Seek, for featherjean
Title: Seek
Author: Neatta
TV or Book verse: TV
Characters: Harry, Connie and Anna.
Recipient: featherjean
Assignment: Harry, Connie and Anna in the park.
Word Count: 1,229
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I don't own the Dresden Files, of course. The evil Sci-Fi Network and the amazing Jim Butcher does.
Notes: I had a lot of fun with this, and I want to thank, of course, my vuuhnderful beta, Rhia, and Microsoft Word for not exploding with anger at my fragments. The fic is a quick, happy little thing, and you don't need to know anything specific to enjoy it.
“That one looks like a clown,” Harry said, pointing a long, thin finger up at a puff of cloud in the blue sky. To be honest, Harry Dresden had never done this sort of thing-lie outside on his back and look for shapes in the clouds that passed overhead. And to be honest, he didn’t exactly mind it. It was relaxing, letting yourself care about nothing but shapes that didn’t really exist in the sky. And it was comfortable, being there with Murphy and Anna. When he brought his arm back down to the blanket, it fell a little closer to Murphy than it had been earlier, a little closer than he had intended. Consciously, at least.
“What are you talking about?” Murphy asked, and she squinted at the sky in an effort to see the cloud more clearly. “It doesn’t look a thing like you.” Anna giggled softly from her position above the two of them, and she pointed at a different cloud.
“A lion,” she said.
Harry couldn’t help but grin every time Anna said or did anything. She was so innocent and sweet and strong, all at once. Everything she said was a proud declaration, and everything she did was the only way it was to be done-even her walk, the way she kicked her legs up and swung her arms. Harry couldn’t walk two feet without stumbling over something that wasn’t even there.
There were a few more clouds to identify-a horse, a racecar, a one-toothed woman (Harry’s future wife, according to Murphy), the state of Texas-but then the sky was perfectly clear, and the sun was shining so brightly that they had to cover their eyes. They could take out the picnic lunch, but no one was quite hungry enough yet.
“Hide-and-go-seek!” Anna exclaimed, jumping to her feet. Murphy was immediately on board, and then there was no hope for Harry to argue against the idea, even if he had wanted to. How could he say no to either of them, let alone the two in league together? He had a soft spot for the Murphy women, that was for sure. He looked around the park: the big, empty field with a few trees here and there and some bushes at the edges. This was going to be hard.
“And who’s going to be ‘it’?” Harry asked.
Not even a moment later, while they were trying to decide how to determine who would be ‘it’, Harry and Anna looked at each other and then suddenly said “Not it” at precisely the same time.
“Oh, you cheaters!” Murphy laughed, and then she covered her eyes and began to count loudly, “One alligator… two alligator…”
Anna rushed to hide behind the slide of the swing set, and Harry ran swiftly to press against the fat trunk of an oak tree. He peered around the edge of it and saw Murphy still counting. “Nine alligator… ten alligator… ready or not, here I come!”
He was sure that he would get caught first, because hiding behind a tree was not exactly original or unexpected, but minutes passed and he didn’t hear Murphy coming toward him. He relaxed against the oak and caught himself smiling when Murphy crossed his mind again.
Before he really got to think about anything in great detail, he heard Murphy calling out “Olly olly oxen free”. He stepped from behind the oak tree and went toward Murphy and Anna. “You were supposed to be easy to find!” the latter said to him. “You’re so big and clumsy!” Harry laughed loudly and shook his head at the little girl.
“Sorry to let you down,” he smiled.
“Anna’s ‘it’ now,” Murphy said, glancing around and eyeing places to hide.
When Anna started counting alligators, Harry took off toward the largest of the shrubbery and, once there, crawled his way on hands and knees behind the large bush. He sat down in the dry dirt for a moment, and then realised he was much too tall to sit upright and sank down to his stomach, resting his elbows in the dirt and his chin on his hands. He could see through the leaves just enough to tell where Anna was.
He heard shuffling and panicked, before he realised Anna was still counting near their blanket. A quick glance sideways and he could see Murphy crawling in next to him. “This is my hiding place,” he said in a hushed tone, “get lost!”
“There’s no time,” she sighed, moving into a position similar to Harry’s. “She was already on ten alligators when I noticed you were in my hiding place.”
