Fire on the Mountain [Reida, Alastair]

Realistically, Reida and Alastair had been seeing each other long enough that she probably didn't need to knock at the door when she was visiting, especially when she'd already called to let him know she was on the way. But she supposed it spoke to her actual insecurities about the whole situation that she still knocked anyway, still waited for him to come to the door and confirm she was welcome.

So, she knocked, and she waited. She knew it probably wouldn't even be that long a wait, but her mind still raced through all of it.

Was she happy here? Well, she was happier than not being here. Reida was pretty confident in all that, even now. She couldn't just idle around, hoping happiness would come along in her life. She'd settled into a quiet little rhythm here, and getting out of it wasn't something she could do on her own. A full bottle of whiskey had certainly helped her steel herself for the fact that this whole outfit made her feel like an idiot. Wasn't she too old to be trying this sort of thing? Wearing a sweater like this?

Probably. That only made it more embarrassing, but she was still standing here wearing it anyway, blushing profusely and with a stupid smile on her face to hide the fact that she was far more nervous than she'd like to be.

The wrapping of knuckles against his door was an unusual thing. It was not common for people to come out of their way to see him, yet be comfortable enough to make it to his door and through the building security. In fact, only one person did it with any regularity—one who had already called ahead to let him know that they were coming. Not that that mattered much, for Alastair could tell who it was just by the distinct sound of her hand against the woodwork.

Reida.

The door was not locked. He had gotten into the habit of unlocking it after she called just to see how long it would take before she burst in haphazardly. But he still did not keep her waiting long, it was fair to say that he had been perched on the edge of his seat waiting for her arrival. He was dressed 'casually' in a dark long-sleeved shirt, a single button undone at the top, and similar coloured pants. His hair was somewhere between a mess and an actual style, tidy enough to be off his eyes whilst still looking somewhat effortless.

So, as he opened his door and took a common position of playfully guarding the threshold, he had expected much of the same from her. He was mistaken. There had been a little fear within him that he was losing his edge by growing this comfortable, but that was the part that simply loathed complacency for complacency's sake. That small part of him warned of caution. That this could be an enemy waiting to attack. And today, for the first time since he and Reida had formally started seeing each other, Alastair would have to admit that he had been too hasty. This was an attack.

For Alastair was not someone that was easily flustered. Though he practically oozed collectedness on almost any occasion, it was this natural resilience alone that stopped his jaw from hanging loosely open as his eyes first fell upon her. Still, silence hung heavy in the air. He should say something. But this was quite a change. She was openly smiling! Forcing herself to curl those lips upwards, though he could certainly pick the scent of liquor off her, this was a genuine blush in place of the usual merry glow that came from alcohol. He really should say something. Perhaps that was why his eyes travelled ever so slowly downwards, just an innocent curiosity as to what could have caused this expression. It was subtle, the way his eyes bulged, so much so that it might have seemed like nothing to anyone but her. She had seen him bare his soul, as she had her own, so there was a deeper understanding at play here. He had to say something.

"Reida..."

Even he cringed inwardly as no more words even tumbled from his pursed lips. God, what had become of him?

Somehow, Reida's imagination hadn't even been nearly enough to really convey just how embarrassing it would be when Alastair actually saw her. The smile on her face seemed to only become more awkward, her face certainly turned a faintly darker shade of red, and her eye seemed unsure as to whether it wanted to pierce directly into Alastair's soul or look anywhere other than at him.

"That's me."

There were any number of things that Reida could have said in response to his awkward greeting, but most of her focus had simply been on reassuring herself that this was definitely the right course of action. It was, she was confident in that, and said confidence was bolstered profoundly by the amount of alcohol currently coursing through her. But his eyes trailing downward only made her all the more embarrassed, and rather than simply stand there, Reida stepped forward again, wrapping her arms around him in an affectionate embrace.

"Ya like it?"

She knew the answer, of course. She wasn't stupid, and the whiskey hadn't dulled her mind that much. But she thought it was a nice little playful quip, and besides, she'd be lying if she said she didn't want to hear him say the answer out loud.

She hit him before any more stupid words, or the lack thereof, could force their way out of his mouth. It was enough to shake him from his dumbfounded stupor, at least, as a pale shade of pink soon began to spread across his own cheeks. It was his turn to force a smile now, and most certainly not because he did not want to but rather because his body simply did not want to function. An arm soon descended, wrapping around her midriff to pull them just that little bit closer, as he stepped backwards and dragged her along so that his free hand might guide the door shut behind them.

Another step back, and they were still just barely in the hallway, before his other arm joined in on the embrace. This was not their usual speed, she was more reserved and so was he. Perhaps that should have made him uncomfortable. It certainly would have a few months ago. But there was no denying that he wanted this a lot more than he could ever express in the heat of the moment. Still, he owed it to her to try.

"Of course I do. You look amazing."

If that was enough to keep her smiling then he would be satisfied. Though that was his reason behind almost everything he did when it concerned her, this time he had to admit it was one of those selfish moments where he wanted that smile for himself too.

"And I feel quite overdressed."

Alastair leant forwards, closing the distance between their faces so that he might plant a kiss upon her cheek. He was still the gentleman, of course, and there was absolutely no reason to rush into things too rapidly.

It was indeed nice to hear him say that, and Reida would have been perfectly content to enjoy this little embrace just how it was. But it was complacent, wasn't it? They'd been together a while now, and Reida knew damn well that she'd never been this slow in any relationship before this one. She was holding herself back, and most of the time, she was fine with that.

