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Post by Leedzie on Jul 25, 2008 23:02:27 GMT -5
Yep, you guessed it, another long pause. " ....What is it that you want?" Rouge eventually asked, eying the floor.
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Post by Lans on Jul 26, 2008 23:46:26 GMT -5
"I...I don't know!" he shouted, half turning away from her and staring at a mop. "You...I guess..." He sighed. "I mean...I'd like to give...us...a chance, but you've got to be the one to let yourself take that step, if its what you want." He paused, looking at her directly again. "IS that what you want?"
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Post by Leedzie on Jul 30, 2008 9:53:55 GMT -5
Rouge opened her mouth, but no sound came out, and her features distorted with anxiety. That was unquestionably what she wanted, but... being that vulnerable... Why couldn't there be one without the other?! The echidna's eyes gave her a strange, uncomfortable feeling in the pit of her stomach, and Rouge cringed and turned away from their power. Her wings untucked from her back then, and "protected" her from his gaze by forming a sort of shield. " I guess so," the bat finally whispered, practically inaudible. To be fair, it wasn't really her fault; her throat had grown dry and tight. " It's... confusing."
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Post by Lans on Jul 31, 2008 0:54:02 GMT -5
"Why?" He asked simply. "Why does it have to be? Other people seem to be able to go through with it easily enough!" he continued, "Why can't we?"
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Post by Leedzie on Aug 1, 2008 12:37:23 GMT -5
" Th-that's... different!!" Rouge choked, desperately clamping her hands over her face, as though to physically hold the emotion back. " I...... We're... it's c-complicated!" Don't ask me again, don't ask me again, don't ask me again...
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Post by Lans on Aug 1, 2008 13:09:09 GMT -5
"That doesn't answer anything! And you just said that a minute ago too!" He sad angrily, going back to glaring at her again. He was getting really tired of her dodging the questions. "HOW is it complicated? You're going to have to explain it, because I just don't see it!"
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Post by Leedzie on Aug 1, 2008 22:00:48 GMT -5
" B... B-Because...." Her nose tingled. Her eyes stung. Her lip quivered. Rouge's composure deteriorated at a blazing pace, and despite all of her attempts otherwise, her raw, buried feeings rapidly became exposed. The bat struggled to maintain control over the tone of her voice, but in the end, her response came out shakey, high-pitched, and in the midst of a sob. " Bec-cause..... its-scaresme."
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Post by Lans on Aug 1, 2008 22:18:05 GMT -5
If Knuckles' anger had been a balloon it would have deflated with the usual funny squeaking sound right now. "Oh...well..." he said, looking a little chastised now, "I guess I can understand that." He was silent for a couple seconds. "Can you...," geez he was gonna sound like a broken record, "...can you, explain how it scares you? Cause maybe...maybe I could help?
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Post by Leedzie on Aug 2, 2008 10:04:35 GMT -5
No, she couldn't explain it. Rouge's throat tightened up, and the only other noise that came out was a whimper. Her body had begun to tremble with tension, and in lieu of anything else she could do, the bat sat back down on the overturned pail and faced the wall, the muffled sounds of weeping slipping passed her shaking hands.
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Post by Lans on Aug 2, 2008 10:44:01 GMT -5
After a few moments she would feel hands on her shoulders as Knuckles awkwardly attempted to console her. "Look, I'm...sorry, all right? I didn't mean to hurt you."
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Post by Leedzie on Aug 4, 2008 14:34:41 GMT -5
There was so much she wanted to tell him. She wanted to tell him it was she that should be sorry, not him. She had caused the entire mess. She was the one still dragging it out. She was the one that kept drawing him in only to push him away. She was the one that ran away anytime they started to actually get somewhere. She was the one that couldn't admit even to herself what her true feelings were. And she was the one that still couldn't vocalize any of that important information. Rouge trembled beneath the echidna's massive hands as she strained to speak, but no words escaped; they all changed into whimpers and cries before they made it out.
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Post by Lans on Aug 4, 2008 14:46:44 GMT -5
Knuckles just held her silently, pulling her to him, giving her time to compose herself so she could speak again. Inwardly, he felt like a bit of a heel, with the way he'd been treating her less than a minute before, but he could kick himself later...or let her kick him, depending on how she was feeling after.
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Post by Leedzie on Aug 7, 2008 22:05:26 GMT -5
As the echidna's powerful arms wrapped around and embraced her, the final, already crumbling barrier around Rouge's heart came crashing down. Before she could stop herself, the bat had turned around and latched hold of the guardian, clinging to him tightly with her shaking arms and burying her swollen features against his chest. Her previously muted cries suddenly exploded into a torrent of sobs and wails, and it wasn't immediately clear when the storm would pass. Of all of the sounds that escaped her throat, the only discernable message was a very short, quiet, " I'm sorry."
