This is my take on a Karen Cartwright (Smash) merges with Paige Dineen! I know I'm not alone in missing her singing and dancing! I thought it might be interesting to see how Walter would process that side of Paige. Let me know what you think. Like all the other ffn Scorpion fans, I own nothing!
Walter smiled. "No trouble at all." "Why don't you come into the bathroom? There's better light." He turned and walked the few steps to the small, white bathroom, and turned on the lights as Paige followed. She looked around, the bathroom was neat, clean, and minimalist, just like Walter's loft space. He pulled aside the colorless curtain on the shower rod. "Why don't you have a seat on the corner of the tub? That's the best light and closest to the sink. Paige obliged, sitting facing away from him so he could have access to her back, and suddenly felt nervous, though she wasn't sure why. Walter sifted through some drawers and the medicine cabinet before setting his supplies on the countertop. When he stopped fussing with everything and became still, Paige tensed again, anticipating his touch.
"Ok," Walter said as he knelt down again beside her. She turned her head and watched him as his brown eyes examined the bare skin on her back. She blushed as she imagined that intense stare on other parts of her body.
Walter stood again, grabbing a towel and handing it to her. "If you can just hold this in place, just above the um, waistline of the back of your pants, I'm going to start by just washing the abrasion first. The towel will keep water from running down…um, will k-keep you dry."
He went over to the sink and dampened a washcloth with warm water. Hell, why was he so nervous? He reminded himself that this was nothing more than very basic first aid for a colleague. A very beautiful colleague. He knelt again and Paige held the towel in place as instructed. He gently dabbed the center of her back and she felt the water begin trickling down her spine. She sighed. Walter stopped what he was doing. "I'm sorry, am I hurting you?" he asked.
"No, Walter. You're not hurting me. It actually feels kind of nice to be honest," she murmured.
Walter didn't know what to say in response so he simply continued the dabbing motion from the middle, toward her obliques, and down toward the top of her right buttock, stopping only when he came in contact with the towel. He paused to wring out the cloth in the tub next to her. "Um…if you can just lower the towel a bit, and if it's ok, I'm going to just roll your waistband down a little to get the rest of the scraped skin clean. Um…if that's not ok, I – I understand, I just –"
"No, it's f-fine w-with me," Paige stammered, but her whole body felt flushed at this point. She moved the towel as requested and tried to look over her shoulder as he lowered the right side of her yoga pants, just enough to not expose too much of herself to him.
Walter was breathing so rapidly at this point that he was becoming lightheaded. He couldn't believe that he was touching Paige Dineen. This beautiful creature, was allowing him to place his hands on her backside. He chastised himself for allowing his mind to picture her completely naked right now. She was a friend. This is a medical procedure. There was nothing about this that should lead to any inappropriate thoughts, but he felt like he was losing control.
And part of him liked that.
He finished dabbing the wound on the top of her backside, dried the whole area with the towel, and regretfully straightened to an upright position. "Ok, now I'll just apply a little hypoallergenic spray and dress it for you and you'll be fine," he stated curtly.
As he applied the spray, Paige thought it stung very little, making her wonder how much the "abrasion" really needed to be addressed. She enjoyed lowering her pants just a "little bit more" for him as he placed gauze and medical tape over it, and was more than a little sad, when he declared that he was finished.
She grabbed his upper arms for support as she stepped out of the tub, and had difficulty looking him in the eyes when she said, "Well, thank you again, Walter."
Walter started to say, "it was my pleasure," because, for certain, it was, but thought better of it, and simply said, "You're welcome."
As Paige made her way down from the loft to gather her son and his belongings, Walter followed and said, "Oh, and Paige?"
"Yes, Walter?" She looked at him imploringly, hoping the next words out of his mouth were, "Stay with me tonight?" But instead, the genius ran his hand through his hair again and said, "Maybe have Happy come to rehearsal with you next time you go? She could probably fix whatever problems they're having with your harness in a few minutes."
Paige nodded. "Thanks, I'll do that. Goodnight, Walter." And without another word, she scooped up her son and made her way to the sliding door.
Well? Not sure where to go now…..I would like to fast forward to the performance, but am intimidated by incorporating more characters and focusing on their reactions, and at the same time, trying to describe what's going on in the theater….seems like a lot to balance and may take some time to construct. Thanks for all of the (hopefully continued) positive feedback!