musesandlyrics | 9.12. Color Me Badd lyrics
9.12. Girl you just make me feel so good
I just wanna... i just wanna
Just lay back, and enjoy the ride
all i wanna do is
(i wanna love you down)
I want to sex you up
I Wanna Sex You Up - Color Me Badd
Co-written with goodcoverstory
[Comes a few days after THIS]
Once everyone had their time visiting an unconscious and bruised Rory, Riley had to insist they leave. It wasn't like a normal hospital. It was still a military facility and by rights, he couldn't just let them sit around holding vigil at his bedside. Besides, he was heavily sedated and he wouldn't wake up until those medications were stopped. The doctors anticipated it would be another couple of days most likely. Rory took a kick to the head and a kick to the stomach that had him bleeding internally. It had all been stopped with an intense treatment regime, but if they held off for a couple more days to let him wake up, he would be healed just that little bit more, and in a better condition to be taken to Blaise and Juliette's home. Physically, he would heal fine in a few weeks time, mentally and emotionally, though, they would just have to wait to see how he went.
It turned out to be Juliette who ended up extending an invitation for Riley to come stay with them if he wanted, one which he promptly turned down. It had been awkward enough with Buffy and Rory staying at his place. It was just going to be a whole other level of uncomfortable adding Blaise and Xander to the mix. It was just a situation Riley was struggling to feel a part of. It was the Scooby issue all over again. He wasn't ever going to feel a part of that scene, and he didn't want to be the odd one out without a potential hook up on the horizon. It sucked enough to be at a party as the only single one there, but this was just laughable. Things in the past might be resolving with Buffy now, but he didn't want to sit around and witness the whole push and pull of whatever it was she was doing with Blaise. He really did not want to sit around and watch that.
Instead, he just made some stupid fake excuse about finishing up work and going home to bed because he wasn't feeling well. The latter was sort of easing off now. He was just left with a sheer exhaustion and a general feeling of not being well. It wasn't enough to keep him from going to a small bar near his home, though. He had intended to just go back to his apartment, but he needed time to think and try to process everything that had happened. It was surreal, and he felt like he was running up behind the pack, even though on the face of it, he looked like he had the finger on the pulse. He was flicking a drink coaster over and over in is fingers, lost in his thought and completely ignoring his untouched beer that had been put in front of him ages ago. A minor thought of Blaise and Buffy and Riley lost the grip on the coaster and it went flying across the bar, only to land in the drink of the person sitting just up from him. He watch in horror as the cardboard square splashed into the cocktail glass and then had to force himself to look sheepishly at the recipient... only to realise she was the waitress from the restaurant who had given him a wine bath.
"Oh... crap... I'm sorry..." Riley offered hastily and then without thinking, just reached over to pluck the coaster from her drink without even stopping to think that she probably wouldn't want a strange dude's fingers in her drink. He stilled, the soggy coaster between his fingers and dripping onto the bar as he managed to meet her gaze. "Sorry again?"
Nina blinked as she recognised the man from the restaurant. The cute one that she'd tipped wine all over by accident, and then had to be subject to some kind of possessive behaviour by his date. She hadn't been any clearer when the odd couple had left about whether or not they had been together. Blaise Richelieu, the businessman, had interrupted the dinner for a moment and she thought that maybe there had been something between him and the petite blonde. But Nina could have been wrong, her habit of trying to discern personal relationships never diminishing. It was a hazard of her work considering she was undercover CIA and always looking for a way to get connections to her targets.
She'd been in France for a year already, and she just kept hitting dead end after dead end. Her superiors were close to pulling her out and chalking it all up to tragic coincidences, but Nina was sure there was something going on in this city. She just couldn't quite put her finger on it, and the fact frustrated her. So for now she was living day in and day out as Lucie Durand still, the mediocre existence of a waitress the only thing she knew lately.
She put on her best smile as she looked from the cocktail to gentleman, her flawless French accent never revealing a hint of her true nationality. "Pas de soucis, Monsieur. I think we are even now, oui? I tip wine on you, you flick your coaster into my cocktail."
Riley laughed nervously and grabbed a napkin to wrap the soggy coaster up into. "Yeah, that is one way to look at it, for sure," he agreed, even if it didn't really make him feel like less of an idiot. The thing was, in the restaurant with Buffy and Blaise present, Riley really hadn't had the chance to realise just how hot this waitress was. Sure, he had indicated to Buffy that she needed to back off on the jealous girlfriend routine, but the lighting in the restaurant had been all moody and even then he had thought she was gorgeous. Now he realised he hadn't noticed half of it and he cleared his throat as he took the safety of his seat again, realising he was actually bracing himself for the appearance of a burly boyfriend to come out of the shadows and beat him up. "My apologies for interrupting your quiet drink, however. Nothing worse, really."
