#simmorse

Kate smiled sweetly, taking it from your hands. You knew your cheeks were blazing a bright red and figured that hers would too if she had an ounce of humility. If she had an ounce of blood circling her veins. She widened the door and welcomed you into the warmth before closing it.

This would be fine. It wasn’t just the two of you, your back against the side of a house with a trash bag in your grasp. This was a social event, an interaction that wouldn’t leave you breathless and dizzy with concern. Still, you didn't like that your back was to Kate, so you hurried into the well-lit kitchen.

Bobbi expertly held a knife above a block of cheese, half sliced through. Her green stare flashed towards you and warmed entirely. “Y/N! So glad you could make it.”

Jemma turned from her own task at the sink. They were a beautiful couple, one that had welcomed you with open arms when you first moved in across the street. Much like Kate, they had brought you a basket filled with muffins and a card expertly written in script. They worked for a large corporation that dedicated their research to renewable energy, often going off on tangents with one another about things you couldn’t dream to understand.

You could feel Kate’s coolness behind you, her hand finding the small of your back. You tensed for a moment, the edge of fear rushing through you before you realized she was just trying to edge her way into the kitchen. Part of you wanted to lean into it but settled for simply staying where you were.

“You’ve been such a stranger lately.” Kate’s metallic earthy scent filled your lungs as she pressed close to you.

“But feeling better, I hope.” Jemma’s soft voice chimed in. “Whatever you had seemed to take New York down a peg.”

You acknowledged Jemma with an over-exaggerated nod. Your stomach still hadn’t completely settled, and a wave of nausea hit you to prove its point. She opened an overhead cabinet and struggled on her toes to reach the wine glasses, prompting you to assist, and getting you away from Kate’s lingering stare.

“How are things at Stark Industries?” Bobbi asked, moving the cheese from the cutting board to a plate accented in flowers. “We just had someone pitch solar power on the lower floors. The amount of red tape there is…”

“A lot, I know. Pepper likes all her t’s crossed, and honestly, I can’t blame her. It seems like high stakes. I’m sure we could stand to save on some power though- thank you,” You took a glass filled to the brim with red wine, pressing your back against the counter.

Kate caught your gaze once more. Her slate stare was leveling you, trying to assess the situation. You had seen that look many times before and countered it with a burst of self-confidence that an initial gulp of alcohol could give you.

“You know all about high stakes, don’t you Kate?”

She was taken aback by your forwardness, a flash of it plaguing her expression. It was so quick, almost untraceable. The corner of her lip turned up slightly at that. Maybe you could draw something out of her in front of Bobbi and Jemma, a social event had more than one benefit.

She leaned both of her palms against the granite island “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“The security company,” You elaborated. Two could play at this game. You knew how google worked. “Sounds dangerous.”

“I can handle it.”

“I’m sure you can.”

Bobbi clapped her hands together, forcing a smile “Okay! Who wants some aged gouda?”

Two hours had gone by, and you admittedly had too much to drink. It started with easing your own nerves but turned into trying to keep up with Kate. That was a mistake. But she had deliberately held eye contact as she gulped down the cloudy red liquid, running her tongue over her bottom lip, smiling with pink-tinted teeth.

Jemma and Bobbi were wonderful hosts, they always had been, and you’d have to apologize profusely later. It wasn’t that kind of event- though you wished it had been. Everything was fuzzy, your head swimming. Once the lights in their living room began to pulse at the edges you knew it was time to call it a night.

“Thank you again,” You had managed through your thinly veiled attempt to pull your coat on, your arm getting latched on the edge “oops”

Bobbi pulled Jemma closer to her side, giving her wife a worried look. Kate was amused, a full-blown smile on her face now, and God damn if it didn’t’ infuriate you. You had watched her drink the same amount you had, if not more, and she was perfectly fine, probably able to recite the alphabet forward and backward, and in a different language.

“I’ll get her home,” Kate said, pulling on her own coat.

“It’s only 50 feet max. I’ve got it handled.” You reached for the door handle and turned it. It didn’t’ budge and you frowned, staring dejectedly at the homeowners who masked their own grins. “Parting is all we know of heaven, and all we need of hell.”

Jemma snorted “Thank you, Kate. I think our poet here needs to lay off the Dickinson and the wine.”

That familiar scent of blood and earth coated your lungs as Kate said something that you didn’t’ quite catch and ushered you out the door. You let yourself be guided simply because you wanted to and not because it was Kate doing so.

She was pale under the moonlight, nearly glowing as she helped you avoid a particularly bad patch of ice rimmed in oil and dirt. You found yourself clinging to her jacket. Clearly, you should be afraid, or at the least, familiar with the fear that she instilled.

“Whoops,” you mumbled once more when your keys fell to the paved walkway, nearly toppling over when you grasped them. She waited patiently as you unlocked the door, swinging it open and welcoming the heat. She matched the temperature of the night. “Question,”

“If it’s about Emily Dickinson, I failed the poetry unit in college. Miserably.”

“No,” You shoved her shoulder, “If I invite you in, does that mean you can like… enter anytime? I don’t know how it works.”

“How what works?”

She scrutinized you. Okay, you could get behind being gaslighted by a supernatural creature. They’ve had years of practice and you patted yourself on the back for recognizing the tactic in the first place. So, you invited Kate in as a test. She was cautious, still leading you even though you were convinced that you could handle it.

You fought her diligently as she ushered you towards your bedroom and gave in after another wave of nausea washed over you. Your ceiling was spinning, legs hanging off the side of the bed. Kate fought back a smirk as she untied your boots and slid them off. You draped your arm over your eyes.

“Kate,”

“Y/N?”

“I think I’ve decided that it’s okay if you’re a vampire. People have their flaws and if murder is yours. I can live with that.”

There was a silence that washed over the room. You pulled yourself up onto your elbow and stared at her. One boot was in her hand, her mouth slightly agape. Moonlight flooded the room, washing over your carpet and the mud you had just tracked onto it.

“Is this why you’ve been so hostile lately?” She forced a breath from her lips “you think I’m a vampire?”

“It’s not funny!” you huffed, crossing your arms over your chest, and flopping back down to glare at the ceiling.

Kate laughed though, and you had to admit, the sound was heavenly. You felt like you were drowning in the sound, warmth prickling against every inch of your body. She could get it out of her system, after all, she had just helped your slowly sobering self to your room.

“Hey,” she grasped at the lapels on your coat, gently pulling you up to a sitting position, tears brimming at the corners of her eyes and a smile lingered heavenly on her lips. You were mere inches from her, breathing her in. “I’m only going to say this because you won’t remember it in the morning,”

Your breath caught, your eyebrows lifting. There were two of her fluctuating in front of you right now. Maybe she had a point. You could handle two Kate’s. Maybe not two vampire Kate’s but normal, human, fucking stunning, Kate’s.

“It will forever baffle me how you put the pieces together before the two secret agents across the street.”

It was your turn to be quiet, not something you had done very well tonight. But your mouth was suddenly dry, Kate’s hands still locked around the collar of your jacket. They radiated cold air, that tinny scent filling your lungs again, mouth dry and parted. The smell of alcohol spilled past your lips.