The Big Show: White Hot
White hot...
Harry looked confused to see her. Murphy wasn't surprised. She didn’t usually just show up at Harry’s place at the end of a shift unless they’ made plans. She really just showed up at his door because lately she hadn’t seen much of him. Her cases just weren’t weird enough to warrant calling him. The Captain wanted her to cut back on using him. She wasn't happy about that. She missed Harry interrupting her work with crazy stories. Although, now those stories weren’t so crazy as before. Anyway, that didn’t matter. She missed Harry and just wanted to see him.
He blinked at her, “Wha?”
She felt a little awkward, but she’d felt that way before around Harry. “Let’s go have dinner or something. I’ll pay.” She offered, completely casual. It was perfectly normal for her to show up at Harry’s door for no reason and ask him to dinner, totally normal.
“If I didn’t know better, Murph, I’d say that sounds like a date.” He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes. She wasn’t blushing about that. They didn’t date, even though the department rumor mill has them dating, screwing like rabbits and well on their way to married. They have dinner as friends. She does it all the time with Kirmani. It was no big deal.
But, something changed in Harry’s demeanor. She can read his body language like a book and he suddenly looked serious about something. He shrugged, “If I had my way, yes, I would be.”
There were two ways Murphy could have taken the statement. Harry had these crazy ideas about chivalry and treating women like damsels. He could have offered to pay because it was the gentlemanly thing to do. But Murphy had made the joke about dating and his body language had changed, her mind went in the most obvious direction. “Does this mean it is a date?” she asked, a little scared by the idea.
“It is as long as you don’t expect anything fancy, Murph.” Harry said, which was an answer and wasn’t really. He did say it was a date, but what did that mean exactly? They weren’t actually serious about this, were they?
In this situation, joking was Murphy’s best defense against confusion. “If you haven’t noticed, Harry, I don’t really do fancy.” There, a light hearted statement that doesn’t have to mean anything. That should get things back on track.
“Seems to me you can clean up nice, when the mood suits you.” He pointed out, which put them right on the serious track again. They were talking about this. Murphy couldn't believe it. They never talked about this, or the two kisses or the way he’d looked at her when he’d seen her cleaned up nice. They stuck strictly to being friends no matter what they might want.
“If I have to get dressed up, it counts as a date.” She said. She would like to run away from this conversation, but if Harry was facing it, she would do. She owed him that much at least. “If I don’t, it could just be dinner between friends or a date… we sound like we’re in high school.” And they did. They were both dancing around the subject. All they needed were some lockers, a collection of books and raging hormones and they were right back in high school.
He laughed, which made her relax a little. If she could still make him laugh, this wasn’t that serious. “There are all kinds of dates that don’t involve dressing up. Besides, all the best dates were those young at heart kinds.”
But the problem was, now that she was thinking about it she wanted to be serious. This was a really big deal, almost like the magic discussion. As much as she didn’t want to say anything about this, she had to know.
Now she got serious, drawing herself up and facing him head on, “Okay, enough of this. Harry, is this a date or no?” there, she said it. It wasn’t too hard, but it sure made her nervous to ask. She wasn’t sure what answer she wanted more, but she knew that she needed one.
Harry paused for a moment, “…way to kill the teasing, Murph.” But he smiled softly at her, one of those real Harry smiles that could melt any woman, even Murphy. “That depends on something.”
“On what?” She asked immediately. She could think of any number of things that he could hang his hat on. The first that sprang to her mind was work. Things could get even more complicated than they already were if work got in the way. Oh, and then there was her daughter, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t complicate things as much as it would with other men.
“On whether or not you’re going to admit you want to ask me out on a date.” He tilted his head, a classic sign Harry was thinking about something. “I’ll take you to dinner regardless, Murphy. But what you want out of this is up to you.”
“You’re such a gentleman, Harry.” There was a sudden rush of nerves. Her earlier bluntness was probably the reason Harry was being so forward now. She had to face this though. If she went back to joking around and retreated, he would too. They’d never sort this out. “Don’t you think there could be something… more between us?” she hedged.
“I think that a lot.”
A lot of the nerves vanished at that and then it was replaced with a whole different set of nerves. “So, why not give it a shot? Right?” she watched him, trying to find a hint of what he was thinking. He was still serious, though and he was watching her intently.
“There are plenty of reasons.” He said, his tone reflecting the serious nature of this conversation. “And I’m not saying this just to be a coward. I could hurt you, you should hurt me, I could end up putting you in the middle of a great big world of trouble… do you think I could live with that?”
