Time Warp: Home For Christmas (Charlie)

[Charlotte Greene]

Charlie gave Frankie a squeeze when it was confirmed that he liked her back.. and at that moment she decided that she was going to bring him with her. Everywhere. --Everywhere that he wouldn't get filthy, anyway. After all, poor Frankie had missed out on a lot of Connor time, and surely such a comfy bear would want to see Connor happy.. and just to be involved.. And would likely not mind if there was some kissing in his presence. They could just avert his eyes if necessary. Bears didn't tend to tattle or to judge.

Charlie was presented with a card.. and pondered for just an instant. It wasn't her card. It was the two of diamonds.. but after her instant of pondering she smiled wide and took it, staring and showing Frankie - who no doubt would understand what she was doing. "That's so cool!" She nodded Frankie's head and slipped the card back into the deck. He'd get the next one right, she was sure.. and she'd never laugh. Not at Connor. With him, sure.. or if he'd done something to make her laugh at him, maybe. But never just outright laugh at him.

"This is totally my card, and you are totally a magician." Maybe if Connor looked close enough he would be able to see the teasing in Charlie's eyes.. but there was an awful lot of adorable to see through in order to find it. "Do you do any more tricks? Can I see? Frankie and I can be your assistants.. you can practice on us all week!"

Oh, the other things Charlie wouldn't mind Connor practicing on her.... --But.. that.. required .. a chat with someone knowledgeable about metahumans.. perhaps Dr. Neville. She.. she just couldn't risk anything bad happening to Connor. Cellular regenerator or no, she couldn't.. risk that he'd look at her different. She would sooner cut off her wings with a dull rusted blade. Which, to some, might sound like a bit of a downer to think about.. but for Charlie? For Charlie the fact that she knew beyond any doubt that she would sooner remove her wings than disappoint Connor just reinforced how much he meant to her. What she'd give to stay a part of his life. Why she was here.

[Connor Anderson]

Connor smiled affectionately as Charlie squeezed Frankie. The poor bear had definitely seen better days, but if she was happy holding onto him, he was happy to let her. No other girls had actually seen him, mostly because any girls that came over to the farm before he’d gone to Hammel had spent most of the time in the barns, following him around like ducklings as he did his chores and introduced them to some of the horses. Now he thought about it, had hadn’t even had a girl in his room before. Charlie, it seemed, would be the first for a lot of things. She was already his first girlfriend, and his first real kiss.

Apparently he was a little rusty, but with Charlie’s reaction, he didn’t realize it. He just grinned at her and reshuffled the deck, sending the card back into the mix. He was just happy he’d impressed her, not even realizing he hadn’t successfully completed the trick. “I know a couple more, yeah, but I haven’t practiced them in a while.” He’d used a few on the Bishop twins when they hung out together, but for the most part he hadn’t done a lot with the tricks he knew. “I’d probably have to look them up first. I’m kinda rusty. But if you want to practice this week, we totally can.” Curtis had long since grown bored with his little brother and his magic tricks, so having someone new to practice on that wasn’t his mom was nice. “You’d be the prettiest assistant ever.”

He wanted to keep showing her tricks, but he also wanted to show her the fluffy babies down in the pasture with their mothers. It was a tough decision. “Do you want to keep seeing the card tricks, or do you want to go see the babies? They’re probably awake right now.” It was hard to impress a girl with small foals when all they were doing was sleeping flat on their sides. They were much more fun when they were awake and interacting. “We still have some time before my mom drags us all back inside for dinner. You can meet Flynn too. He’s a really good teacher.” Which meant that, yes, they could do some riding while they were there. Flynn was the very definition of bombproof, and Connor was sure he could find one of the more mellow horses to take out for a bit. But first he needed to know what Charlie wanted to do.

[Charlotte Greene]

Oh, Charlie intended to be many more firsts for Connor. --Not that she was worried about being first for those things (save for possibly being married to him and having a child with him) but she wanted to do so, so many things with him.. and it didn't occur to her that it would be the first time either of them did said things. But he'd admitted to being rusty with his card tricks, complimented her, and then reminded her that there were fuzzies! "Oh! The foals! I'd love to meet them and Flynn!"

