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thejusticelounge2013-07-28 01:44 pm
bossymarmalade) wrote in thejusticelounge2013-07-28 01:44 pm
Entry tags:
touching base
Guy flew over the streets of L.A., and touched down in front of the office building. It was nice that this time he didn’t have to shove past protesters outside the front door. Soon he was leaning on the desk of a law clerk sitting near entrance, flirting with her. Not only was she pretty, but she was as pleased to see him as the last time.
"I ah, don’t have an appointment, gorgeous," he told her, trying to remember her name, looking idly over her desk for a name plate or personalized coffee mug, “But I’m here to see Kate Spencer-Queen. I don’ mind waitin’ a bit, as long as I can wait here…" he grinned at her.
The offices of Spencer Law were such that formality wasn’t stood upon, much, overall. This was probably why the clerk (whose name was Ming, though there wasn’t anything on her desk to indicate as such, unfortunately for Guy), while laughing a little to herself, then turned and hollered down the hall instead of paging her boss, or making a phone call.
"KATE," she called. “KATE, GREEN LANTERN GARDNER IS HERE TO SEE YOU." Ming paused, looked back at Guy, gave him a bright smile, then turned back to the hall. “YOU DON’T NEED TO HURRY."
Which meant the whole office was now entirely aware of who was there and why. Inside her office, Kate pinched her brow—not because of Guy turning up, but because of the way he was announced—and sighed, softly, to herself. “I’ll be out in a minute, sorry," she called back, and started to tidy up her papers.
All eyes were on them now, Guy was well aware, but he kept Ming at the focus of his attention long enough to get her name and whether she was free for dinner next Friday night. He was still leaning on the edge of her desk, slipping a business card with a hand-written phone number inside his uniform vest when Kate came out. "Whoops, here comes the boss, better let ya get back to work," he told her with a wink, loud enough for Kate to hear. “Lovely to see you again, Miss Ko."
"Kaaaate!" he turned as she approached, a broad smile on his tanned face as he hugged her and snuck in a quick peck on the cheek. “Hola, great to see you, Sweetheart. I’m back from Hasa and an errand to Oa, and ready to start getting back to building a bar together, an’ pickin’ up where we left off."
Kate lifted an eyebrow slightly at the business card, wondering if she should warn Guy that Ming usually had three guys and a girl on the string at one time, but then decided not to push it. Especially not when he looked seriously, actually, happy. Besides, she was pretty sure he knew what he was doing.
Which was a relief, she was so damn glad he was doing better. “Guy," she said, and hugged him back firmly, before tugging him gently by the arm towards her office. Something about ‘picking up where we left off’ made her brow furrow a little, but she wasn’t certain exactly what it was, so she let it slip to one side. “Let’s go have some coffee, I’ll catch you up on the contractor work," she continued, and gave the clerks a slightly firm look before she shut the door to her office.
It was the ‘we’ll have a conversation about not staring at clients’ asses’ sort of look. Numbers were fine. Ogling was not.
Guy, for his part, was not discouraging the ogling. He felt great, and knew he looked great. The vest did a great job of showing off his ass, after all.
He followed her to the coffee pot so that she wouldn’t have to wait on him, and took his cup back to the seat opposite her desk. He listened patiently as she brought him up to speed on the permits and foundation work, signed off on what needed his signature, and reviewed a few last minute changes to the blueprints. If it went to plan, they’d be open in time to catch the end of tourist season.
"You’re lookin’ real good, Sweetheart," he told her, when business was mostly concluded. “You as happy as ya seem? Havin’ a good time with Ramsey, the Santa Prisca crap notwithstandin’?"
Mostly Kate wasn’t interested in the possibility of an ensuing harassment suit. She decided to tell the clerks that they couldn’t expect pro bono representation if they did. Maybe even put it in writing. Not that that’d stop them much, thus LA.
