riverviewlogs | Open post for May.

[Alex just watched his hands for a moment before she unwound her own from each other, and then she reached over and took one of his between the both of hers. It was a sign that they were in this together, and there wasn't anything that he could say to her at this point that would send her reeling and running away from the promise of what they were. She was going to listen to him and his explanation, and whatever else that he had to share with her.

But she did feel a stab at anger at Coralee about putting something on his skin without telling him why it was important. Yes, Alex had kept things from him in the past, but nothing like this. Nothing that fundamentally changed him on a skin deep level. She gave his fingers another squeeze of understanding before she tried to find some good in the woman whom he said had gone on the run to protect him because of that run after she had escaped Warren.]

She wanted to protect you. That's not bad, is it?

[His fingers curled around one of her hands as he took comfort in her. She was there; she was with him. Even if she didn't remember, she had asked him to run away with her. Had offered to leave everything, with him, instead of just abandoning him. Abandoning the thirteen years of a life they'd lived together for the belief that it would protect him. Even knowing that Warren was always watching, always controlling him through one means or another.

Alex was right though; it wasn't a bad thing that Coralee had tried to protect him.]

No.

[There was that quietness about him, the same as when Coralee had left that night, and Alex told him that she thought the other woman still loved him.

That didn't mean it was enough. Enough to keep Coralee with him; to keep her from abandoning Richard and Charlie for over twenty years and then again after he'd found her.]

Before you ask, I don't have any others.

[Alex just gave him a little smile for a moment before she leaned her head on his shoulder in a way that she hoped was comforting. More often than not, Alex tried to find empathy for Coralee, because it was who she was and she attempted to find empathy for most everyone she met. The only person who she didn't have it for honestly at this point was Thomas Warren because fuck Thomas Warren.

But there were moments like this, when Strand was haunted by more than the demons that may be after his blood, that she did intensely dislike the woman who yes, had been taken, but who had escaped and then who had let the people she was supposed to love the most think she was dead. It was something that Alex couldn't understand in the slightest.

Just like she couldn't understand how Coralee could just leave him again after she saved or kidnapped the two of them depending on the day. She understand, and probably never would how the woman could look at this man and just walk away and get into a van and leave without even explaining things to their daughter. It made her angry on the behalf of both of them for what could have been for twenty years of relationship.

But the anger wasn't hers to hold onto, so Alex bumped him with her shoulder lightly.]

I do. Have a tattoo, I mean.

[He knew what Alex was doing. It wasn't the tone or posture like it had been that night, it was something that seemed to radiate from her entirety now. Her touch, her closeness, even the little smile that came with it all. There was no hesitation to it now, and he appreciated the shift.

His free hand moves to brush the hair from her face as he mentally returned his armor where it was meant to be; as he pushed back the raw emotions that Coralee would always evoke. Even those had become a part of him. A part of the reason he needed protection. Still, this wasn't meant to be about him. At least not entirely.]

I saw.

[He wasn't sure if she had realized that there had been moments, he was, after all, in the presence of a woman that he loved. One that he had never expected to be loved back by, and while he would have never thought to look at her changing in the past, the idea had been a bit too tempting in the present.]

I assume it doesn't also mean protection from demons.

[His voice raised slightly, toying with her, attempting to get a rise out. He reactions were often so impressive, after all, and it removed the heaviness of what had come before.]

[He wanted to get a rise out of her, and Alex was glad to oblige in the way that she went pink from her cheeks to the top of her ears. There were times when Alex Reagan cursed her pale skin (most of the time when she spent too much time running or hiking in the sun and she ran out of sunscreen) but the moment when she hated it the most was times like now where she couldn't deny the blush that his words brought to her face. Oh, she didn't think he was a prude, but she just hadn't expected him to be watching because she was quick and he had seemed like he needed a minute.

The crimson stuck around and she bumped him with her shoulder again, before she broke into a quick laugh and ducked her head a bit because well... She knew that he liked to get a response from her. It wasn't something new, or something that she'd just cottoned onto. No, Alex knew why he'd said it and she just shook her head.]

Nope, just something I thought was cool when I was in college.

[With her head dipped, she couldn't see the satisfied smirk that played over his lips or the way they just brushed over the crown of her head. Alex would always be an emotional enjoyment for him. Hers was just so open and honest and easy to coax out. It was one of the ways that she charmed people, and he knew it.

