Sharon Carter is a super spy (exshieldagent) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2015-04-12 21:18:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, leon orcot, sharon carter |
Who: Leon and Sharon
When: Before Easter sometime
Where: Cafe
What: Catching Up
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete
It had only been a couple of days, but Leon was already feeling a little more comfortable with Chris around. The kid still wasn’t talking much, but Leon was generally okay with sitting around in comfortable silences. The fact that Chris was a bit of a crybaby was something Leon was still getting used to - he wasn’t really a sensitive or gentle guy, so remembering to act that way around Chris was something that he was still adjusting to.
Still, he was excited to see Sharon again - it really had been too long since they had last spoke, and he was pretty excited to show Chris around town. He walked into the bakery that they were meeting in, and looked around briefly for Sharon. Not seeing her, he took Chris and the two of them went to stand in line.
Sharon was running a few minutes late. She had literally hit every red light on the way over, and then got stuck waiting for an old woman--with a walker, no less, what a cliche--cross in a crosswalk. It was frustrating, because Sharon hated being late to anything. Especially when she had an old friend waiting on her.
A couple minutes after Leon and Chris entered the cafe, Sharon followed behind, slightly winded, one hand pressed against the side of her baby bump.
Leon was keeping an eye on the door, and when Sharon walked in, he waved at her. “Sharon, this is my kid brother, Chris,” he said, placing a somewhat affectionate hand on Chris’ head. “Chris, this is an old friend of mine, Sharon.”
Chris didn’t say anything, but he did give her a tiny wave.
Sharon was relieved when she saw Leon and who she presumed was his kid brother in line. They most likely hadn't been waiting long. She didn't check the time, even, she just rushed in. "Hey!" She said, stepping over. She released the bump to reach a hand forward to Chris.
"Hi, Chris. I hear you're the best kid brother ever." She said, smiling as she offered up her hand for him to shake. It'd been months since she'd seen Leon, but she figured giving Chris some attention first would be a better way of breaking the ice.
Chris gave Leon a questioning look at the ‘best kid brother ever’ comment, and when Leon nodded and smiled, Chris broke into a large grin and took Sharon’s hand.
“He’s kind of shy,” Leon said after a moment when Chris didn’t say anything. “He hasn’t really said too much since he moved in.” As much as Leon appreciated the fact that he wasn’t a noisy brat like so many kids were, he wished that he’d talk a little bit more. He was starting to talk a little more to Leon at home at least, which was really all he could hope for. The kid was still reeling from his fight with his sister.
“But how the fuuuuudge,” Leon cleared his throat, and shot a quick glance from the corner of his eye to his brother, “have you been? You look great.”
"That's okay." Sharon said, then leaned in a little and whispered, "don't tell anyone, but I am, too." She gave Chris's hand a squeeze, then released it. "I'm sure you'll talk when you're ready. And when you have something important to say. Until then, you just let big brother talk himself into corners and grin." She couldn't help grinning at the boy, then turned her attention back to Leon.
She laughed. "I look pregnant. But you're kind to say so." She lifted a hand to clap his arm in a friendly greeting. (She understood that a friendly hug might be out of the question. A lot of her guy friends were weirded out by the bump.) "I've been good, though. Really good."
“Well, you know what they say about pregnant women and the glowing and shi - er, stuff,” he said. This whole not swearing thing was probably the hardest thing about carting around a kid. He wondered if he should even bother with the self-censoring thing. Chris hardly spoke anyway, and if half the kids he ran into were any indication, he was probably hearing swearing from his peers all the time.
The line moved forward, and Leon leaned down so Chris could tell him what he wanted, and then he ordered a cupcake and small hot chocolate for the kid, and a coffee with a muffin for himself.
Sharon couldn't help but laugh as he tried to cover up the curse word. She shook her head a little. "Well, yes. I know what they say about pregnant women and pretty much everything." She'd learned a lot of things about pregnancy here and there, since she'd found herself in this condition.
Sharon ordered a tea and a scone. Then she slipped a five dollar bill across the counter.
"Hey, Chris," she said, moving to get his attention. "C'mere. They make these amazing cookies here. You like cookies? Look how pretty these are." She pointed to the case, distracting the boy while Leon paid for their drinks and snacks.
Chris nodded when she asked if he liked cookies, and then gave Leon a questioning look, which Leon responded to by waggling his eyebrows in the universal ‘go over in that direction’ motion. “Pick out a couple that you wanna take home and we’ll grab ‘em on the way out, kiddo,” Leon said.