She slurped her coffee softly as she shifted their conversation through the relevant paperwork, catching Guy up to speed. “I figure we can open by mid-August at the latest. It sucks there was a slight delay due to the production issue with the fiberglass, but better to get quality materials than not…"
Trailing off, she offered Guy a faintly wry smile at the issues involving building, and sighed a little, kicking back in her chair, at the clear end of the business conversation. “I’m doing okay," she said. “Ramsey’s enjoying himself and it’s great to have him around. He and Lian like each other, thank god for that. And Ollie healed up pretty quickly after what happened, and Lian’s doing a lot better, so…"
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she considered the other parties involved, but she blinked it away. “Still don’t know what all of it was about. I don’t think Bruce even knows."
He pulled his chair forward and leaned his elbow on her desk, setting his mug down on a hastily ring-constructed coaster. “You’re doing…just ‘okay’? Ya seem to have a lot more to say about the people in your life than about you. An’…I’d really like to hear about you." He glanced down at his knee, then back up to her.
"I’ve been doin’ a lot of soul-searchin’ lately, Kate. An’ I realized a few things…one, if I’m hungry for fruit on a tree, an’ it’s outta reach, I gotta climb for it even if it means riskin’ a few skinned knees. That applies to anythin’, by the way…just…yeah. An’ two…I’ve been thinkin’ about ya a lot while I was in Hasaragua. Maybe it was the language, or the women there, or just not bein’ around ya, but I missed ya. I realize, I miss bein’ with ya."
He looked back down at his knee briefly and shrugged, “I had good reasons for breakin’ it off with you last year, and most of ‘em involved my relationship with Dick. It was never a problem with you, Sweetheart. I just did what I thought was the best for all concerned. I don’t regret doin’ it then, but circumstances change, and I’ve changed. So…I wanna ask, how you’d feel about you an’ me meetin’ back up on that path, an’ walkin’ it a while? We had some good times together, an’ I think we could again."
"There’s not all that much to say about me that’s new," Kate noted with a faintly sheepish expression. “At least that’s not linked to the people in my life. I wasn’t at Santa Prisca, having an experience or misadventure…or in Hasaragua or Oa, similarly." It was less chiding him, her comment, and more just pointing out that other people had been doing more than she had. Though admittedly, there were a few aspects of things that she wasn’t quite certain how to disclose to friends yet—Kyle’s close-call guess, for example. “Other than that it’s been a joy having Ramsey here, and I don’t think I knew how much I missed him."
She trailed off as she processed what Guy was saying, that she hadn’t exactly misinterpreted his comment before. It made her inhale roughly, if quietly, from between pursed lips, her brow furrowing deep. “Guy," she started, then rubbed the bridge of her nose, looking down at the grain of the wood on her desk, trying to figure out how to say it. She owed it to him to not jerk him around, as his friend, and she just…
Finally, she looked back up, met his eyes (though she was pretty sure he knew already from the fact that she hadn’t gone with an enthusiastic agreement type of response). “I know you did what you thought was right," she agreed. “Just…now…things have changed for me too, a lot. Gotten kind of intense and serious, and I really can’t—I don’t think I can be seeing anybody more right now. I wouldn’t be able to give you the time and attention you deserve to have from someone you care about, it just wouldn’t work out." Hell, even kissing Kyle for laughs had been awkward.
"We had good times," she added, “and god, Guy, please don’t think I don’t care or that I’m pulling the bullshit ‘not you but me’ thing." She bit her lip.
He knew from the moment she frowned and rubbed the bridge of her nose that it would be a rejection, and he braced himself and listened carefully, trying to ignore the first questions that leaped to mind: what had he done wrong by her, what had changed her mind?
As he listened, he was able to complete a part of the puzzle; intense and serious, precluding her seeing anybody more, not anybody else, meaning it wasn’t just Ollie on a regular basis these days. She, possibly they, had a second lover.
