stuff us in boxes that's where you want us

cardboard is boring, we brought our matches - look how it burns

Matteo's all-knowing silvery eyes seemed to openly gaze upon her figure, taking in the state of her. How she so desperately wanted to him to take a picture, it would last longer. Despite this, she hardly held back, falling easily into those sarcastic words. She is met with a wry grin upon his face and his own retort to her ever so goading words that French moniker falling so easily from his lips. "I wouldn't be me, if I didn't. Just like you wouldn't be you without your grand appearances." She cocked a brow at him, trying to conceal that cheeky grin that threated to appear. How caught off guard the raven-haired woman was, generally speaking, she had hardly expected any company, let alone the enigma that was Matteo.

How crossing that room to all but challenge him seemed to come like second nature, even as he does everything within his power to rattle the raven-haired woman. Not that it took much. She can hardly fathom the easy way he taunts her and she all but glowers, taunting him just as easily as she closed that very distance, plucking a bland potato, popping it within her mouth.

It was that sudden shift in his features and those very words that had her freeze. She felt her heart drop as she whirled around to face where he was looking. Hear what?? She strains to listen, scanning for a potential threat that would come bursting into her apartment. "What is it?" She could hardly hide that worry while attempting desperately to seek it out, her muscles coiled and ready for that attack that was sure to come... But never did. She swore she was going to burst at the seams when suddenly those devious lyrics waltzed right to her ears while revealing the contrived tease that only betrayed that lingering imposing anxiety. Her body immediately releases along in a sigh, before she whirls to face him once more with narrowed wild eyes that were akin to piercing arrows. She could hardly maintain that look for long before she bursts out into laughter that entwined with his chuckle. The sound seemed foreign to her how long had it been since she truly laughed?

"You jerk.. Ask me nicely if I give a flying shit what a bunch of uptight potato farmers think of me?" She shook her head in disbelief, a tension she hadn't known she was holding simply dissipating. That playful banter only served to remind her that she was still human and not this thing that was taking claim of her body. She tried to frown at him as he ate another one of her potatoes and failed astonishingly, noting how he so avoided that hardly cooked red meat. Of all things she could become, a carnivore in the form of a feline was certainly not one she pictured for herself.

Matteo's mischievous demeanor suddenly shifts as that very loaded question was posed. Reminding her all the same that she was perturbed. While she enjoyed those teases and innuendos, she found one in particular that drove her off the wall mad. Something close to regret flit across the fae's face as her words hardly failed her as she lashed out, wit in tow.

She could have said so much at that moment in response to that genuine tone. It all seemed to gather like a dam about to break, but the words refused to leave her. She hardly wanted to acknowledge all she felt. How out of control her life had actually spiraled face first into the ground. For the first time, in a long time, she was... petrified. Not just for herself but for the people around her.

She let that anger spill over, anger she knew intimately well. It kept her from feeling the emotions that could bring her to her knees, it kept her from having those thoughts that would keep her up late at night, that made her feel so entirely hopeless. She raised her finger when that feline within her threatened to meet that anger, to consume it and come to being. No, she wasn't ready for that and she wasn't damn near finished with Matteo, not even close. Anger, despite how superficial it was, it was like a comforting blanket that has kept her alive for this long. She stole a heaving breath before metaphorically grasping that cat and put her right in that goddamn cage until she was damn well ready for it. The full moon would certainly make short work of that, but she didn't care.

She didn't quite look at him when he began his case. The moment he apologized, she couldn't help but feel bad for acting like he was to blame for all of this. It wasn't like he was a horrible person out to get her, to rip her down while she was struggling to climb. Right? That word Cherie didn't have the same effect it usually did, at least this time, but she raised her gaze all the same to give him the full weight of the world she held in her eyes, a frown incited after Matteo finished talking. It was when he began his explanation of what could have been that nearly made her feel deathly cold to the marrow of her bones. She hesitates for a moment. "I know.. this.. " She waved her hand idly as if encompassing everything before continuing. "isn't your doing.." A short pause as if searching for the words to speak.

