feliks marinov

Blake knew of the male’s attitude in the morning because she’d dealt with it for so long, but she also knew that it was the best time for her to ask things of him. He’d be too tired to fight and with her naked form pressed against him, she’d weaken him that much more. “I can walk out and get hit by a bus,” she argued then as she looked over him. Despite the kiss, she rolled her eyes at his comment about how annoyed she was being. It was those little words that irked her but she’d done her best to get over them as she knew they didn’t mean anything. “Why do you think I’m asking you this early in the morning? I know you won’t have the energy.” She said with a grin as her hand slid across his torso and then moved lower in order to further taunt him. “I wanted you to be excited about the concept of either one. First, because I’d look hot on a bike and you’d get to drive one,” she whispered into his skin as she peppered kisses across his neck whilst her hand toyed with the elastic of his boxers before it delved underneath. “Secondly, because I know that you like dogs despite acting otherwise. Plus, it could be nice and maybe be another step.” He’d been the one to mention marriage and bring up the conversation and now she couldn’t help but enjoy the thought of having a dog and it making them a family. “I worry about you, too.” She pulled back to look down at him, her hand still. “But if you don’t want me to get either one, then I can respect that.”

Maybe he wasn’t paying enough attention to Blake’s features nor to his own words, to know that there could have been other, better ways to put things had he just given it some more thought. But his own tiredness paired with... well, the brunette’s presence distracted him enough to render himself helpless in that sense. Humming at her words, Feliks was suddenly very much made aware of her hand, and in which direction she was going with it. Now she was just playing dirty too. “You always look hot.” He countered with, glancing down at her where she trailed kisses along his neck. Letting out a grunt as her hand took the liberty of diving underneath the fabric of his boxers, one hand moved to land on her waist, sliding all the way down to her ass. “I wouldn’t mind either one.” He finally concluded, and truthfully so. “But a dog’s a big commitment, alright? If I wanted that kinda thing, I’d just get a kid instead.” Maybe it was the morning itself that made him bring it up at all, and more so, that he made it sound so easy. Perhaps in some sense, a kid and a dog could be compared, but in others? In others, there was a big difference between them. “But yeah, if you wanna get a dog, at least get a good one. Like, nothin’ too big or too small.” Not that Feliks knew plenty about dogs, but he didn’t want something that would be too much trouble, nor felt like having to carry around something small like a Chihuahua. He had an image to maintain, after all.

@feliksmarinov​

Claire was happy to have prom behind her at this point. She’d had a dispute with Dom after tensions were running high and practically walked away from him without truly putting an end to their conversation. Despite still feeling angry about the entire situation, she also felt ashamed of the way she’d acted. Old habits did die hard despite believing she’d grown up and gotten over her tendencies to simply run away. 

Nevertheless, she awoke the next morning to a rather extensive case on her hands and knew the police needed to be involved. Therefore, she went down to the precinct in the hope that she could find Feliks as he was her point of contact for severe cases. “Feliks,” Claire hummed as she walked up to the male, glad to see that his better half wasn’t at her desk. “I was hoping you were free today to accompany me to a wellness check. Apparently there’s been report of neglect.” She said with a sigh as she handed over the file towards him. “If you’re busy, I can ask someone else.”

It was always a dangerous thing to say that things were calm at work, but as a matter of fact, today of all days things were sort of calm, or at least so far. Up until now, Feliks hadn’t actually left his desk, and anyone who knew him knew that if you asked him, the worst part about the job was in fact desk duty. So of course, when the voice calling out for him interrupted him enough to steer his gaze up and land on Claire, he felt a sense of relief; hopeful that she would provide him with something far more interesting. “I’m free as a fuckin’ bird.” Hands flying out to the side as if to prove his point by showing off how little he had to do, the male pushed himself up from his chair, walking over to the other side of his desk, leaning back against it. “Nah, it’s fine. I’ll take anythin’ to get outta here.” Reaching for the file she offered, he swung it open, eyes falling down to its contents. “What’s the case?” Of course, the file held all information he needed to knoew about it, but in this case, he was asking for her to give him a quick brief. Claire was endlessly passionate about her kids, a thing he had always secretly admired about her since back when they first met. However, the two of them hadn’t seen each other as much lately after... well, the more unfortunate events involving Blake, which he surely hoped wouldn’t mean things were awkward now.

