. 7 minutes in heaven

[jane ridley]

7 MINUTES IN HELL TOMMY & JANE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - At this point she can't be bothered with justifying herself, or explaining why she answered the way she had. It was too much effort to put forth in this conversation that stoked her annoyance further and further, more so focused on why her interest in Thompson had shifted so quickly to frustrated tolerance. It was likely the wife thing, coupled with his fierce desperation for an heir - in all honesty she didn't really care, it was just always startling to have to entertain those discussions with him. Part of being second best, she guessed, crossing her arms over her chest and leaning further into the door to trap him in. "I don't want to date you or Freddie - I know it's hard for you to accept that, because you just think everyone is either obsessed with your or hates you, but women sometimes just want to fuck around too." The silence drags momentarily, an exasperated sigh falling from her pouting lips. "Now stop ruining the fun."

[thompson weathers]

7 MINUTES IN HEAVEN TOMMY & JANE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Thompson rolls his eyes. "I'm the last person on Earth to suggest that women don't like to fuck." Unlike his brothers, who preached discretion and selection, Tom tended to sleep with the widest range of willing participants he could. Random clerk in a department store? Sure. Friend's girlfriend? Why not, if she was offering. But he had to believe that they were enthusiastically willing, or that would spell very bad news for him. Still, on some level he knew he was being unreasonable with Jane, though he also felt like there was a time and a place. "You're free to do whatever you want and I'm free to feel however I want to about it." A pause, and he says what he really thinks... as if he ever did anything other than that. "It's telling to me that you're not going for the two guys who don't have millions to burn. Obviously, you have a type. That's all."

[jane ridley]

7 MINUTES IN HELL TOMMY & JANE - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Well when you swim in your little feelings I don't really feel like knowing about it. I'm not like...here right now to entertain stimulating conversations with you, let's both be honest." He's on god knows what and she's both floating and crashing based on the fever pitch of moods floating through her, suddenly desperate for another pill after this little rendezvous. Thankfully the clock is on her side, buzzer sounding blissfully from the other room. "Yeah, boo hoo, I like to fuck rich guys and like nice things. Just call me a hooker if that settles your internal debate," she clips out, pushing through the door with an annoyed roll of her eyes at the crowd. "Uneventful. Liv, all you."

[olivia hamilton]

7 MINUTES IN HEAVEN LIV & LUIZ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Liv's made herself comfortable once again on the couch, vibing with the music and anxiously awaiting her turn. Eyes sneak over many times over to Luiz who's met her gaze every single time. Almost as if he knows she's going to announce his name to join her. She was being pretty obvious with her stares, so of course he has to know they would be up next. The door opens to a very annoyed Jane and she proclaims that it's Olivia's turn. Liv makes a mental note to confront Jane what that was all about. "It's obvious who my choice is," Olivia's voice husky, as she makes direct contact with Luiz. She stands up from the couch and grasps his hand. "Come on, Mr. Bartender." Soon the wooden hotel door was closed and they were finally alone. The chemistry and tension bouncing between them, her heart was throbbing as he closed the space between them. Liv's hands caressed his tanned arms and their faces were inches apart. "Sorry if I was a little too obvious about wanting you," she murmurs, though she's anything but sorry. "I think everyone has been expecting this from us any-," Luiz begins to speak but Liv doesn't allow him to finish. Lips and tongues met each other with an urgency. He tasted of tequila, Liv's guilty pleasure and her senses were kicked into overdrive. Their mouths had ceased to break apart except for Liv to release a moan. His hands were roaming her body and pulling her closer into his hips, just as the timer sounded off. "This isn't done," Luiz declares as they pull apart. Liv nods her head, as she wipes a bit of her lip gloss off his face. "Not at all." She smiles, as she releases them from the room. "Okay, so who's next?"

[pat bohannon]

7 MINUTES IN HEAVEN PAT & STASSI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - "Full circle," Pat realizes, having been the first choice and now suddenly making the last. His eyes drag briefly over the room, wondering if there's a right option as he watches Maya texting someone in the corner. But there'd been no repeats somehow and he was always loathe to break a pattern, shoving away from the bar and offering Stassi his hand. "Shall we?" Pat asks, waving away the whoops and hollers from the corner currently drowning in tequila as he pulled her into the room. It had been a weekend of closeness for the two, something that had felt totally normal until they were suddenly alone, his hands sloping to her waist and gently squeezing before letting go to settle on the edge of the bed, suddenly vividly aware of the feeling of her skin, the mesmerizing shift of her eye color. Clearing his throat he looks up at her, trying to reel in his composure. "I can't believe I have to compete with Luiz."

[stassi siminski]

7 MINUTES IN HEAVEN PAT & STASSI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Usually MDMA came with an ease of being, an indifference to life's pains and struggles, that allowed Stassi to forget about anything that might be bothering her. So it's surprising that when she hears her name, so familiar in that accent, that intonation, that this time it makes the breath hitch in her throat. She takes his hand and as they move the room falls away, as far away and unreal as a blurred background on Zoom. The door closes behind them and though it's her third time in here, it seems so much smaller than it had before, the music seems more distant and somehow it feels like there's less oxygen now.  "Haha," she says, speaking rather than laughing. Her skin burns where he'd revoked his touch, and she's still struggling to find her breath, not an experience she was remotely used to. Maybe the drugs were stronger than she'd thought. Realizing she had been abnormally quiet, she smiles at him, clearing her throat. "You aren't competing. Are you having a nice time?"

