2007-03-07: Not-So-Perfect Timing

Starring:

Cass_icon.gif Lachlan_icon.gif

Date It Happened: March 07, 2007

Summary: After getting drunk and "recruited" at the Den of Iniquity, Lachlan stumbles over to Cass' apartment for a visit. He tells her about his conversation with Jack and learns that she's in on the operation too. Cass spills wine on his shirt and Lachlan passes out in the middle of a kiss.

Not-So-Perfect Timing


Cass' Apartment

It's been a weird sort of day for Cass, but not one without progress. She finally feels like she has a place in this heroes union she's found herself a part of. Once Hiro left and the store was properly closed, she made straight for home. It's a small one bedroom apartment in Brooklyn, but it's cozy and stuffed comfortably full with books and furniture and other belongings. Cass has decided to hunker down in her PJs on the couch with a relaxing book and a glass of wine.

Relaxing? Not for long! After leaving the Den (which, ironically, is where Lachlan got mixed up in this heroes thing as well), a certain inebriated Scotsman has seen fit to wend his way to the apartment in Brooklyn to check on a certain someone. Maybe it was all the talk about whips and women who were worth being whipped over or something of the sort. He can't quite remember, and he's never been one to question his impulses. Lachlan is dressed in his usual fare and Padfoot is with him when he weaves to the familiar door and slumps against the frame. One fist goes up and knocks gently — well, actually it's a loud BANGBANGbangbang as the scotch he had has screwed with his muscle control, but it was /intended/ to be gentle. "Caaaaaass!" he drawls. "Ye home?"

Not far from the door, Cass would have to be deaf to miss Cass' banging and yelling. She looks over at the clock and then back at the door while she drops her book on the coffee table and hurries to the door. Opening it, she sees a leaning Scotsman right in front of her. "Lachlan!" she hisses, looking out into the hallway to see if anyone is coming out to see where the disturbance is coming from. Grabbing him by the shirt, she tugs, trying to get him inside and the door shut behind him as quickly as possible. He's going to wake the neighbors. "What are you /doing/ here? It's, like, two in the morning."

Since he had planned to enter the apartment anyway and is quite drunk to boot, Lachlan is easily hauled in through the door, followed by Padfoot, who drops onto his haunches near the entrance and remains quiet. The price of the tugging, however, is the fact that Cass now gets to support a bit of the man's weight as he leans on her, grinning. "Wanted ta see ye," is the Scot's simple and somewhat slurred response. "D'ye get m'present?" /Hi/, Cass!

"Ack!" While Cass is expecting Lachlan to be dragged in, she's not quite expecting him to put most of his weight on her. Luckily, after she stumbles backwards slightly, she manages to stand upright. The door swings shut behind them of its own accord. Awkwardly, she tries to steer Lachlan toward the couch, where she can safely drop him. "Well, that's nice, but it's very unexpected." And smells like he's been drinking. "I did! Thank you…it was very sweet. The ice pack was nice. What have you been doing?"

Whumpf! goes Lachlan onto the couch. It's not graceful at all and the couch may or may not have some cracked framework now, but he makes it /onto/ the couch as opposed to halfway /off/ it. That's something. He's still grinning and even giggles a little, because flopping gracelessly onto a couch is /funny/. "Shit," he sniggers, attempting to at least keep one hand on Cass as he sprawls there. "'Ve been drinkin'." Duh. "With, uh— " squint "— wha's-his-name." He waves his free hand as he attempts to pull the name out of thin air. "Jack!" Got it. "Jack. Gave me a call, wanted me ta get in on somethin' 'bout a Company an' dogs an' shit. Dunno." The hand on Cass' waist gives a feeble pull. "C'meeeeere," he urges in a partial whine. He's occupying basically the entire couch, so the only place to really sit is his lap.

Cass allows herself to be pulled onto the couch and onto Lachlan's lap. She doesn't mind, but she's a little standoffish about the whole thing. She can't help it. It's not that she's not happy to see him, just the circumstances are a little wrong. But when he starts talking about Jack, that's when she starts to pull away. "Get in on what about a Company? Jack said this? What did he want you to get in on?" This is important and her tone of voice should convey that in no uncertain terms.

/Nothing/ is important when Lachlan is drunk. Or, well … nothing that involves /talking/, anyway. He still grins goofily up at Cass and seems /amused/ about her seriousness rather than perturbed or sobered. He even giggles again. "Uh … fuck'f I know," he snorts, waving a hand vaguely. "Somethin'. Uh. Think 'twas 'bout a boy 'r someone an' dentin' skulls. Dunno. 'M a bit pissed." Yeah, that's quite obvious. He reaches out for Cass with /both/ hands this time. Why'd she get up? That's not fun.

