15252/Miles to Go Before I Sleep

Miles to Go Before I Sleep
Date of Scene:	28 June 2023
Location:	Eve's Apartment
Synopsis:	Eve invites Miles over for pizza, and the two of them spend some time getting to know each other until they both fall asleep.
Cast of Characters:	Eve Wilkins, Miles Morales

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Eve Wilkins has posed:
Miles got the texts from Eve later that evening, around 6PM.

>> Hey. I'm sorry I had to run.
>> Everything's fine.
>> Pizza?
>> Yes, I'm bribing you with food. Again.

Miles Morales has posed:
Miles had just finished a report on bio molecular fission.

God, what a pain.

It's only when his phone buzzes that he looks at it, THWIP!-ing his phone to him with a simple web-line and 'YOINK!' maneuver to get it into his hands to see Eve's texts. He breathes a sigh of relief before he's typing back.

>> Hey, please don't worry about it. I was worried about you.
>> I'd love some pizza.
>> I think I'd take a bribe no matter what from you :P Where to?

Eve Wilkins has posed:
Eve doesn't live in one of the college dorms. Unless you already had one and had special permission, you couldn't move in until fall, and she hadn't even been officially accepted in fall, yet. It all depended on whether or not she could get her math grade up.

She also didn't have a lot of money. So, she didn't live in one of the nice high-rises in Metropolis-proper. She lived just off campus in the high-crime student-housing area. The duplex wasn't exactly a dump. All of the doors and windows locked. But, if you saw your kid living there, you probably wouldn't want them living there for much longer.

Despite the exterior, though, the inside is... nice. Not super-rich nice, but /clean/. Cleaner that you'd expect it to be. All of the furniture looked new and comfortable. The floors were hard wood in the living area, tile in the kitchen and bedroom, and soft carpet in the bedroom. The bed was the things dreams are made of, with four posts and super fluffy white bedding.

So, don't judge a book by its cover, is maybe the moral of this story?

Eve is sitting on the couch, phone in hand, her shoes kicked off near the door and her legs crisscrossed underneath her. And she's smiling at the messages.

>> I'll remember that. ;)
>> <address>
>> What do you like on your pizza? I'll have it by the time you get here.

And she would, because once she got the answer, she'd be getting up to 'make' it. And, by make it, she meant to take a random cardboard Amazon box she had and fill it with scraps of old scrap homework worksheets.

Reduce. Reuse. Recycle. She set it on the kitchen counter, and with a little roll of her wrist (a bright pink glow) the old empty delivery box was transformed into a delivery pizza box full of pizza. Why pay for delivery when you can just transform it?

She warms it up with another roll of her wrist once she hears the knock on the door, and then she's bouncing over to pull it open, smiling.

"Hey. Come on in."

Miles Morales has posed:
Miles is from Brooklyn, NYC baby!

Sometimes you gotta slump it. At the moment, he was rooming with one of his best friends Ganke while he was spending the summer in Metropolis for summer classes, but he's still in his chair, smiling at the messages Eve texts him.

His eyes widen when he gets an address and his fingers tap-tap-tap his iPhone screen:

>> I'm on my way :)
>> I'm basic! I'll just have pepperoni. Thanks!

Maybe he'll even come back in time to pay! "Ganke! I'm headed out. If we get a response about the reference format, lemme know!" And Miles practically SPRINTS out the door. Because a woman like Eve? You don't keep her waiting! Of course, Miles cheats in his transportation. He swings across the city with THWIPS of his webs, until eventually he lands in an alleyway and he stuffs the mask in his backpack.

He knocks on her door.

A quick breath taken and he tries to get a look at his hair before he straightens out to see Eve. Just the sight of her made him smile.

"Hey."

He keeps his full attention on her for a second and he walks on inside, whistling as he looks around. "Wow. You have a seriously nice place! Way better than mine, at least. Probably quieter." And the scent of pizza fills his nose. "Aww yes! Spoiling me rotten arn't you?" He sets his backpack down and he steps towards Eve.

"Thanks for having me over." He means that, genuinely, as he meets her eyes.

Eve Wilkins has posed:
"That was fast!" Though, judging from the quirk in Eve's smile and the winkle in her eye as she closes the door after him, that's not exactly a complaint. "The pizza only got here a few minutes ago. It's nice and warm." Then there's the click as the door closes and the *thunk* of the deadbolt sliding into place.

