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Post by brennan on Nov 13, 2008 12:21:26 GMT -5
(( Since I don't know exactly where in Nevada Niki lives, I put her in Laughlin. You can change it if she's not situated in Laughlin. )) 14th November 2008He was there waiting for her. He waited for her every night. Some nights he didn't appear. Some other nights she appeared, but went right into her house. Micah needed her, he knew. He was fine with that. Micah was a cool boy, he knew that too. He wished he had Micah's ability... he had seen Micah work his wonders with the electronics before. He wished she would come tonight. She hadn't been home in a while, and he'd been worried. Normally when someone didn't come home it meant that he or she had something wrong happening... or something worse than that. But she couldn't be dead.
He loved her too much.
His out-moded CD player skipped, and the song he was listening to stayed on one line: "Sittin' on the top of the world." Over and over and over again. Brennan scowled and hit the stupid CD player. The song kept skipping. He tore out his headphones, twisted them around the CD, and pushed the CD into his pack. He turned back just in time to see a car turning the corner. Was it her car? Could she possibly be home early? The car drove past her house, and kept going. Brennan knew it was too good to be true.
Brennan was sitting on the low-sloping roof of the house across her street. He watched as a car passed, not even slowing down near her house. No, Niki was not in that car. And no, Brennan knew she would not be home soon, if she came home tonight..
When would Niki come home? He wanted to see her at least once tonight. He hadn't seen her for a while. Would Niki even come home tonight? He had heard that she was working at this new school, a school that helped people with their abilities.
Niki probably didn't even know who he was. She'd met him once or twice, but she saw a lot of faces a day. He was a stalker, and he knew it. Besides, what would he say when he finally really met her? "Hello, I'm Brennan. I've been watching you sleep at night."? What would she say to that? Would she shriek at him, tell Micah to run, and use her superhuman strength to kill him? No, Niki wasn't like that. It was Niki that he loved.
Would Niki come home tonight? He wondered absentmindedly.
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Post by niki on Nov 13, 2008 20:14:39 GMT -5
Thankfully the first three days, technically the first week of Heroes school was over, and Niki could go home for a few days rest before it all started again the following week. Niki was lost without Micah around though. It had taken her so long to get a hold of Jessica with the medication that she'd sent Micah off to live with his grandmother and cousin until Niki felt she was in a better place to look after him again. She missed him so much.
Now that she was working for this school, things should improve for her. The soon as she got her first salary, she would be able to call Micah and bring him back to her. It would be a glorious day, she was looking forward to it. She would be able to have Micah home for Thanksgiving. And what more could she ask for Thanksgiving than getting her son Micah back home where he belonged.
She turned the corner into her street, and it looked deserted as it always did at this time. She hated the dark, and she hated being on her own. She missed having DL in her life, but she knew he would be happy for her to move on. He had to be. Niki couldn't be alone for the rest of her life, surely DL wouldn't want that for her. Truth was, she didn't know what DL would want, he could object, then she'd feel like she was betraying him. She shook her head, it was crazy to think like that.
She pulled into her drive, got out the car and immediately ran to the house. She closed the door behind her and put the oven so she could make her dinner. Then she went up to the bedroom to change out of her day clothes and into something more comfortable for relaxing in. After changing, she went back down into the kitchen, put a pizza in the oven, and then went to sit down and watch some television.
The picture wasn't very good and she knew the ariel needed fixing. It must have moved with the wind or some stupid birds on the roof. She always could get DL to do it for her, but she would have to do it herself. Leaving the house and going to the garage she pulled out the extended ladders with much ease, as if they were made of plastic, and leaned them against the house, and she climbed up to the roof. She messed with the ariel until she was sure it was back in it's original position, and put another squirt of super glue onto the bottom of the ariel to keep it in place. It always worked until there was very strong winds.
Happy that it was sorted, she quickly stood up, forgetting she was actually on her roof, and immediately lost her footing and her balance, she tried to grab onto the chimney to steady herself, but she couldn't quite reach and the next thing she knew she was falling from the roof, and her roof was quite a fair height. She started screaming without even realising she was doing it as she continued to fall and head toward the ground.
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Post by brennan on Nov 13, 2008 21:52:25 GMT -5
Was this the car that would hold Niki? Brennan watched with certainty, hoping futilely that he was right. Of course he wasn’t. The car drove past, releasing streams of carbon dioxide from its horrible pipe. In a way Brennan liked his ability, he didn’t have to use the blasted things. Man was Niki’s street busy tonight! It might mean one of two things: there was traffic, and Niki was stuck in it, or there was traffic, and she wasn’t coming. Either way Brennan surmised there was traffic. Only a couple cars traversed this lonely street on normal nights.
Another car turned the corner. It moved slowly through the block, as if not deciding whether or not to go forward. Brennan leaned forward, hoping with his heart that Niki would climb out of this car. The car turned onto Niki’s drive way. Brennan held his breath. There she was! Brennan could tell Niki from anywhere, don’t ask how he could, he just could. Niki was perfect in his eyes, and it was all he could do to keep breathing.
Niki was oblivious of him. Brennan had made sure that his ‘stalking’ had not been found out, even by the owners of the house he was sitting on. He only came after dark, and only sat until the first light of dawn graced his hidey-hole. Brennan watched as Niki went into her house. He could see nothing of her, but decided not to investigate further – he could see into her bedroom from where he was sitting. Sure enough, she was there. She was wonderful, and if he hadn’t fallen as deeply in love with her as he was, he probably would have thought that looking in on her was perverted.
