Author: mirenne
Title: Chiaroscuro
Disclaimer: White Collar is owned by USA Network and Jeff Eastin. Don't sue me.
In the words of Chaucer's Wife of Bath: "As taketh not agrief of that I seye/For myn entente nis but for to pleye."
Missing scene for Deadline.
Spoilers for the dinner at Diana and Christie's house.
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Sometime between desert and the door, Neal sees Sarah glancing at him with bright shining eyes and a devilishly knowing little smile gracing her lips. He grins in return, a rakish, satisfied thing that tells her he got the information he needed- thanks to her diversion. He holds her eyes meaningfully for a moment and her smile softens. They make a good team. She sets another plate on the table, asks Diana a question, and then laughs lightly at the response.
Really, they've all enjoyed the evening, and why not? The company was lively, the food delightful. He loves the finer things in life as much as he does the rush of the con. Finding ways to combine the two may be his truest art form.
Soon enough, the evening comes to a close. As he and Sarah hit the street and the chilly New York air envelopes them, he pulls her close, feeling her snug in against his side. He tips his head down to kiss her, tasting the sweet white wine they'd had with desert. In a moment, she's turned toward him, and they embrace, right in the middle of the narrow sidewalk while other late night pedestrians flow awkwardly around them.
As he pulls away and tugs her onward with him, he realizes that he's happy, and sees it reflected on her face too.
A few steps further, and the inevitable comparison arises. He hasn't felt this sort of contentment, this particular sort of rush, since it was Kate by his side. There was nothing like working a con together, then walking (or running) away on a high, and riding the adrenaline into some new misadventure.
Sarah, of course, is not Kate. She is neither an ingénue needing introduction to his world, nor is she unprotected without him. Sarah is, technically speaking, on the other side of the legal and moral fence.
Still, he had seen the glint in her eyes tonight, the bright color on her cheeks and the adrenaline sharpness of her movements. Sarah had felt the seductive, siren call; the high of thinking on your feet, of playing a role and keeping it cool, of gaining an objective against opposition. They are kindred spirits, two sides of the same coin. This is part of the attraction for both of them. But he also knows, given a little push here and a little shove there, she would tumble willingly from that high, high horse of hers right onto his side of the fence.
Neal knows it's better to keep the boundaries firm. To deflect her questions, just as she deflects his, and keep their work lives separate.
He huffs softly. He knows prevarication when he sees it- expediency and sweet temptation too. She challenges him, pressing him for information on the sideways skills that come so easily to him.
The con man should be wise enough not to con himself.
They are walking on the edge of a streetlamp's glow. He pauses to appreciate the artistic merit of the moment. She is illuminated in swathes of light and dark, while he remains largely in the shadow, except where his body touches hers. He finds is a fitting reflection for his train of thought, and then laughs at himself. He pulls her closer, tugging gently on a lock of her hair until she looks up at him, her eyes big and dark in the chiaroscuro light. "Tonight was fun," he says.
"Yes, it was," she answers. "We should do it again sometime."
He leans forward to steal another small kiss. "Indeed."
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A/N:
1. Reviews are love. I live for love. Please, please let me know what you thought!
2. Chiaroscuro is an art technique developed during the Renaissance in which light and dark are strongly contrasted. Large parts of the canvas may be dark, while the figures, either in whole or in part, are illuminated brightly, giving them a striking, otherworldly look. The first season DVD box of White Collar is a photographic representation of chiaroscuro. (Though I only realized it after I'd written this!)