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So Alex moved in a few weeks ago and Morgan has tried her best not to rock the boat. They’re obviously friends now… to a degree. Alex at least enjoys her company enough to bum on her couch when his lair is destroyed. She lets him stay on the couch for a week before realizing that this whole “building a new base” thing might actually take a while and showed him the guest room. For someone whose home was supposedly destroyed, he sure had a lot of stuff when he moved in completely. (She’s gonna chalk that up to him being rich and replacing what he needs. For now.)
Things are still tense, it’s all still so new. They’re roommates now. And Morgan is letting Alex live here for free because it’s her building, but that gave her the right to make apartment rules and shit. But he’s Alex. And could kill her at the slightest provocation. She’s literally betting her life on him not doing that but it is making her second guess every word that comes out of her mouth.
So when she comes home to what is clearly a future murder site, she’s a little unsure how to proceed.
Rule: No blood on the everything. (Furniture, carpet, etc)
Well, Alex found a work around for that.
There was plastic everywhere. Even the ceiling had the semi-opaque plastic plastered to it. (Hopefully not literally plastered or she’ll be pissed.)
The furniture has all been moved against the walls, still covered anyways, (Jesus, how bloody is this about to get?) and in the center of the room was what she could only describe as a murder table. There were restraints to hold a person down and a button that Morgan guessed operated them. It was a cold metal, she’s guessing steel or maybe even shakanium.
And currently, there was a man strapped to it, crying and whimpering, while Alex did knife tricks standing next to him, monologuing a bit.
Deep breath. Ok how does she actually feel about this? Murder in her apartment.
Well, it’s probably going to happen, and frequently, whether she wants it to or not. So that point might be moot.
She does not like the serial killer vibes this set up has though. It’s giving her flashbacks to things she would really rather forget and that’s annoying.
She’s gonna say something. Damn it, she really shouldn’t. She should just give the two a wide birth and go to her room. Then maybe put on some noise canceling headphones and start blasting some music loud enough to damage her eardrums and drown out what is happening in her living room. Be grateful she didn’t get home any later and open the door to a bloody spectacle. But no. She’s gonna say something, like an idiot would. And risk her life because the plastic is making her uncomfy.
She closes the front door louder than she usually does to warn Alex that she’s coming. The last thing she wants is a startled Alex killing her because she accidentally snuck up on him.
Ok how does she say this? How does she say this?!
“Not to criticize your interior decorating skills, but um,” she pauses, unsure how to finish that sentence. When in doubt, play dumb? “It’s giving serial killer.”
She grimaced awkwardly. Yeah, duh.
Alex looks at her like she’s an idiot. She is an idiot, just not in the way he thinks right now.
“Really?” He said sarcastically. “I had no idea that putting semi-opaque industrial sheeting all over the room would give off a serial killer vibe.”
As he looks at her scornfully she can’t help but twitch and her eyes dart around the room and, for the first time, the victim. Oh, don’t look at her like that. She can’t help him, stop looking at her like she can.
“Well it does.” She responds dumbly, kind of distracted and forcing her eyes back to Alex’s, if only to no longer be looking at the room.
He raised an eyebrow and drawled, “I would like,” he makes a sweeping gesture and the victim with the hand holding the knife. “To draw your attention to the knife in my hand and the person currently restrained to the table in front of me.”
God fucking damn it, why did she have to say something? Playing dumb seems to be working, so she’ll keep going with that.
“Oh,” she widened her eyes dramatically. “Is that what— are you doing a serial killing right now?”
“Yeah, what did you think I was doing?” He asked incredulous. Not even thinking about the words coming out of her mouth Morgan replied:
“Honestly, I thought it was a kinky sex thing. Which is fine but maybe not the living room? This is a shared space.”
Alex looked disturbed. “It’s not.”
“Ok, I know that now. I didn’t before. Also, not crazy about serial killing in my living room. I have empty warehouses if you need one.”
Ok back to just mildly annoyed. Good.
“Look, can you just go? You’re kinda killing the mood.”
Hey, a dismissal. Great. Now all she has to do is keep her mouth shut and leave. But he said killing the mood and she can’t help herself!
