Closure (Harry, Murphy)
Murphy had hurried out of the house when Dinah had shown up. She really did have an interview to go to, but she hadn't been in quite as big a hurry as she'd made it seem. She'd just wanted to make sure Dinah and Harry couldn't use her as an excuse anymore. She was just as tired of being the third wheel as Dinah was.
She'd contemplated finding somewhere else to be for the night, but then she'd be just as guilty of avoidance, and that wouldn't resolve anything. So she went back to Harry's place, and this time, she knocked loudly on the battered security door, just in case Harry and Dinah had decided to have a passionate makeup session.
She'd rather interrupt them than walk in on them.
There was no need to worry about that. Harry was sitting on the sofa by the fireplace, just watching the flames. There was a beer in his hand, the condensation long cooled and evaporated. It was Mouse who yanked the door open, wagging his tail at Murphy before sauntering back to lay by the fire.
Harry turned his head when the door opened. "Hey, Murph," he said, before turning back to the fire.
Murphy smiled and scratched the Foo dog's ears, pushing the door shut with a good heave. She took one look at Harry and his warm beer, and sighed, heading over to sink onto the couch beside him.
"Okay," she said, after a long moment, "What's the ultimatum?"
When Murphy settled in beside him, Harry took the opportunity to sling at arm around her shoulders and give her a hug. "I'm an idiot," he said. "But I figured that out a while ago. Preacher man gave it to me the hard way. So yeah, I've been an idiot, and I'm sorry."
He tilted his beer back and forth, watching the light play across the bottle. "I've been a spectacularly crappy friend lately. I've screwed up so much in my life, Murph. And I'm idiot enough to get lost when it comes to... people." He let out a sigh. "Give me a necromancer, and I know what to do. Denarians? Same thing. Stop the bad guys, keep the balance. Find things that are lost. Don't do anything to make the Council want to kill me again." He shook his head. "But I'm still a damned idiot."
He'd closed himself up like this after Susan had left. The dinky little engagement ring had sat on his mantle for months. It was hard letting go. He'd had a measure of peace here, thinking that his life was over, and this might be what came next. But that wasn't to be. He hadn't died; he'd just changed locations.
"We're gonna try and work it out."
Murphy nodded. She supposed the past few weeks had been Harry, finally grieving. Or not grieving, as tended to be the case. She couldn't really blame him, since she'd refused to grieve for him--and instead thrown herself into work, fighting all the nasty-bads that had risen up to fill the power vacuum that had been left when they'd killed off the Red Court--at least until she'd worked herself out of Chicago and into the City. But now, as she listened to the conclusion of his rambling apology, she felt herself start to tremble inside, and not with cold. It was just...everything she'd been holding back, finally starting to crumble like a castle made of sand.
"I need my own place, Harry," she said, despite a certain tightness in her throat. "I love you, and I know you just wanted to keep me close, after thinking you'd never see me again, but...you and Dinah...if she makes you happy then I need to bow out gracefully so that I can support you both from an objective distance."
Harry bowed his head for a moment, but nodded. "I love you too, Karrin. And I'm sorry that it's...never the right time. There's always something coming up between us." He looked up again, meeting her eyes for a moment before flicking his gaze to her chin. "But I'm glad you're with me. And I'm always going to be your friend. Always."
Maybe that was the reason fate kept pushing them apart. They were friends, and taking that extra step would change the game forever. For better? For worse? There was no way to know, a fact they both knew so well it had led to this displaced tension. He hugged her again.
"There's still no one else I'd rather have watching my back." He was expecting her to keep it up anyway, make sure he wasn't doing something idiotic again.
"Always something coming up," she quipped, "And never the thing you might expect." See? Karrin could wisecrack too. The ex-cop tried to smile, but she couldn't help thinking, Here lies Karrin Murphy. She died doing the right thing. She shook her head.
"You better not be sorry, or you've got no business leading Dinah on. Either you're with her one hundred and ten percent, or you're not. I won't have you feeling sorry for me while you're making love to her." Because that would just be pathetic--and a little icky--and Murphy wasn't pulling any punches. She couldn't afford to gamble with her heart like that.
"Besides," she said, "It's not like I can't find some other reasonably healthy male to show me a good time."
Harry leaned a bit and gave her a hug. "Better be a good one," he said. "Someone who deserves you. But I'll let you make that call."
He took a sip from his beer and made a face. "Damn. Alright. I'm getting a fresh beer and heading down to the lab. That storm hasn't shown any sign of slacking. Maybe Bob's got an idea about it." He tilted the warm bottle at her. "Want one?"
"Sure," she said, shifting on the couch so that they could both get up. Anything to keep from having to talk about Dean, and how serious her thing with him...wasn't. "I'll throw some dinner together while you're working, if you want. But Harry?" She wrinkled her nose at him a little. "Maybe I should sleep on the couch, and let you have your bedroom back?"
Harry paused while moving towards the kitchen alcove, considered, and then shrugged. "I know it's my bedroom, but half the time, I'm falling asleep on the couch or in the lab anyway." Which just spoke volumes to how often he had company over.
"I'd honestly prefer you keep the room while you're here. That way I'm not disturbing you if I'm coming or going at some crazy hour. But... in the morning, we'll try and find an apartment for you. This City has some unusual ways of providing for the people in it. I'm sure we can find something."
Murphy sighed. He just didn't know how to take no for an answer, did he? "You know, I know it's your house, but you might want to start taking other people's preferences into account, if you're going to insist on making them live with you," she quipped, opting in favor of levity and friendly teasing. "Just for future reference."
Harry shot her a grin. "Thought about that. Then thought about them wanting things I didn't want. So I stopped thinking about it." He set his warm beer in the icebox and pulled out two fresh ones, opening them and passing one back to Murphy.
"But, hey. Dinner's totally your call."
She had to laugh, then. She wasn't over him by a long shot, but she just couldn't stay mad at him anymore, no matter how much she wanted too. "Fair enough," she said, raising her beer in toast, "Somebody's got to make sure you eat something besides Lucky Charms, and we know it ain't gonna be General Minimus. I'll call you when it's ready."
Harry tipped his beer back at her with a wink, took a swig, and headed into the lab to consult a spirit on the weather. At least things were starting to look up again. That usually meant they would be crashing down soon, but he could try and enjoy the interlude.