Confessions of a Telepath

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bf_kaylee_icon.gif bf_luther2_icon.gif

Scene Title Confessions of a Telepath
Synopsis Kaylee and Luther find time in their busy work lives to go on vacation.
Date September 08, 2012

Beach House, Ogunquit, Maine

Just after Midnight


In the earliest hours of the morning, the world is reduced to the sound of the surf and the light tapping of blinds pulled in the cool sea breeze as it passes through the open windows of the room.

Despite their best efforts, neither of them had been able to get away from work. It had been absolutely months before they could take this trip. A vacation together away from the city. Of course, in a rather predictable manner they chose their destination around the choice of foods available to them, which also meant they were at the mercy of the seasons. It was how they had ended up in Ogunquit, Maine and the variety of seafood options.

While they should be asleep after such as active day, a tangle of limbs and sheets, one gently pulls herself from the arms of the lover. Careful not to wake him, she may even be subconsciously helping calm his mind when he stirs, Kaylee slips out of the warm bed and into the cool air of the evening.

Skin pale in the moonlight, Kaylee silently crosses the room to lift a dress shirt, draped carelessly over the back of a chair, and pull it on. From the size it is clearly his, which she wraps tightly around her like a robe, remembering the warmth of his arms around her. Pressing the fabric of the collar against her nose, she takes in the scent of him, teasing a warm smile out of her.

There had been something that had been bothering her since they started the trip. Sitting in the passenger seat of the car fake arguing over who had control over the radio. The feel of the wind as it whipped around blond hair, with her hand entangled with in his. It was the moment that he lifted her hand and pressed a kiss to the back of it, she came to the realization that somewhere along the line her feelings for him had changed. For her it was rapidly becoming something deeper and that scared her.

It scared her, because she hadn’t told him, yet. She was a telepath.

Her passing from the bedroom into the main room is nearly silent, with only a brief pause to look back at the sleeping form of Luther. Kaylee doesn’t bother with lights, the moonlight serves to light her way to the french doors that open up on the wood deck. Arms unfold long enough for her to grasp the handles and open the door to the night beyond. Blue eyes, now grey in the pale light, look up at the curtain of stars and the silvery moon above. A gust of sea breeze snags at the corner of the shirt, briefly exposing the pale flesh of her hip, she doesn’t notice, however, her mind is far away.

She couldn’t understand how she let it happen. Kaylee had told herself that she’d never let someone in ever since she had been hurt. Worst yet, she hadn’t even told Luther about her ability. That day in the rain, she had meant to, but… now she was here months later and she knows she can’t hide it any longer.

It was time, but she was scared of rejection. Her gaze drifts from the sky to the inky darkness of the ocean. Scenarios tumble around in her mind, like the waves rolling up the shore.

Kaylee doesn’t want to lose him, but she needed to tell him the whole truth.

He had not yet begun to doubt the possibility.

It wasn't that they hadn't seen each other, in the months between the conception of the idea for a vacation up until its realization. But that they both had so much work was inevitable, and, the two sharing workaholic tendencies, still managed to at least encounter each other in fitful, sparing passes. The contrast now between rushed, mocha-flavored kisses and the hours spent with each other in the car driving north was amazing. He didn't even mind the cramped nature of the vehicle, because everything was a sight to see. Especially her.

And then the rest of the day, spent at what counted as a leisurely pace (save for a brief rush when they entered a lobster eating contest… which he may have won, but there's no souvenir shirt or photo to prove it) in the company of her without pressures or qualms. He would gladly act as a ready distraction for her, as she did for him; mentally, emotionally, physically.

Nightfall sees Luther fast asleep beside her, bare chest rising and falling in slow, even breaths. It's a rare sight, even between them, that he is sleeping this deeply. The man only stirs slightly when she does, but the mental brush of reassurance calms him.

Somewhere in the midst of her being lost in her own thoughts, though, Luther wakes. Not with the suddenness of his usual tension brought on by a dream dug out from the dark, but by the wafting salt-scent of the Atlantic breeze, the cool feeling of it tickling at his exposed skin that even his naturally warm body prickles against. Grey eyes slot open gradually and upon not finding another form there, open more fully. Reorienting. Assessing. Searching.

