Garrison and Adrienne - Garrison Pops The Question

[x-adrienne.livejournal.com]

(no, not THAT one.)

"Did I tell you we might have found a storefront for X-Factor?" Adrienne asked as she parked her Audi in the mansion garage after finishing up at her office and picking up Garrison at his office. She climbed out of the car and grabbed the takeout bags from the backseat.

"Really? Somewhere uptown or did you look for something closer to Alphabet City?" Kane unfolded from the passengers seat. He was fishing for his keys as they walked into the mansion and out towards Kane's room. Oddly, his gun safe hadn't made it over from the old world, so he was forced to lock his suite until he had a chance to replace it.

"My, how well you know me. Alphabet City," Adrienne responded. "I figured with Meridian being situated in Midtown, it would be better to keep X-Factor in a different area of the city. Plus, Alphabet City seems a lot more accessible. And that's where this Warren Worthington has a storefront he says we can rent." She stood back when Kane opened his suite door, hoping to avoid whatever the orange cat was going to do. Because it always did something. Usually ran into the shins of whoever had opened the door, purring. But sometimes it ran out and zoomed up and down the hallway as if it needed to burn off extra energy.

"You've met him already? I've heard rumblings but nothing concrete yet." The cat was fast asleep on the top of Kane's moosehead, tail hanging down from the antlers. He opened one eye as they walked in before going back to sleep. "If I saw a detective agency midtown, I'd assume it would be one of those high end firms as opposed to one for smaller clients."

"Yeah, I saw him at the gym." Adrienne set her handbag down by the door and brought the takeout bags into the kitchenette. "It was one of those weird situations where he looks sorta like the Warren we knew, and acts sorta like the Warren we knew, but he's not the Warren we knew. And he has no clue who any of us are. He was flirting with me quite shamelessly," she smirked. "And the ego on that guy. He was walking around shirtless- it was the gym, after all- and implied that his doing so was some sort of favour to me. It took every ounce of class I have not to laugh in his face. He's obviously never met you."

"So, what, do I need to go and break his wings or something? I can be all possessive and stuff if you want." He puled a couple of beers out of the fridge for them.

While he opened the beers, Adrienne dumped the contents of the takeout bags onto plates, grabbed forks and carried them into the living area, then set about on the daunting task of clearing away some of the clothes and paperwork and magazines she'd populated Kane's suite with so they would have a clear place to eat. "You probably don't need to actually break them," she informed him, shoving a pile of shoes away from the couch so she could get close enough to it to clear the cushions of clothing. "But threatening to break them might be fun. Assuming he'll still want to work with XFI afterwards, that is."

"He's rich so I'd likely have to deal with lawyers. Maybe I'll just get him audited or report his car stolen." Kane took a bite of rice, muddling it with the curry sauce. "I can't imagine what he'd do at X-Factor other than... well, act as a mutant ATM."

Sitting down, Adrienne ripped off a chunk of naan bread and popped it into her mouth. "Good plan." She leafed through a sheaf of papers she'd uprooted when she sat down to see if she had to keep any of them. "Well, if he's the mutant ATM at least I don't have to be," she shrugged goodnaturedly. "And he's got the storefront so I don't have to buy a place. If it works out, XFI can get out of the mansion."

"Likely better than trying to maintain an independent agency here." He shook his head. "You know, 'the floor' isn't really a filing system."

Adrienne folded one of the documents into a paper airplane and tossed it at him. "I know, I know. but it's the only place left. Everywhere else is filled with stuff."

"I've been noticing. Look, Adri," Kane set his plate down. "I don't know why you don't want your suite, but you're here what, five-six nights a week? Why don't you just move in here with me? We can set things up for your clothes and stuff so its organized and then it's not worrying about where to put your needs."

Stunned, Adrienne's brain switched off after 'move in here with me' and she dropped the plate she was holding, sending curry all over the floor. The cat opened one eye at the noise, saw what had happened, and jumped down to start eating the spilled food. It brushed her leg as it passed and her brain snapped back into gear. "What? Shit!" She picked up the cat to move it away and started trying to shovel the curry back onto the plate. But then it seemed to make more sense to just pick up the stuff the curry was on and upturn the items onto the plate. Focused on the task for several minutes, she suddenly remembered why she was doing it and looked over at him. "Wait... did you just ask me to move in with you?"

"I didn't think it was big enough to throw food around for. I mean, why not? You're here all the time, sleep in my bed most nights. Is having a drawer of your own that big of a deal?"

Well, now she just felt silly. Adrienne frowned at him. "I thought it was. I'm going to be... thirty for the tenth time next month. And no one's ever asked me to move in with them before. Marry, yes," she mused thoughtfully. "Lots of guys have asked that, most of them joking. But no one's ever asked me to live with them before. How is it not a big deal?" She gave him a scrutinizing look. "How many women have you asked to move in with you?"

"Including you? One..." Kane shrugged. "I'm not saying that the idea has no significance. But after everything that we've been through, the idea of you living with me isn't scary. I'd rather give it a try than worry about it being too much commitment."

Adrienne finished cleaning up the spilled curry, put her plate back on her lap and continued to eat it. "Well... okay then. Yes. My answer is yes. I will move in with you. Do you think the Professor will let us remodel the suite? Knock down some walls? Can I have a closet for my shoes?" she asked, her tone making it difficult to tell whether she was teasing or not.

"No. No. And no. But in return, I won't try and put my Moosehead up in your Manhattan apartment."

"No Moosehead and no Blue Jays paraphernalia larger than cap size," Adrienne bartered, crossing her arms over her chest as if doing a business deal. "And I get to put up Boston paraphernalia here if no larger than cap size. Specifically, my Yaz card." Of course, that would mean going to get the framed baseball card Kane had once given her from the suite she'd once shared with Tandy. And she hadn't gone back there since she'd cleaned out Tandy's things.

"All right. But," Kane said as he walked over and poked his finger into her arms. "But when there are conflicting scheduled games, in my place, the default game to watch is the Jays."

Adrienne tossed a piece of rice at him playfully. "Fine. Unless Boston's at home, in which case we'll be at Fenway. Or if there's a Victoria Secret fashion show on the tv."

"OK, but that means that... You're the one responsible for replacing the beer when you drink the last one!"

"You're only allowed to cook cow six nights a week, not seven."

"Yeah, well... " Kane paused. "Are you as hot for me right now as I am for you?"

Adrienne raised an eyebrow at him. "Possibly more? Clearly living together is going to be the tits."

"You said tits." Kane grabbed her hand. "Bedroom!"