bakerstreet | tuesday sexting;

I bought you something today.

that's

[ surprising confusing not at all expected ]

you didn't have to get me anything

Well, I was out and about.

I thought of you.

[Attached to the text message is a file called gift.jpeg]

[ UH THAT IS NOT AN ACCURATELY DESCRIPTIVE FILE NAME thank god he tabbed out before someone could see he's at work evelyn ]

oh my god Evie don't you know about hackers these days that's not something you should be putting on cell phones that's just
are you

how did finding that make you think of me???

[It is a perfect file name thank you very much. God, she wishes she could see his face right now, she's sure it's priceless ~~and for everything else, there's Mastercard~~.]

Was I just hallucinating what happened two weeks ago or should I recount the events in detail for you?

[You know, that whole...casual not-date with Chinese takeout that devolved into sex wherein he had accidentally snapped the clasp off her brassiere?]

[ It's not!!! A more accurate one would involve lingerie or undressed or not safe for work or something!!! ]

no you don't have
I remember it just

[ Just have been avoiding talking to you and/or about this since it happened and thought we were going to keep on that track and pretend it didn't happen ]

I thought it wasn't
or that you didn't
I don't know?

[At the time he was very embarrassed (and who wouldn't be?) but Evelyn's redoubtable good humour allows for the occasional faux pas of that nature. Even taking that into account, one brassiere into the rubbish bin,]

I liked it.

[Presumably he was making the assumption she would rather cut all ties and/or ignore the facts of the last unexpected tryst.]

But I thought we could try it again without sacrificing any of my underthings to the lingerie gods this time.

When do you get off work?

[ He's still very embarrassed. In case that weren't obvious. As obvious as yes, why wouldn't she ignore him? Late night, both of them lonely and quietly freaked out about a world turning itself on its head and taking them both with it... He wouldn't have blamed her if she'd taken the exit he'd all but laid out the red carpet for. ]

again?
I'm sorry the whole thing again including the

and you

with me?

I didn't misspell that, did I?

[Evelyn actively scrolls up to check. No, nothing that could be misconstrued. Very straightforward. Moving on.]

My place instead of yours this time, though, because I've just put this on and I don't really feel like getting dressed again unless you'd prefer I show up on your doorstep in a trenchcoat.

[ As Einstein once said: asdygfqp897ouhjmnlasdfjkmqbflasdf. ]

uh that

okay yes?

I mean I can be done with things now it's not
So I'll be over there soon? maybe? if you're still
is that okay?

[Funny, Herodotus once said the same thing!

He's arguing with himself now, which is why a firm directive may be the best course of action.]

Come here.

Now.

[ Great minds, man. ]

ok yes I'll be there

your apartment's still where it was right

No, I moved three states away.

...I'm kidding.

Same place. I'll buzz you up when you get here.

[ That silence is the sound of sheer fucking panic because oh god did she???

And then he gets the second text. ]

oh

see you soon then??

You just had a minor heart attack, didn't you?

[Evelyn can't help yanking his chain just a little, because teasing Bruce is one of the small highlights of her day.]

Hurry up. I want to ride you until you can't stand.

[ He makes the trip in record time — though if the shins of his pants are scuffed, Evie will have to excuse him. After all, tripping over himself has some lasting effects and he can't much be blamed given how often he reread the entire conversation on the way over.

And twice more on the stairs up to Evelyn's apartment where the confusion is still just as great and as evident when she opens her door. ]

Okay, with that last one. Uh. It's. Are you sure y- I mean. Specifically that, or—?

[When Evelyn does open the door she is pleased to see him there, mildly out-of-breath and looking just as harried as she'd expected - there are some things one can always count on, and Bruce is the Old Faithful of coming when called.

She loiters at the threshold, having wrapped a robe around herself for the time being, and it takes her a moment to realise what he's referencing.]

I'm flexible.

[G R I N]

[ The flush of exertion spreads farther down Bruce's neck as he realizes just what has to be under that robe and— ]

Ah, hell.

[ No, no, this is what happened last time. He got caught up and carried away and it's not only foolish for him to do that, it's dangerous. Least of all to himself. ]

Okay, uh. [ He shuffles inside the door before shutting it behind them, all but tiptoeing around Evelyn as if one touch will be the end of him. Backing up until he hits the wall, he ] L-look, this isn't. Even with... Maybe this isn't— No, it definitely isn't the. There's a lot of—

[ As much tripping as he's done on the way over here, it's nothing compared to right now and he drags a hand down his face.

