Title: The Waking Hours
Author: Restive Nature
Disclaimer: All characters within this fiction are the property of Cameron/ Eglee. I just like to play with them.
Rating: PG-15
Pairing: M/A
Summary: Dreams don’t often come true for Manticore-bred soldiers. So when the chance comes along for Alec, he’s not quite sure how to take it.
Spoilers/ Time line: Sequel to Dream Within.
Feedback: Always welcome!
Distribution: Ask first, please.
Chapter Ten
Moment Of Wonder
"Hey Alec," a voice called out the moment that Alec entered the mess hall. Although that was just the loose term that they used for the old diner that the transgenics were using as a food preparation center. They'd actually just completed knocking down the wall that stood between said diner and the building next door where they had set up tables and chairs for those that chose to stay and eat rather than taking their food home with them. Alec was glad that they were done with that messy chore, one that he'd hoped to and successfully avoided participating in. Slinging a sledgehammer wasn't exactly high on his to-try list in life. But now that the hole was complete, he figured that it would mean less plaster dust filled food. Although maybe that had been a bonus, because in some cases, for some of the cooks who'd been yanked into service, it added a little flavor. But to Alec's relief, he'd seen that Grift, the transgenic who'd greeted him upon entry, was on the list to cook that night. And while Grift had admitted that he'd never really been into cooking before, he was known for turning out decent meals. At least, he never tried anything fancy and overblown, especially given their limited supplies and budget.
"Hey man," Alec grinned as he lazily made his way over to the counter. Someone, Alec wasn't sure who, had procured a white board and each day, the chef du jour would write out what they were planning for meals. That way, people had a choice. If you wanted the slop, come and get it, if not, you were on your own. And for this evening, the...Alec stifled a chuckle as he read the solitary menu, baby crap casserole, would have to do. "Two to go tonight," he offered in a resigned tone. Grift just nodded his head and reached for two plates. The serving spoon that he pulled from the gloppy mess made a splooch-like noise and Alec winced. "What the hell is in that stuff?"
Grift shrugged one shoulder as he separated the plates. "Ah let's see, I was gonna go Mexican tonight, so refried beans, rice, but then Gem showed up."
"Uh oh," Alec responded automatically. He knew that whenever the pair of them worked together, there were all sorts of arguments. Good-natured for the most part, but like most women Alec knew, Gem was just as stubborn as the rest.
"And she insisted that we throw something healthy in," Grift continued his story, his blue eyes lighting up under his mop of shaggy brown hair. "And before I could stop her man, she threw in those canned carrots and green beans. And they were all mushy, you know..."
Alec's nose wrinkled up as the first spoonful of the so called casserole hit the plate. "And that's why dinner tonight is this lovely shade of putrid?" he asked teasingly.
"Kiss the cook's ass, man," Grift chuckled as he reached for more of the goopy mixture.
"What are you doing?" Gem demanded as she turned the corner out of the kitchen, catching sight of the pair of them.
"Feedin' the teeming masses woman," Grift shot back. "What the hell are you doin'?"
"Feeding the hungry child," Gem grumbled, striving to keep her voice down as she shifted a sleeping baby Angie in her arms. "I told you that."
"I forgot," Grift winked in Alec's direction and the blond X-5 was quite sure that it was a lie. Any red-blooded male wouldn't forget either the thought of contemplating any woman's exposed breasts or on the flip side of that, avoiding wherever she was at so there wouldn't be any awkwardness as she went about the business of nursing said child.
"Stop that," Gem protested again, moving forward to grab Grift's hand that still held the spoon. For a moment Alec thought that Gem had realized that he and Grift were silently communicating typically licentious male thoughts and what have you, but then realized that she was focused on the plates of food.
"What are you doing?" Grift started to yell, but in mid-sentence dropped to a whisper as Gem glared angrily and turned Angie away so that she wouldn't be wakened. "The man wants his dinner."
