divided | ( the body heat meme )

[If he thinks the distance and the catlike arch she has going on right now will prevent her from continuing with her side of the battle, he's deluded. Laughter in her gaze, she reaches up and lets her fingers skitter across his stomach, not looking to tickle as much as she's looking to tease, drive mad. If it works, hey.

She brings one hand down, fingers hooked under the waistband of his pants, and stops right there. He has that look about him, like he's far away and trying to commit everything to memory. Like he's being melodramatic, up in that thick skull of his.

So she turns her head at the last minute and intercepts his mouth with a kiss.]

[ at the touch of her fingers on his stomach, bellamy shifts, as if ready to roll away. he wants to, away from the light touch of her fingers, but he stays where he is, only swaying slightly as he tries to arch away from the ticklish sensation. it's enough of a distraction, but he doesn't pull away from what he wants to do. he's withstood far worse, from fire to the downpour of rain, that he easily settles into the touch of her fingers if she wishes to have them crawl all along his exposed chest. ]

[ he stops moving when she turns her head, and smiles against her mouth, opening his beneath hers. lowering himself slightly, he shifts a leg, planting a knee between her own. even though he isn't so sure if this is him cracking, he lifts a hand to touch her cheek, thumb brushing over the apple of it as he cradles her face in his hand. ]

[ with a hum, he shifts himself, almost lying on his side, but still over her. he licks into her mouth and finds that the curve of his lips doesn't slip away. ]

[Maybe it's the withholding, maybe it worked; he runs her thumb over her cheek and she lets out a low hum against his lips, bunches his shirt in her hands and pulls him closer, and lets a shiver travel down her spine.

She holds on fast, when it feels like he's going to leave, hint of desperation betrayed by the way she clutches at his shirt. When he stays put, close to her, she licks into his mouth in thanks, and lets his shirt go.

The game gets paused, for as long as she decides it's more important, more necessary to her, to cup his face in both hands and touch him gently while they kiss.]

[ bellamy pulls away, shifting slightly to brush his nose against her own. it's with a lazy smile he regards her, keeping his face close to her own. remaining tilted on his side, resting hard against his arm, he lets his fingers trace her cheek lightly. eyes following his movements, they sweep up toward the corner of her eye, along her temple, and down the bridge of her nose. ]

[ he murmurs, slightly breathless, ] I think I'm winning. [ but he doesn't particularly care if he wins or loses this, simply saying it to stir her, or even have her laugh or push him. it's only to get a reaction, one he intends to be positive. ]

[He thinks he's so good at distracting her, but he's...mostly correct.] How they hell are you this patient? [She marvels at it sometimes, especially in the moments when her own patience falters.

And off it goes now. She tips her head back and catches his thumb with her teeth, biting him lightly before pressing a kiss to it.]

[ bellamy smiles, gaze on her mouth as he watches her bite his thumb. he almost forgets to answer her, focused on keeping his hand still instead of withdrawing it or unbalancing himself from hovering over her. but raven needs her answer, and bellamy figures to give her one that's not made of fluff. ]

I don't have anywhere else to be. [ he pulls his hand away, placing it on the bed beside her. shifting, he moves to hover over her more than lean on his side. he's always been the one to run away, either to a city or to the thought of believing he has to leave. he's patient because he has nowhere else to go, no commitments or places he desperately needs to be at. maybe it makes him sentimental or weak to want to enjoy a moment. ]

[ he tries not to laugh, even though it warms his voice, ] Why? In a rush to get somewhere?

[Yeah, that's right, focus on her teeth there; it makes her smirk in some small triumph, like she's won a game. She likes distracting him, almost as much as he seems to like playing with her patience.

But his answer seems to rattle something inside her, and remind her that any given day, the magic will be over. His time here has always been limited, he's warned her from the start, and she's sworn to understand it from the start. So while she wants to tie him up and keep him close as often as possible, she doesn't do it. When he's the one who ties himself to her, in small ways like this not wanting to rush thing, it makes her ache and melt at the same time.

She manages a little laugh, and lifts her head to bump her nose against his.] Fine, no - not in any rush. [She lets her head drop back onto the bed, and waggles her eyebrows.] You wanna play Too Hot? Because all this not touching feels like a hint.

[ games have never been his forte, even though bellamy enjoys them. the ones in the city have made him come to life, fully spread his wings, seeing him fly a little further than he ever had on the ark with his small and private games with octavia. he's always preferred to follow instinct and his own impulses with raven, never quite learning of all the things people in pre-apocalypse earth do. "too hot" isn't a game he feels like playing, but he does so if only to see her happy. ]

[ he laughs at her nose bumping his, and tries to stifle it before he even answers her. bellamy shrugs his shoulder, feigning exasperation with a roll of his eyes. ] Fine.

[ purposefully, he sweeps his fingers over her cheek quickly before he plants his hand onto the bed beside her. he finally lets himself smile, ] You looked too cold.

[Like he doesn't like playing along with her games. They're teenager games, for the teenage years they had to cross through too fast; they're ridiculous and cheesy, and she is maybe a softy, but she likes this one. For a good reason. It doesn't limit the mouth.]