She wasn't sure if Frankie should come with them, though. Barns were places where things got dirty.. especially around a bunch of toddler horses. So she gave the bear another warm squeeze and set him delicately on the window seat. "We can continue being your marvelous assistants later. Definitely time for fuzzies. How big are they? Do you think they'll let me hug them like Sona does? Why are you so worried about only letting me ride bombproof horses? I totally walked Sona in a circle that one time, I'm like halfway to being a pro! How early do the little ones start training? When is the first time they get a saddle? Ooh, how young when they get their first set of shoes? Do you even shoe them then they're living away from concrete and stuff?"

And endless stream of questions would accompany the pair from Connor's room out to wherever he lead that presumably contained the little tiny horses.. at which point Charlie would squee and start bouncing up and down.. because tiny horses! So little and cute and fuzzy and CUTE! "Connor we have to name every single one of them. Right now. --I mean, before we go back to Vermont. Or right now. --That one should be Radiant.. Oh, and the lighter one should be Sahara! .. And that one Barney!" And Charlie was this happy before she'd even gotten to pet one of the foals... Connor was in for quite an afternoon.

[Connor Anderson]

Charlie’s enthusiasm for everything was infectious. For Connor, while he was happy to be home, the excitement of foals and Flynn had long since worn off. Foals happened every year, and a number of them were sold off from each crop. It sucked, but it happened, and life at the farm went on. But Charlie’s excitement was rubbing off, and he grinned happily. “They’ll love to meet you too. And Flynn. He’ll love some attention that isn’t the foals nipping at him.” He was sure his old pony was probably tired of being a babysitter, but he was an invaluable teacher for them.

The gentle way she treated Frankie made Connor smile fondly, part of him wondering why he’d left the bear here in the first place. Maybe he needed to find a spot in his bag for the trip home. As they headed out of the room, he started answering her rapid fire questions. “Still pretty little. All Thoroughbreds have the unofficial birthday of January 1st, so everyone tries to breed them as close to that date as possible. It’s so there’s a fair field of, say, three year olds racing together, instead of having some being closer to two or four. So they’re really young. My parents do a lot of handling, though, so they should be okay with hugs.” As for the bombproof horse comment, he glanced sideways at her. “I feel better letting you ride a horse that won’t spook so easy.” He still felt bad about Sona spooking over the bird and making Charlie fall. “They start training for handling and leading really early, but we actually start training them for saddles and stuff when they’re a year old.” It was young, yes, but to start racing at two, you had to start early. “Yeah, they get these special light shoes made for running on the track. Some of our mares go barefoot, though, because no one really rides them. They’re just full time moms.”

With the questions answered, he led her out to where there were a few of the mares and foals in a field together. Some of the mares were still heavily pregnant, but the others had tiny foals by their sides. Connor stopped at the fence for a moment just to watch the peaceful setting, smiling at the fuzzy creatures. Her naming frenzy made him laugh, though he couldn’t bring himself to tell her that there were specific name rules for racehorses. Barn names, however, were entirely ungoverned and open. “Those’re all good names,” he said with a little laugh, before climbing over the fence. “Climb on over. I know the mares that have foals. They’re all pros at this, and totally used to people handling them and the babies. Carefully, he approached the nearest one – a tall, pretty black mare, with a fuzzy brown foal by her side. She watched them approach before snuffling at Connor’s hands, looking for treats. “Charlie, this is Moonstruck. And I think this is the one you called Radiant.” The foal seemed curious enough, and was probably the oldest of the new batch from the looks of it. “You can pet, uhhh...” He stooped down for a moment to confirm. “Her. She’s a filly.”

[Charlotte Greene]

Out at the barn with Connor inviting her over to play with the cutest freaking little fuzzy thing she'd ever seen, Charlie could have lost her mind. She didn't... as there likely weren't any telepaths around to find it, but oh, she could have. Fortunately for her she didn't.. as even well-seasoned mommies may well get nervous around someone literally sprouting wings and flying over to glomp them. Likely something they'd never seen before nor had the first idea what to do about.