It was the way she'd completely charmed him, even when he thought he was immune to such things after twenty years of numbing himself to that sort of thing.]

It's, interesting.

[To add emphasis to his comment he ran his free fingers over the side with the tattoo.]

[Alex was very touchy feely, and in some ways while she could be an earnest puppy, she could also be a bit feline in nature, and she found herself moving into the touch of his fingers along her side. The gesture was coupled with a low laugh that ended with a smirk cast over her shoulder at him.]

What I think you mean to say Richard is, [And then she made her voice drop as low as it would go.] "That's a very you tattoo, Alex." [And then her voice returned to normal when she added.] And of course you're very perceptive about how it has to do with the pen being mightier than the sword.

[His brows rose as he didn't even try to hide the smirk that played on his face as he continued to run his fingers over the area where her tattoo would be. It was actually surprisingly calming, touching her like this. Part of him almost remembered this part of himself. The part that was gentle and kind, that could actually understand what love and empathy were. Alex did that for him, and he couldn't help being thankful to her for it, and for being there with him without the fear of losing her the way he'd lost Coralee.]

Is that what I mean?

Well... [Alex said drawing out the word with a grin, and her eyes sparkling behind her glasses as she met his eyes. The blush was fading out just a bit, which she approved of, but there was still some stubborn and lingering shades of pink.] You know you've never had a problem telling me when I was wrong about something before...

[It was an invitation, and coupled with her smirk, there may have been a bit of a flirty challenge involved with it as well.]

[That challenge was, distracting. It pulled Richard's mind into directions he hadn't quite expected it to move to yet. The passing thought of moving his hand under Alex's shirt and running his fingers over her side directly.

A thought he didn't act on. Instead, he moved closer to her on the bed, wrapping his arm around to pull her closer.]

It is impulsive and reckless.

[Just like her.]

[Alex just wrapped her arms around his neck in return, and she laughed softly before she fixed him with what was obviously a mock glare. (He'd seen her real glare enough to know the difference all too well.) Her voice was definitely flirty when she prodded:]

Impulsive and reckless and pretty and delicate and powerful. In other words, very me.

[Alex Reagan bad joke time. Well, half of a bad joke? A third maybe?]

[He adjusted, pulling her back with him so he could rest against the head of the bed. It was just a bit more comfortable than holding both their weight without any support. It also gave him time to pretend to think about her comment. Not that he needed time to think about it. He already had a response the moment the words came out of her mouth.]

No one would ever call you delicate, Alex. Annoyingly persistent, but not delicate.

[Not for the first time he wondered if this was how they would have ended up that night. Curled together on his bed after having a good meal and good wine. He liked to think it was. But with Alex, as she was now, he didn't know if his supposition was correct. If he was causing what he wanted to happen rather than what Alex did. If that were the case, he wasn't sure he'd be able to recover from it, not to mention the guilt of having taken advantage of her.]

[Alex curled her legs behind her as she settled into his chest and smirked up at him once more. It was almost annoyingly perfect how well she fit there, and she was glad, not for the first time that she had Rey had fought enough so that Alex had needed to defend him so that she could realize that they would have been perfect if they ever did get their shit together, as she had put it.

Honestly, she should send Eddie a bottle of champagne as a thank you for putting up that anon post. But she didn't explain that to him anymore than he explained his reasoning to her. Instead she just laughed before she pouted at him.]

I can be both, I'll have you know, Dr. Strand.

[Richard let out what could be suspiciously interpreted as a laugh. It was a laugh. Alex Reagan was many things; a force of nature, persistent, even annoying at times, but no one would ever call Alex delicate. It was something he appreciated about her more then he thought he'd let on. A more delicate woman would have backed away as soon as things started to turn sideways. Alex, on the other hand, dove head first into it all, grabbing his hand along the way and refusing to stop to look back.

She probably should have, in retrospect. Everything she'd been through was because of Richard, but dwelling on that did nothing and would probably have annoyed her in the end. Alex made her own choices, and Richard would always respect that; unless she was about to get herself into trouble.

I can't think of a single mutual acquaintance who would say so.

[There were few things that Alex liked more than pulling that laugh from him when he didn't want to do it. It brightened her day when things were the worst between them, and it was especially good now that things were well... good. They were together and they were in bed together, and she didn't need to break out her stupid jokes in order to lighten some of the tension that was in the air. She just needed to be herself.