But right now, she was committed to not doing that. She wasn't gonna be happy just wasting her days away like her life was over. Alastair may have been leaning in to kiss her on the cheek, but she certainly didn't let it land in such a way. She released him only briefly enough to wrap her arms around his neck, instead, and pulled him instead into a real, proper kiss, perhaps a bit more forcefully than would have been a comfortable impact for most people.

Reida'd never actually been that great a kisser, and that was still true now, but there was at least an effort to it that was hard to ignore. The thought crossed her mind as her lips met his that she probably ought to have at least said something about why she was here first, why she was dressed like this, all that. But it was a little too late now, so it was what it was. She could explain in a minute.

Alastair felt Reida shifting in their embrace, correcting the course of his neck as he descended towards her. It would have been easy to push past it, to resist her tactile manoeuvre, but that would have been quite insulting to his own wishes, let alone hers. So, instead, as she had intended, their lips met in an intense kiss. One hand remained to hold her lower back whilst the other rose upwards to support her as he pushed down again, intending to crane her over a little more without bowling her off her feet.

Some of this intensity came from his velocity, it had been intended as a quick peck and she had made no effort to slow him down. Equally, if Reida considered herself a decent kisser then she was already at an advantage as she was several steps ahead of Alastair in both experience and theory. Her effort was matched by his own, which only made things messier, but he genuinely thought that this was what was needed. More fuel to the fire.

Most thoughts had dropped out of his head by this point, as he was all too happy to be lost in the moment, but he was acutely aware of the taste of whiskey now on his lips. One passionate kiss was one thing, and she certainly seemed all there, but he did hope that some kind of explanation would come. Even if it was as simple as a 'Because I wanted to.'

Truth be told, Reida didn't actually want to pull her lips away from his any time soon. She'd have been perfectly glad to go at this for a while, but then the thoughts of things going past that started to creep into the back of her mind. And sure, she'd be lying if she said it didn't sound alright. But she was cognizant enough to recognize that something like that was way beyond where they'd set their boundaries before now, and so she pulled herself away, just enough so that their lips were still nearly touching.

"Listen... I know we talked about takin' things slow. N' don't get me wrong, I ain't tryin' to sprint on to the finish line 'er anything like that. But..."

Her awkward, nervous smile had mostly subsided, replaced with the more typical confidence that she tended to carry herself with. She'd gotten past what she considered the hardest part of all this, actually being forward and pushing herself past the barriers she'd built around herself. Did that mean Reida was suddenly completely self-assured? No, definitely not. But it was something, at least.

"There's a difference between takin' it slow n' just bein' scared of movin' forward. And I think it's been a little slower'n I'd like. Seems like ya might be feelin' the same way, huh?"

She chuckled nervously as she added that last little bit, though she was confident it was pretty true. After all, he hadn't exactly held back, either.

Even if there had been that smallest amount of doubt, the moment she broke from him, Alastair could not help but miss her touch. His thoughts were hardly even that impure if they were able to compare the scales of such, so he could sate himself on the soft feeling of her breath against his lips. Not that he couldn't imagine such things ever transpiring, but he was very much in the moment right now.

Reida was finding her stride again, he could tell. Perhaps because it was actually quite hard to gawk at her at point-blank range. That did help to reassure him that this was a good thing, her words did a little more than that though. The higher of his hands retracted from her back and wrapped back around to the front, slowly creeping along her shoulder and brushing past her collarbone. Eventually, it settled against the side of her neck, giving his thumb ample room to squish the bottom of her cheek.

"I said from the start that we would go at whatever pace you were comfortable with. I suppose it was selfish of me to say that and offer no guidance of my own, but I was always prepared to go with the flow."

He leaned in to kiss her again. And not in a gentlemanly way this time. Daring to take a little bit more of a leading role in this engagement. But it was a fleeting little thing as, despite the urge not to let go of her, he did have more he wanted to say.

"I have always been serious about this. About us. So if this is the new normal then I welcome it with open arms. If you suddenly feel like this is too much, then we can cool down again. This is hardly a point of no return."

Somehow, despite how forward she had been through all of this, Reida hadn't been fully prepared for Alastair to take the lead like that, and as he kissed her again, her eye widened, her cheeks flushed just a touch darker. Did that mean she minded? No, most definitely not. If anything, that was exactly what she'd wanted.

"Too much don't sound so bad, I don't think. I already thought just comin' down here, dressed up like I'm sixteen again, woulda been too much... But I don't regret it one bit."

Reida's gaze met Alastair's head on, and despite the haze of both the moment and the alcohol, there was fire in her eye, a genuine passion in the moment. She was tired of just being sad, being afraid of happiness. She couldn't afford not to take risks.

"I'm serious too. Mighty serious. If you're willin' to go with the flow, then I am too. We can figure out just how far this river runs."

She didn't really know her own limits, given she hadn't been willing to push them before now. But Reida trusted Alastair to stop if she realized she wasn't ready, and that was the only reason she was willing to be so vulnerable before him now.

Alastair would have been lying if he said that he did not enjoy her surprise just a little, though he enjoyed what came after that quite a bit more. The burning passion in her eye, the slightest of smiles still pressed upon her lips as they parted from his own, the most definitely genuine desire. He found a similar passion soon bubbling to the surface, his own eyes fixating upon her like she was the only thing in the world that mattered right now.

"I know you put the work in, so I hope that this makes you feel as appreciated as you should be."

Again he kissed her, infused now with only more confidence from his previous advances. The arm around her waist pulled tight again, as Alastair took another step backwards and began to slowly move them both down the corridor. It was a methodical thing, and certainly not a fast one because he was still quite focused upon Reida herself. He wanted her to be happy, and she was happy with him. They had their own problems but did that not make them deserve this more? He certainly thought she deserved more.

"Let us go with the flow then. Together, wherever that takes us."