Chris headed over to Sharon and the cookies, smiling happily as he looked at them. Leon finished paying for the stuff, and then Leon headed over to where the drinks would come. It would be good for Chris to spend some time with someone who wasn’t him. He wouldn’t say it out loud, but he was a little nervous to have Chris go off to school and a baby sitter when he went back to work, so he was pleased to see him interact with someone who wasn’t Leon or his aunt and uncle.
“They’ve got some pretty amazing designs. See? Flowers and chicks and eggs. All that stuff getting ready for Easter.” Sharon was quite literally pressed up against the glass. Her nose was touching it. Much like a kid at the window of a candy store.
“Ooh, and they have ones with fruit, too. Look. I bet those are fantastic.” Sharon added, grining. Then she stood up straight again, pressing both hands into her lower back in a very typical pregnancy pose before motioning for Chris to come with her. “Let’s grab a table by the window.” She smiled. Sharon had a warm, welcoming, lovely smile.
Chris already liked Sharon, and followed happily, not even sparing a second look for Leon as he did so. She seemed very nice and kind.
Leon was no waiter, and when everything they ordered came, he was a little at a loss. He tried a couple of times to balance everything, before he finally gave up and asked for a tray. “Can’t even help a guy out,” Leon said, exasperated, though it was obvious he was only teasing, and when he set down the tray on the table, he ruffled Chris’ hair.
He sat down next to his brother, grabbed his coffee, and leaned back in the chair, free arm slung behind the back of the chair and ankle resting on his opposite knee. “So, Sharon, what have you been up to lately? Still punching assho - er, I mean, cops?” Leon didn’t really like to disparage his fellow cops, especially since they were all supposed to watch each other’s backs. He had to admit though, that some of them really did deserve a good punch in the face.
Chris was a good kid. By the time Leon struggled to get all the snacks and drinks to the table, Chris and Sharon were doing Origami with napkins from the dispenser from the table. Sharon had already constructed a boat out of the thin, paper napkin, and was showing Chris how to do the folding.
But that all stopped when Sharon's tea and scone came into view. Her grin brightened, and she reached with two grabby hands for the plate and cup. "Thank you, Sir," she said, and broke a piece off the scone to nibble on.
"Hey, that assho--er cop," she said, repeating after him in a playful way, "deserved what he got." (Sharon enjoyed the grin on Chris's face when she swore after Leon.) "Unfortunately, no other perfect opportunities have presented themselves for physical violence lately."
“I’m not saying he didn’t,” Leon said. He could barely stand the guy, if he was being completely honest. “Anyway, there’s always perfect opportunities for physical … violence.” He started in a boisterous, joking tone of voice, but then he trailed off. He looked at Chris. “I meant that as a joke, just so you know buddy. Violence only a last resort type thing.” He wasn’t going to say violence was never the answer. “You understand, right?” He waited until Chris nodded before he relaxed.
“So,” he said, gesturing vaguely to Shanon’s belly. He hadn’t remembered her dating anyone when she was on the force, but then, he was never terribly observant about those types of things. “You found yourself a man?” Tact was never Leon’s strong point.
Sharon laughed at Leon's boisterous tone when he joked. "I'm sure Chris understands what you meant." She said, giving the boy a wink. He was a good kid so far. Leon could have done a lot worse. Sharon was curious why Chris was with his brother now--what happened to his parents?--but she wasn't going to press. She'd find out if she was meant to, and she wouldn't if she wasn't.
"Well... no. Well, I did find myself a man. Once. One night back in ... I don't know, October?" Her eyes flickered from Leon to Chris and back again. How much was too much detail for a ten year old? "But we're not... together. He's marrying someone else, actually. We still get along, though," she added quickly. "He's been incredible. Very supportive. He's so excited to be a father."
"Oh." Awkward Leon. Way to step in it. But, he smiled widely. He certainly wasn't one to judge someone for one-night stands. "Well, I hope it was a good night," he said with a wink. "Good to know he's being supportive and all that stuff. If he ever gives you any grief, just let me know and I'll kick his... keister. How's his fiance handling it?"
Sharon did go a little pink talking about it. But she was smiling. Sharon was not ashamed of enjoying the night she'd spent with Aramis. She hadn't been dating anyone at the time, so she wasn't breaking her own rules. And Aramis and Porthos were... what? On a break? Or Pothos was just very understanding of Aramis'... proclivities?
"His fiance is handling it like a champ. He's so glad to be a... step-father? We're just one big, dysfunctional, incredibly loving family, anyway." Sharon replied, then sipped some of her tea.
Well, Leon had assumed the fiance was a woman, so he was glad he hadn’t stuck his foot any further in his mouth by saying it outloud.
