The Bee's Knees

Who: Joshua and Claire
When: Evening
Where: Joshua's Apartment
NSFW

After dropping Gabe off back home, Claire drove to Tourville, slowly of course, seeing as how she didn't want to hit the stragglers from trick or treat. Or the... ghosts. She would have been afraid, but the town wasn't on fire, or imploding into chaos - thus far - and after the last couple months? It wasn't so shocking. In fact, it was kind of cool. Spirits of the undead roaming around on Halloween? It beat rabid, flesh hungry werewolves any day. When she got to Joshua's, she parked and hurried out of her car, eager to see if he saw them too. She grabbed the two small pumpkins from her backseat, and the bag of carving utensils and turned to head into his apartment complex.

Unfortunately she turned and found herself face to face with a transparent old woman, which drew a shriek from her lips and caused her to drop one of the pumpkins when she jumped backward. It splattered loudly on the parking lot and she fumbled quite a lot to keep her hands around the other. She clutched it to her chest with the bag, lifting her gaze away from the pumpkin guts back to the ghost. Who was gone.

"Not cool!" she shouted, her heart still pounding in her chest. Muttering a curse under her breath, Claire stepped over the smashed pumpkin and quickened her pace until she was safely in the apartment. She knocked on his door, unable to keep herself from glancing around her, as if almost expecting another ghost to pop up.

Halloween. It had been uneventful so far -- as far as Joshua knew, at least -- and that was definitely a relief. He'd mostly been sitting around on the couch, halfway watching an Alfred Hitchcock marathon on TV and halfway working on some homework. Sean seemed satisfied that Claire was coming to him, and they had sort of a silent mutual agreement that he wouldn't be going out anywhere. Joshua was okay with that, in the scheme of things. He had his phone close by, and he'd flipped to the local stations a couple of times to look for panicky news crawlers, and apparently the world wasn't falling down around their ears yet. So he was content to wait for Claire and her pumpkins and try not to be irrationally annoyed that she was hanging out with Gabe yet again.

He'd heard the shriek faintly from where he was but didn't pay it a whole lot of attention. There were kids out trick or treating, after all. The knock was the thing he was waiting for, and he hopped up eagerly, knocking his shin against the corner of the coffee table as he did so and wincing slightly. He made a go-away-it's-fine gesture to Sean as the angel stuck his head out of his room down the hall and opened the door with a smile. "Hey," he said, leaning in to kiss her immediately.

"Hi." She smiled and returned his kiss before stepping inside and walking over to set the pumpkin down before she did something stupid like trip and drop it. Cleaning up pumpkin guts on Josh's floor wasn't how she wanted to spend the rest of her night. "There are freaking ghosts everywhere," Claire breathed, setting the pumpkin on the table. "Like, all over town. One scared the crap out of me in the parking lot. Er, the other pumpkin met an unfortunate end on the pavement."

"Ghosts?" Joshua echoed, frowning a bit as he trailed along behind her. After closing and locking the door, that was. "Like how do you mean, ghosts?" Did she mean real, actual ghosts? People dressed like ghosts? Was she just startled, or was there shit going on that he didn't know about. She didn't sound terribly freaked out, but she was Something Else herself, so ... that didn't always mean much. He reached out to pick out a few strands of her hair that had been dyed blue and feel them.

"Like... ghost ghosts," Claire said, realizing it wasn't the best explanation. "I didn't see any until the sun went down... they're just wandering around town! Like regular people almost, but not. They're not scary or anything, not the ones I saw. That's the weird thing though, that I can see them. I don't think I'm the only one." She paused when he reached for her hair before grinning at him. "I was attempting the blue raspberry lollipop look, but I think came across as myself to be honest."

He was still confused-frowning, because that was ... odd. It was Halloween, sure, but he'd kind of been expecting something ... more. Bigger, scarier, whatever. But Claire said they weren't scary -- just startling, apparently -- and there she was grinning and everything. "Well that's ... okay. That's what it is, I guess," he said, not sure how else to address the random appearance of non-threatening ghosts. For fuck's sake, they were too used to disaster. He smiled a little at what she was supposed to be, and pulled her in closer with an arm around her waist. "You're delicious enough," he murmured.

"I guess I should be more freaked out?" Claire asked. Because hello, ghosts! "But it's like... just amazing, almost. If they were poltergeists or something, I would be freaking, but it's hard when I see one that looks like my grandpa, you know?" She smiled and went to him willingly, both arms coming up to wrap around his neck. "Aw, you're just saying that because you want a bite," Claire teased.

"Who wouldn't? Damn," he said with a grin. Joshua leaned in to nip at her bottom lip and then pulled away, moving to the window that looked out on the parking lot. He pulled the curtain aside and peered out, halfway expecting to see just a crowd of translucent, glowing ghosts floating around. There weren't any, kind of unsurprisingly, but he did see where she'd accidentally killed the other pumpkin. "Fuckin' weird," he muttered.

Claire followed him when he went to the window and was a bit disappointed to see no ghostly apparitions floating about out there. "It did happen," she said quickly, in case he might think she was losing her sanity or something. "I mean, there's really ghosts out there. I would say we could go out and investigate, but you're probably sort of stuck inside tonight, huh?"

"Oh yeah, I believe you," he said, straightening up again to look at her. Hell, there was pretty much nothing that he wouldn't believe anymore. "I just kinda want to see one. But yeah, stuck inside." His eyes flickered up toward the hallway that Sean was down, supposedly watching TV or whatever. And because he could, he kissed Claire's cheek again. "But there's nobody I'd rather be stuck inside with."

"Maybe you'll get lucky and one will come floating through the walls," Claire said, smiling when he kissed her cheek. She felt bad that he had to be inside, but she could understand it. Curse and all. "At least I think I'm crafty enough that we can do something creative." She motioned to the pumpkin. "And you're totally in charge of pulling the guts out of that thing if I'm doing all the cutting. Got any old newspapers or a trash bag?"

"Hell yes, pumpkin-gutting. Nothing better," he said with a little grin. He moved around her and headed into the kitchen to fish out a trash bag from under the sink. There were some salvaged newspapers too, and those he spread out on the table. Sean was far from finicky when it came to cleaning, but dried pumpkin guts on the table was going a bit too far. Once they were all set up, he took a seat a little ways a way while she handled the first knife-part of the evening. Just in case. "So how's your night been so far? Besides the ghosts."

Claire picked up the pumpkin and set it on the newspapers before opening the bag with the carving utensils. Joshua was going nowhere near them. She set the bag down and shoved the knife into the top of the pumpkin to carve the top out. "My night?" She glanced at him briefly before going back to the job at hand. "Oh. It was fine. I mean, fine besides the ghost thing." A decent party and weirdness with Gabe, but that wasn't really something to talk about with Josh. Or think about at the moment at all. "What about yours? What have you been doing all day?"

