Peculiar Places (Open!)

[wendykins]

Books and coffee. They were her blood, her lifeline, her ether. She wouldn't be able to deal without them. Books were her escape hatch, coffee was her fuel. She basically drank only coffee. It was almost to the point where the coffee didn't do anything. It didn't wake her up anymore, or keep her awake for that matter. She just had an intense headache if she didn't drink it. It was almost as bad as when she was younger and would go through chocolate milk withdrawal. Sometimes, Luce much preferred the chocolate milk. With a to go cup of coffee in one hand and one of her favorite books in the other, Luce headed toward the Court of Miracles where she could sit and enjoy the nice day. Nice days were meant for enjoyment. It all depended on the type of person and the type of enjoyment they had planned, too.

For Luce, it was reading in a tree. And that might have sounded so incredibly odd to other people, but that was what Luce's happy looked like. That's where she was the most content. Up high, out of peoples' way, and with a hot drink and a nice book. Luce sipped her coffee as she approached a big tree that wasn't surrounded by a whole bunch of other people. Luce tucked her book up between her arm and her torso, then reached up with her free hand and pulled herself into the tree. She braced her arm over the branch and then pushed herself up the rest of the way with her feet. The book started to wobble out of its spot, but quickly Luce grabbed it from the precarious position between her arm and ribs. Luckily, it was small enough to hold with one hand - not even an inch thick.

Leaning her back against the trunk of the tree, Luce dangled one leg off the bough and propped the other up. She settled the book open in her lap and sipped from her coffee. As her eyes started going over the words she had read so many times before, her fingers touching the well worn pages as she turned to continue the story, the hand holding her coffee slowly dropped from her lips and rested against her hip. Without realizing it, the coffee dropped from her hand and by the time Luce went to grab it, it fell to the ground and landed on top of someone's head. "Oh!" She quickly closed her book, turned and hopped out of the tree, landing slightly unsteadily on her feet. She really wasn't cared about herself, though, "Dear. I'm so sorry! Thank goodness it wasn't scalding.. are you okay? Oh my, I'm such a klutz..."

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word count: 455
tags: open!
listening to: the chatter of people and the wind through the trees.
mood: content and extremely apologetic.
picture lyrics: n/a
other lyrics: i'm not a thief, i'm a treasure hunter by a skylit drive
made by: callie!
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[rayne14]

It was a good day or at least according to Lucien Marion it was. The birds were singing, the air was crisp with laughter, and the Da Bete Hotel was just full of gorgeous women. Now this was the life. For the thirtieth time that morning, Luc offered up his infamous half smirk to some lady he had already forgotten the name of. It was probably quite manipulating of him to do so but she gave him a big tip so why change up his routine? As the unknown woman turned back around, he gave a quick wink causing the woman to blush from her head to toes nearly instantly. It was like some deity up above wanted him to make women swoon or something. Even if that wasn't what their plan was, he was still going to do it. No reason fixing what wasn't broken as his father constantly said. The blonde male would've continued his impressing flirtatious acts had the owner of the hotel called out to him to tell him it was his break. Perfect. He needed a quick break from all the horny and unloved women of Fantasia. Saluting to the owner and muttering an 'Aye Aye, Cap'n', Luc gathered the somewhat big pile of tips he had, put up his apron, and left the hotel. Once outside, the young man unbuttoned the top button of his uniform shirt and began strolling the streets of Fantasia City.

Even though he loved all the positive attention he constantly received at the hotel, it was still nice every now and again to get a break from it all. Well...to sort of get a break from it all considering most of his admirers were Fantasians and this was Fantasia City. Just as the thought passed through the confines of his skull, a woman in red walked by him with a twinkle in her eye. It was like he slipped right into the role of a play as his smirk came to his lips and his hand came up in a slight wave. She was headed toward the hotel and he somehow just knew that she'd be waiting for him there. Was it conceited of him to like the knowledge of having a woman wait for him at his job? Probably but at the moment, he couldn't care less. He would deal with her when he was done with his hour or so break. Where exactly was he going? He had no idea, he was just allowing his legs to guide him. And as he looked around, he saw that he had brought himself to the Court of Miracles. He guessed something interesting was bound to happen sooner or later.

