xp_logs | Jamie, Kitty, and a deck of cards.

x-crowdofone.livejournal.com posting in

Backdated to October 15. After the date set up in this e-mail, Jamie and Kitty retire to one of the conveniently unused parlors for the game of strip poker Kitty asks for in this reply. Jamie loses the card game, technically speaking, and then things get a little steamy, definition of "a little" adjusted appropriately for Jamie's player's Minnesotan understatement tendencies. Warnings for: fluff, length, nudity, extended making out, and statistically improbable poker hands, but not sex, because Jamie didn't think to raid Doug's nightstand before the date.

Jamie fanned out his cards and very carefully kept his face neutral. This had gotten complicated all of a sudden.

He really hadn't been kidding about his Grandpa teaching him all sorts of things when he was little, and his cousin Nate had kept him in fairly good poker practice off and on since then, but Kitty was really very good. Luckily, he'd lost his shirt almost the first hand, which gave him a telling early-game advantage--after all, it wouldn't do to get kinks in his shoulders from hunching over the cards, so stretching regularly was the only way to go.

She'd rallied, though, and they'd gone back and forth since then, and here he sat in nothing but his Mickey Mouse boxers opposite Kitty in a highly distracting bra and panties. With lace. He'd noticed the lace. The lace had cost him his pants.

He glanced down at his cards again, and all four queens winked back at him. Very complicated. He looked back up at Kitty, trying to figure out if she'd mind losing this hand, if that was gonna be the one baby step farther than she wanted to go this time, but Ms. Frost had done a good job teaching her about poker faces, and he wasn't getting any clues there. He could fold--he was pretty sure he wouldn't mind losing his boxers--but then, maybe that was the one baby step too far, maybe she was more comfortable taking her bra off than she was seeing what was, when you got right down to it, by far the sillier-looking of the human genital options.

Well, that was why they called it "gambling," wasn't it? And he'd really kick himself later for folding on four of a kind. And he had to admit, he was pretty comfortable with the idea of Kitty taking her bra off. Very comfortable, actually. Mostly because his boxers fit loosely.

"I call," he said casually. "Whatcha got, love?"

Kitty was very good at bluffing. Which had come in handy, cause she had been getting crap hands all night. Despite the fact that a large percentage of her hands had been nearly worthless, she and Jamie had stayed pretty even, and she`d started with an advantage (Jamie didn`t wear an undershirt...) But there was no denying that this had to be her worst hand yet.

Luckily, she had no problem with losing her shirt (or her bra, as the case actually was.)

"I've got tens over fours," she said, dropping them onto the floor. "You?"

Well, there went the chances of Kitty having a straight or royal flush. Which hadn't, admittedly, been all that high. "Four queens," he said apologetically, laying them down. "But if you'd rather, um, stop here, that's fine too, I mean, whatever you're comfortable with."

Kitty smiled. "Jamie, I wouldn't have suggested the game if I weren't comfortable with it," she said, reaching behind her. She paused suddenly, though, an evil look flittered across her face. She very slowly undid the clasp and slipped off one strap, and then the next, a small smile on her face as she watched Jamie's reaction to the bra falling to the floor.

"Um," Jamie said intelligently. "Um. Wow. This is a new, um, comfortableness, right here." Soft, he thought vaguely. They looked very soft. And probably it was going to start being rude to stare pretty soon, but he couldn't seem to remember how to stop.

He smiled, and managed to use the upward facial momentum to winch his gaze up to Kitty's face, half-surprised he couldn't catch the glow from his ears in his peripheral vision. "There aren't good enough words, you know." The smile quirked into a grin. "Baby steps, huh?"

Jamie blushing was still one of the cutest things Kitty could imagine. Of course, she was blushing right back, but she was ok with that. "Not sure that baby steps is really the right word... But hey, they've gotten us this far." She cocked her head slightly. "I do believe it's your deal, if you want..."

"Deal?" Jamie blinked and looked down at the floor. Cards. Oh yeah. "Deal. Right." He grinned sheepishly and only managed to be slightly distracted . . . well, okay, maybe that was an exaggeration . . . when he looked back up at Kitty. "I'm game if you are." Wow, that blush sure went . . . down . . .

Jamie didn't quite remember shuffling the deck or dealing the cards; it seemed like the next time he blinked he was holding five different nonsequential low cards in four different suits. Huh.

