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Post by Princess Katie on Dec 4, 2008 2:17:14 GMT -5
Cherry turned to face him and was shocked at how close Cal was. But it wasn’t too close for comfort. Not at all. In fact, Cherry rather enjoyed the proximity. “I am not gonna to lie. I do enjoy some Parker. And I read T.S. Eliot a lot, but it always makes me real low. But I do it anyways. A glutton for punishment, that’s what I am,” she stated, stepping out of the study.
“So, what’s in the other non-bedroom bedroom?” Cherry asked, linking her arm with Cal’s.
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Post by Jules on Dec 4, 2008 2:22:34 GMT -5
"Just storage. I've lived long enough that my attic is so overflowing, my junk needs a whole other room." But he opened the door anyways to show her, just to prove it. It was mostly old furniture covered in sheets and boxes and paintings he didn't have room for and various broken things he'd wanted, for centuries, to get fixed.
"Nothing too exciting." He closed the door again and pointed to the last door at the end of the hall. "That's my bedroom, but you don't want to see that." Instead he wheeled her around and showed her the smallish bathroom. Smallish in the fact that the bath was a normal size and there was hardly standing room for more than three people.
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Post by Princess Katie on Dec 4, 2008 20:59:45 GMT -5
“Wait, wait, wait!” she said, planting her feet in an attempt to stop herself from being wheeled around. Unfortunately, for Cherry, planting her feet provided just about as much resistance as a fly planting its feet. “Who says I don’t want to see yer bedroom? What, is it dirty?” She asked with a grin, nudging Cal’s side with her elbow.
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Post by Jules on Dec 4, 2008 21:31:39 GMT -5
Cal grinned down at her and shook his head. But there was something about the idea of Cherry in his bedroom that made him wary. He might not let her back out. But if the lady asked, the lady received. Who was he to deny her? Leading her back to the end of the hallway, Calcifer opened his bedroom door and led her inside. It was simpler than the other rooms, infinitely more private, and one got the sense he didn't let many people in.
Which was true. He never brought his widows home. It would kind of ruin the service he provided. "Ta-da." And he'd been right. Cherry in his room was an oddly alluring sight.
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Post by Princess Katie on Dec 4, 2008 22:08:53 GMT -5
Once she stepped into the room, Cherry felt as if she had just intruded upon something infinitely private. “Your home is lovely, Cal,” she commented, seating herself experimentally on the edge of his bed. “It matches ya, it really does. I cannot explain why, but it really bugs me when people do not match their houses. It makes me just wanna sock ‘em in the nose.”
She turned her gaze from the beadspread to Calcifer, and she was fairly certain she knew that look. She wasn’t feeling so sexy thanks to her astounding lack of makeup and her extensive collection of scratches, but apparently Cal begged to differ. The best thing to do, she decided, was to remove herself from the bedroom atmosphere. Cherry stood and smoothed down the comforter where she had just been sitting and stepped out into the hallway. “So, what’s cookin’, good lookin’?”
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Post by Jules on Dec 4, 2008 22:48:20 GMT -5
Part of him was grateful when she left and stopped him from attempting to make another mistake. Another part of him was growling in frustration. The conflict kept him silent and he just offered her a quick nod as he led her back down the stairs.
"Cooking? Oh right. Uhhh." Bless it! He forgot. He led them into the kitchen so he could peek into the pot simmering on the stove. "Oh right, stir-fry."
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Post by Princess Katie on Dec 5, 2008 0:54:02 GMT -5
“Do ya mind if I light up? I’ll step out if ya’d rather.” Honestly, the obvious mutual attraction and the apparently unspoken agreement to not follow through were starting to stress Cherry out. And since she couldn’t drink…
She flicked her lighter on and off as she waited for his response. His kitchen was sadly, more professional than the Straight and Narrow’s, “Ya cook a lot, then? I would’ve never pegged ya as the type.”
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Post by Jules on Dec 5, 2008 0:56:32 GMT -5
"No that's fine, you can stay here." But he did flick on the stove-fan. He pulled down a frying pan, set it on a burner, added the oil and chopped vegetables and turned the knob before turning around to face her again.
"I love cooking, actually." He said, maybe a bit sheepishly. "I guess the only books I do really read are cookbooks."
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Post by Princess Katie on Dec 9, 2008 0:18:36 GMT -5
“Thanks,” she murmured, lighting up as she watched him do all those very alien ‘cookin’ things’ with curiosity and a hint of amusement. “I really would not have guessed, Cal. But let me tell ya, it’s pretty charmin’. Where’d you pick it up?”
Letting her cigarette dangle from her lips, she pushed herself up onto the counter, her feet dangling a good foot from the floor. “At least I have some kinda idea on what ta get ya for Christmas now.”
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Post by Jules on Dec 9, 2008 0:32:56 GMT -5
Dinner was ready pretty quickly, and he scooped it out onto two plates before setting them on the kitchen island, the other side being lined with barstools. "Come, sit, eat. Would you like a glass of water?" Carefully avoiding the phrase "anything to drink?" for obvious reasons.
"And I don't really know. Born with it, I guess." Playing with fire in all sorts of ways just seemed second nature to Calcifer.
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Post by Princess Katie on Dec 10, 2008 1:03:24 GMT -5
“Bring yourself a water in a wineglass; a Pinot Gris would be perfect with this. And yeah, I’ll have a water,” Cherry tried, rather hard, not to express her disappointment. A Pinot Gris would be perfect with stir fry.
She took a bite and ‘mmm’ed aloud. “Cal, this is delicious. I’m shocked. No offense.”
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Post by Jules on Dec 10, 2008 1:10:52 GMT -5
"I'm grievously insulted, actually." He said and brought them both water, ignoring her mention of wine. He was glad his liquor cabinet was locked. "You'll have to make it up to me." He said, borderline flirty. He even gave her one of those heart-melting grins he had perfected in the mirror.
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Post by Princess Katie on Dec 11, 2008 0:46:43 GMT -5
Oh, and her heart did melt. If it wasn’t melted already. She wasn’t quite sure.
“Oh?” She volleyed back, doubling the flirtation-level. “And what exactly did you have in mind?” Of course Cherry knew all sorts of ways she could ‘make it up to’ Cal. She just felt it was cuter to pretend she didn’t.
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Post by Jules on Dec 11, 2008 1:00:57 GMT -5
"A date. A real date. A not-as-friends date." He said bluntly. "I know you have a boyfriend Cherry, but he'll be in there a long time and don't you think it's time you move on? He hasn't exactly done you well." Cal didn't mind flirting, but sometimes it was easier to just to spit out what you wanted.
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Post by Princess Katie on Dec 12, 2008 1:50:40 GMT -5
Well, okay. She hadn’t been expecting that. Cherry set her fork loudly down on the side of her plate and frowned at her hands and said “I can’t just break it off, Cal. Brolls is my man. We’ve been goin’ steady since before the Dust Bowl. And…he’s done me just fine, thanks. Okay, we didn’t have no back-up plan in case he had ta leave for more than a century, but how was he supposed to anticipate that?”
An angry silence settled about Cherry as she shakily fumbled with her lighter, relighting the cigarette she put on hold for dinner. “He promised he was gonna make an honest woman outta me whenever he gets out,” she muttered, not even sounding sure of herself.
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