Participants:
| Scene Title | Lecherous Cheering Up |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Tahir does his best to cheer up a mourning Tess, and she repeatedly accuses him of lechery. |
| Date | November 22, 2010 |
An Indoor Pool
"Just meet me there, okay? Clothing Optional. If chosen, minimal preferred."
Those were pretty much the last words said to Tess on the phone conversation with Tahir Avery Dunham. Which is why he's currently standing in front of a building that's marked with some fitting letters to prove that it is the perfect place to cheer up someone that's in dire need of cheering up.
He's decked out in a suit, as he always is, but he's also carrying a towel over his shoulder. Huh. Should be interesting.
Despite Tess's occupation as a stripper, when she goes out and about in November, she goes out in clothes. And a jacket. But she did go out to meet him, taking a cab still rather than risk her car. She blinks when she gets out and sees him holding a towel. "Are you plannin' on gettin' wet?" she asks curiously as she walks over to him.
"This ain't for me. This is for you." Tahir quips, holding the towel out and immediately reaching for the door to pull it open for Tess and stands back. He's got some gentlemanly skills within his brain or something. Anyway, heading into the building will reveal a large, gigantic mega-pool down a small flight of stairs. Yeah, it looks like Tahir has the hook up or something.
The towel is taken with a suspicious look, but Tess steps inside then follows him down to the pool. She blinks and tilts her head, then looks back to him and grins. "A pool? You couldn't have told me to wear a bathin' suit? And why just the towel for me? You not plannin' on gettin' in? Makin' me swim by myself?"
Tahir shrugs a little bit, trying to not look like he can't swim. "I figured you might could use the space to yourself, you know? I read somewhere or saw on Oprah or something that like swimming is therapeutic?" Tahir looks off to the side, as if trying to remember what the correct terminology is. After a moment he gives up. "I know the guy that owns this building so I asked him to let me let you use it for a while. Figure you might want to just block out the world for a few hours."
"What fun is swimmin' by yourself though?" Tess shakes her head. "I'll get in, but you're gettin' in with me. So strip down!" She sets her towel down, then slides her coat out, looking at him expectantly, smiling a bit, brows lifting as though daring him to refuse.
"Ladies first." comes the words from Tahir as he just kind of works on tugging at his tie. He's obviously stalling, that's for sure. But he's not about to let himself be bullied into such antics by some random hottie that he barely knows. "I just hope this isn't too tame for you. You seem like you're a wild one." Tahir shrugs softly. "I just figure our first Pre-Date should be something relaxing." More tugging at the tie. He's moving awful slow.
Tess stills and studies him for a long moment. "Pre-date? You plannin' on datin' me, Bob, and not just tryin' to get me to polish your prized staff?" she asks, sounding surprised. "And yeah, I guess normally I'm kinda wild. But recoverin' and with everything else…Tamer than usual for the moment. But c'mon, you want me to strip down, you gotta strip down. Only fair."
"Hey, I'm workin' on my tie. You're still fully clothed!" Tahir is not about to just let the facts fall by the wayside. He will not be manipulated! Not on his own watch! "Besides, I'm the one that went through allllll this trouble to set this up for you! I think I deserve a little show before we make this a two person activity." Pause. Headtilt. "Unless we're talking about polishing in the pool, because in that case… I can get out these clothes right now." Oh, One Track Mind.
That has Tess laughing. "Yeah, you're a lech. You're lucky you're a cute lech. But I told ya I wasn't promisin' any polishin'. But hey, nothin' else, we can talk while we swim. Since I don't know jack about you other than your name and that you're a gameshow host." Her shoes are slipped off, then her socks, before off goes her shirt. Sorry boys, it's a very tame bra beneath. Nearly a bikini top on its own. But on her stomach is a fresh-ish wound, still healing. No more than two weeks old.
