archived.

CONSPIRE: for our muses to hide with each other at a houseparty, sitting on the floor in a coat closet or bathroom.

HIGH: for our muses sit on top of a roof together, sharing a bottle of booze or a joint.

TRAP: for our muses to be stuck in an elevator alone together for several hours.

TRIP: our muses are on a roadtrip together and the car breaks down somewhere remote.

DARK: our muses spend the night in a haunted location trying to hunt ghosts.

TASTE: our muses share a cigarette on a swing set in an empty park.

EARLY: our muses spend all night at the beach until sunrise.

LATE: our muses are camping in the mountains together but hear noises outside their tent at midnight.

BALL: our muses dance together at a masquerade, not knowing the other's identity until the party is over.

SETUP: our muses have mutual friends who set them up on a blind date at an ice cream parlor.

FREE: our muses sneak into a skating rink together while its closed.

REALIZE: our muses are in an abandoned amusement park but discover a crime scene.

ACCIDENT: our muses hook up in a library but accidentally stay after its been closed and are locked in for the night.

PAINT: one muse goes to an art class and is surprised to find the other is the model for the day.

DISCOVERY: our muses are in a graveyard and find an emptied grave.

STUCK: our muses haven't seen each other in years and are assigned to the same room in a hostel.

The way her name had sprung between his lips had been unintended, slipping from him in a breath between kisses, voice cracking as he tried to keep himself from losing himself completely. He wasn't even sure what his intention had been—to tell her that this was wrong, that they should stop, that he didn't want to stop and he wanted to go further if she'd let him.

well, this was a bit of a hurricane -- and she could name it chris. category four with potential to go up to five if he KEPT saying her name like that. fuck's sake. grace really tried, she REALLY tried not to give into this feeling. it was slightly overwhelming, new, and... all encompassing. she'd been distracted and distant, trying so hard to keep him at arm's length due to the constant fluttering in her stomach.

funny how that didn't work out. she was bordering on losing herself COMPLETELY, especially when he did exactly as she requested. although, hearing her name again and feeling the stubble against her skin had her coming back into her own body for a moment. but a moment was all it took. should they... be doing this? if she wasn't tangled with him in terms of EMPLOYMENT, well -- grace wouldn't care at all. but suddenly, she was a bit nervous. what if whatever this was... ended? was put out like a flame on a candle burning too long? what if next week they couldn't look each other in the eye? what would she do? what would HE do?

her overthinking was beginning to take over her completely until she felt the brush of his fingers against her cool skin. did he run hot? she couldn't help but wonder. and she pulled back ever so slightly, ever so RELUNCTANTLY. because... she had to say something. she HAD to. or else she was going to go actually insane.

"i-is this... going to ruin everything?" the fear in her voice was stronger than she wanted it to be, the woman almost wincing at how nervous she sounded. a slow exhale through her nose, eyes flickering open for her gaze to wash over his face completely. "i mean... i-i guess what my question is, uhm..." real smooth, ashcroft. you are positively KILLING this. no. really. you're killing the moment. fuck's sake.

If it weren't for his own place being too small, he'd have invited her and Emily to stay. But a one-bedroom can only do so much, especially with a growing child entering the mix, so the offer hadn't been extended, no matter how long the words have pressed on his tongue only to be bitten back behind his teeth.

She's tense, caught in her thoughts. The idea of them being a them is still new, but he knows his way around his feelings, his thoughts, and he doesn't care to exist in a state of uncertainty when they both know what they want. What they've wanted. So he brushes his fingers against her cheek in an unspoken question, and the look in her eyes and the nod of her head says yes, so the movie shifts to the backburner of his focus as he pulls her close to kiss her.

She's pliant, malleable, conforming her mouth to his while fists curl into the front of his shirt. There's more to her right now, things she wants to say, but it takes time for her to speak, time that he spends kissing her jaw, her throat, dragging teeth and lips across her collarbone until she finally says what's on her mind.

And it isn't unexpected, truthfully. They've become comfortable in their shared space. The bed has been split into her side and his. More of her things will need to be moved out of here than out of her own apartment - and most of what's still there are books she hadn't thought to bring over here yet. If he's honest? He doesn't want her to leave, either.

Pulling back, he tucks her hair behind her ear and studies her face. The soft downturn of her lips, the pull of her brow. He tries to smooth her frown with a brush of his thumb. "I know," he says. "If I had the space, you both could stay here with no question."

He pushes more of her hair back, gently, rhythmically, noting how it's gotten a bit longer in the last few weeks. "How about this. You and Emily stick to your lease, and once it's up, I'll also have a new place. Two bedrooms. Fuck it, three, so we can have an office for work and homework. Maybe a house instead of an apartment, with a lawn." Big dreamer right here, but he's got the salary and the savings to make it work, so why not. "Maybe even a cat."

and so every time she felt purely at ease, as comfortable as could be... the anxiety settled in. this wasn't her home, no matter how much it felt like it was -- no matter how much she WISHED that it was. her home was a one bedroom apartment with a leaky radiator, upstairs neighbors that must practice tap dancing every night at one in the morning, and a kitchen so small that she could barely fit. she was taking advantage of his kindness, a voice in the back of her mind accused. she was holding on when she should've been letting go.

and it was that cycle of fear and anxiety that had been driving her these past few days. every time she opened her mouth to say something, she closed it like a fish out of water. terrified of his response, that he might affirm all of her fears. he's noticed. she knew that he noticed. and he probably KNEW that she knew that he noticed. lather, rinse, repeat.

although, leon did have a very efficient way of getting her to talk. mostly by having the innate ability to press every single button of hers that turned her brain off, something that was sometimes DESPERATELY need. like a hard reset. turning the router off and on again.

he pulled back and the beginning of an honest to god WHINE left her lips only for grace to cut herself off when she realized how ridiculous she sounded. cheeks pink now and she fought the urge to lean forward in an effort to capture his lips one more because they were TALKING and it was IMPORTANT. so she focused, watching his lips move before eyes flickered up to meet his own.

"i-i'm sorry, i didn't..." didn't mean for her words to have been said OUT LOUD. they were SUPPOSED to stay firmly lodged in the recesses of her mind. "ignore me, i-it's okay." because anything would be better than the inevitable rejection.

and then he was... NOT rejecting her? furrowed brow relaxed slightly under his touch, though the rest of the body was still tense with what was fear and now... disbelief? confusion? wait, he was still talking. and he was saying things that she genuinely had only dreamed of before.

"you're not making fun of me, are you?" a squeak before she realized how stupid of a question that was. this was LEON. he wouldn't lie to her. and so the corner of her mouth twitched into a small, bashful smile. "w-wait, really?" heart skipping roughly five hundred million beats as gaze washed all over his face.