Daybreak and Morning Daybreak
Us. How can one word make me warm and cold and... I never thought there could be an "us". I thought we'd missed our chance. I thought... When we went back to the dojo, that night, after you took Kristen out, I should have moved then. Instead I muttered "thanks" and left you to the couch. And then there was Alexa. You were so gentle with her, so loving. But you left her to save me and nearly lost your head doing it. The times were never right for us to talk without the world coming apart around us. And, now? After all the panic and the pain, all the lies and painful truths, you are here and the faintest pale beginning of daybreak is touching the window frames. What will happen when you wake up? Will you be sorry you showed up at my door? Will you turn away from me and leave before the sun warms the day? Or, will you stay? Will there be an 'us'? Morning
I can't believe this has happened. I dreamed of it, wanted it. After my past showed up I figured the chances of keeping my head were better if I kept my distance. Then Mac killed the boy and I ran. And, after O'Roark, he ran. The dojo looked deserted. I didn't feel an immortal anywhere close. My key still worked and the apartment was clean. I grabbed a beer, as I had a dozen times before. I was asleep when the brush of presence hit. Then he was standing there, a very mundane grocery bag where he'd dropped it and the katana gleaming in his hand. "You're late," I said. He looked at me for a moment and then started laughing. "I didn't realize we had a date." I walked over to pick up the bag and heard his sword drop as he enveloped me in a bear hug. "God, Methos, I've missed you so much." He tousled my hair. We moved around his kitchen space as though we'd been doing it for years and the electricity in the air was a tease that kept me on the edge of arousal. There was a promise in every passing touch. We ate slowly letting the anticipation build. He made coffee and got out a bottle of brandy that looked old enough to be real Napoleon vintage. The heat generated by the brandy and the smoky looks he was giving me made me shift in my corner of the couch. He put a soft blues album on the stereo, one of Joe's. The hand that reached out for me was warm and I let him pull me to my feet. We moved to the rhythm of the music,letting it substitute for conversation. Duncan's lips brushed over mine and then we were kissing, desperate to know that this was real, that we were together. I shift slightly. His head moves and he startles a bit. "Morning." I say, waiting to see how he'll respond. "Mmm, yes. It is morning." He turns his head to look at me. "Good Morning, Methos." His smile is sunshine and giggles and a small boy wondering if he's gotten away with... And, whatever it was, he has gotten away with it. I have to smile too, and suddenly the two of us are laughing like a pair of juvenile delinquents and rolling all over the bed. I'm dizzy with laughter, and have trouble remembering how to breathe. We lay there for a moment as the snickers die away and he reaches a long hand to me. His hand is warm again. I hold it, letting it warm mine. "How long can you stay?" He looks around the loft, taking in a deep breath. "Frankly, Mac, I didn't have any plans. I came back here more to see if the place was still here than anything else." "I was going to sell it. I came back and started packing things. Then I realized I had good memories of it as well as the painful ones." Now I was the one looking around the place. "I can go get us some bagels..." said Methos. I make him a counter offer, "How about showers and out to breakfast?" He nods and we're teasing again, playing. I feel younger than I have in many years. There is an 'us' and we can take our time with it. The wonder, that he came here and that I kept the place, makes me smile all over again and maybe, just maybe, we can have some time to have something normal in the middle of the Chaos that is our Immortality. -30- Feedback is appreciated - Merrie Gail |
I
can hear the dawn winds singing around the corners of the dojo. No light
yet. You are just a slightly paler shade, lost against the dark sheets.
Your breathing is slow, deep breaths that make small, sighing sounds
as you release them into the darkness around us. 
His
scent is all around me. The warmth of his down comforter surrounds me
and another warmth. It wasn't a dream. I open my eyes enough to make
sure that the brawny arm around me really is his. There's a warm weight
resting across my hip. Tentatively I reach out to touch the thick curls.
He sighs and moves even closer.