bakerstreet | Should Never Be Together

Should Never Be Together

the "should never be together" meme.

When two people come together in a relationship, it's a beautiful thing. What can be wrong with love, right? Right? Except when the union is completely and totally wrong, for whatever reason. Then things can get a little messy.

How To Play
1. Comment with your character, listing their name, canon, etc, along with any preferences.
2. Comment around to others, using the RNG to determine the scenario. It doesn't have to be a lovey-dovey relationship, obviously. There can be hate, sorrow, lust, whatever.
3. Thread! Have fun! Do things!

Scenarios
1. Warring Factions: You belong to rival organizations, armies, clubs, etc. Whatever it is, you're not on the same team.

2. Soldiers on the Battlefield: Or maybe you are on the same side, but this is the wrong time and the wrong place. Plus, attachments cause distractions.

3. Bodyguard and the Guarded: Just like the movie with Kevin Costner! One of you has been hired to protect the other for some reason, and feelings are starting to grow. Are you a professional and cut things off, or do you give in?

4. Prince/ss and Knight: Similar to the above, but with a whole 'nother level of wrong...one of you is royal. Courtly love is okay; still, don't forget your place.

5. Enemies: This vendetta is personal, and you totally hate this person! Don't you? Perhaps you're maybe just rivals, or something as serious as superhero and villain.

6. Family: The ultimate taboo. This person is related to you, so there's no way you should indulge this desire, even if it's the most pure love there ever was.

7. Age Difference: The years between you should keep you both at bay, but it's easier said than done.

10. Teacher/Student: Teachers and students have a unique bond, and to corrupt it is a dangerous thing. Will you dare to act on emotions that could put you both in a destructive place?

11. Already Spoken For: One or both of you are already involved with someone else, but the heart wants what the heart wants. Just know that you can't have your cake and eat it, too.

12. Not Compatible: Your personalities or jobs make it so it's hard for you to be together.

13. Not Compatible...in Another Way: You're both different species, which means you're either afraid to take your relationship to a physical level or you can't because of differences in biologies.

14. Not Ready for Love: You took a vow (or celbacy, of chastity, of dedication), you're married to your work, or you just don't want to be involved with anyone. Too bad!

15. Rich and Poor: One of you has the money while the other is from more modest means. Can the 1% and the 99% ever be bedfellows, literally?

16. Hurt Before: Your heart has been broken, and maybe there's been no time to heal. But here you are.

17. WILDCARD

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[Soldier, bodyguard, enemy, teacher, hurt before. those all work but I'm up for anything. I can also throw out Sniper and his Target]

[ooc; wouldn't mind some castmates but open to anyone =D]

[No family, student/teacher, or already spoken for. The rest I think would probably work for her. I can put her in her 20's if preferred, otherwise her canon age is 16-17.]

[For these two, I think it would be Age (Marlon's about 10-15 years older), Not Compatible (they are, after all, from different worlds entirely) or Hurt Before (they both have their own baggage). Whichever's more interesting to confront!]

[OOC: How about Hurt Before? That would put some reluctance on her part for a change. :D]

[She doesn't mind helping with the catering for the film shoot. She also doesn't mind being around Marlon, truth be told. It's only when she can feel her heart slipping that she has to come up with a hasty excuse to be somewhere else.]

[Orihime has been in love before. For years she'd harbored warm feelings for a friend she'd known and cared about. By the time she worked up the nerve to tell him that, he already found someone else. Orihime wasn't the homewrecking type, so she kept her feelings a secret, but it broke her heart and shattered her confidence. Why wasn't she the type of person he could love...?]

[So when she found that her enjoyment of Marlon's company went beyond idle entertainment and professional admiration, she pulled back. He's surrounded by beautiful women every day of his life, all of them richer, more talented, and more sophisticated than she is. If she falls for him, she isn't sure her heart could take being rejected again.]

