the_lawless (the_lawless) wrote in the_colony, @ 2010-02-10 19:46:00 |
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Entry tags: | ^ week 04, alice munroe, leo parker, | alice and leo |
Week 4 - Wednesday
Characters: Leo Parker, Alice Munroe, Walker
Setting: The Hard Rock Hotel, Penthouse Suite
Summary: Leo tries to comfort Alice, who is afraid of the oncoming storm.
Rating: PG-13 for provocativeness.
The air had been different all morning, an almost tangible energy flowing along with the gusty winds. What had started in the morning as a breeze was picking up more and more strength as the hours passed, and all the red dust blowing through the town made Leo think of all the movies he'd seen about Mars. Overhead, the clouds drew thick and heavy, but somehow Las Vegas still managed to roast everything in her empty streets. Walker was getting tired, having one those days that Leo hated, the boy being inconsolable and bored and Leo not knowing how to deal with him. With the storm quickly growing overhead, it was only a matter of time before they decided to climb into that old RV and drive toward the Hard Rock Hotel.
Walker's excitability grew as they approached the now familiar building, and Leo smiled as he watched the kid transform from being nearly catatonic to smiling brightly with anticipation. Leo parked the car and Walker raced ahead of him, throwing open the door and rushing to the elevator to smash his finger into the little yellow button that would send them upward, as though the older man might get there and reach it first.
***
Even after two days of packing and a third watching everyone come together to pile her things into Cassidy's truck to move into storage, Jed had pressed for her to stay home one more day. Her black eye hadn't quite faded yet, and her shoulder still ached; the rest would be good for her. Kathleen had assuaged her worries by promising to sit in on her behalf, but it only helped a little. The only problem with that was she found herself amazingly bored during the day, not to mention anxious.
The overcast weather put her on edge, and she'd tried to convince Jed to stay home, but he'd been adamant about the possibility of someone coming to the museum to find it empty. She kept the spare walkie-talkie on hand, eyes focused out the large windows in the museum's direction, hoping he'd skip out early or something. Even inside the hotel, wrapped up in air conditioning and humidity control, she could feel a film of sweat forming on her skin. There was a storm coming.
The sound of the elevator rising was enough to turn her head, and she kept her eyes on the door, tensing up a little. Jed would have paged to say he was coming home. Then there was an odd, rapid knock on the door. Knock knock knock... knock... knock knock...pause... knock knock knock. For a moment after, there was silence on the other side of the door, until finally Leo's voice echoed through the halls. "Shit. Alice?" he called out. "It's me. It's Leo." He'd forgotten the secret knock. Walker pressed his fingertips to his mouth and giggled boyishly, resulting in a playful shove from the man.
Alice relaxed instantly, relief washing through her as she made short work of opening the door. It didn't have the many locks she'd installed on hers. "Wasn't expecting you," she said a little breathlessly. "Come in."
"Who were you expecting?" Leo looked over his shoulder, out of habit, feeling a bit reserved about coming into Jed's place. He already felt like he was infringing on the man's privacy just by coming into the hotel building. Still, he stepped inside, Walker clinging to the side of him with an excited smile ready for Alice.
"Wasn't," she replied, closing the door. She wore a light-colored tank top, her shoulders exposed. The wound was well on its way toward healing around Doctor Forbes's stitchwork, though her black eye was still a deep, ugly maroon. "Well-- I mean, I was hopin' that Jed 'n Jack had left early. There's a storm brewin'."
Leo nodded in reply, having a look around the place. "It's startin' to look ugly," he agreed. Eventually, his eyes landed on the healing wound on Alice's shoulder and drifted up to her bruised face. When his expression softened some, his shoulders relaxed. "You doin' okay?"
"You'll laugh at me," she said without even going into explanation, her good arm winding up around the upper arm of her injured one, her smile going a little wry though there was true, genuine tension in her expression and her shoulders. He studied her, both wary and curious, before one brow lifted slightly higher than the other.
"Now, when have you ever seen me laugh?" he asked. "What is it?"
"I'm scared of thunder," she replied, her smile strained.
