Log [Alison, Haroun] ~ Afternoon at the Madrox Farm.

[x-dazzler.livejournal.com]

In which it is shown exactly how popular Haroun is with the local kids and is feeling very put-upon about it. There is also a Talk and some general fluff, o' course.



Haroun sighed as he plopped his frame down in one of the antique rocking chairs that made up the decor in the room that Jamie's mother had assigned to the two of them. "If I ever see another human being between the ages of five and fifteen, it will be Too Soon." He groused. "I have put more flight time in today than I have in the last two months. And the little bastards still aren't happy. Do you think that someone would complain if I dug a shallow unmarked grave out back somewhere?"

Alison snickered, standing in front of the mirror while pulling her hair up in a ponytail, remembering hearing nothing but happy shouts the entire time he'd been out there, in fact. "You just can't say no when they hit you with the puppy dog eyes," she replied serenely, still feeling mellow from the nap she'd woken up from not long ago. "And then there's the way they practically ooze adoration at you because you can fly."

"I'm being played." he groaned. "I tried saying no. That lasted until one of the little girls in overalls and pigtails threw a screaming fit, and that was just the tip of the iceberg." he grumbled. "At least when I take them flying I can tune out their screams and try to enjoy the airtime." he added. "And considering no parents have come out with pitchforks and torches, I'm guessing that they were happy screams."

"They were happy screams of happiness, yes." She looked at him in the mirror for a moment, and then turned to walk towards the chair, standing behind him and resting her hands on his shoulders. She'd seen Miles put his foot down during the last flight at that, informing the other children that Haroun needed a break now or else. She'd missed his answer when he'd been asked about the or else, but apparently it had been effective - she suspecting the word 'boom' had come up, though. "I think the rest of the adults may have been grateful for the reprieve." She leaned forward a bit, fingers slowly starting to look for the knots of tension in his shoulders.

Haroun relaxed visibly as she put her hands on his shoulders. His muscles were steel-hard, usually a good indication of stress. Haroun carried his stress in his shoulders. "I make for a lousy babysitter. I'm just glad that they liked the airborne trips." he said with a sigh. "Because I was out of ways to entertain. Somehow, telling the kiddies stories of Marrakesh would probably be a bad idea."

"That'd depend on the stories," she pointed out softly, taking her time with the massage - those lessons that had been given at the school over a year ago were coming in very handy. The levels of tenseness in his shoulders spoke more loudly than anything else about how the kids had affected him. "It was a pretty scary horde of kids you had to keep busy out there," she added with a small smile.

"Most of my stories are not fit for children." he said with a groan as his muscles finally started to soften. "Most of them aren't really suited for polite adults, either." he added. "I think I've given aerial survey flights to every child in a fifty-mile radius at this point. Only plus side is that being airborne usually makes me feel better."

Shifting just a bit, Alison blocked the rungs of the chair so it would be steady as she applied more pressure as needed - now that he was slowly starting to relax, she could see how almost unbelievably tense he'd been. "That was really hard on you," she murmured, leaning forward brush her lips against his cheek before resuming the massage.

"Yeah. It was." he said just as quietly, grinning a bit at the kiss. "But I got through it, and they can always send Xavier the therapy bills if I traumatized them too much." he joked. "The Madroxes are pretty good people, all in, but I'm drowning here."

"Traumatized them?" Alison chuckled, shaking her head. "I think you're going to have to learn super ninja stealth skills or else hide behind all the other adults, because as soon as they decide your break time is over they'll probably do their level best to find you and ask for more flights." Unless Miles got all stern at them again, though she wasn't sure how much that would work this time around. The lure of a flight was strong, to say the least. "Drowning?"

"I usually get cranky around this time of the year if I'm in the States. I'll get over it." he said with only a minor grumble. "And Nathan's the ninja, not me." he said with a grin. "Damn, but that still makes me grin every time I think about it. Nathan as a ninja. And speaking of stealth skills - are you expected out there with all the women any time soon?"