So, barely containing her excitement and literally shaking with the effort it took to do so, Charlie gently hopped over the fence and made her way deliberately to the fuzzy and her mom. "Of course she's a filly. You can see it in the way she's watching me. Colts - just like human boys - look at girls different when they walk up." This was all said so straight-faced it may be hard for Connor to tell if Charlie was serious or joking. And she wasn't going to be giving any clues.. instead doing her (by now) usual strange horse-whisperer thing. If it worked on Sona, why not Moonstruck?

She walked slowly up beside Moonstruck, staring her politely in the eye with a huge smile, keeping her hands visible, her posture relaxed (though still slightly shaking with the overwhelming joy of being around such beautiful and cute things), and gave her a small bow. "It's nice to meet you, Moonstruck. You're so beautiful and you look like such a good mother. I'd like to give you a hug if that's okay.. I want to be your friend and your little filly's friend. Can I give you a hug, please?"

No answer or indifference, Charlie would take as a 'yes'.. and if Moonstruck seemed completely unfettered by her presence, Charlie would very slowly ease forward and wrap her arms gently around Moonstruck's neck, rubbing her hand gently along the horse's mignight-colored coat. "Thank you, Moonstruck." Of course, then, if the horse had done anything Charlie could perceive as 'no' or 'not right now' or 'who the heck are you?' she would have simply nodded and smiled, adding "Maybe later when you trust me a bit more, then."

Either way, immediately after, she'd have dropped to a knee to be closer to eye level with the filly she'd dubbed Radiant. "You certainly live up to your new namesake, Miss Radiant. You'll give me a hug, won't you?" And she simply opened her arms and gestured lightly with her outstretched hands in the 'come here' motion that even horses aught to be familiar with (though perhaps not ones this young), hoping the adorable little fuzzball would take a few steps forward into her arms for a warm, soft hug.

If she managed to get at least one hug from either horse, Charlie would shortly stand back up and stare at Connor, beaming with happiness. "I love you so much.." And with no warning whatsoever she'd lean forward and steal a quick kiss from him, her smile unwavering and as genuine as any smile had ever been. "So, so much."

And just like that, she was back in fillymode, dropping back down to talk in adorable baby voices. "Such a cute little radiant Radiant, aren't you? Yes you are you adorable little filly you." And with a quickness that was only matched by it's gentleness, she worked to find the places the little filly liked most to be petted or scratched, looking and feeling so much in her element that one might imagine she'd lived and worked on this very farm for years.. despite the fact that, in reality, the first horse she'd ever so much as touched was Sona a few short months ago.

If one didn't know any better, they might get the idea that Charlie was destined to be very good with little beings.. and might one day want to raise a herd of her own.

[Connor Anderson]

Connor had long since become familiar with the look of a nearly-lost mind over adorable fuzzies. He’d had enough friends over of the female variety that had the same expression. But now it was different. Charlie’s expression gave him hope. If they were going to be together for a long time, he’d need her to be open to farm life. Foals were one very pleasant part of farm life, and he was happy to introduce her to his world through them.

Her explanation made him smile, shaking his head in amusement. “Look at you. Not even half a day on the farm and you’re a horse expert.” He didn’t know where that logic came from, but he was happy to go along with it if it made Charlie happy.

As the girl approached, Moonstruck’s posture was also relaxed. She’d had several foals, and was used to frequent handling of her herself and her offspring. As such, while she kept an eye on the girl, she didn’t move to place herself between Charlie and her filly. Dark ears flicked slightly at her voice, and a soft muzzle dropped to Charlie’s back as the mare was hugged. Most of the Anderson’s mares were easily handled, and Moonstruck was no exception. Connor just watched, pleased with the way the mare reacted. Charlie really did have an oddly soothing way with the horses. Hell, if she could calm Sona, she could calm anyone.

Moonstruck seemed content enough to be snuggled, and when Charlie dropped from her to the filly, she simply lowered her head and began to pick at the grass near her feet, one ear and eye keeping focus on the girl and her baby. The little filly watched Charlie with wide eyes, her short brush of a tail flicking in excitement. She’d already learned that people were good, and this girl seemed extra-good in her little eyes. The open armed gesture at first made Radiant scuttle backwards, her head tilted in slight confusion, before she gathered her courage back up and stepped forward, right into Charlie’s arms. Her little tail continued to flick in pleasure as she was touched. People were definitely good.