"Really?" Leo half-grinned and glanced toward one of the big windows. "Of thunder? It's just...," he drifted off. This wouldn't be the first time that he wished he'd paid more attention at school when he was younger. "It's just a bunch of noise. Lightning's what you gotta worry about." He wiggled his fingers in the air --spooky fingers-- and then let his hands drop to his sides. That was about as playful as Alice might ever see him. Walker even chimed in, giggling again from behind Leo.
"Thunder is the sound lightning makes," she said, chewing her lower lip anxiously. "So technically, I'm afraid of both. But buildings always shake when the thunder's loud." It feels like it'll fall down under me, she despaired inwardly.
"Nothing's gonna happen," he reassured her, reaching out to lightly touch the side of her good shoulder. "It's just a storm." Leo wouldn't bring it up now, knowing that Alice was already nervous, but he worried about the power getting knocked out, doubting anybody knew how to repair a busted transformer or a ripped line.
"Yeah, maybe," she mumbled, going over to sit down in one of the plush chairs in the wide common area facing the window. She turned her eyes out through it again, staring off into the distance. Reaching for the rings still hanging from the chain around her neck, she worried them in her good palm, still chewing on her lip. His words did little comfort for her. What she really wanted was to go into the bathroom, turn out the lights, lock the door, and play music loud enough to drown out the sound. It was what she normally did when there were storms. His being there helped, but not as much as she needed, and she could feel herself trembling.
Following her, Leo made his way over to the window to peer outside, his lips pressed together in a straight line as he studied the clouds above the rooftops of the other buildings. Walker, on the other hand, was keen on sticking closer to Alice, ducking down to hide beneath the chair she was sitting in, where he took the liberty of taking off her shoes. "Where is everybody?" Leo asked. He turned around to check on the woman in the chair, wondering what he could do to distract her.
"Jack and Jed are at the museum," Alice replied, looking down between her knees to find Walker. She smiled at the little gesture, quietly amused. He smiled back and lay on the floor like a happy puppy.
"He's tired, today," Leo explained, equally amused by the boy's behavior, though he didn't show it a bit. He turned his back on them both and continued to gaze outside. Leo forgot about the meeting today, the bizarre weather having made the hours pass much more quickly than they normally did. With his thumb hooked in the pocket of his cargo pants, he leaned carefully against the glass. "Does it storm like this every summer here?"
Alice nodded, eyes moving back out the window even as she leaned down to ruffle Walker's hair. The bend made her arm ache a little, but she ignored it. "It's louder now, than it used to be."
Turning to look at her again, Leo watched her expression, finally starting to take her discomfort a little more seriously. She certainly wasn't messing around. Moving back across the room, he settled in one of the neighboring chairs, and Walker lifted his hand, framing Leo's face with his fingertips from a distance so that he could 'squish' the man's head with little pinches. One of his eyes were closed, the other squinted with concentration. "Maybe it'll pass quickly," Leo offered.
"It never does," she said in a tight voice. There was a distant rumble, and Alice inhaled sharply, her hands tightening on her knees. "I'm gonna..." she exhaled, standing suddenly and moving to shut the curtains. The light in the room - already dim - darkened a little more. "I need to do something."
"What?" Leo asked. He wanted to help, but wasn't sure how. His eyes adjusted to the lower lighting as he rubbed his palms against the knees of his pants and tried to relax. Walker climbed into Alice's now abandoned chair and mimicked Leo's position.
"I'm not used to people being around me," she said, giving a laugh that sounded slightly hysterical. "I usually hide in the bathroom. With the stereo on and the lights out. I just-- I need something distracting, with a lot of noise." Leo watched her, his gaze shifting between Alice and Walker.
"We--" he hesitated. "I can go, if you want." He stood, but when he did Walker slunk out of his chair and back underneath it. Alice immediately shook her head. It wasn't even that she wasn't used to people being around; she also wasn't used to being nearly twelve stories off the ground. Being so high up definitely meant they were going to get hit, and Alice could feel her pulse getting more rapid.
"I just need..." she tried again, pressing the rings on the chain around her neck into her hand so hard she could feel the diamond biting into her skin. "I just need music or something loud." She started to move back toward her room, where she knew her iPod was resting on the bedside table. Leaving Walker to hide beneath that chair, Leo followed her. He'd never been in hotel room like this one, mostly staying in those seedy pay-by-the-hour places; even after the virus hit. He stared at her bed for a moment before he forced his eyes away, leaning his shoulder against the door frame with his arms crossed against his chest. There he watched Alice via her reflection in a mirror, never saying a word.
