that, about what this story - this amazing, still half-unbelievable story they’d had sprung on them - could and couldn’t be. Not more kicking around accusations and rhetoric about things other people had done to Captain America. And he didn’t even have to think about stopping to explain what he meant by that shorthand, which definitely felt like one hell of an extra luxury. Just go on to what the story needed to be. Steve. Just Steve, and the fact that things had happened to him, but not looking back. Leading into whatever it was that they were going to do now. “Make our case with the facts, and the man," Ali replied consideringly, and see, he knew he’d been right that there wasn’t any need to flesh those half-sketches of ideas out. She understood already what it was he’d been trying to aim at, or maybe it was just as right to say that he’d managed to find something coherent. Which was at least a little impressive, Simon thought, given that it was coming despite all kinds of entirely pleasant distraction. Like Ali, and her soft, smooth skin, and the hand she had on his leg still. “Proactive and not reactive. Skip the blame game and the he said, she said," she added, "as much as we can.” “Yeah.” Without really consciously thinking about what he was doing, Simon lifted his hand a little, trailing a finger over her side and across the curve of the underside of her breast. Just thinking. It was a good way to do that. It was a fantastic way to do that, in fact. “Keep it as glitz and pomp free, and as genuine and human, as we can make it all. This is the kinda thing that should stand pretty well on it's own, right?” “I think so,” Simon agreed, turning his head slightly toward hers where it rested on his shoulder, just to make it easier to breathe in that fantastic scent in her hair. No. Yes. Whichever was the agreement there, because glitz and pomp, much as he might be personally addicted to both of them, would never do for something like this. “Steve never really seemed to need the shiny add-ons to catch your imagination. It was just him,” he continued, smiling before another, less comfortable thought intruded to put a question mark against that memory. “It used to be, anyway.” What would it be now though? After five years buried so deeply in a prison that there hadn’t even been a whisper (a real one, not one of Gambit’s ‘theories’) that had surfaced? “And, y'know, I'd kinda like to know what he wants, once he's back and up to it.” Right. God. “Yeah,” he said, trying to get his mind to register that. Steve back… even that was still hard to wrap his thoughts around. The possibility of him being back but in a state where he couldn’t face those things? That was even harder. “Yeah,” Simon repeated though, a little more securely this time, as the actual point Ali was making settled in after those, and nodded in more positive agreement. They definitely couldn’t put Steve through any more things he didn’t get a choice about. Definitely. “So we do as little as we can safely get away with before we get a chance to find that out.” There would still have to be some, of course, no matter what. You couldn’t sit on a story like this and wait for it to be perfect before releasing any of it, or someone else would have already taken it and done who knew what before you got a chance to control it. Jan, maybe. Announcing it simply, with the kind of simple, genuine delivery she could give to the things she cared about. Just Jan, relieved to have her old friend back. Maybe that would be the way to do it, but before he’d got that idea together enough to turn into an actual suggestion, that other thought played hijacker all over again, refusing to be dismissed entirely. “I’d like to know if…” Simon began again, still tracing some sort of obscure pattern over her breast, before the thought put a stop to even that. “Well, you can’t go through something like that and come out the exact same person, can you? Even if you are Steve Rogers.” He couldn’t imagine that you would, anyway. But then, he couldn’t imagine it at all - all that time, not being dead. Being trapped. Maybe Ali could though; she’d been in a camp, and that might be… presumptuous of him, to even try to guess at, actually. “What do you think?” Simon asked her instead, since he’d come this far anyway, sliding his other hand a little way down her shoulder, and tilting his head so it was easier to see her face as he did. Wondering a little if he ought to go ahead and take that back with apologies, if it might make her uncomfortable. Definitely the last thing he ever wanted to do. |
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| Dazzler | Aug 6 2014, 08:29 PM Post #37 |
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I'm the best at what I do, and what I do is roller skate
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No, couldn't turn this into the PR equivalent of what her dad used to call 'a pissing contest' when he was outta the robes and outta the courtroom. A case where it was just a couple've sides feuding over pointless crap while any real point and all the facts - if there were any at all - got lost in the shuffle and nobody even cared anymore. This was big. A big responsibility and getting bigger the more she thought about it. Not just for the Resistance or whatever, but they were kinda talking about a guy's life here. A guy who was Captain America, but still a guy. So they make their case with the man, since she couldn't think of anybody better that would work for than maybe Steve Rogers. No tug of war. No blame game. No pissing contest. “Yeah.” It was a little distracted, thinking kind of agreement, maybe, but it was all good. Especially since Ali had her own distractions to go with as Simon lifted his hand, finger tracing along her side, along the underside of her breast in a way that had her shifting just a little again. Right toward that light contact that made her feel even warmer than the water they were sitting in. Right, though. Thinking. She