The whistle, though, has her laughing and looking around, herself. It was easy to keep the place clean when you could literally just go through and rearrange the atoms so that it looked like new again.

"Thanks! I guess I kind of lucked out, in some ways."

It may be a small point to some people, but it's worth noting that if the transcript of this conversation were played back at a much later date, it would be hard to catch Eve in what is /technically/ a lie. There were omissions. There was phrasing meant to lead someone to a certain conclusion. But, she didn't like to lie. Especially not to someone like Miles. There's not even a logo on the pizza box. It's just generic brown cardboard that looks like it was dropped off by a delivery driver instead of frozen.

"I mean, it's not like I'm not getting anything out of the deal."

Tutoring. She meant tutoring, right?

But that glint in her eyes is warm, and she steps up to Miles when he steps towards her, meeting him half-way and slipping her arms up around his neck to pull him into a hug. It's not like the goodbye from ice cream (their first date) or the greeting at Big Belly Burger (their almost-second date). This hug lingers, and it has her cheek pressing against, the lightly sweet floral scent of her hair filling her nose because there was just so much of that red mane it was hard to avoid.

When she is finally settling back again, there's a playful grin on her lips. "Come on. Let's get some pizza. There's bottles of soda, juice, and water in the fridge. Help yourself. Just throw them in the recycling can when you're done with them."

Miles Morales has posed:
"I get that a lot! Really. I mean, tests, chores, math meets, quiz bowls...way, way too often." Miles tells her with a big smile, he makes no remark that she locked the door behind him. Home security is no joke!

Her laughter could lift the most seeped souls out of the darkness and look up with hope for tomorrow. "I know I did." Lucked out, a blatant flirt towards her. If it hadn't been for that bully? Miles and Eve wouldn't be talking right now. And if it wasn't for ice cream?

They wouldn't be looking at each other like that.

So Miles firmly believes himself the lucky one. He chuckles as she thinks she's getting something out of the deal. "Sure, sure. But I'm getting something out of the deal too. A /seriously/ good pizza by the smell of it. Okay, but you have to answer me honestly, how do you feel about pineapples on pizza? Oh yes, there's a right answer."

His playfully narrowed eyes soften though as they meet each other in the middle. His brown eyes look into her gorgeous green ones, and as her arms lift, his arms lower to curl themselves around her waist and pull her tightly to himself. It lasts. Their cheeks press together for that warmth and her scent fills his nose. Floral. He should've brought flowers. His own scent was surprisingly pleasant. He was wearing something that smelled a lot like the ocean breeze.

He could hold her forever, but eventually his arms soften and he lets her be flat footed, his eyes glimmering towards hers. "Let's do it." And now it's his turn to initiate. He reaches for her hand to take into his own if she so desires, and he'll lead her into the kitchen. "See? Spoiling me rotten. Should we watch something while we eat or talk?" He smiles at her, an eagerness to learn more about Eve Wilkins. "Recycling it is!"

Eve Wilkins has posed:
She was about to answer that oh-so-critical question when their hug began, and then her train of thought had been derailed.

Eve's eyes close during that hug, and it lasts longer than anyone would assume is purely 'friendly.' The scent of him was... intoxicating. Tropical? Fresh. Clean. Masculine. He could probably feel the way her lungs filled with air, savoring that scent.

Once they do part and he reaches for her hand, she's happy to slip her fingers into his, slender digits slightly cool to the touch, and she goes with him, apparently happy to let him lead, even in her own place.

"Could you grab me one of the sodas?" she asks, giving his fingers a last, gentle squeeze before releasing him so she can collect plates (actual, real plates instead of paper plates) and pull off a couple of slices onto each one.

"Let's talk. I mean, we can always switch to watching a movie once you get tired of listening to me ramble." She smirks and sets the plates aside, but as she's grabbing the napkins, she seems to remember...

"Oh. Only monsters put pineapples on pizza," Eve says defiantly, straightening her posture a little as she stares him in the eyes with a dangerously taunting look in her eyes and a smile on her lips. "Fight me." And while she might /seem/ to try to provoke a fight, there's something so... playful. Almost like she wanted him to fight her. Or try. Whichever it was, there was no fear in her eyes -- only affection.

Miles Morales has posed:
Miles's nose is firmly pressed between her neck and her shoulder, drinking in her scent and memorizing it. It's the only scent he wants to smell - it's intoxicating. But instead of a comment about the pineapples and their status, he just holds her.

Reminds her that she can feel safe and secure when he's around.

