fandomhigh | Library; Monday [ 01/05 ].

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Library; Monday [ 01/05 ].

On the list of things one would expect to find when returning to work in the library, there were books. Maybe paper. The computer, to be sure.

Bananas were not exactly on that list, but, cup of sugar with coffee and cream in it in hand, bannans were exactly what Cal found on the front desk when he came to open that morning.

Well, at least it was very reassuring to know that Doctor Jones cared about their potassium intake for the new semester.

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"Did I win anything?" Claire asked with a little laugh.

There was a little kick in Cal's chest, the type that made him subconsciously aware that he was missing a great opportunity here, as "My unabashed adoration?" was all he managed to come up with at the moment.

It was better than Claire had expected; she was worried he would say something else about brain goo or bananas.

"I'll take that," she decided in a slightly softer voice.

"I mean," Cal said, suddenly feeling like he'd just said something very stupid in lieu of saying something completely awesome, "I know it's not a million dollar cash price, but not too bad, right?"

"I'm not complaining," Claire reminded him, trying to meet his eyes. "I'll have to find some other way to win a million bucks."

Cal looked up, not really expecting to catch Claire's eyes, but there they were and he couldn't exactly just duck his head again without feeling like a bigger wreck than he already was, so he kept them there as he said, "I'm sure you'll figure it out. And then you can let me borrow some."

When he caught her eye, the stupid butterflies started up in Claire's stomach, and she couldn't even pretend to follow what he said about borrowing imaginary money.

"Mmmm," she said, awkward. Almost unconsciously, she raised a hand to brush what might have been imaginary hair out of his eyes.

And, just as unconsciously, Cal started chewing his lip and half wishing he still had long hair to provide a protective barrier for looking at Claire through.

"So, uh..." he started, with nowhere to go, and thinking that Christmas break sucked. He felt like it threw him back to where he started.

"So your policy on kissing at work?" Claire asked, because the elephant in the room was pretty much tap-dancing at this point and not saying anything would have killed her even if it might be easier. "Is it allowed in the library?"

"I didn't have a policy on kissing at work," Cal pointed out; it would have been petulant if it weren't for the fact that he was way too nervous to be petulant, swallowing a lump in his throat down, hopefully stealthily. "I just didn't think we were at kissing at work point...then..."

Which held the silent suggestion that they were at kissing at work point now, but Cal needed a second or two to...regroup or something.

The suggestion was a little bit of a surprise to Claire, yes, and she looked slightly befuddled.

"And, see, I didn't know there was a difference between the kissing point and the kissing at work point."

"I guess we both learned something new, then," Cal said, his voice taking on an odd sort of cadence, all thanks to the fact that he couldn't even hear it over the sound of his brain telling him to kiss her, kiss her, it's so obvious you should kiss her, you idiot, get your ass out of that chair and kiss her...

But, in a turn of events that brought to mind that self-portrait she submitted to that showcase, it was like looking at Claire and thinking about kissing her left everything below the waist paralyzed and, well, stiff.

"I guess we did." Claire was equally frozen for a moment. Then she remembered this was Cal, and the chances of him being aggressive were about the same as those of him sprouting wings. (Actually, the wings might be more likely.)

She moved closer to him, lips soft and parted.

Okay, that made it much, much easier, but, unfortunately, Cal closed his eyes a little too early in anticipation for the kiss, and the jarring himself into motion to be able to kiss her back resulted in being way too quick and firm and sloppy on the approach.

But he kissed her! That was what counted, right?

It did! Major points for effort!

Claire tilted her head to the side and pulled back just sightly to get the angle a little less, well, sloppy, then ran her hand up along the line of his jaw.

Despite her very encouraging rearrangement and the fingers against his jaw, Cal had to pull back a little, overwhelmed by an embarrassed little laugh. "Wait, hold on," he said. "Let me try that again."

He took a second, let out a breath, and, readied, he did try again with...much, much more success, leaning into another kiss as his own hand drifted up to push back Claire's hair behind her ears, fingers fingering through it to the back of her head.

Much, much better; having to lean over the desk was probably the only thing making it perfect in Cal's mind.

That and failed attempt preceding it, but Cal was going to ignore that part.

That was much better, definitely, though they'd have to try it again without the stupid desk sometime. Claire made a happy little noise as she pulled away from him to draw her breath, then leaned again for a slightly deeper (but not that deep, what with them being in the library and everything) round.

And that right there was enough to almost make Cal want to just crawl up on the desk to get closer. He didn't, of course, but his brain was definitely entertaining all sorts of very unacceptable thoughts regarding a swift, clearing sweep of his arm across the desk, and doing things that he knew in reality would just be all sorts of awkward. It had him pouring into Claire's kisses, his thumb moving circles in her gorgeous hair as his held her in closely.

This was not an introductory kiss or a practice kiss. This was a real kiss, and Cal knew what he was doing, and Claire was very much Not a Fan of the whole desk concept. She wondered if it would be insanely cheesy or if the library would attack her if she just tried to crawl over it.

It would risk a twisted ankle, and she (almost reluctantly) put the idea aside. They'd had enough near-disasterous kisses already.

She shut down her brain and let herself just enjoy the moment, his hands and lips and even the faint but ever-present buzz of the florescent lights. Her own hands roamed, one down his back, the other dancing over the jaw and into his thick hair.

Being a library aide just got amazingly better as Cal joined a time-honored tradition he didn't even know existed.

And this was much better than it would have been at the diner, really, where there was grease and kitchen boys to laugh at him.

Stupid, stupid desk.

The desk was a shame. There should be a law against desks, really.

Claire was getting dizzy, and she laughed a little as she finally stepped back. "We," she informed him, "need to try that with no furniture in the way."

Cal, grinning at Claire as his thumb still moved through her hair, had to agree. So much so that, as soon as she drew away, he wished she hadn't, and his hand moved down, fingers entwining in her hair as he dragged it; finally reaching the end, he moved his hand toward hers, stepped a little to one side, and then tried to pull her around a little, gently, which amazed him as he almost just wanted to pull her through the desk if he could, to his side of the desk.

Claire managed not to trip over the heels of her boots as she let herself be lead around the desk, and she was counting that as a triumph.

She stood, very close, and just looked at him for a second. "Wow. Whole new world back here."

[OOC: Night, you!]

"Oh, yeah," Cal agreed. "Totally."

Not that he planned on giving Claire much time to enjoy it, placing his hands lightly on each side of her face, cradling her cheeks, and leaning in to kiss her again, this time without the desk.

Definitely better without the desk. Claire let her lips melt into hers, moving her hands down to rest lightly on his hips.

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