PSL| electrocutesy| Stroke of Luck

[justgabriel]

It had been about a week since in run in with Elle, and he hadn't heard from her. Not that he expected to or anything. Not that he was disappointed or anything. He knew it was supposed to be a one night stand, but that last part, when they had lied in bed, kissing and talking before she finally left, it had felt different. He couldn't explain how,

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[justgabriel]

Gabriel had been immersed in his work, so much that he didn't even hear the bell on his door ring. He was holding a small pair of tweasers as he adjusted some settings, and then, almost like magic, the watch began ticking again. He held it up to his ear, closing his eyes to get a better grasp on the sound. It was perfectly in tune now.

When his eyes opened up, he was surprised to see Elle standing there in front of him. He had really...not expected to see her again, convinced himself he wouldn't, but there he was. He took off his glasses with the extra lenses and set them down, along with the watch before heading over to her.

His stomach was twisting and his heart was skipping a beat and he didn't know what he was supposed to do. Was he allowed to hug her? Kiss her? Was it better to keep a distance? He had no idea what the protocol in a situation like this was. It was probably because he had never been in a situation like this before.

But he decided to compromise somewhere in the middle. He walked over to her and placed his hands on her hips, pulling her in a little close. He didn't kiss her, as much as he wanted to he refrained. But instead, he just looked at her with a confused expression.

"What are you doing here?"

[electrocutesy]

Maybe she would have said something to announce her presence if her heart hadn't been in her throat at the sight of him. Or maybe she would have poked fun at the reverence he'd shown while fixing that watch. Or the jumbo glasses.

But it was hard to get a snide remark out once he'd looked up for some stupid reason, the shock of him standing in front of her, hesitating like the dork he was before taking her hips in his large hands. She stumbled the few steps he pulling her in, her breath a little shallow. Now that he was real and solid and in front of her, she realized how much she'd wanted this for days.

"Nothing," she replied, her voice a little weak as she stared at his chest, lifted her palms to flatten against it. She managed a smirk as her gaze continued up to his; tried to keep her expression devoid of the awkward nervousness she felt. "In the neighborhood. Thought I'd stop by."

[justgabriel]

"It's nice to see you again," He murmured softly, his heart aching in his chest as she rested her hands against it. He hadn't realized how much he had wanted to see her until she was suddenly here in front of him again.

He almost let the words "I've missed you" slip out of his mouth but then he thought better of it. She might tease or make fun of him for it, and really, he just didn't want to deal with that right at this moment.

[electrocutesy]

"Ditto," she said sweetly, and it was thankfully easy to keep her smile light and playful, her arms lifting to rest on his shoulders. It was nice to see him again, too. But maybe it was better he didn't know how nice it was. Or something. She guessed it was a lot nicer than being locked up. "Wanna go out to dinner or something?"

[justgabriel]

Gabriel hesitated for a moment. He had a lot of work he needed to do still. He couldn't keep just skipping work to hang out with her. Not if he wanted to survive in the world. But the sun was going down, so he supposed it would be okay to just close a little early. "Dinner would be nice," He finally responded, smiling. It surprised him, how happy he was to see her.

[electrocutesy]

"Awesome," she quipped, and pulled away. His adorable smile was just too adorable to stick around and look at a little bit longer. That was enough lovey dovey stuff for one night, she was pretty sure. Not that it made a difference, since she was sure the rest of the night would be full of adorable smiles and touching and... other stuff, maybe.

She took in a deep breath, her back to him as one of her fingers reached to touch the edge of the dusty shelf of broken clocks. She wondered why she even wanted to come if liking her... new pet was this aggravating. "Know any good places?"

[justgabriel]

"I know a few." He wanted to take her someplace nicer than the diner this time. Like a real date or something. He wasn't sure why it was important, but it was. "What kind of food do you want?" He asked curiously, grabbing her hand like the fussy old man he was as she touched the clocks. She might break something worse.

