[O-oh. Well there's that - look Mae, you make a grown man shiver. And suddenly he's pulling her in closer again, one hand in the small of her back. Well, she knows enough secrets already, she might as well know the effect that has on him. And suddenly the question's just a little bit more intense.]
[Oh, my - well. See, a big part of Mae still is that girl who had prefered to be amazing than to be beautiful, and in spite of knowing that she's generally considered cute, being found attractive has become less frequent here (to her knowledge). It might just have gotten her breath stuttering for a moment there, to be pulled in closer.
Might just be the cause of why she murmurs,] I want to.
[It's just that there's a certain type of touching you don't do when a hug's only an i-miss-hugs hug. And Mae's all up in that and... Chase reasonably knows he should be getting out of it. But he makes terrible choices.
So his choice is just to get out of the corridor. His free hand hits a button behind him and the elevator doors open. So he's no longer backed up against a wall, but backing them - both of them - into an enclosed space surrounded by four of them.
It's just to get them out of the corridor while he figures things out. Which is also why he's so intent on her face.]
[Of course you do, there's nothing wrong with some backrubbing action to go with a hug, alright? It's perfectly normal, nothing at all influenced by months and months of palpable tension.
Getting them into a closed space: either a genius move, or a mistake. She takes the ding of the doors closing - and probably taking them up or down to whichever floor the lift's summoned to - as a cue to answer.]
[Up. He's not planning to let this spill out into reception. Meanwhile he tilts his head, watching her the way someone would watch a predatory big cat. Not sure if it's going to go for him - not sure whether or not he wants it to.]
I was stopped. A drink was offered. One every day, and I kept looking and declining and thinking - I could really use one.
[Because of so many reasons, that she doubts he needs her to enumerate; he'll know quite a few of them.] I might've tried one, after noticing no-one drinking them turning into animals or whatever.
[Well he didn't mean to make anyone frown, but he does have some experience with the whole - it takes drugs for her to show an interest thing. It's not that he minds.
Oh, that. [Oh, this, more like; it's not like she's stopped. Maybe she should - should slowly attempt to extricate her arms from around him. Or at least stop touching his back and shoulders like she hasn't done that in ages.
Even if it's true.] I don't need a drink to make me want to hug you.
[Yes, maybe she should stop that. Maybe he should stop leaning into all her touches or his forehead lightly against hers. Maybe he shouldn't rest a hand on the doors closed button and hold the elevator up when it stops at the top floor. Maybe maybe maybe.]
[Oh - maybe. Maybe all those things. Maybe him not doing all those things wouldn't result in her hands stopping only when they reach his sides, or in her moving her head just so that their noses brush together in a mock Esquimo kiss.]
Maybe I just need a boost of courage... [Ridiculous; she's recklessly brave even in her worst moments - except in these cases when she isn't, because of only too much experience in how things can go wrong.]
[Things could go wrong, couldn't they. For instance it's remarkable how close an eskimo kiss is to being another kind - and if he did kiss her maybe he could taste it on her lips but, for now, Chase hasn't drunk the kool-aid.
He pulls her in again - both arms, and the doors open to an empty hallway behind her - close enough that she could unbalance on the balls of her feet, but it won't matter, because he's got her. It's a real, honest to goodness hug, held for long enough to be meaningful.
And then, he lets her go. Gently, in case she does stumble.]
You don't need to be afraid of anything with me. [And that includes his record of bad decisions. Hurting her's a no-go area.]
[Heights? Not a problem, despite how height-challenged she is. But being that close to his mouth, well that was a problem. When the lift stops, and he tugs her in closer, she ends up pressing a kiss close to the edge of his jaw, awkwardly placed. She does it because his breath faned across her lips for a second there, and they were tingling and that was the only way she could think of to stop.
And that's - that's where she stops, because he lets her go, and she takes a step back.]
I - um. [Thoughts; give her a second here.] I climbed up on the roof of a manor once just to get inside it.
[She follows him, not feeling light-headed after a few steps. If she focuses solely on his back as he leads her to...wherever, she won't want to hug every nurse and doctor in gratitude for their saving people's lives thing.
Oh yeah, might've been the drink.] Is that - are you offering?
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Apple?
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I'm not looking to keep the doctor away.
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And sometimes he does too but he's less open about admitting it.]
And here I was hoping you were going to flatter my huggable attributes.
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What is this in aid of?
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Might just be the cause of why she murmurs,] I want to.
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So his choice is just to get out of the corridor. His free hand hits a button behind him and the elevator doors open. So he's no longer backed up against a wall, but backing them - both of them - into an enclosed space surrounded by four of them.
It's just to get them out of the corridor while he figures things out. Which is also why he's so intent on her face.]
You've been to the gardens.
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Getting them into a closed space: either a genius move, or a mistake. She takes the ding of the doors closing - and probably taking them up or down to whichever floor the lift's summoned to - as a cue to answer.]
I have - I walk there every day.
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Did you stop for a drink?
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[Because of so many reasons, that she doubts he needs her to enumerate; he'll know quite a few of them.] I might've tried one, after noticing no-one drinking them turning into animals or whatever.
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You could always come for one with me. As long as I didn't have to put on a skirt, first.
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Though I'm sure you could pull one off.
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[Ha ha, wordplay. He still has his head tipped back to look at her, though he glances up at the scrolling numbers, too.]
So, you got a drink that made you... like me.
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I already like you. You think it was something in my drink?
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Not really.]
Not the liking. Maybe the... [Smelling.] hugging.
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Even if it's true.] I don't need a drink to make me want to hug you.
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Really. Because you don't do it a lot.
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Maybe I just need a boost of courage... [Ridiculous; she's recklessly brave even in her worst moments - except in these cases when she isn't, because of only too much experience in how things can go wrong.]
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He pulls her in again - both arms, and the doors open to an empty hallway behind her - close enough that she could unbalance on the balls of her feet, but it won't matter, because he's got her. It's a real, honest to goodness hug, held for long enough to be meaningful.
And then, he lets her go. Gently, in case she does stumble.]
You don't need to be afraid of anything with me. [And that includes his record of bad decisions. Hurting her's a no-go area.]
...How courageous are you with heights?
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And that's - that's where she stops, because he lets her go, and she takes a step back.]
I - um. [Thoughts; give her a second here.] I climbed up on the roof of a manor once just to get inside it.
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[He could, if it came to it. But for now he just catches her wrist, heading out along the corridor.]
Come on.
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Oh yeah, might've been the drink.] Is that - are you offering?
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Well, not up here. [And stops them outside a small unassuming white door which leads up to a flight of steps.] This one just takes a card.
[Card key. He swipes it, the door opens. And, up the stairs.]
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