Blake knew that the male wasn’t the best when it came to mornings. It often took him some time alone, some food and caffeine before she could approach him. However, she’d found a remedy to that after some time was her beneath the covers. He always seemed almost pleasant when she gave him some head before he opened his eyes. While it had been what she had in mind when she began to move her mouth across the expense of his skin, the idea burst into her head and halted her motives. A bike or a dog — seemed like a fair compromise to her. His words brought a smirk to her lips as she sat up and slowly moved over him as to straddle his waist. “One can kill you and the other can’t,” she retorted with ease. Perhaps a dog could kill someone but it would be more arduous than a bike accident. Granted, she understood the commitment that came with one and not the other. However, she felt that they’d be great dog parents. “What’s your argument against getting a bike then?” she whispered, lowering her form down to press her lips against his. “Don’t tell me I can get hurt because I know, but we both also know I’d be a lot hotter with some more scars.” She teased, playfully nipping at his lower lip. “If you’re going to say no. I do suggest you softening the blow a little. How? I guess you’ll just have to find a way.” Her brow wiggled, mischief in her hues.

"Pretty sure both can fuckin’ kill you.” Unable to keep the comment in, he knew what she meant of course, but that didn’t change the fact that both could be equally as dangerous, if you just happened to pick the wrong individual. But the brunette was stubborn, and he knew her well enough by now to know that if the idea had come to mind, he would have to do a lot to convince her of otherwise. Eyes trailing up to find hers, he met her kiss with one of his own, one hand reaching up to brush back her hair, letting his hand linger on the side of her face. “You know you’re kinda annoyin’ right now, babe.” He grunted, displeased to be put on the spot like that so early in the morning. “I don’t even have the energy to argue with you.” He scoffed then, squinting at her from where he was. “You wanna get a dog or a bike, then do it. But I ain’t takin’ care of either.” Truth was, Feliks was sort of a dog person, only that he wasn’t interested in having to look after one himself. “And if you get yourself hurt, you know you’re just gonna end up givin’ me a fuckin’ heart attack. You don’t think you workin’ out in the field is enough for me to deal with already?” Granted, his words were said with mild irony, although they were still not far from the truth. There were certainly days he worried more about Blake coming back home all in one piece than others, and the last thing he wanted was something more to add to that. So surely, a dog sounded like the better alternative out of the two — but in the end, the choice was still hers.

@feliksmarinov​ at beespoke cafe, friday morning

“So──” she started in a very official tone. She had the same drink and dish that she order on the first time they were there, but this time she met him on purpose (and she paid for her food). “I need an unbiased opinion of someone who doesn’t know me too well because I am too soft to make my own decisions.” And romantically a trainwreck apparently. “So let’s say I went out with this guy── and we are not talking about you, but someone nicer,” she said, poking fun at him, “and he has like a complicated history── ex-wife, ex-girlfriend, the whole shebang. On a scale of buying facebook’ shares to driving off a bridge, how bad would be going out with him again?” She was asked, purposely not mentioning she might have said yes.

The whole arranged meeting in general had been completely out of the blue, not even sure whether or not to show up in the first place. However, if the invitation managed to surprise him, it was nothing compared to what finding out about the topic itself did. Dating advice... from Feliks? Like she said herself, he didn’t know her, and he was certainly far from the best person to ask for advice. “Seriously?” A huff slipped through parted lips, giving her a look of disbelief. “You wanna go out with someone, just fuckin’ do it. Why you need to ask me for?” It was far from the answer she was looking for, he knew that, coming off as completely reluctant to playing along in the slightest. Yet, that was all he could bring himself to give her. “Just don’t worry so much about the past, yeah?” Funnily enough, he had at least as much baggae himself, so if she didn’t want to give that guy a chance, Feliks definitely shouldn’t have deserved one either.

