I normally don't write holiday-centric stuff, but this idea wouldn't leave me alone. I thought it was cute, so I'm sharing. Enjoy!
Note: If you've never seen a slate and stylus, you should Google it (or better yet, GoodSearch it and raise money for charity!). Or you can check out this video of someone using it on YouTube: /watch?v=TzvhUi3-kOc .
Thanks: To Phoenix, my Beta.
Disclaimer: I don't own Covert Affairs or the characters. I also don't own The Wizard of Oz. But, I do own the idea of combining the two. :)
Whiskers and Wizards
None of the agents and analysts she passes in the hallway give Annie more than a cursory glance. Only in the DPD can a woman trot down the hall in a pair of heels and not garner strange or concerned looks.
Annie hurries along the hallway, then grips the edge of Auggie's doorframe with one hand and uses it to redirect her forward motion into his office.
He freezes at her abrupt entrance, his arm half-buried in the sleeve of his coat. Auggie's head turns toward the doorway, his unfocused eyes seeking a direction to look in.
"Hey," she breathes. "I was hoping I'd catch you before you left."
She steps fully into the office and moves over to his desk. Auggie finishes pulling on his coat and powers down his computer.
"Goal achieved," he says with a lopsided grin.
Annie smiles in return. "I have something to give to you."
She reaches into her coat pocket and takes out an unsealed envelope, then presses the invitation into his hand and closes his fingers around it. Auggie slides the card out of the envelope, a curious expression spreading over his face at the gritty texture his fingers encounter.
"Sorry about all the glitter," she apologizes. Flecks of orange and black detach from the paper and stick to his hand, sparkling against his skin in the fluorescent lighting of the office.
"You know, my birthday was a few months ago," he says, leaning his backside against the edge of his desk.
"It's not a birthday card. It's an invitation."
"Oh?"
Her shoulder brushes against his as she leans on the desk beside him. "Chloe has convinced my sister to throw a Halloween Party. She insisted that I extend you an invitation."
"That's sweet."
"I think you made quite an impression on her during that Smithsonian tour. Have you ever been a girl's first crush?" she asks, nudging his shoulder playfully.
He chuckles softly as he opens the card. "Maybe once or twice."
His fingers run over the inside of the invitation, wondering if Chloe coated the whole thing in glitter. He's genuinely surprised when he feels small, rounded bumps sticking out from the page.
"Is this. . .?"
Annie smiles as realization dawns on him. "Chloe really wanted you to be able to read it. So, I bought a slate and stylus and did a lot of reading."
Something deep inside his chest warms at the touching gesture.
"It must have taken you a really long time," he says in a low voice.
Annie sucks her front teeth in a sound of indifference. "It meant a lot to her."
"It means a lot to me too." He's not going to let her play this down.
Annie pushes off the edge of the desk and takes a few steps before turning to face him again.
"Can you even read it?" she asks. "Writing backwards kind of threw me at first. I hope everything's spelled right."
Auggie runs his fingers over the card again and reads out loud, "The twenty-ninth—so, tomorrow—at eight o'clock. The Brooks household. And what's this about a Wizard of Oz theme?"
Annie smiles again, relieved that Auggie can read what she printed. It took her almost an hour—and more than a few sheets of scrapped cardstock—to get it right.
"It's a family-friendly party. All the kids will be dressed as Munchkins."
"And you?"
"I beat Dani at rock-paper-scissors for Dorothy."
"Very nice," he says.
Auggie stuffs the invitation back into the envelope without saying anything and slips it into a compartment in his messenger bag. Annie shuffles a little closer to him, arms crossed, right index-finger tapping the bicep of her left arm as she waits for confirmation.
"So. . .can you make it?" she asks when he remains quiet. "I know it's a little last minute, but it would mean the world to Chloe."
He shoulders his messenger bag and picks up his pedestrian cane. "Of course I'll be there."
Annie stretches up on her tiptoes, closes the short distance between them, and presses a chaste kiss to his cheek.
"Thank you, Auggie."
"He's here! He's here!" Chloe and Katia cry in high-pitched unison as they run for the front door mere seconds after the doorbell rings.
Annie doesn't hurry to follow them; every time the doorbell has gone off since the start of the party, the girls shriek the same thing, hoping Auggie has arrived. They're eager to show him off to their friends. Even Katia—who has never met Auggie—is in awe of him based solely on Chloe's retellings of her Smithsonian tour.
This time Auggie is on the other side of the door. The girls quickly calm down when they see him and, although they still smile, they don't shriek with delight or excitement. Annie's secretly relieved—she doesn't need her nieces to build up his ego and embarrass her in the process.
"What are you supposed to be?" Katia asks, staring up at their tall visitor with a mixture of curiosity and confusion.
"He's the dog, silly," her sister answers in a condescending, older-sister tone, even though she's giving Auggie the same quizzical look.
"Oh."
"Nice to see you too, girls," Auggie says, grinning down in their general direction. "May I come in?"
"Sure," Chloe answers shortly with a shrug of her shoulder.
"Girls!" Danielle's voice carries from the kitchen. "We're about to start bobbing for apples."
"Are you coming?" Chloe asks, the excitement of the party returning to her voice.
"Bob for apples with us, please?" Katia pleads.
Auggie smiles and says, "I'll come in just a minute. Let me say hello to your aunt first. 'Kay?"
The girls giggle and nod, then run down the hall, their flower petal dresses bouncing along with each bounding step.
Auggie shuts the front door. "That wasn't exactly the welcome I was expecting from the Lollipop Guild."
"I just think they were expecting you to be in full-out Halloween mode," Annie remarks, assessing his costume.
