Original: Heat
Title: Heat [ INDEX]
Author: Erin (erinm_4600)
Characters, Pairing: Dree and Charlie (mention of Trey and El)
Rating: G
Summary: She asked them to do one thing...
Warning: about seven years after Return of the Living and 18 before Stay Asleep *Written for Round 45 of prompt-in-a-box. Prompt #15, Round 36: You walk into your apartment or house to find your greatest love and your best friend are undressing each other on the kitchen floor. How do you react?
Disclaimer: The original characters of The Wizard of Oz belong to L. Frank Baum and their respective actors. The current characters of Tin Man belong to Sci-Fi, the movie folks and their respective actors. The OCs are mine and bizarra's.
It was the hottest summer on record, in the last hundred years of Celcia. The cooling units in every building were being taxed to their limits and many residents of Central City had packed a bag, locked the doors and headed north or south, simply to escape the sweltering heat of the city. For those who weren't lucky enough to be able to take an impromptu vacation, life tried to go on as usual. The restaurants were pushing any menu items that didn't require heating up the ovens; the technicians were on-call nearly all of the thirty-six hours of the day, repairing units when they failed; the children were overheating, but didn't mind, because they were getting ice cream throughout the day.
Dree had left for work before the first sun rose. She'd taken Charlie with her, simply because their cooling unit had finally died in the middle of the night. The library basement - where she was spending most of her days lately - was cooler, and for a dog of his age, the heat was just too much. El and Trey had promised to put their technical minds to work during the day, and would have the unit fixed by the time she got home.
For having the largest collection of printed material at her disposal, Dree hadn't had any luck with her research. After staring at a page for a good twenty minutes, she sighed and leaned back in her chair. Tilting her head, Dree looked at Charlie, who was sprawled out under the large table. "You gettin' hungry?" she asked. Before she'd finished the sentence, Charlie and jumped up to all fours and started nudging her elbow with his snout. Dree smiled and moved her arm, petting his neck and then giving his ears a good scratch.
On the way home - the first sun had gone down, but it was still very uncomfortable - Dree and Charlie stopped at the market down on the corner. As a deputized Tin Man, Charlie was trained to know where he could and couldn't go. He picked a spot just inside the entrance and sat, keeping watch on everything that was going on. Dree made a quick circle of the racks and collected items to make a large salad, as well as something tasty for Charlie.
Arriving home, Dree smiled as she noticed some of the building's neighbors sitting on the front steps and they spoke for a few moments while Charlie played with the children. Once inside, Charlie bolted up the first flight of stairs and then stopped, watching Dree until she made it to the landing, then he took the next flight. They lived on the fourth floor - which was ironic, since Dree wasn't fond of heights - but she always took the stairs. El and Trey had urged her into the elevator only a handful of times, and those were the longest moments of her long life.
As they reached the fourth floor, Dree and Charlie headed down the hallway until they reached the L-shaped turn and then continued on to the end of the hallway. As Dree had lived in the building for the better part of thirty years, the carpet of this path was well-worn. El and Trey had suggested moving into a larger place, after they'd been married, but Dree didn't want to move. She liked her neighbors and the area and, while it was a bit selfish, it was hers.
As she moved to unlock the door, Dree looked down to Charlie and smiled. "Think they got it fixed?" Dog or not, Charlie's eyebrow went up and she laughed. Pushing the door open as the tumbler clicked, Dree felt a surge of hot, muggy air spill into the hallway. Groaning and making a face, Dree pushed the door open enough for Charlie to go in and she followed behind him. Charlie wasn't about to put up with the heat and aimed straight for the open door leading out onto the patio.
Dree pushed the door shut and relocked it, then looked up toward the kitchen. Trey had El backed against the open refrigerator and was pulling her tanktop over her head as the heat of the moment quite literally overtook them. Rolling her eyes, Dree set her purchases on the table and moved into the kitchen.
"You two are useless," she sighed, moving around the both of them as they barely acknowledged her presence. Moving into the utility room, Dree looked into the open toolbox sitting on the dryer and pulled out a screwdriver before moving to the corner. At least they'd managed to remove the cooling unit's panel before they were distracted.
