riverviewlogs | It's a party, ya'll

Entry tags:

It's a party, ya'll

who: Everyone's invited!
what: That potluck he mentioned
when: Saturday afternoon
where: The park
warnings: None so far!

[True to form, Remy pulled out all the stops for this particular potluck. He has it on good authority that Rogue's bringing cornbread, but he's got what seems to be a wireless two-burner setup that he's brought along to the park, one of which is dominated by a very large pot of fragrant and spicy gumbo, and the other by a very large pot of cooked white rice, on warm. There's a small table with plastic-seeming (but totally biodegradable) bowls and utensils, two large coolers (because people might be bringing drinks), two big folding tables (for all the things that might be brought) and a big expanse of the park to cop a squat in and have some good grub, place some outdoors-y things, and have some fun! The park as a grill too, if someone wants to fire it up!]

(OOC: Feel free to post your own starters and have a ball! This is meant to be fun, after all. If you want Remy specifically, let me know! He'll be wandering around.)

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I'll let you know in fifty-three minutes.

[He continues to frown deeply as he takes another drink from his cup.]

Go, enjoy your picnic.

[For a minute, Alex considers kissing his cheek, and she even moves in to do it, but stops at the last minute with a quick smile. She's already decided that she's going to let him be the one to kiss her next time, because well, he's the one who is new here, thinks this is a delusion and hasn't been involved in a relationship since Coralee.

And this is very new and different.

Instead, Alex just settles for a quick grin, and a squeeze of his fingers, before she adds:]

I'll be back soon.

I'll, be here.

[Drinking from his ridiculous cup of bourbon in a suit and wishing he were at home with a good book. He'd even add Appo to the thought. The dog was surprisingly pleasant to have around.]

[Ten minutes later, Alex returns, and while it's not to leave (she knows he's going to be disappointed about that!) she is carrying a fresh red solo cup and offers it to him with a grin.]

Found some whiskey. I think it's the same brand that the Sheriff had.

[He knows she's not going to want to leave yet. It hasn't been their agreed on time, and he can't imagine Alex wanting or relenting to leaving early on her own. In fact, if she had it her way they'd stay until the picnic was over and then she'd force him to offer to help clean up.

The whiskey and comment, however, bring up a good memory. Richard had liked Sherrif Osenga quite a bit. He was practical, blunt and had good taste in liquor.

Richard pours the rest of his bourbon into her solo cup before taking the whiskey.]

Sherrif Osenga had glasses.

[Still, he'll drink it. It's good whiskey.]

[That actually pretty much was Alex would have done to a t if they'd not already agreed to go in an hour. It's what she tended to do back at parties at the studio, or at Casa Bae, even if Paul's wife would shoo her away from doing it. Wiggling her nose up at the extra bourbon in her glass, Alex just rolled her eyes and took another drink of it. Bourbon wasn't her drink of choice either, but she was nowhere near as picky as he was.

In anything at all, really.

But she does gesture around them.]

Pretty sure Sheriff Osenga wouldn't be using glasses out at a picnic, Richard. It's definitely asking for them to get broken and making the party end with a trip to the hospital to get glass out of someone's foot.

More reason not to go to picnics.

[There's a smirk on his face as he drinks the whiskey out of the stupid red cup.]

[He's not the only one who can smirk, because Alex does one in return, which is definitely laced with more than a little innuendo. (She should have eaten before the bourbon.)]

You just haven't been to the right picnics.

[Well, this was a curious development. Richard knew what he would consider the 'right kind of picnic, but what was Alex thinking? Especially with that interestingly coy smirk.]

And what are the 'right kind of picnics'?

[The smirk stayed on her face as she dumped her whiskey into his glass, making them even for it, and then she took a sip of her bourbon before she answered.]

I suppose I could spell it out for you if you want evidence, Dr. Strand.

[Yep, it was the flirty one that she used all too often.]

[His brows rose as he grew more curious as to what she was going to say. They'd always skirted the line of friendship and, something more, but there had always been a line.

Until that night that she couldn't remember, and even then things had been too serious to flirt or insinuate things.]

I pride myself on evidence-based conclusions.

[He reaches out to inconspicuously run the back of his fingers over her arm.]

Edited 2018-05-10 23:44 (UTC)

[Alex just chuckles softly for a second, because well, she does know him well enough. And back home there'd always been the hard tight Nic-sounding part of herself that had reminded herself of her journalism ethics and everything that went along with them and the show being the most important part of their relationship. Or at least so she told herself.

But now, there wasn't a show, despite all of the research she was digging up on anything that seemed like it could be helpful. So, there was nothing to hide. And Alex flirted all the time with people without actually meaning it. Here, she definitely did.

Which was why she stepped closer to him and moved onto her toes in her flats, putting the hand not holding her drink on her shoulder before she whispered:]

I guess I'm going to need to plan to surprise you then, Richard.

