godslay: (085)

[personal profile] godslay 2017-08-09 12:16 am (UTC)(link)
[ Even in the dim lighting, she can see the vaguest darkening of his skin, and her expressions twists slightly with disapproval. She hates feeling out of control, and she should have been able to keep from hurting him like that – or at all. ]

Does your back?

[ Because she has no way of knowing how roughly she might have treated him. ]
godslay: (091)

[personal profile] godslay 2017-08-09 02:56 am (UTC)(link)
[ That much is at least a relief, though Gamora looks almost confused by Peter's confusion.

Does he... not remember?

She isn't sure if that's gratifying or frustrating, and she just frowns at him for a moment, considering. Maybe it's for the best if he can't remember how ardently that trip to the infirmary had gone. She's— almost embarrassed by how she'd acted, because as much as she'd wanted (wants) him, she'd wanted that conversation to happen.

When they had time.

Though she realizes she did tell him what she wants (all of him, to be precise, not just whatever physical thing they'd been driven to), but—

Maybe that will have to wait for another time. She's not certain how appealing she finds it to remind him again of something happening between them that he can't recall. ]


Should we call for the nurse?

[ Pain medication might not be a poor choice now.

... She, however, is already reaching for the IV in her arm to properly pull it out; she'd partially dislodged the tube when she'd woken, after all, and she highly doubts she still needs it. ]
godslay: (144)

[personal profile] godslay 2017-08-09 03:54 am (UTC)(link)
[ Gamora looks up from where she's fiddling with the cannula in her arm. ]

I've already almost entirely dislodged it. I might as well take it out.

[ And it's annoying. ]

If they still think I need it, for some reason, they would have to insert another one anyway.

[ It's such an incredibly minor wound that her body is already trying to heal around where she's displaced it, so she'd need a different one to make sure it's effective.

But, at this point, she's not convinced she requires it – or further medical attention, for that matter. ]
godslay: (094)

[personal profile] godslay 2017-08-09 06:16 pm (UTC)(link)
Most swords wouldn't be able to penetrate stone.

[ She says it blandly, clearly missing his reference – but that goes for most Terran analogies – as she starts to work the IV properly out. She hisses with slight discomfort when she pulls it free, and carelessly allows the tube to fall from the side of her bed as she rubs her hand along her arm.

She watches him steadily from her own bed, and then: ]


You look like hell.

[ ... Oh. Charming.

Though there's something in her tone that isn't necessarily a criticism; it's almost apologetic, because she can't help but assume that whatever she had, she'd gone and given it to Peter. She recalls that none of the others were displaying symptoms, and Peter couldn't have come into contact with that residue (if that truly was the culprit), so... logically, it could only have come from her.

She did this to him. ]
godslay: (059)

[personal profile] godslay 2017-08-09 07:58 pm (UTC)(link)
[ She purses her lips, that displeasure not quite leaving her expression. ]

I clearly gave this to you, however it is transmitted.

[ She'd been in close quarters with the others and they hadn't gotten it, so... ]

I have no idea if it was contact or saliva or... what else it could be.

[ —but had he already been displaying symptoms before she kissed him? The finer details are fuzzy, the timeline mildly skewed, and she can't place all the events in the right order.

She remembers the kissing quite vividly, though. ]
godslay: (095)

[personal profile] godslay 2017-08-10 12:07 am (UTC)(link)
[ Gamora looks skeptical as she lets him offer up other explanations (because she doesn't like thinking that she might have been the source, but limited evidence doesn't bode well), but she pauses when his brain seems to finally catch up with everything she'd said, and—

Oh. ]


Yes. Saliva.

[ And now she looks... unimpressed. ]

Do you not remember any of that?

[ Though this is more a question of her own lucidity at the time than anything else. ]
godslay: (045)

[personal profile] godslay 2017-08-10 04:43 am (UTC)(link)
[ She frowns at him, her nose wrinkling in that "Really, Peter?" look she's practically perfected. ]

No.