Nina's eyebrows went up before she started to laugh softly. Oh god, he was cute and the shy type. She was going to be in big trouble with him. She never liked the brash types. The ones that were so sure of themselves they probably did have fantasies about fucking themselves. She liked the kind of guys that could still be modest, and could still get a little flustered. She couldn't help it. Now she really did want to know if he was dating that tiny blonde. "I think some interruptions are worth it. My drink is only quiet by default. It's not as if I ever have any company," she revealed, hoping the hint would be relatively subtle enough. "Je m'apelle Lucie Durand. Comment t'appelles-tu?"
Riley managed to regain his composure and held out his hand. "Riley Finn. Je suis enchanté, Lucie Durand." He was finding it hard to believe how anyone as gorgeous as her would never have any company. Maybe she was a lesbian. Or liked to insult people for fun. None of it just made sense, but it wasn't like he was going to outright ask her if she liked boobs. That would be a waste, and he wasn't sure he really wanted to get into a conversation like that. Though maybe he did need to live a little. His last sexual encounter had been his ex who was drooling after one of the most well-known French guys to walk Paris. Before that, it was his wife before she laced his coffee with poison. He wasn't exactly feeling warm and snuggly right now. "I have to admit I can understand how you feel, as much as it pains me."
"Enchanté aussi, Riley Finn. Especially when there's no possible chance of me tipping wine in your lap. Maybe just a cocktail..." she said with a slightly cheeky grin. She tilted her head as she analysed him and kept a hold of his hand longer than she probably needed to. "You do? That's... a surprise, actually. You are not dating the woman you had at the restaurant the other night? Forgive me for being so direct, I guess I just want to make sure I really am not treading on toes before I start flirting."
"At least my lap would get some action though, huh?" Riley joked and then shook his head, massaging his fingertips over his forehead at the bad line. It was a good thing he hadn't had any of his drink, because alcohol would just inevitably make him even more of a dork. That thought came with the realisation that along with puking, and various other things, Buffy hadn't ever seen him drunk, either. Maybe that wasn't one of the badder things lacking with them. He turned and looked at her with the flirting comment, letting his hands come to rest on the bar again. "No, I'm not dating her. I did, once upon a time many years ago, but not anymore. We just both ended up in Paris at the same time and we were catching up. Her... interests are well aimed elsewhere now. We missed that boat, and it sailed ages ago. She really didn't have a right to be getting possessive about my lap the other night."
Nina bit back a grin as she got confirmation of the fact that Riley was single. She couldn't help but do an internal happy dance. She'd spent the majority of the year she'd been in France avoiding any sort of entanglements, but she was a woman. She still had needs. And right now her needs were pretty much centred around what Riley was packing in his lap. Her gaze dipped down to his crotch briefly before she picked up her drink and moved onto the next stool over so she was right next to him. "Your lap doesn't need wine in it to get some action, mon amour. I'm sorry it did not work out between the two of you, but her loss. My gain. If you were my ex, I think I would be getting possessive about your lap... I wouldn't be able to help myself. It's a very fine lap you have, Riley."
Riley watched her move, unable to stop himself appreciating her body. "This is probably the part I tell you I've spent the last couple of days as sick as a dog. Just so you're forewarned. But I think I'm good now. You know, just in case any stupid things come out of my mouth, I'm pre-planning and fully intend on blaming it on that to save face," he told her with a laugh. "See, I probably wouldn't have minded her possessiveness if she wasn't fully focused on another very important lap. In the end, it just basically pissed me off, but don't worry, I told her that. I've known her long enough for us to pretty much tell each other the lay of the land. Not that I would have disrespected you by coming onto you that night or anything, but you didn't have to feel like you were honing in on someone else's territory."
"I didn't have all the facts, so it was a little hard to judge whether I was or not. I wasn't about to make assumptions, or interrupt an evening that might have been meant to be intimate," Nina replied with a small shrug. "I was just the waitress. But I couldn't help but think you were cute, and maybe just hope a little bit. I'm still human..." She flashed him a smile as she reached out to cover his hand with hers. "I'm sorry to hear you've been sick. I would say that I hope it wasn't the food, but you never got to eat anything."
