Piazza, New York Catcher
Author: nyxie9
Disclaimer: I own nothing but I did manage to pay for my own dinner! Yay grad school!
Comic: x-men but at this point I'm ruling it AU because I clearly refuse to use their time line.
Spoilers: none
Pairing/Characters: Sam Guthrie/OC
Rating: R just to be safe
Summary: Part 4 of DCW. The much anticipated (or not) date.
"Elope with me Miss Private and we'll sail around the world
I will be your Ferdinand and you my wayward girl
How many nights of talking in hotel rooms can you take?
How many nights of limping round on pagan holidays?
Oh elope with me in private and we'll set something ablaze
A trail for the devil to erase
San Francisco's calling us, the Giants and Mets will play
Piazza, New York catcher, are you straight or are you gay?"
Piazza, New York Catcher
He hadn't felt this nervous in sometime, even facing up against the likes Sinister and Apocalypse. He regarded his cell phone with misdirected distain as if it taunted him now with an insurmountable task. Sam Guthrie knew he could do this. All he had to do was dial the number and talk to the woman he'd talked to numerous times before. She was just a tiny blonde waitress, barely 5'4 and he was certain he could bench press her. He'd been gutted before quite literally so if rejection was what he was avoiding, it could hardly hurt more than that. He faced more frightening things in his life, lived through worse than whatever his fears surrounding the girl might be.
Sam dialed the number once, determined and promptly hung up the phone before it rang. "She's the one who gave you her number. She wants you t'call her." He said to himself, picking up the phone again and firmly pressing each key as if to show them who was in charge here. The young Kentuckian felt more courage when he didn't hang up before the first ring. The phone rang. It rang again. And once more before her voice drifted over the line like a soft summer breeze. "Hello? Oh God damn it!" He heard before a loud clatter and several more distant curses. "You okay Carrie?" Sam asked after a moment, not knowing if he could hear him or if she was alright. "Sam?" questioned the lovely voice on the other line. He closed his eyes as he imagined her lips saying his name. "Yeah. Are you alright?"
She sighed and chuckled all at the same time. "I'm fine. I just got out of the shower and dropped the phone. How are you?" "Ah'm good, uh, good." Of course now he was trying to stop picturing her fresh out of the shower. Sam could so easily see tendrils of blonde hair clinging to her forehead and neck, the beading of water on her chest, arms, and legs, a pink flush accentuating her tan skin. Was she even wrapped in a towel of had she run right for the phone? Was she waiting for his call? He was lost in his own thoughts about this girl and it left an opening of silence on the line. She bit her lip, waiting for Sam to continue, not knowing why he called but glad that he had.
Pressing her lips together, she decided to bypass the idle banter and just skip right to her reason for wanting to talk to him. "Well good to hear. Um, I'm glad you called because I realized I didn't have your number and actually, well I'm hoping you this isn't too short of notice. I realize you probably have plans but I have tickets to the Mets game tonight. You wouldn't be interested in going would you?" She had asked him out. Well, that was easy, he thought. It allayed many of his fears, in fact he was elated because he still hadn't mustered the nerve to do it himself, nor had he come up with a decent plan in the two days he'd given himself to do so. "Yeah, yeah that'd be great. Ah, Ah was actually callin' t'ask you out."
"Were you now?" Carrie toyed with the small gold cross that lay on her chest, flattered that even if she had brashly invited him out that he had planned to do the same. "Yeah." He said somewhat uncertainly. "Hmm…so what would we have done had you gotten the chance to ask me out first?" "Well uh, Ah hadn't really gotten past dinner an' a movie. Ah had been tryin' t'figure out what Ah could do t'impress you but…nothin' seemed right an' finally Ah just decided that Ah wanted t' see you again." It made her smile and made her feel a little giddier. "I suspect I would have enjoyed that too." "Yeah but…Ah don't know why Ah couldn't think o' somethin' a bit more creative. Ah didn't know you liked baseball." He said after a pause.
