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What A Feeling!; 05/23 - Night - (Simon, Ali)
Topic Started: May 29 2014, 10:39 PM (1,271 Views)
Dazzler
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Sound to light, it was what she did. Absorbed it, yes, everywhere. Better with bare skin? Also a big yes, but then, you know, everything was kinda better without clothes getting in the way.

“Too true,” Simon agreed breath warm on her skin, brushing over her breast. The words and the sound of his voice just as much of a physical touch, but in a completely different way. Making her insides start to go warm and liquid all over again. More intense when she thought about it, let it register in her consciousness in a way she usually stuck in the back of her mind, out of her notice. The same way you got used to wearing clothes and didn't notice how the fabric felt and moved unless you really thought about it.

If that wasn't a reason to get even a little closer to this gorgeous, amazing man, Ali didn't know what was. Even if she totally didn't need any reason at all other than wanting to. While, yeah, she tried to come up with a few words that were more than just a kinda agreeing type sound and a couple've syllables.

There were words, somewhere in her head, that would totally describe what she was. Hank-type words, but they were definitely in there and she kinda needed them. Alison Blaire was sure that, any other time, she could've pulled them right out. Now, though? Just a little distracted, thoughts a little scattered (or absolutely more than just a little), attention more on Simon than on thinking. So it took her a few more seconds and a little pause to press her lips just there, where his neck and shoulder met.

Okay, transducer. That was totally one. A kinda breathless word, but there it was and that's what she was. Walking, singing, talking transducer. Sound to light, but he'd been an engineer, right? He'd know what a transducer was so moving on. Trying to kinda explain how it worked when you were a person, not a piece of equipment. Sound was something she heard, but something she felt, too, as waves of this amazing energy that soaked into her. Got under her skin and seeped in everywhere as she soaked it in like rain in a desert.

“Hmmm…” and that? Was exactly what she'd been talking about. That low, humming murmur that heated her up from the inside out as that sound that was just so amazingly sexy slid into her. Twining all around with the way his fingers traced along her back and putting, yeah, all kinds of other amazing thoughts and images that didn't have anything at all to do with transducers right into the front of her head. “Then you store it,” he added, and Ali nodded, back arching a little, skin brushing his again.

"Mmmm...yeah. Like a battery," she confirmed, practically whispering in his ear. "I couldn't at first, though. Store it, that is." Clarification, probably a good thing when her thoughts were kinda all over the place. The sound, thing, too. A little clarification on that. How some kinds definitely felt better than others as her fingers traced a little trail of their own along his shoulder and down the middle of his back. Music at the top've that list, because it was all complicated and amazing layers of synchronized, cascading energy.

And his voice, especially when it was low and husky like that? Like sex translated to a sound.

Yeah, probably all kinds of strange sounding, but he'd asked. And totally not in the way that most people did, when they had no damned clue what she was going on about and were just trying to be polite. Or, you know, not upset the possibly crazy/extremely stoned person about babbling at them about 'feeling' sound. Even as a kid, before she'd ever had any kinda powers, she'd been pretty quick on the uptake figuring out it didn't work the same way with other people as it did with her.

“That’s amazing,” said the utterly amazing guy she had basically wrapped herself around, with that kinda complete and total sincerity she kept seeing from him and that she couldn't even have thought about doubting. God, he really was so much a one-of-a-kind. “I can only imagine.” Sort of, anyway. Okay, kind of imagine, he should really admit that. “And I don’t think I’ve taken enough psychedelics to really do that,” he qualified and she was totally grinning again, right at him, arms tightening around him a little more as he..oh, man. Humming. He was totally humming 'The One That I Want', wasn't he?

Just kinda soaking that in, Ali closed her eyes and hummed a few bars along with him. "Seriously," she whispered as her eyes opened again and grin softening. "Sexiest man ever." And definitely, without any kinda doubt at all, the one that she wanted. In a whole list of ways.

“What’s your effective bandwidth?” Okay, the tech questions? Also all kinds of hot, actually. Even if her brain was kinda protesting being forced to find and pull out the answers right now, or even translate some've it, with all the other really, really awesome things it had to concentrate on. “I mean, are we talking normal human range? Or you get ultrasonics?”

Yeah, like those words. But she did totally know this, thanks to her time as a 'guest' of Project Pegasus and her own on the job trial and error. So, yeah, the answers, they were in there. While she pulled them up, Ali took the opportunity to lean in. Just a light brush of her lips over his, but it'd been way too long since she'd done that. Minutes, at least.

"Audible human range, ultrasonics, pretty much anything that's any kinda sound," she murmured, planting another, feather light kiss at the corner of his mouth. And adjusting her position just a little again. Not because she wasn't comfortable, since she totally was, but because of how electric and amazing it felt when she did. "Dog whistles, jet engines, Black Bolt screaming at me full blast," or Siryn or Banshee, but Black Bolt? That'd been a couple of unbelievable experiences, "if it's sound, I can absolutely soak it up and use it. Or store it, unless there's so much I hit overload. Then I kinda have to discharge it somehow."

And another light kiss, just at his jaw this time. Still smiling, because...yeah. Sweet and smart and sincere and just utterly amazing and sexy as hell. How could you possibly not smile when it came to a guy like that?
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A transducer. So she absorbed the sound - and then, because it was the only way to explainw all he’d seen in the last (was it really only just more than a day?), she stored it. Why this mattered, compared to the very definite fact of the amazingly hot way she was arching against him, Simon couldn’t have said. But it did. He really wanted to know about this.

”Mmmm…yeah. Like a battery," she confirmed, practically whispering in his ear. "I couldn't at first, though. Store it, that is.

But now she could, and… he wasn’t necessarily going to get time to think through all of what that might mean, because Ali moved on to telling him a little more about how sounds made her feel, from music to his voice, and he definitely had to switch to thinking about that.

And thinking about what he could do to make uses of that that she might like, but that kind of went without saying. The way she spoke about music, though… that was honestly amazing, even though Simon could only barely imagine what it would be like, and told her as much. He still had what he thought was a pretty decent imagination though, so whether or not he could really understand it, he could still hum a little of what he was definitely now thinking of as their song. One of their songs.

Anyway, he was humming it to her, low and close over her skin, and she joined in. He had to think that was a good thing.

“Seriously,” she whispered as her eyes opened again and grin softening. "Sexiest man ever.”

Simon didn’t bother even trying to hold back the grin that grew on his lips, or the urge that prompted him to shift his arms to pull her closer. She… was just too gorgeous not to. Really. And while he had the feeling that Alison Blaire was someone who wasn’t under any illusions about just how spectacular looking she was… he still didn’t think she knew just how irresistible she really was. And she wanted to give her superlatives to him?

Well, he was going to have to really put that to the test now, by totally nerding out on her about her effective bandwidth. Not something he was exactly proud of, but actually did really want to know, and Ali made it all okay by the way she took it.

With a kiss, just lightly feathering over his lips, erasing any kind of embarrassment he might have had about killing the moment in engineerinisms.

