OOM: Still Christmas Day

[latino_menace]

He doesn't sleep deeply, though it's peaceful. When he wakes, he's more desperate than ever to get clean and she seems to be flat out, so he slips out from underneath her and heads into the bathroom. Ten minutes later, he's in a bathrobe and making more coffee; five minutes after that, he's back in bed, smoking a cigarette quietly and waiting for her to wake up.

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[latino_menace]

He smiles, glad to hear it, and runs a finger down her cheek.

'What happened?'

[justcallmefee]

Her gaze falls, but there's a smile on her lips.

"He didn't --" She shakes her head, reaching for the bottle of wine to take a drink before trying again. "He didn't ask, didn't listen, didn't -- stop."

[latino_menace]

The smile fades and is replaced by a frown instead.

'You were raped?'

[justcallmefee]

She rolls her eyes, takes another drink. "Doesn't matter. It was a long time ago." She looks at his face, searching his eyes even as she tries to smile. "Another lifetime."

[latino_menace]

'Doesn't matter?'

As someone who has raped dozens of women, he knows it rarely...no, never...means nothing.

Also? It's set in stone in his mind that she needs to never find out about that particular part of his history.

'Who was it?'

[justcallmefee]

She fixes him with a stare, shifting to set the wine bottle down behind his shoulder, running her hands over his chest under the water as she settles back.

"Someone high up in the organisation. Someone I was dating."

She knows full well what he's capable of, knew from the beginning just what she was getting herself into. She's never had any illusions.

She cocks one eyebrow at him. "He's dead," she drawls. "I lied about how much time he had to plant the charge and get out. Oops."

[latino_menace]

He opens his mouth...and then closes it again.

Saying 'oh, you were dating' would be, he realises, pretty stupid. Just because he thinks that rape doesn't exist within a relationship, doesn't mean she does.

'I'm glad to hear it. And not at all surprised.'

[justcallmefee]

Again she slits her eyes at him, her lips thinning. "I can take care of myself."

[latino_menace]

He frowns lightly, confused by her expression.

'I know you can.

What's wrong?'

[justcallmefee]

"I told you, it was another lifetime. I was young and stupid. And he -- he thought he could do anything to me. I didn't know what was happening until it was too late."

The edge in her voice tapers off, and she sighs, reaching up a hand to touch his cheek.

"And it's not like that between us. Which makes it okay. To experiment."

[latino_menace]

He takes that hand and kisses her palm, wondering whether he has thought that he could do anything to her. And the answer is yes, but because he knows how to ask and doesn't force it. Which is better, in a situation like this.

A small voice in the back of his mind pipes up that sometimes he misses the other ways of doing things but he banishes it immediately, the way he did that first night here. This isn't the time or place.

'I'll always stop if you ask me to. You know that. And I'll always ask for what I want - if you want to say no, say no.'

It doesn't hurt to lay it out there, evn if she knows already.

[justcallmefee]

Her expression softens as he speaks, her head falling to one side and and her pupils grow wide and dark.

She leans in, drawn to him. "You take good care of me," she murmurs against the corner of his mouth. "Thank you."

She turns her head, brushing her lips over his, her eyes drifting closed.

[latino_menace]

'And so do you, with me.'

He doesn't need care, he thinks to himself, but it's not unpleasant to have it in his life, as long as it doesn't get stifling.

He keeps the kiss light and runs his hands up her back, just enjoying the peace.

[justcallmefee]

If it's stifling, it isn't care anymore. She knows that. (Michael taught her well.)

Her hands steal around his neck, fingertips teasing into his hair at the nape of his neck. The hot water, the feel of his hands moving on her skin, the taste of his mouth, all of it.

Best Christmas in ages.