[All he'd done was touch her hair, removing a piece of lint she hadn't noticed, but she'd felt wild sparks at even the lightest incidental brush of his fingertips on her cheek. Suddenly she was laughing and waving her hands, remembering that she just HAD to rinse the vegetables for the afternoon break so OKAY BYE!]

[And here she stands now, scrubbing radishes under a spout of running water. Her shoulders are hunched, and she's cursing herself. She should take a chance, if he makes her happy. But he could hurt her so badly, is there any happiness that can truly outweigh a painful rejection? Better to regret something that has a slim chance of happening, instead of regretting another broken heart that's far more likely.]

But while Orihime may have be guarded, she's not impossible to read. Marlon had seen that reaction before...the starlets he'd shared the screen with, the socialites he'd been introduced to at cocktail parties (ones he couldn't wait to leave), even girls in high school: wholesome farm girls from Omaha who would blush and retreat to the bleachers on the football field if he stood too close.

Hell, he'd used that trick too to get away from people and had many encounters to perfect it with: crazed lovers, suspicious husbands, his ex-wife, Pop, even meetings with producers. He was a veteran of escape...she was new.

And it was a shame, because he'd found her attractive from the moment he'd set eyes on her. Her sunny smile and candy-sweet voice, the geyser of energy and enthusiasm she exuded, the creamy cakes she would serve at tea breaks, and the childlike politeness she treated everyone with. She was just so innocent.

They'd bantered and flirted casually at each break, just as he had with almost every young woman on the set, and then when he'd brushed a piece of lint out of her hair, he'd seen her breath catch in her throat, and felt the own electric surge in his cheeks. A spark had flown, and she'd run away. There was no mistaking it.

Marlon saw an opportunity: flustered, attracted, and fighting to reign herself in. It may not be playing fair, but this would be the perfect time to get her alone. And that's why he's now standing in the kitchen doorway, waiting to catch her eye.

"Hey! I was worried! You're spending an awfully long time on peeling vegetables." Turning on the charm, he smiles and steps in slowly closer to her "Anything I can do to help? I know my way around root veggies. I grew up on a farm, after all."

"GYAH!"

A radish sailed across the mini-kitchen, rolling into a dusty corner. Orihime looked at Marlon with eyes as wide as saucers, clutching her chest. "Y-you surprised me!"

Clearly.

But what was he doing here? She thought he would be out there reviewing his lines, or discussing character motivation with the director. This wasn't part of the plan! She had to come up with another excuse to leave, and fast. He was getting too close; she could already feel her face heating up the moment his cologne touched her senses.

"Just...just washing them. I forgot the dressing, though, I'd better go grab that. Be right back, ha ha!" she raised a hand to excuse herself, and flattened her back against the wall to slip past.

Undeterred, Marlon walks right up to her. His body mere inches from hers, his eyes looking directly into hers, and it seems to him like she is trying with all her might to melt into the wall.

"Orihime" Marlon murmurs softly. But he doesn't finish. He stares at her in silence for a moment. He's learned from his own experiences that a firm gaze and a look on his face can speak more volumes to a woman than any other words. He reaches out, leaning forward as if to sweep her off her feet with the smallest, gentlest touch...

But instead, his hand reaches behind her. And when he pulls back, he's clutching a large glass bottle of balsamic vinaigrette dressing.

Marlon's lip curls in a half smile, as he holds the bottle up to her. "Found it!" But he doesn't really back away from her. Orihime would make a lousy poker player...he can see the red flush in her cheeks, her shoulders are heaving with each breath she takes, and even though he's not touching her, he's still fairly sure she's trembling.

"Are you okay, Orihime? You seem a little tense. You can always tell me if something's on your mind..."

Edited 2015-05-02 20:50 (UTC)

Orihime stopped breathing. He was so close...way too close. She tried to pull her gaze away from his, but she couldn't. He paralyzed her with his eyes, and when he reached out, she was tempted to outright shove him back and run.

But then he found dressing. She was confused at first, wondering why a movie star would want a bottle of dressing. Then she remembered it had been her flimsy excuse to flee, and now she has nothing left to defend herself with. He was right, she was definitely trembling. She felt so ridiculously stupid.