“Audible human range, ultrasonics, pretty much anything that's any kinda sound," she murmured, though Simon had to work to make his brain register all those details when she coupled it to another kiss and a shift of her body that no kind of engineering talk was going to override. Mmmm, that felt good, and his own lips responded hungrily, trying to prolong the contact with hers.

“Dog whistles, jet engines, Black Bolt screaming at me full blast,” she continued though, and those words, at least, filtered through, enough that Simon paused, eyes opening up more just so he could look at her more. Black Bolt. Holy shit, that was a lot of sound. He didn’t even - he’d have to start with a much bigger metaphorical envelope to even try to calculate what that was.

“if it's sound, I can absolutely soak it up and use it. Or store it, unless there's so much I hit overload. Then I kinda have to discharge it somehow.”

And Ali kissed him again, lips pressing lightly against his jaw. If that was a new way of discharging sound energy, it was one Simon was definitely in favor of. He shifted a little against the delicious hint of pressure, then twisted around, letting his lips seek out her neck again for a moment before he gave control of his brain back to his vocal cords.

“You can take on Black Bolt at full force,” he repeated, tilting his head so smile at her. She’d told him that just now, so casually you might almost have missed it in the midst of everything, like it was really just the same thing as a dog whistle, but he wasn’t that kind of under-informed. He knew what that meant, at least as a rough estimate, and that kind of automatically led to another question, while he had her here, before the lure of her skin, and her body, and the general gorgeous that was everything about her got him too carried away again, “Remind me again, why were you never an Avenger?”
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Dazzler
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There was that grin again. The one that completely knocked her socks off every single time. You know, if she'd been wearing socks. Or anything else.

It was a killer, in the absolutely best way she could mean that and, socks or no socks or whatever, it had her pulse doing that little jumping thing again and her stomach doing all kinds of flips. Like topping the hill on a roller coaster and suddenly tipping over the crest and plunging, almost weightless, at what felt like a million miles an hour directly toward the ground.

Maybe not exactly sure what was gonna happen when you got to the bottom again, but not really caring so much, either.

Totally needed to kiss him again, just a little. A light feathering of her lips over his again as she tried to come up with more words her brain should know but was being a little slow about pulling out so she could use them. Bandwidth, she definitely knew this one (and who knew talking about that could be this hot?), from her 'vacation' at Project Pegasus and her own general experience. And-

Okay, that was definitely hot, too. The way this completely gorgeous, amazingly appealing man responded to that light kiss. It made her want to forget about finding those words and explore other things, instead. Kiss him in a way that was anything but light and soft as she adjusted her position just a little again, but Ali managed to put at least a temporary hold on that to actually get the answer out there.

Audible range, ultrasonic, pretty much any kinda sound. She could use pretty much all've it, from the faintest to the most intense. Soak it up, use it, store it. Discharge the excess, if there was too much. She added that, too, as she leaned in, pressed her lips to that very, very tempting spot at his jaw. Mmmm...liked the way he moved when she did that. Liked it even more when his mouth found that spot on her neck again. Then one that made her go weak in the knees and scatter her thoughts all around.

The way he did that had all her approval.

“You can take on Black Bolt at full force,” he repeated head tilted and smiling at her again and, god. Not even any words at all to describe all the things that made her feel, but they were all kinds of good.

"Mmmm...yeah," she confirmed, even though it hadn't exactly been a question. "I've done it a couple've times," Ali added, kinda thoughtfully as she drew her fingers back up along his back. Taking her time tracing them over warm skin and solid muscle. "Once to take down the Absorbing Man, after I sorta accidentally turned him into a big, angry guy made of light." What could she say, it'd been early in the reluctant super-hero thing. She'd still been getting the hang of it. Crap happened. "Once on the moon, to stop some crazy thing Moonstone and Blackout were up to."

They'd been lame. So lame. But the moon, and Atillan, had been pretty awesome. Dragging into work the next morning with no sleep and some serious teleporting lag, not so much.

“Remind me again, why were you never an Avenger?” Oh man, yeah, she kinda had to grin at that didn't she? Maybe lean in for another, still soft kiss before she answered it. Not because her brain was having trouble with words this time but just because she really really wanted to kiss him again. Totally and completely addictive.

"Right now, I'm kinda wondering that, too," she admitted as she pulled back. But only a little. Farther away wasn't exactly the direction she had in mind here. "Y'know, they did ask like two or three times but I was still holding onto the whole 'I'm a singer, not having any of this super-hero stuff, thanks but nope' thing." Which, yeah, was kinda delusional, looking back. She'd figured it out eventually. Actually, she was thinking Simon could maybe relate to how that worked.

Grin widening a little, because he was easy to smile at and grin at and he absolutely made her want to do both, among other things, her brows inched upwards. "If they'd sent you to do the asking," Ali mused, fingers tracing their way over his shoulder and along his collarbone, "I'm thinking I'd have had a lot harder time saying no."
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Okay, he could be perfectly happy doing nothing but this - this being kissing Ali’s skin, savoring the feeling of her lips at his jaw, and generally enjoying every single last inch of contact they had here - for as long as he could. Absolutely. But some pauses for other things were allowable, and some things utterly deserved pausing for favorable mention.

Like taking on Black Bolt. Full force. Hard to think of too many people even he knew who could do that (himself definitely not included, unless you counted probably being able to recorporate afterward, which on the whole Simon preferred not to), so yeah. Color him all sorts of shades of impressed, in the best of ways. That was completely fantastic.

So was the way she met his smile. “Mmmm…yeah,” she confirmed, even though it hadn't exactly been a question. "I've done it a couple've times," Ali added, adding another addition to Wonder Man’s just-this-minute list of completely fantastic things about her with the way her fingers felt on his back. Completely fantastic, utterly amazing. All of those. Kind of like her. ”Once to take down the Absorbing Man, after I sorta accidentally turned him into a big, angry guy made of light.” Simon blew his breath out softly, with plenty of fellow-feeling. They’d all had their own versions of ‘Crusher Creel the Living Laser’ mishaps back then. And back then, they’d usually seemed to always find a way to work it out.

“Once on the moon, to stop some crazy thing Moonstone and Blackout were up to.”

She’d taken out Moonstone before? Hmmm-ing thoughtfully against her skin, Simon planted a kiss on her shoulder and thought about that. Wondering, in fact, if Hone had already found out about it somehow, and whether if that was why the New Zealander had been insisting he wanted her for the team he was putting together to try to hunt Karla down. It seemed kinda unlikely, but then Kiwi Black always seemed to have a way of finding things out.

“Those were the days…” Simon mused out loud, not without the little touch of wistfulness that always came when he looked back now. False wistfulness in part maybe, because there’d been plenty of serious danger even then, there had been more than a few times back then when he hadn’t wanted anything to do with that. Still… running about after Moonstone’s latest idiotic plan, trying to put a stop to Creel… then seeing the job done, and getting to still go home and have other parts to your life.

Yeah, they’d been the days. Still, no sense in turning that into some kind of downer, not least because down was the last thing he was feeling right now. So… next obvious question, with a little bit more of a tease in his grin. That kind of resume… why hadn’t she ever been an Avenger again?