Connor leaned back on his heels slightly, brushing his fingers though Moonstruck’s mane as she grazed. A soft smile was clear on his face as he watched Charlie. This really was perfect. As she stood up to face him again, he grinned and kissed her back. “I love you too,” he assured. “’And I’m happy that you’re so happy here.” Watching her have such a good time with Radiant reinforced the idea that they really could be together for a long time. And it was also giving him an idea. Yes, he already had a few things for her for Christmas, but... there was something else he could do. He just had to talk to his parents about it first. He’d do that after dinner, he decided quickly.

Radiant was happy to lean into Charlie’s touches, squirming merrily under her fingers as they carded through her soft fuzzy coat. Connor continued to stroke Moonstruck’s neck and shoulder, glad that she was such an accommodating mother. “When you’re done with Radiant, we’ll go check out Flynn. He’s in with the yearlings right now, and he’d probably be grateful for a break. If you want, we can even ride on the practice track.” The idea of fuzzy, slightly lazy Flynn on the track was enough to make him want to laugh. Especially if he went and raided the retired racehorse pasture. They may have retired, but their desire to run never quite faded.

[Charlotte Greene]

With a bow and a pet to both little miss Radiant and her mother, Charlie bid them adieu and nearly pulled Connor straight to Flynn... who she would introduce herself to as well as all the 'young ones' with him.. spending a few moments getting comfortable around the bigger and likely rowdier yearlings.. These ones, it seemed, were even easier to tell gender with.. Charlie had about a 90% success rate, if Connor was keeping track.

Of course Flynn deserved to run for a bit, get away from the kids. So if Connor had hesitated even a little, Charlie would have begged on Flynn's behalf. --Not because she'd wanted desperately to be able to ride solo ever since that one circle she'd had Sona take her on to the point that she had dreams about it several times a week.. No, definitely because Flynn needed a break. That, yeah.

Old and slightly lazy or not... Charlie loved Flynn all the more when he was out on the track. She didn't need to go Kentucky Derby with a thoroughbred beneath her to enjoy what it was to share the wind with a competent horse.. trotting and cantering and galloping with Flynn was freaking amazing.. even if poor Charlie wasn't quite in shape enough to make him look very good. It wasn't long before she knew she was getting tired and should stop. She wouldn't forgive herself if she managed to get hurt or be too sore to ride the next day..

Fortunately, Connor being as overprotective as he was noticed fairly quickly and feigned some excuse about Flynn or his mother calling to help with dinner.. They both knew he was only making excuses so Charlie didn't have to, but she appreciated it perhaps more than he knew.

After Fuzzies, Young-uns, and a ride on Flynn, Charlie was very much distracted by what appeared to be a rather fresh litter of barn cats... Not so small that they couldn't handle themselves, but still tiny enough to be adorable and aloof and fuzzballs.. Charlie had 'accidentally' snuck one into the house in her shirt, and had been extremely relieved when she'd found another kitten there after the fact.. Dinner had of course been a little awkward with Charlie trying desperately to retain a professional distance from Connor in the family's presence, but Curtis was on oddly good behavior for the entire thing.. Charlie had actually let herself believe that she'd told him off and was more than a little surprised at how easy it had been...

Magic tricks and Frankie had been a relaxing evening during which it seemed cuddling wasn't entirely off limits, and finally the hardest part of the trip came... Sleeping in her own room. Which.. well.. Charlie wasn't sure if it was a requirement or a request or a sideways glance at a thought just in case, but she felt she needed to not jump immediately into Lindsey's son's bed. Connor's parents hadn't grilled her about her life so she felt she owed them a courtesy in return..

So it was with exhausted not-quite-sad eyes that Charlie gave Connor a tight hug and took Frankie into her room, quickly changing into a light top and shorts to sleep in, putting her hair back into a loose bun, and fell gratefully into bed. Now if only Connor would be the one to come to her.. Then she wouldn't need to miss him.

[Connor Anderson]

Connor was happy to go along with whatever Charlie wanted to do. The afternoon was theirs to explore and meet as many four legged family members as possible. Though the yearlings were spunky and pushy, she still seemed to enjoy them. She seemed to enjoy liberating Flynn from his babysitting job as well. Flynn seemed just as happy, the old grey pony eagerly following them out of the pasture.

