Slowing Down

[Florbus]

Tom pulled his truck into the parking lot of the apartment complex. "Home, sweet, fuckin home," he muttered. His time as a soldier had made expletives a critical part of his vocabulary. He got out of his truck and walked up some stairs to his moderately furnished room. He had a dresser, bed, couch, and a few end tables kicking around. He opened the door and left it propped, making trips back and forth to get his belongings. The first thing he did was set up his computer. Everything he would need to work was on it. He moved on to putting his clothes away. He went and opened a window on the opposite side of the apartment from the door to get a nice airflow to circulate some freshness in the room. He turned to his computer and set some music to play while he put up his various trinkets from war time. He had a jar of dirt from each country he had been to, and set those up on a shelf. He put the folded American flag of his old best friend right next to those. He continued with his trinkets for awhile longer, before stepping to the railing of the hall outside for a smoke. 

[Tsuki]

Tsubaki was watching TV when suddenly blackout. Luckily he had a torch in the house.

 She started to grope, stumbled at least a couple of times and at the third she also managed to injure her hand against an edge, however she reached the drawer in the kitchen where she kept some basic objects.

 "Shit" she sentenced: the wound on her hand was bleeding and her apartment was a black hole.

 She went out and knocked on the nearest door in the hope that someone could give her an explanation and help.

[Florbus]

Tom was leaning against the railing still, taking a drag of his cigarette. He heard a knock off to his side and looked over. He saw a woman standing there, some blood dripping down her arm. "Oh, shit," he whispered. He walked over to her. "Hey, are you alright? Looks like you cut yourself pretty bad," he said, a slightly concerned look on his face. 

[Tsuki]

"Hi my name is Tsubaki. I would give you your hand, but as you can see, I can't. I was looking for someone who could help me medicate."

 She smiled in the boy's direction.

 "Can I take advantage of it?"

[Florbus]

"Yeah, absolutely, come on over," he said. He walked in his new apartment. "I've just moved in, so please excuse the mess," he said, getting some bandages. "Can I get you anything to drink?" He asked as he dug through a box. Some of his hair dropped down in front of his face, giving him a moderately rugged look. 

[Tsuki]

"Thanks," she said, blushing slightly.

 "You're kind" Tsubaki tried to shake his hand in the shirt as much as possible so as not to dirty the young man's apartment.

 "Don't worry, I understand the confusion of the move, I've been there too".

 The woman could not help looking around and asked:

 "Are you a soldier?"

 

[Florbus]

He froze for a moment. He coughed, clearing his throat. He looked up at her with a small smile. "I-uh, yeah, I was. Just got home from my last deployment ever," he said. He got lost in his thoughts for a moment, before he snapped back to reality as he found the bandages. He sat down next to her, opening a bandage and handing it to her. 

[Tsuki]

"I didn't mean to be intrusive," she replied, noting the boy's moment of bewilderment.

 "Thanks ....." Tsubaki took the blindfold and a warm smile appeared on her face ".... What is your name?"

 Asked the woman as she began to bandage her hand.

[Florbus]

"No, no, it's okay. Just some wounds that will need time to heal," he said with a smile. 

He gasped, saying," Oh, where are my manners! My name is Tom. And you are..?" He asked, trailing off. There was a light in his eyes, but there seemed to be dark things hidden behind them. 

[Tsuki]

"Tsubaki" the woman had finished bandaging her hand "Thanks, it's much better. However, I am now in debt." she said moving a strand of long lilac hair behind her ear.

 "Being close, the opportunity will come to repay me I hope" she blushed slightly smiling. "What a carelessness. Was there a blackout by chance too?"

 Tsubaki had noticed the man's change of mood, but this was not the time to ask.

 

[Florbus]

"Oh, please. Don't worry about it," he said. He looked over at his computer, which was now inexplicably turned off. "I guess there must've been some power issues," he continued. He watched her brush the hair behind her ears, and for some reason he really liked what he saw. 

[Tsuki]

Tsubaki smiled and blushed slightly, seeing that the man was staring at her.

 "I think the power is back on," she said, pointing to the boy's PC.

 "Tom Have you already had dinner? Or am I still in time to invite you? And pay you back for your kindness?"

Edited April 26, 2020 by Tsuki

[Florbus]

"Oh, I'm, no, I haven't had dinner yet. I was planning on getting some takeout. But if you're offering, if love to have dinner with you. And again, it's no trouble, I assure you," he said, a bouncy happiness coming to his voice. He thought to himself, 'I haven't had a good home cooked meal in ages, let alone from a beautiful woman like Tsubaki. This should be a nice change of pace.'

[Tsuki]

"Then it's decided! Let's go to my apartment."

 The two people moved to the end of the corridor, she opened the door and motioned for him to enter.

 "Come in" she put the torch on the already set table and looked at Tom "you never know if black out return".

 The woman prepared another seat at the table and turned on the stove.

 "The house offers gravy meatballs and  potatoes" she laughed cheerfully as she retrieved a bottle of red wine from the fridge and poured it into two glasses.

 Tsubaki thought that for one evening it was nice to share dinner with someone.

 "While it warms up, why don't we make a cheer ?" proposed the young woman leaning against the kitchen counter.