Scott didn’t care much for Feliks calling him a baby ── in fact, it was always like that, Scott would call Feliks out, he would deflect, and the opposite was equally true. Although they probably have slightly different ways of doing so, Scott being much more dismissive than defensively, but Feliks always had more pent up anger. “You work with her, you guys are practically living together── I am pretty sure this all the time you are referring to is when you are taking a shit,” he said, humored as he dropped the bottles on the center table. “Had it been me with she-who-must-not-be-named,” the nickname have stuck even though it didn’t hurt as much to speak about his ex, “you would have my head on a plate.” He cut himself though, taking out his jacket and placing carefully on top of a chair. “I didn’t come here to talk about the inevitable thing you’ll make,” he didn’t want to call it a mistake, because he also didn’t want to alienate his best friend. If Feliks loved that woman, regardless of how Scott saw her, he would be by his side. It was not his mistake to make anyway. And Scott had a history of not hitting off with Feliks’ women anyways ─ it was not like Ames loved him. Maybe even though they were best friends, they didn’t know what each other needed in romantic terms ── it wasn’t the type of conversation they had often.

He moved through the place like he owned it ── completely different from his penthouse, but he also new every inch of the house. Scott pulled two glasses from the cabinet, checking inside for any signs he needed to clean them up, before he walked back to the other room. “Besides, it’s better if it happens── I thought your dick was going to fall from gonorrhea at any time.” Their specialty was to talk shit to each other, about each other. “So, besides, queen bee── what’s up?”

Even if he had just claimed otherwise, Feliks actually had to agree with Scott, if only internally — they did work together sort of, and since Blake moved into his place after he got shot to help out, she kind of never really moved out. Or, at least she hadn’t done so yet. By now, Feliks was even starting to enjoy having her around, despite the fact that out of the two, Blake had a far nicer apartment than he did. “You still think I’m makin’ a mistake, don’t you?” Feliks queried then, although the answer was pretty obvious already from the other’s choice of words. Scott didn’t like Blake — no news there. “I’ll admit, I never in a fuckin’ lifetime thought she’d still put up with me for this long. Apparently I’m not as much of a pain in the ass as I thought.” Granted, the last part was definitely said with irony. The first few months with Blake had been far from easy on any of them. “But things are better now than they’ve been in... I don’t know how fuckin’ long.” His shoulders lifted in a brief shrug then, feeling like that should be reason enough to still stay together. Blake was good for him, even though he wasn’t sure that he was actually good for her.

“But yeah, alright. I know you don’t wanna talk about that shit.” Or at least, that Scott wasn’t there for only that. “I don’t know. Things are feelin’ weirdly normal for once, now that I’m back at the station and all.” Eyes steering up to the other, he wasn’t sure what else to say. Nothing big or out of the ordinary had happened in quite some time now. “So please tell me you’ve got somethin’ more excitin’ to tell me than that. C’mon, catch me up.”

@feliksmarinov​

Blake groaned from the bed beside Feliks, leaning into the male to drape an arm over his chest when she rolled over. His shirt was draped over her body from where she’d plucked it up earlier on her way to the bathroom. It hung over her shoulder when she rose from her laid position and crept upon his form in order to straddle the man. “I think I have some ideas for what we can do today.” She whispered, leaning down to press a kiss upon his collarbone, slowly leaning up to bite at the back of his neck, pepping kisses along the soft flesh until her mouth landed on his jaw. “I’ve been muddling with the idea of getting a bike or a dog.” At the last word, she paused momentarily pull back and looked at him. Mainly, she wanted to know how he’d feel about it.

He’d spoken about marriage at the wedding and now she wondered if perhaps owning a dog was the next step. Maybe moving it but that seemed to have already happened unofficially when she’d decided to stay over to help him until he healed — then she just kinda never left.

Barely awake from his own slumber, needless to say, by the time he could feel Blake’s arm over him, a drowzy grunt was all she got in return. Even when she moved over to straddle him, the male didn’t yet open his eyes, although she was certainly starting to force him into a more awoken state. When he first felt her lips on his bare skin, a second, more dragged out grunt escaped his lips, one hand reaching up to run his fingers through his messy, dark strands of hair. However, as she kept going, Feliks was certainly starting to lean into it more, enjoying the pleasant wake-up the brunette provided him with. Getting a bike or a dog. It was only when she spoke up that he instantly huffed, forcing one eyelid open to peer up at her. “A bike or a dog?” Repeating her own words, another huff rolled off his tongue, eyelids closing once more. “You’re fuckin’ insane, woman.” Mumbling, hands lifted to wrap his arms around her back, pulling her back close, nuzzling deep into her neck as he breathed in the scent of her. “You do know one of them are alive and breathin’, and the other... well — ain’t?” Surely, it was obvious already, and had it not been morning, perhaps he would have been more open-minded to the idea. But a dog? That was a whole new being to tend to.