The television set was off. No, not the television itself, Niki was watching it. The screen was blurry, and Brennan could tell that Niki was upset. Before he could even begin to decide that he was going to help her, Brennan saw Niki go into her garage. So much for a magically-fixing television set. Niki climbed up the roof and fixed the antenna. Brennan could have done that, but Niki didn’t know he was here… or that he had an ability, or possibly even who he was. Brennan wanted to keep it a secret for a while longer yet. He loved watching Niki when she was asleep.
His plans changed suddenly when Niki slipped and fell. Brennan should have seen this coming. As it was, he only had a second to curse under his breath (it helped to alleviate his sudden distress) and swing his back behind his back (the CD player hurt where it hit him) before jumping off the neighbor’s roof. No doubt it sounded like Santa had come to the neighbor’s house early. Before he could fully realize what he was doing, he was under Niki.
Niki fell into his arms, the perfect story-book beginning. But this was anything but what Brennan wanted: Niki was screaming her head off. No doubt she was scared, the poor woman. But she looked even prettier when she was scared. Brennan cuddled her to his chest with one arm while caressing her hair with his other and saying in a soothing voice, “It’s okay, you’ll be fine.” He floated downward slowly, partly because he didn’t want Niki to be even more afraid than she already was, and partly to make the moment last. Niki in his arms felt so right. He didn’t know what to do when he landed, so he let her make up her mind. He held on to her gently – just in case she wanted to stay in his arms because she was shaken, but he would put her down if she struggled to get away from him – hey, he was a completely strange man saving her life.
“See?” He said, still soothing. “You’re fine.”
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Post by niki on Nov 13, 2008 23:30:42 GMT -5
Niki couldn't believe she was falling through the air. She couldn't believe she had been so dumb to try and fix the ariel herself. She should have just switched the television off and asked one of the neighbours to fix it for her the following day or something. No, instead, she had to be the man and go onto the roof to fix the ariel and then damn well fall off, and scream like a silly little girl as she knew she would fall and hurt herself really badly, if not kill herself from the great height of her roof.
Next thing she knew her landing was softly stopped as she landed in the arms of someone. How could that be, wasn't she falling through the air. She looked to the side and she was still in the air, but just in the arms of some stranger. She wrapped her arms around his neck however, as she still screamed for a short while, until he spoke to her and she realised she was no longer going to crash land on the ground surrounding her house.
That calming voice. She suddenly decided to look the voice and her saviour in the face. She hadn't seen him before, he was a total stranger to her. But those eyes, that smile, that voice, those muscles. He was almost pretty much perfect man material. She must have died and gone to heaven, because he was surely an Angel. Looking up at him and smiling a silly smile, like she was high on drugs or something.
"I'm in heaven and you're my Angel.." she muttered slightly, and then took another look around and realised that no, she wasn't in heaven, she was definitely still falling, no, not falling, floating through the air. The whole time he had been soothing her, almost like he had known her forever, yet she didn't know him. It was very strange, but very right? Soon they were on the ground and he spoke to her again.
"I'm not in heaven, you really just flew up and saved my life, didn't you?" she said softly, she couldn't take her eyes off of him, it was almost as if she knew him from somewhere, but she couldn't figure out where. Maybe DL had sent him to her, someone to watch over her.
"Well the least I can do for saving my life is offer you a coffee? Would you like to come in..." then realised she didn't even know his name, would you like to come in handsome stranger, saviour, Angel, what ever you are she thought to herself. "I'm Niki Sanders by the way" she added, "And I think I have to thank you for saving my life, so please come on in" she said as she finally felt steady enough on her feet to walk, instinctively she took his hand to lead him into her house as she opened her door.
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Post by brennan on Nov 14, 2008 17:11:33 GMT -5
Brennan looked at Niki tentatively; as if he looked at her all at once he would be trapped in her wonderful-ness. He didn’t know how to act. He was so smitten to her that he had forgotten how he – how a guy – should really act. How should he really act? He stood there uncertainly as she stared at him wonderingly.
How else would Niki stare at him? He had just saved her life! But of course she was going to stare at him! He loved her eyes, he noticed. He loved her eyes just like he loved every other part of her body… even the parts he didn’t see (come on, all guys fantasize about females).
When she asked if he was an angel, he was about to disagree and say that she was the angel. ‘You stalker!’ His mind blared at him. Instead, he just smiled almost sadly and shook his head. He was sorry he wasn’t her angel. “I am no angel. And, yes, you are still in the land of the living, N—” crap, he had almost said her name. He wasn’t supposed to even know her name! He hoped she didn’t figure out his slip of tongue.
He had no choice but to follow her in the house as she blathered away at him (he loved her voice). Yes, he knew her name was Niki; he’d known for forever, it seemed. Yes, he would love some coffee to drink, even if he didn’t normally drink it. Could he get a word in? Then he noticed that she was holding his hand as she ushered him through her house. It was warm and fragile-feeling next to his huge ‘paw.’
Was it weird to know the layout of her house before she showed it to him?
“Hello, Niki.” He said between her unrelenting words. He hoped he didn’t sound too familiar. “I’m Brennan Sands.” And then, because he was already in her house (In her house!), he said, “Sure, I’d love coffee!”
It seemed that Niki had finished talking. Maybe she was concentrating on getting coffee. Brennan loved Niki’s house, as if that didn’t sound weird. He noticed her pictures, then. He had always been too far away from her house to see the pictures. The main pictures held Micah in them, but there were a few with Niki. Then there were some pictures of a colored man.