“Oh, so it is a sex thing.” Damn her need to mercilessly mock whenever given the chance. This was not the time for that!
Alex stares at her in disbelief for a moment before clapping his hands. He pushed the button on the table. “You know what? You can go. I’m just gonna kill my roommate instead.”
Shit. She hears a snap and blacks out.
Alex cannot believe this chick. He knew she stood there watching for like three whole minutes before she finally came over and that’s what she had to say?
He was expecting some sort of complaint or some moral objection. But that?
He knows she’s oblivious sometimes but did she really think it was a sex thing? Or did she just want to deny what was happening?
He doesn’t get her. He never does. She’s just so.. surprising? Chaotic. It’s almost been a year of knowing her, a years worth of trying to figure her out, but he doesn’t feel any closer than when he started. He thought moving in would help but it’s been almost a month and the only thing he’s noticed is that he’s liking her more every day.
He’s not gonna kill her, he’s just gonna scare her. And probably maim her. But he’s not killing her yet, who would he play Mario kart with if he did?
As he lays her on the table and lines her limbs up with the restraints, a thought hits him. She looks kinda hot on his murder table.
His eyes widen and he takes a step back. Him and Morgan? It’s laughable. Yeah they make great friends, and she’s the only person not related to him that actually looks him in the eyes, but dating?
(Oh so now it’s dating? All he originally thought was she looked hot, when did that become dating?)
No, because that had to have been what his subconscious was implying. She’s not hot. (She’s a little hot. And isn’t beauty in the eye of the beholder?)
He looks at her, really looks. When did he start finding her attractive? When did he decide that her usually tangled hair was cute? That the fact that smile on her face when she welcomed him home was beautiful?
How the fuck did he not notice he wanted to fuck his room mate? He refuses to admit that he might have also developed feelings.
(He refuses to acknowledge the memory of the time he almost freaked out because she looked absolutely gorgeous and was about to go fuck a guy for information and he didn’t want to let her. He didn’t want anyone to see her looking like that, he didn’t want anyone else to touch her. And he had ignored it all and waved her off with a smile.)
He’s fucked. But he’s just gonna push all of that to the side for now. And go back to the thought that started that existential crisis. She looks hot trapped on his alter of death. Now what is he going to do about that?
She woke up aware that she was probably going to die. She tests her mobility and, yes, she is restrained. She’s on the table now. The cold metal giving her goose bumps on every inch of her bare skin. Wait a second.
Bare skin? Is she not wearing clothes anymore? Was it actually a fucking sex thing?
Wait, no, not completely bare. She’s still in her underwear. Oh fuck, what bra was she wearing today? What panties? God she hopes it’s not one of the ones with the cheap ass plastic lace that gets like a million holes in it.
Why does she care? She’s going to die.
“You know, when you said you were gonna kill your roommate, I was kinda hoping that you were joking.” She says conversationally.
Alex laughs, “No, no. Ha! No. I wasn’t.”
“Yeah, figured that out already. I’m on the fucking table. Oh look, so many knives. Do you really need that many knives to kill me?”
He shrugs, “You wouldn’t get it, it’s all part of the artistry.”
“Yeah, kinda reminds me of the first time someone tried to serial kill me.” She finally said what has been bothering her since she walked in. Alex froze. He leans, making sure they have direct eye contact.
“Someone has tried to serial kill you before?” There is judgement in his voice that she feels she doesn’t deserve.
“Let’s just say I’ve made some bad choices on who to date. Specifically in high school.” She doesn’t want to admit that she’s dated a second serial killer also by accident and also almost ended extremely badly. Morgan just wants to keep it to high school right now, save at least some of her dignity.
Alex looked incredibly amused.
“You were dating a serial killer?” He grinned.
“Yeah and they did not take the break up well.”
Alex, completely sidetracked by the drama, leaned in resting his arms on the table near her.
“Oh did you like find out and break up with them?”
Oh she wishes it was that normal.
“No, they were cheating on me.”
Alex gasps.
“They cheated on you and you broke up with them so they tried to serial kill you?” He sounded scandalized.
She grimaced. “Yeah.” Morgan glanced at the room around her. “It looked an awful lot like this. Plastic, table, knives. It was a whole mess.”
