((A/N| If you haven't seen Thor: The Dark World and you dislike like spoilers, I wouldn't read this chapter!))
"I have news for you."
Ichabod looked up at Abbie from the book he had his perfectly aquiline nose buried in. "Hm. Do enlighten me." He closed the book with care - the cover was so creased and ancient looking Abbie wondered it hadn't disintegrated in his grip. It was high time to yank him out of these dusty archives.
"Okay, remember that night off we were promised? We have a second chance. Come on, we're leaving right now." Abbie shelved the book on top of the nearest filing cabinet and held out a hand to Crane. For a moment his usual collected expression wavered as he considered the backwards nature of a woman helping a man up, but at length he gripped her fingers and allowed himself to be towed out of his chair, then the room. "May I inquire as to where, exactly, we are going?"
"Well, I figured it's about time you enjoyed a little modern culture, so..."
Ichabod found himself blinking up at a neon sign uncomprehendingly. Abbie waved a hand at the racks of DVD and bluerays inside. "We're going to watch a movie. A couple, if you like."
She had thought, briefly, about taking him out somewhere. But shopping for some modern clothes hadn't yet been accomplished and she didn't want Irving complaining about letting Crane run around in public in his "pirate" getup any more than he already did. Given his reactions to some of the modern day "fashions" he had glimpsed on passers-by, Abbie was not looking forward to convincing Crane he needed a new look.
She'd be lying if she said she hadn't fantasized about him in a pair of jeans. Nothing but a pair of jeans. Actually, scrap the jeans, nothing but those boots of his with the stupid heel making him even taller and-
-hold that thought.
It didn't take long for Ichabod to become fascinated by the rows of brightly designed DVD cases, his gaze constantly drawn to the large flatscreen in the corner showing trailers for upcoming releases. "Pick something that looks interesting." Abbie instructed Ichabod, and she set him free in the wilds of the rental store with some trepidation, half expecting him to come back with something black and white and subtitled (Abbie could not stand subtitled movies.)
He surprised her when he popped his head over the top of a shelf and waved something red, white and blue with fire in the background. "Irving called me this some weeks ago. I didn't imagine it was at all complimentary then. What does it mean?" He questioned, and Abbie cursed Crane's damned eidetic memory. He would find the superhero movies. She explained that Steve Rogers was a man form the past who'd been frozen and woke up in the present and naturally that sealed it. Ichabod wanted Captain America.
She bit the bullet and got Iron Man, Thor and the Avengers for him too. Never having kept up all too well with what she vaguely recalls Morales babbling on as the 'Marvel Cinematic Universe' she couldn't remember which Hulk movie was the first one and which belonged to the series, so she left them out. She rescued a horrified Crane from the one-and-a-half steps he'd taken into the adult section before freezing to the spot ((Miss Mills! Do you imagine the proprietor is aware of the indecent displays of these films? We must inform him immediately!)) and distracted him from his questions by shooing him into the next-door 7-Eleven to pick up popcorn, chocolate bars, and his favourite doughnut holes. She kept him away from the aisle with bottled water.
"This suit is precisely what we need to combat the Horseman. What a marvel of modern ingenuity!" Ichabod enjoyed Iron Man immensely. Abbie wound up paying more attention to Crane enjoying his first proper movie than she did to the screen. He looked more relaxed than at any point in her memory, sitting on her couch with his boots discarded by the door. He had the roughest woolen socks she'd ever set eyes on and she steeled her resolve to take him shopping once and for all sometime soon.
She had worried about starting with an introduction to Tony Stark because the eccentric billionaire seemed impossible as a character for Crane to relate to. Halfway through the movie she was proved wrong.
"I don't have anyone but you." Tony professed to his assistant/love interest, and Abbie didn't miss Ichabod's sharp intake of breath at the line. He didn't turn to look at her, but the air between them charged until the tension broke with his warm fingers grasping hers.
He ddin't let go through the whole movie, and they wound up sitting close enough together on the couch their shoulders touched.
Abbie got up to make popcorn for he next movie, Thor. She enjoyed this one a bit more than Iron Man because at least with Chris Helmsworth in it she had something pretty to look at (Something other than the man on her couch, the little voice in her head piped up, but she told the voice to shut up). Ichabod was so entranced by the fantasy world of Asgard that he forgot to eat his, attention riveted to the screen with his eyes shining and his jaw occasionally dropping.
"How is it that there is a portal between our world and Asgard?" He asked at length, and Abbie held back a sigh. She knew she should have started him on a rom-com instead. "It's not real, Crane, like the Iron Man suit. These movies are science-fiction, meaning they are made-up science."
