. wild out a little

[theo lovett]

Though he had airpods in, Theo isn't able to pay any attention to the Thundercat playlist he'd thrown on. Stuck in traffic, he was a jangle of nerves, incessantly tapping his foot as he glanced at the cars up ahead. He had deftly avoided bumping into Elyse and Ollie on his way out, ducking into the bathroom to brush his teeth again and scribbling a quick, 'Out, don't wait up for me - T' on the little whiteboard Elyse made them keep by the door. If they were to knock on his bedroom door, they'd find only the lingering scent of Tom Ford cologne on the air. The truth he knew in his heart was that whilst this was technically wrong, he didn't think it was that bad a violation. So why was he feeling so jittery?  It wasn't like this was his first time getting in an Uber to go to a girl's house on short notice... though as they pulled up, it was obvious that he'd never been to a house like this before. Feeling sheepish in front of the Uber driver, he slipped out, buzzing her intercom. "Hey. Please don't tell me you're about to release the hounds."

[dolly weathers]

Although her house isn't the least bit messy, Dolly finds herself moving around with a damp cloth searching for messes. Swiping the dust of surfaces and taking generous sips of wine is all she can do to cool her nerves. Her energy is so full of electricity and if she sits she thinks she'll explodes. Moving around in her bare feet, she finds flaws within her own cleaning regime. She pushes her couch and finds a scrap piece of paper. She stands on a stool and finds dust collecting on the highest point of her bookshelf. And by the time she's satisfied with all her failures, she hears a voice on the intercom. The gate unlocks with a fierce buzz and her feet pitter to the entrance to meet him. She leans against the frame of heavy oak door and watches as his shadow becomes a person. "Hi and welcome to my crib," she holds the door wide open and guides him in with a grin. "I feel I want to awkwardly hug you?"

[theo lovett]

He felt like he was asking a girl to prom. In fact, that hadn't been anywhere near as nerve wracking as this. It didn't help that her house added to the imposing nature of the event, making it neigh on impossible for him to pretend she was just another girl, that this was just another hookup. Usually he'd be fairly forward in these circumstances, but when she opens the door all he can do is grin behind the black surgical mask. "Hi," he says, feeling strange saying that face to face to someone. "You look less pixelated than when I saw you last." He can't help looking around as he steps inside. He's wearing the same grey sweats and white tee that he'd had on before, though he'd thrown on a black denim jacket and some sneakers. Safely inside, the transgression feels done and dusted: what was there to lose now? "Yeah," he says, looking down at her. His eyes are on hers, then her lips, then back. "Isn't it weird how a hug seems... I don't know, taboo?" he says, before opening his arms. "Bring it in."

[dolly weathers]

The air feels thicker now that he's here, it sits on her and makes her aware of every nerve on her body. Bar delivery services, she felt like she hadn't seen anyone in the flesh for so long. "Do I?" she looks down to examine herself, her fingers picking a piece of her v and stretching it out. Her eyes flutter up at him. She doesn't remember him being so tall, or maybe she's just not used to being around people. "I feel like the cops are going to bust in any moment," she moves in to hug him and folds her arms around his frame. "Especially because the mask," she presses her chin and looks up, "God, you smell really good." It'd been so long since she'd been physically touched and she missed the sticky sweet humidity of intimacy. "I'm honestly not this clingy of a person, but you might have to pry me off. You're just a very good hugger."

[theo lovett]

He's forgotten that he's wearing a mask until she says it, well accustomed to wearing one for hours. He pulls it off, slipping it into an inside pocket on his jacket and freeing his arms up to hug her. Her arms slip around his waist and he's never had such an intense reaction to a simple hug, goosebumps littering his arms as he closes them around her. She feels tiny and warm and he can't help squeezing her, giving her a little lift off the ground. "Worth doing time for," he confirms, letting her back down. The physical contact helps him to ease into the situation. "You too," he says, grinning ear to ear, struggling to come up with coherent sentences with all the exhilaration that's coursing through him. "Man, I can feel myself being flooded with serotonin. I feel like I'm coming up," he says, laughing, pulling apart just enough to look down at her. "Glad to know I haven't forgotten how to hug. Fuck, you look so good, you feel so good. I was nervous but I'm so glad to see you."

