A night in

[balancingminds]

"Raven!" Charles yelled as he entered the flat, just managing to close the door and not drop anything.

Tonight he was holding slightly more than usual as he'd just been gifted a bottle of wonderful booze and the only person he was going to drink it with was Raven.

Comments

[balancingminds]

"Mm, yes, we've always gotten along and he was giving them to everyone he could find. It didn't make that much sense even for Oxford but free drink,"

And he has been working too hard and he frowns at her, it's not that odd.

Though maybe it is and he winces, "Our upstairs neighbors are fighting again."

[andproud]

"Good thing you don't have class tomorrow. You might need the time to recover, old man."

She groans, looking up at the ceiling. "Don't they ever shut up? Maybe I should go up there and give them a piece of my mind. Or, at the very least, I could slip into a good old copper and give them a scare."

It takes a little more concentration, but Charles can expect to see himself seated next to a fully uniformed police officer (tall, male, dark-haired).

[balancingminds]

"I'm not an old man. You should just keep it short and get the accent down. Though I could probably get them to be quiet,"

It would take a little more concentration as they're above him.

[andproud]

"Or," she suggests, slipping back to the blonde, "we could drown them out."

She's rising from her seat, glass still in hand, to turn on the record player. It's a newer song, and one of her favorites, and she starts to sway her hips.

[balancingminds]

He has to adjust to not fall and grins at her before standing up,

"That works too."

Once he's standing, he offers his free hand to her to dance.

[andproud]

"Come on," she declares, placing her hand in his and giving it a tug.

It's easy to keep one hand resting in his for the sake of balance as she shimmies, hardly caring that she's dancing in her robe.

[balancingminds]

He laughs as he shimmies with her,

"I'm here and dancing."

She seems to live in her robe at home, its not that odd and he manages to grab another sip of his drink.

[andproud]

She grins, chuckling at him as he tries to steal a sip of his drink in the middle of the dance, spinning out and then back in without managing to spill her own.

"Not bad," she teases, pausing to take her own sip. "You haven't stepped on my feet yet."

[balancingminds]

"Course not, I know how to dance just not all the dances,"

It's not his fault she's better at movement things than he is.

As he finally gets a sip he grins and goes, "Ha, got it."

[andproud]

"Yeah, yeah," she murmurs. "You've got the hang of it."

She sways to a stop and curls in against him as the record flips over to the slower song on the B-side.

"Do I have to teach you everything?" she asks, pretending to be exasperated.

[balancingminds]

"No, course you don't,"

He shifts his other arm around her with a small smile, this is nice.

[andproud]

One hand still cradles the mostly empty glass; the other rests on his shoulder.

"Good," she murmurs, offering a teasing smile and a small squeeze.

[balancingminds]

He does a slow turn with her and hugs her back,

"I want you to be happy."

[andproud]

"I am," she whispers, smiling sincerely.

"I might be a little happier if this bottle was empty."

She's grinning as she polishes off the remnants of her glass, dipping back a little too far and stumbling.

[balancingminds]

"Then we should get it empty,"

As she stumbles, he tries to catch her and ends up leaning against the couch. He doesn't fall all the way, which he feels is important.

[andproud]

She just laughs at her own clumsiness, leaning against him in turn as he leans against the arm of the couch.

"Oops."

[balancingminds]

"Nothing's spilled, we'll just sit and refill,"

He downs the rest of his glass, contemplates the couch and her. Then wraps his arms around her waist and tugs her down as he sort of falls to sit.

[andproud]

"Sounds like a plan," she replies, handing her empty glass towards him.

She eases onto the couch next to him, leaning against his side as she curls her knees up.

[balancingminds]

He straightens up, doing his best to not shift her and refills both their glasses,

"I always have good plans."

[andproud]

"Right now, the plan is 'drink'."

She settles against him when he leans back, her head tipping onto his shoulder as she murmurs the words softly into his chest.

[balancingminds]

"Yes,"

He takes a sip of his glass and kisses the top of her head.

[andproud]

She closes her eyes, holding a light grip on her glass. Everything is warm, the aftereffects of the ouzo thrumming through her bloodstream, making her control that much harder to sustain.

She sighs, a soft exhalation of breath, and responds in kind, a kiss pressed to his cheek.

[balancingminds]

Though he doesn't listen to her thoughts, he knows her sighs and he's a little more open after a few drinks,

"Door's locked."

[andproud]

She knows he's not in her head, but even if he is, she's too tipsy to care.

There's a sigh of a different kind as she lets go, turns everything off, and shifts against him again, drinking from the glass he's poured her.

[balancingminds]

He takes another sip of his glass and he smiles. Its good she can be herself here, his control is different, but he's more relaxed than he usually is.

That's why his feeling of contentment is seeping outward and their neighbors upstairs quiet down.