"Well, you should also know that I'm not some crazed lunatic serial killer because I haven't attacked you or anything yet. So I would hope you know that." Tahir is saying this with a smile, to make sure that he doesn't come across as some crazy creep. He does, however, tilt that head to do some admiring of what is being revealed. Mmmmm. Yeah, he's a damn lech… to TESS. Not in reality, though. "I'm good with this whole being cute thing, though. How the hell do you think I made it out of high school?"
"If I thought you were a crazed serial killer I wouldn't be here," Tess points out as she undoes her pants but waits before removing them. "I notice though that you still haven't even taken off your tie. And you could've gotten through high school by bein' smart? I don't really know anythin' about you, remember? So why don't we start with the basics? Age? Siblings? Any horrible things in your past I should be warned of?"
Tahir rolls his eyes a little bit and pulls his tie off, waving it around at her. "Tess, just get in the pool. I'm comin', okay?!" He starts to pull of his jacket, but the question has been posed to him about himself and that's one of his favorite topics. "Well, you see, it all started when I was a twinkle in my father's eye. He knocked Mom up and voila, the epic story of Tahir Avery Dunham begins!" This digression has Tahir pulling his jacket over his shoulder and leaning against the wall in the classic model stance. "But, I'm 25 and looking fly. I've got… two sisters. One annoying as hell and one that died." Tahir's eyes slip into genuine sorrow for a half-second there. "As far as horrible things in the past? I had a phase where I had green hair for like six months. Punk Phase."
"I'm sorry about your sister," Tess says, sounding sincere. But then, if anyone understands losing a family member, it's Tess. "And green hair isn't a horrible thing. I've had black hair, blue hair, red hair — not like natural red, but fire engine red. It's just hair. Besides, punks can be hot." Off go her jeans, then she's walking to the edge of the pool and diving in.
When she surfaces a moment later she swims to the edge, arms resting on it as she watches him. "How'd you get into the gameshow biz? Fate? Lifelong dream? Happy accident?"
"Sami was… she was awesome. Not that I ever told her that." Tahir shakes away the thoughts of his sister, because they'll just confuse him even more right now. Especially, well, considering what happened in his apartment that day. Sheesh. Anyway, "Now that is a much less interesting story. I was in the Army for a while. But when my term was over, I ended up heading for L.A., for the ladies, of course." Tahir offers a quick wink. "Somebody liked my smile and I just sort of took that and ran with it. A few calls later, I'm getting my own game show. Which, as you can see, I'm pretty damn qualified for." See? Charming Smile Attack!
"And you say you're not a lech when you move somewhere just for the ladies?" Tess says, smiling. "And suppose I should ask now, before we get past this pre-date thing. How do you feel about the Evolved? 'Cause I'm one and see no point in hidin' it. I like bein' evolved, even if my ability isn't what I thought it was for four years."
"I like the weather too." Tahir explains away his lech-tendencies as easy as pie. He's always got some excuse up his sleeve. He's got a big ol' smile on his face, though. The smile should be helping! "I ain't got nothin' against the Evolved. As long as you're not like messin' with my mind or somethin' crazy like that." Tahir smirks to himself. "Y'know, besides what your body naturally causes me to think about." Oh, there he goes dropping those lines again!
Tess laughs and shakes her head before resting her chin atop her arms. "I couldn't mess with your mind if I wanted. I'm glue girl, not hypno-girl. Gets embarrassin' though, since I just manifested. Strong emotion makes me go all sticky, like with the candy scoop gettin' stuck to my hand."
And that has Tahir pushing away from the wall and stepping a little closer to the pool. "Strong emotions, eh? And what exactly were you feeling at the time? Was it some burning desire to tear my clothes off and go at it right there in the middle of the candy store? Because I kinda' had the same idea running through my own head." Tahir can't help it. She keeps leaving these huge openings.
