xp_logs | Hank, Alison, Sunday morning

Hank encounters Alison while making breakfast for himself, for Forge, and for a certain pretty redhead. He tells her how hard it is to restrain his melodramatic romantic instincts, and there are affectionate promises of leg-breaking all around.

Hank had, on a whim, decided on a cooked breakfast this morning. Scrambled eggs and bacon sounded very good, along with coffee and lots of toast. And, he figured, if he made some extra, he could reheat it when he'd eaten, and take it down for either Forge, or Madelyn if she wanted to eat before heading for bed. Or both. He should make enough for both.

He was in mid-scramble when Alison yawned her way into the kitchen, and he waved his spatula in greeting. "Good morning," he said cheerfully. "Eggs? Bacon? Toast? I made plenty! Also, I made sure the coffee-maker was loaded up with the good stuff."

"Mmm, no bacon," she shook her head regretfully, eyeing the rest of the layout speculatively. "I was thinking of heading back upstairs with a tray for two, actually," was the amused remark, ended with a neatly muffled yawn as she glanced at the time. She still had enough leeway for a chat before Haroun would wake up, she decided, wondering if there were any dates left, for starters. "You sure made more than your usual quantities," she remarked, eyeing eggs with amusement, knowing she was giving him a rather wide opening to veer into That Topic if he felt like it. She was willing to bet he felt like it.

Hank nodded. "I thought Forge might be hungry, this morning. And... uh... Madelyn as well." He blushed, poking at the eggs a little. "I suspect she told you, didn't she?"

"Yeeeess," Alison drawled out, lips quirking in amusement as she peered through the fridge and then through the pantry. Ah hah! Dates. Reaching out to nap the package, she rested it on the counter and then started to go through the fruits available. Someone had made sure they had fruit. Lots of it. Perfect. "That and you're all glowy and bouncy, though you try to muffle it when there's people around. Works for the most part, but I know that look," she smiled simply at that, genuinely happy for both Hank and Madelyn.

"Well... it's not quite a yes, as yet," Hank admitted. "More of a 'probably'. We're taking things very slowly... you know, going on a date or two, seeing how things work out... no rushing into anything." He chuckled, shaking his head. "Me, taking it slowly. No romantic gestures, no poetry, no spates of compliments, no little gifts... you, I'm sure, realize how much effort that's costing me."

You're keeping it quiet so as to not shove it in Kurt's face, Alison didn't say, taking a knife from the drawer to slice an orange into quarters. "You should make a list," was the first thing that was spoken aloud instead, and she offered him a teasing grin. "Making up later for all the things you want to do now. It'll let you at least get them out of your head, even if they have to wait a bit longer." Lists were good. Very good, even.

"That's true." Hank nodded. "And... well, I wouldn't want to make a great production of things in any case... it would be most unfair to Kurt, at the very least." He sighed a little. "And I know that Madelyn is right, we've both had bad experiences before, and little in the way of romance at all, of late... but I wish I could, at least, tell her how much I care when it's just the two of is. It will come in time, I hope..."

This time the smile was smaller, but knowing all the same. "You always tell that you care, Hank. Even when you're not actually saying it. With words and stuff." Alison eyed the next fruit she'd sliced up critically, and then deemed it nice looking enough to go on the plate with the oranges. "Eggs," she said after that, nodding at the pan on the oven. "You could always be sneaky and poke morse code into the petals of the roses you give her," was the cheerful hum. "Hidden messages. Then you tell her later and she can have fun tracking back into things and finding them. She's an FBI agent, she can do that."

"No roses." Hank shook his head. "Flowers come under the heading of romantic gestures, and I'm trying not to do that." He took the eggs off the heat, scraping a generous portion onto the plate with his bacon. "I don't want to scare her off, Alison, and if she wants to take this slowly, then I will, no matter how difficult it is. I care far too much to risk screwing up now, when I finally have a real chance."

"Just be careful not to let the being careful trip you up either?" The question was softly spoken, the fruit platter set aside after a smaller contained with the dates had been neatly placed in the middle. The toast could be done in the kitchenette in her suite, though she claimed fresh bread for that purpose. Shaking her head slightly, she turned to lean on the counter and smiled at Hank. "You'll do fine. You both will."

"I hope so." Hank smiled at her. "And.... just having the chance is wonderful. I am...." He sighed, and gave her a rueful little smile. "I am very much in love with her," he said simply. "I hope that she will come to feel the same way about me."

"I'd know you are." Hank never did these things halfway, after all. "And she would be a crazy woman if she didn't," she added solemnly. The solemnity changed to an oddly serious look, Alison crossing her arms pensively. "I should probably have The Talk with her at one point."

Hank blinked. "Given that I'm quite sure she knows where babies come from.... what talk would that be?" he asked curiously.

"The Talk of course!" Looking vaguely indignant, Alison wagged a finger at him admonishingly. "Ok, so it's not like I can go for the older sister excuse, but dear old friend will do. And there should always be a 'break his heart and I'll break your legs" talk somewhere in things like these." She was only going to laugh if he took her seriously. Although she was only half-kidding at that, she realized.

Hank laughed. "Oh, that talk. The one I really should have with Haroun at some point." He shook his head. "And he will probably try to give me the same one on Madelyn's behalf. And I think he actually would break my legs, too."

"If you broke Madelyn's heart, you'd probably let him," she pointed out, not going into how it might be hard to break Haroun's legs considering that Hank certainly would be able to if he so desired. "But I like his legs intact," she said instead, giving Hank a woeful look.

Hank smiled, and leaned over to kiss her forehead gently. "Well, I'd only do it if he utterly shattered your heart, in which case I imagine you'd be less fond of them," he promised. "And I am, for the record, very glad that you're happy, my dear, even if he and I don't always get along."

Though she didn't say anything at first, her expression was luminous and the look in her eyes spoke volumes. Taking a swipe at her eyes, which were suspiciously bright, Alison chuckled at herself for the sudden swell of emotion, and nodded. "He does make me happy. Very much so." Reaching out she tugged the breakfast tray closer, before looking at Hank once more. "I think you have breakfast to bring to a certain redhead before it gets cold. And a certain patient as well," she added gravely.

"I do." He smiled. "And... thank you, Alison, for helping me work up the courage to speak to her. I'm glad I did."

Impulsively, Alison hugged him, before stepping back to claim the tray she'd prepared. "So am I. For both of you." She then balanced the tray and headed for the doorway, a last smile flashed at him over her shoulder before she hit the hallway.