Participants:
| Scene Title | Why Yes I Am A Ninja Vampire Pirate Jedi Star Fleet Captain … How About You? |
|---|---|
| Synopsis | Also known as pyjama party at Liz's place. |
| Date | Sep 10, 2009 |
Elisabeth's Apartment
Abby sat up all night watching Liz sleep. Truth be told, there were only a couple of hours of it and it was restless at best. Elisabeth finally sent the younger woman off to get some sleep of her own and got up for the morning around 4 and put on coffee. One more time to go over the files and try to see what she's missing… though nothing jumps out at her yet again. She walked the apartment, double-checking the doors, and finally sat down on a chair. No joy — the front door's at her back. Which is stupid because Richard's been making a point of not surprising her….. but she can't help it. She rearranges the furniture some so the couch has its back to the wall and a person sitting on it can see the whole room. And then she rearranges some of the other things in the room to make it harder to walk through in the dark (unless you're Cardinal). And then she realizes what she's doing and sighs quietly. A text goes upstairs… because she doesn't want to wake Abby and she knows there's always one of him awake. Come for coffee?
One? Usually more then one, but yes, one will never find an entirely idle Alec. Only if you make me a bagel. Grape jelly, cream cheese. Or no snuggles for you. he threatens.
The reply is brief. No cream cheese. Bring own. Elisabeth is out of the stuff because she's not exactly been eating much lately. Lots of cooking! Not much eating. When she finally lets Alec in the front door — opening all the locks and the crossbar — she looks tousled and cranky. And very very cautious of him. Even though she asked him for coffee, it looks like she's not going to let him in for a long minute standing there. And then she finally backs up and says, somewhat ungratefully, "'mon in."
Alec stands there with cream cheese, an LP, wearing scrubs, barefoot, and with a t-shirt that says 'Why yes I am a Ninja Vampire Pirate Jedi Star Fleet Captain… How about you?' on it. He eyes her for a moment, "You need to eat more." he informs her, "Keep this up and you'll waste away to the anorexic Kate Hudson and no one wants that." he hands her the cream cheese. He brought it, she still gets to make it.
Elisabeth glares at him, waiting until he's in and locking every single lock right behind him. Then she snatches the cream cheese and huffs toward the kitchen. She's wearing a pair of navy sweatpants and a spahetti-strapped tanktop that flashes the new addition of a vividly colored angelic fairy tattoo on the back of her right shoulder at him. Her last bagel is sitting in the toaster waiting for the spread he brought with him, and she pours coffee and makes the bagel silently.
Alec raises a brow, "Well, as far as adolecent rebelion goes you could have done worse then a little ink. Me? I embarked on training myself to withstand a life of crime after discovering my ability in an alley way fending off a pair of rapists. Colorful way of saying I kicked some major ass. Nothing scrappier then a fourteen year old times fourteen. Seriously, you thought /you/ had hormone issues. Yeesh." he takes a seat at the bar and eyes her, "Bought ya something." he pushes the LP across the counter with a fingertip. It's wrapped in the funny papers, cause Alec doesn't usually buy presents so lacks traditional paper. It fits him.
The snarl she makes is hidden by the fact that Elisabeth has her back to him while she makes the bagel. By the time she comes back with his bagel and coffee, she slides it onto the breakfast bar so he can sit on the other side of it. Her pissy expression eases a bit as curiosity flickers in her blue eyes. "It wasn't rebellion… it was a reminder," she says absently, reaching to take the flat package from him. She slants a brief glance at him and then opens it.
Miles Davis' Bitches Brew, the original recordings. It is a collectors wet dream, and one of the single greatest bits of true jazz genius in existence. It's a phenominally expensive gift, and also very very Alec, "I figure a girl like you with all this spare time could appreciate a true master peice now more then ever. Plus… Miles helped me through a rough patch or two, any luck he'll hold your hand for a bit as well." he smiles warmly and munches the bagel while sipping his coffee.