Brennan’s heart sank. Did Niki already have a husband or fiancé? He didn’t see a ring on her fingers—any of them. But looks could be deceiving. Was that why she stayed away for long periods of time? If she already loved someone, then his life would be in ruins. Could he find another woman as brilliant as Niki? Brennan schooled his expression to one that was slightly confused—he knew that any man would be confused to be taken into a woman’s house. He also appraised her lightly, like all males would to a female as hot as her. But if she studied his eyes she could have seen a full-blown love for her behind that cool façade.
“Do you have any creamer?” He asked casually. He normally didn’t drink coffee, but for Niki…
He’d do anything for Niki.
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Post by niki on Nov 14, 2008 20:03:13 GMT -5
Niki felt she couldn't take her eyes off of this guy, this angel, this saviour, it was like she was in a trance. He had just captured her from a great height by using an obvious flight ability. Niki felt very special, because if he hadn't done what he did, she knew she would have died. Even superhuman strength can't stop a sudden stop at the bottom of falling from a great height.
As she watched him, she noticed he wasn't completely looking her in the eye all the time, she began to wonder why. Was he shy? No, he couldn't be shy, because if he were shy, he wouldn't have captured her from her fall, would he? Or was it that he maybe actually liked her, but how could that be possible, surely she was a stranger to him. All sorts of thoughts were running through her head as she continued to stare him down.
He agreed with her about not being an angel, and that she was indeed still alive, but was he about to call her by her name? No, he couldn't have, he didn't know her, right? Or did he know her and she just had been blind to him or something. "Well thank you again for saving me" she found herself saying, as her eyes continued to scroll his face.
She smiled warmly when he said hello and when he introduced himself, she loved the sound of his name, and his voice even more. Still finding it difficult to take her eyes off of his, she then realised, his surname was almost very like her own. Sands, Sanders! It was quite uncanny. "Well, I'm pleased to meet you Brennan" she said with a grin, and still searching his face with her eyes. "Awesome" she replied simply when he said he'd love a coffee.
As she left him to switch the coffee pot on briefly, and came back into the living room she watched him as he looked over all her photographs. She thought she saw his face fall slightly, as he saw the photos of her and DL. So he did like her, she thought. Then she shook her head, don't be so silly, he doesn't know you, you just met. However, she felt she had to explain who they were.
She walked back up to him, put her hands on his shoulders, and leaned her head over his shoulder so she was speaking into his ear more or less. "Well, you can obviously tell who I am, the little boy is my son Micah, and the black man next to me, is or was my husband DL Hawkins" she said softly, and looked at his photo and in her mind, said to herself, as if she was speaking to DL, please give me your blessing. "He died a few months ago, left me in ruins, I couldn't look after my son, I had to leave him with his grandmother and cousin to look after him" she explained some more.
As she heard the noise of the coffee pot ready, she took her hands off his shoulders, and before she went through he asked if she had any creamer, "Sure" she said, before she went in to the kitchen again, poured the two mugs of coffee and brought through with her sugar and creamer and biscuits on a tray and laid it down on the coffee table.
She then sat down on the sofa, and patted the seat beside her, "Come sit" she said, "It gets so lonely at times for me Brennan" she said in her husky voice, as she once again lost herself looking into his eyes. Looking really deeply into his eyes, and as she did so, she was certain she saw love in there somewhere. Could it be he had always known her, but she shook her head again. If he did, he would surely tell her? But one thing was sure, she liked the look of him, he had just saved her life, and she knew she would be eternally grateful to him for that alone. And she was ever so lonely.
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Post by brennan on Nov 14, 2008 23:00:07 GMT -5
When Niki had gone back to the kitchen to start the coffee, Brennan felt his eyes slide over to the television. His stomach flipped, and he grew uneasy. Would Niki look at the television and remember her near-death disaster? Or had she already, but had managed to suppress her feelings, her facial expressions? With as little movement as he could manage, he grabbed the remote and turned off the tv. He shuddered, unwilling to think about Niki’s trip. He would not think about who he would be without Niki in his life, even if he had had to stalk her for the rest of his life. He would have been fine stalking her, he saw nothing wrong with following his heart’s desire.
Of course Niki had seen him gazing at the pictures longingly, as if he were a homesick dog. And of course she had surmised something from that. Brennan figured that out when she came towards him slowly (or at least it was slowly to him), and let the slightest bit of a frown show on his face. He knew what she was going to do. She was going to goad him, did she know him? Did she love him like he loved her? Did she even care that she was getting too close for comfort (he hadn’t really been this close to a girl since High School, and even then nothing like this had happened to him).
Yes, Micah was her son. Brennan knew that. DL? DL was who? Her husband? But she said he was dead, is that why he saw no ring on her finger? She must be heartbroken! A widow and a mother, but not only that, but a mother that couldn’t see her son every day. Brennan wasn’t sure if he should be feeling sympathy or some other emotion. He wasn’t sure what he felt right now, Niki was so close. He could smell her scent more clearly now, it smelled pretty, but not perfume pretty… Niki pretty. One hundred times better than the Niki pretty he smelled every day when he smelled the shirt he stole from her. He wasn’t a stalker; he just couldn’t get to sleep without her smell. Without something of hers to remind him that he was, indeed, living for something.
He didn’t want Niki to leave. Why did she have to leave? Why did the coffee have to steam? Why could he not make a move? Of course he knew why, because he never made the first move. He was different like that, but then again many people were different. Some guys loved to make the first move, some girls did. Brennan was the one where he was uncomfortable that he was intruding upon the person’s personal space. He was unlike a guy in that respect. He didn’t like to flirt, or do anything of the sort. Rather, he liked to do daredevil stunts in the air and see how high he could reach while flying. He loved the feel of the weightlessness when he reached the higher levels of the atmosphere.