He continued his walking, his green eyes flickering across the courtyard to see if he spotted anyone he knew as a friend. So far, there wasn't anyone which greatly disappointed the Frenchman. Sighing to himself, he stood just under a tree, his arms folded across his toned chest. Now where was the excitement when you needed it? The gods must have some odd sense of humor because for the second time that day, his thoughts were answered...just not in the way he had hoped. He had been standing there minding his own business when something lukewarm hit his head. "What the hell is this?.." A look of disgust crossed his face as the rest of whatever it was landed on his left shoulder. Great now his hair and shoulder were covered in a liquid that smelled an awful lot like coffee. Coffee wasn't bad smelling but Lucien just personally hated the caffeinated drink. He grit his teeth, looking upward again to curse out the owner of the drink when the said owner dropped from the tree, concern leaving her voice. Luc ran a hand through his hair, slicking back what hair was wet. "Yeah...thank the gods it wasn't scalding...may I bother you and ask why exactly were you drinking coffee in a tree?" His eyebrows knitted together in confusion, attempting to stop himself from turning his flirtatious mode on. Whoever this was was pretty cute and in the back of Lucien's head, he wondered if he would manage to snag a date out of her.

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[wendykins]

Luce dropped the book to the hard winter ground and moved both hands to help wipe off excess coffee from his shoulders, "I..." she stammered. Completely flustered and embarrassed with herself. You would think that Luce was quite used to spilling things, running into people, or spilling things all over people - but the truth was that regardless of how many times she did it, she was still beet red after the incident was done. Her hands brushed at the fabric on his shoulders and she offered an apologetic smile, "Uhm. I like heights. Reading in trees is one of my favorite pastimes." Yes, she was aware that it sounded crazy. But she really didn't care about that. "You know, when I'm not normally dropping coffee on the heads of random passersby." Luce let her hands fall to her sides and looked around on the ground for the to go cup that had been emptied of its entire contents.

She knelt down, scooped it up along with her book, and juggled them in her arms. "Oh goodness, look at you. You look wretched." Luce sighed and looked around the park as a breeze blew by. The smell of coffee drifted over to her and she smiled a bit more before turning to him, hugging her books close to her chest. It was then that she really got a good look at him. He was good looking, that couldn't be denied. Other girls were probably falling all over him. Luce might have been too, if she was that type of girl. "Look, I have a flat not too far from here. The least I can do is throw your shirt in the wash and give you some food for your troubles." She had meant it in a completely innocent way. Not thinking that he might take it as 'come to my home, take your shirt off, and you can have your way with me.' Luce wasn't naive but she did have quite an innocent mind sometimes. Especially when she was being innocent. Juggling the empty cup and her book again, Luce raised her eyebrows before reaching over and tugging on his arm, "Come on... this way."

Letting go, Luce turned on her heel and lead the way toward her apartment. It wasn't incredibly far from the park, and she had chosen it for that specific reason. She loved the park enough to visit it once or twice a day on occasion. Luce had moved out when she had turned eighteen, feeling the need to get out of her parents shadow and wanting to explore at the being adult aspect of her life. She wasn't enjoying it terribly, but it was nice not having to answer to anyone about supper or bedtime. It was freeing, even if her brothers were often at her flat.

