Snow Day | Night Wandering
Jan. 28th, 2022 11:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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xp_logsDoug's nanites are reacting a little oddly to Darcy's touch.
"I have...complicated feelings about this," Doug declared, waving a hand at the blankets covering him and Darcy. "On the one hand, warm cuddles, on the other it reminds me of when I was basically cold and tired all the time with the blood curse."
"I should've brought the blanket fort to you during that. Let you borrow some body heat while I read my law texts," Darcy mused, tipping her head back until she could press a kiss against the underside of his jaw. She pressed her back into his chest a little more firmly in an effort to minimize places warmth wasn't trading between them. "Are you warm enough right now? I made sure there was a good stack of linens in all the places with a couch or bed and then left the rest near reception, but there's two extra in the closet in here, just in case. And I grabbed a few sleeping bags too, in case the power went out."
Doug pressed an answering kiss on the crown of Darcy's head. "I'm nice and warm," he reassured her. "More of an unpleasant mental association thing. Like, my brain still half-expects to be cold and sluggish even though the nanites are doing their job and all." He shrugged and draped one arm over her shoulder.
"They are good little buds," Darcy agreed as she traced over his arm. "Kinda fuzzy tonight, but maybe that's just because I've been so prone to static lately. Winter's always bad for it, but it's been so much worse this past month or so that I'm actually worried about my phone. It's why I keep touching the filing cabinets with both hands or most of my arm."
"...fuzzy?" Doug cocked his head, poking at his right arm with a finger on his left hand, making a thoughtful noise as he did so. "I guess kinda, yeah. They do seem a bit more active or something." It almost felt like goosebumps, but with a distinctly different texture due to the nanites.
"More active? Huh. Let me know if that becomes a bad thing and we'll figure something out?" Darcy wasn't sure what they'd do, but for now she'd keep taking the same precautions she was for her electronics. The texture felt nice under her fingers, though, so she kept trailing them in loops and swirls over his arm.
Doug watched, fascinated, as the traceries of copper and black on his arm shifted and followed along behind the path of Darcy's finger. "Well, they seem to have no complaints about it," he observed.
"Good. You want to help me finish my thank you gift to Jean? I want a second opinion." Darcy shifted until she could snake one hand out, swiping her phone from the nightstand. "I'm thinking this," she continued once she was settled back against Doug, pulling up a picture of a bear with short swirls of red to orange hair.
"Ooh, that's very cute," Doug told her as he leaned over to look at her screen. "It needs an outfit, though. I'm thinking...that," he decided, pointing at a hunter green dress that was in the list of suggested accessories along the bottom.
"That's cute. And not a lot of poky bits to get in the way of the hugging." She put both items in the cart and checked out. "I made one for Jane years ago, but they didn't have as many options as they do now, so her bear's a lot more basic. She's got a squishable dragon too. Everyone gets a squishy present eventually. Although... hm, you have me to squish, so you're not very high on the list of people that need a squishy plush."
Doug made a happy noise and cuddled a bit closer to Darcy. "And I'm very glad to have my squishy back," he rumbled as he hugged her from behind. "You're not the only one who sleeps better when the other one is around."
"You could've borrowed a pillow or something, I wouldn't have minded," Darcy replied as she shifted to her side, legs rubbing together restlessly. "Oh hey, you getting all low register like that is still doing it for me. Save it for when we get home, honey."
Doug's eyes brightened a bit. "Well, I wasn't aiming for that, but I'm glad things are starting to do it for you again," he told her. "And I can definitely hold that thought for a later time." He was good at holding those kind of thoughts.
"If we start getting steamy Jubilee's chaos sensor is gonna go off and she's going to take me up on that offer for platonic cuddling." Darcy let out a quiet chuckle as she said it. "Which, fair warning, I did offer her. But I also said I'd ask if you minded. Otherwise it can keep to nights we're not sharing."
