-54 Inversion, Escalation-
The blinds were open just a crack, painting the room with a faded sunrise. Just for a moment, I felt like the only person on the planet. Granted, I hadn't looked outside yet to make certain I wasn't, but I knew I wasn't the only person in the room.
That was because Hasuko was next to me, cuddled up close enough to feel the muscle tone in her back.
It was more than a little surreal, because I could've sworn that I had dozed off in one of the kitchen chairs. Still more surreal than her kissing me last night; just the thought of that made my lips tingle with the sensation of her touch.
After we had paid and left the bar, Hasuko had attached herself to my arm and I had decided to try and take her back to her home. This decision was partially because I was too chivalrous to let her go alone and mostly because she refused to let go of my arm. The 'try' portion came in when I tried several times to get her address and only got what might've been gibberish or a face that expected a kiss. So, I basically had only one choice; put her to bed at my place and wonder if this meant the plans for tomorrow were officially derailed. At least I didn't have to worry about her wandering off on the way back. I put her in bed, changed into shorts and a t-shirt and dozed off on one of the chairs in the kitchenette, leaving Hasuko with the whole bed to herself.
In theory, at least, that was what I had done.
Obviously, something had gone very wrong in the whole execution of that plan, because I was acting as the big spoon and had one arm pinned under her pillow. Was it bad that I wanted to stay like this for a little bit? I could feel her chest rise and fall with the steady rhythm of her breathing and I could smell her scent with every breath I took. God she smelled so nice. Closing my eyes again, I decided to live in the moment for a little bit; after all, my job meant that I could end up dead tomorrow, and that was before I factored my being partially a ghoul. Take the moments when you can, right?
The only issue was that would probably need to use the bathroom soon and my free arm was half asleep. I tried to give it a wiggle, but it didn't have much effect and made me realize that the limb felt to be twice its usual weight. With a little more effort, I managed to raise it up just enough to realize that Hasuko had a two handed death grip on my wrist and forearm. If my arm didn't feel like static on a tv screen, I might've found it endearing. But still, her scent!
Hasuko yawned and wiggled in place in that way done by everybody who wants just a few more minutes of sleep. Even through my shirt and shorts, I could feel her flex and relax. Then, a little wiggle against me to try and get even closer. One of her hands left my arm and reached up to run her fingers through my hair. I wasn't sure if I should be concerned or contented.
"Allen." Her voice was soft and sleepy.
"Mhm." I wasn't sure what to say.
She let my arm go, rolling over to face me, and I realized that she was topless but for what looked like a sports bra.
"Morning, cutie." She came in close again and touched her lips to mine, making my heart bounce off my ribs.
"I…" getting her out of my head was nigh impossible. That scent, those eyes! "Where did all this come from?"
"When I went to the bathroom in the middle of the night, you just looked so uncomfortable. So I moved you over to the bed." There was one mystery gone, since she definitely looked strong enough to lift me. "Sorry if I confused you a little."
"It's, ah, all right." I shrugged as best I could. Creepy, but the cuddling was pretty much worth it. "I guess...you decided to make us the third couple that night."
Nodding, Hasuko wore the most contented smile I had ever seen. It didn't quiet mask the possessive look in here eyes, but I could overlook that. She leaned in again, and this time, I met her half way with my heart still dancing about my rib cage. Naturally, I ruined the moment, just a little bit.
"You know," I spoke quietly, as we slowly pulled apart, "eventually I'll have to go back."
"I know." she voice was tiny and she buried her face into the pillow for a moment. "I knew that from the moment we spoke on that first day I drove you. I wished I had the guts to snuggle up to you when you took me home after my promotion party."
She's been fixed on me for more than a month. Then again, she wasn't exactly subtle, and I wasn't exactly good at picking up on hints.
"That's why I'm going to take every moment I can get from you and never let you go."
"Up until I get on the plane at least."
"I'll figure something out." She giggled, but there was an edge to it. "So what are going to do today? We can still go out like we had planned... but we could spend the day in bed…doing something a little more strenuous."
"Um. Going out sounds good." It took a considerable amount of mental effort to keep my mind from derailing at that proposition. At least outdoors I'd have a better idea of what to do, and be slightly less distracted by her. Maybe. "We should probably shower up first. I—Individually, I mean."
Probably a pointless offer; this was basically a more mature and reversed version of the last time we had ended up drinking, meaning that she didn't have any spare clothes. She still accepted my offer to use the shower first, hopping out of bed and revealing that she had only been wearing the sports bra and whatever the underwear version of short shorts were. A smug grin that bordered on a leer was rapidly added when she noticed me staring.
I turned away as she grabbed her bag and disappeared into the bathroom. I really hope that I had rinsed out the bathtub thoroughly enough to hide the blood. Also important; why was she in her underpants? Rolling on my back, I noted that probably should get up and get ready to shower as well despite wanting to shut my eyes and doze for a few more minutes on this truly surreal morning. I didn't know how I felt though. I knew I liked spending time with her—we had spent enough time driving and talking for me to know that. So why was I hung up over this?
Climbing out of bed involved a lot of wincing; sleeping on my side had provoked a round of protesting from my ribs. Either it was that or Hasuko had been a little less than gentle in moving me to the bed last night. Speaking of which, how much of a red flag was I supposed to see that whole event as? Granted, it was a little creepy, but the chances of her being obsessive were basically nil, right?
Walking over to my bags, I could at least be content that I hadn't reopened any injuries last night. I wanted to dress casual today; an urge made more acute by the fact that I had worn mostly suits for the past couple months. What I really wanted to do was dress informally, but I drew enough looks in public without wearing shorts and a t-shirt—and a hint of fall weather was chilling the air. So, that left me with jeans—a navy blue pair I sometimes wore in place of dressier pants back home—and a gray polo shirt. Checking in on my sport coat hanging in the closet showed that it still had a huge brown blotch on the inside. Unsurprising, since I hadn't touched it since the night I had bled all over it except to pull my quinque from it.
With Hasuko still in the shower, that gave me a little time to do take care of a few things. First off was to make coffee, if only for her enjoyment and not mine. As I dropped my outfit over the back of one of the chairs, I noticed a small and neatly folded pile on the other chair. Well, that answered where her clothes had gone, if nothing else. Seeing that gnawed at my thoughts, all the way from starting the coffeemaker to the moment I heard the water shut off in the bathroom.