Yes, two weeks ago they had a night that was wholly unexpected, and more amazing than Bruce can bring himself to believe but there had been a reason he'd left in the middle of the night after he'd woken up with Evelyn curled on top of him. A reason that even if he's having a difficult time articulating it now. ]

[What is under the robe consists of black eyelash lace and delicate floral patterns, slick satin and the taut straps of garters clinging to their stockings - the only evidence that she's wearing that at all peeks out from under the terrycloth, as she is otherwise barefoot. Evelyn shifts a little as he enters her flat and turns a darker shade of pink, shutting the door behind him and looking, for all intents and purposes, like a man terrified. Given the direction of their recent correspondence Evelyn finds the reaction troubling.

Bruce types like he talks and she watches him curiously picking his way through a minefield, willingly subjecting himself to her company and simultaneously regretting each word that ekes its way past his lips.]

...if you're wondering where to start, I'll accept an apology first. [It seems the best course of action to hand him one small piece at a time, in digestible tidbits.] For you stepping out at three in the morning.

[She gives him his space for the time being, but feigned hurt creeps into her tone.]

Was I that terrible?

[ Bruce doesn't need much evidence as to what lays ready to be uncovered, not with his imagination racing leagues ahead of any common sense he can lay claim to. His eyes keep beginning to drift south to those garters before snapping back front and center. Damn it, he's a grown ass man — not some hormone-addled schoolboy, he's got control of himself. He's got to get control again. ]

Wh- Terrible? [ The echo is confused at first because of course he was ready to apologize for that night, for the huge lapse in judgment that could've very readily put her in serious danger. But for leaving? He can't put it together why that would've been the issue until Evelyn points him in the right direction. ] No, no, you were. I... That just. [ A deep breath. ] It was good. ...Good enough that it was even more of a surprise everything didn't go sideways.

[ His hands don't know what to do with themselves so he tucks them behind his back, leaning on them against the wall. He can't well sit on them to ensure they stay to himself this time, and never mind the express and repeated invitations Evelyn thinks she wants to give him. ]

I am sorry, okay, for— I thought it was best that I just. Not be there wh- It wasn't because of you, though, I swear. That's the truth.

[Bruce's interpersonal hangups are understandable given his exceptional track record of smashing his way through...most things, but given that she hadn't encountered the same resistance the last time they had a horizontal conversation, this is

unexpected, at best.

The instant his hands are ushered behind his back and pressed between it and the wall, Evelyn has to wonder if she's really not some part of the problem. (This was going to be a booty call that had some not-fully-formed feelings tangled up in it, but he's not affording her the former to assess the status of the latter, so.) She folds her arms over her chest, unsure and shifting in her stocking feet.]

Nothing happened, though, [she begins, attempting to pick apart whatever argument he is attempting to make.] I mean- we had sex, obviously, why would anything have gone "sideways?"

[ Bruce still doesn't understand the formula that led to the last encounter, not the factors that allowed him to stay himself nor the reason he didn't stop himself in the first place. The latter is slightly easier to figure — lonely and starved for honest to god affection, never mind human contact, combined with the fact that any blind village idiot could see Evelyn Carnahan is a beautiful, brilliant woman and in spite of all other evidence to the contrary? Most days Bruce was still only human.

It explained some things, but didn't excuse the fact he'd slipped up and might've— His stomach churns at the might've. ]

Yeah. That was the surprise, because. ...Something might've g- Or pear-shaped, or just really gone wrong.

[ Hemming, a bit of haw, and god if it weren't already so obvious the discomfort of talking about things like this. It's a mix of embarrassment and shame as he hangs his head and braces for further questions and the possible laugh. ]

Because before that, uh. The other night? I hadn't. Not in a very long time, since— Not since I got the way I am now with... With him. I didn't think I ever could without risking a change and so I just. Didn't. [ His shoulders slump, too caught up in self-flagellation to try and meet her eyes. It would be easier to avoid them if she weren't so damn petite but Bruce gives it a good college effort. ] At least until the other night and it all got away from me. I lost control and it was stupid and reckless and I could've ended up hurting you really badly, which just. Was the last thing I ever wanted to do. ...I panicked, after, realizing what I might've done and. And so I ran.

[ A quiet huff. ]

It's one of the few things I can actually do well.

tuesday sexting;

okay BUT

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