Her movements were slow, and careful. As if not to disturb the setting in the room. "I just guess, and hope I'm right." She whispered, barely biting her lips. Feeling his breath, her own seemingly stopped as she opened her eyes just slightly. Lifting them to study his face, close to her own. Lip slipping from her teeth, she let her breathing continue.
Things were lining up, just barely. 'I want to kiss him again… why do I want to kiss him?' Thoughts groaning, she shut her eyes tightly once more. 'Focus Jo, focus.'She scolded herself, knowing things weren't just going to go away. Things like that never did. "I… you know…" She began, putting a hand to his chest, curling her fingers ever so slightly. "I… I think I just realized something."
His eyes lifted quickly to look up at her when she started to speak. And then her hand was on his chest. He didn't know what was going on or how he felt about the situation, but he wasn't about to shut it down anytime soon. Things were starting to get better, his head wasn't clanging with self-hatred as much anymore, and he felt like a portion of a burden was lifted off his shoulders. He had finally told someone about his messed up life, and he was finally in a slightly better headspace.
Kas was silent for a moment, eyes scanning her face and trying to get a hint as to what she was thinking. He couldn't figure her out, however. But that was just Joanna—always full of surprises, intentional or not. "And what's that?" he murmured, tilting his head to the side a fraction of a fraction to not disturb her.
Breath slow and shaky, she mustered up all the courage she could. "I think… I think I might…well, I…" 'Come on! Just spit it out!' She yelled at herself mentally. Words were coming, but they weren't making any sense to her. How could they to him? It was an oddly terrible feeling, the thing growing in her chest. But she didn't want it to leave, as she got it whenever he was around. Tight knots in her chest, her stomach turned. She always assumed it was her hatred towards him, but things were starting to change. Ever since the night before.
It wasn't so hard to get the words she wanted out, but her thoughts wandered to the after effects. How would he really respond? These intrusive thoughts wouldn't leave, so she shied away from her sentence. "I think I might need to go, to the store. But I don't really want to leave." She mumbled, nuzzling her nose into his, ever so lightly.
Kas was… Well, he was confused, to say the least. He blinked as he tried to understand what was going on, but Joanna wasn't making it any clearer. 'She's not saying what's on her mind,' he concluded, studying her eyes to find the confirmation he needed. He couldn't find what he was looking for, but he didn't want to push her into going past her comfort zone. He bit the corner of his lip, teeth tapping the snake bite piercing there. 'Screw it.'
While he might not want to push her past her comfort zone, he had a strange urge in his chest to keep her near, so not let her go, not now. He hummed in acknowledgment of her statement but seemingly ignored it at the same time as he tipped his head and slowly kissed her again. One arm settled around her waist and held her close as his other arm pressed into the cushion beside her to keep him up since he was leaning over some to better reach her.
Surprised, Joanna had to stop and let her brain catch up to the moment she was in. Once fully caught up, her arms loosely hung around his neck and her eyes fell closed. 'Maybe… maybe I should tell him…' As of the moment, she only cared about kissing him. He was odd, yet charming so. Her heart was pounding in her chest, which she pressed against his to grow closer to him.
With a slight frown, she pulled away from his lips. Wishing she could just stay here, kissing him. "I-I'm sorry… I don't know what I'm doing." She whispered, pulling her arms back from around him. Maybe she was just overly worked from her encounter this morning, or maybe it was from the lack of sleep, but she felt drained. Hazy even, her thoughts getting foggy, she lightly pecked his lips before opening her eyes to look at him. Thoughts weren't clicking, so things were slipping her normally tight guard.
"I…I think I like you…"
Kas blinked, pulling back a small distance as if that would help his brain process those words. 'Surprise after surprise. What's going on in that head of yours, shortcake?' He honestly didn't know how to respond to that. She liked him. How? How could someone like Joanna like him? And it was clear this was more than friendship—he might not have much knowledge in that department, but he was pretty sure friends didn't kiss one another. And he was doing this because he wanted to, not because of the bet he had called off. This was something else.