"I love Christmas," she grinned. "And careful. He'll show up all in leather if we're not careful and then the kids will need psychiatric help for the rest of their lives." Especially if the fetishist club came up. That or they'd all want to go. Lips quirking at the thought, Alison moved to the side, starting to work her way down his right arm - yep, tension there too. "Mm. They're the ones who sent me up here for a nap earlier. Why?"

"Just curious." he said with a wicked grin. "Because I'm in no hurry to head back to Brat-Entertaining Duty, and you're Right Here, and I'm in the mood to be Evil?"

She'd been leaning over just a bit, hands seeking out more tension down the path of his arm although she paused at his words, head tilting to the side while sliding him a solemn look. "You're in the mood to be Evil, mmm?" That meant leaning forward more of course, and Alison grinned faintly. "Feeling safe here? The hordes might descend at any moment."

"The door locks." he said with a grin. "I locked it after I came in. They'll have to break down the door. And that dresser can go in front of the window, lest we have another outbreak of aerial break-ins." he said with a smirk. "So I think we can manage an hour or so of Private Time. Not that that would be enough, but if I was a betting man I'd wager that I could keep you amused."

Alison was torn - for all of two seconds. So they were in a house full of people and kids and probably expected to show up at one point. On the other hand, well, she figured if they disappeared for a little while no one would begrudge them that too much, although there'd probably be a lot of amused looks sent their way. Alison could live with amused looks. "So let's see. Door locked. Window can be secured." She glanced around the room, though she was still leaning in close. "No chimney or fireplace." A grin. "I think that might be a safe wager to make."

Haroun just grinned. "Oh good." he said with a laugh. He then spun his chair around and plopped Alison down onto his lap. Not wanting to waste much time on the formalities, he kissed her. One of those toes-curl-up-head-spins-from-lack-of-oxygen kisses. When he finally let it go, he just grinned at her like a maniac. "How much entertaining do you need?" he asked.

Oh, he'd been thinking about doing that for a while, she guessed, trying to get her thoughts back into neat little lines and not getting anywhere close to that. Grinning at him she shifted in his lap, though she'd pretty much done the 'get comfortable' thing during the kiss apparently. "Well, that's a pretty good start," Alison admitted, a hint of color to her cheeks and a gleam in her eyes that said going on was a perfectly acceptable thing to do.

Haroun grinned. "Well, that's encouraging." he said with a shrug. "However, since I am a cruel and capricious Moor, I think I'll let you drive for once. I'm always the one making the moves, after all. Let's see what the songbird wants when she's free to take whatever she wants."

She'd been leaning in for another kiss already and didn't pause or pull back, though the result was somewhat subdued as the words slowly sunk in. Finally she leaned back from the kiss slowly, raising one to press a fingertip to his chin, expression troubled while she bit her lower lip. "I..." Alison stopped there, trying to sort out a way to explain. "Gah, for someone who used to make a living with words I sure can't use them when I really need to," she finally sighed.

"We have some time." he said, stiffening just a bit. "You don't strike me as the passive sort normally, so why under these circumstances? Is it something I did? Or am doing?" he asked worriedly.

Oh lord, this wasn't going to be easy. Alison wrapped her arms a touch more firmly around his neck, ignoring the worried flutter in the pit of her stomach. "It's not something you did or something that you're doing. I like what you do," she added fervently, "a lot. I just-" she took a deep breath, and then smiled just a bit though it faded rapidly. "That I can't-" this wasn't going to be easy at all, "do the same for you, bring you pleasure as well - trips me up, I guess. It's hard to know what's good and what's just plain torture."

Haroun shrugged. He'd seen this coming, but he wasn't sure how it was going to express itself. "Being who and what I am, every moment I get with you is sweet torture. I know this, I've made my peace with it long ago. I like being with you. If I didn't, I'd let you know. I feel all the same emotions as other men. THAT is what is important. I can, I hope, make you feel truly wonderful. The biological reality that you can't do the same for me is NOT a reflection of how I feel or what I think about you or this situation! If you don't like that or can't handle it, please let me know."

