➹BEEPER

[intheblanks]

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

[Talking to Thomas' shoulder is easier. Less instinctive impulse to step back.]

She does her own accounts.

[mocktiresias]

So why am I here, Doctor Chase?

[Still speaking to his hairline]

[intheblanks]

[He lifts his head up, finally, nudging Thomas away, though he actively fights the urge to step back altogether. It's important to meet his eyes.]

I didn't say you weren't doing accounting.

[mocktiresias]

[His eyes are a peculiar dark shade of blue]

So what are you saying?

[intheblanks]

[Well.]

Do you want me to be your boyfriend?

[mocktiresias]

[A smile, slightly wider this time, and a kiss that has nothing to do with mistletoe]

[intheblanks]

[It's really not how he pictured asking, lets be honest. And the kiss isn't quite as ... relaxed... as it could be, but give him credit for managing at all, without making checklists of why it's wrong. He catches breath.]

Are you cursed? [And catches breath again.] Two curses?

[mocktiresias]

I'm not cursed.

And no, this isn't how I was born. I was born female, and I have no intention of becoming male.

[He takes a moment, and there's something - it lasts a moment, disturbing, while spiders rise to the skin, and everything rearranges]

[intheblanks]

[That was a smart prediction of his next question, which he asks anyway, while watching her shift without a flicker of anxiety.]

Your other form's female?

[synanthrope]

[She slides the suit coat off]

Yes.

[And the pants and shoes, too, so she's only in a shirt and tie, no underwear. She starts to move to go get clothes from a small closet]

Does this bother you?

[intheblanks]

Hey-

[He catches at the shirt tails and pulls her in again before she can turn away. The shirt's far too big. It's a novelty. A cute one.]

I don't understand what it's for.

[synanthrope]

[She looks at him, eyes a little bright]

I thought that would be obvious.

It's for hunting, Robert.

[intheblanks]

[He doesn't leave go of the ends of her shirt, but glances at the door. It's unlocked since he came through.]

Don't tell me I should have read that one in a natural history book.

[synanthrope]

Isn't that the purpose of most camouflage?

[She looks at the door]

I don't think anyone else is coming in.

[intheblanks]

I thought this was camouflage already.

[Under the shirt, his hands move to her hips.]

[synanthrope]

[She puts her hands on his shoulders, eyes bright]

This is my body, too. People know me like this.

No one really knows Thomas.

I'm not wearing underwear, Robert.

[intheblanks]

[He laughs, softly, curling his fingers against her skin.]

You don't think I'm that unobservant.

[synanthrope]

You're more observant than people realize.

[She pulls him back to sit on the desk]

What gave me away?

[intheblanks]

[Now he doesnt mind pressing in close.]

A few things. You looked like your own relative. I'm not sure you'd leave me alone in your office. And at close enough quarters, you can always smell what the aftershave is covering.

[More than that of course. Little things adding up, the way she moves and the way he did. Their eyes. But the aftershave sold it.]

[synanthrope]

Things I doubt anyone else would notice.

[She pulls him closer, to bracket him in with her legs]

You never thought there might be another spider?

[intheblanks]

Yes. But if there was, it wanted to eat me.

[He holds up one arm to show the cufflinks laced in his sleeve.]

And I'd have been warned.

[synanthrope]

I always like to eat you.

Just, never for dinner.

[intheblanks]

[He holds eye contact a second before dipping his head to laugh.]

Should I run if I see him again?

[synanthrope]

No. Just know that I'm probably hungry, so it would be best not to follow.

[Plausible deniability.]

[intheblanks]

You're hungry now.

[It's phrased as a question, though Chase is unfastening buttons on that oversized shirt.]

Is that the only thing you take him out for?