Hi guys, this is my first Covert Affairs ficlet, mostly fluff and humor with a dash of sexy but will hopefully get somewhere in the the end. Set some unspecified time into the future. Ben is probably around still but not as a major player and Annie is slowly moving on.
Please R&R, any feed back would be awesome!
Annie looked at the serving of cherry Garcia in her bowl, thought about the crappy day that only ended half an hour ago - well after any regular nine to five job finished - and added another large dollop. She was licking the spoon and putting the container back in the fridge when she heard a soft, clandestine tap at the door behind her.
Instantly all her senses where on alert: it was not the time of night for a friendly visitor. Silently she slid the largest knife from the kitchen block and edged cautiously to the door checking the peephole. Someone was lurking outside in the shadows; tall, arms crossed in his black leather jacket holding something- maybe a weapon- under his arm, dark hair shielding his face. She threw the door open her entire body preparing to lunge just as recognition struck.
"Auggie, what the hell are you doing here?" She asked terse but relieved, her heart was still beating overtime with adrenalin. "I thought you were an axe murderer or something, I almost stabbed you!" He pushed off from the wall he'd been leaning against in that oddly graceful way of his, a small boyish smirk on his face at her hushed rage.
"Sorry, I would have thrown rocks at your window but my aim isn't what it once was" He joked laconically "I heard you had a rough day, came to do the whole St Bernard routine." He pulled out the object under his arm revealing a large dark bottle and held it out to her grinning. "You know bring you booze when your low." She smiled despite herself; of course he wouldn't have forgotten that conversation. "Come in." She said taking the bottle from his hands and offering him the crook of her arm. "But be quiet, Danielle and the kids are asleep."
She led him to the kitchen counter which he leant on facing her "Do I smell cherries?" He asked hopefully as she put the bottle down and the knife away.
"Icecream." She supplied knowingly and added another spoon to the now slightly runny bowl, there went half her desert. He grinned as he heard the chink of metal on porcelain.
"Does that mean I get some with my alcohol?"
"Ice cream now, alcohol later. I don't want you getting trashed in my sister's living room." She slid the bowl toward him.
"You gonna sneak me into your bedroom Walker?" He asked playfully, his fingers traced the rim of bowl till he found the spoon and he took a huge bite.
"It'll be just like high school."
Auggie rolled his eyes comically and swallowed. "Except I bet none of your pimply boyfriends brought you 20 year old single malt scotch."
She turned the bottle over in her hands ignoring the boyfriend part of the comment and gave a low whistle as she read the label. "No they did not." She said the avarice clear in her voice. "I thought you were more of a beer and babes guy." He shrugged.
"You drink beer for social lubrication, scotch you drink for the taste" He gave her a wide grin "and babes well..." He gave her a pointed look as he took another bite of Ben and Jerry's. She shook her head leaning over to grasp her own spoon from the rapidly emptying bowl and grab a few bites before he scoffed the lot. It didn't take long. She dumped the empty bowl into the sink, pulled out two sniffer glasses from the cupboard and presented Auggie her arm to lead him out the guest house.
"And what is gin for?" she asked smiling as they cut across the grass outside.
"Gin? Well gin is more of a paint thinner." She snorted and bumped him with her hip playfully making him trip a little.
"I like gin. " She complained. Auggie's smile deepened as he regained his balance.
"I know, and I forgive you for your horrible taste."
She warned him about the small step up to the deck of the guest house then unlocked the door leading him inside. Despite the fact that he couldn't see it and condemn her for her slovenly ways she still scrambled to hastily pull a few scattered articles of clothing off the floor and close her open underwear draw. She hadn't exactly been expecting company.
"So this is the boudoir of Annie Walker. I'm honored to be inside its illustrious walls"
"Containing practically everything I own." She sighed, since she'd been old enough to have a job pretty much every cent she had ever earned had gone into travel, apart from personal items and souvenirs from her journeys she didn't own much. It was one of the many things she was most jealous about Danielle for putting down roots.
"I like what you've done with the place." He said turning his head in a parody of admiration.
"Feel free to explore." She told him and began to pour the fine dark liquor. Auggie's fingers slid curiously over one of her side tables, when he encountered something he would pick it up, examining it with his sensitive musician's hands. She watched him from the corner of her eye, as always rapt by his graceful movements; the small smile that played across his lips when he deciphered what an object was before he placed it back exactly as it had been. He stopped at one with a frown, a small porcelain figurine. "A lucky waving cat?" He read the raised imprint on the bottom with his fingers. "Made in china? I thought Maneki Neko was Japanese."