Her gaze dropped, and she folded her arms tightly around her stomach.

"I can't," she whispered, avoiding his eyes. "I'm not the right person for...for what you want, Brando-san. I can't be casual. I don't want to be, because it would..." Orihime swallowed against the knot in her throat. "So...please excuse me." She bowed faintly, and moved to gently duck under his arm.

It wasn't love. It was just attraction, and attraction would fade quickly in lieu of satisfaction. He would destroy her, easily, and forget he'd ever touched her.

"Hey, hey..." he counters softly. Setting the bottle on the counter next to her, his hands grasp her shoulders and guide her back upright to face him. His eyes are fixed onto hers. The look on his face is almost unmistakable. It's as though he could kiss her any second and with only the slightest move. He lets the moment linger, watching her own eyes flutter in panic, confusion, and everything she's just barely suppressing.

"You're moving a little fast, aren't you?" he teases. "I don't think you know me that well. When did you become such an expert on what I want, hmm? Can you read my mind, Orihime?...I always thought anyone who can bake like you can has to have supernatural powers."

He grins, hoping he can lower her defenses. They'd always been able to laugh and joke about things together before. He'd never seen her not giggly and upbeat and...well everything was a joke to Marlon.

"Or maybe you think all us Hollywood folk are the same...wild animals with only one thing on our minds...Well who knows? Maybe you're right...But at least I don't go around assuming I know what you want. Why don't you tell me?

His hands slide down her arms as he releases her from his grip. "Who knows? If you play your cards right, you might get it."

She couldn't make herself meet his eyes, just as she had no desire to stare down the barrel of a gun. It was like asking to be shot. But even if she were blind, she wasn't immune to his scent, and the warmth radiating off of his skin when he stood so close to her.

Then he touched her arms, and she shivered, feeling her defenses starting to crack. This was what she really wanted, to hold his hands, to listen to his voice. She wanted to joke and laugh with him, not just for a day, but for years. Orihime was dying to know what it would be like, to be loved deeply by just one person. She could scarcely stand it.

"Y...you're right, I shouldn't assume, but..." Her breath hitched, and her fingers squeezed his. Even his quip about superpowers coaxed a smile out of her. "I'm just tired of getting hurt. That's all. I guess it makes me a little paranoid."

She drew a deep breath and forced it out. Get it together, she chided herself. She was moving too fast. All she had to do was remember that they were friends. They got along. Did she need more than that?

It was tempting to just blurt out all of her feelings, her secret hopes, as well as her fears. But she didn't trust herself. She could also very well get fired, if her employers thought she was trying to seduce the star of the film.

"Could...would you tell me what you want first, Brando-san?" It wasn't fair to ask that of him, but for someone who had everything, and the abililty to have anyone he desired, she just couldn't see what she could offer that no one else could.

It would be the easiest thing in the world to answer her simply by sweeping her into a passionate kiss. It certainly wouldn't be the first time he'd ended a line of questioning that way. And for all her fears and paranoia, she seemed willing.

Not that that would ease her fears or keep her from beating herself with paranoia and regret afterward. He wonders how she could be so afraid of her own instinct? She's such a young, little thing. How much heartbreak could she possibly have experienced? Unless it was her first time-...

Ignoring her question for the moment, he puzzles out her words aloud "You're 'tired of getting hurt'? Well getting hurt's as unavoidable as falling in love...or dying. There's not much point in being afraid of it forever."

He shrugs, and chuckles a bit. The expression on her face makes it clear she can't believe what he's advising "Within reason, I mean. Would you tell me how you've been hurt, Orihime? Or who's been hurting you?"

She felt her heart lurch. It had happened only a few short years ago, but the pain of the memory was still sharp. She'd never talked about it with anyone, for fear of having her feelings become known to him. She would rather die than make him feel uncomfortable, or guilty. His heart just wasn't meant for her, and she knew she had to accept it. But it was so hard to let go.

