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Post by Jordanna on Jun 17, 2006 1:17:35 GMT -5
Caleb giggled, rubbing his arm. "Yeah."
"Oh, you don't have to sell 'em on Foxy," Sid chuckled. "They love him more'n they love me sometimes."
"Only sometimes," Tara said with a smile, playfully butting her shoulder against her father's.
Alex grinned. "Oh, that was just the crackerbox version of Foxy Malone. Someday you'll have to come see me do my stuff at the Club, with an orchestra and a wardrobe department behind me." He grinned impishly. "If I've taken my allergy meds, maybe I'll even dance with ya."
He paused, arching an eyebrow. "Do you know how to dance?"
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Post by skybright on Jun 17, 2006 1:24:49 GMT -5
Daws shook her head, grinning sheepishly. "Nah, I never learned. Never really had a reason to learn -- or anyone to teach me." She chuckled. "Jack had two left feet when it came to walkin'. I bet his insurance company told 'im they'd cancel his coverage if he tried dancing."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 17, 2006 1:34:21 GMT -5
"Well, hey, here's something else new for you to try!" Alex nimbly hopped onto and over the bench, saying to Tara, "Why don't you go get that CD player outta the cabin?"
Then he turned to Daws, holding out his hand with a slight bow. "How about it, Daws? Don't worry about me, I'm medicated." He grinned broadly.
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Post by skybright on Jun 17, 2006 1:40:15 GMT -5
Daws hesitated for a moment -- then grinned and put her hand in Alex's.
"You're on," she said, rising, "But I'm not gonna be held responsible if you get your feet stepped on -- or if ya break out in hives."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 17, 2006 1:48:02 GMT -5
"I'll sign the waivers later," Alex grinned.
Tara returned, carrying a portable CD player which she set up on the patio table and turned on. Alex started at the blitz of very modern pop music that emerged from it--then gave Daws a beleaguered smile and a broad shrug.
He took her hand in his and drew her against him, settling her into the proper position. "Just follow me," he said confidently, and proceeded to lead her in a slow dance that was not entirely matching the music--and admittedly just a little bit halting, given Daws' lack of experience.
"Doing good," he grinned at her after a moment, and tossed a wink to their watching friends.
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Post by skybright on Jun 17, 2006 1:59:45 GMT -5
Daws grinned in reply, trying not to focus on her feet and just let Alex lead. "Man, life around you guys is just one learnin' experience after another."
She chuckled. "Maybe I'll haveta take you up on that invite to the club -- although," She grinned self-deprecatingly, "I'm afraid I might scare off some of your audience. It isn't exactly my scene."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 17, 2006 2:08:08 GMT -5
"Oh, it's just another goldfish bowl, only smaller," Alex drawled good-humoredly. "Anyway, anyone who'd get scared off by you deserves to be. They'd be lucky to have as good a friend. It's their loss if they can't see that."
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Post by skybright on Jun 17, 2006 2:18:23 GMT -5
Daws smiled. "Thanks, Alex."
As the song ended and the next (equally incongruous) began, Daws cast a sly glance over her shoulder at Miriam.
"What about you, Doc?" She asked, "D'you know how to do this yet?"
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 17, 2006 2:39:56 GMT -5
Miriam blushed. "Oh, a little bit. I've had to dance at my share of relatives' weddings."
Alex grinned and stepped toward her, holding out his hand. With a chuckle and a shrug she rose to accept his invitation, and he drifted around the deck with her as he had with Daws. She was a little more experienced than the detective--but also less relaxed.
Their dance came to an abrupt end when Miriam was caught off guard by an unevenness in the deck boards, and stumbled. She gave a slight gasp of surprise as Alex caught her with fluid reflexes, and dropped her gaze from his with a blush.
"There haven't been any marriages in the family for a while," she joked thinly, and aware of his bemused tilt of the head, she added quickly, "I'm out of practice."
"Oh." He grinned and let her pull away. "Well, maybe we oughta fix that--being out of practice, I mean."
He cleared his throat and looked toward the others. "Uh, Tara, how about a dance?"
With a smirk on her face, the teenager came over to take Miriam's place, while the pathologist rather sheepishly reclaimed her seat.
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Post by skybright on Jun 17, 2006 2:57:42 GMT -5
Daws retook her seat next to Caleb and let out a satisfied sigh.
