A/N: This is my first attempt at a Dollhouse fic, and who knows how it'll turn out. Maybe once I have one or two under my belt they'll get better. I apologize if this is a fluffy mess, but it happens until I really get a true feel for writing for each character.
Disclaimer: I don't own any parts of the Dollhouse, not even a tiny piece of furniture.
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A Mask
There was a loud, withering sigh at his door followed by the sound of rustling grocery bags. Ivy carried at least ten stuffed shopping bags past Topher's desk. He watched her as she rather impatiently stowed the contents in various drawers, cabinets, and hiding places. She stomped past him again with four packages of juice boxes stacked in her arms. She gave him yet another contemptuous look once she transferred them, noisily, to the refrigerator. He smiled back and in her mind she almost faltered.
"Hopefully that lasts you to the end of the week. Seeing as it's only Wednesday, who knows. How you survive on carbohydrates and sodium alone is beyond me."
"I must be some sort of superior being," he said grinning still.
"Some sort of annoying, cocky, egotistic superior being, of course," she made a face and sat on the couch closest to his work station, as if to annoy him.
"Keep giving me that sour puss expression and it'll stick like that. We-" he cut himself short, "I have a lot of work to do-"
She scoffed, loudly, obnoxiously.
"What did I tell you about that face babe?"
She blinked a few times at the word babe. She almost laughed.
"Babe? Really?" she said, sounding amused.
Topher turned his chair to face her on the couch.
"You've never heard me say that before?" he said, maybe a little awkwardly. "It's just a word, not like I think-" he stopped himself, Ivy looked hurt.
"I didn't mean it like that," Topher got up from his desk, with an almost exasperated look on his face, and retrieved not one but two freeze-pops from the freezer: a blue one and an orange one. He chewed the end off of the orange one. As he sat next to her, he held the blue one out for her to grab. She took it slowly.
"You take me for granted."
"No, no, no, no! I'd have starved by now if it weren't for you!"
"Let me rephrase," Ivy said as she sighed, "You take my brain for granted. I'm just as familiar as you are with all this equipment and all the procedures. I've studied endlessly. I know you wrote the book but I know it from cover to cover, give me some credit for that," she chewed the end of her blue freeze-pop open.
"We've got a busy day. Rich people like to get lucky on the weekends," he looked around as if he wanted to be sure no one was listening, "I'll let you run the chair, all day."
She crunched the freeze-pop between her teeth, as if contemplating whether to accept the offer or not. He knew she would just by the slight glitter in her eyes.
"Oh alright," she groaned. He could see that clearly she was happy. As he rose from the couch, he did something he couldn't control. His hand reached for hers and squeezed it gently. She never looked up from her half melted freeze-pop.
"How'd you know blue was my favorite?"
It couldn't have been that he noticed how she always went for the blue ones; he never noticed anything she did. In her mind, it had to be sheer coincidence that he grabbed it and didn't eat it himself. More likely yet, blue was his least favorite and he was trying to pawn them off on her.
Topher pointed to himself and nodded, "Superior being, remember?" He sat back at his desk to compile more personalities.
Ivy stood and went to the chair. She had about twenty minutes before the rush began.
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It had been an easy, but extremely busy day for the both of them. Topher sprawled out on the couch in the imprinting office. He lay across the whole thing, his arm over his eyes. Ivy finished her work after him, having a few things to clean up, and went to the refrigerator for a couple of juice boxes.
"Juice bo-" Topher's order was cut short by an already prepped juice box finding its way into his open hand. He sat up, allowing Ivy a spot on the couch next to him. She took it.
"Cheers," he said, lifting his juice box just as she began sipping tentatively. Ivy nodded.
Ivy lowered the juice box to her side and let her eyelids droop slightly. She wondered to herself what time it was before her eyes closed entirely.
Topher glanced over at Ivy as she dozed. His juice box was empty and his legs were far too heavy and leaden to even think of trudging to the fridge for another. He noticed Ivy's right hand, the arm furthest from him, clutching an uncrumpled juice box, its bright colors beckoning to him.
Topher turned and leaned over Ivy towards her juice box. She had a tighter grip on it than he anticipated and her arm followed him before it slid from her grasp. Instead of plopping down on her lap or back to her side, her hand landed on his thigh. He looked slightly shocked at her hand and quickly searched her face for any change. She remained silent and sleeping. Topher leaned against the arm of the couch on his left and sighed as he started on Ivy's juice box.