She looked up at Marlon, unable to speak for a long moment. If she gave in to her feelings, she might be able to let go of the past. Would he catch her, though, or would she just fall again, and again, and again?

"I don't..."

Orihime wasn't sure what to say. How could she begin, should she even try? The uncertainty was so terrifying.

"It...it wasn't his fault, he just didn't know...for years, I couldn't...I just couldn't." Her eyes started to burn, and she hastily withdrew her hands from his to wipe at her cheeks.

But Marlon knew. She didn't think he would be here now if he didn't. When she smiled and wished him well, he noticed. He smiled back, and it made her knees weak. He touched her. He saw her. Why was she so afraid to give into it all? Even if something casual was all he really wanted, would it be so bad? At least she could pretend, for a little while. It was better than nothing, right?

"A-ah ha ha ha! I'm being stupid. I know." She sniffled with a trembling grin. "Y-you're the actor, but I'm the one being dramatic."

He laughs softly, "Yeah. You really should get an agent! I know a few people...have 'em give you a call. I'd be careful though. This is Japan, so they'll probably typecast you in daytime soaps or as 'the schoolgirl' if you don't hold out."

"Can I ask you something, Orihime?...And this is not at all agreeing that you're being stupid, let me make that clear!..." He grins as he brushes his thumb across her cheek to wipe away a tear. Too quick a gesture to be to too intimate, but not so fast that she can't feel it.

"Why is that so painful and terrifying to you? I mean...you liked a guy, you waited too long to tell him, you missed your chance. Everyone makes a mistake like that when they're starting out! It's nothing unusual. Not every try at love feels like that. And he's not the only man you'll ever love, Orihime."

"Or at least..." his voice lowers smoothly as he steps up to her, boldly placing his hands on her waist. "...I hope he isn't."

"...He was my hero..."

Not just because he'd saved her life, and protected her when she was in danger, but because he'd been there with her on the worst night of her life. His compassion and kindness made her smile. It had been worth everything.

Or, at least, it had. Now she was face to face with this man, one she already knew she'd fallen in love with despite her reservations. He was kind to her, and genuinely seemed to care about her too. And he was absolutely clear that he thought she was attractive, as she noted when he settled his hands on her waist. She could lose herself to him, and it would all be so easy.

"...Why do you hope that?" she asked, her voice choked into a whisper. She looked up at his face, and could no longer look away. Her dark eyes searched his, seeking any excuse to finally let go of her fears and regrets, and take a step forward again.

His eyes gaze back at hers, inviting her to look deeper and deeper inside him, to not look at him from a distance. His arms gently guide her forward, closing the gap between their bodies. His reply is as soft and firm as his touch.

"Because if you can look into my eyes, Orihime, and tell me you want me, then nobody else on this set, or this town, or this country matters. I've had you on my mind ever since the first day you spent here. And everything about you just sticks with me and won't let go. And I won't let you go either...but only if you're brave enough to say the word."

Whatever defenses she was still desperately clinging to fell away at his words. She was so afraid, but fear wasn't as strong as hope. He inspired that hope, and nurtured it, until it was bright and all-consuming. The corners of her mouth trembled as he held her close, closer than she'd ever been held with anybody.

Shyly, her hands rested on his forearms, and her fingertips brushed a little as if to reassure herself that he was truly there. He wouldn't let go...she wanted to believe that, with all her heart.

"I want to be the best girlfriend you've ever had," she whispered. "I wouldn't forget your birthday, o-or complain that the trash needs to be taken out. I'd bake you good things to eat, and surprise you even when it's not a special day. Wherever you want to go, I'll follow you, if you'll have me. And even if you need to be alone for a while, I'd wait for you."

Her brows arched, quietly inquisitive. "I mean...if that's what you wanted. It's nothing fancy, I admit, but...it's what I have." And she'd give him everything, without hesitation.