Ha ha, you're a riot. You know the rules, right? Just kissing, no touching. First one to cave loses...prize pending.

Did you hear that, Raven? [ bellamy leans down to plant an open mouthed kiss against the apple of her cheek. pulling back, he looks at her with his brows raised, speaking to her as though it's the first time she's ever heard this. ] First one to cave loses.

[ he smiles before it slips away as he looks to her jawline, leaning forward against to kiss along it. it's easy to return to what he'd been doing before, being slow and focusing on her. not feeling rushed by the impending morning and what may come, with her wandering away to work, or him walking around the city aimlessly for once. his hands remain on the bed, fingers gripping the sheets as he trails his mouth along her jaw. ]

[There's that spot that makes her balance go wobbly, knees weak even though she's on her back and firmly planted on the bed. She lets out a woosh of air, and slams her eyes shut.]

Yeah, yeah, i'm already regretting this.

[But a game is a game, and she can still brush her lips against his forehead, his hairline, his temples and his cheek, before all there's left to kiss other than hair is his ear. He's too slippery.]

[ maybe it's cheating, continuing what he had begun earlier. but raven hadn't outlined the rules — and bellamy's always made it a point to break them. sometimes he abides by them, but often for his own gain, either to see her exasperated and anticipating the very moment he breaks them, or because they're rules he's created. but without any guidelines as to how he's meant to play this, bellamy does what bellamy wants. ]

[ he trails kisses from her jawline to her neck, slowly moving down the length of it as he wanders far from her. lingering at the slope of her shoulder, he wonders if this is breaking the rules — and find he doesn't care. maybe raven will come to regret not giving him any guidelines on how he's meant to play this game of hers, even though he suspects her words hold a slip of truth to them now. ]

[Absolutely regretting it already. She catches herself last minute, her hands hovering above his back and his hair, and with a groan lets one drop to cover her eyes. The other falls at her side and twists in the bed sheets, so he can kiss her shoulder and make her shiver some more.

It's not like she can reach him with her mouth anymore, and that's a bittersweet loss. Because she selfishly likes being the center of his attention like this, and it builds her up and makes her skin feel hot.]

Shit -- you're supposed to actually let me particip-- ah...

[ bellamy lifts his head to look at her, smirking. murmuring, ] Never specified that. [ he shifts his shoulders, as if he's shrugging, before he leans forward to slope his mouth against hers firmly. he doesn't linger for long, though, granting her only a small opportunity to even participate before he lifts his head to pick up where he'd interrupted himself. ]

[ at her collarbone, he doesn't sweep back upward toward her neck, placing open-mouthed kisses against her shoulder before he pulls away completely to sit up. bellamy looks at her for a long moment, as if studying her, before his eyes sweep down the length of her. ]

[She likes to think that she takes full advantage of the return of his mouth against hers, lifting her head to kiss him back with fervor, however briefly, and making sure to keep her arms out of the way.

She feels his retreat by letting out another soft groan, and closes her eyes, ready to enjoy his descent one more time. Until he pauses, anyway, making her open her eyes to look. Her turn to grin.] What's the matter? Something you wanna get to?

[ he thinks to say yes. bellamy's never been afraid to chase after what he wants, often leaving a trail of uprooted dirt and even bruised and lost people in his wake. he's always been aggressive, doing what's best for o — and for the camp — but when it comes to himself, he's either too rough and sharp, taking the wristbands off of kids with lies and manipulation, or he's too soft and hesitant. ]

[ with her cluing in, he finds that he falls somewhere in between. touching raven, even with a stupid game in place, has always been something he's done without thought. touching her leg he's seen barely be able to carry her has always been something he's done without asking her for the go-ahead. but bellamy finds he purses his lips and shakes his head. ] Just looking.

[ leaning forward, bellamy tries not to smile when he acknowledges he's about to brush his nose purposefully against her own. once he does, he kisses it, then her cheek. ] Aren't you playing? [ he moves to the other side of her face, lips brushing against the apple of her other cheek. ] This was your idea.

[He's a thief, the way he keeps stealing smiles from her, one after the other, by being so damn sweet. One day she'll resent him for it, but today - this morning, she takes all of it in like something she's deserving of.

Banter, slow building pleasure, the teases and the kisses and the way her skin tingles. She deserves this. But so does he.] I would if you stopped diving out of reach.

[She pushes herself up, hands pressed to the bed behind her, under the pillows; the temptation to touch thus stifled. And catches his mouth in a kiss, teeth and tongue and a sigh pressed against his lips.]