"No, no, it’s okay, I know ya care, Kate," he inhaled sharply when she was finished. Christ, even seeing it coming and bracing himself, it still hurt. “If ya didn’t, ya wouldn’t bother explainin’ it, you’d just nod an’ say you’d keep it in mind or somethin’. I appreciate ya bein’ straight with me, like you’ve always been, no matter what."
Intense and serious… and yet, she didn’t seem at ease, or relaxed to him. She seemed edgy, and he considered if it was his imagination. Maybe he wanted to see her feeling less than wholly positive about her new relationship, to give himself false hope? He mulled that over…no, that wasn’t it. He wanted to see evidence that the new person was making her happy - at least as happy as she had been when he was seeing her - and he wasn’t seeing it. He wanted to make sure she was all right, then stopped himself from asking those questions - Kate was a self-aware, self-controlling woman, who knew what she wanted and needed. Her happiness was in no one’s hands but her own, and and there it would stay. Guy had to remind himself, it wasn’t his job to ensure happiness for her, and it never had been.
It didn’t stop him from wishing it for her, though, or giving a damn about her life. He still loved her as much as any of his exes.
"So who is it, this new person?" he asked, watching her eyes as she responded. Would they light up a little when she said his or her name? Would they look pained, or unsure? Her eyes would likely tell him what he wanted to know, but was hesitant to ask.
Kate fiddled with her coffee mug a little, slid a fingertip against the side of the fingers wrapped around the handle, for a moment. She couldn’t help herself, she bit her lip a little even as she thought for a second to herself; hurting Guy hadn’t been on her radar, and it upset her to do it even like this, something where they talked it out.
"We’re not really talking about it with other people yet, Guy, I’m sorry," she said, expression softening around the edges for a moment, a little wistful, perhaps. “It’s…still fairly early days, all things considered." She blushed a little, downed a sip of cold coffee to cover it, because it was so damn embarrassing to be blushy about this kind of thing.
"If…If you’ve changed your mind about the bar, if you feel it’s too awkward to work with me this closely…" she noted, a thought suddenly crossing her mind and making her brow crease again. “I mean, I understand, we could make some arrangements if you want. I still want to do it, but I don’t want you to feel…" She smiled hopefully. “It’s your bar, this whole thing’s for you—I can be less involved, if you rather. I don’t know where you stand on being friends."
Seeing the colour rise to her cheeks confirmed it for him; he had made her blush like that, once upon a time. Whoever it was, she was happy. God help them if they didn’t know how lucky they were.
Still, he twisted a little inside; it was in its early days, she’d said, and he was pretty sure it didn’t exist before he left. If he hadn’t gone to Hasa, or if he hadn’t waited until he was certain of his future with the Corps, maybe things would have turned out differently for her and him. Maybe this other person would have been turned away right now, instead.
But, that wasn’t what happened. He smiled tightly, as another thought occurred: maybe this accounted for Ollie’s sudden interest in playing matchmaker, if there was a new ‘Hal’ in the picture. He’d just been pissed Guy didn’t rush after the bone he’d tossed him as a consolation. No. No, that wasn’t it. Ollie’d been trying to do Dick the favour - Guy just messed up his plans by turning him down. Either way, his and Kate’s dance card was full. Well good for them.
That tight smile faded as she asked if he still wanted to partner with her with the bar business. He was confused as she elaborated. Had she really thought his interest in doing this with her was contingent on her interest in sex with him? His look was a little hurt, but he found himself rising from his seat and going to her.
"Kate…Jesus, the bar was never…" He shook his head, “I know it’s charity disguised as a business proposition, Kate, but I never expected anythin’ from you. When I make a commitment, I see it through, and…" He paused and inhaled deeply, “I thought it would be fun to do it together, an’ either way, I’m going to pay you back, like we agreed. As long as you’re enjoyin’ it, then you be as involved as ya please. But ya don’t know where I stand on being friends? REALLY?"
He pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her tightly. “Yer gonna have to try a lot harder than that to get rid of me, Sweetheart," he spoke tenderly into her hair, and gave her a tender kiss on her temple. "Yer happy. That’s really all that matters, in the big picture."
"I ah, don’t have an appointment, gorgeous," he told her, trying to remember her name, looking idly over her desk for a name plate or personalized coffee mug, “But I’m here to see Kate Spencer-Queen. I don’ mind waitin’ a bit, as long as I can wait here…" he grinned at her.
The offices of Spencer Law were such that formality wasn’t stood upon, much, overall. This was probably why the clerk (whose name was Ming, though there wasn’t anything on her desk to indicate as such, unfortunately for Guy), while laughing a little to herself, then turned and hollered down the hall instead of paging her boss, or making a phone call.
"KATE," she called. “KATE, GREEN LANTERN GARDNER IS HERE TO SEE YOU." Ming paused, looked back at Guy, gave him a bright smile, then turned back to the hall. “YOU DON’T NEED TO HURRY."
Which meant the whole office was now entirely aware of who was there and why. Inside her office, Kate pinched her brow—not because of Guy turning up, but because of the way he was announced—and sighed, softly, to herself. “I’ll be out in a minute, sorry," she called back, and started to tidy up her papers.
All eyes were on them now, Guy was well aware, but he kept Ming at the focus of his attention long enough to get her name and whether she was free for dinner next Friday night. He was still leaning on the edge of her desk, slipping a business card with a hand-written phone number inside his uniform vest when Kate came out. "Whoops, here comes the boss, better let ya get back to work," he told her with a wink, loud enough for Kate to hear. “Lovely to see you again, Miss Ko."
"Kaaaate!" he turned as she approached, a broad smile on his tanned face as he hugged her and snuck in a quick peck on the cheek. “Hola, great to see you, Sweetheart. I’m back from Hasa and an errand to Oa, and ready to start getting back to building a bar together, an’ pickin’ up where we left off."
Kate lifted an eyebrow slightly at the business card, wondering if she should warn Guy that Ming usually had three guys and a girl on the string at one time, but then decided not to push it. Especially not when he looked seriously, actually, happy. Besides, she was pretty sure he knew what he was doing.
Which was a relief, she was so damn glad he was doing better. “Guy," she said, and hugged him back firmly, before tugging him gently by the arm towards her office. Something about ‘picking up where we left off’ made her brow furrow a little, but she wasn’t certain exactly what it was, so she let it slip to one side. “Let’s go have some coffee, I’ll catch you up on the contractor work," she continued, and gave the clerks a slightly firm look before she shut the door to her office.
It was the ‘we’ll have a conversation about not staring at clients’ asses’ sort of look. Numbers were fine. Ogling was not.
Guy, for his part, was not discouraging the ogling. He felt great, and knew he looked great. The vest did a great job of showing off his ass, after all.
He followed her to the coffee pot so that she wouldn’t have to wait on him, and took his cup back to the seat opposite her desk. He listened patiently as she brought him up to speed on the permits and foundation work, signed off on what needed his signature, and reviewed a few last minute changes to the blueprints. If it went to plan, they’d be open in time to catch the end of tourist season.
"You’re lookin’ real good, Sweetheart," he told her, when business was mostly concluded. “You as happy as ya seem? Havin’ a good time with Ramsey, the Santa Prisca crap notwithstandin’?"
Mostly Kate wasn’t interested in the possibility of an ensuing harassment suit. She decided to tell the clerks that they couldn’t expect pro bono representation if they did. Maybe even put it in writing. Not that that’d stop them much, thus LA.
