Kevin & Darcy | A Little Night Music
Jun. 16th, 2022 11:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
xp_darcy posting in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
xp_logsDarcy interrupts Kevin's quiet time in the lounge, which leads to a dance and her learning more about the past of the man training her.
It wasn't uncommon to find Kevin in the lounge in the mansion. The man had sniffed it out shortly after arriving at the mansion, and had helped with the renovations to reopen it, even citing the Arnold Constable designs. More people used it these days, but for Kevin, it seemed like a trip to the past. The deep leather chairs, the dusky smell of the cigar he was enjoying, the deep colour of the whiskey he was sipping, and the accompanying throaty sounds of Julie London on the sound system; it was like a trip back to a black and white movie.
The sounds of jazz and a low, feminine voice had lured Darcy towards the lounge, book in hand as she looked for a fairly quiet place to read. ♪ Come to me slowly, and tell me, tell me what I want to hear, ♪ she sang along as she stepped across the threshold, hoping she wasn't going to end up finding other residents in a compromising position. Tension in her shoulders relaxed as she realized it was just Kevin, and she broke off with a smile. "Private party, Boss, or do you mind a little company?"
Kevin looked up from his book, a slight angle of surprise to his eyebrows. "Feel free, but it's old man territory in here today." He took a draw on his cigar. The mansion was technically non-smoking, but at some point, they'd installed a separate HVAC system into the lounge which made it isolated. "I wasn't expecting anyone else to pick up on Julie London."
Darcy shrugged. "I like jazz, and Julie's range is similar enough to mine to sing along alright." She set her book down in the chair next to his, then moved to the bar, hips swaying in time with the music as she carefully poured a drink. "It's good dancing music, fitting for this room. That slower, smooth tempo. You can almost imagine her set up in the corner with a house band, a few couples pressed close together through the filter of the cigar smoke." The song had changed a few times before Darcy got settled in her chair, and she took a slow sip of her drink before letting her head tip back. ♪ Now you say you love me, well just to prove you do, ♪ she sang, eyes closed as a foot tapped the air in time with the beat.
Kevin gave her a nod. "So you know your stuff. A little." He reached into his pocket and offered a cigar case at her. "Would you like one? One of the advantages of the CIA was, ironically, we all had access to the proper Cubans. I have Monte Christos and Romeo Y Julietas here."
"Yours will have to suffice," Darcy declined with a shake of her head. "Only a little, hm? Woo me with your jazz knowledge and stories then, old man." She gave him a wink and a grin, curling up comfortably in the leather chair and eyeing him expectantly. Kevin's stories were generally interesting and she always enjoyed learning more about the man that'd taken her under his wing for training.
"You are missing out." He drew the cigar to a cherry red and blow a smoke ring into the air. "I was born in 1934. The Jazz Age of the 40s and 50s was my music. Date music. Radio listening. Trying to convince young women out of their clothes music. It was a time." He poured himself a bit more.
"Get them dancing with you on the floor and then encourage them to try it a little horizontally?" Darcy teased. "I'd have liked to see that. Or did you stay back, lure them in by being cool and mysterious?"
"When I was a kid, no. I was poor and inarticulate. Before the Army, I was white trash. After the Army, | was still white trash but getting a little education."
"So you haven't danced to this?" Darcy's voice was fairly incredulous. "All of those women missing out. And you too, because this music is divine to dance to with a partner you enjoy." She set her glass on the floor beside her chair and sat up a little straighter, voice a little uncertain as she continued. "Dance with me, Kevin?"
"You know, I wasn't a good dancer when I was younger. My wife, she was. A gifted dancer. I tried to keep up." He said, coming to his feet smoothly and gathering her hands in his. "But after my powers... imagine knowing your partner's moves as soon as they think them?" Kevin swung her to his right with perfect timing.
Darcy let out a delighted laugh as he swung her through the air. "At least you tried to keep up," she commented once she'd gotten over the slight surprise. "But you could kill it on the ballroom circuit now, I'd wager." She hummed along to the music as they moved around the space, letting Kevin lead without a fuss. "This can be that dance I never got to talk you into at the Gala."
"They might have noticed you dancing with the waiter." He replied with an arched eyebrow, moving smoothly through the lounge. It didn't have the space of the ballroom, but he was good at telegraphing his moves, leading her in a careful oval of steps. "People my age were still dancing swing, foxtrot, a little mambo or samba if your partner was adventurous. I was a little too old for all the sock hops, hand jives and strolls the kids did."
She partially conceded the point with a downwards tip of her chin. "Presumably wealthy or eccentric woman slumming it by dancing with the staff at a Hellfire event? That's not scandalous enough to be more than a brief mention on Page Six or ONTD unless it's a slow night. What else was your wife good at?" It wasn't subtle, but then Darcy rarely felt the need to be subtle when it was just the two of them, even when the topics they touched on got difficult.