[dolly weathers]

Intimacy seemed around the corner of a never ending road. Till now, Dolly hadn't realize how much she'd yearned for soft affection or a bone crushing squeeze. Even meeting Theo's blue eyes made her feel a rush of warmth that she had forgotten existed. "I feel drunk of it.. I mean, I am drunk, but I feel a brand new level," her cheek rests against him and her arms squeeze tightly as her feet leave the ground. "Oh Jesus," she pauses to push her leg against his to compare her sweats to his, "we're twinning." She grins up at him, her hands fluttering down to catch his, "I'm really pushing against my natural instinct to make out with you." She pulls at him to follow her, "I think I'd OD on touching if I did."

[theo lovett]

There's an undeniably giddy atmosphere between them. He had been planning on pushing her against a wall and having his way with her the second he got in there, but that seemed impossible now, what with him giggling like a kid just at a hug. He doesn't know where lockdown induced mania ends and chemistry between them begins, but he knows it's both, that they're probably so intertwined it would be impossible to tell. "You wore it best, I'm man enough to admit that," he says, allowing his eyes to roam her body. He leans down and kisses the top of her head, breathing her in. "I feel like that guy in Perfume, if I could bottle your scent right now I would." He takes the opportunity to take another look around. If you were going to be stuck indoors for months on end, this was the kind of place most people would dream of doing so. "I really planned to have you naked by now, but I feel lightheaded just holding your hand," he agrees, giving it a squeeze. "Come on, are you gonna give me the tour? Maybe even a glass of the family vino?"

[dolly weathers]

Theo fitted the rough description of a man she had when she was little. There was something so familiar and nostalgic about him, she felt that she could let everything spill and he wouldn't hold any judgement. Despite being in completely separate worlds, it felt like she'd known Theo her whole life. "That sounds like something a killer would say," she feels an outpour of affection and has to squeeze his hand tightly to get over it. "You had me naked a couple of hours ago," she pulls him through the house. "My kitchen," she hesitates to let go of him, but does so to pour them each a glass of wine. "From the Weathers' Estate in Montana," she pours the glass down her throat, "I'm just dead thirsty." She refills her glass and waves her hand to different locations, "hot tub, pool, gym, bedroom.. couch.. bathroom.. office. Cellar.. where can I take you?"

[theo lovett]

"He's a killer in the movie. I also asked you about your home security measures, and some of the most successful serial killers have worked in the medical field... you should probably be worried." All his nerves have eased, replaced with relief. Even in her beautiful place, it was easy to forget about the baggage of her last name, to push away thoughts of Ollie and Elyse wondering where he'd gotten to. Right now all he cares about is just that: right now. He groans, feeling a familiar surge of desire. But he's too busy being tugged into the kitchen to dwell, his hand suddenly missing hers but grasping a glass of wine. He tastes it, giving a nod. "Tastes like... wine," he says, laughing. She rattles off locations and he wants to see all of them, wants to move in here and share them with her, which is an insane feeling to be having at this stage. "I'll take any of the above. Though I didn't bring any swimwear, so unless you're cool with skinny dipping, maybe somewhere dry."

[dolly weathers]

She narrows her eyes at him, "and the shaved head points to some sort of mental break... are you a past employee of my fathers' looking for revenge? It wouldn't be the first time I've had to use my karate." She watches as he sips his wine and laughs when he remarks how ordinary it is. "My dearest, it's your tastebuds. Not the wine. Your tastebuds are inferior," she riddles off with a posh accent. The amount of dollar her poor father had put into his vineyard, only to have to called out as wine - she loves it. "I actually exclusively skinny dip in the hot tub, so that sounds like a great idea," her cheeks grow round as she grins cheekily at him. She tucks bottles of wine under her elbow and leads him through her mini-mansion of a house. "There's a fire out here too, but I have no idea how to work it," warm fairy lights illuminate her patio and she pulls open the door. "Try not to judge my design choices. The poor designer kept trying to steer me but I just kept yelling 'TIKI BAR'."

[theo lovett]

"I was wondering if you'd manage to ignore it," he says, running a hand through his freshly shorn hair. "Wait, what -- have you seriously had to use karate on someone?" he asks, eyes widening. He takes another sip of wine. "Mmm. I mean, really, the best wine I've ever had. But all wine tastes the same to someone as uncultured as me." He follows her out into the night, her spacious patio lit up with fairy lights that make it look like something out of a glossy magazine, rather than the frat house vibe he was more used to. It's tiki but it's elevated, every inch of the place screaming of money without having to flash a single label. "I think you might be the girl of my dreams," he says, unable to help picturing her out here, naked, drinking wine on her own. Her hair and skin glow under the lights, smooth and glossy and begging to be touched. "Seriously. You're hot as fuck Dolly, I'm glad we're doing this."

