[ bellamy lifts himself, supporting his weight on his arms that rest behind him. looking at her incredulously, he can't help but smile. ] Did you not hear me when I said it's a pain in my ass?
[ chion had been a gift, meant to keep him company in the wake of o leaving. he still does, even if he's more of a menace than a kind companion. the sentiment behind him means more to bellamy than returning the annoying snowball back to its owner. he can handle a broken television, ripped books, and even his apartment going up in flames if the snowgie's meant to be a way of keeping him from being swallowed up by his loneliness. ]
[ it shouldn't surprise him raven wants to meet the creature that's been distracting him from feeling as melancholic as he should've been when octavia had originally left. he shakes his head, hanging his head back as he looks at the stars, before he gazes back at her. ] If you want to meet Chion, you can. It's not like he's really going anywhere.
Sure. I love meeting pains in your ass. We bond. [She nudges his leg with her right foot, and looks down on the current pain in his ass she's bonding with. The one she'll give some pets and ear scratches because she's adorable and keeping her chest warm.]
[ bellamy rolls his eyes. instead of returning to his back, he leans over on one arm, curling his other hand into a fist, save for his index, and tries to brush nike's tail lightly. he watches her, waiting for her to react, but she doesn't until he pokes her. she peers over her shoulder at her tail, shifting where she is, before he walks his fingers up her spine to scratch her hard behind the ear. ]
[ he doesn't look at raven as he focuses on nike, smiling when she tilts her head when he scratches beneath her chin. ] I'm starting to think you want to hang out with me for my friends. [ his friends who are not people, who stave away any loneliness he may have as all nike can do is bark and chion can crash into anything and everything. ]
[She keeps the hand she has holding Nike safely on top of her chest very still, waits to see if he'll brush his fingers against her, even on accident. He may keep playing with the dog, but he's making her oddly nervous, like she hasn't been in a long time.
Like she hasn't been around him, at least. (Come on, that's a lie. She may have taken her clothes off to break the ice, but she'd been a sack of nerves even then.)]
Well, your friends like me. [And make a nest of themselves on her body, and are soft.] And they're cuter.
[ when he pulls his hand away from nike's neck, she looks at him. though her default expression is always looking a little sad and a little cute, bellamy suspects she's annoyed at him for removing his hand. he touches her nose, feeling how moist it is, before he glides his finger up her snout and between her eyes, scratching at the top of her soft head. quietly, ] She is really cute.
[ where raven feels nervous, he's never felt more relaxed. he withdraws his hand to shift, lying diagonally across the blanket she's laid out. if he was to rest his head, it'd be right near her torso. with one arm beneath him, he extends his other to thread his fingers through nike's short fur. they fan along her back, almost spanning the entire width of her. ]
[ his fingers do brush against her own hand, nails blunt as he tries to scratch all of nike. she looks behind her, at his hand, before she yawns, facing raven again. he copies her without realising, looking to raven. he grins, wanting to tease her, ] So, you think I am cute. Good to know. I'll put that on my Cuddlr profile.
[Yeah, really cute. And then he keeps going, and he's very attentive in the way he plays with his dog, with Nike nearly falling asleep on top of her, those tiny Disney princess eyes closing slowly. I can sympathize, girl.
But his tease wakes Raven right out of her reverie, and maybe she flusters a little.]
You just hear what you wanna hear, don't you? So -- do you want to hear that I think you're cute? [She can play the game of teasing him back much better than she can sit still and wait for him to touch her like he touches Nike. So.] Is that it?
[ he shrugs a shoulder, keeping his gaze on nike as he watches her drop her head against raven. he doesn't think to argue the assumption he hears what he wants. he knows he does — he hears the bad all the time, barely listening when someone has something good to say about him. but he doesn't let that weigh him down as he treads blindly, thinking, maybe, this is a good path to walk along. it's easy and it requires no thinking, even if teasing raven is just a little new. she's always been teasing him with a boom to try and scare him. ]
Do you? [ nike's entire body begins to shift until she's lying on her side, tail moving slowly as he scratches her stomach. he watches her move one of her back legs, but, otherwise, she remains on her side, loving the attention. ]
[ his fingers glide down nike's front leg to press his thumb against her paw. if bellamy's about to step on a landmine, he doesn't notice. that's the downside to being around raven, he gets too comfortable that he doesn't exactly peer down and watch where he steps, forgetting to take note of any upturned earth or uproots ready to trip him. ]
[Sure, make the dog wiggle on her stomach, that's not ticklish at all. She doesn't hold her breath so as to not laugh, not her. She holds her breath for other reasons.