Her fear of losing him, her fear of exposing him to the truth, is interrupted by the soft creak of the wood deck beneath heavier weight. Luther stands behind her, clad in his boxer-briefs only, a tall silhouette half lit in the moonlight. His head tilted to a side, brow knitted in an expression mixed with concern but also a warmth to seeing her there even with her back to him, tucked in his shirt from the evening.

"Can't sleep?" His low rumble mirrors the rolling waves on the beach below.

Even before the creak in the boards, Kaylee knew he was on the approach. Her head turns to catch his words over the sound of the ocean beyond her, but she isn’t looking at him. There is a small shake of her head, before she finally twists to look back at him over her shoulder, offering him a warm smile. “Too much on my mind. I guess. Plus,” she looks to the oceans and motions to it, mirroring the stars and the moon in rippling imperfection, “look how beautiful.”

Turning back to Luther, seeing him standing there, it takes her breath away and makes her heart seemingly skip a beat. That feeling makes up her mind for her.

Turning back to the view of the ocean, Kaylee pulls the shirt tighter against the breeze, barely noticing the lengths of blonde hair blowing across her face. “I can’t get over how amazing this trip has been already. I — ” she trails off, breathing deeply and letting it out in a soft sigh. “I don’t want it to end.” What he doesn’t know is she means more than just the trip.

Her smile draws him another step, her response another, and her look back to the ocean sees Luther close the distance to within arm’s reach. His hand reaches over to rest on her shoulder, trailing along the fabric of his shirt there. She pulls the shirt tighter, and he pulls her in against him. “We have time,” he comments simply as he bends to plant a light kiss along the curve of her neck, just behind the ear, his hand trespassing down her center back.

Her thoughts may be turbulent, while his are for the time being consumed with her. Only the ocean and the night are their witness.

Luther pauses for a moment in his focus. “What’s on your mind?” he asks, despite that it seems obvious what’s then on his.

There is no resistance from the blonde as she is pulled in, just that pleased sounds one makes when being encircled by a warm blanket. It is one of the things Kaylee enjoys about him, especially on a chilly night such as this, he was just so comfortably warm. It made her feel safe and secure; even helps with calming her turbulent mind.

But when he kisses that spot behind her ear, the feel of his hands on her body, and what she can’t help but pick up from Luther’s mental presence. It is enough to distract Kaylee from what had bothered her in the first place. Maybe they did have time, like he said. She could almost lose herself in the moment there with him, but that rumbling voice of his close to her ear, brings her back to herself a little.

Reminds her of what needs to be done.

“You mean besides willing thoughts of you and me breaking a few laws?” Meaning the two of them out there under the stars. It’s a tease… she is after all law enforcement. There is a breathlessness to her words that says, she doesn’t really care if they do break them. However, she does pull away a little — gently — so that she can really look at him.
Reaching up, she reaches up to brush fingertips along his stubbled jaw line, even though worry creases her blonde brows, her smile is soft. “I have been wanting to tell to you about something, since that day you kissed me. I just, didn’t have the courage…. But now….” Her voice trails off softly, as courage momentarily evades her.

Her first rhetorical (or maybe not rhetorical) question teases a crooked smile out of Luther, and in the starlight his grey eyes glimmer with the idea of it. “Why, Detective. Didn’t know you were willing to bend in those ways,” he counters. But when she pulls back slightly, he straightens in his posture so he can move a hand up to cover hers touching his jaw.

“Yeah?”

He remembers that day, the rain sheeting down upon them as he’d chased after her. The evening had started off like the usual. It had taken an abrupt turn, and then another. And now, here in the middle of the night, it feels like they’ll take another turn. She sounds serious, so Luther resists the urge to distract again. He keeps her hand against his jaw, though, palm radiating the warmth that he normally holds, that really only she has gotten to experience.

The way he presses her hand to his jaw to hold it there, he can see it completely melt Kaylee’s heart. It earns him a light brush of her lips at the corner of his mouth, before she starts to lay everything out to him. “Before I met you, I had given up. I had convinced myself, that all I needed was Jojo,” Her cat. “I had been hurt too many times, over a simple fact.”

He had known she had been hurt, but she never spoke of how or why. “You haven’t been anything like the rest, but, I couldn’t tell you.” There is guilt in that admission. “I wanted you to know me for me… not who I — ” Realizing she is rambling, Kaylee stops. Teeth catch her lower lip briefly, allowing her just a little longer in this moment, before she possibly ruins it.