Kinda like the weightlessness that he felt when Niki had hovered over him… like he really was an angel descended from heaven to watch over her, protect her even. What did Niki think he was? An angel? Sent from heaven… possibly from her dead husband? Could his guess be spot on? Or did Niki think he was just some dumb guy that happened to have an ability and happened to be in the right place at the right time? Brennan didn’t know which one he wished she was thinking.
He was grateful when Niki came back with the coffee and asked if he would sit. He did, and felt his legs crumple like jelly underneath him. He was sitting next to Niki, but not close enough to be in her personal space. He was paranoid of hurting her, or anyone, really. He really didn’t want to hurt her feelings, and if he did, he would certainly punish himself later. He forced a smile at her, but found that whenever he looked at Niki his smile was genuine. His smile, he knew, lit up his otherwise brooding-looking face. His smile was the only thing that really made him him, he thought. But maybe there was more.
He forced himself to lean forward and take a coffee. He doused it with creamer, and just for politeness put some sugar in it. He sat back, uncomfortable, and took a sip. He’d put too much creamer. It was fine, since he didn’t like the taste of the coffee, but now the coffee was like a sweet tea, only it would hype a young kid up with a couple of sips.
“This is great, thank you very much…” He had to stop himself. He was about to say ‘love.’ “Thank you, Niki.”
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Post by niki on Nov 15, 2008 0:09:06 GMT -5
There was now the biggest silence ever between herself and Brennan. From the moment she had leaned over him to tell him about her family photos, to the point of going through pouring out the coffee, bringing it through on a tray with sugar, creamer and biscuits, nothing had been spoken between them. Yet the silence between them Niki didn't feel for one second was awkward. In fact in many ways it actually felt rather comfortable. Like they were an old married couple, who didn't need to say much to each other. Almost like their actions spoke louder than their spoken words.
As she walked into the living room with the coffee she couldn't help but wonder why this handsome man was in her house. Why had he so conveniently been around when she had fallen from her roof. It was almost like a scene from a movie had she not known any better. How could it have been possible that he just happened to be there? Yet that's exactly what had happened, he was just there. One minute she was falling through the air, next she was in his very muscular arms.
He had to have been very near to have caught her like that so soon. Just how near had he been however. Had he just been passing, was it really that co-incidental? She decided it hadn't been that co-incidental. He was there for a reason, he'd saved her for a reason. Someone up there was looking out for her and he'd sent her a protective guardian angel, and this man, this Brennan was the angel.
"Thank you" she found herself whispering out, not loud enough that Brennan should hear, she was saying it to thank DL for sending her someone to look out for her. As she finally laid the tray down on the coffee table and sat down, she suddenly felt very glad to have Brennan in the house. It was good to have company again, good to have male company at that. Someone who could watch over her and protect her again, just like DL used to do.
When he thanked her for the coffee, she was still sort of in her thoughts and wasn't completely concentrating on what she was saying, as she absentmindedly put her hand on his knee and said, "You're welcome darling" then froze, realising she'd just called this man, who was to her pretty much a stranger darling. Then she looked into his face, and into those eyes once more.
What she'd seen there before, the love, she could see it again. That was when she finally realised, he must have known her. He must have been watching her from afar for a long time, and he obviously loved her, and yet he being a total stranger to her, he obviously can't show it, or tell her. But Niki was so lonely, and she craved affection, she needed company, she needed someone special in her life again.
Maybe it was time to allow herself to open up to someone again, maybe she could love again, and maybe Brennan was going to be that guy. Then she couldn't help herself but say it, "Your eyes Brennan, they tell such a different story to your body and the rest of your face, how long have you known me, and please, don't lie, and I promise I wont freak out" she said her husky voice very prominent right now. She wasn't sure why, but she did feel an instant attraction to this man and she wanted to find out why. She wanted to know, if he did feel something for her, his eyes really did give it away even if the rest of him didn't.
She could feel something for this guy, she didn't know what it was, but she felt something, there was a definite connection and she didn't know whether it was because he'd saved her, or because she felt he was sent to her, but there was a connection and Niki began to realise, she didn't want that connection to stop.
As she asked the questions to him, she instinctively brought herself closer to him, she didn't know why, but she wanted to feel closer to him, she definitely craved the company. Her face was now only a mere few inches from his own as she waited for him to answer her questions.
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Post by brennan on Nov 15, 2008 2:07:43 GMT -5
Brennan had noticed her almost silent ‘thank you.’ Was Niki thanking him? No, if she were thanking him, she would have said it louder, would have directed it toward him. Then Brennan realized who she was talking to. DL, her dead husband. So his previous assumption had been right: Niki did think DL had sent him from heaven. He could be her angel if she wanted – he just thought her a much prettier angel than he would ever be.
He noticed she was preoccupied. His ‘thank you’ for the coffee was countered with the common ‘you’re welcome.’ Unfortunately, Brennan wasn’t ready for what she said next. ‘You’re welcome darling.’ It was a slip of the tongue, he knew, but the hand on his knee was not.
Whether Niki had known what she was doing or not, she had just demonstrated that she had feelings for him. And he could see that she knew he had feelings – no, one feeling – for her. Questions popped up in his mind unbidden in the small amount of time it took for him to think of them. Did someone really send him to her? Was his love for her just a coincidence? Was he really a stalker? Was she just playing with him? Was DL really alive? Was she conning him? Was his decision affecting the future? Would they be married in the future? Would they have children if they were married in the future, not just Micah? One question kept occurring: Was he her guardian angel?
