Home Sweet Home

[Anna]

Anna kept her mind occupied with the show and Cade's warmth. It still made her laugh. They seemed to keep getting closer, and Anna liked it. The lights would occasionally flicker. Anna could feel herself getting scared about the storm, but she kept herself focused in other ways.

The episode ended and the lights flickered a few times before going out completely. Anna let out a nervous breath before she wove a ball of light, bright enough to light the room, but dim enough to not blind them. She tied off the weave so she didn't have to hold onto it. She wasn't sure how long it would last before she would have to do it again.

Anna stood and grabbed another blanket. The heat would likely be going out as well without the power, they could use the actual warmth. Anna climbed back under the blanket, snuggling up close to Cade as she wrapped the blankets around them and pulled it up to her neck. Anna was shaking a little bit, feeling scared about the storm, not about the lack of light.

"The power is out. We'll be okay," she said, a pretend smile on her face. She was scared and knew it, but maybe if she faked it, she wouldn't be so scared.

[Cade]

The power was out. Their entertainment gone. Cade wished he could sing or play the guitar or something to fill the silence. He knew Anna was scared and the silence could get awkward fast huddled under a blanket together.

"Wine and Truth or Dare?" he asked. He got up from their warm little nest and got the bottle of wine and two glasses. "We just can't drink too much, but it'll loosen the tongue a little." He knew it was dangerous -- but having Anna here was already dangerous. And under the same blanket was even more dangerous and here he was. It wasn't wrong to want a little more.

[Anna]

Anna was shaking a bit, but Cade came to the rescue. He offered wine and a game as a distraction. Wine and truth or dare. Both things were okay - together they would be dangerous. Anna knew Cade would know that. She wondered if this was a sign that he was open to them being more. A fun way to work into it. She didn’t know. It was hard to focused because she was scared, and Cade’s game would be a good distraction. And she could play it innocently.

”Okay,” she said, accepting the glass of wine and taking a sip.

She kept a hold of her glass - the only part of her besides her head outside the blanket. It had been a long time since she had played. ”It was your idea - you ask first!” she said, allowing a smile to come to her face despite the fear.

He gave her a smile ”Truth or dare?”

She thought for a moment, but wasn’t brave enough for a dare. ”Truth.”

[Cade]

Cade knew it could get dangerous. Maybe he was waiting for it. Anna sipped at her wine and then asked for a truth. He pretended that he had to think about what he really wanted to know like he was pressing for a really tough question. He was sorta. But not really it was supposed to be fun. And distracting.

Cade took a long sip of his wine and set his glass down and turned towards her wide eyed and asked. "What is a rule or law that you’ve broken, but you’d do it again in a heartbeat because it was the right thing to do" Could he answer the question? He wasn't sure. But he waited for Anna to answer with eager childlike curiosity -- it was part of the game for him. He liked learning about people.

[[ Truth ]]

[Anna]

Anna smiled and thought about his question. What rule had she broken and would break again in a heartbeat because it was the right thing to do. It was actually difficult because she was (generally) well behaved. But she, like most people, had limits.

”Hmmm….” she hummed in thought. ”I was a kid and I stole from a store because my friend was hungry and had no money. I’d do it again in a heartbeat.”

She took a larger sip of her wine, and was no longer shaking. Cade asked for a truth and she considered for a moment, wondering what she wanted to know. ”what is the most inventive excuse you’ve used to get out of plans.”

[[Dare]]

[Cade]

Cade nodded, that is a good reason to both do it and to do it again. He wasn't sure if he would -- but he was never put in that situation either.

He grinned as she gave him his question. He wasn't exactly sure how to answer it either. He leaned back against the arm of his side of the couch, his head hung over the side as he stared up at the ceiling. "I suppose my kid had cancer doesn't work." It wasn't inventive not really it was a hard truth -- and it was his reality for a long time but it was mostly a joke. And it had been an excuse. "I once told a girlfriend in highschool who I was about to break up with I was washing my hair. Even though I was going out with my friend and his sister who I secretly had a crush on."

He sat up and asked "Truth or Dare?"

Anna's answer surprised him. It was still early but she went for it. "Dare"

"Take a picture of us sitting her under the blanket sipping wine and post it to your most used social, but the caption has to be totally and completely wrong. And you can't explain it until after the storm is over." He grinned. He had an idea of what she might say, but he wasn't going to prompt anything.

[[truth]]

[Anna]

She grinned. It was a good dare. Nothing crazy or anything. You had to work towards the crazy stuff. Although she wasn’t sure that it would get to crazy. This was safe. She took another sip of her wine and got close to take the selfie.

”Alright - pose!” she said with a bright smile.

Anna snapped the picture, but as she did, she felt Cade’s lips press on her cheek in a kiss. The look of surprise on her face was golden. The kiss was sweet and she definitely liked it, but the surprise caused her to jump a bit, prompting Cade to spill his wine all over them.