Finally, she admits softly. “I’m a telepath, Luther. I’m — I’m so sorry I took so long to tell you.” Her voice catches before she can say the words that have been whispering at the back of her mind since that car ride. She holds on to those words, like her free hand holds the edges of his shirt closed around her slender form.

Going silent, she waits for judgment.

Patiently, Luther listens as he has done before. The light kiss only momentarily distracts, spurring a renewed warmth in him but he keeps on watching her face, seeing the guilt there. He takes in a breath, chest rising and falling. From his expression, he’s trying to be openly reassuring. She’s fine. Keep on going, Kaylee.

So when she finally speaks her confession, his first reaction is a long, slow blink. The reassuring expression doesn’t change at first, then his brows tick upward, accenting a realization long delayed in the making. He didn’t even think to ask her. Nor to tell her that part of himself either. He had buried it far and away, compartmentalized into a neat, dark corner of dissociated self-identity.

But judgment doesn’t come. Or if it does, it’s not in the way she might expect. Because the man doesn’t pull away, doesn’t have the same blank stare of fear that he’d gotten when she told him of her occupation. There are associations, memories with that. Somehow, nothing - or next to nothing - to accuse her when it comes to hiding this from him. What she does get, even on the surface level, is a mixed question into his thoughts that resolves into a determination.

The hand that covers hers against him curls around her fingers, drawing it down from his face and intertwining. Luther drops his gaze from her eyes, settling somewhere instead of her worrying lower lip. “No, I’m… I’m glad you told me.” He looks back up at her, trying to read her now knowing that she could read him if she wanted. Curiosity fades into his expression as he asks, “So, what do you think I do?” The question comes layered, but immediately he means something else readily apparent in his searching gaze.

That he too has an ability. He hasn’t told her either. And for once, finally, something good might come of it.

It takes Kaylee a moment to realize what he asks her, it doesn’t quite click right away, the meaning behind it. He will know when it does, the dawning realization of what he means in that question.

“No wonder you are so warm.” Fingers tightening in his feeling the radiant heat.

When he looks at her, Luther sees is surprise in those blue eyes, maybe even a threat of tears from the relief she is feeling and the joy of knowing she had been wrong. He didn’t run away. Even in what little she allows herself to hear, Kaylee knows his reaction is a true one. Giving a nervous laugh, the telepath steps in close, releasing the grip on the shirt she is wearing so that she can hug him. Tightly.

With the differences in their height, Kaylee’s temple presses against his rough cheek, stubble catching at golden curls. He’ll feel the brush of her breath against his neck, as she breath out softly, “Thank god,” is spoken in utter relief. “Cause I think I’m falling pretty hard for you.”

His bare skin against hers even in the chill ocean breeze, as she knows, is warm. As is the crook of his neck, the soft press of steadying hands around her back and waist that she can feel through his shirt when she hugs him tightly. “This nice lady once told me I had ‘good energy’.” He references a phrase she’d used, several weeks ago, a seemingly random utterance likely made in commentary to his warmth. Amongst other things. “But the truth is that’s kinda what I do. I… take energy and change it into a different kind. Usually it’s… heat.”

Then it’s his turn to pull back, enough that he can look at her face again, grey eyes made dark by the night finding hers. “When I asked you, that day in the rain, to let me be with you… and you said only if I let you be with me.” Eyes narrow slightly because he’s choosing his words, making sure each one counts. “I want you to know that I fell pretty hard that night. Didn’t think I…” he trails. He didn’t think she was going to let things keep going. He didn’t think he could, given his past and her job. And he didn’t think about revealing his own ability, for sure. After she accepted him, it was just a matter of finding a moment to tell her.

His course alters to one much more here, his attention and focus present for her. “I’m pretty sure,” he says then as he rests his hands along her arms, “this is love.” Anything but that word would have been insufficient. And with a short breath, he leans down to kiss her one more time. It’s a light one at first, then he’s wrapping his arms around her to lean into it.

Breath stolen away by his words and a kiss, Kaylee does not resist as she is pulled into his arms. While he’ll find her skin chilled, the same cannot be said about the heated way she returns that kiss. There is a point when they will both need to breathe and come back to themselves.

Just like when they had in the rain, Kaylee’s hands press gently the sides of his face, eyes searching his. There is something new there, something that she had held back… had been afraid to give. “I think you’re right,” the telepath says softly, “Cause I know for a fact that I love you, Luther Bellamy.”