“I was here first! This is my hiding place,” he wanted to cross his arms and pout at her, but his position would made that quite difficult, so he just glared.
“Fine,” she whispered, “your hiding place. Just shut up.” She scooted closer and rested her head on her folded arms.
With her as close as she was, Harry could smell her and feel her body heat. It was a bit distracting, as Harry had never found hide-and-go-seek to be more interesting than women. Especially Murphy. He glanced over at her. The clean and warm smell of her was distinctly jasmine, and there was a bit of something like earth in there, and he knew it wasn’t coming from the dirt underneath them.
“What are you looking at?” Murphy whispered as quietly as she could manage, but Harry could recognise the bit of panic in her voice. She must have thought there was a bug or something on her, and he couldn’t help but smile at the fact that the tough, no-nonsense police officer was panicking over the possibility of a beetle in her hair.
“Nothing,” he replied, but he couldn’t look away from her, no matter how hard he was trying. She raised an eyebrow, and her head perked up from her arms.
“Dresden, are you all right?”
“Never been better,” he said, right before he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. It felt right. So right. Even better than the other two times it had happened, because this time there was no ‘ulterior motive’, and she wasn’t resisting in the tiniest bit. She breathed out and her warm breath rushed over his face, and her lips parted against his and everything in the entire universe paused for just a moment.
“I see that!” Anna’s voice came from a few inches above the both of them and they snapped apart. She was grinning wildly as she peeked through the separated bit of shrub in her small hands. Murphy had gone a bit pale and it was clear that she really didn’t know what to say to her daughter.
To say? Nonsense, Harry thought. There wasn’t anything that needed to be said to Anna, she understood perfectly. Instead of saying, he reached out and pulled the little girl through the bushes and tickled her sides mercilessly.
Murphy looked up at Harry and smiled.
“I love you, mommy,” Anna cried between giggles, and she reached her hands out toward her mother, who pulled her out of Harry’s grasp and paused for just a moment before beginning to tickle her just the same.
Harry looked up at Murphy’s beautiful face, with her dark, earth-coloured eyes. “Me, too,” he whispered to her, though he knew she wouldn’t hear.
Author: Neatta
TV or Book verse: TV
Characters: Harry, Connie and Anna.
Recipient: featherjean
Assignment: Harry, Connie and Anna in the park.
Word Count: 1,229
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I don't own the Dresden Files, of course. The evil Sci-Fi Network and the amazing Jim Butcher does.
Notes: I had a lot of fun with this, and I want to thank, of course, my vuuhnderful beta, Rhia, and Microsoft Word for not exploding with anger at my fragments. The fic is a quick, happy little thing, and you don't need to know anything specific to enjoy it.
“That one looks like a clown,” Harry said, pointing a long, thin finger up at a puff of cloud in the blue sky. To be honest, Harry Dresden had never done this sort of thing-lie outside on his back and look for shapes in the clouds that passed overhead. And to be honest, he didn’t exactly mind it. It was relaxing, letting yourself care about nothing but shapes that didn’t really exist in the sky. And it was comfortable, being there with Murphy and Anna. When he brought his arm back down to the blanket, it fell a little closer to Murphy than it had been earlier, a little closer than he had intended. Consciously, at least.
“What are you talking about?” Murphy asked, and she squinted at the sky in an effort to see the cloud more clearly. “It doesn’t look a thing like you.” Anna giggled softly from her position above the two of them, and she pointed at a different cloud.
“A lion,” she said.
Harry couldn’t help but grin every time Anna said or did anything. She was so innocent and sweet and strong, all at once. Everything she said was a proud declaration, and everything she did was the only way it was to be done-even her walk, the way she kicked her legs up and swung her arms. Harry couldn’t walk two feet without stumbling over something that wasn’t even there.
There were a few more clouds to identify-a horse, a racecar, a one-toothed woman (Harry’s future wife, according to Murphy), the state of Texas-but then the sky was perfectly clear, and the sun was shining so brightly that they had to cover their eyes. They could take out the picnic lunch, but no one was quite hungry enough yet.
“Hide-and-go-seek!” Anna exclaimed, jumping to her feet. Murphy was immediately on board, and then there was no hope for Harry to argue against the idea, even if he had wanted to. How could he say no to either of them, let alone the two in league together? He had a soft spot for the Murphy women, that was for sure. He looked around the park: the big, empty field with a few trees here and there and some bushes at the edges. This was going to be hard.
