2019-11-20 - Hangovers and Hazy Shower Scenes

Tequila. Lilith warned Isabella and Erin not to give her tequila at their own peril, but girls do what they do when they're deep into the drinks already, and the pair of them dared it. They got called their fair share of ridiculous dirty names and got a very loud, trailer-park Lilith throwing up in the club bathroom because of it. But by the time she hit Byron's car, it was out of her system and she was all hugs and giggles and kisses and general annoyance to wrangle in that cute and rowdy kind of way. But surely he was expecting it. He may not know the tequila rule from firsthand experience, but Lilith doesn't go out a lot and she said she was going to make it count, so drunk was incoming.

She texts him in the car the whole time even though he's seated right there driving her to his place, but most of it is nonsense and emojis and drunk silly that's poorly typed. But at least it keeps her from trying to lean over and service him WHILE HE IS DRIVING because she started to talk about that and how she thinks he could seriously keep an eye on the road just fine because it was a short drive and she wanted to see if he could! Great way to die, isn't it? She forgets how consuming she is while, well, attentive, no matter how his composure and stamina as a man rolls. Luckily she forgets she's talking about it because she finds a picture on her phone browsing a social media site that makes her crack up laughing and the whole idea is replaced by showing him about twenty memes and funny gifs in a row before they're even out of the car when parked to go for the elevator.

Needless to say, Byron put her to bed. And Lilith is in the shower now the following morning remembering why ELSE she told them not to give her tequila. It gives her hangovers! Usually she has a decent alcohol tolerance and buzz with little result as long as she doesn't excess and sticks to what her body handles well, but this morning, ugh. The first thing she does is brush her teeth TWICE with that cinnamon-clove-activated-charcoal-coconut oil toothpaste crap (it's nice to kiss and keeps her teeth white, though) she uses instead of regular mint, then it's right into the shower to stand with her head in lean against the wall while the collective of fancy wall and overhead nozzles, sprayers, and jets in the master bedroom's shower cascade hot water and steam as therapy for her body.

When Byron is close enough to echo whine at, she bids for wet and naked cuddles while trying to feel human in the shower.

It's always amusing to observe someone when they are outright drunk and listen to them prattle on about who knows what. Mostly nothing important, but sometimes they let things slip that they shouldn't. Either way, Byron seems in a somewhat good mood, if simply entertained by Lilith in this mode. As long as she's not about to be sick in his rental, he's okay with her smelling like tequila, with her face flushed with color as he listens to her giggle on. After the first couple of text messages sent, only then realizing that any that come in after the fact, will most likely be from her, he stops checking his messages altogether to keep his eye on the darkened road. Probably at some point later, he'll take a look. Save any that's worth saving.

Her going on about giving him a blowjob while driving gets this hint of a grin, but it's something he figured she'd offer to do even when sober. She was just that kind of wild spirit in his eyes.

Once she's tucked away and placed into his bad, he's somewhat relieved. As amusing as it all was, even as he watches her from the doorway drifting off to bed before he makes yet another long-distance phone call for work, he's relieved for the quiet. Finally. Obviously, she must have had a good time, she seemed to be in a good mood, so there's that.

Despite his own late evening, he's up bright and early and by the time Lilith is roused and taking a shower, he's already finished his morning run and workout. So he's looking forward to rinsing off when he realizes that she's no longer asleep and he can hear the water running in the bathroom. Stripping down on his way to the shower, still covered in sweat, he looks wide awake when he steps in too wrap his arms around her, feeling the heat of the water cascading over his hair and bare skin. Placing a kiss on her lips, he murmurs with a smile, "Morning. I'll assume that you and the ladies had a fun evening?"

Peeling herself away from the wall as the glass shower door opens to admit a sweaty and exercise bolstered and blood pumped Byron once he's stripped down, Lilith practically lean latches to him instead as his arms go around her. Nudging her face up to catch the kiss with her hair already wetted and slicked back out of her face, he can see she's at least already washed the leftover smudged makeup off that she went to bed in drunk, so she's deceptively fresh faced and flushed herself from the heat of the shower despite the dull throb of her head and general layabout fatigue of hangover. At least she's not sick-sick, she's not a complete wuss, but tequila sucks.

