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un: Andrea

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>> late july

[moderatelycompetent]

[Help prepare some food, they said. It sounded easy enough. How could it be harder than helping out with prep at the Mystic Grill? It suited his skillset a lot more than rushing out to fight demons with superheroes and vikings, that's for sure. But the kitchen reality turned out to be messier than expected. When Landon returns to the room, he's in desperate need of a shower, covered in gore and sinew well past his forearms.

There's some fumbling with the doorknob before he pushes the door open, after some struggling to get it open with just his elbows. There's less mess that way, he thinks. And if he's lucky enough, he'll find the shower unoccupied and will be able to make a beeline for a more comfortable, less disgusting existence.]

>> you broke in my inbox. i'm touched

[havethings]

( It's a minute later, Hope returns to their room, towel wrapped around her. It's the smell she notices first, before she even goes inside. All she can think is that they need to check in more - especially if this is the kind of activity Landon's going to get up to.

It could be sexy, or at least, sexy-ish. Hope half naked and clean and Landon right there. Except, Landon smells like he was waist deep inside an animal. And it's not a smell she'll get out of her nostrils any time soon. )

Oh - that's -- you.

( The smell is you. )

What were you doing?

[moderatelycompetent]

[ she stops and reacts the way she does, and it feels like an extraordinary amount of attention has suddenly settled upon him. ]

Oh. You're. [ she's in a towel. He shouldn't be looking at her while she's in a towel. His eyes scramble away, his head tilting to the blank wall on her right. ]

I was just -- they needed some help in the kitchen. That's all.

[havethings]

Showered?

( Yeah, he should, too. But, that's right. Usually, they separated when they changed. They woke up but showered separately. Saw each other for breakfast. Never -- like this. )

That doesn't look or smell like help..

( Just overkill. )

Tell me they're not recycling the demonic carnival remains. Or -- What attacked everyone? We're supposed to eat them?

[moderatelycompetent]

Yes. [That's a word that doesn't involve imagining any of her unmentionables.] Showered. Let's go with that.

[Oh good she's still talking and that means he can escape this moment.]

But -- I don't think they were? They made it sound like it's what usually passes for the meat we get. At least it's locally sourced?

[havethings]

( You're her boyfriend. You can look. She's even covered up. Think of it like a strapless dress? )

If you can call defending ourselves locally sourced.

( She moves over to her bed and her side table, pulling out a brush from her drawer.

Not turning, she smiles to herself. )

Are you still staring?

[moderatelycompetent]

[He can't help but think about a lot of things that happen when straps aren't involved with a dress. It's just not okay to talk about these things. Part of being a sensitive man in the post-metoo era is knowing when to keep his mouth shut about the feminine body.

Even though, as she moves and leans, some of her hair shifts and cascades over her shoulder, drawing attention to the face that she's the most beautiful woman who's ever existed on the planet and]

Staring? What? Me? I would never.

[But he also has no idea whether she said anything before that gorgeous elegant reach. Did he miss a question? He hopes he didn't miss a question.]

[havethings]

( Turning, she begins at brushing her hair. )

Uhuh. ( She's convinced. She brushes a few strokes into her hair. ) So, should we talk about the sex thing?

[moderatelycompetent]

[ o h n o he has definitely missed an important part of this discussion.]

S-s--uh--sex thing?

[havethings]

Having sex.

( Has he not thought about it? Nights just making out, slowly edging toward more. Life being incredibly hectic and dangerous, but still wanting more? Mornings they wake up and Landon has his own situation which, you know, Hope doesn't mind. It's biology. )

Not that our priority in hell should be, let's lose our virginity, especially because it's the virgins in the horror movies that become final girls. Couples, in this case. But. I've thought about it.

( Did he not want to? He almost did with Josie which still stings. Not that it should. It had nothing to do with her. )

I think we should be open about it, about the possibility that we might all not be leaving here any time soon. And -- I've heard stories.

[moderatelycompetent]

[Oh, that's. Well, honestly, it was exactly what he was thinking about, but not in a way he was prepared to think about out loud. Especially not while covered in viscera. Smelly viscera, that's growing cold and congealed.