That grin was not an answer. Though it was very, very enjoyable - and then there was a kiss that followed it, and that… well yeah. That was kind of a reason, for sure, because if she’d been there, doing that as much as he would have wanted might have made it a little hard to remember when they needed to stop and save the world. Of course, back then, with the way Hank had so obviously felt about her, she’d been way out beyond off limits, but yeah… right now, the only thing that was here was her kissing him. Right now-

“Right now, I'm kinda wondering that, too," she admitted as she pulled back just enough that he could see her face again. Her gorgeous, perfect face with that knockout smile that was going to make his own permanent before much longer, he could feel it. “Y’know, they did ask like two or three times but I was still holding onto the whole 'I'm a singer, not having any of this super-hero stuff, thanks but nope' thing.”

“Yeah?” Simon asked, running his fingers up her side and tipping his head over a little reflectively. “I tried something like that for a little while too. Never quite got it to take.” Tried being just a stunt-man. Tried being the big-shot actor too, but Hawk had been right about having to pick which was more important, and that hadn’t been a choice in the end. Not once he’d got past having that panic every time he felt his powers kicking in, there hadn’t been.

“If they'd sent you to do the asking,” Ali was musing though, as those slender fingers of hers wandered back over his collarbone, “I’m thinking I'd have had a lot harder time saying no.”

Now, what was a guy supposed to do in response to something like that? Simon grinned, then leaned in to kiss her again, slow and relaxed and just enjoying the moment, and the way her lips felt, before breaking off. “So… who does that make me more irresistible than, then?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow. “Jan? Steve? Clint?” She’d been in LA when Hawk had been setting up the WCA, he did know that. “Also an excellent compliment.”

Had she been part of Hawk’s campaign of finding someone for his ‘sixth slot’, and looking everywhere but Bonita? Hmmm… that got Simon thinking again. Expression sobering slightly, he dipped his head, pressing his lips lightly to Ali’s collarbone for the warmth it gave as he took a moment to follow that thought along till he had assembled his thoughts. Bonita… there had been that rumor - scraps of things he’d picked up on Saturday, when they’d been doing their best to help the survivors that had been left, that he’d wanted to figure out how to confirm before he talked to the rest of the team. Was this the time to do that?

Probably not, for a few reasons. But somehow, all the same, Simon found himself lifting his head back up to look at Ali. “Hey…” he began, meeting her eyes seriously, “…do you mind - feel free to say no, okay,” because the last thing he wanted to do was upset her, and he was definitely ready to back down at the first sign she wasn’t comfortable with this, “but… can I ask you something about your time in that Camp at Maryville?”
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Dazzler
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There was thoughtful sorta humming from Simon, right against her skin, and that was an amazing feeling, too. The sound and just the way that sound vibrated along her skin. The press of his lips against her shoulder as she wondered what he was thinking.

“Those were the days…” Simon mused out loud maybe a little wistful happening there, but totally couldn't blame him for that. Things seemed hella simpler then, looking back. Hadn't felt that way when it was happening, though. Anything but simple, but she could absolutely relate to the feeling.

Sometimes she definitely wished they could go back to when life was that kinda complicated. Instead've the kinda complicated that meant Camps and deathbots and losing friends and fighting and no kinda real life but that.

This, though? This was sorta making her feel like that old life wasn't that far away anymore after all. And that was just as awesome and amazing as the man she was pretty damned happily wrapped around. Definitely had her wondering, too, why she'd turned down those Avengers invites.

Well, she wondered that after she was done kissing him, because she hadn't done even close to enough've that yet and it got absolutely all her attention. But, yeah, they'd asked. Two or three times, actually, but she'd still been in the semi-delusional state where she, you know, thought she could totally just be a singer and not deal with the whole costumes and powers thing. Despite a ton of evidence constantly smacking her over the head. Like, yeah, people with prehensile hair and their teleporting dogs dropping in on her dancersize classes and the damned Enchantress crashing her club gig. And the Hulk (who'd actually been a really nice guy and it beyond sucked that he hadn't made it). And She-Hulk. And...yeah. So she was kinda slow on the uptake now and then. It happened.

“Yeah?” Simon asked, running his fingers up her side as she picked up the contented humming thing, twisting around a little for more contact there. Because it was felt too nice not to want more. “I tried something like that for a little while too. Never quite got it to take.”

See, she knew he could relate. Ali's smile widened again, totally sympathetically this time. "It's that whole 'greater good and the universe totally knows you have powers so it just keeps throwing bad guys at you' thing. It follows you around until you give in." After a while, no point fighting the inevitable.

If the Avengers had sent Simon to do the asking, though? She'd have probably gave in to that inevitable a whole lot sooner than she did. He'd have been a lot harder to say no to. Impossible, even. One look at that smile and those dimples and that...well, all of him, really, and she'd have been a goner.

That grin came her way again, along with another kiss and Ali closed her eyes. Revised that last thought to absolutely would've been a goner, and just kinda let herself float along with that. The slow burn of that kiss. Easy and natural and leaving her a little breathless all the same. Definitely addictive.

“So… who does that make me more irresistible than, then?” he asked, lifting an eyebrow like he didn't know the answer to that would pretty much be 'everyone ever'. Actually, he probably didn't, did he. Simon wasn't the type and that was amazing all on it's own. “Jan? Steve? Clint?” She’d been in LA when Hawk had been setting up the WCA, he did know that. “Also an excellent compliment.”

Fingers tracing lightly down toward his chest, Ali grinned right back at him. That was also a unquestionably deserved one, too. "Janet Van Dyne. Definitely her. She-Hulk ate all the appetizers, totally remember that one." And some weird guy in an even weirder suit that they'd all put the smackdown on before the party broke up. "Then some bald telepath that sorta reminded me of Xavier, if he'd suddenly decided he'd rather be a girl." Yeah, okay, that was a thought she didn't really want in her head and probably shouldn't inflict on Simon, either.

Forehead creasing just a little, she tried to pull that out a name to go with that. "Moon-something or other?" Ali shook her head to kinda wave that away, since her hands were otherwise occupied and she really didn't wanna move them. "Think she was with Warren and Bobby and the Defenders for a while, too. That one was seriously odd. And there was another one," she added, "but I was in the middle of a video shoot and kinda spaced on the details."

All that? Probably already more than he actually wanted or needed to know and she'd rather lean in again, anyway. Just kinda brush her lips along his cheek. Maybe wonder where that thoughtful, sorta serious look was coming from, since nothing about her adventures in turning down team invites was anywhere close to that thought provoking, she was pretty sure.

Then she stopped thinking at all again as Simon's head bent, mouth warm and soft and electric over her collarbone. He could do that all he wanted and they could put the talking on hold for a little while and-

And his head came up again, that more serious looking hanging there. Drawing a still smiling, but questioning look from her. “Hey…” he began, meeting her eyes seriously, “…do you mind - feel free to say no, okay,” and she nodded, still mostly curious. Kinda doubted he was gonna come up with anything she'd mind. It took a lot to hit that category with her, “but… can I ask you something about your time in that Camp at Maryville?” Okay, yeah, not expecting that exactly. Her own expression went right back to more serious - not really bothered, but kinda thoughtful - and Ali leaned in against him a little more, other arm tightening around his neck, head bending to rest against his shoulder. Just kinda absorbing that a little bit.