When he sets her down, he gets to hold her hand. His cheeks flush as their digits intertwine and connect, his own warm - almost hot - by comparison. He leads her into the kitchen, giving her hand that squeeze before he does indeed grab her a soda.

"Any in particular I'd do you only have one kind?" He asks her with a smile, curious as to her preferences to learn more about her. She causes a laugh when she mentions the joy of them just talking.

"Never. I like your voice. Even if you were saying nonsense, I'd at least listen to you for that alone." Miles winks at her.

"Oh Thabk God."

He leans forward, putting his forehead on her shoulder. "That was the correct answer. Ever watch the Last Crusade? You have chosen...wisely." He let's her grab pizza slices, and honestly...

He feels bold.

He turns his head and leans to try and press a soft kiss to her cheek. One kiss deserves another!

Eve Wilkins has posed:
"Coke's fine. Or Pepsi. Whatever I have in there. It might have just said Cola..."

/I like your VOICE?!/

Pink colors Eve's cheeks as heat rises into them, and she brings a hand up to run her fingers through her hair. Her heart beats a little harder, and her eyes shift. It wasn't like she was new to the whole dating thing, but guys she usually fell for were never so... sweet. Then again, she wasn't exactly used to dating mathletes.

And then he's there, on her shoulder, and her arms wrap around his shoulders out of instinct. Out of.. affection.

She laughs in relief when he /doesn't/ want to fight her, and the sound is so genuine. So free. So.. happy.

Her fingers settle on the back of his neck, and when he gets bold, those lips don't find her cheek. They find her lips. She'd turned, once more instinct taking over and feeling him move, her fingers on the back of his neck guiding her as much as the shift of the weight of his body, until she's clinging there, her mouth against his, her breath caught in a kiss that was -- though perhaps not entirely unexpected in the long term -- unplanned in the short term.

But not unwelcome. Not at all, at least, from her perspective.

Miles Morales has posed:
"Coke it is!" Miles grabs two cokes out of the fridge and sets them on the counter for their convenience. Yes, it's the only kind of soda he could find but he won't admit that! It was easier and he likes coke, so it works out!

He manages to get her to blush! Red, rosy colors coloring her features like find paint and helping outline her sharp, modelesque features. He rests his head on her shoulder and he feels her arms lift to accept him.

Instinct takes over. His hands settle on her hips, finding a steady grip there. His head had turned to kiss her cheek and a surprised inhale of breath when his lips instead find hers! He can feel his heart threatening to beat out of his chest, but she encourages him. Fingers on the back of his neck guide him closer. He shifts with her until they are front to front, lips molding perfectly with hers as if they belonged there. His hands settle with one on her lower back and the other lifting to up the back of her neck to solidify them both.

"Mmm..."

His lips dare to part, inviting her for more. He clings to her...and he really doesn't want to let go.

Eve Wilkins has posed:
Door left open? Eve walks straight through it. That connection and intensity only seems to intensify when Miles's arms wrap around her, drawing her in closer. She draws in a breath through her nose, and then it seems to still entirely as she kisses him, her tongue escaping to explore..

And for a while, time seems to lose all meaning. It's just the two of them, lost together. Until one of them finally begins to draw away.. and this time? This time, it's Eve. It's slow, her lips gradually retreating, her posture leaning gently back. Not suddenly or abruptly. Not at all upset. Just.. taking the moment to catch her breath, to open her eyes again and look at him.

And for that moment, gazing into his eyes, there are no words. She leans forward slightly, her nose lifting to nuzzle gently against the side of his and then lean back again, still staring.

"I'm.. glad you decided to ask me out."

The words finally leave her mouth as little more than a whisper, and there's a bit of irony that carries in her eyes and her smile, the memory of having to coax that request out of him playing as clearly across her features as if it were a memory.

Miles Morales has posed:
Her tongue escapes to explore...

And Miles receives her with open arms. He tastes her, and in that moment they connect far more intimately than the other had initially intended. He keeps her so tight against him that he forgets to breathe after a moment, he remembers and he slowly exhales. When she slowly pulls away, his lips find themselves trying to pursue her for only the briefest moment before he remembers himself. His eyes open...and they peer into the infinity of her own.

"That..w.as..." She nudges his nose, and he nudges hers right back. "Absolutely amazing."

He keeps his eyes so firmly on hers that he forgets his own name for a minute. "Me too." He whispers right back to her. No cheap quip, no joke. All seriousness as he finds himself trapped with her. Yet it's a place he puts himself willingly because there's truly no place he'd rather be.