could still do the thinking thing. Even with that. Glitz and pomp free. They'd probably wanna go with that, too. As awesome as those were, it wasn't something Steve Rogers had ever seemed to need to impress or connect. Or that was always the way he'd seemed to her, but yeah. Simon would totally know that a lot better than she would. “I think so,” Simon agreed, turning his head slightly toward hers where it was still perfectly comfortable there against his shoulder. Just like the rest of her was perfectly comfortable against him. “Steve never really seemed to need the shiny add-ons to catch your imagination. It was just him,” he continued, smiling, until something else seemed to work its way in there. “It used to be, anyway.” Used to be. Yeah. As in 'back before he was kidnapped and locked up for five years'. Under who knew what kinda conditions with nobody having a clue. Ali let out a slow breath, gave his leg a light squeeze. Add one more thing to the list: they'd kinda wanna know what Steve Rogers wanted, once he was back and once he was up to dealing with it. Hopefully, that'd be pretty fast but...yeah. Five years. She had at least kind of an idea what that felt like. “Yeah,” he said, reinforcing how not easy this had to be for him. “Yeah,” Simon repeated though, a little more securely this time, nodding as he let it all settle a little. And he could take all the time he needed with that. They had however long he wanted. “So we do as little as we can safely get away with before we get a chance to find that out.” Bare bones, yeah. Clean. Have the news delivered by a friend. Make it personal. One've the Avengers, definitely. Maybe the one original one they had left that wasn't working for the other side. "Keep it simple, then we go from there," Ali agreed, fingers going right back to sliding slowly along his leg, then back to his bare hip. They needed to get a jump on it, make sure they controlled how it started or they'd risk loosing control of it all together. They had the advantage, they were gonna need to keep it. “I’d like to know if…” Simon began again, catching her attention so that her eyes went back to his face as he stopped tracing those soothing little patterns on her skin. “Well, you can’t go through something like that and come out the exact same person, can you? Even if you are Steve Rogers.” Oh man. How did she explain something like that? Or her own opinions, based on her own kinda similar experiences? Did he even want her to try? Or was this just a thing like him needing to sort out his thoughts out loud? “What do you think?” That totally answered that question and he tilted his head to look at her, hand sliding down her shoulder. What did she think? Looking up at him, with that glow around her dimming just a little as she gave that question a little thought - thought that couldn't help but bring a lot of the crap from Marysville dragging along with it - it wasn't the kind of uncomfortable she'd half expected it to be. It wasn't happy, because nothing about any've that could ever be anything even close to happy, but it was- It was okay. More than okay, really, it was...maybe safe wasn't the word she was looking for, since the idea of not being safe with him hadn't even started to cross her mind ever. Secure? Understood? Something like that. Something that just had her leaning in closer against him and that made it not really that hard to think through it all and make some possible comparisons. Look at herself. Then and now. Look at some've the other people who'd come through that sorta thing, then and now. "No," Ali told him after a few seconds, fingers brushing lightly at the side of his neck now and kinda wishing she had another answer for him. No way she'd lie to him, though, and she thought anything else would be that, "He won't be exactly the same person he used to be. Nobody goes through something like that and comes out the other side without it changing them. Even Captain America." Didn't matter who it was, how strong they were, how anything they were. It was being in a cage. For years. Steve Rogers wasn't in a Camp, and they didn't really know if that was better or worse, but they did know he'd been in a cage. Like Reed Richards. Like Ororo. He wouldn't be exactly the same man. He couldn't be. "It doesn't mean he'll be totally different, though, either," the pink haired woman added, because that was the part that she felt better about telling him and the hint of a smile made it back to her face. "He's alive, and that kinda tells me something, y'know?" Or he might not know, but it wasn't too hard to figure out and he was more than just smart. That wasn't hard to figure out, either. "You don't make it that long, locked up like that, treated like that, if you can't sorta deal with it and keep going. Keep hoping." That was kinda it, wasn't it? Being able to still hope. She'd seen more than a few in Marysville give that up as soon as that collar snapped in place. They never made it long. Tons of other stuff factored in, and yeah, still didn't exactly know a lot about how he'd been treated, but there were still some common bottom lines, Ali thought. Stretching up just a little, she planted a light kiss at the side of his neck, right at the juncture of his shoulder. "Cap, he seemed like a guy with a lotta hope." You kinda had to be, to be who he was, or that's how it seemed. "I mean, I can't say for sure, but I think we'll get him back, and he'll maybe have a few more ghosts running around in his head than before, but he'll still be somebody you know. He'll still be Steve Rogers." Just like she was still Alison Blaire, and she had her own ghosts in her head, like a bunch of other people. But she was still her and she always had been, even when she'd tried to tell herself she wasn't. |
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| Wonder Man | Aug 9 2014, 11:47 AM Post #38 |
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Red Shades, Original Recipe. No really.