"The unconventional families are more fun," he said, and shot a smile at Chris, who looked a little more uncertain than his big brother. "I'm glad that everything seems to have worked itself out."
"Well, it's not exactly happily ever after." Sharon had support from the father of her child, and loved and was loved by him and his soon-to-be-husband. But she was still alone. And sure, there was Veronica, who she loved like a sister. And Peggy, who was her closest relative both in age and proximity... But Sharon wasn't in the 'white picket fence' or 'riding off into the sunset' stage of her life.
"But it's happy for now." She responded, then shrugged, lifting a bite of scone.
"Happily ever after will come," he said, smiling at her. He was sure of it, even if it was a bit of a running joke that Leon got brutally shot down by every woman he tried to date. "And you don't really know when it's coming until the whole 'ever after' bit anyway. I think 'happy for now' is really the best to shoot for."
He glanced over at Chris, and let out an exasperated sigh. "Kid, I don't know how you managed to get icing all over your face already," he said. He licked his thumb and wiped some of the frosting off from Chris' cheek, and would probably be embarrassed if he realized how maternal that gesture was.
It was ridiculously maternal. And Chris was probably old enough that he would fight off such a gesture. Sharon grabbed a napkin from the dispenser on the table, and held it out to Chris. "Here, bud." She said, giving him a smile. Actually, the smile was mostly at Leon. He may or may not have thought much about his "parenting" skills, but he was doing a really good job so far with Chris. At least, in Sharon's eyes.
"What about you, Leon? Seeing anybody special? Weren't you going out with that one girl... Gosh, what was her name?" The last time she'd talked to him, he had plans to go out with someone, she just couldn't remember who. And she'd definitely heard stories about how he'd been turned down. A lot. Epically.
Chris gave Leon a bit of an embarrassed glare, before he took the napkin from Sharon gratefully.
"Bethany?" Leon asked, and snorted a little. "Yeah, we dated for about a month. She dumped me. I believe the exact quote was 'I would rather go out with a third-class businessman than a third-rate detective.'" It had stung at the time, but he could laugh about it now. It probably didn't help Leon's case that he almost exclusively tried to date super hot model type girls. "Joke's on her though. I'm a first-rate detective," if he did say so himself. Which he did. Often.
"Ouch," Sharon said, wincing a bit. "That's gotta sting." She lifted another bite of scone and chewed, then broke into a grin when he called himself a first rate detective. "That you are, my friend." She leaned back a bit.
"So, no one besides Bethany the Bitch?" She asked. "That's a shame. And work's still treating you well? Jesus, Leon, give me something to work with here," another tease.
“It stung a little bit,” Leon admitted. “I sure can pick ‘em.”
“Other than Chris though, not much is new. My arrest record’s still pretty great,” he shrugged. “Sounds like things have been far more interesting with you. What are you doing nowadays?”
“Besides gestating?” Sharon shrugged her shoulders, grinning. “Honestly, not a lot. Aramis and Porthos are making a nursery at their house. Veronica and I are just plodding along at a steady pace. Trying not to think too much of the future.” She admitted, almost sheepishly.
“I’m working at… with Aramis, Porthos, Athos and D’Artagnan now, which is interesting.” She added, softly.
“I’ve never been a big fan of the whole thinking of the future thing,” Leon said. He tended to follow his gut, on whatever his gut decided was the best course of action in that moment. It did well with his arrest record, as he had a pretty keen instinct, but it was probably part of the reason why his personal life wasn’t much to look at. Still, he never dwelled on it much. “You and Veronica spending a lot of time together?”
He didn’t miss the switchover from when she was about to say where she worked at, instead of saying who she worked with. His lips tugged downward for just a moment, but he liked to think of Sharon as a friend, and he knew D’Artagnan, and he had trouble picturing them getting mixed up in something illegal. It was a little bit suspicious, but Leon wouldn’t pry. “Well, it’s good you’re working with people you know,” he said.
While Sharon didn't really have the liberty of "living in the now" she could understand the sentiment. And it was something she'd subscribed to in the past--she had a good head on her shoulders, and she worked hard. She wanted to move up the ladder, wanted to be a good soldier. But she'd never looked more than six months into the future. Not until now.
Now she was thinking about school districts and settling down, and saving for college and weddings and the like. She and Veronica were likely going to have to get a bigger place eventually.
Sharon felt bad. She wasn't sure how much of what the Agency did was public, how much was private, and how much, as a law enforcement officer, he would be at liberty to know. "Yes, it's a good job," Sharon said. "Feels a lot like the job in my Dreams." --Wait, did he have those weird dreams? She could blame it on the hormones if he asked.