"Eve...I really like this." He admits to her, a moment of vulnerability escaping him. "...can I be your boyfriend?"

Eve Wilkins has posed:
It wasn't a moment to laugh. It was risky, and it could easily be taken defensively -- like Eve was laughing /at/ him. But it's the farthest thing from it. When that innocent, vulnerable question escapes Miles's lips, that laugh bubbles up out of Eve's lips before she can help it, but it's.. happy.

How can he tell? Her eyes never leave his, and there's nothing malicious at all in them.

"I... haven't been asked that since the fourth grade," she points out, but even still, there's nothing malicious in her tone. She hasn't left him. Her fingers gently stroke the back of his neck, still clinging to him.

"I /think/, Miles.. you might already be."

Humor still plays in her green eyes, but she leans forward again, letting them sink closed as she kisses him again -- not quite as deeply as before, but tentative and tender in its own way.

And when she leans back again, she looks at him with that same amusement.

"I guess this really does mean we should really grab a slice talk, though. It's kind of embarrassing to have a boyfriend that I know barely anything about."

Miles Morales has posed:
Eve is laughing.

Luaghing at him? No...of course not. There's no reason why she'd laugh at him. But at the same time, it was such an innocent question that Miles didn't know what else to do but laugh with her. Only then does he sees the joy in her eyes. The mischief that often dance within them. There's no malice in her eyes, no hatred.

No dislike.

"Then I'm happy to ask you now that we're both in college." Miles remarks with a bit of joy in his eyes. Her fingers are still dancing along the back of his neck and she hasn't gone away. Miles keeps her in his arms, his fingers dancing along her lower back as he holds her there in that moment.

"Thank God."

They meet again, his eyes closing slowly as they kiss again. First kiss together...and so quickly the second. It's much briefer than before, yet it doesn't lack in tenderness or passion. Finally, they pull away, and he smiles.

"I agree. I feel like I barely know anything about my girlfriend. Like...where are you from? What's your favorite band?"

Eve Wilkins has posed:
Eve seems almost... breathless. Surprised, but in a good way, that ever-present smile of hers lingering as she looks up into Miles's eyes.

"Ooohkay. Right. The important questions," she teases. How did /this/ conversation even work? She'd never had a boyfriend that didn't know she was Atom Eve.

But she /wasn't/ Atom Eve, anymore.

Right?

"Come on. Let's go sit down," she says, turning with him and pulling him just a few steps towards the pizza with her. She lets that smile linger on her lips, and she doesn't pull away until she absolutely has to, grabbing one of the plates, one of the napkins, and one of the cokes. Then she's on her way to the living room, apparently expecting Miles to follow her.

She takes up residence on the couch just as she had been when she was texting up. Legs folded up criss-cross in front of her, she sets her plate in her lap, tucks her napkin under her thigh, and cracks open her coke, setting it aside. Apparently, she wasn't worried about staining anything.

"So, I guess the first thing you should know about me is that my first name is Samantha," she says, smiling. "My middle name is Eve. So.. it's really Samantha Eve Wilkins. But, pretty much only my parents call me Samantha. Or, at least, that's the way it used to be. After high school, I took a year off to go to Africa and volunteered to help some small communities that were struggling."

She pauses, then, and lifts her slice of pizza in front of her.

"San Francisco," she says. "But, we moved to Happy Harbor, and that's where I went to high school." Then her eyes lift to the ceiling for a moment. "Band is hard. I'll have to get back with you on that one. What about you?"

And then she's diving into that slice.

Miles Morales has posed:
"The important questions." Miles offers her. But...if she was worried about him finding out if she was Atom Eve...how the hell is he going to tell her that she's Spider-Man? She looked SO UNCOMFORTABLE during a conversation about how each of them could be heroes, to stand up for what's right...is the conversation going to change if she finds out he's an /active/ hero? She may be retired, but...would their fresh relationship endure such a revelation?

"Yes ma'am."

He's pulled with her, a smile on his face. Though as she brings him towards the couch, he takes a seat and he accepts a plate and a coke from her, cracking open the soda and resting his plate in his lap. Yet, he hears a massive thing by itself: her first name isn't eve. It's Samantha. "Samantha Eve Wilkins." Miles smiles. "Beautiful name." He tells her softly. "You went to Africa to help people? That's....wow, that's cooler than anything I'm doing or have done." Of course, he doesn't know that she did SO MUCH for them. "...can I ask why only your parents call you Samantha? Name preference or...?"