Marysville. Easy to talk about, but not so easy to talk about and she really didn't have to wonder if Simon got that. Pretty sure he did. Also pretty sure he wouldn't ask for no reason. Then she realized that she was pretty sure it wouldn't matter. She'd have answered him either way and, yeah. She felt okay with that. Safe with that, and with him.

"Yeah," Ali answered, lifting her own head again after that probably few seconds or so and meeting his eyes again. "It's okay. You can ask whatever you want." Hand lifting again, she stroked her fingers along his cheek. For the contact and the connection and for maybe another way to let him know she meant it. "I'm definitely okay with that."
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“It’s that whole 'greater good and the universe totally knows you have powers so it just keeps throwing bad guys at you' thing. It follows you around until you give in.”

God, truer words. Simon couldn’t help but grin ruefully in answer. It had taken him long enough, even with teammates around who’d been telling him all of the things he hadn’t wanted to hear when he’d been set on proving he could do the rest of it. But he’d seen that in the end, and of course Ali had too, though it had been the X-men she’d ended up joining, rather than the Avengers. Funny how that worked out…

…or, if you believed the gorgeous woman smiling at him as she shifted in his lap (and god, he had absolutely no problem choosing to do that right now), maybe just because they’d never managed to cross paths so he could do the asking? Well, he definitely liked the sound of that. Definitely making kissing her again completely irresistible. Not that it hadn’t been before, but… well, doing it again. Then needing to find out what this also absolutely excellent compliment said about who he was theoretically more irresistable than himself. Jan? Steve? Clint?

Man he loved it when she smiled like that. Totally heart-stopping. “Janet Van Dyne. Definitely her. She-Hulk ate all the appetizers, totally remember that one.”

“Sounds like Jen,” Simon interposed, smiling himself. Appetizers might have been few and far between for most of recent years he’d spent with Shulkie, but if there did happen to be food on offer…

“Then some bald telepath that sorta reminded me of Xavier, if he'd suddenly decided he'd rather be a girl.”

Easy enough to put a face (and a name for that matter) to that description - it could only be one person - but Simon didn’t volunteer that information right away. It took a moment, when that recognition called back the revelation they’d got from the attack on Blink’s team on Monday, just to keep his thoughts in order, and by the time he had, Ali had already gone ahead with her guessing. "Moon-something or other?”

Simon nodded once. “Moon-dragon. Heather.” Not someone he could say he’d ever really known, but he’d mourned her along with Sam and Hank after that day in DC that had changed everything, never even thinking that her fate could have turned out to be even worse than that. Tony, or Hank, or… god, even Carol, handing her, their own teammate, over to the Master of Hounds.

“Think she was with Warren and Bobby and the Defenders for a while, too. That one was seriously odd. And there was another one,” Ali continued, while he mustered a smile from somewhere (it wasn’t like it was actually difficult, given where he was, and who he was with, but it was probably still a little more preoccupied than he would have done, ideally), “but I was in the middle of a video shoot and kinda spaced on the details.”

Understandable, Simon thought, but didn’t say out loud, mostly because he’d got caught up thinking thoughts that probably had no place in this space, let alone with this gorgeous, amazing, inspiring woman. Still, the thoughts came and went, from heather to other friends thought lost, or missing. Patsy had come back. Last thing he’d ever expected to find in the Camp tonight, and that was fantastic, amazing, and an extra win on the day. But then there had been that rumor that might have been Bonita…

…he shouldn’t ask should he? but in the end he did anyway. Something about being here, wrapped around and tangled up with Alison Blaire, made it still seem like a natural thing to do. It still didn’t mean he didn’t take a few seconds, brushing his lips over her collarbone to gather his thoughts, or that he’d let himself barrel into the question he wanted to ask her without letting her know she could stop him any time if it was too much, but…

…still, something about her, or about how it felt to be with her. Being skin to skin with someone, yeah, maybe that was it, but it felt kind of like more than that. Like this might not be the stupidest thing anyone had ever done to someone who’d been through a place like Marysville, when they were supposed to be enjoying themselves.

She looked serious, certainly, after he’d said it. But (and this probably should have been surprising, except it didn’t feel like it), not upset, per se. She leaned into him, rather than pulling away, kinda tucking herself in against him, and Simon was only too ready to shift to accommodate her, wrapping an arm a little more cozily around her shoulders to help keep her close. “Yeah,” [she] answered, lifting her own head again after that probably few seconds or so and meeting his eyes again. "It's okay. You can ask whatever you want.” As if to make sure he’d got that that wasn’t just something polite to say, her hand came up, feather light across his jaw. “I’m definitely okay with that.”

Lifting his own hand a little, Simon brushed his thumb over the soft skin at her arm, where her elbow bent. Not saying anything for a moment, just taking the time to let her know he was here, because okay was okay, but he’d really like to think there was better than okay to be had. Some day, if not right now.

“When we were there on Saturday,” he began, a second or so later, keeping his eyes on hers, then thinking that maybe that needed a little context to make that clearer, “-trying to do what we could after everything went down, you know? I kinda picked up on the trace of rumor that might have been about a woman we used to know.” We being Re-Assemble, but it probably wouldn’t matter if that didn’t come through completely perfectly, because he was getting to the point. “While you were there, did you know - or know of, at least” he qualified quickly, not wanting to assume, “-a woman called Bonita? Maybe going by La Espirita. Or Firebird.”

Funny, but maybe it was all the (still slightly confusing, but maybe that was just him) talk of Saints this week, but after thinking of her less than she deserved for longer than he really wanted to admit, she’d been in his mind a lot this week. Maybe because, of all the people he’d ever met, she’d always had that spot of being the nearest he could ever imagine to being the Real Thing.
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Moon...something. That was the second time. Bald telepath. Reminded her of Xavier, if he'd decided he was done being a guy. Kinda creepy thought (or, you know, more than kinda), but it was in her head now. Apparently she was gonna inflict it on Simon, too.

He nodded, though, and didn't seem too traumatized. “Moon-dragon. Heather.” Yeah, that was it. Totally her. She'd been part've the Defenders, too, Ali was pretty sure. When Bobby and Warren, and Candy, were doing that. And, oh man, she'd been one've the ones that hadn't made it, hadn't she?

One...that'd been turned into a Hound? Yeah, that rang a couple've bells and telepath, so...

Simon would've probably known her. God, no wonder that smile he was wearing was kinda a little distracted, maybe. Still a killer smile, even at less than full force, but yeah. Not quite up to the usual wattage, Ali noticed, as she filled in what little bit she remembered of invite number three. Middle of a video shoot, kinda spaced on the details.

Didn't matter, though, since he'd have still won that one, too, whoever it was. Simon would've been the one she couldn't have said no to. Even if she'd have probably tried to tell herself she could. Any determination would've just crumbled to nothing as soon as he turned that smile and those dimples her way.