Eyeing her own cards, Kitty briefly wondered if Jamie knew how to stack a deck. Although if he did she couldn't begin to imagine why on earth he would deal her a straight flush now. Not even waiting for him to ask if she wanted any new cards she said, "I'm good."

Which meant either she was bluffing, or she really did have something good--not that it really mattered anyway, Jamie was pretty sure he was holding the worst poker hand possible. "I'll take three," he said, discarding his three lowest cards. When he saw his new cards, he stifled a groan--they were pretty much the same as the old ones, just shuffled around the suits a bit. Great.

Kitty's face was absolutely still as she said, "We've clearly done away with the need for betting, so show me what you've got..." although inside she was giggling madly to herself. A winning poker hand and and attrocious pun, plus Jamie without any shorts.

"Very funny," Jamie said dryly. "I've got an eight high. If I didn't know better I'd swear I was playing to lose." He fanned his cards out on the floor and smiled, because wow, there was no possible way to be grumpy with that view. "So how bad did you slaughter me?"

Kitty dropped her cards on top of Jamie's. "Straight flush, jack high," she said, the grin making it out onto her face. Leaning back, she proped herself up on her hands, raising an eyebrow at Jamie.

"That's pretty slaughtered, I have to say . . ." Oh, she was leaning back now. Well, that just wow.

And about all she was wearing was that expectant expression. What would Han Solo do at this point, Jamie wondered vaguely. Han Solo, his brain answered promptly, would say something infuriating, get compared--unfavorably and in acid tones--with the contents of Chewbacca's shower drain, and have to go work off his frustrations in the guts of the malfunctioning hyperdrive. Han Solo, Jamie concluded, was probably not his best role model at this junct--in this situation.

Well, he reminded himself sternly, it wasn't as if the plan wasn't for Kitty to see, well, everything, eventually. "Eventually" just happened to be today, that was all. And now she was looking at him with that "all girls are secretly mindreaders" look she had, so he had probably better hurry up with the internal monologue here.

Mentally crossing his fingers, Jamie stood up, skinned out of his boxers, did not snag them on--anything--on the way down, luckily enough, and sat back down, not entirely sure what he was hoping Kitty's reaction would be.

Oh. Well. Huh. It vaguely crossed Kitty's mind that they definitely looked very different at 17 than at a bris. And actually, that was probably a really, really good thing. And somehow, she did not want to be thinking about covenents with God right now, cause she didn't actually know which laws strip poker broke, but she was pretty sure it was in there somewhere. Although, it occured to her, Jamie was settled on that matter, and she didn't know if that would make her parents happy or not. And again, not something she wanted to be thinking about just now.

Jamie. Focus on Jamie. Naked Jamie. A slow smile spread across Kitty's face as he eyes lit up. Naked Jamie.

Kitty could be very fast when she wanted to, but this seemed like a moment for slow and catlike. She pushed up off her hands and leaned forward over the cards, setting her hands back down so she could kneel up to look Jamie in the eyes. "I win," she said.

Being able to talk would be good, right now. It would probably require a throat that wasn't completely dry, but it would be good. Jamie cleared his throat experimentally and dialed for a grin. "I . . . guess you do," he managed. "I'm all out of clothes, anyway, and I'm no expert but I think that means I lose. Close game, though." Very close. Very, very close. Maybe only two feet away, Jamie estimated. "So . . . what now?"

Kitty slid a little closer, biting her lip. "Now... I claime a forfit." It hadn't been in their original rules for the game, but she didn't actually think he'd mind. "Kiss me?" she whispered.

Jamie smiled, a little shakily, and reached out to trace her jawline. "Think we've gone out past the baby steps and into the giraffes-on-safari steps here," he murmured-- and then, because if he said anything else he'd start babbling and lose his nerve, because if he let himself think about it he was pretty sure he'd chicken out, he leaned in, tilted her face up just a little, and kissed her.

Kitty admitted to herself that Jamie had a point, and that she didn't know where she wanted this to go. But kisses were comfortable in her mind, which was why she'd asked for one. She wanted to be comfortable about this. And this kiss was very comfortable.

She kissed him softly, slowly sliding closer. She wanted to be held, but didn't know what he'd think about it, or what would happen, or anything.