She pulls him into another quick kiss, this one just as full of the same warmth and emotions. Then he finds her pulling away, but only enough so that she can step around him, finger tips trailing along his ability-heated skin. Then even those are gone, falling away.

When Luther turns to watch her, he will suddenly find his shirt tossed out at him from the door, with a flick up a slender wrist. There may only be a glimpse of the woman he had just declared being in love with; all legs, pale skin, and a wicked smile. Then she disappears into the darker depths of the home, almost seeming to melt into shadows.

The man isn’t wrong when he says he changes energy into heat, although there’s no need to do so at the way she kisses him back in those moments. Luther smiles even as she pulls back long enough to speak, her words, her eyes truly capturing him in them.

Then with a second stolen kiss and a trail of her fingers, she’s circling him and stepping away. His hands don’t quite move to stop her. The man’s smile couples with an arch of his brow. Intrigued, he turns to follow… and those hands lift to catch the shirt she’s slipped off and tossed his way. Luther glances down to the shirt, then as his gaze lifts back up he’ll catch that wicked smile and flash of moonlit skin quickly disappearing back to the shadows of the bedroom.

His own smile turns crooked. Luther drops off his shirt back where it had been taken with another careless release. She’ll notice, when he’s stepping after her, that he’ll need not turn on the lights to find her. Now that she revealed her ability to him, he opens up a little more to show her, rather than tell her, what he can do.

The man that catches up to her at last does so with an ambient glow around his body that mimics the moonlight outside, brought into their own little private world.


Later That Morning


A stream of morning sunlight beams into the curtain darkened room to accompany the soft cries of seagulls soaring over the Atlantic waves out beyond the beach house balcony. The french doors out to the wood deck are only slitted open, keeping the breeze at a minimum. Still inside the bedroom but standing silhouetted before the glass, Luther watches the picturesque scenery with the steady rise and fall of practiced breathing for a meditative mind. She’d often catch him in these kinds of moments, the man seeming to savor the openness of the world and the light of the day.

After the night’s talk, the sharing of their abilities, that would slide more pieces of the puzzle into place. He takes part in the energy that comes to him.

The shirt he’d draped over the chair earlier that night is now back on him, though unbuttoned in the front and left loose. The suit and pants, as well as her clothes, have already been gathered and hung up responsibly. All that’s left is a bathrobe folded neatly at the edge of the bed on his side waiting for her. He, too, stands there at the deck door, waiting for her.

She lays there for several long minutes, curled up in the lingering warmth of the bed, appreciating the sight of him standing there. Studying the way his shape cuts a silhouette before brightly lit doors. Kaylee has watched him like that many times; but after last night. It felt different.

Quietly as she can, the telepath sits up, letting the sheets pooling around her waist. Knees are drawn up, but then something catches her attention on the corner of the bed.

The neatly placed robe elicits an amused smile from Kaylee. It was little gestures like that, which endeared him to her so quickly over the months. Trying not to disturb his deep thoughts, she quietly slides out from under the sheets, pulling on the robe as she stands. Wrapping it closed against the morning chill and belting it in place, distance is closed between them. Arms slide around Luther from behind and he feels the gentle weight of her slender form against his back. “Morning, handsome,” Kaylee offers sleepily, resting her head against the curve of his shoulders.

A wordless rumble rolls out of Luther at her greeting, her touch, and she can feel the satisfied smile. He’s heard her movements, but doesn’t budge until she comes over. “Sleep better?” He doesn’t turn yet, leaving her to rest against his back. “Hope I didn’t wake you.” Because the deck door is cracked open, letting in cool ocean air and noisy seagulls and the waves.

Finally, when he turns, he leans down to plant a gentle kiss on her cheek, a hand lifting to cup the side of her face, and pulls back to look at her. His smile quirks to a side when he continues, “Not that we need to rush, but I had a thought that we can check out that seaside shack we passed on the way here. The one with the lobster pot special.” Although his expression shows that he’s open to her suggestions.

“Much,” Kaylee agrees. Hands fall away when he starts to turn, but are soon resting gently on his chest, as she leans in just a little for the kiss on her cheek. The telepath still seems a little sleepy, but her smile is just as satisfied. She has never been much of a morning person, really.