[dolly weathers]

"I couldn't ignore it if I tried," she watches as his hand brushes through his hair and she almost has the nerve to do it herself. "Haha, no. I haven't, but I would!" She wonders how her family would actually perceive him. She felt it was different for her brothers, who only needed to a model to impress in family photos. Dolly felt like she was always required to have someone with a smart resume and to work with her family to elevate the name. But as the thought comes into her head, she takes a sip of wine and kicks it right out. She acts bashful and tucks her head into his shoulder, "aw, you're just saying that because the tiki bar." She puts her glass down by the hot tub and turns away from him. "You can look when I say you can look, okay?" she doesn't finish her sentence before she starts stripping, her sweats landing in a grey heap just out of harms way from the water. "Alright," she dips into the water, uncomfortably squirming as her skin adjusts to the heat, "you can look."

[theo lovett]

"Come on then, show me some karate moves. I've seen Cobra Kai, I think I know what I'm talking about." He can't stop sipping the wine, despite the fact that all wine tastes like vinegar to him, and also goes straight to his already fuzzy head. He'd had about three lessons of karate as a kid but had decided it was too much work for him, though he imagines he might have committed to it more if he felt there was a high risk he'd be kidnapped and held for ransom at some point in his lifetime. There were so many things, little things, less obvious than the wealth disparity, that made their lives so very, very different. But for now he'd just pretend they were the same, two very average people who happened to find themselves in a Los Angeles mansion in the middle of a global pandemic. He nods, actually glad to be looking away because he's blushing like a schoolgirl. What the fuck was wrong with him? He squints up at the sky, trying to get a hold of himself. When she says he can look he does, relieved that his cheeks have calmed down in time. She's obscured by bubbles but just seeing her bare shoulders makes his skin feel hot, his breath shortening. "My turn I guess," he grins, easily shrugging off his jacket and pulling his tee up over his shoulders. "You can look if you want." He laughs, genuinely not feeling self conscious when it came to his own nudity. He strips off his sweatpants and boxers in one, lowering himself into the tub across from her, the warm water enveloping him. Once sat, he looks across at her, still grinning. "Hi."

[dolly weathers]

She could stuff her home of people and she wouldn't feel as full as she does now. Problematic as they were bound to be, she could easily ignore all of that and focus in on what was here now. "I don't want to hurt you," she shrugs and takes sip of wine. Embarrassingly, she'd learnt karate not out of fear of being kidnapped or assaulted, but because she'd watched too much Kim Possible when she was a little girl. Her body is losing its shit but she's trying to keep her cool. She watches him undress and her heart beats so hard she can hear it. Her chest feels tight as he lowers himself into the steaming water. "Hi," she says back as she sinks herself deeper into the water. She feel like she needs to touch him, so she stretches her foot out and rests it on his bare leg. "I'm struggling to focus," she admits, biting her lip, "it's like you're cut from marble? I didn't buy you, did I? I'm not making you up?"

[theo lovett]

Somewhere in his pocket his phone is a blur of texts and missed calls, most of them from Elyse, interrogating him about where he could possibly be during a pandemic without his work bag. Pictures of said bag, surrounded by texts comprised of only question marks, suggest that he's going to be in for it when he gets home. But he's too wrapped up in what he's doing to so much as glance at his iPhone, all too glad to be spending some time away from a screen, with a girl who belonged on a silver one. "Okay, okay, I'll take you at your word. Unless there's a break in, then I'll leave it to you." Instinctively, under the protective blanket of bubbling warm water, Theo's hand runs up her calf and rests there, holding her smooth skin. There had been so many times he'd Uber'd over to a girl's house and had his way with her in less time than this, but it feels so much more intimate, it's almost pornographic to him. He swallows, letting out yet another laugh as she speaks. "Not unless you count a McDonalds as a price," he says. He looks at her for a moment longer, absorbing the moment, not wanting to do anything to ruin it and unable to take his eyes off her. "I've been thinking about you a lot, y'know. Even after all the Jake stuff, you've been on my mind."