He's wearing a dark brown shirt and a pair of corduroy pants that are a few shades off from each other with a short clip-on tail attached to his back belt-loop. Slightly crooked, drawn-on whiskers reach out from his black nose and halfway across his cheeks. Fuzzy brown ears sticking up from his hair and a light blue collar complete the haphazard dog costume.
Annie tries to suppress a laugh, but he hears her.
"What? I didn't have a lot of time to put it together."
"They have these things called costume rentals. You couldn't rent a dog costume?"
"Ever heard of Furry Conventions? No thank you." He fakes a cringe for added effect.
"I'm sure they're dry-cleaned," she teases.
"That's a chance I'm not willing to take." Auggie reaches for his neck, checking to see if his collar is facing the front. "Do I look that bad?"
Annie steps up to him and holds out her left arm, letting him grip her elbow before turning toward the kitchen.
"I think you'll be forgiven if you bob for apples," she says.
"Lead the way."
They start walking, Annie's ruby red slippers—the shoes she convinced Chloe and Katia she borrowed from the Smithsonian display—clicking on the hardwood. She keeps staring at the faux leather collar around Auggie's neck. It really looks ridiculous on him.
"I didn't know you were into collars," Annie says, her voice playfully teasing.
"I like to keep people guessing," he responds with a wink that makes her laugh.
"I thought you'd come as the Scarecrow but, somehow, Toto is much more fitting."
Auggie smiles like he's recalling a fond memory. "He's like a Saint Bernard in compact form—Dorothy's most faithful companion."
"Sorry to tell you, but I don't think you'll fit in my picnic basket. You're a little big."
"You said it, not me."
She laughs again and nudges him in the side as they stroll up to the kitchen.
"You better behave yourself, mister," she whispers into his ear, "or I'll let the Wicked Witch of the West get you."
They join Danielle, Michael and a group of other parents but, after introductions and bit of small talk, they fade to the edges of the assembled partiers. Auggie and Annie don't have a lot in common with Danielle's friends, being neither married nor parents, so common topics of discussion are scarce.
Thankfully, Katia and Chloe coax Auggie into bobbing for apples, breaking the pressure to mingle with the rest of the crowd. Annie decides to watch him and the other children while her sister serves snacks.
Auggie succeeds in fishing out two apples within the allotted minute, much to the childrens' delight. He comes back to stand by Annie with a towel around his shoulders, the tips of his hair dripping from half-submerging his head in the water. He holds out one of his apples to her.
"No thanks," she says. "Spit-covered apples aren't really my thing."
"Party-pooper."
She smiles at the juvenile phrase, then reaches out and wipes away a black smudge on his cheek. "Your whiskers are leaking."
"Oops, forgot about those." He wipes at the side of his face with the palm of his hand, making the problem worse. Annie grips his hand to stop him.
"Come with me," she says, "I think I can help you out."
She guides him to the guesthouse and up into her bedroom.
"This your place?" he asks, his head swinging back and forth as though he's admiring the decor.
"Yeah."
"It's nice."
"Like you would know," she scoffs lightly.
He shrugs with a grin. "Just being polite."
Annie goes into her bathroom and finds the eyeliner she's looking for. She comes back to where she left Auggie standing in the middle of her bedroom.
"C'mere." She grips his chin between her thumb and index finger and tilts it down. "Hold still."
"'Kay."
Annie redraws the whiskers and fills in the spots on his nose. "There."
Capping the eyeliner, she tosses it onto the bed. Her hand comes to rest on his chest, patting it lightly to signify that she's finished, but she doesn't remove it. They're standing so close now that she can feel the air from his nose lifting the loose strands of hair of her wig.
"Thanks," he says in a gruff whisper, telling her that he's just as affected by the proximity as she is.
They stand like that for another minute, but when Annie feels gravity tipping her toward Auggie, she pulls back.
"Maybe we should go back down to the party," she whispers.
As she starts to turn away, Auggie grips her hand and holds it against his chest. "Not yet."
Before she can say anything else, he pulls her back to him and kisses her. He misses her mouth by an inch or so, but Annie is happy to help him correct the miscalculation.
Auggie's hands run over her hair, almost dislodging her brown wig. Annie's hands rise to cup the sides of his face, careful not to smear the fresh eyeliner. The kiss lasts longer than Annie expects, but it's also cut too short for her liking by her sister.
"Annie? You up there?" Danielle's voice carries up to her bedroom from the living area. "We're about to serve dinner. Thought you'd like to know."
Annie and Auggie break apart from each other and quickly compose themselves, regulating their sudden heavy breathing. Auggie's satisfied grin does not help her heart stop pounding any faster.
"Coming!" she calls, adjusting her wig.
Annie helps Auggie down the stairs and finds her sister waiting for them.
"Food sounds wonderful," Auggie says as though nothing happened. "I think I can find my way, if you'll excuse me."
He leaves the sisters alone, using his pedestrian cane to find the guesthouse door.
"Did I interrupt something?" Danielle asks her once the door shuts behind Auggie. Her sister's eyes are wide with excitement at the thought.
"No," Annie lies. "I was just helping him fix his whiskers."
"Uh-huh."
Annie can't contain the smile that comes to her lips at her sister's disbelieving tone. "Let's go eat," she says.
Danielle nods but points at Annie's nose. "You've got a little somethin' somethin'."
Annie rubs her nose and looks at her hand, realizing that some of the eyeliner came off on her skin despite her best efforts.
"I'm never going to hear the end of this, right?" she asks her sister.
"Never," Danielle responds with a teasing grin.
A/N: Review if liked it. Please? :)
PS: I have nothing against Furries. If I offended anyone, my apologies.