a man who loves a diamond.

[oleanderknife]

Hasibe is still not quite used to spending her days in the house, though she's taken to long walks around the neighborhood in the morning to occupy herself--it's not as though she has nothing to do, but she will definitely be happier when she is working more consistently, no matter what path she chooses.

Comments

[beingtwofold]

Dr. Jekyll's magical adventures in salt-procurement concluded, he is actually in the house when all of this occurs, specifically on the computer responding to an email from work which was apparently sent in the twenty minutes it took him to drive home (Hasi's car, for the record; they can function as a one-car household, but certainly not permanently). He does actually check his email this obsessively, determined to excel in this new position with all possible speed, perhaps aside from the affection-strewn messages he tends to send Hasibe on an hourly basis, but they don't prevent him from finishing the things with which he is tasked well before they are required, and also it's academia, someone is probably just glad he's sending these things to the girlfriend he lives with and not some hapless graduate student.

Because that happens. Meanwhile: he is noticing being noticed at work, in the vein of how hard he pushes himself, although it's not with as much downward force as it once was; he knows better, now, and he has certain

[beingtwofold]

Henry would frankly just as soon as keep kissing her as discuss the impending festivities of doom, but if they keep doing that it is pretty much only going to go one place. Inevitably they will get there eventually, and he is fine; he's a very patient man.

Or at least he used to be, now it's possible--likely, and occurs, in fact, that he kisses her some more (like, a lot more) post declaration of holiday madness.

"If I come home and Chevy Chase is stringing lights on our house, we're going to have to draw a line somewhere."

Nothing is serious about that, despite his intensely considered expression. He has, it has been discussed, had almost no experience with holidays related to hearth and home actually spent with a family as which he would identify himself as being part of, past the point where Albert was too sick to realize what was going on, and although he has been made welcome in the homes of others regarding these events, this is different, because it's them, and they do everything differently, which is why it works.

[oleanderknife]

"Well, now you've ruined what I had planned for Christmas, your very own late-80s early-90s comedian," Hasi huffs, which turns into a quick soft laugh (run through with tiny hairline fractures, because she loves him and is glad they managed to discuss this right away, and because of all the kissing, too), which turns into ducking her head underneath his jaw. This has the added benefit of giving her access to his pulse, where she presses her mouth and...then her teeth, with some ferocity. Part of the reason she enjoys doing this is it does have dominance implications of, as they have also previously discussed, bratting--it's taunting him.

"But," she says, leaning back with utmost innocence, "Maybe I can give you something else instead. You should state your requests now."

[beingtwofold]

"There actually is something I want to ask you," he murmurs, mysteriously, perhaps in playfully petty revenge for the barrage of throat-biting, an activity from which he summarily removes her, however temporarily, because being vertical is for other people. And surely they will continue to have rational, measured conversation while he leans her back on the bed, mouth traveling down her jawline to settle in that familiar hold, like they're mirrors of each other, a woman and a wolf. "But I'm saving it for later."

This imparted teasingly to the corner of her mouth before he bites her lip, brief but sharp--if this is intended as a rebuke of any kind Henry probably needs to read some more, because it is unlikely to deter anyone from anything. "I know how you are about being patient."

...troll.

[oleanderknife]

Hasibe makes a pleased, soft noise at the series of bites (by now these sounds she makes, feline and provocative, must be familiar, but they never seem to tire of them or this), hand curving over the back of his head to encourage teeth in skin, heat flaring in the pit of her stomach and filtering upward. This, too, is something she's pretty sure she can never get enough of, not in a million years.

"You should ask me now, I think, because I'm all curious and it'll make me very distracted. So. Please?" There is probably a sports metaphor for her illegal use of that word, but Hasi doesn't like baseball enough to come up with it off the top of her head, and either way she thinks she is perfectly justified.

[beingtwofold]

"Far be it from me to deny you anything," he doesn't 'say' so much as--sigh, or something a little more animal and sandpapered at the edges, "even when you cheat, brat," bratting he is definitely not discouraging by essentially giving her exactly what she wants, at least physically, mouth slipping by turns warm or sharp or both over her shoulders, tugging one camisole strap with his teeth. It's ridiculous but also instinctive, he is insistent although he knows enough to stop if she indicates as much, it is also true that he would basically always rather not.

"Trust me, though, it'll be better if I wait. I promise to distract you in other ways many, many times before then." He ...tells various portions of her skin.

[oleanderknife]

"Then I'll be patient," and it only takes her two tries to get out that full sentence, so clearly he should bite her harder (yes), and work on rendering her fully speechless--but that's probably imminent, in all sorts of ways. "But I'll wonder

[beingtwofold]

"Good," says Henry, with those sharp teeth all agleam, but blunted when necessary; it's not so much that he can do that now as he has to, he knows it's what has to be, and it's both easier with her than it is anywhere else and more complicated at the same time. But he's not thinking of that now, and if he looks a little sharper, a little more real in a dark room, then she's probably the only one who sees it. "I want you to wonder. And be patient."

Also god knows he'd probably exhibit a distinct lack of protest if she actually burned him, because all his senses are a little skewed. They'll straighten out with time, when he understands better how to cope with them, but now it's okay if the edges of the map get a little charred.

