June 2, 2014 - and if i swallow anything evil, put your finger down my throat (for Kenzi Malikov)

[the_other_guy]

It was a normal night, like any other. It was his night to cook, Kenzi's night to mooch a free meal (which was every night she didn't bring over takeout), and the only strange thing was that Bruce was attempting a vegetable curry. Kenzi, of course, complained about "the lack of cow," as she put it, and then complained some more when he said it wasn't going to be all that spicy. She did it, of course, in the usual manner: theatrical groaning, long diatribes about her friend Trick back home and his usual spread on La Shoshain, and plenty of gesturing with her big spoon when he had her mixing a sauce while he chopped some squash.

By the time they were done eating and talking, it was late...well after two in the morning. For the last two weeks, there had been a pillow and blanket living on his sofa for her for the handful of nights he had been too tired to help her get home. Once he caught sight of Allison Argent coming home late from work, meekly admitting she'd been mugged, he'd flat out refused to let Kenzi head back to Chelsea Cloisters on her own.

He was exhausted, and the couch waited for her, just as his own bed waited for him...right after they cleaned up the debris left over from dinner.

"Kenz, can you pass me the--"

Bruce was putting away the dishes he'd washed, crouched in front of the base cabinet next to the sink, with his fingers curled around the frame when she slammed the cabinet door shut with her foot.

The force was just the wrong kind of shock: pain exploded through his hand, and he lost his grip on his vitals. A sharp cry of pain rang out as he drew his hand to his chest, dropping flat on his knees as he doubled over.

Adrenaline surged, his heart rate skyrocketed...and he couldn't stop it.

For an agonizing eternity, he knelt there, waiting for him to come screaming through his marrow, exploding out of every cell. He braced for the fight, readied himself to warn Kenzi to run.

It never came.

Nearly five minutes passed before he finally started to relax, uncurling and lifting his head as his body stayed quiet...calmed down, heart rate normalizing, adrenaline fading as he tried to catch his breath.

Lifting his head, he sought out Kenzi's gaze.

He wasn't turning. His hand didn't even hurt that much, now that the initial sting had worn off.

"I don't understand..."

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[rhymes_with_frenzy]

It was no big deal. They were buds, like she was with most of the people she knew, and there was nothing at all odd about going into his room while he changed. Right?

So she acted like her normal self as she slipped into his room and dropped onto the edge of his bed with a bounce. Leaning her weight back on her hands, she found herself studying his back as he turned to look through his shirts. She swore it was just friendly appreciation though.

"We need to seriously take you shopping, Bruce." She told him as he turned back to her, nodding at the shirt he had.

[the_other_guy]

Bruce snorted with quiet laughter at that, rolling his eyes as he tugged the shirt off its hanger and tossed it onto the bed beside her before he moved to shrug it on. He could feel her looking at him, her eyes had weight and warmth as they moved over his skin...it was creepy (or so he told himself), and it made him really glad the Other Guy wasn't around to spring out because of it.

"Just don't get on my case for buying a couple sizes up." he warned with a lopsided smile as he started buttoning his shirt. "Better safe than sorry, you know?" It was a testament to his control that he could allow himself to wear real clothes these days instead of t-shirts and track pants with elastic waists...but he still bought larger sizes just in case.

Progress was still progress, right?

"So where we going?" he asked as he finished buttoning his shirt. "That same little dive you were drowning your sorrows in recently? Or do you know any other watering holes in this town?"

[rhymes_with_frenzy]

The mention of her drowning her sorrows recently was a sobering thought and a distracting one as she looked away, glancing around the room with a bit of a shrug. "We can go there or somewhere else. Let's just wander till we find somewhere that calls to us."

Then she tried to turn the conversation back to the topic from a moment before. "And why a couple sizes up? Don't your clothes just get ruined?"

[the_other_guy]

"Mostly...but at least I can keep my pants on while I'm big and green." Bruce replied as he finished with his shirt, tucking it in and moving towards the bureau in his room to check himself in the mirror. Satisfied with a rake of his fingers through his hair, he turned back to Kenzi and grabbed her hand, pulling her up off the bed. "Goes a long way to keeping the number of people who want me dead down to the bare minimum, being a half-clothed monster instead of a naked one. Now c'mon, let's get out of here before I lose my nerve."

They ended up at a bar across town, less of a dive and more of a...well, Bruce hoped to hell it was some kind of theme night, because he wasn't sure he wanted to ever go back if they had country line dancing all the time.

He listened to music, laughed as Kenzi mocked the line dancers, and drank nearly everything she put in front of him. He drew the line at vodka and tequila, because she was Russian and he was a lightweight.

