Candy Quackenbush can walk on water. (toitshour) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2013-09-03 18:56:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, candy quackenbush, remy lebeau (gambit) |
Who: Candy and Remy LeBeau.
What: Bringing a new friend home.
When: Monday, 9/2.
Where: Their apartment.
Rating: PG-13 for Remy.
Status: Complete!
Remy had been out on a few errands with the car when he’d been, in a word, surprised. He’d made a turn onto Sepulveda, and immediately had to slam on his brakes to avoid a huddled mass curled under a parked car. He couldn’t tell if it was moving or not, so he’d had to stop and find out.
Putting his emergency lights on, he’d gotten out of the car and looked to find it was a medium-sized dog, a pit bull by the looks of the face. He couldn’t tell the sex, but it had been hit by a car or kicked or something - there was a huge bruise on its side, and it seemed to have trouble breathing.
Shit. He couldn’t leave a defenseless dog out here to die.
Remy sighed, going to get an old spare shirt from his trunk. “C’mere, hon,” he told the dog, trying to let it get accustomed to his scent before picking it up. Gingerly he stretched his arms out, wrapping the dog in the shirt and trying to pull it out before picking it up. After a lot of time and careful movement, he got the dog into the backseat and headed for home.
Candy was tidying up the apartment after an afternoon spent studying. She was in jeans and a tank top, casual and comfortable. She heard a noise at the door after a while and went to answer.
Remy had kicked the door with his foot, given his arms were full. “Candy? You home? Need a li’l help.” The dog was conscious, but quiet; it seemed to understand what was going on. It wasn’t fighting him.
“I’m he - oh, oh, baby.” She immediately started cooing a little, shutting the door behind Remy. “Poor little thing, set her down on the sofa.” Thank god she knew a little healing magic.
“You think it’s a girl? I can’t tell.” Remy obeyed, kneeling next to the sofa. “I turn the corner onto Sepulveda an’ saw her under a car. I didn’t feel right just drivin’ away.”
“I think so.” Candy moved to pet the dog, gently running her fingers over her ears. “Hi, sweetheart. Poor little one,” she murmured. After she spoke, she started to murmur Abaratian words too, and her hands started to glow.
Remy just kept quiet, watching his wife work. The dog whined softly, but she didn’t get angry, or if she did, she was in too much pain to move. “Issok, li’l one,” he told the dog, patting the top of her head. “Candy gonna fix you all up.”
Candy continued moving her hands until she didn’t think she could help any more. “There. Does she look any better?” Candy cocked her head to the side.
“She may be breathin’ better.” Remy held out a hand for the dog to sniff, which she did weakly. “Eh bien, ma fille, how’s you?” He scritched her ears, smiling as the dog leaned into his hand.
That made Candy smile. “Oh, Remy. How can we give her up?” She felt her eyes water when the dog leaned into Remy’s touch. “She picked you.”
“It’s just ‘cause I help her out.” Remy shook his head, though he did smile when the dog opened her eyes. “Hey, I think you helped, Candy girl.”
“Good,” Candy murmured. “But she still picked you to help her. She didn’t have to get out from under the car.” Reaching out, she rubbed the end of a floppy ear.
In spite of himself, Remy was amused. “You got a crush on me, girl?” He chuckled, watching the dog interact with his wife.
Candy smiled at the dog, talking to Remy and the dog at the same time. “Who doesn’t have a crush on you, Remy?”
“Logan?” Remy hazarded, kissing the dog’s head.
“That much remains to be - awww!” Candy had to stop talking and just coo when the dog licked him.
“Oh, you hush, girl.” Remy laughed. “And she’s just grateful for the help.”
“She’s licking your face, Remy. She’s skin and bones, odds are she’s not really a people dog.” She stood up slowly to go find something for the dog to eat. She returned with some plain cooked chicken breast, offering it to the dog in the palm of her hand.
“She got a good heart, regardless.” Remy backed off when Candy came back with food, lest he get a hand bitten off. But the dog ate relatively calmly, without any guarding or snarling. “Well, that’s a good sign. Whoever adopts her won’t have no problems with that.”
“We. We won’t have any problems with that. Remy, unless she’s somebody’s, which I highly doubt, I just ... can’t give her up.” She felt her eyes swimming a little. It was probably just the idea that someone had thrown this dog away that she identified with.
Well, shit. He hadn’t intended to bring home a dog for them, and yet he knew that look in Candy’s eyes. He took her hand gently. “Candy. If she belong to someone, we can’t take that away from them.” He would have felt like a jerk. “She can stay a while, but we gotta get her looked at, and I really don’t know if she’d be happy if she stuck in this little place.”
“I know, we’ll find out if she’s microchipped. But we could get a bigger place,” she murmured. Her lip was wobbling, and she started to laugh at herself.
Remy felt like an ass. He went over to her, wrapping his arms around her. “Candy. We ain’t gonna let rien happen to her, no matter what.” As for getting a bigger place, well. He’d wait to see if the thing from Natasha Romanova panned out. “I might have a lead on a better job, but we see.”
“I can always get more student loan money.” She’d turned down the stipend for housing, if only because Remy had lived in the apartment before her. “We could get a place with a yard.”
“C’est possible?” Remy asked, laying a hand on the dog’s back when she tried to get up. “And I didn’t wanna tell you about the job, if only cause I haven’t even auditioned yet.”
“It is, yeah. And auditioned? For what?” She moved to sit by the dog so she wouldn’t have so far to reach for her chicken.
“You ever heard of Natasha Romanova?” Remy shifted to sit on the floor, looking up at her.
“Of course, I go to college.” Candy smiled when the dog wiggled into her lap.