"I'm actually reconsidering," Alec quipped as he stared down at the congealing mass of produce on the plates.
"And so you should," Gem broke in. "Don't worry Alec," she assured him with a wide smile. "I've got your stuff right here." Gem gestured to the back counter, where two bags sat, both with Alec's name on them.
"My stuff?" Alec puzzled. "I don't remember putting in an order for 'stuff'." Gem rolled her eyes at that.
"You really think I'd let you serve Max that junk at your special dinner tonight?" the woman scoffed.
"My special what?" Alec choked out. "When did you-? Who said-? What the hell...?" he gaped at her. How the hell did Gem know about their dinner? He hadn't told anyone. Maybe Max had...
"Max told me this morning," Gem replied happily. As she reached for the first bag and swung it towards Alec, who took it automatically. "And I figured that if the two of you were going to have a nice dinner together, then you should actually have a nice dinner. And not," she threw Grift a withering glance as she reached for the second bag, "whatever crap Dumbo over here managed to come up with."
"It's only crap thanks to you," Grift smirked, not really upset over what they ended up arguing about every time they worked together.
"It's not a nice dinner," Alec spluttered in denial, "it's just... dinner. A working dinner."
"Oh, what are you working on?" Gem asked with feigned polite interest as she carefully jiggled Angie a bit to encourage the snuffling baby to stay asleep.
"I-!" Alec had to pause. Well, he couldn't exactly say now could he, since he didn't really know. And no, it wasn't work related, it was... something else. But it was most definitely not what Gem was thinking. And now that infuriating blond was giving him a look so full of smugness...
"Uh huh," she grunted and then brightened again. "Oh, hang on, I'll get your dessert." She turned and hurried into the back again as Alec turned dumbfounded eyes back to Grift who was no longer struggling to contain his laughter.
"Boy, I wonder if I'd get the special treatment if I had a dinner date."
"It's not a date," Alec hissed, glancing around, finally noticing the attention they were attracting.
"Let's see, just you and Max, no one else," Grift counted out on his fingers, "eating in privacy, special food... yup! It's a date."
"No it's not," Alec protested again, wondering why he was getting so steamed up about this. It wasn't like he cared what everyone else thought. But still, Max would probably hear about this one way or another and all the blame would come to rest on his head. And he really didn't want that. "It's an appointment to discuss some things and we are eating while we work. Okay?"
"Whatever you say, boss man," Grift shrugged as he began scraping the plates back into the serving vats. He paused after a moment, "but if it's not a date, then maybe you'd better take the crap casserole. Wouldn't want to give Max the wrong idea, right?" Alec didn't even hesitate, he just hugged the bags tightly to his chest.
"Doesn't matter what you call it man," he snorted. "Anything, even surprise a la Gem is better than that shit." They both laughed and Gem smiled again as she emerged from the back.
"Here you go," she offered, sliding what looked like two tiny pies across the counter. "Chocolate pudding tarts," she announced at Alec's interested look. "I didn't have enough to make an entire pie and I..." she licked her lips nervously and glanced away before turning apologetic eyes to the male standing across from her. "Well, I had to make a few substitutions. But it should be okay, right?"
Alec swallowed nervously. "Uh, what did you..."
"Well," Gem tilted her head to the side, "the recipe called for milk and I-!"
"Oh good God woman!" Grift whimpered, mortified. "You didn't!"
"What," Gem demanded and Alec knew exactly what the other transgenic was thinking. He wasn't exactly thrilled himself with the thought, even as much as it was a natural and beautiful thing, as some people kept insisting. It took Gem a moment to catch up before she blushed hotly. "Ew! No! I used canned milk you idiots!"
Alec felt relieved and carefully slid the tarts onto the top of one of the bags and began to beat a hasty retreat from the glowering duo. "Okay, thanks a lot. Really nice of you Gem. I'll return the plates or whatever tomorrow. Okay, buh bye."