"Quite a bit. She was 20 when I met her, a mezzo at the Met Opera, although only in secondary roles and the chorus. Due to her family's position in New York society, she'd been pushed in that direction instead of college, like she wanted. And while her voice was amazing to me, she was never going to be a star." His eyes caught a bit of a faraway look. "She grew up on the Upper East Side - cook, housekeeper, society events as the good pampered daughter ready to marry well and be a good pampered wife. After we got married... to the extreme displeasure of her father... she decided she hated not knowing how to do things. She'd never cooked, fixed anything, done chores, didn't have a license. I was away a lot for work with the Agency. She responded by taking classes. Lots of classes. Turned out, pretty much anything she put her mind to, she was good at."
Darcy's hand tightened briefly around his arm, a reflexive gesture meant to comfort. "She sounds pretty amazing." Her voice was quietly sincere as she watched his face, bodies still swaying in time to the music. "What was your favorite thing that she learned? Or did you just enjoy that she wanted to learn and was good at it?"
"She was remarkable. But she wanted kids." Kevin paused, stopping in the middle of the room. "I met her grandchildren at her funeral. That was what she wanted."
"And you..." her hands slid around Kevin's waist as her words trailed off. "Couldn't, or didn't want to?"
Darcy turned instead of waiting for him to answer, lightly pulling him back to the chairs. The conversation had taken a turn into the serious sort that might require a bit of liquid courage, even if Kevin couldn't get drunk. She snagged her own drink as he settled back into his chair, electing to drape her legs over his lap as she perched on the arm of the chair.
"Couldn't. I'm absolutely sterile.' Kevin said, as he poured them both martinis. "I never blamed her for a moment. It was important to her and we never knew."
"That sucks." It didn't nearly convey the depths of the complicated twist of emotions the knowledge evoked, but it was honest. "I imagine it was pretty rough on her, and maybe for you too. Was it amicable, at least, once you found out?"
"I let her go. Because how else." Kevin said, drawing in a long breath. "I'd rather dance."
Her fingers slipped through the hair at his temple briefly as she stood, letting the subject drop. "Alright old man, take me around the floor a few more spins." Dinah Washington filled the room as they started to move again, and Darcy sang quietly along as Kevin led her through the steps. ♪ Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night ♪
It wasn't uncommon to find Kevin in the lounge in the mansion. The man had sniffed it out shortly after arriving at the mansion, and had helped with the renovations to reopen it, even citing the Arnold Constable designs. More people used it these days, but for Kevin, it seemed like a trip to the past. The deep leather chairs, the dusky smell of the cigar he was enjoying, the deep colour of the whiskey he was sipping, and the accompanying throaty sounds of Julie London on the sound system; it was like a trip back to a black and white movie.
The sounds of jazz and a low, feminine voice had lured Darcy towards the lounge, book in hand as she looked for a fairly quiet place to read. ♪ Come to me slowly, and tell me, tell me what I want to hear, ♪ she sang along as she stepped across the threshold, hoping she wasn't going to end up finding other residents in a compromising position. Tension in her shoulders relaxed as she realized it was just Kevin, and she broke off with a smile. "Private party, Boss, or do you mind a little company?"
Kevin looked up from his book, a slight angle of surprise to his eyebrows. "Feel free, but it's old man territory in here today." He took a draw on his cigar. The mansion was technically non-smoking, but at some point, they'd installed a separate HVAC system into the lounge which made it isolated. "I wasn't expecting anyone else to pick up on Julie London."
Darcy shrugged. "I like jazz, and Julie's range is similar enough to mine to sing along alright." She set her book down in the chair next to his, then moved to the bar, hips swaying in time with the music as she carefully poured a drink. "It's good dancing music, fitting for this room. That slower, smooth tempo. You can almost imagine her set up in the corner with a house band, a few couples pressed close together through the filter of the cigar smoke." The song had changed a few times before Darcy got settled in her chair, and she took a slow sip of her drink before letting her head tip back. ♪ Now you say you love me, well just to prove you do, ♪ she sang, eyes closed as a foot tapped the air in time with the beat.
Kevin gave her a nod. "So you know your stuff. A little." He reached into his pocket and offered a cigar case at her. "Would you like one? One of the advantages of the CIA was, ironically, we all had access to the proper Cubans. I have Monte Christos and Romeo Y Julietas here."
"Yours will have to suffice," Darcy declined with a shake of her head. "Only a little, hm? Woo me with your jazz knowledge and stories then, old man." She gave him a wink and a grin, curling up comfortably in the leather chair and eyeing him expectantly. Kevin's stories were generally interesting and she always enjoyed learning more about the man that'd taken her under his wing for training.