“Hey, you know, my cousin Peggy is single,” she added quickly. Maybe that’d change the subject.
The job in her dreams? Like, a dream job? Leon had been about to ask when clearly the more pertinent question came to light. “Your cousin? Is she hot?” he blurted out. And this was why he was incredibly bad with women.
Sharon snorted into her cup of tea. She coughed and spluttered on the hot liquid, grabbing a couple of napkins from the dispenser to cover her mouth.
It only took Leon a moment to realize why Sharon was choking on her tea, and when he did, he had the good sense to look abashed. “You alright?”
Sharon gave a little laugh, setting down the drink so that she could cover her nose and mouth with the napkins, using both hands now. She coughed a little more, nodding and shaking her head in turn. "Yes, I'm fine. I can't believe... Sorry." Her voice sounded strained, like her vocal cords had just been soaked in tea. She cleared her throat. "I can't believe you think I'd set you up with someone who wasn't hot."
Leon grinned, relieved that he hadn’t offended her. “Well, you can never be too sure,” he said, “Though I should have trusted you. Please forgive me,” he was teasing, obviously.
“But, yeah, if this Peggy wants to meet me, I’d love to meet her.” He liked Sharon a lot, and he could only assume that Peggy would be cool as well.
No, she hadn't been offended. Amused, maybe? But not really offended. She'd sort of assumed that it was a tease, that he hadn't actually meant she had to be hot... but the more she thought about it, the more honest it seemed. And that was somewhat admirable. And a little disheartening. Sharon wondered if she'd ever be hot again. Not with stretch marks and saggy skin and whatever else. Sigh.
"I'll send her a note next time I remember." Sharon said. "Actually, text me to remind me." She grinned, her throat finally clear. She took another sip of tea to settle it.
Had Leon known what she was thinking, he probably would have assured her that she was still plenty hot, and probably would continue to be so after she had her baby too.
“I’ll definitely shoot you a text,” Leon said. Eventually he had to not strike out, right? “Sometime, at least.” He had managed to find himself a babysitter for Chris for when he went back to work, but he wasn’t sure right now how often he would be able to leave the kid with the sitter when he wasn’t at work. “You know, I’d try to return the favour, but I think you know all of my friends already.” Most of them were on the force.
Leon was very sweet. It would likely take more than some kind words from a friend to convince Sharon, though.
The only time a person failed completely was when they stopped trying. So he had that part going for him, anyway. "Well, I can probably work my schedule around a bit," it was almost as if she could tell what he was thinking. "Get some time in the afternoons to take Chris home from school." She offered.
Yeah, Sharon knew his friends. Was he still friends with the one she punched in the nose? Not that she was really looking for a man to fill that spot in her life. She was horny as hell, but was carrying too much baggage for anything more than a fling.
Leon and Chris’ faces lit up in identical smiles, and if it hadn’t been apparent that they were brother’s before (which it was; the two looked remarkably similar despite being eighteen years apart), it was now. “Really?” he asked. “His folks are paying for, you know, childcare stuff, so it can be a bit of extra money if you wanted. And I’d feel a lot better having Chris spending time with someone I trust.” He had run a full criminal record check on the girl who had agreed to watch him, and though it had all come back squeaky clean, and his gut hadn’t warned him about her, but he was still a little uneasy.
Sharon beamed brightly at the sight of the two brothers' smiles. They looked like brothers for sure now. "Hey, it's no problem. I can pretty much split up my day however I feel like. It'd probably be good for me to start getting up a little earlier in the morning, anyway." Sharon said, grinning at Chris. She leaned in as much as her bump and the table would allow. "Just don't let big brother know when I fall asleep every afternoon on the sofa." She gave him a wink.
“I won’t,” Chris said quietly, and Leon’s face spread into an even wider smile that his brother was talking to her, though he pretended not to hear any of them.
“Well, so long as it’s not too much trouble,” Leon said. “Chris is pretty helpful too, so it shouldn’t be too much work.” Chris had even volunteered to help Leon with the dishes that morning, which Leon hadn’t expected at all. He didn’t spend a lot of time around kids, but he had been under the impression that if they could get out of chores, they would. Leon was pretty sure that his little brother was the best kid in the goddamn universe.
Sharon was actually looking forward to it. She hadn’t spend a whole lot of time with children, so this was probably a good thing. Getting to know what kids are really like before she had her own.