Honestly, she didn't even care about being called delicate or not. At this point, arguing was banter and it was second nature between them, especially when there was no real stakes involved in what it was that they were fighting about. It was just one of the ways that their relationship had changed and evolved over the last two years without Alex really thinking about it.

Snuggling closer to him and resting her head on his shoulder again, she announced in an authoritative tone of voice, but as so often was the case with Alex, one could actually hear the smile inside of it:]

I definitely am a small and delicate flower, Richard Strand.

[He could hear the smile in her voice, and it brought a smirk of his own to light. He was fully aware of the fact that Alex wouldn't care if someone didn't think she was dainty, and that she was also well aware that he would never think of her that way. To Richard, Alex was a strong-willed, independent woman who would let nothing stop her from getting what she wanted. It was something that he appreciated about her.

It was the reason why they had always been able to come to terms with their arguments; by brushing them under the rug when one of them came up with a new lead, or he came back with a new black tape. Over the course of the years, they'd spent together that began to change, but Alex's personality didn't. She was the same Alex Richard had first had the 'privilege' of receiving all those messages from, the same woman who had dug into his life and dredged up the ghosts of his past that he was trying to hide from her.

The same Alex who sat through night after night of terrifying-seeming black tapes with him.

He shifted in his spot, placing a foot on the floor as he hid a small smirk behind a raised eyebrow.]

Then I'm in the wrong bed.

[He made a move to stand up.]

[Oh, that was most decidedly cheating, and Alex pouted when she felt him shift under her like that. Honestly, it was going to be hard to win any arguments with him when she kept letting him have all of the best weapons so far. Letting out a soft but nonetheless huffy sigh of defeat, Alex reached out and tugged him back into bed with a jerk of her hand before she looked up to him and sighed dramatically once more.]

Yes, yes, yes, fine. I'm not a delicate flower. Come back to bed, Richard.

[Still, she considered for a minute, the thoughts showing on her face as she tried to find a compromise, or at the very least another adjective that described her. Other than well, pushy, determined and generally being a giant pain in the ass to him.]

How about secret badass? I can be Alex Reagan, secret badass.

[He settled back in without effort, he hadn't planned to leave anyway. It was merely a gesture to cause the inevitable end that was Alex caving like an over baked cake, and it had done the job to perfection. But now she was postulating other titles, and the one she came up with was perfectly her. Not that he would ever tell her.

He let a brow raise as he asked:]

Secretly?

[He couldn't agree to that. There was no secret to Alex's prowess, but again, that wasn't something he would admit out loud. Not to her. Alex would, as expected, preen like a peacock if he did, and he had no tolerance for dealing with her in such a state.

Instead, he decided to counter. After all, the debate wasn't over if Alex was throwing out more adjectives to describe herself.]

Obvious poor judge of character.

[It wasn't baiting ... except it totally was baiting.]

Yeah, secretly. That way people underestimate tiny, pretty, feisty me.

[There, more adjectives, and while it had been on the tip of her tongue to add 'delicate' to that list, she decided to leave it off. At least for the moment, given that he'd caved when she had, and she didn't want him to get any more ideas about leaving again.

And of course he was baiting her, and of course Alex was going to rise to it. A bit anyway, because she just smirked at him and then shrugged, poking him lightly in the chest with her finger as she did it.]

Yeah, [She agreed with a drawn out sigh, this one intended for the drama of it all.] I suppose I can't really deny that one. But at least it went in your favor, huh? [Because here they were, with Alex's head on his chest.]

[He let out a puff of air that wasn't quite a laugh. Still, that description of Alex was completely stupid, and anyone who would think that about the woman currently lying in his arms was a complete moron. Tiny, he supposed would work, feisty was an understatement, but Alex wasn't pretty. There was no way that he could think of her as just 'pretty.' No, Alex was an exceptionality all her own. Alex was more expressive than anyone had any right to be, and it somehow fit everything that she was, encompassed her entirely in the only term that would work for her. Alex.

This assessment was another hidden thought. Pushed so many times into the back of his mind and locked away that he couldn't count anymore. Richard had always thought she was interesting, but it'd taken a few months to realize she was exceptional, and a few years to know she was more than extraordinary, she was blinding.]

