Going for a walk

[onceaviking]

 He arrives shortly after sundown, looking much like the night before. He's added a coat to his ensemble though. Not that he needs it. 
He has several possible plans in mind, but for now he is waiting to see how Miss Potts will react. 

She seemed like an odd mix of confident and hesitant and that is certainly something he can work with. 

Comments

[othereight]

Something in his eyes - it sounds cliched but it's there, magnetic, drawing her in slightly. She gazes back at him, resting her chin in her hand as she props her elbow on the Bar.

"Lose some things, gain others," she says, mouth quirking in thought.

[onceaviking]

"Yes," he says. "Exactly so. And so I live with the complications my excistence brings, even in a place like this."

[othereight]

She doesn't resist the temptation to chuckle, looking at him as if she almost can't believe this conversation is taking place.

"You have a remarkably optimistic attitude about it all," she murmurs, taking another sip of her drink and briefly savoring the way it warms her insides.

[onceaviking]

He smiles. "I try to be. And this was a choice I made. That makes it easier as well, I think."

She is relaxed despite the topic it seems. This is good.

[othereight]

"So how does it work?" she asks, curiosity sparking in her gaze. "Becoming one."

She's read conflicting stories about it - and every legend always differs on the specifics.

[onceaviking]

" I lay dying, " he says slowly. "I had been graciously wounded in battle, and a vampire offered to save me. The act itself is - intimate. A sharing of blood."

His voice is low and confidential.

[othereight]

"So you would've died it he hadn't - wow."

Out of lack of anything else to do, she lifts her to drink to her lips, cradling the assuring warmth in temperature as well as the brandy mixed in.

[onceaviking]

"I would," he says, his eyes lingering on her lips as she drinks.

"I was a warrior. It was a known risk. But I lovedlife . I still do. "

[othereight]

"You just value it in a different way now?" Pepper deduces.

It's been a while, but that doesn't mean she's pretending not to know when she's being noticed, or studied differently.

[onceaviking]

"I do," he agrees. " And I want to taste it. All of it."

Her.

He looks down at his hands. "I still haven't tired of it. I don't think I ever will."

[othereight]

It's difficult to ignore now, and it almost sounds like heat in his voice when he speaks, even though she knows how cold she is. Has felt it for herself.

"Well," she replies, clearing her throat, "at least that's better than the alternative."

[onceaviking]

He looks back at her. And there is definitely heat in his eyes, no matter how cold his body might be.

"Yes, " he agrees. " Much better. So much better. "

[othereight]

She isn't entirely sure what compels her - no one will ever claim that Pepper Potts doesn't do anything she doesn't want to do - but that being said, it feels as though she's moving in a trance as she reaches out to touch his jaw, fingers sliding along cool skin.

"Good," she whispers, smiling faintly.

[onceaviking]

He turns his head a fraction, just enough to make her fingers touch his lips.

They too are cold. And dry. Not dry the way a human's lips might be dry and chapped. Cool and smooth.

[othereight]

She doesn't tense so much as quietly shivers, her eyes less on his and more on the shape of his mouth when he shifts and her fingertips inadvertently trace it.

"Sorry," she replies, beginning to pull her hand away with a renewed blush.

[onceaviking]

"Don't, " he whispers, reaching one hand up to touch hers. Keeping it in place.

"Don't apologize. "

That blush is maddening. It makes his fangs ache.

[othereight]

"Alright," she replies, hushed, her gaze finally lifting to his even as her fingertips hover, unsure of where to move next.

[onceaviking]

He moves, just a little, and presses a soft kiss to the trip of her index finger, his eyes closed.

[othereight]

His lips are as cool as the rest that she's felt so far, and she finds herself drawn in, hypnotized.

She leans in - but stops just short of actual contact, her face hovering near his.

[onceaviking]

He slowly opens his eyes, looking deep into hers, as he lets his fingers slide across her cheek. They come to rest just at the edge of her hairline, his little finger feeling the pulse behind her earlobe.

[othereight]

She almost feels too hot in her own skin, feverish in comparison, her cheeks bright as she smiles for a second, fleetingly.

"I don't do this - all the time," she feels the need to say out loud, partly as a reassurance to herself.

[onceaviking]

" I know," he murmurs and then he closes the distance between their lips.

It's nice in a way. Make believe.

[othereight]

His lips are cool, a shock to the system after the heated of her drink and her own mouth, soft and warm, part against his, a gentle brush.

Her hand slides to cup his cheek, thumb brushing across the prominent cheekbone, and she sighs quietly.

[onceaviking]

His free hand moves across her shoulder blade and down her back. Her spine is so fragile beneath his fingers. Delicate. Easy to crush.

His hand stops at the small of her back, pulling her closer, as his tongue moves across the revealed softness of her upper lip. Cool and dry like his lips.

[othereight]

He pulls her in, not hard enough to knock her off her seat but enough so that she slides in a little, her knee brushing against the outside of his thigh.

She doesn't just do this, she isn't that kind of girl, but her lips part almost instantly for his tongue and her hand slips down to grab a small fistful of her shirt as she whimpers, softly but incriminating enough.