"Don't mock chairman Mao Mao, I've had him since I was fourteen." She warned. "Here." She handed him the half-filled glass of amber liquid.
"Somewhere to sit down?"
"There is only really my bed. Your 2 o'clock, 3 feet away."
He found it unerringly, brushed his fingers across the duvet and sat down lithely balancing his drink as he toed off his shoes and reclined on the cushions like he owned the place. Annie couldn't help but chuckle at his cheekiness, already the weight of the day had lifted off her. "You gonna join me?" he asked in his imitation come hither voice and stroked the space beside him suggestively.
"Sure Mr. Powers." She mocked but lay down next to him anyway her head perched on the crook of her arm facing towards him. They talked about everything and nothing until half the bottle was gone and they had fallen into a comfortable silence. She so rarely got a chance to stare at him openly, to drink him in she took advantage of it now. She traced the contours of his face with her gaze, rested for a moment on the soft upturned lilt of his lips and the crinkle around the warm chocolaty depths of his eyes, eyes that seemed to see everything while seeing nothing at all. When she realized she had been quiet for too long she cleared her throat and took a sip of the warm sweetly rounded fluid in her glass still floating on a warm cloud of alcohol. He tilted his head curiously.
"What are you thinking about Miss Walker?"
"You." She said simply.
"Tragically in love with me Annie? You should know better." He teased, sipping his own drink, eyes twinkling.
"Maybe." Was her noncommittal reply but she was smiling too. "I was thinking I'm glad you're my friend Auggie."
"Anything you need me to be." He said softly. He turned, found the table next to her bed and put his now empty glass down making a quiet, almost pained noise in the back of his throat. "Music?" He asked changing the subject. She reached out and flick on her cd player letting whatever was in it already run.
"What is that?" Auggie asked his ear pricking to the beautiful but unfamiliar music.
"Sigur Ross. They're Icelandic but I think they just make up the words. It's kind of a nice break having no idea what they are saying. "
"I like it, it's mellow."
"Auggie, can I ask a question?" Annie asked seized by a sudden impulse.
He smiled softly. "You may ask two."
"What do you miss most about before your accident?" He was silent for a moment a tiny frown creasing his brow.
"Seeing people's faces." He searched the ceiling he couldn't see with his eyes. "Take you for example; I've had you described to me but I really don't know what you look like. I have to make it up in my head." His answer caught Annie by surprise. She forgot what an advantage she had over him sometimes when she knew every plane of his face. Her hand snaked out of its own volition and caught his, raising it to cup her cheek.
"So look." She said gently. He stayed motionless for a moment, hesitating and then he shifted closer to her, leaning over her a little. His fingers moved slowly, gracefully over her skin, tracing the contour of her jaw, the arch of her cheek bone. Her eyes fluttered closed as he found the dip and curve of her lid and then traced down the column of her nose to the little hollow below it. She had been laying completely still, barely daring to breathe, but she exhaled softly when his thumb found the cupid's bow of her lips. His touch lingered there for a moment and she opened her eyes to gaze up at his intense look of concentration. She was his object to decipher she realized. It sent an electric current down her spine, every nerve in her body awakening like an exquisite case of pins and needles.
Finally, he drew his hand away. Annie closed her eyes again and drew in a shuddering breath trying vainly to slow the tattoo of her too quickly beating heart. Surely Auggie with his sensitivity to sound could hear it; it seemed to be hammering in her own ears.
"I've made you uncomfortable." He pulled away voice dismayed. She pulled herself together, clearing her throat.
"No, no." She sat up and swallowed. "It was just more… intimate that I realized it would be." The silence between them grew, for the first time feeling strained. Annie thought desperately for a safe topic of conversation, a joke, a wisecrack, anything. Being with Auggie had always been as easy as breathing and she didn't want it to be awkward now just because of her stupid body's unexpected and unasked for reaction to him.
"So how about those Redskins?" "I hear the Giants are doing well." They both burst out simultaneously. The tension washed away in a rush of shared laughter and she relaxed back into the cushions.
They were Annie and Auggie and that was never going to change.