He didn't really know enough about women yet to know that 'fine' was usually code for something else, so Joshua took her at face-value there, and just nodded with a little smile as he watched her stab the pumpkin. A back-forty part of his mind wondered if he would be able to do this for his own kids someday, or if mom would have to be the one wielding the knives for forever and ever, amen. "Not much," he said with a shrug. "Went to class, came home. Been watchin' an Alfred Hitchcock marathon and waiting on you. House arrest is shite."

"Yeah, I think it would suck to be stuck inside, especially on Halloween. I saw a few parties on campus driving home from school. How was class? Is it getting any better for you?" Claire moved the pumpkin around with her free hand, pleased that she hadn't managed to screw it up yet. She flashed him a smile. "And are you going to be on house arrest much longer or will you be able to venture out soon?"

"It's going okay," he said with another shrug. Really, it was kind of a struggle, but he didn't like admitting that where he didn't have to. Claire was smart, and he kind of felt like enough of an idiot enough of the time without voluntarily making it worse. He watched what she did avidly from where he was, aware that she was kind of clumsy too, even if she wasn't cursed. He didn't want her getting cut, though what he would do about it, he had no idea. "I think I'll be able to bust out after Halloween comes and goes and nothin' explodes into hellfire and brimstone," he said, faintly amused. "So prob'ly tomorrow. ... thanks for comin' by, you didn't have to cater to my lame tonight."

"You're not lame," Claire told him, shooting him a pointed look. "Don't make me wield my knife at you." She grinned then and finally finished. She pulled the knife out of the top and fumbled with it, dropping it to the table with a clatter and a wince. "Sorry." No cuts, that was good! She tugged the top off of the pumpkin. "I feel like a brain surgeon! Only... not." Chuckling, Claire took the knife and set to the side with the top of the pumpkin. "Time to get the guts out... and that's all you."

Joshua chuckled himself and stood up. "Every boy's dream," he said with a crooked grin. It was, in a sense. Who didn't love getting fucking messy with pumpkin guts? Nobody, that was who. He stepped up next to her and gave her a hip-bump as he rubbed his hands together and looked down at his victim-slash-holiday decoration. Bottom lip between his teeth for a second, he dipped his hand into the hole and scooped up everything he could for the first scoop, and held it up for her inspection, trying to resist the urge to smoosh it on her.

Claire grinned when he began to dig into the pumpkin. She didn't think his curse could somehow wrap around something so innocent as degutting a pumpkin. She hoped, anyway. Claire shifted her gaze between the gooey pumpkin seeds and his face, watching as he studied it. "If you even think about doing anything with that, other than slapping it down on the newspaper? You will be in so much trouble," she warned playfully.

Oh that? He couldn't resist. Joshua grinned broadly. "If I even think about it?" he echoed, mischief glinting in his eyes. "I think I'm already in trouble, then. And if I'm already in trouble, what's the harm, yeah?" And with that? Because he was, like many teenage boys, twelve years old in the brain, he darted in and squashed the handful of cold pumpkin guts against her cheek and the side of her neck. Because what was the point of carving pumpkins if you didn't have a gut-fight? Really now.

"There's harm!" Claire insisted, trying to be threatening, but she was more just panicky now. "Lots and lots of harm!" She lifted her hands to try and keep him at bay, but he was quick and she gasped with a soft shriek as pumpkin seed and well, guts, smeared over her cheek and down her neck. She stared at him in disbelief, open mouthed and trying to keep the giggles from escaping. Reaching up, she peeled a bit of the pumpkin off of her skin before flinging it suddenly at him. "You're going to be washing pumpkin smell from you for the rest of the week," she assured him, reaching out to push him out of the way and dig her hand into the pumpkin herself to get a fistful. "You'll be finding pumpkin seeds in places you never thought pumpkin seeds could go."

It was hard to respond, Joshua was laughing so much. He couldn't help it, she just looked hilarious. And wasn't mad, just retaliating, so that was awesome. He stumbled in a giggling way as she pushed him aside, and tried to grab at her wrist as she scooped up some of her own. "That a promise?" he asked, bumping into her himself to try and reach into the poor pumpkin at the same time. Sean was going to murder him over the carpet, but he didn't care. He got a little more smeared on her arm at least.

"It's definitely a promise," she said, laughing as she reached out to push his hand from the pumpkin. It tottered dangerously on the table, but thankfully it didn't tip over. Claire lunged at him, deciding if she was going to smear pumpkin guts on him, she was going to go all the way with it. She smeared what was in her hand through his hair and down the side of his face. She felt gooey, and gross, but she found it amusing enough that she didn't really care at all. "You're disrespecting the body of a beautiful pumpkin who faced the ultimate sacrifice for our own entertainment! You know what that means, don't you?" Claire picked a pumpkin seed from her cheek. "You'll have your very own pumpkin haunting!"

"I'm disrespecting it?" Joshua countered between laughs. "You were the one with the murder weapon, missy. You're the one who'd better be prepared for spooky floating pumpkins above your bed." He shook his head, flinging some guts and seeds off of his head, but most of it stayed put. But since they were having a war, he decided to amp it up a bit. As quick as he could, Joshua got another scoop with his fingers, and grabbed the front of her shirt with the other. He tugged it up and moved to smear the gooey grossness on her stomach, grinning from ear to ear.

She shrieked and tried to stumble back, but then there was pumpkin guts on her stomach and ew. Laughing, she pulled some of the guts hanging from her stomach to throw back at him. "That's so nasty," she whined between giggles. "I look like I've been involved in a pumpkin massacre!" She was going to have to take an extra long shower later, that was for sure. And her shirt was already sticking to her skin. Seemed like it was easier to pull remnants of pumpkin off of her rather than going for the pumpkin. She reached out and grabbed him again, her finger tugging around the belt loop of his pants and tugging him against her. "Surrender, or you get pumpkin guts down your pants."

He went where he was tugged with no complaint at all. The thing about being a guy was, one didn't really give a crap most of the time about getting dirty and disgusting. He wrapped his arms around her, pulling her in closer so that her hand was caught between them and the pumpkin muck squished on her more firmly. "Careful, girlie," he murmured at her with a grin. "I might insist you do some cleanin' up if you go that far." Sure, it was forward, but he was having fun with her, and it made him feel forward. He was torn between sticking his pumpkin-y hand down the back of her pants, and actually keeping her there against him. Decisions, decisions.