By the time they left, he had a nice buzz going, right on the wrong side of tipsy. They took a cab, and most of the way home he had to fight Kenzi about wearing the Stetson she'd acquired at some point during the night (she claimed the hat was his, a prize in some dance challenge he couldn't remember entering, but might also be responsible for the bolo tie he was suddenly aware of wearing).

When they reached the Bramford Building, Kenzi toppled out of the cab just before Bruce could instruct the driver to take her home. As the taxi sped off, leaving them to stand in the street, Bruce just stared after the cab, then back a Kenzi...then pushed up the brim of the Stetson that somehow ended up on his head.

"You," he drawled, wagging a finger in her face, "are a brat." Slinging an arm around her neck, he hauled her forward towards his apartment building. "C'mon, Kenz, you're stayin' with me t'night."

[rhymes_with_frenzy]

Kenzi was far past the right side of tipsy because maybe Bruce didn't drink vodka and tequila but she sure as hell did. Plus it had felt good to let loose and just have fun. Not mope or feel bad but laugh, tell stories and make fun of line dancers right up until they somehow joined them.

Now her spirits were high and she felt alive as she tumbled out of the cab with a laugh. It didn't make sense to go home. She was always at his place these days anyhow and she...well, she needed to look after him.

"Okay!" She laughed, managing to stumble with him as she slid an arm around his waist. "Just tuck me in a corner somewhere, I won't make a sound."

[the_other_guy]

Bruce looked offended as he let her into the lobby ahead of him, huffing as he gestured with the hand his keys were in while he hauled her along, his arm tightening around her shoulders to keep her close against him. She couldn't make trouble if he held on tight, and she made lots of trouble...

"What...kind of guy d'you think I am?" he protested, leaning heavily on the button for the elevator as the Stetson slid down his forehead, nearly covering his eyes as he gave her his best hurt look. "I will tuck you on th' couch." He paused, blinking as the elevator doors pinged open.

"Tuck you...in th' couch?" he tried again. No, that didn't sound right, either...

[rhymes_with_frenzy]

Kenzi was leaning against him, giggling as he tried to find the right words for his plan of tucking her in on the couch. At least she was pretty sure that was the intention but it was kind of hard to understand with her alcohol-addled mind.

"Come on." She ducked back under his arm, moving behind him to give him a little push as she tumbled after him onto the elevator. "You're not making any sense, Drunky McDrunkard."

[the_other_guy]

Bruce stumbled as Kenzi unceremoniously shoved him into the elevator. Catching himself on the rear wall, he turned to shoot her a dirty look, making a wobbly grab for her as she followed him in so he could...

...he didn't know, but he'd do something. Something terrible. Vengeful, even.

"I am not Drunky McDrun...McDruck...that's not my name." he insisted as he struggled with the nickname.

[rhymes_with_frenzy]

Kenzi couldn't help but laugh again as she stumbled in after him, trying to catch her balance even as he grabbed her hand to pull her closer to him again. It was enough to send her sprawling against him even if they were standing upright.

"No but you're drunk. Totally drunk." She snickered as she looked up at him. It crossed her drunken mind then that he was actually kind of cute when he was glaring at her. Granted he was kind of cute all the time but she was really kind of noticing it now.

[the_other_guy]

"I am...just a little drunk." Bruce informed her, his arm going around her waist to support her. It wasn't hard, she was...little and lean and...warm. She felt warm against him, warm and soft and...well, she was Kenzi. Kenzi was crazy and obnoxious, but she was safe and trustworthy, even if she was sneaky...

...and she felt really good.

"Have...do...did I ever tell you that you're very pretty?" he asked, forgetting that he was trying to protest just how drunk he was. "I mean it, Kenz--Kenzi, you're really pretty. Cute, too. Like, likelikelike...like those little china doll carnival prizes, y'know? That's how cute y'are..."

[rhymes_with_frenzy]

"You are way drunk." She snickered as he slid an arm around her, drawing her even tighter against him till there was nothing but fabric between them. And she certainly didn't mind.

In fact she was briefly distracted by just how warm and hard he felt, even surprisingly broad with tight muscles underneath his clothes. And he was sweet and way too smart for her....but he never judged and he never made her feel stupid...he actually made her feel safe...

And special.

She couldn't really recall the last time someone had told her that she was pretty. Certainly not delicate pretty like a china doll carnival prize which she thought were actually very cute. So she leaned up to kiss him, only in the way of saying thanks, but it wasn't a little peck like she had intended. Or maybe the first kiss had been a peck but the feel of it had been nice, too nice, for her to pass up. So after a second's pause, she leaned up to press her lips to his again, lingering this time in a light kiss.

