Texas - There are no strings on me. (strings_on_me) wrote in elsewhere_rpg, @ 2017-12-07 02:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | dresden files: harry dresden, red vs blue: tex, tags for admin: year 01 |
Who: Harry Dresden & Texas
What: They need to talk.
When: December 7th, Evening
Where: The edge of town, near the church.
Rating: PG-13
Status: Log - Complete
It was no surprise that after coming back from HappyHell, Tex had gone right back into her armor and right back out into the forest, where she spent almost all of her time, ensuring things didn’t creep from the trees into the clearing of the town. In fact, she was there now, standing amongst the trees, just ten feet from the clearing for the graveyard, staring off into the darkness beyond, watching her sensors. Yeah, so she guarded the section close to the church, and the section close to North and York just a little closer than all the other places.. If you didn’t like it, you could go to Hell, and fuck you very much for asking. Missing the matte black armor was easy to do. She’d shut off the lights on her suit, so she was entirely dark, and with her back to the church, not even the orange of her visor was showing. It wasn’t until she heard the door of the church open and close that she turned to look back over her shoulder, and the flash of orange could be seen, the moon glinting off of the reflective surface just so. It’d be easy to miss for most people, but surely Harry Dresden, voted Most Paranoid in high school, would catch sight of it. The eldest of the Spartans was keeping watch. She always was. She didn't have anything else to do, she had no other purpose. What good was she? At least she could do this. *** Harry was a paranoid asshole, it was true. He was also a trained PI and catching sight of the little things was exactly his job description. So two things happened when he stepped outside. He caught a glint of that orange visor and it made him twitch in paranoia. If he didn’t know what he was looking at (or for) he’d probably have reacted much worse. But, taking a breath, the wizard forced himself to stay cool and stepped out into the night, looking left and right as he did. She was impossible to see in the dark, but Harry was one of the magi, which meant that Harry cheated. Rather than stumbling around in the dark, he dragged up his Sight, often called the “Third eye” and looked around at the space he’d caught the flash just as soon as he was near enough. True to intent, the whole world glittered around the dark shape that was Texas. The world glowed in shapes and lines of light, little spirits and marks--the world as it truly was versus what people saw with their every day eyes. It was beautiful and it was breathtaking and Harry could stand and stare for the rest of forever. Instead, he just used it to locate the dark blotch on the land--the armor only doing a minimal job of hiding her. Texas glowed with light, too. But she wasn’t the brazen shining knight in armor that was York. She was dark, and parts of her were broken. She looked like she was bleeding and crumbling. But she stood resolute still, a solemn sentinel in the dark. Harry lowered his Sight, rubbing his forehead to stop the headache that would come in response to the overwhelming feedback of the world around him. “Hey,” he said, “you’re back early.” He didn’t usually intercept her when she came home. Sometimes he woke up to her inside already, sometimes he didn’t. Whatever the case, they seemed to miss each other frequently. “You doing alright?” *** They missed one another by design. Texas knew what she was doing. Delta told her the status of the man inside, she was never caught unawares. Tonight, she’d known he was up, but she hadn’t expected him to come outside. And while she’d watched him come outside plenty of times before, he’d never caught on to her location. Normally she just watched. Tonight, though, he’d seen her. Not only had he seen her, he’d pinpointed her and come right to her. She hadn’t run, Agent Texas didn’t run.. Though she had been known to retreat now and then. There was no retreating from Harry. “Yeah. Couldn’t sleep?” Her voice filtered out over the speakers, making her sound a little mechanical. Her body didn’t shift. Nothing moved. She remained perfectly still, not even having turned her head to look at him yet. She didn’t need to. *** Harry stared out into the darkness, letting his eyes adjust to the dim, natural lighting of the world. He felt exposed. But he also felt safe enough standing next to the woman in armor. She’d know something was out there long before Harry did. It had taken them a lot of effort to reach that point, where Harry felt comfortable with his guard down around her, and for her to feel comfortable around him. Something had changed when she’d gone home. And it sucked. He didn’t blame her. He just wished it was different. “Nope,” Harry said, “I blew up a potion and Bob’s been riding my ass all night while we fixed things.” He shrugged. Harry hated potions, but even he had to admit that it had been a damned long time since he’d fucked up so spectacularly. It happened, but man did he feel like an idiot. He rubbed his head. “Texas?” He paused, holding his breath. “You know I care about you, right?” *** Bob had been riding his ass. The statement made