"To be fair on all of us, though, it was a fleeting encounter. I couldn't expect you to know everything about me from one glass of wine in the lap, right?" Riley reasoned, smiling at her as he tried to make her feel better about the whole thing. "It wasn't intimate. I picked the place because I like the food and it's close to home. We just needed to eat. That's all. Maybe if she wasn't interested in someone else, it might have been possibly somewhere potentially in the future. But it's not. I promise. We had a bad break up and some things are just hard to set aside, no matter how much time has passed." He fell quiet and looked at her hand over his and then smiled again when he looked up to meet her, eyes, not making any attempt to take his hand away. "It's fine. Just one of those passing things, you know. Probably fell victim of workaholicitis."
Nina gave a nod as she smiled again. "D'accord, you're right. I wouldn't have known everything. I'm just glad we get a chance to have more than a fleeting encounter. You're addicted to your work, hm? I wish I could say I understood, but there is nothing addictive about waitressing. If I put in the long hours it's only because I need the money." She looked down at their hands again, relieved he hadn't made any kind of move to take his away. She knew she had to be pushing her luck but suddenly she didn't want to waste any moment with him.
"You don't ever have the urge to try something else? I don't mean this to sound rude or anything, but it can't be for the love of the work that you're there. Paris is a place of many interesting things, surely there must be something else out there you want to try?" Riley asked her. He didn't understand how people could stay in jobs they hated, though he had never really had to worry about that. He always loved what he did, it just seemed to get him hurt more than he cared to admit, and that wasn't even a physical hurt. He also knew that it had been a long, long time since he had done anything like indulge in a one night stand with a stranger. Maybe it was exactly what he needed for a distraction. Why should he be sitting aside like a kicked puppy when Buffy was off chasing Blaise? "I'm military. It keeps me busy, to say the least."
"Oui, bien sûr, but my skills are limited." Nina tried not to smirk at being asked that question. If only the guy knew the half of it. "I did not finish high school with the greatest of grades. My English is passable, non? I had a boyfriend who taught me, and these days it's hard to get by without knowing it. So many tourists. Or Americans like yourself. Work in the city... live here. At least I assume you do. Or are you just passing through?" She watched him curiously for a moment, wondering what exactly American military was doing here in the first place. Surely she'd have been told about it?
Riley flagged down the barman and ordered himself a lemonade, plus a fresh, non-coaster infiltrated drink for Lucie. "I'm based on a European operation here. I like it, it's a beautiful city and I have had the luxury of meeting some awesome people," he explained, pointedly not sticking on what he did for too long. "It's a far cry from Iowa, but a lot of people spend their life wishing they had travelled, and I'm just lucky I had the luxury of that. I had to learn French pretty quick, but after Army boot camp and training schools, just about anything beyond that is a breeze," he added with a laugh.
Nina had to laugh. She might have been a languages expert before she was CIA, but that didn't mean she couldn't see his point. After any kind of boot camp, languages were a breeze. "Explains the lemonade. You wouldn't want to drink on the job. Iowa? Iowa is... where? I feel like I should give you a proper welcome to my city. We are known for love after all."
Riley hated that question and it just had him clearing his throat as he handed over some cash for the drinks. "Yeah, somewhere in the middle-ish," he replied, as was his standard reply when anyone asked him about Iowa. It wasn't like he even came from any cities. It was a ranch, in the middle of nowhere, basically. "You don't think soldiers get down time just like waitresses? I'm more just trying to play it safe with the lemonade. I don't want to wake up with a headache, and it's been a long day. I would take you up on your offer, but I've been living here around four months now, so I'm hardly a newbie. I've even been to the Eiffel Tower and all..." He accepted his drink and took a sip of it, firmly shoving any thoughts about that day with the Eiffel Tower completely from his mind.
"I asked the wrong question, didn't I?" Nina murmured as she watched his reaction. She did actually know where Iowa was, but Lucie hardly did. She was meant to be the French native. She also felt bad that Riley didn't seem so proud to be from Iowa. She'd never thought there was anything wrong with the middle of America. In fact, she almost missed the idea of the peace and quiet that would probably go with being there. She smiled at him again. "I wasn't really sure about the downtime. I didn't want to make assumptions. Military just sounds so important, but still you're here with me now. And I like that you're playing safe. Also means you'll remember anything that happens tonight." She found his hand again and gave it a soft squeeze. "Might be time to at least get some happy memories here," she suggested softly.
Riley shook his head as he set his glass down. "Not at all. It's just a matter of me having heard it a hell of a lot in the past. You get labelled the reliable country boy, and it's a hard persona to shake, apparently. Don't get me wrong. I love my home, and I love my family. It's just getting typecast is the part I'm not such a fan of. Good ol' reliable Riley Finn." He gave a wry shrug. It was a strange comment for her to make and he turned his head to look at her curiously. "I never said I had bad memories here, so... am I right to assume that we're not talking about me here? Ah, see? I can read behind words and reactions too."