"Uh huh," Gem called to his back. "And Alec?" He paused at the doorway. "Don't forget to wash behind your ears!"
"It's not a date!" he barked again as he hurried out the door.
*****
By the time Alec made it back to the apartment complex, doubts and worries had begun to swirl around his head again. Forefront in his mind, was why Max had told Gem, of all people, about their meeting tonight. Was it just something she'd dropped in the normal course of conversation? Or perhaps they'd been giggling over it during one of their more frequent meetings? And that in itself was odd as well. Alec had never really considered that Max and Gem would end up friends. They just, aside from Manticore and the fiasco at Jam Pony several weeks ago, didn't have anything in common. Except, well, there was Gem's baby, of course. Lately it seemed as if Max was enjoying spending time with little Angie. And she certainly seemed to get some of the finer points of child care that seemed to elude the non-parental units wandering their fair city. But Gem wasn't the only mother in Terminal City, Alec was sure of that. So why had Max and Gem glommed onto each other?
Realizing that he was now standing just outside Max's door, he shifted nervously on his feet. Did Max think this was more than it was? She was the one that had requested the meeting. Was there more to it than she had said? No, she had agreed that it was just a brainstorming session. But what could she possibly want to brainstorm about. Shifting the two bags and the precariously perched desserts carefully, Alec freed one hand to knock. And barely realizing it, after he'd knocked, his hand went to straighten out the collar of the button down shirt he was wearing.
Well, okay, so he wasn't going to go all out, washing and primping like Gem had been suggesting. But that didn't mean that he couldn't look presentable. It was something ingrained in him, like the rest of his fellow soldiers, to look his best. After all, he was a representative after a fashion, of the entire country. But gradually, that soldier mentality had morphed into a pride in how he looked when he was calling the shots. And Alec liked looking good. It was his first defense against the world around him. If he looked good, then he must be good. And right now it seemed, he needed that little extra boost of confidence and ego, when he was walking into an unknown situation with a woman that was puzzling and confounding him every time he turned around.
"Alec?" he heard her call from inside the apartment. Before he could reply, she spoke again, "you can come on in. I'll be out in a second."
Alec closed his mouth and with a wry grin, reached to open the door. The grin slipped though, the moment the tiny pies attempted that very thing. Quickly he reached to steady them, just managing. He didn't want to be the one to tell Gem that her painstaking efforts had been ruined because he'd had a moment of clumsy inattention. Deciding to get the food to the nearest available flat surface, Alec glanced around Max's apartment. Spying a new makeshift coffee table in her living room, he headed that way.
"Alec?" Max called again and Alec realized that she must be in the bathroom, since that door was closed and the one to her bedroom was standing open. Alec blinked a few times and pushed the thoughts of that room away. Really didn't need to go there. "Is that you?"
"Yeah," he called back, his voice hitching momentarily and then stronger, "yeah it's me. Sorry, I was just setting stuff down before it fell down."
"You brought dinner?" she called back, her voice even more muffled and Alec heard the telltale swishing of water and his eyes widened. Max was cleaning up? Did she think... He sucked his lower lip into his mouth for a moment, biting lightly. Crap!
There was no time to finish that thought as the door to the bathroom swung open and Max emerged. The full flesh of his lower lip slipped from his mouth and the corner of his lip curved upward as Alec took her in. Those plaid pajama pants and old gray t-shirt were definitely not date material clothing. But darned if she didn't look so adorably cute with her hair pulled into a high ponytail atop her head and her face freshly scrubbed. "Well look who's all squeaky clean," the teasing words slipped out of his mouth before he could stop them.
But lucky for him, Max didn't seem to take it amiss, just grunting softly and rubbing at her chin for a moment. "Stupid pen," she muttered.
"Huh?" Alec's other corner of his mouth joined in to complete the symmetry of the appendage in a full-blown smile. Max crossed her arms over her mid-section and rolled her eyes.
"I was making some notes and my stupid pen decided to explode," she explained, her voice huffy, though her manner was calm.
"On your face?" Alec's eyes widened and Max dropped her gaze to the floor, as if it were suddenly a lot more interesting than anything else going on in that room. Alec strained to hear her quickly mumbled explanation of how, okay, she might just have been chewing on the end of it while she thought. But it wasn't like it was chomping, and none of her other stupid pens ever did that. There was just a moment and then a snicker escaped him. "Sorry," he threw out quickly, "but only you Max, would blame the pen."
Max shook her head. "I know," she agreed with a more petulant than disgruntled note in her voice. "But jeez Alec, they just don't make things like they used to, you know."
"Ah, not really," Alec shrugged.
"Well, anyway," Max shrugged as well, "I was trying to scrub it off. Did I miss anything?" she asked clearly and turned her face up to his for inspection. Alec wasn't surprised at how quickly his heartbeat ratcheted up a notch as she had stepped forward. He was startled by how clear and pink her complexion was. How dark her eyes and hair were by comparison. He grit his teeth gently, trying once more to focus his eyes away from what he shouldn't be concentrating on. Unfortunately, she wasn't helping in the least as she waited patiently for his answer. But there...
"Uh," Alec sighed as his hand automatically came up for use in emphasizing his point. But he just as swiftly, turned it away, instead pointing at his own mouth, mirroring where he'd seen the tiniest hint of a splotch of blue. "Right there," he answered tightly. "Still a little." He didn't miss the way her eyes slowly flickered down to where his finger rested at the corner of his mouth. But the moment passed quickly and she moved back, her eyes lit up with something Alec didn't quite recognize.
"Bad?" she asked, her voice once again light and unconcerned over any effect she was having on him. And for once, Alec was grateful for her easy dismissal of him.
"Not really," he nodded. "Not like you'd be a shoo-in for that old Blue Guy group." Max grinned and her head tilted to the side.
"Makes you kind of wonder if they went all out, huh?" she chuckled. At Alec's perplexed look, she explained further. "Was it just face painting or..." she trailed off suggestively and Alec's lips tightened. Did they really need to be discussing painting naked body parts and oh man, another place to not go! But she seemed to catch the hint that Alec didn't feel like discussing this and spun on her heel. "Well, I scrubbed as much as I could off. I guess I'll just have to live with it until it fades away. So what's on the menu tonight?" She moved towards her kitchen and Alec, glad to put some distance between them, headed for the bags, seating himself on the low couch.
"On the menu," he parroted, trying to inject a note of ease into his voice. "Well, that would be baby crap casserole
"Really?" she murmured after a moment and it was swiftly followed by a short, low chuckle. "Do I even want to know?"
"Eh, it wasn't that bad," Alec shrugged. "Just that Gem was making a few additions and it got kinda... mushy."
"All right," Max nodded. She jerked her head slightly towards the kitchen. "Did you grab utensils, or should I...?"
"Not sure," Alec grinned, realizing that he now had a chance to tweak her nose a little. "Gem said that she threw together something for our... dinner. Not sure exactly what we've got here," he gestured towards the bags in her living room. Max's face registered a slight surprise.
"Well that was nice of her," she smiled and began moving towards the living room. She turned slightly and brushed past Alec when he didn't automatically step out of her way. "I didn't tell her about this just so that she could go to all this trouble."
"Oh, so you did tell her," Alec confirmed what Gem had already mentioned. The question of why, though, still remained. Max glanced up even as she took a seat, reaching for the bags and nodded.
"Uh huh," she muttered. "She asked this morning if I wanted to have supper with Joshua while he was babysitting Angie tonight, while she's working the diner. Normally, I would have," Max lifted one shoulder gently as she explained. "But I told Gem that I didn't think it was fair to rope you into this brainstorming session and then back out. Besides, I can always go visit Joshua and Angie later."