“And who’s going to be ‘it’?” Harry asked.
Not even a moment later, while they were trying to decide how to determine who would be ‘it’, Harry and Anna looked at each other and then suddenly said “Not it” at precisely the same time.
“Oh, you cheaters!” Murphy laughed, and then she covered her eyes and began to count loudly, “One alligator… two alligator…”
Anna rushed to hide behind the slide of the swing set, and Harry ran swiftly to press against the fat trunk of an oak tree. He peered around the edge of it and saw Murphy still counting. “Nine alligator… ten alligator… ready or not, here I come!”
He was sure that he would get caught first, because hiding behind a tree was not exactly original or unexpected, but minutes passed and he didn’t hear Murphy coming toward him. He relaxed against the oak and caught himself smiling when Murphy crossed his mind again.
Before he really got to think about anything in great detail, he heard Murphy calling out “Olly olly oxen free”. He stepped from behind the oak tree and went toward Murphy and Anna. “You were supposed to be easy to find!” the latter said to him. “You’re so big and clumsy!” Harry laughed loudly and shook his head at the little girl.
“Sorry to let you down,” he smiled.
“Anna’s ‘it’ now,” Murphy said, glancing around and eyeing places to hide.
When Anna started counting alligators, Harry took off toward the largest of the shrubbery and, once there, crawled his way on hands and knees behind the large bush. He sat down in the dry dirt for a moment, and then realised he was much too tall to sit upright and sank down to his stomach, resting his elbows in the dirt and his chin on his hands. He could see through the leaves just enough to tell where Anna was.
He heard shuffling and panicked, before he realised Anna was still counting near their blanket. A quick glance sideways and he could see Murphy crawling in next to him. “This is my hiding place,” he said in a hushed tone, “get lost!”
“There’s no time,” she sighed, moving into a position similar to Harry’s. “She was already on ten alligators when I noticed you were in my hiding place.”
“I was here first! This is my hiding place,” he wanted to cross his arms and pout at her, but his position would made that quite difficult, so he just glared.
“Fine,” she whispered, “your hiding place. Just shut up.” She scooted closer and rested her head on her folded arms.
With her as close as she was, Harry could smell her and feel her body heat. It was a bit distracting, as Harry had never found hide-and-go-seek to be more interesting than women. Especially Murphy. He glanced over at her. The clean and warm smell of her was distinctly jasmine, and there was a bit of something like earth in there, and he knew it wasn’t coming from the dirt underneath them.
“What are you looking at?” Murphy whispered as quietly as she could manage, but Harry could recognise the bit of panic in her voice. She must have thought there was a bug or something on her, and he couldn’t help but smile at the fact that the tough, no-nonsense police officer was panicking over the possibility of a beetle in her hair.
“Nothing,” he replied, but he couldn’t look away from her, no matter how hard he was trying. She raised an eyebrow, and her head perked up from her arms.
“Dresden, are you all right?”
“Never been better,” he said, right before he leaned in and pressed his lips against hers. It felt right. So right. Even better than the other two times it had happened, because this time there was no ‘ulterior motive’, and she wasn’t resisting in the tiniest bit. She breathed out and her warm breath rushed over his face, and her lips parted against his and everything in the entire universe paused for just a moment.
“I see that!” Anna’s voice came from a few inches above the both of them and they snapped apart. She was grinning wildly as she peeked through the separated bit of shrub in her small hands. Murphy had gone a bit pale and it was clear that she really didn’t know what to say to her daughter.
To say? Nonsense, Harry thought. There wasn’t anything that needed to be said to Anna, she understood perfectly. Instead of saying, he reached out and pulled the little girl through the bushes and tickled her sides mercilessly.
Murphy looked up at Harry and smiled.
“I love you, mommy,” Anna cried between giggles, and she reached her hands out toward her mother, who pulled her out of Harry’s grasp and paused for just a moment before beginning to tickle her just the same.
Harry looked up at Murphy’s beautiful face, with her dark, earth-coloured eyes. “Me, too,” he whispered to her, though he knew she wouldn’t hear.