Hope and Sue: Night out
Mar. 27th, 2020 12:58 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsAfter a tough case Hope and Sue hit the town to blow off steam.
Most cases you came across were the kind that seemed to breeze by, sometimes you caught your man sometimes you didn't, sometimes the good guys won, sometimes the bad did. You'd do your time, you'd best to solve it, but then you'd go home and shake it off, you had to otherwise you couldn't do the job. But there were some cases that defied that good sense, that managed to get under your skin without you realizing it and that was saying a lot considering Sue's day job. She could hire and fire people at the drop of a hat, she could construct weapons she knew would be used to kill people, could happily send entire families into destitution and ruin for the smallest slight...but even she wasn't immune to it.
There was a sort of pall over the office, as if everything was muted. The team had all been sat at there desks, not looking at one another, hardly speaking till one by one they had trickled out of the door, one by one the lights went out and the office got quieter and quieter, an almost overbearing silence that seemed to press down on her senses. One by one the footsteps faded, the computer screens dimmed, the office taking on the emotion of it's inhabitants dark and shadowy, filled with the sound of creaking floorboards and the slow rustle of a fan blowing over paper. Filled with the clack of a keyboard and the sound of breathing, sad and lonely, a bowed figure leaned over her desk. Someone who couldn't let go, someone else who didn't want to go home, not just yet.
Hope frowned as she hit the backspace again, staring at her screen. She seemed unable to get a decent sentence on paper without makes a dozen typo's as she wrote out the report. After two more attempts, she saved the document and closed it. She wouldn't make any progress right now.
"Sometimes Skynet just wins huh?" There was an amused smirk tugging up the corner of Sue's lips, a paper-thin veneer that would crack under any pressure, under another weight. It was how they all seemed to be, stretch to the point of breaking by one piece of bad news after another "One of those days huh?"
"One of those days." Hope agreed, rubbing her face with two hands, before letting out a long sigh. "I am not getting anything useful done here today.... You?"
"I gave up trying to do anything productive a few hours ago," Sue admitted, "I'm pretty sure that I could challenge for the paperclip throwing champion of New York at this point." A sigh slipped from the young woman's lips as she half twisted to survey the office, fingernails drumming a slow beat against the table surface. "I'm pretty sure the fact that we're still here after everyone else left is a sign that there's something wrong with us."
"Hiding behind work cannot be a coping mechanism." Hope quoted with grimace that somewhat resembled a wry smile. "Someone once told me that, but I fear you and I are the poster children for doing exactly that.
"Oh no, don't you try to lay that hat on me," crystal blue eyes twinkled as Sue's lips twitched up ever so slightly. One finger rose imperiously into the air to fall lightly against Hope's nose, "I, my dear, am going to find the nearest bar that serves decent cocktails and doesn't broadcast some godforsaken sport on TV...and you are coming with me. You wouldn't let a poor innocent lamb like me venture out into the dark cold city alone, would you?"
"Hmm, I do not know. I think I might stay here and stare at my screen." Hope was already starting to gather her purse and coat though as she spoke. "I am not in the mood for the nearest bar though. If we do this, we do this right. We either hit NOMAD or the Top of the Standard. Preferably the last, because I like the view."
A small bow, crystal blue eyes twinkling in amusement as Sue took a half step backwards, waving her hands through the most elaborate performance she could manage. "Well...as my lady commands, Top of the Standard it is. If milady would get her coat and bag?"
"Already working on it. I am not seeing yours yet though." Hope replied as she shrugged her coat on.
Butter wouldn't have melted on Sue's tongue, her crystal blue eyes twinkling with amusement, "Oh darling Hope...I'm going out on the town. If it rains, or if I get cold I'm sure there will be some perfectly gallant individual who would only be too happy to give me theirs."
***
Hope quickly scooped the cocktails from the bar as started waiving her way to the two window seats Sue somehow had managed to get a hold. "So... what is your secret?"
"Secret?" A grin played across the blonde's lips as she accepted the cocktail from Hope, swirling it gently as the watched the light play across the surface. "Why, whatever do you mean? I'm an open book."
Taking her own seat, Hope sipped her own cocktail appreciatively. "Sure... an open book. I would beg to differ, Ms. Storm."