Nina blinked, and for a moment she was genuinely confused as to where her own comment had come from. She hadn't even been aware of it until the words were out of her mouth. She gave a small shake of her head before glancing down at her drink and then letting out a small sigh. "It's been a long... lonely year," she finally admitted, the lines between Lucie and Nina blurring. "I don't have any family in the city. See, I am not a Parisian. Not really. Even France has it's smaller areas, nothing worth mentioning. I think maybe I am the one that could use some happy memories. I didn't typecast you, Riley. I thought you were the tall, cute, dashing American with a nice lap."
Riley nodded. "That I do understand. The smaller areas and all. I have heard a lot about the beauty of the countryside. I have been lucky enough to see parts of it, and other parts of Europe that tourists tend to overlook. But still, if one can drive to Scotland in twelve hours, what is stopping you driving to your family in the French countryside? Or is waitressing really just slave labour in a fancy setting?" he joked. "I lived in California for awhile there, but I still managed to get back home to my folks for Thanksgiving. That is where I owe you an apology. I know you didn't typecast me, it's just a habit of others in my past and I get a bit touchy about it these days. It's been a long, long time since I made it back to Iowa now. I am probably no more a country boy than Donald Trump or Bill Gates. Much better dress sense, though. And thank you for the compliments. You're extremely not hard on the eyes yourself."
"De rien," Nina replied as she dipped her head a little, and then she just grinned. "Extremely is very good, non? And you also forgot to say that you have much better hair than those two. I remember seeing an image of Donald Trump once. Clearly the wives are definitely after the money. Making the drive to see my family might be easy if things weren't so complicated. There was a reason I moved away to begin with." Nina traced her finger around the bottom of the glass as she let her shoulders slump. If this was genuinely about to be a one night stand, then they wouldn't get too far into the family issue. It would buy her some time. Truth was no one had seemed that interested in Lucie's background until now.
Riley laughed and scratched his head a little. "Well, who can blame them? They are rolling in it. They must be doing something the makes the dudes happy. Isn't that what it's all about at the end of the day? I'm sorry you have family issues. My family was never really big enough for that, so I'm lucky in a way. My mom just wants to know my heart is, uh, still beating and that I wear clean underwear. Beyond that, she understands that I'm AWOL from home, incognito, just about all the time. At least with this job, I can actually call them up and talk. I wasn't able to do that in my last posting. Still, France is a long way from home, and even the most hardened of men can feel homesickness now and again. Can miss those who once meant something in our lives."
Nina wanted to tell him how much she agreed, and just how deeply she sympathised, but she couldn't. She had to keep her mouth shut even for the first time in a while she was sitting next to someone that Nina liked. Not just someone that would suit her cover. "What about the people who will come to mean something in your life?"
Riley shifted his gaze from his drink to her face and pressed his lips together in thought. He was quiet at first, realising he had many ways he could actually answer that. "All assuming I don't throw up the walls and push them away, you mean? I've been kicked in the balls a few times, and some days, I still think they're a bit sensitive from it all. I don't want to get hurt again, and I feel like it would be easier to just not try. Which is strange for me to admit, because I hate being a defeatist. Trust me, I'll usually stick around and get kicked in the teeth over and over just to try and succeed at something I find worth in, but you can never really account for other people, can you? And I can't believe I just said all that to you, I'm sorry. Talk about emo. It really has been a hell of a long day. A friend of a friend got hurt, and it's just been taxing."
Nina just watched him the whole time, her heart aching in sympathy. It was true the subject matter was a little depressing, but who could blame him? In both their lines of work it was easy to start feeling the exhaustion that comes with trying to carry all the tragedy. Only Riley wasn't allowed to know any of Nina's pain. Or who she was. After a moment Nina leaned forward and kissed the corner of his mouth softly. "I'm sorry about your friend of a friend. But if it makes you feel just the slightest bit better, I don't want to kick you in the balls. I can think of better things to do with them."
"To be fair, she didn't either when we first met..." Riley had to tell her, indicating that he was still wary. He probably always would be these days. It didn't stop him breaching the gap between them again and kissing her in return, his lips catching hers as he deepened it. He didn't know what the hell he was playing at, but it suddenly felt like sex was very much what he needed right now. With absolutely no one connected to his job or to Buffy. He needed to just switch off for a little while, and sex was always a good way to do that.