"Jubilee and I didn't have problems after the breakup the way Laurie and I did," Doug mused after a bit of thought. "She's just a total hummingbird flitting around from thing to thing." It was said without rancor or judgment. "Cuddles are always good, whenever."
"She said she got a little intense. I'm glad it's not a problem, though." Darcy reached over to flick off the light, sliding off to Doug's side as they repositioned for sleep. "There was a point with Laurie, that day we had that awkward clearing the air," she said hesitantly into the dark, "where I was almost certain you were going to ask her if it was really too late. Now I'm just really, really glad you didn't."
Doug shrugged a bit as he draped an arm over Darcy's midsection. "I can be a bit intense myself at times, so." As to the rest, he thought for a while before speaking. "I'd like to say it was some kind of decision, but honestly it was luck. If she hadn't been so focused on what she was doing, who's to say I might not have gotten caught up in it too."
"Glad you didn't," Darcy replied around a wide yawn. "Bad enough as a thought, would've.. I don't know what I would've done if it'd been true, but probably messy and destructive. If I hadn't had people encouraging me to get better.. was too tempting some nights to drink myself oblivious while I was at Helga's, 's why I've been so careful about my intake since I got back."
Doug made a small note to himself to moderate his own consumption so as not to make things more difficult for Darcy. "If it should ever be relevant, my 'is a total mess' tends more toward not taking care of myself, being reckless, that sort of thing." He brushed gently at her hair with his fingers. "Get some sleep, sweetie."
Darcy made a noise between a scoff and a groan, moving just a little closer as her eyes slipped shut. "Have a man-friend type. Hot, little reckless, needs cared for. You, Barton, Murdock. Boss too, sometimes. Fuck."
"I mean, not like I don't have a lady-friend type," Doug said around a snort of amusement. "Hot, good at what they do, kicks my butt when I need it..." He kept up the chatter until he was sure Darcy was asleep, then pressed a kiss to the top of her head and settled down to close his eyes and rest as well.
Darcy becomes Kevin's problem when she finds him during a late night wander.
At least it was one of the fleeting ones, Darcy thought as she gasped herself awake. Probably the stress and unfamiliar sleeping space. The guess wouldn't help her get back to sleep though, so she shifted carefully out of the bed, grabbing her phone and a blanket as Doug let out a sleepy grumble.
She shot him a quick text in case he woke up, then made her way downstairs into their work area. The light sounds of typing and papers rustling caught her attention, leading her straight to one of the conference rooms.
Of course, Darcy's brain supplied as her mouth opened. "Just because you don't have to sleep much doesn't mean you shouldn't get some rest, Boss." She came to a stop at Kevin's side, looking over the files open next to him. "What're you working on that can't wait until daylight?"
"Can't wait? Nothing. But with a shop full of light sleepers stacked up in the corners, this is a far more comfortable way to spend the night.." He wasn't kidding. In addition to several liquor bottles on the table, the conference room coffee machine was brewing a full pot, and he had a stack of the deli sandwiches from Sol's that no one had eaten on a plate at his elbow. And all the remaining pickles.
"Shouldn't you be in bed at least? This looks like one of the least fun ways to be up late."
"Nightmare," Darcy replied, stealing one of the pickles without remorse. "Not one of the vivid ones. Awake for a bit though, so now I'm your problem." She leaned forward as a name on one of the files caught her eye, tapping it with a free finger. "If that's the actual Theocritus, we probably don't need to monitor him that carefully, because the FBI is already doing it." She paused for a minute, thinking about the intel they'd just gotten from Kane. "On second thought, ignore me. He's got the programming skills to be a nightmare if his choices ever become "work for the government or else" and the inability to not cross lines to show off how very clever he is." She straightened mostly back up, crunching into the pickle she'd snagged.
"It's not as much him as this Technarchy hacker group that seems to have links with him, but even Doug's best work can't find any electronic trail. I think there's a real time physical connection, but I haven't found any leads for it." Kevin leaned back and took a sip from his glass. "I think I might need to leverage some proxies for it." He made some notes and moved to the next file.