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“Keep it simple, then we go from there,” Ali replied, which Simon knew for an agreement for his proposal about keeping this story at a minimal level until they were armed with the knowledge about what Steve might want to do with it. Really, he did. Even if quite a few parts of his body and mind might be trying to put forward a case that it should actually be interpreted in light of the way her hand was still moving over his leg, now up to his hip, and… No. It was about the question about what Steve would want, and as appealing as the thoughts of multi-tasking might have been back there tucked away till they could have justice done to them, for now, it wasn’t the time. Not like they deserved. And they did actually flee back further again, as the other thought that wouldn’t quite stop forming reared its head inside his mind another time. About Steve. About everything he must have gone through, to be successfully hidden from the world for five years. About what that might have done. How that might have changed him. Even Steve Rogers couldn’t come through something like that as exactly the same person, could he? He asked all of that before stopping to really consider how close it might be skirting to things that perhaps Ali would have preferred not to speak or even think about for herself. He couldn’t imagine it, but maybe she could, only too well. And maybe… Well, he’d apologize if he needed to, the moment he sensed that from her, but he’d come far enough by this point that Simon took the gamble and pressed on enough to ask Ali what she thought. And though he tilted his head down where it was easy to watch her face, alert to signs of discomfort, and though she seemed… uncertain, perhaps, when she looked back up at him, he didn’t find any hint that she needed him to pull that back and change the subject to something that would be easier. She looked like she was thinking, and though he really didn’t like seeing the way the soft shining light that seemed to be dimmed when she did, if it was something she was willing to talk about, then he’d just try to be here for her while she had to go through that. Holding her, if not tighter, at least more.. presently, he’d call it. Hands and body resting against hers, to let her know she wasn’t alone. Still letting her choose how close she wanted him though, and how much space she needed to work through whatever she needed in her head to find the answers she was looking for. That seemed to be somewhere a little closer though, and Simon was only to ready to wrap his arms around her further, folding her in there. If that was where she wanted to be, he’d do everything he could to make it the best place it could be for her. “No,” Ali told him after a few seconds, fingers brushing lightly at the side of his neck in a way that took, though not all, of the stab out of dashed hopes out of that answer. It had been a long shot, anyway, and he’d known (or at least strongly suspected) that, hadn’t it? And there was, in an odd way, something that was still incredibly comforting just to know that Ali wouldn’t just tell him what she thought he wanted to hear, and that she’d trust him with the truth she had. “He won't be exactly the same person he used to be. Nobody goes through something like that and comes out the other side without it changing them. Even Captain America.” No. Even Steve. Christ, you only had to look at Reed this week to know that, didn’t you? But listening carefully to what she was saying (it wouldn’t have occurred to him to do anything less than pay that kind of careful attention), Simon found himself still heartened by the details. ‘Not exactly the same’. ‘Changing’, not broken. She’d said it that way for a reason, he had to think. Or wanted to think. “It doesn't mean he'll be totally different, though, either," the pink haired woman added, like she’d read the thoughts that were running through his mind right now. With a smile too - a small one, especially for her, but one that was as gorgeous as any of the larger ones, and just as good at extracting a matching one from his own lips. “He’s alive, and that kinda tells me something, y’know?” Simon nodded slowly. He knew. Or he thought he did, at least. “You don't make it that long, locked up like that, treated like that, if you can't sorta deal with it and keep going. Keep hoping.” Nodding again (and with more assurance this time) Simon tightened his arms around Ali’s waist as she twisted within his arms, and pressed her lips softly at the base of his neck in a way that widened his smile a little more. ”Cap, he seemed like a guy with a lotta hope.” “Always,” he agreed, no thought of hesitation at all in doing it. “No one ever had more.” Especially not of the kind of hope that wasn’t just not knowing any better. And dealing with it, and keeping going, too. If those were the things that a person needed to get through something like this, it seemed like Steve might have as good a chance as anyone to come through. Like Ali had. Keeping going, and keeping hoping - that had to be something she’d figured out for herself, right? Was that how she’d done it? Gone through who knew what in that place (he wouldn’t guess, that seemed like a set of things you shouldn’t go if you weren’t invited), and come out as this person? This fantastic, gorgeous, thoughtful person who’d tucked herself in against him, and given him this answer to a question he still wasn’t entirely sure he hadn’t been imposing on to ask. “I mean, I can't say for sure, but I think we'll get him back, and he'll maybe have a few more ghosts running around in his head than before, but he'll still be somebody you know. He'll still be Steve Rogers.” Ali’s words settled comfortingly into a warm silence around them, cut through by the soft sounds of the hot tub jets. Simon leaned forward a little more, dropping a kiss onto the back of her shoulder, because for a couple of seconds, it was the closest he could come to finding words to let her know what he was thinking. Someone could go through something - like that. Like a Camp - and still be the same in what mattered, if not in all the exact details. Alison Blaire definitely showed that was possible, in every way he hoped it could be true for his friend. For Steve’s sake, and for Sharon, and for that little boy, he was going to hope - in the clear-eyed way - and assume that she was right here. “I believe you,” he told her softly, smiling just a little at the maybe not quite logical way it felt to have one knot of worry he’d loosened enough to set it aside for now, and a little more again when he thought about Alison Blaire. Ghosts in her head or anything else that might be there, she was already someone who he was very glad to know. “Thank you.” |
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| Dazzler | Aug 10 2014, 09:34 PM Post #39 |
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I'm the best at what I do, and what I do is roller skate