Her eyebrows shoot to her hairline and Elisabeth looks up at him. "Alec…. " Because it's way expensive. The kind of expensive she couldn't ever justify, especially on LP! But she swallows the argument and says gracefully, "Thank you." Her own coffee is still on the kitchen side of the breakfast bar and she keeps it there, but she also opens a large box on the counter to extract a bag of half a dozen blueberry muffins that she made the other night. With fresh blueberries. Setting the bag on the counter between them, she retrieves butter and stands on the kitchen side to peel paper off one of the muffins. It's a 'normal' activity, right? But her eyes flicker up each time he moves. "Abby said you'd done some securing of her place over the bar," she offers.
Alec snorts, "Don't think like that." he says, because he knows her and he knows where she'd go the instant she saw what it was. "I'm rich. Like seriously Liz, I make shit loads of money and you're the only person I have left to spend it on so… suck it up. I almost bought you a car but it was to cliched and a little to much like a guy trying to get into your pants." he smiles again. "I have. She doesn't have the money or the desire to go all out so I'm just sort of… making it burglar resistant. I wanted a snake pit but she said no. Something about not liking serpents. Bible people. What are you gonna do?" he shrugs, "So, now that all that small talk shit is out of the way, how are you doing?" loaded question and unlike normal he doesn't build up to it with little manipulative leading remarks. He just…. asked. All shotgun in the face style.
"Like shit," Elisabeth admits as succinctly. "And be nice — Abby's in the guest bed making sure I don't lose my shit in the middle of the night." She leans on the counter and nibbles a bit at the muffin. "Had a dream manipulator in to help corral the worst of it. Between that and the shrink, I thought things were leveling off." She grins a little. "Stupid me." She rubs her forehead absently.
Alec eyes her, "You'll get through it." he says flatly and without an ounce of doubt. "People that play with your head will never get it, all the training they…" he shakes his head. "It's right about now that I started to relapse the first couple of times. You think it's good. You're stronger then this. You can beat it. You get help from where ever and you do good. But then you bite off more then you can chew. It's a sound or a smell and it triggers a memory, next thing you know you're curled up in the air duct of your fifteenth floor project housing slum trying not to make any noise or the bad people will find you." he nods, "Wanna know the truth? It's pretty simple really. You /are/ stronger then this. You /will/ beat it. And once you're on the other side you'll be so much stronger then you were before. All we gotta do is make sure you survive the first strech, avoid any unnessicary stresses, give you time to…" he waves a hand at her, "Do whatever it is that helps you out. With me? It was jazz and locks." he points to the album, "Crack my first master lock bike lock with a paper clip to that album in fact."
She doesn't look at him, crumbling the muffin in her fingers more than eating it, but Elisabeth is listening. "Wanna know the only thing that helps?" she asks as she watches the muffin disintegrate in her restless fingers. "Locking the door and not leaving. You made me a fortress," she says with a small smile. "And it's the only place I feel entirely at ease."
Alec nods his head, "I had one of those too." he admits, "But hiding is a cowards escape and we're a lot of things you and me, cowards ain't one of them. I wouldn't have made it for you if I didn't trust you to know when to leave it."
Elisabeth smiles faintly at that, finally looking up at him again. "Don't have the luxury of doing it even if I wanted to. Two missing cops, two serial killers, Humanis First, and various other cases on my docket won't wait for me to have a mental breakdown and recover. So… out the door I go every morning, expecting that it will be the last time I get to leave the apartment," she admits. "I'm finding that I have this fatalistic outlook right now… they're going to figure out sooner or later that I'm alive… and they'll go 'oh shit, really?' and send someone with a sniper rifle to take me out on my way in or out the building's door or the precinct's door….. so whatever. I don't have time to cater to it."
Alec meets her eyes unwaveringly, a warm and decidedly human expression on his face that isn't one of the masks she's seen before. "There's that chance." he admits, no use denying it, "But that's not the way to look at it. Think less about when you'll die and more about what great thing you'll do next. Don't think about the bullet or the sniper or HF, think instead about the killers you'll put away, the lives you'll save." he grins a bit, "The thieves you'll help start down something that is similar to the path of reform. I mean, I'm very nearly a success story of yours. If I hadn't spied on you while we were having the occasionally memorable toss amid sheets or on kitchen floors I never would have discovered your friends. If you think about it, you may be the only reason I was on your side at Pine Hearst. The Alec you met back then could easily have been convinced to work for Arthur…" he gives her a pointed look. "Or any of a dozen other wackos. Insead I work for your wackos. Cause of you. Though I'm not a /huge/ fan about the turn my sex life has recently taken, I can't say I don't mind the chance to chat with someone when things go south." his smile falters a little bit and he eyes his coffee before sipping from it again.