            Admittedly, she’d seen the call from Feliks as it was happening, but had chosen to ignore the call, assuming it had been nothing but sheer error. Whether that be in judgement, or of a technical nature, considering she was well aware he had been seeing someone as of late. And whilst, once upon a time, she’d been happy to fall into a not-so-single man’s bed, she was doing this off concept called ‘bettering yourself’. Something that was ultimately pretty damn difficult. However, despite geography being on their side, it seemed Wilmington was actually a lot smaller in the grand scheme of things, the blue eyed male turning his head, ahead of her in the line for her coffee order. Typical. “Marinov—” She quipped back, nodding in his direction as a general greeting, before smiling over at her newfound company. “Long time, indeed.” Thalia mimicked in response, only emphasising the distance the pair had between them, and time, since their last roll around in the sheets. Probably prior to her official return; a visit paid to Wilmington sometime last year, calling him up for another go at it — or another few go’s at it. “Was beginning to wonder if you were just going to avoid me forever.” A smirk creased against her features as she taunted him slightly. She’d had no issue with his actions over the last few months, or lack-there-of, rather. But that didn’t mean she could’ve give him a little faux-grief for the sake of amusement.

Weirdly enough, it was a small consolation to see that Thalia seemed just as... not thrilled about running into him as he was about running into her. Not that they hadn’t gotten along in the past — he just wasn’t up for running into another old booty call at the moment. Frankly, during certain periods of time it seemed like they were haunting him; wherever he went, there was someone he had slept with at some point. Feliks had never really minded it in the past, only that things were slightly different in the present, when having decided to commit to a serious relationship again. Things weren’t exactly awkward — just a waste of his time. “Me, avoidin’?” At her statement, he repeated her phrasing, snorting lightly as if offended by her choice of words. “I ain’t avoidin’ anyone.” Sounding very sure of himself, he realized his words might not make much sense, if you considered the fact that he had in fact called her. “I know I called, but I didn’t mean to.” The initial explanation came quickly, soon extended with more detail. “Was in the car at work, tryin’ to get my phone out from between the seats and somehow the thing dialed your number. What can I say — shit happens.” And far worse things than that had certainly happened before.

After his gunshot wound in February, Feliks hadn’t really been able to pick his old habits back up to the same extent as before. Initially, it had been because of his own limitations; not being able to move his arm as much as before, not being able to build up the same strength as quickly. Over time, he had come to realize that he also just had more things on his plate these days, once he had started to allow himself to commit to more things than before. Or perhaps he should really say that it was after finally starting to do something other than just drinking and screwing his way through life as before. Old habits died hard, the saying went — and in Feliks’ case, it had taken him nearly five long years to kill his own.

Although this morning, he had been hell-bent on making time for the gym on his day off, for once not having anywhere else to be anytime soon. With Blake off working a shift herself, the male was on his own and made sure to try to enjoy it the best he could. The place wasn’t crowded, perhaps because of the early morning hour itself, but it only served for his own benefit. Having spent the past fifteen minutes on one of the two treadmills, he was finally slowing down, catching a figure in the corner of his eye moving onto the currently free treadmill next to him. “It’s no use — that one’s not workin’.” Throwing the words out before he had the chance to take a look at the person itself, had he been able to do so first, surely, Feliks would have kept his mouth shut. Not that he was usually one to avoid old booty calls, but in this case he had in fact avoided her call far more recently than most. Working as a cop and having grown up on the streets himself back in the day, Feliks could easily recognize trouble — and Lola was exactly that. “You can have this one — I’m done.” Turning the machine off, he came to a halt, jumping back down onto the floor, reaching for his towel to wipe away the beads of sweat trailing down his forehead. Then, surprisingly enough, Feliks decided to make his escape — steering off in the opposite direction, pulling out his phone to glance down at the time, pretending like he wasn’t at all looking to be anywhere else but there.

