Columbus Gardens - Chance and Quintin's Apartment
Characters
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| Jenna Donovan | Chance Harper |
Movie night was great. Fresh pretzels, lots of yummy junkfood, a few laughs, conversation, and of course, movies.
Movie night was so good that Jenna actually fell asleep during one of the movies. She can't even remember what it is they were watching when she fell asleep. The one thing she does know this morning is that she's not in the bed she's supposed to be in.
At some point in the evening, she did run off to change into her pajamas - nothing sexy. Just a cute tank top and matching girl-boxers with a cookie on it.
Feeling a body behind her, Jenna freezes. Staring down at it, she blushes and contemplates moving. Only she's afraid of waking Chance up.
Jenna dozed off halfway through the third movie, or was it the fourth? Chance lost caught and didn't realize she was asleep until she muttered intelligibly into his chest where she was resting. It took some manuevering to ease them both down onto the couch, and his full intention was to carry her off to bed when the movie ended. Best laid plans of mice and men …
He's not entirely asleep, but he's not entirely awake either. He can sense the body beside him shift, but the sorcerer hardly stirs. Sadly, having another body in bed with him isn't really a novelty. Chance responds, more by rote than anything else when Jenna curls into him, tightening the arm he has wrapped around her waist.
Waking isn't quite there yet.
Biting her lip, Jenna just continues to watch him sleep. She knows that it's a little bit creepy for her to do that, but he's holding her and she doesn't want to squeak or make a fuss.
Leaning in ever so slightly, she brushes the very tiniest of kisses atop his nose.
Laying her head back down on his chest, she closes her eyes and rests again. She's wide awake, but she's also comfortable.
The kiss to his nose causes Chance to stir a little, but it's the tickle of hair to his chin that raises the morning consciousness a bit higher. A warm body isn't usual, but a cuddling warm body is. He stiffens at first, blinking slowly awake, and then relaxes again as last night's memory comes back to him.
"Morning," Chance murmurs, not quite opening his eyes just yet. He's clearly neither uncomfortable nor embarrassed to wake up with the empath snuggled on the couch with him. Likely because it was completely friendly and innocent and they're both adults.
"Morning," she murmurs back, not having any intention of moving. Though, Jenna is aware that she needs to get up because he does have an internship to get to at the firm, and she doesn't want to make him late.
"Sorry I fell asleep on you."
Obviously not too sorry, because she's not moving.
"Don't worry about it," Chance's voice is still sleep laden. "You make a good teddy bear." He peers at her through partially open eyes, a lazy, tired grin turning up the corners of his mouth.
The hand on her waist tickles over her side. "My fault anyway. I should have relocated us both to bed when you dozed off and I … was lazy." Though that's not a complaint.
Jenna decides she likes his voice sounding the way it does. It has a warmth to it that's wholly unexpected.
Squirming a little as the hand tickles over her side, she smiles. "Likely, but I don't mind. This was evidently comfortable, or I'd have rolled off." Stretching her body along his, she sighs. "What time do you need to be up for work? Ready for work? I mean, I have no idea what time it is but I don't want to make you late."
"I took the day off." Chance finally opens his eyes to look up at her fully. "I do get time off, and I figured we might be up late watching movies and talking."
The stretching causes him to draw a deep, slow breath and exhale it out just as slowly. It's a bit of a challenge to ignore the way her body feels when she moves like that, soft and warm and curved in all the right places.
The stretching moves her in a such a way that his fingertips brush against the bare skin of her back and he catches his thumb playing there before he stops himself and slides his hand up and over to put a layer of cloth between his hand and her skin.
"Do you have a class? Want some breakfast?"
"You took a day off for me?" Jenna bites her lip and smiles at him brightly. "That's sweet, Chance." If he's got the morning off, she's not going to worry about moving too quickly.
Feeling fingertips on her skin, she blinks at him. Slowly she reaches up and sweeps his hair off his brow. She swears to herself that she's only being friendly, but she knows that it's to touch him.
"No class. Work this afternoon."
Chance rolls his shoulders in a shrug and grins at her. "Why not? It's not every night that we hang out and watch movies, right?"
He really should move. It's one thing to wake up like this, and another to stay wrapped up like this, with her half-sprawled on top of him. Chance knows he should move, but he's not doing it. Eventually, biological imperatives will demand it, but at the moment he's just going with the flow.
