The devil may smile with an angel's face

[godofcologne]

After the conversation with Edward, Thomas stayed in his room and let his mind wander, let the Hunger guide his thoughts through a maze of possibilities. He tried to ignore how the exercise, even the planning, was a rush, how it made the blood rush through his veins. Between his fingers, he toyed with a business card, once in a while rereading the

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[godofcologne]

When Alice walked in, the business card got tossed somewhere between his bed and the dresser. Thomas wasn't worried. The thing had a habit of showing back up. Besides, he'd memorized the number. He followed Alice into the bathroom, ignoring the stale sour smell and the stain on the dress that ended up on a pile against the far wall. "If I answered that now with a yes, I'm sure something will blow up in my face before the night's over to change my answer," he replied, sliding an arm around Alice's waist.

There was definitely blood on her hands, but he ignored that for the moment, instead dropping a few light kisses on Alice's neck, drawing away just a tiny bit of the ever present, simmering energy. The burn was healing quickly. Now his lips were just a little oversensitive instead of in pain at a touch.

"But so far, good enough. Your brother's trying to buy my help with his forgiveness." Another kiss, pressed to the spot behind her ear. "I hope it was a private slaughter," he continued, hand gesturing to hers. "Should I be insulted that I didn't get an invitation?"

[manicpixydream]

"I meant last night, I mean ok we technically spent half of it getting here but I kind of bailed before the fireworks, you know? Just needed to feel the wind in my hair before facing stuff down or whatever." Alice wasn't actually going after a layer of skin, but the blood was stubborn for sure. Thankfully it was mostly on her arms and hands and they were getting a good perfumey lather going.

And oh, she hadn't actually realized how bad the pain had gotten until Thomas started kissing her and it started getting better. So much better. Jasper was going to be on her ass about putting that off too long if she made a show of it, though. Probably even if she didn't, god knew what they were airing.

"Ok first off that sentence with Edward in it doesn't even make sense but I want a story anyway. And second I don't know where you were at when Vlad got all politely kidnapped but his demon escorts were like, begging me to teach them some manners and you know, they were stubborn students, but you're always welcome." She leaned into that lovely Thomas kiss, and not just for its painkilling properties 'cause, secondary and for some reason that jogged her memory.

"Oh, plus? You're an idiot."

[godofcologne]

Whatever had triggered that particular line of thought had a domino effect, reminding Thomas of other parts of his conversation with Edward. Still, he didn't speak until he had spent a few seconds nibbling at Alice's ear, smiling a little as she leaned into him.

"Three things," he said, pulling away so he could actually look at her in the mirror. "I'm pretty sure I was still dead to the world when that happened, sorry. Two, I'll tell you the story later. And three, you're the idiot. Empty night Alice, how are you supposed to help Edward if you keep pretending to do stuff that just gets him angrier at you?"

Thomas caught a glimpse of his own face in the mirror, actual anger starting to show in his eyes, and he stopped talking to force it away.

[manicpixydream]

Most of the blue stuff was gone now, and if the smell was lingering it was pretty hard to detect but it was probably going to be just faintly there for a few days and she'd deal, so she started drying while Thomas made his list and got all frowny. Alice hopped onto the counter and repressed a sigh that would've come out way too giggly, which sadly just made it sound like she was laughing at him but tough.

"How am I gonna help Edward? Oh my god you seriously don't get it do you. Lacci was ready to lose her mind at whoever spilled about Wolfram & Hart which, by the way?" She thwapped him with her towel.

"She's not gonna stay pissed at me, and if you think Edward's not past counting reasons I'm the devil now you're fully not paying attention. I took a hit for you that I'm fully capable of taking and I shouldn't have had to if you were like, being a reasonable person and keeping confidences with girls who might be really upset at having them broken so don't empty night me."

[godofcologne]

Rubbing at the bridge of his nose, Thomas gave a long, deep sigh. "I don't remember being told by anyone not to say anything to Vlad in the midst of all the abuse yesterday," he pointed out.

He shook his head; that was not the right road to be going down. Thomas forced calm into his voice. "All I mentioned was the time Lacci decided to go on an all coffee no sleep schedule because Vlad looked like he was pulling the same thing. I thought I'd ask permission this time instead of randomly beating him over the head if he started raving. He put the rest of the pieces together by himself."

Which was more than Thomas could say for some people in this idiot house.

[manicpixydream]

"Thomas I'm not your mom, I don't care why you blabbed what you did, Vlad needed to know at some point cause whatever conversation's going down with them right now is obviously a kind of necessary thing, I'm just saying don't freak out at me for taking your bullet." Alice quirked her head and raised an eyebrow.

