Title: 50 Starts -- Numbers 21-30
Pairing: Charles/Margaret
Prompt: #97 Writer's Choice - Charles/Margaret pairing
Rating: 17+ (Major)
Word Count: 761
See Part 1 for disclaimers.
21. Ring
He sees her staring at it. Wistful. Sad. She says that she loves it, but he knows she's lying. There is no sparkle in her eyes when she speaks of her husband or the choice he made for the symbol of their marriage.
Charles knows that, if he ever has his chance with Margaret, he will make the right decision. He will choose a ring that is as beautiful as she is.
22. Dance
The lights are dim, the music soft. Alone in the Officers Club, Charles holds out his hand and Margaret accepts it in her own. They close the distance between them and begin to sway.
Margaret lays her head on his shoulder and Charles has never felt happier in his entire life.
23. Magic
Korea is hell. I have seen things in this place that I know will scar me for life. But, I also found her here. Sometimes I wonder if she is an illusion; a rabbit in the hat; a magician's trick. Then she touches me and I know she's real.
24. Body
Charles marvels at Margaret each time his hands touch her. Soft, smooth skin, warm beneath his fingertips. Muscles that tighten, then become supple again as he moves against her. The gentle curves of her shoulders and hips.
The doctor in him knows each and every medical term to describe Margaret from head to toe; bone by bone; muscle after muscle.
The man in him doesn't care. He is happy to simply revel in the feel of her body wrapped around his.
25. Key
Margaret enters the Swamp and places something in Charles' palm. She closes his fingers around it and squeezes his hand tightly within hers. It is a small, metal object and when she releases him, he slides it into his pocket without even taking a glance at it. Instead, his fingers trace the edges and he feels a wide, rounded smooth top and a long, thin, jagged bottom.
"What is this for?" he questions, his voice almost lower than a whisper.
"I think you already know," she answers cryptically, then smiles and walks away.
Hours later, deep into the night, Charles sneaks quietly out of the Swamp. He is careful -- he doesn't want to wake his tent mates -- the door closing silently behind him. Moments later, he stands before her tent. Charles pulls the item from his pocket and slips it into the lock. It clicks softly and the door opens. He steps over the threshold to find Margaret waiting for him.
26. Art
Margaret loves to watch Charles work. The way his hands move; so skilled, so perfect. There are moments when she almost feels as if she's watching Picasso as he paints his magnum opus; Mozart writing in the final flawless note in one of his symphonies.
And she wonders what kind of masterpiece Charles might create if he uses his hands on her.
27. Flirt
She told me she had something in her eye. I inspected it for her and found nothing. When she complained again, I realized that perhaps she had different intentions. I leaned in, pretending to check for the offending particle. Our lips were so close that I could feel her breath brushing across them.
If Father Mulcahy hadn't walked in at that very moment, I believe I would have taken that final step forward and found out what Margaret's true intentions were.
28. Friend
As her jeep pulled away from the 4077th, Margaret turned back an waved at the men she'd spent the past eternity with. One set of eyes caught hers and held them. Her fingers tightened on the book in her lap and she smiled. Margaret knew she would never forget him.
29. Music
His fingers slide along her spine as if he is playing a piano. She arches into his touch as soft sounds tumble from her lips. Fingers are replaced by his mouth and he makes his way down to the small of her back. His name, spoken into the air as nothing more than a throaty moan, brings a smile to his face.
Mozart? Maybe not, but Charles prefers this genre of music now.
30. Sleep
They collapse against each other, utterly spent; skin soaked with sweat, bodies humming pleasantly in the places where they are still connected. Eyes slip closed as sleep comes to claim them. Neither fights the inevitable, and they both allow the sandman to pull them into his warm, peaceful embrace.