“Until you find a more permanent solution,” she added, glad that Chris seemed pleased with that idea. He seemed like such a good kid. She was glad she could be of use. “I mean, the little one’s arriving in July. I’m not sure how much I’ll be available after that.”
"Absolutely," Leon said. "Even if it's just temporary, it helps a lot. Especially having someone who understands just how annoying my hours can be." Being a cop really wasn't conducive to raising a kid, and he wasn't sure how some of the cops on the force with families managed it. He hoped Sharon's new job had more reasonable hours. It certainly sounded like they were more flexible at least. "You're a godsend, Sharon."
"Of course." Sharon grinned between the two brothers. it would be a nice distraction from her own ridiculousness to spend time with Chris, and getting back in touch with Leon was very happy. "It's gonna be fun. We'll both be in good hands, right, Chris?" She lifted a hand for a high-five.
"It's really no problem, Leon. I'm glad to help. Besides, now Logan and Veronica are doing their puppy dog, batting eyelashes at each other stuff, I'll be glad to let the pair of them have the apartment to themselves for a while."
Chris rather cheerfully returned the high-five, and it was obvious that he was definitely looking time to spending with Sharon. He seemed to like her a lot.
“Wait, you mean, watch him at my apartment?” Leon asked, looking a little pale. While he (and Chris hadn’t complained so far) wasn’t opposed to living in a sty, he was pretty sure girls would have a problem with it. While he thought of Sharon more as a cop than a woman, he was still aware that she was, in fact, a woman, and probably wouldn’t appreciate the fact that he had dirty clothes, empty beer bottles, and porno mags all over the floor, dirty dishes piled high in the sink, and overflowing ashtrays (which he hadn’t actually used since Chris moved in, since he had started going outside to smoke, but he hadn’t gotten around to emptying them and putting them away yet), nevermind the half-naked women that plastered his walls. He was definitely going to have to clean up before he let her over.
"Wouldn't he be more comfortable at your place than mine?" Sharon responded. Of course, Chris would be welcome at her place, but she figured he would want be home. Or, what passed for home lately. "He's welcome to hang out with whenever." Her place was probably much more livable than his, now that she thought of it.
“I’m sure he’ll be comfortable wherever he goes,” Leon said. “It’s fine if you wanted to get away from the love birds.” he got to see it at the station, which wasn’t terrible, but he imagined it was far more sappy and weird to be around when they were in the privacy of home. “I’ll just need to uh… do a bit of light cleaning.” The vaguely embarrassed look on Leon’s face and slightly incredulous look on Chris’ would probably say enough about just how ‘light’ that cleaning would be.
"We can try my place first," Sharon said, smirking a little at the looks on the guys' faces. She figured out pretty quick what was going on here. "Give you a little mite time before I come over." She sipped some tea. "But you really should work on that before you bring a real girl over, you know." Maybe that was another reason that Bethany the Bitch fled screaming?
Leon shrugged, looking even more embarrassed. “Well, it’s not like I’ve got a whole lot of girls coming over in the first place,” he said. He thought quickly of a way to change the subject away from his more-than-disappointing love life, and came to the very first subject that crossed his mind. “So, baseball’s starting up again soon. Think the Angels are going to take home the Commissioner's Trophy?”
Sharon shrugged, breaking into a grin. “I don’t really follow baseball. But I do like the excuse to have friends over, and eat hot dogs and nachos. Or wait, is that the Super Bowl?” She said, playfully. Besides, she was from Virginia, routed through New York. She didn’t have a home team anymore, like a lot of people did. She barely knew who was who when she watched the games.
Leon laughed. “I think that’s the standard fare for all big sports tournaments,” he said. “If you wanted to, we could catch a game sometime. I’m sure after seeing it in person, you’ll definitely follow it.”
A bright smile crossed Sharon’s lips, and she nodded. “All right. I’m in. We’ll go to a game sometime, and you can show me why people follow it so devoutly. So long as I get nachos and hot dogs and a giant, foam hand with the finger sticking up.” She held up her index finger. Then went a little pink. “The index finger sticking up.” Sharon added quickly, correcting herself.
Leon laughed. “Right, no giant novelty hands flipping the bird. Check.” He turned to Chris. “What about you, bud? Did you want a big novelty hand and nachos and hot dogs?” Chris, obviously, nodded.
“Alright, it’s settled,” Leon said. “The three of us will have to go to a baseball game, eat tons of unhealthy, overpriced snacks, and wave our ridiculous foam fingers.” It sounded like a blast.
Sharon laughed, too. She lifted her cup as if to toast on it. “I’ll drink to that.” The clinking of the paper cups all together in the middle of the table sealed the deal.