"This is just a cultivation of my own dumb mistakes." She shrugged hating how out of her depth she felt, she hardly had control of that past as she had over that future she seemed so doomed to live. She had no one to blame but herself and that perhaps that terrified her more than the horrors that were destined for her.
She was destined to meet one of Risque's? Oh hell no, no thank you. Creepy Risqué dude could stay in that Hellmouth that was Syn. "I have no desire to meet anything else to do with her.. he can stay out of my future thank you very much." She could hardly imagine that disturbing future he spoke of, the thought that the path that was already chosen was the least horrifying of the potential outcomes. Say that to the skin she peeled off her arm. She is careful not to say her name as though worried she would suddenly appear if she did. What was even odder is she didn't question him on it either.

It was the butter that suddenly appeared within his head that had inspired that utter bewilderment as it did with that tequila, taking her mind away from those unpleasant thoughts. He was mesmerizing as he moved with such ease that it was terribly distracting, and she wanted nothing more than to rub along him, to get more of his scent on her or vice versa, she hardly knew. Did he roll around in some form of catnip before coming? She wondered if that's what cats felt like when they were subjected to the plant. Stupid cats she thought before sighing.

She decided it best to do something, so she decided to answer his question. Even if it took on a humorous tone, trying to overshadow the actual things that haunted her. Matteo was quick to put her mind at ease, but she was perhaps doubtful. These strange new urges needed to stop, like yesterday.

He spoke more of her future and she could hardly stop that look on her face. What was he doing meddling there? "Oh really? It seems like you have spent a lot of time playing around in my future." She raised a brow at him as if daring him to say otherwise. She could hardly imagine Matteo sitting back and watching an episode of the future like some cheap reality tv. "Since you already know so much of these things, why don't you tell me something else. What harm could it do? I'm tired of doom and gloom. Come on, give me something good." Or maybe he was simply a messenger of doom and gloom, a figurative banshee if you will. Still, a coaxing playful grin found her then, her eyes narrow in a daring way whilst she leaned against the chair next to her, maybe she would feel content enough to rub on that without him noticing? Maybe it should have bothered her how he knew more about her future than she did, but to be honest, she wasn't even sure how accurate his predictions were, but he was damn well accurate this far. It was all too weird to say the least, but even still, the world was weirder. She could handle this kind of weird.

But as she thought about it, that one word seemed to dance within her head. That one singular word that betrayed how vulnerable she felt in this god damn mess. Even as his hands move with such ease, seasoning those potatoes with whatever he summoned out of the depths of who knows where. It was truly impressive, and her table was becoming littered with an assortment of random ingredients he made sense of like he knew the art of food, flavor, and balance. Even still she could not shake that one word that plagued her. 'Why' she asked while she tried to pluck a piece of food from that plate in between his busy work. But he swatted her away. She scrunched her nose it seeming like the beginnings of a snarl.

She hardly bats an eye at the new name that danced from his lips. Sounding close to June, why he would call her summer? Perplexed, she hardly let it show. "Its hard to trust something that's not even tangible... and history.. as it has proven time and time again.. Likes to repeat itself." She admitted, cautious not to allow herself to feel defeated. At least it was his last words that lingered. What did it mean? What did 'well' even mean? Did well mean.. not dead? "I suppose this all depends on how you define well.." She pondered but only surfaced more god damn questions. She nearly huffs out her frustration in all of this. "You are the most cryptic person I've ever known." She admitted decidedly. She still wasn't sure what to make of all this knowledge he offered her. Willing to consider them in fuller detail later when she wasn't so distracted by that delicious smell of butter and him.

She watches, fascinated and wide-eyed while he fluently works with his powers, barely missing a beat. Curiosity at the sudden appearance of olive oil before pushing it toward her, her eyes flickered down to witness it in all its glory. He had already brought his to his lips, savoring the taste. Without hesitating, she plucked it off that plate and popping it into her mouth, not expecting what she did when it got there. It was the flavor that made her freeze, chewing it slowly to actually enjoy it. Her eyes betray just how much she like it, after swallowing she spoke. Sad that it was gone so soon. "It's like heaven exploded in my mouth.." She stated surprised, while unintentionally admitting that his potatoes by far beat her own clearly depressed. In that moment, Harley could have eaten a whole slew of potatoes just like this until her poor stomach couldn't contain anymore and passed out from a food coma.