Sighing, Cass frowns at the flippancy of Lachlan's response to her question. Of course, he's drunk and probably can't be expected to think seriously. "Are you going to remember in the morning or is it just gone?" Because if it's something he's going to remember in the morning, she can talk to him about it then. On the other hand, if he's just totally forgotten it, that's just as dangerous. Especially if people are supposed to be counting on him now. As he's drunk, it's pretty easy for her to maneuver away from his grabbing hands. "I can see that. It's /important/ Lachlan." Might as well just go for the direct approach.

There is a distinct frown on Lachlan's face when his grab-attempt fails and he slumps back against the couch again. Hmm. Whatever-it-is that Cass is talking about /must/ be important if she's talking that way and acting that way. He does his level best to focus, squinting up at her in mild frustration and concentration. She said it was important, so he'll try to remember the little details that the scotch so beautifully fogs. After a moment, he breathes out a sigh. "Ffff. Jack said … there's a thing called the Company an' they're after people like me. Yanno, with the … with the … stuff." He waves a hand over his head in an attempt to indicate his powers. "Talkin' ta dogs an' shit. Tha' stuff. Said there's some sort o' figh' brewin' ta take the Company down a bit an' free someone they've got. Dinna say much else." There. He's /pretty/ sure that's accurate.

Well, that was the answer Cass was basically accepting, but the whole symmetry of it makes her laugh a bit. "So, what did you say?" This is really the tense part for her. She knows he's frustrated and drunk, but this is the most important part of the whole thing. It's possible he thinks this is a load of crap and doesn't believe it, he could say no, he could have joined up. But it's important to know so she knows what exactly she can say around him. Especially if she's supposed to be information director.

"Said I'd do it, sure." This said with a small, casual shrug of his shoulders. Lachlan doesn't figure the Company /isn't/ real, but he doesn't view it as a huge threat either. For him, this will be just fun. It's not super serious at all. But now that he's spoken his answer to Cass, he narrows his eyes at her in a rather wary sort of way. Now he's remembering how Eliana had acted in the pub. Cass is a woman, so she might act like that too. Gender-profiling, what?

Cass has no idea how Eliana acted in the pub or that Eliana was even there. As soon as Lachlan says his answer, she lets out a sigh and let's the tenseness slump out of her shoulders. Serious Cass is slowly going away. In fact, now she gives the Scot a grin and drops back down into his lap. No, she's not bipolar, that was just a Good Answer. "Well, I'm glad to hear that. I think." She realizes that he may be with their merry band only for this one time thing, but at least she doesn't have to pretend that she has no idea what he's talking about. "I'm kind of on the brains side of the operation."

Still, Lachlan remains wary, suspicious even, until Cass mentions being part of the operation. Then, he grins. Good! She isn't like Eliana. Lachlan /likes/ Cass. He places his hands on her waist and shuffles his weight a little to get more comfortable on the couch, laying his head back against the arm of it. "Yeah? Tha's kinda funny. Mebbe ye can tell me a bit more, then. Jack wasna very chatty 'bout it; kept sayin' he had ta run it by a few people first." "It" isn't specified, but he means his joining up on the expedition.

Cass shifts along with Lachlan, getting comfortable on the couch. Well, on his lap while he's sitting on the couch. In fact, she reaches over and grabs her half-filled glass of wine to finish off. Can't let it go to waste, now can she? "Well, I can't say much else, either, yet. It's all pretty new to me. I just found out most of what I know tonight." Which is mostly true. She doesn't want to lie to Lachlan, but she doesn't know how much she can say to him, either. "All I know is that the Company is not a good place and they've got people who can do things like you trapped. They kidnap them or something. So, we're trying to see if we can help get them out."

Sadly, Lachlan isn't in it for the glory or the heroics. He first got into it because it was something that would piss off Eliana. Now he's in it because Cass thinks it's something good. He's such a /caring/ individual. He does have the decency to frown in displeasure at the mention of kidnappings and such. "'S a good thing only three people know 'bout wha' I do, then," he remarks and then, after a pause, he narrows his eyes inquisitively at Cass again. "Cass? Ye wouldna tell anyone 'bout wha' I do, would ye?" The entire scare with Jack knowing about his powers has made this Something Important To Discuss.