[His hand moved to her hip to stabilize her, but ended up being more to stabilize him. He wasn't used to Alex doing things like this. She'd always been bouncy and feely. This, was completely different. He knew she'd notice the held breath as his mind tried to process the sensation of it all. This was not something he had ever been privy to.

Taking a moment to hold her there, recovering from his momentary lack of ability to think, he finally leaned down and whispered back over her ear.]

Is that so Ms. Reagan?

[Alex didn't need stabilization, at least not before he'd put his hand on her hip anyway. Maybe she needed it a little more after and leaned into him with an easy grin. Despite having many charms at her disposal when she wanted to use them (and often times when she didn't, because they were just part and parcel of the Alex Reagan experience) she was quickly coming to realize something that she'd already suspected before they were doing this.

Whatever else she could do, all Strand needed to do was to break out that voice and she was like audible putty in his hands. It really wasn't at all fair, especially when he had a much faster recovery time than Alex did after she just grinned and sort of formed against him for a moment, not quite clinging but definitely flush with him.]

Of course, Dr. Strand. I know you'd expect nothing less than tangible data on the subject.[She did keep her voice low when she said it.]

[This was, new. Amazingly new. It wasn't something he had ever expected have to expect, but Richard was sure he could work with this. Alex's body flush against him felt new and different, but not wrong in any way. He had to wonder if this was how the night would have ended if he hadn't been pulled into this discussion, if they would have found themselves together, like this.

The part of him that wanted to fun away with her would like to think so.

His hand slid around her back, holding her close as he whispered against her ear.]

We should go home, Alex.

[Talking about running away when the lives of two people someone you loved cared for were on the line and the whole fate of the world might be in your hands didn't exactly lend itself to a situation that involved flirting. But then again, when had the two of them ever done things in anything approaching a normal way? They'd practically been living together for months without even being in a relationship, and now they were officially in one and they hadn't even kissed yet.

Alex would have wrapped her arms around his neck were she not holding that red solo cup that was still half-full of bourbon, but she considered doing it anyway for a second. But the words were effective anyway, and she just nodded for a second without even realizing what she was doing.

But she paused for a minute before she smirked at him with an 'I am entirely on to you' look.]

Half an hour. [somewhat of a compromise then, even with the pink in her cheeks.]

[With her recent reactions he honestly thought that had a chance of working. Her recovery time was getting better.

That didn't mean he wanted to let her go. Reaching up he brushed stray hairs from her face, fingertips trailing over her cheek as he looked at her, eyes darting for a moment to her lips before letting her go.]

Half an hour then.

[He was having trouble recovering himself, and his words were quiet, thicker than usual.]

[Smiling up at him when he touched her cheek was easy and second nature to her. Alex was a touchy-feely person by nature, and she tended to crave intimacy. It's why she was so open with the people who she was around. Other than Strand, a lot of people in her life received hugs and touches and just the sort of things that made Alex Alex. But in the beginning, Alex had decided that Strand was a touch-me-not. How things changed.

And she couldn't help but notice how he looked at her lips again. It felt like the thousandth time, and she just sighed softly for a second before she moved up to speak in his ear again, shifting the cup so that it was behind her while she did it so neither of them ended up wearing that bourbon.]

You can kiss me, you know. I'd like it if you did. The only reason that I haven't kissed you again was because I thought you'd be more comfortable setting the pace. But honestly, kissing me, touching me... Everything is welcome and fantastic.

It's more complicated than that.

[He really wasn't sure how fair this was to her. She loved him, he knew that, and he loved her. The problem was the missing time that she had and the emotional hang-ups he had. And as much as he wanted to kiss her, to touch her, he was still hesitant.]

But I do, want to. More then I've wanted to in a long time.

[She frowned when he said that it was complicated, and her fingers brushed across his cheek again, before she shook her head slowly. Her voice was slow, and close to him because what they were talking about wasn't anyone else's business but their own.]

I know you're worried about the weeks that you have without me, Richard. But I've realized that I've been in love with you for so long those weeks don't matter. The things in them don't matter, I mean, I'm not going to lie and say I don't want to know what happened between then and now, just because everything seems to be speeding up to something but whatever happens doesn't change my feelings for you.

I'm guessing that the only thing that happened that was different was someone there made me realize my feelings and accept them rather than here.

[The frown on his face seems to grow. Alex couldn't know how wrong she is. How that one gesture had shown so much, explained so much to him. Something that he couldn't and wouldn't give her. The answers to the questions that he knew she had. Alex was, after all, nothing but a bundle of curiosity.]

You know there's more than just that, Alex. Coralee, my -

[The pause is abrupt before he looks away. He'd almost mentioned Howard, and that was certainly a conversation they hadn't had. In her memories, they hadn't found out about Coralee and Howard's kidnapping yet.

The mention of Coralee, of course, could be chalked up to the fact that she was still his wife, that he still loved her and always would. Even the fact that she had, in her own way, caused the hangups that he had now about trust and intimacy. Even without her in his life (which she seemed to be popping in and out of recently), she still held a firm hold on who he was today.]

