tampered | Log; Ongoing

When; Sunday evening
Rating; PG
Characters; Anita Blake (

browning_baby), Cloud Strife (

cloudsinstrife), Gren Eckener (

notapreacher), Lestat de Lioncourt (

vampbratprince).
Summary; If two's company and three's a crowd, what does that make four?
Log;

To say that this is one of the weirdest situations he's ever been in would be an understatement, and he's been in some really odd situations in his twenty-nine years. Some have been of his making and others have been forced on him. This one's not entirely his by choice but more driven by helpless desire. If he wants what Lestat's offered him so freely, this is part of the deal. He'd no sooner ask Lestat to give anything up for him than he would expect anone to ask that of him.

It's just uncomfortable, that's all. He's fine at casual but he's not necessarily fine with sharing this way... except circumstance demands it. Mostly, he tries not to think about it too hard because that raises all sorts of questions he'd rather not ask. But it's too late for second thoughts: he's already addicted to the relationship, to what he can get of it, and he can't just walk away from it. Not now.

And those are the thoughts on his mind as he takes a deep, deep breath he doesn't need and knocks at the door leading to Anita and Cloud's apartment. He's not sure he should be here; he's not sure he's wanted here; he's not sure the invitation wasn't just some bit of offhand politeness. Nonetheless he's armed with a bottle of extremely good port and a steely resolve to not fuck anything up if he can help it. But if he still prayed, he'd pray for this evening to go smoothly. If it does, it will mean the world to him. And maybe to the others too.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Anita had stepped out for one reason or another and Cloud was in his room. From what he'd heard, a shower had taken place. Thus, Cloud would now be spending his time getting dressed or something of that nature. But, that also left only him to open the door.

Rising to his feet with his typical feline grace, he sets his book aside. A paperback of one of Shakespeare's plays. Hamlet this time.

There is only one person it could be. That he is aware of anyways. So, when he opens the door, his charming smile is already on his lips.

"Good evening, Gren. Come in. Cloud and Anita will probably be joining us shortly."

Oh: he wasn't expecting Lestat to be here: why not? He's so glad to see him: memories of last night are still fresh enough to almost make him blush if he did that kind of thing. This is neither his territory nor Lestat's -- not on this side of the door -- and because of that he behaves.

He's an intruder here.

"Hi." The smile's all in his eyes right now, and if Lestat's peeking in on his thoughts he'll find such a jumbled mix of trepidation and pleasure, of belonging and being an outsider. Questions about whether or not this is all a giant mistake go hand-in-hand with the way he's so drawn to this man that he can't let it go.

Well. It wouldn't be the first miscalculation his heart's ever made.

He waits until Gren is inside before closing the door and indicating the kitchen. "Apparently, Anita picked up dinner before she stepped out."

That much had been obvious. It smelled good too. Food always had that delightful intoxicating scent to it. Yes, he could no longer eat it but that didn't stop him from enjoying the scents of it in the air. A sort of lingering appreciation for the things humans could create.

His eyes slid down to the bottle. Then they returned to Gren's face. "Make yourself comfortable. Cloud should be the first one we see."

No speaking too soon, Lestat. Anita pops in a few minutes later, a little mussed from head to toe. When she realizes Gren's already there, she gives both him and Lestat a sheepish grin.

"Yeah... hey? Sorry I wasn't here. Police stuff... Been waiting long?"

He lied when he said that he should like the guy. Cloud ruffled his spikes and tried getting his thoughts into order. This Gren was supposedly a nice guy, and he was attracted to Lestat, and he wanted to meet for dinner. There was nothing wrong with that. But. He didn't like the idea.

There was a knock on the door and voices. Cloud tilted his head to the side and listened for a moment, picking out the differences in voices. It sounded like everyone was out there and he couldn't delay any longer, even if he wanted to be gone elsewhere tonight. He sighed and opened the door, and headed for the living room.

"Sorry," he said, looking at Gren and then at Lestat before looking back at Gren. "For the delay."

"Hi. You must be Cloud." Standing he extends his hand and tries not to stare: Cloud is almost painfully beautiful.

And Lestat calls him an angel. Well.

Yeah.

He has no idea what else to say, so he doesn't say anything. And he doesn't look at Lestat, and he doesn't look at Anita. On what planet did he think coming over here was a good idea?

It's easier to keep things conceptual when you're not face to face with them but this is almost insane. He'd give a lot not to be here right now. In fact, he'd give a lot to be back on Callisto. There are some things he'd like to go back and do differently.

Tonight is going to be...very interesting. He can already feel tension in the air. It's something he's used to. But, for now, the act begins. A little dance for the evening.

He smiles first at Anita then at Cloud. Then his fingers curl around the bottle Gren is holding to take it so he can better look at it. Such fine quality port. He can tell just from the label.

As he studies the bottle, he speaks to Anita.

"What is there for dinner? It smells very good. Despite being unable to consume it, I've been enjoying the way the fragrance brushes my nose."

Interesting might not cover it.

Anita looks from Cloud to Gren, then catches Lestat's smile. She answers back with one of her own, but it's weak after feeling the same tension.

".. I picked up some lasagne from Jack's place. Even made a salad before I got called out. Lemme go get everything set up."

Any exucse to duck out of there for a few minutes. She could go straighten herself up in a little while, after things hopefully calm down.

Edited 2008-10-06 03:57 (UTC)

Cloud accepted his hand with a tilt to his head, showing no sign of feeling smaller next to Gren’s height. He’d beaten men taller than the sax player, and he was good in his chosen field of combat. The SOLDIER arrogance was an old friend and Cloud felt the need for it.

But it wouldn’t do to be completely rude or break every bone in Gren’s hand. Cloud let go after a moment and waved at the furniture.

"Have a chair."

What he'd like to do is leave. It should be comforting to have Lestat here, but he doesn't have any precedent for this sort of thing; he has no idea what to do. It's pretty obvious that this is a bad idea, and while he doesn't want to insult Anita, the tension's palpable.

The whole situation has him on edge and he knows he's not the only one. And they're all adults here, and no matter how weird it is, he can remember that.

"Anita. Cloud." He turns to Lestat, nods. "And Lestat. I'm not so sure this is a good idea after all. I think it would be better if..."

Looking down, he shakes his head. "I should probably just go."

One of them has to do something to make this stop. It might as well be him.

One second his eyes are studying the bottle and then the next they're focused on Gren. It was faster than the average I could follow and the next thing seen is the bottle on the table with him leaning against it with arms crossed. He has no problem making it known that he doesn't approve of this idea.

And that is just in body language.

Then a slow smile spreads across his face. Somehow it manages to be directed at both Anita and Cloud without ever having his gaze leave Gren's face. The man's eyes may be directed downwards but that doesn't make a difference.

When he speaks, his voice is pleasant, displeased, and neutral all at once.

"Leave?"

Anita rubs at her head with a soft sigh. Honestly, she didn't think things would go quite like this, or at least she prayed it wouldn't. Privately, part of her feels a stab on jealousy that Lestat's so keen on making sure Gren stays and not too long ago, he'd told her to leave, but she shoves that thought down and just shakes her head.

"Look. I know this isn't the ideal set of circumstances, but we need to be able to handle knowing about each other. Dinner is a nice, polite, no commitment deal that we can all sit through and play nice. We're all adults here, right?"

Log; Ongoing

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject