for duderaider

[howmuchtrouble]

Comments

[duderaider]

He'll probably try, regardless of how much he really does want this, wants her, the lean towards self-sabotage ingrained, at this point. People can't leave you if you leave them first. They should really discuss that, sooner or later, but not now. Now, he shakes his head faintly and summons up a smile for her.

"No where," he promises. "I'm right here."

A pause follows, largely for effect, and then he adds, "Well, maybe I'm a little in the house, on those marshmallows."

[howmuchtrouble]

She laughs, before shaking her head.

"You know what, I'll go grab them."

She'll even start to get up because if they're just going to keep going back and forth on this, they might as well get some roasted marshmallows for their trouble. It's only a good time if everyone wins.

[duderaider]

"Hey, whoa, huh-uh," he declares, starting to pull her back. Maybe eventually, someone really should go get the marshmallows for all that it keeps coming up, but probably not right now. "You really gonna leave me here, to freeze my ass off all alone?"

[howmuchtrouble]

"It'll only take me five minutes," she replies, giving him a look. "And clearly neither of us are going to put it to rest until we have them. I think the guy who fought his way through a train in below freezing weather can handle five minutes on the beach."

[duderaider]

Letting her go and despite the fact that, yes, he's dealt with colder, he starts, "Yeah, well, when you come back to a Natecicle ... "

He's being overdramatic and intentionally so. Hopefully, it's entertaining, which is the point.

[howmuchtrouble]

"I'll be sure to help thaw him out," she teases before heading back inside.

And as promised, a few minutes later she returns, bag of marshmallows in hand. She settles back down into her seat next to him, and glances over with a smirk.

"See? You didn't even have a chance to turn blue."

[duderaider]

Nathan pops his eyebrows, the expression suggestive, but ultimately lets her go. When she returns, he's curled up around himself to guard against the wind. He's quick to pull her back to him, once she's sitting again.

"You sure? I mean, I feel kinda blue."

[howmuchtrouble]

She shifts to snuggle in closer, before holding up the bag of marshmallows. "Well, I'm sorry to hear that. But I did bring back highly processed sugar pillows."

[duderaider]

"Least there's that," he allows. A pause follows, largely for effect (though he hopes it doesn't read as such, for the sake of the joke), and then he asks, "You get the little sticks, too?"

Those, he actually remembered. He hopes she hasn't noticed them.

[howmuchtrouble]

"I couldn't find them," she admits with a frown, as she pulls the bag in to start tearing it open. "But I figured non-toasted marshmallows were better than no marshmallows at all."

But feel free to come in and save the day, Nate.

[duderaider]

"Huh," he starts, leaning away from her just enough to reach for the bag of sticks. As he holds them up, he continues, "Lucky for us, then, that I've got these."

Please don't kill him for not mentioning that to begin with. He's trying to be smooth, here.

[howmuchtrouble]

She's not going to kill him. She looks amused more than anything else, glancing from him to the sticks. Go figure he brought the sticks, but didn't bring the marshmallows to roast them on.

"Whadaya know. My hero."

[duderaider]

"Yeah, well, y'know." He shrugs. That's what he's here for, and all that. "Wanna pass me one of those?" He's also here to put marshmallows on sticks.

[howmuchtrouble]

She nods before handing the bag over to him, but not before she steals one to pop in her mouth. She holds the open bag out and to him and smiles.

"Knock yourself out." Appropriately garbled by the marshmallow in her mouth, of course. Very sexy.

[duderaider]

The sexiest and don't let anyone tell you otherwise, Elena.

Taking the bag from her, he juggles it and the sticks so he can pop a marshmallow of his own into his mouth. That done and equally sexily, he asks, "So, how toasty are we getting here?"

[howmuchtrouble]

She swallows the rest of the marshmallow before shrugging.

"As toasty as you can get without it scalding off my tastebuds."

Which mostly might involve her controlling herself and waiting until it's cooled down a little more, but that is what she's looking for.

[duderaider]

"Okay, I think I can do that," he tells her, fitting a marshmallow onto one of the sticks as he swallows. He pushes it into the fire, then, holding it there for several seconds, before ultimately pulling it out. Without taking it off the spit, he holds it out for inspection. "Think that'll work?"

[howmuchtrouble]

She gives it a thorough inspection, before shaking her head. "I think it could be a little more golden."

[duderaider]

"I thought you said you wanted to keep your taste buds," he shoots back. Never mind the fact that he dutifully returns the marshmallow to the fire. He's mostly just giving her crap because he can.

[howmuchtrouble]

She rolls her eyes at the jab. "I said just below scalding off my taste buds. I do like to live a little on the edge."

[duderaider]

"Okay, well. Don't say I didn't warn you," he breathes, like anything they're actually doing here is really that edgy. After another handful of heartbeats, he asks, "What do you think? Think it's ready now, Little Miss Fear Factor?"

[howmuchtrouble]

She laughs, shaking her head at him. "Yeah. I think that'll do it. I'm ready to take the plunge."

[duderaider]

Finally, he pulls the stick out of the fire, pointing it in her direction so that she can work the marshmallow off the top of it. "Pretty sure there was a wavier that said I take no responsibility if you burn you face off. You know. Just in case."

[howmuchtrouble]

"Sure. You're not liable for the destruction of my tongue." She tests the edges gently with her fingers, just to get a gauge, before taking hold of the stick and pulling the hot marshmallow off and feeling it melt in her mouth. She makes a happy noise in return but ... is not capable of much else while her mouth is glue.

[duderaider]

"Nope," Nathan chirps happily, taking the stick back, once she's worked her marshmallow off of it. He puts another one on it before returning it to the fire. "Or yep. Or -- yeah, you know what I mean."