And also he likes having her this close to him like this. Which is a thought he shouldn't be having, and probably wouldn't acknowledge having if he were more awake.
"Good." Chance gives her a one armed squeeze and closes his eyes, tucking his other arm behind his head. "We can sleep in a little longer."
He has no idea what time it is, and he's too damn lazy to reach for his phone.
"It's sweet," she reiterates with a grin. Jenna sweeps the rest of his hair off his brow, and then snuggles down against him. She doesn't know why she doesn't want to move, but it's just rather comfortable.
"We can if you'd like, or I can move and you can get more sleep. I can't imagine it was too comfortable with me laying atop you all night."
"Do you hear me complaining?" Chance asks softly. He's grinning at the feel of her finger sweeping through his hair. He shifts, rubbing his hand over her back and catches himself and remembers who he's with before he moves his hand somewhere completely off limits.
He trails his hand up to play with the ends of her hair. "How'd you sleep?"
"Not at all, no." Giggling, she wiggles her nose and then sighs again. It's that sort of wistful sigh that should easily tell him she's thinking of things other than the here and now.
Not that I should be thinking about things like this, but it is a nice way to wake up…
"Surprisingly well," she whispers. "You?"
It's a few moments before Chance answers, his fingers continuing to tease and strum at the ends of her hair. "Not too bad. Nothing stiff or sore."
The sigh should set off little warning flares, but Chance is still half-drowsy enough that he's not firing on full cylinders and his inhibitions are far too loosened. He meant what he told her when he said that he is attracted to her, and this morning it's making him a bit more open to demonstrate that than he normally would be.
"What time is it anyway?" Chance frowns and rolls his head to peer over the top of Jenna's. Spotting the phone on the coffee table, he makes a gesture with his hand, lifting it from her body briefly to bring the phone over to his hand.
Chance blinks at it and frowns. "Too early."
"That's good. I thought maybe all that food last night would've made me gain a jillion pounds and you'd have trouble moving this morning," she teases lightly.
The sigh should set off warning flares, but Jenna's not voicing any of her thoughts. It's not as though she thinks anything will come of this. It's just one of those memories that she's locking in.
"The sun is up. I didn't want to move to check the time."
Stretching again, she wriggles until her toes can touch his and she settles her head over his heart.
"Nope, you're still such a tiny little thing that it's going to take more food than that to turn you into dead weight."
The wiggling does get a response, causing the sorcerer to draw another slow breath and lick his lips. It doesn't stop him from tickling her toes with his, or looping an ankle around hers.
This is turning way more cozy than just friendly and somewhere in the back of his mind, Chance knows it. But he's not putting the moves on her, he's not making out with her, and he's not trying to get her into bed. At least that's his justification.
"Too early," Chance repeats. "Not even eight yet." There's a lull and then another gesture and the blinds allowing the sunlight to filter the room and spill toward the couch, fall shut. "That's better."
"Just an itty bitty magpie?" Jenna chews on her lip and giggles softly. "I've never seen a magpie, do you figure that they chirp?"
As Chance draws in another slow breath, Jenna stills. She doesn't want to disturb him too much. When his ankle loops around hers, she gasps a little then smiles. It is turning quite a bit cozy, but she's not going to complain about that. They're not doing anything other than snuggling.
"You like to sleep in?" She doesn't mind being an early bird, but right now she could use a little more sleep.
Giggling as he closes the blinds with his magic, she rests her chin on her hands and looks up at him.
"Yep," Chance chuckles, popping the 'p.' "Just an itty bitty magpie." He emphasizes the words, tattoing his fingers up her spine. They linger at the base of her neck, beneath her hair, just resting there.
"I love to sleep in." Chance isn't ashamed to admit it. "I can wake up early, but it's nice to just sleep in."
When she giggles, the sorcerer blinks down at her, "You wanna sleep in with me?" There's a teasing lilt to his voice and a waggling of his brows at the last.
"Mmhmm. If you don't mind? I rarely get to sleep in. Between classes, and auditions, and work…" She's up before eight every morning. Jenna snuggles just a little closer, and then slowly wiggles back up just a bit.
Tilting her head, she presses the tiniest, most chaste kiss she can to his jaw then traces her fingers over the area.
"Besides, you look comfy."