Jamie edged a little closer himself, trying to figure out some way he could put his arms around Kitty and still avoid setting off any embarrassing accidents, which was a definite possibility right now. It was definitely cold shower time when he got back to his room.

Unless, he continued a little guiltily, it turned into raid-Doug's-nightstand time first. He didn't know if it'd get that far, but then again, when he walked in here he hadn't figured on things getting this far, so who knew?

Bringing himself firmly back to the present--there was no sense getting ahead of themselves, not when the actual moment had a whole heck of a lot to recommend itself with all on its own--Jamie scooted sideways a little, swinging his legs and not incidentally his lap out of the way of sliding one arm around Kitty's waist.

Hmm. That worked. Kitty slid forward till she was kneeling next to Jamie and could take her weight off her arms to wrap them around his shoulders. Oh, shoulders were good. Shoulders were really, really nice. Running her thumbs along Jamie's skin, Kitty slowly melted into him.

Jamie made an incoherent groaning noise in the back of his throat and held Kitty closer still, stroking one hand across her back and deepening the kiss as much as he knew how. She was so soft in his arms, and his skin tingled wherever they touched . . . his blood pounded in his ears so loud, and he felt so lightheaded he half expected they were floating in midair.

Oh. That was at least partly the oxygen deprivation. He pulled back, reluctantly, and only far enough to catch his breath, trying not to pant too obviously. "You," he murmured, "are driving me about eleven kinds of crazy."

Kitty was just as lightheaded as she let her forhead rest against Jamie's. "Um," she agreed. "Good crazy or...um, bad crazy?" She had the vague feeling that it hadn't made a lot of sense, but then, Jamie's hand was still stroking the bare skin along her spine, and that was highly distracting.

"Good crazy," Jamie answered promptly. "Very, very good crazy." He nuzzled her cheek, her ear, down the line of her throat. "How crazy," he murmured at intervals, "did you want to get?"

Kitty's head tilted back, giving Jamie better access to her throat as she gasped softly. One hand trailed over his shoulder and down his chest as she thougt about it. One the one side, she didn't know how she felt about a game of cards leading up to... well, whatever. On the other hand, this felt so good and she really, really didn't want to stop. "I... I don't know," she admited softly.

Jamie pulled back, far enough he could look Kitty in the eye, because this was kind of an important decision. "We could--go further, if you wanted. Or stop now. Or keep doing what we're doing for a while longer, just set a limit and try to remember to stick to it." He smiled, firmly squelching the part of him that just wanted to pick Kitty up and carry her over to the couch and--"This wasn't exactly how I pictured us, the first time," he admitted. "You?"

"No, not exactly," she said, blushing slightly at the admission that she had pictured it. Of course, most of the time her own imaginings were what she freely admitted to be silly little-girl musings, and there were usually fire-places involved. And silk sheets. Reaching up, she rested her hand on his cheek as she looked at him. "I... I want you, but, um, maybe not like this. Um... I mean... poker game, and all..." Oh yeah, that was coherent.

Jamie nodded, leaning his cheek into her hand. "I was kinda thinking there'd be more candles, you know? And maybe out in the treehouse, only it's getting too cold for that now. But more of a . . . special occasion thing, that we decided to do, not just, you know, getting carried away in the heat of the moment." He grinned, ears going red again. "Not that I mind the getting carried away. Or the, um, heat of the moment. But maybe . . ." Jamie laughed suddenly, struck by a thought. "Maybe we should think of this like Chan's. Remember? This can be the trial run we weren't expecting, and then next time can be on purpose, and right, and just what we wanted. Only I think we can skip the part where Lorna helps us figure out what's going on, huh?"

Kitty giggled slightly, blush intensifying. "Yeah, definitely no getting help from Lorna," she said. "But, um, yes. On purpose, I think, would be good. On purpose," she said again, "would be wonderful." Leaning forward again she kissed him lightly. "Um. If we set limits could there be a little more heat of the moment. Because heat of the moment also has something to recomend itself..."

"I'll definitely agree with that," Jamie replied, going in for a slightly longer kiss. "Did you have anything specifically in mind? Because I take requests . . ."

There were a couple things she had in mind, but the idea of voicing them was well beyond her. Instead she leaned into the kiss and whispered, "So do I," into his lips.