Word Count | 4,212
I just wanna... i just wanna
Just lay back, and enjoy the ride
all i wanna do is
(i wanna love you down)
I want to sex you up
I Wanna Sex You Up - Color Me Badd
Co-written with goodcoverstory
[Comes a few days after THIS]
Once everyone had their time visiting an unconscious and bruised Rory, Riley had to insist they leave. It wasn't like a normal hospital. It was still a military facility and by rights, he couldn't just let them sit around holding vigil at his bedside. Besides, he was heavily sedated and he wouldn't wake up until those medications were stopped. The doctors anticipated it would be another couple of days most likely. Rory took a kick to the head and a kick to the stomach that had him bleeding internally. It had all been stopped with an intense treatment regime, but if they held off for a couple more days to let him wake up, he would be healed just that little bit more, and in a better condition to be taken to Blaise and Juliette's home. Physically, he would heal fine in a few weeks time, mentally and emotionally, though, they would just have to wait to see how he went.
It turned out to be Juliette who ended up extending an invitation for Riley to come stay with them if he wanted, one which he promptly turned down. It had been awkward enough with Buffy and Rory staying at his place. It was just going to be a whole other level of uncomfortable adding Blaise and Xander to the mix. It was just a situation Riley was struggling to feel a part of. It was the Scooby issue all over again. He wasn't ever going to feel a part of that scene, and he didn't want to be the odd one out without a potential hook up on the horizon. It sucked enough to be at a party as the only single one there, but this was just laughable. Things in the past might be resolving with Buffy now, but he didn't want to sit around and witness the whole push and pull of whatever it was she was doing with Blaise. He really did not want to sit around and watch that.
Instead, he just made some stupid fake excuse about finishing up work and going home to bed because he wasn't feeling well. The latter was sort of easing off now. He was just left with a sheer exhaustion and a general feeling of not being well. It wasn't enough to keep him from going to a small bar near his home, though. He had intended to just go back to his apartment, but he needed time to think and try to process everything that had happened. It was surreal, and he felt like he was running up behind the pack, even though on the face of it, he looked like he had the finger on the pulse. He was flicking a drink coaster over and over in is fingers, lost in his thought and completely ignoring his untouched beer that had been put in front of him ages ago. A minor thought of Blaise and Buffy and Riley lost the grip on the coaster and it went flying across the bar, only to land in the drink of the person sitting just up from him. He watch in horror as the cardboard square splashed into the cocktail glass and then had to force himself to look sheepishly at the recipient... only to realise she was the waitress from the restaurant who had given him a wine bath.
"Oh... crap... I'm sorry..." Riley offered hastily and then without thinking, just reached over to pluck the coaster from her drink without even stopping to think that she probably wouldn't want a strange dude's fingers in her drink. He stilled, the soggy coaster between his fingers and dripping onto the bar as he managed to meet her gaze. "Sorry again?"
Nina blinked as she recognised the man from the restaurant. The cute one that she'd tipped wine all over by accident, and then had to be subject to some kind of possessive behaviour by his date. She hadn't been any clearer when the odd couple had left about whether or not they had been together. Blaise Richelieu, the businessman, had interrupted the dinner for a moment and she thought that maybe there had been something between him and the petite blonde. But Nina could have been wrong, her habit of trying to discern personal relationships never diminishing. It was a hazard of her work considering she was undercover CIA and always looking for a way to get connections to her targets.
She'd been in France for a year already, and she just kept hitting dead end after dead end. Her superiors were close to pulling her out and chalking it all up to tragic coincidences, but Nina was sure there was something going on in this city. She just couldn't quite put her finger on it, and the fact frustrated her. So for now she was living day in and day out as Lucie Durand still, the mediocre existence of a waitress the only thing she knew lately.
She put on her best smile as she looked from the cocktail to gentleman, her flawless French accent never revealing a hint of her true nationality. "Pas de soucis, Monsieur. I think we are even now, oui? I tip wine on you, you flick your coaster into my cocktail."
Riley laughed nervously and grabbed a napkin to wrap the soggy coaster up into. "Yeah, that is one way to look at it, for sure," he agreed, even if it didn't really make him feel like less of an idiot. The thing was, in the restaurant with Buffy and Blaise present, Riley really hadn't had the chance to realise just how hot this waitress was. Sure, he had indicated to Buffy that she needed to back off on the jealous girlfriend routine, but the lighting in the restaurant had been all moody and even then he had thought she was gorgeous. Now he realised he hadn't noticed half of it and he cleared his throat as he took the safety of his seat again, realising he was actually bracing himself for the appearance of a burly boyfriend to come out of the shadows and beat him up. "My apologies for interrupting your quiet drink, however. Nothing worse, really."
