Participants:
| Scene Title | A Best Friend Is A Priceless Commodity |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Felix knows her better than she knows herself. And though she's breaking her own rules, it's not as if a certain someone seems to want to be around. |
| Date | Dec 1, 2010 |
Textile Factory and Elisabeth's (and Cardinal's?) Apartment
The office that used to be Kershner's is now Elisabeth Harrison's. The blonde tends to leave the door open unless she's on a conference call or in a meeting, and today is no exception. She's finally getting all the paperwork under control. Or as under control as such things get. With a wireless headset in her ear tuned to the operations center and a mug of tea long gone cold on the table in front of her, she looks like she might finally be recovering from her bout of walking pneumonia. She leans back in the chair for a long moment, her eyes drawn toward the windows that look out over a dreary day.
He's in BDUs. And, after shutting the door, gently shoves her paperwork aside, and hops up to sit, or more accurately, recline on her desktop. His weight's on his hip, and he grins down at her and flutters his eyelashes. "So, boss," he murmurs, as he leans in to kiss the top of her head. "How about I lock the door and you give me reason to start a sexual hasrassment suit?"
One of the perks of NOT being out on the street mostly is that she doesn't HAVE to wear the BDUs. And she's far more casual than Kershner was — she's wearing a simply pair of dark gray slacks and a heather purple sweater. Crossing her legs beneath the desk and resting her hands on her belly, Elisabeth smiles up at him as she slouches in her chair. A twinkle lightens her blue eyes, which still hold a hint of exhaustion that she cannot seem to shake. "Damn, Feeb," she retorts on a laugh. "Now if that ain't the most romantic approach I've had in months."
He glances back over his shoulder, grins at her. "I could." And he would. She knows him, he doesn't care. They can't fire him for giving Liz a good time in her own office, right?
Leaning forward she kisses the man's jaw tenderly. "It's not like you to just plop yourself down on the desk and offer to take away my worries, Feeb," Elisabeth murmurs with a grin. "What's on your mind?" She knows he'd do it. And the fact that she is terribly tempted is pretty clear in the way she glances toward the door with a speculative look. Of course, the fact that she's sought out him out several times this week also gives things away.
Victory. He sidles back towards the door, locks it as silently as he can. But does not immediately return on the attack. "You haven't seemed yourself, lately," he says, sitting back on the edge of the desk and looking down at her, kicking his legs in a juvenile manner.
Sitting the way he is, Elisabeth can study the speedster's face with a faint smile. Sadness tinges her expression. "Yeah…. well, not feeling particularly like myself lately," she admits. And it's not just that she blew out her ability on the Roosevelt Island three weeks ago, either — though that has had a significant impact on her. She seems more uncertain of everything going on around her. Not quite as aware. "Are you …. do you think what we're doing now is being done the right way, Felix? Frontline-wise and such. Are we…. doing the job the way it needs to be done?"
He ponders that, solemnly. "I think so. I question a lot of the rest of the government's policies on the Evolved but….what do you think?"
"I don't really know what I think. It's why I'm asking," Elisabeth admits quietly. "Someone recently pointed out to me …. that the position I suddenly find myself in is both highly visible… and highly influential. And it… worries me." She bites her lower lip and glances toward the door, her blue eyes narrowing on it a moment. And then they flicker upward and in spite of the splitting migraine that explodes behind her eyes, she encloses the two of them in a silence bubble. Her tone is soft, urgent, and very fast.
"I don't have long to say this, the field will go. The head of the Institute is a time-traveling version of Cardinal, Felix. And I've been trying to figure out whether he's gone around the bend or if he's just lost so goddamn much he's afraid to take another chance. War is coming — hell, it's here. We knew that. But… in a future that doesn't happen now, I was supposed to die in the riots. I was never supposed to be in this job. And I'm trying to figure out if what I can do here will help or hinder our takedown of the Institute. I'm playing a bit of a dangerous game here. Outside the field, don't talk about the specifics of that identity or that I know it, okay?"
Blood trickles out of her nose, and the field drops without warning, Liz's hands flying to her head and her back arching a bit as she tries to stifle the cry of pain. "Fuck," she whimpers. "Sorry," she adds, her eyes squeezed tight shut.
"Liz. Your day is over. Go home and go to bed, or at least go and lie down in a room here," he orders. And his tone brooks no argument. "We can…talk about this more later. When you're better. That's….terrifying," He shakes his head, not quite in disbelief, but more in wonderment.