[ She sighs, straightening up and resting her arms on her knees as she looks over at him. ]

I kissed you. A lot.

[ Nearly nonstop, as she recalls. ]
godslay: (062)

what the fuck i never got this notif....

[personal profile] godslay 2017-08-10 08:51 am (UTC)(link)
[ There's a long moment where Gamora just watches him intently, waiting for her words to sink in. At first, she isn't certain he'll remember, despite the reminder (as he hadn't back on Kreilon-Beta, when she'd told him about their misadventures in the bar), but— soon enough, there's that dawning realization. She sees it when it hits him, too, and she's willing to wait it out, let him realize the scope of what they'd done.

(Because it was a lot. There hadn't been any actual sex, but... she's almost entirely certain they would have gone through with it if the fever hadn't been driving their bodies to the point of exhaustion.)

But he also looks thoroughly gobsmacked, which is why she finally ventures, ]


... Are you all right?

[ She's clearly not angry about the revelation, because— well, when she'd told him she wanted him, that had been the wholehearted truth. But she'd wanted to discuss all of this first, to be open about their expectations (considering she had no interest in something purely physical), so this had circumvented all of that in exactly the wrong way. ]
godslay: (234)

[personal profile] godslay 2017-08-11 12:21 am (UTC)(link)
[ That intensity in the way she watches him hasn't diminished much, but she isn't glaring at him or acting openly hostile – or attempting to throttle him – so that could be taken as a good sign. She lets him squeak out his answer, lets him try to process everything, but she offers a small nod at his question. ]

I'm fine.

[ Which, fortunately, sounds more level and calm than dismissive. ]

I am... disappointed.

[ Not by the situation itself or the fact that they'd gotten so physical, but— ]

I wanted to have our discussion before anything like this happened.

[ Before it happened – not to prevent it from happening. That's probably the important distinction here: she wanted them to come to an understanding about what this... even is and what they both wanted to avoid doing nothing more than giving into their hormones and tumbling into bed together. She highly doubts they would have gone through with it before dealing with that big, daunting (metaphorical) Terran elephant in the room, so she'd largely assumed they would get around to discussing this, sooner rather than later.

She doesn't want to pretend like it didn't happen, though, and she certainly doesn't want to brush it all aside to become part of that unspoken thing that they really need to speak about. They can't just let it fester or... more precisely, Gamora doesn't want to let it lie between them. If she wanted to ignore it, to act like it never happened and never would happen, she wouldn't be spending so many nights in Peter's bed; she wouldn't be so physically close to him, and she wouldn't be making so many allowances for the way she treats him.

There's a softness in her demeanor around Peter, in those quiet moments together, a sweetness that comes with him. Waking up next to him and running fingers through his hair, curling up against him to sleep and leaving sweet kisses on his shoulder, pressing their foreheads together and simply smiling – it's all for him, all gestures of emotion that she's never been able to express before, and never truly wanted to before Peter.

Too much time has passed, and that unspoken thing has hung between them for too long, and she's tired of it.

She wants him, but— she also needs to know what he needs. ]
godslay: (118)

[personal profile] godslay 2017-08-11 08:23 am (UTC)(link)
[ Gamora lets him talk.

She's a patient person, after all, and she has no need to interrupt him, especially when this is exactly what they need to say to each other — this clarification, this extrapolation of a long-standing, nearly exhausting run-around they've continued to do with this thing between them. They've danced along the boundaries of it for so long that it's become this humming uncertainty that feels like a live wire, ready to shock them both with just a touch.

But now, here they are, grabbing a hold of that wire and waiting for the electricity and not caring.

At first, she braces herself. She doesn't entirely know what Peter will say; she has her suspicions, her hopes, and though Mantis had gone ahead and said so much for him months ago, that hadn't been... clear enough ("romantic, sexual love" could have meant any number of things with Peter, and she'd needed to hear it from him). But as he continues on, that tension starts to ease, bit by bit, and she lets the words spill out of him. He seems to be growing progressively more uncertain, and she can't blame him with how exposed he's made himself, how open he's being with something potentially catastrophic, something that is so personal and sensitive.