His hand around her waist came up to her face, lightly and gently brushing over her face and fingers curling around her chin. His thumb lightly tugged on her lips, lips that he had just kissed and wanted to keep kissing. He wanted to stay with Joanna. He wanted a lot, but he's grown so used to not getting what he wanted that he was afraid of what those wants would get him if he voiced them. "Shortcake," he whispered, then closed his eyes and let out a distressed sigh as his head dropped onto her shoulder and his hand fell to her side. "I… I don't want you to go…"
Her whole body stiffened when he dropped his head on her shoulder. Back firm and straight, she let a soft look come to her face. Happy, that's what she was. Happy. Her posture relaxed, as she rested her head on top of his. She didn't want him to go either, so she wrapped her arms around him digging her nose into his fresh cut hair.
"I want you to stay with me." She whispered, reaching for his hand. Taking it, she laced their fingers, holding his larger hand tightly. "Especially now, I really want you to be with me." Meaning every word, she ran her thumb over the top of his hand delicately. "As long as it can last, I want you close."
A small but undeniably happy smile lit up his face, though it was still hidden from her. She wanted him to stay with her. She didn't want him to leave. That was something different, but he was not going to question it. He happily let Joanna lace their fingers together as he simply sat in awe of the situation for a few seconds.
"Then I'll stay," he murmured, his soft smile still there. "Long as you'll tolerate me, I won't leave." He hummed as a thought came to him, smile turning into an amused smirk. "Though, we've tolerated each other for quite some time already, so it might not be that bad. Then again, that was with the barrier of space." The moment was getting a little too serious for him, but he was happy nevertheless. Happy that Joanna had chosen him. Happy that he was still welcome in her life despite everything. Happy he was here now, with her.
Joanna just listened to his voice, drowning out his actual words. Right now, they didn't matter. She had caught his first sentence, I'll stay, so what else mattered from there? Head resting on his, her grip lessened on his hand. 'Man…I'm so tired…' She thought, before she began to hum softly. The two were here, together, and happy. Or she assumed Kasiya was happy. There was no guarantee, but she was going to hope and assume he was.
"What does this mean?" She asked softly, leaning over into the back of the couch. Gently, she used her free hand to run her fingers through his hair. "Like, do you like me too? Or is it a one sided feeling?" Asking in a mumble, she sucked in a deep breath to focus better.
"It's not a one-sided feeling," Kas was quick to correct, even if he didn't totally understand how he felt about her. Here he was, thinking he just wasn't attracted to anybody and accepting that, but then Joanna happened. Then he started to get to know her. Then he continuously sought her out no matter how far apart they might be. Then he wanted to protect her. Then he wanted to stay with her. It was all so confusing, but he did know for a fact that Joanna was special, and he was willing to say that he felt the same about her as she did about him.
He sucked in a slow breath, gently pulling away from her to adjust himself. His head's been working too much as of late, so many confusing thoughts and attempts at picking apart his emotions. He just wanted to sit back and relax. So he did. He turned around and lied on his back across the couch, using Jo's legs as a pillow as he stared up at the ceiling.
Joanna let a smile curl on her lips, and glanced down to him. "You comfortable?" She asked softly, before playing with his hair. Twirling it around her finger, running them through it, whatever. She really liked it, it looked good on him. Still feeling drowsy, her playing came down to just running her fingers through his hair. Slowly, and carefully.
Tilting her head back, she shut her eyes just laying there. Everything was perfect, as of the moment. Things were quiet, and peaceful, while she sat here with Kasiya, the last person she would expect to be relaxed with. Though he was about the only one. The only other person she felt calm with, was her Uncle Tom. A single, early 30s year old man. He was sweet, and good-natured man, always with his arms open for Joanna to come to. Even when they were both younger, he was always there for her. She never saw him as as uncle, just the nice older brother she never had.
He closed one eye as he looked up at her, a small smile on his lips. "Very." His other eye closed, and he leaned his head into her touch. It was oddly comforting, feeling her fingers running through his hair. It's been a very long time since he's received any sort of comfort from anyone, intentional or not. But now wasn't the time to dwell on that. Now, he simply could relax in the moment.
Or not.
His eyes opened quickly when an added weight landed on his stomach, and his smile curved up even more when he spotted that odd coloring of the kitten's eye. It purred and squeaked a greeting, then padded its way up to his chest and curled up happily, purring like a car's motor. "He really needs a name, or I'm just going to end up calling him Cat," Kas said, running a gentle finger down the tiny creature's back.