He does, actually, bite her on the shoulder hard enough to leave marks, the distinct outline of those teeth, which are as intrinsic an indicator of the physicality between them as the intensity of the way they talk to each other. "Right now I think I want to stop being patient, though."

[oleanderknife]

The way Henry does come into himself here--she loves it, she even loves it in a strange way when it flares up with other people (though usually it's...to their detriment, whereas here she is going to benefit), because he is in control and he is expressing that side of himself he hid for so long. Now he's more often like heated steel, demanding, sure of himself, sharp-edged but offering warmth even if her body temperature is several degrees above his--the fire between them is not just physical, although in her case that certainly applies. So: a lack of patience meeting on both sides, and frankly sometimes when he comes home from work Hasi doesn't even last that long before she crawls into his lap like a neglected housecat, so at least they got some conversation in beforehand this time

[beingtwofold]

Henry never goes more than about a foot from her ...in any circumstance of his choosing; at these times it is his inclination to reel her into him as soon as his limbs start working, so he's close enough to touch and thereby be stared at, although it takes him a full twenty seconds to realize what she's talking about.

"Did you?" He's mild about it, faintly amused, like it is endearing somehow--and it is, actually, that ultimate loss of control; Hasi has an extraordinary amount of power in this relationship despite some of the particular ways they define it, if she's ever going to hurt him, it won't be scratches or bites or even burns--and then slightly more present because she actually did, the outline of finger marks and palm are clear on his skin. For being a reasonably average white guy of European descent he tans without much trouble, but this being November he's pale enough that the bright red stands out violently, although it's already faded more than it seems like it ought to be

[oleanderknife]

The mildness of his reaction, the distance from any distress, stops her in her tracks, and she tips her head to one side to eye Henry with some amusement of her own. He does seem...more than okay with it--pleased, even, though she will nevertheless endeavor to never do that to him again. (She will probably not be successful, though, not right away, and not with the frequency of their physical collisions.) Hasibe bites her lip a little and doesn't touch the marks themselves, though she does roll onto her back to touch the skin near them. They're not too bad, but she has her own suspicions about how quickly they've already seemed to fade.

"That's a step beyond scratches, isn't it, and you know I always miss you." She smiles, soft, and lightly tugs him even nearer in the bed. "That said, I think fireplay is a step beyond what we've discussed, and to do it accidentally...I'll be happier when I have more of a handle on what I can do. We've both changed, in our own ways

[beingtwofold]

Henry laughs, quiet, and loops both arms over her to lock them loose at the small of her back, where his hands will ...probably wander, the finer points of which are equally probably obvious.

"I'm not suggesting you make a habit of it, but I'm all right. They'll fade, and--fast," faster than he would actually like, this suggests implicitly, and possibly this makes him kind of insane (but that may be up for debate, regardless); he heals small bumps and bruises within the hour, now, and while that's useful, they are awfully fond of leaving marks of an exciting variety all over each other, so he can be justified in being mildly wistful that these things don't stay. A small, bizarre consequence among many larger ones. "Meanwhile, I'm going to consider it a compliment, and you can't make me change my mind."

Like she's trying. Also, "On the subject of firmly cemented opinion, I'm glad you're content, because I have no intention of letting you go anywhere for...a while

[oleanderknife]

"Oh, it is something of a compliment, considering I haven't lost control like that since I was a teenager. At least it doesn't happen when I go under, though, that'd be a mess." She nudges him gently, reaching back with one hand to push her hair away from her neck and shoulders--she's worn it this long for ages, so it doesn't really bother her, per se, but it does require adjustment often. When it's down like this, people tend to stare, but she usually keeps it back, anyway, even though Henry has never asked her to (Hyde's demands aside); it's something she likes keeping for just the two of them, as noted elsewhere

[beingtwofold]

This is exactly why Henry has taken the careful precaution of spending the last twenty years or so collecting an enormous number of t-shirts in various stages of entropy--all right, it really isn't, but it does certainly seem to be coming in extraordinarily useful, as there are very few little everyday things he likes as much as Hasibe in his clothing, even if he complains venomlessly about it all the time

[oleanderknife]

"Whenever you like," she tells him, fondly, "you don't have to ask."

So there is that. They read each other well enough that she feels comfortable giving him that permission broadly, and furthermore they have a safeword on which they can rely; he knows her. Hasibe digs her fingertips into his hipbone, casually, hand reaching low, smile skewing playful and more than a little bit challenging. She is sort of tired out, now, but it's the muscular tiredness that comes from exertion, not real exhaustion, and it is abating. Consequently: more trolling her boyfriend, apparently.

"Besides, I have to make sure you're in a very good mood for our guests on Thursday. Being your most social self."

She should like, tell him who all is going to be attending this small shindig, but the guest list is somewhat malleable, at present. It's basically 'whoever she can coerce into coming'.

[beingtwofold]

Their safeword is 'yeti,' and this is being noted here for no other reason than the fact that it is great, and should be frequently repeated. Out of context, odds are they haven't used it as such yet