After laying on another kiss, then another in brief, she draws back just enough to really look at him all up and awake and active and not hungover before replying after some consideration, "Mhm. But looking at you like this here, all blood pumped and bright eyed and awake is irritating me, ugh, Look at you." She's not actually irritated so much as she wishes she was feeling fine like him, but the trade and sacrifice was made and yes, she did seem happy and still seems content this morning despite the hangover, so it really might have done her some good to bond with other gals in some sense. Lilith mostly sticks to comments about what her life's been like ever since she made the fateful decision of cutting him out as a precaution when things got bad as a teenager. She doesn't go into over-detail, but he has a sense that people in her life weren't well-bonded to her socially or emotionally, just like in high school. It's probably good for her to be having this late bloomer friend thing happen and develop.

As a byline, a few of the texts that actually made sense (to degrees) said this:
-- u make my insides melty and happy (heart blushing emoji face)
-- when im happy inside teh whole world changes did u know?
-- i wanna whisper secrets cause then u can know my melty insides
-- i kinda like life now even tho we almost die a lot and its not baaaaaad
-- insides insides mmmm you inside me!

Thankfully, Lilith hasn't seen her phone yet to make him delete her string of embarrassments, but there's some gems in there that seem to mean something, at least. She's happy in a way that extends beyond Byron, to life itself, and that's new for her too, not to just struggle and tolerate it and power through with the occasional highs and a lot of lows she swore she deserved prior.

"I think, though... maybe we should have just had wine and food at my place or something, but it was freeing and got my energy out, at least. It's no Miami nightclub, but we made do." Then Lilith's wet lashes bat a few times fast with a general weirded out expression, as if she's trying to parse out how much was drink and how much was solid, but it's fleeting, doesn't matter, her lips pull with smile, "No regrets, that's the important part, I think. How much did you really want to yank me back into the car after I got out to walk in with a dress like that? And what'd you do to occupy yourself while waiting?"

His mouth pressed against hers, teeth gently biting down at her lower lip as they are both drenched with the heat of the shower, Byron says, flashing her a smile once he partially withdraws, "You looked adorable sleeping with a pillow covering your face, I didn't want to wake you to join me." That should translate to: You looked like you needed the rest. She should know by now that this was his routine, one that's only been broken due to illness, injury or a bout of laziness every so often, especially after a night of sex.

He's more than happy to further indulge with the kisses, burying his head deep against her neck, trailing lips down the slope of her wet shoulder. This might more than tell her just how he felt after seeing her in that dress and observing as she disappeared into the night club, that door keeping them separated for the rest of the evening until it was time to pick her up. What he doesn't tell her is that he waited there in the parking lot for a while after she had gone in, keeping an eye on the area just in case. That 'Just in case' could be anything and it surely was multiple scenarios in his mind.

"It was tempting," He murmurs against her neck before pulling back once again so that their eyes can meet beneath the shower, heavy droplets spilling down from his bangs and gliding down his face. "I'm not gonna lie, to just collect you up in my arms and into the car, but this was your night." At the question of what he'd been doing all night, he laughs lightly, "Turned out the news for a bit, then put on some random Netflix show that I was barely watching. Then I had a call from Shanghai and then I went to pick you up. " That's all true even if he leaves a thing or two out... "So, nothing eventful. Just waiting on you." He then asks, "Did you all get to dance?" Women tend to dance together, but he's asking this question for other reasons as well.

"It's a good thing you didn't try to get me up to run. I might have called you something unflattering. I was having a weird dream or two or three, I think. The normal kind. Thankfully hazy now." Lilith can't help her hands from moving in slide over Byron's skin, his toned muscles, his sides, his back, fingers splaying up between the shoulderblades to dig in with pressure of small hugging knead while they're there in the heat and spray. Especially once he's had a turn with his teeth at her bottom lip. And somehow, even though the water is hot, when his mouth makes trail on the wet line that runs her neck into shoulder, it feels like heat and fire to her that distracts her from mentioning the dreams and that's fine by her.

