➹BEEPER

[intheblanks]

"It had better be an emergency."
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[intheblanks]

[Full of mysteries, Satya Wallace. But not the kind to pursue on a birthday. Chase lets his grip tighten slightly, a gentle squeeze, and leans in to kiss her cheek.]

Only around enough of them to fill an ark.

[synanthrope]

[She looks over at him, and presses a kiss to his cheek, in response]

Yes.

[intheblanks]

I can guess who helped start your birthday tradition.

[His fingers idly brush up her leg, just to the calf.]

[synanthrope]

It's not hard, is it?

[intheblanks]

The suit could have thrown me a little.

[synanthrope]

It was the only day I could get him to wear one. You're easier. You like them.

[She tilts her body, so it's angled towards him]

Thank you for coming along.

[intheblanks]

I like the ones you pick.

[He likes that they please her.]

Otherwise it's more keeping up with expectation. [She's easy with odd angles but it will still be more comfortable to stretch her legs out across his lap.] Is there anything else to it? [Her tradition.]

[synanthrope]

[She reaches back into the backseat and takes out a box, and holds it to him. There's a cupcake with white frosting inside.]

[intheblanks]

[And a candle, which he picks carefully from the side of the box and fixes into place. He checks the pockets of this new suit for where he replaced his wallet after changing, digging out a rarely used book of matches from a restaurant in New Jersey he and Cameron had liked. Strikes one.]

Happy Birthday.

[It's too awkward a song to sing solo.]

Make a wish.

[synanthrope]

[She takes a moment, and then blows it out.]

Now you can eat it.

[intheblanks]

[He examines the little cake, taking the candle out to give to her.]

We should have brought something for you.

[Yes, he would have sat in the car with a date drinking a liver smoothie.]

[synanthrope]

[She takes the candle and licks the frosting off the end]

But I'm not hungry.

[intheblanks]

Never makes much difference to humans.

[He swipes a pinky at the edge of the frosting and holds it out to her, then takes a bite.]

[synanthrope]

Spiders only eat when they're hungry.

[She takes his pinky in her mouth, though, tongue pressing on the tip]

[intheblanks]

Have you heard the theory on eating, eye contact and civilisation?

[After he swallows. But one sugary bite is enough for now, he returns the cake to its box on the dash - distractedly - and leans in a little to watch her mouth.]

[synanthrope]

Tell me.

[She looks up at him, licking her lips, getting the last bits of sugar.]

[intheblanks]

The suggestion is that you're civilised if you can make eye contact while you're eating. Humans are meant to be unique in that.

[His mouth is sweet, too. Too sweet to taste the sugar on her tongue when he kisses her.]

They might have to rethink the theory.

[synanthrope]

[She licks the inside of his mouth like candy, her fingers curling into his hair]

Humans think they're unique in everything.

[intheblanks]

[It's a long time before he makes himself draw back from that.]

And yet you seem to be a fan.

[Both hands run down over her legs and, if she'll let him, they'll be hooked over his shoulders in short order.]

Still haven't figured out why.

[synanthrope]

[She does let him, adjusting herself, her skirt riding up. She's wearing garters to hold up her skin-toned tights today, because she can]

A fan of humans? Or a fan of you?

[intheblanks]

[They're very nice, but he'd rather have them undone and rolled down, something he sets to, head bent low. He presses his mouth against the faint line where the stockings have held to her skin.]

Both.

[synanthrope]

There is a simple answer and a complicated one.

I need humans to live. More than spiders need flies. Ananasi are synanthropic.

You, are more complicated.

[She's watching him, her fingers still caught in his blonde hair. Like gold, she thinks, with no trace of poetry at all.]

[intheblanks]

[He doesn't ask, now, but he looks up look enough to find and catch her eyeline. And only long enough for that.

This time he can taste her. A different kind of sweet.]

[synanthrope]

[Her eyes lighten for a second, then she closes them, breathing in the smell of what's happening, her heels settling against his coat. She's careful with them, she doesn't want them to catch, to ruin the fabric.]

[intheblanks]

[It's simpler for him not to take the risk with the fabric of her skirt. Simpler to push her skirt up a little more and push his hands underneath to hold her hips and let his nails graze bared skin instead. She'll know his way by now, both endlessly patient and cruelly intense.]