"Yeah, it'd have to be later," Alec grinned. "Josh hadn't picked Angie up yet when I was down there," he explained as he took her silent offer to have a seat. So Gem had known all along what was up and had what? Decided to jerk him around a little bit with her teasing. And who knew, maybe what she'd packed in the bags was no better than what Grift had been going to serve them. Well, there was only one way to find out and get to the end of Gem's little machinations.
Max was nodding absently as she removed the tarts from the bags and set them to the side. "Those look good," she grunted and then busied herself unrolling the carefully folded paper bag top. She peered inside, one eyebrow arching up immediately. "Okay, that was nice of her."
"What was?" Alec asked, leaning towards Max to get a view of her dinner.
"M.R.E.'s," she answered shortly, upending the bag into her lap. Alec's eyebrows shot up as the plain brown box that contained the military 'meals ready to eat', slid out. His hand darted out for the other bag and the result was the same. In one of the more recent supply runs, Alec and his team had managed to score several dozen cartons of the MRE's. Upon realization of what they had, the boxes had been partitioned out to pregnant and nursing mothers in order to try and meet the minimum nutritional requirements of those groups. Since the meals contained not only the main dish, but beverage, snacks, toilet paper and gum, they considered themselves extremely lucky. And while the MRE's had once upon a time garnered a bad reputation for their lack of taste, many strides had been made in the quality of the product and they were now coveted by those not in the Armed Forces and so used to this amenity. So, for Gem to have given up not just one, but two of her meals, both transgenics knew that this dinner had some significance of note in Gem's mind. But what exactly they were supposed to achieve to make the new mother satisfied, neither seemed to know.
"We really shouldn't," Alec sighed, biting at his lower lip as he stared longingly at the nondescript box. Dare he check and see what delectable meal his box contained? He couldn't seem to help himself, his eyes darting downwards, especially as he saw Max doing the exact same thing. Inhaling deeply, he grunted out, "Mexican chicken., Not bad." And he wasn't lying. "What'd you get?"
"Salisbury steak," Max informed him with a grin. Alec glanced up at her and noticed her eying the box in his lap. A grin curled his lips upwards.
"Trade?" he asked cheekily. Again, he couldn't help himself. He loved the steak. And judging by the rapidity with which Max was nodding, she was definitely in the mood for spicy chicken and rice. Guess Graft was getting his wish after all, at least for one hungry customer. The pair traded and broke open the boxes. They spread their treasures over the coffee table. Both boxes contained the usual peanut butter and crackers, gum, instant coffee and other little things essential to daily survival. But Max's contained the ultimate treasure of M&M's, while Alec only got a granola bar. He knew he was pouting but instead of gloating like he thought she would, Max simply grinned.
"If you'll get the water and get these started, I'll share," she offered, waving the brown packet of candy in the air. Alec laughed heartily, already pushing himself up off the couch and moving towards the kitchen.
They made quick work of preparing their respective meals. All it took was some water, the chemically activated heating elements and soon their food was sliding onto their waiting plates in a cloud of delicious smelling steam. Once they'd settled back in the sofa, Alec was more than prepared to begin work as he and Max both appreciatively gave in to the urge to fill their stomachs.
"So what did you want to brainstorm about?" he asked easily, lifting his thumb up to his mouth to lick off a small drop of sauce mired there. Max gave him a small grin at the action, but then shook her head, giving him no chance to discern what she was thinking.
"Eat first, talk later," she grunted and her lashes fluttered downward as she sighed her appreciation over the medley of flavors in her mouth. At least that was what Alec was hoping she was sighing over and not his determination to get through this evening. He shrugged to himself. At the pace they were going, it wouldn't take long.
"Oh man, this is good," he muttered a moment later. For some reason, it felt like it had been forever since he'd come anywhere close to a decent meal. And while MRE's were strictly nutritious and definitely not four star, they were familiar and that in some strange way was comforting to him. Max, reaching for the bottled water that she had transformed into lemon flavored, sweetened iced tea, thanks to her MRE packet, nodded her agreement.