Showing Charlie what riding on the track was all about was even more fun than showing her the basics on Sona. There was something special about even cantering along the rain, wind whipping around, and simply being one with the animal below you. Connor had felt it so many times, but sharing it with Charlie turned out to be truly special.

Of course, he kept an eye on her and Flynn. Flynn was up there in years, and while he still had spunk, Connor watched his legs carefully for any sign of trouble. Watching Charlie, he could see when she started to tire too. At least she didn’t fight him on clearing the track, even if he did offer that it was more for Flynn’s benefit than anything else.

Once the horses were brushed and put away, touring the barns was next on the agenda. Connor was thrilled that Charlie seemed so happy on the farm, and it raised his hopes that perhaps, if they stayed together, she’d be happy there for a long, long time.

During dinner, he’d been suspicious of Curtis. His brother didn’t often voluntarily behave, especially around him. Maybe their father had talked to him… or maybe he was planning something. Whatever it was, Connor was going to keep an eye on him.

Yet he didn’t really reappear after dinner. He’d gone out to help with bedding the horses down and ensuring all was as it should be at the barns before going to be bed. This left Connor and Charlie to cuddle in the living room near the fireplace before going to bed.

Saying goodnight was hard, but Connor settled into bed and tried not to think about the fact that Charlie was right across the hall, rather than a whole off-limits floor away from him at Hammel. It would be easy to steal across the hall and cuddle with her all night…

He had a hard time settling down properly after that thought.

He wasn’t the only one awake, though. After their parents had retired to their bedroom, Curtis slipped out of his. He wasn’t malicious by nature, but he was mischievous, and this was something he just couldn’t pass up. Padding quietly down the hall, he peeked first in Connor’s room, then in Charlie’s before crossing the threshold into her room. Grinning to himself, he slid onto the bed beside her and rested one hand on her hip. “You awake, pretty girl?”

He couldn’t possibly see how this could go wrong.

[Charlotte Greene]

Charlie had been.. admittedly a bit exhausted. And had been asleep around a half a second before her head had even hit the pillow. It was a good, happy kind of exhausted, though.. and she was already dreaming about Connor and the fuzzies and Flynn and Lindsey and yes.. even Curtis.. when the aforementioned slipped into her room.

She'd actually been dreaming of her bed in the stables.. Little Radiant prancing and happy to see her while her mother gently nuzzled the little girl to settle her.. It was sleep time, after all. Then Connor was there, of course.. he slid into bed with her. She'd been waiting for him to slip his arms around her and clutch her to his chest.. but instead he placed a hand on her hip... Not.. an overly Connor thing to do. But it was Connor anyway so it was okay.. Then he spoke.. and the voice wasn't quite right... "You awake, pretty girl?" ... That.. didn't sound like Connor at all. Why were things so strange? The bed was in the house, not in the stables...

Charlie blinked her eyes open.. feeling breath on her neck and a hand on her hip.. --He'd come! Connor had come to her so she didn't have to sleep alone! Oh thank the gods. She'd wanted so badly for so long to share a bed with Connor just to be close to him while she slept.. Her best sleep was always in Connor's arms or with her own wrapped around him. Always with Connor. She was going to sleep better than she ever had.... Every knight deserved a kiss from his princess though, right?

Charlie turned over with a grin, reaching up with her hands to gently hold Connor's face and plant a kiss on his forehead... but... the face she found wasn't Connor's. No way. The shape was different and the facial hair was different and she opened her eyes and stared at not-Connor....

Then she screamed. Charlie screamed and she shoved forward with her arms as she kicked out with her legs, sending herself off one side of the bed and Connor off the other. Before she could calm herself down, Charlie was hoving several feet off the ground in the corner of the room and hyperventilating, holding a lamp like a billy club and shaking.. with no idea who was in her room or why or where Conn or w--

The overhead light in the room clicked on. Connor was in the doorway... He looked so.. so worried. The relief that he was here was so overwhelming that Charlie's wings forgot to work and she fell uncermoniously to the floor with an 'oof'. "Ow.. C-connor.. somebody.. in the bed.. Not you.. Ow..." She was curled up in the corner rubbing her leg where it had somewhat violently met the end-table next to the bed when she'd fallen out of the sky.