"Yes I do recall the definition of the word fiction, Lieutenant." He responded huffily, but minutes later he was absorbed back into the movie with the untouched bowl of popcorn on his lap. Abbie finished hers and began sneaking handfuls of his. Absently, Ichabod slapped her hand away.
"What! You weren't eating it, it was getting cold."
"And what pray tell, if I like it cold?"
"Nobody likes it cold." Abbie snorted. She stole another handful. He let her.
As the credits rolled and Abbie yawningly prepared the next DVD Ichabod waxed eloquent about how admirable he'd found Thor. "...A man after my own heart, who understands decency, tradition, who treats his lady love with the utmost respect..."
If it weren't so fun watching Crane's reactions Abbie would have been asleep by the end of Captian America. Most of the jokes were within his grasp and she was fast becoming addicted to the rich sound of his unbridled laughter, so rarely was it heard. As she'd suspected, Crane enjoyed Cappy just as much as he had Thor and Iron Man. She put Avengers on for him afterwards but due to this being Nick's favourite movie she'd seen it a half a dozen times and nodded sleepily through the second half.
Having caught on quickly to the end-credit trick, Crane sat perfectly still throughout the credits until the final scene played out, promptly turning to Abbie to ask who the large purple creature had been. When he realized she was asleep he stilled, forgetting his question, absorbed for a moment in watching his partner at perfect peace in sleep. The worry lines around her eyes eased away, her posture relaxed - how had he not noticed one of her hands had fallen onto the couch and was so close her fingers brushed his leg? Once he did notice though he couldn't stop thinking about the point of contact and he didn't move for several more moments.
Abbie sighed softly when she felt the world slowly but not unpleasantly unsettle around her. Her eyelids fluttered, although she didn't fully wake. There was a comforting warmth along her left side that reassured, kept away the usual suspicion that would have set in when she realized she wasn't fully in control of a situation. She turned towards the warmth, resting her head against it, inhaling a now-familiar scent that reminded her of a blend of pine and woodsmoke.
"Sleep now... Abbie." a soft voice said close to her left ear. Softness replaced the warmth and in sleepy protest she reached for whatever had cradled her.
Ichabod looked down at her hand resting on his arm, delicate fingers wrapping around his wrist. His heart thumped unevenly, the fantastic world of movies he'd been immersed in just a few minutes ago suddenly evaporated in the wake of the torrent of feeling that engulfed him.
How on earth had this tiny, stubborn, wonderful person come to mean so much to him? He hated to admit even to himself that the flare inside his heart had burned up even brighter than when he'd first begun to have feelings for Katrina.
But he couldn't deny these feelings, not when they raged through him so strongly it was all he could do not to act on impulse - and oh, how that impulse wanted Abbie nestled back in his arms, her small frame pulled flush against his large one, her hands exploring further than his arms. He clenched his hands still and closed his eyes but that only made him hyper-aware of her grasp on him, of the soft sound of Abbie's breathing in the little bedroom.
He wanted her with a ferocity that left him breathless, one impossible to deny the existence of any longer.
Ichabod didn't know how long he stood there until he felt he'd leashed his wilder instincts. When he opened his eyes he felt calmer, as if by acknowledging this attraction between them it was now easier to cope with. He gently took Abbie's hand off his arm, unable to resist brushing his lips over her fingers before gently settling her arm on her bed. His hand lingered over her, finally settling on lightly moving a few strands of hair off her face. "Thank you for this evening, Abbie. A more memorable night has not passed since my arrival in this era."
Then he turned and quickly strode from the room, soundless in his socks. He settled on his back upon the couch, gazing at the ceiling and replaying each emotion in his mind.
He only slept a few hours before dawn, and he didn't wake until he heard the clink of mugs in the kitchen. Abbie appeared with a cup of coffee after he sat up. He immediately rose to his feet to accept, noting that the smile she reserved just for him had lost none of it's sincerity.
He also noticed the way her fingers brushed, perhaps even lingered, against his as she handed over the coffee. But she didn't make any comment about what had happened last night, and still struggling with his feelings, neither did Ichabod, and they busied themselves with a breakfast of bacon and eggs. Well, Abbie busied cooking, and Crane busied with occasionally handing her a cooking implement, then with eating. He ate more than an entire squad, Abbie thought with amusement.
"So, I take it you enjoyed the movies?" Abbie nodded towards the stack on the coffee table. "Immensely so." Ichabod replied from the sink where he was washing the breakfast dishes, meticulously scrubbing each pan and plate until sparkling. "I do profess that these 'movies' are among my favourite of your modern technological advances. The incredible amount of work that must go into capturing such a spectacle is astounding to imagine."
