Participants:
| Scene Title | "Normalcy, yeah." |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Aric drops by Graeme and Remi's place. |
| Date | March 7, 2011 |
Dorchester Towers: Remi and Graeme's Apartment
After a half day of work, Graeme's slipped back into the apartment, sliding the deadbolt shut behind him. After further emptying the fridge of leftovers, he's sitting on the couch with his tablet in his lap, in a pair of soft grey pajama pants. The towel to one side and the slight dampness to his hair suggest he's showered, and he hums along with his music that's playing from the stereo in his room.
There's an occasional glance at the clock, but mainly, Graeme's taking the rare chance to actually relax, for the moment. At least, until restlessness gets him to get up and pace the apartment again.
Aric happens to be staying in the same apartment building as Graeme at this time. The fact he was able to find that information out accidently via the door man was an odd thing for Aric. Maybe it is fate his mind thought but rolled his eyes as he just shook off the idea. Aric decided he would drop off some things to Remi and Graeme's apartment for the big night of cooking. When you’re as passionate about cooking as Aric can be at times he likes to be prepared.
He walks down the hallway and steps to their door. He is carrying a number of shopping bags in each arm. His biceps flexing under the strain of the weight as he looks at the door and then at his hands and groans. He gently bangs his head against the door causing a few strands to fall into his face.
There's a startled jump, and then Graeme sets the tablet on the coffee table, screen blanked for the moment, walking over to the door. There is a pause, as Graeme looks through the peephole, and his breath catches in his throat a bit. "Just a second!" Because there is no way he's answering the door with no shirt on, regardless.
When he does answer the door, he's managed to find a ribbed a-shirt that clings to his chest and shoulders, and he offers Aric a smile. "Aric," he greets, a little surprise still evident in his voice. "Come in, let me take a few of those."
Oh.My.God. Those eyes. his mind snaps loudly. The apples in his cheeks begin turn a few shades darker as he smiles softly, "Hey Graeme." He looks down at the bags as he lifts his arm. His own t-shirt one size to tight for him flexes under the movement as he ways for the man to take a few out of his hand. "I am sorry if I came at a bad time yet I wanted to drop off a few things and hope to tell Remi that dinner is on. Liz said she would 'love' to come yet she might have to leave due to police stuff and all." He walks into the apartment and blinks.
And he showers! God he smells good. He looks around as he looks away from the man for the kitchen and asks, "Where shall I put these?"
There's a faint flush on Graeme's face, but he reaches to take several of the bags from Aric, before closing the door behind the other man. The deadbolt too, though that seems to be out of sheer habit, before he nods. "The kitchen is this way," he says, talking just a little bit faster than he usually does, "and it's not a bad time at all, don't worry about it or anything. Remi's out at the studio right now, or something, and I wasn't busy or anything anyway."
Making his way to the kitchen, ahead of Aric, Graeme nods. Which, of course, provides an excellent view of his ass as he walks, setting one bag on a chair in the kitchen, and two on the counter.
"Oh good." As he follows Graeme, "I didn't want to seem like a creeper or anything. I just am gonna cook for four people. I want to make it special and fun at the same time. That means working some magic and being prepared so I wanted to drop off a round of things for the night so it wouldn't seem like I robbed a store when we came bring bags and bags of food." Ok he is now rambling as he is in fact a man. A man who has not been with a man in nearly a year so OF COURSE he is gonna look down at the "ass"ets.
When he does his own breath catches in his throat and his foot catches on the rug and he tumbles forward. The man is able to catch himself in time from falling completely on his face yet as he walks into the kitchen he is flush with embarrassment. He makes an attempt to avoid what just happened by saying, "Nice place you have here."
Graeme bites his lower lip ever so slightly. "Are you alright?" Most of the concern is hidden from his voice, but Graeme does step forward to take the remaining bags from Aric, with a gesture to the refrigerator as well. "Thanks, yeah. Most of it's Remi's doing, though. Only thing that's mine, really, is the punching bag in my room." Oh. Um, relevance, right. "And yeah that makes sense I think." He bounces on his heels a bit as he leans back against the counter, all muscle but no tension in his posture, and there's a little bit of a smile on his face, more of a smile in his eyes.
Aric nods and says, "I can be a klutz now and again. Most of the time I am ok." He looks down at his sneakers, "I prefer to be barefoot or in sandals when the weather permits. I like when I can feel the ground…." He blinks and turns to begin putting things away, Moron. He is gonna think your weird. As he explains, "It is a believe by the Buddhist monks that being close to the Mother Earth is a means of grounding yourself." He looks over his shoulder, "Me I just like the comfort." He chuckles and looks away again bending over to put a few of the vegetables in the vegetable bin.
For a moment, Graeme's mainly speechless. Of course, it's due to the sight of Aric bending over, and really, he just can't quite help himself. There's a low whistle, and the Graeme sets his stance a little more firmly. "I can understand that," he says, looking up at the ceiling as if it'll reduce the fact that he's blushing significantly. "I like being barefoot. It feels more … in touch with myself. Lot of people think I'm weird for it. But it's also better for balance and the like. When I was in college, one of the things we always used to do was run barefoot when the weather wasn't warm enough that you'd burn your feet doing so…" the words trail off as Graeme realizes that he's rambling.
Aric stands up in a jolt as his hair flings up and out of his face. He turns in his excitement of the man's words and exclaims, "no way man! I love running barefoot." He blinks at how excited his voice sounded. A bit too eager and he chuckles weakly, "I thought I was like in my own class of runners. I love running through the grass…yet my favorite is running on the beach. The air. The tint of sea water splashing on you as you run. The blood pumping." As he looks down Graeme's body once again as he lingers a few moments too long as he begins to put another bag away into the fridge.