I suppose that did answer the ever-cheesy question, though. It did indeed hurt when angels fell from heaven.. Assuming there was an end-table on the way down, anyway.

[Connor Anderson]

Connor may have been tuckered out from the day, but sleep was not an easy thing to come by. He tried, but he couldn’t do much more than doze. Sadly, it was dozing he was doing when a certain creature stole down the hallway.

With everyone else sleeping, it was all too easy for Curtis to slink down the hall and into his brother’s girlfriend’s room. His intentions were far from impure, but rather born of mischief and trouble. Anything to get under Connor’s skin, especially after he’d gotten into trouble earlier. All he’d meant was a little bit of fun.

Which was all this was, really. Fun.

He grinned at the kiss, deciding quickly that it was an unexpected bonus. Even if it wasn’t meant for him. He could now forever brag that Connor’s girlfriend had kissed him.

The scream… he had not expected. Jumping, he was easily shoved off the bed, hitting the ground with a thud. That… was going to leave a solid bruise.

The scream had awoken what seemed like the whole household. Connor woke from his light doze and dashed across the hall, thinking Charlie was having a nightmare or something. Instead, he saw…

”Curtis!” He half yelled, half hissed his brother’s name, bolting forward to swat him before crossing the room to scoop Charlie up. “Are you okay, Charlie? You’re not hurt, are you?” His voice turned gentle for her, but when he looked back at Curtis, it went back to a hiss. ”I’m going to kill you, Curtis.”

Sadly, he wasn’t going to get that chance. Because their mother was up, and she looked downright livid. “Curtis! Get back in your room now. You are in so much trouble.” Once he was up and moving, she gave a much more sympathetic look to her younger son and Charlie. “Are you all right Charlie? I’m so sorry about him. He and I are going to have words.” Which… pretty much spelled doom in the Anderson household.

Connor cuddled Charlie closer to his chest. “I can look after her, Mom.” After taking a moment to think about it, Lindsey nodded. It was too late at night to argue this, and she still had Curtis to deal with.

“Okay. You do that.” Running a tired hand through her hair, she nodded again. “I’m trusting you both.” With that, she turned on her heel to stalk after her oldest child.

Which left her youngest to carefully carry Charlie over to his room, kicking the door shut behind him. “I’m sorry, Charlie. He didn’t do anything, did he?” If he did, he was beyond dead.

[Charlotte Greene]

Oh. Oh that was how Lindsey managed to run this farm.. Because when she felt the need (or was woken by a scream at who-knows-what-o-clock) she was terrifying... For a moment, Charlie almost started begging her forgiveness or crying because she had brought the wrath of Mrs. Anderson from the depths which in which it normally slumbered... Then, though, as was apparently necessary from a decent mother, Mrs. Anderson (because seriously after that small display, first-name-basis was no longer a thing until after breakfast the following morning) turned a much, much more gentle look on Charlie and Connor in their little corner of the room... Charlie herself staring like a deer in the headlights of an 18-wheeler and Connor with eyes only for her.

Fortunately, Connor wasn't nearly as shellshocked as Charlie. In fact... as he promised to look after her and his mother agreed and headed off, it was that moment - the moment when her eyes found his and his were so full of concern for her and rage at his brother (or any other being) that may have hurt her - that Charlie decided she was going to marry him one day. Sure, the idea had been in the back of her head for quite a while by that point, but this moment was when it knocked her upside the head that she'd wanted it all along and was bound and determined to get it.. Both for herself and for him.

Charlie's leg still smarted more than a little bit as she was picked up and carried (wow, Connor had picked her up so easily.. like she weighed nothing... that was.. the most amazing feeling) to Connor's room and set gently on her bed. He was still so full of concern.. of determination to make everything better.. of not desire but need to make her okay. He asked if Curtis had done anything and instead of answering, Charlie simply wrapped her arms around Connor and pressed her lips to his. He was so painfully easy to love.