Cracking open her eyes, she looked to the little thing and smiled softly. "I was always bad at coming up with names." She told him, her voice sounding groggy. Her petting him ceased, though she kept her fingers in his hair. She began to hum softly, to an unnamed tune. "What if you named him Inigo?" She suggested, a slight smirk on her lips.
"It's a pretty cool name." She tempted, reaching over to scratch the kitten's head. His fur was soft, and the purring was calming. It could send almost anyone to sleep. Which, if it wasn't for Joanna's strong will to stay awake, she might have fallen asleep. Though she was oddly determined to stay awake. Maybe she was scared it was a dream, and he would disappear. Maybe it was a dream.
"Hmmm…" Kas hummed as he thought about it, then tipped his head back as far as it would go and closed his eyes again. "Sounds good." Without even looking at her, he reached over and lightly poked her stomach. "Get some shut-eye, shortcake. You need it." After a moment of thought, he added softly, "I'm not going anywhere." He knew that she needed to go to work at some point in the day, but he also knew that she needed sleep. She sounded tired, and she had looked tired in the morning, and Redore didn't help matters in the slightest either.
He knew it wasn't a dream only because of one glaring fact—he was too scared to even dream of something like this, and the swirling confusion of emotions could never be replicated by his brain. If it had been a dream, he wouldn't have felt anything, because that's the way he's always felt about people after everything. Nothing. But he's finally realized that he actually liked Joanna more than just a friend. A flicker of amusement went through him. 'If the bet was still on, we both would've lost.'
Looking down at him, she tried to keep from smiling. A pout resting on her thin lips. "But I don't want to sleep. I want to stay here with you. Besides, the tireder I am, the easier I'll sleep tonight." She defended, crossing her arms over her chest. "I can just chug a pot of coffee, I'll be fine." She nodded, determined not to let him make her go to sleep. For some odd reason that is.
"I promise I'll be alright." She hummed, holding her breath for a moment. Before letting it out slowly, she puffed up her cheeks looking down to him. She knew she probably looked ridiculous, but it helped her stay awake.
He cracked open an eye to look up at her, arching a brow in a knowing manner. He wasn't buying it. Again, he reached up to poke her, but it was her puffed-up cheek instead of her stomach. "Shortcake," he said, opening his other eye to level his look on her, the one that made it clear he wasn't going to take no as an answer.
His hand stayed up by her face, moving just enough to curiously brush his fingers over her chin. How had things ended up like this? How had he started developing these fingers towards Joanna? All of this was such a mystery, but he was willing to wait it out for the ending. He was willing to trust in this changing relationship to not hurt him along the way; he was willing to trust her to not abandon him now that he's getting closer to her. His hand dropped back down to rest on his stomach, right next to the kitten—Inigo.
Letting out the puff of breath, she grinned down to him. "See? I'm fine." Joanna chirped unfolding her legs from underneath him. Her legs had fallen asleep, so she wiggled them to get rid of the tingling feeling. "Sorry, my leg fell asleep- shoot…" She muttered, biting her lip. It was stupid, but she assumed he would use that as an illogical reason she should go take a nap.
Though a slight smile was still on her lips. It always was, especially with Kasiya around now. It made her too happy not to smile. Her stomach felt fluttery, and her heart felt odd. Was this real love?
He rolled his eyes, then pinned his now narrowed gaze onto her. "Joanna. Sleep. I'll wake you up when you need me to." He wouldn't back down until she relented. He'd simply keep bugging her, delaying his desired nap until she finally got her much-needed one. "You're not going to convince me you don't need any."
Careful of the kitten, he crossed his arms over his chest and stared up at Joanna. His feelings were still confusing, mostly due to the foreign nature of them and this kind of relationship with someone. He wouldn't go so far as to call it love, but he certainly liked her a lot. Only time would tell how that would develop.
A light sigh escaped her lips, and she let her smile drop. Her eyes felt increasingly heavy, and she knew she needed to rest. But something was keeping her from doing so. No, not Kasiya's insisting, she just couldn't make herself sleep. "I really don't know if I can Kas, I just… you know when you get so tired, that you just aren't? That's how I'm feeling." She mumbled, before going to play with his hair once more.
