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

[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."

[ikissdhimbck]

"Mister, your hands are sticky enough without you needin' t'be conjurin' up devices t'keep me bound t'you."

She exhales a breathy chuckle, nuzzling up against his stubble.

(She knows he would -- and could -- if she gave him call to.)

Sighing softly, she kisses the underside of his chin.

"I am, y'know. Bound t'you. So you best not go no place you don't want me to follow."

No more dying on her.

[scurlock]

"Mm, good."

He sighs when her mouth meets the underside of his chin, lips curling into a smile.

It's quiet for a few moments.

"Y'make me feel so safe. I don't wanna go anywhere."

[ikissdhimbck]

"You are safe."

She runs the tips of her fingers down the length of his spine, watching his face with quiet curiosity. His eyes are closed, and it's a good thing, too, because he won't be able to see the concerned furrow of her brow.

She hasn't told him everything.

But he looks so peaceful.

"Nothin' could ever harm you, while I'm here. No bounty hunters, no lawmen, no Pinks or ghosts. No bad dreams. It's just me and you. You're safe."

[scurlock]

"S'been a long time since I been this safe. Here'n your arms though, nothin' s'gonna hurt me."

He keeps his eyes closed, but he does smile.

[ikissdhimbck]

A smile pulls at one corner of her mouth to match, and she sighs.

"You can fall asleep, y'know."

She continues pulling her fingers up and down his spine slowly.

"I won't mind. You pro'ly still need it."

[scurlock]

"Y'sure y'don't mind sharin' a bed?"

He's already stretching out and getting comfortable, as he speaks.

[ikissdhimbck]

She smirks crookedly. What's she gonna say? 'Yes'?

"I don't mind. Fresh outta the shower y'don't smell too awful bad."

She bites her bottom lip.

[scurlock]

He cracks his eyes open in a mock glare.

"Well bein' that I smell like you...I would hope not."

[ikissdhimbck]

She grins.

"I like that y'smell like me."

It's that subtle hint of possession.

[scurlock]

Doc smirks.

"I like it, too."

[ikissdhimbck]

"Maybe we'll hafta make a habit of it."

She pulls back a little, letting him get settled down for a nap. She isn't tired, but she has absolutely no qualms with watching him sleep for a while.

"I'll worry if y'start wearin' my perfume, though."

[scurlock]

"I don't need more'a reason for the fellas t'be callin' me a 'tenderfoot'," he murmurs, nuzzling his cheek against the pillow as his eyes stay closed.

(Nevermind the only one of the 'fellas' left is Billy, and Billy never called him a tenderfoot. Not to his face, anyway.)

[ikissdhimbck]

She furrows her brow at that.

"Who called you a tenderfoot?"

This might be the same voice she used to use with her children, when one would come crying about being pushed down outside or called names by the other boys.

[scurlock]

"Dave used t'call me that all the time. Usually when he was talkin' 'bout how it was 'his gang'."

If his eyes had been open, he'd have rolled them sarcastically, as he takes on an accent to mimic the other outlaw.

"S'my gang, and ain't gonna be no tenderfoots ridin' with Arkansas Dave, no sir. We're the meanest sons of bitches west'a the Mississippi..."

[ikissdhimbck]

"He sounds like an inbred half-wit t'me."

Not that she's biased, or anything.

[scurlock]

Doc exhales a brief, bitter laugh.

"Yeah, he is. I remember one time, we were hidin' out in White Oaks...local law got wind we were stayin' at a boardin' house on Main Street...Deputy rounded up himself a mighty fine mob'a folks set on a lynchin'. Tom came runnin' down the hall, hollerin' for us t'git downstairs 'cause there were two dozen folks out front with torches'n rope. As we're gettin' downstairs, the Deputy s'callin' from outside, namin' us all off. Dave was proud of the fact that they knew who he was. Nevermind that they wanted t'string us up for crimes 'gainst the territory."

[ikissdhimbck]

Kate shifts on her side as he speaks, tucking one elbow under her and resting her head in her hand. She stretches her free arm out across his neck, so her fingers can get at his hair (not teasing, but running slow, soothing strokes from crown to nape). She doesn't say anything; this isn't a bedtime yarn or a campfire story, this is Doc's life, his friends, and his enemies. She listens eagerly, but she'd never push him.

No matter how much she wants to ask what happened next, or get carried away in the tale.

"He sounds like he's got a death wish."

[scurlock]

He sighs happily as she begins to stroke her fingers through his hair.

"He just thinks he's the top dog, s'all. Wants t'be famous, more famous than the Kid. S'not somethin' smart t'wish for."

Doc reaches up to settle a hand at the small of her back, fingers grazing the fabric of her robe.

[ikissdhimbck]

"'Specially not if he's gon' be messin' with my man."

'Tenderfoot.'

Really.

She sighs as his touch sends shivers down her spine, letting her fingers curl around his ear as they leave his hairline, carving a featherlight path across his jaw. They double back, and repeat the motion.

"If he don't know the kinda man y'are by now, he's liable t'find out real quick next time y'see him, 'cuz I fully intend t'be on your arm when that happens."