He knew from the look in her eyes that half of his questions were true, the other half false. She was studying him, but her eyes told mostly the same story as his. She was dying for company, dying, possibly, for a man like Brennan. For Brennan. Brennan searched behind her yes to a world where he could not even begin to delve in. Niki’s world was her own, and yet he found himself yearning for her, yearning to find out what was in her brain. Not for the first time did he wish he could read minds instead of fly. But he did not need to read minds to read Niki’s posture. He saw that she was uncertain, and not only had her eyes told him that. Her body language explained that she was still hesitant, like she didn’t fully know what she was feeling.
Then Niki moved. At first Brennan thought she was going to get up. He was wrong, and fortunately so. Or should it have been unfortunately? No longer did Brennan stiffen, because he had heard what she said as she moved forward. He found her eyes racing ever closer to him. They stopped inches away from his face, and he felt the burning need to kiss her soft, tantalizing lips. He would not intrude upon her personal space, though; he was too restrained to keep to himself. It took only a moment for Brennan to realize that he had almost missed the question.
Brennan broke eye contact for only a second, and then realized that he couldn’t stop looking at her. He also realized that, even if he wanted to, he could not lie to her. He frowned, wondering where to begin.
“I, I don’t remember,” He began, his male voice seeming out of place in Niki’s feminine house, “When I first met you. It had to be right after… right after your husband died. You were crying, and even with tears streaming down your face I thoughts you were the most beautiful person I’d ever laid eyes on. I don’t remember how I found out your name, probably just by asking around, but I did. I found where you lived. I saw you struggle with Jessica, and learned her name because you screamed it out in your sleep. I saw you tuck in Micah, saw how you loved him, and saw everything that went on with you and him.” Some time during that brief explanation, Brennan’s hand had unconsciously lifted to her head. His fingers ran absentmindedly through her hair. It was silky-soft to the touch, flowing from his fingers like rippling golden waves.
A smarter man would have just said, ‘I stalked you.’ Brennan exhaled slowly, and then said, “I saw you give Micah up. I watched you every night. Some nights you didn’t come home. I got worried. I asked myself, ‘What if Niki is dead?’” He’d said too much. He knew he had, but he found he couldn’t stop. The truth was just too nice to tell, and it wouldn’t stop flowing. “This last stretch was horrible, but I’m glad I was around, or else I would have seen you in the morning…” He couldn’t finish. He trailed off, hoping that much truth was truth enough.
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Post by niki on Nov 15, 2008 17:55:20 GMT -5
Again, there was a silence between them, a welcome silence as she waited on him answering her question about how long he had known her. Because she knew he must have, it was all evident in his eyes. He never said anything when she called him darling, so he either hadn't realised, or decided it was too embarrassing to mention it.
Then there was the fact she had her hand on his knee, he hadn't even flinched, didn't look like he had shown any sort of emotion at all, but she figured he was feeling it all inside. Niki was now in a lot of turmoil. She had never seen this guy before until tonight, yet she knew she felt this strong connection to him. Was the connection because DL had sent him? Or was it because she had suddenly realised he had known her for quite a long time and been watching over her from a distance.
She listened with much interest as he spoke. Everything he said to her really touched at her heart. He knew about everything. He knew about Micah, knew about Jessica, had seen her struggle to cope with her alter ego, coping without Micah, and even seen her at her worst when she was in a lot of tears. When he had finally finished talking, she took in a deep breath.
"Whoa, that long huh?" she simply asked, husky voice once again very clear. She pulled herself even closer to him. She didn't want to appear as if she was really needy, but the truth was, she was in desperate need of male company, she missed it, she missed having a male in the house to take care of her, take care of the manly things. And it was obvious from the look in his eyes he loved her. He was obviously just very unsure about how to approach her.
That happened to a lot of people. You loved them so much that when it came to showing the love, you didn't know where to begin. Maybe he thought if he made the first move, he was coming on too strong, yet at the same time, Niki thought if she made the first move she'd appear too needy. But it was obvious now there were feelings between them, there was a definite tension, and so Niki took the initiative, and very tentatively moved ever nearer, and gently, very gently allowed her lips to touch his own and gave him the smallest, sweetest kiss. Then she pulled away only about an inch from his face and just stared into his eyes.
Then she had an urge to look up at one of the photos of her and DL together, and really stared at it and in her head she asked him, 'Is it alright for me to move on, is this what you want? Tell me I have your blessing'. No sooner had she asked those questions in her head, the photo she had been staring at on the wall, fell off and the frame crashed into small pieces. She jumped up from the sofa and quickly tried to pick up the broken frame. As she gathered some of the pieces together, one of the smaller pieces of glass sliced her finger.
"Damn it!" she exclaimed, as she sucked at her finger, and removed the photograph, threw it in a drawer and tossed the broken frame into the bin. The moment of the sweet kiss seemed to be ruined, but she sat back down on the sofa again and continued to suck on her finger. The blood wouldn't stop pouring out from it, but she was more interested in Brennan than her sliced finger.
She had taken the fallen photo as an answer from DL. The answer however wasn't too clear, had he made the photo fall and smash because he was saying that it was fine for her to move on, or had he done it to tell her he wasn't ready to let her go yet. But since she was almost certain that Brennan had been sent to her by DL, she had to go with the first reason for the photo frame smashing, and that was that DL was happy for her to move on.
If he truly wanted her, if he truly loved her like she believed his eyes were telling her, he'd return the kiss she thought. Even after the photograph moment he would want to kiss her back. So now, she'd made the first smallest move, it was up to him to continue it.