"To be honest, I've never seen a game before. I just…I wanted the chance to see you and I…you're not a Mets fan, are you?" She was feeling nervous now, worried that her gesture had gone astray. "Nah Ah am, I just like the idea that you wanted t'see me again." God why did he just blurt things out with her? "Are you sure you wanna go t'a game? Ah mean if you're not into baseball, Ah don't wanna make you go." "No, I'd like to go and Paul gave me the tickets and…well, I mean as long as you don't mind that I've really know clue what'll be goin' on." "No, not at all. Ah mean, basketball's more my thing but Ah know enough baseball t'get by." It was an underestimation of his still, as his daddy had practically raised him one the game. He knew the ins and outs better than most but he didn't want to tell Carrie that for some reason. "Good. Are you sure you want to go?"
"Of course. Ah…are you interested in goin' out t'dinner first?" He asked hoping to make at least one gesture of courtship towards her. "Sure." "Ah could pick you up at what, 5 an' we could grab an early dinner. Ah know this great little Italian place in Queens." She smiled feeling like a girl for the first time in a long time. When she thought about this was practically her first date. She'd been married, had one night stands but she'd never really dated. Agreeing, Carrie gave him her address and they chatted a while longer before hanging up to get ready for their date. She was decidedly nervous and completely unsure if that was the right emotion.
She'd never been nervous with her ex-husband but that was because it was practically an arranged marriage. They'd been introduced by their families and it seemed only logical that they get married. It hadn't been the best of arrangement from the beginning and looking back now she knew she should have done something to stop it but even now didn't know what that could have been. "Let it go, mate. You're insane but you're still going out on a date, now shape up!" She mumbled to herself as she placed the phone back on the decorative stand. Now wasn't the time to think about her troubled past. She was trying to have a real life now. For someone who was used to feeling so self assured, so in control she found it odd that she relished in walking that edge of where she wasn't.
She knew it was an illusion because she could call it off at any point in time, pull herself back but for once, she didn't want to. The young man had this strange hold on her. Hold wasn't the right word. It was more like an influence, a draw, he fostered in her a need to enjoy him. And she intended to. The time she spend critiquing herself in the mirror, trying to apply just enough make up to look as if she weren't wearing any, doing her hair to look like she hadn't spent the better part of an hour on it and trying on then rejecting half her closet in order to present herself in a carelessly casual manner had flown by in what seemed like a matter of minutes. And all too soon came the knocking at her door.
So after hours of deliberation she pulled on the nearest pair of jeans and top she could find as she had ruled out going in just her bra and panties was a tad too casual. However when she opened the door to reveal the handsome Kentuckian, she felt like she could have thrown on a burlap sack and still would have made the man smile. "Hey." She said tucking her hands in the back pockets of her jeans just so they wouldn't shake. The blonde wished she had come up with something slightly more eloquent than her terse 'hey' but that was all she could muster with the excitement and titillation swirling in her stomach. Sam was right; he thought to himself, he knew she would look beautiful outside the diner. Her hair held a slight curl to it as it came to kiss the sides of her face and caress her shoulders.
Rather than the blue polyester dress he'd always seen her in, now she wore a Kelly green ¾ length shirt that flowed delicately around her curves and a pair of jeans. "Hey," He replied unsure if there was any blood in his head at this point. "You wanna come in a minute? I still need to put my shoes on." Sam nodded, cursing himself for not bringing her anything. He should have at least brought her flowers. She deserved flowers but it slipped his mind. The young man wanted tonight to be perfect; he'd made sure he was cleanly shaven and freshly showered, even ironed his favorite blue and green stripped shirt and wore his lucky boxers. He'd washed his truck and cleaned the whole damn thing out. Small gestures he knew, certainly overkill for a ballgame but he was hopping she'd notice them. Well, she probably wouldn't notice the boxers on the first date but who knew.
