defies_reason | ⚔ i thought we might have a little chat.

[Well, that's a downer on proceedings, if not enough to damp his interest. There's the smallest pinch of something hurt about the downturn of the doctor's mouth.]

I'm not asking you to still love me tommorrow.

[He considers.]

I'm not asking you to love me tonight, unless you're fond of old-fashioned euphemism.

Practical of you,

[he answers approvingly, apparently unfazed. Not unaffected; there's more than one good reason to keep a distance between them. The hand on Chase's shoulder is not so much keeping him in place, now, as keeping him away.]

If you wait until tomorrow, I'll make it worth your while.

[It's not much fun calling a bluff when your opponent doesn't realize he's bluffing.

Damn.]

[Very practical. He learned his lesson about this kind of arrangement from... oh, the woman he wound up marrying, but lets overlook that. Somehow this kind of line just doesn't seem to work as well for him as it did for Cameron

(or maybe he was just easy).

Either way, he studies Isaak for one frustrated minute, looking down at the hand on his shoulder as if a pale stare might turn it into a caress.]

I have to admit, I'm a bigger fan of delayed gratification when it's worked into the process of being gratified.

[So he's got to test the strength of that restraint. There's still such a little gap between them, he only has to lean in (and up) a little...]

Sure I can't make it worth your while tonight?

[His eyes narrowed, Isaak lets himself lean in. That seems counterproductive-- and certainly if his goal was escape, he'd be doing a piss-poor job of it-- but he's always been the sort to stand his ground. Besides, the more he casts this as a confrontation, the better he can ignore all the pleasant possibilities he needs to deny.

Which is not to say it's easy.]

Oh, I'm sure you could, [he murmurs, practically in Chase's ear, an edge of his own frustration shading the words. He pauses, then, just a little too long.] But I think we'd better not.

[Chase actually lets himself groan when Isaak pulls that one. He'd held a breath for a better response.]

Reckon I could suggest some more practical applications of this thing for torture, too.

[Oh, it's a joke, and Chase does know when he's beaten well enough to take it in good humour - although Isaak's proximity, the rasp under his words all suggest possibility remains.

Enough that Chase turns his head the few degrees it takes to kiss him again. One last shot at persuasion.]

[A good man would valiantly pull away at this point, but Isaak has never tried to make that claim. He has a few moral stances that are less than flexible-- part of why they're not on their way to someone's flat by now-- but an act of marvellous restraint is surely deserving of some small reward. Consider it a warning, or a promise, or anything you like, really. The grip on the younger man's shoulder tightens slightly as he kisses back, unrestrained, biting playfully at his lower lip. He has a sneaking suspicion that a bit of roughness wouldn't be amiss.]

[Suspicion: confirmed - if only by the enthusiasm in response. Chase drags out the kiss with other kisses, openmouthed and wanting. For today, he can take this as a promise. Tomorrow he'll probably be more horrified by how long he manages to moon like a schoolgirl over it than by the act itself. When he catches a reluctant breath his hands have tangled in the man's jacket again, and he looks up - the obvious question hanging in the air. Still no?]

[Tomorrow the older man will look back on this... Smugly. There's nothing else to say, really. Curse or not it's not as though he's the only available man in the City.

But, well. Right now he's a bit smug too, but when Chase pauses for breath he decides it's probably best not to let this go on. So he steps back; or not steps, but leans away, and nonchalantly takes his hand from Chase's shoulder as though he's merely adjusting his cuff. It ought to, he expects, help disentangle those hopeful hands.]

Perhaps you ought to head home, Robert.

[Chase stays put, gradually unweaving his fingers from cloth. He tilts his head back, sighing, the faint flush that had begun creeping up his throat all too clear. No, Isaak isn't the only man in the city, but, somehow, he'd been the obvious preference.]

Perhaps I ought to head to a bar.

[Still. The night's young.

Chase's eyes remain oddly dark when he looks back at the other man.]

Tomorrow. [This is important.] Dinner? A movie? [If a little facetious.]

[See? That's something to be smug about.

He doesn't look up from his all-too-casual inspection of his sleeve immediately; not coyness, but the traces of his usual aloof air falling back in place. But he lets the trace of a smile ghost over his lips. The night is young, and Chase is as well. More than likely to get lucky if he keeps at it.]

Better to call it an evening,

[he reiterates, and finally-- slowly-- meets the other man's eyes again. A better man might feel responsible to babysit, but, well. The best he'll do is a spot of advice.

His smile widens a little, even if it doesn't quite reach his eyes.]

Tomorrow, give me a call and we'll skip dinner.

[Though he expects there's no reason to wait by the phone. But, ah, wouldn't it be nice?]

[It's the curse Isaak's advising. Chase's better judgement, poor on an ordinary day, is absent tonight. So either he gets lucky tonight, or he has the luck of nothing to regret in the morning - either way, the city's mercurial whims will absolve some of the blame.

He raises his eyebrows, grins a little.]

I was starting to worry you'd hold out for the third date.

[And nods.]

I'll call.

[It's been a strange, frustrating but not entirely worthless interlude in his evening. Holding onto a promise, Chase makes the first move toward the exit. The gardens offer a good view for a newer resident, after all.]

⚔ i thought we might have a little chat.

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