Participants:
Scene Title | Lazy Sunday |
---|---|
Synopsis | An update on news and a lazy Sunday morning. |
Date | Aug 16, 2009 |
Elisabeth's Apartment, Dorchester Towers
Sunday mornings are for lazy sleeping in and stuff. And Elisabeth has no burning drive to be anywhere this morning. In point of fact, she hasn't even gotten out of the bed yet, her face buried in her pillow and the blackout shades drawn to keep out the daylight. She has every intention of staying there today until hell freezes over. The only thing that is rousing her out of her self-imposed exile to the Land of Nod (or at least the Land of Ignore Everything and Turn Off the Phone) is the smell of coffee from the automated coffee maker — because she set the thing up yesterday, just like always. And it's with a grumble that she finally heeds the call toward wakefulness and opens bright blue eyes.
Hey, there was coffee. Cardinal helped himself to some of it already, since it was hot and ready and waiting for him, and he'd been awake since the previous morning anyway. So when she emerges from her bedroom, he's kicked back on the sofa, feet up on the coffee table and a mug in hand, reading the newspaper folded in one hand and sipping from it, as if he was supposed to be there.
When she pads out of the room in her panties and skimpy tanktop, the bleary-eyed blonde stops, eyes him, and makes a sound that is a cross between a grunt and a raspberry in his direction. Only after she's poured coffee and liberally dosed it with unholy amounts of sugar and milk does she come back into the living room. "Morning," she grumbles mildly, not so much at him as in his direction. She still looks a bit dopey with sleep, not quite awake.
"'Morning," Cardinal murmurs, tossing the newspaper onto the table with a slap of paper on wood, "Fuckin' news." A turn of his head watches her, and he manages a faint smile, "Didn't sleep well, I take it?"
Elisabeth wrinkles her nose at him, takes a hefty swallow of hot coffee, and sets the cup down on the end table near his feet. She proceeds to walk on her couch, climbing over his sprawled form to wedge herself between him and the high back of the thing where she can lay her head on his chest. "Cranky," she replies. "Scoot over, I wanna cuddle. It's too early for fuckin' news. Did you sleep at all? You look wiped."
Cardinal exhales a low chuckle at her words and shift to nestle in on the sofa with him, one more sip of coffee taken before he leans back over to set it down on the table beside the newspaper before he shifts a bit to let her lay against him, one arm half-curling around her. "I'm shifting back to a nocturnal cycle," he explains, "Fuckin' sun has been givin' me migraines."
Mmm. That makes sense, actually. Once settled, Liz nods against his shoulder with a yawn. "Anything you can take to help ease them?" she asks. "I've got some …. shit, I dunno. Got some codeine from the last time I got shot," she offers quietly. "I never really thought to ask if it was direct sun, or even just sitting in here…" She looks up at him, a frown pulling her brows together. The sliding door is curtained, but the sun still lights up the room.
"Mnm." Of course, Cardinal's wearing his shades, even in here. "It's just light, in general. I leave 'em off when I'm alone, it's easier in the dark…" His fingers brush up the back of her neck, tickling at the nape as he offers down a lazy smile, "…light's dark, dark's light, is the easiest way I can explain."
She quirks a grin at him. "Kay." There's a pause as she studies his face. "So… do I dare ask what brings you by at … ridiculously late for me to be sleeping on a Sunday?" she asks easily. "No complaints on my end, mind you — kinda like finding a cuddle waiting in my living room when I wake up bitchy."
"What," Cardinal asks with a twitch of a smile, one brow arching over the shades, "I can't come see how you're doing? It has been a couple days, you know. In our line've business, you could be dead."
Elisabeth makes an indelicate sound at him. "I suppose that's true enough," she concedes. "Been kinda busy myself lately — picking up all kinds of fun things you're gonna wanna know, nosy man." She pokes him lightly in the ribs, just because she can.
A low chuckle, and Cardinal tips his head down to nuzzle his face into her bed-mussed hair, murmuring, "Let me guess… none of it's good news?" His fingers slide down her back, twisting a lazy serpent's path along her spine.
Elisabeth thinks about all the bits and pieces she's got to pass along and considers. A shiver makes her back arch a bit when his hand slides, and her laughter is soft. "Have I ever yet managed to give you good news?" she asks, half-tease and half honestly curious.
"I don't think you have," murmurs Cardinal, his fingers curling in beneath the hem of that tank-top to lightly scritch up from her tailbone along bare skin, as he exhales another soft sound of good humor, "Go ahead and lay the bad news on me, then, beautiful."
Elisabeth considers. Does she want to be bothered with the news when he's got his fingers playing up her bare skin? It's very distracting. And a prelude to things that are guaranteed to keep both their minds off bad news and stress. "Make you a deal," she says, turning so that she can nibble his jaw. "I'll tell you what I know, and then the rest of today is a bad-news hiatus day, okay? A few hours' sleep'll do you good." She slides her hand across his chest and her bare leg over the top of one of his. "A hot shower, some good food… a little exercise. Not necessarily in that order," she says with a smile. "Good as new."
