Routine Maintenance [IC]

[Gizmo]

Trevor inhaled sharply through his nose as Erin's hand traced up his torso, reflexively pulling her closer with the hand on the small of her back. "Maybe I was just trying to set a good example," he murmured as his brain decided to put his mouth on autopilot while it concentrated on more important things. It said something about his current preoccupation that even when he realized what he was saying he didn't flinch or try to qualify the statement but instead shifted one of his hands to lightly brush Erin's auburn hair away from her face.

[Electra]

It took Erin a second to get the joke, but at least it drew a chuckle from her instead of another smack. She cocked her head to one side and studied him, hands still resting on his bare shoulders. For a moment, she was very tempted to call him on his dare, but some last, gasping molecule of good sense intervened. "Mm, it's too cold down here," she temporized with a half-smile. "Plus there's probably like, cameras and stuff."

[Gizmo]

"Little chilly, yeah," Trevor agreed absently, although he made no move to retrieve his shirt from a few feet away. The Midnight Manor was surprisingly polished and comfortable for an underground cavern, but there was a definite coolness in the dimly lit chamber. "...house really does have a lot of rooms," he noted with attempted but largely failed nonchalance. "Sake of argument."

[Electra]

"Yeah, and like five of them are kitchens," Erin teased. She toyed with the ends of his hair, studying his face as she tried to make a decision. It wasn't like she had to make the ultimate decision-decision just yet, there were all kinds of little intermediate decisions to be made before that. Yeah, that sounded good. "Did you have any specific rooms in mind?" she asked him, half-smiling, half concentrating on him like she was trying to look into his head.

[Gizmo]

"Well, ah..." Trevor cleared his throat lightly, only paying a limited amount of attention to his own words. His glossy jet and ruby eyes unfocused slightly as he leaned down to brush his lips on Erin's cheekbone, slowly working his way down her throat with light kisses. "Could... see those couches we were talking about," he murmured, whisper quiet. "Or... other furniture. Whatever you like."

[Electra]

Erin's breath caught in her throat as he kissed her, and for a moment her mind was too blank to let her say anything at all. "...Knew you had couches," she finally murmured. "Had to be one somewhere in this place." She tilted her head to give him free access to her neck, her fingers sliding up to tangle in his hair. "But if your grandpa wanders out to use the bathroom or something, I don't think I'll ever be able to look him in the eye. Where's your room?"

[Gizmo]

With a low rumble in the back of his throat, Trevor continued downward until his lips reach the collar of Erin's sweatshirt before crouching to scoop the young woman off the ground and into his arms, making sure she has holding on around his neck as he straightened. "Upstairs," he responded needlessly, long legs quickly covering the distance from the workbenches to the passageway back up into the mansion above ground.

[Electra]

Erin tensed with surprise when he picked her up, then relaxed when it became clear that he wasn't about to drop her or anything. She laced her arms around his neck, pausing only to snag his shirt from the table as they passed. No need to be leaving dropped clothes all over the mansion! It felt kind of weird to be carried, but also romantic in a weird sort of way. She thought about leaning up and kissing him, but it seemed like a bad idea to disturb his balance at this point, so instead she just hung on, laughing as they jounced up the stairs.

[Gizmo]

The grandfather clock slid back into place as they passed back into the open room with the fireplace, concealing the entrance to the Midnight Manor. Though Erin's enhanced biology made her slightly heavier than she appeared, Trevor didn't seem to notice as he carried her a short distance through the mansion to a door left slightly ajar. Opening it with his back, he turned smoothly around to set his girlfriend down in a room which could easily have been mistaken for an expanded version of his dormitory at Claremont. Largely spartan apart from the beautiful home's omnipresent ornate molding and hardwood floors, one corner was taken up with an antique desk and contrastingly utilitarian workbench and a pair of door on the other side of the room opened up into a walk-in closet. A number of mismatched rugs overlapped each other around a wooden four poster bed, tidily made with deep blue bedding, while a number of tasteful throw pillows had been unceremoniously swept over the side into a pile.

[Electra]

Despite the romance of the moment, Erin had to take her attention off Trevor for a moment to assess the new situation. "It's nice," she decided, "it's big. Looks like it suits you." There was, she noted, no sofa and only one chair, which dramatically limited the furniture options for the room. So she kissed him standing up instead, which seemed a much safer alternative at this precise moment. The dim room was nice and warm and very private, which right at the moment was a great asset and an equally great liability.