[Florbus]

Tom smiled at her and followed behind as he walked with her. 'She's kinda cute,' he thought to himself. 

When he heard the menu, his mouth started watering. "Oh wow, that sounds great! Thanks again for doing this." 

He stood near her, leaning against the counter. He looked up when she suggested a toast. "Of course, would you like to go first?"

[Tsuki]

"Well I would say to toast to new friends, what do you say?" she said jingling the glass of the glasses before taking a sip.

 "Oh it's ready, go ahead"

 Tsubaki took the dishes and filled them.

 "Tom what brought you here? Always if I'm not intrusive"

 The girl wanted to know something about him, felt attracted to that mysterious boy.

[Florbus]

His smile grew wider. "I'll drink to that," he said, taking a sip of wine. Tom took his dish and sat across the small table from her. 

"Well, I just got out of the service. Went job searching and found something good in the city. Then I looked for housing, and found this nice place. What about you, what's your story?"

[Tsuki]

"I am a simple researcher at university and I had to find accommodation. As you say I looked for housing and I find this nice place near the university".

 Tsubaki finished savoring the bite before refilling the glasses.

 "I hope you have the place for the dessert. I have a chocolate cake in the fridge"

 She got up and sinuously reached the kitchen preparing the necessary for dessert.

 "What work did you find in town?"

[Florbus]

"Oh, I'd love some cake," he said. He couldn't help but look at her body as she reached into a cabinet. He snapped back to reality when she asked him her question. "Oh, just some simple office work. Luckily I managed to talk my way into a management position. I got really good under pressure while in the military," he said. He thought for a moment about some of the fights he had been in and shivered, before returning to his previous demeanor. 

[Tsuki]

Tsubaki brought the plates containing the cake to the table.

 "Please" she smiled.

 After the first bite she moaned with pleasure.

 "Oh god forgive me I'm rude but I can't resist chocolate".

 Before continuing, she licked a drop of dark sauce from her finger.

 "This one," she said, pointing to the cake, "comes from an excellent pastry shop nearby. If you like in these days I can show you where it is, so you will know where to go to have breakfast before going to the office"

 Tsubaki had noticed that the man was shivering: she imagined that despite his young age he had experienced difficult moments.

 She hide her curiosity, after all she was nobody: only a neighbor who was paying back.

 "Tell me a little about yourself. I don't mean the military career" she hoped the boy understood "where did you grow up, do you have any interest, dream? Or if you like you can use me to know something about this place" the girl laughed slightly.

[Florbus]

Tom's eyebrows shot up at her moan. 'Id love to hear that again,' he thought to himself. "Yeah, I'd love for you to show me that shop. This is really good!" He commented after a few bites. 

He contemplated her questions. "Well, I grew up pretty far away from here. Pretty standard upbringing with nothing special. I like going out into the woods and stuff, I enjoy reading historical memoirs, and just stuff along those lines. Also, I'd enjoy learning more about this town. How long have you been around here?"

[Tsuki]

6 minutes ago, Florbus said:

I like going out into the woods and stuff, I enjoy reading historical memoirs

"Really" Her eyes shone.

 "I'm finishing my PhD in botany. I love spending whole days surrounded by plants and flowers. Also, as you can see," she nodded to her library "I read a lot in this apartment too".

 She gave him a warm smile.

 "Do you want another slice?", She would have wanted it, but she stayed.

 "Coming to your question". The woman blushed "I haven't really been here for long ... two months. I haven't had much time to travel around the city so ..." she was unsure how to say the last sentence "I know something but I'd like to find out the details of the city with someone ... if you liked the idea I would be happy. "

 Tom had made a good impression on Tsubaki from the first glance: he was kind and polite, it was pleasant to talk to him and be in his company.

 Furthermore, his eyes seemed to show something deeper than what the man wanted to show.

[Florbus]

"Yeah, absolutely! I've loved all that stuff my whole life," he said, a happiness about him. He looked around her apartment, looking at the books she had. He turned back to her when asked of the cake. "Oh no, I'm all set. You fed me well tonight, thank you. I haven't had a home cooked meal in a very long time," he said. 

He listened to her proposal, and had probably had a bit too much to drink by then and had loose lips. "Well jeez, why don't you just kiss me already?" He said, voice laden with companionable sarcasm. 

[Tsuki]

 

7 minutes ago, Florbus said:

"Well jeez, why don't you just kiss me already?"

 

 "What?" Tsubaki thought she had misunderstood: had he just asked her to kiss him?

 She would have been a liar if she said she wasn't attracted to the man in front of her.

 The woman got up and (thanks to the wine glasses) sat astride the boy's thighs.

 "You stole my line you know?"

 Tsubaki slipped a hand through Tom's hair and placed her lips on the man's mouth.

 It did not take much pressure for deepened the kiss: the girl's tongue slipped inside and began to taste every single millimeter of the soft and warm refuge in which she was.

[Florbus]

Tom watched, somewhat confused as she stood up. Then she walked over and sat on his lap. "I said that as a joke, but now that we're here..." He said. "Oh, that's your line? Come get it out of my mouth," he continued, teasing her. Then her lips were on his. The kiss started out almost nervously, but then the floodgates of passion were opened. One hand was on her thigh, and the other was on the side of her face. Their tongues began dancing, and he found himself hardening in his pants.