"Why Ms Abbott, you wound me with your accusation, I'm just a simple woman, really what you see is what you get."
"A simple woman..." The look Hope threw Sue was full of disbelieve. "Access to one of the nicest cocktail places in NY on the busiest night of the week and prime seats."She gestured at the lit New York skyline. "And do not tell me it the Storm name, because I saw others with equally resounding names getting refused."
"What?!" Sue turned a wide-eyed look of astonishment on Hope, only the light of amusement dancing in the back of her eyes giving away her teasing, "You mean most people don't just get into the clubs like this?" A pale hand came up to stroke her chin thoughtfully, "hmm...do you think it's my sparkling personality and winning smile?"
, tilting the young woman's
"Maybe it's just that your photo in the gossip rags is something they want?" Hope volleyed back.
"Surely not," blue eyes twinkled as Sue winked at Hope, "who would ever be interested in sitting across from a dazzling brunette at a bar? I can't think of anyone."
"Well, they surely aren't looking for my picture in the gossip magazines somewhere, not matter how charming the brunette may be." Hope retorted with fake modesty.
"Oh I don't know about that," a delicate hand reached over the table to grasp Hope by her chin, tilting her head to the side. "I have no idea what you're talking about, from where I'm sitting any of those gossip magazines would be lucky to have such a charming woman gracing their pages...you know what this means right? We need to get you in a magazine now!"
"As if... I prefer to be the one giving the tips so to speak." Hope covered Sue's hand with her own. "Now... a stunning blonde with sparkling blue eyes. They might go for that."
"Oh no, none of that behind the scenes mumbo jumbo from you today sweetie," A delicate hand reached out, grabbing Hope's wrist as Sue practically bounced to her feet, resolutely leading the way towards the center of the room. "We are going to dance, right now...where's the nearest club? You're going to dance and get your photo taken and it'll be fabulous."
***
The lights throbbed around them and the beat of the music seemed to sink into Hope till it almost felt like her own heartbeat. People whirled to the side and just behind, but she'd only eyes for the blonde swaying front of her.
There was something about a club that spoke to the animal part of your brain, that primal instinct that everyone had tucked away at their very core. Music had a way of unlocking that, of releasing it. It left you feeling free, alive. At least that's what it always seemed to Sue as the blonde gyrated in time to the music, eyes closed, hands reaching up to run through her hair as her body swayed from side to side, as if it were made of water, of a liquid. This was what she'd needed, to be away from the office, from the constant reminders there, to find a place where she could just focus on the now. Crystal blue eyes flicked open as she reached out, extending her hands invitingly to the brunette, a coy smile playing across her lips. "Let's make headlines."
"Hmmm... headlines you say?" Hope's eyes glittered as her stance shifted, her hips swaying to the music and her hands ran down her body as she leaned back, tossing her hair back. "Here they come..."
The blonde let her eyes flick open, watching the brunette move for a moment as a slow smile spread across her face as she watched Hope move, taking a step forward, her body almost touching the brunette's as she closed her eyes again, just letting the music wash over her as she started to gyrate and start dancing.
Hope felt the warmth of Sue's body and she twist so her back was to the blonde. Still swaying to the music, she moved backward a small step, easily matching the movements as she molded her body to hers.
The blonde could feel Hope's body grinding back against hers, her hands falling away from her hair, slipping around the brunette's waist, pulling her close against her body as she closed her eyes, just enjoying the way the moment felt, that the music seemed to wrap around the two of them in a cocoon where no-one else was important.
****
There was an element of propping one another up as Sue fumbled with the elevator button, letting herself slide back against the wall as she tried to school her face into a serious expression, glaring at Hope. "You're not going back to the Mansion tonight...it's late and dark and if you get hurt, or get a papercut or something on the way then everyone's gonna blame me...besides...I think I have some whiskey and ice cream in the apartment...you wouldn't leave me to deal with it all by myself...would you?"
Despite the world twirling around her little, Hope rolled her eyes at Sue. "Only because of the promise of whiskey and ice cream. I cannot leave you to face that alone."
A nod, the blonde completely straight-faced and unapologetic as she rested her palms against the wall, "It's truly a terrible foe you're helping me slay."