"Yeah," She said, drawing her knees up to her chest and propping her chin on one knee, "Yeah, I could get used to this."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 18, 2006 0:47:45 GMT -5
Alex lay in bed that night for a long time without sleeping. There was a lot on his mind--and for the first time in weeks, none of it whatsoever involved Tiernan Enterprises, the resistance, or the possibility of any form of abrupt and unpleasant ending to his career (not to mention his life).
After listening for what felt like hours to the frog outside his window and the wandering thoughts in his own head, he finally got up and left his room. He had a vague idea that he'd get an early start on breakfast. Cooking always cleared his head.
The door of Miriam's room was half-open. Glancing inside as he passed, he could see that she wasn't there.
He found her out on the deck, leaning against the railing, gazing out across the lake.
She knew he was in the doorway; her head turned slightly, and with her back still turned, she gave a small shrug. He took that as permission to step out and join her.
"Still not sleeping well, are you?"
Miriam turned to him halfway, with a faint, wry smile. "It's not as bad as it could be. If it weren't for those pills of Doctor Ollivard's, I wouldn't have been able to close my eyes since that night. At least I'm getting a few hours here and there. Something inside me still just feels... wound up."
Tentatively, Alex leaned on the railing beside her. "I'm not sleepy either." As she looked at him, he grinned at her gently. "How about another dance?"
"Oh, Alex, I--" she began, then abruptly turned away, fixing her gaze on the trail of moonlight that spilled across the water. A long moment passed before she spoke again.
"I don't want to feel what I'm feeling."
For reasons Alex himself was not quite sure of, the statement stung. He blinked, pressed his lips together, and turned his own gaze out toward the island, thinking for several moments about why those words hurt.
When he had finally figured it out, he glanced back at her, and there was nothing of the charmingly trivial Foxy Malone in his answer.
"I'm sorry."
Miriam lifted her head sharply, and there were a lot of things in her expression that he was embarrassed to have caused--but on some other level, deeply glad to see.
"It isn't that. It isn't you," she said softly.
His heart skipped a beat. "Henry?"
For a moment, she looked surprised; then she frowned, with a little bit of sadness and chagrin. "No, Alex. It's not Henry. Don't you see? It's me."
The way she said it broke a hidden tripwire within Alex, tapped into something primal that he'd never felt before. He wanted to protect her--from living enemies and dead ghosts, from demons without and within, from Tiernan's hatred and her own fears. He suddenly knew that he would never truly be afraid of anything again, because he would be facing it for her.
He deliberately chose not to think as he reached out and put his arm around her, drawing her close to him.
"You," he said softly, and there was a depth and diversity of emotions in the word that no voice he was capable of could have done justice to.
Miriam didn't pull away from him, but she tensed and averted her gaze. "Life is too complicated already, Alex."
"I always sort of thought that was why people needed each other," Alex murmured wryly.
Her grip on the edge of the wooden deck railing tightened. "You know exactly what I'm talking about. Please, don't play games."
"I'm not playing." Alex's tone abruptly turned grave, almost sharp. "I've never felt less like playing. You're not talking to Foxy or even Alex, but plain old Aleksei Malinovsky... a kid who finally came back from Neverland to grow up." He smiled. "I found something out tonight, Miriam."
"Oh, Alex." Miriam sighed and glanced away. "You know what my life has become. Don't anchor your star to me."
"I'd like somebody to tell me what good a star is just floating around loose." Alex grinned and nodded toward the pinpricks of light dotting the night sky, then met Miriam's eyes, leaning fractionally closer. "It's awful cold up there."
He didn't know quite how it happened, or which one of them took the initiative to close the distance, but the next sensation he felt was the light, shivering brush of her lips against his.
It took him a moment to realize that his eyes were closed. When he opened them, she was looking out across the lake again, blinking rapidly as if to hold back tears--but her fingers were entwined with his.
"Miriam," he breathed softly, laying his cheek against her hair. She gave his hand a squeeze in response.
"You're absolutely hopeless," she murmured.
"Always have been... always will be." That was pure Foxy Malone talking again, as he raised her hand to gently caress her knuckles with his lips.
Finally she turned to face him fully, allowed him to put his arms around her. One of her hands rested on his shoulder; with the other, she reached up to tousle his unruly red hair.
"Exactly what are we supposed to say to the others?"
