Log: takeout appreciation night

[searchandrecovery]

Who: Agent Washington and Oquirrh
What: A date and some reveals
Where: Washington's old apartment, now a safehouse
When: Saturday evening, 5/30
Warnings: Secrets have been kept. Potential language or temper tantrums



Out of all the things Wash has cleaned lately, cleaning the old apartment in preparation for Takeout Appreciation Night has been Wash's favorite. It was the biggest job by far, but once the roaches were swept away, dust eliminated, and furniture arranged, the apartment looked almost cozy, if slightly bare. He was never in it long enough to do full-scale interior decorating.

After the cleaning was done, Wash went to get the takeout. This time, it was quasi-Chinese: several paper cartons of noodles, stir fried vegetables, and teriyaki chicken. It wasn't the most creative of takeouts, but it was safe, and he knew the food was good. After all, who doesn't like takeout Chinese?

Now, he's waiting. The couch is set (after all, takeout should always be eaten on a couch), movies are selected if necessary, and he's all showered and dressed and ready to start. And oh, is he ready to start.

Comments

[searchandrecovery]

Well, she's definitely not faking. But he hates seeing her like this. He hates what they've done to her. She's just as much a victim of control as his friends are, if not even more so. Wash knows what Recovery would do. Recovery would march right out there and stick a knife in Control's metaphorical gut. But he's not Recovery, not now. He's Washington, and what matters most to him is his friends. His girlfriend.

So he leans into her, and pulls her into a hug. He's not the greatest with words right now, but that doesn't mean he isn't going to try.

"We're just..going to have to work a little harder. And be really, really careful. So no one gets hurt." Not his teammates, and especially not her.

[oquirrh_at_the_wheel]

Oquirrh sinks into his arms and sobs against his shoulder. His embrace is the last thing she dared to hope for. And though her tears soak his shirt, she doesn't try to pull away.

"Yeah," she says. "Except Control. I gave Florida the information of all their contacts in this city. Not sure they're going to be safe." Not that she can bring herself to care. Not about some Control grunt who might be spying on them.

"He's getting me a new helmet. And he wants me to meet your team. If you're okay with it." She won't force herself into his world. He doesn't deserve that. But she wants to join it so badly that she aches.

[searchandrecovery]

Okay with it? In any other situation, he'd be ecstatic. Right now, he's just an odd mix of happy and relieved and still a little confused. But if Florida's helping her out, then she's definitely serious about leaving Control. You don't seek out Florida's help lightly.

"I think you'd fit right in," he says, not letting go. He doesn't care if his shoulder gets wet, that doesn't matter. What matters is that they can pull through this. They have to. There's no other choice.

[oquirrh_at_the_wheel]

"Really?" She looks up at him, letting go of him long enough to wipe her eyes. His embrace had calmed her crying. Now she can look up at him and hopefully find the tenderness she needs.

[searchandrecovery]

Wash manages a small smile. "Really. I mean, York'll probably tease you and Maine always looks gruff and scary when you first meet him, and that's nothing on Florida and Tex, but they're all goo people." Wash shrugs. "They took me in. They'd be crazy not to take you,"

[oquirrh_at_the_wheel]

"I'm excited to meet them, even if they're scary," she admits. She slips her arm around him again. "I told Florida I would even go to the base blindfolded if it would help. I want them to trust me. You're a good guy with a great team, Washington."

[searchandrecovery]

"And you're a great girl who's just been a little, uh, unlucky when it comes to teams." Wow. That's the understatement of the century. "If you do decide to come over, I can give them a little talk first. So you don't have to go in blindfolded. That's definitely not safe."

[oquirrh_at_the_wheel]

"Not completely. Louisiana's pretty great," she says. "But Control doesn't like that she has ideas and friends of her own. Florida and I, we're going to get her out."

"Thanks. I'm more worried about knowing the location," she says. "I can't tell what I don't know." She takes a deep breath. "This is so dangerous. For both of us. But I have to stand up to Control. For L's sake. And for us."

"I wish I could have told you before this. And I'm so sorry it happened. Thank you so much for listening and understanding."

[searchandrecovery]

"It's fine, I--I understand." That doesn't make it any easier, but honestly, he wouldn't do anything different if he was in her position.

"I'll hep you," he says, taking both her hands. "Whatever it takes to get you and Louisiana out of their grip. Anything. Just say the word."

Control is going to pay.