Ten minutes later they were enseconded on the couch with only minimal damage (just some ice cream stains on the counter and a dribble of whiskey on the floor. "Not bad. Not bad at all." Hope gestured with her spoon at both their snacks.
Sue leaned forward, her voice taking on an almost conspiratorial tone, "See, the thing you need to be most careful of, and this is really important...you shouldn't mix your whiskey with your ice cream," came the solemn pronouncement before Sue collapsed back on the couch giggling.
"You are the one who suggested it!" Hope fiercely gestured with the spoon in Sue's direction, some of the ice dropping on the arm wrapped around the bowl.
"Hey hey now!" a slim finger waggled in Hope's direction, "no dripping ice cream on the sofa, my cleaning lady will have my head if we end up staining it. In fact," the slim fingers teacher down to wrap around Hope's wrist, holding it still, "we need to get these cleaned up too." As she some Sue's free hand reached up to brush the loose strands of her hair behind her ear as she leaned down, lips brushing the brunette's arm as she licked away the offending drops.
Hope eyed Sue languidly from the corner of her eyes as that feeling of her bodies grinding together during the dance in the club suddenly surged through her again. It had felt good... it had felt... daring... was it something she wanted to explore this way though... Sue was carefully placing her arm back around the bowl, but she had more where that came from. So when Hope lifted another filled spoon of ice cream to her mouth, she made sure some hit her neck, sliding down her decollete as it melted.
Blue eyes twinkled with silent amusement as Sue silently lifted a hand, running it along Hope's cheek to cup her chin, tilting the brunette's head back as a small smile tugged the corner of her mouth up. "No dripping on yourself either, otherwise something will eat you all up and the other will blame me too. Looks like we're gonna have to get you cleaned up. The blonde could barely suppress the laugh leaving her mouth as she leaned down, tracing down Hope's neck, along the line left by the ice cream.
When Sue leaned back with a satisfied grin on her face, Hope discarded her spoon and scooped up some of the ice cream with her finger. Deliberately meeting Sue's eyes, she smiled mischievously and painted a long line along Sue's neck and disappearing into her decolletage. Meeting Sue's eyes again, she winked and leaned forward to clean up the mess she had created.
Most cases you came across were the kind that seemed to breeze by, sometimes you caught your man sometimes you didn't, sometimes the good guys won, sometimes the bad did. You'd do your time, you'd best to solve it, but then you'd go home and shake it off, you had to otherwise you couldn't do the job. But there were some cases that defied that good sense, that managed to get under your skin without you realizing it and that was saying a lot considering Sue's day job. She could hire and fire people at the drop of a hat, she could construct weapons she knew would be used to kill people, could happily send entire families into destitution and ruin for the smallest slight...but even she wasn't immune to it.
There was a sort of pall over the office, as if everything was muted. The team had all been sat at there desks, not looking at one another, hardly speaking till one by one they had trickled out of the door, one by one the lights went out and the office got quieter and quieter, an almost overbearing silence that seemed to press down on her senses. One by one the footsteps faded, the computer screens dimmed, the office taking on the emotion of it's inhabitants dark and shadowy, filled with the sound of creaking floorboards and the slow rustle of a fan blowing over paper. Filled with the clack of a keyboard and the sound of breathing, sad and lonely, a bowed figure leaned over her desk. Someone who couldn't let go, someone else who didn't want to go home, not just yet.
Hope frowned as she hit the backspace again, staring at her screen. She seemed unable to get a decent sentence on paper without makes a dozen typo's as she wrote out the report. After two more attempts, she saved the document and closed it. She wouldn't make any progress right now.
"Sometimes Skynet just wins huh?" There was an amused smirk tugging up the corner of Sue's lips, a paper-thin veneer that would crack under any pressure, under another weight. It was how they all seemed to be, stretch to the point of breaking by one piece of bad news after another "One of those days huh?"
"One of those days." Hope agreed, rubbing her face with two hands, before letting out a long sigh. "I am not getting anything useful done here today.... You?"
"I gave up trying to do anything productive a few hours ago," Sue admitted, "I'm pretty sure that I could challenge for the paperclip throwing champion of New York at this point." A sigh slipped from the young woman's lips as she half twisted to survey the office, fingernails drumming a slow beat against the table surface. "I'm pretty sure the fact that we're still here after everyone else left is a sign that there's something wrong with us."