He shook his head. Before she could say anything, he continued. “But… somewhere I’ve got to trust you to take care of yourself, and I do… Murph, if something did start between us…” he closed the distance between them and caught her chin in his hands. Like every time he touched her, the sheer size difference between them came to the forefront of Murphy’s mind. His fingers are rough and calloused against her skin as he looked down at her. “… most of all, I’d fear driving you away.”
She couldn’t believe him sometimes. He was scared of driving her away? She’d stuck with him from the beginning, even before she believed in magic or even knew she could trust him with her life. She was more scared of driving him away, especially if things got personal. She was hard to get along with sometimes.
“I’ve been hurt before. Hell, Harry, I’ve been divorced, you don’t get much more hurt than that.” She said, looking right at him. “I’m a big girl, I can handle a little heartache and a little danger. We’ve known each other for years, you’re the closest person to me outside of my daughter, I’ve stood by you all these years. What’s going to drive me away?”
She already knew he killed his uncle. He didn’t know how far she’d gone to protect him from charges. She knew he was a wizard, more important she believed in what he did. He knew about her nightmares, her pills, her temper. She didn’t have illusions about him and he shouldn’t have any about her.
“I don’t know. If I did…” He ran his thumb over her jaw, creating a whole new sensation in her. She had felt like this when he kissed her in the alleyway, thrilled, hopeful and uncertain.
He leaned in close, his next words more a whisper over her lips, “Is this what you want Murphy?”
Her eyes drifted closed in anticipation. She wanted this, more than she originally thought. With all her fears and concerns, this felt right. Oh, anything with Harry was going to be complicated and hard, it didn’t matter because she wanted this. “I want to try, Harry. If I don’t, I’ll regret it.”
His free arm came around her, pulling her closer. With her eyes closed, his scent of leather and candle wax washed over her. He was watching her, she could always tell when he was looking at her. She was surrounded by him and his warmth. It was familiar and welcoming. “I would too.” He brushed his mouth over hers, just teasing her.
Okay, the teasing was fun, but damn it, she really wanted him to kiss her. It looked like she’d have to take matters into her own hands again. “Shut up and kiss me like you mean it.” She slid her hands over his chest and yanked him into a kiss. There it was, the rush that went through her when he kissed her. She curled her fingers into his shirt as he tilted his head and kissed her back with determination. Yes, this definitely felt right.
A stylized version of the AIM RP that lead to Harry and Murphy's first date. Harry's parts provided by
magicians_son.
Harry looked confused to see her. Murphy wasn't surprised. She didn’t usually just show up at Harry’s place at the end of a shift unless they’ made plans. She really just showed up at his door because lately she hadn’t seen much of him. Her cases just weren’t weird enough to warrant calling him. The Captain wanted her to cut back on using him. She wasn't happy about that. She missed Harry interrupting her work with crazy stories. Although, now those stories weren’t so crazy as before. Anyway, that didn’t matter. She missed Harry and just wanted to see him.
He blinked at her, “Wha?”
She felt a little awkward, but she’d felt that way before around Harry. “Let’s go have dinner or something. I’ll pay.” She offered, completely casual. It was perfectly normal for her to show up at Harry’s door for no reason and ask him to dinner, totally normal.
“If I didn’t know better, Murph, I’d say that sounds like a date.” He grinned at her and she rolled her eyes. She wasn’t blushing about that. They didn’t date, even though the department rumor mill has them dating, screwing like rabbits and well on their way to married. They have dinner as friends. She does it all the time with Kirmani. It was no big deal.
But, something changed in Harry’s demeanor. She can read his body language like a book and he suddenly looked serious about something. He shrugged, “If I had my way, yes, I would be.”
There were two ways Murphy could have taken the statement. Harry had these crazy ideas about chivalry and treating women like damsels. He could have offered to pay because it was the gentlemanly thing to do. But Murphy had made the joke about dating and his body language had changed, her mind went in the most obvious direction. “Does this mean it is a date?” she asked, a little scared by the idea.
“It is as long as you don’t expect anything fancy, Murph.” Harry said, which was an answer and wasn’t really. He did say it was a date, but what did that mean exactly? They weren’t actually serious about this, were they?
In this situation, joking was Murphy’s best defense against confusion. “If you haven’t noticed, Harry, I don’t really do fancy.” There, a light hearted statement that doesn’t have to mean anything. That should get things back on track.
“Seems to me you can clean up nice, when the mood suits you.” He pointed out, which put them right on the serious track again. They were talking about this. Murphy couldn't believe it. They never talked about this, or the two kisses or the way he’d looked at her when he’d seen her cleaned up nice. They stuck strictly to being friends no matter what they might want.
