Rachel Sully (rachelsully) wrote in spinningcompass, @ 2013-10-28 19:19:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !closed, ~rachel sully |
Who: Richie and Rachel
Where: Their apartment
What: dinner and talking
When: After this
Rating: low
Open: No
Status: complete
Rachel had been happy all day. Even though Richie had left pretty much as soon as he’d decided on a bedroom, he was back and he was staying with her. Around six, she started working on dinner, though she wasn’t sure when he’d return. She was sure that she could just heat it up if he was late getting back. Simple was good enough so she went with spaghetti and meat sauce and some toast to go with it, getting a bottle of wine and opening it. The table was set simply as well, just plates and silverware and glasses. She had some cookies that she’d made the day before for dessert. Richie could smell the food even before he reached the door, his stomach letting out an almighty growl as it reminded him he hadn't eaten all day. He walked in, face breaking into a smile when he saw the table set and Rachel waiting for him. It was just as he was about to go and give her a kiss that he remembered this wasn't his Rachel, and she had made it pretty clear she wasn't interested in them being anything but friends. He scratched at his jaw to hide the slight falter in his smile, before looking at her a little sheepishly. "Sorry, I got a bit distracted with Dad and Howard. Lost track of time. Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long." Rachel shook her head, smiling. “Not at all. I actually just put the dinner on the table.” She walked around and kissed his cheek, then picked up the bottle of wine and started to fill their glasses. “I kind of figured you guys geeked out.” She laughed. “Did your Dad at least express some happiness at your return before getting all science nerd?” She smirked. Richie laughed as he nodded. "Yeah, he did. But I reckon between him and Howard...'" He shook his head, laughing. "I reckon they're still both there in the lab, throwing ideas at each other, not even realising I left, which I had to or I'd have passed out from starvation!" Rachel giggled and set his glass down next to his plate before going around to take her seat. “I guess it’s a good thing I made dinner, huh?” She smiled. “I made a lot, do you want to take some back to them when we’re done? I know you probably want to keep working on...whatever it is you’re working on.” She chuckled. “What are you working on?” Richie launched into an enthusiastic description of the setup he had shown his father and grandfather as they ate, refilling his plate without even breaking for a pause. As he finished the wine he realised he’d completely dominated the conversation the whole meal and stopped, lowering the empty glass to the table. “I’m sorry, I should probably have shut up about, well, a long time ago,” he said with a lop-sided grin. “I guess that’s another thing I get from the Stark side of my gene tree!” Rachel ate her dinner as she listened, smiling the whole time. It was nice to see him so happy and enthusiastic. When he finally stopped, she chuckled. “It’s alright, really. I liked hearing about it.” She nodded. “I want to know all about it. The project, your time back….what’s the place called again? All I can remember is alligator and I know that’s not right.” She laughed, finishing off her glass of wine and refilling her glass. “Alagaësia,” Richie laughed. “That’s the land, the village I lived in when I first arrived? Carvahall. And the bad guy? Or at least the one I had to go back to take care of, was Galbatorix.” Even now saying that name still send a tiny shudder through Richie. “I fought with the Varden, an alliance of men and dwarves, alongside the elves, against Galbatorix, and his Dark forces, the Ra’zac.” He stopped again, looking at her face and gave her a wry smile. “I’m doing it again, aren’t I?” “It’s okay, really. I like hearing you talk about it.” She smiled, sipping her wine. “It’s better than what goes on around here.” She chuckled. “I like listening to you.” “That’s the thing, Rachel, it’s so amazing, and different, but you know, even with the Doors as we were growing up? We were never really able to be in those places for anything other than however long we were given! We’ve lived here all our lives, with glimpses of other worlds, and yes they’re amazing worlds, some of them, but this? At first I was terrified, was hunting around for a Door back, waiting to be suddenly dragged back, but it didn’t happen. And while I missed everyone, I didn’t have a lot of time to worry about it, because … well… Saphira happened, and then I met Brom, and next thing I know…” He shrugged, laughing a little. “It was so good, being able to be a part of something that mattered, and make a difference!” Rachel nodded. “That sounds amazing.” She smiled. “Maybe a door to Alagaësia will open and you could show me.” She looked down, then looked back at him. “It’d be….nice I think.” “Yeah, maybe,” Richie replied with a smile, tamping down any more talk about the place. “So tell me, what’s been going on here?” Rachel shook her head. “You haven’t been gone that long, just a couple of weeks. Not much has happened. Um….Tim and I spent some time together trying to find birthday presents for little Timmy.” She sipped her wine. “Oh! Your uncle is pregnant.” She chuckled. “I forgot about that. That’s pretty big.” His glass stopped halfway to his mouth, eyes