Claire didn't care much either about being dirty and gross, but then again, she was rarely around a guy she liked. She knew she ought to be more self conscious about it, but it was too funny to really worry much about it. Besides, he'd started it. She made a face at having the pumpkin squished between them when he pulled her closer against him before laughing. "Oh, I see... so you're only worried about what's down your pants, rather than what's hanging from your hair." She slipped her hand up his shirt then and smeared her fingers along his abdomen. "You wear that pumpkin so good, by the way..."

He twitched, 'cause it was a little cold, and laughed. "That's kinda how my priorities are runnin', yeah," he agreed, grinning. "But thanks, I do my best. Gourds are really fashionable, you know. In this season." And because he couldn't help himself any longer, he leaned down and kissed her. It was kind of pumpkin-tasty, but Joshua didn't care. He deepened it almost immediately and nipped at her bottom lip, quite obviously enjoying all this. Now he wanted to drag her to the bathroom and toss them both in the shower to clean up and ... other things.

She grinned and was about to reply but then he kissed her, so anything she was going to say was immediately forgotten and lost. She stroked her tongue against his, liking his taste a lot better than anything pumpkin-y. Bringing her sticky hands up, she slid them around the nape of his neck, also sticky, to keep him close. Was throwing around pumpkin bits suppose to be an aphrodisiac? She doubted it, but it kind of was. Which probably made her weird, but whatever. He smelled nice, and tasted great and he'd made her laugh quite a bit, so she wasn't looking to let go of him anytime soon.

It was just good to have her there, in his arms, connected by the mouth. He more or less forgot all about what they were supposed to be doing, and fell completely into kissing her. It was damn easy to do, and he didn't give a second thought to her getting him even more sticky. Joshua kissed her like he hadn't done it in a long time, hands sliding down the back of her shirt. As well as they'd slide with drying pumpkin-guts on them, anyway. One slid down over the curve of her ass and squeezed lightly before coming up again, just to see if he could get away with it. "Missed you," he murmured as he parted for just a second to catch a breath, and then set back into kissing her again.

She let him get away with it, given she enjoyed it herself. Smiling against his lips, she wrapped her arms around his neck now. "Missed you too." They didn't see each other as often as she'd like, between school and his job. This was nice. She sucked gently on his bottom lip before slipping her tongue past his lips again. This was much more fun than carving a pumpkin. At least kissing him meant there was no chance of sliced fingers or accidentally stabbing a hand. She pressed against him, ignoring the stickiness between them. And the ghosts outside. And the guardian angel down the hall. She was only Joshua-headed at the moment.

He gave a soft grunt against her mouth. This was far, far superior to anything having to do with pumpkins, Halloween be damned. His hands roamed over her back, sides, and lower, getting to know her curves all over again while they kissed. One hand slipped up to bury fingers in her hair and clench lightly as his tongue caressed her's. She tasted fabulous, like Girl, and god, he wanted her. He always forgot how quickly she could fire up his hormones until they were doing this. After a while of just kissing her, he pulled back a little again, hazy eyes cracking open a little to take in her expression. "Wanna get cleaned up?" he asked, moving his head just the slightest bit toward the direction of the hallway. His heart picked up at his own offer, and he scraped his bottom lip with his teeth briefly.

Claire felt nice and warm all over, her entire body flushed from just kissing him. He was damn good at it, and had always managed to get her hot and bothered, even if she was pretty good at controlling herself. She nodded when he suggested cleaning up. It was probably a good idea, as she knew better than to go home covered in pumpkin. He had pumpkin in his hair, and she had it all on her neck and stomach. It would probably take awhile with a washcloth. "It's very odd to me that I find you incredibly hot, covered in pumpkin," she murmured with a faint grin before leaning in again to brush her lips over his jawline. She pulled back so they could go down the hall to his bathroom. "Really hope I'm not developing some weird fetish."

"If you are? Think it's contagious," he said, amused. And feeling even warmer that she thought he was incredibly hot. It was always nice when that happened, rare as he felt it was. "So I'll never tell." Joshua took her hand and walked her down the hallway. Sean's door was closed, and there were TV sounds coming from behind it. He felt sure the angel was paying attention to his whereabouts, but he didn't much care. They weren't going far. Slipping into the bathroom and shutting the door behind them and twisting the little knob to lock it. It was kind of impossible to have his sort-of girlfriend, whom he found unbelievably attractive, alone in the bathroom and not kiss her some more, so Joshua drew Claire in close again. "We could shower," he murmured as he leaned in to nibble on her neck a little bit.

If her heart was beating a bit harder before, it was definitely thudding against her chest now. Because showering meant discarding clothes. Which meant naked. Which meant he would see her naked. She had always been a bit self conscious about her body, even though there was no reason to be. Claire's cheeks flushed before she gave in and nodded in agreement. "We can shower," she breathed in response, hoping that he wouldn't like, laugh at her or something. Which she knew was a ridiculous thought the moment she had it. Claire leaned in to kiss him again, mentally cursing her dad for making her so paranoid about things she knew she shouldn't be paranoid about. When she pulled back, Claire gave him a small smile and lifted her hand to his hair. "I think it's going to take a bit of scrubbing to get you clean again."

Even though it had been his idea, Joshua's stomach felt like it just dropped through the floor. Because showering meant naked and with the way he bet they were both feeling, that would mean Things would happen. What did he do now? Just strip? Strip her? Fuck, he had condoms, but they were across the hall, shit, piss. Did he go get them? Was that assuming too much? Would it piss her off? How did people just know what to do in these sorts of situations? And why the hell did his mind always explode into questions immediately when the very possibility of sex came up? In an attempt to quiet himself, he leaned in to give her another set of nibbly kisses. "I hope so," he murmured belatedly. His hands found the hem of her shirt and started to peel it up to get it off of her.

Claire lifted her arms to help him get her shirt off, taking a breath to calm herself before it came off of her head. She didn't have to be stupid nervous about this sort of thing. He might not even want to do... that. She had never showered with another boy before so she wasn't sure really what to expect. But she felt comfortable with Joshua, and she liked him, and she would have been lying if she said she hadn't fantasized about him naked. So rather than allowing herself to overthink it to death, Claire slid her hands down to his shirt to pull it off and join hers on the floor. Once they were both shirtless, she smiled and looked down at the bits of pumpkin that dried on his stomach. She peeled a pumpkin seed off of his skin before pulling at the button of his jeans.

Joshua cooperated with getting his shirt off. He was comfortable getting naked, just because he was naturally more focused on her being naked. He'd never had many insecurities about his body anyway, besides being really pale. But everybody was really pale up here. He ignored the urge to rub his tattoo like he usually did when he stripped, keeping his hands on her instead. He bent his head to gently kiss along her collarbone, stomach clenching again as she got his jeans-button loose, and drifted his fingers around her waist and up to the clasp on her bra to work it free. It was a little hard to believe this was actually happening, but whatever she was going to allow him, he was going to enjoy. He kissed his way up her neck as he got the little clasps to undo. "You're gorgeous even with pumpkin," he murmured near her ear.

