| Subject: Christmas Nigh; Adeste Fi! - Part 8/25 |
Author:
Teacup
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Date Posted: 11:38:58 07/08/07 Sun
In reply to:
Teacup (aka Ever-Xmas)
's message, "Christmas Nigh; Adeste Fi!" on 23:51:19 06/30/07 Sat
Christmas Nigh; Adeste Fi!
From Part 7 ...
While they kissed, Mac worked her hand upward, brushing her fingers through Harm’s hair and gently keeping his head pressed to hers. She managed to thread her other arm under Harm’s, hooking that hand around back and up onto his shoulder.
Eventually, they did separate. Mac kept her eyes closed for a moment, savoring the experience. When she finally opened her eyes … panic suddenly hit her. Sheer panic.
Part 8
She blinked her eyes and opened them wide … but she was blind! She couldn’t see a thing. Mac had finally been kissed by Harm the way she had always dreamed, … better than she had dreamed, and the power of it made her go blind!
She should have known he could do something like that to her. It had to be temporary though, right?
But in the meantime, how was she going to interact with Harm? After what they just shared, she was sure Harm would be searching her eyes, just as she wanted to meet his. But she literally couldn’t look at him … How would he interpret that? … Probably that she was regretful.
To delay giving that impression, Mac put her head against his chest, hugging him to her. The action doubled as both a way to reassure Harm and a way to safely wait for her vision to return.
She intimately felt the rise and fall of Harm’s strong torso, caused by his still jagged breathing. She could hear and feel his heart hammering away in his chest. She closed her eyes again, hoping that she would have sight when she reopened them, - reveling in this feeling in the meantime.
A moment later, Harm spoke. “Mac?”
Leaving her head firmly against him, Mac opened her eyes. To her dismay, everything still appeared dark.
“Yeah?” she replied nervously.
“Um, …” Harm tentatively observed, “… I think your power went out.”
A power outage? Mac’s head popped up, and as she let her eyes adjust, she realized that she was able to make out shadows. Turning her head to the window, she saw evidence of a light in the distance. She could see!
Mac laughed, releasing the tension. “You think?” Her sarcasm, which made it sound as if Harm had just stated the obvious, covered the embarrassment of her own stupidity. Harm didn’t need to know what she had thought happened.
Unbeknownst to her, Harm had gone through the same panicked thought process when he opened his eyes to the darkness. He had been grateful that Mac had put her head against him so that she wouldn’t see his lost gaze. Of course, had his heart not already been beating wildly, Mac would surely have noticed a sudden increase in heart rate accompanying his alarm. He had not felt so frustrated with his lack of sight since the night blindness before his eye surgery.
But, while Mac had closed her eyes in hopes that doing so would somehow automatically reset her vision, Harm had strained his eyes until he made out enough to figure out what had happened.
It was incredibly black in the apartment, with little outside light due to the precipitating clouds covering the moon and the powerless streetlights nearby.
“I guess I should get some candles,” Mac finally said.
Now it was Harm’s turn to make fun of her for stating the obvious, which he did with his own nervous chuckle. “Yeah, that would probably be a good idea.”
They reluctantly loosened their holds on each other, and Mac slid out of Harm’s touch.
She stepped away to get the candles. Thunk!
“Ow!!” Mac had run into the edge of her kitchen counter. “Damn it!” she cursed. Even in the dark, she should know her own apartment inside out. She knew her clumsiness was a direct result of that kiss. Her brain had not yet recovered.
“You okay?” asked Harm.
“Yeah. … Just … feeling stupid.”
“Why stupid? You just need some light,” he said, though secretly he enjoyed the possibility that he had thrown Mac’s senses off just as much as she had thrown off his.
“Oh, wait …” Harm had an idea, and he dug into his pocket. “Here we go,” he declared as he pulled a keychain out and pushed a button.
A small dot of red light came on that would normally never be used for serious illumination. However, in the pitch black darkness, the little light spread enough to show the major outlines of the nearby kitchen area.
Mac laughed. “Did you steal that from little AJ?” It was indeed the Rudolph keychain that AJ had been playing with earlier at the dinner table. Harm had made the nose light up.
“No,” Harm defended himself. “He gave it to me. … ‘Cause Rudolph flies … like I do.” Harm offered Mac the toy. “Here, take it.”
Mac reached out to take the reindeer with the glowing nose from Harm. When their hands touched, they lingered, but Mac did pull away when she realized she was shaking. “Um, … thanks,” she said.
Using the light, Mac turned to the cupboard storing the candles and lighter.
Harm, trying to gain his composure by distracting himself, spoke. He did not entirely manage to keep the quiver out of his voice though. “You know what probably caused this power outage, don’t you?”
Mac’s immediate thought was, ‘A surge due to the electrically charged, explosively powerful kiss we just shared?’ But she refrained from saying that. Was this not affecting Harm the way it was her?
“No,” was the response Mac opted for.
“I’m sure it’s the result of the lovely Christmas weather outside.”
“Could be,” she admitted.
“Probably someone driving slid on the ice and knocked over a utility pole.”
“I hope not,” she responded, not wanting to think about someone getting hurt. “Probably just icy power lines. Or maybe the wind knocked something over. … Or maybe it’s just a temporary glitch and the juice will come back in a minute.”
