2019-12-20 - Roses are Red, Violets are Blue. They did Sex.

Bennie should have called first, or at least sent a text. But in doing so gives her fewer opportunities to back out altogether. She must know he's home, possibly because his jeep is in his parking spot, because she raises her hand to knock at the door instead of just using her key. She doesn't live here anymore, is the internal reasoning. It would be rude to just barge in. And also, she doesn't want to accidentally walk in on him and...anyone or anything that would make this all the more difficult.

After her knock, she steps back from the door, hands gripped together over the sling of her purse over her midsection. Her hair is still stick straight (thank you Brazilian blow out from a friend) and it's been pulled back from her face in a severe ponytail. She's dressed casually in a pair of faded jeans and her EMT boots, a burnt orange knit sweater pulled over a tank paired with a vintage turquoise peacoat she got for a song a few seasons ago.

Easton is dressed for a night in. He's wearing a pair of sweat pants and a tank top with a zip up hoodie over it. On the TV which is visible from the entry is the best damn holiday movie of all time: Die Hard. And perhaps most importantly, there is no glass of whiskey or bottle of beer in sight. He has been preparing for a night off without drinking for some time and one of the best ways he can think to distract himself is with the most explosions and gunfire and Yippie-Kay-Yay-ing movie he can think of.

He heads to the door and opens it without looking out first. When he sees her there, standing on his stoop looking great, he just stops and stands very still. It takes him nearly a full minute to finally come up with the eloquent and well thought out perfect greeting of, "Hi."

Probably the longest minute of Bennie's life, during which she glances away down the hall, wondering if perhaps she should just tuck tail back to the elevator. When he finally says a greeting instead of just slamming the door, there is a tick of relief on her face. "Hey." Bennie says back, eyes doing a quick roam down and back up again, quietly assessing his sobriety and state. He might be dressed for a night in, but there is a momentary pang in her features because she looks like she just wants to crawl into his lap and cuddle up through the rest of the winter. She clears her throat instead, "Can I come in a sec?"

Easton's gray eyes study her face, trying to discern what it will be this time. He is in fact sober, but he doesn't really look that much better for it. There are dark circles still under his eyes and he looks a little puffy in general. He repeats the "Hey" back to her and then when she asks, finally moves aside and says, "Yea. Of course. Sure." He is finally starting to get over the shock of her being there, but he's not back to really full chatty strength just yet. So he stands by the door and waits for her to come in, looking at her expecting her to say why she's there.

Bennie ducks her head a little as she passes by him, stepping into the apartment with just a little subtle glance aside to the spot where the nail polish bottle struck and where the coffee table once was. "Sorry, I would have called first but..." She didn't want to. Much perhaps to his chagrin, she doesn't just jump right into why she's here. "Doing okay? You eating enough? Getting enough sleep?"

The nail polish stain remains. It was obviously there was an attempt to clean it up, but the marks on the wall is all too visible. The coffee table has been replaced by a large cardboard box that Gunner's new kennel came in. Easton gives a small shrug at the fact that she should have called first, "I don't mind." Anyone else? Probably. But not her. But then she's not really saying why she's here and his voice gets a little more terse, "I'm fine. Bennie, did you need something?" More money? To hit him instead of a police captain? He doesn't start offering possibilities yet, but the night is still young.

Okay, this is a whole lot of awkward and now she's fidgeting, the victim is a button on the front of her jacket that she just starts spinning on its threads until it's too tight to rotate before she releases it to unwind back. Bennie, turns to face him, "I wanted to see how you were? I..." She makes a face of frustration, eyes ticking away, and before she says anything stupid like 'I missed you' outside of a drunken text, she says the first thing that comes to her mind. More of blurts it out, really. "I was going to see if I could borrow the jeep, take a couple boxes with me." Shit.