But the toothpaste can't go back in the tube, so he guesses they're talking about this now.]

It wasn't really my plan to be a horror movie virgin, no. But it's not like we've got a lot of privacy here, either.

[Not that Ivy would mind, probably, but it seems like the kind of imposition they shouldn't be making.]

[havethings]

That's - not where I was going.

( But she knows what privacy is like. Especially, with Ivy here. And people and demons everywhere. )

But, you're not wrong. We still should talk about it? You almost did with Josie. ( And then. ) Why didn't you?

[moderatelycompetent]

Oh. This is about that.

[The competition. The being stuck between two girls and never knowing the right thing to say to spare both sets of feelings. He sighs.]

Hope, do you really want to talk about this? Are you just bringing it up so you can obsess about it later?

[havethings]

It's not about - Josie.

( Or him and Josie. Or competition. Does he not want to? She doesn't know. )

Obsess about it?

( What. What the -- Yeah. He's right. This was a bad idea. )

You should shower.

[moderatelycompetent]

[Well now he'd be kind of a jackass if he walked out on the conversation.]

If it's not about Josie, then what is it about?

[havethings]

( Well, he doesn't leave with his tail between his legs. Which is an improvement on expectations.

But, her righteous bout of anger is quickly not getting her anywhere. )

Landon, it's about you and me. It's about -- what every teenager thinks about? Do you think I don't think about it?

[moderatelycompetent]

I think you've got a lot of things to think about and that one might end up a little low on the priority list.

....Are you saying it's not?

[havethings]

No, I'm saying it is. And getting us out of here, Josie's ticking time bomb and my dad? All priorities. But, this is -- still one priority. I walked in here in a towel and your mouth practically dropped open. That's okay.

[moderatelycompetent]

I don't mind waiting, if that's what you mean.

[His cheeks darken in splotches partially masked by the splatters on his cheeks.]

We don't have to do anything you're not ready for. That we don't have the time to worry about. And if being virgins is giving us some kind of edge here, maybe it's something we shouldn't be doing anyway.

[havethings]

I'll know when I'm ready and I'd only want to do it if you were. I don't mind if that's until we make it out of hell. ( Especially if virginity is a factor. ) I just -- being here, in this towel and your reaction. It's going to come up and I guess this is my way of saying that, I love you. And I ... know.

( God, she's so much better at fortifying and pep talking. And fighting. Jesus. Shut her up. This did not go well. She still doesn't like the 'obsess' comment, but she still loves Landon. )

[moderatelycompetent]

[There's something kind of sweet in that. Beautiful, in its own way. And coming from Hope, it's a pretty big extension of trust. It's something that should be honored. ]

And if something happens here, then it happens. And that's okay with me if it's okay with you. I love you too, Hope.

[He hesitates.]

This is usually the part where I hug you, but....

[havethings]

Go. Go shower. Please clean yourself and that smell, but, I'll be here when you get back.

( Dressed. )

[moderatelycompetent]

Right. Right, I'm gonna... Yeah.

[And now he's mostly just scrambling. Maybe he can get one of the superheroes to teach him how to make cooler exits.]

[havethings]

( Hope for her part beats herself up for the strangest tangent ever reached in hell, gets dressed, and gets out of there.

She finds her way to Lizzie who is exactly as comforting as you'd expect, but, she does make a few good points. And Hope didn't exactly convey anything well. First getting defensive and then rambling.

So, it's probably after Landon is showered and settled in with whatever book, coming, DVD he's found when Hope makes her way back in to the room.

She toes off her shoes in the doorway. )

Hey, can we talk?

[moderatelycompetent]

[It's calmer when he's clean. She'll find him curled up on the floor around a pile of books -- the local lore, pulled from the library so they don't feel quite as adrift in everything. He looks up when Hope returns, setting a scrap from his notebook in place to hold his page.]

Yeah, sure. Something up?

[He's had enough time to start reading about bossy archangels, and their previous talk seems less pressing.]