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Post by Lans on Aug 11, 2008 13:51:45 GMT -5
Knuckles didn't respond, but continued to hold her while softly stroking her hair. It was times like these when he sometimes wondered how things had turned out like this. After all, they had started out as enemies, beating the crap out of each other for pieces of the Master Emerald. Yet...even then there'd seemed to be something between them. At the time though, he'd dismissed anything he might have felt since she was a threat to the Master Emerald. But then...she hadn't ever tried to take it again after the first time. She'd hinted at it a couple times, but in retrospect those seemed more like attempts to get a rise out of him than actual threats. Even when that stupid bird broke the emerald again and she'd ended up with one of the shards (a blush creeped over him at THAT memory) she'd simply used it to tease him. The result being that he'd stopped seeing her as a threat to the emerald and was able to let his guard down around her. And so here he was, holding her as she cried into his chest, and him feeling like an ass for making her cry in the first place. "No, I'm sorry..." he told her, "I...I didn't mean to hurt you."
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Post by Leedzie on Aug 24, 2008 0:22:14 GMT -5
Quite some time later, the bat's cries gradually died off, until finally she fell quiet. Rouge didn't immediately move; her energy spent in the exertion, and her dignity in shambles, the sensation of Knuckles' powerful arms firmly wrapped around her body was the only comfort she could currently cling to. It made her feel... protected... despite the fact he was the very person she frequently hid from. Regardless, Rouge sniffled and closed her eyes, favoring the darkness of her eyelids over staring at the drab, dirty surroundings of the janitorial closet. If she just closed her eyes, this whole mess went away... There was only the squeeze of the guardian's arms and the gentle thumping of his pulse. It felt good. It felt warm. It felt safe.
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Post by Lans on Sept 4, 2008 22:07:31 GMT -5
...It couldn't last. As much as Knuckles would prefer to stay like this until a janitor found them, which would lead to a cover up by way of homocide there were unfortunatly problems on a littleraly global scale to deal with. He sighed. "Rouge?" he said to get her attention, "...I hate to say this but we...probably need to go save the world again."
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Post by Leedzie on Sept 12, 2008 23:59:39 GMT -5
Rouge released a disheartened sigh. She was getting so. damn. SICK of always having to put the rest of the world on a pedestal. Couldn't she even have this ONE moment for herself? The bat grumbled and buried her eyes into Knuckles' shoulder as though she didn't want to get up on the first day of school. However, when she finally picked her face back up, Rouge was greeted with what to her was a horrifying sight: a smear of blue and black against the echidna's fur. In disbelief, the theif gingerly touched her soggy features, only to find the same colours clinging to her glove. Rouge whimpered in frustration and immediately jumped to her feet, hoping to clean her running make-up before Knuckles would notice. Being the weakest I've ever been seriously wasn't enough?! the bat pondered while snatching a roll of paper towels from one of the storage racks. Did I really have to be the ugliest I've ever been, too?! Rouge sniffled and did her best to clean the running mess from her eyes and cheeks. This was by far the most embarrassing day of her life.
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Post by Lans on Sept 27, 2008 21:44:52 GMT -5
For a moment Knuckles wondered what he'd done wrong this time, before he noticed the makeup on his fur. Ignoring the stain in his fur for now, he stepped up behind her, unsure of what to do. He was kinda new at this. "...You know," he said after a moment, "you don't really need all the makeup. You look great without it." It'd been the only thing he could think of to say, and he was mentally sweating bullets as he tried to recall if he'd ever actually seen her without makeup.
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Post by Leedzie on Sept 30, 2008 13:24:12 GMT -5
And now Rouge was wondering the same thing. The bat mentally paused, continuing to clean the mess from her fur. She was... fairly certain she'd always worn make-up around him. Even anytime they'd been around water, she made sure to find a private moment to touch it up in case it began to fade or run. Rouge wadded the used paper towels between her hands and tossed them into the garbage bin hanging off of a maintenance cart. Letting out a disheartened sigh, she turned around to face Knuckles with unenhanced features. "Is that so?" she morbidly asked. It was obvious in her eyes that she felt the echidna was simply trying to make her feel better.
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Post by Lans on Oct 1, 2008 23:33:56 GMT -5
Since she hadn't called his bluff (at least he was mostly sure it was a bluff) most of the tension he'd been feeling drained out of him, giving him the confidence to smile before suddenly leaning forward to kiss her.
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Post by Leedzie on Oct 2, 2008 20:53:21 GMT -5
The bat's incredulous eyes shot open, and her surprised yelp was muffled against Knuckles' mouth. She might've pulled away entirely if she hadn't been so shocked. Knux had never been so forward, or so confident! Anytime she'd so much as brushed up against him, he'd gotten stiff as a board (get your heads out of the gutters, I didn't mean it like that). Rouge had never expected him to actually initiate a kiss. It occurred to her that Knuckles had also never been ingenuine -- nor had he ever taken an action like this lightly. If he did it, and of his own volition, it was probably a sure thing that he meant it. Rouge felt a wave of relief, but at the same time... the notion frightened her. With a soft gasp, she pulled back, but no words could make it out of her mouth when she tried to speak.