Easton watches her face and then watches the button. And when she says she wanted to see how he's doing his face gets a little darker. He starts to answer but then she looks away, not wanting an answer. He then watches her before she blurts out about the jeep. He looks confused for a moment and then can't help himself from asking, "Depends. Are you sober right now? Or did you have to take a nosefull first to come see me?" The frustration at her coming all this way to ask about borrowing the jeep just comes right out. That's why they invented text messages!

They're both live wires and it's been safer keeping apart. Together there are bound to be sparks. As soon as that comes out of his mouth, Bennie's knee jerk reaction is to fire right back and escalate it. "I'm perfectly clean right now, are you? Because I'm not really sure what that looks like anymore." Picking up some of her stuff! That's totally plausible!

"Really? Not even a couple adderall to help you get through? Because bullshit on your prescription crap." Easton fires back at her and takes great pleasure in telling her, "And I am one hundred percent stone cold sober right now." Granted that is probably the first day he could say that since they broke up, but it's still true and thus feels good to yell that back. His voice is not much louder than usual but it echoes. "You want your stuff? Fine. Where you taking it Bennie? Your fancy ass imaginary new place? Just going to pawn it all?"

Shit. That was supposed to be a good thing. A nice thing he did for her. Not more ammo to throw at her.

Oh well, too late now.

Bennie rolls her shoulder, the strap of her bag rolling down into the crook of her elbow where she walks and swings it to plop down on the couch as she talks. "You finally get banned from your own bar?" She twists back to him, the whip of her ponytail winding around her neck with the velocity. "What business is it of yours? You lost the right to ask those questions sometime around when you decided to take our problems and cram them into someone else with your pecker."

When she slips off her bag and sets it down as if she still lives there, his eyes harden. As if she can just waltz back in and do whatever. Say whatever. "Nope. Heard you got canned from the diner though. Decided to slap up De La Vega? Great move sweetheart. Super, fucking smart." He advances on her finding every flick of the ponytail now feels like an offense. "Well when I bank roll a shitty plan I like to at least know the details. I lost the right?! Or you just decided once again that you need to go it alone because you won't let anyone fucking help you."

"Didn't get fired. I quit before I could. And for your information, Gina sent me a gift basket the next day for having balls and said my job wasn't going any where. And yes I slapped him, but who I really should have slapped was you. My problem's not with Javier, he's not the one that broke any promises. He's not the one who broke my goddamn heart. You know what the real problem is? It's not that you cheated. Not really. It's that you had a problem with us and you didn't trust me enough to TALK to me about it. Maybe we could've figured it out. Maybe I could have given you a hall pass or..." Bennie's hands fly up in frustration. "So I think you're the one who decided to go it alone, there buckaroo."

"Of course she fucking did." Easton rolls his eyes at Gina's actions, because it's Gina and that type of counter-culture should really be expected even if it annoys him in the moment. "Yer god damn right you should have slapped me! I'm the one who fucked up." His face clenches when she gets to the real heart of the matter. Then he steps closer and grabs her hands. "Because what the fuck was I supposed to do? Complain that you weren't getting over me trying to kill you fast enough? That you weren't sexually pleasing me well enough? Oh that would have gone fucking great. Yeah, I'm sure that would have fucking solved everything." He holds her wrists and all but growls the words in her face.

It's probably a good thing Easton grabbed her wrists, because when he says Bennie should've slapped him instead, it looks like she's going to do just that. Instead she gets caught in just a struggle against his grip, her eyes flashing something dangerous as he says that she wasn't sexually pleasing him enough. That hurt. Instead of spitting back another insult or refuting what he said, she resorts to the tactic she used against Ruiz. She stomps her foot down HARD. Unfortunately, the Blonde didn't really think the one through and instead of a fleshy foot beneath her heel, she hits the hard prosthetic. And that just breaks her. Into laughter.