He realizes it's something EXTREMELY personal, but...he clears his throat. "You don't have to answer that if you don't want to." He gives her an out.

He takes a bite, two bites of his pizza. Then he's looking at Eve with a smile. "I'm from Brooklyn, New York. My dad's a police officer, my mom's stay at home. Dad got transferred to Gotham City to help even out the police force there so we had to move to New Jersey which...I can't get over." Miles smirks at her. "Honestly, I really like Post Malone. I know it's kinda weird. Metro Boomin' is growing on me."

He hums. "I've always wanted to visit California, never really ahd the chance! Okay, okay...you ask me something now."

Nothing like twenty questions with your girlfriend!

Eve Wilkins has posed:
Eve swallows her bite and dabs at the corners of her mouth as she listens, completely engaged in the conversation.

"Thank you," she muses, but it's the option to not answer that has her smiling. "Look, I'm not like a relationship expert or anything. I actually haven't had very good luck in that area at all.. so.. maybe, what do I know? But, um.. if your boyfriend asks you a direct question, I feel like it deserves an honest answer."

There's a little shrug then.

"So, probably because I'm the stereotypical rebellious teenager?" she asks, laughing softly. "Honestly, I think it was just.. easier." Easier why? Well, probably because it's shorter! Definitely not because her closest friends already called her Atom Eve, so it just sort of caught on. "It's not really a preference. You can call me either."

She takes another bite as she listens to the story about his parents.

"Mmm," she says as she's swallowing that bite. "We could go some time. I could show you around the west coast. I mean, it's a long flight," especially when she was /literally/ flying and not in a plane, "but I miss it, sometimes."

Ask him a question. Hmmmmm.

"Tell me about your last girlfriend."

If there was ever a question to root out who a man was.. this was the one.

Miles Morales has posed:
Miles has some time to brush his face a little bit of pizza toppings with a napkin. Unlike Eve's pristine manners, Miles fully wipes at his face with the napkin. Different origins? Most definitely. Does it matter in this instance? Absolutely not. But he made her smile with some measure of mercy and she had a beautiful one, but it was unnecessary for him to like her.

So far? Eve's more than enough.

"Me neither." He chuckles. "But, I like that outlook."

She suggests that she was a rebellious tenenager. Easier for her. "Well...I like Sam. It's a beautiful name. Plus...maybe it'd be nice if someone other than your parents called you that. Or...at least maybe in private, if that's ok? I really like Eve too. So...I guess I'll leave it up to you because I want to call you something that's so cutesy you might hurl." Miles smiles at her.

"Sure. I'd love that. I'm sure we can figure something out!"

Then the moment of truth: tell her about his last girlfriend.

"Can't say I've had any to talk of. This is uh..." He facepalms. "..my first relationship." Which means...SO many implications. "Just promise you don't think I'm lame? I assume you've had a last boyfriend?"

Eve Wilkins has posed:
Eve -- er, Sam -- laughs once more, that blush returning to her cheeks. "You can call me Sam, if you want. It's.. not like it's a secret identity or anything. I've... never had anyone want to."

Actually, the more time she spent thinking about it, the more it seemed to grow on her. She really /wasn't/ used to anyone besides her parents calling her Samantha. It was.. kind of special that Miles wanted to.

"Nicknames are fine, but if you start calling me sugar-buns or schmoopie, we're going to talk." There's humor in those green eyes of hers, but also a measure of dangerous truth that's only amplified by the predatory curl of one corner of her lips.

And then.. /my first relationship/.

"Oh. So, no pressure on me to get it right for you, then?" Sam laughs, eyes twinkling. "I don't think it's lame. I.. don't understand /how/. You're.. handsome, smart, kind..." But then.. her last boyfriend.

"Ah." Her smile faulters. "Yeah. Rex. I.. caught him cheating on me with one of my friends. It's a long story. Ultimately it's part of the reason I needed to just.. get away once I graduated. We were all at Happy Harbor High."

Miles Morales has posed:
"Sam it is. I like Sam."

Miles admits. "I wish I had a different name for you to call me by. My middle name is Gonzalo...which makes me sound like a magician or something." He chuckles a little bit, that rosiness coming to his cheeks too. BUt it was special for him to call her Sam too. Because that gives her one more person with that esteemed rarity. She makes that much-warmed threat that she would take him out for a 'talk' if he gave her a nickname too throw-up worthy. "You know...I get that."