By the time she's noticed it, she has stared at the shadows across his face, and the freckles he has, and his long lashes, and still hasn't exhaled.]
No. [Croaky, that's what her voice sounds like. Low and croaky. Hopefully he can't tell, isn't listening.] I think you're a lot of things, cute's not one. [And most of those things are inappropriate, and she hasn't had a friend in a while that mattered as much as Finn, so she won't fuck it up.]
Let me guess — [ his fingers brush against the fur between her two front legs, almost extending toward nike's chin. she stretches, but remains still enough for him to think she might be more interested in taking a nap and listening to raven's heartbeat than she is in exploring. sometimes nike reminds him of o when she'd been a baby, always falling asleep on mom or him. the familiarity is calming in a way. ]
[ he doesn't think much on the croak of her voice. he notices it, like he does all the small things people say and do and even omit, but it doesn't weigh anything to him. it's either a purposeful decision of his own or he's as oblivious as he's become known in eudio when it comes to people who look at him a little too intently and think him to be anything but the dick he knows himself to be. ]
[ he finishes, though, after a moment of forgetting he's even talking as he watches nike. he exhales, as if admitting defeat before he even begins this battle. ] You think I'm an ass.
[ he leans on his arm, teetering on the edge of toppling over if he so chooses to lose his balance. he tries to stretch to see if nike's asleep. her eyes are closed and her breathing, if he watches her chest, is pretty even. he presses his lips together to pretend he's disappointed, righting himself again so he's lying properly on his stomach. ]
[ he retracts his arm from his dog to fold it underneath him. his gaze doesn't move from nike. he shakes his head, speaking softly: ] Raven Reyes thinks I'm nice and you're asleep.
[ he sighs before he lets himself roll, falling onto his back as his head rests near her shoulder. he's pretty sure he's properly misconstrued her own meaning, if her waggling her eyebrows is anything to go by. but bellamy likes being exasperating, especially to raven. dragging a hand over his face, he folds only one beneath his head out of habit. ] Pretty sure that's better than what I already have.
[Oh, the dog's asleep. And the city is quiet down below, and if she listens closely maybe she hears the crickets in the grass, behind the sound of her heartbeat.
She whispers,] I said nice ass, I didn't call you nice. [Because she wouldn't want to wake the wriggly dog.
And it's easy to just stare up at the stars, on purpose, until she calms the fuck down. It's pathetic, she's slept with him, she shouldn't be getting a tight throat from him having his head near her shoulder.]
Please. [Huffy whisper now.] Just put your face on it, I'm sure that'll get you offers of...cuddles.
[ he figures nike is asleep. whenever she lies still, she's either dreaming or she's trying to play dead. he hasn't taught her the latter yet, even though he's thinking of trying before she grows any bigger. ]
[ he looks out at the city before him, focusing on nothing in particular, as he isn't so sure how to respond to her. he figures she's messing with him, being her usual self, even though he's wondering if he knows who that person is. he likes to think he does. he doesn't mind raven when she's not busy trying to figure out the best way to blow up a grounder or to keep him alive and in front of the guys inside a mountain. ]
[ he tests it now, to see if she's sleeping like the dead, as raven may lower her voice to be kind to nike, but he doesn't. after waking him up by barking at chion, he's all about payback. dryly: ] I'll be sure to put that on my profile.
[ he tilts his head up, gaze lingering briefly on nike whose paw twitches, before he arches his neck to look at raven. he thinks about not saying it, but her pushing him to cuddle — even if it isn't a push at all, especially after she'd offered herself up to make them even when he's already stated they are — makes him wonder if she thinks he's still set to leave. he figures he owes her the reassurance, even though he doesn't want to act as though he's someone so important to her she'll grow as melancholic as he had been without o in the city. he doesn't drop his voice for nike's sake. ] I'm not leaving until Octavia does. You know that, right?