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Post by Lans on Oct 7, 2008 22:56:19 GMT -5
Knuckles paused for a moment, then smirked, gratified to see she was the one caught off balance for once. "Sorry, I thought that would be a pretty clear answer," he told her. He leaned towards her again. "I could always repeat it if you didn't get it the first time?"
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Post by Leedzie on Oct 9, 2008 15:15:32 GMT -5
Caught off balance, indeed. Rouge, looking slightly bewildered, moved to step backwards, but discovered that pesky wall blocking her path. " W-Wait! I don't... know..." The bat, absent of her usual confidence and control, instead shyly eyed the floor... and blushed. And elsewhere in the building, SatAM Rouge's head exploded.
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Post by Lans on Oct 9, 2008 21:34:38 GMT -5
Still smirking, Knux leaned in further, supporting himself with one hand against the wall now. "Well...maybe I can help you with that," he said...then kissed her again. Chaos, he was enjoying this, for more reasons than one.
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Post by Leedzie on Oct 9, 2008 23:28:26 GMT -5
Before she could form a reasonable argument (or even a weak one), Knuckles had silenced her again. Rouge felt a jolt of butterflies to her stomach as his free hand found its way to her cheek, and in a fleeting moment of lucidity, the typically cunning and manipulative bat wondered what the hell was going on. After all, this wasn't the first time a man had ever kissed her; much to her chagrin, she'd had to put up with advances such as this many times while spying or working as a decoy. How was Knuckles able to make her feel so weak in the knees? Then again... did it even matter? Rouge's eyelids lowered, and eventually closed. Maybe it was a bad idea, but in that moment, she couldn't convince herself to continue to care. Knuckles had consistantly made her feel safe. Even if the idea of intimacy scared her, all she found herself wanting to do was to let go of the fear and embrace the moment, just this once. Letting out a nearly inaudible hum, the bat's arms slid around Knuckles' shoulders, and gingerly and pulled him closer.
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Post by Lans on Oct 14, 2008 21:49:30 GMT -5
As she did so, Knux placed his other arm around her waist, forgetting as he did that he had been using it for support, and thus sending them both to the floor of the closet, not that they noticed too much... (AN INDERTERMINATE NUMBER OF MOMENTS LATER) "...heck she's doing in here, I don't care! I want to try and contain this as best we can, and to do so we need all hands on deck!" came a fammiliar shouting voice from outside a second before the closet door was flung open. "Agent Rouge, I n-HOLY SHADES OF BIOLIZARD!"
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Post by Leedzie on Oct 15, 2008 16:34:14 GMT -5
In the wake of such an unexpected wave of passion, Rouge had lost track of most of the goings on of reality around them; all there was in those glorious moments was Knuckles. The taste of his lips, the smell of his fur, the sensation of his body pressing down against hers... It was all far, far beyond the greatest high of finding the most beautiful jewel. Rouge would've gladly traded all seven Chaos Emeralds -- and even tossed in the Master Emerald with them -- to keep this precious, wonderful interlude going forever. However, that notion was abruptly shattered when the door suddenly opened, and her would-be boss shrieked in surprise. Or horror. Or both. Rouge peered upward at the upside down image of Comwell's corporate shoes just inches from her head. As the door still stood wide open, cool air rushed into the stuffy maintenance closet -- and the bat felt the breeze against her bare chest. SHIT, she thought with wide eyes. Despite her typical lack of modesty, and Knuckles blocking the view from above anyway, Rouge's cheeks burned brightly over the fact that her jumpsuit was currently scrunched around her waist. However, the bat pulled a deep breath to gathered her wits, looked up at Comwell straight in the eyes, and said in the most professional tone she could manage, "Yes?"
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Post by Lans on Oct 16, 2008 21:22:00 GMT -5
Knuckles slowly looked up, turning red(er) as he suddenly felt like someone had dumped a bucket of ice on him. " Uh...hi..." he squeaked, not taking his eyes of the man as he made a frantic grab for his hat and shoved it over Rouge's chest as best he could. Comwell just stood there, blushing a red to rival Knuckles' fur, while keeping one hand over his eyes. He took a couple calming breaths to keep himself from saying anything he'd regret before telling them, "...Agent Rouge I want you and...the Guardian in the command center, fully clothed, ASAP." He then took a step back, fumbled for the door handle, and shut the closet door again.
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Post by Leedzie on Oct 17, 2008 14:32:22 GMT -5
With the door safely closed, Rouge let out a sigh of relief... and disappointment. Clearly the interlude couldn't last forever, but she would've liked for it to at least finish. Rouge made no immediate move to get up, instead pinching the echidna's waist gently between her thighs. "Well....... fun while it lasted, huh?" she whispered, running her fingertips through his spines.
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Post by Lans on Oct 18, 2008 0:52:18 GMT -5
Knuckles shivered a little bit at her actions. "Yeah..." His blush hadn't gone down, though for different reasons now. He really didn't want to have to get up either. Where he was right now was very...comfy...yeah, we'll go with that. "You know...he did say as soon as possible..."
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