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word count: 473
tags: luc!
listening to: chattering people still.
mood: embarrassed.
picture lyrics: n/a
other lyrics: i'm not a thief, i'm a treasure hunter by a skylit drive
made by: callie!
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[rayne14]

Lucien wasn't exactly angry at the girl for spilling her coffee on him, in fact, he wasn't sure why he was mad. He guessed it was from the more than likely stain that was going to appear on his work shirt or that his hair stunk of coffee, but he wasn't actually mad at her for doing it to him. Strange how logic worked when you were around a cute girl. Sadly enough, Lucien was nearly one hundred percent sure that the only reason he wasn't raging and cursing her out was because of how cute she was. What could he say? He was a guy who enjoyed the company of gorgeous girls and this stranger may just become another one of his admirers...not that he needed more or that he wanted more, it was more of an assumption than anything. He rose an eyebrow at her, unsure still as to why she would be drinking coffee in a tree especially without something to keep hold of the mug or cup she was using. "Maybe next time you should put a sign...just in case someone else walks by and they know their clothes and hair are in possible danger of being soaked." There was a light tone to his voice but it was still obvious he wasn't too happy with the results of him standing under a tree.

It seemed that day was just full of firsts for Lucien. First, he had never had coffee spilled on him from a tree branch. Secondly, he had never been called wretched in all of his life. He knew he didn't always have the best attitude or possibly looked his best a day or two before but never in his lifetime had a someone, a girl nonetheless, said he looked wretched. Luc knew she was only saying that because a portion of his body was covered in brown liquid, but it still physically hurt him to be called that. His green gaze flickered over to this mysterious girl unsure of if she was being rude or just happened to be one of those honest girls. Not that there was any problem with honest girls, Luc only wanted to know so he could prepare himself for anything else she had to say. The blonde male took another look at the girl, taking the time to fully give her a onceover as she hugged her book to her chest. She was cute in an innocent sort of way. She would definitely be interesting to have around if she were as innocent as she looked. A curious eyebrow perked up at her offer. He had hardly spoken three sentences to her and she was already offering him to come over? Hey, he wasn't about to start complaining. He simply put on his charming half smile before thanking her, "Merci, mademoiselle." It had to be the flirt in him that wanted to impress girls and women alike with his bilingual trait. For all he knew, she could be French herself but her speech told him otherwise. He would guess London. A London girl and a Valenciennes boy.

Lucien was pulled literally out of his thoughts as she grabbed his sleeve, tugging him in the direction of her flat. An eager one she was. Luc could hardly stop the small smirk from forming on his lips. There was almost no need to even charm her if she honestly wanted him to be around her flat shirtless. He readjusted his work shirt, shivering as yet another winter breeze came by and made the wet shirt even colder. With the way the weather was, Lucien was bound to get sick in no time. He sighed frustratedly to himself before following the no-name girl to her flat. Staying just a few feet behind her, he stuffed his hands in his pocket before asking casually, "Your parents don't mind you bringing in random boys to your flat?..." It was just a question and he had caught himself before carrying on and accusing her of being a sort of slut. Even if she was putting on a nice act, he doubted she was that loose with guys. Either way, his intention was for small talk on the way over to her flat...he'd turn on the Luc charm soon.

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[wendykins]

Luce managed a weak smile at the sign suggestion. Perhaps he was right. She wasn't being considerate of others. Maybe she should just cut tree top reading completely out of her life. Or.. at least, the kind that involved coffee. Luce tossed the cup in a trash can as she passed it, and then situated her book in her arms more comfortably. The wind was a bit biting and silently Luce was thankful she was heading back to her flat. Without the warmth of the coffee, it was suddenly a lot colder. Even with the sun shining down on her in a pleasant way.

As her sneakers hit against the ground, she turned to look at the poor guy who had been drowned in her coffee. "Hmm?" Luce paused in walking until they were in step together, "Oh.. I'm sure they don't mind. Considering they don't live with me. I'm on my own." It felt weird saying. She hadn't been on her own for a long time and the words kept getting tied on her tongue. She lead him out of the park toward the city, where the life was more vibrant and alive. Luce's parents lived a bit further into the suburbs, but Luce had fallen in love with the city quickly. Suddenly, Luce was wondering whether or not this was a good idea. She didn't know this guy. He could kill her for all she knew. Though she doubted it.

