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 Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 7:17 pm
"What the ******** is wrong with you people?" he demanded, voice pitched up in alarm. No clarification on exactly who you people encompassed. He had a death grip on the thing but his free hand, when it came up to try and pry hers loose, shook like a leaf for a second. And with the chair at his back he was practically in a corner. "It's like the ideas of personal property and personal space just don't exist." It would have been decidedly unseemly to wrestle a stranger, let alone a fluffy pink girl, alone in a quiet corner in the power-out dark. So he tried blocking her with his elbow instead. It went badly. Another tremor shot through his hands--and they did have bad timing, disappearing for days only to return exactly when he didn't want them to--and the lighter was freed. He made a lunge for it as it fell.
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Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 9:27 pm
"I know, right? It's crazy." She murmured in sage agreement, even as she continued to try and pry his hands open. The lighter popped out, and she sucked in a breath, lunging for it along with him. Her little hands wrapped around the lighter, and she pulled it close, holding it with cherished possession. Of course, she was also on the floor, so despite the victory, she wasn't feeling very safe. "Okay!" She cleared her throat and tried to shuffle back. "Good talk. Real progress made here. Great meeting you, uhhh-" She didn't even know his name. Ouch. "Good luck, stay strong, live free, all that jazz. But more importantly," She scrambled to her feet. "Bye." She turned and bolted down the hall.
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Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 9:54 pm
He was too stunned by the incredibly unlikely sequence of events to react immediately, which gave her a headstart. Oh, for ******** if he'd stopped to consider what he was doing and how stupid the objective was he'd just have let her make off with the lighter and he'd live with the matches. But all sorts of long-dormant instincts about theft and personal property (a precious thing to a man who had, for quite some time, lived out of a backpack) shunted any rational thought out of the way.
Taym was speedy on his feet, provided you didn't give him very far to run. He closed up the gap with efficiency, and reached to make a grab at her sleeve.
Perhaps somewhat frighteningly, he did not look like he found the situation amusing at all. The same instincts that made him chase her instead of simply watching her go were making him pissed.
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Posted: Sun Sep 15, 2013 11:34 pm
Thankfully, Maebe was finding all of this funny enough for both of them. She heard his footsteps behind her, and that made her laugh breathlessly, as she started picking up the pace. It was the treacherous turn at the end of the hall that had her skidding into the wall, betraying her with its complete lack of traction. She felt her shoulder throb, but she tried to recover from her loss of speed and head down the next hallway - Too late. She felt fingers snatching her blouse, and absolutely refused to ruin a perfectly good shirt just for a good game of tag, so she let him pull her back and skidded to a halt. Both of her hands quickly hid behind her back, hiding the lighter as well as she could. An innocent smile beamed up at him. "Oh, hey, you. Did you need something else?" Flawless.
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Posted: Mon Sep 16, 2013 6:39 am
The smile just pissed him off more. The fingers wrapped around her upper arm tightened. A lot.The best and worst thing about having a highly-professional woman living in your head was that you were decidedly less prey to your crueler and angrier urges. His grip loosened almost instantly, but not enough to let her go. Just enough to stop hurting. He didn't look any less pissed, though. "You have something of mine," he told her. That last word was important. He didn't extend his hand. He waited for her to take the initiative. He was not above cheap intimidation as a tactic and he returned the favor of invading her personal space, barely tall enough to try and loom over her.
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 6:28 pm
She felt the sting of pain running up and down her arm as he tightened around it, and her hands just pulled the lighter even further out of reach because of it. Adrenaline spiked with each throb of pain, and her expression looked far more comfortable than it should have been. She even looked a little unnaturally happy. The low, protective growl that echoed in the back of her mind was steadily ignored. " Jeepers, mister." She murmured sarcastically. "I told you I was going to get you a new one. It's just a little loan, don't be so grumpy." She would have reached up to force a smile on his face with her fingertips, but her hands were clamped down behind her, holding onto that lighter for her life. "It's not like you're going to fight me for it. Are you?" Did she look hopeful? She tried to dampen it. Do not push him, child. He does not look safe.Ignoring her weapon was like ignoring the voice of reason - entirely too easy for her to accomplish.