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Here. Now. Him. Something about all of that put together, yeah, that made it kinda easier. Or at least not the sticking point it might've been to think about that, or talk about that. Contrast and compare, as Simon folded his arms around her exactly right and she leaned in closer against him. Two strong arms that belonged to somebody she trusted, without really having to think about whether she trusted him or not. It was just there. It might not be easy, but it was okay. Not the answer he was gonna want to hear, though, or the answer Ali really wanted to give him, but she couldn't give him anything but the truth. Nobody came out of something like that without it changing them. Even Captain America. But change didn't mean completely different, and she wanted him to know that, too. After five years, he was still alive, Camp or prison or whatever, and that told her something about Steve Rogers. Simon nodded and, yeah, he'd kinda figure that part out, too, wouldn't he? You didn't need to have been in a Camp or a cell somewhere to know that people who went in there without hope, or who lost it along the way, didn't make it that long. No matter what kinda conditions they were talking about. He nodded again, this time more like he might be getting on some solid ground, arms pulling her in a little more and that amazing smile widening, more like she knew it was supposed to be, as she stretched up a little. Planted a soft kiss on his neck. Captain America, he'd always seemed to her like a guy with a lot of hope. Just to be who he was. “Always,” he agreed, no thought of hesitation at all in doing it. “No one ever had more.” So yeah, if anybody could come outta something like that with minimal trauma? It'd be Steve Rogers she'd think. Totally no way for her to say for sure, all she could do was make an educated guess. Just go on what she knew and what she'd seen herself and her own experiences. What those things told her was that they'd get him back and he'd be different. He'd have things in his head he didn't have before - call them ghosts, call them what you wanted - but in the end? He'd still be somebody Simon knew. He'd still be the guy he was supposed to be, even if it wasn't the exact same guy who'd gone in there five years ago. Just like she wasn't the same girl who'd gone into Marysville, but she was still her, scars and ghosts and mistakes and all. And, yeah, that hadn't been so hard at all, had it? Even if it had been, hey, some things were worth it. Simon was totally one've those things and the way his lips pressed against her shoulder after, sending another little shiver through her, that just proved it, didn't it? Lightly, she stroked her fingers along his arm, other arm still raised and hooked loosely around his neck and just listening to the swoosh and bubble of the water as the jets moved it around in the tub. Swirling the water around kinda like her thoughts were swirling around. Sort of mixed up and not entirely settled, but not anything to be worried about, either. Mostly thinking. About a half dozen things at once - tonight and tomorrow and that little boy waiting on his dad to come meet him and, maybe most of all, Simon - but it was a slow, warm churning inside her head and completely manageable, if kinda chaotic still. What was the line from that song? It's only half past the point of no return. The thunder before the lightning. Except she had this kinda suspicion the lightning? Was already a done deal. “I believe you,” Simon told her, voice soft, and she tilted her head back again, meeting that smile with one of her own. If she could do anything to keep that smile on his face, or make this even a little easier for him, she was totally on board with it. Worrying about friends and feeling like people you thought you knew had totally and completely let you down, yeah, she knew what that felt like. Knew what dealing with it was like and how not fun that was. “Thank you.” Ali's smile got a little wider and she stretched up a little again to kiss him softly. And that was warm, and comfortable, and a whole lot of other things, too. "Anytime, Handsome," the former singer told him seriously, reopening blue eyes to meet his red ones again. "It's a pretty big bombshell, you definitely get to be a little worried about how it'll all turn out." He wasn't the kinda man who wouldn't think about it, or care about what his friend had gone through. Or worry about how it'd all work out. Shinobi could do that, but she'd never exactly understood it, or been able to do it herself. Even when it might've made her life easier if she could've. "But, y'know, I really think the cosmos owes us a few good outcomes for once. We're overdue," Ali added, fingers brushing idly back and forth along the line of his neck again, because it was absolutely beyond true. Their ratio was way off and there were overdue notices all over the place. Time for the universe to start paying off a little. It wouldn't be that easy, probably, but nothing worth having ever was. |
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| Wonder Man | Aug 13 2014, 09:43 PM Post #40 |
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Red Shades, Original Recipe. No really.
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What a smile. Really. He didn’t even know if she had any idea just how amazing it was to look down and come across that turned back up at you, but by this point, Simon was long past wondering or worrying about that. It was, almost certainly, the very most beautiful smile he’d ever seen, and the fact it could still come back even now, with this conversation, was way beyond special. He believed her. Everything she’d said, about Steve, and about life, and about her own experience (though that hadn’t been there in so many words, it still had been there all the same, if you paid attention). Belived her, and… well, he thanked her, and was grateful, and would stay grateful, that she’d done this, and told him what she could about all of it. The smile only widened when he said that, and then she’d twisted around in his arms, stealing up quickly and dropping her lips back next to his, kissing him like this was only the middle act of an ongoing saga. Kissing him like she meant it, and like he would have been happy for her to keep on doing for the rest of her life. “Anytime, Handsome," the former singer told him seriously, reopening blue eyes to meet his red ones again, and she had something in her expression that said that that was more than just a figure of polite speech, didn't she? Simon really wanted to think he wasn't imagining that, anyway, and he was pretty sure that he wasn't. “It’s a pretty big bombshell, you definitely get to be a little worried about how it'll all turn out.” She wasn't dismissing that, or telling him he was an idiot to be worried. Yet another thing to appreciate