[ he has plenty of time to eat it, Kiara settling back onto her haunches now that the initial fight-response has passed, and she turns her face towards the surrounding landscape. instinctive to listen, watch, and wait. too used to being hunted, despite the title she stubbornly continues to bear. she will always be a hunter.
but—with this guy, she's just Kiara O. no, not even that. she's just Kiara, just dove. not for the last time, she wishes Jack were here. with Jack, she could fight him and get all this damn steam out, and at the end of it, after all his bitching about losing, she could fall against him and he'd know. know all that they're going through, and the helplessness of being here, and he wouldn't have to say anything to be a comfort.
hell. even Derek would be better than nothing.
even... this guy. ]
Hey, Jules. [ at lease she remembers his name, right ] C'mere.
[ he spends a long moment chewing, staring out into the dark of the forest around them. He takes a swig out of his canteen as she speaks again, glancing sidelong at her, and leans over towards her with his weight on one hand. ]
[ if she blurred her eyes, he'd almost look more like Derek. well. the hair's the right colour, at least. what matters, though, is that he isn't Derek—that that idiot is still free and doing something, somehow, to get the men out of prison, even when she's not there.
(she knows what he was like before she found him. she knows.)
rough exhale, through her nose. ]
I didn't say talk, I said come here. [ ha... disgusting. she sounds like her mother.
grinds her heels in the dirt and pushes herself towards him instead, settling heavily on one hip and leaning against him: shoulder-to-shoulder. ] Gimme some jerky, I'm hungry.
[ or at least wants something to occupy herself with ]
[ he accepts her leaning readily enough, burning with warmth despite the thin clothes and the frosty air, and rips his chunk of jerky with his teeth to offer her the most of it. ]
[ despite that, taking her portion without even batting an eye. it isn't raw, it isn't bloody, so it's better than what she had to make do with before. who cares if he's used his teeth. not Kiara. ]
I don't come second to anyone. Whatever you say about me, that's just the way it is.
[ them's fighting words, except for how she says them more like tired fact than a way to start a brawl. ] No one touches me unless I want them to. No one tells me what to do for their own pleasure.
[ she'll deck them across the face. with the mug of ale they wanted a dollface like her to refill all pretty-like. ]
[ grins a little sharply, a little wry, because part of her feels put at ease to get some pushback. she'd liked Peter when he was a soft and sweet kid, but she liked Derek and Jack because they were so fun to bully, and they always reared back against it, so it never got old. that's how their love worked.
before. ]
Oh, mean. [ says the mean girl. ] Kicking doesn't mean anything when you're already on the ground.
but the silence; that happens, too, while that mounting tension thickens until it feels like it could snap. the glint in her eye hasn't gone away, and her expression borders on dangerous, underneath the icy outer layer. Kiara shifts her weight, then, very very quickly, and where her movement ends, she's straddled his waist with one hand lightly resting across the column of his throat. ]
[ He's gotten pretty used to her by now, so he barely reacts to the hand at his throat except to lift his own and gently run it up along that arm. the other, of course, settles against her thigh. ] ]
You know me, a charmin' gentleman who definitely don't run around wild in the woods.
[ she wears her sleeves long and gloves tightly tied, but her collar opens deep in a vee, almost to her navel. so the goosebumps that are slowly surfacing, yeah. he can probably see those. ]
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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so he can grab another piece of jerky. ]
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but—with this guy, she's just Kiara O. no, not even that. she's just Kiara, just dove. not for the last time, she wishes Jack were here. with Jack, she could fight him and get all this damn steam out, and at the end of it, after all his bitching about losing, she could fall against him and he'd know. know all that they're going through, and the helplessness of being here, and he wouldn't have to say anything to be a comfort.
hell. even Derek would be better than nothing.
even... this guy. ]
Hey, Jules. [ at lease she remembers his name, right ] C'mere.
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What's up?
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(she knows what he was like before she found him. she knows.)
rough exhale, through her nose. ]
I didn't say talk, I said come here. [ ha... disgusting. she sounds like her mother.
grinds her heels in the dirt and pushes herself towards him instead, settling heavily on one hip and leaning against him: shoulder-to-shoulder. ] Gimme some jerky, I'm hungry.
[ or at least wants something to occupy herself with ]
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[ he accepts her leaning readily enough, burning with warmth despite the thin clothes and the frosty air, and rips his chunk of jerky with his teeth to offer her the most of it. ]
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[ despite that, taking her portion without even batting an eye. it isn't raw, it isn't bloody, so it's better than what she had to make do with before. who cares if he's used his teeth. not Kiara. ]
I don't come second to anyone. Whatever you say about me, that's just the way it is.
[ them's fighting words, except for how she says them more like tired fact than a way to start a brawl. ] No one touches me unless I want them to. No one tells me what to do for their own pleasure.
[ she'll deck them across the face. with the mug of ale they wanted a dollface like her to refill all pretty-like. ]
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[ kind of exasperated, raising a brow at her. ]
Don't come second to you neither but you ain't a wolf, so I'm not fightin' you about it.
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[ honestly Kiara just really hates hearing it cuz it reminds her she's actually not in control at all, ]
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[ with like. No heat in his words at all. ]
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[ this is a dumb argument and she knows it. but it does help. ]
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[ He says it kind of fondly, in his gruff way, and flops backwards to lay down in the dirt. ]
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[ she digs her toe into his thigh, just hard enough for him to feel it, but not hard enough to hurt. ]
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before. ]
Oh, mean. [ says the mean girl. ] Kicking doesn't mean anything when you're already on the ground.
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Bet ya sound real pretty when ya do.
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Maybe.
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No. You don't know.
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[ nudges her leg again. ]
1/2
but the silence; that happens, too, while that mounting tension thickens until it feels like it could snap. the glint in her eye hasn't gone away, and her expression borders on dangerous, underneath the icy outer layer. Kiara shifts her weight, then, very very quickly, and where her movement ends, she's straddled his waist with one hand lightly resting across the column of his throat. ]
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Wow, is that your line? I've met drunks more charming than you.
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You know me, a charmin' gentleman who definitely don't run around wild in the woods.
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Gentlemen don't get gross smiles like that.
[ 'gross'. thumbing across his Adam's apple. ]
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(checks watch) yeah 5 years seems good