She understands his anxiety, and instead of interpreting his fumbles or the set of his shoulders or the bow of his head as a tell, as a lie, she reads it for what it is: nervous vulnerability.

Honesty.

Sincerity.

Hope?

Gamora remains quiet, parsing through everything he's said. She feels that warm curl in her chest light itself all over again, making her heart flutter as she considers him from her own bed. Of all the things Peter could have said, this is what she most wanted to hear.

Another moment, and then Gamora is pushing the blankets away from her legs. Moving is somewhat difficult, if only because of how stiff her muscles feel after days in that hospital bed, but she manages to get to her feet, to walk the few steps from her own mattress to Peter's. ]


Move over.

[ She nudges him slightly, because she wants a place to sit before she properly addresses everything he's just dropped into her lap. ]
godslay: (142)

[personal profile] godslay 2017-08-11 04:53 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Now is not the time for sarcasm, not with how tightly wound he is and how serious everything he just said happens to be, so she avoids anything droll.

Instead, she reaches out to lightly try to uncurl his fingers from his blankets, to smooth away some of the tension. ]


I think you are right about us.

[ Quiet, tentative, because this is— huge. Dangerous. ]

I value you as my friend. [ Her best friend. ] But I want more.

[ Because she's loved having that contact with him, loved being close to him, and even if so much of that incident in the infirmary had been the fever overtaking her, she'd wanted that (and thought about it far more times than she probably should have). But setting aside the sexual nature of that encounter, she's adored every night spent in his bed, all of the quiet sweetness they've exchanged, the days spent dancing and holding hands, being— something. ]

I have... never felt like this for anyone before. [ She's never had the opportunity, never allowed herself. ] So I'm concerned I may not proceed in the best way, but—

[ She turns her eyes up to meet his, that intensity, that sincerity in her gaze. ]

I want you. In more than physical means.

I'm just uncertain I'll know how that's supposed to look for us.

[ But she wants that intimacy and that connection she's felt with him, and she wants to be with him. She may not have any experience or any real frame of reference (except for her parents, and she remembers how happy they'd been, how much they'd loved each other), but that doesn't mean she doesn't want to try. ]
godslay: (234)

[personal profile] godslay 2017-08-11 07:40 pm (UTC)(link)
[ Oh, but that smile. She's seen it rarely, in sweeter moments with him, and she adores it. The softness of it, the openness, how warm and wholly Peter it is without pretention. He looks happy, in that heartfelt way that makes her chest bloom with warmth.

(She's come to realize that there's little more she wants than to see Peter happy.)

Her fingers lace properly with Peter's, her thumb brushing the back of his hand as her own smile manages to curl at the corners of her lips. A reflection of that sweetness. ]


I would like that.

[ With a quick clarification: ]

All of that.

[ And because she knows how carefully he was walking that line, how tentatively he's tested the waters, she leans closer across the bed and sets a hand next to his hip to brace herself. She considers him quietly for all of a few heartbeats, and then finally, she brushes a kiss against his cheek. It's— almost a way of saying thank you, because she realizes that she wants everything he's laid out for them. To be his friend and just— more.

She doesn't think much has to change, but... they can simply add to it now. ]

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-11 23:28 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-12 06:10 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-13 05:00 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-13 08:25 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-13 08:48 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-13 09:05 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-13 09:59 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-13 10:20 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-14 00:13 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-14 00:57 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-14 04:52 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-14 05:50 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-14 06:50 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-14 19:36 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-15 02:12 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-15 05:40 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-15 07:38 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-15 19:08 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-17 05:44 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-17 08:01 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-18 05:18 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-18 22:31 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-18 23:50 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-19 05:30 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-19 06:17 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-19 06:48 (UTC) - Expand

(no subject)

[personal profile] godslay - 2017-08-19 07:38 (UTC) - Expand