Jamie laughed softly and ran his fingers lightly up Kitty's spine. "I asked first? And there's not a lot I can think of that you could do that wouldn't end up involving, um . . ." He coughed. "A bit of an accident?" He leaned in again, nuzzling along her jaw and ear. "If there was something you were thinking about, though," he breathed, "I can just about guarantee you I'd do it."

Kitty shivered slightly at the figners on her back. To herself she admited that that 'accident' was one of the things she was most curious about but she had no idea how to say that. Well, at least not how to say it without combusting from and overdose blush. Letting her hand trail a little further down Jamie's chest, she shrugged slightly. "I'm... curious," she finally said, firmly trying to squash thoughts of cats and curiosity. "But I don't want to... I don't know." Being so incoherent definitely wasn't good. But then, there was the thought that if you couldn't talk about it you shouldn't be doing it. "I don't want to do anything you don't want."

Jamie grinned, trailing kisses back down to that fun sensitive spot on her throat. "Kitty, I dunno if it's occurred to you, but I'm a teenage boy, naked, making out with my almost-completely-naked incredibly beautiful girlfriend. I'm pretty much a whole big bundle of 'want.' And I'm . . . curious about stuff too. And I'll let you know if I'm uncomfortable."

Ohhh, neck. That was nice. Somehow having Jamie nuzzling her neck made it both easier and more difficult to say anything at the same time. If she were more coherent she'd probably be intrigued by that. As it was, she just said, "Oooh... Um... Can I... Mmmmm... Can I, um, touch you? I mean..." Her hand slid a little lower as she trailed off.

Jamie paused, blinking. She really wanted to . . .? Wow. "Um, if--if you're careful. I'm um . . . kind of, well, sensitive, right now, and . . . it wouldn't take much. But yeah, if you want, you--you can."

Carefully, not sure if it would hurt him or not, she lifted her hand and reached down. Biting her lip, she let a finger tip slide softly along it, burning with curiosity. Her eyes fluttered up to see how Jamie was reacting as she tried to process what her fingers were telling her. She'd never felt anything like this, she decided.

Jamie's hips twitched slightly as Kitty's fingers made contact, and his arms tightened around her; he felt like he was either going to burst into flames or mutate into a giant goosebump--or explode--and either way he didn't want her to stop. He met her gaze helplessly--that up-through-the-eyelashes look she was giving him was doing nothing for his (admittedly theoretical) peace of mind--and tried to think of something clever to say. The best he could manage was "nnng." He tried again, and got as far as a quiet, and very heartfelt "oh God, Kitty."

Had that been a good 'nnng' or a bad 'nnng', Kitty wondered. She didn't think 'oh God' meant stop, but she didn't know if it meant keep going, either. Her curiosity was winning, though, so, still watching Jamie's face closely, she ran her thumb and finger back up him, marveling at the feel of it all.

And that was--it was--it . . . yeah. Jamie reached down, carefully, and took Kitty's hand in his, bringing it up to brush a kiss across her knuckles. "Much more of that," he explained, voice a bit hoarse, "and I think technically we won't have waited for a special occasion."

Oh. Kitty let him move her hand without complaint, following after it to steal a soft kiss from those lips. "Thank you," she said.

"I think it's pretty safe to say the pleasure was mine," Jamie murmured. "And if . . . you want to try again, later, before we, um . . . well, I'll, uh, last longer, if I haven't been . . . ready for as long as I was today." He kissed her again, one hand trailing across her back, and up over her shoulder, tracing her collarbone ightly as he pulled away, watching her with a curious expression and flaming-red ears. "Um . . . you said you were taking requests too?"

Kitty nodded, hand tracing over Jamie's cheek. "Uh huh... What... What do you want." The catch in her voice had very little to do with nervosness and quite a lot to do with his soft hands.

"I . . ." Jamie paused, then shook his head wryly, chuckling. "Well, I'd really like to get past the part where we're this nervous with each other. I love you. I think you're the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. I want . . . everything, the rest of our lives. And yeah, this is--it's new stuff, what we're doing right now, and it's amazing, and, okay, a little scary, but . . . it's good, and it feels right, and we both want to, and . . ." He ran out of steam, and grinned sheepishly. "And right now, um, I think I'm kind of ranting about being nervous to cover that I'm nervous about asking if I can touch, uh, your--your breasts. If I haven't just made a complete idiot out of myself."