He smiles silently back at her, taking everything in...her eagerness, her devotion, her willingness to please. She seems almost breathless as the moment passes, having spilled her heart out to him after keeping it bottled up so tightly.

Breaking the silence, he reaches up to cup her cheek with the palm of his hand and raking his fingers through her hair. "So...are you gonna just stand around all day making promises? Or are you gonna-..." rather than finish the sentence, he pulls her to him, kissing her passionately.

She might have collapsed the moment his fingers sifted through her hair, her knees felt so weak. That was a new sensation, and much stronger than when he'd merely been picking out the tiny piece of lint. And then his body was pressed to hers, mouth colliding, and Orihime knew her first kiss.

Her fingers gripped his arms for support as a small cry of surprise was smothered by warm lips. She could taste him, feel the beat of his own strong heart with his chest pressed against hers. She wanted this. She really, really wanted this.

With a quiet sound of desperation, she stopped fighting herself, her lips caressing his in shy affection. Orihime didn't know what she was doing, but he did, and his was an easy lead to follow. Part of her argued that this couldn't be real, but every touch, every breath, proved otherwise. She really loved him, and this time, it felt okay to let him know. She smiled against his mouth, then let go of his arms to embrace him tightly.

[no family, please. f/m. answers will come from

shakethegalaxy too]

[ Is 10 ok? And do you want spoiler free AoU? ]

[10 is great! And I've seen AoU, so spoilers are fine by me.]

Wanda thought she would hold a grudge against Hawkeye after they had their first encounter. She didn't appreciate feeling pain after he hit her with that device that electrocuted her. But he managed to get on her good side after he gave her that pep talk when they were fighting together.

She found herself drawn to him out of all the Avengers. Which is why she considered him her mentor even though he was the most normal of all the Avengers. She kind of liked his normalcy; it balanced her weirdness. He usually didn't stay at the Avengers Headquarters, so when she saw him she called out to him. "Clint?"

It's true Clint hasn't been around lately—not that he ever really is but, you know, new additional to the family means he's been spending whatever time he's not here out on the farm. It had been a nice reprieve, if you could call changing diapers at all hours of the day or night a reprieve. At least there no one was actively trying to kill him. Not intentionally.

But the word still turned and there was still work to do.

He'd only just flown back in to headquarters. So much so there's still a duffle bag of stuff hanging over his shoulder. He stops in the hallway when he hears his name being called. Wanda doesn't quite get a smile—he's careful with those—but she does get a friendly nod. "Heard you'd stuck around."

Wanda wasn't sure if Clint trusted her yet. Steve gave her a chance, and so did Natasha. She didn't care if she ever got Tony's approval. She still held a grudge against him. But she would like it if Clint trusted her. He was a huge motivator for her while they were fighting Ultron. The only other person that ever influenced her like that was Pietro.

"Yeah, this is the only place I probably fit in," she admitted. Without Pietro she had no one else. And she didn't want to be alone. "How long are you staying?" she asked.

((No 6 (family), please. Open to all other prompts))

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Should Never Be Together

jayce ☮ league of legends ( het )

Colonnello | Katekyo Hitman Reborn! | ota

Darc | Arc: TotS | OTA

Tony Stark || MCU ||

Natasha Romanoff || MCU || OTA

Wanda Maximoff | MCU | OTA

Roman Torchwick || RWBY || OTA

Orihime Inoue | Bleach | F/M

Re: Orihime Inoue | Bleach | F/M

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Sheryl Nome | Macross Frontier

Ryou | Sakasa Moji nara Suki da to Ieru

Wanda Maximoff | MCU | OTA

Tifa Lockhart | Final Fantasy VII | OTA

Clint Barton | MCU | OTA

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10 then :3

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Gi-ne | Dragonball Minus | OTA

pietro maximoff, MCU.

Seras Victoria | Hellsing | OTA

Raven Reyes | the 100

Rip van Winkle | Hellsing | OTA

Anne Boleyn || The Tudors || Prefer F/M

Right - Ressha Sentai ToQger - Open to Anyone