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 Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 11:25 pm
His smile softened at her own, the invitation making his stomach feel a little off but in a good way. Obliging, the man drew his fingers fondly along the outer strands of the shorter hair before lacing them through the locks. Indigo eyes lightened considerably, remarking with quiet earnesty, "Very nice. It's so..."
Beautiful, he wanted to say, but he'd said it once and he didn't want to push it, not if she thought her emotions could sway him. "...soft. It looks great," he compromised. Brad felt more at ease as she seemed to relax, warming at the idea that she might find peace with him.
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Posted: Sat Sep 20, 2008 11:37 pm
Hae-min was pleased. "Thank you, Brad. I am very vain, so I take good care of it," she told him, trying to be serious but failing. What could she say, except that? Admittance came easily to her lips; she was lust, not vanity, so being proud of her appearance was hardly going to affect anything, she thought. Besides... it felt good, having someone else that close. She hadn't let anyone touch her hair in years- except Maki, but that hardly counted. "I'm glad I came," she said softly.
With a quiet sigh, she hugged him closer. Of course, she'd seen what happiness could do- when she had learned it hadn't really been Tae-yul who'd hit her, her heart had soared and she'd seen the affects of a happy lust. But... it couldn't hurt, she decided. It was Brad, after all.
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Posted: Sun Sep 21, 2008 11:17 pm
"I'm glad you came too," he replied quietly, fingers lingering more than was considered a polite amount of time within the woman's fine hair, removing his hand only after she pressed more closely in the hug. Brad was all too happy to return it, his embrace twining around her back affectionately, lowering his head to rest his cheek very lightly upon her head. He had just shaved that morning, so he could try to pull off the gesture; if he'd been stubbly, he would have mussed her hair, and that was simply unthinkable when just hugging. Such things were fine in other activities, but--
His jaw clenched. The heat he'd felt seemed to be spreading, warming his abdomen in a familiar and not entirely welcome manner. Lust. Brad clicked his jaw in an old bad habit, giving her a sweet squeeze before loosening the arms around her so she might move away if she wanted to. He hadn't suffered the grip of desire in a long time, and in that moment, he was yet able to keep it at bay with distracting thoughts of work and family, the latter quite possibly the most unarousing thing on the planet.
Except when your sorella was Hae-min.
That made him chuckle to himself, feeling a little uneasy. Was this the power of a demon? It didn't matter, as he'd never turn away from his dear friend, but that she could manipulate reaction and feeling by her own emotions was fearsome. He had asked her to be herself, and be damned if he'd change that now. Brad smiled to himself, wanting to be the pillar of strength she'd come for him to be.
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 4:03 am
She sighed again, this time because she was pleased to be where she was. Then she felt him tense for a moment, realized just how close she was, and when the opportunity appeared, she slid back a step. Though she was still closer than she would have normally been, it meant she could keep a better watch out for the, well... Affects of what she was. Perhaps a change of subject would be appropriate, she decided.
"What are you working on now?" With one of her best smiles, she tilted her head and asked, "May I see it?" Hae-min felt horrible for not letting go of Brad, but... she didn't want to.
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 10:43 am
His smile quieted into a ghost of the expression as she pulled back, still gentle and more himself. He watched her, perhaps watching for the very things she was mindful of in him, his indigo gaze shifting towards the open laptop and easel. "Finishing that project from before, it's just an additional arch to a new restaurant." Brad felt a little more in control when it came to his work, and if anyone knew the man, they'd know he was a control freak. Things that slipped out of his ability to designate often ended badly, unless the control was in the hands of someone he trusted...which was easily rare, but not impossible, living proof at his side.