Or poorly, depending on if you're trying to chase escaped confessed murderer and mental patients.

[He began stroking her back lightly as he thought of another way to bait her.]

How about reckless conclusion jumping Alex Reagan?

[Alex pouted quickly and she rolled her eyes when he mentioned Simon again. Honestly she was thinking more and more that he was jealous of Simon which is something that is completely absurd. Simon was a child and he was creepy and he always tried to be like some sort of James Bond figure waltzing in and out of her life (which yes she has thought about and was deeply hoping that he wasn't trying to emulate Warren because honestly that was the last thing she wanted or needed. One Thomas warren was more than enough.) But there was nothing to be jealous of. At the most, she cared about Simon as a sort of friend, and she trusted him, but never in the same level as she trusted Strand.

Besides, she knew Simon was only telling her about a third of the story at any time, and that was frustrating as hell. While he may have a crush on her, the only thing that she wanted from him was answers and ways to stop the world from ending and having it be their fault.

Knowing that next title was one that was fully intended as bait, Alex just shrugged half-heartedly, one of her shoulders moving up as she did it. Of course there was a grin coupled with it when she looked at him, one that was more than a little bit slum.]

Yeah. [The world was drawled out around her smile.] I suppose I can't deny that.

Then we're going with that then?

[It was a surprise that she had given in so quickly to it all. Of course, this wasn't a life or death conversation, or even a hypothetical life or death situation. They weren't arguing over demons or mythology. There were no rituals or black tapes involved. It was just, banter. Something that was typical for them but surprising when it held no weight to it at all. Like this, it was just relaxing.

Lying in bed with Alex tucked inside his arms was the most relaxing thing he had experienced in a very long time. He still wasn't used to it, but he could certainly get used to it. The idea of them being together like this, of this being an everyday situation. That was the reality of them running away, wasn't it? Them being together, being like this if they chose to be.

If it weren't for the fact that this wasn't them running away, that it was Thomas Warren's way of keeping them contained within their own minds, it would have been almost easy to settle into this as being a reality. At least as far as having here in his arms was concerned.]

I suppose. Maybe I should change the about me on my friendr. Right now it just talks about me liking good stories. Maybe it should say that I'm 'impulsively recklessly conclusion jumping, secretly a bad ass, a bad judge of character, pretty, feisty, tiny...

[But Alex wasn't quite done as she listed off the qualities that they'd agreed on. Nope, instead she spoke the list like she would have if it was part of a story for someone else, or the way that she had when they were deciding upon what they wanted to look for an apartment.

Well, almost because Alex wasn't done with the list. Not yet anyway, he'd be able to hear the smile coming in her voice even before she added the words to it.]

A small and delicate flower and annoyingly persistent.

[Banter was fun and it was easy as she moved to rest her palm against his chest to plant her chin on it and look up at him with quite an obvious smirk.]

The ones I said were about right.

[He returned to stroking her side again, fingers running up and down the area of clothing that covered her tattoo. In the back of his mind, there was a little voice that urged him to move his hand under her shirt, but he ignored it. It wasn't as if he didn't want to do those things, and Alex herself had said that it was alright to do them. It was the missing time that stopped him. The days of understanding and the secrets that he now carried on his own. He couldn't put the burden of their relationship that she didn't know onto her any more than he could tell her about Coralee and Howard, or her black tape.

It wasn't fair to her to do so, and he knew that.

What he was doing now, this was okay, almost innocent even. At least it was innocent enough for Richard to delude himself into thinking it was.]

It's also too long.

[If Alex wasn't sandwiched between his body and his hand she definitely would have moved into that touch again. Instead she just gave him a lazy smile, and her fingers absently moved across his chest below them in small, slow circles. Earlier alex had described this to herself as annoyingly perfect, but now she was finding it just perfect instead. Maybe calling herself a delicate flower was making Alex lose her edge a bit.

She didn't particularly mind. After all, Richard had edge enough for the both of them honestly and someone needed to make sure that he didn't get punched even if he was on his best behavior at the moment.

She knew him and knew the best behavior wouldn't last.

Her eyes sparkled and she looked more than a little amused before she asked simply:]

Have you looked at my friendr lately, Richard?

[Don't believe that tone, Richard. It's a trap.]

Open post for May.

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