No chance to follow up on that thought, or any thought, any farther, though. Distraction came her way, too, as his head dipped down, lips brushing her collarbone and scattering everything in her head away like thin wisps of smoke. Replaced them with all kinds of other thoughts. Mostly centered on the way that made her skin, her whole body, buzz and tingle and the idea of putting the current subject on hold for a little while.

So when that question came, it totally caught her off guard. Marysville. Not in a bad, freaking out way, just...unexpected. Something she needed to think about a second. He wouldn't ask for no reason, Ali was sure of that. Realized it probably wouldn't matter if he did, as she leaned into him, head against his shoulder and his arm wrapping around her shoulders, fitting her against him in a way that felt...

Okay. Safe. Or maybe secure was a better word. A secure little space for her to turn that over in her head for a second or two. Whichever, it all kinda came to the same thing. It was something she was okay with, when it was Simon. He could ask whatever he wanted, and that was something she absolutely meant as she lifted her hand to brush her fingertips along his jawline. Felt that little electric tingle of contact slide over her skin as his thumb stroked lightly there along her arm.

“When we were there on Saturday,” he began, a second or so later, keeping his eyes on hers, then adding, “-trying to do what we could after everything went down, you know? I kinda picked up on the trace of rumor that might have been about a woman we used to know.” Taking that in, she nodded. Man, wished they'd have known his team was that close. That any damned team was that close. When they'd got a look a what'd happened to the world outside Marysville, though, she'd more than half wondered if anybody - X-Men, Avengers, Fantastic Four, anyone - was left. "While you were there, did you know - or know of, at least” he qualified quickly, getting her attention back on track, “-a woman called Bonita? Maybe going by La Espirita. Or Firebird.”

She didn't need the rest of that. By the time he got 'Bonita' out there, she already knew who he meant. There'd only been on Bonita in Marysville and she wasn't someone you forgot if you ever met her.

"Juarez," Ali confirmed with a nod, expression entirely serious and fingers still stroking idly back and forth along his jaw. For the contact, and the warmth, especially right now, dragging up old memories from that place that could've given Magik's Limbo lessons in how to be an effective hell. "Bonita Juarez. Yeah, I knew her," she confirmed quietly. "Everybody who was there when she was knew her. She was just that kinda person."

Not a story with a happy ending. But Simon'd probably guessed that already. What with the past tense usage. Marysville sucked that way. So did the others from everything she'd heard since they tore that place down to broken bricks and scraps of wires and little pieces of guards, scattered all around.

"She came in...maybe about a year after I did?" Early on, she remembered that much, brows drawing together a little in thought and potential wrinkles be damned. "Too damned nice to be in a camp," Ali mused with a small shake of her head and for no reason other than it was totally true. Hadn't expected her to last even a whole week in there. "But tougher than she looked. Kind," the former singer settled on for the best word she could come up with to describe her, eyes still on his and pausing to take a breath. "Probably the most genuinely kind person I ever knew. She was one of yours?"

Because, god, not news you wanted to hear, or give, but sometimes it was definitely easier to know than not. know.
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Alright, so he’d just- go ahead and ask this, watching Ali pretty carefully to see how she was doing as he did. Okay, probably - it looked like that was the answer, since she nodded at the allusion he’d made to being there in the aftermath once it had all gone down on Saturday. Serious expression, yes, but she wasn’t upset. Alright then. So if that part was okay, then he’d just try going ahead and getting to where he’d been trying to go with that extended explanation.

That being Bonita - or maybe Firebird, or even Espi-

“Juarez,” Ali confirmed with a nod, and a solemn expression that didn’t do anything to stop the gentle touch of her fingers along his jaw being the sweetest thing Simon thought he might ever have felt. Not in that way, right now, while they were having this conversation, but just an amazingly welcome piece of tactile comfort. Maybe for her, too. There was definitely a shadow of something there in her eyes that said maybe Ali might want that right now too. “Bonita Juarez. Yeah, I knew her," she confirmed quietly. "Everybody who was there when she was knew her. She was just that kinda person.”

Was, Simon noted, but silently. Not feeling quite ready to break that probability open and confirm what the tenses she’d chosen pretty much guaranteed. Not yet. Instead he shifted a little, wrapping one arm just a little more securely around Ali’s waist, and let his other hand free to stroke her shoulder with his thumb. Gently, back and forth, letting that probable knowledge take its time sinking in, and focusing just on her words.

Bonita. God, how tragically ironic did it have to be for her? Slight frown there, as he thought about it, but nothing to be done about that now. All she’d put up with around the team years ago, and all the times she’d been overlooked in one way or another with the Avengers, it took a hell like that Camp to be the place she’d never be forgotten.

“She came in...maybe about a year after I did?” Simon put a pause on his thoughts, and nodded, watching Ali frown thoughtfully herself. “Too damned nice to be in a camp," Ali mused with a small shake of her head, ”But tougher than she looked. Kind," the former singer settled and Simon nodded again, this time with the ghost of a smile playing at his lips while he looked back at her. In spite of everything, it felt like it had to be there, thinking back to what he remembered of just how true that was. “Probably the most genuinely kind person I ever knew. She was one of yours?”

“A long time ago,” Simon answered, then dipped his head for a brief moment, catching his thoughts up into something a little more like something that could hold together with the aid of a soft kiss pressed to Ali’s collarbone, then looking back up to meet her eyes. “Back before all of this, on Clint’s West Coast Avengers team.” Eventually. And with various complications, none of which seemed at all important now. Yeah, Bonita had been one of theirs. “She might have been too damn nice to be on a Superhero team too, to be honest,” he added, while the ghost of a wry smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. Not funny - not really funny at all, but… after all of this… what else was there really to do?

“But she did have a lot of steel all the same,” he finished, and then kind of found himself out of ways to avoid noticing that he was using those past tenses too. Probably time to admit it out loud, right?

“Those were that kind of ‘was’, weren’t they?” Simon asked quietly, while his hand curled a little closer around her shoulder. Just kind of wanting to hold that little extra closeness when he did ask, because… well, it made it easier. It really did.
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One arm a little more snugly around her and Simon's other hand on her shoulder, thumb feathering over the skin there, that kinda made this...maybe not exactly easier, since there was nothing at all ever easy when it came to that Camp, but a little more...uncomplicated. Better word.

Totally better word.

Not as tangled up in her head as it could've been, trying to get it from there out of her mouth without a lot've other things getting in the way. Just talking to him, as her own fingers slid gently along the ridge of his jaw. Staying close as she pulled up what she remembered about Bonita Juarez. What she knew about her. Nice. Too damned nice for a Camp, but tougher than she'd seemed. Hadn't expected her to make it for more than a week, but she had.

Kind. She'd been about the kindest person Ali'd ever met, maybe aside from her own Nana Bella. Not the kinda person you ran into often, even outside one've those places. One've Simon's too, apparently, and yeah. She'd heard Bonita mention, once or twice, working with some've the Avengers, but didn't think about it much. A lot've them, they'd had stories like that. It was why the hell they were there.

