(no subject)

[inthetapestry]

Dave has been hardly in his apartment these last three days, busy buying presents for his father and brother (inevitably it ends up being ties, but he still spends hours staring hopelessly at different items trying to decide) and wrapping up business in his legal office for the holidays.

He's not been expecting any calls, and he almost doesn't notice the blinking red light on the answering machine as he's finally heading out the door to spend his first Christmas with his family in five years.

But he does notice it, and, groaning, sets down his bags and hits 'play'.

The impatient look vanishes quickly, however, as he listens to the message.

Hi, Dave -- it's Kim. I guess you're out somewhere ... sorry to have missed catching you, and it looks like it's going to be a while yet, as it turns out I'm not coming back to Toronto for the holidays after all. [awkward pause] Things here are going okay, though... I'm getting settled in, at least. It's not like... like it was, or anything, but it's okay.

[pause]

Anyway I, um, I hope everything's good with you. Talk to you soon, I guess? Take care of yourself. Bye."

He lets the message run out, and then reaches to dial - and then stops himself. Instead, he hangs up the phone and goes trudging off to hunt for the phone book, and the number for US Airlines.

Comments

[bannion_sight]

Kim retaliates by aiming a light, slow-motion swat at his shoulder.

"Well, I guess so, if you want to look at it that way."

[inthetapestry]

So sane he just flew a couple thousand miles on the spur of the moment without asking!

Yeah.

"I do," Dave says cheerfully, and uses the hand that's still around her shoulders to muss her hair a little.

(Strange hair, white hair - it's just Kim's hair by now.)

"So tell me more about what you do here and what all the gossipy ladies are saying about you."

[bannion_sight]

"It's pretty mundane," she teases, then sobers a little, thinking about it. "... actually, it is."

"I've got a little practice going in a small clinic -- it's not a big place, you know, even if there are a lot of tourists who come through. But there aren't all that many doctors, either, so it seems to be working out. Mostly I take care of sprained ankles, kids with sniffles and runny noses, all that sort of thing."

Kim glances up at him with a wry smile, adding,

"As for gossip, mostly people have just been asking why someone like me moved here in the first place, but let me get back to you on that -- I'm sure there'll be more in a day or so!"

[inthetapestry]

"I've got to admit I'm curious what they'll come up with," Dave admits, with a rumbled laugh.

He raises his eyebrows. "So what do you tell them? When they ask?"

[bannion_sight]

"Me too," Kim agrees.

There's a almost-awkward beat of silence before she continues,

"Mostly I just tell them that I felt drawn to the town when I visited it, and that I was looking for somewhere quiet."

[inthetapestry]

It's all sort of true, Dave guesses.

"Heh," he says, after a moment. "You're going to cultivate an air of mystery."

[bannion_sight]

"Oh, I hope not!"

Even though she knows it may be true.

"It's probably just the hair."

[inthetapestry]

"Is it? I guess."

He runs a lock between his fingers, almost absently.

"You could pass it off as a kind of punk rock look."

[bannion_sight]

"No pink, though," she says, sternly.

The feel of his fingers playing with her hair, of his arm around her shoulders -- it almost surprises her how right it feels, how comfortable she feels with him.

Almost.

"... I've really missed you, Dave." Kim tilts her head back just a little, looking up into his eyes.

"I've really, really missed you. I'm so glad you came."

[inthetapestry]

Dave meets her eyes, and things seem to slow down for a moment. Because this is not just a moment, but a Moment.

Specifically, this is the Moment when the old Dave - old angry pre-Fionavar Dave Martyniuk, who never met a goddess and who never felt like part of a family or part of anything - would have choked up. Would have been afraid, and would have frozen, and, when nothing happened and the moment was past, would have fumed bitterly for weeks at Kim and at himself. Would have poisoned a friendship, and would have added this moment to the store of many moments that proved the world was Out to Get Dave Martyniuk, because that's the kind of guy good old Dave Martyniuk was.

Not anymore.

"Me too," he says, as the moment starts to speed back up to normal time, and then "Kick me if I'm out of line, okay?" and then leans down before he can have second thoughts and kisses her.

[bannion_sight]

She opens her mouth to ask what he means, but doesn't have a chance to get the first word out before--

--oh.

Oh.

Dave's kissing her, and without any surprise at all Kim finds herself kissing him back.

[inthetapestry]

. . . well, she doesn't seem to be kicking him. Which is a good sign.

And then she's kissing him back, and, okay, that's a better one. His hand comes up to cup the back of her head, fingers tangled in her straight white hair, and -

"- uh," he says, breaking off for a moment, "just so you know, I wasn't thinking - I mean I wasn't planning this or anything when I decided to come, I swear."

[bannion_sight]

Kim giggles, and reaches up to place a finger over his lips, stopping the spill of words.

"I know you didn't," she assures him. "Really."

She can hear her own heart beating, can feel the flush rising bright in her cheeks as she continues,

"Now will you stop worrying, and kiss me again?"

[inthetapestry]

"I can do that," Dave says, and then maybe he would be trying for an expression of dignified mock solemnity if he weren't too busy suiting actions to words.

(There aren't any words for a while after that.)