seas_open | [closed - Les - morning after the blackout]

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[closed - Les - morning after the blackout]

Her ankle still hurts.

That's the first thing April registers when she opens her eyes in her bed at home and she winces a little, throwing back the covers to look at it. It's still swollen and she can't put much weight on it, but she gets up anyway and limps to the bathroom where she brushes her hair, washes off the rest of last night's makeup and brushes her teeth before going to the kitchen.

It's not until after she starts her coffee maker that she realizes the power is back on. She checks her phone to find both reception and a message from Les that makes her smile. Apparently they had both needed rescuing the night before and had both been unable to come through as the hero.

She sends him a text -- I'm okay. Survived the night. Come by when you can. I'll pretend to make you breakfast by ordering something in. then settles down on the couch to drink her coffee. Her conversation with Caden from the night before is still fresh in her mind and she smiles a little. Once Les is here, she'll see how he's feeling, then maybe ask him what his thoughts on Caden are.

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After Corry and Les part ways at the Boardwalk, he heads back to his building so that he can finally shed the ridiculous Halloween costume he had to wear all night. He showers and grabs a T-shirt and jeans, thinking that he may swing by Riley's house to pick her brain about what happened last night. Les tolerates Nerium more than most people, but she can't go around cursing the entire town. Sooner or later, people would get tired of it, and a witch-hunt is the last thing any of them want. Les likes living in this town because here no one cares that he's a witch, but that can always change if you piss off the right people.

However, all the thoughts he's having about Nerium and the blackout are forgotten when he finds a message waiting on his cellphone once he's dressed. It's from April. He smiles at the invitation, and immediately he accepts it without a second thought, telling her he'll be there in twenty minutes. The weather is really starting to grow colder, and Les hurries along on his walk to her new apartment, which is much further than where she used to stay, but he makes it in just under twenty minutes like he'd said.

He lets himself in when he arrives to her door, knocking as he opens it. "Your rescue team has finally arrived," he tells her, heading straight into her kitchen to grab a much needed mug of coffee to wake himself up and warm him from the cool air. Pulling an all-nighter with Corry had left him tired, but he wanted to make sure April was okay. "So what'd you do last night? Anything fun? I got stuck all night in a haunted house," he says, mostly sarcastically, as he rummages around until his coffee is made. He sits down on the couch beside her with a smile. That's when he gets a good look at her foot where she's rest her leg up on a pile of pillows beside him. He raises an eyebrow at her. "Seriously? You didn't mention injuries in that text message. What happened?" Putting his coffee down, he touches her very obviously swollen ankle. "Does it hurt?"

Edited 2014-10-31 22:30 (UTC)

"It's fine," she promises, leaning in to hook one of her finger's in the collar of his shirt so she can pull him closer for a kiss. "I'm fine, I swear. I was on the beach when the lights went out and something rushed me and I tripped." She's still not sure what it was out there in the dark, the shadows that had moved and had seemed far too keen in getting to her, but it's over now. She's safe thanks to Caden and she doesn't want Les to worry about her or wish he had been there when she knows he'd been trapped in his own situation. The night is over, there's nothing anyone can do to take it back, and she knows it had been a long, strange night for everyone.

For now, she's just glad the lights are back on and that Les is here.

"I was near Caden's place and luckily he'd just been out for a swim. He found me and brought me in and gave me some ice, but it really doesn't hurt that much anymore," she says, smiling up at him. "So you were stuck all night in a haunted house, huh? An actual haunted house or one of those playful ones where people jump out at you with plastic knives?" She's not sure which one would be worse, if she's honest.

Smiling against her mouth when she pulls him closer for a kiss, the worry Les feels eases a little. He leans away still smiling. "I can probably make it feel better if you want me too," he says, wiggling his fingers at her. "Magic fingers, remember?" But he picks back up his mug of coffee for now and settles into the couch. Though a part of him wonders just what exactly had been out there in the dark last night. He and Corry were locked in the haunted house and the worst they saw was a cat. Whatever had approached April definitely was more than that.

He supposes he'll figure that out later, perhaps go see Nerium himself, but for now, he sips at his coffee, the smile on his face growing when she mentions Caden. Figures. When they'd all hung out at Michaela's wedding, he had sensed that Caden had a little crush on April. And she really didn't seem to mind. "So. You didn't need my rescue team because the hot surfer dude rescued you, I see how it is," he says, laughing at his own joke. "It's good he was there. If something attacked you."