Snatching up a tissue from the box on the desk, she blots at her nose, wiping up the evidence. "Mother fuck," Elisabeth grimaces. "That's… the first time I've actually held one for longer than 10 seconds." And it's not like it was all that long. Perhaps 30 seconds altogether for her to give him the bit of information that she wanted kept inside the silence field. She looks up at him, squinting in the halos, and just shrugs. "I'll go. But it's quieter in here, honestly." She yanks the headset out of her ear. "You asked me what was going on. I'm telling you, Felix…. " She sounds regretful. "I've been struggling for days about how to steer things so that the Institute falls. We both know it can't be allowed to remain."
"I'll come with you and keep you company," He's not presenting it like it's in any way an option. An order. "Let me know. I'll…deal with it personally, if that's what's needed."
Moving to stand up, Elisabeth just sighs. "Fine. You can come with me back to the apartment." Considering the state her head's in right now, that seems like a better place. She'll tell ops on the way out that she's on the pager. Picking up a heavy black wool jacket to throw around herself, the blonde lets herself be bullied out the door toward home. "I'm not a child," she grouses without any heat as she slides her arm around his waist, though.
HE leans in, and gives her his most salacious purr. "Honey, I'm well aware that you are -all woman-." Hey, maybe it'll cheer her up.
Elisabeth groans a soft laugh, walking out of her office with him without bothering to drop her arm from around his waist. She flat doesn't care what they think — her relationship with Felix has ever been one of those that people have looked at oddly. "If you do that a little more and couple it with a backrub in a hot bathtub to make this headache ease up, Feeb, I'm yours for the taking," she murmurs in amusement.
"I'll give you the special treatment," he says, firmly, as he leads her out. The others in the office look up, and Fel puts on his best pokerface.
The blonde says simply, "Migraine. I'll be on my pager." And considering that most of them know she's been sick anyway, no one's going to give her too much shit. Elisabeth ignores any sideways looks entirely, heading out with Felix. Once they're outside, she smiles slightly. "I've already got people ready to put a bullet in that man's head," she admits.
"And I am very glad to hear it," says Felix. Still arm in arm with her, as they head towards the parking lot and his newish BMW.
"You're being ridiculously solicitous, Felix," Elisabeth observes as she lets him settle her in the car. Once he's joined her, she turns her head on the headrest. "What's going through that brain of yours?"
"I haven't gotten laid in a while," he says, after a moment's thought. "And I worry about you. Which, you know, sort of combine. Sex with you when you're tense is so much less fun."
It makes her stare at him. Somewhat startled, if you want the truth. "Well, then," Elisabeth retorts, "I guess you better drive fast — the sooner we get back, the sooner I won't be tense anymore, yeah?" Her tone is amused.
And then Fel breaks into one of those great big 'Hey it's CHRISTMAS' grins. "Yeah," he agrees. He doesn't, at least, reach for the dashboard light.
Her chuckles are soft as he drives, Elisabeth's expression taking on a wistful kind of happiness. She declines to mention just exactly how long it's been for her, too, and taking comfort with her best friend? Yeah, that's sounding beyond good today.
It's a comfortable routine - he puts in the order for take out, and then goes to draw her a bath. He has fits of being able to make someone a damned good husband. Leland, you're missing out.
Elisabeth lets him putter and once the tub's hot, the blonde dumps a handful of bath salts — a soothing lemony sandalwood kind of mixture that's not terribly girly — into the tub and invites him to join her. With the room darkened except for a few candles, her headache finally begins to ease as she settles back against his whipcord lean form. "How do you always know?" she murmurs with a smile. When to take her away from the world is what she's really talking about.
He's bony enough that he shouldn't be comfy to lean on, but somehow he is. He's gotr that feline gift for improbable rearrangement of his joints. He kisses her shoulder, lightly. "I like baths,too," he says, simply.
Her hand comes up to trail along the side of his neck and she turns slightly so that her nose is tucked up under his jaw. Elisabeth smiles faintly, feeling content for the first time in weeks. Her head's still throbbing, but it's easing. She tips her face up to him and whispers, "I needed this." The admission is hard for her; she doesn't like to feel like she's using him just to ease her own issues. "I miss you," she says sincerely.
"Well, I'm right here now, angel," he says, pragmatically. Because it's such a trial to be in a hot bath with a beautiful naked woman. The sacrifices Felix Ivanov makes for the sake of duty and country. He drapes wet arms around her, and starts nibbling on the nape of her neck.
Oh, he really does know all the right ways to make Liz forget about the hell that is life right now. For a time, she lazily simply enjoys his attentions, but eventually, laughing, she slips from his kisses to turn in his arms and kiss him heatedly. Skin slick from bath salts definitely makes bathtime play both challenging and a lot of fun. Not to mention messy. There's gonna be water all over the floor. Not that Elisabeth cares one whit.