Chance swallows and stares at the ceiling. With the additional wiggling, several thoughts filter through Chance's brain at that point, and most of them are neither platonic nor innocent. Fortunately he remembers, just barely, that Jenna is. Innocent, that is. Also that his roommate is interested in her. Even though his roommate is in Las Vegas with a girl.
"I'm comfortable. Except for the whole needing to listen to the biological call of my body." Beat. "Otherwise, I'd gladly stay here."
Beat.
"I just really didn't want to dislodge you."
That she's affecting him isn't lost on Jenna. Staring at him, she makes another soft 'mmhmm' sound, and smiles a secret little smile to herself. He may not want anything with her in a serious sense, but the fact that she's got positive proof that he's attracted to her is enough.
"I didn't want to wake you, that's why I didn't move. If you need to move, I can just roll onto the couch and go back to sleep," she says quietly.
"You don't have to stay on the couch," Chance grins at her, boyishly. "You can go ahead and crawl in my bed. That was the original plan. I changed the sheets and everything."
He wasn't lying or making excuses, however, and he's ignored his body's signals for too long. "I do need to get up, though."
Beat.
He grins a bit impishly at her, and then setting hands to her waist, lifts her quickly onto and over his body, sliding off the couch as he does so. Yes, he was quite possibly a little too skilled and practiced at that maneuver.
Sitting up, Chance rolls his shoulders and scratches the back of his neck. "I'm going to the bathroom. You really don't have to stay on the couch."
"Are you sure?" Jenna bites her lip, and then smiles back at him. "OoOoh. You changed the sheets for me? I guess I better go dirty them up."
Beat.
"I so didn't mean that the way it sounded." Did she? Blushing, she clears her throat.
"Oh, by all means, go. I wasn't trying to keep you from going. I just was comfy and…" He lifts her, slides her over, and gets up. She's left on the couch, blinking at him quickly. Giggling, she sweeps her hair off her face.
"I'll move."
Chance chuckles at her surprise, and then he can't resist. He leans over and gives her a playful, quick peck on the mouth. "You're cute when you're flustered and confused and have bed head." He tucks a strand of loose hair behind her ear, adn then stands, making his way toward the bathroom before he does something stupid.
Stopping a few steps away, Chance glances back at her. "I'm starting to think that you're purposefully messing with me, Magpie."
"Oh god, I've got bedhead?" Jenna sets both hands to her hair, and quickly tries to finger comb it. She really wants to rush to the bathroom in front of him so she can run a brush through it. Instead, she watches him go toward the bathroom.
"Maybe that time I was." Winking at him, she hops off the couch and runs toward his room. She recalls a mirror in there from the towel incident.
Grabbing her overnight bag on the way to his room, she whisks out a brush and quickly gets rid of the bedhead, and then squeezes a teeny tiny bit of toothpaste on her finger and fingerbrushes her teeth. It's not perfect, but at least she's no longer a complete mess.
"You look cute with bedhead," Chance reiterates as he walks away.
The bathroom is bright and cool, and Chance takes a few minutes longer in there than he would usually. He's not concerned with how he looks; bedhead isn't a concern and even though he's got some stubble, he's not worried about taking a razor to his face. He is concerned about the errant thoughts that he's having, and the sorcerer is working really hard to shelve them. Preferably figuratively up high and out of reach.
He splashes some water on his face, and then brushes his teeth quickly, following with a gurgle of mouthwash.
Pull it together, Chance. This is friendly. Platonic.
His mind says it, but his body has its own ideas that he's wrestling with.
When he finally thinks he can trust himself, Chance makes his way to his bedroom, knocking before pushing open the door and checking in on Jenna. "You … um, going back to bed?"
She may look cute with bedhead, but the only guy who's ever seen her first thing in the morning is her brother, over a bowl of cereal at the breakfast table when they were both running late for school one morning. Otherwise, she never leaves her room without looking picture perfect.
Chance is not just another boy looking at her mussed hair.
"I was contemplating it. I thought that was the whole point of me moving in here…"
"You fixed your hair before going back to bed?" Chance teases, stepping into the room. Yes, he may be a guy, but he does notice these things. He tilts his head and asks teasingly, "Expecting company?"
Jenna actually takes a step back toward the bed. "I just ran a quick brush through it!" Blushing, she watches him as he comes into the room. "I don't know if I'm expecting company, per se, I just thought, you know, it'd have a chance to get mussed again."
Yeah, not. She brushed it so she'd look good. She knows she did that. She's no clue why she just lied — badly — to him.