Alex grinned. "Absolutely nothing. If I know Sid, he's been waiting weeks for this. Just you watch--tomorrow he's going to say 'congratulations' instead of 'good morning'. As for Daws..." He shrugged, his grin widening. "She's an awfully good detective."
The two watched the sunrise together.
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Post by skybright on Jun 18, 2006 1:02:35 GMT -5
Daws wasn't sure if it was the slant of sunlight across the bed that woke her -- or the smells of cooking wafting from the ground floor of the cabin.
She briefly contemplated staying in bed -- she was on vacation, after all -- but said cooking smells were growing more tempting all the time. She rolled out of bed, grabbing her robe and making a futile effort at straightening her mussed hair as she headed downstairs.
She could hear Alex humming delightedly in the kitchen, and poked her head through the doorway.
"Morning. What's cookin'?"
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 18, 2006 1:15:06 GMT -5
Alex couldn't help snickering at Daws' question.
"Anything I get my hands on," he replied with a grin. "I'm feelin' good today, Daws. Hey, c'mere, try this."
He handed her a honey muffin of his own concocting, and then was off across the kitchen to tend to his eggs (sunny-side up, of course) before she could even reply.
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Post by skybright on Jun 18, 2006 1:27:56 GMT -5
Daws blinked in confusion at the muffin that had suddenly materialized in her hand -- she was still only three-quarters awake -- then shifted an increasingly suspicious glance to Alex.
"Okay." Daws pulled out a chair and straddled it backwards, nibbling at the muffin and eyeing her friend, "You're in a good mood." She paused, reconsidered the statement, and amended "Well, you're always in a good mood. But even for you, this is remarkable as a good mood."
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 18, 2006 1:36:07 GMT -5
It would have seemed difficult for Alex's grin to widen--but it did.
"Something nice happened last night." Alex's gaze suddenly dropped, his smile growing timorous, and he stepped over to the table with a very un-Foxy shyness.
"You're gonna think this is crazy, Daws, but... I'm in love."
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Post by skybright on Jun 18, 2006 1:42:22 GMT -5
Understanding dawned. "Ohhh . . ." Daws grinned slowly. "Y'don't mean to tell me that you and the Doc finally snapped out of it and admitted things t'one another, do ya?"
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 18, 2006 2:00:19 GMT -5
Alex smiled wryly. "I had a feeling you and Sid both were gonna react like that."
He leaned over to the stove to take the eggs and sausages off the burner, then pulled out a chair across from Daws and sat down, pouring a cup of coffee from the pot sitting on the table.
"I'm not quite sure how it happened. I've never even come close to anything like this before. A while ago, I would've thought I was afraid of being outed as a mutant, if I got close to anyone--but that isn't it. Not really."
He shrugged, spooning sugar into his coffee. "I'm a little worried about how Henry's gonna take it. I know he's--well, got some kinda feelings for her. I guess he noticed things the same way you did, and that's why he doesn't like me."
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Post by skybright on Jun 18, 2006 2:07:58 GMT -5
Daws grabbed a coffee cup for herself and shrugged one shoulder. "Henry had a long time t'speak up." She said philosophically, adding sugar to her coffee, "If he didn't, well . . . it's his loss."
She shrugged again, took a healthy slug of coffee, and added "I for one am happy for both of ya. I'm happy someone came out an' said somethin', before Sid and I had t'start playing matchmakers." She grinned teasingly. "I'm strictly a film noir person, after all -- romantic comedies aren't my scene."
Daws glanced around. "So where's the Doc at, anyway?"
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Post by Jordanna on Jun 18, 2006 2:15:12 GMT -5
"Oh, she's upstairs, getting dressed. We sorta spent the night stargazing in our pajamas." Alex grinned and ducked his head.
At that moment, Miriam herself came into the kitchen. She looked back and forth between Alex and Daws, then shook her head and smiled.
"Judging by the way you're grinning, the secret's already out." She stepped to Alex's side and took his hand in hers. "Please tell him what an idiot he is to be interested in a fugitive from both sides of the law."
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Post by skybright on Jun 18, 2006 2:31:59 GMT -5
Daws took a calm drink of coffee before replying, deadpan, "Alex, you're an idiot to be interested in a fugitive from both sides of the law."
Then she raised an eyebrow at Miriam. "And Doc, you're an idiot if you let a little thing like a murder rap and a genocidal maniac keep you from letting yourself love someone like Alex Malone."
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