[ to him, that's the whole point — get her to chase him. even though raven's probably chased after him enough, he's been filled with the urge to goad her into doing so. literally and even now, once he's come to acknowledge how he's felt — and that it hasn't been so terrible to feel it at all, wanting her in a way that leaves him and herself vulnerable — he's tried to make her chase after him to somehow tackle him into the ground. it's that weight that bellamy finds comfort in, someone anchoring him when he otherwise thinks to float away. ]

[ ducking out of her reach now is meant to rile her into action — and he's not surprised when it works. fully expecting her to forget her game, he's surprised to not feel her hands in his hair or on his back, gripping him and keeping him in place unless he moved away once again. she's never really needed to sink her hands into him to keep him to her. unlike the pieces of metal and gadgetry she works with, bellamy won't fall away if he isn't screwed into place. he lingers because he wants to, and he thinks, if anything, she knows that. ]

[ smiling against her lips, he's distracted for a moment by his amusement, starting to laugh before he focuses and responds to her by opening his mouth — still curved upward — beneath her own. ]

[It's just so surprising that his spontaneous laugh doesn't turn into the trigger that makes her lose the game. She grabs onto the bed sheets tighter, just to resist touching him, because the truth is that's what his laughter always makes her want to do.

Touch him, make sure this laughing creature that's kissing her senseless is Bellamy, and that this is real. She bites on his lower lip instead, and licks along the faint marks her teeth make right afterwards. She can last a few more seconds.

She's learned, after all, that she doesn't need to hold onto him all the time just to make sure he doesn't float away. But it doesn't mean she doesn't still want to hold on.]

[ touch is the way he's been comfortable to convey how he feels, especially when it comes to communicating his comfort. being denied that is tough, even though he's done it before, refusing to reach out to many people, if any, to keep himself distant and unhurt. for a moment he forgets he's not supposed to touch her, his hand moving, fingers still gripping the blankets, toward her before he remembers. ]

[ breaking away from her for a moment, bellamy rests his weight on one hand as he pulls his shirt from where it's bunched around his collarbone over his head. it'd a slight struggle, but he manages, and once it's off he lets it drop behind her on the bed as he leans back down to kiss the corner of her mouth. ]

[ letting his hand drop as though it's a heavy stone, he doesn't end up reaching for her. instead, he focuses his attention on the way his body slowly rolls backward. where he would've curled his hands around her back to pull her with him, he trusts her to follow him, perhaps sensing he's diving away again. slowly, he tries to move so he can be on his back, purposefully choosing to keep himself from diving away to give her a fair shot. ]

[For a couple of tactile people, this game is stupid and painful. She aches the get her fingers in his hair, touch the skin he's revealed by taking his shirt off. When he rolls on his back, she follows, and makes up new rules as she goes. Like, for instance, her straddling his waist again is allowed. Her hands come down to rest on each side of his head, offering support when she lowers her mouth to his lips.

Then the corner of his mouth, the one she always goes for, and lower to his jawline, under his jawline, close to his pulse. There's a nip in her kisses now, and she gives each one due attention, punctuates some unspoken words with each one.]

[ what goes up must come down, and that's the only basic science he knows and understands. even though raven could settle between his legs, or even off to the side, he doesn't consider her straddling him to be her breaking the rules. it's if her hands had touched him he thinks he would've won. maybe it's unfair to exclude her legs most of the time, but bellamy likes feeling them, especially the one he still sometimes forgets has been fully healed. denying her the right to at least feel touch on her leg seems cruel, even if he's simply overthinking it, never quite moving past how she may feel as complete as she had been before. ]

[ even though he suspects he'll regret rolling over, bellamy's content to respond to her. trying to chase after her mouth once it leaves his, he settles his head back against the pillow and arches his neck. breathing heavily, his hands reach forward, ready to press against her back, before he catches himself right as they hover over her. he smiles to himself, hands balling into fists as he lets them settle back onto the bed beside his hips once more. with a low moan in his throat, bellamy shifts beneath her, lips parting as he focuses on the feel of her ministrations. ]

[She feels the air behind her shift and holds her breath, letting out a quiet laugh against the side of his throat when he drops his hands at his sides again. Almost.

The next kiss, somewhat at the top of his collarbone, she leaves a mark with her mouth, sucking on the skin a little too hard. When she pulls away and sees it red, she follows the immediate urge to catch his mouth in a kiss again. See if she can get him to groan again.]

[ bellamy lifts his arm again, almost on purpose this time. after hearing her laugh, it's tempting to throw the game entirely. he almost does. if he hadn't liked being challenged, testing himself so he can do better, be better when he needs to be, he would've forfeited the moment she proposed it. but he knows raven likes a challenge herself, seeing if she can break him, and while he suspects he'd had her in the palm of his hand when he'd been caging her in, he'd given up on trying to expose a vulnerability of her own. as much fun as it is to be the predator, sometimes bellamy likes to be the prey. ]

[ he smiles against her mouth, tilting his head as he focuses on kissing her back. it only lasts a moment as he moves his arm, letting it hover closely to her as though he's about to wrap it around her back and pull him to her. he doesn't let himself touch her, or throw it, not just yet. instead, he shifts his head to break away from her, breathing heavily when he asks, ] Hypothetical. [ he lifts his arm away from her, as if expecting she'll lean up into him. letting his elbow rest against the bed, he holds his upper arm up awkwardly. ] If you won, what would you do?

[That's an easy answer, it's what she's been hopefully building up towards this entire morning. She pulls back to answer him, a smile in her eyes.] I'd get you naked.

[If she won -- but she wants to touch him, she does, and she barely catches herself this time, her hand hovering just above his face where she was moving it to brush his hair out of the way. If.]

What would you do if you won, hypothetically?

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