OOM: Room #100, for Tommy Gavin

[ikissdhimbck]

[following this and later this:]


It's late.

So late, in fact, it's practically the time she gets herself out of bed in the morning.

Her body is humming with the rhythm of packed earth, drumbeats under thundering hooves. Her face is wind-chapped and cerise. She spent a long time with Beaut, beating every trail in the dark with the stars overhead like millions of laughing eyes, sparkling and winking while she runs. She's chilled and stiff, but her tears have long since stopped and she's almost found her center once more.

She's grateful when she reaches the last step, turning in the direction of her room.

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[ikissdhimbck]

She allows herself one modest, but proud, smile. What Voodoo took away from her tonight — her sense of pride, her confidence, her honor — is gonna take a little while to repair. But knowing Elrond thinks and speaks well of her does her ego good.

She wouldn't take her choices back.

She isn't ashamed of where she's ended up.

However, sometimes, she does wish she still had her good reputation back home.



(Screw 'em.)


"I'm glad t'hear that."

She doesn't bother distinguishing whether she's glad to hear that Elrond likes her a lot or that he made Tommy feel he had to be on his best behavior. He can sweat it out.

She fiddles with the sleeve of his shirt, looking pensive, if not uncomfortable, by this revelation.

"Oh. Jus' me?"

[gavin62truck]

An eyebrow twitches slightly at her remark, as she doesn't elaborate on what exactly she's glad to hear. It doesn't make much of a difference to him, because at least she's smiling again.

But he eyes her, his brow still a bit furrowed.

"Yeah. Just you, honey. Look, I wasn't lying when I told you I hadn't slept with anybody since we met. ...Okay, actually, y'know what, now that I really think about it -- and now that I ain't in the middle of undressing you when you're asking me this, so I can actually think clearly -- I'm pretty sure I was still messing around with Clem, but now I distinctly remember after our, uh, horseback riding lesson-- well, y'know, that was it. I swear."

[ikissdhimbck]

She catches her bottom lip between her teeth.

"I didn't know if, maybe, y'had someone ... "

She shrugs, gesturing vaguely.

Someone back home. Someone he just hadn't seen for a while. His wife.

"It's all right."

She hunts for his one free hand underneath the covers, settling down against the pillows. Her eyes flick back to his.

They're running out of reasons why they ain't 'boyfriend' and 'girlfriend'.

"Jus' tell me when that changes."

Beat.

"An', Tommy  —  don't – don't tell anybody else. 'Bout us."

[gavin62truck]

Despite all the things that drive Tommy and his wife apart, he still clings to that faint sliver of a possibility that they might find a way to get back together. But for now, he has no idea what it would take for that to happen. What sort of miracle he'd have to perform. What sort of reprieve would have to come down from on high to allow him that third, fourth, fifth chance.

"No, nobody," he reassures her.

It's not a lie.

He just needs some cracks of his own to be filled in.

Shifting onto his side to face her, he brings their linked fingers up from between them and kisses the back of her hand, his stubble scratching her skin.

"Alright. I promise. About the not tellin' anybody and also the other thing."

[ikissdhimbck]

The tenderness surprises her, as always, but this time she allows herself to enjoy it. She misses the gentleness, the intimacy, the closeness; she misses feeling more than just wanted, but cherished. She closes her eyes as his stubble starts a low fire in her skin, savoring the tingle.

"Thank you."

She brushes his lips with the backs of her fingers. She traces his chin, his cheek, his jaw. After a sober moment, letting the quiet of early morning wrap them up, her eyes heavy, she scoots toward him.

"You tired?"

[gavin62truck]

It's a nearly forgotten thing, to be affectionate toward someone. To hold hands, to touch, to share a breath. Not foreign, just forgotten. It surprises him that he's still somewhat capable of it.

She moves closer, and the narrowed space between their bodies grows warm.

"Mmmnot really," he murmurs, a faint smile tugging at the corner of his mouth. "Are you?"

[ikissdhimbck]

Her eyes dance over his face. From his mouth to his eyes, a shy dip, a flirtatious flick; the corner of her mouth twitches.

She shrugs.

"Not really."

[gavin62truck]

He shifts even closer so that his head rests on her pillow, their faces just inches apart. His smile tilts.

"Well. We could probably do something to pass the time until we do get tired..."

His voice is a deep rumble that makes the humid air between them vibrate.

And he slowly presses his lips against hers.

[ikissdhimbck]

It's another tentative kiss, tasting him, testing him, watching him through her lashes. She licks him from her lips, shifting just so.

Their legs touch.

Their joined hands rest at her bosom.

She can let herself enjoy this. Caution gives way to softness, confusion to closed eyes; she whispers all her secrets into his mouth with slow, thorough kisses, discarding the uselessness of words. She can stay in this moment, and not think about the future, or the past. She can let him care about her, just for a while.