Elisabeth flushes visibly when he mentions the kitchen floors, chuckling quietly in fond remembrance. She looks down and then back up at him, studying his expression thoughtfully. "You've been pretty careful to keep your own issues away from me." More likely, away from everyone. "What's going on?" Because she didn't miss the expression. "What's gone south?"
Alec shakes his head, "I don't have issues kitten, remember? I'm Alec." he offers her his perfectly charming crooked smile, which he is well aware no longer works on her. "Tallie." he states simply. "It was nice having someone … there."
There's a slow nod. Elisabeth's hands stop shredding the muffin crumbs finally and she doesn't say anything for a couple of long breaths of time. "I'm sorry," is what she finally says. "I …. there's a part of me that wants to reach across this bar and take away all the hurt." Cuz God knows, doing that would at least distract both of them from their respective hurts for a while. "But I like that you talk to me now." Because he didn't before. Not really. Not about the important things.
Alec smiles at her, "I wouldn't let you." he says simply. "Don't get me wrong, if you know someone in desperate need of a tumble by all means, please give me her number, but…" he shakes his head, "I don't value sex. It's just… sex." he shrugs, "Grunting and sweating and all the fluids and mess and really it's extremely undignified, I should know, I've done it at least six times. Maybe seven. But I've never done friends. I find I like it. So no sex for you. Hugs are okay though, as are occasional couch cuddles, but only if there's a good movie on. I'll not have you abusing my snuggling abilities. I'm rubbish in the sack, but there are no better cuddlers then me, at least not out of the straight men. Gay guys are masters though, and I just can't compete with that."
She laughs softly and when he shrugs, Elisabeth replies softly, "And therein lies the difference between us. Because I don't sleep with men I can't have as friends. It's just sex then." She shakes her head at him, truly amused at him right up til the last sentence. And then her blue eyes go wide and far more wary than they've been since he came in. "You're spying on me again!" she accuses, tension arcing through her whole body. "You promised!"
Abby slips in.
Alec is sitting at the breakfast bar sipping coffee and eating a bagel while Liz stands in the kitchen with a big bar between them keeping her say from him. Alec is barefoot wearing scrubs and a t-shirt that says 'Why yes I am a Ninja Vampire Pirate Jedi Star Fleet Captain… How about you?' and is currently quirking a brow at Liz. "Sweetie, I keep my word." he says softly, "It's common knowledge, gay men are better cuddlers. No commitment issues or fear of awkward erections when curled up a with a woman. They can be more relaxed." he blows her tension away with a flick of a finger as if her conserns were of no consequence, the ease with which he dismisses them should tell Liz he's not spying on her.
"Gay men are better cuddlers. I lived with two of them" Comes the sleep ridden voice of Abigail as she wanders from the hall and into the kitchen. The last word is derailed by a large yawn from the southern blonde, faded blue fuzzy slippers mark her shuffled path towards the kitchen proper and the fridge. "Al especially. Just his really strong arms that made you feel anchored and safe. Like no one would ever think to get to you when he's around you. Flint, flint doesn't cuddle. Morning Liz, Morning Alec" Yeah, she hasn't slept more than a wink when she heard Alec's voice. That he's in his Pyjama's has not registered to her yet.
Well, now, doesn't that put her in her place. Elisabeth looks somewhat mollified and half-mortified. She has Felix on the brain, her dreams of him very vivid because he's so much in the forefront of her thoughts, and well… she doesn't correct the assumption that there's no pesky erections to deal with. She just gets a sad look — cuz he is a damn good cuddler. Teo's hugged before but not really snuggled. "Some hetero men manage the cuddling just fine," she gruffs, reaching for her coffee cup and ignoring the destroyed muffin on the counter. "Abs, did we wake you back up? I'm sorry," she murmurs regretfully. The other blonde can't possibly have gotten any sleep at all.
Alec lifts a lazy finger and points to himself, "Best. Straight. Cuddler. Ever." he reinterates. "But you just can't compete with the queers. They have magic I can't match. Must be given out the day you have your gay-mitzvah or whatever." Abby is given a coffee salute.