One arm still lightly twined around Hae-min, he applied a delicate pressure to indicate she was welcome to look and review, using his other hand in a sweeping motion to exaggerate the offer. The black laquer desk was high to suit his height, but also so he didn't have to hunch over; a bar stool was his seat, so that he might stand with ease and move between the two mediums he favored. Rulers, straight edges, compasses, pencils, pens, sharpies...every type of measuring device and writing tool available to man seemed to be arranged around the laptop, a few blueprint tubes on the corner of the desk to add to the ensemble. The backlist easel was clean and without clutter save for the finished lined blueprint that he was copying onto his laptop. A few sticky notes lined the borders, with corrected measurements or personal notes to take into consideration. There was an overhead light, but between the laptop and the easel, the workspace was softly aglow.
"It was a mess," he continued on, looking over his drawn print. "Whoever designed the building before had obviously only had skill with Lego blocks. To build the arch, I had to fortify the building at the same time, so it was in their best interest." Pride in his work was clear in his voice, but he was still distracted. The warmth was still there, and for the life of him he could not let her go. For some reason, he felt...almost afraid. Afraid that if he did release her, he'd lose her for good. While Brad was grateful for the change of subject, his mind could not stray from the real issue at hand, and what he could possibly do about it.
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 11:34 am
She splayed her fingers on the edge of the desk and straightened a little to get a better look at the laptop's screen. As usual, it didn't look anything like what she had pictured (which involved much more of a traditional Eastern influence than he liked to use) when it was explained. It looked better. Brad was very, very good at what he did. "It has a lovely appearance!" No word was emphasized on purpose, since she knew she didn't quite have a perfect grasp of English. Even after almost a decade speaking it exclusively, even! Hae-min looked over at the easel, too, smiling again.
"Ah, I only have skill with Legos too," she told him teasingly. Then, more seriously, she considered the model again. Even without knowing the original look of the building, Hae-min thought she could see where basic supports had been added. She made a light tch noise, intended for the building's original architect. If only the idiot who'd built it had known Brad, it would have been a lot better to start with! "I think you made it much better." She straightened and kissed him on the cheek.
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 1:23 pm
The man swelled with pride, if even just a little; it couldn't be helped, being spoken so highly of by someone whose word actually had value to him. His lips curled into an equally teasing smile, lifting a dark brow, "If it was your doing, Hae-min, I will be disappointed you didn't ask me for help first." Flattered again, he lowered his head slightly, not quite humbled when his ego was being fed but enough so to look the part.
Her joy was infectious, making him feel heady with satisfaction. He instinctively turned to kiss her cheek in turn, actually having to wait for a moment to ensure he didn't ensnare her lips instead. That he had to think to wait at all told him that he was not out of the clear yet, that her attraction and new influence was still working its tempting fingers through him. Brad swallowed a little more audibly than normal, keeping his focus on the work being discussed.
Or he tried. It was becoming easier to simply look over her and enjoy her presence, to dote on how stunning she looked in the black outfit and her silky hair. "It'd look better with your touch to it. I can only build the walls, but to make it inviting and aesthetically pleasing...that's all your skill."
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Posted: Mon Sep 22, 2008 2:24 pm
"Of course I wouldn't have," she told him with a cheerful smile. "If they had been stupid enough to choose me over you, then they'd probably expect something collapsible..." Then she looked over the materials spread about the desk, just for something to do with her hands. She didn't actually touch until she couldn't read the brand name. Hae-min used exactly two tools that weren't a brush or ink wash, and that was a hard graphite pencil and a ballpoint pen. And the ballpoint pen was only during meetings, where other people watched her. (It was so much easier to tell where lines had to go with a brush; and her work had to be more organic, anyway.)
She looked away, good mood lessening a little at thoughts of what her work was to be now. "I'll miss working with you," she mumbled, considering the restaurant. Her sincerest hope was that the people she'd left to work on her projects heeded her notes- on this one, at least- and wouldn't be a pain in the others' asses. "Who'll keep you from making everything with straight lines," she teased weakly, running her fingertips over a ruler.