His words distract her, antagonizing as they were, so much she nearly scoffs at him the way he so cockily declares she can thank him at her leisure. But then he decides to add yet another cryptic offering. Something else? "What else?" She was quick to ask before he suddenly disappears and a frown that was just about to bloom upon her face. It was all but wiped clean away when he is suddenly behind her in a familiar position as he was the last time they had played this game. His body pressed against her own in that electrifying contact that tingles down the entirety of her spine. He almost coaxed a shiver as she felt that breath trickle with intent down her neck, leaving her almost anticipatory for something. Dear god, this felt more intense than the last time he hadn't even used his lips or his hands. It was like there were nerve endings on nerve endings. Those French words dancing so freely from him then, nearly had her tongue-tied, a certainly rare feat. That scent, those sensations. She wanted to turn around to press her face into that scent, to rub her body against his. NO, feet must stay right here, even if she had to envision them cemented in place. But damn she softens entirely into him like she would happily melt all over him and just stay there. HER thoughts! She could hardly contain them. She couldn't contain her cat and her thoughts all at once, it was one or the other. But his translation makes her pause, fortunately. She wants to whirl around to face him and it took every ounce of her being not to turn into that melted butter he strategically placed on that delicious potato. Instead, she makes no move at all, except for merely turning her head to the right, to peer enough behind her to catch a glimpse of that fae that so riled her. She hardly trusted herself, at least if she didn't move she was ok. "Never. She vows in reply to his provoking words, yet unable to help that smirk that toys with her lips. "If you recall, the last time, you declared a draw that I never consented to. You forfeited winning then and don't forget it wasn't me who ran away." Harley replied so smoothly it surprised her. "Unless you forget, in your old age." That sarcasm snaps back into a place like a well-fitting glove. She insinuated he was scared as well as senile. Clearly, both things he was not.. well at least one of those things. But the words, even as she said them felt almost trapped somewhere in her throat as if her heart decided to crawl up in there and stay.

But just like that he is gone again, and how she felt that cool air that pressed against her back. She whirls searching for him like a poised huntress, like he was a laser pointer and her inner feline wants nothing more than to pounce at the very red dot that will forever be the bane of her existence. She found him on her couch, sprawled out along the length of that plushy surface like he was made for it. His expression saying everything and nothing at all before he dared to open his mouth. His words are all but goading and it is all she needs to push her over that edge and deep into that unique game they so seemed content to fall into. How it riles that sheer defiance to her surface. It was like he goaded her right where he wanted. It probably didn't help that she thought about it once or twice.

Harley slowly shook her head from side to side, it took every ounce of composure not to merely pounce him right then and there. Drawing a step forward, then another, feeling the floor beneath her feet as she prowls forward. Each movement taken with clear purpose to close that distance between them, if only to wipe that smug look from his handsome face. "After all, I enjoy bold actions, they speak louder than words. Don't you agree?" She parroted his own words right back to him, of course with a little creative license, hardly able to withhold the teasing tone completely from her voice. She could hardly help her own smug look cross her features, eyes watching him with unyielding precision.

It was when she made her way to the couch she pauses, but only for a second as if she expected him to suddenly poof away. She could feel her heartbeat racing like it threatened to break out of such a feeble cage that was her ribcage. How strangely easy it was to move, falling into that couch like he was barely on it. All to slide the length of her body along him until she ends up on her stomach, draped upon him like she was meant to be there. "When will you learn?" she inquires, brushing her cheek into that perfect little nook where his cheek and his neck met. She so very near purred as she nuzzles into that nook and into that exposed neck until her lips grew close enough to his ear. "I will not admit defeat. It is you who needs to admit that you cannot handle me. Not then and not now." It was almost a whisper. She presses a tantalizing kiss against his neck, daring to taste the surface of that skin with a very light trace of her tongue.

She draws in his scent while she drags her face along his cheek once more.

"Why is it you smell so damn good?" Something close to a frown finds her while she nearly curses him, pulling away just enough to peer down at him, nearly nose to nose with the slippery fae, her raven locks cascading down around them. That compromising position that she seemed quite content to be in, in fact she was in no rush at all. He was like a hot blanket to curl up on and her inner cat was entirely too pleased, she could have fell asleep if she wasn't so damn awake, like every part of her was alive. Her eyes narrow as that gaze fixed upon him, those vibrant eyes flared to life. "So go ahead.. Teleport, mon Cherie, I know you want to." Her utterance was goading and smug even as she allows those borrowed French words drip from her grinning mouth. Maybe it was her turn to rile him up. She anticipates him to merely poof away, wondering if maybe she would scare him off once more like she did at the parlor.

At least this part of their game felt a lot like easy mode. After all, they had rehearsed this part once before and Harley was ever the quick learner.

Harley Westward