Alice found it easily enough, but the earbuds had disappeared somewhere. She bent down on her knees next to the bed and looked for them, giving a quiet grunt as she reached beneath it to swipe at the white chord beneath. As she came up she caught sight of Leo in the mirror, their gazes locking and her face a little flushed. She bit her lip, casting her eyes downward as she rose up to her full height again.
He didn't mean to stare, but when their eyes met Leo didn't look away. Instead, he unfolded his arms and passed through the room to stand mere inches away, stealing the earbuds right out of her hands so that he could carefully place them, one by one, in each of Alice's ears. He focused on all of her features as he did so, the deep darkness that surrounded her eye and the tender wound on her shoulder, before he finally settled on her dark, sad eyes. His fingertips slid down her arms and rested lightly at her elbows. In that intense moment, everything seemed to fade away a little, his proximity making her heart flutter in an entirely different way than the thunder did as her face flushed darker. Several images immediately sprung to mind.
"Walker's still awake," she said quietly, though she found herself leaning into his touch, wanting more. Leo nodded and closed his eyes a moment, gently squeezing her arms.
"I know," he whispered. Reaching up, he held the rings that dangled around her neck in his fingers, knowing what they surely represented though he would never ask. Leo placed them back against her dark skin, his eyes lingering on the dip along her collar bone. Then, with a quiet and defeated sigh, he let his hands fall away from her, casting his gaze aside.
He didn't deserve this. He never did in the first place.
Forcing a smile, he looked up at her again and found the end of the thin white cord to press it into the iPod in Alice's hand. Before his hand dropped away she caught it, bringing it up to cradle her cheek before leaning in closer. The earbuds blocked out all sound but her own breathing and heartbeat, but it hardly mattered. Wordlessly she pressed her lips against his, her good hand coming up to twist in the fabric of the front of his shirt. The kiss was slow and tentative at first, but then Leo wrapped his arms around her, one hand gingerly resting against the back of her shoulder, the other placed firmly at her lower back. He pulled her closer and deepened the kiss, all of his reservations quickly diminishing.
Alice moved the hand of her good arm up his chest to rest against the back of his neck, shuffling awkwardly for a moment with the iPod in an attempt to shove it into her pocket before she finally felt secure enough to let it go. That done, she moved her other arm carefully so that her hand rested against his elbow. The press of his body to hers was wonderful and warm, her thoughts focusing entirely on him and the surprising emotion and sincerity in his kiss. Her touch, the draw of her hands across his chest, caused his skin to prickle with goosebumps, a chill passing through him that only managed to stir his desire.
Slowly, Leo opened his eyes, suddenly all too aware of another presence in the room, and with a sideways glance he spotted Walker in the doorway of Alice's bedroom. He reluctantly pulled away from the kiss to rub at the back of his neck with an awkward smile. Alice herself blushed a little, eyes everywhere else but the little boy. She tugged the earbuds out of her ears and put them over her shoulder, reaching somewhere in her head for something she could offer the little boy to do other than just sit around.
"There's, um..." she stammered, chewing her lip again. "I think Jack took her DS with her." She hesitated to even think of going into the girl's room, but she didn't have all the things at her own house to offer him. "There might be some DVDs in the living room worth watching. I haven't spent a whole lot of time out there, though. So I dunno--" Walker, clueless to the reason of the adults' tension, marched into the bedroom and grabbed Alice's hand. Watching a movie was something he'd only been able to do once since the world fell apart, and that was when he was sick. He'd missed the last half of Toy Story that night. Alice gave a weak laugh, letting herself be tugged a little and her eyes connect briefly with Leo's.
It was then that there was a loud boom of thunder. Alice immediately tensed up and dug her heels into the carpet, letting out a shriek. Her heart leapt into her chest and she felt a sting of tears in her eyes as she pulled her hand free from the little grip. "Oh god. Oh god," she whimpered.
As though the thunder hadn't startled him enough, Walker was scared when Alice froze in her tracks and seemed so terrified. Without warning, his eyes welled up with tears and he fled the bedroom, Leo in quick pursuit behind him. He paused in front of Alice, catching her small chin in his fingers to get her full attention. "You're alright," he reassured her, his eyes sincere when they locked gazes. "Turn this on," he tapped the iPod in her pocket and left her standing on her own.