"You know. The more you deny bein' a lech, the more evidence you give that you are one," Tess points out, looking amused. "You should just admit it and get it over with. I never said it was a bad thing to be a lech, after all." But then she nods and turns her head, so her cheek rests against her arm now. "But yeah, strong emotion. We were talkin' 'bout my dad, remember? Sorry, jumpin' you wasn't what caused it. Though I'm really not lookin' forward to my first round a' sex. I've already glued myself to my friends when they were comfortin' me. Just imagine how much worse it'll be durin' sex."
Tahir's frown is one of overplayed sadness, just for kicks. He's not that upset. "… Guess I'm gonna' have to be patient or find you some kind of Mistress of Glue Powers to teach you how to control it, huh?" Tahir doesn't even think about responding to that crazy lech theory because it will probably only help incriminate him even further. He can't be doing such things as getting himself incriminated. Not even by regular hotties.
Tess's brows lift and again the amusement returns. "You that certain you're gonna be gettin' me in bed at some point, Bob? 'Cause I haven't made up my mind one way or another 'bout you. Way you talk, you probably have half a dozen girlfriends who don't know 'bout each other or somethin'. Or just a lil' black book that's bigger'n the dictionary."
"I like to think optimistically. No reason in being negative when the world's in the process of goin' to shit anyway, right? Might as well live for the moment." Tahir's words are said with a playful tone, but it's very much obvious that he's in belief of what he's talking about at this moment. He's into this whole Carpe Diem crap. "I don't have any girlfriends. Ain't had the pleasure of finding the right girl yet." Shrug!
That has Tess going quiet for a long moment. "I've said somethin' similar a couple of times in the last month or so. Been ponderin' goin' to this friend of a friend who's a tattoo artist, to get Carpe Diem tattooed here," she says, touching her back, right beneath her neck. "But this not found the right girl thing? Nice line. Lotta girls'd be tryin' to prove that they were the right girl," she says, grinning.
"Why do I get the feeling you're not one of those girls?" Tahir almost wants to pout as he says this, but that might be laying it on too thick. He'll have to play this one nice and close to the fence. Or go with one of his other styles of Player Dom. "Because, just so you know, I would not be opposed to letting you have first crack at trying to prove yourself to me. I'm willing to make that sacrifice."
"Mmm. Maybe, if I didn't think it was just a line," Tess says thoughtfully. "I'm not exactly lookin' for a boyfriend, but I also wouldn't say hell no if the right boyfriend came along either." She shrugs a little and pushes away from the wall, lazily floating around the pool. "So. Besides hittin' on chicks, what do you do for fun?" she asks curiously.
"Party. That's what I do. If I ain't lookin' for Ms. Right or watching sports, I'm at somebody's party or some nightclub." Tahir seems to be all about the fun side of life in the middle of Doomsday 2010. "Especially right now, with the world coming to an end and all. If I get taken out, I wanna' be taken out while having the time of my life." More genuine words that are coming from his mouth.
Tess's brows lift. "You're actually lookin' for Ms. Right and not just enjoyin' all the Ms. Right-Nows?" she asks, voice a touch skeptical. "Though I can get the partyin'. I love a good party myself. Had a small impromptu one the other night. Couple friends came over, and we all got drunk'n ate candy to distract me. Was fun."
"I'm almost 30. Gotta' start thinkin' about the Future more than the Right Now." Tahir lets more honesty flow. He's always very much open about his lack of plans. Or semi-plans. Ain't really got too much to hide. But then parties were mentioned and he finds another topic, "Oh, so I guess you just forgot to invite me? I see how it is. You only want me for my pool and my tendency to want to buy you candy."
"Twenty-five isn't almost thirty," Tess argues. "And it wasn't really planned. I'd called a friend 'cause I needed someone when I got the news about my dad. She brought another friend and showed up like a week after the call. It was a girl's thing." She pauses, considers, smiles. "Buyin' me candy was pretty nice though."