Turner was in them, she knows that, even though a lot of the details are faded into a general arc when it comes to remembering. But it's so easy to push those things out of mind when she's standing here in Byron's arms. It comes, she remembers, it goes and sticks somewhere for later, perhaps.

When he's drawn back, though, her hands shift from glide and rub over the slick of his skin and one of them lifts to nudge and rake Byron's wetted dark hair back with slick of arranging, though the shower just gradually soaks and weights it to pitch and hang again with him looking down at her. The question about dancing brings an immediate tick of nod from her, because they DID dance, just the three of them, then she remembers she ran into Julia. Loose end if Julia runs into Byron and blabs about the fauxhawks. Damn. But even if she wanted to tell him to open herself up to his utter amusement forever, it's kind of hard to explain like Dream things are, so she gives him a partial framework that sounds normal and true, besides.

"I'm not going to lie, if you did it suave and sexy and manhandled me back into the car right, you could have pulled it off and I'd have been late or lied a reschedule. I'm maddeningly obsessed with your body and the things you do to me. It feels like making up for lost time ever since a flood gate opened with all kinds of sexy permissions." Lilith tells Byron with her lips slanted some, face at tip up to catch his bottom lip with her teeth for tugging with punctuation to the sentiment confession, "And yes, we danced, all three of us together. Ran into Julia there too, I took a turn with her. Floor was swarming with douchebags, though. Got to kick an assgrabber, wasn't very satisfying. But fire and fights in Felix's place? Psh, no thanks. Even drunk me knows better." Also true, it's what kept her from breaking into mass fire-force against the brosquad even though they clearly weren't part of the crime-lord's establishment at that point.

Her hand not now resting at his shoulder after that futile and fond hair adjusting... it slips with flatting rub of palm over his stomach between them as she draws back just enough fractional space to really look at him again, "Honestly. Ridiculous. I didn't know I could be so turned on by a man with just... proximity." That's how obsession kind of works, but at least there's high points beyond wanting to smother and stalk each other with rampant history and affection all mixed up in that lust, "Anyway, maybe next time we'll have girls night at the strip club." She's probably joking to see his expression at the thought of it, but this is Lilith who gives absolutely no damns or fucks sometimes when inclined, and she used to know/work/hang with escorts, apparently, given Grant's comments about what kind of business her 'boss' Camilla ran.

Byron likes being touched. He enjoys the intimacy. The sensual contact. His firm stomach becomes all the more taut when she caresses it with those magic fingers of hers. It's not just the touch alone, but it helps. The whole visual package, the sight of her soft flesh wet by the warm spray of the shower and watching as those droplets travel down the length of her body, touching on each and every curve. There's this quiet observant breath that he releases, his gaze looking thoughtful, though he's polite enough to lift his view to meet with hers through the heated streams. "Good weird dreams, I hope? At least for the time being."

Watching her reach over to fuss at his damp hair, he smiles broadly at her. He was here for the shower, so while he's mesmerized by her body, his lean muscled frame pushes against her when he makes a grab for the shampoo, which he then lathers into his hair. He doesn't usually use hair products when he exercises, but he is washing away the perspiration from his exertion.

"How is Julia doing? I don't stop by the Fish Shack as often as I'd like." He enjoys the fish and chips and popcorn shrimp, "But I figure she's also been busy." However, when she brings up this assgrabber, there's this serious look in his eyes, one of his dark brows slightly lifted. "Was it a local?" In case she can point him out later. "Or just some random stranger?" He can only assume it were a stranger, but maybe Lilith was protecting the guy's identity. "I mean, if the guy was messing with you, you could always flag the bouncers down and they'll handle it." That would be Andre among others.

