Her body was so close to him that Noble felt a responding tightness in his trousers almost immediately; usually they were both much softer with one another. He was not thinking about the difference until she pulled away to take a breath, and he paused; his face was flushed with heat and he loosened his hands on her hips very deliberately. "Sorry," Noble said, "Was that too much?"

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The following 2 users Like Noble Greengrass's post:2 users Like Noble Greengrass's post
   Daffodil Grimstone, Fortitude Greengrass

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set by Bee

Her pause hadn't meant anything other than she needed some air. She didn't mind, even if it was a little out of their realm of normal. They had always been on the same tentative level, barely pushing boundaries, having been so young when everything had come together that it wasn't as if they had any other experience. This did have a different tone to it and Daff highly suspected it had something to do with whatever it was he wasn't telling her. That however wasn't really a huge concern, she trusted him, implicitly, she just wanted to be whatever it was he needed right now and if that was to blow off a little steam like this, then she could handle it.

The exhale came out slowly, a little shaky, but she shook her head slowly at his question, passing him a reassuring smile. A little more gently, she ran one hand through his hair, looking up at him thoughtfully. There was so much she wanted to say, questions she wanted to ask on the tip of her tongue, but she bit back the words, refusing to loose them now. Losing time talking wasn't what they needed tonight. With that as the driving force behind her next movements, she tugged him back down to press her lips to his once more.

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She answered his question with a kiss, and Noble's tightened his left hand's grip on her hip. It would be easy to lose himself in this, in Daffodil tugging him and the need and everything that was pressing in on him, from all directions. He slid his right hand up the side of her body, fingers trailing, finally leaving it to rest on her ribcage underneath her breast — even under current circumstances he was not so far gone to touch her there directly.

He was far gone enough that his hips twitched forward, a little involuntarily. He was going to have to let her go sooner or later, and he knew it in this moment with a solidness he hadn't before, but he didn't have to let her go yet and if she was going to let him be desperate and needy then he could lose track of his own sensibilities a little.

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set by Bee

Something was propelling them both a little farther than normal, which normally might have given her pause, but she already had suspicions as to what had changed tonight and she had decided she would be alright with it. This was Noble, her steady, sensible, sincere, Noble. It wasn't as if there was anything he would do that made her uncomfortable.

Daff hummed out a little noise, something between a sigh and a whimper at the feeling of his wandering hands on her body. Somewhere deep down she knew she should try to lower the intensity, reign in the emotions playing havoc on their impulses, but found it increasingly difficult. It wasn't really for her to decide either, though she could if she wanted to, and she knew he would stop, but she wasn't altogether certain that's even what she wanted. Everything was warm and hazy and so were her inhibitions, but it was getting far too easy to get caught up in everything.

Close wasn't close enough though and she wrapped her arms around his neck to keep that proximity of their bodies as close as possible. Something of a whisper, simply his name slipped out in a sigh between kisses, but she hadn't meant for it to happen, it just felt natural in the moment.

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Oh, that noise she'd made. Noble let his hand on her hip move to settle on the small of her back, pulling her forward as her arms wrapped around his neck to pull him down. They shouldn't be doing this. This was too much. He knew it was too much, and his body was making it abundantly clear that it was too much — they were touching in more places than they usually were in these situations. Their hips, his hand on the small of her back, her arms holding him as close as possible, with hardly any air between them. They should stop. He knew they should stop.

"Daff," he breathed, between kisses, although whether that was a real indication that they ought to stop or just something that escaped his mouth in the moment, he wasn't sure. He pressed his thumb on her ribcage down a little, as if holding his hand in place somewhere vaguely appropriate was getting more difficult.

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set by Bee

The hazy feeling was a little overwhelming, Daff could feel the flush on her skin and the heat in her cheeks, the rush flowing through her veins. Her whole body felt warm and loose against him, despite the tension in her arms holding him close.

The sound of her name on his lips, that hushed sort of urgent tone stirred something in her gut and Daff knew they were nearing the edge of some kind of cliff— and it was time to take a step back from the ledge. Somehow, she managed to find the willpower to lean back, just enough, not much, but she loosened her arms from around his neck. Curling into him a little more gently, though just as close, she slid her hands down to wrap around his middle instead. She pressed her forehead into his shoulder, breathing still unsteady and quick. The chuckle that escaped was just as breathless as she tried to steady herself, trying to focus on the quiet of the room.

That was something alright and though she'd enjoyed it, she still had that nagging feeling that something was awry. The question was, did she ask, or did she let it go for now?

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It was a good thing that Daff created space between them, because Noble wasn't sure he had the willpower to even as he'd kept shoving it off the whole time they were kissing. He was breathing heavily when she loosened her grip, fully caught up in the heat of the moment, and he rubbed his hand briskly up and down her back to clear the feeling.

"That was — something," Noble said, feeling on the verge of laughter himself. He was still hard and there was a significant part of him that regretted stopping even as he knew that they had to. But that had been something, a lot more urgency than they usually brought into this, and he hadn't really planned it.

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set by Bee

Daff turned her head she she was snuggled up against him, tucking herself somewhat under his chin. She could feel his heartbeat under her cheek, just as erratic and uneven as hers was, even now that she'd had a moment to recover a little bit. "Something indeed." She chuckled again, muffled by his shirt, unable to do anything much but cling to him as she came down off the reeling emotions and sensations combing through her. She didn't regret it, letting it get that heated, but she still felt like there was a why behind it... Daff squeezed him tightly, the question still poised to fall, but she wasn't sure she could bring herself to ask again.