A smirk twitches to Cardinal's lips as he looks down at her, a brow tic'ing upwards. "That's blackmail," he accuses her casually, "You know that, right…?" He exhales a long-suffering sigh, his head falling back against the couch's arm as he murmurs, "Oh, alright. Pull my arm, why don't you."
Elisabeth chuckles quietly. "I do so love the dark side of the law," she teases. "None of what I've got is particularly bad at this moment anyway. Bullet point list: One - There was a Homeland agent who's helped us before — Minea Dahl — snatched out of Cat's building. Personally, I always kind of assumed that Cat was compromised, but now the building itself is almost guaranteed to be, what with Homeland telepaths mindraping everything in sight. I sent Claire Bennet a text about it and offered her the Library as a sanctuary if she feels like she needs it.
"Two — We have evidence that Humanis First is definitely on the move, and possibly the ones who bugged Fath.. Pastor Joseph's church. They're planning an attack on a safehouse near the Staten docks, so… tell any of ours over there to heads up or scatter.
"Three — The name Danko has come up in relation to that, and I'm pulling records even as we speak. He's shorter than average in height, bald, mid-40s to 50s. He's an ex-US Marine, I know that for sure, and his group is all military backgrounds. And it's possible that a man named Bill Dean is also working with them. It may be Helena's father."
Elisabeth adds one final thought. "Oh, and four — Neither of Edward Ray's bodies have been recovered from Pinehearst that I can tell. But Tyle… John's was. The case against Tyler Case is officially closed."
"Minea?" Cardinal's head lifts a little, his brow furrowing slightly, "…well, fuckin' wonderful. I know her, sort've. She was Company, wasn't she?" The man's head drops back down, his eyes closing, "Staten docks… are you organizing a counterstrike? Ambush 'em there? Danko. Hm. Let me know when you get the guy's file…" A pause, "Knew the first. The second's good news."
"She was, yes," Elisabeth replies to the query about Minea. "Agent Denton says she okay… which is relative, but at least they didn't put a bullet in her head. Although they did try that last time." She grimaces. "And yes, I believe Teo's setting up a sting operation out there. In point of fact, the safehouse they're planning on hitting may be his safehouse full of goons, we don't have a definite target yet. If we get one, obviously it'll get moved on." She kisses his cheek softly. "I thought you'd think so," she says quietly to his response on Tyler. "And I think the last bit of intel I've got for you is that Peter Petrelli is also still alive. He's been by Cat's in the recent past, but… apparently as per his usual MO, he's not willing to listen to anyone. And I think that winds up the news portion of the day… and hey, I even managed to bring good news!"
"I know." Cardinal grimaces up at the ceiling without opening his eyes, "Petrelli's the one with Kazimir's ability. Gabriel insists that he can — contain the problem. I disagree, fuck, he couldn't contain the nuclear goddamn blast either, what makes him think Peter can contain the death power — but I don't think I should force the point right now… at least someone's keeping a fuckin' eye on him."
Elisabeth jerks upright and STARES at him. "What????"
The thief's eyes open behind the shades, his head lifting as he looks at the policewoman. "You heard me," he says quietly, "Gabriel had it contained… inside him, his own power kept it in check. It emigrated to Peter."
Blue eyes just stare at him; Elisabeth is stunned. "I…. don't know what to say to that."
"I think we should just shove Deckard into him and have it done with," Cardinal snorts derisively, "Gabriel won't hear of it, though, he insists it can be controlled. I think he's flat fucking wrong, but what the fuck can I do?"
What can he do? Assessing that question objectively, Elisabeth says, "Honestly? I'm not even sure we have an answer to that — pitting Abby's ability and Volken's last time didn't destroy it. It's possible that nothing could actually destroy it, so….. Dear God, I'm actually agreeing with Sylar on something. Fuck. Just…. fuck." She shoves her mop of hair backward and says, "You know what? I don't want to know this today. I don't. If the world ends in the next six to ten hours, so fucking be it. I am taking the day off." Her tone sounds very firm, very determined. And she scoots to prop herself above him on an elbow, leaning down to slide her lips along his chin. "No more work, no more cell phones." She kisses his jaw softly. "No more… serial killers," she asks more softly, punctuating it with a soft kiss on his rough cheek. "No more… crazy humans killing Evos." The next kiss lands at the corner of his mouth. "No more saving the world. Just…. no more?" the last is asked in a tone of almost pleading, her fingers reaching up to brush through his short hair but leaving his shades be for the moment.
One elbow props him up a bit on the couch, Cardinal's free hand lifting to draw the shades from his face and toss them onto the table with a clatter; eyes edged with red from light-straight meeting hers, wistful, tired, and something warm as well as his lips twitch in a faint smile. "The world can wait," he replies quietly, the tip of his nose rubbing against her own as his brow pushes up to rest to hers, "I think we've earned a break for a little while, lover."
The smile Elisabeth rewards him with lightens her expression, affection and tenderness also coloring it as she runs her fingertips over his cheek and meets his eyes. She nuzzles her nose to his and then caresses his lips with her, her slow kiss lacking urgency but not heat, an invitation to take as much time as they feel like taking. Everyone deserves a lazy Sunday.