Exchange

[Nick LeCroix]

He took the phone from her and immediately called his brother's cell to warn him that the scene they'd been told about had obviously been him, and Jaime said he'd handle it.  Nick was confident that he would, and that the general population didn't know about shifters and vampires and the like.  If they did, he'd be in deep shit over this one.

"It'll be fine," he said out loud, though whether he was telling her that, himself, or both of them, he wasn't really sure.  Maybe he was just thinking out loud.  "The police would never look for a human murderer after the mention of a lion, and I hid the bodies too well for them to find."

THAT he was sure of.  Jaime or another shifter could potentially find them, but no human would pull that off, especially if they were looking for the work of a lion.  He was pretty pissed at himself for having missed the print, even if there was nothing that could be done about the car.  He'd chosen a deserted road, and he'd been unlucky enough to have someone drive down it.  Sometimes, shit just happened.

[Skye LeCroix]

Skye walked 'round to the back of the couch as she talked on her phone. When she was done, she tossed it onto the counter and began rubbing his shoulders as he spoke, nodding as he made the point that the police wouldn't ever actually get any further. She smiled a little as his reasoning became less and less the more she worked. Skye was good at the housewife thing, as stated many times before, and that definitely included things like this.

She leaned down and kissed his cheek lightly. "Cleaning up the press as we speak. It might not even make the paper; it's early enough that I caught them before they ran to print. It might be online, but not in the paper." She said nothing of his brother, knowing that despite his brattish attitude sometimes, Jaime was more than capable of handling this.

"Dinner?" she asked, hopefully. She hated to eat without him, but she would if he declined this time. She was feeling light-headed at this point.

[Nick LeCroix]

It wasn't a joke that his reasoning became less as she rubbed his shoulders, and he leaned back a bit to make her reach over the couch easier, his eyelids falling ever so slightly.  She was very good at that, and they both knew it, but he wouldn't ever try to stop her.  

"Good.  I can just avoid the neighbors for a week, because they'll somehow get wind of it and want to talk about it, and it'll hopefully blow over," he agreed, and that was the end of him really having anything else to say on it.  She was distracting enough to convince him not to dwell on it at the moment, and he'd heard her stomach rumbling before.  She was hungry, so dinner was a good idea.  He'd also refrained from eating any of the wolf shifter he'd killed, so he could definitely eat now.

He hadn't been about to ruin his appetite when she was cooking, even if it wasn't homemade this time.

"Yes, dinner sounds good," he told her, standing and putting an arm around her to take her with him in that general direction as soon as he was around the couch.  "You know, you should probably eat more often during the day."

[Skye LeCroix]

"Oh?" she asked, arching a brow as he stood. "You want to pack me a little lunchbox so I can hang around in some obscure tree all day waiting for my mark?" she pried, voice playfully curious. So Skye forgot to eat sometimes. She didn't always have that option. Last week she'd been gone for two days waiting for her damn mark, and then on the way back the helo had problems and they had to make an emergency landing in Chicago and catch a flight in. Try having your rifle checked in baggage.

She headed him off to the kitchen, fixing his plate before he could accuse her of trying to take it all. She gave him more than she had, but it was due to the fact that he was flat bigger. And even though she was starving, she knew she'd take too much and end up making him finish it, anyways.

As she dug into the fridge for some soda, she turned back to him. "You know, that little old lady next to us, I swear she's got a crush on you. Every time I'm off for a few days and I go outside she wants to stop and ask me where my 'handsome husband' is. You'd better make sure our curtains are shut tight, I don't want her playing 'Room With a View' when we're sleeping."

She handed him his plate in one hand and popped the top of her Diet Pepsi with the other. She smiled at him then, because, well, Skye felt like it. He made her happy, and she let him know often. What was the point if you never told anyone?

[Nick LeCroix]

"You know, that's a good idea.  Maybe I'll pack it for you, so I can make sure you're not starving yourself on a salad or something," he teased, the worries from a moment ago being pushed to the back of his mind until they were addressed again.  He told himself he wasn't going to dwell on it, and so he wouldn't.

"Huh, I didn't think about that.  I was walking around naked last week with the curtains open, come to think of it.  Think she could actually see in?" he asked, though he was definitely playing with her by saying it.  He actually HAD probably walked around nude with the curtains open, but he didn't think the old lady had been around, or that he'd gotten that close to the windows.  She'd have needed a damn telescope or something, and if she was that determined then she deserved the view.