Holding her hands fast he watches her face intently, barely a foot between them now. And then she stomps on his foot. His very fake foot. His jaw tightens and he smirks but then she starts laughing and he has to fight back laughter as well. But he does release her hands and says in a questioning voice, "Ow?" Perhaps he shouldn't have been lulled into false security by the laughing though?

Bennie manages to tamp down the laughter into just chuckles against her clenched together lips, squeaking out a, "Sorry, sorry." As he says 'ow', her newly released hands coming up to his face as if to insure that she didn't actually hurt him, cupping his cheeks and stroking the lines of his beard with quick flicks of her thumbs. Between the shouting and the laughter and the spike in adrenaline, her breathing has quickened and now her eyes are ticking from his before dragging down to his mouth and back up.

Easton manages to not laugh at her as she squeaks out apologies though only just barley. But then her hands are on his face and he realizes how flushed he actually is when the feel like burning lines being traced on his cheeks by her thumbs. He closes the gap between them instinctively at the touch. His eyes watch hers and flick down to her lips, slightly parted and breathing faster. He doesn't speak, suddenly caught up in the strange turn this argument just took. He waits for only a moment more before kissing her. Not a gentle brush this time like the office. Not a sweet taste. No he captures her mouth and presses against her hard. He should wait to see how she reacts and let her lead but he doesn't care about that right now.

Bennie isn't a soft and compliant thing this time when their lips touch, when he seals that kiss she's pressing back into it just as hard as if continuing their verbal fight with a war of their mouths. She even cheats a little and goes up onto her tiptoes to gain some advantage in height. "This doesn't mean I'm done yelling at you." She says in a quick breathy voice as her hands drop from their touch at his face down to his chest, fingers curling roughly into his pecs and then raking down against the fabric of his tank top while she chases after another kiss.

Easton's hands roughly grab her hips and pull them close against his before one is sliding up under her sweater, tugging at fabric with an urgent grip. His other hand presses into the small of her back, pinning her against him. He mumbles, "cheater" when she goes up on her tiptoes, though he's plenty experienced at making out with people taller than him. "I like it when you're vocal." Is all he has to say about her not being done yelling at him. He breaks kiss when she rakes against his chest and releases his grip to unzip and shake off his hoodie before claiming her face with his hands and pulling her into another deep kiss. He's much rougher than usual, no gently sweeps or teasing brush of his lips or fingers. Between kisses he tells her, "You are unfairly fucking hot."

Surely by vocal he means the noise she makes when his hands go up under her sweater. His hoodie comes off and Bennie ditches her coat in a likewise fashion, leaning forward as he captures her face in his hands as she drops the wool peacoat behind her in a brilliant splash of color in his otherwise rather monotone apartment. Oh hey, it sort of matches the nail polish on the wall. "You're one to talk. Have you always had these abs?" It's not like they just appeared in the three-ish weeks since their break up, but her hands are exploring them as if their previously unexplored territory. "Now shut up."

Her hands exploring his midsection is enough to cause him to break the kiss and suck in a breath with closed eyes. Now shut up Easton's eyes re-open with a dark, almost angry intensity. He roughly shoves her backwards onto the couch and agrees, "Fine. No fucking talking." He pulls off his tank top and tells her, "Take off yer damn clothes." So that no talking rule lasted not even a second, and he doesn't comply himself yet leaving the rest of his clothes on, having already gone seconds without touching her or kissing her apparently taking too much of a toll. He places one knee on the couch next to her to lean in and kiss her again. One hand cupping behind her head, fingers threading into the blond straightened hair. The other hand pulling ineffectively but hopefully at her top seeking to roughly explore her soft skin again.

There is a flash of something in Bennie's eyes when she's shoved back into the couch, but it's not born of fear or flinching, no, it's undisguised hunger as he strips off his tank top and she's chewing up the sight with her gaze. "What, you're making the rules now? Screw that." Well, Bennie says one thing, but is doing the complete opposite by following the directive, fingers going to the hem of her sweater to pull it up and only delayed by another frantic kiss. When a breath is needed and stolen, the dark orange garment gets flung away before her hands are back on him, gripping at bare shoulders with a dig of her fingernails hard enough to leave little red half moons in his skin. It's a dance between how many clothes really need to be taken off versus her thin patience for things like disrobing.