Using the same shampoo, look it's a shampoo and body wash combo, to soap up the rest of himself. "Aren't you glad I didn't let myself go after you broke my heart?" Lilith's leaving him was a sore spot for him for a time, even if though he used to play it off as a youngster. He can joke about it now too. Leaning in close, he nuzzles his chin against her forehead briefly as he starts to rinse himself off completely now. "I don't want to hear that you're all working there after that." He says as a joke. Maybe. He's smiling, so it must a joke. "The Cabaret is great for a good time."

"It was loud, didn't get to talk to Julia, she took off for the bar after the dance. And, you know... you'd have an aneurysm if we ended up in the Caberet on amateur night and I showed a room of men your precious, hard-fought and won pair of Lilith tits. I'm surprised you don't punch the Captain for his eyefull on principle just to get it out of your system." There's a long moment after Byron presses against her in reach for the shampoo where Lilith just watches him start to soap up, her eyes running the line of his body with up and down wandering appreciation. She stalls and pulls in a breath to blow out with rampant appreciation and general dumbfounded air before wetting her lips and breaking into a sudden smile and partial airy laugh for some reason. Then she shakes her head some to step back with leaning against the wall to watch him soap, making a purr of noise for the lean in nuzzle before he rinses,

And though Byron was joking about the broken heart bit, oh, how it stings her still. But it's not like a gut punch, the way it was before when she was reminded of it while looking right at him with the years between inefficient for dampening the guilt and memories of how it felt. She doesn't react outwardly, though, because right now she's looking right at him looking at her with affection, easy enough about it to make the joke with the satiation of what they have now as balm. It's balm for her too, despite the twinging sting that's unwitting, and her response is laden with affection when the laugh trails off, "Yes, you have no idea what happened in my brain the first time we saw each other. I think something snapped and turned the mute button on life in general at the most insane moment. Not that I didn't always find you the most handsome boy in the whole world, but to see that turned into... hell, you, and really see you and have your eyes seeing me after so long, it was... mm. You know?"

Her words have taken a more serious turn by the end of speaking, because when she says that, recalls that moment, she melts a little more inside looking at Byron and she starts to spill everything she's never said about Grant Turner while explaining that he was in the dream because god, it's still unreal that they're standing here in the shower together there for a fleeting few heartbeats. That happens from time to time, and like she texted, she wants him to know her insides, all the melty for him insides. But suddenly she's not sure he even wants to know. He doesn't ask. She doesn't know that he saw the moment when it all turned bad. They only talk about the circumstances now for security purposes, more or less.

So when she breathes out the next couple of replies, the first bit is somewhat dismissive so Byron isn't dwelling on that, especially considering what comes second that she just touches on and prepares to move on from given demeanor, "Some random guy, though, backed off and could have been any damn fratbro, can't tell them apart. Took care of it." Pause, "Not good dreams, no, but not bad dream nightmares. Turner was in them, though, so it's more... squirmy and uncomfortable to remember on waking than anything, I guess."

"You want me to punch de la Vega?" Byron says, his grin widening in amusement. As he seems to be considering this, his brows lifted ever so thoughtfully, that's when the grin wanes, but doesn't disappear entirely. "First of all, he's the Captain of the GHPD. Secondly," His gaze lowers to stare at her directly now, "He didn't dress you. I mean, he was a gentleman, right?" A single brow remains arched as he tries to remember what she'd said about the incident before. "I mean, if you're running around in your sleepwear," And he knows what kinds of things she sleeps in, "People are gonna look."

With the soap being washed away, flowing down the length of his body to pool suds around the drain, Byron's grin returns in full. "I'm surprised you even recognized me." A hand rubs at his bristled chin, "I mean, if I ever shaved this off completely, I'd look like the same kid you knew back in school. Aside from a bit of facial hair," And a change in style, somewhat, "I don't think I look any different. That said," And he looks a little embarrassed right now, "I mean it too. Which is why I'm keeping the beard. Makes me look sophisticated." There's laughter in his tone when he says this, like it's all a joke.