"It actually reminds me of this little Taco stand that OC, Herbal and Sketchy and I used to go to some times for lunch," she chuckled and then took a swig of her drink.
"Really?" Alec grunted. "How come you never invited me?"
"They went belly up before I came back," Max grinned cheekily. "Besides, I didn't know then that you liked Mexican."
"I like pretty much everything," Alec shrugged one shoulder, speaking absently, tritely as he processed her words in his mind. "Didn't know then'. So that meant what, that she knew now? And how did she know? When had she figured that out? They fell silent again, finishing their main meals. Alec didn't feel bad at all about scooping up the sauce with his forefinger, since Max was doing exactly the same thing. They grinned at each other like naughty children that were intent on stealing cookies from the cookie jar, sharing that 'I won't tell on you if you don't tell on me' look. Finally, they set their plates down and Max reached for the tarts that she had moved out of the way.
"Oh hey," Alec grimaced as the pudding wobbled precariously where it was nestled in the crust. "I'm not so sure about those."
"What d'ya mean?" Max asked with a slight hint of alarm. "What's wrong with them?"
Alec reached out for his as Max carefully passed it to him. "Dunno for sure. Gem said that she had to change the recipe a bit, but she thought they'd be okay."
"Change the recipe how?"
"Uh, she didn't have milk, so she had to substitute," Alec answered.
"What about the canned milk we had?" Max demanded, her face scrunching up a little. "It can't be all gone yet. Can it?"
Alec smiled and shook his head, especially as Max didn't realize that she'd just made an unintentional very poor pun. "That's what she used, instead of fresh. And how'd you know about the canned milk. Been looking over shoulders again?"
At his admission, Max relaxed back onto the sofa again. "Nope," she shook her head. "I know because I snagged a few for my coffee. And the pudding will be fine. Canned milk just doesn't let it gel as well as fresh." Alec was sure his perplexion was clear on his face. Where were all these little tidbits coming from? Max was never one to openly share these random little things with people, especially him. Maybe this was a good thing though, he decided. Maybe it indicated that Max was more than willing to actually treat him as a friend and not... well, whatever the hell he'd been to her before now. But Max didn't seem to notice as she was reaching for the bag of chocolate candies. Looking quite satisfied, she ripped open the little bag and carefully poured a good dose of the candies into the pudding and stirred it together with her fork. She took a bite and let out a soft moan. "Um, so good."
Alec felt his mouth go dry at hearing that devastatingly sexy sound. He stared, watching her, dumbfounded. How the hell could this woman make eating pudding so... so... There was just no word for what the little noises she was making in the back of her throat was doing to him. Alec realized then that Max had finally swallowed the mouthful that she was savoring and had begun to turn to him. His mouth snapped shut just in time, but there was something in her eye, some hint of amusement that told Alec that maybe Max was a little more perceptive, intuitive, than he'd thought before. And that thought jarred him into remembering something that he'd wanted to talk to her about.
"Did you want some?" Max asked sweetly, holding out the bag that contained the rest of the chocolate candies. Alec gave a short nod, softened by a little smirk, trying to regain some measure of defense against her. Without words, he took the bag from her and mimicked her actions, combining deserts. And she was right, it was good, although usually crunchy pie filling wasn't a good sign. But in this case... Alec, determined not to get side-tracked again, let the fork linger in his mouth as he sucked all remnants of chocolate from it. Not realizing what it might look like from Max's point of view, her soft chuckle and knowing stare had him fighting a blush as he swiftly removed the utensil. He swallowed hastily, for more reasons than one and leaned over to set the tart on the coffee table.
"Max," he began slowly, softly, wondering with uncharacteristic nervousness, "can we talk?" If he hadn't been so worried about what her reaction might be, he might have stopped to appreciate the comical way she mimicked him, the fork in her mouth, turning to stare at him, eyes wide with apprehension.