She didn't move for a moment, holding her breath in simply because it was simpler to do that than try to struggle through breathing while coping with the myriad emotions he'd stirred up with just a few sentences. "I'll handle it." It was too late, far too late for anything else right now and she'd learn to handle it and that was that. Brushing the back of her hand against his cheek, she tried to offer reassurance, even as she wanted it herself.  "I don't want to be with anyone else."

Haroun sighed a sigh of relief. "I'm very glad to hear that." he said, leaning into her caress. "Because I never thought I'd be here at all. Can I tell you a secret?" he asked her with a completely serious face. "You're it. The first. Numero uno. I'm making all of this up as I go along. How am I doing?" he said with a bit of a forced laugh.

He'd as much said so before, but having it spelled out for her did indeed put things in a slightly different light. Alison kissed him briefly, not liking this particular laugh, as compared to usually warm, deeper laugh she'd come to associate with him. "There's a lot of making things up as you go along in this kind of thing. The talking about stuff is what's important." Or at the very least acknowledging that your partner was someone you could lean on, she thought. "You're here. We both are."

"Ayup." he agreed with a more natural laugh. "But situations that you've seen before, dealt with before in your life before are all-new to me. So I get to make all the usual mistakes for myself." he laughed again. "But so far you're still here, which either means that I am the most fortunate man outside of Heaven or I'm the luckiest sonofabitch who ever walked."

And for all that she'd lived those situations before, the same mistakes she'd made before had cropped up more than once anyway. "I'm still here," she simply said, finally allowing herself to take a very deep breath, tension that had wound up tightly within starting to dissipate. And so are you. "We work for this. It's not given to anyone." Which was, she thought upon reflection, perhaps the most articulate thing she'd said during the entire conversation.

"No, I suppose it isn't." he said after a moment's reflection. He kissed her lightly on the nose and waited for her to make the next move.

Relief gave way to amusement at the expression on his face, and she took a moment to just look at him, lips curving in a slow smile. She pushed herself up to her feet, only to settle back in his lap again while straddling his legs this time, mouth pressing against his in the instant that followed, intent on making it clear that she was dismissing any self-restraint she'd had of late.

Haroun kissed her back, returning like for like. Atypically for him, he wanted her to set the pace, her to be the first to go exploring, her to do whatever it was that made her feel good. For a change. Until now, he was coming to realize, it was always him, him, him. Her taking the initiative and setting things her way was more than pleasant. It was downright relieving.

And exploring there was, the buttons of his shirt dealt with one at a time, Alison barely coming up for breath to flash him a sharp, rather hungry looking smile before resuming the kiss.  When she was done with the last button her hands slid underneath the fabric, pressing against his sides before starting to wander. The feel of his skin, warm under her hands drew a murmur of approval though she was clearly taking her time, pausing now and then just to see his reactions, drawing out every moment just for the fun of it.

Haroun turned up the heat, just a bit, breaking his own rule about letting her set the pace. When she hit a sensitive spot, he was sure to let her know with a grin. He had so few of them remaining that it couldn't hurt to have those that remained paid attention to. "Like what you see?" he asked her, knowing damned well that his endless hours of weight training and fitness were reflected in his organics.

She chuckled at that, feeling a bit breathless at this point - everything was fine, more than fine even. "Yes, I do." She somehow forgot to look at the rest of him though as she said that, instead focusing very much on his face, hands stilling for a moment. "Very much so." Her expression sobered for a moment, but whatever else she might have said was lost, replaced by her lips pressing against the side of his neck, seeking out the pulse-point a bit lower.

Haroun arched his neck a bit, to give her whatever access she wanted to have. He let his hands to go her waist, to run his fingertips along her ribs as she explored his neck. He let his eyes close, to better concentrate on what his organics were telling him.

She sighed softly at the touch, lips moving in a lazy trail over skin, as much as she could considering she was currently straddling him. Which meant that heading back up only made sense, and Alison grinned a bit before catching his earlobe between her lips, tongue flicking out lightly. A loud rumbling sound gave her pause however and she froze, eyes opening a bit wide, hoping that hadn't been her stomach. For once.

