A reunion.

[girlverine]

Laura stripped off her uniform top and let it drop to the tile floor, the fabric a wet, sticky mess of blood stains and tears that could barely be called a shirt anymore. After the battle with the would-be goddess, Laura actually felt a little...tired. Almost sore, even. Apparently getting punched by a deity was a bit much even for her healing

Comments

[girlverine]

Laura stepped backwards as Julian climbed inside, keeping one hand pressed into the top of the towel to hold it up as she felt it shift when she moved. On television those things always just stayed up on their own, but this one seemed insistent on falling. Her head was tilted slightly to the side as he spoke, just...watching him, smelling the frustration and irritation and a dozen other emotions rolling off him

[girlverine]

Laura did freeze up for a moment when his hands were in her wet hair, her breath catching as she waited for him to do what he was doing. And then suddenly he was moving away, and she frowned faintly, mentally wondering if she had done something wrong. She didn't think so, but it was so difficult to tell sometimes. She never quite knew what 'right' was in most situations

[ex_julianhe]

He raised his eyebrows a bit when she told him not to go, but he at least stopped heading for the door. He turned and came back, looking skeptical, but moving to sit on the couch all the same. He tried hard not to let his eyes follow her into the bathroom. That obviously failed, but he managed to look away when she slid the jacket off.

God, what was he doing? Seriously. He hadn't even thought this through properly. He'd come here with no goal in mind other than to just see her. Make sure she was okay. Because he was sick and tired of not doing anything, and he'd heard she'd been in trouble. Now that he knew she was fine, what was he supposed to do? He shouldn't be here. He hated it every single time Cyclops was right

[girlverine]

Laura paused there in the doorway as Julian approached, just...watching him. She'd seen him without his shirt on before, but her mind couldn't help but think it was a nice enough view. Which made sense, considering his training, so she didn't know what she felt the need to think about it

[ex_julianhe]

He had his back against the doorframe and his thumbs hooked in the pockets of his pants. He was very resolutely looking up, as if the ceiling was the most interesting thing in the world, but he couldn't help looking round when she talked. The door was mostly closed, but he kept catching glimpses of her. The shape of her arm, her skin, her hair. Every time it happened he looked up again.

Laura looked good. Any guy would think so. That he was dwelling on it was not only natural, it was basically expected. And had she been another girl, he'd have been trying to see more than that. He'd probably be trying to be in that bathroom with her.

But it wasn't some other girl. It was Laura, and that made a difference to how much of a womanizing lout he was. The thing making that difference was very simple. It was that he cared about her. She was one of the few people left on this God forsaken planet that he still did care about. That was why he'd sneaked off in the night to make sure she was okay, and it was why he didn't want to leer at her

[girlverine]

"It's better if I get sliced up than someone who cannot heal," was all Laura had to say to his advice, as she finished drying off

[ex_julianhe]

Oddly enough, being cold was not a problem Julian was having right now. He hadn't had that problem since he came into the room and saw Laura. Actually he had no idea what temperature the room even was, but he had a tendency to get hot under the collar when he was around her, and this was no exception.

He briefly wondered when he'd last given anyone his shirt. He couldn't remember, because he didn't do that. He wouldn't even normally give a girl his jacket the way he'd done with Laura, unless he was trying to charm her or something. That kind of sharing had an associated intimacy which he tended to avoid.

But on Laura, he liked how it looked. And his eyes were very much on her, even though he knew he should look away. He moved to the couch again and leaned back on it, running a hand through his hair to feign a nonchalance that he didn't feel.

"I can deal. I don't care about the cold." Lie. He was from California. He hated the cold. "Anyway you wear about this much on missions. Doesn't bother you."