A nod from Simon, little bit of that smile, for some've that as he met her eyes. The parts that kinda deserved smiling a little for. Surviving that place - any've those places - it wasn't easy, but he already got that, didn't he? Without her having to pull out all the ugly details. Though she would've, Ali realized again, relaxing into him (or as much as she could do that, when it came to this, and that was more with him than probably with anybody else she was pretty sure), for the closeness and the contact and the way that made was completely uncomplicated, too, that she'd have pulled those out if he'd asked.

“A long time ago,” Simon answered, then dipped his head for a brief moment, pressing a warm, light kiss to her collarbone and she tightened her own arm around him a little more. Brushed her own lips over his hair. It was sweet and gentle and every single thing she could've wanted or asked for just now. Then those gorgeous red eyes were back on hers again. “Back before all of this, on Clint’s West Coast Avengers team.” A little nod of her head as Ali wished she could give him better new about this one that'd been one of theirs. “She might have been too damn nice to be on a Superhero team too, to be honest,” he added with another, sorta wry hint of a smile. The former singer added in one've those of her own, letting her fingers drift upward, tracing along the side of his face. Just a light little touch, another little connection that maybe they could both use more of.

“But she did have a lot of steel all the same,” he finished and Ali added on, "And a lotta heart," because it felt like something she wanted to acknowledge. Call it for the record.

“Those were that kind of ‘was’, weren’t they?” Simon asked quietly, while his hand curled a little closer around her shoulder and Ali nodded again, shifting just a little again to curl in closer. Yeah, he'd picked up on that, but still wasn't an easy thing to ask or to have to hear confirmed. Never, ever an easy thing and she tightened her own arm a little more, hugged him close for a second or two.

"Yeah. Wish I could say no, but..." it was a Camp, it was what happened in there. Especially to people like Bonita, who didn't seem to have any kinda selfish bone in her body. Not even enough to look out for herself first. "She was the kinda person who looked out for everybody else before she looked out for herself. Gave away her food if she thought somebody else needed it worse," Ali continued quietly, fingers threading back through the soft strands of his hair and just kinda letting the thoughts in her head flow out. "Tried do anything she could for anybody who was sick or hurt." And there was a lotta that, and not a damned lot to work with to help at all, but Bonita had tried like hell.

She pulled back just enough to see his face again, pad of her thumb moving back to stroke along his cheek. "Took more than her share of crap from the guards. A lot of times, to try to give somebody else a break." Somebody younger. Somebody weaker. Ali gave her head a shake, eyes dropping down briefly. Just kinda...putting all those mental images and memories leaking out into the front of her head back in their box a little more again before she looked back up. "She lasted longer in Marysville than most people like that do, but it all kinda caught up with her about a year and a half ago or so." There were details, if he wanted them, but...she wasn't sure that was the kinda thing he'd want in his head. Brushing her fingers along his cheek again, she added a soft, "I'm really sorry."
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Bonita Juarez, the superhero who was probably too nice to be a superhero. Maybe not exactly a tagline she (or anyone) would have wanted to be associated with, but it was kinda the one that sprung to mind. But even so, she’d had steel too. The real kind, not the kind that was talking big and putting on a front that he’d spent a while trying to be back when they’d first met Firebird.

Bonita had a lot of steel, that was his point. Simon was pretty sure Ali knew that too, from the way she’d smiled, and from what she’d said already, or maybe just from the way her fingers spoke when they moved against his cheek, which said even more. "And a lotta heart,” she added, which was every bit as true too. He nodded, and that- was that, and a line that kind of underscored the part there wasn’t really any more avoiding.

They were both saying ‘was’ here. And they were that kind of was, weren’t they?

Ali nodded. And tucked herself in closer, at the same time that he’d moved his own hand on her shoulder, trying to do much the same thing. It must have just been one of those things, and one of those times, when that kind of touch and contact was something that everyone kind of needed. Or it was just him and Ali - that would be okay too, because whether it was universal or not, the main thing was that it was the two of them right here, and it helped. As much as anything could when it was giving, or hearing, news like that.

After a second or so, she spoke again. “Yeah. Wish I could say no, but…”

Simon nodded slowly, tracing light, hopefully comforting, arcs on Ali’s skin with his fingertips. Even just seeing what had been left of the Camp afterward, he thought he could probably finish those dots if he had to. Seeing that, knowing Bonita - the equation was unfortunately almost ridiculously simple. The rumor he’d thought he’d heard going around the survivors they’d found on Saturday had been true.

“She was the kinda person who looked out for everybody else before she looked out for herself. Gave away her food if she thought somebody else needed it worse," Ali continued quietly, while her fingers moved gently in his hair. “Tried do anything she could for anybody who was sick or hurt.” She pulled back then, but when Simon shifted his head to see her, looking with a little concern on whether she was still doing okay, she was looking back at him too, and the pressure of her thumb was a steady movement on his cheek. She was okay, he thought, but he stroked her back gently again all the same as she continued. “Took more than her share of crap from the guards. A lot of times, to try to give somebody else a break.”

Then Ali’s eyes dropped, but before he could offer to do- well, he didn’t know what, but even just let her not say it if it was too much, she’d looked up again, wearing the unmistakeable look of someone who’d had to sort their own heads out, but who’d done it successfully.

Amazing. She was really, truly amazing. Maybe not the thought that should have popped into his head just then, considering the conversation, but it did anyway, so Simon didn’t try to censor it, just met her eyes and let her say what it looked she was determined to finish saying. “She lasted longer in Marysville than most people like that do, but it all kinda caught up with her about a year and a half ago or so.”

A year and a half. No more detail than that, which Simon was grateful for. Maybe sometime he’d need to hear all of it, or she’d need to tell it, but right now? Right now didn’t feel like that moment, so he just nodded again, really slowly, and stroked Ali’s back, and tried to make enough space in his head to add Bonita into the cold granite-carved list of friends that had gone beyond any doubt.

“I’m really sorry,” Ali said, and her fingers were warm and soft against his cheek. On half a whim, or maybe just by instinct, Simon reached up, catching hold of them, and folded his own hand around hers.

“So am I,” he told her. Nothing more than that, because he met her eyes, and that really did seem to like it could say everything that he’d never be able to find ways to put into words. About how he was feeling, and about Bonita, and about everything Ali must have been through herself. Maybe that most of all.

None of it came with any words, but after a few seconds, Simon found himself leaning forward, and decided on a whim to let it happen. Just leaning in, still keeping his eyes on hers till it was too close to do that any longer, then pressing his lips to hers, as slowly and gently as he could make it.
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Yeah. It was that kind of was. Not exactly what she'd have rather been able to tell him, but then she wasn't really telling him, was she? Just kinda confirming what he'd already picked up on and guessed on his own.

He'd been in this fight a long time, he'd definitely seen plenty by now. Everybody had, especially this last week, whether they'd ever been inside one've the things as a 'guest' or not. He'd know the score. Was more than smart enough to figure it out, even if that probably wouldn't make hearing her say it out loud any easier.