"Hiding behind work cannot be a coping mechanism." Hope quoted with grimace that somewhat resembled a wry smile. "Someone once told me that, but I fear you and I are the poster children for doing exactly that.
"Oh no, don't you try to lay that hat on me," crystal blue eyes twinkled as Sue's lips twitched up ever so slightly. One finger rose imperiously into the air to fall lightly against Hope's nose, "I, my dear, am going to find the nearest bar that serves decent cocktails and doesn't broadcast some godforsaken sport on TV...and you are coming with me. You wouldn't let a poor innocent lamb like me venture out into the dark cold city alone, would you?"
"Hmm, I do not know. I think I might stay here and stare at my screen." Hope was already starting to gather her purse and coat though as she spoke. "I am not in the mood for the nearest bar though. If we do this, we do this right. We either hit NOMAD or the Top of the Standard. Preferably the last, because I like the view."
A small bow, crystal blue eyes twinkling in amusement as Sue took a half step backwards, waving her hands through the most elaborate performance she could manage. "Well...as my lady commands, Top of the Standard it is. If milady would get her coat and bag?"
"Already working on it. I am not seeing yours yet though." Hope replied as she shrugged her coat on.
Butter wouldn't have melted on Sue's tongue, her crystal blue eyes twinkling with amusement, "Oh darling Hope...I'm going out on the town. If it rains, or if I get cold I'm sure there will be some perfectly gallant individual who would only be too happy to give me theirs."
***
Hope quickly scooped the cocktails from the bar as started waiving her way to the two window seats Sue somehow had managed to get a hold. "So... what is your secret?"
"Secret?" A grin played across the blonde's lips as she accepted the cocktail from Hope, swirling it gently as the watched the light play across the surface. "Why, whatever do you mean? I'm an open book."
Taking her own seat, Hope sipped her own cocktail appreciatively. "Sure... an open book. I would beg to differ, Ms. Storm."
"Why Ms Abbott, you wound me with your accusation, I'm just a simple woman, really what you see is what you get."
"A simple woman..." The look Hope threw Sue was full of disbelieve. "Access to one of the nicest cocktail places in NY on the busiest night of the week and prime seats."She gestured at the lit New York skyline. "And do not tell me it the Storm name, because I saw others with equally resounding names getting refused."
"What?!" Sue turned a wide-eyed look of astonishment on Hope, only the light of amusement dancing in the back of her eyes giving away her teasing, "You mean most people don't just get into the clubs like this?" A pale hand came up to stroke her chin thoughtfully, "hmm...do you think it's my sparkling personality and winning smile?"
, tilting the young woman's
"Maybe it's just that your photo in the gossip rags is something they want?" Hope volleyed back.
"Surely not," blue eyes twinkled as Sue winked at Hope, "who would ever be interested in sitting across from a dazzling brunette at a bar? I can't think of anyone."
"Well, they surely aren't looking for my picture in the gossip magazines somewhere, not matter how charming the brunette may be." Hope retorted with fake modesty.
"Oh I don't know about that," a delicate hand reached over the table to grasp Hope by her chin, tilting her head to the side. "I have no idea what you're talking about, from where I'm sitting any of those gossip magazines would be lucky to have such a charming woman gracing their pages...you know what this means right? We need to get you in a magazine now!"
"As if... I prefer to be the one giving the tips so to speak." Hope covered Sue's hand with her own. "Now... a stunning blonde with sparkling blue eyes. They might go for that."
"Oh no, none of that behind the scenes mumbo jumbo from you today sweetie," A delicate hand reached out, grabbing Hope's wrist as Sue practically bounced to her feet, resolutely leading the way towards the center of the room. "We are going to dance, right now...where's the nearest club? You're going to dance and get your photo taken and it'll be fabulous."
***
The lights throbbed around them and the beat of the music seemed to sink into Hope till it almost felt like her own heartbeat. People whirled to the side and just behind, but she'd only eyes for the blonde swaying front of her.