[Gizmo]

Trevor back up a step into the door frame with an audible thump, his newly supersaturated muscles easily absorbing the impact as he melted into the kiss as every square inch of his surface area demanded contact. The fingers of one hand raked through waves of auburn hair as they cupped the back of Erin's head, the other sitting restlessly on her hip.

With extreme difficulty, he broke away with sharp gasp, still holding her close. "This... this still doesn't h-have to be tonight," he managed breathlessly, looking directly into Erin's brown eyes with every scrap of restrain he could muster. "Not... ah, not..." He trailed of, distracted as his eyes traced the lines of her face.

[Electra]

"Good," Erin managed, her breath coming fast enough to clog her throat when she tried to speak. "But maybe not tonight can just mean not, um, not everything tonight. You know? Cause I know you'll stop if I want to, so it's okay." She was pretty sure that had come out garbled, but hoped the sentiment was there. Putting clearer actions to garbled words, she pulled free of his grip and stepped back, tugging her sweatshirt over her head. Since she didn't have a lot of extra clothes to let her wear two shirts at once, that left her in just a plain white bra above the waist. She immediately crossed her arms over her chest, then made herself uncross them, watching him closely all the while.

[Gizmo]

Trevor was quiet for a moment. From most people, it might have been worrisome, but the couple's need for words was less than that of most. Following her a step forward, the onyx hued young man placed a hand lightly on her cheek. "You're beautiful. Don't know why I don't tell you more often." Kissing her again, he pulled her close with his other hand, his movements slower and more deliberate but with undiminished need as his hands followed her curves, tracing the paths of her athletic frame.

[Electra]

Erin shivered when he touched her, though being cold was the last of her problems. Wrapping her arms around him, she pressed up close, skin to skin, kissing and touching and ignoring the little voices in her head that were shrilling alarms about this dangerous conduct. She didn't care, it felt too good. After a minute, though, she realized it wasn't just in her head, the communicator in her pocket was beeping an urgent alert!

With a strangled moan, she pulled away and dug the damned thing out of her pocket. "If this isn't important..." she muttered, leaving the threat hanging. "Alert, alert," came the monotone voice of the computer at Young Freedom's base. "High levels of supervillain activity indicated at in " The AI was quite sophisticated for its age, but it still tended to relate warnings like a rather stupid brand of GPS, filling in locations with a voice that never sounded quite the same. "Multiple risks to civilians. Respond at once!"

Erin looked up at Trevor, consternation on her face. "We have to go," she said, reluctant despite herself.

[Gizmo]

"See why I'm so reluctant to carry one of those?" Trevor managed with strained humour, breathing deeply through his nose as he willed his heartbeat back down to a manageable speed. Quieting the small but indignant voice of protest in the back of his head, he cracked his neck and rolled his shoulders experimentally, shifting gears with considerable effort. "I'll suit up and bring the Cycle around. Have a uniform and bat in your truck?" he asked, forcing himself to tear his eyes from Erin as he mentally counted backward from one hundred.

[Electra]

"Yeah, of course." Erin picked up her discarded shirt and slid back into it, trying to get her fractured thoughts back together. It wasn't easy. "It'll take me just a minute to get changed. Maybe it'll be nothing big, and it won't take very long." She couldn't quite bring herself to believe it, though. If there was a situation involving multiple villains that the usual patrollers downtown couldn't handle, it would probably take awhile. "We can... we can pick this up again later."

[Gizmo]

Although he suspected 'later' would a tough wait, Trevor offered Erin a warm smile. "Always," he promised, holding the bedroom door open for her as they headed out. He left his own shirt where it was; he'd need to change once he made it back down the manor anyway. Before they split off is opposite directions down the hallway, the young man heading back to the concealed passageway downward and his girlfriend running out to her truck, he paused to deliver a suitably chaste kiss to her forehead. "Love you. See you out front in a couple minutes."

[Electra]

She smiled and took a moment to touch her hand to his cheek. "Love you too," she told him, the words making her feel warm in an entirely different way, and serving to calm her jangling nerves a little at the same time. Yes or no, now or later, none of that was the important part, compared to being able to hear and say those words to someone who was here and real and alive. "Let's go save the city again."