Who: Nancy Drew and Ace What: Aftermath of Medieval Madison When: August 15 (Backdated) Where: Nancy’s place Rating: low
Ace woke up and, not for the first time in Madison, found himself next to Nancy Drew. This time he was in a t-shirt and boxers which was probably the modern equivalent of what he had gone to bed in the night before. It took him a second to realize what had happened and the memories he had of some other-him and some other-Nancy.
Man. It had been really nice.
He turned his head to look at Nancy who still appeared to be sleeping and he smiled. She was beautiful even in her sleep. The urge to lean in and kiss her was strong, but it wouldn’t be right. Nancy had demonstrated she wasn’t interested and he’d respect that. He’d find a way to be better for her.
He rolled out of bed, though he realized this was probably Nancy’s place by way of actual pants of his. Unlike on the cruise, there were pants magically waiting for him either. He inwardly sighed to himself.
– It wasn’t until the bed shifting that Nancy started to stir a bit, remembering how there shouldn’t be anyone in her bed. There was no one else she wanted other than Ace, but she feared she’d lose him to someone else before she managed to break the hex. Opening one eye, she turned her head to get a better view of whoever had gotten up to see it was Ace. Eyes widening, the dome was really playing with fire and Nancy swore if the dome got Ace killed, then she would find a way to destroy it. Then the memories came flooding back and it hurt just like the other fake memories that she had.
She had been happy with Ace, something she wanted more than anything. Only it had to be ruined by her worrying about whether the dome screwing with their memories and having them married, sleeping together, and being happy was going to put Ace at risk. It sure as hell was getting sick pleasure of having Ace hurt by her, knowing she had to do it to keep him safe. All she wanted to do was get up and kiss him, making the memories the start of something, but instead she pulled her covers back over her head.
Nancy did not need to start staring at him or risk the thought of throwing caution to the wind. Hiding under her covers for the moment was a safe bet. Every part of her wanted to say how she could get used to waking up next to him, but that was never going to happen until the hex was broken. “That was one hell of a week,” she finally said over what her brain had wanted to say, kicking herself because he had a way of throwing her off her game, especially when it was heading in the direction of things about them. Still, half asleep her brain hadn’t caught up to the fact they were in her apartment or how just in the other room were all things about the hex where he could see them and learn about what had been going on. Instead, while hiding under the covers, she found her thoughts drifting over the memories of the last week and what his lips had felt like against hers. The thought made her heart skip a beat, shutting her eyes as her thoughts then shifted to how much she really hated Temperance.
—
Looking over at Nancy in bed covered up by her blanket told Ace that he had been right about her not being happy about what happened. He inwardly sighed, but he couldn’t blame Nancy. All he did here was work at an art supply store. He really needed to figure out how to apply himself better. He had put in an application to the morgue back home, maybe he could do the same here?
“I guess it could have been worse… you could have been a witch?” He was trying for a joke as he looked around to try to figure out if he could do pants. Thankfully his boxers weren’t boxer-briefs, but still. “Maybe, uh… we should leave an emergency back of pair of clothes at your house next time, just in case the Dome decides to do something like this again.”
–
Nancy wasn’t stupid, and she knew he was probably going to read into her reaction, which she hated more than anything. But she couldn’t risk him thinking anything was going on or him possibly making a move, no matter how badly she wanted that. Her walls had to go up and keep him out for his own protection. If Hope, The Doctor, and the few others who she trusted ever found a way to break this, then she could apologize for all of this and make up for lost time. Have the chance to kiss him like she wanted to right now, only she knew she couldn’t. Just like she knew what he thought of himself from the memories she had that he didn’t. Yet, she feared if she said anything, then more questions might arise from him. All the ones she did not want to answer, knowing he’d probably catch on how she wasn’t being fully honest. On his comment about her being a witch, she removed the blankets from over her head to sit up and give him a 'watch it' look. "If you just set me up to be burned at the stake in the next... whatever that was, I’m going to be super pissed. That brings up the question though, would you have sold me out if I had been a witch?" The second she asked the question, Nancy wanted to take it back, knowing she could be moving into some dangerous waters and she didn’t have a lifejacket on to get out of there. Finally noticing what he was doing, she finally moved to stand up from her bed. Her eyes couldn’t help as they glanced over at him and looked his body over, hating everything about Temperance, the dome, and being who she was. But Nancy knew there was no way she could’ve ever allowed the town to be destroyed, even if it meant losing the man who she found she loved. Pushing that thought aside, she knew none of her pants would fit him. "No, I agree with you on that. And maybe I should leave some at yours for a what if type of situation. If you want," she started, "I can either run to your apartment or, if you don’t mind, I can send someone to go get you a pair of pants?" Nancy wasn’t sure if he’d be okay with someone going into his apartment, which was why she’d go if needed, knowing he probably wouldn’t mind as much if it was her. Plus, she could get out of here and stop tempting fate by making a stupid move that would end up hurting her more. The idea of seeing Ace dead was something that still haunted her nightmares at times. —
He frowned just a little when she asked him that. He wasn’t sure exactly why he didn’t like the question except that he’d like to think that any version of him wouldn’t sell out Nancy ever. However in this instance, Ace had been able to see and feel what it would be like to fully explore the way he felt about Nancy and to have it returned as well. It had been wonderful.
