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Dr. Hunter Aloysius "Hap" Percy ([personal profile] angelhunter) wrote2023-11-18 06:52 pm

open post, inbox.



OPEN POST
TEXT —
ACTION, PROSE —
CONTINUATIONS —
ETC —
mollified: (look up)

[personal profile] mollified 2025-05-27 10:34 pm (UTC)(link)
She follows his gesture. He can probably see the way her eyes are focusing now, taking in the details of her surroundings more closely.

"A little bit Beauty and the Beast," she murmurs. "May I ask why?" Then, answering her own question: "That's where you work?"
mollified: (femme fatale)

[personal profile] mollified 2025-05-28 01:30 am (UTC)(link)
He's seen her without makeup before, of course, but context is everything. The way her bare face looked emerging from the steam of a hotel shower is very different from now. The cocktail dress that had been picked to show off her figure is starting to develop folds and creases from being kept in the guest room and worn over and over again. So, in invisible ways, is she.

"I can sign an NDA, if you'd like," she says lightly. "Would that put your mind at ease?"

This, though, might remind him of their very first introduction. Bella was wry and humorous then, too, as they checked off formalities one by one and she warmed out of professionalism into ease.
mollified: (fake smile)

[personal profile] mollified 2025-05-28 02:23 am (UTC)(link)
She'll take the smile, even if she was hoping for a laugh. That would've been asking a lot, she supposes.

"Consider it an open offer.

"You said I'll be locked in at night. When? You stay up late."

mollified: (focused)

[personal profile] mollified 2025-05-28 03:26 am (UTC)(link)
"Of course."

The mention of the lab does make her lightness falter, her eyes flicker. He isn't just her warden. He's torturing people, somewhere in the house. She's sitting here having a pretty nice chicken dinner with a man insane enough to think he can scientifically prove that people go someplace when they die.

And if she thinks about that, this moment of connection will break. There will be others -- she'll make there be others -- but she's loath to lose this one. So she makes the split-second decision to pretend he didn't mention the lab at all. There are no subjects suffering while they converse. Nobody matters at the moment but her and Hap.

"That seems ... fair, I guess is the word." A slight shrug. "I'd ask the same of you in your position. I appreciate the transparency."
mollified: (pensive)

[personal profile] mollified 2025-05-28 04:19 am (UTC)(link)
"It is going to take some time," she says, carefully. "I'm sure you can understand that. I don't--"

She shakes her head, changes what she was going to say.

"I'm used to more privacy.

"Can I close doors for myself? My -- the bedroom, the bathroom, like that."
mollified: (sly)

[personal profile] mollified 2025-05-28 05:11 am (UTC)(link)
"Vinyl and cards. That's about what I would have guessed from you, actually."

She pushes her plate to the side. It isn't quite empty; too much adrenaline in her system to finish the whole serving.

"I hate solitaire. I'd prefer chess or something."
mollified: (glance)

[personal profile] mollified 2025-05-28 09:01 am (UTC)(link)
"Really? Will you play me sometime?"

Undisguised -- and unfeigned -- hope in her voice.

"I'm not a master or anything, but I'm a good loser."
mollified: (small smile)

[personal profile] mollified 2025-05-28 07:37 pm (UTC)(link)
Bella smiles -- the warmest smile she's worn in two and a half weeks. For a moment it's all real. Hap's pleasure pleases her; it has for as long as she's known him. That may not be long, in the grand scheme of the lives they've each led, but it's long enough to have been hurt by him. Long enough that seeing him enthusiastic about something makes her forget everything else for a moment of satisfaction.

It's such a strong feeling, such a relief of tension, that a second later she feels her eyes prickling and starting to well up. She inhales, surprised, and puts a hand over her mouth.

"Oh -- I'm so sorry." She sniffs hard and then lets out a watery laugh. "I'm sorry. I'm not upset with you or anything."

Obviously that's probably not true in a broader sense; hopefully he understands what she means. This has happened to her before during intense scenes, but it usually came out of something physical, pain or sensation cresting unexpectedly. This is the first time in a long time she can remember it happening from just talking.
mollified: (pensive)

[personal profile] mollified 2025-05-28 08:37 pm (UTC)(link)
She snorts and reaches for a napkin to dab at her eyes.

"Come on, Hap. Let's not go back to lying to each other now."

It's so much worse when he touches her, even lightly. Pathetic how much she wants to reach for him in turn. It translates into a minute flinch. She starts to rise, trying to cover it, knowing it won't work. The kitchen isn't big enough for them to achieve distance.

"I can help clear up."
mollified: (startled)

[personal profile] mollified 2025-05-28 09:49 pm (UTC)(link)
Clearing away the glasses and pitcher hardly takes a minute; Bella does pause to throw back the rest of her own glass like she wishes it was vodka.

Stupid. Stupid crack about lying. Her guard was down and her mouth ran away with her. They had something for a moment there, and maybe she could have maneuvered it into something more.

No, she shouldn't kid herself. It's the first time they've spent extended time together since their truths came out; it's her first time out of the damn room in any real sense. It might be more suspicious if she didn't have a few mood swings. And Hap is too careful a man to let his guard down yet.

It just leaves her aching, to have heard that tone in his voice again.

She sets the glassware on the counter beside Hap, then retreats a step or two, looking around for a cloth to dry when he finishes washing. Space settles between them again.

"... May I ask you a few more questions?" she says after a minute, only a little louder than the water. "About how this is going to work."
mollified: (look up)

[personal profile] mollified 2025-05-28 11:10 pm (UTC)(link)
"Is there a camera in the bathroom?"

She hasn't looked closely on her daily trips, generally more worried about practicalities. If she has free rein, she can always go check herself, but she'd like to know from him.
mollified: (glance)

[personal profile] mollified 2025-05-29 12:04 am (UTC)(link)
That genuinely surprises her. She takes the pot, blinking at him, and nods.

"Understood."

That means there's one place in the house, at least, where she can feel however she needs to feel, without worrying what Hap might glean from it. Turn up the shower, sit, and think.

"Would it be all right if I took a glass of water into my room at night? It could be the same rules as the pen if you'd like."

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