about Alison Blaire, because there was still a sizeable chunk of his head that wasn’t ready to be completely sure, no matter what anyone else might say about how things would come here. Not with something as big as this, which seemed to deserve something more than blind hope that it would all be alright. God knew they'd been proved wrong on that kind of thing often enough in the last five years. But since this was where they were, and there wasn’t going to be any way around that, and since there was space here, even close like they were, to keep it in perspective, worried was something Simon definitely thought he could get into perspective and keep from actively intruding. At least when he looked back at Ali. She really was gorgeous. “But, y'know, I really think the cosmos owes us a few good outcomes for once. We're overdue," Ali added, fingers brushing idly back and forth along the line of his neck again which sometime (not now, it really wasn't exactly the moment) he needed to tell her just how much he enjoyed. Or better yet, show her. That could wait, though. Right now, he was happy to just appreciate it, and to appreciate her words again. Whatever he resolved, about not thinking through this all too hard, and just enjoying whatever respite was here in the moments that were offered up right here, somehow Ali still seemed to keep coming and echoing all the thoughts he really hadn’t been expecting anyone else to start thinking. Overdue. Yeah. Overdue for a few good outcomes. He really did like that. “Not going to argue that for a second,” Simon told her, meeting her eyes and letting his fingers move however they wanted. They were owed. Or... yeah, maybe not owed, but overdue, that was closer. Though he was kind of starting, as his hands moved down her sides and across her skin, tracing the softness and each inch of the lovely curves, to be more than just partially convinced that the universe was setting itself up right now to cut him a few breaks. Like right now, where there seemed to be nothing at all to stop him leaning in again on impulse, and pressing his lips back to hers, repeating that kiss. Holding her close, not letting her away, though maybe she didn’t want to be either. “Hey, though,” he said softly, as he pulled back, meeting her eyes with a completely serious expression, and half-smiling. More than half-smiling, maybe.It was hard not to, when you were right in the middle of what he was really hoping would be the start of something that involved a lot more of kisses like that. “No more Camps.” And that, he had to think, might also go more than a little way past nothing at all as far as helping to balance out those scales. |
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| Dazzler | Aug 14 2014, 07:41 PM Post #41 |
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I'm the best at what I do, and what I do is roller skate
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Any time. Ali could say that and absolutely, completely mean it. Seal it with a kiss, even, because that was anything but a hardship. It wasn't hard at all, any of it. Right now. With him. Really, really easy, in fact, as she looked up into his eyes and knew there wasn't anywhere else she'd rather be or anyone else she'd rather be with. Whatever he wanted or needed to talk about, she'd do her best to keep up. Tonight, he'd had a hella massive bombshell dropped on him. A good one, and a not so good one, all at once. Worried and concerned and whatever other things he needed to feel about that, he was totally allowed. It'd be hard not to be all of those things, especially when there wasn't anything to do about any of it but hang out and wait. And wonder. And, yeah, he was that kinda man, too, wasn't he? The kind that would keep that somewhere in the back of his head when it was people he cared about. It was a good thing, to be like that, even if sometimes it wasn't an easy thing or a fun thing. Totally amazing. He really was. In every single way she could think of. Plus, in the scheme of things, Ali was thinking the cosmos or whatever was still due to hand out more than a few breaks their way. Breaks that were way overdue and that they'd all just started to collect on. So she told him that, too, fingers playing along the side of his neck and still staying there close against him. Like she'd said, nowhere she'd rather be. “Not going to argue that for a second,” Simon told her, meeting her eyes and fingers stroking over her skin again. Along her sides, making her aware all over again just how close they were, body arching just a little under his hands because that really did make her feel like glowing all over again. Leaning in to kiss her like he wanted to do that as much as she wanted him to. Maybe he did. God, she so hoped he did. “Hey, though,” he said softly, as he pulled back, meeting her eyes with a completely serious expression, and half-smiling. More than half-smiling, maybe.It was hard not to, when you were right in the middle of what he was really hoping would be the start of something that involved a lot more of kisses like that. “No more Camps.” No more Camps. Definitely a big one on the list of 'Things That Were Overdue'. A really, really big one and she smiled right back at him, twisting around slightly until she was a little more turned to one side in toward him, legs stretching out over one of his, then bending at the knee. Sort of like sitting in his lap, which was another entirely distracting idea. "No more Camps," Ali repeated softly, eyes still on his face and arm tightening around his neck, now that she had a better angle to do that. Still staying as close as she could, or almost as close as she could, as the fingers of her other hand brushed slowly down the middle of his chest, following the dips and planes. "Y'know, we did the first breakout at Marysville, and then I tagged along for the end of the last one at Utah. Really glad I got to see that." More than kinda, really. Marysville, that'd been a lotta planning and desperation to be outta that hellhole. Five years was five too many. Utah, though, that'd been something different. Something that reminded her who she was and who she wanted to be again. Head dipping, she planted a kiss on his shoulder. Then another one because she could and she wanted to. And wanted to add a few dozen more, but looked back up at him instead, smile blooming all over again. "So thanks for letting me show up outta nowhere and pitch in," Ali told him and meant it. Not that she'd done all that much, they'd already handled all the hard stuff, but being involved? That was still good, and the kiss at the end that'd practically curled her toes? Yeah, utterly amazing, just like it seemed to be every single time since. |
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| Wonder Man | Aug 16 2014, 12:14 AM Post #42 |
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Red Shades, Original Recipe. No really.
