instincts 10/?
Title: Instincts 10/?
Author: Liv darkmagic_luvr
Fandom: Dark Angel
Characters: Max, Alec, Original Cindy mentions of Normal
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Spoilers through season two. AU through Designate This.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Dark Angel. Any characters you don’t recognize are original and should not be used without my permission.
Author’s Note: Written as part of my alphabet meme for jazmin22, the prompt was ‘instinct’. This couldn’t be contained in a one shot, so it’ll be multi-chaptered. First Dark Angel fic.
We're going to pretend I haven't updated this in a year...
Summery: There was really only one way he could keep both their asses safe, he just didn't think she'd kiss him back.
part 1| part 2|part 3| part 4| part 5| part 6| part 7| part 8| part 9
previously...
“Speaking of Alec,” began OC, glancing over her shoulder at the closed door. “What’s he doin’ here? Thought Manticore was all about brainwashing.”
“He’s different then the others,” Max admitted. “And I couldn’t just leave him there.”
“Why not?”
“It’s complicated.” OC stared at her, lips pursed, not believing a word of it but shrugging anyways and turning for the door. She paused and looked back at Max.
“Hey, Boo?”
“Yeah?”
“I was serious about the bath.”
It took an hour to fill up a bath of hot water, but when she sunk into the tub Max could feel her troubles disappearing with the dirt and sweat on her body. Manticore who? Retro-what now? Mate claim, what’s that?
She could vaguely hear OC talking to Alec in the next room before the familiar static buzz of a television flipped on and the talking ceased. Max could totally picture Alec’s face, screwed up in childlike fascination and third world confusion as cartoons played out on the tube. OC came back into the bathroom twice, the first to toss her a razor and the second to tell her she ordered Chinese food. Max was grateful for both.
By the time Alec wandered in she had finished her outside-the-joint routine of washing and de-hairing herself and was in a pleasant doze. He leaned against the wall smirking at her until she managed to open her eyes and glare at him with an almost passable look of annoyance.
“What?”
“So what do you do for fun around here?” asked Alec nonchalantly, swinging his eyes around the bathroom. “I mean, you’ve got a motorcycle, that’s got to be some enjoyment, anything else?”
“Thievery,” said Max with a shrug, settling deeper into the water once Alec made it clear he was only there to bullshit with her. “Working at Jam Pony, daring do’s with Logan when he needs me-”
“Daring do’s?” interrupted Alec, his voice laced with disgust. “Logan makes you play superhero for him?”
“It’s not like he can do it himself,” snapped Max, her sharp exhale of breath sending the bubbles crowding her face up into the air. She watched the corner of Alec’s mouth twitch in amusement as he watched the suds float lazily before disappearing. “He does stuff for me, I do stuff for him.” she shrugged. “It works out for both of us.”
Max pretended not to notice the way Alec’s shoulders stiffened at her words (or what her words were implying, che, one track mind much?) and lifted an arm out of the water, propping her elbow on the edge of the tub and pointing at him.
“Logan was helping me find my family before Manticore captured me, in exchange I would help him with the corrupt politician of the week.”
“Oh, did he find anyone for you?” asked Alec, his face looking concerned, his voice telling her that he thought her deal with Logan was bullshit and he didn’t do anything for her. Max hesitated, not long enough for a normal human person to call BS, but long enough for a slow smirk to make it’s way onto Alec’s face, each one of his sparkling teeth purring I knew it.
It irked.
Max’s arm flopped back into her bath, lukewarm water splashing out of the side, droplets landing on Alec’s boots.
Whatever either of them were planning on saying, or doing or thinking loudly at the other was interrupted by a knock on the apartment door and OC talking briefly with the Chinese delivery boy.
“Foods here, Boo.”
Max grunted in acknowledgement, shifting in her bathwater while Alec turned his back to her to give her privacy (really, he just didn’t feel like getting smacked upside the head by the volatile black woman in the other room for leering at her roommate), and wandered into the kitchenette, eyeing styrofoam containers curiously. His mind quickly flipping through all the information he had acquired on fast food (it was limited, rarely, if ever, would he be assigned a mission that required the feasting of…whatever the fuck he was looking at) and China and shit was not computing.
Original Cindy was looking at him with a mixture of amusement and pity. She held up a pair of chopsticks. “You know how to use these, sugar?”
Alec snorted. “Not if you want me to eat with them.”
He was impressed when she only paled around the corners of her mouth. Even more impressed when she handed him the utensils anyways, along with a paper plate and proceeded to wave her hand nonchalantly at the food on the counter, silently telling him to dig in.
He joined OC on the couch, plate filled, and pulled his chopsticks apart with a snap just as Max wandered in, hair damp, and a fluffy rob wrapped around her body. Alec leered at her as she popped an egg roll into her mouth and spooned a decent amount of fried rice onto a plate. OC suddenly chuckled.
