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No, no. ( he says, in an attempt to allay her fears. but he's still grinning -- he likes making her laugh. ) The dress, on the other hand--

[Have another affronted scoff Ivan.] Well if you like it so much, you can take the dress on a date!

I'd much rather take both of you out. Simultaneously, although if you'd prefer to be out of it at some point I won't complain.

( ivan vorpatril you need to not. he does set his drink aside and leans in, taking her hand and pressing the knuckles to his lips with a coy smile perfected over the years. )

No more than fifteen percent. The rest of it is all you, Elizavetka.

[Elizabeth arches an eyebrow at him, smiling patiently and watching him kiss her hand. She's thinking about something, something that could be life changing, something new and scary.]

...You get that down to ten percent, you might see me out of it at some point.

( oh fuck yes. ivan's eyes light up, although his expression stays roughly the same. get it down to ten percent? he can do that. probably. )

Then it sounds like I need to hurry up with that second date, spend more time with you in order to knock that number down some.

Edited 2016-03-13 01:46 (UTC)

[She's not unreasonable, she imagines that physical attraction has at least something to do with interest between people. But whether it's the fact that she grew up thinking she was average-looking or that she's had so many terrible experiences centered around her body, something is keeping her from feeling completely comfortable. She's felt used enough in her life, this should be like another conversation between them where she feels like he's talking to her.]

I'm never against us spending more time together. [Elizabeth smiles and squeezes his hand.] You always makes everything seem brighter, Vanya.

( he knows some of what she's been through, knows that she wants to feel loved. ivan's not sure he can do that last one _{despite the warmth in his chest every time she smiles at him} but he can touch her without the intent of causing pain, of wanting to chase it all away back into some darkness that can't reach her here. miles is the one with the savior context in this family, maybe, but ivan hates injustice when he sees it; some great unfairness in the universe that kept her from living her life like normal.

if he can give her some of that, then maybe it'll be worth it. his own smile is just as wide and true as he looks over at her. )

Yeah? ( that's probably the most flattering thing anyone's ever said about him, and he feels more of his insides twist. right, there's a solution for that: ) Are we still here as friends or can I kiss you? Only I don't want to interrupt any more friends-chat with things that are distinctly un friend like--

Edited 2016-03-13 20:14 (UTC)

Don't bore me with semantics. [She grins and hooks a finger in his collar, pulling him halfway to her and leaning the rest of the distance so she can kiss him. Really, she'd been nervous about Ivan hearing about this promotion and... snapping into some kind of military-style routine when all she wanted was to figure out how she felt about this. By talking to someone who knew her, but wouldn't try to coddle her either. Ivan knew she could handle unpleasant things if she had to, he would have expressed misgivings if he'd thought she had the wrong idea. Right?]

[Besides-- what were they if not friends? Friends was a nice, simple word for it, right?]

( sure, elizabeth. friends who make out a lot and say nice things to each other and use diminutives. there's no other good word for that. friends is fine by ivan, although if someone cornered him in a corner he'd scrounge around for a word since they haven't actually talked about it. but he goes willingly, hands settling at her waist again. like he's going to complain about any of this. )

No? Not a stickler for detail? Noted.

( he'll avoid it in the future. and continue kissing her, that's a good thing to do at this point. )

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