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Was she glowing again? Simon thought he might have caught a glimpse of something like that, but stopping to check was definitely not a thing that was even crossing his mind as he leaned in to kiss Ali again. Which was something that seemed to just keep getting better, even though it had started at a point that he definitely thought they’d nailed perfectly back in Utah. Because that one had been perfect. Still, a movie was made out of more than just one scene, and this one he would be perfectly happy to see spread out into enough scenes to fit even an Peter Jackson orc-filled opus (extended version), because yes. He really thought he was right. Kissing Alison Blaire just got better, the more he kept doing it. And she was glowing again, he noticed with a sense that the world was that little bit more right again for that being true as he pulled back, meeting her eyes at that slightly awkward angle they had here with her sitting that way. And since Utah was on his mind again, and the point she’d made about balancing the scales too, he’d just go ahead and put that thought out there again, huh? No More Camps. It was a thought that was good by itself, and one that was also even better for the smile that it put on Ali’s face, and the glow that came with it. And that needed another word (fantastic, that would do for starters, at least) when she began to move and twist in his lap (near enough, anyway), making a kind of quarter turn so that she was sitting more like across his leg, hooking her knees just a little over his thigh. Well, that? That felt like… if not one of the best things in the world, definitely a step in exactly that direction. One side, leaning in toward his chest, and her arm slipping around a little more securely at his neck, like she’d been waiting for the chance to do that that way. “No more Camps," Ali repeated softly, and the fingers that she ran down his chest as she did were definitely distracting, but not quite so distracting that Simon couldn’t hear the extra note of extra meaning in her voice that was there for those three words. Nodding slowly, he kept his eyes on hers, and slid one hand down, tracing from her hip along the line of the thigh she’d arranged across his. Watching her think before she spoke again. “Y’know, we did the first breakout at Marysville, and then I tagged along for the end of the last one at Utah. Really glad I got to see that.” “Yeah,” Simon agreed softly, running his fingers over her knee and then around to the little hollow behind it. So was he. And not just because right now - with her hand like that on his chest, and the incredibly distracting legs that were not only draped across his, but incredibly touchable too - really glad was a state of mind that was kind of pervading just about every thought he had in his head. That, yes, but also because (aside from all of those considerations, which were definitely hard things to put aside at the moment, but still doable, all the same) he was glad that he’d got to help her get that kind of mental full circle for something like this. She dropped her gaze then, and her head, but only to kiss his shoulder. Once, and then twice, and though he was pretty sure it wasn’t actually part of her power set, Simon still could have sworn her lips left electric currents sparking over his skin at each spot that they touched. And that paled in comparison to the feeling when she pulled away again, and looked back up at him, and smiled. Thunderbolt City. Nothing else even close to it. “So thanks for letting me show up outta nowhere and pitch in," Ali told him, speaking like there was some universe where it could possibly have been an imposition to have her there with them for that. Grinning to match that smile she’d shown him, Simon shook his head. “Are you kidding?” She definitely hadn’t sounded like she was kidding, but maybe she ought to have been. Especially the more he thought about it. “I should have brought you in there from the start,” he added, only half aware that he was moving his hand from her thigh, lifting up through the water till it found her breasts, then running his thumb over one nipple. “Maybe you could have saved us from that Lightshaft Manna from Heaven arrow of Nemesis’ that way.” Smart guy, definitely. Brilliant, even. But after that, you definitely had to wonder if he’d seen any kind of cinematic endeavor that had happened post-1960. And though it had ended up working… well, he, personally, would definitely not have minded seeing what the brains (not to mention the powers) behind the Dazzler light show could have come up with in that position. Or in this one. But that was… well, another story. Actually a very much more interesting story right now, too. One he was starting to think he could very easily get lost completely in. |
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| Dazzler | Aug 16 2014, 09:56 PM Post #43 |
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I'm the best at what I do, and what I do is roller skate
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Smooth, warm, bare skin. Warmer than the water, even, Ali thought, not finding any reason at all why she shouldn't touch him the way she wanted to. Let her fingers brush over his chest, moving kinda slowly, because she didn't feel like rushing. Like missing anything by going too fast. Not the way he nodded, or kept his eyes on hers that way. The way that made something warm and smokey seem to curl it's way around her stomach and spread out toward her chest. The way he was touching her, too. Hand stroking from her hip to along her thigh, sure and confident and scattering all the thoughts in her head again. Or definitely coming close. Something that wasn't as easy as some people would probably think, but with him? Simon kinda had a knack for that. Even when they were talking about no more Camps and the breakout at Marysville and the last one at Utah. Ali managed to hold onto a few thoughts there, though, or at least a few that didn't involve exactly how close he was, or how tempting it was to kiss him again, and then just keep kissing him. No reason she couldn't combine the two, for a little bit at least, before it was a complete lost cause. Marysville had been terrifyingly amazing, and it'd been the first. Not that they'd had a clue about that then and, in some ways, that she'd even lived through it to get here and to the last one was kind of a miracle all on it's own. But seeing the start and the finish, and having a little part of both of them? Something she'd definitely never forget and something she'd always be glad she got to see. It felt a little like...finishing a concert tour you weren't sure you'd make it through. Maybe if the concert tour was through hell, but you know. “Yeah,” Simon agreed softly, finding that little spot behind her knee that was sensitive enough to make her pull in a little gasp of air and almost completely forget every word of what she'd just said. He was really, amazingly excellent in finding all those little spots, wasn't he? So, tiny pause there to give into temptation a little more, since it was one've her favorite things ever. Head dipping briefly and moving to his shoulder. Lips pressing to invitingly damp skin. Then again, because if it was worth doing, it was worth doing more than once. Then looking back up at him and smiling, since yeah. Not smiling wasn't even anything she was thinking about, or close to thinking about. Maybe say thanks for letting her show up outta nowhere in Utah and help a little with the clean up. Since Ali was pretty sure she hadn't done that yet. Not to mention that whole final scene there, which stood out in her memory all on it's own. Simon grinned that amazingly sexy grin of his, head shaking. “Are you kidding?” Not even, but she was pretty sure he knew that already. “I should have brought you in there from the start,” he added, hand moving to her breast, touching and teasing in exactly the perfect way to have her back arching again, soft little "Mmmm..." of pleased approval escaping on a breath as her eyelids drooped. A little like being wrapped up in a bright bubble of electric energy, the way he touched her, and her hand slid lower, still exploring languidly. Fingers following the dips and valleys of his body. The way it slowly narrowed from this chest to his abdomen to his stomach. "Maybe you could have saved us from that Lightshaft Manna from Heaven arrow of Nemesis’ that way.” Yeah, there was that, wasn't there? It was a Cecil B. DeMille Moses in the 'Ten Commandments' moment if she'd ever seen one, she'd give it that. "Gotta give him points for effort," Ali commented softly and with a grin to match, "But stage lighting? Definitely an art, not a science." Though since the crazy science guy had sec that up, they should probably be glad it hadn't been a death ray from above. Even only running into Dr. Nemesis a couple've times so far, it was pretty easy to catch onto that. Another short pause to lean in a little again, because no way did she feel like she could get too close to him right now. Slide her lips over his, light as a feather but all kinds of sparks there, too, just from that. "I always did all my own stage lighting, you know," the former singer murmured, curling in against him as her palm stroked low over his stomach, then out to his hip. "Something like that, you wanna go a little more subtle." Kinda along with that point, Ali dimmed her own glow down, turning the dial low, but spreading it out so that it followed the lines of Simon's body, the same way it did hers. An old trick, one've the first ones she learned besides going off like a flashbulb at really loud noises, but that wasn't so much a trick as a 'holy crap, what just happened' moment. "Keep the eyes where you want them, without anybody realizing you planned it that way." Compliment, not distract or take away from. "Or," the pink haired woman added, concentrating just a little, but not too much since the next one was pretty easy, too, "tailor it to fit the mood." The room slowly filled with something you could probably describe as a soft, muted haze of pastel colored light. Which, yeah, that absolutely fit her feelings at the moment. Soft and hazy and glowing. Might as well share since she could. |
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| Wonder Man | Aug 19 2014, 12:15 AM Post #44 |
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Red Shades, Original Recipe. No really.