He looked so ridiculously enthusiastic with his eyes alive and his expression so animated Abbie couldn't help but melt a little. "Tell you what. I have to finish up some paperwork at the station, but if you want to come with, barring any demon-related emergencies, I'll treat you to a surprise this afternoon."
He never had liked surprises, but for Abbie he was willling to go along for the ride.
"What is the purpose of this 'multiplex', Lieutenant?" Craning his neck to stare up at the tall building and the vertical sign shining front and center, Ichabod's eyebrows furrowed.
Abbie tucked her arm in his and led him inside, where he did a double-take at the crowds and displays, then, catching a whiff of buttery popcorn, turned his head to try and locate the source. "Okay, this is how it works. New movies get released here before we can buy them on DVD and take them home. It works on the same concept, but with a bigger screen and better sound."
"Oh, Miss Mills! Look! It's Thor, Odinson!" Ichabod gazed with delight at a Thor: The Dark World display as if he'd rediscovered a long-lost friend. Abbie smiled. "That's why we're here. There's a sequel out to your precious Thor, so I thought you might like to experience a bit more of modern culture."
He looked down at her with the smile lighting up past his lips to his eyes, and for a moment the crowds and the noise ceased to exist for Abbie as she gazed up at him.
This was getting harder by the day. It was as if some line she couldn't see had been crossed, because she could swear he'd never looked at her with quite so much intensity, sure that he never used to lean in quite so close that he imposed just slightly on her personal space. She was sure of that because instead of wanting to back away her own body wanted to curve towards his.
"Uh - shall we?" She finally came to her senses, pulled back, but she didn't drop his arm as they took their place in the queue.
"Now, there are some rules when you go to the movies. Firstly, try not to talk, because you'll disturb the other people who want to watch the movie. People who talk at the movie theater go to a special hell - I will answer any and every question you have after the movie is finished, okay? Secondly, go to the bathroom before we go in. Nobody wants six-foot-one-tall-revolutionary-soldiers climbing over them in the aisle. Thirdly, you have to help me eat this popcorn."
Abbie handed Ichabod one of those ridiculously huge popcorn-and-drink combos that nobody could ever finish, but he looked delighted with the prospect. "I shall do my solemn best, Miss Mills." He assured her, but the way his eyes twinkled when he said it made Abbie think there was very little that was solemn in his mind.
Ichabod lasted ten minutes into the movie before he had to give voice to a question he couldn't contain. Mindful of the people near them he leaned down to whisper in Abbie's ear, and she almost didn't hear the question, he got so close and she was so distracted by the feel of his hair brushing her cheek and smell of him so close. "Why is it that Jane Foster is allowing another man to court her when she still waits the arrival of the God of Thunder?" He hissed, full of indignation. Abbie held back a sigh and the comment that waiting for a Thunder God might be sort of like waiting for a witch who may be trapped in purgatory, then whispered back: "Don't worry, once Thor appears she's going to forget all about this guy."
Superhero girlfriends had it so easy.
Ichabod only asked a handful more questions during the movie itself but the moment the credits rolled he all but flung the empty popcorn tub away from him in his enthusiasm. "That vastly surpassed the original film! Tell me Miss Mills, what do you imagine became of Odin? Do you suppose when Loki scarified himself he really thought he was dying or was it simply part of his plan all along? How long will Thor take to travel back to Earth and his lady love? Will the Avengers Initiative claim his time once more if he does so?"
Abbie made an attempt at answering his continuing barrage of questions while letting the people around them file out, though she noted one or two couples and small groups remain seated. Just as Crane finally went quiet and she went to stand up another scene appeared onscreen. What, this movie has two end-credits scenes? Snorted Abbie inwardly, but she was soon smiling - as much at Crane's obvious enthusiasm to the movie's conclusion as to Thor and Jane re-uniting. She almost expected him to give a standing ovation, but instead he took her hand in his own to lead her out of the theater in a motion so natural, that felt so damned right, she couldn't even think of words to protest. His excited animated didn't cease as they started across the car park and discussed the movie further, Ichabod's free hand waving and gesturing frequently to emphasize his points.
This was, Abbie realized, the side of Crane she'd only glimpsed at before now - a man content with his lot, relaxed in his surroundings, happy with his company - a man at home.
((A/N| Hopefully you guys approve of the movie choices! I wanted a solid lead-up to going to the movies, and also I'm a bit tired of fics that assume Ichabod would love Harry Potter... I've got nothing against the films or the books and have seen and read them all but I swear I've come across six or seven fics that have Ichabod introduced to the world of HP! Still, at least he's not getting into Twilight, that might be a bit hard to swallow... :P))