Nina's eyebrows went up before she started to laugh softly. Oh god, he was cute and the shy type. She was going to be in big trouble with him. She never liked the brash types. The ones that were so sure of themselves they probably did have fantasies about fucking themselves. She liked the kind of guys that could still be modest, and could still get a little flustered. She couldn't help it. Now she really did want to know if he was dating that tiny blonde. "I think some interruptions are worth it. My drink is only quiet by default. It's not as if I ever have any company," she revealed, hoping the hint would be relatively subtle enough. "Je m'apelle Lucie Durand. Comment t'appelles-tu?"
Riley managed to regain his composure and held out his hand. "Riley Finn. Je suis enchanté, Lucie Durand." He was finding it hard to believe how anyone as gorgeous as her would never have any company. Maybe she was a lesbian. Or liked to insult people for fun. None of it just made sense, but it wasn't like he was going to outright ask her if she liked boobs. That would be a waste, and he wasn't sure he really wanted to get into a conversation like that. Though maybe he did need to live a little. His last sexual encounter had been his ex who was drooling after one of the most well-known French guys to walk Paris. Before that, it was his wife before she laced his coffee with poison. He wasn't exactly feeling warm and snuggly right now. "I have to admit I can understand how you feel, as much as it pains me."
"Enchanté aussi, Riley Finn. Especially when there's no possible chance of me tipping wine in your lap. Maybe just a cocktail..." she said with a slightly cheeky grin. She tilted her head as she analysed him and kept a hold of his hand longer than she probably needed to. "You do? That's... a surprise, actually. You are not dating the woman you had at the restaurant the other night? Forgive me for being so direct, I guess I just want to make sure I really am not treading on toes before I start flirting."
"At least my lap would get some action though, huh?" Riley joked and then shook his head, massaging his fingertips over his forehead at the bad line. It was a good thing he hadn't had any of his drink, because alcohol would just inevitably make him even more of a dork. That thought came with the realisation that along with puking, and various other things, Buffy hadn't ever seen him drunk, either. Maybe that wasn't one of the badder things lacking with them. He turned and looked at her with the flirting comment, letting his hands come to rest on the bar again. "No, I'm not dating her. I did, once upon a time many years ago, but not anymore. We just both ended up in Paris at the same time and we were catching up. Her... interests are well aimed elsewhere now. We missed that boat, and it sailed ages ago. She really didn't have a right to be getting possessive about my lap the other night."
Nina bit back a grin as she got confirmation of the fact that Riley was single. She couldn't help but do an internal happy dance. She'd spent the majority of the year she'd been in France avoiding any sort of entanglements, but she was a woman. She still had needs. And right now her needs were pretty much centred around what Riley was packing in his lap. Her gaze dipped down to his crotch briefly before she picked up her drink and moved onto the next stool over so she was right next to him. "Your lap doesn't need wine in it to get some action, mon amour. I'm sorry it did not work out between the two of you, but her loss. My gain. If you were my ex, I think I would be getting possessive about your lap... I wouldn't be able to help myself. It's a very fine lap you have, Riley."
Riley watched her move, unable to stop himself appreciating her body. "This is probably the part I tell you I've spent the last couple of days as sick as a dog. Just so you're forewarned. But I think I'm good now. You know, just in case any stupid things come out of my mouth, I'm pre-planning and fully intend on blaming it on that to save face," he told her with a laugh. "See, I probably wouldn't have minded her possessiveness if she wasn't fully focused on another very important lap. In the end, it just basically pissed me off, but don't worry, I told her that. I've known her long enough for us to pretty much tell each other the lay of the land. Not that I would have disrespected you by coming onto you that night or anything, but you didn't have to feel like you were honing in on someone else's territory."
"I didn't have all the facts, so it was a little hard to judge whether I was or not. I wasn't about to make assumptions, or interrupt an evening that might have been meant to be intimate," Nina replied with a small shrug. "I was just the waitress. But I couldn't help but think you were cute, and maybe just hope a little bit. I'm still human..." She flashed him a smile as she reached out to cover his hand with hers. "I'm sorry to hear you've been sick. I would say that I hope it wasn't the food, but you never got to eat anything."