“Normal’s gonna be pissed when you walk in tomorrow.”
“Ah, Normal,” sighed Max in faux thoughtfulness, then snorting. “He’ll freaking love Alec.”
“You’re brining Alec to Jam Pony? And you expect Normal to like him?”
“Who’s Normal?” asked Alec around a mouthful of food, eyeing OC warily. “And what’s a jam pony?”
OC snorted. “Normal’s our boss, and Jam Pony is a bike messenger service.”
“It’s a good way to keep in shape, case houses and buildings and stuff. Plus we get sector passes so we can pretty much go anywhere in the city without being held up.” explained Max, flopping into the picnic chair by the wall and setting her elbow on the card table next to her. Alec still looked mildly confused.
“What do I have do with it?”
“Normal ‘ll give you a job there, so you’ll have something to do…until I figure out what to do with you.” Max mumbled the last of her sentence, Alec heard and stared at her in question.
“What makes you think you need to do something with me?”
“I have to take care of your ass, don’t I?” asked Max, like it was most simple reason in the world. “I dragged you Outside, might as well drag you through the rest of life.”
Alec bristled, but remained silent, and if Max noticed she didn’t say anything. He switched topics, ignoring the tugging in his belly that made him nauseous and the uncomfortable heat creeping under his skin at the thought of relying on Max. It felt like acrimony and self-loathing.
“So, where do I sleep?” his voice leaking with bitterness that Max chose to ignore and OC couldn’t identify.
“Couch, duh,” snapped Max. “Tomorrow, you can find your own place.”
The nausea clawed it’s way up his throat, and the heat suddenly turned ice cold. Max smirked at him over a fork full of rice, like she couldn’t sense that he was vulnerable and hurt and-
“’Sides, you don’t really want to stay here with me, do you?”
-fuck this bitch. His throat tightened at her words, thoughts of god yes, I want to stay with you, don’t fucking leave me stuttering his speech for a moment before he managed to smirk. “And risk my sanity? I’d rather bunk with Logan.”
“Liar.”
He almost didn’t hear it. His head snapped up, green eyes connecting with brown, filled with all knowing and sass. OC snapped her chopsticks at him. “You said you couldn‘t use chopsticks, I see clearly that this is nonsense.”
Ordinary aside, he had a feeling Original Cindy was far more dangerous than either transgenic in the room.
Author: Liv darkmagic_luvr
Fandom: Dark Angel
Characters: Max, Alec, Original Cindy mentions of Normal
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Spoilers through season two. AU through Designate This.
Disclaimer: I don’t own Dark Angel. Any characters you don’t recognize are original and should not be used without my permission.
Author’s Note: Written as part of my alphabet meme for jazmin22, the prompt was ‘instinct’. This couldn’t be contained in a one shot, so it’ll be multi-chaptered. First Dark Angel fic.
We're going to pretend I haven't updated this in a year...
Summery: There was really only one way he could keep both their asses safe, he just didn't think she'd kiss him back.
part 1| part 2|part 3| part 4| part 5| part 6| part 7| part 8| part 9
previously...
“Speaking of Alec,” began OC, glancing over her shoulder at the closed door. “What’s he doin’ here? Thought Manticore was all about brainwashing.”
“He’s different then the others,” Max admitted. “And I couldn’t just leave him there.”
“Why not?”
“It’s complicated.” OC stared at her, lips pursed, not believing a word of it but shrugging anyways and turning for the door. She paused and looked back at Max.
“Hey, Boo?”
“Yeah?”
“I was serious about the bath.”
It took an hour to fill up a bath of hot water, but when she sunk into the tub Max could feel her troubles disappearing with the dirt and sweat on her body. Manticore who? Retro-what now? Mate claim, what’s that?
She could vaguely hear OC talking to Alec in the next room before the familiar static buzz of a television flipped on and the talking ceased. Max could totally picture Alec’s face, screwed up in childlike fascination and third world confusion as cartoons played out on the tube. OC came back into the bathroom twice, the first to toss her a razor and the second to tell her she ordered Chinese food. Max was grateful for both.
By the time Alec wandered in she had finished her outside-the-joint routine of washing and de-hairing herself and was in a pleasant doze. He leaned against the wall smirking at her until she managed to open her eyes and glare at him with an almost passable look of annoyance.
“What?”
“So what do you do for fun around here?” asked Alec nonchalantly, swinging his eyes around the bathroom. “I mean, you’ve got a motorcycle, that’s got to be some enjoyment, anything else?”
“Thievery,” said Max with a shrug, settling deeper into the water once Alec made it clear he was only there to bullshit with her. “Working at Jam Pony, daring do’s with Logan when he needs me-”
“Daring do’s?” interrupted Alec, his voice laced with disgust. “Logan makes you play superhero for him?”