"Just the haunted house at the Boardwalk. We used to sneak in every year as kids, but it sounds like there was more to worry about outside than trapped in an amusement ride. Corry and I just ate candy all night. When the power went out, the doors locked and we couldn't get out," he explains with a smile. "It sounds like maybe you had a better night?"

Edited 2014-11-02 16:48 (UTC)

"It wasn't bad," she agrees. Had she been stuck out there on the beach, she's not sure how well it might have ended between whatever was waiting for her in the shadows and her twisted ankle, but Caden had made sure there was nothing to worry about. "He gave me some advil and water and we actually went over to Coop's party." They'd needed to. For all that she isn't quite sure what she and Les are doing, they'd both been very clear about the fact that they aren't sleeping with anyone else and no matter what happens from here on, it's only going to happen if Les is on board.

April has no idea when she became this person, someone who cares about the feelings of others, someone who actually thinks about another person before making decisions, but she has. At least when it comes to Les. She's fairly certain she's right about everything, that he's at least a little bit interested in Caden as well, but she still isn't going to do anything without talking to him about it first.

And she thinks if they'd stayed in Caden's dark house for much longer last night, it wouldn't have ended quite so innocently. "We spent a little while there and then he drove me home."

He wonders if he should feel differently about another guy taking care of her the way Caden apparently had last night, and while he does wish he'd been there to help her, if something attacked her, there's another part of him that doesn't mind that Caden was there. Because the story she describes just seems to match up with everything Les knows so far about the other man. He just seems like the type to find someone on the beach and rescue them, even if it wasn't April. And because it was April, Les knows Caden took even better care of her, and Les just...doesn't find jealousy there, even though maybe that's strange, but instead he appreciates it in a way. He appreciates that Caden was there if he couldn't be.

"So I guess that means I need to have him over for dinner then," Les suggests with a smirk. He realizes that at the wedding the suggestion of dinner had been...maybe a little bit more than that. Because when Les had figured out that Caden clearly had no problems with either Les or April, he'd taken it upon himself to make the best of a funny situation. He'd been teasing a little bit, but a thank you dinner wouldn't be out of the question.

"I think he likes you. That's not going to be weird is it?" he asks, though he really doesn't think it will be.

"I know he likes me," she answers, stretching her legs out across Les' lap, resting her injured ankle against his thigh. This is comfortable, sitting on her couch with him, the both of them with a hot mug of coffee and she tips her head against the cushion, smiling at him. She really likes him and that's not a sudden realization, she's known it for a long time now, but she is realizing that maybe she can do this. Maybe she can be this person even if perhaps they're not quite as traditional as some others.

"And I know he likes you, too," she continues, lifting her mug to take a sip of her coffee as she watches Les over the rim, waiting for a reaction from him. "Maybe not as much as he likes me, but he definitely does like you," she adds in a teasing voice, nudging Les gently with the toes of her good foot.

"We talked about it a little bit last night," she says. "About the fact that he likes us both and dinner."

Shifting a little to accommodate when she slides her legs over his lap, careful not to hit her swollen ankle, Les settles comfortably into the couch and into the morning. He smiles back at her when she smiles at him. They have definitely found a real groove lately, something that works for them both, and he likes that it means things like this too. Just lazy mornings together. And right now there's no where else he wants to be.

Of course, this thing between definitely has its own quirks if he understands what she's trying to tell him, and he's pretty sure he does considering how their last meeting together with Caden went at the wedding. "Not as much as you," he repeats with a laugh, sipping his coffee as he shakes his head. "Of course, he likes you more. You're prettier than I am."

Jokes aside, he definitely understands there's something about Caden that's very easy to like. "Obviously you know I was kinda flirting with him in the basement. I never really thought you knew each other," he says only a little sheepish. There's no need to be because he knows April flirted with him too. "You know I wasn't really going to do anything about it..."

"Because of me," she says easily, knowing it's the truth. "The same reason I never did anything about it." Even before she and Les had talked about it, before they'd decided that they wanted to at least try this, try to be together as a real couple in their own way, she hadn't done anything about it. She could have, she's sure of that, but she hadn't because even before they'd had their talk, she had already known that there was something between the two of them that she hadn't wanted to risk.