She pulled her hands from his jeans to shimmy out of her bra. Her skin was flushed, but it was more from the heat than embarrassment. She didn't feel particularly gorgeous, but she wasn't going to deny it when they were in the process of undressing each other. Instead she went straight for his jeans again, tugging the zipper down before pushing his jeans down his hips. She pressed her lips against his chest, her tongue flicking out to taste his skin. She didn't need to act like a shy virgin - because she wasn't one. Claire slipped her fingers along the waistband of Joshua's boxers, gliding her fingertips along the skin there. The fact that they were both covered in pumpkin goo didn't even seem to faze her anymore.

This was the farthest Joshua had ever been with a girl, and he didn't think there was anything more awesome than watching her pull his jeans down. He'd tented up his boxers already, seeing as how, oh, they were getting naked for the first time together, and gave a little shiver as her fingertips brushed over his stomach. There was only the inkling of feeling embarrassed about his body's reaction being so obvious before that dissipated as well. If she cared, she wouldn't have taken his pants off, it only made sense. Instead he paid attention to her breasts, hands coming around to cup both of them. He slid his thumbs lightly over her nipples before one hand left to pull at the button on her pants. He slid both sets of fingers down at her hips, under the elastic of those and her panties and made to ease them off of her.

It made her feel kind of good that he was so obviously affected by what they were doing. She was affected just as much as he was, although she had the advantage of being a girl and not having her arousal on display like guys did. Claire sucked in a breath when he touched her breasts and she arched into his touch before his hands dropped to her pants. She tried not to tense, because hell, they were both nearly naked and there was no reason to let her insecurities stop her now. Claire opened her eyes and stepped back, helping him get her pants and panties off. Okay, so now she was naked. She resisted the urge to wrap her arms around herself, and instead stepped up close to him again, feeling more comfortable touching him than just standing there. She pushed the rest of his boxers down his legs before she straightened and kissed him again with a tad more desperation. Her hand slid down his chest and stomach until her fingers paused. "Should turn on the water," she murmured, not wanting to touch him there until she could wash her hands of pumpkin.

He looked at her while she was stepped back, even though it didn't last terribly long. But that was okay, because he really looked. He knew what porn and the media said that women were supposed to look like naked; one wasn't a teenage boy in this day and age without being exposed to that kind of thing. He found out pretty quick that he much preferred a real life soft-looking woman. He stepped out of his boxers when she pulled them all the way down, and kind of kicked them backwards and then there was kissing and she was against him. Warm and yes, soft, and ... okay kinda sticky. He stared at her for a second when she said something about water, and then gave a quiet sheepish laugh. Oh yeah, the whole shower thing. "Might help," he agreed in a murmur. He leaned in to kiss her again and then moved away to turn the water on. And really couldn't help looking back over at her. Even with drying orange gunk on her, she was a goddess.

While Joshua was appreciating what she looked like naked, Claire was wishing she had bigger breasts and firmer thighs or something. He looked good though. And she couldn't help but check out every inch of him when his eyes were elsewhere. She smiled when he looked back at her, pushing a strand of blue hair from her cheek. She moved forward and stepped into the shower before reaching out to tug him in after her. Vaguely she realized they would be in close quarters with water... which meant slippery. "Don't slip or anything," she warned with a soft laugh before capturing his mouth with hers again and sliding her arms around his waist to pull him tightly against her. Wouldn't that just figure? Unfortunately, with his curse, it felt like anything remotely dangerous was a possibility for injury.

"Mmm," he murred against her mouth. Which really hadn't even been intended as anything intelligible. He wasn't sure he was quite capable of that at the moment, with her nude body against his. What he did do, however, as this happened almost every fucking time he took a shower, was turn them so that his back was to the spray for a moment. Joshua kept kissing her, with building passion, as a toilet flushing or a trick of the pipes or whatever it was turned the water scalding hot for a second or two. He twitched only a little, more absorbed with the front of his body than the back. He held her close, and just marveled at the fact that he was in the shower, making out with Claire.

She kissed him back with equal passion and slid her hands up and down his wet back, simply enjoying the feel of him. She definitely hadn't planned on being in this position when she drove over, but she wasn't complaining. Claire moved her lips from his to kiss his jaw and back to the tiny spot below his earlobe. Since her hands weren't as sticky as they had been, she took advantage of their position and slid her fingers around to his front until she could wrap one hand around him. He was hard and hot in her hand and she allowed herself to think about how he would feel inside of her. Claire pressed her lips against his throat, nipping gently at the skin as her hand stroked him gently. She knew they needed to clean themselves off, but surely that could wait another minute or two.

All that shit they'd said before about taking things slow? Bollocks, it'd been slow enough, and that was absolutely confirmed in Joshua's mind as her fingers curled around him. He'd never been touched by anyone but himself, and good god, it was good. Especially in combination with the feel of her teeth on his neck. It took some clenching and willpower not to go off immediately. He just hoped to God he could hold on for a while, because he didn't want this to be over anytime soon. He put his temple against her's and tried to remember how to breathe properly, his hands on her hips. He wasn't quite ready to explore her just yet, that with everything else might just be too much.

Her own breathing was shallow, with the heat of the shower, and her own body. She liked touching him, feeling his body tense and relax, the way his breath felt against her. Claire glanced down between them to watch her fingers glide over him with an almost lazy pace. She had never touched him like this before, so she didn't want to rush it. And yet, at the same time, she did. She wanted to drag him out of the shower and push him into his room and onto his bed and straddle him. Or lift her leg around him right now and... god, it was hard to concentrate. Licking her lips, Claire lifted her gaze to his face again before leaning in to kiss him. They were short, soft kisses, since she knew the both of them were having trouble breathing as it was.

Okay yeah, if he didn't start doing something, he was going to lose it. Joshua kissed her back in between breaths, blindly reaching out to the side and down to grope for the bar of soap. He wanted so badly to touch her, but he didn't want to do it with pumpkin hands. He managed to grab it and rubbed it briskly between his palms, off to one side, not moving away from where he was hovering around her mouth. God he just ... wanted to push her back, get her back against the wall and one leg up and just ... get inside of her. Once he thought his fingers were probably clean enough, he dropped the soap, let the water rinse the suds away, and reached for her. He wanted to make her feel as good as she was making him feel. Joshua slipped his fingers between her legs, half-lidded eyes locked onto her face, and touched her, gently at first. He had no experience to go off of, so he was going to have to pay attention.