[She guesses that's the topic of conversation she most dislikes: he's set to leave. Now, or two months from now, or a year from now, he's going to leave. She's going to grow addicted to the peace and the comfort of this city, to the friendships and the lack of people torturing her or hurting her, but he'll hang onto that civic duty of his and follow his sister out no matter when.
It's a horrible thing to have to think about, because of ...reasons.]
Course I know that. [Quietly, her eyes on the sky even if she's aware he's looking at her. She runs her hand gently down Nike's back.] But she's already left once. It doesn't tell me anything.
[ it doesn't tell him anything, either. if he had gone before she had come back, where would they be? he presumes he wouldn't be asked for a third time to return to the city. though they often say the third time's the charm, bellamy doubts he's as lucky. all he wants is o to be safe, but what he hadn't asked the representatives, refusing to specify it, was that he wanted her to be safe with him. ]
[ he looks away. ] Yeah. [ but bellamy knows himself better than most people think. if o was to leave again, he'd ensure he met his end of the bargain to see her safe — completely and utterly safe from the representatives pulling their strings and doing what it is they're meant to be doing to fulfil their ends. ]
I doubt she will, though. [ he may look up at the stars, but he doesn't see them. he's blinded by the hope and optimism he pulls over his eyes on purpose. he doesn't want to think o would leave him, but she's done it before, of her own accord and at his own wish she run, and he knows such a scenario where he's left without her can happen again. ] O likes it here.
[She returns her gaze up at the stars, and wonders if she should point out where Heracles is, dormant in the cosmos. Probably not, if he can't see it. She lets him mull over that thought, lets herself do the same, and keeps looking up. Then, quietly.]
You know, they're not going to kick you out if you don't wanna go. Accidentally, it might happen and they'd offer it again, but if - say you hug enough people to get your deal done... [She lifts her shoulders. Lets him figure that out, too.
She just switches the and she's holding onto Nike with, so the hand closest to his arm is free, and she can pretend she brushes the back of her fingers against his arm on accident, when she brings it down at her sides.]
If Octavia wanted to stay, and you wanted to stay with her, nobody's stop that. [Here she turns her head to glance at him.] Or I might make'em go boom.
[ bellamy can't help but smile as he repeats: ] You'd make them go boom.
[ to him, it sounds too good to be true — hug as many people he's meant to to fulfil his quota and he gets to stay with no pressure to keep on hugging on. the good things people are used to, the things people expect, are opportunities he's never been given. he wonders if he can try and attain the impossible, inspired by those who have tried to resurrect the dead, but bellamy thinks he's only going to strike lucky looking after octavia. it's all he knows — he's good at it, even when he believes otherwise. ]
Nice. [ he says it quietly. he isn't so sure if he should say thank you, even though it's on the tip of his tongue to. it seems as though it'd just make things awkward — or more awkward, as he isn't so oblivious to know he's not looking at her for a reason he's only half-deciphered. he can't help but remember how she had seemed almost deflated at the thought of him leaving, and he feels himself almost sensitive to it, not wanting to be dishonest with her when it comes to his intentions shifting. ]
[ he can't spy heracles in the sky, needing her to point him out. but he finds looking up at the sky is his lion's pelt, letting him hide away even though he's in plain sight. she can't see his expression, and that's all that matters to him right now. he sighs, ] I haven't hugged anyone.
[Yeah, nice. That's her. Secretly, she's nice. She'd be a great friend for anyone to have. Loyal, steadfast, willing to sacrifice everything for the assurance that her friends are safe. Selfish in good measure. Maybe not the most communicative of people, but she's not perfect, is she?
She's nice.
Except for the soft little laugh.] That's just sad, Bell. [Because it is. Even she's hugged (and hugged) some people since getting here. And she's way less charming, and probably has a half as decent ass as his.]
[ he's glad she doesn't ask why. although he doesn't quite know the reason himself, he knows it stems from what's happened back home. between losing people and almost losing himself, bellamy doesn't want to really connect to people. there's always the chance he'll lose them — he thought he was capable of coping with the loss of someone, but he's beginning to wonder if that had just been some temporary fix. ]
[ he shakes his head slightly, eyes rolling. he tilts his head to look at her. ]
[IT's not like she jumped right into it either. It took her two weeks to let anyone touch her, and she's so into being touched, touch-starved her whole life. So she gets it, without the need for explanation. Something happened in the Mountain, like some things have been happening to her as well. As long as Grounders have been involved...and, shit, now there's one in the City. (And the other one she can tolerate.)