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 6:50 pm
Taym absolutely did not, in this instance, think that amusement and rage were mutually exclusive emotions. "You little s**t," he laughed through gritted teeth, incredulous. "You must be even stupider than you look." She was acting like the sort of person who wouldn't think twice about kneeing him in the balls. He thus made the hasty decision to keep everything from the knees to the navel aimed as away from her as possible. This somewhat hindered his ensuing effort to yank her around and get her neck into the skeletal crook of his elbow, hand dropped from her arm to her wrist. He was not being gentle--far from it--but he was equal parts grin and snarl now, just in case someone happened on them and he needed to convince them it was all a little bit of horseplay, and not at all a grown man assaulting a fluffy pink girl. And, maybe, he was actually finding the situation a little bit hilarious. (he was)
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 7:02 pm
"Do I look stupid? I was under the impression I was sporting the Harvard freshman look today-" The warning Thaw tried to yell at her when the arm came around to grab her head was too quiet, and too late. She let out a surprised screech until the position she was trapped in cut off the ability to breathe enough for screaming, and she settled for flailing. Her arms punched both his stomach, and his back, in random intervals, trying to keep him too distracted to know where to block. But she knew, if she just threw the lighter down the hall, he would let her go to retrieve it. It was that simple. All she had to do, was give it up. The skin of her hand was marked with the press of its features as she tightened her hold around the lighter even more. "Never.. giving it.. back!" She huffed out, her words halting as she gulped down air for each one. But despite how hard it was, she couldn't help herself. "Going to.. write.. strongly worded.. letter.. about you!"
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 7:21 pm
" Son of a b***h--" It was about half disbelief at her stubbornness and about half abrupt realization of how stupid this whole situation was, but it didn't matter, because it was cut off short when one of her mad flailing blows clipped his jaw. It hurt, and he untangled himself and put some distance between them but kept one hand locked around her wrist. He was suddenly grateful for his long arms. He watched her warily like he'd just realized he'd gotten a bear on a leash and hadn't thought out a step two, and rubbed distractedly at his face where she'd got him. "It's a ******** lighter," he said, vaguely breathless already. Smoker. "What the ******** is your problem?" And he laughed again, disbelieving, but didn't relinquish his hold on her wrist. "This is the stupidest thing I have ever done and that is a huge ******** category full of some weighty contenders."
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 8:09 pm
And off he went, leaving Maebe with a vague sense of loss. She rubbed her neck, where she'd been constricted, her fingers painfully rubbing across the skin that was already sore. But she'd beaten him back, and that was impressive, for her. She could hear Thaw's rumble of approval even now, and she found herself feeling just a touch of pride. "Yeah, it's just a lighter. So how about you just let me have it, and forget all about it, mmmm? I tell you what, and this is a one time offer. I will actually find you a new lighter eventually. I was just lying before, I wasn't going to find you s**t. But this time. This time. I'm serious. Square deal?" There was no way to tell whether she was lying all over again or not. That's what made it fun.
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 8:19 pm
He hesitated, grinning at her like a shark when she admitted to the obvious lie. Another tremble shot through his hand on her wrist and he let her go, stumbling back a step or two as if afraid she'd retaliate and raking his hands through his hair. "Obadiah Thompson, 112. If I don't have a replacement under my door in 24 hours you won't be the only one dealing with strongly worded letters. And possibly worse. I grew up with six younger kids, I know how to make you suffer without picking a fight and I will get my s**t back, too. Don't tempt me."
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Posted: Tue Sep 17, 2013 11:23 pm
"Obadiah." She deadpanned. "Seriously. You're sticking with that." She felt like she'd just walked into a Mark Twain novel. "All right, if you say so. I'm Maebe, and I'm in - " She'd forgotten her room number. " - one of those rooms over there. So if I'm not in your room in 24 hours, you'll know who to ask for." She pulled out her prize, flicked it on, and waved it in the air solemnly. "See you soon, Master Obadiah.. should I send Miss Scarlet to your boudoir while you wait?" He should never have told her his name.
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