Claire watched him wash his hands and knew what he was doing. It had her stomach clenching in anticipation, though she was focused enough that she didn't let up on what she was doing to him. When she felt his fingers between her legs, Claire inhaled sharply before a small moan escaped her lips. God, but that felt good. So good. She knew she was wet and beyond turned on really, but she didn't feel embarrassed. She felt too good at that moment to be embarrassed. Her eyes fell shut and she reached up with her free hand to clutch his shoulder. How was she suppose to stay upright when she was touching him, and he was touching her? Despite her wobbly knees, she kept on him, leaning forward to kiss his other shoulder before her teeth bit gently at the skin. Her hand curled around him tightened and she began to stroke him a bit more vigorously, losing herself in the sensations rather than thinking about anything else.

She felt absolutely amazing against his fingers. Hot and slick and somehow delicate but oh so inviting. The sound she made when he touched her went straight through him, down to his erection. He throbbed a bit harder in her hand, hips twitching once as she stroked up over the head in the most delicious way. He rubbed her a little, still going light on the pressure, loving how wet she was in that way that had nothing to do with the shower. It at least helped keep his bubbling climax at bay to concentrate on being careful, and he was almost hesitant as he curled his middle finger up to slide inside of her. He kept his face turned in toward the side of her neck, only half aware of how they were both kind of leaning on each other. It was getting harder and harder to keep his breathing steady.

"Oh god," she groaned, turning her face in toward his neck and mimicking his position. Her hips moved against his hand, eager for more and no longer worried about... well, anything. Not being naked, or pumpkin goo, or the water... Wouldn't it feel nice to have him inside of her, pushing and thrusting... God, she was losing it. She was too hot and worked up to think of anything else but the fact that she wanted to fuck him. Which probably wasn't a lady like thought, and one that might throw him a bit if she said it aloud. Claire wrapped her arm around his neck, her nails digging into his shoulder as she held him against her. She pushed her hips against his hand and stroked him with hers, thinking it might even be nice to get on her knees and take him in her mouth. But her body was refusing to cooperate with her mind. She wanted to keep feeling this way. With all the uncertainties and doubt outside of this room, she just wanted to ignore it all and stay here.

Joshua's breath caught and his abdomen clenched and he squeezed his eyes shut. He'd already lasted much longer than he thought he would with a girl jerking him off, but he wasn't ready to let this be over quite yet. Granted, it wouldn't take him long to get hard again and they could continue, but this was his first time for any of this, and he wanted to last for her. Only she had to stop touching him or that wasn't going to happen. With his free hand he took her wrist, moving back away from her just slightly. Maybe it was a male pride thing, but he wanted to make her come first. Joshua brushed a kiss against her lips before he -- kind of carefully -- dropped down to his knees in front of her, having unwittingly had the same idea that she had. Glancing up at her face quickly and throwing up a hope that he wouldn't be fantastically bad at this, he leaned in to press a kiss on each side of her groin before he angled himself better and ran his tongue over her soft flesh as a second finger joined the first.

Claire's eyes opened in hazy confusion when he pulled her hand from him. She wondered if maybe she was doing it wrong? Only it wasn't the first time she'd done this, so she doubted it. Her unspoken question was answered when he got down onto his knees, and her eyes widened briefly with the realization at what he was doing. Her hand reached out to slap against the side of the shower the second his tongue touched her, and she didn't think anything else had ever felt so good. It was different being intimate with a boy she really liked... it definitely felt ten times better than before. She moaned his name, her head lulling back against her neck as the sensations coursed through her, causing her to pant to try and keep breathing. Her other hand slipped into his wet hair where she held onto the strands gently, trying not to tug him around too much. Her hips began to move instinctively against his mouth and fingers and she realized it wasn't going to take him very long at all to get her to come. Maybe that should have been embarrassing, but... god, she was already so worked up.

There had never, in the history of the universe, been anything hotter than this. There just wasn't a chance. Joshua's groin throbbed almost painfully as she started to move against his face, and he honestly had to wonder if maybe he wouldn't beat her to the finish line without being touched at all. The urge to stand up and thrust himself into her, or just pull her down on top of him, was unbelievably strong, but he managed to fight it off with the desire to keep doing what he was doing and make her explode. He flicked at her with his tongue, increasing the pressure as her hips movements grew more wanton, and tried to keep up a good rhythm of finger-movement at the same time. It was a little awkward, but far too fabulous to stop.

"Ohgod." Claire squeezed her eyes shut and tightened her grip in his hair to keep herself from falling over. She felt overheated, and overwhelmed by it all and despite her best efforts to keep quiet, she couldn't stop the sharp cries that escaped her lips as everything peaked and shattered inside of her. His tongue and fingers just felt too good against her. Inside of her. God. Claire continued to slide her hips back and forth against him until she couldn't take it anymore and she jerked back. She leaned to the side, resting her head against her hand on the wall of the shower, panting as she tried to catch her breath and calm her pounding heart. She had gotten off in the shower before... just never with someone else in there with her. It was definitely, so far, the best shower she'd ever had.

A laugh caught in his throat, but there was nothing at all mocking about it. It was total, almost-giddy joy mixed with only halfway hoping that Sean hadn't heard that. He almost hoped the angel did, because damn, it was something to be proud of. Joshua kept up the contact until she pulled back, and then had to stop himself from following her to keep touching. He knew how it was to get too sensitive, couldn't be helped sometimes. He looked at her trying to get her breath back, and reached out to smooth his hands over the fine tremor in her leg. He leaned forward to kiss her hip, his own arousal momentarily forgotten in the impulse to nuzzle her and soothe that unsteadiness. Using the stream of the water, he moved his hand up to gently clean off some of the pumpkin goop that still clung to her belly.

Claire was feeling pretty good. Pretty damn good, actually. Her body still throbbed with her orgasm, and she felt a small smile on her lips before she opened her eyes to look down at what he was doing. Cleaning her up, apparently. She knew his knees must be sore, having been down there for quite a bit. She felt good, but that didn't mean she wanted to stop. Claire bent down, not wanting to knock into him in the small space, to grab the soap. She reached for his shoulder and nudged him to stand up so she could soap him up and wash him off. Then she was going to make sure he felt as satisfied as she did. "I want to go to your bedroom," she murmured, thinking it would really suck to have the shower water turn freezing while she had him in her mouth. That wouldn't be a happy surprise, she was sure of it.

Joshua stood when he was nudged, still moving carefully, what with the slickness of everything. Her statement sent another thrill through his stomach and he scraped his bottom lip with his teeth again. There was a bed in his bedroom, obviously, and more room to do things and the condoms were in there too. "Okay," he said a bit hoarsely. He was all for that idea, but getting clean first would probably be good. He nabbed up the shampoo and got a good dollop in his hands to do his hair while she washed the rest of him. He was still hard as a rock, and every time any part of her even brushed him, he got a little electric tingle down his legs.