Her head rests against the hand on her cheek, at least until he mentions food. That gets Kaylee’s attention and her head straightens. “That sounds like one heck of a plan, because I am starving.” He gets a quick kiss, like she is rewarding him for his suggestion. Turning away, she declares, “First, I need coffee,” and starts for the kitchen. Passing by the dresser on her way, she plucks up her phone taking it with her, the first time she has since they arrived.

“Mm. Coffee first,” Luther seconds, watching her walk away with phone in hand. Then, reminded of his own work (and state of undress) he turn to retrieve his own phone and remedy that state.

He’s toweling off after a few minutes, stepping across the room to rummage for the last bits to finish off the day’s casual dress. They’re on vacation, so he’s going to dress like it. Somewhere when he’s plucked out a pair of socks, he glances over to his phone when it chimes a text alert. He reaches, unlocking it to read the text, and furrows his brow at the message. The man sends a reply, then tosses the phone into his luggage case.

He’s shaking away the annoyance brought on by the message when he goes to find Kaylee in the kitchen. Though not entirely gone and back to the peace from moments earlier, Luther brightens when he sees her, a faint smile rising unbidden. “So is the coffee good?” He steps over to where she is, to rewrap himself around her lightly and banish the thoughts of the message entirely.

As he enters the kitchen, it is obvious that Kaylee is ending a call, brows furrowed a little thoughtfully. It’s placed on the counter next to her coffee mug face down, even as she offers him a bright smile. “It’s decent,” she comments positively after leaning into that light hold. Pressing a quick kiss on his stubbled jaw, an offering of a freshly poured mug is given, made like he prefers it. Clearly, she is observant of that.

Once his is handed over, Kaylee is picking up her own again held palms pressed tightly to savor the warmth. Taking a careful sip, she turns to lean back against the counter. “So… what should we do with this day?” Much like him, there is a slight dulling of the brightness, whatever the call was… it might not have been a good one. “I mean, obviously go to that shack,” offering him a lopsided smile over the rim of her mug. “The classic walk on the beach, maybe?”

All those mornings of their meetings at the coffee shop have clearly paid off as far as finding out how Luther generally takes his coffee, even though a few variations have accompanied that, as if still experimenting with the flavor combinations and intensities. He’s definitely a medium roast guy though. An appreciative rumble of thanks, both for the coffee and the kiss, follows with a quick side sip of the mug before he sets it back down. “Decent,” he affirms of her assessment for the coffee. “It’ll more than do.”

The question of what they should do sets him thinking, and her lopsided smile is met with a crooked one. Luther bends, hovers just over her coffee mug rim to peer at her. “Has that been one of your dream dates?” he teases lightly, grey eyes shining with humor. “Because I’m willing to do whatever you can think up to make this weekend one to remember. Cheesy slow walks on the beach included.” He leans a little closer and to the side, trying to sneak in another gentle kiss on her cheek as he adds, “Or we could not leave the house at all…” They could order in. There’s a service for that, surely.

He doesn’t linger too long there though, as he means to actually drink his coffee too while it’s hot. Retrieving his mug, he leans against the counter too, watching and listening for her decision. It’s when he spies her phone that he’s reminded of the text he received as well as her slightly dulled expression from earlier. “Was that work, earlier?” He still hasn’t called it what it really is for a while, preferring to keep the euphemism up. “I’d almost say we could take that walk on the beach and toss our phones in. Say that they got wet.” Again, a slightly mischievous smirk gives him away as joking. Well, half joking.

The kiss to her cheek is allowed, her amusement seems to even glimmer in her eyes. “Maybe,” she answers coyly in regards to Dream date, letting the word draw out a bit, as if she doesn’t want to admit it to him. “And you’re insatiable.” It’s a tease, of course. “Order in?” she sounds almost indignant at the idea. “Part of experiencing new things is to go to those places,” she points out, “even if the idea is tempting.”

At the mention of work, Kaylee gives a soft drawn out sigh, “Yeah it was. Just an update on a case. Some labs that came back with nothing.” There is a small shrug of her shoulder, before taking another drink of her coffee.

Setting it down, she hops up to sit on the counter, “I will admit, I like the idea of throwing them in the ocean… but… I can’t. That’s how the killers get away.” Once settled there, ankles crossed, Kaylee picks up the mug again and holds it between her hands, thoughtfully. Humor gone for a moment.

