Disclaimer: The characters, and the premise upon which they are based, do not belong to me. If they did, I wouldn't be stuck here scraping pennies together while I wait for ABC to broadcast this fantastic show.
Author's Note: This is more of a personal challenge, than anything else. I used a random word generator to create a list of one word prompts using the alphabet, A-Z. What comes out is nothing fantastic, but a mind exercise to keep myself encouraged [read: frustrated] when it comes to my writing. These stories will vary in length, but are meant to be relatively short one-shots. Enjoy!
As the clock neared midnight, Angie wearily collapsed into a high back chair in the darkened corner of the room as she observed her red headed friend from across the room. Turning in her chair to get a better view, she rests her elbow on the table as she sits back against the wall.
A few weeks ago, the doctor had eagerly decided to organize a small, intimate New Year's Eve party for a few good friends. Having full understanding of the warped language Betty Rogers spoke meant that Angie knew words like a "few", "small", and "intimate" translated to a few dozen friends. At this very moment, Betty was in the process of making Lucas do his best impression of a ripened tomato as the younger detective blushed furiously in the corner.
"Poor kid," Oscar remarks as he sinks into a chair next to her, depositing a champagne flute on the table in front of her.
"Oh, c'mon, she's just having a little fun," Angie replied as her radiant smile illuminated her face. Setting her heel-clad foot upon the seat of her partner's chair, her smile quickly faded into a grimace as she slowly rotated her sore ankle; fidgeting with her leather bound foot as she huffed, "How the hell did I let her talk me into these damn things?"
Suddenly, the warmth of Oscar's hand radiates through her calf as he pulls her foot into his lap, skillful fingers sliding the offending item off and dropping it to the hardwood beneath them. As his fingers descended down around the bony ridges of her ankle, he smirks as Angie trembles above him. Sweeping a fingertip over the arched plane of her foot, his smirk widens as she attempts to withdraw her foot; his grip tightening to still her movements as she tenses.
"Ticklish, Ang?" Oscar whispers as he his thumbs knead the strained muscles.
Drawing a lengthy sip from the long-stemmed glass, she fixes him with a glare as she reaches for his earlobe in retaliation. "Mmm," she hums around the bubbles, "just a bit, yeah." Emptying the rest of the flute, she quickly snatches another as a tuxedoed waiter passes by their table.
"Who knew?" Oscar muses quietly, gently rolling the joint from side to side as his fingertips sweep around the backside of her heel. As Angie hisses quietly, his attentive ministrations still in a flash, watching with bated breath as she slowly exhales.
Eyebrows furrowing in concern, he carefully lifts the limb to see an angry red blemish just above her heel. The skin is still unbroken, yet tender as he is able to note the beginnings of a small blister. Chewing at his bottom lip thoughtfully, he quickly finishes his scotch before upending the remnants of ice into the cloth napkin before him.
"Oscar, you don't -," Angie protests, words dying on her lips as he rests her injured foot upon his knee. The chill of the melting ice combined with the heat emanating from her silky smooth shin under his palm alights his senses, and he's left shivering against the sensation.
The sound of the raucous festivities fades as he thumbs the light blue line of a vein that trails across her foot and up near the bony prominence of her ankle. Brushing back and forth, he observes as it seems to jump at his touch, as he returns his attention to Angie's face.
With her fingers buried into her blonde curls, as her elbow rests against the back of the chair, she sighs softly as her eyelids flutter closed. As the crowd of guests gather near a large screen to count down to the New Year, Angie withdraws her hand as she combs out her hair and rests her palm against the dark hair she finds at the base of his neck.
Cheers erupt around the room, with noisemakers punctuating choruses of "Happy New Year!" in disjointed celebration. Just as Oscar feels a droplet of water run down the side of his knee, Angie pulls him closer to brush her lips across his sideburns near the front of his ear.
Resting her forehead against his temple, Oscar can't be sure whether it's the frigid bead of water trailing down his skin or her breathy whispers that send shivers down his spine as she murmurs her own "Happy New Year, partner" to him.