You’re about to enter a medically induced coma, Master Sergeant. Don’t worry, I’ll get you to the hospital before any of your vital organs shut down. I hope your doctor is a real man of honor. Someone with a code.
Kyle Valenti Appreciation Week: Day 2 - Quotes/Scenes
Kyle rolled his eyes with a laugh before taking a sip from his wine glass. Isobel was sprawled out on the couch in a silky little slip, channeling her inner old Hollywood widow. They'd all been taking turns to make sure she didn't do anything rash, but it'd been three months and she hadn't really done anything other than seem to enjoy the company. So Kyle kept coming.
"You are way too drunk for all that."
Isobel hummed low in her throat, turning her head in such a way that caused the strap of her slip to fall off her shoulder. It was becoming increasingly difficult not to stare. He managed it.
"Are you saying you would if I weren't drunk?" she asked, stretching her long leg out to rest her foot in his lap. Her head was on a pillow with her hair around her like a halo and the slip had ridden up to reveal just a bit of similarly silky underwear–or perhaps it had always been that length. He didn't look, rather just rested his hand on her ankle.
"This is not a conversation we're going to have right now," he insisted, squeezing her foot gently.
“Okay, but, when I’m not drunk,” Isobel said, her arms stretching above her head and her back arching as she let out the tiniest little noise she’d ever made. Kyle’s thoughts swam and he almost got lost in them. But she was drunk, so he kept his eyes either on his drink, her foot, or her face. Sometimes her face even seemed to obscene, though. “I would like to have that conversation.”
“Huh?” he asked dumbly. She giggled. In his defense, that moment he accidentally saw her slip riding up to reveal her midriff during her stretch had been mind-altering.
“I want to talk about your shirt and why I would like it on my bedroom floor, please,” she said, “Sober.”
“Sober,” he agreed, though he partially hoped that she would forget about this. As much as he oh so desperately wanted that, he also knew that two very angry and macho alien cowboys that would kill him for even thinking about it.
“For now, can you take me to bed, clothes in tact?” she asked, reaching her arms up with a pout on her face.
He stared at her for a moment, just a short moment to take it all in. She was so effortlessly beautiful and he wondered how he hadn’t noticed before recently. He was dumbfounded that he hadn’t noticed in high school, hadn’t noticed in all the years they lived in the same town, hadn’t noticed whenever she was laying in a hospital bed. He had wasted so much time not taking in her beauty which should be a fucking crime. He didn’t want to go back to a time when he didn’t notice.
Kyle tried to help her stand up, but she was too drunk to find her footing. So Kyle picked her up, one arm behind her back and the other beneath her knees. Her head rested firmly against his chest and her arms went around his neck.
She breathed him in.
He breathed her in.
He carried her to bed, pulling back her sheets and laying her down. He covered her up and tucked her in which earned playful little laughter that he reveled in.
“Thank you,” Isobel told him in a voice that wasn’t quite the one he was used to. Kyle smiled even if he wasn’t sure why exactly he was being thanked.
“No problem.”
.2.
Kyle felt his shirt start sliding up his back on its own.
“You know, I’m pretty sure this qualifies as sexual harassment,” Kyle teased and the shirt dropped immediately, “Kidding, I don’t mind.”
“If I thought you would mind even a little, I wouldn’t have done it,” Isobel said. He turned around to face her and she had a faux innocent look on her face. It melted into straight devious as she reached over to steal one of the grapes he’d just washed. “I was just practicing.”
“Mhm, sure,” he said, raising an eyebrow. She seemed very smug. “You are getting better though.”
“I agree.”
Kyle rolled his eyes and put the grapes between them before leaning on the counter. It was the first day in awhile he’d seen her actually go all out to dress up. Her hair fixed, her makeup was perfect, she had all sorts of jewelry, and a three-piece skirt suit with elegant heels. It was her first day back at work with a new client and she was thriving. Kyle was proud.
“You could take your shirt off around me whenever, though,” she hummed, smirking just a little.