Either way, they were at her building. Luce pulled her key from her pocket, slipped it into the lock and opened the door, she glanced at the guy, "Besides, it's not the boys my parents would worry about." Did I just say that? Yes, yes you did Luce.. you bloody did. She headed inside, hurrying up the stairs, trying to fight back the rising heat to her neck. She didn't know what came over her. Of course, that held absolutely no weight. Luce was completely and totally straight. It just felt like something funny to say. The door to her apartment was red with a gold 546A nailed above the peep hole. "This is it..." unlocking it, she made her way into the apartment and dropped her keys in the little coin dish that was stationed on the table beside the door. "Welcome to Chateau de Luce." She spread her arms wide, offered a nervous smile and then ran into the living room to find one of her brothers' clean t-shirts.

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_____________________________________
word count: 413
tags: luc!
listening to: nada.
mood: flustered.
picture lyrics: n/a
other lyrics: i'm not a thief, i'm a treasure hunter by a skylit drive
made by: callie!
_____________________________________

[/SIZE]

[rayne14]

Why did it have to be so close to the freaking winter? Lucien shivered underneath his wet shirt, hating the day more and more. He could have taken his shirt off and even with the chill biting wind, he'd probably be at less risk at getting sick. The blonde clenched his jaw, swallowing any complaints he could feel himself wanting to make. No. He wouldn't complain, it was just a bit of coffee on his shirt...that was causing him to freeze. A soft sigh left his lips, suddenly feeling bad for the unknown girl. She probably felt awful about spilling coffee all on him and even though she really didn't have to, she was taking him over to her flat to clean off his shirt. He couldn't complain when she was being this considerate to him. Luc stuffed his hands into his pockets, letting the girl walk a few feet in front of him, his eyes drifting down the outline of her frame. She even had a nice body, maybe he could at least get a kiss from her or something...as compensation for washing his shirt, of course.

His eyebrow rose as his thoughts roamed. So she lived by herself...with no parents or siblings. He thought back quickly, she hadn't mentioned roommates either. Either this girl was really naive or really trusting especially if she was about to allow him to come inside of her place with hardly any information about him. Guess this meant he needed to be on his best behavior then. He could do that...or at least attempt to. If a flirtatious suggestion came from him, he couldn't help that. He was just a natural flirt is all and why go against his nature because he met someone new? It was funny how this new girl managed to speak and cut through his thoughts like a hot knife through butter. He was honestly and legitimately thinking and her gentle words made him stop thinking and pause. Had he heard right? Lucien had to stop himself from turning her around to look her in her eyes to see if she was lying. So she liked girls?...He could work with that. He spoke calmly as if he hadn't just been given the implication the female party was into her own gender. "Oh? They're afraid to leave their daughter with other girls her age....or are you trying to say I'm a guy?...because I'm all man..and I don't mind proving it." He could feel his familiar smirk coming onto his lips as he easily twisted her words to see fit for him.

A soft chuckle left him as he followed her inside, quickly glancing around. It was a pretty decent flat for a possibly eighteen year old girl who was living on her own. A soft, "Merci..." fell from his mouth as he began unbuttoning his shirt, just trying to get out of the filthy shirt. A shiver passed through him as air his somewhat soaked shoulder. A look of disgust spread across his face as he took the shirt completely off, wiping his shoulder off with the already stained shirt. Lucien stood there, shirt in hand as he waited for his sympathizer. He wasn't in the least bit embarrassed to have his chest exposed considering he had a very very nice chest to look at. He had a flat stomach and toned pecs with a light blonde happy trail leading to the gods know where. Instead of becoming self conscious, Lucien glanced around then followed the girl in the direction he thought she went in. He lifted the shirt when he saw her, "Where exactly do I put this?..."