"I though' we were," she mumbled, her voice slightly garbled by the blockage in her mouth. Alec just steeled himself to stare her down and to his relief, it didn't take long. Like him, she removed the fork, though she didn't relinquish her tart. She swallowed, licked her lips and gave a resigned sigh. "Talk about what?"
"Those kids today," Alec answered promptly. "And how you knew their names before they'd told you. Did you... had you ever met them before?"
Her eyes still wide, Max shook her head in the negative. Alec gave a short, unamused chuckle. "Well, that just leaves my only other idea. Have you somehow become telepathic?" He tried to pass it off jokingly, but he was sure that she could hear the underlying fear tremor through him before he swiftly brought it under control. Luckily for him, Max made no comment on that, but instead started shaking her head vehemently in the negative.
"No, oh no, not that," she babbled and then grinned. "It actually kind of startled me too."
"What did?" Alec asked, intrigued, leaning forward to await her answer. Max glanced sideways at him, seeming startled by his nearness and leaned away slightly to answer, though not before a slight flush tinged her cheeks.
"Uh, well, um, you know my dream?" she hedged. "I mean, that dream I had a few days ago?" she corrected herself hastily, which made Alec wonder what other dreams she might be referring to. But he quickly clamped the lid on that line of thought. This was information he really wanted, no, needed to know.
"The future according to Maxie?" he prompted and she nodded again.
"Well, uh, those kids were, uh, in the dream," she finished in a hurry. Alec blinked, tried to understand what she was telling him and then blinked again.
"You... what?" he shook his head, much like a dog shaking water from it's ears.
"I know," Max chuckled, sounding half-relieved that she was now able to admit this and half in awe as if this were as unthinkable to her as it was to Alec. "Weird huh?"
"You're telling me," Alec clarified, his hand moving to rest, palm splayed over his chest, though his elbow still rested up on the back of the couch were he'd moved it when he'd turned, "that you dreamt about those kids? In the future?" Max sucked in her lower lip, biting at the corner while she nodded slowly in the affirmative. "And you knew them?" She nodded again. "And their names..."
"I'm uh, I'm not really sure what to think about it either," she admitted softly and Alec was caught by the sheer amount of nervousness and fear he could suddenly feel emanating off of her. It was familiar in a strange way. And Alec realized suddenly that this was what had kept him off-kilter for the days since her accident. It wasn't his fears and worries he was reacting to. It was hers. And he was caught in the stunning realization of how close they'd become, without either realizing it that they could possibly read this off of each other without logical thought. Just deep emotion and instinct. The most primal parts of their minds and bodies. And then...
"And Jiminy?" he asked with his typical smirk. If that punk had been in Max's dreams... Oh, he didn't want to go there. But it would explain Max's gaffe when the guy had arrived.
Max inhaled deeply, staring down at her pie before she let out a little laugh. "Yeah, him too." She grinned up at Alec. "You know," she began and Alec forced himself to focus on her words, rather than the trickle of bone-deep jealousy that was rampaging through him. "In my dream, he was a secretary?"
"A...?" Alec began to repeat, but before the sputtering words could come out, the laughter erupted first. Max pressed her lips together, trying to obviously hold in her own laughter, but was rapidly failing and soon with the release of the mirth, the momentary tension arisen from the subject had been dispelled. Alec inhaled deeply once he was finished laughing and shook his head wonderingly. "Okay, so you haven't suddenly become psychic?" he reaffirmed.
"No," Max chuckled, once again stirring her fork through her dessert. Her hand paused in the action as she threw Alec a heavily lidded glance and he was slightly startled to see a smirk, just like the one he often employed against others, hovering on her lips. "But I don't need to be when ah, some people are just so obvious in their body language, that I know exactly what they're thinking. Hmm Alec?" His eyes grew wide at that statement before he could stop himself. But then she laughed again, rich and low in the back of her throat and he realized that Max had just knocked him off kilter again with a joking ruse. It had to be. Didn't it? There was no way she knew exactly what he was thinking, was there? He hastened to reassure himself that he wasn't all that obvious. At least, she could only... and then Alec realized that Max had calmly turned back to eating her dessert, completely ignoring him now in favor of the chocolate. And she as sure as hell was going to know that something was up if he didn't start covering better. Otherwise, this role reversal of her teasing him and he getting all flustered and angry was going to be annoyingly permanent. And Alec just was not comfortable with that.
