bakerstreet | (no subject)

"This was a stupid idea."

Alistair didn't sleep, so spending a night in Leah's bed for any other reason than having sex (something they still hadn't gotten around to actually attempting) seemed rather pointless.

It said rather a lot about his character that this was the way he viewed things.

Still, there was a certain logic to it beyond the fact that he was more or less a complete prick. As much as he cared for Leah, and he couldn't really deny that he did any longer, the fact remained that she reeked, and he knew that she felt the same way about his scent. Not to mention the fact that to her he felt like a block of rather cold stone that could move, which didn't actually seem like something you'd want to cuddle up to in your sleep.

All in all, circumstances were not ideal for a pleasant night for either of them.

How had Edward and Bella ever managed it?

She didn't know. Leah well and honestly didn't know how Edward and Bella had ever managed it.

Maybe because it was because her body temperature was higher and her nose more sensitive, but most of it was probably her being in love, but not stupidly so. Others might have called it her having a less pleasant and patient personality than Bella, but Leah far preferred "not brain-amputated."

She huffed and crossed her arms in front of her chest. "You're right," she ground out between clenched teeth, "it was a stupid idea."

The ceiling didn't become more interesting no matter how heatedly Leah glared at it, though, so she eventually turned that glare back on Alistair. She had already shooed him to the far end of the bed before she had reluctantly snapped at him to get closer again or he might as well not bother being here at all. In all honesty, the arm's length of distance hadn't helped against every wolfish instinct in her begging her to tear out his throat.

"Let's try this one last time," she decided and edged closer again. Her back to his chest, so she wouldn't be getting a noseful of vampire reek with every breath she took. She edged closer and closer, until she met cold, hard flesh. She would have mistaken it for stone if she didn't know better. Instinctively, Leah flinched away from the cold.

He watched her edge closer, eyes filled with equal parts apprehension and longing. Everything had been a struggle for them from the very beginning, their growing attraction and affection for one another treated almost like a disease needing a cure rather than a budding romance.

They had edged their way to this point one baby step after another, both with their own demons to fight, both not entirely sure that they wanted to.

And now there they were, the wolf inching closer to her natural enemy as he watched her with eyes that were no longer red, but amber.

He never mentioned his shift in diet, and when the color of his eyes started to shift he wordlessly dared anyone to make it a thing with his entire attitude. Nobody did, quite correctly thinking that this shift in his attitude was a very fragile thing that probably shouldn't be challenged.

After a brief moment of hesitation as Leah flinched away from him, Alistair carefully shifted around so that he was lying on his side. Then he reached out to run just his fingertips up her arm, making sure not to touch her with any other part of his body.

"Always so bloody stubborn."

There was, for once, no venom in his words as he said that. One might almost have called his tone of voice fond, even if there was no smile on his face.

She had learned to read his emotions from the subtle cues he gave, to some extent anyway. It wasn't perfect, Leah had never been good at reading between the lines, but for Alistair she had tried to learn. The gentleness in his voice didn't pass her by, Leah responded with the smile he refused to show. "Of course," she said as she watched the progress his fingers made up her arm. They left behind a trail of coldness in their wake. Coldness, but also a pleasurable tingle that was in no way related to temperature differences. This coldness made her cheeks heat up. "It wouldn't be any fun for you if I weren't stubborn. Where would be the challenge then?"

She met his eyes, marveling once more at the amber. He had done it for her, there was no doubt about that in her mind. She had never dared bring it up, for fear of him reverting just to be contrary. There were other ways in which she could show her gratitude.

Such as leaning into his touch instead of shying away when his fingertips reached her shoulder, such as rolling her body further around so she was leaning into him again. She didn't let herself flinch this time though every shifter instinct screamed disgust at her. "Admit it," she whispered teasingly, "you wouldn't know what to do with a woman if it were easy."

"What on earth ever gave you the idea that I like challenges?"

His teasing tone matched hers, and while he still wasn't quite smiling, there was definitely a look of amusement on his face.

The question, however, was still a rather valid one, because the truth of it was that Alistair really didn't like challenges. He usually went out of his way to avoid them. Leah had, somehow, managed to get through that and find the part of him that was still willing to fight for what he wanted. Or at least stick around for long enough for what he wanted to stop fighting him.

As she leaned into him, he experimentally let his arm come to rest around her to gently hold her against him.

"Think you're getting me confused with yourself."

Because if she didn't enjoy a challenge there really was no reason in the world why she would ever have any interest in him. He was all challenge with very little reward to make it worthwhile.

For just a moment, Leah's skin crawled when Alistair placed his arm around her waist. That's a corpse touching you her newly-gained instincts insisted, but she squashed them ruthlessly. Leah's face tightened with the effort before she forced herself to relax again.