"What a coincidence! I'm all into girl things! See, I woulda' been a hit at that party. I think you should have another one. You can bring all your girlfriends to my place for drinks and anything else that pops up." Tahir is all about helping to provide a spot for drunk females to spend the night!
"Sorry, but both of them are into chicks, so you'd be left out," Tess says, grinning and shrugging. "One of 'em I think has someone, and the other…Well, yeah, you're just really not her type."
"Figures. It's like a damn epidemic." Tahir rolls his eyes and offers a big ol' shrug to follow that up. "I tried." Which is sometimes not enough, it seems, since Tahir is once again back to Square One. It's never really a nice square to be in.
"Not really. I'm mostly into guys," Tess says, floating back towards the edge of the pool. "I mean, girls are cute and everything, but they're just not guys. But I have yet to meet a guy who'll paint my nails so I gotta keep 'em around."
"At least I know where I stand. I'm a step below hair and nail doers." Tahir is not opposed to these ideas but he's not about to tell her that. "So. Mostly into guys, eh? What exactly on the guys are you mostly into?" He might as well work some recon magic so when the time comes, he's ready to just make some moves on the Tess.
"Mmm. Well, I like the strength of a guy. The smell. When he's clean. I'm not talkin' that stinky sweaty smell. Or Old Spice. That stuff just makes me think of grandfathers for some reason," Tess muses as she makes her way to the stairs of the pool, taking her time about it. "Just like the look of guys too. And how they're all hard where I'm soft. And no, I'm not just meanin' below the waist. And hey, I ever find a guy who'll paint my nails, I'll be sunk."
Tahir looks like he's making mental notes. In fact, he's already swinging his jacket around to get it back onto his body. "It's settled then. You're coming back to my place for ice cream, horrible movies and a manicure. All on me." It would seem that Tahir is not above doing whatever it takes to make sure this girl is sunk.
Tess pauses and arches a brow, glancing over at him. "I am?" She frowns a little, then climbs out and moves to grab the towel and start drying off. "You do realize that just because I said I'd be sunk doesn't mean immediate jumpin' into bed, right?"
"Did I say anything about bed? As the one of us that is allegedly the lech, you sure seem to be the one more focused on sex. Hmmmm." Tahir plasters on the most innocent look he can muster up right now. "All I'm trying to do is give you some company. I know how it is to be alone after losing someone very important to you. It's never a good thing to keep things that way. Trust me."
"I guess I'm just paranoid 'cause I'm used to guys just tryin' to get me in the sack. Usually I let 'em, but lately I've just been more…selective," Tess says with a shrug as she starts drying her hair. "It is nice of you though, to keep me company. Mostly been holed up at home except when I gotta go out to get food or get dragged out by a friend. Prolly not good for me, but damn if it's not shitty losin' both my parents within a year."
"That sounds like a tremendous amount of suck." Tahir frowns and is already offering a hand towards the female… but then he remembers and pulls his hand back. "I'd hug you, but this is a new suit. Sorry, no can glue." He's hoping his little teasing at her Evolved ability will help keep her from getting too worked up over stuff. Memories might cause sticking. "Listen. You're not ready. I get it. I'm not ready to be glued to you. I mean, you're hot, but I've got a show to tape this week." Tahir smiles and winks. "Let's just hang out, keep you sane and wherever we end up is where we end up. Sound like a plan?"
Tess smiles and nods. "Yeah, sounds like a plan. And it is a nice suit. Until I get control of this ability I gotta avoid a lot of nice things. Like I got this car from my dad? A really nice one. I'm terrified to touch it, much less drive it. I mean, it was his, so it's gonna make me think of him and it'll probably get the glue factory goin' and ruin it. And I've already glued myself to two people, stuff in the candy store, my bed, a couch, and don't even get me started on the one time I started bawlin' while eatin' candy. It took me forever to pick off all the candy from my hand," she says, starting to get dressed.