She slurped her coffee softly as she shifted their conversation through the relevant paperwork, catching Guy up to speed. “I figure we can open by mid-August at the latest. It sucks there was a slight delay due to the production issue with the fiberglass, but better to get quality materials than not…"
Trailing off, she offered Guy a faintly wry smile at the issues involving building, and sighed a little, kicking back in her chair, at the clear end of the business conversation. “I’m doing okay," she said. “Ramsey’s enjoying himself and it’s great to have him around. He and Lian like each other, thank god for that. And Ollie healed up pretty quickly after what happened, and Lian’s doing a lot better, so…"
Her eyes narrowed slightly as she considered the other parties involved, but she blinked it away. “Still don’t know what all of it was about. I don’t think Bruce even knows."
He pulled his chair forward and leaned his elbow on her desk, setting his mug down on a hastily ring-constructed coaster. “You’re doing…just ‘okay’? Ya seem to have a lot more to say about the people in your life than about you. An’…I’d really like to hear about you." He glanced down at his knee, then back up to her.
"I’ve been doin’ a lot of soul-searchin’ lately, Kate. An’ I realized a few things…one, if I’m hungry for fruit on a tree, an’ it’s outta reach, I gotta climb for it even if it means riskin’ a few skinned knees. That applies to anythin’, by the way…just…yeah. An’ two…I’ve been thinkin’ about ya a lot while I was in Hasaragua. Maybe it was the language, or the women there, or just not bein’ around ya, but I missed ya. I realize, I miss bein’ with ya."
He looked back down at his knee briefly and shrugged, “I had good reasons for breakin’ it off with you last year, and most of ‘em involved my relationship with Dick. It was never a problem with you, Sweetheart. I just did what I thought was the best for all concerned. I don’t regret doin’ it then, but circumstances change, and I’ve changed. So…I wanna ask, how you’d feel about you an’ me meetin’ back up on that path, an’ walkin’ it a while? We had some good times together, an’ I think we could again."
"There’s not all that much to say about me that’s new," Kate noted with a faintly sheepish expression. “At least that’s not linked to the people in my life. I wasn’t at Santa Prisca, having an experience or misadventure…or in Hasaragua or Oa, similarly." It was less chiding him, her comment, and more just pointing out that other people had been doing more than she had. Though admittedly, there were a few aspects of things that she wasn’t quite certain how to disclose to friends yet—Kyle’s close-call guess, for example. “Other than that it’s been a joy having Ramsey here, and I don’t think I knew how much I missed him."
She trailed off as she processed what Guy was saying, that she hadn’t exactly misinterpreted his comment before. It made her inhale roughly, if quietly, from between pursed lips, her brow furrowing deep. “Guy," she started, then rubbed the bridge of her nose, looking down at the grain of the wood on her desk, trying to figure out how to say it. She owed it to him to not jerk him around, as his friend, and she just…
Finally, she looked back up, met his eyes (though she was pretty sure he knew already from the fact that she hadn’t gone with an enthusiastic agreement type of response). “I know you did what you thought was right," she agreed. “Just…now…things have changed for me too, a lot. Gotten kind of intense and serious, and I really can’t—I don’t think I can be seeing anybody more right now. I wouldn’t be able to give you the time and attention you deserve to have from someone you care about, it just wouldn’t work out." Hell, even kissing Kyle for laughs had been awkward.
"We had good times," she added, “and god, Guy, please don’t think I don’t care or that I’m pulling the bullshit ‘not you but me’ thing." She bit her lip.
He knew from the moment she frowned and rubbed the bridge of her nose that it would be a rejection, and he braced himself and listened carefully, trying to ignore the first questions that leaped to mind: what had he done wrong by her, what had changed her mind?
As he listened, he was able to complete a part of the puzzle; intense and serious, precluding her seeing anybody more, not anybody else, meaning it wasn’t just Ollie on a regular basis these days. She, possibly they, had a second lover.
"No, no, it’s okay, I know ya care, Kate," he inhaled sharply when she was finished. Christ, even seeing it coming and bracing himself, it still hurt. “If ya didn’t, ya wouldn’t bother explainin’ it, you’d just nod an’ say you’d keep it in mind or somethin’. I appreciate ya bein’ straight with me, like you’ve always been, no matter what."
