for the rest of us death will be a relief

[praevaricatio]

Comments

[pricetags]

A little.

( He looks down at her hand and then back at her. )

I'm really out of practice. And a lot of people that I care about die. ( Read: his family, one very nice truck driver, and her friend in Los Angeles. Not a lot. ) Sometimes, I ramble on and I make no sense and I'm really whimsical and I'm not ever going to get rid of my kaftan collection. I'm borderline a nudist, but sometimes, I just really love socks. Like, the way socks feel. And, I say all of my thoughts out loud when they're not about self preservation or safety so that will... probably get old.

[dupes]

[Annie nods slowly, processing those statements.]

Shep, how long have we been friends?

[She feels like she should probably call that to attention because nothing he's actually mentioned here is new. Except for maybe the socks part. But regardless, none of this is a dealbreaker, at least in her opinion, otherwise they probably wouldn't be as close as they are.]

[pricetags]

If I say I've lost count, would you believe me?

( He remembers the day she and Alexander found him. He remembers that first week. And then that first month. And he remembers every late night he couldn't sleep, restless and scared, and Annie being up, too, for her reasons. He made it his personal mission to get her to smile. He got extra points if she laughed. )

[dupes]

I would, but that's exactly my point. I know most of that about you already, and you haven't scared me off.

[Some of those may not even be cons from her perspective. Sometimes she could use a little whimsy when things feel too serious.]

If you've changed your mind, we haven't gone too far to go back to what we were. We're too good a team for me to throw that away.

[She'll deal with it, and she'll move on, but at least she'll know.]

But if you haven't changed your mind, I'm right there with you.

[Just as she always is.]

[pricetags]

I haven't. I'm not. I'm - processing. And, you're processing. And sometimes, it... takes two - to - ( He kisses her, intertwining their hands, taking the bottle out of her hands. ) process. ( He sets both bottles behind him. They were a waste to open, but it was more about the fidgeting, right. Buying time. ) That is, if you -- want to process. Together.

[dupes]

[She raises an eyebrow, a bit of a smirk tugging at her lips.]

In the past, I've found that processing is usually much more effective when done together.

[Is that a lame line? Maybe. But don't blame her, she's a little rusty.]

[pricetags]

More gets done. Worked through.

( He walks her backward toward the bed, putting his own moves on display. )

[dupes]

Exactly.

[She leans in to catch his lips with hers as they fall into the bed, and they resume working through some of these new angles to their relationship.

Honestly, she should probably be grateful that they weren't interrupted until the after glow, but she does grumble as both of their phones beep simultaneously. She turns to reach for hers, muttering to herself.]

Honestly, you would think we run the place.

[pricetags]

Grand central freaking station.

( He checks his phone, too, sighing, to see they probably were messaged in the same chat. )

... What does 'It's raining dead people,' mean?

( And the explanation comes through with the next bubble. )

That's what it means. ( He looks over to check in with Annie. ) They need pinch hitters.

[dupes]

Cordy was covering a project for me, so that's probably what she needs to be relieved on.

[She scrubs a hand over her face.]

It'll take us a few hours to get back, but I can get started on what she's working on from here. Though I also do not like the sound of raining dead people.

[And she responds in the chat: Check for zombies first.

Alexander replies that she probably has been, but he'll have Cordy and Angel double check to make sure.]

[pricetags]

( He lets Annie handle the message back, tapping on the icon to familiarize himself with what Cordelia was working on, scrolling. )

Anything I can help with on my end? Besides a shower.

[dupes]

I have to catch up on where she's at first.

[But on the other hand, there is probably one thing they should settle before they go back to work.]

Are we keeping this to ourselves? Because if I tell Serena, I can't promise that she will. And I don't mind either way - personally, I don't think it's their business, but I'm also not ashamed of it either.

[pricetags]

Uh, well, we just -- the it is new and it isn't anybody's business. But, tell your niece. You want to tell her. And, she always wants you happy. For a change, let know you are. If you are. And whatever shakes out from there, well, I don't think we have HR and you and I are on the same level. And maybe, Serena will let us have some time to ourselves to...explore this. Before it's a full-blown this.

( So it's not inappropriate. He doesn't think. )

[dupes]

I don't think Abernathy would care.

[He hires plenty of couples and plenty of couples have happened under his purview. As long as they continue to do their jobs, it'll be fine.]

But I'm pretty sure Serena, Crash and Alexander have a bet going. So just be aware, we're going to be creating a monster.

[pricetags]

Or, we can suss out the timing of their bets and put someone on top. I think Crash deserves the win, but Alexander's always allergic to fun, so maybe it could give him a leg up in the office politics. Or, we let the winner win. What do you think the bet involves? Costumes or jerseys for the losers?

( You think the two of you have created a monster, Annie, by giving into all of this, you've created your own. )

[dupes]

Pretty sure he's just cash, because they're very uncreative in that respect.

[Or, if you're Alexander, he figured if it hadn't happened already it wasn't going to happen. Alexander does not believe in romance, do not tell his boyfriend.]

But I can probably get the terms out of Serena once we're back.

[pricetags]

Cash is boring. But, I like it being untraceable.

( Unlike this connection. )

Yes. Get the terms out, then drop the big bomb. Then we go public. Then we go global.

[dupes]

I am very curious what exactly you have planned for our global takeover.

[She leans in to give him one more quick kiss before pulling back.]

Tell me about it on the way home.

[pricetags]

Telling you wouldn't be any fun, would it? I want you seeing it in real time.

( Quick kiss achieved. )

But, we can discuss any and everything else on the way. I'm going to jump in the shower.

( With that, he does, he gets dressed and they pack. And then they take off to parts unknown. California? )