Easton may have thought many times about the glory that is Bennie stripping off her clothes as they move in this direction, but the sight of it afresh is enough cause a soft groan to escape his lips. He tugs up her tank top ineffectively as he can't stop pressing against her to kiss her mouth, her neck, her jaw. What you're making rules now? "Yes." He answers resolutely to the rhetorical question. And maybe to the flippant command after it too. He pulls her down from sitting to now laying on the couch with him over her, pinning her down.

His mouth moves back to kissing her neck, pressing hard with his bearded face against her skin. And then in a moment their jeans and footwear suddenly aren't a barrier anymore. They obediently slide off their frames, lifting bodies, limbs and undoing buttons and zippers as necessary. Sure Easton could pop open the button before, this is a good deal more intricate sexy trick work.

Everything about the last few weeks has been so complicated. Except this. It's just so basic and simple, boiled down to a carnal need that makes her kisses smeared and her touches of him hurried and unfocused as if Bennie's trying to touch him every where at once. She cradles the back of his head, holding his mouth hard against her skin and the scrape of his beard harsh as she squeezes his bicep, his hip, his back with a frantic grip. Normally there'd be a laugh as he strips away their clothes just with the use of his glimmer, but this time there is a hiss of anticipation as she throws one bare leg around his thigh and curls with a flex of muscle she normally doesn't deploy. "Now." It's not a plea, it's a demand spoken into his ear before she bites the shell with a sharp press of her teeth.

Dressing afterwards lacks all of the simplicity and confidence of their earlier actions for Easton. He can't help but steal glances over at her, not to get one more look at her body (okay, not just for that reason) but to try and guess what's next. Do they go back to fighting now? Does she just pick up her stuff and leave? Once he slides his pants back on, he sits back down on the couch, leaning forward on his elbows. There's no yelling now. No telling her what to do. Just quiet looks over at her, watching her.

Where the hell did her underwear go. Bennie's shaking out her jeans, and when she doesn't find them there, there is a crawl on all fours until she finds them underneath one of the counter height chairs in the kitchen. Seems Easton's glimmer was a little enthusiastic. She manages to pull them on without quite unfolding herself, catching one of those glances from Easton when she ticks her own over. This is the definition of awkward silence. She tries to fill it with a flicker of a smile and a little unbelieving, "Wow." Because what else do you say at a time like this? She pulls on her tank top over a bra that was never fully removed but is righted now, and then slips back over to the couch, her long legs stepping over the arm to the cushion to settle in a perch on the raised side. "So."

The sight of her crawling on all fours in just a bra in search of her underwear causes Easton to smother a smile. He has to look away to not start laughing. At her Wow he slowly nods, "I agree." He doesn't feel the need to get any more dressed than this but also doesn't really know what to do with himself now. Before it was very clear.

So

He rolls his head to the side and looks up at her, his shoulders still facing forward. He regards her for a while, and lets himself feel just how badly he misses her. The sorrow that he's been trying to keep at bay with the booze now having nothing to suppress it back down. He admits, "I'm trying to get my shit worked out Benz. I am. It wasn't your fault. None of it."

Bennie extends her foot, nudging his thigh with her toes. The nails have been repainted from that cheery blue color into a matte grey, it seemed more fitting at the time. "I'm glad. Not for me, but for you. You deserve to live the best version of yourself. But you're not the only one that needs to get their act together though, Easton. I haven't exactly been the best version of myself since I left here. But if there's any hope of..." Her eyes search his face in earnest, but she doesn't have the stomach in her to give the confidence to finish that sentence in case he doesn't mean there may be hope for them. "Well, I'm going to start by apologizing to Javier, if he'll hear it." She's not touching the subject of blame, its clear she knows it took two to tango, and she's the one that walked out. "You still going to visit Jenny for the holidays?"