“Well, I had a drink in a bar one night on the way home - had a shitty day and figured I better not bring no alcohol home.” Remy answered. “She happened to be there and we wound up talkin’. I mentioned casual like that I wanted to look for another job, and she told me she was shootin’ something. And she had a script for a roguish pilot.”
Candy couldn’t help but grin. “Well, damn, I happen to know a guy who sounds like he’d be perfect for you.” She squeezed his hand, chuckling when the dog licked him again.
Remy laughed. “Like I said, was gonna surprise you if I got it, and never mention it if I didn’t. I know every idiot in this town wants to act, but I dun’ know, don’t think I’d be bad at it. And I gotta tell you, I’s startin’ to get a bit sick of sex noises.” That had worried him. When he got tired of anything sex related, it was time for a change.
That made her mismatched eyes widen. “Shit,” she murmured. “Well, like I said, I’ll take out more in loans, and we’ll get a bigger place, and then America will fall in love with you and I’ll beat the shit out of some fangirls.” She hadn’t been possessive as a girlfriend, but as a wife? Yeah. Candy LeBeau would crack some skulls.
“I gotta get outta the porn biz, to save my marriage.” Remy grinned, leaning upward to kiss her. “I love you, y’know. And I guess if we get a place where she ain’t cooped up in two rooms, we can maybe keep mam’selle here if she ain’t micro-chipped.”
“I love you too. And the only porn you need to worry about now is the porn we make, thanks. I’ll call around to vets tomorrow morning, see if I can get an appointment for her to find out if she’s chipped.” She smiled when her friend the dog’s tail thumped hard against the sofa.
“I just think that’s the fair thing to do.” Remy got up on the sofa, squishing in next to the dog and pulling Candy onto his lap. “Can’t take nobody’s dog from them.”
“Oh, I don’t disagree.” She curled up on his lap and burrowed closer. “I’m just glad you’ve got this audition!” It’d change his life, which was more than a little scary, but she’d stay by his side the whole time.
“It may go no place.” Remy kissed her. “Miz Natasha just offered outta nowhere, too. I could blow it completely. I just wanted to do somethin’ that makes us more money.” She deserved better than a tiny little place.
“Oh, Remy, I don’t care about money.” She stroked his cheek. “I just want you to be happy. I know you’re not really fond of your job, Bright Eyes.”
“Well, I’d be happier if you had a better place to live and more to work with.” Remy nodded. “Colour me old fashioned.”
“I can, but I’m telling you I just want you. That makes me happy.” She moved closer to him, kissing him a little harder. The dog just rolled over, showing its belly, and set to snoring.
Remy had to laugh. “She makin’ herself at home.” He frowned. “We do need somethin’ to call her while she here. Any ideas?”
Candy couldn’t help but smile fondly at the dog. “God, she even snores cute. I have no idea. I know she’s a girl, but that’s about it.”
“Hm.” Remy looked at the now-sleeping dog, thinking. “She’s real bright, and cute as a button. Ruby?” He liked rubies. They were bright? They were attractive?
“Hmm. Ruby!” Candy called the name out, to see if the dog would respond. She did, looking up at the human who’d interrupted her sleep. “Well, hell, that works.”
Remy laughed. “It’ll do for now, I think.” He kissed his wife again. “She lucky you got such a soft heart, ma p’tite.”
“Oh, because I’m the one who stopped to get her,” Candy teased. She stroked his cheek, kissing him again and snuggling closer.
“I was gonna just take her to the no-kill,” Remy retorted amiably. “My wife the one who said we could keep ‘er.”
“Your wife sounds like a sap,” Candy smiled. “You’re lucky to have her.”
“Oh, it’s true. She sure make me happy though.” Remy grinned. “Mes amis gettin’ sick of me going on about her.” He kissed her once more. “Maybe the dog gonna wind up on that list too. People tell me I can be a romantic guy.”
“People tell you right.” She ran her fingers through Remy’s hair, smiling to herself. “I think you’re sweet, though. You probably want a house and a baby someday, huh.” She’d promised the nun who raised Remy that she’d end up giving her grandchildren someday.
“I thought about it.” He couldn’t lie. “House first. Then we see.” Remy closed his eyes, letting her pet his hair. It was relaxing. “Sister Mary Christian gettin’ on in years, oui?”
Candy chuckled. “She made me promise.” She leaned forward to kiss him, fingers still running through his hair. “We have to get them baptized there.”
“She did?” Remy outright cackled at that, but it was in joy rather than any kind of snark. “That woman loves little ones. And she took care of a lot of ‘em. Still does.”
“She did. I think she knows you’d make a good daddy. She did raise you and all.” She was pretty sure that Remy would’ve been good to kids younger than him.
“I think she still surprised I made it past thirteen.” Remy laughed.
“Without a kid? Yes. So’m I.” She teased him, leaning forward and biting his neck gently. “But you did. Lucky me.”
“I meant make it to age fourteen.” Remy laughed, but his eyes fluttered closed. “That’s real nice.”
“Oh, I knew what you meant,” she chuckled, nibbling a little further south. “I just like teasing m’husband.”
“You gonna do this in front of the little one?” Remy managed, though he was getting extremely distracted. The dog seemed to be asleep.
“If we leave, she’ll get scared,” Candy grinned. “Maybe in the chair?” They were still in their honeymoon phase, damn it.
“C’est bien,” Remy murmured. His English was the first thing to go when he got aroused. “She gonna have to get used to us doin’ this anyway, if she gonna stay around.”
“I do kinda like doin’ this with you,” she drawled. She couldn’t help it; his accent was infectious. “Maybe a little bit.”
“You mockin’ me, woman?” Remy lazily looked up at her, grinning. “I oughta spank you.”
“Not on purpose, but you can if you want.” She grinned, reaching down to tug his shirt off. A snore sounded loudly in the room and she giggled, watching the dog’s legs kick a little as she dreamed.