There was something about a club that spoke to the animal part of your brain, that primal instinct that everyone had tucked away at their very core. Music had a way of unlocking that, of releasing it. It left you feeling free, alive. At least that's what it always seemed to Sue as the blonde gyrated in time to the music, eyes closed, hands reaching up to run through her hair as her body swayed from side to side, as if it were made of water, of a liquid. This was what she'd needed, to be away from the office, from the constant reminders there, to find a place where she could just focus on the now. Crystal blue eyes flicked open as she reached out, extending her hands invitingly to the brunette, a coy smile playing across her lips. "Let's make headlines."
"Hmmm... headlines you say?" Hope's eyes glittered as her stance shifted, her hips swaying to the music and her hands ran down her body as she leaned back, tossing her hair back. "Here they come..."
The blonde let her eyes flick open, watching the brunette move for a moment as a slow smile spread across her face as she watched Hope move, taking a step forward, her body almost touching the brunette's as she closed her eyes again, just letting the music wash over her as she started to gyrate and start dancing.
Hope felt the warmth of Sue's body and she twist so her back was to the blonde. Still swaying to the music, she moved backward a small step, easily matching the movements as she molded her body to hers.
The blonde could feel Hope's body grinding back against hers, her hands falling away from her hair, slipping around the brunette's waist, pulling her close against her body as she closed her eyes, just enjoying the way the moment felt, that the music seemed to wrap around the two of them in a cocoon where no-one else was important.
****
There was an element of propping one another up as Sue fumbled with the elevator button, letting herself slide back against the wall as she tried to school her face into a serious expression, glaring at Hope. "You're not going back to the Mansion tonight...it's late and dark and if you get hurt, or get a papercut or something on the way then everyone's gonna blame me...besides...I think I have some whiskey and ice cream in the apartment...you wouldn't leave me to deal with it all by myself...would you?"
Despite the world twirling around her little, Hope rolled her eyes at Sue. "Only because of the promise of whiskey and ice cream. I cannot leave you to face that alone."
A nod, the blonde completely straight-faced and unapologetic as she rested her palms against the wall, "It's truly a terrible foe you're helping me slay."
Ten minutes later they were enseconded on the couch with only minimal damage (just some ice cream stains on the counter and a dribble of whiskey on the floor. "Not bad. Not bad at all." Hope gestured with her spoon at both their snacks.
Sue leaned forward, her voice taking on an almost conspiratorial tone, "See, the thing you need to be most careful of, and this is really important...you shouldn't mix your whiskey with your ice cream," came the solemn pronouncement before Sue collapsed back on the couch giggling.
"You are the one who suggested it!" Hope fiercely gestured with the spoon in Sue's direction, some of the ice dropping on the arm wrapped around the bowl.
"Hey hey now!" a slim finger waggled in Hope's direction, "no dripping ice cream on the sofa, my cleaning lady will have my head if we end up staining it. In fact," the slim fingers teacher down to wrap around Hope's wrist, holding it still, "we need to get these cleaned up too." As she some Sue's free hand reached up to brush the loose strands of her hair behind her ear as she leaned down, lips brushing the brunette's arm as she licked away the offending drops.
Hope eyed Sue languidly from the corner of her eyes as that feeling of her bodies grinding together during the dance in the club suddenly surged through her again. It had felt good... it had felt... daring... was it something she wanted to explore this way though... Sue was carefully placing her arm back around the bowl, but she had more where that came from. So when Hope lifted another filled spoon of ice cream to her mouth, she made sure some hit her neck, sliding down her decollete as it melted.
Blue eyes twinkled with silent amusement as Sue silently lifted a hand, running it along Hope's cheek to cup her chin, tilting the brunette's head back as a small smile tugged the corner of her mouth up. "No dripping on yourself either, otherwise something will eat you all up and the other will blame me too. Looks like we're gonna have to get you cleaned up. The blonde could barely suppress the laugh leaving her mouth as she leaned down, tracing down Hope's neck, along the line left by the ice cream.
When Sue leaned back with a satisfied grin on her face, Hope discarded her spoon and scooped up some of the ice cream with her finger. Deliberately meeting Sue's eyes, she smiled mischievously and painted a long line along Sue's neck and disappearing into her decolletage. Meeting Sue's eyes again, she winked and leaned forward to clean up the mess she had created.