"To be fair on all of us, though, it was a fleeting encounter. I couldn't expect you to know everything about me from one glass of wine in the lap, right?" Riley reasoned, smiling at her as he tried to make her feel better about the whole thing. "It wasn't intimate. I picked the place because I like the food and it's close to home. We just needed to eat. That's all. Maybe if she wasn't interested in someone else, it might have been possibly somewhere potentially in the future. But it's not. I promise. We had a bad break up and some things are just hard to set aside, no matter how much time has passed." He fell quiet and looked at her hand over his and then smiled again when he looked up to meet her, eyes, not making any attempt to take his hand away. "It's fine. Just one of those passing things, you know. Probably fell victim of workaholicitis."
Nina gave a nod as she smiled again. "D'accord, you're right. I wouldn't have known everything. I'm just glad we get a chance to have more than a fleeting encounter. You're addicted to your work, hm? I wish I could say I understood, but there is nothing addictive about waitressing. If I put in the long hours it's only because I need the money." She looked down at their hands again, relieved he hadn't made any kind of move to take his away. She knew she had to be pushing her luck but suddenly she didn't want to waste any moment with him.
"You don't ever have the urge to try something else? I don't mean this to sound rude or anything, but it can't be for the love of the work that you're there. Paris is a place of many interesting things, surely there must be something else out there you want to try?" Riley asked her. He didn't understand how people could stay in jobs they hated, though he had never really had to worry about that. He always loved what he did, it just seemed to get him hurt more than he cared to admit, and that wasn't even a physical hurt. He also knew that it had been a long, long time since he had done anything like indulge in a one night stand with a stranger. Maybe it was exactly what he needed for a distraction. Why should he be sitting aside like a kicked puppy when Buffy was off chasing Blaise? "I'm military. It keeps me busy, to say the least."
"Oui, bien sûr, but my skills are limited." Nina tried not to smirk at being asked that question. If only the guy knew the half of it. "I did not finish high school with the greatest of grades. My English is passable, non? I had a boyfriend who taught me, and these days it's hard to get by without knowing it. So many tourists. Or Americans like yourself. Work in the city... live here. At least I assume you do. Or are you just passing through?" She watched him curiously for a moment, wondering what exactly American military was doing here in the first place. Surely she'd have been told about it?
Riley flagged down the barman and ordered himself a lemonade, plus a fresh, non-coaster infiltrated drink for Lucie. "I'm based on a European operation here. I like it, it's a beautiful city and I have had the luxury of meeting some awesome people," he explained, pointedly not sticking on what he did for too long. "It's a far cry from Iowa, but a lot of people spend their life wishing they had travelled, and I'm just lucky I had the luxury of that. I had to learn French pretty quick, but after Army boot camp and training schools, just about anything beyond that is a breeze," he added with a laugh.
Nina had to laugh. She might have been a languages expert before she was CIA, but that didn't mean she couldn't see his point. After any kind of boot camp, languages were a breeze. "Explains the lemonade. You wouldn't want to drink on the job. Iowa? Iowa is... where? I feel like I should give you a proper welcome to my city. We are known for love after all."
Riley hated that question and it just had him clearing his throat as he handed over some cash for the drinks. "Yeah, somewhere in the middle-ish," he replied, as was his standard reply when anyone asked him about Iowa. It wasn't like he even came from any cities. It was a ranch, in the middle of nowhere, basically. "You don't think soldiers get down time just like waitresses? I'm more just trying to play it safe with the lemonade. I don't want to wake up with a headache, and it's been a long day. I would take you up on your offer, but I've been living here around four months now, so I'm hardly a newbie. I've even been to the Eiffel Tower and all..." He accepted his drink and took a sip of it, firmly shoving any thoughts about that day with the Eiffel Tower completely from his mind.
"I asked the wrong question, didn't I?" Nina murmured as she watched his reaction. She did actually know where Iowa was, but Lucie hardly did. She was meant to be the French native. She also felt bad that Riley didn't seem so proud to be from Iowa. She'd never thought there was anything wrong with the middle of America. In fact, she almost missed the idea of the peace and quiet that would probably go with being there. She smiled at him again. "I wasn't really sure about the downtime. I didn't want to make assumptions. Military just sounds so important, but still you're here with me now. And I like that you're playing safe. Also means you'll remember anything that happens tonight." She found his hand again and gave it a soft squeeze. "Might be time to at least get some happy memories here," she suggested softly.
Riley shook his head as he set his glass down. "Not at all. It's just a matter of me having heard it a hell of a lot in the past. You get labelled the reliable country boy, and it's a hard persona to shake, apparently. Don't get me wrong. I love my home, and I love my family. It's just getting typecast is the part I'm not such a fan of. Good ol' reliable Riley Finn." He gave a wry shrug. It was a strange comment for her to make and he turned his head to look at her curiously. "I never said I had bad memories here, so... am I right to assume that we're not talking about me here? Ah, see? I can read behind words and reactions too."