But they've grown a little more comfortable with each other. And she doesn't think talking about this is going to risk anything. It's at least part of the reason she likes Les as much as she does. Even if he balks at the idea, even if he tells her it's something he wants to avoid at all costs, he'll at least listen to her and she doesn't think he'll hold it against her for bringing it up.

"What if I didn't mind?" she asks, tilting her head a little and she's still smiling, but it's softer now, more curious than teasing.

She doesn't need to tell him she's never done anything with Caden. He knows the conversation they had about what's going on with their relationship, and he trusts just like he hasn't been with anyone else she hasn't either. He likes to think if she wanted to change things between them she would just come and tell him straight up. Maybe it isn't to far off to assume April would do just that because that's essentially what she's asking him now....

"If you didn't mind..." he says slowly, not completely turned off by the idea, but he needs a moment to mull it over in his head. Switch his brain onto the fact that she might not mind that he flirts and he's tempted by Caden and his adorable blushing charm. "Mm. Before I answer, how would you 'not minding' work exactly?"

"I don't know," she says honestly, because this is where she's been a little stuck. She's never done a traditional relationship, never mind one that's less than traditional and she knows something like that needs to be worked out between everyone before it actually happens. "I mostly mostly I don't mind if... if he were around as well. Not just for me, but for you, too." If he was there with them some nights or if he and Les went off on their own from time to time. If he came over for dinner, if he fell asleep in April's bed as often as Les did. It's big enough for the three of them easily. She isn't sure what to call an arrangement like that, but they've never been great at labels before, she doesn't imagine that changing now.

"Because I think he likes us both as more than just a pretty couple to hop into bed with," she says. She's not opposed to that either, but she gets the very clear sense that Caden isn't interested in something like that and she'd like to be as fair to him as possible.

"So, like, you---" Les points at her, like, he needs to clarify, then at himself. "And me. Plus him. All of us." He turns his finger in a fast circle to indicate the three of them, and she just looks at him. He takes a longer sip of his coffee, thinking over that idea. Really he's never done anything like that before, but then again what he has with April is something he's pretty new at too. So far, it's been working. In their own way, they have been working. Even without the labels or anything else. He doesn't think she's saying she wants to change it because of him, because of something he's done. That would make him worry.

Maybe it's okay to acknowledge that Caden is attractive to them both, and maybe that can work too.

He reaches out for her, touching her arm with the hand not holding his coffee mug, just because he can. "Yeah. It'd be okay if you were with him. Not just to hop into bed." If they went out, had dinner, and Les wasn't there, he'd be okay with it. He knows not everyone would agree to something like that, but he knows what April and him have together. And it works whether it's done by the book or not.

"I mean hey he rescued you, didn't he? I definitely like him even more now," he says, smirking.

Edited 2014-11-05 04:22 (UTC)

"Really?" she asks and she's not sure what she'd been expecting, but it still does something to her to hear Les agree. "I don't mean as separate entities. Me and him, you and him, you and me. Sometimes, of course, we'd all still need that, I think, but... the three of us, too."

It feels strange to suggest. Unfamiliar and out of the ordinary, but April knows she's never been ordinary in any way. What she and Les have works for them and she's happy being with him, she doesn't want that to change at all. Reaching out, she rests her hand against his chest, just over his heart. "I thought you might think I was trying to break up with you," she admits with a faint smile. "Because that isn't what this is. Not at all." Les makes her happy, so much happier than she knows what to do with most of the time. It scares her a little, just how comfortable she is with him, but she's not trying to ruin it. She wants to keep it.

While he might not have suggested it himself the more she says it---the three of them---the more the idea settles into something that actually makes sense. It isn't just about Caden. It's about him and April. They had never gone about their relationship in a normal manner. It definitely wasn't one of those storybook soulmate type of romances. It was something more practical. Something that made sense for them as two people trying to figure out how to even be in a relationship. If she didn't want to call him her boyfriend, that was okay. He knew he meant something to her, and she meant something to him too. That's all that mattered.

One thing they have always done up to this point is be honest. She's been honest about Caden and so has he. As long as they have that, as long as they know what they have, their relationship can be two or three or whatever it needs to be.

He smiles when she leans over putting her hand over his chest. Of course he doesn't want to break up. Caden or no Caden. That's the furthest thing from his mind. "Mm, no let's definitely stay together. Atleast until after Caden comes for dinner," he suggests with a softer smile, threading his fingers through hers. He'd had a good night last night, stuck with Corry, endless laughs and magic tricks and acting like kids again.