Haroun blinked. "Was that my stomach or yours?" he said, a faint embarrassed blush gracing his features. "I'm hungry, but I didn't think it was that bad..." he grinned. "Or was that yours?"

"Grngmr." The sound echoed again, a bit duller this time but no less determined, and Alison hid her face in the hollow of Haroun's neck for a moment. "Bottomless Pit strikes again," she finally muttered, because that was definitely her. She tried not to laugh but soon her shoulders were shaking slightly, and she nipped his shoulder playfully before straightening up once more.

Haroun smiled widely as Alison climbed to her feet. "The Stomach Has Spoken." he said with a snicker. "We must answer its call!" He stood up himself, re-buttoning up his shirt. "Food is probably a good idea. I'm starved."

Eyeing the quickly being re-buttoned shirt with mild regret, Alison shook her head. "Stoopid stomach." At least it wasn't as bad as it had been at first, although the noise levels were still embarrassingly high still. She stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Haroun's neck, kissing his chin lightly - a hug, just for the sake of it. "You know, I think I may surprise a lot of people down there with the amount of food I'm going to go through," she grinned at the thought, eyes dancing with mischief.

"Somehow, I doubt that there will be any shortage of things to eat." he said with a laugh. "America is a rich country indeed, and I am fairly sure that the Madroxes have been cooking for about a week straight." he laughed. "So feel free to eat and drink your fill."

Solemnly, she nodded. "And I'll try and keep the more ferocious Haroun admirers away from you long enough that you can at least get a few bites of food before they drag you off again." Alison actually had no doubt the parents would step in and sternly at that if there was any harassment for flights during the supper itself, and afterwards at that, but teasing Haroun with the notion was still fun.

Haroun sighed. Loudly. "Great. No peace even over a meal?" he complained, then winked to clue her in that he was milking the joke for all it was worth.

"Well, you know the saying." She tapped his nose lightly, grinning cutely at him. "No rest for the wicked!" She smoothed out his shirt, the gesture somewhat proprietary without Alison meaning it to be. "I suppose I could try to think of some way to distract them while we go down. At least the youngest seems to have taken a shine to Miles instead," she pointed out. Miles had gone from nonplussed about being called Kermit every time he was in the two year old girl's sight to playing up to the role as much as he could.

"I suppose that I will have to make do as best I can." He didn't miss that she had smoothed his shirt, but it was more amusing than skeevy so he permitted it. "And there's always the chance that we could work off this meal ... privately?" he said with a laugh and a wicked grin.

"If you don't get kidnapped by the rampaging hordes of flight addicted children, sure." She wrinkled her nose at him and then proceeded to pat her own clothing down into place carefully. She wasn't sure there'd be much of any time left for privacy once the supper was started and things got into high gear for the holiday celebration, but it was still a nice thought - and there was nothing to say they couldn't steal a few moments here and there.

"Permit me my small delusions. I can always amuse myself with contemplating the lack of aerodynamics of children under 18." he said with a small grin. "And stuff myself silly on, what did Jamie call it? Down-home country cooking?"

Alison grinned at that. "You start throwing them in snowbanks, they'll follow you everywhere and you'll never be rid of them." Her stomach growled again at the mention of food, sullenly reminding her that sustenance was required right now, thank you very much. "You can try and keep up with me." With a wink, Alison dodged around him and raced for the door.

Haroun cheated. Shamelessly. He kicked on his power, and caught up with her before she could take another three steps. "You were saying?" he laughed, running a fingertip along her ear before cutting out the power and keeping pace with her the old-fashioned way.

"Pbbbht!" Various ticklish spots alongside his ribs were tweaked, Alison making a face at him as they headed out the room and down the stairs, the sounds of the people gathered downstairs clear now that they were on the landing. Joanne was still fussing over her since their arrival though, and she knew only too well there'd be something or other set aside for her already.

Haroun had to keep his hands to himself now that he was in a more-or-less public area, so he amused himself by imaging some anatomically-impossible and disturbingly graphic scenarios involving Alison and their shared room. He quickly developed a small secret smile that Would Not Go Away.