Tex smirk inside her helmet. “At least it isn’t York. He’s a big boy.” North would have been worse. Still, Texas sounded amused. And, finally, she turned her head to look at him. You know I care about you, right? Her body turned as well, so she was facing him properly. “I know.” She responded calmly. “Don’t get all sappy on me, Dresden. If you want to fuck, just ask. I’ve been so horny lately I can’t hardly stand it.” Well. Welcome back, Texas. *** He’d been prepared to rush into his explanation because she was prone to just walking away when the conversation ceased being something she wanted to participate in. So his mouth was open and the words he’d thought of were lined up to come on spilling out when she- What? Harry blinked. That… wasn’t what he’d been expecting. His penis tried to take charge of the situation almost immediately, but his brain was too confused to catch up. Harry shook himself a little. “That… actually isn’t what I was going to say,” he said, feeling stupid. What the hell? He rubbed his head again. Now he didn’t want to say what he’d come out to say. But he’d come all the way out here to freaking say it, so freaking say it you moron. “I wouldn’t forget about you,” he blurted out before he could reason himself into silence. “I don’t want to.” There was a reason for that. *** Oh. Well. “It’s not really about what you want, is it? It’s about what I want.” And that was what it came down to. Tex wanted to be forgotten. It wasn’t too much to ask, was it? “Look, I know.. You’re this stupid, good guy, and you care about the women you fuck, blah blah..” Really, had she changed that much? Hah. “But I’m not one of those women, Harry. You don’t have to treat me like one of them.” In her armor, she was his same height, it had to be strange talking to her and not looking down-- but then again, since coming here, she’d been in it eighty percent of the time. Most of their conversations were through that speaker. *** “That’s the point, Texas,” Harry said, “You are.” She was one of the women he cared about. If she hadn’t wanted to become someone he felt something for then she shouldn’t have… he shouldn’t have dove in head first. Man, when would he get a clue? He’d told her he didn’t do anything by halves but neither of them had been listening, apparently. Harry frowned, looking at her in the dark, “Will you open your visor and let me see your face, please?” he asked, stubborn. “I’m not .. asking for anything. I’m just telling you that you matter. And that I don’t want you to get up and disappear one day and never come back. Susan did that to me. I asked her to marry me, she said no, then she quit her job and she left and I didn’t see or hear from her again.” Until the night she’d come back and they’d conceived Maggie. And then she’d gone away again and he didn’t see her until that week he’d chosen to murder her. Man, his life sucked. “If it’s better to not be anything.. Then okay. Then we’ll stay friends and it’ll be fine. Otherwise..” Well, Harry didn’t do things by halves. *** When Harry prompted her to open her visor, she nearly walked away.. But ultimately, a hand lifted to touch the side of the helmet and the orange, polarization faded away, leaving just the glass between them, so he could see her clearly. “Susan was a stupid bitch, Harry.” Wow, tell us how you really feel, Tex. Don’t hold anything back, now. “Some day some woman’s going to make you happy, and you’re going to ask her to marry you, and she’ll say yes, and the two of you will.. I don’t know, make magic together or something.” Literal magic, of course. “But if she isn’t worthy of you, I’ll stab her in the fucking face, so don’t dick around or the bodies will pile up.” Protective. Possessive. She always had been. “If you think it’s better to be nothing, that’s fine.” It wasn’t fine. “It’s not like you’re the only person I’m sleeping with.” Yeah he was and they both knew it-- even if he hadn’t touched her in ages. It was easier to make things about sex. Sex was simple. It was these mushy things that were hard. *** Susan was a bitch for doing that, even if her reasons had been sound. She couldn’t control herself with Harry and she’d been so afraid of turning and hurting him that she’d gone away instead and channeled her fears into something better and more productive. Harry hated her for it and he loved her all the same. He’d carried that torch for years after she’d gone. Years. Harry smiled a bit at Texas’ rant. Yeah, sure. That was the dream, to not be alone. Maybe not marriage now, but then he’d never planned for a kid either and he had that too. Who knew? His life was a series of stupid choices, after all. “I don’t think it’s better. I’m asking what you want, because I don’t want to spend the time I have here with you wondering if you’re going to come back or not.” These things were hard for Harry, too. He had the emotional range of a brick. Statues felt more than Harry let himself feel. They had more emotional expression than he did. *** Come back? “I did come back, I’m right here.” She shifted again, one of her feet moving back a step, so she could angle herself towards him some. “If you still want me, I’m here. But there’s things you don’t know about me, Harry, and I think lying to you about it isn’t going to help either one of us.” Because he’d hate her if he knew. “So