"Grab a drink if you want."
"Let me take a crack at it," she suggested. "I'm not as good at hacking as Doug, but I have some contacts. If there's any other known names from the group I might be able to help narrow it down to something useful." Darcy snagged his glass as she moved towards the liquor, stealing the last swallow with a grin before building him a fresh drink. She made a lighter one for herself and brought them both back, setting them down before pulling a chair over.
"There's no rush on it. After all, someone once told me just because you're up 'doesn't mean you shouldn't get some rest'." He said, the last delivered in a note perfect mimic of her voice.
"Oh, does that mean you're going to take my advice then?" She teased, reaching out for her drink before settling into the chair. "Which one of us is the cheeky brat, again?"
"Me, no. I'm not the one most likely to fall asleep at the table and end up walking around all morning with the impression of the keyboard on the side of her face. Again." He took a long sip of his drink. "I've also been keeping an eye on the DSNY. They're slammed, but fortunately, someone had the foresight to ask for help from upstate. Looks like the highway and train lines should be clear by tomorrow afternoon."
"Not all of us have the ability to be as perky and alert as you after not sleeping for a few days," Darcy countered primly as she nursed her drink. "And I might as well do something for a bit while I'm up, at least until my body decides if it'd like another nap or not before I go downstairs and fetch breakfast." Her drink landed on the table with a soft thump as she reached across for the file and a pencil, and a few minutes of shifting had her standing and pushing the chair away before plonking down on the floor at Kevin's feet. Quiet scratches replaced her earlier grumbles as her mind focused on the information in front of her, small notations filling in around his own notes.
"Suit yourself." He'd seen her bizarre choices of work spaces enough not to blink as she arranged herself. All he did was shift one of his sandwiches on the floor next to her before turning back to his next file.
When nothing else seemed to be forthcoming Darcy let herself relax, leaning into Kevin's leg with a soft sigh. "Thanks."
"I have...complicated feelings about this," Doug declared, waving a hand at the blankets covering him and Darcy. "On the one hand, warm cuddles, on the other it reminds me of when I was basically cold and tired all the time with the blood curse."
"I should've brought the blanket fort to you during that. Let you borrow some body heat while I read my law texts," Darcy mused, tipping her head back until she could press a kiss against the underside of his jaw. She pressed her back into his chest a little more firmly in an effort to minimize places warmth wasn't trading between them. "Are you warm enough right now? I made sure there was a good stack of linens in all the places with a couch or bed and then left the rest near reception, but there's two extra in the closet in here, just in case. And I grabbed a few sleeping bags too, in case the power went out."
Doug pressed an answering kiss on the crown of Darcy's head. "I'm nice and warm," he reassured her. "More of an unpleasant mental association thing. Like, my brain still half-expects to be cold and sluggish even though the nanites are doing their job and all." He shrugged and draped one arm over her shoulder.
"They are good little buds," Darcy agreed as she traced over his arm. "Kinda fuzzy tonight, but maybe that's just because I've been so prone to static lately. Winter's always bad for it, but it's been so much worse this past month or so that I'm actually worried about my phone. It's why I keep touching the filing cabinets with both hands or most of my arm."
"...fuzzy?" Doug cocked his head, poking at his right arm with a finger on his left hand, making a thoughtful noise as he did so. "I guess kinda, yeah. They do seem a bit more active or something." It almost felt like goosebumps, but with a distinctly different texture due to the nanites.
"More active? Huh. Let me know if that becomes a bad thing and we'll figure something out?" Darcy wasn't sure what they'd do, but for now she'd keep taking the same precautions she was for her electronics. The texture felt nice under her fingers, though, so she kept trailing them in loops and swirls over his arm.