"So I'll let you decide nicknames then." He chuckles as he takes a bite of his food.

"Not really, no." Miles seems to joke with her. "You're being sweet on me, surely...I uh, justn ever had that much luck until now, I guess." But his heart falls when he hears what happened to her last relationship. "Sounds like a real piece of work. I'm sorry that happened to you. But, if I meet him, I can thank him for messing up so I could date you now. So...silver lining?" He tries, he really does.

"But that still really sucks."

Eve Wilkins has posed:
"And I like Miles," Sam says. And there's /so/ much in her smile when she says it. "I'll come up with something besides Miles and Nerd to call you, eventually. I mean, I could always call you Hollywood." A beat, then, one eyebrow lifting to see if he gets it. "Your initials /are/ M-G-M."

But then there's the mention of the boyfriend, and she shrugs.

"Ah. Maybe.. don't do that. Besides, I'll be happy if I never see him again. But, just do me a favor? And if you're ever going to skip out on a funeral so you can bone one of my friends in the shower? Just.. give me a heads up so I don't walk in on you."

She wrinkles her nose.

"It's fine, though. It was a couple of years ago. I'm not still bitter." Yes, she was. Very bitter.

She pauses.

"If you could be at a party with your friends or sitting on some perfect spot all by yourself, which would you pick?"

Miles Morales has posed:
"I'm glad you do." She offers the name of Hollywood and Miles laughs. "As long as I know you're referring to me, I think that's a good one. Should I call you 'Red'?" Miles suggests to her with a soft smile touching his features, but they return to the topic of what happened to the last boyfriend.

Nasty business.

"Never." Miles tells her softly. Confident in that. "I'm capable of a lot of things. I'm not capable of cheating, Sam." There's some seriousness in his voice, reaching to touch her hand softly. "But...I'll keep it in mind anyway, just to help you feel better." He leans in close enough to whisper. "It's okay if you are, I won't judge." He winks and he leans away.

"Tough pick! It really depends on the day. I feel like more often than not I'm the guy finding some perfect spot, you know? I was never the life of the party."

He considers. "How do you burn off steam?"

Eve Wilkins has posed:
"I'm used to being the pink one, so Red might be nice for a change every once in a while," Eve muses, eyes sparkling. And it isn't until she's said the words that she seems to realize it didn't make any sense, out of context like that. And the explanation wasn't exactly ideal.

"Oh. My favorite color is pink."

Right. That wraps that up neatly with bow and explains everything.

But then..

"If /I/ am?!" Oh, that would not stand. Semi-tossing the plate with her half-eaten pizza down on the table, she's lunging for him, fingers angling for his ribcage.. because there was no getting away, and she was serious about her tickle-attacks.

She's laughing, even as she attacks him. "By inviting my /boyfriend/ over for pizza," she answers, mid-tickle. Because admitting she went flying to burn off steam probably wasn't ideal, either.

Miles Morales has posed:
"The pink one?"

Mikes doesn't catch onto any kind of subtext that would involve her heroic persona of Atom Eve. It's only when she unveils her favorite color is pink that the dots connect. "Oohhhhh okay, that makes sense. My favorite colors are red and black. I like to pair them together. Plus...your hair is amazing. So...Red." It's a nice change!

She looks mad. Oh no did Mikes just win the world record for fastest break up?!

She pounces on top of him, her fingers attacking his rib cage as he starts manically laughing at the tickle attack. "SAM! Hahahaha S- I'm ticklish! Ah!" Miles flails as she stays on him, but he's not going to take this lying down!

His hands lunge for her stomach and sides! Tickling is a two-way game and this was war!

Eve Wilkins has posed:
Sam laughs heartily as she gets the advantage. She just can't keep it. As soon as Miles finds her tickle spots, she's in full retreat, squealing her way back off of him.

"Truce!" she croaks mid nearly-hysterical laughter.

But then she's pulling herself up against him again, stretching one leg out across his lap, and looping her arms around his neck.

One hand finds his cheek, and she gently coaxes him to face her as she leans in to kiss him, soft and slow, perfectly happy to just stay like that for the foreseeable future. And if, as they lost track of time and settled in there together, she curled up on him and they both fell asleep on the couch?

Well, she wouldn't mind that a bit. Nor would she be able to explain how the blanket appeared over them sometime in the middle of the night.