Pic-i-nic Basket (IC)

[Raveled]

Jessica smiled at him and followed him back to the blanket. She lay down and stretched luxuriantly, wiggling her toes and and sighing in pleasure. After a moment she propped herself up on her elbows and looked over at Blake. "Well," she teased. "Aren't I good enough to capture on paper?" She posed dramatically for a moment, hand to her forehead and head tossed back.

[Lone Star]

Blake kissed her briefly, moving his tongue in her mouth. "Good enough to eat." he said with a sly wink. "But yeah, I brought my sketchbook." Blake got into a sitting position, and crossed his legs. He started to draw, observing her face and hair, and not mincing detail. He moved his eyes down her body, and hoped Jessica didn't think he was checking her out.

[Raveled]

Jessica felt herself blush at Blake's comment, her own heart beating faster for a moment. She laid back on the ground, face turned to watch him. It was interesting to see him so focused on something, so intent on his drawing. It was a side of him she hadn't really seen before, but she wanted to see more of it. She wanted to see all of Blake's faces, really. "Can you talk while you write," she said, moving her legs against each other absently, "or do you need to concentrate?"

[Lone Star]

Blake looked up at her, and smiled. "We can talk. Sorry if I'm so stone-cold serious. I hope I'm not making this any more awkward than it already is." As Blake talked, she could hear his pencil tracing and gently scratching against the paper.

[Raveled]

Jessica half-smiled, watching the end of his pencil move in wide, wild circles. She tried to imagine what the picture would look like, but all she could bring to mind was what she saw in the mirror every morning; she couldn't imagine why anyone would want to capture that on paper.

"I like watching you draw," she said. "You're so serious, and I like seeing this side of you. Not that you're always so flippant and, uh, whatever," she added lamely, "but I like seeing what you're passionate about. What you really enjoy." She winced as she listened to her own words. "Are you drawing me with my foot in my mouth? Because that's what I feel like."

[Lone Star]

Blake chuckled. "You're fine. Just relax. Just one more detail right here...there! It's done." Blake flipped the notebook around for her to see. Blake's drawing was simple, being that he only took a few minutes, but fairly accurate. His lines were flowing and graceful, and he spent special detail drawing her hair. "I'm not a fantastic sketch artist, but it's a hobby of mine."

[Raveled]

Jessica reached out a hand to steady the drawing and pull the notebook closer. She mouth opened slightly in amazement as she looked at the woman on the page. She usually thought of herself as being too tall and too thin, all awkward legs and flailing arms whenever she tried to do something, but the young woman here was... beautiful. her limbs were clean and graceful even in repose, her smile was intriguing, and her hair fell with just a hint of wave to it. "Wow," Jess breathed. "Is... is this really how you see me?" She swallowed hard. It was kind of intimidating, to know someone thought she looked like... that.

[Lone Star]

"Of course I do, Jessica. You're beautiful, you know that? If I can be honest...I've never felt anything like this before. I really have feelings for you. I mean...I don't know if it's too soon to say, but you really mean a lot to me, Jessica." He set the sketchbook aside and lay down with her, looking deep into her eyes. "I'm really glad you're my girlfriend."

[Raveled]

Jessica heart beat faster and she reached out to stroke Blake's hair. "I... I mean, with you... You're..." She stuttered for a moment before she just sighed and leaned in, kissing Blake softly. "I'm really glad I met you, Blake." She moved in to be close to him, kissing his cheek this time.

[Lone Star]

"I'm glad I met you too, Jessica. You're wonderful." He wrapped one arm around her waist and brought her closer. He thought of kissing her again, but instead he brought her head to his chest and held her close. He was so happy to be with her. In the back of his mind, he hoped she couldn't hear his heart pounding against his chest.

[Raveled]

Jessica was content to lay there for a bit, snuggled up to Blake. She could heard and feel his heart, and for some reason that was almost as exciting to her as his kisses. Just knowing that he was so stirred by her presence was amazing to her, and she just lay there for a bit, listening to him. After awhile though, the position grew uncomfortable and she repositioned herself, lying face-to-face with him. "So," she said, staring into his eyes from only an inch or so away, "you're really good at drawing. I mean, much better than I could ever do. Have you been doing it long?"

