OOM: Room #100 - for Doc Scurlock

[ikissdhimbck]

[following this:]


It's been a while since Kate has spent any considerable amount of time in her own room, so it has remained rather tidy. The only real exceptions are a stack of clean laundry on her desk chair she hasn't gotten to yet, and the bedspread, which is a little disheveled from stolen naps here and there between checking on and being with Doc. On her desk is the book of poetry she had taken from his room, along with the little orange paper crane that marks her place. The poetry and favors from the wake are spread out, including several little steel green cranes, which sit awkward and deformed in some small way ('first attempts' at origami that weren't so bad as to throw away). There's also a rather extraordinary little music box, and a half-eaten box of chocolate. On the table in the corner, there are a few newspapers and posters, handmade notes about Cuero, and the like.

The real focus of attention, however, is the bathroom; complete with all its fancy little soaps, and relaxing scents, and nice, hot water. That's Kate's focus, at least, once she unlocks her door and steps inside.

.

Comments

[scurlock]

"Did ya'll run into any trouble?"

He still hasn't seen Ben since he's been back, but the outlaw can be elusive at times.

[ikissdhimbck]

"A little."

She runs her thumb over the side of his hand.

"But that was kinda the point."

She briefly recaps what happened in Texas, from their first night spent in the desert, to their time casing Cuero, right down to their rather hurried departure from Morales. She doesn't go into extreme detail, but she doesn't want to leave anything important out.

Such as their aliases, as man and wife, while they were out.

[scurlock]

"It was a useful trip, then," he replies.

The idea of Ben and Kate acting like man and wife is...a bit strange, of course. Appearances must be kept up, especially in an outlaw's line of work. Even Doc knows that.

He rubs his thumb across her knuckles.

Next time you won't need another man to stand in for your husband. I'll be there.

He nods.

"As long as there wasn't too much trouble."

[ikissdhimbck]

It was a bit strange. It was fun as hell, pulling a fast one on all those people; but even for someone as far removed from polite society as she has become, she can't shake her upbringing (not when she's grown so used to picturing her daddy's disapproving glare).

'As long as there wasn't too much trouble.'

She squeezes his hand gently, and slowly shakes her head.

"I know how much y'wanted t'go, and I wouldn't--I wouldn't've gone alone with him if I'd thought you was comin' back. But I was fresh home from Colorada, all those hopes dashed, knowin' Trout an' the law'd be waitin' for me when I went back, and I needed him. I didn't wanna make the same kinda mistakes I did with Ramon. Ben's the only one I trust, from our kinda world, who could teach me what t'do."

She turned down several other offers, in fact, because of that one simple truth. It doesn't make her look any less bothered by her guilt, though.

"I wouldn't've gone, if I'd thought... Nothin' happened, of course, but you deserved t'hear it said by me. I wouldn't've ever wanted you t'find out from someone else that I'd gone off alone with another man."

For the first time since settling down across from him, she looks away, betraying the ache still left in her heart from similar such experiences in their past.

[scurlock]

"I know nothin' happened out there with Wade, because...I know you. You wouldn't...do that."

Her words and her sudden glance away confuse him at first, until he gathers together what she's not saying and the pieces click into place.



"Nothin'...happened, Kate."

[ikissdhimbck]

His words make her tense, though she tries not to let it show.

(Not realizing that her hand is squeezing his just a little bit tighter.)

She nods as if that's the plainest truth in the world, trying to underplay the situation. But she's still not looking at him, and her voice has suddenly gone on vacation.

One would think having this conversation once would make it easier to talk about. But this is a different Doc, and theirs is a different dynamic.

[scurlock]

He can feel the way her hand tightens around his, and it gives him pause.

His eyes focus on her jaw, as he speaks.

"I...I know how it must'a looked. Us goin' out there together...and m'sorry for that. It wasn't proper and I should've...I should've thought 'bout it, 'bout what people would think. About what you might think...not sayin' you thought that I...but I realize now what I did wrong."

[ikissdhimbck]

She shakes her head slowly, which only looks like she's snuggling down more for comfort. Maybe she is.

"I-I know things are... different, here. The future's different. Men and women... Kate started explainin' it to me, but it-it wasn't the right time or place. She..."

She sighs.

"I know how much she means t'you. An' you t'her."

[scurlock]

"Things are different, but that don't...that don't mean that I shouldn't take your feelin's on the matter into account. We are close, real good friends, but it ain't...it ain't nothin' more than that."

He would never do that to Bill.

And he would never imagine doing that to Kate.

"You...you're the only girl I want, darlin'. Lord knows how some folk walk 'round downstairs wearin' nothin' but britches, but my eyes don't even see 'em. I just got my mind set on bein' with you."

[ikissdhimbck]

"No, it don't mean you shouldn't take my feelin's into account."

She raises her eyes back up to his face as she 'agrees'. She's serious, but there's a very small smile on her lips.

"You're from my world, Doc. Maybe a lil' different, here'r there, but you know what it's like. I'm not like these women here, more'n jus' for the fact that I dress a bit more finely."