She studied his face once again, mindlessly. Her thoughts were empty, as she took in his features. She was positive she knew his face-him, well enough to describe accurately. It was an odd thing, but she was positive she could do it. As she studied his face, she came back to his lips. With the snakebite piercings, she couldn't help wanting to kiss him once more.
Kas kept his eyes narrowed on Joanna's face, though now it was more contemplative than demanding. He hummed and chewed on his bottom lip as he thought about what he could do to help her. He knew what she was talking about, being so tired you couldn't fall asleep. Now he just wanted to figure out what would help her actually fall asleep.
His one hand absentmindedly came up to run his fingers up and down her arm as he thought. He didn't know what to do. Maybe letting her use the bed? So that she was more comfortable? He looked up at the ceiling again. Here he was, worrying about Joanna, something he's never even considered himself doing. But he wanted to repay her for everything she's done, even if she hadn't knowingly done it—like her staying.
Tilting her head back, she shut her eyes to tear her gaze away from his addicting lips. Being honest, she was completely exhausted. "I don't know what to do besides sit here. I have so much going through my mind, I feel this odd energy buzz coursing through me." She muttered, stretching out on the sofa. A yawn escaped her lips, but she couldn't care less as of the moment.
"I think I might also be emotionally drained, because of… everything." She whispered, mindlessly twirling her finger through his hair. "Your brother, us. Everything." She mumbled, rubbing her face. Everything was seeming foggy, and loopy, as she just sat there thinking. "What do you think? Is that logical?"
He continued to look up at the ceiling, even as he answered her. "It's logical and reasonable," he said, then let out a breath and grabbed the kitten as he sat up. "C'mon," he said, then got off the couch and turned around to face Joanna. A flicker of a smirk went over his lips right before he bent down and scooped her up into his arms. "I want a nap, you're tired, and the bed is more comfortable."
Barely giving her time to react, he carried her the short distance from the couch to the bed and gently set her down over the soft covers. He pressed his palms into the mattress on either side of her, leaning over slightly with his touseled hair—totally not her doing—falling into his black eyes. He didn't follow just yet, giving her space and a chance to say no. He simply figured they'd both be more comfortable on the bed than the couch, sleeping or no.
She had held to him tight, out of her sheer surprise. Once she was sitting on the bed, she bit her lower lip, starring into his dark eyes. "I- you just mean napping right? Not… sleeping together?" She asked, slipping her arms around his neck. She had it in her brain that they were still in this competition, though she knew they weren't. Her brain, just instantly went to mistrusting a person's intentions.
It was a light hold, her arms around his neck. Just slung over his shoulders, so she could have a reason to be closer to him. Without getting too close. Noting he looked really hot at the current moment, she moved her glance to his lips to distract herself. Though it didn't do much good. As she could only think about wanting to press her own against his.
He rolled his eyes but didn't move as he stared blankly at her. "I'm not interested in sleeping, shortcake. So yes, just a nap." He caught her gaze dropping down, and he had a good guess as to what she was looking at. His lips curved up into a small smirk, and he lightly bit down on one of his snakebites to both try and hide the smirk and subtly tease her.
With her arms around him, he wasn't about to complain. He was starting to like this sort of contact with her, the closeness she seemed to want with him. And as per usual, he obliged her without a thought. It was almost a natural thing for him, to give Joanna what she wanted—within reason. He didn't quite understand it, but he didn't want to fry his brain trying to understand emotions. He's concluded that they're too complicated.
"That's what I thought." She hummed, glancing back up to his eyes. Her green, ones were glancing him up and down, always coming back to his eyes. Everything about him was seemingly captivating to her. She just couldn't get enough of him. Though, most days she just wished he would go away because she had too much of him.
Right now, that wasn't the case. She knew she could have him, and wasn't sure what to do with him, as all she wanted was more of him. There was nothing she wanted more, besides knowing he was going to stick by her side for a while. "I'll give it a shot, but there's no guarantee I'll really sleep." She whispered, pulling away from him and sliding back onto the soft bed.
