log: amara and daniel (backdate!)

[x-volcanic.livejournal.com]

Way back when, Amara runs into Daniel in the lift of Adrienne's building, and eventually accepts an invitation to dinner.

It was always a little fascinating to go out and experience the world in a different body. People you saw every day reacted to you differently when you looked different, particularly when they didn't know that Daniel was the same as the blue-skinned woman with the red eyes. She was already blue, why would they think she had another mutation as well?

Daniel had walked in the door of Adrienne's building and had noted the woman talking to security at the counter eying his butt. Far too amused and feeling too mischievous, Daniel's hands had gone to the buttons of his collared shirt and began undoing them one by one. All attention was on him and the smirk on his face was clear in the mirrored reflection of the elevator doors until they slid open. As they did the collared shirt dropped off Daniel's shoulders leaving him in the ribbed tank top he wore beneath and his jeans. The woman wasn't paying attention to the security guards trying to get her attention while Daniel smiled and the elevator doors began to slide shut. All in a day's work.

The woman wasn't the only one distracted by Daniel's little display - Amara had been waiting for the elevator as well, and while she had been going through her to-do list, checking off everything that she'd finished, she was now busy doing her best not to stare as the elevator started to move. She wasn't quite blushing yet, but she was more flustered than she would have otherwise liked to be.

It really was a bad sign when distracting one staring woman managed to stop a person from noticing the presence of a very familiar, beautiful woman. Daniel's brown eyes slid to the side and his smirk turned much more playful. "Señorita," he greeted, head dipping in a small bow. "It has been many days and weeks since I have seen you, no?"

Amara smiled in return, doing her best to regain her composure. She was a lot better than she'd once been, but apparently the sight of Daniel shedding his clothes was enough to shatter that. "It has been," she replied, the blush starting to fade from her cheeks. "Our paths don't seem to cross as much as they once did." Or she was just busier than she used to be. Possibly a bit of both.

"A tragic error of fate that surely must be corrected." The words barely counted as flirtation, but somewhere between the tone and the look in Daniel's eyes it was there and it was obvious. One day trying to get a girl to squirm would likely lose its appeal. This didn't seem to be that day.

"Perhaps," Amara said with a grin starting to form. Banter wasn't at all her strongpoint, but she would at least try and rise to the occasion. "I have been very busy, but I could try and make some time in my schedule for you."

"You say this as if it is a chore." A hand clasped over the man's chest where his heart beat beneath. "I'm hurt. Truly hurt. My lady love, she no longer desires me." Daniel gave a forlorn sigh, head and shoulders both drooping as it came out.

Amara did blush at that, but she couldn't help but laugh a little at that. "I do not think you would be left heartbroken for too long, senhor, were that the case." She glanced down at the open dayplanner in her arms, looking over her activities for the week. "But if you would like to have coffee some time this week, I would happily fit you in."

Daniel drew closer to her, coming in from behind so he could peer over her shoulder at the day planner. There was more than half a foot of height difference and it made it very easy for Daniel to draw close, see down into the planner and not actually touch the blonde. His body was close enough that the heat of her body was easily felt, though. "Have you no time for me today, hermosa?" With the proximity Daniel's voice had dropped to something much closer to a whisper. "Not even if I promise to cook you dinner?"

It was definitely enough to fluster Amara all over again, her cheeks flushing a dark red and she fumbled with her pen, and then the planner. According to said document, her plans for the rest of the day involved another hour of work, and then studying. It wasn't until she took a step away from Daniel that she recovered enough to answer him, desperately trying not to give away the fact that she was so flustered. "Are you encouraging me to be a bad student?"

"I am encouraging you to come up to the penthouse with me and be cooked for, and eat." The attempts to keep the all too self-satisfied smile off Daniel's lips was partially succeeding. Mostly it appeared flirtatious and playful and full of mischief, but then what else was new? Amara's step away from Daniel did no good because a half step was then taken closer to her. "I do not think a single night away from your books will do you harm." Daniel's fingers wrapped around her day planner and attempted to gently pry it out of her hands and away from her eyes.

"Daniel..." There was a very slight whine in her voice, but she let go of the day planner, conceding. "I still have an hour left of work," she said sternly, not completely giving in. "I do hope you realise that I will be judging your cooking. I do hope you know how."

The planner went behind his back and if the jeans were a bit less fitted it likely would have gone into the waistband for safe keeping as if it were a handgun. Since the jeans were fitted Daniel simply held it behind his back. If she wanted it back she was going to have to reach for it because he wasn't planning on handing it back over. "I know how to cook, hermosa, do not you worry." Another small step was taken closer to her. "I know your boss. I could persuade her to let you go early, I am sure." Daniel's smile was all charm, something easy to pull off this close to a beautiful girl.

"You truly are a bad influence, aren't you? Or trying to be." Amara couldn't help but smile and shake her head. "There are things that need to be completed today before I finish, I would not feel right leaving them incomplete. Even if you could persuade Adrienne." She took another step back, out of the danger zone. "But I could get them done in about twenty minutes, I think."

"Twenty minutes is very different from one hour." The amusement was plain in Daniel's eyes as another half step was taken toward Amara. If the blonde kept this up she was just going to find herself with her back against the elevator wall and Daniel's body trapping or pinning her there. Oh, there was probably a special level of hell just for people like this, Vanessa was sure. "And after these twenty minutes...you could be mine?" The phrasing was intentional and coupled seamlessly with the way Daniel's voice dropped.