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Post by brennan on Nov 15, 2008 20:49:36 GMT -5
Brennan looked at Niki. Brennan looked at Niki. It wasn’t the first time Brennan had looked at Niki, and it wouldn’t be the last, but it was the first time he had looked at her. Niki was brilliant, her face gently curving, her hair framing it exactly. He looked at her eyes, how they sparkled with something more than curiousness. How they sparkled with love, how they seemed to hide her soul within them, but then again let her soul be explored. He explored. But not just her soul, which would have been wrong to do all at once. He finished exploring her face, first. Niki’s most prominent features, maybe in his opinion, were her lips. They were full, luscious, and he felt the familiar pull he always did when he looked upon them to kiss her. He suppressed that urge, and just looked at her. Perfect neck, breasts that hovered over Brennan’s chest, curved body, strong, athletic-looking legs. Niki was every man’s dream, but to Brennan, Niki was more than a dream, she was reality. She was sitting so close to him.
She scooted closer.
Electricity erupted within Brennan. He didn’t know if this was how he should feel, but his lips… He had been so deprived of any physical contact that Brennan had forgotten how kisses felt. He remembered now. Though the kiss only lasted for a couple of seconds, for him it dragged on for an eternity. An entirely awesome eternity that he never wanted to end. Was he like a girl that way? He wasn’t sure if males were supposed to act this way, but, he realized, males had feelings too. Then, and Brennan realized he agonized over it, Niki drew away. The kiss could hardly be called a kiss, more like a brushing of lips, but to Brennan it was the beginning of a relationship he had played over in his head for months.
Then Niki looked away. Brennan was about to gently grab her head and kiss her again, but a picture crashed. Niki got up, leaving Brennan, his arm stretched out in space. A look of sadness crossed over his face. Had she moved because she was uncomfortable, or because she had to break the… tension?... or just because the picture had fallen? Did the picture mean something to her? Did she think it was some sort of voodoo? He hadn’t moved, in fact, he had been paralyzed by her sudden move on him. She had made the first move. If Niki sat down again, and if she was still acting like she liked him, he would make a move of his own.
Brennan watched as Niki carelessly threw the picture’s frame away. He also watched as she threw the ruined picture into a drawer. Brennan could just catch the still black man that was DL. DL’s picture had fallen? It wasn’t his fault… could it have been a sign from DL himself? Could that really happen? Brennan was no believer in… anything other than protecting Niki, really, but it was too much of a coincidence. If it turned out to be DL that had done it, Brennan would happily start believing in something again.
Niki sat down on the couch again. To others she may have looked absurd with her finger in her mouth. To Brennan Niki looked normal. But normal for Niki made her look even more like an angel. Brennan smiled, and gently moved for her. He looked at her, almost like silently asking for her permission, before putting his arm half-way around her. “Angels don’t need to suck their wounds.” He said, his smile lighting up his face. With his other hand he pulled her hand gently away from her mouth, and placed it on his chest. He could feel the blood seep into his shirt, but what was a shirt when Niki was there? He would much rather throw off his shirt, he was burning up. With his previous hand, he pulled Niki gently closer to him. She was so close. He could feel her breath. He could smell her scent.
But he was just focusing on her lips.
Brennan leaned forward and kissed Niki. It wasn’t at all like the kiss Niki had given him before she had moved away. Rather, this kiss was full-blown. He did not search; he kept his tongue in its place. He still didn’t know whether or not Niki liked him that way. But the feelings he felt were exhilarating. Electricity coursed through him, he felt fresh, new, alive. He loved Niki. He loved Niki so much, could it be possible that Niki loved him back? Could it be possible that her love was just like his? That he and she would love each other until the end of time? He was gentle with her, he knew how Niki was, but he didn’t know how Niki would react. He could feel nothing, but he knew that, somewhere on his shirt, there was blood, and somewhere on her back was his hand. His other hand reached up to cradle her head. It slid through her wonderful waves of hair. Brennan knew one thing in this moment in time: he didn’t want the kiss to end.
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Post by niki on Nov 16, 2008 1:31:33 GMT -5
Niki could tell that Brennan was really looking at her, he was pretty much staring at her, but Niki didn't feel uncomfortable in the slightest, in fact, she felt very comfortable. She was feeling very comfortable, and the more comfortable she felt, the more she realised how much she loved him. Wait, had she just referred to Brennan with the word love? She had. The more he looked at her, the more she looked at him, and the more she looked at him, the more handsome he became. But love? Could it be possible for her to love him already?
Niki wasn't even sure she believed in love at first sight, but she had to start believing in it, because she was pretty certain she was in love with Brennan, from the moment he caught her when she fell from the roof.
The kiss had been so brief and soft, that it was barely a kiss at all, but it would hopefully be enough for Brennan to know that it was what Niki wanted to happen, but that she didn't want to go in for the kill more herself, she wanted that to come from Brennan. She hadn't wanted to pull away from him, and in fact if that photograph hadn't fallen when it had, she wouldn't have moved at all, but as it happened, she did move away from him.
The whole thing with the photograph had freaked Niki out a little, she still wasn't really sure what it meant if it was indeed a sign at all. But she was going to take it to mean that DL was telling her it was time to put him away in the past and bring in the new. So she had an idea, but she'd bring that idea up in a little while.
Instead, as she had sat back down, Brennan had moved closer to her, and the next thing she knew he was telling her angels didn't need to suck their wounds. She just looked at him with smoldering eyes, "I'm not the angel, I rather think you are" Niki said in her usual husky voice, possibly huskier than normal because of the passion she was feeling for Brennan. She felt the blood soak through his shirt as he laid her hand on his chest. She felt his heart beating, it was a wonderful feeling. And then he moved in to kiss her. This time it was a proper kiss, not like the gentle touching of lips she had started earlier.