"You look nice." He finally said, standing awkwardly in the door way as she scurried about to look for her shoes. "Thanks, you too." she called from the other room along with the clatter of what he only guessed was shoes. It reminded him of his sisters and the thought made him smile in some weird way. "Sorry I'm not quite ready. Time got the best of me, I suppose." "That's all right, Ah'm a bit early Ah guess." The trim blonde finally emerged from what he could only assume was an avalanche of shoes. "Ready?" She asked him, still looking as perfect as if she hadn't climbed her way out the shoe storm, adjusting the green ballet flats she now wore. "If you are." She nodded as she grabbed her purse and keys from the lovely hand painted chest they sat atop.
"I hope you don't mind driving." Sam shook his head. "Nah, Ah figured Ah would." The pretty girl smiled up at him and he felt the butterflies stir in his stomach again. Carrie locked and shut her door before the pair walked out of the apartment complex to his truck. Gentlemanly to the end, he opened the door for her and extended his hand to help her up. The butterflies made themselves known again as their hands met. The waitress really was quite short, he noted, without the aid of any sort of heel. It was still light out, early for dinner but Sam was hungry as he hadn't eaten all day. He'd been too nervous but now in her company, he felt oddly at ease; full of anticipation but composed about it.
It was more excitement than anything. He had to admit, it had been sometime since he'd been out on a proper date. As for Carrie, she was torn between childlike eagerness and sheer terror. For a moment she calculated the potential success of just bolting from the pickup cab but decided against it as the blond man knew where she lived and worked and could likely find her. She asked herself again why she wanted to attempt to have a normal relationship. She didn't do normal well. Normal wasn't even what she sought in life, not truly. She pretended, she hoped but her pursuits were usually cut short. And she had accepted that normal just wasn't for her.
Yet here she was. She hadn't slept with him or made an idiot out of herself and he hadn't ditched her somewhere or tried to rape her so, she thought, it was going pretty well, all things considered. He was a nice guy, Carrington reminded herself. Her grim assessments didn't include the gentlemanly conduct he exhibited. He was not cut from the same cloth as the men she found herself in the company of since her marriage and he certainly wasn't her husband, that much was clear. A somewhat nervous smile was exchanged between the pair as Sam got in the truck and turned the key in the ignition. The blonde tilted her head to the side, looking out the window a moment as the young man pulled out of the parking spot.
There was a heavy silence in the cab but it wasn't uncomfortable, surprisingly. "Max is the most popular dog name, followed by Lucky and Princess." Sam cast a glance at her with raised eyebrow not entirely sure what had spawned that line of thought. "Sorry," She said, knowing her statement was awkward and ill timed, relating to nothing. She had wanted to break the ice but suspected she just sounded crazy. "It's um, a conversation starter of sort. I just thought, uh…" She sighed heavier than a girl her size should have been able to, "I haven't been on a date in a while. I'm feeling rather out of place." Sam laughed, relived. Her disclosure made him feel more at ease and the majority of the tension of having to compete with more impressive men left him.
"Thank goodness, Ah thought it was just me. Ah was worried Ah'd hafta work my way through the line o'men seekin' your attention." That made her laugh now as she easer her grip on the truck door, not even aware that she had been white knuckling the handle as she was. "That line is closer to a dash. Trust me, I'm…I don't tend to date." "Then why'd go out with me?" He asked solemnly, hoping that it wasn't a pity date. He knew she was aware of his infatuation with her and he hoped that it wasn't because of that instead of her interest in him. "I don't know. I mean normally, I wouldn't have but…you ever get the feeling that you just need to do something or you'll regret it later? Well I kinda felt that way about this."
"Oh no pressure there." He said sarcastically. "Don't…there shouldn't be. I mean…I don't know what I mean but I'd like to just have a good time with you tonight." There was something charming about her nervousness now and her earnest. Sam licked his lips, his mouth feeling awfully dry all of the sudden. "Ah'd like t'have a good time with you too. Ah don't think Ah have any interestin' fact or trivia t'exchange with you." "That's probably good because my attempt was bad, very bad." Sam wanted to kiss her now more than he had before and he got the feeling that would only increase throughout the night.