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Was she kidding? Well, okay, in truth Simon did know already that Ali wasn’t kidding (you could hear it), but some tropes were too entrenched not to go with. Although, she really should have been kidding, because there was no need for thanks, since in fact he really should have brought her in on the Utah mission right from the start. In other news, she really did have the most fantastic breasts. Touching them might just be another of his new favorite things (though that was already a long list, all of which included her), and he really did like to think he was doing something right when she moved that way against his hand, arching her back toward it with a little “Mmmm…” that really, really might have gone through his ears and straight down without stopping for anything so ordinary as brain processing. Or… oh, okay, yeah. Yeah, maybe that was her hand doing that, sliding down his body in a way that redefined sexy in all sorts of good ways. Could he purr? Okay, idle wonderings, probably due to a brain that was in the middle of being expertly soothed and teased into something that was rapidly approaching utterly contented incoherence, but he really needed to see if he could get Greer to teach him that… no, okay, not really a thought to have right now, was it? Would Greer be okay with this though? He hadn’t exactly said, and perhaps… well, should he have said? Let her know, just to make sure she was ok- wait, what was he thinking? Not just that this wasn’t the time, but there was no need to, Simon was pretty sure of that. If Greer had, in any way, not been okay with him and Ali? Well after Utah, they’d have known. He would definitely have known if she wasn’t. Greer wasn’t subtle. Not about that. Okay then. All that sorted through in the time it took Ali’s hand to travel down to his stomach (oh god that felt amazing. Absolutely amazing), so time to pick back up on that other thought like there had been no amazing touching interlude with personal mental sidebar option, beause… Wait, where had he been? Oh yeah, if Ali had been along from the start at that mission, not only… well, not would she have been there for a lot longer than she had been (definitely a bonus, right there), but maybe she could have saved them all from whatever that thing that Nemesis had sprung on them through Clint for the ‘Mutant Messiah’. An arrow that shot light like it was Manna from heaven? He, at least, wouldn’t have minded forgoing that for a chance to see what Dazzler, the original, came up with in the same position. Also, her other breast really needed its share of attention now, didn’t it? “Gotta give him points for effort," Ali commented softly and with a grin to match, as Simon set about right that particular wrong, shifting his efforts as he smile back at her. “But stage lighting? Definitely an art, not a science.” Well, color him interested. Because while he hadn’t been that bad a scientist back in the day (not as good as Hank, and yes, in their line of work, the list definitely went on and on from there, but anyway, not as good as Hank, much better than he’d been as a businessman), art? That was something that made you happy to get up in the morning. Grin widening a little more, Simon had almost got a ‘tell me more’ to form on his lips when the prospect of Ali’s lips made that disappear again, leaving them perfectly free for hers to brush against them. Just the lightest of feathery touches, warm and certain, but gone again almost the very next instant, leaving him just at the point of gasping for more as she pulled back again. Oh, she was good. She was really good. She was really, incredibly fantastic. “I always did all my own stage lighting, you know," the former singer murmured, somehow moving in closer while still finding room to slide her hand down even lower across his abs, out to his hip, raising a fluttering shiver of a feeling that followed the movement of her hand, and wanted more. God, so much more. “Something like that, you wanna go a little more subtle.” Caught up in watching her face as she explained, wondering what had happened to make her glow dim again, it took a moment for Simon to follow her look downward. Down, past her breasts (fantastic. To look at as well as to touch, but…) Oh. Oh, there, where her hand was, and spreading out further and further from there, there were lines of light folding around his body too now. Ali’s lights. She’d shared her glow! Oh man, he had not realized that was a thing she could do. Wow. Really. Really wow. Dimples flashing yet again, Simon inspected the new shared look for a moment longer before lifting his eyes back up to the gorgeous woman in his arms. Or… well, the gorgeous face of the gorgeous woman in her arms, more accurately. “Mmmm,” he told her with a low murmur, planting a kiss of his own on the edge of her shoulder, “I do like subtle.” Well, that didn’t sound like him. But if Ali was doing subtle, subtle turned out to be, very definitely, a thing that he liked a lot. Especially if subtle also included making him into her own personal extra nightlight. Yeah, this was why he needed a screenwriter. “Keep the eyes where you want them, without anybody realizing you planned it that way,” Ali continued, as Simon set himself back on the task of exploring her body with his hands and with his eyes, tracking over each amazingly gorgeous curve and hollow with a mixture of thoroughness and whim. Eyes, though. Eyes. Slowly, he lifted them upward once again, lingering for just one more extra moment at those utterly perfect breasts, before seeking the absolutely beautiful blue eyes that might still be even more perfect. “Or,” the pink haired woman added, concentrating just a little, "tailor it to fit the mood.” And just like that, the room was filled with