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[physicus]

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[mooned]

[ She offers him a bit of a smile and a shrug, sketching furiously for a moment before rubbing out a few of the lines with her fingers.] I'm used to it.

[ Keeping her attention on the art for a moment, she doesn't look up.] People don't understand why I don't... why I am that way, I guess. [ Charlie doesn't. Of course, it probably has to do with the fact that she feels like life is fleeting.] I just think that life is too short to... waste it. [ Her mother was murdered in her mid-thirties and Charlie wondered if her mother would have regretted the choices she made, the life she'd lived.]

[physicus]

Waste it how?

[ His voice is soft, wondering. He can't imagine thinking education is a waste of time, but their lives have been obviously extremely different. ]

[mooned]

By being in a job that you don't really care about, [ She shrugs a little.]

[physicus]

But you don't regret being in school, do you?

[ Somehow, he worries about that. ]

[mooned]

No, [ she shakes her head, her expression confirming what she says.] Of course not.

[physicus]

[ He gives her a teasing smile. ] So I should expect you to be here with bells on at every single one of my classes, huh?

[mooned]

Since yours is after lunch? Yeah, probably. If it was at 8am, you'd probably only see me half the time.

[physicus]

If it was at 8am, you'd see me half the time.

[ He smiles brighter, his eyes moving to her easel. ] How's it looking?

[mooned]

[ She holds up a finger to demand a moment. There's a few more adjustments she makes with her fingers and pencil.] It's rough but it's just about done. [ And after another few swipes of her fingers, she moves to stand, adjusting the page, approaching him and turning the sketch pad to show him.

The sketch is of a unicorn, but there's color on it so obviously, she's showing him an old sketch as a joke.]

Just kidding, [ she pulls out the real sketch pad from beneath it and shows him a pretty damn good likeness.]

[physicus]

[ He barks out a laugh, looking up at her. ] I wish I was that charming looking.

[ He stands when she shows him the actual sketch, letting out a low whistle. Curious fingers reach out, but he stops himself short of touching it, not wanting to smudge anything or ruin it. ]

Well, would you look at that. I'm hot.

[mooned]

[ She offers the sketch pad to him so he can further inspect it, she doesn't care if he smudges.] Please, there's no way you didn't already know that.

[physicus]

[ He doesn't want to seem vain, but he kinda knew already that he is conventionally attractive, and he works out enough to maintain a good body. Still, he shrugs one shoulder as he looks at her, holding the sketchpad. Right now, he prefers looking at her than looking at himself. ]

It's not the same as someone else telling you. [ He turns the pad to her. She's showing him with her art. ]

[mooned]

Well, you are hot. [ That's easy to say because it's true. He's good looking. She takes the pad back from him.]

Do you want it?

[physicus]

[ He takes a sharp breath, reaching out again, this time his fingers brushing her wrist, before he drops his hand, feeling like his fingertips are burning. ]

Well, so are you.

[ He swallows. He's dancing well over that line he thought was firmly set in his head. ]

No, keep it. Might help you remember to do your homework.

[mooned]

[ Her eyes flutter a little when he touches her, it's a curious thing and she glances at him when he tells her that she's also hot.] Maybe.

[ She isn't insecure so much as skeptical as to how hot she might be to him, specifically. But at his next words, she laughs.] I'll frame and it hang it over my bed like some kind of Virgin Mary thing. A reminder to behave myself.

[physicus]

[ It's funny, how sometimes he doesn't even have to pull into his endless pool of electrical energy to feel it rushing through his veins. Touching her was like an electric shock, the kind that makes him feel more awake. ]

D'you think I'm anything like the Virgin Mary? [ He doesn't mean it to sound as flirtatious as it comes out, but. Here it is. ]

[mooned]

I don't know, are you? [ She flirts back, whether he meant it to be that or not. ] I mean, you're definitely a lot hotter with your shirt off, I think.

[physicus]

Yeah? You're not into what she's got to offer?

[ He takes a tiny step closer, looking down at Charlie. He's extremely gentle when he reaches out, tipping her chin up with a finger. He feels the electricity again, warm through his hand, down his arm. ]

I'm pretty far from being anything like the Virgin Mary, Charlie.

[ Too far in to abort now, probably. ]

[mooned]

I lean towards guys most of the time. [ Her heart skips two beats when he reaches out and tilts her chin upward. She half expects him to... well, she honestly doesn't know. He doesn't seem like the lurid, reckless sort of guy, which means, as a teacher, he wouldn't be going after a student so easily.]

So am I, [ she murmurs, looking up at him, almost defiantly, daring him to prove it but not doing anything to coax him towards that action.]

[physicus]

[ He swallows hard again, feeling like there's a massive lump in his throat making it difficult. He keeps his finger on her chin for a moment, feeling the heat of her. ]

I - [ He stops himself before he starts leaning in. He wants to, wants to, but it's - fuck. He pulls back, hand dropping back to his side. ]

Fuck, [ he says out loud, heartfelt. ] I - this would be a mistake.

[mooned]

[ Blinking rapidly at his mini-breakdown, she takes a step back, folding the sketch pad closed as she avoids his gaze.]

I'm not... [ She squares her jaw a bit, lifting her chin to look at him.] I'm not interested making you 'stumble' or playing some kind of Lolita. [ She doesn't want to be with someone who's going to feel guilty about it.]

[physicus]

[ He blinks, disconcerted. Whatever happens, there's no way he won't feel guilt about it. But that's not on Charlie. ]

Then what - are you interested in? [ Might as well get it out in the open. ]

[mooned]

I'm interested in... you. [ Her brow furrows. She was, honestly, tired of being the side-piece or the dirty-little-secret. She's interested in being someone's someone. But she doesn't say that either.]

I think you're hot and captivating. And I wouldn't mind hanging out more but not if you're going to feel bad about it, about yourself. It doesn't have to be a thing.

[physicus]

[ He licks his lips as he takes in what Charlie tells him, letting the words roll around in his head for a moment. He might be a fucking genius, but that's only when physics are involved. When it comes to people, he's fucking terrible. ]

I'm not sure I'd be able to resist wanting you, resist wanting a thing. [ He's only just a man, after all. A man with superpowers, but still just a man.

And he doesn't want to feel bad about himself, either, but that's a mental hurdle that's for him to figure out. ]

You're fascinating, and beautiful. Believe me, staying a foot away from you is taking all my willpower. I just - don't want to take advantage.

[mooned]

[ So that's a bit of a stroke to her ego, to be honest. Being told that she's hard to resist, that she's... want-worthy. It wasn't as though her other lovers didn't make her feel that way, Knox and Arel and Jay all made it pretty damn clear that she was desirable, that she turned them on. But there's something different about him saying it.


His words make her lips curve upward a bit, hugging the sketch pad to her chest a bit more.]

You're not taking advantage but if you want be just friends, I'm okay with that too. [ It's a speech she's quite good at by now. However, that truth might change in the future.] Or we can just ignore each other in the hall and super awkward.