"I'm just going to take you back to my apartment tonight. It's only 6, but I'm exhausted." "Quite alright, Miss Mills." Over the last few months Ichabod had slowly become accustom to spending the night at Abbie's apartment. The first few times he had stayed in her home he had been extremely uncomfortable. Certainly people would talk, sharing such an intimate space with an unmarried woman? This clearly would cause people to question Abigail's virtue. It wasn't until the third night he had spent the evening at Abbie's apartment that he had become comfortable staying there. They had just come off of a particularly difficult case. It was just after Thanksgiving and Ichabod was still reeling from the fact that he had had a son that he had never known. Abbie had been severely injured during the case and Ichabod couldn't bear the thought of leaving her alone. Abbie had insisted that she would be fine, that it was just a bump, nothing to worry about. However, Ichabod had lost many of his comrades in combat centuries before due to head wounds of the same nature. He wouldn't be able to live with himself if the same fate befell Miss Mills.
As they had walked up the stairs to her apartment that night, Ichabod had noticed her downstairs neighbor necking with a man in the hall. The couple dipped into the apartment they were next to and shut the door. Ichabod blinked rapidly at their impropriety. "Miss Mills!" he had huffed as Abbie opened the door to the apartment, "Is that not a different man from the one that has been courting the young lady downstairs for the last fortnight?" Abbie had simply chuckled at the scandalized look on Crane's face and explained that he needed to "get with the times."
Hrmph. Get with the times indeed. Ichabod thought as they pulled up to Abbie's building. Ichabod attempted to wipe some of the purple goo out of his hair, only managing to massage it further into his scalp. Abbie's downstairs neighbor stood downstairs outside arguing with one of the many young men that she had in and out of her open.
Abbie and Ichabod quickly made their way up to her apartment, Abbie taking a moment to spare the couple a second glance trying to decide if she should intervene. Abbie rolled her neck from side to side as Ichabod closed and bolted the apartment door behind them.
"Why don't you grab the first shower and I'll order us a pizza?" Abbie was already reaching for the phone. " Are you sure Miss Mills? This substance smells quite bad, and you will continue to stink if you allow it to remain on you." Crane looked at Abbie with the upmost sincerity. Abbie arched an eyebrow at Crane. " YOU think I stink?" Abbie put particular emphasis on the word you. "YOU who grew up in a time when bathing was about as common as sunshine in Britain?" Ichabod immediately became flustered. "Ah… Miss Mills it would seem I have offended you. I only meant that the demons innards smell unpleasant. You smell absolutely lovely under normal circumstance." Abbie gave him one of those megawatt grins that she used on an infrequent basis. "You think I smell lovely?"
Ichabod's face flushed a deep shade of red. "Uh-um…You…I…"Ichabod stuttered. Abbie continued to grin, she could count on one hand the number of times Ichabod had stuttered around her. Most of them in the last month. "I only meant that it would be remiss for me to take advantage of your hospitality Miss Mills and I couldn't possibly deprive you of the first shower." Ichabod straightened his jacket in an effort to appear composed. It was a wasted effort as the Queen of England herself would have been unable to appear dignified covered as they were.
Abbie laughed. "Just go shower Crane. You know where the towels are and I washed your clothes from the last time you stayed." Abbie glanced down at the coffee table while Ichabod hurried off to the bathroom. There was a scrap of yellow legal pad paper with writing scribbled across it. Under closer inspection Abbie recognized it as a message from Jenny. The note said that she had gone on to collect some artifact or another and should be back before the end of the week. This custody thing is working out about as well as I had expected it to. Abbie sighed and dropped the note on the table as she dialed the local pizza place.
After placing an extra large pizza with the works Abbie glanced down at herself. Crane had been right when he said that she stunk. She sighed quietly praying that this goop would come out of her hair easily. Abbie kicked her shoes off in an effort not to track anything else through her apartment and headed to her bedroom. Abbie quickly stripped off her clothes and dropped them into her dirty laundry hamper. She would need to wash everything immediately to help ensure that their clothes would remain functional. Abbie grabbed her short fuzzy hot pink bathrobe from the hook on the back of her door and headed to her laundry area to drop her clothes in the washer. As Abbie spun the knob on her top loading washer she thought about Crane's clothes and the fact that they would need to be washed just as badly as her own.
Abbie glanced back at the closed bathroom door. Even from where she stood she could hear the steady splash of water hitting the shower floor. Well, if he is in the shower it's not like I would actually see ANYTHING. And it would be a strictly friendly gesture. It's not like I'm hoping that he might have accidently left the shower curtain open just a peek. Abbie felt heat flush her face. Married. Married. He is a happily married man. Well, is he? Is he actually happy? Katrina certainly had a lot to answer for after they had learned that Ichabod had been a father. And it's not like Katrina had been appearing as frequently as she had up until that night. Abbie glanced down into the open washer. The water had stopped filling the machine and was waiting to be shut. Abbie twitched her lips and glanced back at the bathroom door. Strictly friendship.
Abbie with and knocked loudly on the bathroom door. "Crane! I'm going to come in and grab your clothes to clean." Without waiting for a response Abbie opened the bathroom door and snagged Crane's clothes from where they were neatly folded on the sink. Abbie turned and practically ran from the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.
Abbie let out a deep breath as she dropped his clothes in with her own. See, that wasn't so bad. The doorbell chimed throughout her apartment. Grabbing the cash off her coffee table Abbie went to exchange the pizza for the cash.