Glancing at Luther out of the corner of her eye, the telepath seems to be considering something. Letting go of the mug with one hand, she reaches up to brush lightly at the hair at his temple with her nails. “This vacation is about getting to know each other right?” There is a small touch of humor as she adds, “And I don’t mean just the physical sense.”

The teasing earns a crooked grin from the man, as does the notion of ordering in. Maybe they’ll try it once, later. For now, there are indeed places to try and that involves going out. Luther nods his acceptance and understanding, picking up his mug of coffee for another quick sip.

It’s the mention of work, because he too has a message likely waiting, that is a reminder for their lives outside of the beach house. It turns his expression wry as they both know tossing phones into the ocean won’t be as rewarding as it would be terrible in the fallout. “I see,” he says as she mentions cases and updates. And killers.

As her fingers brush at his temple, he turns slightly to lean into it. Not unlike Jojo, that movement, but his eyes stay on her. “In a sense,” he starts with a curious arching of his brow on the side her fingernails touch. A sense of trust, he means as well, with what was said during the night.

A slow blink turns gently humored as he attempts to lift the woman’s pensive mood. “I know I asked you this last night, but… What’s on your mind?” Telepaths must have a good sense of humor, he hopes.

“Tell me about your family?” Kaylee asks softly, after a moment of hesitation. The words are gentle with a small smile. “They are always here,” she comments thoughtfully, a thumb draws lightly drawing across his forehead, before her hand drops away to rest in her lap, “and I don't want you to feel like you need to hide them from me. They are a part of who you are and I don't ever want you to feel like you need to bury that part of your life away to be with me.”

Her head tilts a little as she considers her words, eyes falling away to the coffee mug next to her. Kaylee knows she is stepping over a line here, but after last night she feels it is an important one. “It doesn't have to be today, but I needed you to know, that I respect what you had before. That… had things gone differently I wouldn't be here, they would.” She gets it and her words hold no bitterness at the fact.

Maybe, there is a little worry about this request putting a damper on things, so her eyes don’t meet his as she picks up her mug again. “But, that is what is on my mind.”

He had said he would be willing to do anything, although Luther does not anticipate the request she gives. The first reaction is the stillness, followed by the furrowing of his brow. She can feel the tension there, an emotional stiffness brought on by grief that hasn’t been dealt with, at least not recently. He breathes in and out slowly. And doesn’t answer until she regards her coffee mug. When he does, he doesn’t look at her either but towards a middle distance in the kitchen area.

“I… we had two kids,” Luther speaks after the long pause. “Luke and Joanna… Jojo.” He presses his lips together, as the shared name of both her cat and his daughter doesn’t escape him. “And she was a real firecracker, first time we met, put me in my place. Robyn, with a ‘y’ and one ‘n’, and not a bird.” She had made sure he spelled it right when she gave him her number.

After a short pause, he shifts his gaze back to Kaylee, swallowing a knot down his throat before continuing a little more roughly, “We’d not really talked about it, but, I knew she was thinking about… about separating for a while. The kids were in school, she took classes to get back to work. I guess I didn’t say anything because I didn’t want it to end either.” Grey eyes dip, finding a point on her sleeve to look. “They were going to see The Lion King, on Broadway. Matinee.”

Abruptly he sets his coffee down on the counter and turns away, stepping off to the side and placing a hand on the cool metal of the refrigerator’s stainless steel surface. Luther’s movement is stiff, the tension not having gone away, but he doesn’t show the disturbed turmoil in his expression to her. Then again, she doesn’t have to look to feel it. His memories are hazy, marred by the years gone by. He closes his eyes, trying to picture their faces and gets mostly a fuzzy unsharpened mental image. His hand lifts to rub the back of his neck, and the man exhales roughly with a blow of air.

Kaylee doesn’t look at him when he talks, only listens to what he says and what he doesn’t. There is some guilt, but… she didn’t lie when she said that she didn’t want him to feel like he had to hide them away. Blue eyes only lift when he turns away and puts that distance between them. She watches the struggle for a long moment, before setting her mug down on the counter next to her.

“I’ve… only lost my parents, my siblings. I can’t imagine…” Kaylee stops herself with a little shake of her head.