But he is happy to be back to reality now. Back where he has this relationship with April that's new and different, obviously different, but it makes him happier than he imagined he'd be when it began. "I promise I'm okay with it," he says in the end. "I'd tell you if I wasn't."

"And after he comes for dinner maybe the two of you will want to get rid of me?" she asks with a laugh and an arched eyebrow, but she rests against Les, quiet for a longer moment. April has spent her entire life bucking expectations; she's avoided getting attached for most of her life, she has absolutely no interest in getting to know the family that's suddenly all around her and she has more warrants out for her arrest than anyone knows. She's nothing like what most people expect below the surface and there aren't many people who know that part of her.

But Les is one of them and he's still here. More than that, he's open to all the unexpected things about her and she smiles, then shifts on the couch so she can press a kiss against his jaw.

"Then I guess we're making dinner plans," she says and she expects Caden will be pleased to hear this. There had been something so sweet in his face the night before, something hopeful.

"Impossible. You're too cute to get rid of now," Les says, kissing her back where her head is tucked against him. Untraditional or not, he's never had anyone like April in his life before. Someone he's dating--because that's what it is whether they use the word or not---someone that makes him happy and comfortable, and he just likes being around her. In fact Les likes her more the longer they are together. At this very moment he can't see that changing.

"I guess we are," Les agrees kissing her again this time leaning to reach her mouth. He pulls away with a smile. "I think chinese food is in order. Pickles too maybe?" But he really doesn't let her answer before kissing her again, happy they've talked and happier that she's okay after last night's power fiasco.

Now he can stay with her the rest of the afternoon.

"Chinese food and pickles, you're really aiming to seduce him, aren't you?" she asks with a laugh, leaning happily into the kiss as she tucks her mug of coffee against her chest. "So you and Corrine were stuck in the haunted house for the whole night, huh? Just the two of you or was there a bunch of people stuck?"

She's fairly certain she'd much rather be at Coop's in the dark than have to be stuck in any kind of haunted house. She isn't easily scared, but she can't imagine it would have been much fun just sitting there in the dark.

He chuckles at her teasing, but now he's very interested in just what may happen with Caden when they invite him over. "That's my go-to seductuon meal," he replies with a wink. She asks after his night, and it's a reminder that he wishes Corry was more willing to know April. Her disliking April or rather their relationship feels like a rift between his two worlds.

"Well. We were kinda trepassing in the first place when the power went down. So it was just us." He sips more of his coffee and frowns when he remembers. "And a really awful cat. That's why I needed you to come save me."

"I'm sorry I was too busy in the middle of my own drama to rescue you," she teases with a smile. "I'm sure you were just fine. But trespassing? Les, how is this ever supposed to work if we're both participating in criminal activities?" She says it as if it were a joke and as far as Les knows, it is. It's the way she keeps anyone from really ever suspecting what she's done. So long as she jokes about the idea of her being a criminal, no one ever really seems to consider the possibility that it might be true.

And maybe she should tell him. Maybe that's not the sort of thing she's supposed to be keeping from someone she's as close to as Les, but she can't. He would never do anything to put her in any danger, but she also knows just how close he is with Corrine and while she doesn't think he'd tell her on purpose, it might come out one day. And she knows Corrine doesn't like that she's with Les. It's the sort of information that could get April put away for a long time and so she doesn't tell anyone.

Without any idea about her criminal past, Les takes her joke as it is and begins to chuckle, putting his hand back against her cheek and kissing her on the mouth. "Don't even worry about it. I like my women a little dangerous," he says. "And if you get arrested, I'll just. You know. Break you outta there." And he probably would more so because the cops in this town can be a headache, so it'd be kind of fun. "Anyway, it was perfectly fine. No one saw us. Aside from sitting in the dark for a few hours it was kind of fun," he admits.

It had actually been more than that. Since everything happened with Corry's father, they hadn't had an opportunity like that to just do something carefree and off in their own little Corry & Les world. It's not that he's keeping that from April, but he doesn't want to make things awkward for her. He knows how Corry feels about her newly discovered family.

"But if you want to spend the rest of the day with me, I don't mind," he teases with a grin.

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[closed - Les - morning after the blackout]

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