Once he's all rinsed off, he reaches to wrap his arms around Lilith's slick body against, holding her close once more. The fratbro thing gets a single nod. Not that he likes the sound of the encounter, but what she says next makes his muscles tense, she can feel it in the grip around her. It's a brief thing, a reflex. Turner. He's not going to ask anything further on that. No use upsetting her anyway. Instead, he leans in close, brushing the tip of his nose against the curve of her ear before his lips press against the side of her face. "Not anything overly threatening then?" Dreams, the mundane kind, aren't usually omens are they? While he tries not to pry too much, he'll inquire about that. How safe she feels now.

"Nuh uh. Not unless you wrangle him into Kelly's as a cover up excuse, because you're too pretty for jail, hot as it'd be to watch. I showed up in the panties and gun holster leftover from snapping pics for you before I passed out, so it looked like a kink, probably. But he gave me his jacket, which is also what he was picking up when he responded to the Katy call. And yes, keep the beard, I like it. I'd know you anywhere with or without it, though, turns out, tested and true after a decade. Apparently, you brain seared." Lilith knocks a hand back through her wet hair to finger through some of the tangles while continuing to watch Byron with shameless appreciation. Then her hand drops, hair already having had the wash with her body and face before she went back to wall leaning about the time he got in. Also she smuggled her own shampoo and conditioner in at some point because he uses that two and one shit and she has a lot of hair, damnit. It also might be a staking claim thing, other than convenience, who knows, girls are sneaky.

"I don't think so. I remember we were on his yacht, I was wearing red, and I felt captive, but I wasn't captive... and he was talking and being personable like everything was fine and I remember thinking the birds tailing the wake were exceptionally loud. But I was jealous of them because they were flying and free. I think there were other things, but I don't really remember them, so much. Maybe it's a good thing. You know how hazy dreams get when they aren't so terribly real in opposite."

Omens. Are dreams omens sometimes, not just reflections of the way things could have been, the way things are, but also the way things might be one day? They live in Gray Harbor and given what they've lived through, perhaps it's not a stretch for Byron to even mentally register that fleeting wondering, because Lilith did too.

Lilith feels safe, though, how could she not without him stepping and reaching and drawing and holding them there together with the strength that resonates through his arms, the familiar solidity of his body both physically and on a level Lilith senses with her altered perception catered to psychic talents that's made his body known to the bones. How could she feel threatened with him spotting her, that sturdiness of body reflective of his stalwart insides she knows too? He spotted her when they were six, the very first time, he wasn't going to let her fall then, he didn't let her hang from the bridge, he didn't let her fall from the balcony, he won't let her fall into Grant Turner's nasty little clutches and traps and self-esteem pitfalls.

Goosebumps chase her flesh after the nuzzle at her ear and the kiss, despite subject matter and his tightened arms, they can feel the shiver subtle that comes with it, saying yes, she's fine and very responsive to him instead of mentally foddering any upset. In fact, she's so content and pleased suddenly there in his arms under the press of his lips, "I'm yours. He's not taking that." Then after what sounds like a promise for his bout of tension and a subtle, but also weighted permission for Byron to yes, call her his entirely, she murmurs, "Knees. Get on your knees and I'll tell you a secret."

The way she just told him to get on his knees is rather possessive 'mine' sounding and breathy in command as her eyes flutter closed for a spell while held fast.

When Lilith tells him exactly what she was wearing in that dream, jogging his memory of that moment, Byron is reminded of the hot image she made for him when they both were still sick with fever. "I still have that picture on my phone. Been thinking of using it as my lock screen so I'd have to swipe a finger over that body." It could've ended there, but he adds in, still sounding amused, "Then I realized that if someone did happen to get ahold of my phone, they'd be graced with that very picture. If anything, I think they'd need to work for it, and get the phone unlocked. So a wallpaper it is." He'll most likely not use that particular picture as his wallpaper. Not for his phone at least.

Byron knows women enough and while men can get lazy or not care too much about what they use on their hair and body, women are far specific with what they use, but it's not something that he's really bothered with, aside from taking good care of his appearance.