either do your best not to get emotionally attached, or break things off with me.” Because she had no interest in breaking it off with him. Which was why she was avoiding him. Texas had learned a lot about herself when she was gone. She’d gotten all those memories back. She’d gotten it all back. *** “That’s not what I meant,” Harry replied. “You’re here, yeah, but mentally,” emotionally, “You’re out there.” he pointed into the woods. Then she slapped him in the face with her words and the wizard sank into silence. Break it off with her. If he didn’t want to get attached. He was already attached. That was the point. He’d fallen hard and he just wanted to know what they were doing. The limbo was driving him nuts and even so.. Even so, if time was all she needed then he was willing to wait. He hadn’t pushed, he hadn’t pressured. He’d been patient, he’d given her space. He would keep doing it, too. Until she was ready. He just needed to know that was what she wanted. “I still want you,” Harry said. “I want to know that you want me, too.” Was that so hard? “It’s my choice if I want to stay or not, it’s yours too.” *** Really? Was that it? Harry wanted to know if she wanted him? How stupid was that. “I still want you.” Of course she did. “And I want you to stay. Here.” A pause. “With me.” But Harry didn’t want to stay with her, and she knew it. That was the issue here. She was just too selfish to tell him to fuck off. She should have told him to fuck off. *** Harry released a breath he’d been holding. He knew he’d been holding it because his chest hurt. He’d been holding it because he was bracing for her to say something mean, something to push him away because that was what she usually did. But this time she didn’t. She’d said words Harry wanted to hear. Suddenly lightened, relieved, Harry perked up and he smiled. Oh, god, what the hell was with women? Did they know the kind of power they had over men? Harry reached out and took her gloved hand, “I want to kiss you,” So take your stupid fucking helmet off already. *** Those green-blue eyes rolled and she tugged her hand away from his. “If you hold my hand like a sappy teenager, you’ll never get to kiss me.” Because she wouldn't be able to get her helmet off. So, with her hands free, she unlatched her helmet and removed it from her head, then tucked it beneath her arm. “It must be intimidating, kissing a woman as tall as you.” With the helmet off, she wasn’t quite as tall, but only two inches shorter instead of six. The helmet gave her that extra height. Oh well, it was close enough. “If the witch puts her hands on you before I’m done with you, I’m going to cut them off.” Just so Harry knew. Fair warning. *** Giddy exactly like the teenager Texas had just accused him of being, the wizard grinned his stupid grin and waited just this side of patiently for her to take the helmet off. And when it was removed, he leaned in and because he was stupid, uttered a quick, “Actually, it’s nice not having to bend over, because of my back.” And then he kissed her. One hand rose up to curl into her blonde hair and the other touched her face. He deepened the kiss and he would have pulled her closer, except she was a several hundred pound monster not about to budge. That was fine. He kind of liked it that way. When he had to pull away for a breath, the wizard was still grinning like a geeky teen who’d touched his first boob. “No amputation necessary,” Harry insisted. Lucretia was cool as hell, and Harry liked her, but he’d already developed something else with Texas. Harry wasn’t that much of an asshole. *** “Because you’re so ancient?” His back, of course. Still, a smirk came over her lips and she took that kiss-- one arm moving out to wrap around the small of his back and pull him in against her. How’d you like them apples, Harry Dresden? And when the kiss was done, she kept him trapped there a moment before releasing him. “Good. Blood stains are hard to get out.” Claim staked, Tex felt better about the entire situation. “So does this mean we can go back to having sex now?” She’d put her issues on the shelf for now, she could deal with them later. Right now, she wanted to get laid. *** Those apples scared him a little, but he did like it. There was nothing quite like being handled by a woman who knew what she wanted. In fact, there was nothing sexier than a woman who gave her permission. And Texas had just invited Harry back. His penis, which had quietly and stubbornly continued its attempts at a hostile takeover of his brain, finally breached the wall and rerouted Harry’s train of thought and the supply of blood circulating through his body, all in the two seconds it had reasserted dominance. “Yeah,” Harry said roughly, “Why don’t you come inside, get out of this stupid armor and let me give you a bath.” She’d trained him well, anyway. *** She had trained him well. Good boy, Harry. “I think I can manage that.” Helmet shifted from beneath her arm to her hand, she would head back to the church, falling into step with the tall man beside her. “But we focus on me first, and only once I’m satisfied with your performance, do we worry about you.” That was sort of always the way of it, with Texas. Thankfully, she liked the way Harry did what he did, so she was pretty easy to please. It could have been a lot worse. |