She tried to focus on getting him clean, though she just wanted to grope, and lick and bite. God, she was pathetic. Or just really horny, despite the fact that he'd just gotten her off. Both, maybe? She slid the soap over his body, getting rid of the pumpkin goo remnants. And then she washed herself, trying not to get too impatient with the whole cleaning process. By the time she rinsed off, she had already worked herself up again, thinking about getting him into his bedroom and locking the door. She stepped back from beneath the spray of the water to twist the water from her hair. And then she smiled at him and pulled him to her to kiss him, wet lips to wet lips. She didn't care that he had been between her legs just a few minutes ago. If anything, it turned her on more.

He had to admit, watching her clean herself was a complete turn-on. He didn't really think it was possible for him to be more turned-on than he already was, but apparently that was wrong. Joshua wrapped his arms around her tightly and kissed her back hungrily. The water was on it's way to getting cold, but he honestly didn't give two shits. She was warm and that was all that mattered. The pressure of being caught between their two bodies was nice, but he seemed to have at least backed away from that edge some. He ran one set of fingers through her wet hair and ran his thumb along her jawline, vaguely wishing he had more hands so he could touch her everywhere at once. After a moment he pulled back to get some air again. "Bedroom?" he breathed, still holding on to her with one arm while he reached backward to turn the water off.

"Yes." Hell yes. Definitely yes. When he turned the water off, she stepped out and grabbed a towel to hand him, and then pulled one down for herself. She wrapped it around herself and then bent over to pick up all of her clothes. She definitely didn't want Sean to see her panties, no thank you. Straightening with her things in her arms, she shook her hair from her face and gave him an anxious look. "He's not going to come out while we're er, moving across the hall, will he?" God, that would be embarrassing. Funny as hell, but embarrassing too. She didn't want to get dressed if she was just going to strip again.

All the saints in heaven, she looked good just wrapped in a towel. He wanted to pick her up, put her on the counter, and fuck the hell out of her. It in fact took him a second to process what she'd said as he wrapped the towel around his waist in a dazed sort of way. "Oh ... no, I doubt it," he said, realizing that she meant Sean. Joshua stepped out of the shower fully and moved to the bathroom door. He unlocked it, paused, and then opened it a bit to listen. Still the muted sounds of the television coming from the angel's bedroom. They were safe enough. With a crooked grin, he took Claire's hand and pulled her out across the hallway and into his bedroom, abandoning his own clothes. Sean had his own bathroom, he could fuck off. In any case, Joshua locked the door behind them and freed her of her arm-load, tossing her pumpkiny clothes aside.

Claire followed him quickly, glancing down the hall and seeing Sean's door shut. Relieved once they were inside Joshua's room, she smiled and let him take her clothes from her. Once her hands were free, Claire watched him with a tiny, sly smile, and lifted her hands to pull her towel apart and drop it to his floor. She was a bit cold, but she didn't mind it at all. She was shivering more from wanting him than the chilly air. Claire reached out to take him by the waist and pull him to her again. Body heat was nice... body heat was good. She pressed herself up against him, more confident now than she had been when they first locked the bathroom door.

He had to grin a little as she dropped her towel. That little smile said she knew exactly what she was doing. And he was totally okay with that. He pulled his hips back from her just enough to untuck his own towel and let it fall. She smelled wonderful, a mix of herself and his soap, and it made him want to own her, to watch her shower every day. He pressed in back against her, palms gliding over the delicious curve of her back again. He brushed her mouth with his, and gave her bottom lip a gentle little nip. "Claire?" he murmured, against the better judgement of only half of his brain.

Her arms came up around his neck to keep him close. He was warm, and he felt good pressed up against her. There was no more pumpkin goo, just the smell of soap and him. Her fingers played with the hair at the nape of his neck and she pressed a firm kiss against his lips before nuzzling her nose along his. She was only half aware that he'd said her name. "Hmm?" Opening her eyes, she looked at him and leaned in to kiss him quickly again. It was hard not to.

All of the sudden he was a little nervous in a totally different sense. He hadn't really planned on doing this right now. Or in any situation like this. But it was coming out of his mouth anyway. Because even though he did want to, he didn't want to just fuck her, and the bed was looking stupidly appealing at the moment. He kissed her back and then kept looking into her eyes. "Be with me?" he murmured. "This might be a dumb time to ask, but ... fuck just ... dating, I want you. All of you." He brushed his nose up her's and planted a kiss between her eyebrows. He was either a timing-genius or the biggest idiot in the world, and he was about to find out which.

It took her a second to respond... okay, a few seconds... because she was mildly confused for a moment. She wanted to be with him. She wouldn't have been naked and in his bedroom otherwise. Is that what he meant? Gah. Claire was generally an idiot when it came to these kinds of things with boys, so she was afraid maybe she was missing something in what he was saying. Or maybe she wasn't. "I want you too," Claire told him, a small smile forming at her lips. She leaned in to kiss him and slid her arms over his shoulders and down his chest. "And I want this."

Joshua let out a breath he hardly realized he'd been holding and kissed her again. So that was it and they were officially official? That was ... fucking brilliant, actually. Beyond great. Not that he'd really been worried about her going around showering with other guys or anything, and they'd more or less been acting like a couple and everything ... but it was good to be on the same page. Yeah. He kissed her deeply and would've just moved them to the bed like that, but knowing both of them, that'd probably result in somebody falling. So to avoid that, he pulled back a bit and tugged her in that direction, flopping on the bed and pulling her down with him to kiss again.

That seemed to be the right answer to give because he was kissing her again and tugging her to his bed. Claire followed him, thankful that she could at least come across as graceful - since she didn't trip or stub her toe - that was graceful in her book. She laid down next to him and got back to kissing him, her hands sliding over his side and hip. It was nice to lose herself in this, rather than being alone and thinking about everything. Overthinking. Throwing herself into massive confusion. This wasn't confusing. It felt good. Claire stroked her tongue alongside his before she slipped her hand between them to touch him again. Her breath was getting a touch heavier the longer they kissed and she forced herself to pull back and breathe as her eyes opened to look at him. "Do you have... er, protection?" She felt her cheeks flush, which was so stupid, since generally sex wasn't something she blushed over. But she wasn't on anything, and with his curse, and her own stupid luck sometimes, she knew better than to risk anything.