This was a full blown passionate kiss. He wasn't using his tongue however, probably still unaware of what Niki wanted, or how Niki felt. Niki was still a little unsure of how she felt herself, but the more time she spent with Brennan in her house, the more she knew she definitely loved him. So she allowed her own tongue to slip into his mouth, so that it would hopefully give him the sign that it was okay to let himself go in such a way.
After a good few moments, and certainly not because she wanted to, but because she needed some air, Niki gently pulled away from the embrace, licking her lips ever so slightly, and smiling at him with her smoldering eyes upon him. "Wow, now that was pretty awesome" Niki said and smiled again, actually right now, Niki didn't think she'd be able to do anything but smile while she was in Brennan's company.
"Excuse me one moment" she said, as she got up from the sofa, opened one of her drawers and pulled out the camera. "I have a feeling the photo of DL dropping to the floor is a sign, and I am hoping it's a good sign, a sign telling me it's time to move on with my life" Niki explained as she set the camera up and switched its timer on.
"I think we should get our first photo taken together" she said with a smile, as she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him close to her, but instead of looking directly at the camera when the flash went off, Niki had actually been looking at Brennan, not just looking at him, but looking at him with a look of sheer love on her face.
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Post by brennan on Nov 16, 2008 18:06:23 GMT -5
The kiss was wonderful. And then Niki started exploring with her tongue. Of course fifteen or twenty years earlier he would have frowned upon the game of ‘tonsil hockey’ that they were playing. And of course, now he didn’t really care. He let his own tongue do whatever it wanted. He did not hold back. He couldn’t breath. He didn’t care. Brennan was dying, and certainly not from air, but from passion. He didn’t want this to end, and yet he wanted it to. He wanted to breathe; to live. His lungs were about to burst. The little snippets of air he was getting could not sustain his life. Niki broke away first. Brennan was happy, and yet at the same time not. He could breathe again; he could feel his lungs swell with deprived air. But Niki had pulled away. He felt her heat leave his body as she sat back away from him. He didn’t want her to leave! He had just wanted to breathe!
Then Niki got up. Of course she would get up. There was no point in staying around Brennan when she had gotten what she wanted. But Niki didn’t leave the room, and she didn’t do anything except pull out a camera. What was she going to do with a camera? Then Niki explained why, set the camera down, and put on the timer. She was going to take a picture of him? Of them? Together? His dream was progressing into reality quite quicker than he had imagined. And he liked it.
Niki pulled Brennan closer, and se loved how her arms crossed over him. He didn’t know how to act. It was their first picture. First and last? No, Brennan forced himself to think. If it hadn’t been because of him, she wouldn’t have been here to take the picture with him. He loved Niki. As the timer clicked ever closer to the ending Brennan’s head raced through possibilities of pictures. He could see how Niki was going to look. How could he? Was he thinking too hard about this? Finally, nearing the last seconds of the picture, Brennan figured out what to do. He leaned forward, took Niki’s hand from around his neck, and held it in both of his. He gently put his forehead on hers, his nose touching hers, and brought her hand up to his mouth to kiss.
The camera clicked. The picture was taken. Then the timer rang out for the oven. Its incessant beeping rang throughout the house. Brennan pulled away from Niki, smiling. “You forgot about the pizza, didn’t you?” As Brennan got up, he took Niki’s hand and pulled her up, too. “I’m hungry. All this saving really gives a guy an appetite.” After dragging her in for a brief hug, he said, “It’s your house, but I’m the man. I must have some manners, yes? Would you like to eat something, my dear angel?” He wasn’t about to give up calling her an angel, to him she was an angel. And to her, he was an angel. It worked.
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Post by niki on Nov 16, 2008 23:10:52 GMT -5
The kiss they shared and been wonderfully passionate, and when she had opened up to him more, allowing her tongue to explore his mouth, she was only too pleased to find him retaliate with as much passion as she was giving him. The passion so strong and fierce, so enjoyable, Niki really hadn't wanted to break free from the embrace, and yet, she knew she had to, because like any decent person, everybody needs air every now and than. So of course she had reluctantly broke away from the embrace to get some air.
When she got up from the sofa to get her camera for the photo, she had no idea of the thoughts which was running through Brennan's mind. Why would she, she wasn't telepathic, but if she had known for one second he thought she had got the kiss and that was the end of it, she'd have made sure to have told him she'd be right back.
Of course taking the photo of them together was probably the last thing Brennan had expected to happen when Niki had got up from the sofa and then came back with a camera. No sooner had she wrapped her arms around his neck, giving him a look of love, looking at him, Brennan had decided to make a pose of his own, as he removed one of her arms from around neck, holding her hand in his own two and bringing it to his mouth to kiss her hand. She loved it, it was just such a lovely romantic gesture. So when the timer clicked and the flash went off, she knew they would have the perfect photograph.
Luckily it had been the last picture in the film, so Niki would get the photograph developed the next day and get it framed and add it to her gallery, safely taking down all photographs of DL other than the one of her and DL together with Micah, that one would remain, and Niki was certain that Brennan wouldn't have a problem with that, because he was an angel after all.
No sooner than the camera clicked, she heard the oven timer go off, she had completely forgotten about the pizza she'd put in the oven, she was glad that she now had someone to share it with though. Because she normally only ate so much of it and put the rest of it in the bin. It had taken her a long time to stop making food for three people, and even now every so often she had a temporary slip up. She laughed at Brennan, her husky laugh.
"Yeah, I forgot about the pizza" then she thought for a few seconds, how he had known she had a pizza in the oven, and then shook her head, of course he had known, angels knew everything about the people they were supposed to guard over. Niki knew Brennan was real of course, but she was still adamant that he was an angel. As Brennan stood up and held out his hand to help her up, she took it and smiled at him.
