ikissdhimbck | OOM: Room #100 -- for Tommy Gavin

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OOM: Room #100 -- for Tommy Gavin

Tonight isn't any different than most other nights. Tommy stops in late, long after Kate returns from her nightly chores, washes up, and changes into something clean and comfortable. He brings along dinner, and the two sup together in comfortable silence.

It's been a tiring period for them both. Sometimes a quiet dinner is just what they need.

They're only just finishing up. Soon, she'll tenderly peel him out of his clothes and put him to bed with her, watching over him until he's relaxed enough to fall asleep.

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There are moments when she lets herself let go, though they're few and far between. When she catches him looking at her like that, it makes her think for one fleeting moment that this really is something special. That she's special to him. And a kiss like that can be more alluring than a hundred passionate ones.

She smiles softly as he combs through her hair, chin tipping down ever so slightly in that shy way she can't shake.

"Now that I know how much y'like it, I could always keep a carafe of tea handy."

Back to teasing, spark in her eye and smirk tugging at her mouth. She kisses the tip of his nose, and keeps her finger in the book to mark their place.

"I don't mind, y'know. If it helps get your mind off things."

As much as her shyness endears her to him, he enjoys her teasing smirks just as much.

"It helps, I guess. I just seem to end up paying more attention to the reader than what's bein' read. But then again, that helps, too."

He grins, giving her a squeeze.

"You're like my very own kind of therapy."

A laugh bubbles up from within her.

"Ain't sure how I feel 'bout that."

'Therapy', as she's come to know it, is far less soothing. It's work, and effort. However, she likes knowing she helps put him at ease, so she tips her forehead against his jaw, nuzzling up under his chin.

Her voice, and her laugh, and her little snickers and giggles. They just get under his skin and make him want to take her home with him.

"Well, whatever therapeutic stuff you got goin' on, it's working," he chuckles.

At her kittenish nuzzle, he tilts his head back against the cushions and presses her head to his shoulder, his fingers curling through her hair.

"How 'bout you? You still doin' that actual-- therapy thing? With that doctor-- Guppy, right?"

She's mentioned him in passing before, and he's seen and heard his name around the bar. The guy seems to be a reputable, trusted type.

"Mm? No, Guppy's a medical doc."

She settles in against his shoulder, a soft hum escaping when he starts running his fingers through her hair. She closes her eyes, concentrating on the steady rhythm of his heartbeat.

"He recommended me t'a Dr. Lecter. Well, I met Dr. Lecter first, but the two consulted an' decided I should talk t'him. He's a nice man."

To be fair, Kate would call just about anyone a 'nice man' to be polite. Dr. Lecter puts her through her paces, but he seems to have her best interests at heart.

"Oh."

Though a slight furrow forms between his brows, it passes, but his concerns remain. He'd only thought she was talking to someone she already knew well.

"You trust him?"

"I trust Guppy."

Tommy knows her trust is hard won. There are folk she's known for years that she don't trust, not because of any fault on their part.

"I dunno if it's doin' any good, but I do know it's what Guppy wants me t'do. So I'm tryin'."

The furrow comes back, and he purses his lips, turning his head slightly to bury his nose in her hair. He has a protective streak a mile wide, and given that he hates psychiatrists to begin with, he's wary of what this shrink might be putting her through.

"You don't think it's helping?"

There's a long pause before she moves; either she's just getting more comfortable, or she's trying to shrug. Either way, she's not picking her head up from his shoulder.

"M'not sure. S'only been a couple'a weeks, an' the biggest thing I notice is feelin' more tired than normal. Talkin' 'bout things don't come easy."

The tips of her fingers start drawing lazy designs in his t-shirt. She suddenly longs for the feel of his bare skin.

"I don't like bein' vulnerable."

He has no intention of loosening his embrace, his palm now laid flat against her hair.

"I know you don't."

He doesn't like feeling vulnerable either. But at least when he and Kate talk, they're there to catch each other, patch up all the open wounds, and take refuge in one another's arms.

"You ever get too tired, you can come to me and we don't hafta talk about a damn thing."

A smirk tugs at the corner of her mouth.

"Come t'you where?"

"Well, I mean--"

He picks his head up.

"Y'know what I mean. ...Right?"

She lifts her chin, her smile growing.

"Mm, I know."

She sweeps a look over his face. She does this frequently, not looking for anything in particular, but rather cataloging all his creases and freckles, as if she plans to draw his likeness or is afraid this will be the last time she'll see him. She combs his hair behind his ear.

"That's why you're the only man I'm seein'."