He grabbed his own soda and headed for the table, but something did catch his attention as he started to eat.  "All joking aside, it IS pretty weird that she notices when I'm not around much.  That's kind of creepy.  Thanks for pointing it out and making the harmless little old lady next door sound creepy.  That's talent, there," he pointed out with a smile, his tone someone congratulatory.  

[Skye LeCroix]

Skye made a noise at him when he said the old lady spotted him wandering around naked. He -did- have a tendancy to just walk around like that, she'd noticed, and she'd never complain about it, but still, at least if she was running around like that she shut the damn blinds. She just shook her head as she realized he was joking, and sat down. She didn't know what to do with him sometimes.

"She notices because she doesn't see your car in the driveway. I'd be surprised if they didn't notice I was gone more, but once again, this is one of those things where you get all the attention and they forget I'm alive. I seriously think you should just distract people by standing in their line of sight, and I can rob them blind."

She chewed on her food while she waited for a response.

[Nick LeCroix]

Yes, he was joking with her, but he wasn't making anything up.  He wasn't going to be the one to point it out, though.  He'd try to remember to shut the blinds next time.  

"You know, that's a good idea.  I'm sure I could distract someone well enough that they'd never notice you dragging expensive things out of their homes, and it'd probably be easier than killing things," he commented, looking thoughtful.  No, he wasn't seriously considering it, but it was amusing to think about.  The fact that it could work was pretty crazy, though.  

He kept eating, and actually found that this was one of the better boxed dinners they'd found.  He didn't know what it was supposed to be, really, or what brand, but it was good.  "This stuff isn't half bad.  We should get it again, instead of those fish sticks or whatever they were."

[Skye LeCroix]

"Oh, god," she said, remembering those burnt little fishsticks she'd tried to cook. "That's what I get for trying to balance ironing and cooking." It was either burn her favourite shirt or burn the food; guess which she had picked? She was almost done, and surprised herself at how much she'd eaten. She picked up her plate and walked it to the sink, tossing her soda can into the trash.

"You know, times like this, I get the illusion we have a normal life." She smiled fondly at him over the counter. Now that she was happy and full, all she needed was to be warm. The temperature in the house was usually set to a solid 77 degrees, but between the shower and the shorts, she was getting chilly despite the hot, humid summer night.

She was, in fact, waiting patiently for Nick to finish so she could bury herself next to him on the couch. Skye had a fairly one-track mind when she was home, and unless there was some pressing chores to be done, her life revolved around cuddling. It was a good way to be.

[Nick LeCroix]

"Which is why I'm going to cook the next time you insist on ironing at the same time," he told her firmly, because there was no way he was going through THAT again.  He'd eaten it, but it hadn't been very good.  Of course, he'd eaten worse, so he hadn't complained TOO badly until they were finished.  

He was nearly finished when she got up to get rid of her plate, and that was with him taking his time.  He'd spent too much time in the military, in bad situations, so he ate quickly most of the time.  He'd had more to eat than she did, but that didn't matter.  He was done a moment or so after she was, and he grinned at her mention of a 'normal life'.  "What do you mean?  We do dishes, eat dinner, relax and watch TV, and go to work.  What's abnormal about that?"

Worded that way, it didn't sound weird at all, but of course their jobs weren't exactly normal.  He rinsed his plate off before leaving it in the sink, opting to wash dishes later.  He much preferred to wrap Skye up in his arms and rid her of any bothersome thoughts about 'normality'.  "Being 'normal' is overrated, baby.  I wouldn't want to be one of those people that think a flat tire is an emergency situation, and it makes me feel better to know that you're not one of them, either."

One of those women wouldn't last long in his life.

[Skye LeCroix]

Skye laughed loudly at his comment, and pressed herself into him as he wrapped his arms around her, enjoying the warm sensation he had always presented. When he was angry he became unpleasantly hot, but those moments were far and few between.

"No, my version of an emergency is more like a phonecall at 2 AM to tell you -from the helo- that my gun jammed due to a faulty mechanism and that I won't be home for a few days because my mark was wildly on the run after I shot NEXT to his head instead of INTO his head."

And that was where being normal stopped for Skye, although as fast-paced as her job was, the snipers themselves had their own way of doing things. The ones she'd met were fairly well adjusted if not slightly over-observant and for the most part, even-tempered people. She'd learned you couldn't be a hothead in that sort of work. It would only cause error.

She turned in place and began walking into him, trying to direct him from the kitchen and towards the couch. She was like a tiny car facing off with Godzilla, though, so if Nick decided to plant himself on the ground, she'd end up mashing into him instead of moving him.

