***First Impressions---Present Day***
As the door closed behind Tessa, leaving the anxious teen alone to wait for Duncan's dreaded visit, Richie found himself trying to anticipate what the ancient might be thinking. But as he lay on his bed, listlessly picking at the bandage, he realized he was more likely to discover the cure to arachnoiditis[1] than uncover the mysterious way MacLeod's mind worked. Experience had proved this to him on countless occasions.
***Flashback---Richie's perspective***
Leaning against the brick, determined to appear casual, Richie found himself more tense than usual. He was always cool, calm and ready for anything. Or, at the very least, he was an expert at convincing himself that he felt that way. So why now? Why wasn't he able to pull himself together and handle this job? This was a cakewalk; something he could do with his eyes closed.
It wasn't until he had the lock picked and was opening the door that he realized why he had been so tense.
"Shit."
Not exactly eloquently phrased but it got his feelings across.
As the door slammed back into place and he watched the lock re- secure, he pondered what was happening to him. The sword-wielding psychopath had caught him: for the second time. He was losing his touch.
"Good evening, sir. Is there something I can assist you with?"
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them. Mocking a guy who carried a large sword was not exactly brilliant. Why didn't he just save them both some time and lung into the man's blade right now?
"Dinner." The innocent-sounding response was the last thing Richie expected to hear from the Scotsman.
He couldn't quite cover his shock at the comeback. Especially after gasping out the remarkably intelligent response of, "Say what?"
"It's time for dinner." The older man replied in a seemingly emotionless tone. Then, with a large smile, the Scotsman gently grasped Richie's arm and lead him away from the closed jewelry store.
Richie, shocked into silence, allowed himself to be guided away from his objective and into the car of the total stranger whom he had watched chop a man's head off only days earlier. As the phantom who had haunted his dreams for days drove along silently, Richie mentally kicked himself for letting the man's unexpected response shock him into submission. He really needed to toughen up or he was going to get himself killed.
----------------------- [1] A very rare but serious disease that affects the brain and spine, sometimes associated with meningitis. After all, Richie and Duncan are highly complex individuals. It would be an insult to both if Richie were to imply that uncovering Duncan's thought process was equivalent to any less daunting task(
As the door closed behind Tessa, leaving the anxious teen alone to wait for Duncan's dreaded visit, Richie found himself trying to anticipate what the ancient might be thinking. But as he lay on his bed, listlessly picking at the bandage, he realized he was more likely to discover the cure to arachnoiditis[1] than uncover the mysterious way MacLeod's mind worked. Experience had proved this to him on countless occasions.
***Flashback---Richie's perspective***
Leaning against the brick, determined to appear casual, Richie found himself more tense than usual. He was always cool, calm and ready for anything. Or, at the very least, he was an expert at convincing himself that he felt that way. So why now? Why wasn't he able to pull himself together and handle this job? This was a cakewalk; something he could do with his eyes closed.
It wasn't until he had the lock picked and was opening the door that he realized why he had been so tense.
"Shit."
Not exactly eloquently phrased but it got his feelings across.
As the door slammed back into place and he watched the lock re- secure, he pondered what was happening to him. The sword-wielding psychopath had caught him: for the second time. He was losing his touch.
"Good evening, sir. Is there something I can assist you with?"
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he regretted them. Mocking a guy who carried a large sword was not exactly brilliant. Why didn't he just save them both some time and lung into the man's blade right now?
"Dinner." The innocent-sounding response was the last thing Richie expected to hear from the Scotsman.
He couldn't quite cover his shock at the comeback. Especially after gasping out the remarkably intelligent response of, "Say what?"
"It's time for dinner." The older man replied in a seemingly emotionless tone. Then, with a large smile, the Scotsman gently grasped Richie's arm and lead him away from the closed jewelry store.
Richie, shocked into silence, allowed himself to be guided away from his objective and into the car of the total stranger whom he had watched chop a man's head off only days earlier. As the phantom who had haunted his dreams for days drove along silently, Richie mentally kicked himself for letting the man's unexpected response shock him into submission. He really needed to toughen up or he was going to get himself killed.
----------------------- [1] A very rare but serious disease that affects the brain and spine, sometimes associated with meningitis. After all, Richie and Duncan are highly complex individuals. It would be an insult to both if Richie were to imply that uncovering Duncan's thought process was equivalent to any less daunting task(
