to tie up loose ends to make amends

[skort]

WHO: supertorso & battothefuture
WHERE: Terry's apartment.
WHEN: Sometime around today-ish? Today being Thursday.
WARNINGS: ... Possibility of some violence.
SUMMARY: Kara and Terry were gonna try again after their failed notadate. But then he got exPorted and never called, so she stops by. SHIT HAPPENS.
FORMAT: Quick to start, can do whatever after.

[ It starts like this: Terry and Kara parted ways and agreed to try again for coffee. But there was never a 'Hey, how does tomorrow sound' from his end and Kara was just this side of shy and worried about this whole friendship with a civilian thing that she wasn't sure she could call him about coffee.

But when she'd seen neither hide nor hair of him on the Network for a while, she got a little worried. She wasn't sure picking up the phone and going 'You're not dead, right?' was the kind of thing one did, so she didn't act on it, instead keeping eyes and ears out should he show up anywhere.

On the other hand, though, if she was just patrolling and happened to be in the area, she could stop by and knock on his door, right? Just... checking in. She could say she lost his number, wanted to make sure he and the dog were okay. And wanted to see the dog again. Yeah, that would work.

Which is how she ends up standing in front of his door, wishing terribly her x-ray vision could penetrate lead. One hand raises and knocks gently, so as not to... accidentally break anything. Because that would be bad. And she'd have to buy him a new door. ]

Terry? You home?

[ Wait a little bit, then knock again, a little harder this time. Maybe it was too soft of a knock. Just because she had superhearing... ] Terry?

[ More knocking. She pauses again and then knocks just a little too hard, knocking the door off its... surprisingly sturdy hinges. ]

Oh, crap! Ohcrapohcrap! Terry! If you're home, I'm sorry I broke your door. ... if you're not, I'm sorry for breaking and entering to fix your door...

[ She moves the broken door aside so she can step into the apartment and... freezes. Because that— that stuff can't be what she thinks it is. It just can't be. ]

Comments

[battothefuture]

[He looks down, as if at himself, and if things are just slightly more uncomfortable than they were before he does a good job of hiding it.]

What, admiring the view?

[skort]

Maybe a little. You've got a surprising lack of scars.

[ ... she loses it then and laughs a little. ]

No. I'm trying to figure out what's going on in your head.

[battothefuture]

[He grins.]

Trade secret.

How so?

[skort]

You're a Bat. You guys always have plans. I'm trying to figure out what yours is.

[battothefuture]

Plan for what, exactly?

[skort]

Winning.

[battothefuture]

[He grins]

That would be telling. Of course, I'm already so far ahead....

[skort]

There's no such thing as a slaughter rule in this game. You've gotta come up with something big to make me forfeit.

And, you know, I can always catch up.

[battothefuture]

[He smiles.]

That sounds like a challenge.

[AND THEN JUST LIKE THAT without further warning he's on his knees and leaning, balanced on a hand, over the monopoly board. His ribs complain but he ignores it, works with the pain, Bruce certainly taught him how to do that, because he's winding his free hand into her hair and sort of nuzzling at her neck. A few seconds later of traveling up her neck and down her jawline he kisses her.

Strange game they're playing.]

[skort]

[ Her brain goes into shut-down mode when he leans in and then when he actually kisses, her she tenses and freezes. But after a short moment, her head is back in the game and she leans forward a little, kissing him back while her face decides it wants to feel like it's on fire.

This could get messy if all it's all just a game of some kind, but right now she's not exactly thinking clearly enough to realize that. ]

HEY WASN'T THERE A MOVIE JUST LIKE THIS

[battothefuture]

[The line between the game and something else is starting to get blurred, or maybe that started a while ago. Unlike Kara though, Terry is used to having to think in situations where you're not supposed to be able to think, so maybe he realizes it a bit more. So he's the one who backs off, and slides his hand away from her hair. His breathing is just a bit harder than it should be.]