“It’s not like he can do it himself,” snapped Max, her sharp exhale of breath sending the bubbles crowding her face up into the air. She watched the corner of Alec’s mouth twitch in amusement as he watched the suds float lazily before disappearing. “He does stuff for me, I do stuff for him.” she shrugged. “It works out for both of us.”
Max pretended not to notice the way Alec’s shoulders stiffened at her words (or what her words were implying, che, one track mind much?) and lifted an arm out of the water, propping her elbow on the edge of the tub and pointing at him.
“Logan was helping me find my family before Manticore captured me, in exchange I would help him with the corrupt politician of the week.”
“Oh, did he find anyone for you?” asked Alec, his face looking concerned, his voice telling her that he thought her deal with Logan was bullshit and he didn’t do anything for her. Max hesitated, not long enough for a normal human person to call BS, but long enough for a slow smirk to make it’s way onto Alec’s face, each one of his sparkling teeth purring I knew it.
It irked.
Max’s arm flopped back into her bath, lukewarm water splashing out of the side, droplets landing on Alec’s boots.
Whatever either of them were planning on saying, or doing or thinking loudly at the other was interrupted by a knock on the apartment door and OC talking briefly with the Chinese delivery boy.
“Foods here, Boo.”
Max grunted in acknowledgement, shifting in her bathwater while Alec turned his back to her to give her privacy (really, he just didn’t feel like getting smacked upside the head by the volatile black woman in the other room for leering at her roommate), and wandered into the kitchenette, eyeing styrofoam containers curiously. His mind quickly flipping through all the information he had acquired on fast food (it was limited, rarely, if ever, would he be assigned a mission that required the feasting of…whatever the fuck he was looking at) and China and shit was not computing.
Original Cindy was looking at him with a mixture of amusement and pity. She held up a pair of chopsticks. “You know how to use these, sugar?”
Alec snorted. “Not if you want me to eat with them.”
He was impressed when she only paled around the corners of her mouth. Even more impressed when she handed him the utensils anyways, along with a paper plate and proceeded to wave her hand nonchalantly at the food on the counter, silently telling him to dig in.
He joined OC on the couch, plate filled, and pulled his chopsticks apart with a snap just as Max wandered in, hair damp, and a fluffy rob wrapped around her body. Alec leered at her as she popped an egg roll into her mouth and spooned a decent amount of fried rice onto a plate. OC suddenly chuckled.
“Normal’s gonna be pissed when you walk in tomorrow.”
“Ah, Normal,” sighed Max in faux thoughtfulness, then snorting. “He’ll freaking love Alec.”
“You’re brining Alec to Jam Pony? And you expect Normal to like him?”
“Who’s Normal?” asked Alec around a mouthful of food, eyeing OC warily. “And what’s a jam pony?”
OC snorted. “Normal’s our boss, and Jam Pony is a bike messenger service.”
“It’s a good way to keep in shape, case houses and buildings and stuff. Plus we get sector passes so we can pretty much go anywhere in the city without being held up.” explained Max, flopping into the picnic chair by the wall and setting her elbow on the card table next to her. Alec still looked mildly confused.
“What do I have do with it?”
“Normal ‘ll give you a job there, so you’ll have something to do…until I figure out what to do with you.” Max mumbled the last of her sentence, Alec heard and stared at her in question.
“What makes you think you need to do something with me?”
“I have to take care of your ass, don’t I?” asked Max, like it was most simple reason in the world. “I dragged you Outside, might as well drag you through the rest of life.”
Alec bristled, but remained silent, and if Max noticed she didn’t say anything. He switched topics, ignoring the tugging in his belly that made him nauseous and the uncomfortable heat creeping under his skin at the thought of relying on Max. It felt like acrimony and self-loathing.
“So, where do I sleep?” his voice leaking with bitterness that Max chose to ignore and OC couldn’t identify.
“Couch, duh,” snapped Max. “Tomorrow, you can find your own place.”
The nausea clawed it’s way up his throat, and the heat suddenly turned ice cold. Max smirked at him over a fork full of rice, like she couldn’t sense that he was vulnerable and hurt and-
“’Sides, you don’t really want to stay here with me, do you?”
-fuck this bitch. His throat tightened at her words, thoughts of god yes, I want to stay with you, don’t fucking leave me stuttering his speech for a moment before he managed to smirk. “And risk my sanity? I’d rather bunk with Logan.”
“Liar.”
He almost didn’t hear it. His head snapped up, green eyes connecting with brown, filled with all knowing and sass. OC snapped her chopsticks at him. “You said you couldn‘t use chopsticks, I see clearly that this is nonsense.”
Ordinary aside, he had a feeling Original Cindy was far more dangerous than either transgenic in the room.