widening as he stared at Rachel. “Mac?? Pregnant??” He did some quick calculations, trying to remember back to when he’d been there before. “Hang on, Gretel was pregnant, wasn’t she? So have they, you know, swapped?” he laughed, trying to imagine how that would go. “And Mom’s still pregnant with me, right? So those two pregnant together?” He still felt a little guilty that he hadn’t been to see his mother, but when he’d arrived at Stark Tower she had been out at the farm, and his Dad and Howard had dragged him up to the lab. By the time he’d snuck out JARVIS had said she was sleeping, so he had not wanted to wake her. Rachel shook her head. “That’s the funny part. He’s still Mac. Still a man, just carrying the baby now.” She chuckled. “Fortunately I haven’t seen him in person because I don’t know if I could keep from laughing and I don’t want to hurt his feelings. He’s so sweet.” She sighed, finishing off her second glass. “Mac, sweet?” Richie grinned, and figured that he could see how women might see his uncle in that light. “I guess so,” he nodded, picking up another piece of toast and munching on it as he nodded. “But I reckon if you ever wanted to see him blush you could try telling him that to his face,” he added, waving a piece of the crust at her. Rachel smirked. “Like when I tell you that you’ve really grown into a very sexy man.” She refilled her glass and took a sip before getting up to clear the dishes. “Did you….have a girlfriend back there?” She didn’t look at him as she picked up his plate. Richie did feel a hint of colour rise at Rachel’s words, more because they brought back memories of what things had been like before he’d left, and he pushed those down again. “Uh, in Alagaësia you mean?” He cleared his throat, Arya’s face immediately appearing in his head. “No, not girlfriend,” he answered, “she was more a mentor and friend, and girl. Well, not really a girl, no, given she was over a hundred years old, and one of the elves, and a fellow Dragon Rider.” He looked across at Rachel as he told her about Arya, leaving out the part about her being held captive and tortured as he hated remembering that part himself. “She knew we had to stay focused on our mission.” “Did you want her to be your girlfriend?” He looked at him for just a second before going to take the plates into the kitchen. She didn’t want to be jealous, but part of her was. Richie looked down at his hands, and when Rachel had her back turned he scrubbed at the back of his neck. “Not this time, but the first time? When I first went there? Yes. I was wanting to be with her,” he told her honestly. “But this time, I guess being older,” thinking about you, and that you were here, “and knowing how important our mission was, I understood it couldn’t happen.” He looked at her, hiding the small sense of loss he felt each time he reminded himself this wasn’t the world he’d left from. “She will go on to be the Queen of the Elves, and lead the Dragon Riders.” Rachel came back to the table and downed half of what was left of her wine. “That’s really cool.” She smiled. “Would you like some cookies? I made chocolate chip….” She didn’t quite meet his eyes. “Maybe we could go into the living room and get a little more comfortable?” She’d be lying if she said she hadn’t been thinking about him that way, but then she’d been thinking about Tim that way too so she wasn’t sure if it was just Richie or her hormones. “Sure, that’d be good. They didn’t have chocolate in Alagaësia,” he said, pushing his chair back and downing the rest of the contents of his wine glass. “Even the bread was different,” he added, conversationally as he walked over to the couch and sat down. “I know I sure missed Mom’s breakfasts. And everytime I smelt bacon? Or ate it? All I could think about was her and Dad and breakfast in the kitchen at home.” Rachel laughed. “Your dad and his bacon.” She shook her head, glad for the change of subject. She went into the kitchen and got the plate of cookies, and two glasses of milk, carrying them into the living room. “I like your mom’s apple cookies.” She grinned. “Yeah, well, anything Mom did with apples you could just about take to the bank. Fritters, cookies, all of them, all good eating!” he smiled as he edged over in case she wanted to share the couch. Rachel took a seat and set the plate and glasses on the coffee table. “Your mom is an amazing cook.” She nodded. “Izzy’s an okay cook, but fortunately we have Maryanne and Isabel, right?” She chuckled. “Izzy?” Richie said before thinking. He wasn’t used to hearing Rachel call his mother by her name. “Is this the new all grown up Rachel?” he teased lightly. Rachel sighed, picking up one of the cookies. She dipped it in the milk and held it there until the bubbles stopped before taking a bite. When she was done chewing, she looked at Richie. “She’s not mentally ready to be a mom. She’s still freaking out about it. Doesn’t know how to handle it. So, I absolved them of their parental responsibilities. I’m just another islander with the same last name.” She shrugged, taking another bite of the cookie. Richie frowned, reaching out a hand and putting it on Rachel’s shoulder. “I’m sorry. I sort of remember you two weren’t really connecting,” he said. “Oh, did they find your dad alright?” he added, remembering for a moment about the search through the door. He knows they did in his timeline, but he wasn’t sure where his split from this one. Rachel nodded, dipping her