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[wendykins]

Luce offered a smile, which she hoped was secretive. She wasn't about to say that she was straight and had just said that because...well she hadn't any reason why she had said it. She just had said it. It was one of those "no filter" things she needed to work on.Whenever she was nervous, anxious, flustered, or...well...anything but calm and collected, Luce lost the filter between her thoughts and her words. It often got her into trouble, sticky situations, or just embarrassing moments. Such as this one. So, Luce chose to just play it coy and silently move into her apartment.

When she left him to go find a shirt, she didn't expect him to take his shirt off. So when she turned around at the sound of his voice, Luce couldn't put a stop to the small gasp of surprise that came from her lips. Quickly, she averted her gaze and cleared her throat, trying to regain self control before answering his question. She was pleased that when she spoke her voice wasn't trembling, "I'll take it." She smiled a bit, finally lifting her gaze to his, and then stepping forward to take the shirt from his hands. Swallowing, she kept her eyes from looking at his bare chest and instead focused on the stained fabric of the shirt she had ruined.

"Uhm...I was looking for one of my brother's shirts. He usually has some here for when he crashes at my place, but I don't think he left any the last time he was here. So.. I don't..don't have anything for you to wear while this is cleaned..." Luce cleared her throat again, let her arms fall to her sides, the shirt in her grip. She could feel the blush creeping up the back of her neck and she had an urge to hurry out of the room and into the washing closet.

Quietly, Luce spoke again; "I'm..gonna go and put these in the wash really quick. You.. you can make yourself at home." She nodded and turned to hurry out of the room. Just as she rounded the corner for the hall, she paused, leaned back a bit to peer from behind the corner and said, "I'm Luce Darling, by the way. And what might your name be?"

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_____________________________________
word count: 388
tags: luc!
listening to: nada.
mood: flustered.
picture lyrics: n/a
other lyrics: i'm not a thief, i'm a treasure hunter by a skylit drive
made by: callie!
_____________________________________

[/SIZE]

[rayne14]

Despite her implied words, Lucien found it harder and harder to believe that the nice young girl in front of him actually preferred chicks to dicks. It could just be him wanting to be with her or the fact that she was flustered at seeing him shirtless. Luc had been around a lesbian girl before and had taken his shirt for some inappropriate reason and she wasn't fazed at all and merely told him to grow some tits, lose the junk then they'd talk. The girl reeking of hospitality did what most straight girls did. They became flustered and tried looking away and never giving full eye contact. Which happened to be the very thing that the girl was doing right now. Lucien had a look of amusement on his face. So she was lying about her sexuality and apparently found it hard to be in the same room as him. Oh, this would be quite the bit of fun in awhile or at least, he'd make it quite fun in a little while.

A soft chuckle left him at her apologetic words. "No worries. I don't mind being shirtless...unless of course you mind then I'll help you look for something I could wear for just a little while." He smiled somewhat sweetly, running a careless hand down his chest to scratch lightly at his stomach. He nodded lightly at her as she turned to go put his shirt in the wash. Would she be okay with him being shirtless for such a long time? He didn't mind if she wanted to look...it was just a chest but by the amount of blush along her face and neck, Luc guessed she hadn't ever really done too much with a guy. He was okay with that too. Beginners were fun to teach. The blonde male ran his tongue slowly against his bottom lip, moistening it as he took a few steps over to go and sit down. He paused in his movements, however, as the girl poked her head back into the hallway and properly introduced herself. Luce Darling. It was a cute name for a cute girl. He'd definitely have to remember her...just in case the two got into a bit of fun and she was nice to be around.

Lucien stood back up, deciding it'd be better to just be near her. He leaned against the wall, hands placed into his pants' pockets before replying with, "Pleasure to meet you, Luce Darling. I'm Lucien Marion or you can call me Luc for short." He rose an eyebrow at her. "How come you're living off by yourself if your family's so close by?...if you don't mind me intruding a bit on your personal life."