He probably shouldn’t still have her number, but for some reason, he did. Perhaps if he hadn’t, then Feliks wouldn’t have accidentally managed to call her number the other day, not actually realizing until it was too late. Thankfully, she hadn’t picked up. Thankfully, she hadn’t called him back either. Not that things were awkward between them for some reason — it just didn’t feel appropriate anymore to call up an old booty call with Blake currently in the picture. And yet it seemed like fate had inevitably planned for them to meet one way or another. Working, but taking a quick break to get himself the large cup of black cofffee he craved, after ordering up and about to head back out, the male turned around and then there she was — standing behind him in line, with no way for him to escape an encounter as elegantly this time. “Hey.” Pushing out a greeting, a hint of surprise laced his features as eyes fell on her form. “Long time no see, Jennings.” And it sure was — he couldn’t even remember when their latest rendez-vous had been, but considering how long he had been with Blake now, it would at least had to have been sometime last year.

@feliksmarinov​ at feliks’ place, friday night.

Scott didn’t want to interfere in Feliks’ life at all. 

Although it was no secret for Feliks that Scott wasn’t a fan of Blake, he truly only wanted his friend happy ─ hence why he gave space for him, to them. Scott didn’t really need constant contact to feel validated, and it looked like things were indeed improving for Feliks. He didn’t expect Feliks to be completely healed from losing his family, but he was good at relationships, so he should give it another try. But it felt that their last catch up had been a long time ago, maybe too long. He wasn’t counting the hospital, because there was nothing more depressing than that ─ not to mention, it wasn’t exactly the best moment to talk about life.

So, after picking a top shelf whiskey, Scott left his house to Feliks, shooting a quick text that he was on his way ─ hoping that Feliks would understand it as a night for them.

“I feel like I would have better luck seeing you if I get arrested,” he complained, barging into Feliks’ place. “Or maybe I will just see you at your next bachelor party. When will that be?”

After the text from Scott his company was expected, and with Blake off working a late shift, there was no need for them to worry about getting interrupted. Knowing that the blonde still wasn’t her biggest fan and that the feeling was probably mutual between the two, an encounter felt unnecessary, even more so since he hadn’t in fact seen Scott properly for some time now — which was Feliks’ own fault, really. It wasn’t so much that he hadn’t thought about reaching out to meet up, but more so that Scott wasn’t the only person he could lean on these days — even if Scott was the only one he would still trust with literally every part of his life there was.

“Jeez, now you’re just soundin’ like a fuckin’ baby.” He commented back at Scott’s greeting, moving to get himself seated on the couch by the time the other barged in. “I’m not with her all the time, alright?” Far from it if you asked him, but surely Scott didn’t see it the same way. “And we’ve been doin’ this for like... a few months. The hell are you talkin’ about a bachelor party for?” While they both knew Feliks didn’t want to wait for too long and miss his chance of marrying the girl he loved two times in a row, actually going there already was an entirely different thing.

Blake couldn’t help but laugh and then nodded her head. “That’s true, I was more thinking about the fact that if someone walked in while my dress was hiked up. It would be a pretty sad sight given that I wouldn’t be able to pull it down quickly or at all.” She wrapped her arms around him and pressed a soft kiss to the male’s neck, nipping slightly there to be a tease. While she was more than willing to wander off and have a little fun, she also worried that she’d cause unnecessary drama if they were caught fucking. Still, it had been a while since they’d done something fun. Nevertheless, the mere concept of wandering off was plucked from her head when he dropped what felt like a bomb on her head. She hadn’t even imagined that he had been thinking about marriage. Especially since his focus had been on the case as of late which she assumed had made his feelings towards her more complicated. Her shoulder rose and fell then. “I mean, I think you’d pick something gorgeous but I don’t want anything over the top. A small-ish diamond and thin band.” She was a simple girl and as someone who used her hands a lot, she didn’t need a huge rock to get in her way. His question made her pause as her hands stilled on his back. By the time their foreheads had been brought together, she knew the answer and shook her head. “It makes me nervous and anxious, but in a good way.” She whispered back to the male. She was even excited at the concept of building a life together. “Does it make you nervous that I’m not really freaked out about it?”

