Reason With Thunder

[Trevor Paige]

At least Trevor didn't have to do much digging to see how his comment had affected his new wife. With his eyes closed he hadn't noticed the pillow hurtling in his direction until it smacked into his face. He jumped from the surprise, though he wasn't upset. He laughed, hands coming up to defend himself from the rain of blows. It may not have been the reaction he was expecting but he figured a pillow was still better than a lead pipe or set of fists.

"Hey!" He shouted, trying to catch hold of one or both of Erika's arms as he set up in the bed in an attempt to not so much fight back, but rather cease the relentless attack. "Stop!" With few options remaining, Trevor reached behind him in a move he knew all too well would open him up to further attack, and whipped his own pillow out to retaliate with a light swing of his own.

[Erika Paige]

When Trevor grabbed her wrist, the brunette lost what little balance she had left. Toppling over to her side, she had little time left save for using her hands in an attempt to have them take most of the blows. She couldn't help but to laugh, despite herself. "That's not fair!" she called out between laughs. "You totally deserved that one!" Although, to be fair, he really didn't. He'd been nice-ish, albeit a little overly confident, and she'd retaliated.

In the most childish way possible. They were both laughing and having fun. Unwinding after a long, stressful day, so she supposed that counted for something. The brunette used her feet in an attempt to push the man off of his balance too, although she highly doubted that it would help matters much, but with her hands shielding her face, it was the only thing she could think of right of the bat.

[Trevor Paige]

Erika wasn't wrong in thinking he'd deserved her pillow assault. He was an often arrogant dispenser of snark. He'd merely proved no matter how scrambled his mind could be it would always, sooner or later, tie itself down and get back to work being confident and in control. Even now as he took a pillow shot square in the face Trevor's mind knew it was a justifiable allowance due to it resulting in him being able to draw his own weapon for the fight.

With one hand on Erika's wrist he returned the favor, swatting at her with his pillow repeatedly until she tried kicking at him to push him off balance. Her ploy worked, though probably not to her liking as Trevor slipped off the edge of the bed, the hand that was gripping her wrist didn't release and the two of them ended up tumbling to the floor in a heap.

[Erika Paige]

She could feel her body being pulled forward and lunged over the edge of the bed. She hit the ground, which was surprisingly soft with a low 'oof'. Laughter was still bubbling from her chest, making her breath ragged and quick. She couldn't see anything though, save for the mass of her own hair covering her vision.

With her free hand, the brunette pushed her hair aside and stared straight into the face of Trevor. His face barely inches apart from her own. Part of the blanket had fallen down from the bed and one of the pillows lay on the floor next to his head. The natural thing to do was grab the pillow and smother him, but for a short moment, the brunette hesitated, too frozen in the realization of how close the two of them were that her body didn't listen to her mind.

"Err, sorry," she muttered silently, her voice barely audible and she could already feel the crimson spread across her cheeks once more.

[Trevor Paige]

Trevor had at least been laughing on his way off the bed and even a fraction of a second after he'd landed. When the flailing form of his wife came tumbling down on top of him the laughter cut off abruptly as the air was forced out of his lungs. Even then he tried to continue laughing with a hoarse rasp in the wake of the guffaws.

And in the blink of an eye the laughter, motion and noise ceased. A silence settled over the bedroom as Trevor's gaze met Erika's for that moment. He blinked a couple times, his lips parting just slightly to speak, though there were no words just yet. He studied her features before slowly lifting a hand to help brush some of the errant hair from her face, his fingertips brushing gently against her cheek in the process. "Don't be." He replied softly.

[Erika Paige]

If she had had any intention of moving, it ceased the moment she felt his fingertips brush against her cheek and once again, the brunette found herself frozen. She wasn't entirely sure what it was, but if she had to guess, it was probably the immediate tension that followed with the sudden closeness. In a way, it was foolish to feel that way, because the two of them were married, despite how they'd gotten there. And the fact that he made no indication to move just made it all the more confusing.

All the tension and confusion made her thoughts swim. One one hand, she was extremely curious to see if there was or could ever be more to this than just a platonic business arrangement. On the other, she wanted to scold herself for not pulling away already, because surely, standing here like this, frozen wasn't helping matters. She felt conflicted and she absolutely hated it.

Leaning back slightly, the brunette cast her eyes towards the floor, "Yeah, well..." she trailed off as she lowered her hand, causing the cascade of brown, curly hair fall back down over her face.

[Trevor Paige]

Again Trevor watched as a myriad of different emotions flashed across Erika's features. Most of them he'd seen in spades already today. He expected the confusion, uncertainty and awkward nervousness. The both of them had expressed more than enough of that throughout the day's activities and it hadn't stopped even as the newly wed couple were approaching their first night together. It was the curiosity that crept into Erika's gaze that intrigued Trevor the most.

"Yeah." Trevor repeated Erika simply for lack of anything better to say himself. His brow furrowed in equal curiosity as he watched her pull away and then the brown hair fall into her face once more. Part of him wanted to take the display as a sign that she'd not minded the subtle contact, though Trevor ultimately knew better. Which was exactly why he didn't drop his hand and, instead, went to brush her long, brunette locks aside once more in an effort to reveal her face.

[Erika Paige]

She had expected him to drop his hand and pull away, just like she just had. Instead, he didn't move his hand away from her cheek. She could feel him brush away her hair, the only thing that hid the crimson that had formed along her cheeks. And yet, the brunette didn't move. She remained perfectly still as she felt her hair being brushed away from her face and instead cascaded down her shoulders and her back.