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[wendykins]

Luce pursed her lips together lightly, shook her head, and said nothing. She didn't mind per se, but it wasn't something that was easy to ignore. She would try, though. Luce was determined. She was bloody determined to not come off as flustered, or feel attracted to him. She was better than that. She was above it. Or at least, Luce hoped she was above it. Then again, Luce hoped she was above a lot of things and it turned out she wasn't. She didn't want to think about that right now. Instead, she wanted to focus on getting this shirt clean and dry so he wouldn't be lounging about her flat half nude for too long.

Swallowing, Luce stepped back into the entryway of the hallway so she could speak to Lucien easily. She didn't necessarily want to look at him, or perhaps she did, but she didn't find it pertinent to their conversation. Luce kept eye contact with him, her fingers fiddling with the fine fabric of his shirt, before she answered; "I...like the idea of being alone, but I hate the idea of being far from my brothers. We're all very close, you know." Luce smiled a bit, looked at the shirt in her hands, and remembered she was supposed to be doing something with it. She held it up a little, smiled a bit more; "I'll be right back." She turned on her heel and hurried down the hallway to the small closet that housed her washer and dryer.

It was convenient that they were hidden in a closet, but the obnoxious yellow color was always welcomed whenever Luce was having a bad day. It was a cheerful color, Luce liked cheerful things. She ran the water in the washer, dropped his shirt in, and poured a bit of detergent in with it. Closing the lid, she quickly picked her own clothes out of the dryer and dashed into her room to drop them on her bed. Luce sighed, closed the door to her bedroom and took a deep breath before returning to her guest.

"There isn't any intrusion in questions. You can ask as many as you please," Luce stated as she entered the living room, "Would you like a drink?" For some reason, she didn't want to stay still or sit down.

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_____________________________________
word count: 389
tags: luc!
listening to: nada.
mood: flustered.
picture lyrics: n/a
other lyrics: i'm not a thief, i'm a treasure hunter by a skylit drive
made by: callie!
_____________________________________

[/SIZE]

[rayne14]

A shiver passed through his tall frame as some wave of a chill hit him. He was pretty certain that Luce didn't have the air conditioner on in her flat but he was somehow cold. He was tempted to ask for a hoodie of some sort even if it was hers and was a bit small. He was just getting cold and the goosebumps popping up along his arms created more evidence that he needed to warm up. However, Lucien decided to keep his attention on Luce, listening to her words. His eyebrow quirked up a bit at her statement. "How old are your brothers?....and you must be really close with them if you didn't really move all that far away. It's endearing of you." Luc nodded slowly, folding his arms across his chest in hope of his arms creating a bit of body warmth. Again, he nodded as she mentioned she had to be right back, his shirt the obvious reason why she had to leave. A gentle sigh left his lips as Lucien turned around, heading back into the living room.

He plopped himself back down on the couch, listening out for the running of Luce's errands. Lucien found himself closing his eyes, nestling his fit frame into her couch. It was comfortable and within seconds, he could feel his brain begin drifting off into dream land. He willed himself to stay in reality but the extra effort was just creating more exhaustion. He let sleep take over, opening his eyes and pushing himself back into the real world as Luce stepped back into the living room, his words soothing him awake. The blonde male rubbed at his eyes slowly then glanced over at her, smirking gently. "Then you won't mind if I ask a few more questions then..." Perfect. There were a few questions he had drifting through the cloud of thoughts he constantly had.

Lucien sat up in the couch, nodding slowly. "Please, if you don't mind." He got up, stretching slowly, his hands reaching up to the sky. A soft groan of pleasure escaped his lips from the releasing of tension he had had in his shoulders and back. He glanced over at Luce, his hands sliding back into his pockets. "What do you have that's delicious?...besides yourself, of course." He winked, chuckling to himself as he walked into what he assumed was the direction of the kitchen. "Oh and I hope this doesn't bother you...having to look at my chest for an hour or so.." He really didn't care. He kind of wanted her to look at his chest and Lucien had to admit he wanted her to run her small hands down his chest. A shiver went through him again, this time from his thoughts rather than the temperature. Why was he so attracted to Luce so suddenly?