[Lone Star]

"Since I was just a kid. My parents were both artists too. I guess I picked it up from them. It's always been a big part of my life." Blake said with a sigh. "What about you? How long have you been inventing?"

[Raveled]

Jessica stuck her tongue out. "Don't change the subject," she chided. "I'm asking about you. So, are both your parents draw-ers? Do they, uh, paint or sketch? Or do they maybe sculpt?"

[Lone Star]

"They both did painting. Just some original thoughts. They were regarded as pretty radical, so I guess you could say they were pretty famous. I never really got into painting myself. I'm more of a sketch and pencil artist. I've been meaning to try oil and acrylics, though. It always seemed like an interesting medium." He smiled at her, and stroked her hair.

[Raveled]

Jessica listened to Blake, but she didn't know anything about the different types of paint, or what a 'radical' artist was. Part of his statement penetrated, though, and she reached out to touch his shoulder lightly. "You keep say 'were,'" she said. "Are they... not around anymore? You don't have to answer me if you don't want to," she added hastily.

[Lone Star]

"That's right. They're both gone. I don't want to talk about this anymore." Blake said. His eyes looked down, and he sighed deeply. "It hurts a lot. Can we talk about you?"

[Raveled]

"Alright," Jessica said quickly. She didn't want alienate Blake like this, didn't want to disrupt such a perfect day. "But I'm not really sure what you could want to know about me. I'm a pretty normal gal." She gave him a shy half-smile and whispered, "Apart from flying around town in my own suit of armor, at least."

[Lone Star]

"Mmm, no. I find you very interesting. How long did it take you to build your armor? It's complicated as hell." Blake said with a chuckle. He was glad to move on from the subject of his parents. He would have to tell her eventually...but not today. It wasn't nearly the right time.

[Raveled]

Jessica shrugged with her free shoulder. "It wasn't that hard at all," she protested. "The hardest part was programming the suit's systems. See, the innermost layer is a kind of bodystocking, and it's like a single huge integrated circuit -- it lets the suit's systems mesh with my own nervous system, so instead of having to, say, project a menu display directly onto my retina or onto the face plate, it simply puts the image directly into my visual cortex. It lets me basically surround myself with different images if I should choose."

She searched Blake's eyes, rubbing at his shoulder and slipping her hand down his arm. "I'm not boring you, am I?"

[Lone Star]

"No, trust me. That's fascinating. Way over my head." he said as he smiled at her. He grabbed her waist and pulled her closer. Her face was right next to his. "Hope you don't mind your boyfriend being a little dumber than you are though." he said with a chuckle.

[Raveled]

Jessica giggled as she was pulled closer. "Mm. Dumb, yeah, but you're plenty cute. So that makes up for it." She leaned in and kissed him lightly, resting her forehead against his.

[Lone Star]

Blake grinned back at her, and suddenly pushed her over on her back. He kneeled over her, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Cute and a good kisser. Can't forget that." he said with a wink. He slowly lowered himself on top of her, straddling her. Blake then started to kiss her neck, gently.

[Raveled]

Jessica opened her mouth in a wordless cry as Blake pushed her over, her heart beating faster seeing him above her like this. Before long their bodies were pressed together and she started making small needy noises, her breath coming in short gasps, her chest moving up and down. One hand braced her against the ground as the other came around to hold Blake's head -- and keep him from going too low.

[Lone Star]

Blake sighed in pleasure as he moved his mouth to hers. He was straddling her waist, and he had both of his hands on the blanket. His heart beat against hers. The sun peeked from out of the clouds, and was soon in full view. A bead of sweat appeared on Blake's forehead as he kissed her, his tongue moving into her mouth. Wow...this is incredible.

[Raveled]

Jessica's skin felt electric, and somehow two sizes too small as she moved against Blake's grip. Their tongues and lips tangled together, and her hands wandered across his back. For a time she lay there under him, content to feel him on her and let her imagine wander.

Her eyes opened when she felt a hard shoe nudging her shoulder, and when her eyes tracked upwards she saw an older man in a blue uniform, with a gun on his hip and a badge on his uniformed chest. Jessica squeaked against Blake's mouth and slapped his back a few times, frantically trying to get his attention.