Everytime Jamie started talking about 'the rest of their lives' Kitty tended to go weak in the knees, so it was just as well they were already on the ground. She grabbed his hand and held it in both of her. "I would love to get over the nervous thing, too, but it's going to take a while, I think. Which is a terrible thing, but the only thing we can do is try, and try, and try." Pulling his hand to rest above her heart, she said, "And I love you and I want forever with you, too. And yes, you can," she added, letting go.

"Practice. Lots of practice." Jamie grinned, then became very distracted. He'd been right about the softness, he noticed, stroking her skin gently. And her heart was beating so fast . . . Feeling greatly daring, he brushed his thumb across her nipple.

She gasped, eyes fluttering shut. "Ohh, Jamie... Do that again," she said, biting her lip slightly. Who would have thought anything could feel like that.

Jamie blinked and smiled. "What," he said innocently, doing it again, "that?"

A second gasp greeted this. "Mmhm. Wow... Jamie." Leaning into that hand and closer to him, Kitty kissed Jamie deeply.

Jamie returned the kiss avidly, his hands busy. Finally, reluctantly, he pulled back. "Think we're . . . getting carried away again, a little," he murmured.

Given that Kitty was about ready to climb into his lap just to get closer to him (and who knew where that would end...) she had to agree. Although it took her a few seconds to remember why, exactly, getting carried away was a bad thing. "Um... Yeah, maybe... Um..." She bit her lip to keep from saying 'And that's a problem, is it?'

Jamie smiled. "I know, I know, but it'll be better if we do it on purpose. A little more practice first so we're more comfortable, we're not moving so fast. And, um." He coughed. "I, um, want us to be safe, and I don't have, well, I'm not prepared." He stroked her cheek wonderingly. "Soon, though. God, Kitty, I want you so bad . . ."

That checked her reasonably well. "Yes," she said, slowly. "Safe would be a very good thing." Kitty kissed him again, doing her best not to press into it. "Want you, too. But, yeah..." Finally she leaned back. "Stopping would be much easier if, um... pants," she said, blushing again. "And, you know... shirt."

"Oh, you're one to talk," Jamie said, going in for one more quick kiss. "Wearer of completely unfair underwear." He sighed, taking a quick look around to try and locate all his clothes. "We probably should, though. Let go and get dressed on three?"

Kitty grinned and nodded. "One. Two." She leaned over and stole another kiss, only stopping when she really, really needed to breath. "Um... Three." And then, miracle of miracles, she did actually stand up to go find her clothes. Of course, that just might have been her evil streak acting up again.

Jamie took his time getting dressed, mostly because he was finding that watching Kitty put her clothes on was almost as fun as watching her take them off. Clothes, he decided, looked different when you knew what was underneath them.

Finally, though--and on his second try putting on his T-shirt; watching Kitty get dressed apparently did things to his ability to notice whether or not his shirt was inside out, or backward (or both)--they were both dressed, and Jamie claimed another kiss. "Think Lockheed's wondering if I've decided not to give you back?"

Wrapping her arms around his reclothed shoulders Kitty grinned. "It's always possible. Why? Have you decided not to give me back?"

"Mm, don't tempt me, I like my stuff unchewed-on and not hoarded. I think we're just gonna have to learn to share. It'll be an after-school-special moment." Jamie smiled. "Y'know, boy meets girl, girl meets dragon, boy and dragon squabble until they're forced to work together. Happens all the time."

"Oh yes. TBS will be knocking down the door to get the rights to that one, or maybe WoW or whatever that stupid women's channel is. It'd get rave reviews, you know."

"We'll learn Lessons in Teamwork and Develop Bonds of Shared Affection for--well, you." Jamie grinned. "It'd be heartwrenching and poignant and uplifting, and stuff like that. They'd have commercials with catchphrases like 'very special' and 'watch this with your children.' Or, y'know, we could just keep dumping him with Miles on date nights--or, well, other nights--and I could keep bribing him with snacks. Either way."

"The snack thing does seem to be working," Kitty admitted. "Maybe we should just make it a special episode of All My Mutant Children for sweeps week, with some special guest star or other."

Jamie laughed. "Christopher Lee as the voice of Lockheed? Because just imagine him saying 'mer?'" He held Kitty close and sighed reluctantly. "Should probably go get the real thing, though, before he comes looking."

"I think it's the 'coo'ing that would make that really funny." She pulled reluctantly away and grabbed Jamie's hand. "Come on then, let's go."