The balls of her feet slap on the tile floor of the kitchen when she hops off the counter, but they make no sound when she steps across the small kitchen; closing the distance between them. Standing behind him, she starts to reach out and stops. Finger curl into her hand and she lets it drop. Sometimes, it was tempting to just use her ability like that; but, it wasn’t right. It was his choice.

“I can help you,” she says softly, voice struggling to not crack. It’s hard to see the pain that she caused in him, by her request. “I can help you remember their faces,” she says much quieter. It’s a risk, but she still offers it.

Luther’s still turned away when she mentions that she’s also lost family, but the note lifts his head from its bowed position. In the moment that she approaches, when she reaches for him but stops, it seems in tandem that he turns at her hesitation to look back at her. Seeing her there, grey eyes initially stormy in expression more than color, there’s a lightning quick flash of the guilt he holds in memory followed by the slower roll of the buried grief. Indecision first clouds his features at her offer to clear up the fuzzy images of his past.

But the longer he stares at Kaylee, the clearer his mind becomes as the past clears to the present. To her. Luther’s eyes, narrowed as they were with his internal struggle, soften and open. After a blink, he steps forward, closing the gap between them and reaches to take up the dropped hand in his. “No,” he answers quietly once he’s closer, a gentle rejection of the offer. “I’m not trying to hide them… not because it’s not sad, or embarrassing. But right now, I… I’m writing on a different page. The story’s changed.”

Bending, he brings his face closer to hers, grey eyes searching the blue. “But thank you,” he rumbles out, recognizing, “for giving me that choice.”

Fingers tighten in his hand, a bit of a lifeline for him and for her. This close, he can see the brightening of blue eyes, a smile touching her lips. “The offer will always be there,” she says instead of you’re welcome. Reaching up, fingers trail along her jaw. “Kinda part of what I do for work.” Only a portion. “So you need only ask.”

Leaning forward, she touches her forehead to his and lets her eyes close for a moment. What he doesn't hear is the comforting rumble of his own mind. “A new chapter for both of us. A new story.” Hopefully, not a short one, is what she doesn't share. “Heading towards a year already since you stepped into my life. I am thankful everyday.”

She presses a lingering; yet, chaste kiss to the corner of his mouth. “I’m going to go get my shower and then we can decide where to go from here.” A brow lifts a little. “Sound like a plan?”

His eyes close again briefly at her touch, Luther twitching a smile up along that side of his mouth. As she leans her forehead in, the rumble charges with a fleeting physical distraction, one that he pushes back against like he normally, almost instinctively does when there’s a sudden feeling of energy. She can feel his hand around hers warm a little more.

“Has it been that long already?” he muses aloud. “Shit, I better get something for you, then.” She can feel the wrinkle of his brow against hers, the way it tends to move when he smiles in a crooked, mischievous manner. When she opens her eyes, she’ll see the teasing glimmer of his grey gaze there. Like he wants to interrupt her further plans with a longer kiss, respond to the lingering. But it can’t last forever there, and they have some good eats to get to.

“Right. We’ll work on that plan once you’re… less exposed.” He straightens, releasing her hand just long enough so that he can reach up to push one side of the bathrobe she’s wearing aside, heated fingers brushing along her collar, her shoulder. See, he’s helping. Only, he leaves off there, pulling the hand away once he’s moved the robe just so, watching her blonde hair fall into place. “I’ll wait for you on the deck,” he says with a step over to pick up both their coffees. The nice thing is that it’ll still be warmed to drink when she’s out of the shower too.

“It has… time flies and all that,” Kaylee says with amusement and a barely contained hint of laughter under it all when he ‘helps,’ even if there is a moment where her breath catches at his touch along her collarbone. In fact, there is a serious temptation on her part to tease back, but then they might not ever get out of that beach house. So instead, she tilts her chin up in a mock display of defiance and settles the robe back into place.

“And you don’t have to get me anything.” She tugs the belt of the robe tighter, before turning on the balls of her feet and heads to the bedroom and the awaiting shower. “I have you.” It’s corny, she knows it by the impish grin she flashes his way.

Lingering in the door a moment to watch him head for the deck, her head rests against the door jam with a soft content sigh of a happy woman. For her it has felt too good to be true. She can’t shake the feeling that any day it’ll come crashing around her ears. It wouldn’t be the first time.

Shaking her head against her own thoughts, she heads in for the shower and a start to a new chapter for them both.