"You felt like you were captive. On a yacht? I'd almost say that sounds like Princess Leia on Jabba's barge right there. Except you had a dress on rather than a skimpy space bikini." Byron decides to state the first thing that came to mind. It might be a light-hearted comment, but he knows that since she had a desire to be free, it wasn't a pleasant feeling.

His own passion building the longer that they remain glistening wet beneath the hot spray of the shower, Byron looks to be pleased when Lilith utters the words 'I'm yours.' However, it's her next request that gets him curious and it's not something he reacts to immediately. Instead, he meets her gaze with this inquisitive look, like a man weighing his options and trying to anticipate what she had on her mind.

He'll bite however and with a hand trailing down one of her slick arms, he does just as she says, lowering himself carefully down onto his knees. With a lift of his chin, those dark eyes stare up at her.

Before Byron eases down to kneel with Lilith watching his hand on her arm before eyes shift to meet his own, she tuts her tongue with good nature at the phone picture musings, making a noise of amusement in her throat, but absolutely no argument. Might be a little bit of that exhibition pride thing when it comes to being naked with Byron in whatever form, that and the idea he probably won't actually lock-screen it. But beyond that, it kind of makes her feel a fluttery kind of delighted dirty and proud to think of him stowing it to backdrop something else, or hell, just the idea that he's looked back at it. And the comparing Turner to Jabba with a barge downright makes her huff a laugh that diminishes to serious once he's dropping after the bout with consideration.

"Don't worry..." Lilith assures Byron with her own backhanded light commentary of jest, ticking a hand up with caress under his chin while her standout blue eyes meet his dark ones with intensity despite the lightness, "I'm not forcing you into another marriage proposal for another backyard wedding." She did that like two or three times just because they were playing pretend and she was bored with doing boy things, also the crushing might have started early before they even really knew what the crushing was all about, who knows. Her hand shifts from his chin to his bristled jaw, then side swipes to drag two of her fingertips with grazing over his lips, "I'm going to show you how to take care of a hangover." Then when her hand withdraws, one of those wet, lovely and lengthy legs shifts with lift and hooking rest of bend over one of his solid shoulders for position and support and one very blatant directive tip off.

Lilith makes a low explanation about hangovers, headaches, and endorphins that’s detailed down at Byron for science, surely, and her hand shifts to take rough hold of his hair for twist of the wet strands. Then she waits for him to react.

(She may think she's playing sex and control at the moment, but it's not escaping her this is Byron-- he's just as apt to rally on her for the sake of re-directing control and surprise factor. It plays up the heat and anticipation just knowing that.)

Kneeling down before Lilith does remind him of the times where they pretend married. They were still young back then and they weren't the only children playing 'house' at the time. It's that they were always paired together. As a child, Byron didn't usually mind being the husband/father, though his own family life wasn't as happy and make-believe as the imaginary family that they had made for each other. Eventually, he'd grown out of it.

They both aren't children anymore. Hell, they were both in the shower in all their naked glory. And Byron takes full advantage.

“So all this time, there was a possibility of curing a headache with sex? Though, I'm sure when women use that excuse, they just aren't feeling it.”

“Shhh. You're not supposed to know that secret irony as a man. I just gave you hero ammo in the event of actual headaches.”

When it’s all done, the first thing that comes to mind for Byron to say is: Is that the Dominatrix in you speaking? And he means that physically, not verbally. Instead of saying it, however, after pressing his hot mouth against Lilith’s again, he comes out with, "A woman who knows what she wants. That's something I can definitely appreciate." The stinging claw marks at his back all punctuate this fact. After a bit of breather, he leans forward to scoop her up within his arms, holding her wet body against his.

It’s morning and while they probably have things to do, he's at least willing to cancel some of those plans for the next few hours to lounge lazily in bed, their bodies tangled together. Maybe they'll get more sleep, or simply relish in one another's company. Then again, there's a good possibility for them to go a second round once he's recovered. A very good possibility.

Either way, it’s one hell of a hangover cure.