"You have the chest for it" Abby concedes. She has clung to it, but for very different reasons than needing comfort and everything to do with needing to not fall off Liz.
The bike, not the broad.
"I don't have anything today other than to shop for class supplies. Shop around for a car - Not a detroit muscle car, sorry Alec. So I can sleep in, don't worry" Her accent thick as ever. She goes about pouring herself some coffee then shuffling her way to the breakfast bar in her white cotton eyelet night gown straight out of some old fashioned clothing catalog with it's flannel and jersey bathrobe belted around her. Replete with hoodie and a VS logo.
"Alec, why are you in Pyjama;s?"
Gay-mitzvah? Really? Elisabeth actually quirks a grin, though not a chuckle. "Erm… because I called his silly ass at 4:30 in the morning and he was lounging around in them?" she guesses mildly. She's still wearing the navy sweatpants and spaghetti-strapped tank from last night. It flashed her tat at Alec, too… cuuute! She looks weary, though. "I'll have to tell Felix about the gay-mitzvah." He'll laugh. If he lives to laugh again.
Alec reaches down and fondles his chest a bit, "I do don't I?" Lounging!? He eyes her, "I was working just like she knew I would be. I have wicked insomnia, don't sleep much, always awake." he makes a face, "I can't tell you what it's like to sit there wide awake while a woman slumbers on your arm. It's horrid."
"It's not horrid" oh god, Alec's fondling his own chest. That haze of red that comes to her cheeks though is provided a distraction for by Liz and her little bomb that she just dropped.
"Felix is funny between the sheets?" Suddenly, things maybe make a bit more sense with the federal agent. Him and his proximity to Teo. Blue eyes crusted with sleep blink owlishly at Liz then frown and go back to her coffee with a shake of her head. "bet you look silly on liz wearing pyjama's and going 80 down a empty street Alec"
A single brow raises and Liz drawls mildly with a wicked glint in her eyes, "He's pretty funny sometimes… wicked sense of humor, that man." As she takes her sip of coffee, though, Abby says THAT, and she chokes on her drink. "Scuze me??"
Alec rolls his eyes over to Abby, "Do you remember what I told you when first we discussed that which shall not be named? There were rules attached to me speaking to you about it. I believe the only real rule was that you were never to speak about that which shall not be named before certain peoples who had not been let in on the secret. Of that which shall not be named. You have broken the rule. Now there must be spankings. Liz, be a dear and hand me a wooden spoon." he stops fondling his chest.
She didn't remember not being told to not tell about a certain bike and it's super secret name. As such, mortification reigns supreme and the younger blonde falls silent. so very given to an emotional rollecoaster so early in the morning after a long night with Liz. It's enough to make her pick up her coffee cup and mumble about needing to use the bathroom and maybe hang herself while she's at it.
Glancing between them, Elisabeth shakes her head. "So…. you're not having fantasies about riding me out on a public street, then?" she comments with a grin. "That's good… I'm not up for exhibitionary sex. And besides… you said no sex. Which suits me fine, thanks, what with one thing and another right now."
She sends Abby a grin as the younger woman shuffles toward the bedroom.
Alec frowns after Abby as the young woman walks away, "I know where you live and I can get past your security!" he reminds her as she heads for the bathroom, "And I have my own wooden spoons!" so take that. He then turns back to Liz, "Don't talk to me about exhibitionist sex. I'm the wrong guy to say that to." he pointed looks at Liz's phone, sitting innoecently on the counter. "I named my Hyabusa Liz. I figured, entirely to much bike for me, faster, beautiful, and makes me all tingly in my naughty places. Couldn't think of a better name."
She's not sure how to take that comment from him. Elisabeth dismisses quietly, "I'm not too much for you. Quit doing that." She shrugs off the compliment and sets her coffee cup down to sweep up the destroyed muffin from the counter in front of her. "I'm nothing special, Alec." And back down the slippery slide we go. As she dumps the crumbs into the garbage disposal, Elisabeth keeps her back to him once more. "But I'm flattered," she offers finally.