[oquirrh_at_the_wheel]

"Thanks," she whispers. She's going to be all right. They can do this. Together.

"Can we start again? No more secrets?" She asks. "We can eat our dinner and you can go be with your team. But maybe you can come back afterward and we can watch a movie together? I'll wait here for as long as you need."

[searchandrecovery]

Wash nods in agreement. "Yeah, that sounds good. No more secrets. But don't worry about it, okay? You--you did what you had to do." The last thing Wash wants is for her to feel bad. She's been incredibly brave, he thinks. It takes guts to tell the truth, a truth that you know could put your life at risk.

"So let's appreciate some takeout," he says with a small smile, and opens up the boxes. Steam and the smell of generic Asian wafts into the air.

[oquirrh_at_the_wheel]

"K," she whispers. For his sake, she'll try.

"Food sounds wonderful." She helps open her boxes, starting with the curried "dynamite" shrimp and the steamed rice. "You got Asian too? Great choice."

[searchandrecovery]

"Great minds think alike," he says. "There's really nothing that says takeout more than the little boxes of noodles." Which he got in abundance. He puts some on his plate and then offers it to her.

[oquirrh_at_the_wheel]

"It's true!" she says, grinning. "Thanks." She passes him the rice and heaps the shrimp next to it before accepting the noodles. "I also got wontons. And cake. But that probably won't go as well with the noodles."

[searchandrecovery]

"Cake? Oh, man, I don't think I've ever been to an Asian restaurant here that has cake." He nods solemnly. "You're a miracle worker, you are." Congratulations, Oquirrh. You know what they say about the way to a man's heart.

[oquirrh_at_the_wheel]

"Maybe I do," she teases. "Maybe that's exactly what I want." She adds a of chicken to her plate.

[searchandrecovery]

"Then not only are you a miracle worker, you're a smooth one." He's gonna go for it. He's gonna try the dynamite shrimp and hope that it's not too spicy. And even if it is, it'll provide a little entertainment.

He pops one into his mouth. Chews. Swallows. Not bad.

[oquirrh_at_the_wheel]

"A miracle worker? Me?" She adds two wontons to her plate. There, it's ready. "Nobody's ever called me that before. What kind of miracle have I done, exactly?"

"How is it?" she asks, watching his face after he eats the shrimp. "I thought curry would be a good bit of spice for tonight."

[searchandrecovery]

"You found cake at an Asian place. I've never found cake at an Asian place. And I've been living here for years."

It's a delayed reaction, but damn, there was definitely some spice in those shrimp. A lot of spice. Wash's face turns bright red but he's gonna be tough. He's a mercenary, dammit, he can handle some spicy shrimp. Resisting the urge to run and get a drink of water, he nods and replies, "It's good. Really good. Yeah."

[oquirrh_at_the_wheel]

"It's part of a restaurant chain. It was one of our--my favorites back in Armonia." She pushes back memories of dinner with Jersey and Louisiana.

She can't help but laugh at his expression. "You okay? Here, have some rice. I can never eat them plain." She pushes the carton toward him.

[searchandrecovery]

He scoops some rice onto his plate, then into his mouth. It helps the burning considerably. "Thanks," he says. "It'd take an esophagus of steel to eat these plain." Maybe Maine could do it. Maybe.

[oquirrh_at_the_wheel]

"You're telling me," she says. "J--I was tricked into eating one straight the first time. It's awful. But the flavor is worth it, thanks to the rice. Though I'm glad you got teriyaki chicken so I can alternate bites." She eats one of the shrimp now, enjoying the burn despite the sweat that it makes stand out on her forehead.

[searchandrecovery]

He wants to ask her who's name she's refusing to say, but she's said enough already. What if he doesn't want to know? Ignorance is bliss, but sometimes, ignorance is safety, too.

"They complement each other," he says, and gently dabs the sweat off her forehead. He's not going to let any gross forehead water make his lady uncomfortable tonight.

[oquirrh_at_the_wheel]

"Whoa that's hot," she says. "I don't think we could have done better if we'd planned it." She blushes at his touch but leans toward it. He's so thoughtful.

[searchandrecovery]

Wash laughs. "If we did plan it, I don't think it'd go nearly as smooth." He leans closer to her as well, until he's just close enough to give her a little kiss on the forehead. Which he does.

After all, he figures he should start out small. Make sure she's okay with it. That's what you're supposed to do, right? He doesn't want to scare her away.