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[wendykins]

She did notice his goosebumps, the shiver that seemed to ripple through him, but she said nothing. If he wanted to lounge about with his shirt off, he could lounge about with his shirt off. Instead, Luce just turned the thermostat up a bit so he wouldn't be so cold. She knew that if she mentioned she had done that, he might jut make a comment about how she wanted him to keep his chest bare. However, really, she doubted she could find a hoodie or jacket that might fit him. ″My brothers are seventeen and fifteen,″ she closed the lid to the thermostat and looked at Luc, ″We're incredibly close... it would break their hearts as much as it would break mine if I moved too far away.″ She knew she probably sounded ridiculous, but her brothers were her ties to the world she was so afraid of leaving behind. They helped keep her head on straight, and sometimes even helped her turn her head back to the world of pretend and fun.

Luce shook her head when he mentioned she wouldn't mind if he asked more questions. Of course not. She loved questions. There wasn't a guarantee that she would answer all of them, though. There were some questions that might be a bit too personal. Luce smiled and moved into the kitchen to get them something to drink. She had alcohol hidden up in the top shelf, considering she was under age, she tried not to bring it out often. Luce didn't drink much, either. It made her way too open and way too willing to do things she shouldn't be willing to do. She glanced at Lucien out of the corner of her eye before standing on tip toe to open the cupboards and check for any hot chocolate, ″ You flatter me,″ she stated calmly, a small smile tugging at her lips, ″I thought I had some instant hot chocolate in here somewhere...does that count as delicious?″ She pushed things around inside the cabinet and finally pulled out two packages of Fantasian Hot Chocolate.

She glanced at Luc when he spoke about walking around with his chest showing. Silently, Luce turned to kind a kettle, and licked her lips; ″I'm the one who ruined your shirt...if this a punishment for doing just that, it is one I can deal with.″ She sent him a smile, filled the kettle with water, and set it on the stove before turning back around to face Luc. The kitchen area was small, with two countertops that weren't occupied, barely big enough to fit the two of them in it. Luce swallowed, ″Are you cold?″

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_____________________________________
word count: 446
tags: luc!
listening to: nada.
mood: flustered.
picture lyrics: n/a
other lyrics: i'm not a thief, i'm a treasure hunter by a skylit drive
made by: callie!
_____________________________________

[/SIZE]

[rayne14]

A gentle smile was hard to not allow form on his lips at her words. It was endearing, honestly that she would live so close to her brothers because of how tight their bond was. It was adorable in a way as well. Most girls he knew that had brothers in general wanted to move away from them. They often claimed the distance made the relationship easier to handle. But according to Luce, she liked staying nearby. A soft chuckle left him as his gaze drifted up to meet hers. "You and your family are a bit odd, I have to say. In a good way, of course. Most people can hardly stand their father let alone their brothers and yet here you are...saying it'd kill you to move too far away from them. Peculiar. Were you told to say such things or are you and your brothers honestly that close?" He couldn't but continue to question her on the matter. First off, she said she didn't mind questions and secondly, it bewildered him for her family to be so...put together. He tilted his head at the thought, wondering if they were one of those cliche families or if Luce was just not speaking about their flaws just yet.

