Warning One-Twelve [Peter Ballard, 001]

007 : Minus One

You couldn't be sure of exactly how long you had been staring in the mirror.

Your skin was cold to the touch, but every aspect of your physical being felt so entirely hot. burning, imprinting nothing but heat to your senses.

There was anything you would rather admit than the very apparent fact you knew all of the overwhelming thoughts your mind was drifting towards all circled back to Peter himself.

  A shaky breath releases itself from the cages of your lips. It reminded you you were fully in reality, no hint of  your abilities seeping their qualities into your terrorized mind.

In all honesty, you didn't know what to think anymore. About the Lab, Peter, even yourself.

You wanted so badly to blame Peter, his calming tones, his careful gaze, the way his hands would graze your skin before settling in their hold to make sure you were comfortable with him.

But beyond that, he was still a mystery. Something so concerningly unknown that it left you on edge and aware whenever you found yourself in his presence. something about him was so off-setting. Despite everything he's done and put for for you so far, You couldn't help but assume there was something beneath his demeanor.

So imperfect.

What also happened to be imperfect, was none other that the very obvious reason you found yourself standing before the reflective surface for god knows how long.

Unsymmetrical marks, left scattered all along your collarbones, making up the space where your necklace would have been. You press a finger at the discolorations, not painful to the touch.

What more left you standing there euphoric was knowing very well Peter had been to mark you like that. You remembered the feeling of his lips pressed against your skin, water running paths down your body. The careful work of his hands to hold you against him, A side of his mystery you'd never before seen unreleased.

You were letting yourself get too far carried away.

It hadn't been more than an hour surely, but even the act of putting on your gown you had left sloppily thrown on the counter felt as if it took ages. Your own fingers brushing against your body only made you fantasize Peter's touch on you further. The countless times you dreamed of experiences just like the one before could not compare to how you felt, knowing it had actually occurred.

You had been so entirely close to letting yourself fall to a mess for Peter Ballard.

The Orderly.

The only person you have trusted so much while still being so wary of him at the same time.

Tugging your gown to fit over your body, you finally let you eyes break their own contact in the mirror. Instead, you let them fall to where you had been staring for so long, noticing the subtle view of your collarbones below the scratchy fabric.

Every single mark Peter's lips had left adorning your skin were perfectly concealed below your gown. Just centimeters away from the hem of the neckline, yes, but hidden all the same.

He had obviously planned that. No coincidence could have the chances to be exact as that. There was nothing that slipped his mind when it came to you.

Not one thing.

You were exiting the washrooms with exactly one thing.

Peter's ring nestled into the palm of your hand.

You felt as if you left your mind, and any sense of reality in the shower since you had first entered. leaving with them seemed impossible. You couldn't think. Not for yourself. Every blank screen your mind put forth quickly morphed into that imperfectly familiar face.