A smile pressed on his lips, mildly amused by the thought. “Don’t worry — I got you covered. Better they see my ass than yours.” He mused back, pretty serious with those words; it wasn’t like he wanted just about anyone to catch a glimpse of what was his either way. Brushing back her hair gently as she nipped at his neck, he only smiled, pressing his lips to her skin in a kiss to her cheek. However, when the topic changed and she started to give him descriptions of rings, he felt far more amused — especially since he just told her not to give him any advice. “Duly noted.” He commented back, even though he had practically assumed as much already; so far, she had only been confirming what would have been his own trail of thoughts. With their faces soon so close to one another, Feliks’ hand landed on the side of her head, keeping her close. Truth be told, he had expected her to be more freaked out about it, but maybe her not being it was better for his own nerves in the end. In that moment, it was just the two of them. Maybe even the wedding managed to get to him a bit and make him jump to conclusions too quickly. Right now, it felt good. However, he knew himself and his demons well enough to know that when he got some time to himself later, he might not still feel as calm as he did now. “Not yet.” He replied back, lowering his voice too, every word spoken for her ears only. “Maybe tomorrow.” He added with a little more jest then, a smile tugging at his lips. “But I definitely thought you would be.”

For a moment, Danielle could definitely have convinced herself that he didn’t get it. To some extent, yes, because he was a police officer and death was something they probably dealt with on a weekly basis. But to actually know that sort of loss… the pain and grief that came with it… it wasn’t a feeling Dani could even begin to describe. If it could be depicted in any way, perhaps having your heart ripped out came close. That horrible, sinking feeling she experienced when she’d been twenty-five… that phone call that had changed everything. No, he couldn’t possibly know — right? “Okay.” Forcing a smile, it was all she could really say to begin with. Not knowing where else this could possibly go, Danielle was moments from separating herself from a conversation that had become a little stale, until he said it. The thing that made her give him the same look — possibly worse, and she hadn’t meant to. She knew how much hatred stemmed from receiving such a look of pity and despair. However, it couldn’t be helped. Not only a girlfriend, but a child? And such a young child. It broke her heart without even knowing the full story. She sensed a slight change in the detective; his voice become more tense. She was certain that if it was anything like herself, his throat would be going dry and he’d soon too be looking for his escape. “Yeah,” she responded, not quite with the same conviction of himself, but she did agree to some extent. For Danielle, though, her belief in such a thing happening had drained from her long ago. “I hope so too.” Eyes glancing back up to meet his, she nodded, appreciative of his offer. “I have contemplated such help. It’s just a can of worms though… ya know?” Danielle wasn’t sure she could face it a third time. She’d been disappointed enough to last her for the rest of the century.

Truth be told, by the time Feliks had told her the very brief story of it, the truth, he was disappointed by the other’s reaction. Not only because she gave him the one look he knew she hated just as much as he did, but also because she gave him so little in return. He wasn’t looking for her pity, no, but then again, he wasn’t expecting her silence either. Maybe that was what he got for actually being honest for once; it was almost ironic. In the end, it bugged him a little, but not so much that he would let it show in his next words to her; she was just a victim to tragedy much like himself, after all. “Yeah... Maybe.” Looking at her now, the male was suddenly a bit more distant, closing himself off already after just having allowed her a quick glance of what was underneath — a privilege rare to most, even if she didn’t know it herself. While he could relate to feeling like he was running out of hope and not having the energy to go through another dead end, Feliks knew in his bones that he had to, for Lia and Maya’s sakes. He had to do right by them, if it so would end up being the death of him. Only then would he be able to truly settle down in a new life, to truly feel comfortable in the arms of another. “Well... Maybe I’ll see you around.” And just like that, he felt like their brief conversation was coming to an end. Suddenly no longer comfortable around her, perhaps not feeling like she had earned more than what she had already got. Whichever it was, the male soon started shifting in his place, taking a few steps back away, finishing off with two more words before taking off in his initial direction. “Good talk.”

The brunette raised her brow at the male as he mentioned being able to hike up her dress high enough. Despite the fact that it was skin tight, she felt there was enough wiggle room to get it up high enough too. “I think getting it up won’t be the problem. It’ll probably getting it down without having to unzip the whole thing.” She grinned at him then as she leaned in to place a peck upon his neck. It wasn’t the classiest thing of them to do but she wasn’t opposed to the idea of him leading them to a closed environment. Plus, she had a few ideas what he could use his tie for. Letting her fingers run down the tie, she looked up at him and nodded. “Debatable.” She grinned as she pressed herself into his side, arm wrapped around him. It had been a while since they’d been overly affectionate and she was enjoying it now. Perhaps it was merely the venue and the idea of watching someone say their vows that made her feel more close to him. As she answered and he took in her words, she looked up at him and did the same. It was nice to know that they were on the same page when it came to not needing some kind of huge wedding to prove to everyone that they were in love. However, it was the next set of words that made the brunette pause momentarily. He wouldn’t wait too long which made her think if he was ready to propose to her further down the line. “Am I going to have to start dropping hints about what kind of ring, I like?” She teased then, though there was a edge of curiosity behind her words. Was he already thinking about all of this? While she felt excitement at the notion, she was also frightened.

