Handle With Care

Playfulness and Telepathy

The horribly revealing outfits came to a total of twenty one, but in the end, after trying them on with a permanently reddened face, Esther and Jasper sent me off with about fourteen. They ranged from silky clothes that were loose and more romantic than sexual, and others presented themselves as definitely sexual. A lot of clothes were tight, some hardly covering anything up, and when it was all over, I was more than grateful.

I set the outfits in a bottom drawer of a dresser in Elric's closet, hoping to never have to wear them again. I felt bad, though, because those were presents from Esther and Jasper combined. At least, though, I gave them a little fashion show they had greatly adored.

I then returned downstairs. Elric had given me a questioning look when I bent down to collect my other presents, everyone else doing the same to bring them up to their rooms. I only shook my head in response, ducking it soon after to hide my evident blush.

When we both began a trip back up to our room, he asked me what their present had been. I immediately became flustered, stuttering out a rather unconvincing 'nothing'. Elric raised a skeptical brow at me, a playful smirk on his lips, and my blush reddened all the more.

"C-clothes," I admitted.

"Clothes? Well, why didn't they just let you open them down-- oh..." he replied, cutting himself off with a breath of realization. I bit the inside of my cheek as I fought not to look at him.

"They were a special kind of clothing, weren't they?" Elric asked, to make sure his assumption was true. I didn't say anything, or make any gesture that would answer him, however I believed my silence was enough of an answer anyway as I pushed inside the bedroom, quick to avoid him.

"Come now, tell me," Elric teased, a low undertone to his voice that sent a shiver down my spine. He followed me into the room, closing the door with his hip. I shook my head, turning so my back faced him as I set Nimr's marbled figurine on my nightstand.

Elric moved over to his own nightstand, setting my gift, along with Nimr's, on top of it. He tried to catch my eye, I could feel, but I kept my gaze lowered, staring down at my hands.

I set the stuffed bunny on the bed, and picked up the dreamcatcher to wrap the uppermost loop on one of the decorative protrusions atop the headboard over the side where I normally slept. Elric set his camera and photo album in the top drawer of his nightstand, before sweeping around the bed at a speed that had me gasping, his chest pressing to my back within a few unexpected seconds.

"Where are they, hmm?" he whispered in my ear, his breath ghosting along my neck and making me shiver. He trailed his fingertips up my arm, and to my shoulder, up my neck, until he was stroking my chin softly.

"Th-th-they're, uh... n-n-n-nowhere..." I stammered, a shiver overtaking my being as Elric stroked his fingers along the underside of my jaw.

"Hmm..." he hummed lowly, and I felt his lips skimming across the skin on my neck. I gasped softly as he latched his mouth up close to my ear, and sucked tightly as he pulled away, dragging my skin in between his teeth as he did so.

"Am I going to have to look for them?" he crooned, his other hand sliding up the side of my torso, until he reached the bottom of my ribcage, and gave a slight squeeze. I squeaked, flinching in his hold.

Then, he was turning me around, so our chests were pressed together, and our noses barely touched. He gazed intently into my eyes, the strength of it making me tremble for a moment. Although his playfulness was evident, I could also tell he was getting a little enthralled at the situation.

I didn't understand what he was up to, when he just continued to stare at me. Watching me closely. The clothes and their poor hiding place simmered in the back of my mind, and the more Elric just stared at me, the more I wanted to see if I had closed the closet door. Before I knew it, I was glancing at it, just to check, only to see it was ajar.