Intriguing, Enticing
By: Tangle
Disclaimer: All your base are not belong to us.
Summary: Companion piece to 'Fiery, Flaming'--Hank and Cecilia fluff. (the Chapter 6 intrusion on the medlab from a different point of view)
Rating: PG-13
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It hadn't been at all expected. Well, maybe a little. The attraction between them was obvious enough--everyone could tell. One of the youngest children in the mansion had approached her one day, stopped her in the hall and demanded to know when he was going to send her flowers. She had replied that it was entirely up to him to send flowers at all, although she secretly wished that he would. And unbeknownst to her, he had already been planing to. They had become friends from when she arrived and day by day what had started off as gentle teasing had begun to evolve. Now the medical lab was a sea of playful flirtation--one that continued on up stairs as well when they thought no one was watching. It was only a matter of time, really, and she had been expecting it. But certainly not planing it.
Hank had been sitting in front of his computer, his blue brow furrowed in concentration. She didn't really know what he was working on but little glimpses had led her to believe that he was trying to find away to make himself look more human. She didn't know why his looks, and the alteration of them, was such an obsession for him--she liked him just fine the way he was. Then again, she was not the blue and furry one. Cecilia peered at him over the tops of her glasses, then sighed softly and went back to grading quizzes. But Hank had heard her and tore his gaze from his monitor to give her a concerned stare. "Is everything alright?" he asked.
Cecilia rolled her eyes a bit, pointing to the quizzes before her with one finger. "Beginners Spanish," she explained. "I'm trying to teach them verb conjugations but none of them are getting it--Doug aside." Doug's mutant power was the ability to learn languages and she bet that in a week he'd be teaching the class. "How am I ever supposed to get to things like the present perfect subjunctive when they can't even understand the regular present? Ay, ay, ay." She sighed and let her forehead fall into the palms of her hands, her own fingers tangling in her hair. "I should have stuck to just plain in-house physician. What possessed me to try and teach around here? I have patience for no one, and especially not kids."
A gently rubbing at her shoulders, the beginnings of a massage, let her know that Hank had crept up behind her while her face was buried. He let his hands work as he spoke. "Teaching is an acquired ability for all but a lucky few." The massage was doing more good than the words. Cecilia had no idea she'd been so uptight. Nervous about getting a job, then nervous about keeping that job. She had arrived in the middle of flu season and that infirmary rush was just now wearing off. Then there had been a fight amongst three of the older boys after lunch yesterday and she had spent part of the afternoon patching them back up. A fight between mutants is never a pretty sight. She would have to keep in mind to get these massages more often. "And besides, you have patience for me," Hank teased.
"And only you," she tossed right back over her shoulder. "Don't even know how I put up with you in the first place, McCoy." He laughed and Cecilia realized once again how comfortable around each other they were. Two weeks ago she wasn't opening up to anyone and now she felt like she had known him for years. Wished she had known him for years. "Anyway, there's a big difference in dealing with a walking, talking encyclopedia and dealing with a teenage Cajun pickpocket who thinks that speaking fluent French makes him too good to learn Spanish. And what he does learn, he butchers." She pointed at the paper she had been grading, one that had the name "Remy LeBeau" scrawled messily across the top and several red marks already across most of the problems given.
Hank leaned over her shoulder to get a closer look. "I'm no Spanish scholar--"
"--Oh, can it. You're a scholar at everything."
"Except auto mechanics," he replied with a cheeky grin, reminding her exactly how she had spent her third night at the mansion. This was before they'd really known the other, each only knowing that this was the person they'd be around in the medlab twenty-four seven. They'd both had errands to run in the city and had ventured out together to save on gas money. Getting there had been fine--it had been getting back that was the problem. Both their errands had run late and they hadn't even started out on time so when the engine broke down miles from a gas station, everyone at the mansion was already asleep. And neither of them knew anything about car repair. Stranded in a cellular dead-zone, they'd had to wait until morning to get any help. Cecilia had finally curled up in the back to spend the night there while Hank reclined the driver's seat as much as he could without thinking he would bother her and fallen asleep there. But that was when they had first become friends and they were both grateful for it. "However," he continued, "I do know young monsieur LeBeau and something leads me to believe that he is merely baiting you."
"Hmm." As the muscles in her back loosened, Cecilia realized her brain had to be doing the same. She was practically falling asleep where she sat and her mind was drifting away faster than she could catch it to bring it back. But Hank did have a point--Remy probably was just baiting her. No one could have that terrible a Spanish accent, not without really trying. It just wasn't possible. "Where did you learn to do that?" she demanded, yanking herself back to reality as she spun her chair around to face him. "Do the X-Men send you to massage school?" She looked up at him--
--And was caught by the most beautiful pair of blue eyes she had ever seen. Cecilia hadn't fully realized how close to her he was standing until she turned around to find their faces mere inches apart. Those were beautiful eyes, just breathtakingly beautiful. The clearest blue windows to the soul. If anyone ever dared question Hank's humanity they had only to look into those eyes to know that an equally beautiful person lived behind them. She found that she couldn't look away, and that she didn't really want to in the first place. Sitting here she could just stare and stare and realize just how attracted to his man she was. He was funny, could never fail to make her laugh. He was sweet, seemed to hold a soft spot for her and was never anything but nice. He was beyond brilliant, he was handsome in his own way, he was the gentleman every mother wanted for her little girl and Cecilia wanted for herself.
What she failed to notice was that Hank was staring right back at her. He had been attracted to her since the very beginning, of course. He had always realized that and always hoped that the seemingly unobtainable wasn't really so. There was nothing he wouldn't do to be near her. Because she had never shied away from him nor his appearance, not even at their first meeting. Because she put up with him and his antics. Because of her wry sense of humor. Because of the wonderful personality she had gradually unveiled for him and no one else. Because she had a brain and wasn't afraid to show it. And because, as he was now really realizing, she was utterly gorgeous. Not the classic beauty that society held as a poster child, but radiating a confidence that made her a goddess to his eyes. Every bit of her fit perfectly together and the normally articulate Hank was rendered nearly speechless. One of his hands still resting on her shoulder now moved up to hold her cheek; the other brushing away a stray lock of braided hair. "God, you're beautiful," he breathed, unable to manage anything else. His brain had gone into complete lock-down and he was operating purely on instinct.
And Cecilia found she didn't mind. Not when he touched her, not when he took another step forward, not even when he kissed her. Especially not when he kissed her. His lips covered hers and nothing really mattered. It was a sweet kiss; soft, gentle and lasting, and she only really minded when he pulled away. Then he started trying to babble out apologies about how he was out of line and he hoped he hadn't offended her--but never saying he was sorry he had actually done it. Cecilia's reaction was the same as any other woman's would have been. She stretched her arms around his neck and pulled him back to her.
What had started out chaste and sweet heated up very quickly as Hank took full advantage of the opportunity she had granted him. Cecilia closed her eyes as his tongue slid into her mouth, living each and every moment. Somehow they managed to maneuver around so that Hank was now the one sitting in the chair and Cecilia was sitting on top of him. Her arms were locked behind his neck and his had found their way around her waist. His fur tickled her face and once her lab coat hit the floor it tickled her arms too, but it was more like a gently brushing that succeeded in only sending more shivers down her spine. And it was so soft . . . She bit back a moan as he began to kiss his way down her neck, letting her fingers tangle themselves in his hair. Venturing forward, she brought her mouth back to meet his and was leaning even further into the kiss when something decidedly unexpected happened.
The door opened.
~~~ Continued in 'Fiery, Flaming' Chapter 6 ~~~