"Besides it doesn't really matter who they think told, does it? I mean if it's out now? Plus I don't remember doing a whole lot of abusing last night so you're gonna have to fill me in." God, and she could take her own advice about the guilties, but they were there, a tiny thread underneath all the totally reasonable needed to take care of herself feelings, and anyway she didn't get why he was so pissed. Not at her. "Was it like, super awful?"

[godofcologne]

Another long breath. "It's the principle of the thing, Alice," he said, avoiding her eye. The anger wasn't at her, hadn't been since... well ever, if he was going to be honest. It was just harder to lash out at the man in the mirror without sounding like a raving lunatic.

"You dragged me across the country while I was too busy being an ass to take care of things. You just... shouldn't still be doing that now is all." He shrugged. "Whose definition of super awful are we using? Because it was pretty awful by my count. The next person to ask me about my feelings is getting shot."

[manicpixydream]

It was real sweet that he thought she was going to stop taking care of things now that they were at the house, but she got the gist.

"Listen, you're a big boy and you can take your lumps, yeah? But I can take 'em too, at least while you get back on your feet with a couple of people, I mean trust me once this whole thing blows over you're gonna have to beg me to take the fall for any of your hijinks Thomas Raith, not that you will cause you're a manly man and everything." Alice kept smiling and hooked a stockinged leg around his waist, yanking him closer to the counter.

"So I'm hearing it was bad but you know, apparently Edward is talking to you and Lacci too from the sounds of it, so not too bad for one night." Plenty of bad could go down in one night no matter how it ended, but no use dwelling when she'd dragged a lot more out of him than two weeks. Pushy Alice was still taking her well-earned vacation. For as long as she could before she became Obviously Avoidy Alice.

"And Edward's trying to get something out of you in exchange for making nice? Poor Thomas." Her grin went kind of wicked, and she ran her other foot along his inner thigh. "How does that make you feel?"

Let him shoot.

[godofcologne]

The grin and the obvious attempt to poke at him would have made Thomas glare at her, six feet four of manly indignation, except Alice's legs were doing quite pleasant things. The look he shot back was pure wickedness for about half a second before he caught her lips with his.

He kissed her slowly, all lazy exploration, while his fingers dropped feather light touches all over her stockinged legs. "Right now I feel like I'm being made fun of," he answered in a soft teasing growl, lips moving down her throat as his fingers found the tops of the stockings and began sliding beneath them. "How does that make you feel?"

[manicpixydream]

Blissful. Sigh-worthy. Pain-free. A real abundance of adjectives that Alice didn't feel were exactly the priority at the moment given Thomas' lips being back in play which was kind of like a star pitcher magically healing a shoulder or some other sports metaphor she was fully not qualified to come up with.

She'd been kind of worried about the rooming together and the cabin fever of two weeks and awkward on top of awkward, but that all went pretty much out the window when she remembered normal Thomas, Thomas who was all smirks and kisses and playfulness, and ok so they'd sniped at each other for a bit but it was still all new. This was the part she knew for sure they were still both good at.

Alice made it real clear how it made her feel returning his kiss and arching against his fingers. "I'm not making fun of you, I would never." She sank a hand into his hair, traced his jawline, and it was nice, this sort-of familiar kind of thrill that anchored her to the house and the outside world. "I just got distracted cause I was making a list in my head of all the stuff I'm gonna like, make you confront before the end of the night, I was thinking we could get a shrink's couch in here, yeah?"

[godofcologne]

He couldn't help the pleased sigh as Alice's hand sank into his hair, and Thomas resumed his own motions. Slow, steady tugs at her stockings alternated with nips at Alice's neck, and he laughed softly against her skin. "Sure, as long as it's big enough for two," he answered, dropping a trail of kisses down her body as he sank to his knees.

Thomas looked up at Alice with a grin as he caught one stocking in his teeth, dragging it down her leg, trailing hot breath and kisses in its wake. "How's that list coming?" he asked innocently, tossing the stocking over his shoulder as he caught its mate and began the process anew.

[manicpixydream]

"It got real boring all of a sudden, I don't know what happened." Any other cracks she had like was there a thing she should know about bathroom counters or what deep dark secrets she was going to drag out of him went completely out of her head too, 'cause Thomas' grin just did that, where every once in awhile she got reminded how unearthly-type gorgeous he was, and when it happened while he was taking off clothes with his teeth a girl could lose track of things. Like hopefully her own name.