He leaned back against the couch, watching her from where he sat as she reached up to get the hot chocolate. A soft laugh left his lips as the sight of her straining to reach up amused him. After another moment or two of her struggling, the young man got up from his seat, entering into the quite small and confining kitchen with all intentions to help her. Just as he got into the tiny space she called a kitchen, Luce managed to grab whatever she had been reaching for. A smile quirked up the corners of his lips. "Well, seeing as I don't hear anyone else flattering you at the moment, it's only my duty to do so. Plus, it's quite simple to flatter such a gorgeous young woman such as yourself." Kissing ass, it was Luc's favorite pastime especially when he was around someone like Luce. He shrugged slightly. "Hot chocolate's fine. Not as deliciously sweet as you are but it'll have to do...unless you have a bit of alcohol? That's a sweet beverage as well." Would she have alcohol? She seemed a bit uptight for that but the drink would definitely loosen her up if she just so happened to have a bottle or two.

"You can deal with it?...does that mean you like to see me without a shirt?" Lucien chuckled softly as he walked up behind her. What he was about to do would risk the friendliness of Luce but he didn't really care. As if to answer her question without words, his lean body shivered. The blonde male shrugged. "Kind of...but I could easily warm up...with your assistance." He smirked lightly as he closed the distance of their bodies by pressing his chest against her back, his arms easily locking around her waist. He shivered again, the newfound warmth heating his body instantly. His words were soft and as he spoke his breath tickled her ear. "Hope you don't mind, Luce."

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[wendykins]

Luce knew that her being so close with her brothers was strange, but to be honest - she hadn't known life any other way. Her father was always pressuring her to grow up and move on with her life, but Luce still clung to small childish things and John and Michael were all so decent at helping her cling to such things. She doubted that Luc would be able to understand that, because not many people could. Most families got on the nerves of their members, but not Luce's. She loved her family and couldn't think of being further away from them than necessary. Still, she wanted to be lighthearted about it, and so she smiled a bright smile and shrugged; "It's all in my script. They fed me lines to tell strange guys who I bring back to my apartment."

With the kettle on and boiling water, Luce listened to him continue to flatter her..and then mention alcohol. She laughed slightly, shook her head, "I think it's just part of who you are. Flattering girls and making them blush. Tell me, do you know how to respond to the female sex any other way?" She turned around and reached back up into the cupboard to pull down some peppermint schnapps. It went deliciously with hot chocolate, and she didn't want to waste the hot water that was steaming out of the kettle gorgeously. Turning her back to Luc again, she watched the kettle heat up, watched the burner turn a dark red color as it grew warmer and then eventually scalding hot. She had accidentally put her hand on a burner when she was younger and still had the scar tissue along her left palm. It wasn't noticeable unless she pointed it out, but it always made a good story to tell.

"I've had worse punishments," she simply replied with a grin as she reached over for two mugs for the hot chocolate. Just as she did so, she felt Luc step closer to her. Instantly, her heart sped up a bit. Boys didn't get that close to her. She wasn't a pariah, and she was rather pretty - she knew. But her uptight personality and her innocent demeanor threw boys off their tracks and usually they stayed clear of her. Unless they were relentless as Peter Patkins was. In that case, they tried to get as close as possible just to get under her skin. But the feel of Luc's hot breath against her skin gave her chills and she doubted he was doing it to annoy her.

His arms snaked around her waist and Luce swallowed thickly, trying to think of some clever retort but coming up with nothing. She opened her mouth to respond when the kettle let out a loud whistle and caused her to jump slightly. She took the kettle off the burner, set it on a cold one, and turned the stove off before reaching for the hot chocolate tin and scooping out rounded scoops of the powder. She didn't move out of his arms, though, choosing to try to forget they were there. She didn't know how she was to respond, and so she simply used her defense mechanism and pretended there was absolutely nothing to respond to.

She mixed the hot chocolate, added the peppermint schnapps, and then turned slightly in Luc's arms to hand him his mug. "This should help with the warming..." her voice was quiet, her throat thick, as she took a deep breath. All intelligent responses were gone from her head. She would be lucky to string two words together and call it a sentence.

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word count: 609
tags: luc!
listening to: nada.
mood: flustered.
picture lyrics: n/a
other lyrics: i'm not a thief, i'm a treasure hunter by a skylit drive
made by: callie!
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