For a little while he was completely lost in kissing her. She was so warm and touchable and gorgeous and this might really actually happen. He gave a soft grunt in the back of his throat as she touched him again, and his hips rocked just the slightest bit into her hand. When she pulled back he blinked at her, the words taking a second or two to make sense. And that blush ... god, he could just eat her cheeks. He nodded and took one hand off of her, twisting and leaning back so that he could reach the drawer of his nightstand. Bottom lip caught between his teeth, he rummaged for a second and successfully came out with a string of condoms. Resettling himself, Joshua gave her a smile that was sheepish around the edges. She actually wanted to sleep with him. It was ... something. "You sure?" he murmured, leaning in to nuzzle at her cheek again as his hand brushed lightly over the curve of her breast.

Claire watched him roll over to go through his nightstand drawer. It was nice to know he was prepared. As long as he'd been prepared for her and everything... not that she thought he had been dating other girls or anything. She shivered when he touched her breast, her body arching instinctively toward him. Was she sure? Yes. Probably. Yes. She had never really given a lot of thought to things prior to sex with someone. Not that there had been many someones or anything. She felt a flush of guilt, like maybe she shouldn't, but the fact of the matter was, she wanted to be with him, and it felt right at that moment. Claire licked her lips and nodded, eyes locking onto his face. "If you're sure... I mean... I want you to be sure..." He was the one who had never done this before. "I don't want you regretting or anything."

He smiled in silent amusement, and shook his head just a bit. "Not possible. I'm absolutely sure," he murmured, stroking the pad of his thumb over her nipple. He hadn't exactly been saving himself for someone special, it just seemed to have worked out that way. Feeling oddly assured now that he knew it was going to happen and they were both ready for it, Joshua leaned in to kiss her, slow and deep and with heat behind it. His hand drifted downward, passing lightly over her stomach and the curve of her hip before inching in toward that warmth between her legs again. Did girls take a while to get ready for ... activity again? He hadn't the first clue. But he was definitely willing to find out as he curled his fingers around her again.

She felt pleasantly warm just laying there with him, though her body was quickly heating up again at the feeling of his fingers against her, and his lips on hers. There was less doubt and uncertainty now, and she was able to lose herself in him, stroking her fingers against him and slipping her leg around his to keep him near. Claire didn't want to rush things, but he just felt so good, his body and his lips... everything. She deepened their kiss, a moan emitting from her throat as she tasted every bit of his mouth that she could. She was more than ready for him, and he felt more than ready for her... she just didn't want to disappoint him.

She didn't have to worry about keeping him near, as he wasn't going anywhere anytime soon. The rest of the world had fallen away, and there was only them and the room and the bed. Who needed anything else. He gave a soft groan to match her's, kissing her with just as much want and passion as she was him. He slipped his middle finger up into her heat again, and fuzzily tried to imagine being buried in it, feeling it on a much more sensitive appendage. But she was wet and felt wonderful, and he was more than ready to get to it. He just hoped he wouldn't disappoint. Breaking away from the lip lock to breathe, he took his hand back to open up the condom pack. Joshua laid kisses along her neck and collarbone, glad that he'd practiced doing this without looking, even if he'd felt ridiculous at the time.

Claire had to pull her mouth away from his so she could breathe. She pushed her hips against his hand, gasping at the feel of his finger inside of her again. She pouted when he pulled away from her, but when she opened her eyes to see what he was doing, she felt a bit of anticipation and relief. She kept touching him, trailing her fingertips up and down his length, enjoying the hot, silky feel of him. Claire was feeling nervous again, but it was nothing she couldn't push past. Leaning into him, she placed tiny kisses along his shoulder, up to his neck. She nearly told him to hurry, but she didn't want to rush him. No pressure, of course. But her body was hot and wanted him and she wasn't sure she could wait much longer.

Everything was tingling deliciousness, and Joshua pushed against her light touch instinctively. More, he wanted more, with pressure and heat and fuck, he just wanted her. Very lightly pushing her hands away with his own, he rolled the sheath of latex down onto his erection. There was a sense of urgency building in his gut; he was ready for this. He was more than ready for this. Now it was only a matter of doing it. He rolled, pinning her under him and shifting around so that he was between her legs. Joshua looked down at her for a second and then claimed her lips again, his tongue sliding into her mouth to toy with her's. Propped up on his elbows, he moved his hips around until it felt like the right place to be. In the midst of wanting her, he hoped he wouldn't hurt her, and rocked his hips to slide into place.

She was breathing heavily by the time he rolled on top of her, the anxious excitement and mild fear that she might somehow mess this up causing her heart to beat painfully hard in her chest. But he definitely wasn't hurting her. It was so the opposite of pain. In fact, she was so ready for him that he slid quite easily into her, prompting her arch underneath him and shift her hips up to take him in deeper. Breathing his name, Claire dug her fingers into his back, her eyes closing as the sensations took over. She had fantasized about this moment quite a few times, but none of those fantasies compared to the actual thing.

He hadn't quite been prepared for it to feel so good. He knew it would, he was positive that it would be great, but that good? Holy shit. His breath caught and stopped as he held himself there, their groins pressed firmly together. And his name on her lips that way ... this wasn't going to last very long, he knew. Shifting one leg a little bit, Joshua gave a couple of tentative, slow thrusts. Pleasure rolled through him. "Ohgod," he breathed near her ear. he pushed shakily into her, fighting off the instinct to go faster, harder, and plummet towards completion. He moved one arm so that it slipped behind her neck and shoulders, holding her even closer against him.

Claire pressed her face against his neck, her breath shallow against his skin. She wanted to kiss him, but she didn't think she could manage anything more than a few light kisses here and there without passing out from lack of oxygen. Everything inside of her felt like it was on fire in the most delicious way and Claire instinctively slid her legs up his sides to wrap around his waist. Lifting her head, she nipped at his earlobe before moaning again and raking her nails gently up his back to clutch at his shoulders. She knew it probably wouldn't last very long, given it was his first time, but that was okay with her. She just wanted it to be good for him, the way he had made it good for her.

Joshua shuddered at the feel of her nails on his skin. It was good, it was all too good. And she sounded like she was enjoying it too, which just made it even better, and he was seriously going to explode. He gasped something unintelligible at her, which was probably meant to be an apology but didn't quite make it, as his impatient body started taking over for him. Holding onto her for dear life, Joshua started to thrust quicker, with more force. He'd never in his life imagine that anything could feel quite that good, and he was greedy for it in the minute or two before it got to be too much. Everything started to clench and tighten up, and he exhaled a string of half-formed obscenities as his climax crashed down on him. His hips bucked and he squeezed her tight, giving a couple more shuddery thrusts as he stopped breathing all together.