Nina blinked, and for a moment she was genuinely confused as to where her own comment had come from. She hadn't even been aware of it until the words were out of her mouth. She gave a small shake of her head before glancing down at her drink and then letting out a small sigh. "It's been a long... lonely year," she finally admitted, the lines between Lucie and Nina blurring. "I don't have any family in the city. See, I am not a Parisian. Not really. Even France has it's smaller areas, nothing worth mentioning. I think maybe I am the one that could use some happy memories. I didn't typecast you, Riley. I thought you were the tall, cute, dashing American with a nice lap."
Riley nodded. "That I do understand. The smaller areas and all. I have heard a lot about the beauty of the countryside. I have been lucky enough to see parts of it, and other parts of Europe that tourists tend to overlook. But still, if one can drive to Scotland in twelve hours, what is stopping you driving to your family in the French countryside? Or is waitressing really just slave labour in a fancy setting?" he joked. "I lived in California for awhile there, but I still managed to get back home to my folks for Thanksgiving. That is where I owe you an apology. I know you didn't typecast me, it's just a habit of others in my past and I get a bit touchy about it these days. It's been a long, long time since I made it back to Iowa now. I am probably no more a country boy than Donald Trump or Bill Gates. Much better dress sense, though. And thank you for the compliments. You're extremely not hard on the eyes yourself."
"De rien," Nina replied as she dipped her head a little, and then she just grinned. "Extremely is very good, non? And you also forgot to say that you have much better hair than those two. I remember seeing an image of Donald Trump once. Clearly the wives are definitely after the money. Making the drive to see my family might be easy if things weren't so complicated. There was a reason I moved away to begin with." Nina traced her finger around the bottom of the glass as she let her shoulders slump. If this was genuinely about to be a one night stand, then they wouldn't get too far into the family issue. It would buy her some time. Truth was no one had seemed that interested in Lucie's background until now.
Riley laughed and scratched his head a little. "Well, who can blame them? They are rolling in it. They must be doing something the makes the dudes happy. Isn't that what it's all about at the end of the day? I'm sorry you have family issues. My family was never really big enough for that, so I'm lucky in a way. My mom just wants to know my heart is, uh, still beating and that I wear clean underwear. Beyond that, she understands that I'm AWOL from home, incognito, just about all the time. At least with this job, I can actually call them up and talk. I wasn't able to do that in my last posting. Still, France is a long way from home, and even the most hardened of men can feel homesickness now and again. Can miss those who once meant something in our lives."
Nina wanted to tell him how much she agreed, and just how deeply she sympathised, but she couldn't. She had to keep her mouth shut even for the first time in a while she was sitting next to someone that Nina liked. Not just someone that would suit her cover. "What about the people who will come to mean something in your life?"
Riley shifted his gaze from his drink to her face and pressed his lips together in thought. He was quiet at first, realising he had many ways he could actually answer that. "All assuming I don't throw up the walls and push them away, you mean? I've been kicked in the balls a few times, and some days, I still think they're a bit sensitive from it all. I don't want to get hurt again, and I feel like it would be easier to just not try. Which is strange for me to admit, because I hate being a defeatist. Trust me, I'll usually stick around and get kicked in the teeth over and over just to try and succeed at something I find worth in, but you can never really account for other people, can you? And I can't believe I just said all that to you, I'm sorry. Talk about emo. It really has been a hell of a long day. A friend of a friend got hurt, and it's just been taxing."
Nina just watched him the whole time, her heart aching in sympathy. It was true the subject matter was a little depressing, but who could blame him? In both their lines of work it was easy to start feeling the exhaustion that comes with trying to carry all the tragedy. Only Riley wasn't allowed to know any of Nina's pain. Or who she was. After a moment Nina leaned forward and kissed the corner of his mouth softly. "I'm sorry about your friend of a friend. But if it makes you feel just the slightest bit better, I don't want to kick you in the balls. I can think of better things to do with them."
"To be fair, she didn't either when we first met..." Riley had to tell her, indicating that he was still wary. He probably always would be these days. It didn't stop him breaching the gap between them again and kissing her in return, his lips catching hers as he deepened it. He didn't know what the hell he was playing at, but it suddenly felt like sex was very much what he needed right now. With absolutely no one connected to his job or to Buffy. He needed to just switch off for a little while, and sex was always a good way to do that.
Word Count | 4,212