(Untitled)

[born_in_blood]

Who: Dexter Morgan, Elle Bishop, open.
Where: The fifth floor common room.
When: RIGHT NOW.
Warnings: Season four finale spoilers. I'll be doing this warning stuff for another month. WATCH DEXTER! :)

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[cautionarystory]

To avoid the real crazies sneaking into her room in the middle of the night, Elle was trying to give the impression that she still lived on the fifth floor. Not that it wasn't obvious, but at least she could say she was trying. So she made sure to get there a little early.

She wasn't entirely sure what to make of Dexter so far. If he was what he said he was - some stupid little lab geek - then he was somebody she could manipulate. If he was something more interesting, he would probably wind up either an ally or an enemy. Either way, she wanted to know more. Call it her Company training kicking in.

When she heard his voice, she looked up from the magazine she'd been reading and gave him a smile, calling, "Hey you." She closed the magazine and set it down on the end table, but didn't bother to get up from the couch she was lounging on. "How's the barge treating you so far?"

Begin Dexter's inner-monologuing D:

[born_in_blood]

Dexter walked into the room when she greeted him, putting his hands non-threateningly in his pockets. He grinned just so, hoping his regular routine of being as agreeable as possible went over well. She seemed sharp -- he wasn't sure. A little too much like Lila.

She was beautiful, young. Maybe ten years his junior, but all woman, regardless. Her playful, casual air seemed -- what was the word -- predatory? It made him a little tense, so he did his best not to show it.

He strolled toward the couch and stood several feet from her, looking sheepish, "Hey. Nice to meet you in person. It's a little disorienting here. Do you think this is limbo?" He laughed at his own joke. That was human, right? Masuka laughed at his own jokes all the time. It made him look insecure, so Dexter had picked up on it.

[cautionarystory]

Elle tilted her head and narrowed her eyes at him, biting her lip as she watched the slightly awkward way he talked. He was cute.

"More like hell. You get used to it." She offered him a little shrug before her demeanor turned serious. "Kinda."

He was still standing up. Didn't normal people usually sit down when they were talking to each other? Maybe you were supposed to wait for an invitation or something. "You gonna stand there all day?"

[born_in_blood]

He laughed and shrugged, "I didn't want to make you uncomfortable." Control. It seemed like she enjoyed being in control. Another thing to note and store for later.

Her took a seat next to her, looking around the room, his arms folded across his chest. "What's there to do here, anyway? Is there television? Movies? Do Inmates just fight with their Wardens and commit crimes when they're not watching?" He was getting a little carried away with the questions, he realize, and it wasn't consistent with the awkward, non-threatening demeanor he wanted to have. He laid off, ending with, "Sorry for all of the questions. This place is really disorienting."

[cautionarystory]

"You're not making me uncomfortable," Elle assured him with a little shake of her head. As he sat down, she folded her legs under herself and leaned closer, idly reaching out to toy with his hair.

The constant string of questions made him sound like an eager puppy, and Elle couldn't help the broad grin that flashed across her face. She'd almost forgotten how nice an uncomplicated moment could be; nothing that would upset Peter, nothing that would land her in the cellblock, just a shiny new toy that no one could fault her for playing with.

"The last one, mostly. There's movies if you brought them from home, but murder's kinda the best form of entertainment we have around here."

[born_in_blood]

Dexter's eyes widened. He was good at this reaction -- it had been a while since he'd been with any female aside from his wife, but he knew exactly how shy and uncomfortable was to be executed.

"Uhh, hey. Hi, Elle. Hi."

He stiffened up, unfolding his arms and placing them in his lap.

"...murder as entertainment? Are you serious?"

[cautionarystory]

Elle grinned and inched a little closer to him, finding him increasingly adorable the more nervous he got.

"Uh-huh," she agreed, sounding a bit absent as her eyes perused his face. She brought herself back to the present and flashed him a smirk. "Problem?"

[born_in_blood]

"Y-You're very friendly, Elle. Wasn't expecting this from a prison ship." He laughed lightly, trying not to be too much of a caricature. She was being easy, so far. While the interaction wasn't as natural as sitting on the couch, watching TV, and eating pizza, she wasn't acting psycho or suspicious of his act. Just... flirtatious.

"No problem. I guess it's to be expected -- but you? A killer? I don't see it."

[cautionarystory]

"Maybe I was pulling your leg." She shrugged. "Or maybe I'm just good at playing nice."

She held her hand, fingers pointing up and palm flat towards him. "Hold out your hand. Like this."

[born_in_blood]

He eyed her almost suspiciously. He didn't know what was going on, so the confusion wasn't hard to muster. Hopefully she didn't snap his fingers. He needed those.

He held up his hand, mimicking hers sheepishly, "Now what?"

[cautionarystory]

Elle let out a soft breath and bit her lip, glancing at his face before focusing her attention on their hands. Carefully, she pressed her fingertips against his and generated a short, sharp spark between them.

[born_in_blood]

[Dexter stared in amazement. Okay, so he'd met an angel. No big deal. Aziraphale was so human that it didn't really shock him. This... well, shocked him, to say the least. All he could do was sit and stare wide-eyed as Elle worked what could only be explained in Dexter's mind as magic.

He was only able to utter one word, not taking his eyes off of their hands.]

How...?

[cautionarystory]

"I'm special, Dexter," Elle replied, giving him an encouraging smile and raising her eyebrows at him. She snapped another spark between their fingertips before pulling her hand back to bite down on one of her nails.

Sorry this took so long -- the holidays got crazy! :)

[born_in_blood]

He stared after her hand in sincere amazement, too caught off-guard to calculate a reaction. "How'd you manage to... I mean -- well, I just..." He took a deep breath and regained his composure. So he was stunned; he reminded himself to ask coherent questions and not turn this into an interrogation.

"I mean, I see that you're special, but how did you manage it? That's -- it defies all logic, unless you're using some sort of mechanical device?"

He couldn't stop staring after her hands. How?

no worries, I've been pretty busy myself

[cautionarystory]

"If you really want the boring sciency stuff..." Elle settled down a little more comfortably next to him, absently stroking his hair. "Everybody generates electricity, but I've got this genetic mutation, so I generate way more than normal people."

She held her hand up in front of his face and generated a few sparks between her fingertips, twisting her wrist back and forth. "See? No wires attached."

[born_in_blood]

"A genetic mutation? Is that common where you're from?" He paused thoughtfully, hoping joking with her wasn't going to make him seem too much a caricature, "Did you live in a nuclear power plant, or something?" he followed the statement with a nervous laugh. There you go, he thought, you're finally remembering the act.

Dexter seemed to shift and squirm away from her just slightly every few minutes, glancing every so often at her. She was more aggressive than most women. Most women expected him to break the ice, to be engaging, to ask questions. Human interaction was an unnecessarily complicated minefield for Dexter, filled with entitlement, emotions, impulsion; he didn't understand any of it.