[Nick LeCroix]

He allowed himself to be pushed backwards, though they both knew that if he chose to stop, they weren't moving anywhere.  Of course, that would completely defeat the purpose of him having walked up to snuggle on her, so he wouldn't do anything of the sort.  Skye usually had a fairly easy time of getting him to go along with what she wanted.  There were some things that he just wouldn't agree to, but those were few and far between.

"True, but it means you're not going to get mugged coming out of the grocery store or anything," he pointed out, and he meant it.  He'd have worried more if she couldn't take care of herself against an attacker and led a 'normal' life than he did now.  Yeah, her job was dangerous, but so was she.  If little Sitara could do it as a human, then he had faith in Skye to do it as a shifter.  She could take more damage and heal than poor Sitara, and that was a definite relief for him.

Ahh, the couch.

[Skye LeCroix]

No, the only time Skye had been in any real trouble was when she'd gotten shot back. Talk about a bad way to end the night. Her target managed to pop one off before she could finish the job, thanks to some heavy interferance. She'd gone home about the angriest she'd ever been, but she was fortunate not to have been wounded severely. The worst part was sitting on the kitchen sink while Nick pried the bullet out. She'd cried, not a lot, but a fair amount. Being shot hurt; digging the offending lead out hurt worse, especially with no anesthesia. True, she could have done it at the Guildhouse, but she was so angry she just went straight home.

"Darling, I would almost feel sorry for the person who tried to mug me," she offered, giving him a small push onto the couch. Despite the fact that she'd been the one to pick it out, and it matched NONE of their other furnature because it was massive and fuzzy and cushy, Nick may as well have pissed on it because it was clearly HIS territory.

She climbed on top of him and wedged herself between him and the cushions, propping up on one arm. The couch was big enough for her and him to occupy it at the same time, which was a must-have. She kissed his jaw lightly, because... well, because she could.

[Nick LeCroix]

It was best that Skye didn't remind him of the time she'd been shot, since that had definitely not been one of his favorite memories.  He knew how to handle people in that situation, especially his beloved Skye, but he'd hated it.  He'd wanted to kill something for making her cry like that, and he'd hated himself for having to hurt her even more to pull the bullet out.  It had to come out, though.  The worst part was that he'd been shot plenty of times, so he knew what it felt like.  Knowing that Skye, of all people, had been feeling that just made his blood boil.  She hadn't been kidding when she said his skin got hot when he was angry, though he didn't really notice.  It was probably a result of a control issue.  Anger had him one step closer to shifting, so there was energy build-up.  He didn't have to struggle not to, usually, but that was the best theory to explain it.  Either way, he'd been furious that night.

"I wouldn't.  They'd get what they deserved," he pointed out, though he didn't say it until he was already flopped down on the couch after she pushed him.  It wasn't like it caught him off guard or anything, so he just waited to speak until he was situated, and then there she was making herself comfortable.  Perfect.  He smiled at the little kiss on his jaw, and he returned it with one of his own lightly dropped on her lips.  

[Skye LeCroix]

Skye welcomed the kiss. She was always affectionate with her husband; she was thankful he returned her attention as much as she gave it. She'd dated people in the past who hadn't, and it drove her crazy. Or they misinterpereted her designs, which also drove her crazy. She sighed a little and rested her chin on his chest, eyes moving to the TV for a moment.

"So how do you think this is going to pan out?" she asked, bringing back up the news report. She had faith Jaime would control as much as he could; where he could not, she would try, but still. This couldn't keep happening.

[Nick LeCroix]

Fortunately, he'd learned rather quickly just how physically affectionate she was without getting sexual, and he'd risen to the occasion.  As a lion, he liked being lazy and sleepy when he could, and that fit right in with her snuggling.  It was very fortunate that it had worked out that way, for both of them, since it allowed them both to simply be comfortable with each other.  Neither of them could have truly been happy with a human mate.

When she asked her question, he didn't immediately answer and instead reached to grab the remote off of the coffee table so that he could deposit it on her belly.  "It'll start with you changing the channel," he told her simply.  Yes, he was worried, and yes, this wasn't good, but he knew better than to stress over it.  Logically, human authorities would never connect him to the incident even without Jaime's help, but there was no way a single print and someone claiming to have seen a lion would push the case in that direction.  He could almost hear Jaime saying it already.  "Hoax.  How would we miss a freakin' LION running around here?  He probably made the print himself.'

Yeah, he wasn't going to stress it.