Myself.

[When he referred to himself his words were low, eyes looking downward. It was a cover for almost mentioning Howard, but it was also true. He wasn't the sort of man that could be loved, that could understand exactly how to love. Not anymore at least. He was still learning to express the emotions he kept bottled inside for twenty years. It was hard, and when dealing with someone who was so expressive and emotional, it was a spot where he feard he often disappointed.]

But eventually.

[When he looked at her, his eyes seemed to hold a small amount of hope. Eventually he'd get through this, they'd get through this, together.]

[When he frowned, Alex's own mirrored his, but she didn't look down. Instead, her dark eyes were fixated on his face because she knew how his posture and expression could tell so much more than he might have otherwise with his words, however many or few he happened to be using that day. Sometimes she expected that he could say the least when he used the most amount of words, especially when he was trying to talk around her.

That said, Alex did brace herself when he brought up Coralee. It wasn't a flinch, it was more of her holding herself a little more straight instead. Coralee was always going to hold onto a part of Strand's heart that Alex could never touch and she didn't blame him for that. But she also didn't want the specter of her life with Richard, and the way she disappeared to act as a shadow that stunted the growth of what Alex and Richard could have.

Her thoughts stopped when there was that my. Whenever Richard mentioned his father, it was that same biting tone, sharp and hard and with all of the anger that Howard Strand was due. Despite how he choked the word off and tried to change it, she knew that anger for what it was and who it was directed towards. Whatever had happened in those weeks, Howard and Coralee Strand were a part of it, she was certain of it now.

The fingers on his cheek moved down to cup his chin, and she held it for a second when he finally looked at her, and the questions were written all in her eyes. Alex was Alex and there would always be questions whether or not he was ready for them to be asked or for him to answer them. The most important of which, because Alex jumped into all of her more wild thoughts like someone trying to do a belly flop from a high dive:]

Richard. [His name was soft and the concern for him was evident.] Is Howard alive?

[Before he can answer, Alex just wrapped her hand around his and tugged him away from the din and towards a waiting bench so they'd have some privacy.]

Edited 2018-05-12 03:18 (UTC)

[Of course Alex would pick up on the subtle nuances of the tone he took when talking about Howard. The inflection, the deep-seated anger toward the man was too ingrained, even if it was Richard's fault that he and Coralee had been kidnapped. The bite came out without him even knowing it, and he'd hoped that Alex would have taken the tone as his self-deprecation.

She knew better than that, though. Which would always feel strange; Richard always thought he was good at keeping his emotions hidden and not expressing them, yet Alex seemed able to figure him out in an instant. At least that had been the case in the latter part of the last two years.

That may have been because he'd stopped running away. There had become an understanding that, no matter what, Alex would be by his side; even if he tried to push her away. It was an understanding that he once thought he had with others, with Coralee, but that had not been the case. With Alex though, it was different. She'd proven time and again that there was no way she would budge.

It wasn't hard to let her drag him off to the bench, the back of his mind noting just how ridiculous the scene must have looked to any onlookers. It was at least some time to decide how to phrase what he was going to say.]

Howard isn't part of this, and I already told you I wouldn't say you what you don't remember.

[Once they had collectively agreed to trusting one another (despite what misgivings she'd admitted to on her podcast, and the way that Nic had frowned at her when she made them) and after she had gotten back from Turkey, the two of them spent more time in one another's company than outside of it. But even before then, Alex had been working to understand 'The Strand Institute's Enigmatic President and Founder' for three years. There were certain subjects that she knew him well enough to predict things for, and this was one of those circumstances.

After all Howard Strand (that bastard even though Alex would never say it to Richard. Probably. This is Alex after all.) held a singular level of ire in Richard's life, one so far only out done by Thomas Warren. There was no way for her to miss the cues that came around him. She still remembered how much convincing she'd needed to do just to get him to read from a fifty-year old journal of his father's.

But that was in the past, and now there was this. And this, whatever this was felt very current and very now. And important. It was so important that Alex's gut was actually doing flip-flops over itself in an effort to grab her attention. So, of course when he dismissed the notion of him not being a part of it, Alex made her typical groan of disbelief.]

Seriously? Jesus, Richard. What happens? What are you so afraid of?

[Alex moved to sit next to him on the bench, and some of her anger settles into a deeper concern.]

Does something happen to me? To them?

Nothing happens to you.

[The words are immediate and with conviction. Something does happen, and Alex is involved, but it isn't anything bad, not for her.

That's reserved for, everything else. For Geneva. For being told that he's some sort of key to opening a door that brings about the demon apocalypse. Or at least, Warren and Simon Reese think so. It's not true, but that truth doesn't countermine the fact that people he cared about were in danger; that he was probably going to walk into a trap, that he had to know what was going on with all of this. Just because of that belief.

Still, he didn't understand why Alex would have thought something happened to her. Why she had jumped so quickly and with such dread to that when he had mentioned Howard. Howard had never been part of her life. ]

I promise.

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