He notices the way her eyes move, either studying his features or searching for something hidden among them. It's not the first time she's looked at him like that, but sometimes he wonders why she does it. Maybe she just likes his face. It could happen.

And while her smile is always a reassurance, what she says actually makes him feel...good. That she still wants him around. That she prefers to have him around.

He kisses her, first a peck at the corner of her mouth, then a lingering one full on the lips.

"Except for that doctor, 'cause technically you're seein' him, too."

Smirk.

She's a little thrown off by the sweetness of his kiss, missing the joke entirely and assuming he misunderstood her. Her brow furrows in confusion.

"Well, I s'pose it's similar. Y'both make me feel vulnerable, an' y'both require a big leap'a faith, but — y'know I took the biggest chance on you that I've ever taken."

It's half question, half statement. After all the fighting they did to get back together, he should know. Seeing Dr. Lecter is a piece of cake compared to seeing Tommy. This may be just another tryst to him, but it's so very different for her.

"An' I'm not — I'm not intimate with Dr. Lecter, Tommy."

Tommy blinks, gaping a little. Something seems to have been lost in translation.

"No, honey, I meant-- I didn't mean--"

Exhaling a breath, he presses his forehead to hers for a moment, then pulls back again to look at her.

"I was joking. Like, you're seein' a doctor-- like how people go see a doctor, like they do. And then you're seein' me, we're seein' each other, 'cause we're in this relationship. It's two different kinds of 'seeing.' You see what I-- it was a-- sorry, it wasn't the best-- sorry."

A pause.

"And I never meant to say you were involved with that doctor, I was just goin' with the whole-- 'seeing' thing."

She keeps her eyes open even when he leans his forehead against hers, honestly a little confused.

"Oh."

She beetles her brow. No, it's certain to her now that he did misunderstand what she was saying, if that's what he meant. It's not all that vital she correct him, though. Whatever he thought obviously didn't upset him, and at this point what's one more secret between them?

"I was jus' makin' sure."

She pinches his chin, lips quirking a soft smile.

"Y'want me t'keep readin'?"

At her response, he's not sure if they'd both got their lines crossed or what, but he can't find a point to start picking it apart. Does it really matter anyway? When she pinches his chin, like a schoolteacher favoring a student, he figures it doesn't.

He offers a small smile, but shakes his head, taking her hand and smoothing her fingers flat on the book.

"Nah, I'm-- I'm alright."

It's obvious he wants to say something else, but he hesitates for a second or two.

"You just said that I-- I make you feel vulnerable? Is that a-- bad thing?"

She sobers, searching his eyes. The hesitation is reciprocated.

"Ah, not — necessarily. S'jus' ... par for the course. Bein' what we are to each other. An' your mind constantly changin'."

He frowns a little in a questioning look.

"My mind-- changing? I don't-- do I change my mind all that much?"

Her eyebrows arch.

"Constantly. Sometimes y'change it back half a dozen times dependin' on your mood."

It's tough keeping up with him.

He blinks. By his expression, this is news to him.

But he thinks back to some of his recent...moods, and tries to recall if he'd changed his mind back and forth on anything in particular. And he purses his lips, grimacing a little, bobbing his head from side to side.

"I guess..."

When he's angry or annoyed, he supposes he could turn fickle and indecisive and make hasty choices, only to go back on them later. It's all part of his habit of saying one thing and doing another. Kate isn't the first one to bear the brunt.

He looks a lot more rueful now.

"Okay, yeah. ...'M sorry?"

She watches him steadily. Her expression betrays nothing, but for how long she's just looking at him it's clear there's something she's not saying.

She looks askance, shaking her head a little.

"I wasn't diggin' for an apology. Ain't no skin off my nose."

"No, I-- I mean, I-- I just thought I'd say so."

He rubs the back of her hand on the book, his thumb sweeping over her wrist.

"And I'm glad it's no skin off your nose, 'cause I like your nose and it's really, really cute and it'd be a shame if anything happened to it, 'specially skin peeling off of it, although that could happen if you get sunburned, I guess..."

She smiles crookedly, giving him a sidelong look.

"Why are you actin' so nervous?"

Laughter's hidden in her tone. She's still curious about how they ended up here, with him all rambles and raves, like he's just come into class without his homework assignment and hasn't yet settled on a good excuse.

She closes her hand around his.

"Tommy. I knew what I was gettin' into with you. I don't expect a thing from you. So jus' settle down, all right? 'Course I'm vulnerable with you; I threw away my whole future t'be with you. Any future I might've had, anyway. You knew that, didn't you?"

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