Trust Exercise
@gawxin
{ ask }
Val knew as soon as she let the glib response slip she’d gone too far. She couldn’t bring herself to apologize in time. The seconds ticked by as he seethed and she tried not to curl in on herself in embarrassment or to get her stupid mouth to work. She wasn’t normally this... insensitive seemed too paltry. She was a warm person, she thought. She cared about people and looked after her own. It wasn’t like her to taunt.
Why did she? Was it her discomfort with the curse? It made her skin crawl and her ever present anxiety skyrocket, could that be it? He put her on edge with his talk of soul mates and the nonsense that went along with that. That couldn’t be it though. Regardless, it wasn’t fair of her. It wasn’t right. She didn’t want to lose him because she couldn’t control her idiocy. She was morbidly curious, too much so for her own good. He was too handsome for her own good too, and magnetic. She couldn’t help herself by seeking him out as often as she did, like she did tonight. She didn’t feel alone around him, Val kinda liked that feeling.
He spoke and she was glad she had let it slip, otherwise she wouldn’t have known he was suffering. Her attention and focus snapped to him and for a moment, there was a glimpse of intelligence beyond what she’d hinted at before, and there was a flicker of concern as her lips turned down in a small frown. Only the concern remained as suspicion narrowed her gaze. Why hadn’t he fed? What prevented him from it?
James ordered her to leave and instead she stepped forward, watching his face carefully as she canted her head slightly to the side. She kept her movements slow and even, recognizing the danger she was putting herself in. But that excited her. Her body tingled and her muscles burned with the adrenaline pouring into her system. She could feel her heart starting to pound against her sternum and knew he would hear it. A faint blush tinged her cheeks as her body also reacted to him and she was tempted by sexual aspect of their could be relationship--whatever the fuck that would be to them.
Finally, when she was within arms reach, she couldn’t keep her gaze on his face, her nerves getting the better of her and her eyes flicked away to the button on his shirt. She reached up and unbuttoned the top button, brazenly sliding her hand into his shirt to rest on his sternum, hoping that her touch helped the pain he was in--at least so he said. Could be a really good gimmick. She didn’t care at that moment though. Her fingertips dug into the muscle on his chest as she controlled her reactions, uncaring he could probably feel her body quivering through the touch.
Val wet her lips and glanced up at him, gaze serious and honestly concerned for him. She pressed her other hand to his cheek, and sighed. “I’m sorry, James. I didn’t know it was that bad. Why haven’t you fed? Is there something wrong?” Her voice felt alien to her, a little softer than she normally spoke, a little more sultry with the little rasp in the lower timbre. It was something she was coming to equate with him and his proximity. She bit her lip hard enough to blanch the color out of it for a moment as she made a decision and stepped even closer to him, now barely a hands breadth between them.