Corny, cheesy, it just might be his way of doing this. Some would call it old fashioned. Either way, he’s out on the deck as promised when she emerges from the shower, but the pensive expression with knitted brow of deep thoughts have returned. His coffee is gone, the empty mug sitting on the outdoor table. Luther stands out further along the deck at the corner, staring towards the distance where the ocean waves haven’t yet decided if they’re coming to land or staying out with the current.

One hand holds her coffee mug, a finger crooked on the rim, the others curled on the cup. It’s still steaming lightly in the breeze. The other has his phone, screen black. He’s doesn’t have any fancy cover on it, just a black protective plastic. The man’s thumb slides across the screen idly as he thinks, occupied with the work that will have to be done when he returns. Deeper worry seats itself, sinking in like his mental state is but a worn cushion.

He’s not so much unfocused that he won’t notice her approach, though. In time his eyes close again, face turned in profile to the sun above, giving in to the feel of the warmth and light on his skin. His thoughts, he tries to still. It’s too much to go back to the dark.

“Hey, handsome,” Kaylee greets softly as she steps out onto the deck, fingers comb at still damp hair as she pads softly towards him. She had watched him for a long moment inside the doors, not wanting to disturb his thoughts. “Looking so serious there,” she teases softly, “We’re on vacation remember.” She turns and leans back against the railing, head tilting to look at him.

Dressed in shorts and a tank top, a hint of a bathing suit underneath, with it tying off behind her neck, she looks ready for a day in the sun and on the beach. Of course, as always she smells of vanilla and lavender. When her hands move to cup around the mug, she can’t help but chuckle when she finds it still warm. “That is a rather handy skill,” she comments lightly, “I bet you would be a lifesaver to my toes and fingers in the winter.”

The phone slips back into a pocket as Luther turns to look back over his shoulder, brought out of his thoughts with her words. A smile pulls back at the corners of his mouth, her tease turning it a little wry. “Why do I keep forgetting? Oh, because I’ve got you to remind me,” he replies as he passes the warmed mug back to her. “Your cat’s already got the right idea,” he teases back, bending to kiss her lightly on the cheek - the vanilla and lavender noted too - and then moving to grab keys from the table beside the empty mug and the mug as well. He’s a janitor, apparently cleaning up is just a thing.

“Car’s out front ready to go,” he adds, but that step back allows him to check her outfit out on the whole, and he stops to appreciate the sight. “I’m going to get a lot of jealous looks,” he remarks amusedly. “Might have to fight off a few of these New Englanders.”

“I think that is the reason he likes you so much,” Kaylee points out with a chuckle, watching him move away after that kiss to her cheek. Not that she has had a whole lot of men in her place. Jojo stayed away from them, but not this one. Their first night together at her place, they woke to the cat staring at them, from a perch atop Luther’s chest.

For Kaylee, that had been a good sign.

The compliment about her appearance gets a coy smile, head ducking a little. “You fight them off?” Something about that statement amuses her, there may be a little more swing to those hips as she purposely brushes by him, on her way to grab her sandals. “You forget, lover, I’m the one with the handcuffs.” There is a wink, before she turns her back to him and strolls into the house to get her shoes on.

Another good sign was that Luther wasn’t allergic to cats. Considering what he’d been exposed to, cats would have been the least of his worries.

Meanwhile, the brush of her has him turning to follow her with his gaze, then the rest of him. “Well,” he says as he uses those long strides to catch up to her, hands moving to catch those swaying hips before she puts her shoes on, “Let’s not get into too much trouble then.” The mischievous amusement in his tone dips as he lingers a little too long. Self-restraint, though, he mostly has because he moves off to step into his shoes beside her.

“Wait’ll it’s after brunch, at least,” he says, chuckling a low rumble. Then it’s his turn to move away, just a quick glance behind him showing that he’s joking. Mostly.

The touch of his fingers on her hips and the rumble of his voice behind her… Cheeks puff slightly, as Kaylee lets out a deep breath once he had moved away. The man knows how to get her heated, too. “We need to get out of this house before I change my mind.” She knows she started it, but she did really want to get a bite at that shack place they talked about.

The growling protest of her stomach is a reminder that they do need to eat. “Come on, handsome. I’m starving.”

The jangle of the keys in Luther’s hands are an answer to that reminder of their ultimate mission, and in short order they’re off on the road again in anticipation of a great meal and good times.


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