Okay. New subject change. There would be something... "Oh!" She reached into her pocket, pulling out a flimsy-looking cell phone. "I got a new number. Do you want it?" Hae-min didn't ask because she thought he might refuse. She just didn't know where she should put it. There was just the one number for Brad, wasn't there? She only had a cell herself, just because it didn't make any sense to pay two phone bills. Land lines were so unwieldy anyway.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 6:46 pm
Some of the heat passed, the tightness in his chest and stomach easing a little. Brad looked over Hae-min with fond consideration at her words, chuckling in an attempt to keep her pacified. "Who says you can't work with me anymore? Even if it's just to stop by and draw a crooked line for me, it's help I'll gladly accept." Raising his hand, he gently touched her nose, smiling a little more warmly. "No one. Only you can do that."
Curiosity touched his features as she suddenly dipped into her pocket, eyes averting quickly so as not to watch where she reached for, his cheeks warm just at the thought of it. Blinking at the question, he returned his gaze to her, nodding dumbly, staring for a moment longer before finally extracting himself long enough to pull his own cell phone off his hip. Barely managing to keep his jeans up, he flipped his phone open, giving another off nod. "I'd love it. Do you need mine again?" Brad opened her contact file in preperation to edit it, giving her another faint smile while waiting her answer either way.
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Posted: Wed Sep 24, 2008 7:01 pm
With a light-hearted giggle, she said, "I feel special." And she really did. Hae-min wrinkled her nose at him as a manner of protestation. Really! (She had to resist the temptation to reach up and pinch his cheek in retaliation.)
She shook her head at his question and smiled, trying to pass off her blush as just the expression. Her attempt not to follow his hand with her eyes had not been as successful as Brad's. "No, they transferred my contacts over," she told him, holding up the phone so he could see the screen with his name highlighted in aqua. The appropriate number was right below it. "The phone store was very nice to me." Painstakingly slow- Hae-min had never been much for text messages and never would be- she navigated to the page with her new number and read it off for him.
While he was distracted, she turned on the camera function and snapped a picture of him. "Got you," she crowed cheerfully, setting it to his contact file.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 10:57 am
His throat felt a little tight as he watched her manuever the cell phone. She had never been adept at the thing, and that she still struggled with it in that moment made his heart ache; she was still the woman he knew, but it was undeniable that things had changed. As she read off the number, he entered it expertly, his focus on the phone when he heard a tell-tale click of a camera phone, prompting Brad to look up with surprise. "Cheater," his lips tugged into a smile, "I would have posed."
He was lying, of course. The man never smiled in pictures, so it was apt that she snapped him in his concentrating and frowny demeanor. His gaze slid back to his phone and the picture attached to her file - one he had snapped some time ago, of a happy young Hae-min working amongst her flowers - and decided he also had to change it. There was something sad about it, but he wouldn't rid of the picture; that was his, but he wouldn't pretend that the woman before him now was not the same as the one he'd known all along.
Without warning, he took a similar candid picture. "Updated," he informed her smugly, both of the picture and the number. Her cheer was contagious, probably more so than usual.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 11:49 am
"You would not have," she said. "Liar." Hae-min smiled to take the sting out of the words and then looked back down at her cell phone. It was so tiny, she knew she'd lose it soon- "Hey!" She stepped closer and stood on her toes to see the new picture. For a moment, she stared at it as if she didn't recognize the woman in the file. Then realization dawned and she laughed at her own stupidity. Of course it was her! (She wondered, for a moment, what the prior picture had looked like- then she decided she didn't want to know.) "I guess that one's okay."
She tucked her hands behind her back, folding one up inside the other. "You did that because I did," she accused, making an effort to frown. It was a good attempt; she managed to keep her mouth somewhat straight, with just a hint of an upward curve. For a moment, she wondered again about this plan of Lucifuge and his mistress. She didn't know it all, just what she had been told, but... She worried.
Then she smiled again, standing on the very tip on her toes to smooth a lock of Brad's hair into place. "I'm happy," she told him- as if he wouldn't know. "Even though I'm really selfish. Do you think that's okay?"