Anna wasn’t angry or upset. She began to laugh in surprised amusement. Her shirt was covered in wine and she didn’t care at all. To her it was incredibly funny. She wasn’t afraid anymore. She was completely distracted from the storm.

Cade was beginning to apologize, but she stopped him. ”It’s fine, it’s fine. No harm done,” she said between laughs. ”Got to finish my dare.” she giggled as he open her social to post the picture. She wrote the caption: Team Building Exercise Complete

Anna put her glass down on the table, wondering what people would make of it. Especially since he kissed her cheek. She got her laughter under check before asking him ”My turn. Truth or dare?”

”Truth.”

She thought again. ”What was your first impression of me?” she was already planning to ask for another dare. She had liked that one a lot.

[[Dare]]

[Cade]

There was spilled wine everywhere. The couch, the blanket, their clothes. While Anna didn't care that she was covered in wine, everything was going to stain. He fussed with the blankets and he wanted to offer a change of clothes or they'd start to ferment. And that could be even worse.

But they continued the game none-the-less but Cade fussed with the blankets and his clothes. He was clearly uncomfortable and she asked a question that made it even worse. "He said I don't know. I was a little obsessed with Nox at the time. You were nice, friendly, caring. Pretty. But my eyes were still slammed shut." He admitted.

He fussed again with the damp shirt and blankets as he asked. "Truth or Dare?"

Her answer was just as daring as the words. "Dare."

Cade had a thought. He grinned mishceiviously. "Go through my closet and find the silliest thing to wear." He didn't have anything to hide and it gave Anna permission to snoop but more importantly it got her out of the sticky fermenting clothes and he could clean up the living room while he waited.

[[dare]]

[Anna]

Cade was uncomfortable with the mess. He was so like his brother in that. Anna felt a little bad for laughing, but all she had meant was he shouldn’t feel bad about the spilling. ”Heya - I hope I don’t come across as I didn’t care. I just needed to laugh. Thank you Cade.” the tanks was for more than the laugh, but she didn’t know if he would pick up on that or not.

She gave him a smile for his dare and moved to find clothes in his closet to change into some of his clothes. Something silly…well his closet was full of normal guy stuff. Lots of suits and ties. There was a dress or two and a kids costume. Family memories. Those were off limits.

Well there wasn’t much she could do but mismatch stuff. First she removed her clothes and took out a black suit coat, a light blue shirt, and a pair of khaki pants. She put the pants on first - backwards and used a belt to keep them up. Then came the shirt. She put that on the right way but didn’t tuck it in. The buttons were lined up crooked giving it an off kilter look. Then she put on the coat and used a robe belt to tie it shut. She tied a neck tie around her head in a makeshift bandana. Then she put on a pair of his shoes - too big, but they’d stay on at least.

She finally came out carrying her dirty shirt and pants to see Cade putting the blankets over the chairs to dry without his shirt on. She may have looked a little longer than normal at that. Then she remembered. It almost embarrassed her that she hadn’t thought of it before. ”Wait!” she said, the urgency in her tone somewhat softened by her odd outfit. ”I can get the wine out!”

Then she did it. She had seen Liv do it before. All it took was water and Anna was good at water. She used it to pull wine out of the blankets and couch. All good as new. ”Im sorry,” she said with a chuckle. ”I just remembered how to do that. she deposited the dirty wine in the sink.

She smiled then. ”So what do you think?” she did a turn as best as she could with big shoes.

She let him comment before continuing. ”Alright, go get changed and then we can continue. This is helping a lot Cade.” it was distracting and fun.

Cade went to his room and changed and when he came out she asked ”Truth or dare”

This time he went for it and picked the dare. ”Alright,” she smirked. ”You sir, are going to let me paint your nails.”

[[Truth]]

[Cade]

Now she says something. He wouldn't have gone through the whole thing. Though he grinned and fought back a giggle in her silly outfit. He kinda liked seeing her in his clothes. It had been a while.

"Okay. I'll be right back." He went into his bedroom and grabbed a plain white t-shirt, it was probably a size too small or shrank in the washer, and a zipper hoodie. He didn't wear them often but he was comfortable and he wanted to stay warm, though he didn't zip it up. The shirt hadn't been a conscious decision, but after he tugged it on there was a sort of thrill that ran through Cade's body -- one that he hadn't felt in a while.

He came back out with another few blankets from the bed -- no telling how cold it would get before the heat went out completely. Or the snow started to take away the warmth of the inside. He hated the cold.

He sat back down with Anna and got read for his own Dare. He wasn't particularly worried -- it wasn't the first time he'd had his nails painted. "Purple if you don't mind." It was his son's favorite color.

He held out his hands and let her work as he asked his next question since she choose truth "Is there any part of you that's actually glad the power is out right now because it gives you an excuse to just sit here?"

[[ Dare ]]