[the_other_guy]

It was just a peck...one that stayed there, a chaste but vaguely messy press of lips that missed at first, brushing over the skin above his upper lip before they found their mark, and it was...

Bruce hadn't kissed anyone since Betty.

He touched so few people to begin with, but Kenzi touched him a fair amount. Little, negligible things like an arm punch or shoving him around in the kitchen, or sometimes resting her head on his shoulder while they watched TV at his place. A couple times, after checking with him first, she'd even hopped on his back while he walked her home and he'd carried her piggyback across the street or down the block, somewhere within Darrow.

When she pulled back, he felt a little like he'd been punched in the gut, but in a good way. It was nothing, it was innocent...but it was nice.

The second kiss, however, wasn't nearly quite so innocent.

Even as drunk as he was, Bruce knew there was an issue of consent. They were both drunk, and neither one of them had ever gone there. They hadn't talked about it, hadn't alluded to it...hadn't even flirted. Well, not really, but Kenzi loved to lob around innuendo like it was a softball...

It was one kiss. A small one, an innocent one. Friends could kiss, right?

For a moment as he wrestled with himself, Bruce was passive as her mouth met his a second time. After a moment, he relaxed a little and shifted, head tipping to better fit his mouth to hers as he kissed her back.

Kissed his friend back...

[rhymes_with_frenzy]

Kenzi thought he was going to pull away even while wondering if she should pull away but any idea of doing that immediately melt away when he actually started kissing her back. And the way he kissed her...

Whoa.

It was like being touched with a live wire. Sparks of electricity and heat rushed through her then, stealing her breath and yet causing her to moan as she arched in his arms to press closer. The kiss deepened, her lips starting to tingle from just how hard and hungry he kissed her once he stopped holding back.

She didn't hold back either as she slid her hands down his chest once more, tugging his shirt from his pants.

[the_other_guy]

Bruce would forever thank God that he was just sober enough not to let himself be undressed in the elevator of his own apartment building.

His hands caught her wrists just as the elevator doors pinged open, stopping her from going further.

Despite the fact that his heart was pounding, his blood was singing...he'd forgotten this. How it felt to be excited, to feel alive...to feel, period.

How it felt to want. And he wanted...he wanted unspeakable, terrible things, given their friendship...

Very deliberately, Bruce, gathered one of her hands in his and drew back, leading her out of the elevator. He felt a lot more sober all of a sudden, and it filled him with more than a touch of regret.

He said nothing else as they walked to his door. He stayed silent as he unlocked it, as he ushered her in ahead of him.

The moment the door clicked shut, something in him just...broke.

He was blaming the booze for what he did next, and probably always would.

He was drunk, so he caught her shoulder and dragged her towards him. Catching her small face between his bigger hands, he bent to kiss her like he could consume her. He let himself feel the heat of her mouth on his, the softness of her skin, the fragility of those fine-boned features under his palms.

He was drunk, so he backed her messily against the nearest wall, lifted her off her feet and pinned her there with his body, breaking away so he could taste her skin, kissing and nipping at the curve of her long, elegant neck, sliding a hand over the curve of her throat to rest against the flat of her chest, just above the swell of those small, perfect breasts.

She was too young. She was a friend.

But Bruce was drunk, the Other Guy was gone...and he wanted.

[rhymes_with_frenzy]

Kenzi wanted to say that she wasn't as drunk as she was but it was hard to think through the blur of alcohol and the sudden spike of need that almost brought her to her knees.

She hadn't quite forgotten what this could be like but it was different with everyone. With Hale, it had taken some work but it had been amazing. This...this was blindsiding. She knew it was because they were friends, because she hadn't expected it, but suddenly she was wanting things she hadn't let herself really consider fully before. There had been moments of curiosity but it had never felt right to entertain them till now.

So she let him gather her hands together before leading her out of the elevator and to his apartment. She had one moment of clarity then as she turned towards him, about to ask if he really wanted this but the kiss he laid on her next pretty much answered that.

Staggering just a bit as she took a step back and then was pulled forward, she melted into the kiss with a low groan as he moved her again to the nearest wall. Not that she cared because she would have gone anywhere he wanted in that moment. And she did as he hoisted her up so she could wrap her legs around him and hold him close. Then she let her head fall back with another whimper as his mouth and hands started to wander.

"Oh god." She arched up against him, wanting and needing more as she let him take what he wanted.