Alec snorts, "I am a man of my own creation and I can place you on as high a pedestal as I damned well please. I suggest you stop being afraid of heights and just start enjoying the view. It's very pretty up there. You can sometimes see down my blouse. Rumor has it I have a nice chest." He finishes his bagel, "Look, you look like you need some time. I'm here if you need me, you know that. Me and my cuddleable chest are more then willing to stay the morning with you until work, but only if you play the LP."
Turning to look at him, Elisabeth merely nods. "I'll keep it in mind. Though I've had a lot of company sticking it out with me overnight and into the mornings lately." She smiles faintly. "Seems like I tripped and fell into a relationship when I wasn't looking. Kinda weird, actually — don't really know what to do with it, so I'm just … hanging on for the ride." She shrugs. "But don't be a stranger. I'm… awake most mornings by 5 right now, so if you're in the mood for coffee…"
Alec chuckles a bit, "When havn't you known me to be up for a cup of coffee?" he points out as he pushes himself to his feet. He taps the LP on the bar with a fingertip, "At least promise me that you will sit down, close your eyes, and listen to the first five tracks. No one around to interupt, no phone, no talk of work or anything else, just… listen. If you hate it, it doesn't work for you, whatever, that's fine. Just give it an honest shot?"
Elisabeth nods easily. "I can promise to listen… not so sure about the closing eyes part," she admits. "But I'll listen. I love a good jazz album."
Alec smiles a bit and stands, "Yeah, I know. Maybe it won't be your thing, but… Heh. It's Miles." as if that explained it all. Which it should. "Listen, in a few days I'm expecting a bit of an upgrade. Wanna see it? Maybe we could go for a ride afterward."
"Love to," Elisabeth admits quietly. "We'll see how the case is going, okay?" Becuase getting out of the area on a motorcycle with a friend may be just what the doctor ordered.
She walks Alec to the door, keeping just enough space between them to feel comfortable as she does. She'll have to get over THAT if she goes.
Alec smiles a bit, "You know me. I'm always free for a friend." he winks. The only man on earth who /always/ has spare time. "Take care kitten." he slips out the door, still barefoot, then pauses and hands her her coffee cup back, "Not taking that with me." oops.
After she lets the man out, retrieving her coffee cup with a grin, Elisabeth leans back against the well-locked door and sighs. She calls down the hall to Abby, "Am I too old to run away from home??"
"Nope! We can run to my home in the south! He won't think to look there" Abigail hollers back from the bathroom, emerging with minty fresh teeth. "Momma would fatten you up and you'd know ..exactly// what i'll be like when i'm 40." Abby offers a tentative grin.
"Liz really runs fast. She's a good ride. You'll like it"
Elisabeth offers a grin to Abby, both for the knowing what Abby will be like at forty, which she's pretty sure she already knows, and for the 'Liz' being a good ride. Blowing out a breath, she comes back toward the kitchen and the hall and says, "I really am sorry we woke you. I figured we could sit out here and just…. be." There's a faint shrug. "When Norton was gone, Alec was the person I just hung out with. Sometimes the sex, but just as often not, you know? I kinda miss talking to him. And since he's awake all the damn time anyway…." She smiles a little as she sets the coffee cup down on the kitchen counter.
"Let me guess, super power is… not needing sleep" She knows one person who doesn't really need much sleep. "It's okay Liz, i'm a light sleeper. It's another hour till curfew anyways. I'm just gonna get all my stuff gathered and you can drop me off at home before you go to work?" Her empty coffee cup is brought back to the kitchen proper so she can rinse it out.
"Insomnia's definitely not a superpower," Elisabeth counters with a grin. "Frankly, if Alec had a superpower, I'd bet he'd want it to be… I don't know. Thief-related somehow. Since he keeps commenting to me that Richard needs a mentor cuz he's an amateur." She snickers, sharing a grin with Abby. "That conversation I totally steer away from — I got no desire to have to worry about arresting either of them any time soon."
"Technically, you should be arresting all your friends" Abigail points out. And yourself" ABigail gestures to the guest room. "I'm gonna go shower and start getting ready"
Elisabeth snorts mildly. "Yeah, well….. considering the shit that's coming down in the precinct, the latter may still come," she comments. And then she waves Abby showerward and cleans up the small mess in the kitchen, forcing herself to actually eat a couple of those muffins she made.