She wanted to ask him why, but she suspected she already knew. She probably wasn't the only one desperately clinging to the hope of this being something more than just a convenient arrangement to strengthen their families. She held her breath and bit down on her bottom lip as she searched his expression for something, anything. This time, the brunette didn't move. She sat completely still, her heart hammering in her chest.

And it was in that moment the brunette gave herself away to the curiosity haunting the inner corners of her mind and leaned forward to press her lips curiously against his.

[Trevor Paige]

Erika didn't move. This was the most pressing thing that flashed through Trevor's mind. Naturally there were few twenty something year old men who would be opposed to having the long, lean form of Erika draped over them but the circumstances made Trevor acutely aware of the sensation of the bare skin of her legs against his.

For once there weren't even words dancing upon his tongue waiting to be shot out with expert precision. Trevor's mind had gone blank. No thought or preconceived notions. There was only the vivid image of Erika's features softening and dipping closer to him.

When their lips met, Trevor's breath caught in his throat. There was an immediate surge of heat that washed through his body and he instinctively reached out to wrap his arms around her waist and pull her into him.

[Erika Paige]

She didn't know what she had expected - or what she'd thought would come of all this. In a way, looking back, she'd never been able to see this coming. The awkwardness and the tension... No, she'd fully expected the two of them to barely talk, go to bed, sleep and repeat. She supposed that they were nothing more than two unsure adults, grasping onto any remains of hope that this wouldn't be quite the tragedy they'd expected.

She felt his arms wrap around her and pull her closer and any last ounce of tension and awkwardness was practically washed away. She felt her body relax against his touch, her own hands circling around his neck and shoulders. Although her heart was still racing in her chest, her mind had already started swimming and chasing away any lucid thoughts.

[Trevor Paige]

A sense of uncertainty remained hanging in the air of the bedroom even as Trevor's grip tightened upon Erika. His head tilted, deepening the kiss for just a moment before breaking it with a soft gasp and an inhale of air. Whatever the hell had just happened wasn't something he' expected, though there was no regret or awkwardness to be found in his gaze as he searched Erika's features. He wasn't in love, not by a long shot, but there was no denying the flushing of his cheeks or his body's response to Erika's closeness.

"Welcome home, Mrs. Paige." Trevor breathed as he brought a hand up to brush away more of the errant, brunette tendrils that framed Erika's face. The awkwardness that should have arisen from their intimately close position was nowhere to be found. His free hand remained rested upon the small of her back as if such a gesture was the norm and didn't accompany just the second kiss the couple had shared.

[Erika Paige]

Even when he deepened the kiss, the brunette made no notion to move away. Instead, she returned the kiss. No, she knew this wasn't part of some fairy tale where the two of them shared a kiss and then ended up living happily after. She was far from that naive, but at least it was something. Whatever that something was, she didn't know. Nor was she entirely sure she cared to find out. But it was a start.

Opening her eyes, the brunette met his gaze. His word caused a small smile to form on her lips and she let a faint chuckle press its way through her lips. "I'm not sure this is the kind of greeting that's the norm, Mr. Paige," she scolded him teasingly. Though, even she had to admit that it had done a wonderful job at chasing away the former awkwardness that had hung over their heads like dark clouds.

[Trevor Paige]

What struck Trevor the most was through it all the two of them had not only managed to find some semblance in humor about the ridiculous nature of the situation they'd been thrown into but also, or so it seemed, they'd happened to find something that maybe, just maybe they could hold onto going forward. It had only been a single kiss, nothing that would cause either of them to throw caution to the wind and profess their undying devotion to one another but there was something about the act and the subsequent reactions that simply felt right and given how terribly awry Erika's bold experiment could have gone Trevor would take it over any of the alternatives.

"I don't think anything about our situation is normal." Trevor replied. His voice held onto that certain controlled confidence as always, though it had lowered to a much softer tone as he spoke to his wife. Whatever it was that the kiss had ultimately meant was a mystery to the both of them, though the mutual flushing of cheeks was a telling sign, as was Trevor's reluctance to move. He knew he should feel awkward and modest about being so close to Erika so quickly and that he didn't, that the feel of her body beneath the thin fabric of her shirt was not only welcome but felt natural to his touch further complicated matters.

[Erika Paige]

"Fair point," she nodded, a thin smirk forming on her own lips. Now, she could have taken the role as the smartass and lectured him on how normal arranged marriages had been in many cultures, but she saw little point. He probably already knew and it felt as if it was perhaps a little far fetched at this point. Still, she couldn't quite help but finding some humor in all of this. They'd gone through so many emotions in such a short amount of time that perhaps, this wasn't all that strange after all.

Sobering some, the brunette lowered her hands from his neck and let them hang over his shoulders. "Well," she said and inhaled, "We should probably get some sleep." At this point, she wished that he'd be the one to move, because with the strangeness of the situation, she wasn't sure she was capable of forcing her somewhat shell-shocked mind to move a muscle.

[Trevor Paige]

Trevor hesitated, lifted his head up slightly, paused, thought it over, lifted a little more, contemplated once more, then splayed his hand across Erika's cheek and pulled her head down to meet him halfway. This kiss wasn't nearly as passionate or heated, rather it was a soft, almost gentle display acting upon simple urges. There was no experiment, no need to see what it was like or what sort of reaction it would get. Trevor kissed Erika for no other reason than he wanted to.

"And it's going to get cold soon." Trevor agreed and added to Erika's statement. The extreme shifts in temperature between night and day necessitated better positioning than the both of them remaining on the floor without blankets. "But, um..." Trevor smiled a little as his eyes caught Erika's for a moment. "You have to get up first."