cookie again. “Yeah. He’s was dirty and shaken up, but he’s okay. Gotten cleaned up and fed and all that.” She smiled. “I’ve been letting everybody else spend time with him for now.” She finished her cookie and took a drink of milk. “That’s great!” he said, relieved her father had been rescued. He hated to try and figure out what might have happened if he hadn’t been. His hand still rested on her shoulder, so he pulled it back, letting it fall in his lap. Rachel picked up another cookie and dunked it in her milk. “I saw this thing that said that the bubbles when you dunk a cookie are the cookie trying to breathe and when you hold it under until it stops bubbling, it’s because it drowned and you’re a murderer.” She then took a bite of her cookie, keeping her eyes on the milk. Her sudden rather maudlin statement caused Richie to blink. “Uh, alright. Not sure I’ll ever be able to look another cookie in the … cookie again.” He gave her a wry smile, puzzled, and putting his hand on her shoulder again. “You alright, Rach?” he asked, the concern clear in his face. Rachel looked up at him before setting her cup and cookie down. She moved closer, resting her head on his shoulder and wrapping her arms around him. “I missed you.” She sighed, closing her eyes. After a moment of silence, she whispered. “Sarah’s got a crush on you.” He was in the middle of putting his arms around Rachel again when her announcement stopped him mid-air. “Sarah? On me?” he said, a little incredulously. Rachel nodded. “Has for a really long time. That’s why I can’t…” She sighed. “She’d never forgive me if we…” She sat up and looked at him. “She swears she’s in love with you.” Now his jaw dropped as he stared at her, the pieces starting to fall into place. “I see.” He couldn’t think what else to say, but at least he now knew what the difference was. He doubted Sarah even knew he was alive in the other world, her life totally absorbed with her work in the lab, and her experiments. Rachel ran her fingers through her hair and looked down. “But I guess that tracks for family history since I thought I was in love with Timmy. But at least I dated him so it was a valid assumption, right?” She shrugged. “I just have to figure out how to get over him and then I can move on with my life.” She nodded. “Right, and in the mean time?” He stopped, trying to remember the last time he’d seen Sarah, and he couldn’t. Again his arm dropped to his side, his face blank as he cleared his throat. “I’ll just… see if I can have my old lab, and … how old is she again?” “She’s seventeen here.” Rachel picked up her glass of milk and took another drink. “What do you mean about in the mean time?” She looked at him, reaching over to put a hand on his knee. “There isn’t anyone on the island that’s my age, still single and available to date.” There was no missing the venom in the last part of that statement, even if she tried to hide it. “And I would hate to use someone to get over Tim. It wouldn’t be fair.” She sighed. It would be exactly what he had done to her. String them along with no hope of seeing any returns. “I meant in the mean time, till she gets over this crush,” he explained, looking down at her hand and wishing that it didn’t feel as good on his knee as it did. “Because she will,” he added, hoping beyond all hope it was true. He reached a hand down and put it on hers, telling himself it was just to comfort her, not to be able to touch her again. “And knowing this place? There’s sure to be some young guy come along who’ll sweep you off your feet in the blink of an eye and you’ll forget me and all us Island kids before you know it!” He laughed, the sound a little forced and not quite reaching his eyes. Rachel looked up into his eyes, clearing her throat. “In the mean time I’ll just have to be lonely.” She shrugged, looking down at their hands. “Is it wrong of me to want to ignore her crush?” She was getting all kinds of tingles all over just from that simple touch. “But I shouldn’t.” She shook her head. “She’s my sister. I...I can’t...intentionally break her heart.” Richie couldn’t answer her, his eyes on her as she looked at their hands. He couldn’t help but stroke the side of hand with his thumb, just a friendly gesture, something to help her, but not helping him a great deal. “I can’t answer that,” he told her quietly, “I’m a little biased.” Rachel bit her lip as she thought, then looked up into Richie’s eyes again. “Maybe...you could talk to her? Let her know how you feel, or don’t feel, about her?” She sighed. “I mean, her heart’s going to get broken either way, right?” She bit her lip again. His forehead creased with a frown, his fingers toying with the hem of his shirt as he nodded, not completely sure. "If you think that'll help I guess so. But wouldn't she be, I don't know, embarrassed that I know, or something?" It popped into his head that this sounded like something he would need to talk to his father about. “I don’t know, maybe. You can just tell her that I told you.” She shrugged. “Or we can leave it and just be friends.” She took his hand. “We can at least have that.” She smiled a little. After her admission that she was still trying to get over Tim Richie had a mess of emotions tangling around, and he darted a look at Rachel. He felt like he was on a pendulum swing, from what she'd said earlier, to what he thought she might be suggesting now, and it made his pulse quicken a little. "What are you saying?" he asked tentatively, figuring