At her comment about her dress, Feliks only grinned, clearly not seeing a problem in the same way that she was. “So then we’ll unzip it. You say that like it’s a problem somehow.” He teased, tugging her closer, tilting his head somewhat to the side to better expose his neck to her. While he wasn’t feeling like he couldn’t contain himself in that very moment, admittedly, the idea of going off somewhere more private was still tempting. Luckily, perhaps, the far more serious topic that was up for discussion was a good distraction for both of them, eyes trailing down to meet hers as she let his own words sink in competely. He couldn’t tell whether or not they surprised her — truth be told, they hadn’t exactly brushed on the topic at all before. All things considered, they had only been doing this thing for a few months now, and was that really enough to talk about far more serious gestures? ... Maybe. Feliks had lost the girl he loved once too soon already, and wasn’t too keen on making that mistake twice. “You really think I’d need your help?” He scoffed then, eyebrows raising as he eyed her over. “Pretty sure I know how to pick out a damn ring on my own.” She was only teasing, and in turn, so was he — after all, whoever it would come to that with in the end, the whole thing was to let it be a surprise. Leaning in closer, resting his forehead against hers, one hand brushed over her back, slowly, comfortingly. “Does that freak you out?” Seeing how unused she had been to the idea of a relationship at all in the beginning, he was sort of expecting her to be even more fearful at the idea of something more permanent. Yet, Feliks voice was calm, as was his feelings — fully comfortable with her in that moment.

               In the midst of a rage, the animal known as Dean Strickland was at his most feral. So when a body slipped between his anger and his punching bag, he saw red. What made it worse was that it was Feliks’ hands shoving hard into his chest and sending him reeling backward. The moment it registered and the bloodlust haze began to clear, his ferocity was redirected. “Nobody ordered no fuckin’ bacon, get the fuck gone, Marinov. Or I’ll break your goddamn face too.” Now, threatening an officer of the law was never an intelligent move. Yet brainpower seemed to fly out the window the moment primal instincts were triggered. Then shit went from bad to worse when the fucking cop decided to play tough guy and grip onto a beast in the middle of a rampage. This fuckface from New York, someone he’d had plenty of run-ins with over the last few years, never had a problem going toe to toe with Wilmington’s resident brawler. Dean never could figure out if his balls were just that fucking big or if Feliks was that god damn stupid. Arrests had been made difficult plenty of times, he’d earned a few right-crosses across the face, and aggressive behavior had warranted plenty of other jabs. Problem was, Dean was quite a bit bigger, and a whole fuck ton nastier. 

              So that hand threateningly curled into his shirt against his chest? Sinister eyes went black as his massive hand slapped around the cop’s wrist and began to crush with a vice like grip. “Ya really wanna be fuckin’ touchin’ me, pretty boy?” Now Dean had added assault to his offenses against an officer of the law in a matter of a few minutes. Neither of them were ever going to learn. The one thing they had in common despite being enemies on opposite sides of life? They were lions. They never backed down. “Did ya wake up today an’ fuckin’ decide to lose a few teeth? Ya even got a badge on ya today?” It was sickening how the possibility pleased him. If Feliks was off-duty, then was Dean free to beat him to a pulp and get away with it? Turning his arm, quick and hard, he snapped the cop’s hold on him free then re-gifted the hard shove right to Feliks chest. A moment of clarity halted Dean’s predatory advance — “ya got less than thirty fuckin’ seconds to get outta the way, or I’ll fuckin’ break you too.”