Author: Erin (erinm_4600)
Characters, Pairing: Dree and Charlie (mention of Trey and El)
Rating: G
Summary: She asked them to do one thing...
Warning: about seven years after Return of the Living and 18 before Stay Asleep *Written for Round 45 of prompt-in-a-box. Prompt #15, Round 36: You walk into your apartment or house to find your greatest love and your best friend are undressing each other on the kitchen floor. How do you react?
Disclaimer: The original characters of The Wizard of Oz belong to L. Frank Baum and their respective actors. The current characters of Tin Man belong to Sci-Fi, the movie folks and their respective actors. The OCs are mine and bizarra's.
It was the hottest summer on record, in the last hundred years of Celcia. The cooling units in every building were being taxed to their limits and many residents of Central City had packed a bag, locked the doors and headed north or south, simply to escape the sweltering heat of the city. For those who weren't lucky enough to be able to take an impromptu vacation, life tried to go on as usual. The restaurants were pushing any menu items that didn't require heating up the ovens; the technicians were on-call nearly all of the thirty-six hours of the day, repairing units when they failed; the children were overheating, but didn't mind, because they were getting ice cream throughout the day.
Dree had left for work before the first sun rose. She'd taken Charlie with her, simply because their cooling unit had finally died in the middle of the night. The library basement - where she was spending most of her days lately - was cooler, and for a dog of his age, the heat was just too much. El and Trey had promised to put their technical minds to work during the day, and would have the unit fixed by the time she got home.
For having the largest collection of printed material at her disposal, Dree hadn't had any luck with her research. After staring at a page for a good twenty minutes, she sighed and leaned back in her chair. Tilting her head, Dree looked at Charlie, who was sprawled out under the large table. "You gettin' hungry?" she asked. Before she'd finished the sentence, Charlie and jumped up to all fours and started nudging her elbow with his snout. Dree smiled and moved her arm, petting his neck and then giving his ears a good scratch.
On the way home - the first sun had gone down, but it was still very uncomfortable - Dree and Charlie stopped at the market down on the corner. As a deputized Tin Man, Charlie was trained to know where he could and couldn't go. He picked a spot just inside the entrance and sat, keeping watch on everything that was going on. Dree made a quick circle of the racks and collected items to make a large salad, as well as something tasty for Charlie.
Arriving home, Dree smiled as she noticed some of the building's neighbors sitting on the front steps and they spoke for a few moments while Charlie played with the children. Once inside, Charlie bolted up the first flight of stairs and then stopped, watching Dree until she made it to the landing, then he took the next flight. They lived on the fourth floor - which was ironic, since Dree wasn't fond of heights - but she always took the stairs. El and Trey had urged her into the elevator only a handful of times, and those were the longest moments of her long life.
As they reached the fourth floor, Dree and Charlie headed down the hallway until they reached the L-shaped turn and then continued on to the end of the hallway. As Dree had lived in the building for the better part of thirty years, the carpet of this path was well-worn. El and Trey had suggested moving into a larger place, after they'd been married, but Dree didn't want to move. She liked her neighbors and the area and, while it was a bit selfish, it was hers.
As she moved to unlock the door, Dree looked down to Charlie and smiled. "Think they got it fixed?" Dog or not, Charlie's eyebrow went up and she laughed. Pushing the door open as the tumbler clicked, Dree felt a surge of hot, muggy air spill into the hallway. Groaning and making a face, Dree pushed the door open enough for Charlie to go in and she followed behind him. Charlie wasn't about to put up with the heat and aimed straight for the open door leading out onto the patio.
Dree pushed the door shut and relocked it, then looked up toward the kitchen. Trey had El backed against the open refrigerator and was pulling her tanktop over her head as the heat of the moment quite literally overtook them. Rolling her eyes, Dree set her purchases on the table and moved into the kitchen.
"You two are useless," she sighed, moving around the both of them as they barely acknowledged her presence. Moving into the utility room, Dree looked into the open toolbox sitting on the dryer and pulled out a screwdriver before moving to the corner. At least they'd managed to remove the cooling unit's panel before they were distracted.