"There's an Italian place nearby, or a small Sushi place that's pretty good."

He wanted to leave it up to her. That was the gentlemanly thing, right?

[electrocutesy]

She turned towards him again as he snatched her hand away from his work, as if almost touching anything meant breaking it. The only thing she managed to do was get dust on her fingertips, and she wanted to zap his hand from hers, just for fun. Because his touch was making her a little bit violent all of a sudden, his affection stirring something hostile within her.

Still, she stayed put, their hands clasped and hovering between them. "I've never had sushi before," she answered, the edges of her smile sharp and her eyes sweet and blank.

[justgabriel]

"Then we'll go to the sushi place," He said with a firm nod, letting go of her hand. It felt weird, how touchy feely he wanted to be with her suddenly. He never wanted to be that way with anyone. So why was she any different?

She shouldn't be. He barely knew her. And yet since the moment she walked into the shop he felt happier than he had all week. He wasn't sure what he was supposed to do with that. So instead he started busying himself with locking up his tools and watches and clocks. He wasn't planning on coming back after dinner, so he couldn't leave anything vunerable to theft.

[electrocutesy]

Her hand lingered in the air when he dropped it, and the violence coiling in her gut slid down off of her like water, puddling at her feet. She didn't want to hurt him. Much. And maybe she liked his touch now that she didn't have it. Too much.

She watched quietly and blankly as he started to close up, letting her hand fall to her side, walking up behind him as he leaned over the lock some cabinet. She let herself smile, draping herself over the curve of his back and encircling his waist with her arms. "Are you afraid bad people will steal a bunch of broken clocks?"

[justgabriel]

"Yes," He said in a serious tone, though he was well aware of the fact that she was mocking him. He turned away from her grip a little to lock up some of his drawers. "Some of these pieces are antiques and worth a lot, even if they do need to be fixed." He finished up and turned to face her, grabbing his glasses, his regular ones, from the desk to pull them on. "What kind of person would I be if I didn't protect my customer's things?"

[electrocutesy]

She wasn't sure what about his serious, unaffected reaction bothered her so much. But at least he didn't pull away. Completely. Or anything like that. She'd almost forgotten the darkness in his eyes until they slid over her, the intensity of them filtered as he slipped on his glasses. Her smile wasn't so prominent now, and she looked up, trying to size him up. Size herself out. Elle thought she was pretty good at that--reading people.

"I don't know," she responded with a small shrug. "Not one with a steady business?"

[justgabriel]

"Exactly. And I can't afford to not have a steady business," He said in a matter of fact tone. He checked all the locks and things one last time before turning back to her with a small smile.

"Shall we?" He asked, making his way over to the door where he switched the sign from "Open" to "Closed."

[electrocutesy]

"Uh huh," she said quietly, and walked towards him, her hands sliding under his arms, her own clutching at his waist again. Maybe not clutching too hard, because she wasn't being needy or anything. She just wanted to. "Are you poor or something?" she asked, just a playful note of taunting in her voice, just to even it out. Even out the affection she was giving him, the affection she wanted a little bit badly in return.

If he gave it back, maybe that meant--she didn't know what it would mean. But maybe she'd like it.

[justgabriel]

"I'm not poor," He snapped, tensing up a little at her words. He couldn't help it. It was a sore subject. His whole life he had been teased for being poor, for wearing clothes picked up at the good will. Never having anything new or exciting. "But I don't have money to spare either."

He locked up the door before taking her arm in his own, leading her down the street to the sushi resturant.

[electrocutesy]

"Well, gee," she said a little softly, incredulously, loosening her hold on him and taking a step back as he locked up. "I was kidding, Mr. Sensitive," she retorted. A frown pulled down at her lips as he took her arm, pulled her along, and Elle couldn't help but shake his grip, just out of spite. Maybe a little bit of hurt. So much for liking his touch or whatever.