Leo found Walker hiding beneath the same chair he had crawled under earlier. Effortlessly, he pulled the boy out and squeezed his shoulders, attempting to comfort him in the best way he knew how. "C'mon," he said. "We'll find you something to watch, huh?" Walker nodded soberly and wiped at his nose and eyes. In the living room, Leo settled the kid down on the couch and put in a copy of The Three Stooges. "Now, don't open the door for nobody... and if you get scared you just come get me, okay?" he told him, ruffling the boy's hair. Already transfixed on the television, Walker nodded again and curled up at the end of the couch. Leo looked over his shoulder one last time before he headed back into Alice's room.
The room itself was empty, but it was a very short trek to the door on the opposite side of the room, and upon opening it Alice was found sitting inside the round bathtub, the glow of the little interface sending a blueish-white triangle of light up into her face. Her eyes were closed, but the change of light behind her eyelids was enough for her to look up toward him. She didn't dare remove the earbuds, and Leo didn't expect her to, especially not if the music was helping her. He didn't, afterall, having anything to say.
Sitting down on the edge of the bathtub, balancing there, he leaned forward to rest his elbows on his knees, his body facing mostly away from Alice, though he continued to watch her. He glanced every now and again at the door, expecting the boy's silhouette to appear, but so far they remained alone. After a while he felt Alice's hand settle on his knee, small but delicate and long-fingered, her fingers curving to the shape. Leo turned to face her more, his thoughts still weighted with the warmth of the kiss they'd just shared. Reaching across, he let his fingers brush against her cheek before he settled them against her dark hair, his eyes following the thin white wires from Alice's earbuds until he was distracted by the curves of her breasts beneath her tank top. His hand soon followed, trailing down her neck and chest to finally rest against her navel. Alice closed her eyes again, the heavy 4/4 bass beat of the music reminiscent to her pulse. She forced herself to breathe slowly, the deep breaths making her chest rise and fall beneath his trailing fingers.
Moving both hands to rest on the edges of the bathtub, on either sides of Alice, Leo leaned down. He hovered there, his face only an inch or so away from hers, for a moment before he leaned in the rest of the way and kissed her again. Alice pushed herself up enough to put pressure behind her own lips, seeking and imploring, wanting more. It was an awkward angle to say the least, and one hand winded up into his hair, her fingers curling into the nape as she tried to encourage him closer.
Albeit a bit awkwardly, Leo lowered himself into the bathtub, chilled by the cool porcelain as he sidled in, still hovering over Alice. Subconsciously, he was terrified of hurting her shoulder, and he was getting distracted by it. Was she comfortable? Was she scared? Was he hurting her right now? Lifting away, he peered at her, searching her eyes for some kind of sign that he should stop. He studied her gaze, one hand coming up to touch her hair again. Alice's lips remained parted as she breathed, closing only briefly as she swallowed and leaned in enough to press her forehead against his. The closeness was a surprising comfort, more than she'd anticipated, though it all felt so surreal with the music in her ears and him unable to hear it. She grazed her nose lightly against his, inhaling shallowly.
"I'm glad you're here," she murmured, her hand flattening against his neck again, so close to him that their lips bumped together when she spoke.
*****
"I'm starting to wonder," Alice finally panted, the hand on his neck coming to rest between his shoulderblades, "if this is the only way you know of to distract me." She paused, pressing a faint kiss to his earlobe.
"What if it is?" he focused on the sensation of her hand on his back, enjoying it somehow as much as the sex. Leo rose up a little to look into her eyes, found them even in the dimness of the bathroom to be smiling and affectionate after everything that had happened. She leaned up enough to kiss him, chastely but full of meaning, letting it linger before she finally pulled back.
"Then we'll have to be a little more careful," she admitted. "Because I might accidentally start to love you."
Leo may have appeared completely unfazed, but his stomach did a complete flip-flop, and his heart may have stopped for a whole fifteen seconds. He rose to his knees and pulled up his pants, carefully tucking everything where it belonged before he fastened the button. "What if you do?"