It's probably a good thing that Cass doesn't know he's only in it to please her. While the sentiment is sweet, that's not what she thinks this should be about. Morals, remember? "Definitely. Though I don't know how this Company even finds out about others like you. Maybe some people are more open about what they can do." The pause makes Cass pause. She was right in the middle of drinking. The question widens and then narrows her eyes. "What? Of course not. That's your thing to tell people, not mine. It's like if I told you my bra size and you just started to randomly tell people on the street." Okay, it's not /really/ like that, but it's the best comparison she can think of.

But … Lachlan probably /would/ tell random people on the street about such things. /No/ morals, remember? He bites his lip and goes silent for a moment, frowning as he files this away as Something Not To Do In The Future. Good thing he was told this preemptively, or there might have been trouble down the line. But now? Now the Scotsman is /curious/. The uneasy frown turns into an inquisitive one and the hands on Cass' waist start to reach for the hem of her shirt and tug it upward. "Wha' /is/ yer bra size anyway?" he mumbles. Because it's totally kosher to yank up a woman's shirt to see. Drunkenness reduces his inhibitions and makes him playful as well.

So, serious conversation is over now. When Lachlan makes a grab for her shirt, Cass laughs and leans backwards, attempting to wriggle away from the inquiring hands. "Hey! Hey! I was making a metaphor, not an invitation." One hand reaches down to attempt to stop Lachlan and the other raises her wine glass over her head in an attempt not to spill it all over the place. It's no fun to just give in, after all.

But curiosity and determination make Lachlan quite a foe, and the attempts to push his hands away only encourage him. He grins and renews his efforts with increased fervor. "Wha'? Just a look s'all," he insists with a snicker. And just to make things more difficult on Cass and her valiant efforts to fight back, one of his hands gives up the fight with the hem of her shirt and instead resorts to crooking fingers and attempting to tickle at her sides. Ha ha ha /ha/!

It's hard to fend Lachlan off with only one hand. However, that's all she has and while she's making a valiant effort, she can only prevent one thing - shirt tugging upwards or tickling. Unfortunately, she doesn't have enough time to stop it. Squirming now, she squeals a bit at the tickling. The joke, ultimately, is on the Scot, though. The involuntary jerk from his attack makes her drop her wine glass - spilling most of it on him and only some of the splash on herself. This only makes her laugh even harder. "Karma, Lachlan Deately. Karma!"

The sudden wetness on his stomach and chest is enough to make Lachlan freeze. His eyes go wide and he remains still for several seconds, bewildered. Wait, what happened? A slow and careful examination soon reveals the culprit, but instead of freaking out, he snorrrrrrts and begins to laugh as well. "Fuck," he whispers as he picks up the hem of his soaked shirt to stare at the large purple stain that has now spread over his front. "Look wha' ye did." He tugs the fabric outward to display the splatter to Cass, just in case she missed its glaring obviousness. "'M all wet." And /purple/. "Least it's m'favorite color," he adds as an afterthought.

"Look what /I/ did?" Cass replies incredulously, even if she's still laughing. "You're the one that did this to yourself." She doesn't seem to mind it as long as he doesn't. After all, he's the one with the big purple stain down his front. Picking up the now empty wine glass, she sets it down on the coffee table by her book. "Poor Lach's shirt." Rearranging herself so that she's more or less sitting up again, she leans in to give Lachlan a light, teasing kiss. An apology of sorts.

This is an acceptable form of apology. Lachlan is totally okay with it, even if it takes him a bit by surprise (he /was/ rather fixated on the pretty stain). Still, it's a kiss, and his first instinct is to return it and push into it slightly in the hopes of making it a little less light. The stain on his shirt is more or less forgotten in about two seconds and his hands return to Cass' waist. This is /much/ more fun than talking.

Cass does so enjoy surprising Lachlan. He gets a cute expression on his face when she succeeds. Not caring that the wet wine stain is probably now bleeding on her top, she wraps her arms around and pushes against him, readily allowing it to become more than just a quick apology kiss. Even Cass enjoys not talking sometimes.

Time for talking is over, it would seem, but the evening isn't going to end as Lachlan might like. He's had a bit to drink and a bit of excitement in the evening. His fingers get just beneath the hem of Cass' shirt again before his side of the kiss starts to lose some vigor and then stops altogether. His head slowly starts to fall to one side as the alcohol catches up with him and he begins to drift off into scotch-induced dreamland.

When Lachlan stops kissing and starts to fall asleep, Cass sighs and extricates herself from the tangle that she's found herself in. Once standing, she makes sure the passed out Scot is fully on the couch and then throws a spare blanket over him. It's not exactly as she was planning on ending the evening, either, but this is probably for the best. Once he's taken care of Cass turns off the lights and heads for her own bed.

Lachlan snores. Padfoot has fallen asleep by the door. Zzzz.

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