"You are missing out." He drew the cigar to a cherry red and blow a smoke ring into the air. "I was born in 1934. The Jazz Age of the 40s and 50s was my music. Date music. Radio listening. Trying to convince young women out of their clothes music. It was a time." He poured himself a bit more.
"Get them dancing with you on the floor and then encourage them to try it a little horizontally?" Darcy teased. "I'd have liked to see that. Or did you stay back, lure them in by being cool and mysterious?"
"When I was a kid, no. I was poor and inarticulate. Before the Army, I was white trash. After the Army, | was still white trash but getting a little education."
"So you haven't danced to this?" Darcy's voice was fairly incredulous. "All of those women missing out. And you too, because this music is divine to dance to with a partner you enjoy." She set her glass on the floor beside her chair and sat up a little straighter, voice a little uncertain as she continued. "Dance with me, Kevin?"
"You know, I wasn't a good dancer when I was younger. My wife, she was. A gifted dancer. I tried to keep up." He said, coming to his feet smoothly and gathering her hands in his. "But after my powers... imagine knowing your partner's moves as soon as they think them?" Kevin swung her to his right with perfect timing.
Darcy let out a delighted laugh as he swung her through the air. "At least you tried to keep up," she commented once she'd gotten over the slight surprise. "But you could kill it on the ballroom circuit now, I'd wager." She hummed along to the music as they moved around the space, letting Kevin lead without a fuss. "This can be that dance I never got to talk you into at the Gala."
"They might have noticed you dancing with the waiter." He replied with an arched eyebrow, moving smoothly through the lounge. It didn't have the space of the ballroom, but he was good at telegraphing his moves, leading her in a careful oval of steps. "People my age were still dancing swing, foxtrot, a little mambo or samba if your partner was adventurous. I was a little too old for all the sock hops, hand jives and strolls the kids did."
She partially conceded the point with a downwards tip of her chin. "Presumably wealthy or eccentric woman slumming it by dancing with the staff at a Hellfire event? That's not scandalous enough to be more than a brief mention on Page Six or ONTD unless it's a slow night. What else was your wife good at?" It wasn't subtle, but then Darcy rarely felt the need to be subtle when it was just the two of them, even when the topics they touched on got difficult.
"Quite a bit. She was 20 when I met her, a mezzo at the Met Opera, although only in secondary roles and the chorus. Due to her family's position in New York society, she'd been pushed in that direction instead of college, like she wanted. And while her voice was amazing to me, she was never going to be a star." His eyes caught a bit of a faraway look. "She grew up on the Upper East Side - cook, housekeeper, society events as the good pampered daughter ready to marry well and be a good pampered wife. After we got married... to the extreme displeasure of her father... she decided she hated not knowing how to do things. She'd never cooked, fixed anything, done chores, didn't have a license. I was away a lot for work with the Agency. She responded by taking classes. Lots of classes. Turned out, pretty much anything she put her mind to, she was good at."
Darcy's hand tightened briefly around his arm, a reflexive gesture meant to comfort. "She sounds pretty amazing." Her voice was quietly sincere as she watched his face, bodies still swaying in time to the music. "What was your favorite thing that she learned? Or did you just enjoy that she wanted to learn and was good at it?"
"She was remarkable. But she wanted kids." Kevin paused, stopping in the middle of the room. "I met her grandchildren at her funeral. That was what she wanted."
"And you..." her hands slid around Kevin's waist as her words trailed off. "Couldn't, or didn't want to?"
Darcy turned instead of waiting for him to answer, lightly pulling him back to the chairs. The conversation had taken a turn into the serious sort that might require a bit of liquid courage, even if Kevin couldn't get drunk. She snagged her own drink as he settled back into his chair, electing to drape her legs over his lap as she perched on the arm of the chair.
"Couldn't. I'm absolutely sterile.' Kevin said, as he poured them both martinis. "I never blamed her for a moment. It was important to her and we never knew."
"That sucks." It didn't nearly convey the depths of the complicated twist of emotions the knowledge evoked, but it was honest. "I imagine it was pretty rough on her, and maybe for you too. Was it amicable, at least, once you found out?"
"I let her go. Because how else." Kevin said, drawing in a long breath. "I'd rather dance."
Her fingers slipped through the hair at his temple briefly as she stood, letting the subject drop. "Alright old man, take me around the floor a few more spins." Dinah Washington filled the room as they started to move again, and Darcy sang quietly along as Kevin led her through the steps. ♪ Hide your heart from sight, lock your dreams at night ♪
no subject
Date: 2022-06-18 03:59 am (UTC)