divided | ( the body heat meme )

[ 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?

[ pursing his lips, bellamy takes a moment to pretend as though he needs to mull it over. he knows what he'd want, and is pretty sure she does, too. it's what drives him to pick the answer he does. ]

Funny. Seems like we want the same thing.

[ looking up at her, he lifts his hands, elbows digging into the sheets beneath him. he doesn't touch her, but the way he holds his hands suggests he might. ]

[ there's a quirk to his lips when he lets himself smile, ] Me naked.

[She tilts her head, curious,] Oh? That so? Your reward is to be naked too? [Just you? she seems to imply, with the raised eyebrow and the smirk.

She drags her gaze down his body slowly, weighing how much she wants to hold out, watching how close his hands hover close to her in the air.

He should've known better. There's a flash of a grin, and she shifts and presses herself against his palm with a low laugh.]

[ bellamy laughs lowly. shaking his head, he lets his hands press against her back. ]

You cheated.

[ it shouldn't surprise him, raven finding any loopholes in the rules. she isn't a cheater, someone who tries to play by the rules as best as possible. he's the one who breaks the rules, uncaring of whether or not it leaves him feeling good about himself when he goes to bed at night. ]

[ this game, with these rules, he doubts she'll be feeling bad at all. ]

[ sliding his hands along her back, he hugs her to him. ]

It doesn't count.

[She welcomes the touch with a little shiver, sinks into it. She likes cheating, just this once.] It's not cheating if you bend the rules to your purposes. [She drops a kiss to the corner of his mouth.] So counts.

[And one to the hollow of his throat, following upwards with a lick before pulling back and sitting down against his lap.] Now... [She picks at his shirt, then hooks her fingers under the waistband of his underwear and lets the elastic go with a snap.] You know what to do.

[ pushing himself up onto his elbows, bellamy looks up at her with a soft smile. letting his eyes travel over her, he purses his lips, as if mulling it over. he doesn't make a move to do anything, remaining as he is. ]

[ after a moment, he does move. shifting his arms, he begins to lie back onto his bed. stretching his arms above his head, crossing them beneath his head as a pillow. playing by the rules has never gotten him far, and it's a lesson he has yet to properly learn. he finds he does so now, opting to rebel instead of heeding her as he knows he probably would have if she had chosen to play by the rules she'd originally established. ]

[ looking up at her, his expression is smug, smile intact as he stills. and it's after a moment he thinks to explain: ] I'm bending the rules.

[Amusement melts into a laugh that swirls up from somewhere deep in her belly, and spreads all through her body.] You must think you're some hot shit.

[Bending the rules. Very clever. She leans down and kisses that smirk off his face, nipping at his lower lip before lowering her mouth to his neck. She doesn't need him to take his clothes off, she can do that herself. For instance, she pushes his shirt up to under his arms, and bends her mouth to his ribs. She leaves a mark the shape of her mouth there, with a kiss and a suck to tender skin, and pinches her teeth around his skin just an inch lower too, before looking up.]

[ bellamy remains still, knowing that that will be tested the moment she clues in he has no plans to remove himself of his clothes. muscles tensing, he tries not to arch his back when she pulls his shirt up his torso, and he does his best not to fidget beneath her ministrations, either. ]

[ looking at her, his smug smile disappears, something softer remaining in its wake. the way his arms are folded beneath his head slacken, as though he's about to pull them free from being a pillow. ]

And if I think I'm hot shit? [ his voice doesn't hold the right amount of challenge in it. he likes to poke the bear at times, but he's since dropped his stick. they both know what he thinks of himself, and any other answer he may have given her would've brought the mood down. ]

[ instead, his voice remains low, ] Have you got a plan on how to deal with it inside that head of yours?

[The mood stays exactly where it was, suspended in that exhilarating state between an exhale and a tease. She pulls away from his chest with a few more kisses left behind, and presses hers against it, lying down on top of him and effectively pinning him down.

Her expression softens,] No, no plan. [Closer to his mouth, she whispers her confession like it's a secret.] Just want.

[Like that's ever been a secret, at least in the past months. She wears her heart of her sleeves, and in the absence of sleeves, she speaks it out.] I want you.

[ bellamy watches her quietly, remaining still beneath her so she can settle as she likes on him. his smile may waver, disappearing for a moment at the word no, but it reappears again, softer and fond as he looks up at her. ]

[ tilting his head forward, he unlocks his hands, lifting an arm to trail his fingers lightly down her back. pressing his palm to the small of it for only a moment, he rethinks where he wants to touch her, and lifts his hand to brush the back of his knuckles against her cheek. ]

[ softly, ] Funny. [ he turns his hand, cupping her face. ] I want the same thing, too.

[You what, want yourself too? she could ask, if she were more inclined to be a troll, but there's something about the way he cups her face that disarms her, cleverly and effectively, every damn time.

She lets out an exhale she didn't know she'd been holding in, and turns her face to kiss the inside of his palm, the inside of his wrist.

Heat gathers low in her stomach again, heat turns her gaze dark and intense when she locks it with his. Her voice low, soft,] Show me.

[ looking up at her with a soft expression, bellamy's reluctant to even move. he'd rather stay as he is, shirt bunched beneath his arms and uncomfortable against his back where he lies. it's tempting for him to tease her and ask if that's what she wants, bending the interpretation of the game to be the winner gets one request, but bellamy doesn't wish to ruin it. for once, burrowing beneath her skin to be irritating isn't his priority. ]

[ instead, he focuses on showing her. and maybe he does choose to be a little cheeky with it, but bellamy can only show her he wants her by letting himself go. no longer as guarded as he had once been, emotionally unavailable as he kept himself locked behind a metallic door, sometimes he wonders if she gets that. letting his hand drop, bellamy's smile widens. softly, ] I'll take this off for you.

[ hooking his fingers into his shirt, he uses that as a gesture for her to move back so he can pick his shoulders up off the bed and pull it over his head. ]

[She licks her lips to stifle the smile that takes over, ineffectively. She slides down at his request, slides back until she's straddling his lap instead of his waist, and doesn't budge from there. There are many ways in which to show her, and some involve the tactile senses coming into play.

Still, she helps him with discarding his shirt, and runs her hands quickly down his sides; not to tickle or tease, just to touch. Just because there's simple joy in it.]

Thank you, very thoughtful. [She decides she's overworn her welcome, and discards the borrowed shirt she'd slept in, too. Only with less effort on her part, and maybe more grace.]

[ bellamy's hands rest on her hips, fingers digging into the bone in an attempt to keep her still on his lap. half expecting her to move back to his waist, he isn't surprised to find she doesn't. ]

[ watching her pull her shirt over her head, bellamy lets his eyes move down the length of her before he returns his gaze to hers. shifting then, bellamy pushes himself onto his elbows, looking up at her from that position. ] That's me. Thoughtful. [ he isn't quite committed to it, though, distracted with how he moves to circle his hands around her waist, pulling himself upward to slide his palms to her back. ]

[ purposefully, he places his hand on the small of her back, where he imagines her scar to be. even though he's said it over and over, always asking, he finds himself repeating quietly once more, ] Does it hurt?

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