“If I have to get dressed up, it counts as a date.” She said. She would like to run away from this conversation, but if Harry was facing it, she would do. She owed him that much at least. “If I don’t, it could just be dinner between friends or a date… we sound like we’re in high school.” And they did. They were both dancing around the subject. All they needed were some lockers, a collection of books and raging hormones and they were right back in high school.
He laughed, which made her relax a little. If she could still make him laugh, this wasn’t that serious. “There are all kinds of dates that don’t involve dressing up. Besides, all the best dates were those young at heart kinds.”
But the problem was, now that she was thinking about it she wanted to be serious. This was a really big deal, almost like the magic discussion. As much as she didn’t want to say anything about this, she had to know.
Now she got serious, drawing herself up and facing him head on, “Okay, enough of this. Harry, is this a date or no?” there, she said it. It wasn’t too hard, but it sure made her nervous to ask. She wasn’t sure what answer she wanted more, but she knew that she needed one.
Harry paused for a moment, “…way to kill the teasing, Murph.” But he smiled softly at her, one of those real Harry smiles that could melt any woman, even Murphy. “That depends on something.”
“On what?” She asked immediately. She could think of any number of things that he could hang his hat on. The first that sprang to her mind was work. Things could get even more complicated than they already were if work got in the way. Oh, and then there was her daughter, but she had a feeling it wouldn’t complicate things as much as it would with other men.
“On whether or not you’re going to admit you want to ask me out on a date.” He tilted his head, a classic sign Harry was thinking about something. “I’ll take you to dinner regardless, Murphy. But what you want out of this is up to you.”
“You’re such a gentleman, Harry.” There was a sudden rush of nerves. Her earlier bluntness was probably the reason Harry was being so forward now. She had to face this though. If she went back to joking around and retreated, he would too. They’d never sort this out. “Don’t you think there could be something… more between us?” she hedged.
“I think that a lot.”
A lot of the nerves vanished at that and then it was replaced with a whole different set of nerves. “So, why not give it a shot? Right?” she watched him, trying to find a hint of what he was thinking. He was still serious, though and he was watching her intently.
“There are plenty of reasons.” He said, his tone reflecting the serious nature of this conversation. “And I’m not saying this just to be a coward. I could hurt you, you should hurt me, I could end up putting you in the middle of a great big world of trouble… do you think I could live with that?”
He shook his head. Before she could say anything, he continued. “But… somewhere I’ve got to trust you to take care of yourself, and I do… Murph, if something did start between us…” he closed the distance between them and caught her chin in his hands. Like every time he touched her, the sheer size difference between them came to the forefront of Murphy’s mind. His fingers are rough and calloused against her skin as he looked down at her. “… most of all, I’d fear driving you away.”
She couldn’t believe him sometimes. He was scared of driving her away? She’d stuck with him from the beginning, even before she believed in magic or even knew she could trust him with her life. She was more scared of driving him away, especially if things got personal. She was hard to get along with sometimes.
“I’ve been hurt before. Hell, Harry, I’ve been divorced, you don’t get much more hurt than that.” She said, looking right at him. “I’m a big girl, I can handle a little heartache and a little danger. We’ve known each other for years, you’re the closest person to me outside of my daughter, I’ve stood by you all these years. What’s going to drive me away?”
She already knew he killed his uncle. He didn’t know how far she’d gone to protect him from charges. She knew he was a wizard, more important she believed in what he did. He knew about her nightmares, her pills, her temper. She didn’t have illusions about him and he shouldn’t have any about her.
“I don’t know. If I did…” He ran his thumb over her jaw, creating a whole new sensation in her. She had felt like this when he kissed her in the alleyway, thrilled, hopeful and uncertain.
He leaned in close, his next words more a whisper over her lips, “Is this what you want Murphy?”
Her eyes drifted closed in anticipation. She wanted this, more than she originally thought. With all her fears and concerns, this felt right. Oh, anything with Harry was going to be complicated and hard, it didn’t matter because she wanted this. “I want to try, Harry. If I don’t, I’ll regret it.”
His free arm came around her, pulling her closer. With her eyes closed, his scent of leather and candle wax washed over her. He was watching her, she could always tell when he was looking at her. She was surrounded by him and his warmth. It was familiar and welcoming. “I would too.” He brushed his mouth over hers, just teasing her.
Okay, the teasing was fun, but damn it, she really wanted him to kiss her. It looked like she’d have to take matters into her own hands again. “Shut up and kiss me like you mean it.” She slid her hands over his chest and yanked him into a kiss. There it was, the rush that went through her when he kissed her. She curled her fingers into his shirt as he tilted his head and kissed her back with determination. Yes, this definitely felt right.
A stylized version of the AIM RP that lead to Harry and Murphy's first date. Harry's parts provided by
magicians_son.