She looks down at him, her smile small and benevolent.]
I'm gonna start it off with 'please hug me, I'm a sad person but a nice ass'.
[ he doesn't look anywhere else, keeping his gaze on her. his eyes do move to nike, who stretches her legs out, but otherwise remains asleep, or simply content to lie still on raven. ]
[ he knows him from the first few days of dropping onto earth wouldn't take this in stride. that bellamy didn't have a sense of humour, not when the joke was at his own expense. but now he thinks he's less of a hothead, able to laugh at himself, when he used to be so good at cuddling strangers. he feels like something inside of him has flipped from being comfortable around others, exercising his power over them, to wanting to shy away from them completely. he knows if he looks down at his hands, he'll find the reason there. lovejoy's blood still stains them, and he knows the memory of strangling him until he went limp in his hands will haunt him for the rest of his days. ]
[ he doesn't think about it now. instead, he only grows from being a little melancholic to amused. he lifts his arm to nudge her side with the back of his hand gently. ] You forgot it's endorsed by Raven Reyes. That's the most important part.
[ if truth be told, he doubts raven would give him a glowing recommendation. it's not like he's seeking one, anyway. that night in his tent hadn't been about him, even though he thinks, in hindsight, that'd been the problem. she hadn't come to him for him, and he doubts she even wandered into his tent for herself. it wasn't about being together, not in the way finn and clarke had been. there's no lingering desperation to be together that sits between them. he'd been convenient and she'd been willing — he doubts either of them got much out of it in the end. ]
[ he remains quiet for a moment, looking away from her. he reaches over to run his fingers down nike's back leg, finding she stretches it along with his movements. ] I doubt I'll need it.
[No probably not. It's a good thing he doesn't need one, because if she tries hard to remember what it was like, all she really does remember is that it didn't do what it was meant to do. It didn't cure her heartache or her anger, only made them grow and added regret over being an asshole onto the pile. He may not have minded, but she had; she'd minded that she'd used him so much.
She remembers leaving his tent in a hurry, sweat still clinging to her skin, but if it had been from fantastic sex or from the exercise alone... Well, she'd have remembered the fantastic part of the sex better.
She makes a soft little sound when Nike moves again.]
You keep doing that, she's gonna end up rubbing against my tits, and you can tell Jem she has something in common with her cat.
[ speaking of nike is easier than speaking of them. though bellamy doubts there's even a them — he's been perfectly fine not even acknowledging what had happened between them, but he's found that ever since they've been plucked from their own war, it seeps in. with some of the remarks she gives him, either purposeful or accidental, have been achingly similar to what she had uttered inside of his tent. and he knows he's parroted her, or himself from then, without really meaning to. all his own slips are accidental — as someone who watches his words, he doesn't exactly do a good job around raven. ]
[ he looks at her with an arched brow, pausing for a moment before he even speaks. ] You want me to take her away?
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[ chion had been a gift, meant to keep him company in the wake of o leaving. he still does, even if he's more of a menace than a kind companion. the sentiment behind him means more to bellamy than returning the annoying snowball back to its owner. he can handle a broken television, ripped books, and even his apartment going up in flames if the snowgie's meant to be a way of keeping him from being swallowed up by his loneliness. ]
[ it shouldn't surprise him raven wants to meet the creature that's been distracting him from feeling as melancholic as he should've been when octavia had originally left. he shakes his head, hanging his head back as he looks at the stars, before he gazes back at her. ] If you want to meet Chion, you can. It's not like he's really going anywhere.
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[ he doesn't look at raven as he focuses on nike, smiling when she tilts her head when he scratches beneath her chin. ] I'm starting to think you want to hang out with me for my friends. [ his friends who are not people, who stave away any loneliness he may have as all nike can do is bark and chion can crash into anything and everything. ]
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Like she hasn't been around him, at least. (Come on, that's a lie. She may have taken her clothes off to break the ice, but she'd been a sack of nerves even then.)]
Well, your friends like me. [And make a nest of themselves on her body, and are soft.] And they're cuter.