As he bends over again, he begins to place the items into the fridge and suddenly blinks. Oh my god…I am flirting? Aric begins to crouch down to make not like he is bending over on purpose.
"It feels a lot more connected, and all. I dunno, a lot of people always thought I was crazy for liking to run barefoot." Graeme is distinctly happy, at the moment, that his roommate isn't home. It means that the particularly embarrassing/vivid thoughts stay in his head, but he does sort of watch as Aric continues putting things away, with a strangled but slightly disappointed noise as it changes to a crouch. So instead, he grabs several more things for the refrigerator from the counter, bringing them over to Aric. His lower thigh just barely brushes against Aric's shoulder, apparently unintentionally by the way that Graeme takes a slight step back. "Here, I think these go in the fridge too."
As he turns to stand up, he is stopped in his tracks by the man suddenly standing next to him. When his thigh brushes against him Aric lets out a quick breath. Thank god Remi IS NOT here right now. As he is eye level with Graeme's loins he shifts his eyes quickly to the fridge and gulps. He holds out his hand to take the items and not fall over from his growing challenge.
"What…" Aric's voice cracks when he speaks and he swallows again and starts over, "What else do you like to do for fun besides run and punch the bag?"
Ooops. Aric's reaction is fairly obvious to Graeme, and he quickly walks over to the counter, picking up several more items, and speaking as he does so. "I like to read. I try and keep up with some of the sociological journals, and ones relating to educators. I skateboard, though mainly for transportation rather than to do tricks." He grins, walks back over, and this time, his thigh brushing up against Aric's shoulder might not be quite so unintentional as Graeme offers down what he'd grabbed from the counter.
Must….not…jump his bones. his mind echoes as he knows the man did it on purpose this time. As he stands, Aric's shoulder grazes more than his thigh this time as he turns to face him. He does not shy away from the man as he looks into his eyes. His voice is soft and breathy as he looks at Graeme in the eyes.
"Graeme…" He loses his track of thought as he stares into his eyes. He blinks and shifts his eyes to his lips, "I…I like you and want to get to know you better. Yet…I have been hurt." God he has no idea on what kind of level, "I think you should know this before we…this…well I don't know. As hard as it is not for me to jump your bones right now. I…I can't…" Aric's face begins to turn bright red and grows increasingly hot as he turns away and looks down. He quickly adjusts himself the best way he can without making his growing challenge that obvious as he walks to the last bag. "If you don't want to have dinner I will understand."
Graeme turns bright red, and just sort of stands there for a moment, before walking over, carefully so that he approaches Aric from the side, pausing maybe six inches away from the other man. "You're not getting out of dinner that easily, Aric," he says, voice gentle, quiet, and there's a couple of blinks. "It … I am good with whatever you want this to be." His own cheeks flush, and he leans back against the counter, head turned to look up at Aric.
Aric sighs and says softly looking down at his feet, "Sorry to ruin the mood. I can't tell you everything Graeme. Liz would kill me. Just know that…a man attacked me. He switched my ability with the one I have now. The reason why I think Remi is so interested in me is as sweet as she is…I am the only one who can kind of block her from my thoughts. I was once a telepath. Yes…use to be. Now I am…an electro kinesis I think it is called. I can't tell you the details of what happened unless Liz says it’s ok but…just know what happened because of the results was bad for me. I was…" His body begins to shake slightly as electricity begins to shimmer down his arms as he moves quickly away from Graeme. He is on the other side of the room before he knows it and his eyes are closed as he takes a few deep breaths gaining control of his emotions.
Graeme nods, slowly, understandingly, turning to watch Aric. Oh god. This is what Liz was talking about. His eyes glance at the shimmer of electricity, a bit. After a moment, Graeme moves, leaning on the wall at the edge of the kitchen and the living room. There's no judgment on his face, just sympathy, and then he speaks, quiet. "Aric…" he begins, quietly; not knowing quite what to say, but there's a half-sigh from his chest, nearly inaudible except that his chest heaves slightly. "It … we've all got issues." He pauses, and simply offers a gentle, accepting smile for when Aric opens his eyes again.
As he opens his eyes, he sees the smile and seems ok. He does his best to hide his embarrassment as he says, "I know yet…" He looks down at his hands, "I would love to have some normalize back in my life. If that is even a word." He doesn't make a motion to step any closer to Graeme as he watches him intently, "Thanks for understanding. That means alot to me. Most guys I know would have been like…fuck this…or told me to get out. I am not a bad person…I just have some trust issues. I don't know what will happen but I want to do it right. Does that make sense?"
Once more, Graeme nods. "Normalcy, yeah. I think it's something a lot of us want these days, Aric. So." Graeme reaches up, pushing his hair back. A few droplets of water land on his neck and shoulders. "And it does make sense, and …" he blushes a bit. "Most guys wouldn't have said that, they would have made excuses or some shit. So thank you. It …" The words catch in his throat, and he shrugs a little, shifting his stance to deemphasize anything involuntary. Because yes, honesty like that is a turn-on.
Aric smiles softly as he says, "One of my biggest faults is I tend to be honest when I shouldn't. Listen…I should head back. When you see Remi ask her what day she wants to have dinner and I will talk to Liz?" The apples in his cheeks flush again as he moves slowly towards Graeme and leans over to peck him on the cheek. His lips soft as velvet. "Thanks for understanding. I will talk to you soon?"
There's a flush of heat across Graeme's face, and he reaches up to set a hand on Aric's shoulder, almost wordless, not letting the other man get too far quite yet. "Yeah, I will," he says, words just a hair breathless, before Graeme raises on his feet slightly, and there's a gentle kiss against Aric's jawline before Graeme leans back against the wall. "Thanks for coming by."