a glow of light that could have taken the mood right out of his head. A little bit soft, a little bit warm, still a little bit colored though. All around fantastic. Simon grinned wider again, which was something even he might not have thought he could have managed, but here it was, and it was happening. Also, really big, approving nod, because that might have been one of the best things he’d seen in the last half hour that weren’t Ali, in whatever state of clothing she felt comfortable in (for the record, though? The current one was definitely his favorite). “Check, and check. Full seal of Wonder approval,” he informed her, dropping his hand back to her thigh, thumb running out along the line of her hipbone. Leaning in to claim another kiss, too, because he really did just like doing that, and because he thought he might owe her another teasing there. “Do you take requests?” Because he definitely thought he might have some ideas for things they could do together. |
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| Dazzler | Aug 19 2014, 05:52 PM Post #45 |
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I'm the best at what I do, and what I do is roller skate
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Definite points to crazy science guy and his homage (intentional or not) to 'The Ten Commandments'. It was a classic and you hardly ever went wrong with those. Performance and stage lighting, though? That was totally different. More art than science. And light? Well, that was kinda her thing all the way around. Minor pause in dialogue, though, for a kiss. Soft and brief and barely there, but completely and totally impossible not to do when Simon's amazing smile was widening like that and his hands were moving over her her skin and body the way that they were, lighting her up from the inside out in ways that didn't have anything to do with powers. Not the mutant or super-hero kind, anyway. Ali could do that, and feel that - every single touch and point of contact, and that completely weightless, breathless feeling it caused - and still keep talking. At least for now, when it was about things like effects. She'd done her own for years on stage. Knew how that worked and why and what usually worked best for certain situations. A little emphasis, that might've worked better. Subtle (which, yes, she could do - sometimes - thank you very much), kinda like dimming down the glowing light around her again, but then spreading that out and sharing it with Simon, too. (Could go brighter with that, but didn't wanna blind him by accident. The shades kinda made her wonder if his eyes might be light sensitive.) God, he looked amazing like that. Well, he looked completely amazing any time, but that just complemented all the gorgeous that was already there. Might've taken him a second to catch on, but the reward, complete with those dimples that could twist her around his little finger if he wanted and approval, which made her smile wider, was so worth it. “Mmmm,” he told her with a low murmur that seemed to vibrate through her like a rhythm she couldn't get outta her head and didn't want to, just reinforcing that with the warmth of his lips against her shoulder. More of that. She could do with all kinds of more of that, if he was inclined. “I do like subtle.” Or, you know, it was pseudo-subtle, anyway. As subtle as two glowing people could be, so that still counted. Absolutely. It'd keep the eyes where you wanted them, anyway. Usually without anybody realizing that's how you'd planned it. Though that thought kinda trailed off into thoughts about his hands and where she wanted those - and that would be everywhere, if there was any doubt still happening at all - as they started moving over her in really, truly amazing ways. So did his eyes and that was a whole other level of sexy. Sweeping up to meet hers and bringing an almost electric jolt right along with them. One that she felt absolutely all over as she looked back into those completely captivating red ones of Simon's. Eyes she could totally and happily get lost in. The one that she wanted. Yeah, she'd known that was gonna be him, hadn't she? So, for her last trick, a little mood lighting, maybe. Pulled right outta her head, because it was just as full of soft, pastel haziness as the bathroom was now, too. Easy trick, still, and even if it hadn't been it would've been worth that nod and that widening smile on his face, no question. None at all. “Check, and check. Full seal of Wonder approval,” he informed her (Approval was good. Simon approval? Maybe one've the best things ever), before distracting her again with a kiss that didn't last nearly long enough (though she'd kinda brought that on herself, hadn't she?), definitely left her wanting more, and one hand moving to her thigh. Stroking along her hipbone in a way that Ali couldn't not respond to. Kinda shifting, just a little, since there was all kinds of really nice, sorta breathless anticipation building and that had her total approval. “Do you take requests?” That? Definitely her kinda question. "For you? Any time," Ali assured him, brow lifting and grin as soft as her voice, and still caught up in his eyes. Hand sliding along his thigh. Slowly, fingers splayed, then up again just the same, though moving it over and down a little as she went, in toward his inner thigh. "Whatever requests you wanna to make." Deciding the glow she'd spread around him needed a little more color, Ali shifted it toward red. Usually, she stuck to pastels, but that was just her own personal thing. Red was definitely Simon's color and it looked amazing on him. Then she kissed him again. Not teasing this time, but really kissed him. A girl could only have so much restraint, you know. |
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3:32 AM Jul 11