"After those twenty minutes, I will have dinner with you, yes." She smiled, struggling to keep her composure once more. It didn't matter where she moved, Daniel was there, and she was liable to completely lose it if she stayed in here too long.

"I will see you in twenty minutes, senhor," she said smoothly, ducking away once more as the elevator stopped and the doors started to slide open. She turned and flashed him a grin as she stepped off, before quickly moving off to the office that was her destination.

Daniel gave her a small bow in response to that grin, a rather satisfied smile on his face when he straightened. The doors to the elevator began to slide shut once more and Daniel leaned back against the wall of the elevator. "I am a very bad man," came the amused whisper to no one but himself. If Vanessa wasn't careful she'd be getting herself in trouble with her boyfriend just because she liked to make Amara blush.

If she was honest, she probably wouldn't have minded getting Amara to make much more interesting expressions either.

* * * * *

Amara had been 25 minutes, not 20, but as promised she'd made her way up to the penthouse. She'd wrapped up all of the urgent tasks she had left on her list, and would just work longer next time she was in. She was, if she was going to be honest with herself, more than a little nervous about the dinner, but she had promised, which is what had pushed her out of the office and into the elevator.

"That was lovely," she said to Daniel after her last mouthful of food, settling back ever so slightly in her seat as she let the food settle. She was a little surprised - even after all this time in America, she was still surprised when it turned out men could cook. Who would have thought it?

The compliment earned the young woman an easy smile, one which astoundingly enough held no overt hint of flirtation in it. "Gracias. I would not have wished to be a disappoint after all of my insistence. It would have been very misleading of me, would it not?" The flirtation that had been absent in Daniel's smile was found in his voice, but his tall frame stood only to collect the plates from the table and bring them into the kitchen.

Amara laughed a little, picking up their glasses and other items from the table and following Daniel into the kitchen. "I would have had to have been very cross with you, I think."

"I could not have that, could I?" The plates were cleared off, rinsed off and left in a neat pile in the sink for attention later. The Daniel turned there was a small, almost teasing, smile on his face. "I am sure there are penalties for making a beautiful woman scowl as you would if you were cross with me, yes?"

"Well," she bantered back, attempting to keep a straight face. "In the first place, you would be seeing me frown. Surely that would be penalty enough." The struggle to keep a smile off her face was lost, and there was a bit of a grin on her face as she set down the glasses.

"Frowning..." After some apparent consideration of this very grave thing, Daniel's head began to shake slowly. "That would be terrible." A step closer to Amara and Daniel's six-foot-three frame was encroaching upon her personal space once more. "I would have to endeavor to then make you smile again. I wonder what would make you smile the most." The tone was considering with that last statement and Daniel's eyes seemed to be studying Amara when a hand reached out and brushed a lock of her hair off her cheek.

Amara blushed slightly at the gesture, looking away and glancing around the room to try and find something to change the subject with. "Let me help you with the dishes," she replied, trying to duck away. "You did such a lovely job with dinner, I couldn't possibly leave you with the clean up as well."

"No, no this is forbidden." It was said much more seriously than a fluent speaker of English likely would have delivered the line, but as fluent as Vanessa may have been Daniel wasn't. That was the thing about different bodies being given different personalities and backgrounds, it was like method acting. So long as Vanessa wore Daniel she'd speak like him, act like him. And now Daniel was putting an arm out to block Amara's retreat so that she could not get any closer to the sink and the forbidden cleaning. "You are a guest and guests do not labor. Not in my home."

Amara smiled at that - it was a sentiment that wouldn't find itself out of place in Amara's home either. She straightened a little and nodded, not pushing the issue. As much as she really did want to help with the clean up. "Well," she said, conceding. "Thank you very much for dinner, senhor. You will have to let me return the favour sometime."

Daniel wore only a smile now that the struggle against laboring women had been won. "Si, señorita, any time you wish. I shall be at your beck and call." It was just this side of correct, if Vanessa wasn't inextricably taken in a wholly monogamous way. It was also just this side of cheesy to hopefully be amusing.

"You should be careful about making offers like that," Amara replied with a little bit of a laugh. "Someone may take you seriously, and you will find yourself woken at 6am with an offer of breakfast,"

"Would this be a bad thing?" The smile on Daniel's lips broadened and the edge of a laugh tried to slip between them but was held back. "You see, señorita, by six in the morning I have long been awake and begun my day." It had been a bad time adjustment at first, but Vanessa had never bothered to adjust to waking later so she still got up at four every morning when most of the world was still asleep.

Amara laughed properly at that, shaking her head a little. "Such an early riser. It seems I will have to find another way to ambush you then." Her eyes twinkled as she spoke, her head tilted up so she could look at him properly.

A finger came to rest under Amara's chin as if to tilt her head up further to kiss her. "You are always welcome to ambush me in whatever way you should like to try, mi amor." It would be so very easy to kiss her, but Vanessa had that boyfriend to consider. Then again, he might not care if it was just a kiss. The reaction would be priceless.

Amara blushed at that, belatedly realising what position she'd put herself into. She looked away, stepping away from Daniel without making too big of a deal of it. "I will keep that in mind then, senhor. For the future."