Doug watched, fascinated, as the traceries of copper and black on his arm shifted and followed along behind the path of Darcy's finger. "Well, they seem to have no complaints about it," he observed.
"Good. You want to help me finish my thank you gift to Jean? I want a second opinion." Darcy shifted until she could snake one hand out, swiping her phone from the nightstand. "I'm thinking this," she continued once she was settled back against Doug, pulling up a picture of a bear with short swirls of red to orange hair.
"Ooh, that's very cute," Doug told her as he leaned over to look at her screen. "It needs an outfit, though. I'm thinking...that," he decided, pointing at a hunter green dress that was in the list of suggested accessories along the bottom.
"That's cute. And not a lot of poky bits to get in the way of the hugging." She put both items in the cart and checked out. "I made one for Jane years ago, but they didn't have as many options as they do now, so her bear's a lot more basic. She's got a squishable dragon too. Everyone gets a squishy present eventually. Although... hm, you have me to squish, so you're not very high on the list of people that need a squishy plush."
Doug made a happy noise and cuddled a bit closer to Darcy. "And I'm very glad to have my squishy back," he rumbled as he hugged her from behind. "You're not the only one who sleeps better when the other one is around."
"You could've borrowed a pillow or something, I wouldn't have minded," Darcy replied as she shifted to her side, legs rubbing together restlessly. "Oh hey, you getting all low register like that is still doing it for me. Save it for when we get home, honey."
Doug's eyes brightened a bit. "Well, I wasn't aiming for that, but I'm glad things are starting to do it for you again," he told her. "And I can definitely hold that thought for a later time." He was good at holding those kind of thoughts.
"If we start getting steamy Jubilee's chaos sensor is gonna go off and she's going to take me up on that offer for platonic cuddling." Darcy let out a quiet chuckle as she said it. "Which, fair warning, I did offer her. But I also said I'd ask if you minded. Otherwise it can keep to nights we're not sharing."
"Jubilee and I didn't have problems after the breakup the way Laurie and I did," Doug mused after a bit of thought. "She's just a total hummingbird flitting around from thing to thing." It was said without rancor or judgment. "Cuddles are always good, whenever."
"She said she got a little intense. I'm glad it's not a problem, though." Darcy reached over to flick off the light, sliding off to Doug's side as they repositioned for sleep. "There was a point with Laurie, that day we had that awkward clearing the air," she said hesitantly into the dark, "where I was almost certain you were going to ask her if it was really too late. Now I'm just really, really glad you didn't."
Doug shrugged a bit as he draped an arm over Darcy's midsection. "I can be a bit intense myself at times, so." As to the rest, he thought for a while before speaking. "I'd like to say it was some kind of decision, but honestly it was luck. If she hadn't been so focused on what she was doing, who's to say I might not have gotten caught up in it too."
"Glad you didn't," Darcy replied around a wide yawn. "Bad enough as a thought, would've.. I don't know what I would've done if it'd been true, but probably messy and destructive. If I hadn't had people encouraging me to get better.. was too tempting some nights to drink myself oblivious while I was at Helga's, 's why I've been so careful about my intake since I got back."
Doug made a small note to himself to moderate his own consumption so as not to make things more difficult for Darcy. "If it should ever be relevant, my 'is a total mess' tends more toward not taking care of myself, being reckless, that sort of thing." He brushed gently at her hair with his fingers. "Get some sleep, sweetie."
Darcy made a noise between a scoff and a groan, moving just a little closer as her eyes slipped shut. "Have a man-friend type. Hot, little reckless, needs cared for. You, Barton, Murdock. Boss too, sometimes. Fuck."
"I mean, not like I don't have a lady-friend type," Doug said around a snort of amusement. "Hot, good at what they do, kicks my butt when I need it..." He kept up the chatter until he was sure Darcy was asleep, then pressed a kiss to the top of her head and settled down to close his eyes and rest as well.
Darcy becomes Kevin's problem when she finds him during a late night wander.