She could hear the anxiety in his question and briefly wondered if she'd toed the line a little. There was tension in his shoulders now, and his eyes avoided hers. Risking it, she tipped his chin up to look at her. "Would it bother you?" He studied her gaze for a moment, then looked away, pulling away from her touch to get out of the bathtub. His knees would probably be bruised by tomorrow. He grabbed a clean white towel and rolled it up, sliding to move it behind Alice's head like a pillow, thinking all the while.
"I think you'd be making a mistake," he admitted, his gaze transfixed on the floor. Alice watched him where he stood, taking in his posture, a sad sort of frown across her face. She found her jeans and panties bunched up at the end of the tub and sat up to quickly pull them on. Straining slightly she pulled herself out of the tub and moved toward him, her chest to his back as she embraced him.
"You think so?" she murmured against his shoulder. "I can't remember the last time I felt... peaceful, like this. Comfortable. You fit. I like you."
Relaxing a little in her arms, Leo continued to stare downward, his hand coming up to rest against her forearm. He couldn't remember, either, the last time he'd felt so in place. He swallowed hard, struggling with the words that tumbled around in his head. "I know," he said. "I like you, too."
"Then don't be afraid of what happens," she said sincerely, warmth spreading through her at his response. "The only thing that matters to me is right now, and everything after. I don't care about anything else."
Absently trailing his fingers up and down Alice's wrist, he hung on to her every word, musing silently over the fact that he'd only stopped by to check up on her. Look how things had ended. Leo wondered about the storm, wondered if she would think of him the next time that she heard thunder in the distance, or the next time she heard whatever song had been playing on her iPod when they were in the bathtub together. The notion that she might left him feeling strangely satisfied, and with a small, brief smile he turned to face her again, his thumb trailing lightly across the bruise under her eye.
"I have to go check on Walker," he said. Alice nodded silently, feeling something like evasion but also knowing that it was the truth. At least soon he wouldn't be completely alone in taking care of the boy. Assuming, of course, that he was going to come with them to the new building.
"Getting in and out of that damn thing hurts," she pointed out, before half-smiling. "I think I'm going to just stay crawled up in my bed. Take your time."
But Leo couldn't take his time. He hurried into the living room, partially anxious to check on Walker and partially anxious to get back to Alice. For awhile, he had felt burdened by finding the boy, when he first took him under his wing. It was frustrating, and a huge hindrance. Little by little, though, he grew dependent on Walker's company and slowly stopped seeing him a chore. Peeking into the living room, he found Walker asleep, as he'd expected, hanging half off of the couch in the awkward position that he'd nodded off. Leo carefully placed him in a more comfortable place and headed back toward the bedroom, wiping away the thin sheen of sweat that had collected on his face over the past hour.
Returning to the room found Alice exactly where she'd said, curled up beneath the sheets with her knees against her chest with the iPod in the little docking station by her bed. The music played on, sounding like dance club music with the occasional splice of words from the original song it remixed. She'd been watching the door for his return and smiled faintly when their eyes connected. He crawled onto the bed to lay next to her, finding it nice to just be able to relax for once in his life. Of course, he was always listening for doors to open, for shots to fire outside, but he'd likely never grow out of that.
He watched her for a moment, and then stared up at the ceiling, his hand resting idly on his flat stomach. Leo was there because Alice wanted him there, maybe even needed him. It something he could get used to. Being needed.
"I hope it stops soon," Alice murmured, only her proximity making it possible for her to have been heard. She'd easily twisted so that she could curl up against him, her chin resting gently on his chest and her bad shoulder pointing upward to the ceiling. She felt better now that Leo was here, but there was still an uneasiness lurking in her with the knowledge of what was going on outside the windows. That being said, she also felt uneasy knowing that it was highly likely that once the storm was over, Leo would leave.
Moving his hand from his stomach to rest lightly atop Alice's fingers on his chest, his eyes shifted slowly from the ceiling to her face, as though he'd been mesmerized by something up there. Really, he'd just been thinking, and if she hadn't had her music on he would have been asking questions. Always wanting to be in the know, that one. Her shoulder looked like it was healing nicely, and Leo was deeply relieved that they hadn't done anything more to harm it today.
There would be time to ask questions later, no doubt. It seemed that there was nothing left but time anymore, and it was very clear that Alice didn't want him going anywhere any time soon.