Alex frowned. “How close did they get?”
Why does that matter when you’re about to kill me anyways?
“Um, you can probably see the scars. He disemboweled me, but like gently. Do you know what vivisection is? It’s like an autopsy on a living person. He wasn’t aiming to break anything right away so I got to feel him literally rearrange my guts. He kept going on and on about how this would end if I just said I love him.” She rolled her eyes but really she just didn’t want to be looking at Alex as she said this.
“When I kept telling him to fuck off, he got mad. The quiet, crazy kind of mad. And then he said something about wanting to see if what they said in health class was true. If the intestines were actually super long when they aren’t coiled up in us. So he started pulling it out, started walking around the room as more and more intestine came out and—”
She cuts herself off. She was getting to lost in the memory.
Looking like he didn’t want to ask, Alex asks anyways. “And the killing you part?”
“Blood-loss. Duh. He may have not been puncturing organs but there was a giant open wound where my skin was supposed to be. He was just playing with me while I bled out.”
Alex’s face is carefully blank. (He can’t let her know how upset the thought of someone other than him killing her makes him. He called dibs damn it.)
“And you lived because?”
Morgan smiled. “Because I have an amazing sister who noticed when I didn’t come home from school and used her kitty cat senses to track me down.”
Alex has no words. Morgan does though and the shift in topic and tone is jarring.
“Not to be the one who reminds you about killing me but can we just not? I’ve kinda been there done that, ya know? Can we end the day here?”
“Oh are you bargaining? I love when they bargain for mercy.” The sadistic smile is back. He puffs up and gives her his serious villain face. “Now what could you possibly give me. What are you bringing to the table? Other than yourself, obviously, because I already have that.”
Did he mean it to sound that suggestive?
“So I can’t help but notice the other guy was fully clothed.” Morgan said, desperately trying to get him to not look at her body like that
Alex grins deviously. “And?”
“And? Why am I not?”
“Well…” he dragged the word out. “You kept insisting this was a sex thing. It kind of sounded like you wanted it to be. It could be, if that is what you were implying. What do you want, Morgan?”
“Out of the plastic ptsd room.” She said without hesitation. Not even blinking at what she assumed was fake flirting. If he thinks it’s that easy to throw her off her game then he’s wrong.
“Was that,” he frowns, “was that really your issue with it the whole time?”
“Yup! Like I said, empty warehouses, not my home. Go play Dexter somewhere else.”
“I’d hardly call it playing Dexter. He killed people who deserve to die. I’m not that kind.” He punctuated that with a too sharp smile. “But we are losing the point. What are you going to give me to let you go?”
She snorted.
“Is this the part where I swoon saying “defile my body, just please don’t kill me!”? Because I didn’t think you actually wanted that. But hey, you’re the one holding the knife, so go for it I guess.”
He looked her up and down, seemingly seriously considering it.
“It might be fun. I promise I won’t let you bleed out.”
She grimaced. “How gory is this gonna be? Are you carving shapes into my skin or are you fucking me with a knife? Because if it’s the second I’d rather die.”
He laughed. He wouldn’t mind carving his name into her, but one thing was holding him back.
“Are you going to be thinking about your ex the whole time? Cause that ruins it for me.”
“I’ll try my hardest.” She said slightly mockingly with a condescending glare. “Or. I could just bake some food for you. Do you like banana bread?”
He laughed in shock.
“I do indeed. Hmm. Food or sex? The eternal question. Fuck it, I’m hungry. It better be good, or fucking you is back on the table.”
Her bindings released and she sat up. “I want to set some boundaries and safe words.”
“Sure you do, sweetheart. And the serial killer is definitely going to respect those things if they’re in the way of what he wants.”
This is not what she expected living with Alex would be like. Maybe she should have, but honestly how could she predict chaos on this scale?
“Wanna know about the other serial killers I’ve dated?” She whispered conspiratorially.
“There’s more than just that one?” He asked, flabbergasted.
“I suck at dating. Apparently my type is “murderers who will kill me on a whim”. I have a problem.”
“Jesus,” he muttered. This woman was insane, and he was getting more attracted to her with every sentence she uttered. If she can actually bake, he’s keeping her.