takecourage | (no subject)

Living with Darlington is a very different experience to living with anyone else that Alex has ever shared space with. With Mira, there was all kinds of attempts at rules and structure that never really worked out, while Ground Zero had been chaos of the ugliest kind. Her dorm room had been nice, the girls there for company, the sound of Mercy breathing at night. She'd never really had a chance to sleep at il Bastogne.

But here they are.

They haven't really done anything all day, just slept late and then lazed around in each other's company. She'd even managed to talk Darlington out of going for a run. Now, they're lying on the couch, their legs tangled together comfortably. Darlington's reading and Alex is idly flipping through cable channels. She nudges him with her heel against his thigh.

"Your turn to cook," she says, glancing at him.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

takecourage

She watches him suck his fingers clean, biting her lip as he does.

"You don't have to strip down," she says. "But I'd really like it if you did."

From:

more_magic

"You would, wouldn't you?" he says, a grin on his face as he shakes his head. Sometimes, Darlington thinks Alex would've been perfectly happy if he'd left all his clothes at the other apartment. "I'll do it, but I'm at least putting pants back on while we eat."

He kisses her, getting up from the couch and going to the kitchen. There's an apron hanging on a hook by the side of the fridge, and he grabs it before returning to the living room. Dropping it on the coffee table, he stands in front of Alex, eyebrows raised, then strips his t-shirt over his head.

From:

takecourage

"Spoilsport," she says, smirking, as she settles back on the couch with one arm pillowed behind her head. She whistles as he strips off his shirt.

From:

more_magic

"You'll have the satisfaction of taking them off me the instant the plates are cleared away," he reminds her, laughing at the wolf whistle. "Hell, I'm half expecting you to just pants me right as I'm putting everything in the sink."

Turning around, he shimmies his hips, a ridiculous tease before he starts to pull his sweats down over the tight curve of his ass.

From:

takecourage

He's not wearing boxers so the gratification is pretty instantaneous. She bites her lip.

"I am never going to get tired of looking at your ass," she says.

From:

more_magic

Danny tries for a put-upon sort of sigh in response, but it sounds more like yet another laugh. "Thankfully, I'm all yours to ogle," he says. "I imagine there's few other people in this city with quite so much of a penchant for pale New Englanders as it is."

Letting his sweats fall to the ground, he steps out of them, turning just enough to grab the apron without revealing too much. He all but expects her to say something about that, and he waits a moment before putting the apron on.

From:

takecourage

"You've got a real hang-up about that," she says, rolling her eyes fondly at him. "You do know how much you work out, right? Like, you are conscious during all of those runs?"

From:

more_magic

"I'm well aware," he says, grinning as he slips the apron over his head and ties it at his waist. "And awake. Even though, as you so inimitably put it every single morning, it's too fucking early."

He turns back to her, bending to take another kiss just as the timer sounds from the kitchen. "Perfect timing. Need a refill or anything before I get back to it?"

From:

takecourage

"I will absolutely take another glass of wine while I enjoy the show," she says, flashing a broad grin. "And give me a quick turn."

From:

more_magic

"You're incorrigible, Stern." Picking up her empty glass, he takes it back into the kitchen and gets the wine out of the fridge, taking an additional moment to pull the pans out of the oven. When he returns with her wine, Darlington hands Alex the glass, then steps back to give her a full view as he turns in place.

"What's the verdict?"

From:

takecourage

"You've still got a great ass," she says. "Are you sure you need pants on to eat? I kind of like the idea of sitting at the table with you wearing nothing at all."

From:

more_magic

Darlington can't help the way he blushes at the thought of it. "You like the idea of me doing just about anything while wearing nothing at all."

He goes back to the kitchen, still turning the idea over in his mind as he moves the chicken to a platter and turns the burner on beneath the now-empty skillet, adding shallots and wine as he starts to deglaze the pan and pull together the sauce.

"I can't believe I'm agreeing to this," he says, having made his choice. "But sure, Alex, I'll have dinner completely nude. Just for you."

From:

takecourage

Alex grins broadly at that, raising her glass in a lazy toast to that.

"I'll definitely reward you for that later," she promises.

From:

more_magic

"You'd better."

The sauce doesn't take long at all to come together, and when it's finished, Darlington sets the table and plates up their food, pouring himself a glass of wine once everything's arranged. "Going to come in for the grand reveal?"

From:

takecourage

"Obviously," says Alex, getting up off the sofa and padding over to the table in her bare feet, carrying her glass of wine and sliding into a chair. "Oh, my god. This sounds amazing."

From:

more_magic

"Chicken with dijon sauce and roasted vegetables," he says, watching as Alex takes a seat at the table. She's still a little rumpled, cozy in her borrowed sweater with her hair cascading over one shoulder; more beautiful than he's ever seen her. "It's actually one I learned from Pammie. Well, I say learned, but I half wonder if she wrote it out for me so I'd finally let her get back to her dissertation."

For a moment, he regrets that their Oculus isn't in Darrow with them--even though he's almost certain she'd hate it, an entire city full of new people--but the thought passes away as quickly as it had come.

"And now that you're settled..." Darlington trails off, his dark eyebrows lifting as he smirks. Slowly, he undoes the strings of the apron, then pulls it off. "As requested."

From:

takecourage

Alex's eyes dip, taking in the lean lines of him, flat belly, long legs and beautiful cock and then she looks back up at his face, tousled and boyish in nothing but his glasses.

"Perfect."

From:

more_magic

There's a way Alex looks at him at times, something possessive and delighted all at once, that always makes his stomach flip a little. It does so now, seeing the sparkle in her eyes as they trail up towards his face. He ducks his head, brushing his hair back as he takes a seat across from her. The wood of the chair is a little cool against his bare skin, and he tries not to squirm.

From:

takecourage

Alex helps herself to food and, for a moment, she doesn't say anything because she's too busy eating. Her bones are never going to forget how it felt to go hungry.

"This is amazing," she says. "How do you feel?"

From:

more_magic

They both eat in relative silence for a time, Alex with her usual barely-restrained abandon and Darlington trying to make up in table manners what he currently lacks in clothing. They make a ridiculous pair, but neither of them would be quite so happy without the other.

"I'm glad you like it," he says, taking a sip of his wine as he considers her question. "Exposed, obviously. Still in disbelief that you even talked me into this in the first place. And that it wasn't much of a struggle." He glances at her over the top of his glasses, a flush staining his cheekbones. "Turned on in a way that feels indecent."

From:

takecourage

"Are you hard?" Asks Alex, even though she knows the most likely answer, smirking as she reaches to take a sip of wine.

From:

more_magic

"Getting there," he says, even though he knows--and assumes she does as well--that's not the complete truth. He adjusts the napkin on his lap, as though it'll do anything to conceal the situation he's in at all.

"Have you given any thought to your plans for the rest of the night?"

From:

takecourage

She can't see, but she definitely assumes. She tilts her head, looking at him for a long moment.

"I do like that idea of tying you down," she says.

From:

more_magic

"I thought you might," he says, meeting her considering gaze with one of his own. "Anything that gives you another layer of control over me."

Darlington thinks for another minute or two, considering needs and desires; options and possibilities. "I have to admit, I keep thinking about needing permission from you to come," he says. "Speaking of having control."

From:

takecourage

"You say that like you don't love it too," she says, popping a slice of potato into her mouth, smirking while she chews. "And you know you do. So we'll use a cockring then?"

Having this conversation over dinner seems ridiculous, but Alex can't deny the throb between her thighs.