"… So we'll need to stop by Home Depot on the way back. We're gonna' need some supplies." Tahir is not about to let this hottie, no matter how hot she is, ruin his apartment with her glue. "And no chick flicks! You might start crying and I can't have you stuck to the floor in my apartment. You totally don't match my color scheme."
"Good god I hope we're not gonna watch chick flicks," Tess says, looking momentarily horrified. "Give me a good action movie with plenty of explosions and shooting. But why Home Depot? I mean, wouldn't the drug store make more sense, or Wal-Mart? Since you can't do nails without…stuff to do nails? Unless you just wanted to hit my place."
"Wow. Bonus." Tahir is all ready to lead the way out of the building, considering that this girl is not into chick flicks either. That just happens to be all kinds of awesome right there! "We'll hit your place. That way if you do decide to jump my bones, because I'm becoming that much harder to resist, we can mess up your bed and not mine. I've got imported sheets on my bed…"
"I have no idea what kind of sheets I've got on mine," Tess admits with a sheepish grin as she shrugs her coat on and follows him outside. "But my place does work. I'm at Dorchester Towers. You got a car or are we takin' a cab?"
Tahir doesn't even think to let the cat out of the bag about the matching up in places to live. He's too interested int he fact that he's going to be driving around a possible living glue trap. "I've got a car. But I'll tell you right now, you mess up my leather interior? There won't be enough polishing in the world that can save you." It's not totally a threat, since he's smiling. But still.
"Well, don't get me upset or worked up or anything!" Tess says with a laugh and a shrug. "Besides, I'm bundled up. I'll fuck my clothes up before I fuck your car up. So your car should be safe. And I like leather too much to fuck it up, so I'll do my best to control myself. Promise."
"I'm not sure how I feel about you messing up your clothes either. It'll make it that much harder for me to get you out of them." Tahir leads the way to his car, which has Mercedes screaming off the hood ornament. He pops open the passenger side door and holds it open. "And whatever you do, don't touch the radio. We don't need any Taylor Swift making you cry."
"Eww. Taylor Swift? Please. I have better taste," Tess says, sliding into the car when he opens the door for her. "And hell, it can't be worse than me havin' to be cut out of my clothes. At least this time I'll be somewhere where I have clothes to put on."
Tahir is around the car and into the driver's seat by the time he hears the rest of that statement. Frown. "… Better make it my place then. Do you know much props I'll get for having you stuck to my living room floor? Naked?" He starts the car right up and is pulling out to make the drive!
Tess reaches over to lightly, and playfully, swat at his shoulder as she laughs. "You're not gettin' me glued to your floor. I don't wanna be glued to anything for that matter. It's too much of a pain. When I glued myself to my bed? It took an hour to get up. Then I had to shower for another hour to get all the goo off of me."
"Oh come on. Just for a little while? I wanna' see what it does. I don't have the luxury of being able to do anything like that." Tahir is already pouting and hoping that his pout will be something capable of loosening up this girl. "I'll let you sleep in one of my button ups? Total Risky Business reference!" It's a good thing he's not a lawyer.
"You want to see me glue myself to somethin'? Really? Remember the candy scoop? That wasn't full on gluin' either," Tess says, shaking her head, but she is looking highly amused now. "And sleepin' in one of your shirts? You expectin' me to stay the night already? This is only the second time we've met!"
"The key to a successful bonding experience to work out grief is alcohol. And I certainly don't plan on driving while under the influence. Not while G.I. Joe is looking for any excuse to drop the hammer down." Tahir, luckily, already has a fully stocked bar up in his apartment. That's how rich people like him do things, dammit. "Unless, of course, you're scared you're gonna' be tempted to take advantage of me in my drunken state…"
"Hey, you're the lech, not me. It's me who should be worried for my virtue!" Tess says, grinning and relaxing more and more. "But alcohol sounds good. Though only after you paint my nails. Otherwise I think you'd prolly end up paintin' my fingers instead, and that just wouldn't look right."