In these situations, it was almost ridiculuos to find that Feliks was the one to stand on the side of the law. The male had never really been known much for being a law-abiding citizen in the past himself, which was perhaps one of the many reasons why he was temporarily kicked from the force, and even when he was still working at the station his ways sometimes had a tendency of getting a little bit... extreme. The thing was that when Dean threatened him, he was actually threatening a police officer. When he touched him, it was a matter of assault. Was it the other way around and Feliks acted against Dean, it was simply him maintaining peace and the law. It was as simple as that. So, despite the name-calling and the threats thrown in his face, Feliks only smiled. Perhaps it was more of a sneer than an actual smile, but he was amused nonetheless. Even if Dean held his height and weight over him, Feliks had the authority to put him away and make his life a living hell if he wanted to. The guy had history of these things after all — it would be no match convincing a jury of what had been going down.

“Fuck you, Strickland.” He hissed back, grunting in pain as the male reached for his arm and forced him to let go, sending him stumbling back a few steps shortly after. Just because Feliks didn’t have his badge on him in that exact moment, it was still always back in his car, and for Dean’s sake, it wouldn’t do much difference in the end as far as punishments went. “Yeah? Better start fuckin’ countin’ then because I sure as hell ain’t goin’ anywhere.” He mocked at the other’s words, threats he knew Dean would have no problem trying to see through, but then again, that would really only get him into more trouble in the end. “You sure you wanna go there? You know I’ll just drag your fuckin’ ass back to jail. Maybe this time it’ll actualy stick.” The town sure would be a far nicer place without Dean fucking Strickland running loose on its streets. “C’mon — what are you waitin’ for? Better try’n get a real good hit and I’ll have you charged with more than just mild assault of an officer this time.” Practically spitting out the words Feliks stepped forward again, stupidly reaching to shove hard at Dean’s chest once more, clearly with no intentions of leaving the scene. “You should know better than to threaten me by now, you fuckin’ asshole.”

She needed to get her wits about her, her now burning cheeks giving away just how uncomfortable, surprised, and embarrassed she’d been upon seeing the man in front of her, her reddened features only deepening as he didn’t seem to remember her. “Yeah.” She agreed with a nervous laugh, beginning to move about the small space in search of a towel she knew was inside. Enough of her friends had been lifeguards on this very beach in high school and college, so she knew there was a stash somewhere inside, she just needed to remember where. Maybe it wasn’t important now that she was protected from the storm outside, but being able to move around and avoid eye contact with Feliks sounded better than standing there and facing him and the mortifying memory of the night they’d met years ago. “I’m not blushin’.” She lied with a nervous chuckle, opening up a closer and beginning to look through it. “Just flushed from the run.” Her voice was muffled as she leaned down into the closet and open a box, finding the towels and grabbing two before reemerging and holding one out to him. “Towel?” She asked, sucking in a breath through her nose as she did her best to offer him a warm smile, using the second one to begin drying her hair as she changed the subject in hopes of not having to discuss the humiliating night. “Hopefully it won’t last too long…” Her voice was drowned out momentarily but the sound of thunder, “But we definitely needed the rain.”

While the details of their initial encounter was very slowly coming back to Feliks, they seemed far more fresh in the other’s mind, even though she seemed to want to deny as much of it as possible, at least in conversation. The memory was vague, but he did remember them hooking up — or at least, partly doing it. It wasn’t every day he found himself in bed, screwing someone only to realize they were crying — as if he was that bad. Granted, Feliks had been drinking that night and hadn’t been feeling very good himself at the time, hence the slim recollection of details at all. What was even her name? Katherine? Kat? Katelyn? Katie Lynn? Yeah, that last one definitely rang a bell somewhere. “Uh-huh.” A tone of disbelief was clear in his voice, eyebrows raising as he looked her over. She was totally blushing, but he wasn’t going to press her on that kind of admission. Watching as she managed to find some towels, Feliks moved forward to grab the one she offered, mumbling a simple ‘thanks’ in return. Using it to dry his neck, his gaze never strayed, staying on her. As interesting as the storm was on the outside, she was far more entertaining now, even more so as she was clearly trying to avoid the subject altogether. Unfortunately for her, Feliks had never really been one to be afraid to address the elephant in the room. “Yeah...” Trailing of, clearly with no interest regarding the weather, he moved the conversation elsewhere. “You know, I know I’ve been piss drunk enough times to give shitty sex, but was it really that bad? ‘Cause I can’t remember bein’ that drunk that night.”