"Football doesn't deserve my naked ass," Amber noted. With feigned modesty, "There isn't much of a story to tell. It was my first semester, and some of the sororities made their new girls streak across the greens. It seemed like fun, so I joined in." There'd been a begging-of-year fair, and she'd run straight through it. While she saw little of the reaction, everything blurring by as she pumped her legs, the sounds had been more than enough reward. Shrieks, incredulous laughter, hoots. Amber grinned. "I’d been right: was fun."
But, like earlier in the evening, Eric managed to hit a singularly somber note, unpredictable given the melody up until then. Though his reminiscence wasn’t out of tune, entirely misplaced in their conversation, it caught Amber off-guard. His question had, she'd thought, wanted a sexual escapade as an answer; she'd delivered along those lines, and expected the same of him. The tale of daring his brother to dangerous sport and nearly maiming himself felt like an entirely different category of "wild," not to mention more intimate. Lingering, haunting memories were harder to part with than boast-worthy feats.
As Eric recounted the incident, Amber wiped her mouth with her napkin, listening carefully and thinking hard. This memory definitely hung over Eric; she'd have to be blind and deaf not to realize that. His voice dipped when he mentioned his brother, his eyes glancing downward for a second. Guilt from the risk he'd put his brother through, or from something else?
Forgetting her reheated, and once more cooling, food, Amber slid her hand over the table, reaching out for him in more than one sense. She'd been-- and was-- scared of her outburst, but that didn't seem to matter. Not now. Not in face of Eric's troubled demeanor. "You must've been terrified." Amber suddenly remembered all the teenagers injured by stupid stunts she'd seen over the years, shocked not just by the damage they'd sustained but also by the comprehension of their treacherous vulnerability. Yes. Of course Eric had been one of them. He was too-- proper, not to have experienced this. Amber shuddered, suddenly imagining how it must've been, the sudden lights, his muscles swerving of their own accord, acting on instinct. Without a second’s thought, her hand inched closer towards him. "How about your brother? How did he take it?" Knowing not-quite-men, she was willing to bet he'd also thought the crash was 'cool.'
no subject
But, like earlier in the evening, Eric managed to hit a singularly somber note, unpredictable given the melody up until then. Though his reminiscence wasn’t out of tune, entirely misplaced in their conversation, it caught Amber off-guard. His question had, she'd thought, wanted a sexual escapade as an answer; she'd delivered along those lines, and expected the same of him. The tale of daring his brother to dangerous sport and nearly maiming himself felt like an entirely different category of "wild," not to mention more intimate. Lingering, haunting memories were harder to part with than boast-worthy feats.
As Eric recounted the incident, Amber wiped her mouth with her napkin, listening carefully and thinking hard. This memory definitely hung over Eric; she'd have to be blind and deaf not to realize that. His voice dipped when he mentioned his brother, his eyes glancing downward for a second. Guilt from the risk he'd put his brother through, or from something else?
Forgetting her reheated, and once more cooling, food, Amber slid her hand over the table, reaching out for him in more than one sense. She'd been-- and was-- scared of her outburst, but that didn't seem to matter. Not now. Not in face of Eric's troubled demeanor. "You must've been terrified." Amber suddenly remembered all the teenagers injured by stupid stunts she'd seen over the years, shocked not just by the damage they'd sustained but also by the comprehension of their treacherous vulnerability. Yes. Of course Eric had been one of them. He was too-- proper, not to have experienced this. Amber shuddered, suddenly imagining how it must've been, the sudden lights, his muscles swerving of their own accord, acting on instinct. Without a second’s thought, her hand inched closer towards him. "How about your brother? How did he take it?" Knowing not-quite-men, she was willing to bet he'd also thought the crash was 'cool.'