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[ where raven feels nervous, he's never felt more relaxed. he withdraws his hand to shift, lying diagonally across the blanket she's laid out. if he was to rest his head, it'd be right near her torso. with one arm beneath him, he extends his other to thread his fingers through nike's short fur. they fan along her back, almost spanning the entire width of her. ]
[ his fingers do brush against her own hand, nails blunt as he tries to scratch all of nike. she looks behind her, at his hand, before she yawns, facing raven again. he copies her without realising, looking to raven. he grins, wanting to tease her, ] So, you think I am cute. Good to know. I'll put that on my Cuddlr profile.
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But his tease wakes Raven right out of her reverie, and maybe she flusters a little.]
You just hear what you wanna hear, don't you? So -- do you want to hear that I think you're cute? [She can play the game of teasing him back much better than she can sit still and wait for him to touch her like he touches Nike. So.] Is that it?
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Do you? [ nike's entire body begins to shift until she's lying on her side, tail moving slowly as he scratches her stomach. he watches her move one of her back legs, but, otherwise, she remains on her side, loving the attention. ]
[ his fingers glide down nike's front leg to press his thumb against her paw. if bellamy's about to step on a landmine, he doesn't notice. that's the downside to being around raven, he gets too comfortable that he doesn't exactly peer down and watch where he steps, forgetting to take note of any upturned earth or uproots ready to trip him. ]
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By the time she's noticed it, she has stared at the shadows across his face, and the freckles he has, and his long lashes, and still hasn't exhaled.]
No. [Croaky, that's what her voice sounds like. Low and croaky. Hopefully he can't tell, isn't listening.] I think you're a lot of things, cute's not one. [And most of those things are inappropriate, and she hasn't had a friend in a while that mattered as much as Finn, so she won't fuck it up.]
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[ he doesn't think much on the croak of her voice. he notices it, like he does all the small things people say and do and even omit, but it doesn't weigh anything to him. it's either a purposeful decision of his own or he's as oblivious as he's become known in eudio when it comes to people who look at him a little too intently and think him to be anything but the dick he knows himself to be. ]
[ he finishes, though, after a moment of forgetting he's even talking as he watches nike. he exhales, as if admitting defeat before he even begins this battle. ] You think I'm an ass.
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A nice ass. [That one's deliberate, complete with a waggle of her eyebrows.] Put that on your Cuddlr bio.
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[ he retracts his arm from his dog to fold it underneath him. his gaze doesn't move from nike. he shakes his head, speaking softly: ] Raven Reyes thinks I'm nice and you're asleep.
[ he sighs before he lets himself roll, falling onto his back as his head rests near her shoulder. he's pretty sure he's properly misconstrued her own meaning, if her waggling her eyebrows is anything to go by. but bellamy likes being exasperating, especially to raven. dragging a hand over his face, he folds only one beneath his head out of habit. ] Pretty sure that's better than what I already have.
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She whispers,] I said nice ass, I didn't call you nice. [Because she wouldn't want to wake the wriggly dog.
And it's easy to just stare up at the stars, on purpose, until she calms the fuck down. It's pathetic, she's slept with him, she shouldn't be getting a tight throat from him having his head near her shoulder.]
Please. [Huffy whisper now.] Just put your face on it, I'm sure that'll get you offers of...cuddles.
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[ he looks out at the city before him, focusing on nothing in particular, as he isn't so sure how to respond to her. he figures she's messing with him, being her usual self, even though he's wondering if he knows who that person is. he likes to think he does. he doesn't mind raven when she's not busy trying to figure out the best way to blow up a grounder or to keep him alive and in front of the guys inside a mountain. ]
[ he tests it now, to see if she's sleeping like the dead, as raven may lower her voice to be kind to nike, but he doesn't. after waking him up by barking at chion, he's all about payback. dryly: ] I'll be sure to put that on my profile.
[ he tilts his head up, gaze lingering briefly on nike whose paw twitches, before he arches his neck to look at raven. he thinks about not saying it, but her pushing him to cuddle — even if it isn't a push at all, especially after she'd offered herself up to make them even when he's already stated they are — makes him wonder if she thinks he's still set to leave. he figures he owes her the reassurance, even though he doesn't want to act as though he's someone so important to her she'll grow as melancholic as he had been without o in the city. he doesn't drop his voice for nike's sake. ] I'm not leaving until Octavia does. You know that, right?