Another step taken backward, and she's hopping up onto the bed. Grabbing a pillow, she tosses at him. "I thought you wanted to sleep in."
Catching the pillow, Chance laughs. "It'd have a chance to get mussed again? Why bother fixing it at all?" He hefts the pillow, fluffs it a bit and then tosses it gently back at the empath.
"I do want to sleep in." He takes a few steps toward the bed and rubs the back of his neck again. It's a nervous, anxious tell that he has. "What time is your class?"
<OOC> Chance says, "Work."
"If I'm going back to sleep, chances are it'll get mussed again," Jenna points out. "I don't know why I bothered fixing it. I guess I didn't want it to tangle." It's a very lame answer, but it's actually semi-truth.
Catching the pillow, she drops onto the bed on her bottom and rolls toward the opposite end of it.
"I start at four. That's plenty of time."
Beat.
"To sleep in."
The sorcerer snorts. "If I didn't know better, I'd think you were experiencing a Freudian slip or two, there." He grabs one of the extra pillows off the bed and playfully and lightly swats her with it. "Or you're still trying to mess with me."
There's a few seconds while he argues with himself, telling himself to do the right thing and go down the hall to Quin's room. A few seconds before he's climbing onto the bed beside her and reaching out to gently pull her over to curl into his side. "Plenty of time."
"Oh no. No Freudian slips for me." Shaking her head, Jenna lets loose a soft giggle. "Do you want them to be?" Okay, so she can't help messing with him a little bit.
Another giggle is given as he swats her.
She's just getting comfortable on the bed, when she realizes he's not going to Quin's room. The bed is much bigger than the couch and she does try to stay on her 'side' of it. Only to have him pull her close, and she can't help but curl against his side.
"Yep. Plenty of time…"
"We can do brunch," Chance says, ghosting his fingertips over her arm. She's not making an effort to get away, and doesn't seem at all bothered by him being there, so he's content to stay as long as she'll allow it. "I can make us something or we can go out."
Two consenting adults innocently sharing a bed. He can still convince himself that it's platonic.
The truth is, Jenna's not bothered by him being there. She knows that she's probably pushing his limits with this, but she finds it comfortable. Not to mention, they really aren't doing anything beyond laying beside each other.
"We could."
Beat.
"Whatever's easier. We don't want another kitchen disaster," she says quietly.
"Would you stop that?" Chance exhales a sigh and looks down at her. He taps a finger to her nose and then traces a line along her hairline. "It's like I can hear you turning the dial back and getting shy on me."
Beat.
"I trust you in the kitchen."
Beat.
"I trust you not to take advantage of me and ravage my body, however hard it may be to resist, too." Chance winks at her.
Wiggling her nose at the tap, she shakes her head. "Not shy, just quiet."
Beat.
"Would a shy girl do this?"
Jenna rolls over until she's laying atop him like she was on the couch. Looking down at him, she wriggles her way up until she can press her lips against his forehead. She likely would have kissed him outright, but he did mention the part where he didn't want her ravaging him.
Chance's eyes widen in surprise as Jenna moves the way she does. He's really not expecting the boldness. Breathing in sharply, Chance's hands automatically go to her waist. "No," Chance breathes out. "A shy girl wouldn't do that."
There's a pregnant pause, a moment where he continues to straddle the fence, and then he tilts his head up, catching her mouth in a kiss. It's not the friendly playful pecks from earlier, but it's also not an all devouring lust filled passion frenzy. It's sweet and soft, a slow teasing of his lips against hers.
Well a shy girl might do that if she was trying to prove she wasn't shy. Jenna is shy around him when it comes to things like this. She's never sure how he's going to react, or what he wants. What she wants for that matter.
Kissing him back timidly, she brushes her fingers over his cheek. It's an affectionate touch, that she keeps in place as she very slowly draws back.
"I'm going to sleep right here," she whispers, turning her head so that it's tucked against his chest under his neck.
Her return kiss is timid and unpracticed, and there's something infinitely sweet about it all. It's also just a bit frustrating as it's over too soon and Chance can't really feel her out or get a good idea of whether she wanted him to do that, or was just going along with the moment.
The sorcerer sighs, wrapping his arms around her. At the very least, he can tell that's she's not running scared away from him. "You do that, Magpie," Chance murmurs, dragging one hand up her back to stroke over her hair. "You do that."