She breathes a quiet laugh, shaking her head again. Her expression slowly shifts, and grows more serious. More sad.

"But it's... I mean, I knew when... I knew what sorta man you were from the get-go. You're an outlaw, an' I shouldn't... shouldn't expect you t'be like the suitors who used t'come 'round. You've been... places. ...Places that'd make me blush just t'talk 'bout them."

Forget the fact that she's already a little red.

"I know it ain't nothin' much t'you."

[scurlock]

"I ain't...I ain't...I ain't as respectable as most men that'd come 'round t'call on a fine young woman. I know that."

I'm sorry for that.

Doc shakes his head.

"But that don't mean it ain't...it ain't somethin'."

At the time, it didn't bother him. He was an outlaw and he had the means at his disposal to get what he wanted, so he got it. He's changed since then, but experiences stick with a man.

"Even if I am an outlaw."

[ikissdhimbck]

"It's not--"

She looks up at him, disengaging their hands so she can reach out and stroke his cheek.

"I ain't sayin' I wish you was different. I love you; I fell in love with you. I may not have known what I was gettin' into at the time, but I do now, and I wouldn't change you."

She bites her bottom lip.

"It just... It's unsettlin', at times. Especially when y'leave, and don't say nothin'. I know I don't look like much no more, an' I know I've done things myself that'd make my momma cry and let my daddy down, but... but it's still strange, bein' alone in a room with a man that ain't you. And it's still... hard, sometimes, when you go off with your lady friends like it's no big thing."

[scurlock]

He looks up at her and there's a hint of confusion in his eyes.

"...y'don't look like much no more? Are y'bein' serious, darlin'?"

Doc shakes his head, a quiet sense of disbelief in the air.

"You...you are...the most beautiful woman I've ever laid eyes on. Everythin' about you is perfect, no matter what. Each time I lookit you, s'like m'seein' a fine piece of artwork, hundreds of little details that make...a masterpiece. You...you're beautiful, Kate. I mean that."

[ikissdhimbck]

She smiles crookedly when he starts talking, and it only grows with every word he says. Eventually, she's laughing, quiet and bemused.

"I meant," she whispers, shifting closer to him. "I don't look like much of a lady. Not a proper one. I don't have a fine closet no more, or the reputation t'match."

She quirks her mouth again, though her expression is a bit sad.

"Y'really think I'm a masterpiece?"

[scurlock]

"I do."

Doc shifts and wraps an arm around her body, leaning in to whisper quietly, his forehead almost touching hers.

"You could be wearin' rags and still be the prettiest girl I ever seen. But don't you worry none 'bout that, I got a feelin' we'll manage t'keep your closet fine and full."

Her reputation will change, obviously. But that's to be expected.

"And I even promise that if y'want me t'git dressed up, too, I will."

[ikissdhimbck]

She really wishes she had on more layers when he pulls her close to him, and the friction of his warm, bare chest against hers sends prickles of heat through her flesh.

She smiles, and snickers softly when he assures her that her closet will not be bare.

"Will you, now? Put on your finery, like y'did for the Fourth? Dance me around the square?"

[scurlock]

"Dance y'round the square 'til the stars go t'sleep with the risin' of the sun," he promises. "Whatever you want, darlin'. I promise."

[ikissdhimbck]

"Whatever I want..."

Her voice is almost sinister. She smiles, and brushes her lips against his chin.

"An' I'd let you gussy me up, however you like."

[scurlock]

"I'll hold y'to that."

Doc grins.

(Politely.)

[ikissdhimbck]

Mm-hmm.

She sighs softly, content to share a pillow with him for a quiet moment.

Eventually:

"I trust you."

She brushes his hair out of his face tenderly.

"Just... include me, next time? I don't wanna keep secrets from you."

The 'and I don't want you to keep secrets from me' goes unspoken.

[scurlock]

"Of course."

He squeezes her hand lightly.

"I want t'travel with you. Show you places. Go on adventures."

Together.

[ikissdhimbck]

She smiles.

"I want that, too."

And, permitting for a bit more seriousness:

"You're sure you ain't mad about me goin' off with Ben? It'd be okay t'tell me. If y'were."

She still remembers how he had angrily called her out.

'I suppose now we're even for you runnin' to Wade 'fore you left here without word for months.'

[scurlock]

"I ain't mad. M'glad that you had someone there t'watch you and keep y'safe from harm. I'd rather y'had someone watchin' your back than you out there on your lonesome."

Doc looks down.

"If anything, I'm mad at myself for not bein' here."

[ikissdhimbck]

She shakes her head.

"That was my fault."

Snuggling in a bit closer, so she can wrap her arms around him, she lets her forehead fall against his.

"And trust me, cowboy: I don't plan on goin' anywhere without you again."

[scurlock]

"Good, 'cause I'd hate t'have to come up with some sorta flypaper device t'keep us smushed together all the time," he teases, closing his eyes as she wraps her arms around her.

He would come up with something, but he doesn't want to.

(But he will if he has to.)

"I love you, Kate. M'gonna be with you for a long, long time. I ain't goin' nowhere."