Wrapping herself in against him was simple, natural, while she did that. Settling into his arms as he drew her in at the same time. Strong arms and warm skin and like he'd been reading her mind as he nodded, traced soothing little circles over her her skin that helped her keep some've the worst pieces of that place in check. Or like he needed that, too - that closeness and contact and trust (because that was there, too, it kinda had to be right now) - while he heard what nobody ever wanted to hear about a friend or a teammate.

The Bonita Juarez she'd known had been the type of person who looked out for other people before she did herself. Something you didn't see much of in Camps. Everybody was too damned busy just struggling to stay alive, to stay sane themselves. Most people didn't have anything left to give past that, even if they'd wanted to. Bonita had, though, and she'd lasted longer than most people like that did in those places that were their own, special kinda hell.

A special hell Ali took a couple of seconds to make sure didn't leak outta mental containment too much (seriously, talk about a mood killer) before she looked back up to meet those amazing eyes of Simon's. Tell him how it'd all finally caught up with Bonita about a year, year and a half ago. That she was sorry, even if that always sounded like way too damned little for something like that.

They needed a whole new word for this kinda messed up. Something bigger, to go with how massive and wrong it always felt. How massively wrong it was.

There were details she could give him, if he wanted, but it wasn't something she was gonna just throw out there. Especially right now as he stroked her back, a nice, kinda grounding contact, and nodded again. Hand lifting up to wrap around hers.

“So am I,” he told her eyes still on hers and...yeah. Didn't need to say anything else, because sometimes that really was all you needed. A few words and that look in his eyes that said he got all the things she'd said and most've the ones she hadn't. He really was something just completely beyond amazing.

No defense she had would've been any good at all against that - that sweet, genuine type of sincerity - even if she'd wanted it to be. All she really wanted, though, was exactly what he did next. That slow, gentle kiss that had her eyes slipping closed at the touch of his lips. Pressing forward just a little herself as her heartbeat tripped and sped up and did little, light flips, end over end.

It was slow and smooth and Ali leaned into it, just a little more. Letting it draw out and pull her in and push everything else out like it'd never been there in the first place, free hand going to the back of his neck. Warmth, with just the hint of a promise of heat underneath but not in any kinda hurry. Just her and Simon and what felt like maybe all the time in the world right now.

"You're gonna make me melt all over again," she whispered to him, pulling back just long enough, and far enough, for that and a soft smile. Then went right back to kissing him. Slow and unhurried and soft. Sweet, and she kinda hadn't expected that. Not like this, but it was the best kinda unexpected.
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It wasn’t something he thought about. It was more letting go of thinking, and allowing himself to do the one thing that seemed most natural in this moment - leaning in and kissing Ali. Kissing her again, more accurately, but this felt like the very best kind of starting over again. Soft, and tender, and warm and sweet; all of those rolled together into something that filled up his head and went down through every last corner of his body to turn the world into something that could be lighter, better, again.

Slowly, slowly, she leaned in toward him, lips pressing back against his, adding a warm hand curved around the back of his neck. Just that, and the hand he had still at the small of her back, and no urgency, because this moment didn’t need that. All it needed was for time to stand still for a second, and for the world to stop where it was.

It felt kinda like they managed that too.

Then Ali pulled back, just enough that Simon had a view of what was genuinely the most amazing smile he’d ever seen. “You’re gonna make me melt all over again," she whispered to him, calling to mind lyrics of a song he hadn’t thought of in a long, long time.

“I hope so,” Simon told her, before he leaned in again. Or she did. Or they both did, but that didn’t matter, compared to the way it felt right now to kiss her. He’d thought he understood what the song was about, but he definitely hadn’t till now. I melt with you.

And it’s getting better, all the time - there was that part too, in the slow, tender kiss that made him wonder if Ali could somehow use her powers to make you feel a glow as well as see it. That’s what it felt like, though - being lit up from the inside, in the softest, warmest way Simon could have imagined.

Unhurriedly, he shifted his hands over her back, one wrapping around her hips and the other at her shoulders. Pulling her just a little closer before he lifted her lightly, rising to his feet. This floor was definitely a good floor, but maybe it was time for a little change of scenery all the same.

Eyes closed, not wanting to break the kiss, Simon kept standing just long enough to turn a little, angling himself by memory so that he could step to the bed and sit back down on the edge of it so that Ali was on top of him and the world seemed like a very, very good place to be in right now.

He ran his fingertips over her shoulder, tracing along one side of her neck then threading into the amazingly soft, silky strands of her hair, then finally broke the kiss, humming the refrain from the Modern English song under his breath as he opened his eyes and sought hers again.

Probably another for the category of odd things to do at a time like this, but Simon kinda had a feeling that he might have found one person who’d understand an urge like that one.

“How are you going, Gorgeous?” he murmured. Smiling as he asked, because he didn’t think he could look at Ali and not do that.
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It definitely felt a lot like melting. Everything inside her going warm and liquid in a way that was so completely easy. Totally unhurried. Unexpectedly sweet.

“I hope so,” Simon told her, then met her halfway for another kiss that made it feel a little like the room might've decided to take a slow spin around in circles, with them in the middle. Right on the axis, as it dipped and rose in lazy patterns. Or maybe that was just something in the middle of her chest doing that.

Whatever it was, it left her feeling a little dizzy, a little breathless. Focused on the warmth of his mouth and the lingering sweetness that she couldn't really put any words to, but she thought would've made her glow even without any powers that worked that way. She might've called it seduction, but no real clue who was doing the seducing here and it was more geuine than that. Something that felt completely, solidly real.

It felt like the most natural thing in the world. To kiss him. To want to keep kissing him. To wrap herself around him as he shifted and pulled her a little closer and stood up. Yeah, the floor was pretty awesome, but they'd spent enough time there. So Ali did just keep kissing him and trusted him to get them where they were going.

That turned out to be the side of the bed and she rearranged herself a little again as he sat down. Straddling his lap and deciding that she definitely approved of this particular arrangement. Being this close. The warmth of his skin. The warm trail his fingers left over her shoulder and neck. The way his fingers slid through her hair as the kiss ended.

The way he was humming? She liked that, too, and she knew that song. The melody and words popped into her head with the first couple've bars as her eyes fluttered open slowly, meeting his with a smile. "There's nothing you and I won't do," she sang softly, "I'll stop the world and melt with you."

Excellent choice, excellent song, and god. He just got more amazing by the minute, didn't he? And she kind of had an idea he didn't really know that. Not at all like he should.

“How are you going, Gorgeous?” he murmured, smiling that smile that could just melt her all over again completely on its own. Only one answer for that question, along with a smile of her own to go with it. The one she'd sort of labeled as his by now. Since it was just there, without any effort at all on her part, whenever he was around.

"Completely amazing," she answered, hand lifting to trail along his cheek again, eyes on his and just savoring the feel of that. The way his skin felt under her fingers as she drew them lightly down, along his jaw to his neck. "What about you, Handsome?" Ali asked in turn. Softly, because everything...this...felt so totally effortless. Completely easy and at ease. Still with that promise of heat, just under the surface, but it was still unhurried and just about the sweetest feeling she'd ever had.