the only way he could be sure was to ask her. Rachel looked into his eyes. “That maybe your reality isn’t all that different from my fantasy.” She cleared her throat. Now Richie's mouth did fall open, but slammed shut just as quickly. She had said Tim had made it clear he wasn't interested, that he was in love with Eve, just as he was in Richie's reality. "I thought you were still getting over Tim," he said watching her face and feeling a little disoriented. Rachel sighed, running her fingers through her hair. “I am. I just….it was stupid.” She got up and started to head into the kitchen with her glass and what was left of the cookies. “Shouldn’t have said anything.” “Wait, Rachel,” Richie said, standing and following her across to the kitchen. “Please, I want to know, have to know…” He reached out a hand and gently turned her to face him. “What you said earlier, and what you just said now… is there a chance of… well… are you saying I have a chance? With you?” he asked, searching her face for her answer. She stopped and looked at him before looking down. “Only if Sarah’s okay with it. I can’t go behind her back. It wouldn’t be fair to her.” She sighed. His face fell and he scrubbed at it to hide the frustration and confusion. "Course not," he agreed, reminding himself she was still in love with Timmy here. He gave her a forced smile and went back to the couch, sighing to himself as he sat down. Rachel sighed and went into the kitchen to clean up a bit. She was pretty sure she just ruined everything. Once she was done, she brought two bottles of water into the living room. “I’m glad that your dad and grandpa are helping. And I’m happy you were able to fix everything.” She smiled. "Yeah, so am I," he agreed, a little distracted but quickly coming back to the conversation. "So how's Jake going with his rehab? Still doing whatever it takes to get back on his feet?" Rachel nodded. “Oh yeah. Nothing is going to keep him from getting out of that chair.” She chuckled. “He’s a strong son of a bitch.” She grinned. "He is," Richie agreed, remembering the scars from the injury he had seen when helping heal the man's injuries from the nightmare attacks. "Wonder when he changes to being blue permanently. Neytiri will be happier, I reckon." “I don’t remember him being not blue until the first time I came back to the island, but that means it could happen any time before I’m five years old.” She shrugged. “It’d be nice, though. He seems much happier when he’s blue.” She giggled. “That’s kind of amusing.” Richie grinned and nodded. “Yeah, does kinda. Though not so much when you know them,” he continued, managing to get a smile back on his face and push aside all the earlier conversation. Rachel sat back down on the couch and rested her head on his shoulder, sighing a little. “I’m really glad you’re back, Richie. I missed you.” He lifted his arm to let her snuggle up on his chest, then went to put an arm around her shoulder and hesitated, just patting her shoulder with his hand instead, before putting his arm back on the back of the couch. “I thought of you, a lot, while I was there,” he admitted, propping his other elbow on the arm of the couch and resting his head against his fist. Rachel sat up and looked at him. “I’m sorry that I’m not that Rachel.” She looked down at her hands. “You came back expecting her and got me instead.” She sighed. “Hey, not your fault,” he told her, giving her a smile. “The Island and all it’s twisted sense of humour,” he sighed, “not a lot we can do other than make the most of what we’re given!” The urge to kiss her right then was almost too much to bear, but he swallowed instead and gave her another grin. “I’ll survive, I’m sure!” Rachel nodded, smiling a little. “I should probably get some sleep. It’s been a pretty long day.” She ran her fingers through her hair. He pulled his arm back and nodded. “Yeah, me too. Been a while since I’ve had a session in the lab, and that one, today? Was pretty draining! Those two brains… “ He just shook his head and laughed, scratching lightly at his jaw and remembering he hadn’t shaved for a few days. “Might get rid of this now too,” he added. Rachel shook her head quickly. “Don’t.” She blushed a little and cleared her throat. “I mean….I like it. Makes you look all grown up.” She smiled, then got to her feet. “Do you want me to make breakfast in the morning?” He was a little surprised, then grinned. “Yeah, though I’ll warn you now, I’m used to my Mom’s breakfasts, so the bar’s set pretty high!” He frowned for a brief moment, then looked at Rachel. “I didn’t get to see her, but it’s too late now. I’ll go and see her first thing in the morning.” Rachel nodded. “How about you go see her instead? I can make breakfast some other time. I’m sure as soon as she sees you she’ll want to stuff you full.” She chuckled, then kissed his cheek. “Have a good night, Richie.” He agreed, and nodded. “Yeah, she will,” he nodded, smiling as she kissed his cheek. “You too.” Rachel smiled, then stretched a bit before heading down the hall to her bedroom, sighing a little once she got inside before going about her usual nightly routine. Richie watched her walk down the hallway, then turned to go into the room on the other side of the apartment, his clothes and things from Alagaësia having shown up in there. Closing the door behind him he leaned against it and banged his head softly against the frame. “Cold shower time!” he muttered and grabbed a towel. |