[pat bohannon]

7 MINUTES IN HEAVEN PAT & STASSI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Time is all but melting into itself, Pat unaware if they've been in there seconds or minutes, yet acutely aware she's unusually silent. His brows pull together in confusion, dragging his eyes from the dark corners of the familiar room to her rigid, frozen form until she starts back into life. Maybe she'd taken more than she let on and tipped into paranoia, Pat suddenly wary of his lax, languid movements. Wondering if staying close might be better he opens his arms back up for a hug, an invitation should she choose to take it but also an expression of his mindless gratitude. "The best time, thanks again for pulling this all together. Couldn't have done it without ya." He holds his tongue about what happened with Maya for some reason, trying to figure out why before blinking his eyes a few times and feeling the exhaustion in between the gauzy happiness. "You having a good time too?"

[stassi siminski]

7 MINUTES IN HEAVEN PAT & STASSI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - As she often did when they were in the same room and alcohol was flowing, Stassi had spent the day gravitating towards Pat. It didn't matter how the night started out or who else was there, by 3am, 4am, it was a near given that they would be within a foot of each other, leaning towards one another, sharing sips of respective cocktails, knees brushing together under cramped tables. That was normal, and yet now, loosened by illicit substances and sharing a level of privacy they'd never really had, she was being as stiff as a corpse. He opens his arms and she feels a pang of what might be guilt,  though she's not very good at assessing her current feelings. A characteristic smile breaks out across her face and she leans into his chest, breathing in his familiar scent as she slips her arms around him in a lazy, languid hug, some tension dissipating from her shoulders. She nods at his question. "The best time." She's silent for a moment, soaking it up, before her grin turns coy and she leans back to look at him again with heavy lidded eyes. "Now tell me the truth. Did you kiss my big sister?"

[pat bohannon]

7 MINUTES IN HEAVEN PAT & STASSI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Pat's instantly relieved when she leans in, comfort flooding through his rushing bloodstreams as he wraps his arms around her and immediately leans back onto the bed, dragging her lithe body with him. Above them the ceiling is dark but glittering, his eyes tracing the constellations formed by the Strip lights before her perfume registers in his nose and he drifts back into focus. Arm tugging away from her waist to cover his eyes on an embarrassed laugh. "Depends, did you kiss my favorite bartender?" He cranes his neck down to study her in mock competition, only to slowly realize how close their faces were, how he could feel her breath pass cool across the hint of his jaw. Imperceptibly he drifts forward before hesitating, knowing she could likely feel his heart flooding his chest. "I did," he finally admits, low and soft. Eyes searching hers before drifting lower. "But I think that was it for us."

[stassi siminski]

7 MINUTES IN HEAVEN PAT & STASSI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - It feels good to lie back on the bed, lifted so easily by him that she hardly noticed it happening. Tucked under him she's suddenly aware of how much broader he is than she'd ever noticed before, how big his hands are. Half lit by the neon lights pouring through the window behind them, she can see small flecks of scarring across his face and neck and she wants desperately to run her fingers across them, though she's too comfortable to move. She feels a faint pang of something as he semi confesses, though it's dwarfed by the surge of affection she feels at his laugh-- his body vibrates as he does it and she's so aware of her breathing that she actually holds her breath for a second, her eyes fixed rigidly on his face as he finally confesses in full. "Mmm, I think we've both been badly behaved." He's so close now and suddenly her heart is beating hard, so hard against her chest that she thinks she might pass out. Her voice drops so that it's barely above a whisper, her eyes dropping from his to his lips as she bites down on her own. "What kind of kiss was it?"

[pat bohannon]

7 MINUTES IN HEAVEN PAT & STASSI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The room suddenly feels smaller, or maybe his focus has shifted back into place, so aware of the smooth expanse of skin under his grasp. His hand splays on the small of her back to explore further, tugging her closer against him in a way that in the past had been familiar, but now felt charged with something that aligned too closely to his sheepish guilt. He shakes his head, trying to dispel the strange weight in his chest before catching her eye. It only seems to get worse when they look to one another, walls shrinking in until it's just them, stares flickering between curious eyes and curious lips. "Is that so?" He murmurs, voice fueled with a heat he's not expecting. Coaxing a seeking question, eyes brazen as they held. "Do you want me to tell you or show you?"

[stassi siminski]

7 MINUTES IN HEAVEN PAT & STASSI - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - The music that had once been so loud seems so far away that they might as well be under water. Instinctively her body presses against his as his hand finds the small of her back, one arm slipping around his waist as her other hand meets the nape of his neck. Without thinking she traces her nails through his hair, swirling circles and relishing how electric every point of contact feels. His eyes darken with something that makes her core ache, their lips so close as he speaks that she can feel every syllable on her face. Those words make the ache deepen and she's sure she's about to have a heart attack, her heart beating so loudly in her ears that it was deafening, and strange, a sort of out of body banging-- oh, no, that was Luiz beating on the door. "Time's up you two, didn't you hear the buzzer?" And with that the spell is broken. A sensation indecipherable between disappointment and relief rushes through Stassi's body. She gives him a squeeze that has lost all of its charge, holding his body tight against hers for a second as she starts to regain the ability to speak. "I love you so much." Breaking apart, she lets out a long exhale, sitting up and fanning herself with her hand. "Is it hot in here? It feels hot in here."