He hadn't even finished his first sip before he felt Ivy's weight shift beside him and sudden utter confusion settled in. Her head rested gently against his side under his arm, her hand slid up to his stomach and found a nook in his ribcage to rest in as if that was where it belonged. Her feet kicked up behind her, tucked there softly. The way she twisted allowed Topher a glimpse of her thigh underneath her lab coat. His eyes lingered there as he caught a whiff of her hair. A slightly floral berry scent loitered in his nose as he kept his eyes on her legs. He questioned why he couldn't stop himself from doing it. It must be the exhaustion, he reassured himself.
Topher drifted off to sleep slowly. He was so tired he didn't even really mind Ivy draped over him. She was warm and really didn't smell so bad. She wasn't heavy or hard. She provided him with his second juice box without requiring him to move.
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Ivy came to slowly, feeling pleasant with where she was. She was warm, comfortable, and cozy. She kept her eyes closed for a moment before she realized how entirely strange of a situation she was in. Whatever she was sleeping on was breathing and the last thing she remembered was giving Topher a juice box and sitting on the couch with him. Her eyes flew open, she bolted upright in her seat, and her jaw dropped open.
"What the-" Topher was awoken by being jostled abruptly and suddenly.
When Topher opened his eyes, Ivy was standing with a shocked almost worried look on her face. He noticed the clock; it was three in the morning.
"Aww, come on Ivy, that was so pleasant," Topher said smiling groggily, "Dozing on the couch with a small, soft, warm girl." He was still half asleep. Ivy's shocked look switched to confusion.
"What did you just say?"
Topher seemed to snap out of his daze. He looked as close to embarrassed as he could ever look. She didn't look away, she wouldn't look away.
To add to Ivy's confusion, he pat the couch beside him, signaling her to take a seat again. She hesitantly took the seat, but never took her eyes off of him. The puzzled look remained planted across her brow.
Topher took a breath before speaking, "You can't tell me you haven't felt something like that from time to time in here."
"Well, er, Topher," she began.
"I mean it isn't like I can go out, meet someone, and tell them exactly what I do. It is me though, what's a few lies?" he grinned, "I don't even have my own place anymore, I sleep with the servers."
Ivy started to see Topher in a new light, as if he were giving her a glimpse behind his mask.
"I guess it's the price you pay for doing something so controversial, something so..." he fished for a word, "...wrong."
"I like to think we help the actives, people who are at the end of their ropes and unable to hold on any longer. We make their problems disappear and give them a nice chunk of money," he continued absently, "But who really knows."
The next words slid out of his mouth so plainly that Ivy could tell he was sad that they were true, "I know their names, but I don't want to."
Ivy searched his face for the answer to a question she didn't want to ask. He kept his gaze down at his hands in his lap. After what seemed a very long time to the both of them, he looked at her. She felt like it was the first time he actually saw her. She felt like it was the first time she actually saw him.
Within a moment her lips were on his, searching deeper into him, needing to know more about him. He didn't pull away; his hands found the side of her head, holding her to him.
His lips were softer than she thought they would be. She felt them melt against hers. His hands, slightly calloused from soldering burns, felt warm and almost electric against her cheeks and in her hair. She felt herself being pushed forward into him, by something she couldn't quite control but still liked. He wasn't pulling her, he was soft and yielding. She wanted to be pressed against him. She held onto his lips as long as she could manage without feeling too light headed. When her thoughts started to spin, she broke away for a moment.
His lips found hers this time, pulling them in to him, pressing against her. His hands wandered along her arms and to her hips where they found a resting spot. Her hand found his cheek, even with all her rushing feelings. Her fingers slid back to his hair, tangling and twisting their way through gently. She felt his lips part again, this time she felt his tongue along her teeth. She smiled a little and he broke away.
She moved her hand from his hair and back along his cheek. Her thumb slipped against his lips, which felt warm and maybe even slightly swollen against it. As she moved her thumb across his lips, she could feel them twitch slightly, as if he wanted to pull her in again.
Just as she was ready to be pulled in again, she heard the door open and a smirky Echo's voice pierced the silence, "Hope I'm not interrupting anything."
Topher stood immediately and started towards the chair to wipe Echo. Ivy watched him leave, wondering when he'd be back and even if he'd be back.
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A/N: I like to think that Topher isn't all callous and without morals. I think we see a little bit of it with what he does with Whiskey and how he fights so hard for Sierra. This probably turned out a bit fluffy, but, such is the scheme of things.