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 3:53 pm
"Glad you approve," he said with a fair amount of amusement, tilting the phone so she could better see. He noted the blank look she initially gave it and the laughter that followed. Was it really that new to her, too? Brad could only smile at the accusation, spreading his hands in an innocent manner, "Guilty as charged, I'm afraid." It would be nice to be able to see her when she called, as he had a sick feeling he may not see as much of her as he'd like. They didn't see a whole lot of each other to begin with, but now that the opportunity was being taken away, it seemed unfair somehow.
And then her fingers were in his hair, forcing his eyes to lid and his head to lower so she might reach without stretching too far. He knew it was a friendly touch, but he'd always been a little weak at others playing with his hair. "I'm glad you are," he said after a time, eyes opening and gazing at the floor with his neck still bent, "but I'm going to miss you terribly.
"And no, I don't think you're selfish. How could you say that?" he asked softly, eyes starting to lift, getting an eyeful of blouse and quickly lifting the rest of the way to her face. Being her influence or not, he would not be crude about any form of attraction, it simply wasn't in his nature. What he wanted then was to protect her from the world, to just keep her safe with him. It was irrational, he knew, but he just wanted her to be as happy as she claimed...
Brad pursed his lips and gently took her chin between his thumb and forefinger, his expression suddenly serious. "Hae-min, if you ever have any trouble, anything at all, from this..." his other hand waved in the air, "...this Sin, from others, your work, whatever it may be...you have a place here. You can always come here, whether I'm home or not. You can always come to me, no matter if I'm in a meeting with Gambino himself. I wont ask you to promise me that you'll do it, just please understand. You're not alone."
He didn't like the hesitance in his voice but it was hard for him to say these things. Brad was not a man to welcome strife and disorder into his life, but he meant it from his heart; Hae-min would always be someone special to him, no matter the role she was forced to play.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:04 pm
"You're going to miss me?" Was she... going somewhere? Well. Yes she was, and she... It made sense. She let her arms drop to her sides, even though she hadn't quite fixed Brad's hair. "I'll miss you, too, but I'll call you whenever I have time and you aren't busy out of your mind," she told him.
As for the question about selfishness, Hae-min knew she was horribly selfish. There was no other way to call it, because no one else she knew would make the deal she had made. No excuses, she reminded herself. What happened, happened. Instead of mourning it, she looked at him and smiled. All the reason she needed was right here.
His serious look wiped the smile off her face; she listened solemnly, though she did reach up to cup his hand with both of hers. She understood the hesitance, though she didn't like it either- he didn't have to say such nice things to her. Impulsively, Hae-min hugged Brad tight. "I know. Thank you, Brad."
Still... damn it! Again, exactly what she knew she'd agreed to intruded on her thoughts. "Damn it," she whispered to herself, and she bit her lip. If she didn't do this, the cost! This way, she had time. She wanted to spill all of it, right then, but prudence- or selfishness- kept her mouth shut. Instead, she sighed and laced her fingers through his hair again. "You need to get this cut," she told him, gently trying to re-arrange his hair. "It's starting to look like a mop!"
The Korean lady was certainly good at subject changes.
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Posted: Thu Sep 25, 2008 7:49 pm
A quiet sigh escaped him. "I'm never too busy for you," he murmured, more a stubborn rebuttal than a comfort. He gazed at her quietly, soothed by the simple touch of her hands wrapped around his, releasing her in favor of the hug she so willingly gifted him. Brad curled his arms tightly around her in return, not enough so to hurt her but so that he can feel her, the contours of her body beneath thin material of her--
He jerked his head back in wide-eyed surprise, both at his own thoughts and the swear word that falls from the woman's lips. "Damn wha--ahh, hah." Brad's eyes fluttered and eventually closed, enjoying the feel of her fingers drawn tautly through his hair, even if they were both stationary. The gentle pressure was greatly welcomed, a pleased sound escaping him unconsciously. "But this is nice," he protested in a near slur, the feeling of enjoyment seeming to be amplified. He couldn't even think that Hae-min had anything to do with it, even as his arms slackened and rested comfortably around the low of her back, his mind was a sweet nothing of absorbing the affection unintentionally placed on him.
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