“I’d have gone to my grave hiding you were a witch.” Even if he’d been tortured, though he didn’t add that point. He wanted to add I love you, but it felt dangerous. He wanted to say ‘what we had last week was real,’ but that also felt dangerous. He didn’t want to pressure Nancy any further than he might have already thanks to the Dome. So because of that, he left it lamely at that and moved on.
“I don’t mind someone else getting pants. Or… I guess I could walk there myself. Unless you’re worried about what it might look like.” It’d look like a walk of shame, that was for sure, but if she’d like him gone, that was the fastest route.
–
Nancy had known she was paddling into some very dangerous waters with her question, and she had been proven very correct with his answer. The answer was no surprise because she knew Ace, and knew he would never do anything that would hurt her on purpose. An accident hurt, especially right now, was very likely because there was so much she was keeping bottled inside and hurting from, which was worth the cost of keeping him safe. His words, considering she saw how some were willing to turn on people they cared about because they might be witches, meant more than she could ever say right now to him. As twisted as it might sound, Nancy had to probably say it was one of the sweetest things a guy had ever said to her. If this was Gil, she knew he’d have thrown her under the bus without a second thought, even with fake memories. There were so many things she wanted to say to his comment, feelings she wanted to share, and things she wanted to do, but she couldn’t. Instead, she moved off the bed and over towards him, fighting very hard against the urge to kiss him just like they had many times over the course of the last week. The time period may not have been ideal, but everything she had with Ace was perfect, and she hated how much it made her hurt. Rather than following what she wanted, Nancy went the safe route, or as safe as could be, and hugged him tight. Not exactly thinking about the lack of clothing until after she was hugging him, pulling back though they were still fairly close together. Her not quite ready to move away from him. His comment about his pants got her to shake her head, finally moving back away from him, swallowing hard and feeling quite hot at the moment. "I’m not worried at all. I could care less what people think." The only ones she cared about were the ones who might think Nancy did something stupid and put Ace in danger, but she would quickly fill them in on the details. "No, I can text someone and you can stay for some breakfast." Her mind then remembered what was in the living room, and she knew she’d need to get rid of that evidence before he went out there and saw anything. "You sure about me sending someone to get your pants? Or do you have someone you can send?" Either way, it’d give her a safe reason to leave the room for a few moments to hide all the evidence. —
He initially thought of Jinx, but she wasn’t here anymore. Ren, maybe, but they weren’t that close yet. “You’re probably have more friends than I do.” He offered an easy smile. Nancy might think she was bad at making friends, but she made them a lot. “Some of my friends left after the cruise.” He shrugged. He wasn’t losing sleep over it. He might if Nancy left without him, but she was mostly the one that mattered to him here.
“How about you text and I can make breakfast. Want some pancakes and indulge in modern recipes or do you want standard bacon and eggs?”
–
“I’d be surprised since you’re much nicer and easier to get along with than I am. The whole nosey part of my personality can sometimes be a real turn off for people friends or otherwise,” she teased, but there was some truth to it. Nancy was lucky on how Ace and the others knew and dealt with her inability to let things go, especially if it was gnawing away at her. Did she drive them nuts? Oh she was sure of it probably even more when she was putting them in dangerous situations. But at the same time, she knew they’d have her back and they knew better than anyone to let Nancy do her thing. Though now she understood why he might not have as many friends, frowning. “I’m sorry. Why didn’t you say anything before now?” Nancy hated that she had been so wrapped in her own happiness of wanting to be with Ace that she hadn’t even noticed.
The idea of him making some breakfast for her was cute, but Nancy also knew she needed to get evidence of what she was researching out of where he might see it. “After the week we had, I’ll go with pancakes and modern recipes, thank you very much. You can finish up in here with whatever, and I’ll text someone,” she said rather quickly, grabbing her phone as she headed out of the room. Not caring how weird that may have looked, and she knew she was better at hiding things; however, she didn’t have it in her heart to do that to Ace. Instead, she was maybe hoping the confusion would give her a few extra minutes before he came out. Heading into the living room, she put her phone on the table and then quickly worked to grab whatever. There was no order since she was more concerned about Ace not seeing this than about making sure everything stayed in order.