Some amount of time later when her nerves had been calmed by Connor's embrace and her breathing him in, Charlie slumped a bit and lay her head against his chest. "No.. No he didn't do anything. I was.. sleepy.. and I thought it was you.. and I was so happy I think I kissed him thinking he was you.. but he wasn't you and I just panicked and screamed and I think the table by the bed caught my leg on the way down and I'll be okay I was just.. I was just scared, that's all. I hope he isn't in too much trouble. Heh.. I guess I hope he's in a little trouble, but not too much."

By that time, though, the adrenaline was wearing thin and Charlie was feeling far more tired than before.. and she eased away from him and stared through heavy eyelids.. "I guess I should almost thank him.. I get to spend the whole night with you now. My knight in shining armor.. my prince charming who saved me from the dragon..." She paused for a moment, then made a grimace and faked a small retch.. "Or from dragonbreath, at least. I don't think he brushed his teeth before bed. Bluh." If Connor didn't make a move to get comfy soon, though, he might find himself sleeping sitting up.. He aught to know by now that Charlie was seldom more comfortable than when she could lay against him like this, arms wrapped around his middle, head on his chest. It was the best sleep she'd gotten since she'd manifested, and she was going to get a bit more of it if they didn't lay down soon.

[Connor Anderson]

Yes, Lindsey could be tough when she wanted to be. Or needed to be, like when her oldest son was out of bed causing trouble for their guest. Some clients were cautious around her, and Curtis knew damn well he needed to tread lightly as well. That more than anything had propelled him out of the room. One did not disobey Lindsey Anderson and expect to live without some kind of repercussion. She didn’t even bat an eye at Connor’s hissed threats, mostly because she knew he wasn’t going to make good on them. … Okay, he might smack him at breakfast, but she wasn’t going to stop him. Curtis deserved it, along with the consequences she would be laying down on him.

Connor wasn’t thinking about much more than a) Charlie being hurt, and b) killing Curtis in the most painful and creative ways possible. Marriage was truthfully the furthest from his mind. All he wanted was for Charlie to be okay and safe, even if that meant he had to stay up and stand guard over her as she slept. He doubted it would come to that, not with the look his mother had been giving Curtis, but it would make him feel better.

Once they were safe in his room he made sure the door was closed. He didn’t have a lock on it – mostly because he’d never needed one – but in the Anderson house, a closed door was as good as locked. Now they were alone he hoped he could get an answer out of her as to whether or not she was hurt.

Nope. Instead he got a kiss. Which was fine with him. He met it as gently as he could, all while holding her close against his chest. His anger was slowly subsiding, giving way to relief that Charlie seemed okay.

The fact she voiced it made him relax a little, shoulders drooping as Charlie slumped against him. “I’m sorry.” His hand reached up to card through her hair gently. “If I know my mother, he’ll be lucky if his breakfast isn’t poisoned tomorrow.” Which wasn’t true, but it made him feel better. “He’ll be in trouble, I promise.” How much, he didn’t know. But he secretly hoped it was a lot. He deserved it.

Try as he might, he couldn’t keep the smirk off his face at the dragon comment. “I’d call him a dragon from now on, but he’d probably think of a way to make that a good thing.” Shaking his head, he lifted the blanket so Charlie could slip underneath. Once they were both under, he shifted so that his arm cradled her neck. “Don’t worry about him though, okay? I’ll keep you safe. I promise.” Leaning over, he kissed her forehead softly. “… I love you, Charlie.”

[Charlotte Greene]

By the time Connor managed to get them both under the covers, Charlie was fading fast.. It had been a long, long day full of new people and excitement and (ugh) Curtis at the end there.. She was very nearly asleep when Connor kissed her forehead and she let out the gentlest of giggles.. She had always wondered what this would be like, and planned to take full advantage of the opportunity. She scooted away from Connor slightly, then rolled, ending up with her back snug against his chest. She took his arms and wrapped them gently around her shoulders and hugged them there, snuggling back into him a little more and letting out the sigh of someone who had been standing for hours and finally got to take a seat in a comfortable chair.

Later she would dream about living in this state, this house, this very room.. Filled with so much happiness and love that it was visible and palpable and warm even in the dead of winter.. having Connor's children, crying on his shoulder, fighting with him about something they both knew was stupid because they were both in some strange way afraid of how much they were in love... But for the moment she simply leaned her head down slightly and kissed his wrist pressed loosely to her chest. "I love you more."