He was right; all through dinner he couldn't take his eyes off her. He found her more and more lovely as she opened up to him a bit, the couple sharing stories about places they'd been, their favorite music, television shows, books, all the usual first date banter. He was delighted to find out her love for the X-files and she had confessed a crush on A.D. Skinner to his amusement. He found out that for a small town waitress she amazingly spoke nine languages which she attributed to her nomadic upbringing and that she had been married once before, at the age of 18, barely, for a short 18 months.
That was when she estimated her last proper date had been, a fact that made her cheeks redden and he suspected she hadn't meant to tell him. But he eased her fear by telling him about when he thought Lila had died and his tumultuous relationship with Tabitha, even that she had cheated on him. "Ah've never really had a bitter breakup, hurt feelin's some but sometime's Ah think Ah'd like to try it the other way. It would make it seem like things really ended. Weird huh?" "No, not really. I mean I have never doubted t he end of my relationships but then once you've destroyed all the plates in your house, what else is there?" It earned her a small but endearing smile from the man.
"Yeah, Ah guess. Still, Ah mean Ah guess both situations have their upside." "I could passionately break up with you now. This services seems like it would break well." "Hey now…Ah'm serious. Is that why you got divorce? Too much passion?" He wasn't sure why he'd asked her that now. It was hardly first date conversation. But they had shared enough vagueness, touching upon truth that night that she figured one more wouldn't hurt."I suppose you could put it that way. We were both people of a certain temperament and we were just too young, too impulsive to handle things well." Sam smiled a bit.
"A little impulsiveness can be a good thing sometimes, can't it?" It made her laugh, his benign flirting. "Well there's a difference between getting married and say, going on a date with a cute farm boy." This was going better than Sam could have possibly planned. "So…Ah guess we won't be endin' up at the Chapel O'Love t'night?" "Decidedly, no. Sorry Mr. Guthrie if that was your plan." "Nah, not on a first date." "Good because I'd have to get distant real fast if I thought you actually liked me." It was playful but at the same time, he could hear the hint of truth.
"Ah think you're far too amiable t'stay distant," he said kindly. "That…is not the usual case. I just…I like you Sam. Maybe it's because you act with…integrity around me." It made him smile. It was a clumsily formal compliment but it was fitting coming from her and meant quite a lot. "Ah guess you catch more flies with honey, right?" The petite blonde only smile as they ate in silence for a while, basking in the comfortable elegance of the restaurant. "Skinner? You had a crush on Skinner?" He asked after a while, disbelieving her claim.
"Well sure, I mean didn't you ever see that episode where he first took off shirt. The man is ripped." "Yeah but he's a kinda old an' bald." She shook her head, holding her glass of wine and using her fork to make her point as a woman of fine tastes could. "Sam, darling, there is a remarkable appeal that an older man can have and they say baldness can be caused by too much testosterone. He was very masculine and had that brooding mystique. It's quite attractive." "That's what you look f'r in a man?" "Well, in a fictionally based fantasy yes. But of course a real man is more than just a good body hidden under a suit and a bad ass attitude."
She said with a hidden smile as she looked down, blushing ever so slightly. That was how Sam always wanted to remember her on their first date; her hair sweeping beside her cheeks, a rosy glow on them, twinkling blue eyes and a shy smile all illuminated by golden candle light. "Ah always had a crush on Princess Leia." He confessed. "You mean with the cinnamon bun? From Star Wars?" He nodded, expecting her to poke fun at him for that. "I've never seen it." "You've never seen Star Wars?" She shook her head again. "You speak nine languages an' you've never seen Star Wars?" "Nope." "Oh we are so gonna hafta change that."