“Doubtful,” Harm remarked regarding her last comment.
Mac lit the candles and then turned to face Harm. The moment, … whatever it was between them, had now certainly been broken, and she wasn’t sure what to do.
“Uhh, … the water should have gotten pretty hot before the power went off. … You still want that cocoa?” she offered.
“Yeah, … I would like that.”
Mac was grateful for his response and quickly set about getting the cups out. Meanwhile, Harm fidgeted, … feeling very antsy. He needed something to do.
“Hey, while you do that, how about I start the fireplace going? Give us some better light to open up presents by.”
“Yeah. That sounds nice. … Plus, with no electricity, my apartment’s got no heat, so it could get pretty cold in here without a fire.”
“Great,” said Harm. “I’ll do that then.”
********
“Here we are,” announced Sturgis at his apartment.
“I think I’m gonna be sick,” Warrant Officer Scoggins groaned. He certainly looked unwell.
“Let’s get you to the bathroom then.” Sturgis led Scoggins to the toilet, leaving Coates and Tiner in the living room.
There was an awkward period of silence before Tiner finally decided to speak. “Well, I guess we’re spending the night together. Well, not together, together, but … in the same place together. … I mean …”
“I know what you mean, Tiner,” Jen assured him.
“Please, … call me Jason.”
“Okay, … Jason.”
Sturgis reentered the room. “While the warrant officer is … occupying himself, why don’t we work out the sleeping arrangements. … Unfortunately, I only have one bedroom. … Coates, I think you should take it. You can close the door for privacy.”
“But, sir …” she began to object.
“Coates,” Commander Turner warned her in his commanding voice and with a stern look.
“Yes, sir,” Jennifer relented.
“Good. Tiner, you can have the couch.”
The petty officer was surprised. “Me, sir?”
“The warrant officer can have the floor. He’s either going to be passed out beyond any notions of comfort or he’ll be feeling so bad that what he’s sleeping on isn’t going to make a difference,” said Sturgis.
“He’s pretty ill, isn’t he, sir?” asked Jen.
Hearing the retching from the other room, Sturgis responded, “Worse than a seasick crocodile.”
They could hear Scoggins moaning from the bathroom, “Oh, make it stop!”
“Given the choice between the two of them,” said Jennifer, “I’d take the seasick crocodile. At least that one wouldn’t complain.”
Both of the men in the living room chuckled at that, before Sturgis resumed the original conversation. He assured Tiner, “I’ll be fine on the floor too. So you take the couch.”
“But, sir,” Tiner objected, getting ready to insist that Commander Turner stay on his own couch.
Again, Sturgis wouldn’t hear of it. “Tiner, … I’m a submariner. … Sometimes I like to be on the lowest level possible.” With that settled, he went to get whatever blankets, sleeping bags, and pillows he could find.
The toilet flushed, and a minute later Warrant Officer Scoggins stumbled out. “Oh, my head,” he complained. “’ts’all my wife’s fault.”
“I thought you were divorced?” asked Jen, not quite having heard the whole story of the warrant officer’s background.
“Exactly!” Scoggins said. “… And my son’s with her.” Suddenly, he got fired up with determination and spite. “… But I’m showing them! … I’m having a great Christmas!” he declared, sapping his energy. Feeling sick, weak, and tired, Scoggins, gave in to his feeling of weariness, and laid himself down on the floor.
Sturgis came back out with stuff for bedding down. “Alright,” he started, right before spotting the warrant officer on the floor. “I see you’ve chosen your spot,” he said to Scoggins. “I’ve got a blanket for you.” Sturgis draped the blanket over the prone man. “… And a pillow. … I need you to lift your head.”
The man did not move.
“Head up, Warrant Officer,” Sturgis ordered.
Scoggins complied. “You know,” he mumbled before putting his head back down on the pillow, “I didn’t want to be a warrant officer.”
“Really?” Sturgis humored the man.
“No, my dad wanted me to be the Navy.” In a deep voice, he imitated his father, “‘It’s what the Scoggins men are meant to do,’ he used to say. … But you know what I really wann’ed do?”
“What’s that?” Sturgis asked.
“Be a dentist,” the warrant officer admitted.
Jennifer couldn’t help but giggle at that just a little.
“No, … really,” insisted the drunken man.
Tiner pointed out, “You could have been a dentist for the Navy.”
“No! No, … no. The kind that makes lots of money … Just tell people to brush their teeth … put in a filling or two. … My life would be better with money.”
“I doubt money is the answer,” said Sturgis.
Just then, Tiner dropped his car keys, which he had been nervously fidgeting with.
At the jangling sound, the warrant officer gasped and suddenly looked terrified. “You’re right! …” He looked desperately at the man kneeling above him, clenched onto Sturgis’ sleeve, and said, “Tell Marley … I know … I’ll be good. … Not greedy.” Scoggins was getting very sleepy and let his hand drop. “… not … stingy …” He drifted off.
“Okay, then,” said Sturgis, not sure what that was all about.
------
TBC ...
--
A/N: Thanks to those leaving feedback. I meant to post this sooner, given the cliffie, but I'm recovering from a trip to the ER last night. I'm ok now, just tired and a bit woozy.
~ Teacup
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