With such thoughts fresh on her mind, there was no denying Alistair's claim, though. She shrugged slightly, aiming for at least some semblance of nonchalance. "Might be," she admitted. "It's not so much that I like the challenge... though I do. But I'll be damned if I can't be more than animal instincts and explosions of fur. Shifting has cost me enough, I refuse to sacrifice anything else to it."

Maybe it was foolish to try and be more stubborn than the wolf, but somewhere along the way Alistair had become worth it. It wouldn't stop her from pretending it was no big deal. Couldn't have it get to the leech's head.

It took some effort to not tighten his arm further around her as he thought of the very real possibility that what Leah was might actually force her to sacrifice what they had regardless of how she felt about it at the moment.

The worst part about that was probably that it wouldn't really feel like a sacrifice to her when it happened. If it happened.

"You're telling me there's an actual person under all the wet dog stench? Shocking."

Actually... it really sort of was. Alistair didn't typically bother to actually get to know people, since it tended to clash with the fact that he more or less hated everything. It was a miserable was to live, but that was an unwilling sacrifice that he had made when he was turned into a vampire. It broke him, and then froze him in that perpetually angry and frightened state for the rest of eternity.

Edited 2013-10-18 23:19 (UTC)

Leah's forehead crinkled for just a moment when the ire instantly arose in her. Such a knee-jerk reaction, she wasn't so used to being teased, more to insults being the real thing. If in doubt, it was easier to lash out. But that wasn't how it was with Alistair, and after a moment her mind caught up. She bared her teeth and gave a mock growl. "Oh now don't go making dog stench jokes, corpse!" she chuckled. "Didn't anyone ever tell you about people in glass houses...?"

It felt nice to be hugged like this, Leah decided. There was the stench and the cold, the hardness stone-like body, of course all these things were real. But he was still Alistair, the one who made her laugh, who understood her in ways no one else did. She just had to keep that in mind.

She interlaced their fingers, making a conscious decision not to be unsettled by her own skin color bringing out the unnatural deathly pallor of his. Maybe one day him being a vampire would simply be yet another one of these things that made him unique. She could hope...

Her lips quirked into a smirk. "I'm surprised you aren't running away yet screeching about doggie cooties. I'm so proud of you, baby."

He fitted his body against hers a little more snugly, and put his lips close to her ear to speak quietly into it.

"Don't call me baby."

If he just refrained from breathing, it was actually rather nice to have her in his arms like this. She was soft, and so warm. She also felt very fragile to him, but by now he knew better than to make mention of that.

His lips were brushing against the shell of her ear as he whispered to her. Leah shivered, though for once not from disgust. No, not at all. She softened in his embrace, leaning more of her weight against him.

Leah chuckled. "Well, what would you like me to call you? How about old man?"

He didn't think he'd ever felt her be quite this... welcoming before, and it was a most interesting sensation indeed.

"Didn't know you had a daddy kink."

He couldn't resist lightly kissing the sensitive skin right behind her ear, a whole new set of instincts starting to come to life inside him after their centuries long sleep.

Leah laughed. There was no bitterness to it, not even any harshness. It took her a moment to realize that she was the one making the sound, but then Alistair's lips were terribly distracting. She shivered, instinctively tilting her head for him. Baring her jugular in the process, but she wasn't thinking of that, not anymore.

"I have a...?" What had they been talking about again? Her fingers curled around the pillow. "I don't have a daddy kink, just a corpse kink."

Then it was his turn to laugh, because not too long ago that would have been among the last things he'd expected to hear from her. Pointing out that he was dead and how disgusting that was had been one of her favourite defenses against the growing attraction between them, after all.

He was careful, only pressing feather-light kisses to her hot skin, only ever momentarily chilling it before pulling back. With every passing second he wanted to do more but... he wasn't sure how they would ever make that work.

How had Edward and Bella done it? He should've asked, but he was far too proud.

"Matches my bitch kink."

It was an old and worn out joke by now, but he didn't care.

Leah barked a snicker. "And now you tell me you're into bestiality, that's something you're supposed to mention on the second date," Leah quipped. It wasn't much of a joke, really, not with her voice just on this side of being breathless.

Even his laughter sent shivers down her spine, it was ridiculous, really, how easily he got to her nowadays. The cold kisses burned on her skin, leaving behind little hot spots of pinpricks all over her neck.

What was exciting him more, the throbbing of her racing heartbeat or the intimacy? She couldn't say, yet Leah found that it didn't bother her as it used to. It had been a while since she saw him as a proper enemy, though the wolf side in her still recoiled from his touch.

She gulped hard. "Why don't you give me a proper kiss, big bad leech?"

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Leah Clearwater | Twilight | OTA

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OMG I can't believe this got lost in my inbox for so long I'm a derp

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