At least it was one of the fleeting ones, Darcy thought as she gasped herself awake. Probably the stress and unfamiliar sleeping space. The guess wouldn't help her get back to sleep though, so she shifted carefully out of the bed, grabbing her phone and a blanket as Doug let out a sleepy grumble.
She shot him a quick text in case he woke up, then made her way downstairs into their work area. The light sounds of typing and papers rustling caught her attention, leading her straight to one of the conference rooms.
Of course, Darcy's brain supplied as her mouth opened. "Just because you don't have to sleep much doesn't mean you shouldn't get some rest, Boss." She came to a stop at Kevin's side, looking over the files open next to him. "What're you working on that can't wait until daylight?"
"Can't wait? Nothing. But with a shop full of light sleepers stacked up in the corners, this is a far more comfortable way to spend the night.." He wasn't kidding. In addition to several liquor bottles on the table, the conference room coffee machine was brewing a full pot, and he had a stack of the deli sandwiches from Sol's that no one had eaten on a plate at his elbow. And all the remaining pickles.
"Shouldn't you be in bed at least? This looks like one of the least fun ways to be up late."
"Nightmare," Darcy replied, stealing one of the pickles without remorse. "Not one of the vivid ones. Awake for a bit though, so now I'm your problem." She leaned forward as a name on one of the files caught her eye, tapping it with a free finger. "If that's the actual Theocritus, we probably don't need to monitor him that carefully, because the FBI is already doing it." She paused for a minute, thinking about the intel they'd just gotten from Kane. "On second thought, ignore me. He's got the programming skills to be a nightmare if his choices ever become "work for the government or else" and the inability to not cross lines to show off how very clever he is." She straightened mostly back up, crunching into the pickle she'd snagged.
"It's not as much him as this Technarchy hacker group that seems to have links with him, but even Doug's best work can't find any electronic trail. I think there's a real time physical connection, but I haven't found any leads for it." Kevin leaned back and took a sip from his glass. "I think I might need to leverage some proxies for it." He made some notes and moved to the next file.
"Grab a drink if you want."
"Let me take a crack at it," she suggested. "I'm not as good at hacking as Doug, but I have some contacts. If there's any other known names from the group I might be able to help narrow it down to something useful." Darcy snagged his glass as she moved towards the liquor, stealing the last swallow with a grin before building him a fresh drink. She made a lighter one for herself and brought them both back, setting them down before pulling a chair over.
"There's no rush on it. After all, someone once told me just because you're up 'doesn't mean you shouldn't get some rest'." He said, the last delivered in a note perfect mimic of her voice.
"Oh, does that mean you're going to take my advice then?" She teased, reaching out for her drink before settling into the chair. "Which one of us is the cheeky brat, again?"
"Me, no. I'm not the one most likely to fall asleep at the table and end up walking around all morning with the impression of the keyboard on the side of her face. Again." He took a long sip of his drink. "I've also been keeping an eye on the DSNY. They're slammed, but fortunately, someone had the foresight to ask for help from upstate. Looks like the highway and train lines should be clear by tomorrow afternoon."
"Not all of us have the ability to be as perky and alert as you after not sleeping for a few days," Darcy countered primly as she nursed her drink. "And I might as well do something for a bit while I'm up, at least until my body decides if it'd like another nap or not before I go downstairs and fetch breakfast." Her drink landed on the table with a soft thump as she reached across for the file and a pencil, and a few minutes of shifting had her standing and pushing the chair away before plonking down on the floor at Kevin's feet. Quiet scratches replaced her earlier grumbles as her mind focused on the information in front of her, small notations filling in around his own notes.
"Suit yourself." He'd seen her bizarre choices of work spaces enough not to blink as she arranged herself. All he did was shift one of his sandwiches on the floor next to her before turning back to his next file.
When nothing else seemed to be forthcoming Darcy let herself relax, leaning into Kevin's leg with a soft sigh. "Thanks."