—
Ace looked a little surprised at Nancy wondering why he didn’t mention it, but he offered her a shrug with a shake of his head. “We weren’t really close-close or anything, but there was this one girl who I thought I might have been helping? But she went home, which might have been for the best.” There hadn’t been any explosions lately, which was nice. “I guess I just didn’t think it needed mentioning. In general, I mean. There’s really only one person who I’d need to talk to someone if they left and then the only person I’d want to talk to about it would be gone anyway.” He offered a faint, but warm smile that lingered just enough before he moved on.
“Okay, sure.” Why did he get the feeling she was hiding something? He wanted to ask, but wasn’t sure how to. Instead, he sat on the bed and used his phone to look up a good recipe for pancakes. Maybe he wanted to impress her a little bit, though he wouldn’t admit it outright since he was worried that would make her annoyed.
–
"Still, they were someone you knew around here, whether you were close or not, and that can’t be easy. I’m sure she appreciated whatever you were doing because you’re a good guy," she told him with a smile. Ace was one of the rare good guys in the world, and Nancy was lucky enough to call him one of her best friends. It was one of the things she loved about him. His words and smile caused her to look away after a moment, knowing who he was talking about. Not that it was all that difficult to figure out. "It’s worth mentioning and if you lose someone, you can always reach out." She almost said her door was always open, but it wasn’t right now when she had research usually all around and didn’t need him seeing it. "But I can say the same goes on my end. I do have some friends I made around here, but there’s only one person here who I’d talk to about something like that, and if that person was sent back, I’d be lost without them." Having Ace around here made everything a bit easier to deal with. If he wasn’t, she knew she’d manage, but it wouldn’t be the same. Nancy was so glad to be away from him and out of that room. She was going to need to reach out to Hope soon, and show her some new research she had found before the dome went all old time period on them. Looking around once her arms were full, she made a face before pushing them into a cabinet by the TV. The papers should be safe and fine until he left, moving over to her phone to text a friend to grab him a pair of pants. "A friend said they’d get you some pants," she called to him as her eyes scanned the room for anything out of place that would lead to questions involving him. –
Ace landed on a recipe he wanted to use for pancakes and Nancy should have all the ingredients in the kitchen unless Nancy was relying solely on take out lately. When he heard Nancy confirm about the pants, he looked up from his phone. “Okay cool. Thanks.” Was he meant to stay here until his pants appeared? He paused, then called out. “Mind if I start making pancakes pantless or do you want me to wait?”
–
Nancy had been in the living room when he called out his question. A look of amusement as she wandered back to her room and found him sitting on her bed. She hated Temperance, the dome, and the fake memories in her head since it made everything hard. Nancy found it more difficult to stick to the plan when she had memories of what they had floating around in her head. Instead, focusing on what he said. “I mean if you want to hide out in here pantless, then you’re welcome to do that. Not like you’re naked, so you’re fine to come out and make pancakes if you want.” And now Nancy hated herself even more for the brief image of him naked, turning to head back the way she came, figuring he’d follow. “What kind of pancakes are you making?” She asked, eyes scanning for one more look in case she still somehow missed something.
–
“That’s for me to know and you to find out.” It was also for him to figure out exactly in case Nancy didn’t have an ingredient he needed. He might mostly be a dishwasher back home, but he could cook. Well, the simple things anyway, that was for certain.
He followed her out. Maybe a part of him hoped to impress her enough with pancakes that she’d consider dating him, but he felt like a jerk just thinking that way. He told himself to get a grip and just focus on breakfast. “But I promise you’ll like them.”
–
“We both know I’ll figure it out before you even finish making the pancakes,” Nancy pointed out with a laugh, knowing he probably already knew this. She found it quite attractive Ace making her breakfast even if he already was an amazing guy as far as she was concerned. No one measured up to him, and Nancy couldn’t even say that or had to work extra hard to hide what she was feeling. Something was rather difficult considering Ace knew her better than anyone else she knew.
Moving to take a seat at the counter, she allowed him the whole of the kitchen to work his magic. “I’m sure I will and I’m sure they’ll be amazing.” The smile on her lips as she watched him, then quickly looking away as she worried the look on her face might give away more than she wanted when it came to her feelings. “Now let me see how long it will take for me to guess the type of pancakes,” she said aloud, challenging herself so she’d stay out of his way.