“How are you even interested in that? Aren’t you tired?” he laughed. She narrowed her eyes at him a truly Isobel way. It used to make him nervous before, now it just made his day.
“Who said I wanted to do anything? Maybe I just want a topless doctor to feed me grapes and fan me. Don’t assume,” she scoffed. He smiled at her.
He plucked a grape from its stem and held it out to her. Isobel’s eyebrow raised, but she leaned forward. Her lips gently grazed his thumb as she took it. He tried not to think too hard about that.
“Now was that so hard?” Isobel asked teasingly. He almost said yes.
It seemed the more they spent time together and the more they delved into a flirtatious friendship, the more Kyle seemed to be blurring the lines in his mind. He knew on all levels that she was joking, that this was just how she was, but sometimes it felt real. Sometimes he desperately wanted it to be.
It was proof to him that she didn’t mean it whenever she never brought up the idea of them hooking up again. Then he felt shitty for thinking about it when she had a ton of trauma involving men and he shouldn’t have even considered taking her seriously. However, every time she smiled, it felt like it was just for him and he fell down the same spiral.
“Sorry, couldn’t find a fan in time,” he said instead of something stupid. She let out a little laugh and shook her head.
“I’ll accept a foot rub instead,” she suggested playfully. But he made his way over to sit in the stool beside her, pulling her foot into his lap without question and carefully letting the heel she had on drop to the floor. She raised an eyebrow at him. “I was joking.”
“I can stop,” he said, digging his thumb into the arch of her foot. Her tongue pressed to her teeth in a smile he couldn’t read. For a moment, he thought this must be what love was.
“I didn’t say that.”
.3.
“Jesus Christ, can I lick you?”
“Ew, what the fuck, Izzy?”
Kyle smiled as he listened to Michael and Isobel bicker back and forth while Alex groaned. He had very graciously offered to teach Isobel self-defense and it was apparently going nicely. Today, though, Kyle and Michael tagged along to work out a bit. Kyle was admittedly covered in sweat and breathing heavy‒and hearing that Isobel liked it made him want to do it more.
“It’s not my fault! You’re into dudes, look at him!” she exclaimed, throwing her arm in Kyle’s direction. Michael just glared at her in disgust. “You know, it’s that kind of attitude that is the reason he won’t take his shirt off.”
“That is absolutely not the reason I won’t take my shirt off,” Kyle chuckled, “There are ladies present.”
“Oh, please,” she scoffed, but she gave him that smile. That special little smile that held so much adoration that made his heart pound. He wanted her to never stop staring at him like that. He craved it, he strived for it.
“Will you all just stop it? I don’t have the patience for this,” Alex sighed. Kyle gave him an apologetic look and tried to look away so he wouldn’t be contributing.
It wasn’t until their session was over that Isobel strolled over to him, casually draping her arms over his shoulders. Kyle turned and saw her face not too far from his. Her thumb dragged over his jaw while the other hand pressed between his pecs.
“Come over. A new episode of Long Island Medium is coming on,” she said. Kyle licked his lips. She watched.
“That lady is a terrible person and you said, like, a million times that she’s fake,” Kyle pointed out. Isobel shrugged and put the thumb that had touched his sweaty face between her teeth. For the months he’d been able to look away when she did something as overwhelming as that. This was not one of those times. He stared at her mouth and her thumb until she smirked.
“Yeah, so? Come over,” she urged. Kyle nodded dumbly, his eyes unable to look away even as she let go and they followed her until she was completely out of sight outside of the gym.
“What’s going on between you two?”
Kyle snapped his mind back to focus as he looked over to Michael. He didn’t seem angry as much as he seemed confused. His eyebrows were furrowed and he was just staring like he didn’t get it.
“Nothing,” he answered with a shrug, “We’re just friends.”
“No, she doesn’t even like when me or Max touch her,” Michael said, “Like, she doesn’t freak out like she does when it’s random dudes, but doesn’t really like being touched since everything with Noah happened. Only guy I’ve seen her be comfortable when it comes to touching is Alex and I think that has a lot to do with him being the one teaching her how to fight. She was just fine touching you though.” Kyle licked his lips.