With her fingers pressing harder into his shoulders, Claire clenched her eyes shut and cried out when he started moving faster. It felt so good, and she knew his body was spiraling toward completion. She tightened her legs around him, gasping with each thrust until she felt him push deep into her and tense. She held onto him, moaning low in her throat when everything seemed to calm again. Loosening her grip on him, Claire felt her body sag back against the mattress, her chest heaving as she struggled to catch her breath. She didn't know how they had gone from throwing pumpkin guts at each other to this but... it was nice.

He tried not to squish her, managing to keep himself up on that one elbow, though it was shaky. His back was a little sweaty, and everything south of his belly button kind of tingled, but he was no worse for wear. Apparently his curse had decided to leave him alone for this -- so far, anyway -- and he couldn't be anything but dumbly grateful. He stayed where he was for a while, his breathing slowly evening out again, just being aware of himself and her underneath him. He pressed a kiss against her cheek after a moment and half-rolled off to one side. He was ready to just lay around and marvel that life could be so good sometimes. What happened instead was that he forgot to hold the condom in place and it pulled off of him. "Shit," he muttered, sitting up abruptly.

Claire was still trying to catch her own breath, her hand resting on her chest when he pulled up off of her. Her eyes were closed and she would have been perfectly content with rolling over and sleeping if she could. Thinking could come later. Right now she felt really good... lazy and sated and tired, and his bed was really comfortable. Her eyes opened just a touch when he pressed a kiss against her cheek and then he was gone, slipping off of her. Except... Claire was certainly more aware when he cursed and her eyes snapped open into total awareness. She pushed herself up on her elbows quickly. "What? It didn't break did it?" Because holy hell that would be bad. And it had been what she had been thinking about earlier with his curse and... just the possibility of it happening for non-cursed people. But... no! It had just fallen off. That wasn't as bad was it? "Hold on," she said breathlessly, sitting up. No need to freak out, right? "Let me get it."

Oh shit, had it broken? Holy balls, he fucking hoped not! Joshua looked mildly horrified as he watched her. Oh fuck, he should've known better, why didn't he know better? Because they were naked and warm and kissing and touching and everything, and he wanted her. But he still should've expected something like that to happen, it was just ... that was just how it was with him. Everything good had a slant to it. He rubbed a hand over his short hair, feeling kind of sick and hoping to whatever that it hadn't broken and hadn't spilled or something. The last thing either of them needed was a mini-Barclay. Jesus.

She wasn't about to be too embarrassed to get the thing away from her. What was the alternative? Laying there and freaking out with him? Or at him? That so wouldn't help at all and he looked pretty horrified himself. Claire was cautious as she finally managed to, well, pull it out, and after a quick inspection, noted it hadn't broken. Or spilled that she knew of. "It's okay," Claire told him, handing it over quickly for him to dispose of. "It's not broken and I don't think any of it got out." She realized then it had been a few tense seconds, so she smiled, wanting to ease the atmosphere a bit. "What's Halloween without a fright or two, right?"

Joshua smiled shakily back at her, taking the sticky thing and scooting to get off of the end of the bed. He nabbed a few tissues from the box on the dresser and wrapped it up, then looked kind of unsure of what to do with it. "Need to be more careful," he murmured, kind of to both of them. "Curse and all." Which she already knew, but it bore repeating. Even though at that moment as much as any other, he wished that it didn't exist. After a second he tossed the wad into the trash can by his desk to be taken out later. Then went to sit on the edge of the bed again and look at her. He wanted to snuggle up to her and fall asleep, but sort of felt bad now for even risking getting her pregnant.

"I know," she said, watching him throw the condom away before coming back to sit on the edge of the bed. She hoped that hadn't ruined the afterglow. Well, it kind of did, but it wasn't that bad. Nothing had broken, or spilled. They were okay. Claire got to her knees and wrapped her arms around his neck, pressing herself up against his back and placing a kiss against his shoulder. "We'll be more careful. I'll go on the pill or something, if that'll help." She certainly didn't want this kind of thing to happen every single time they were intimate.

He rubbed a hand along her arm before turning and moving them both to where they were laying down again. Joshua settled in next to her, hand coming up to stroke over her partially-blue hair. He kissed her softly and smiled a bit. "It might. If you want to, I mean. If not, there's like ... other stuff." Not that he could think of much at the moment. He didn't want to. He just wanted to curl up and hold her. Which was probably pretty lame of him, but he didn't think she'd mind too much. "It was okay?" he murmured, eyes roaming over her face.

She was sure all the other stuff could very well prove just as faulty. But she would try to figure something out. Claire kissed him back and slipped an arm around him to pull him close. "It was more than okay." And it was. It was certainly the best she'd had, simply because she cared about him where the others she hadn't. It had been unexpected, but definitely not unwanted. She just hoped that he wasn't regretting it, in the face of everything that had happened in the past, and now. "Was it okay for you?"

He smiled a bit, and it came easier. "It was ... fuckin' brilliant. The bee's knees," he told her the expression broadening into a lazy half-grin. He cuddled in close to her, lifting his arm for a second to resettle the pillow under both of their heads. "Perfect," he murmured, and the word really applied to everything. The whole situation. She was his girl now, they'd made some love, the rubber hadn't broken, and they were now comfortable and sated in each other's arms. The only thing better would be if she could stay the night.

Claire laughed a touch, thinking that she had never heard a guy say the bee's knees... and with an Irish accent. It was strangely charming. She settled against him, perfectly content with resting there for awhile. Maybe even taking a short nap before she would have to go home. She was pretty sure she would have been willing to stay the night, if it wasn't a school night. Her mom would be texting her by midnight to see where she was. "I'm glad," she told him, kissing his chin before relaxing against the pillow. "I'll help you clean up the mess on the table and stuff before I go," she murmured, remembering the pumpkin corpse in the front.

He kept petting her hair, half-lidded eyes lingering on her face as she looked sleepier and sleepier. She was absolutely beautiful that way, and it put a little smile on his face that didn't feel like it was going anywhere for a long time. "Don't worry about it," he murmured back, as he could give two shits less about the pumpkin mess. He would have a good time reliving everything in his head as he cleaned up anyway. Pumpkins were officially his favorite ... fruit? Vegetable? Gourd? Whatever, didn't matter. He lightly stroked his fingertips across her cheekbone and moved in the tiny bit to kiss her nose. "I'll get you up on time, if y'wanna sleep," he whispered to her.

"Okay. I won't sleep long," she promised. Maybe just a few minutes. She was far too comfortable, and relaxed again now that the condom incident was over. There was nothing to worry about there. Not ghosts, or werewolves, or anything else. Just pumpkin mess all over in the other room and making sure she didn't get home too late - and probably having to climb in through her window again. But that could easily be cleaned up. Claire didn't want to move just yet. She was content with this, and that was enough.