... I'm sorry. That was too far, huh?

I SERIOUSLY THINK THERE WAS IT'S BUGGING ME NOW

[skort]

It, uh— [ There's nothing else she can get out besides that at the moment. She's trying to figure out what happened and why he backed off.

Well. She knows why he backed off. That was going way too far and someone needed to do it. What's bugging her is the fact that she's pretty sure if he kissed her again, she wouldn't object. It's not like the concept of being attracted to someone or even dating them after not knowing them very long is foreign, but. This is Terry. He's a Bat. That makes it uncharted territory.

Her fingers fiddle with the hem of her skirt and she can feel the blush on her cheeks is still there as she looks down, unsure of her ability to look him in the eye right now. ]

It probably was. But don't, ah. Don't apologize. It's not like I didn't kiss you back.

s;dlafkghafksdl

[battothefuture]

[Those last, mumbled words somehow draw Terry's attention back to her mouth.

Wait, no staring.

Right.

Bad.

Baaaad bad bad. He moves back with that particular liquid grace that you get when adrenaline starts pumping and you've been trained like he has. He stop himself from moving that way, and holds quite still for a moment, then gets to his feet almost clumsily.]

I'm getting a drink; do you want a refill?

[skort]

Um, yeah. Sure. Thanks.

[ She grabs her glass and holds it out for him to take. The embarrassment and thoughts of 'what did we just do,' keep her from really looking at him, but once she knows he's in the kitchen, she drops her head into her hands. ]

You are in way over your head, Kara.

[ And what does she do when she's in over her head? Well. Normally she moves back and lets someone else deal with the threat or help her deal with it. But that doesn't exactly work in this situation. But a retreat may be a good idea. ]

... Maybe it'd be better if I just left.

[battothefuture]

[He, meanwhile, took her glass and left, then spend a moment staring at the sink once he got through the doors.]

Slag.

[It's kinda hard for him to decide what's supposed to happen now too, so he spends a few seconds longer than he needs to to buy himself a bit of extra time for that. Can't quite manage it. Goes back in anyway. He looks down and smiles a little.]

I think we messed up the board.

[skort]

[ She laughs, but it's an obviously nervous laugh. ]

Yeah, we kinda did. We... could just count the money and see who won? I don't remember where the pieces were.

[battothefuture]

I don't either. So yeah, I guess that works.

[Going over and handing her the glass my this has become awkward very quickly.]

[skort]

[ Downing most of that glass and really wishing there was something other than water in it. Not that alcohol actually does anything, but it's the idea of it. She starts counting her money and then pauses, not looking up. ]

I'm sorry.

[battothefuture]

[Kara, he's been drunk. It's not as much fun as everyone says, particularly the getting over it part. Well all right, mostly the getting over it part. Also throwing up is never all that enjoyable.

Her comment makes him stare.]

For what?

[skort]

For goading you into that. I gave you a challenge and I really should have seen where that was going, considering what we were doing earlier.

[ She's still not looking up, but she's really hoping that if she apologizes they can just... move on and have things not be as awkward. Because awkward times really, really suck. ]

[battothefuture]

[He stares some more. He's supposed to be the one who guilts about everything remember, Kara?]

Kara, you didn't force me to do anything.

[skort]

[ She finally looks up at him, a little exasperated. ]

Well, you apologized and it wasn't really your fault, so I figured we might as well cover all our bases. [ pause ] Okay, wrong phrase to use there, but you get what I mean.

[battothefuture]

[He laughed a little, with just a hint of incredulity.]

It's a lot more my fault than it was yours. Besides, aren't I supposed to be the dark brooding type? You're ruining a proud tradition of stereotypes.

[skort]

Apologizing and wanting things to not be as full of awkward silences isn't the same as brooding.

[ A sigh and she looks down again. ] Think we can call a do-over?

[battothefuture]

[Okay does she mean what he thinks she means]

Of...?