“I don’t know, man, we just hang out a lot,” Kyle said. Michael nodded, but it was clear he didn’t really buy it.
“Okay. Just… be careful, please.” It was the most sincere Michael Guerin had literally ever sounded. Kyle nodded.
“Absolutely.”
.4.
“I think you’re the only guy left on this planet that I would let touch me like that.”
Kyle turned away from the sex scene that was displayed on the TV in front of them. Isobel just tipped back her wine glass like she hadn’t just said something like that so matter-of-factly.
“Okay,” Kyle said slowly. She scoffed.
“I just told you you’re the only one I’d fuck and you say okay?”
“I just… I guess I don’t really get why. I’m not special. I’m just me,” he said. She shook her head and smiled at him.
“That’s apart of why. Most guys would just be like ‘yeah, that’s right’,” she said and he smiled at her bad imitation of a manly voice. And maybe he smiled for a couple of other reasons. “You’re nice and genuine and you… You always seem to strive to be a better person. I think you’re the only person in the world I’ve ever met that is constantly trying to improve. Every day you wake up wanting to be better than you were the day before and that’s just… That’s really refreshing and assuring.”
“So that makes me your only exception to celibacy?” he asked. She gave him a sneaky little grin and reached out to squeeze his cheeks.
“I said the only guy, Kyle, stop being so closed-minded.”
“I’m not,” he laughed, though neither of them moved. They were so close and he really, really just wanted to take this opportunity.
But he didn’t and she just rested her head on his shoulder. He tugged her close.
“I’m glad you trust me, Isobel,” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. She snuggled in closer.
They stayed close for a while, watching the movie play even though Kyle couldn't focus on it. He liked to focus on the way she seemed to breathe in time with him. It wasn't until the male lead took his shirt off for some pointless reason.
“One day, I am going to see you shirtless.” She sounded so determined that he couldn’t even jokingly tell her no.
“One day.”
+1
“Is this too fast? Tell me if it’s too fast.”
“Kyle, I have wanted this for months, there is nothing fast about this.”
Kyle couldn’t help the sigh of relief that left his system at her words. The confirmation of just how long those feelings had been mutual felt like learning how to breathe again. They’d been dancing around each other for nearly two years at this point, spending time together and growing and becoming something. It took him too long, but Kyle had finally asked her out on a date. They had barely made it through the meal before they were itching to touch which led to them making out in the car like teenagers because it had been so goddamn long for both of them. Kyle wondered if it felt like longer for Isobel considering the last guy was just using her. That made him feel sick, so he tried not to think of it.
“You’ve only liked me for months or you’ve only wanted to have sex with me for months?” he clarified. She rolled her eyes and leaned across the center console that had officially been the worst creation ever and kissed him long and slow. They were the best kisses he’d ever felt.
“I’ve liked you for two years, I’ve only wanted you in my bed for a few months,” she admitted. It made sense to Kyle. While her sexual jokes and suggestions had started far before then, he understood that they probably weren’t legitimate offers. At least, not at the time. Now they were. “Drive.”
The entire drive back to her place involved her hand on his thigh and her eyes burning holes into his face. Logically, he knew she was keeping it tame because she didn’t want to distract him from the road. Illogically, he was still very much distracted.
When they got there, she all but dragged him from the car. He laughed as she unlocked the door with her mind, still kissing him all the way. Her kisses were something heavenly. He was obsessed with them already.
“Are you sure it’s not too fast?” he wondered as they separated for a small second. She gave him a very pointed look.
“It’s not too fast,” she said, “But if I change my mind, I’ll let you know.”
“Just make sure you let me know like as soon as you have doubts, okay? Promise?” he said. Isobel’s eyes softened and she nodded, moving forward to kiss him again.
Everything lightened up a bit whenever her hands reached beneath his shirt. With a laugh, he pulled away just long enough to remove it. He went to go back for more kisses, but Isobel held him out at arm's length and just took in his bare chest. He found it endlessly fascinating to feel her drag her hands slowly over his chest and stomach and rest at the hem of his jeans.