Meanwhile on Easton's foot on the toes are bits of blue polish, he has no idea how to get it off. He looks dubious that he deserves anything good but doesn't argue. At the talk of any hope his eyebrow inch up in a furrowed painful look as if he doesn't even want to hear about it. Not because he doesn't want reconciliation, just it might be too painful to get his hopes up. He agrees with a nod about apologizing to De La Vega. "Yea I'm headed out Christmas Eve and won't be back til New Years. You have a place to go?" The thought of her alone on Christmas is even worse than the fact that they won't be spending it together.

"Oh, you know people, holidays make them stupid. I'll have more than enough to keep me busy at the Station." See! Bennie has a place to go: work. Clearly, she must've misinterpreted that pained look, because she's glancing around for the rest of her belongings now, her face settled into something akin to crestfallen. Easing down onto the couch from its arm, she leans over to start collecting the spilled contents of her purse that got displaced from the sofa when they crashed onto it. Like always, half of her life is in the damn thing, including a t-shirt that she misappropriated at some point from Easton and now claims is hers. Wallet, keys, some loose change, a compact umbrella. "Mind if I grab the rest of my stuff later? I'm kinda tired."

Easton tries not to wince when Bennie talks about working through the holiday. He doesn't get that his pained look is the reason that she's in a rush to go. He attributes that to her having just made a mistake. He helps her gather her things, quietly. He tries to work up the nerve to ask her to stay. Awkwardly bumping hands and heads as they try and pick things up, he lets out a quiet embarrassed laugh. He sees the tee-shirt and can't help but smile stupidly for a moment as he tucks it back in her bag. "You could.. sure." Nope, not what he wanted to say.

"If you just tell me where you're staying, I can drop it off. Or bring it by the station or the diner? It's not a problem."

Mentally he kicks himself for making it easier for her not to come back. Too slow to realize that a return trip would be a good thing. Maybe, not as good as this last one, but still a good thing.

CLUNK! Bennie sits back slightly, with a sudden bright smile as their heads clash and he gives a little laugh. "Who knew this was a full contact sport." The smile doesn't have a chance to take root though as he's offering to drop her things off, dying on the vine and dropping off her lips. "Sure. Station is fine. It's probably in your way. I know you like to keep a tidy space. Thanks." The sentences come out a little stilted, as she swings her newly repacked purse up onto the couch and starts collecting the rest of the pieces of her clothing, starting to reassemble herself with each piece being tugged on a little more vehemently than the rest. But what did she expect? One bout of angry sex was going to restart their relationship?

Easton's own smile fades as he rubs the back of his head, watching her pack all her stuff as quickly as possible and force her clothes on with a vehemence. She already regrets this. She's running away as fast as she can because she momentarily forgot how much she doesn't want you. He manages to keep the tight smile plastered to his face, especially when she gets the dig in about keeping a tidy space. "Fine." He misses the point entirely.

What did he expect one hot roll in the hay was going to make it all better?

Bennie pauses one last time to straighten her ponytail after shrugging back on her jacket. Why did this just seem to make things harder? But still, she gives a thick swallow and ventures back out onto the limb again. "You wanna grab coffee after the holidays?" That's safe, right? Less chance of them arguing, being in a public space. Less chance of it just ending up in angry sex if they're at a bistro table at Espresso Yourself.

"Yes" the reply is immediate and sure. Easton can't really be sure that angry sex in the middle of a cafe is the best idea but if that's all she's willing to offer then okay. That is what she said right?

"Great!" Bennie pipes up just as fast, stopping on her way to the door to put her hands on his shoulders. There is a bit of a stop and start, but in the end she gives him a quick kiss on the cheek and a quiet bid goodbye before she slips out with a little bit of bounce back in her step.