Totally sweet, amazing man. In every way she could think of. Couldn't say that nearly enough.
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Mmm, yeah, this was better. Not that he couldn’t remember exactly why it was he’d wanted to forgo the bed for a little while, but now that he was settled on top of it - and more importantly, now that Ali was settled on top of him on top of it - Simon was definitely feeling the benefits of the mattress.

Or maybe that was just feeling the benefits of having a gorgeous, naked woman wriggling herself into a more comfortable position on his lap. Because that was, in no uncertain terms, definitely a lot of benefits.

And there was the kiss, and the song that was still in his head as he pulled back, so what was a Wonder Guy supposed to do, really, except hum that tune out loud while he opened his eyes back on the inspiration for the feeling. Well, for his interpretation of the feeling, but he was an actor so… yeah. Never mind, because the way Ali’s eyelashes fluttered as her eyes opened again pretty much knocked any other considerations right back out of his head, and the ones they hadn’t done, the smile that came along for the ride completely mopped up.

“There’s nothing you and I won't do," she sang softly, picking up the tune and doing it so much more justice than he could ever have managed, “I’ll stop the world and melt with you.”

God, he… wow. Wow, that was the only thing Simon could think, as he just kind of got lost watching her eyes and the way they sparkled in the light of her own glow. And smiling. He was definitely pretty lost in the middle of smiling right now, but you know? It turned out that was a really good kind of lost to be.

Wow. Just… wow.

There was just one set of words he could find right now, and those were the words to a question he really wanted to know the answer to. Nothing complicated (definitely not sure whether his brain was up for complicated, so that was probably a must), and maybe one that he might have had a glimmering of the answer to already, from the expression on her face, but… yeah. Gonna ask it anyway. Sometimes you just had to go with the classic. So… how was she going?

Her smile could have lit up the whole world. Really. Not actually literally right now (even his eyes might be better off for that), but literal truth or not, Simon was pretty sure that had still been the truth. That was a smile he was pretty sure he could survive on for as long as it was around.

“Completely amazing," she answered, with another light brush of her fingers that ran across his cheek, still just as electric as the first time. At his jaw, then down his neck… wow. Wow, she was…

…well, she’d just said it, hadn’t she? Simon grinned, dimpling all over again as he winked one red eye at her. “Yeah you are,” he agreed.

“What about you, Handsome?" Ali asked in turn. Her voice was soft as her skin, and as warm as the legs she’d wrapped around his waist.

For a moment, Simon just looked at her, grinning very slightly. Partly savoring the moment, partly… well, also savoring the moment, actually, so never mind that. He leaned in after a second, putting his lips close enough to kiss the top of her ear very lightly before he whispered just for it, “Absolutely the best.” Maybe that would have been odd, if he’d stopped to think about where they were and where they’d been, not even beginning with what they’d only just been talking about. But that was exactly how she made him feel, so that was exactly what he was going to tell her.

He kissed her ear again, and then her temple just for good measure, before pulling back one more time so he could see her while he let his eyes twinkle a little all over again. “Our PR team record for getting everything sorted,” this seemed like maybe the time to point out, “maybe not looking quite so good right now.” There was always calling it free-processing time, or a working break, but… neither came even close to doing what this felt like justice, did it? “But I think it might still be okay if it waits a little longer, how about you?” Simon finished instead, still looking at her.

Call it… no, it didn’t need a name. It was just exactly what he wanted to do right now.
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Dazzler
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I'm the best at what I do, and what I do is roller skate
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Melt with him? Yeah, she could do that. She already was doing that. There was no way she could do anything else when Simon was looking at her that way and smiling at her that way and-

That smile just never got old. The more she saw it, especially when it came her way, the more she wanted to see it. The more she wanted to send one as close to it as she could get right back to him. To see if she could make him feel that way, too.

Warm, form the inside out. Soft. Melting. Totally a good description. A perfect description for that feeling as she smiled at him in a way she was pretty sure by now belonged just to him. The one that felt as bright as the light around her. Brighter, maybe, as she answered that question the only way she possibly could.

Completely amazing, that's how she was going. How this was going. How she felt right now, despite what they'd just been talking about just before right now. Marysville and all the amazingly horrible, awful crap that went with it, it was worlds away from this. From her and Simon and that feeling that started in her chest and expanded out to fill her ribcage and flowed down to settle in the pit of her stomach.

Worlds and worlds away, as her fingertips traced over his skin, the line of his jaw and the curve of his neck as those dimples came out to play again, complete with a wink that just beyond sexy. “Yeah you are,” he agreed turning her smile into a full on grin. Seriously. Perfect. He had no clue how utterly perfect he was and that, all by itself, was just...

Yeah. Amazing. Wonderful. All the words like that she could think of and some she probably couldn't. So, what about him? Had to kinda turn that question back around on him, because that was how it worked and, more importantly, she wanted to know.

Her answer came with a look and a little bit of a grin that made her want to forget answers and kiss him again, than a featherlight kiss to her ear that sent a little, electric shiver all through her. “Absolutely the best.” Simon whispered, doing things to her with just that that Ali didn't even have words for at all. God. Yes. Yes he was.

"Mmmm, you really are," she agreed without any problem at all, rearranging herself just a little in his lap one more time to fit herself against him exactly the way she wanted. Close. Bare skin to bare skin. His lips brushed her ear again, then her temple and her arm tightened around him, breath catching and pulse jumping. Just from that, but that's really all it needed.

Definitely melt worthy and he could do that all he wanted, but he pulled back instead, those completely extraordinary eyes of his sparkling at her. Also melt worthy. “Our PR team record for getting everything sorted,” he started, “maybe not looking quite so good right now.” Which was kinda true, but see this? This was her totally and completely unrepentant grin. Besides, they'd get there. Just call this...well, whatever, really. Not something she felt like needed any labels or justification or apologies at all. “But I think it might still be okay if it waits a little longer, how about you?” Simon finished instead and, god, would this night possibly be anything close to long enough for all the things she wanted to do with him?

It was one've those rare times when she wished she could put time on pause, or maybe repeat. Like her favorite playlist. Stop it. Right here, right now. Loop it around so it just kept going until they wanted it to stop. Wished for an endless night she knew wasn't possible but wanted anyway.

"We are the best PR team ever," she assured him with total and complete confidence, because it was true. No question there. Not even one. "It'll wait and we'll still, without even a little doubt, have it all covered." They'd figure out how to make the time and make it work for them. It would happen. They had minions, she wasn't above waking them up (or dragging them outta whatever they were doing that probably wasn't sleeping, either) and putting them to work, too.

Looking at him, her smile kinda went soft again. That just happened all on its own, too. "Besides, it's gonna have to be okay for a little while longer," Ali added, voice gone as soft as her smile. "No way can I keep business-type thoughts in my head right now. Not gonna happen."

To prove her point, or mostly because she just wanted to, she closed the distance between them and kissed him again. Slow and soft, and with all the feelings that were kind of hovering there, in her head, still, and maybe time actually did kinda stop them. All on its own.
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