intheblanks | ➹BEEPER

[She peeks in]

I can tell a serial killer lives here.

[And then back at him]

No- no clowns. God, the worst part of that movie was the it turns into a giant spider. Honestly, a spider? Took me right out of the movie.

Um, you look like you haven't quite moved in yet.

[He stops in the doorway, letting her examine the layout from whatever safe distance she likes.]

Some people think spiders and clowns are scary. And then some people are men.

[He'll take a look, too, from her point of view.]

Theoretically, combining two horror cliches should make them twice as scary. In reality the overkill makes it a little absurd. I've been here six months.

I'm not afraid of spiders.

Are you?

[She's looking over the room before she sits on the bed]

[And, with a look to the couch, he follows suit.]

No. Fond of some of them.

[She bounces a little on the bed]

So you're really all right with my staying here?

You don't look like a serial killer, either.

[Which really confirms that thing about not judging books.]

Tomorrow we can work out something else.

[He lies in extremes, flawlessly or terribly. This one comes out awkward.]

[She looks at the bed and then at him]

You can sleep over here, you know. I'll take the couch.

Are you kidding, after I've made the effort wearing it in? [He shakes his head]] The bed's newer.

[And he stands again, obviously reminded of some rusty but ingrained manners.]

Have you eaten? Want a drink?

....I don't mind sharing.

[She means platonically...or not, she can go either way.]

I had dinner.

[He nods, acknowledging if not quite answering her offer.]

What about something to settle your nerves?

[They're still visible. As is a small collection of bottles on the floor by the window. It's not a drunkard's empties, but not exactly a drinks cabinet, either.]

A beer?

Uhh-

[Hold up while he leans over to look.]

Yes. [Two bottles of VB, an opener slung around the neck of one of them. Chase looks at the label as he passes it across.] Must be left over from a nostalgia kick.

[She almost claps her hands]

A VB! I haven't had one in ages.

[And she takes it, opening hers and passing him the opener]

Thank you.

[He opens and takes off the fizz.]

Warm VB. Tastes exactly like seventeen.

[She takes a sip and a pause, and then nods]

Tastes like losing my virginity.

[There's just a moment between spitting and choking before he goes for the latter, swallowing a mouthful around a series of hacks.]

I'm sorry was that too much information?

Unexpected information.

[Let him get a breath, raising his eyes, thoughtful.]

Earl grey tea, two sugars, and ginger snap biscuits.

[She looks kind of playful, now]

Oh, a posh and proper deflowering, was it?

[Well. He clears his throat.]

I think if she'd set out to seduce me it might have been a different spread.

[And a sip]

What would you have wanted at your loss of virginity tea?

Do you have conversations that don't descend into the ridiculous? [It's a trait he's clearly enjoying.] Grey goose and lack of interruption from her husband might have been nice.

Occasionally, but I try to keep the count low.

[She laughs into her beer and takes another drink]

Do you only go for married women?

No. Surprisingly, that first one put me off for a while. [He lingers over a drink.] What do you go for?

[She looks him over for a moment]

Well, Doctor Robert, I would tell you, but I'm afraid you would turn me down.

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