Deciding to put this deep thought moment on the back burner, just like all the rest of the past few days, Alec forced himself to relax and enjoy the simple pleasures before him. Good food, an amenable friend and a little peace after a hectic, paper filled day. It didn't take long before they were finished with the dinner portion of the evening. Max, done before he, jumped up from the sofa and began collecting the waste left behind. She took Alec's plate before he could get up to help her and she just shook her head when he made a move to help her. Grinning his appreciation, he relaxed back into the couch.
"So, are we finally getting down to business?" he asked cheekily.
"Yes, finally," Max laughingly agreed over her shoulder as she carried their plates into her meager kitchen. "Can you grab my notepad? It's got what I wanted to discuss on it."
"All righty," Alec agreed, standing up and glancing around. The new coffee table had been clear when he arrived. Knowing that Max used any surface available, wondered if she'd left them on the floor. He glanced around but didn't see anything. "Not seeing it Max," he announced, loud enough for her to hear over the running of the water as she rinsed the plates off. She paused momentarily in her work, tilting her head back as she thought.
"Oh, right," she muttered finally. "I was making notes while I... it's in the bedroom on the dresser," she announced and went back to finishing her chore. Alec nodded and spun on his heel. Okay, get in, get the notes and get out, he told himself. Easy as pie.
He darted into her bedroom, intent on ignoring everything but getting the notes. He was doing okay tonight, handling the feelings that Max had always evoked in him, even though they'd seemed to grow larger and more voracious about knocking him on his figurative ass lately, but Alec wanted to keep himself on track. And yet, that still didn't keep him from noticing that Max hadn't made her bed that day. But that was okay, Alec firmly told himself. It just meant she was busy, or not that much of a housekeeper or she'd been distracted, or she wasn't expecting company in the bedroom... that last thought was actually kind of comforting.
With a sharp gasp of relief, Alec found the notepad on the dresser, like she'd said and grabbing it up, firmly told himself to ignore the little toiletries and other feminine accoutrement that were scattered about. Darting his eyes away, he spun back around and made for the door. But not before something white and... lacy... caught his eye.
Draped as it was, over the corner at the foot of the bed, the garment must have been there for a while, if Max had just thrown off her covers that morning and covered it up. Alec took a step towards the bed, a frown marring his face, a sharp creasing line slashing through his forehead. He hooked the material with his forefinger, pulling it free of the blanket that trapped it. His eyes darkened as thoughts, too varied and puzzled to sort out for several moments, raced through his mind. But he wouldn't have an answer, just conjecture.
Wondering what the hell else was going on with Max, almost afraid to hear the answers, nonetheless, Alec was compelled to determine just what in the world was happening to Max. He had to know...he just... had to.
Unable to explain the compulsion to himself, let alone anyone else, Alec held the lacy garment in his hand, the notepad in the other and headed at a quick pace back out to the main room. He stopped several feet from where Max stood at the counter. "Max?" he asked, his voice low and full of concern.
"Uh huh?" she asked, not turning around."
"Max," he spoke softly and she stiffened, obviously reading the tension that he knew was rolling off him and turned her head to regard him over her shoulder once more. Her eyes widened as he held up the garment he'd found. Alec licked his suddenly dry mouth and regarded her with something akin to heart clenching fear. "Really don't know what's going on here," he began, his words still soft and vague, but getting stronger as he continued. He swallowed past a sudden lump in his throat. "But are you trying to tell me something here?"
Chapter Eleven
No comments:
Post a Comment