"It's nice to have someone to share a meal with again" she said honestly, as she was tempted to touch his face with her hand and start kissing him again, but refrained, until they had something to eat. She leaned in to him when he pulled her into a brief hug, and laughed a little when he spoke of manners. Yes it was her house, but he was doing the manly thing asking his angel if she wanted to eat.
"Why yes, my sweet guardian angel" Niki said grinning, however she could fix the house problem. She could ask Brennan to move in, but they had only just shared a kiss, would it be a wise move? Would he think it too soon? Would it scare him off? But she hated being alone, hated having to spend every moment in this big house alone, hated having to sleep alone.
How good would it be to finally feel a man's arms around her again at night? How good would it feel to have a man's presence in the house again? How good would it be to have someone who obviously loved Micah as much as he loved her? Were they so destined to be together? Niki Sands, she thought to herself, so similar to her present surname, yet still different. Could it ever be possible? She wished she had precognition, as right now she'd sure love to see the future.
It was pretty obvious to her how he felt, so she didn't think he would cut and run if she asked him. Smiling, she tentatively began by saying "You know it doesn't have to be just my home" and she left it at that. She wouldn't push the matter any further. She had opened the door to a wonderful possibility for them both, now it was up to him to come in and close it behind him, or run and never come back.
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Post by brennan on Nov 17, 2008 21:36:52 GMT -5
Brennan didn’t know what Niki was thinking. Was it something good? Was it something bad? Could she possibly thinking only about the pizza? Brennan pulled her into an embrace before telling her about his forgotten manners. Of course Niki laughed at the manners part, but Brennan, having been raised to mind the women he might encounter, had to make sure he made his mother proud. His mother had not raised him to be a slob, she had not raised him to be rude to people even if they were being rude to him (yet he still was, sometimes), she raised him to see the good in everybody. She raised him to love the world, even though since he had discovered his ability he had seen all of the horrible things happening. The world did not revolve around Brennan, the world did not revolve around Niki. The world did not even revolve around the president of the United States, or any president, for that matter. The world revolved around the sun, and whatever the people in the world did would not change that.
But tonight Brennan let himself think that the world was revolving around him and Niki. He let himself think that they were a book, a horribly awesome book where everything was good, and there was no bad. The book was open, the cover set in stone: a picture of Niki and Brennan and Micah, and possibly more children. The first page would be a table of contents, the first chapter named ‘How I Met Your Mother.’ The first sentence would read, ‘Niki was lost until she found her guardian angel.’ Brennan swore at that moment that the story would keep getting better after that. That Jessica would no longer harm Niki. That Micah and Brennan would become like father and son. That he and Niki would love each other for the rest of their mortal lives, and if there was some sort of after life they could love there, too. That Brennan would be Niki’s guardian angel for the rest of his life, no matter what happened. And she would be his angel even if she denied ever being one.
Brennan led Niki to the kitchen, but when he got there he sat her down on a chair. “You’ve been deprived of any manly influence for too long.” He said wonderingly, curious as to how it felt to be a female with no male anything for as long as Niki had gone without it. He kissed her gently on the forehead before turning his back to her and figuring out where everything in the kitchen was. See, Brennan had only ever seen through Niki’s front windows (she had deserved a measure of privacy, yes?), and so he had only seen a part of Niki’s kitchen. This did nothing to stop him, of course, because within seconds he was rooting through the cabinets to look for plates while simultaneously pulling the pizza out of the oven (using oven mitts, duh!). He almost dropped the plates when he heard what Niki said. It was a good thing he had already set down the pizza.
“You know it doesn't have to be just my home.” Niki said. But Brennan didn’t hear that, or at least he thought he didn’t. His body froze, and one plate hovered precariously in the air while his hand stopped in mid-reach for another. He had heard ‘doesn’t have to be’ and then ‘just my home.’ But his reception was almost like the television’s had been earlier. Could he really have heard her right? It couldn’t have been his hearing, he’d always had good hearing, and he’d just cleaned his ears out yesterday. Had Niki just asked him, Brennan Sands, to stay with her? To make her house his? It was a roundabout way of saying it, he knew, but it was… a statement? A question? Boyfriend-stay with her, or husband-stay with her? Brennan cautiously made his limbs move, as if he couldn’t stand the weight of them. He grabbed the other plate while setting the first down.
The first plate, besides his best wishes, came down with a crash. A dreadfully resounding crash, no less. But it didn’t break, and though Brennan was screaming at his limbs to relax, he was at least happy that nothing bad had happened to the darned plate. He set the second one down more gently, and shut the cabinet door. Then, slowly, methodically, he found the darned pizza cutter and cut the pizza. His heart was beating, throbbing. He wanted to yell out, ‘of course I want to live with you!’ And he wanted to yell out, ‘do you want to be my wife?’ And he wanted to yell out, ‘I love you so much, Niki.’ But how to phrase it so it didn’t come out nearly unintelligibly?
He put two pieces of pizza on both of their plates, and then carried the plates to the table. It took all of his focus, but he finally set the plates down softly on the table. Then, because he could no longer hold it, Brennan faced Niki, and pulled her up to him. He hugged her, hugged her tightly to him, reveling in the feel of her so close to him. He could smell her scent; smell the scent of her shampoo. He could feel her heart beat beating rapidly on his chest. No doubt she could feel his heart beat as well. He kissed the top of her head long and hard, and then tilted her head up to his so he could kiss her on the lips. When he could no longer breathe, he unlatched his needy lips and said, “Of course, my love. I will keep you company.” Then, almost as an afterthought, he said, “I’ll live with you.”
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