Her head tilted as a thoughtful smile touched her delicate face. He thought she might comment on the fact that he was already planning as second date when they hadn't finished the first one. But she said nothing about it, only looking at him with that same solicitous smile before the waitress came back to their table, filling their water glasses. "You know," Carrie said after the other woman left, "I quite enjoy not having to bring people food right now." "Ah'm glad." "Okay so, you are going to have to tell how the hell baseball is played before we get there so I don't look like a complete and utter moron." "Alright but Ah promise you won't." "I'm quite good at it."
"Well you're hot an' eventually the folks around us'll be drunk so even if you didn't know anything Ah think you'd be fine." She shook her head, not entirely sure how to approach that statement so she diverted it. "C'mon, I'd at least like to know more than I do right now, which to give you an idea my basic working of the game as it stands is the man hits a ball with a stick and run around a square anti-clockwise." "Well, that is basically what happens." The young man when on to describe the all American game to the British woman, amazed at how intently she listened to him.
And throughout the game he realized that for the most part she didn't even care about what was going on down on the diamond. She had gone to be with him and picked it because she thought he would like it. That fact made him enjoy the game all the more. After a few innings she stopped turning her head towards him in question of when to cheer or not and he was sure that she'd gotten the hang of the game for the most part. All the better that the Mets won that night but they could have lost and it still would have been the best game he'd ever seen just because of seeing it with the lovely waitress.
"So, how was your first game?" Sam asked as left the stadium, his arm slung lightly over her shoulders. "It was fun, a great deal of fun." Her head rested against his shoulder as they walked back to his truck and he wished their night would never end. She suspected that the reason she had such a good time was because of the man she was with. The young man had explained the ins and outs of the game to her with such kindness she thought and he didn't seem to mind that she didn't understand what the hell a clutch hitter was if it might not exist or even if she sucked at doing the wave. She knew he was just as glad to be with her as she was to be with him.
Her slight body was warm and tucked tightly against his as he tightened his arm around her shoulder a bit more. It was one of the best first dates he'd had. There was no drama or unexpected ambush; it was just calm and playful. He still wanted to kiss her, didn't know if he should or not. Did the first date rule apply to this situation? And as if she picked up on his thoughts about her, she spoke up. "Sam, can I ask you something?" "Sure." "Are you going to kiss me tonight or do I have to wait for our next date?" He grinned, entirely certain that he looked quite goofy in doing so and just hoped that he didn't do something completely nerdy like snort or utter 'aw shucks' in front of the beautiful woman.
"Ah was hopin' you'd let me kiss you t'night but that Ah might also get t'do the same on our next date." The stopped walking a moment, illuminated in the overly bright glow of stadium lights. "Well, I suppose that all depends on if you're any good at it." She teased. Hell, at that point she didn't even care if he was good or not. She just liked being with him. Sam leaned down to her, putting his large hand behind her head and angled it slightly as he dipped his head to hers. Their lips met innocently at first but her lips parted invitingly enough for him to push forward, sliding his tongue along her lips before she let him enter her mouth. Her slippery tongue met his, sparing with his swiftly.
Carrington's hand laced into his wily blond hair, her other hand braced on his chest, mostly to gauge if her assessment of his body was close to accurate. And she was not disappointed. A well muscled body was hidden under his clothing. Her blood roared through her ears louder than the fans could have cheered. She was surprised that she could stand without assistance. The young man smelled better up close than the hints of cologne could ever have led her to imagine. God, he thought, she tasted good. Her lips were soft and her mouth was impossibly wet and warm. It made his mind wander to thoughts of what other parts of her body might be like.
This was not going to be easy but it sure was fun. He didn't want to the kiss to end as it made his entire body tingle, made him more excited and eager about their next meeting. "So?" Sam asked as the reluctantly parted, "Do Ah get a second date?" Her eyelids fluttered and she had to pause to gather her thoughts. "I think so." She whispered. "But maybe you should try again, just to make sure it's not a fluke." He didn't need to be asked again and wouldn't take the chance that she'd change her mind, so he kissed her again.