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It's a horrible thing to have to think about, because of ...reasons.]
Course I know that. [Quietly, her eyes on the sky even if she's aware he's looking at her. She runs her hand gently down Nike's back.] But she's already left once. It doesn't tell me anything.
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[ he looks away. ] Yeah. [ but bellamy knows himself better than most people think. if o was to leave again, he'd ensure he met his end of the bargain to see her safe — completely and utterly safe from the representatives pulling their strings and doing what it is they're meant to be doing to fulfil their ends. ]
I doubt she will, though. [ he may look up at the stars, but he doesn't see them. he's blinded by the hope and optimism he pulls over his eyes on purpose. he doesn't want to think o would leave him, but she's done it before, of her own accord and at his own wish she run, and he knows such a scenario where he's left without her can happen again. ] O likes it here.
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You know, they're not going to kick you out if you don't wanna go. Accidentally, it might happen and they'd offer it again, but if - say you hug enough people to get your deal done... [She lifts her shoulders. Lets him figure that out, too.
She just switches the and she's holding onto Nike with, so the hand closest to his arm is free, and she can pretend she brushes the back of her fingers against his arm on accident, when she brings it down at her sides.]
If Octavia wanted to stay, and you wanted to stay with her, nobody's stop that. [Here she turns her head to glance at him.] Or I might make'em go boom.
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[ to him, it sounds too good to be true — hug as many people he's meant to to fulfil his quota and he gets to stay with no pressure to keep on hugging on. the good things people are used to, the things people expect, are opportunities he's never been given. he wonders if he can try and attain the impossible, inspired by those who have tried to resurrect the dead, but bellamy thinks he's only going to strike lucky looking after octavia. it's all he knows — he's good at it, even when he believes otherwise. ]
Nice. [ he says it quietly. he isn't so sure if he should say thank you, even though it's on the tip of his tongue to. it seems as though it'd just make things awkward — or more awkward, as he isn't so oblivious to know he's not looking at her for a reason he's only half-deciphered. he can't help but remember how she had seemed almost deflated at the thought of him leaving, and he feels himself almost sensitive to it, not wanting to be dishonest with her when it comes to his intentions shifting. ]
[ he can't spy heracles in the sky, needing her to point him out. but he finds looking up at the sky is his lion's pelt, letting him hide away even though he's in plain sight. she can't see his expression, and that's all that matters to him right now. he sighs, ] I haven't hugged anyone.
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She's nice.
Except for the soft little laugh.] That's just sad, Bell. [Because it is. Even she's hugged (and hugged) some people since getting here. And she's way less charming, and probably has a half as decent ass as his.]
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[ he shakes his head slightly, eyes rolling. he tilts his head to look at her. ]
You going to put that on my profile, too?
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She looks down at him, her smile small and benevolent.]
I'm gonna start it off with 'please hug me, I'm a sad person but a nice ass'.
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[ he knows him from the first few days of dropping onto earth wouldn't take this in stride. that bellamy didn't have a sense of humour, not when the joke was at his own expense. but now he thinks he's less of a hothead, able to laugh at himself, when he used to be so good at cuddling strangers. he feels like something inside of him has flipped from being comfortable around others, exercising his power over them, to wanting to shy away from them completely. he knows if he looks down at his hands, he'll find the reason there. lovejoy's blood still stains them, and he knows the memory of strangling him until he went limp in his hands will haunt him for the rest of his days. ]
[ he doesn't think about it now. instead, he only grows from being a little melancholic to amused. he lifts his arm to nudge her side with the back of his hand gently. ] You forgot it's endorsed by Raven Reyes. That's the most important part.
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Nah, then you'll get used to it and maybe later ask for endorsement about how great you are in bed.
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[ he remains quiet for a moment, looking away from her. he reaches over to run his fingers down nike's back leg, finding she stretches it along with his movements. ] I doubt I'll need it.
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She remembers leaving his tent in a hurry, sweat still clinging to her skin, but if it had been from fantastic sex or from the exercise alone... Well, she'd have remembered the fantastic part of the sex better.
She makes a soft little sound when Nike moves again.]
You keep doing that, she's gonna end up rubbing against my tits, and you can tell Jem she has something in common with her cat.
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[ he looks at her with an arched brow, pausing for a moment before he even speaks. ] You want me to take her away?
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