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The heat in his skin was starting to dissipate and he was starting to recover. Noble left one of his hands resting on her shoulderblade, which felt like safe territory. That could have been — well. They could have gone too far. Certainly it had been too much. And they still had utter privacy, which didn't help matters, because technically all of that was still an option. He shifted his weight back and forth between his legs, hoping to cause the situation in his trousers to dissipate more quickly.

"I love you," he said, rather than address the remaining tension in the air.

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set by Bee

Daffy felt a strange sort of gravity weighing down on her. She knew something was off, something he wasn't telling her and that just had to be behind the urgency of their previous situation. She couldn't fathom what would be worth keeping from her as she never hid anything from him, but she still couldn't bring herself to ask him. The odd thing was that where they stood now certainly didn't feel wrong, nothing ever felt wrong around him, but she was all caught up in whatever this was and just couldn't wrap her head around it.

Smiling softly, albeit a little sadly as she leaned back to look up at him, she studied his face for a moment, blue eyes searching his in the soft light of the room as she brushed her fingers along his cheek. "I love you too," Merlin did she ever. Daff hadn't really known that it was possible to be this head-over-heels in love with someone else. Sure she'd read a romance novel or two, had expected to find a comfortable match for herself in life, but nothing like this.

Maybe that was why she, like he had just done, chose to ignore the more important matters pressing in on them and pushed up to her toes to kiss him again. The tone wasn't quite as urgent, but the need was still there and it was increasingly hard to ignore.

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He was focused on trying to recover himself, but it was impossible when Daff stood on her toes to kiss him again. Noble slid his hand down to the small of her back — he could pull her even closer, and then they could —

No they couldn't.

He broke away. "We shouldn't," Noble said. This was too much. They should stop, probably, although he left his hand on her back.

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set by Bee

Daffy knew he was right, she did, somewhere deep down. That didn't stop her from looking up at him and asking in little more than a whisper, "Why not?" It wasn't exactly what she should be asking him, nor should she be pushing the issue, but she was curious. Maybe it would lead to a good opportunity to have the conversation she wanted to have, but was still a little nervous to start.

Or he wouldn't have a good reason and at least the distraction was something enjoyable

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Noble looked down at her and bit his lip, because shit, he didn't want to stop, and it was going to be much harder to do so if she was looking at him like that and pushing the idea that maybe they did not have to.

"You know why, Daff," Noble replied.

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set by Bee

Daffy sighed softly, a resigned tone to it that even she hated to hear. "Do I?" If this was just the simple question of taking things a step too far before they were married, that was not the problem. Not for her. Up until recently she had every confidence that it was only a matter of if, not when. However, she just couldn't ignore this growing suspicion that things were not simply a waiting game anymore.

Disentangling herself from him, she brushed her hair from her face, tossing it impatiently over her shoulder. She took a couple steps back to give herself some breathing room, time to think, time to steel herself. "I cannot shake this feeling that you're not telling me something." She said finally. "I've tried and I've tried to tell myself that you would tell me if it was important, we have never kept secrets from one another."

Daff crossed her arms across her chest, somewhat defensive already, but more like she was trying to keep herself together. "So either tell me I'm crazy or tell me what's wrong, but please don't lie to me." She added quietly after another moment, trying to keep the pleading tone from her voice, blue eyes turned helplessly on his handsome face.

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Noble took a step back as she disentangled herself from him, adding more space between them. His back was against the edge of one of his shelves; this wasn't a particularly large space to begin with. He felt like he had with Ford in the living room, when their argument started — like he was starting to watch things spin out in front of him and he didn't know how to stop them. There was an emotion rising in his chest, not anger but — maybe a relative of it. He folded his arms over his chest to steady himself.

He couldn't tell her she was crazy, but he could not tell her the truth, either — right now the truth was just a secret Ford and Noble held together, and he was angry with his brother but he couldn't break that trust, either. The truth, if outed, would fully ruin them. And that wouldn't help Daffy either.

So he couldn't lie, and he couldn't tell the truth either, and he couldn't avoid the question. Fuck.

He swallowed and pushed one hand through his hair. "Things have gotten — more complicated, since my father died," Noble tried, "With the plan."

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set by Bee

This wasn't really news to her. Of course things had gotten more complicated since his father's death. The house on the other side of the yard was supposed to be theirs, but now he shared it with his family because his sisters needed somebody to look out for them. He and his brother were responsible for them, all younger, all unmarried, just like Ama and her husband would have to do if something was to happen to either of the Potts parents. That was what older siblings did — but that couldn't be the whole problem.

She looked at him expectantly, eyebrows raised, an uncharacteristic sense of panic rising in her throat. "I can't help you fix what I don't know about." She said earnestly, on the verge of tears as she looked at him. This was probably why Daffy had always been the kind to say what was on her mind; when she held her tongue for too long, kept it inside, eventually it came bursting out. Still, she had never been one to raise her voice for any reason and still didn't now, but he had to see that all she wanted to do was help.

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The following 1 user Likes Daffodil Grimstone's post:1 user Likes Daffodil Grimstone's post
   Noble Greengrass

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