Intense and serious… and yet, she didn’t seem at ease, or relaxed to him. She seemed edgy, and he considered if it was his imagination. Maybe he wanted to see her feeling less than wholly positive about her new relationship, to give himself false hope? He mulled that over…no, that wasn’t it. He wanted to see evidence that the new person was making her happy - at least as happy as she had been when he was seeing her - and he wasn’t seeing it. He wanted to make sure she was all right, then stopped himself from asking those questions - Kate was a self-aware, self-controlling woman, who knew what she wanted and needed. Her happiness was in no one’s hands but her own, and and there it would stay. Guy had to remind himself, it wasn’t his job to ensure happiness for her, and it never had been.
It didn’t stop him from wishing it for her, though, or giving a damn about her life. He still loved her as much as any of his exes.
"So who is it, this new person?" he asked, watching her eyes as she responded. Would they light up a little when she said his or her name? Would they look pained, or unsure? Her eyes would likely tell him what he wanted to know, but was hesitant to ask.
Kate fiddled with her coffee mug a little, slid a fingertip against the side of the fingers wrapped around the handle, for a moment. She couldn’t help herself, she bit her lip a little even as she thought for a second to herself; hurting Guy hadn’t been on her radar, and it upset her to do it even like this, something where they talked it out.
"We’re not really talking about it with other people yet, Guy, I’m sorry," she said, expression softening around the edges for a moment, a little wistful, perhaps. “It’s…still fairly early days, all things considered." She blushed a little, downed a sip of cold coffee to cover it, because it was so damn embarrassing to be blushy about this kind of thing.
"If…If you’ve changed your mind about the bar, if you feel it’s too awkward to work with me this closely…" she noted, a thought suddenly crossing her mind and making her brow crease again. “I mean, I understand, we could make some arrangements if you want. I still want to do it, but I don’t want you to feel…" She smiled hopefully. “It’s your bar, this whole thing’s for you—I can be less involved, if you rather. I don’t know where you stand on being friends."
Seeing the colour rise to her cheeks confirmed it for him; he had made her blush like that, once upon a time. Whoever it was, she was happy. God help them if they didn’t know how lucky they were.
Still, he twisted a little inside; it was in its early days, she’d said, and he was pretty sure it didn’t exist before he left. If he hadn’t gone to Hasa, or if he hadn’t waited until he was certain of his future with the Corps, maybe things would have turned out differently for her and him. Maybe this other person would have been turned away right now, instead.
But, that wasn’t what happened. He smiled tightly, as another thought occurred: maybe this accounted for Ollie’s sudden interest in playing matchmaker, if there was a new ‘Hal’ in the picture. He’d just been pissed Guy didn’t rush after the bone he’d tossed him as a consolation. No. No, that wasn’t it. Ollie’d been trying to do Dick the favour - Guy just messed up his plans by turning him down. Either way, his and Kate’s dance card was full. Well good for them.
That tight smile faded as she asked if he still wanted to partner with her with the bar business. He was confused as she elaborated. Had she really thought his interest in doing this with her was contingent on her interest in sex with him? His look was a little hurt, but he found himself rising from his seat and going to her.
"Kate…Jesus, the bar was never…" He shook his head, “I know it’s charity disguised as a business proposition, Kate, but I never expected anythin’ from you. When I make a commitment, I see it through, and…" He paused and inhaled deeply, “I thought it would be fun to do it together, an’ either way, I’m going to pay you back, like we agreed. As long as you’re enjoyin’ it, then you be as involved as ya please. But ya don’t know where I stand on being friends? REALLY?"
He pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her tightly. “Yer gonna have to try a lot harder than that to get rid of me, Sweetheart," he spoke tenderly into her hair, and gave her a tender kiss on her temple. "Yer happy. That’s really all that matters, in the big picture."