"I'll make it later and just leave it on your bed for when you have time, yeah? That way you can get a head start." Her voice was already getting all breathy, damnit. He was fully back in fine form. "I don't wanna interrupt you while you're busy."

[godofcologne]

"I'm pretty good at multitasking." And there went the other stocking into the corner. More kisses back up Alice's leg, and he took a moment to press one to the inside of her thigh of nothing but lingering heat before Thomas stood up again. There was still a faint tingle at his lips, just a little more sensitivity than normal, but he could overlook that for the taste of Alice's skin, of soft lips and breathy laughter.

He kissed her again, slow and steady, as his fingers slid up her thigh, tracing the path of his kisses, until they slid past cloth and found warm flesh. Thomas swallowed her gasps as his hips rocked lightly against her, teasing as his fingers moved in her. He could almost predict Alice now, predict when breathy laughter would hitch into arching want, when desire would hum against his skin at the perfect pitch. The Hunger slid against her, a light velvet touch, unspooling emotion and all the threads of futures and possibilities. "You can leave whatever you want on my bed," he laughed, lips moving away from hers to trace the line of her jaw, up her cheek, to that spot behind her ear.

Featherlight touches , quick and fleeting, alternated with steady strokes against nerves on fire. "I hope you don't mind if I don't get to any of it tonight."

[manicpixydream]

Thomas was even better once he knew you is what Alice figured. And if he ever really wanted to torture her he'd know exactly how and she didn't honestly know how she'd stop him, 'cause she'd probably be too busy wanting him to. It wasn't just the pain misting away like it'd never existed, or the practiced twist of his fingers pressing into her and against her exactly right. It wasn't even all the real affection she had for him. Thomas was just always going to make her lose her head a little, anytime he liked, and Alice was pretty ok with having signed up for that kind of heat.

She couldn't even get out the plan she had for getting to his bed right now, which would've been cute and all when she hauled him there, except she couldn't. She was already past breathy laughter and as much as she wanted to draw out this toe-curling pleasure and the warmth of his skin, this beautiful spinning alone in her head without noise or pain, her hands were kind of moving to undo his jeans without her explicit permission and she didn't really have the will to stop them.

There was a lot to be said for desperation she guessed; Thomas seemed to drive her to it without a whole lot of trying even when she wanted to float there for ages. A hand snaked past his undone jeans to stroke the same kind of desperation into him, 'cause it was so much better when they went together.

[godofcologne]

Between Vlad and Alice, Thomas was becoming very convinced of the importance of practice. Even with the Hunger on his lips and fingers, tasting desire and leaving aching want with every touch, he gasped in surprise at the touch of Alice's hand, cool and skilled, against him.

His free hand moved to swat at hers, but then her hand ran right along a nerve, sending a jolt of pleasure straight up his spine. If his own fingers dug a little deeper into her, moved a little faster in response, it couldn't be helped. Thomas could only choke out a moan as the hand that had been about to swat at Alice's moved around her waist to slide up her back, undoing the hook of her bra only so that it wouldn't be in the way of all that lovely soft skin.

She was far too coherent, judging by her hand on him, and Thomas withdrew, easing Alice up on the counter slightly so he could ease the last scrap of cloth she was wearing off her hips and onto the small pile of lace on the floor. He kissed her again with a little hint of desperation, his hands running over her curves, thumbs running lightly over her breasts.

Feeding and playing became instinctive, and for the moment all Thomas wanted was to sink into her, to feel Alice's legs wrap around him. When he spoke again, his voice was breathless, wanting. "Please."

There was a certain pleasure in begging.

[manicpixydream]

All these soft touches were driving her so completely insane she didn't hear him at first, hard as it was to focus on what she was trying to do, but there was a shock of pleasure when she did, and Alice's movements slowed.

For a second she wondered if her visions had come back even a little, 'cause she was sure she'd seen this, pressed panting against tiling and being begged for, but there was a difference between idle fantasy and visions and she'd have gone way crazier if she hadn't learned that difference a long time ago. Still it was kind of a nice bonus, fantasy or not, to go along with all the quick hitches of breath and the waves of need getting harder and harder to keep quiet. Not to mention the whole begging thing which almost ended it right there.

Alice was quick and strong and she knew this fantastic body she was pressing against pretty well, so it didn't take long to go from splayed against the counter to wrapping herself around him, legs brushing the small of his back and pulling him sharply forward to sink into her, and whatever moans and whimpers Alice couldn't keep to herself got muffled by Thomas' chest and everywhere else her mouth could reach, fevered and gasping and exactly the right kind of needy.

You could beg without actually begging was what she figured. She did it with Thomas all the time.