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Fic: When in Central City, Part II
Title: When in Central City, Part II
Author: Erin (erinm_4600)
Characters: Adora, the future Tin Men, some OCs and a not-so-OC (mention of Ethan and a handful of other OCs)
Rating: G
Summary: Just when Adora figured the party couldn't get more awkward, Wyatt Cain comes to her rescue.
Warning: pre-series *almost-promptly follows When in Central City, Part I. tm_challenge Big Damn Prompt Table prompts: Loquacious, Miscreant, Ambush, AC: Waltz, Cards and Scatter. My thanks for your patience... ♥
Disclaimer: The original characters belong to L. Frank Baum and their respective actors. The current characters belong to Sci-Fi, the movie folks and their respective actors. The OCs are mine. Partly inspired by my favorite scene in my favorite movie, EVER, The Happiest Millionaire, which belongs to Disney.
What is This Feeling? | Perfect | Every Little Trait, However Small | Special Delivery | Friday Night Dinner | Intimidation | Saturday | Shoes, Hair and Spoons... Oh My! | Frozen Reflections | When in Central City, Part I | When in Central City, Part II | Relocation | Lost Boy
LOQUACIOUS
The ball had been moving along at a snail's pace and Adora had been cornered, so to speak, by some 'young stud' of a doctor from Central City Hospital. He was telling her all about his great accomplishments since joining the staff and proceeded to go on and on about his family and his other attributes.
If Adora didn't know better, she'd think the young man was expecting her to be impressed. Granted, some of his accomplishments were impressive, but not enough for her to fall into his arms.
Manners, of course, dictated she stay and smile.
'Save me! Anyone...'
MISCREANT
Wyatt was standing along the back wall, with one of Central City Hospital's senior doctors and a few Central City businessmen, as he watched Adora and her new friend. "You all right, son?" the doctor asked as he noticed Wyatt's focus was no longer on the conversation regarding the bank's involvement in the upcoming Festival celebration.
"Hmm?" Wyatt hummed as he turned back to the group. "Oh, yes," he added with a nod. "My apologies. I was just trying to figure out how I know that man," he lied, pointing to Lyle. The old doctor glanced in the direction Wyatt had indicated and winced slightly. "Speaking to the young lady," Wyatt added.
"Ah," the doctor said, with a hint of something Wyatt guessed might be dislike, "that's Lyle Donnegan. He's just finished his medical studies and will be granted an under-surgeon title next week. He's fascinated with... heads."
"Heads?" Wyatt asked. The doctor nodded.
"There's a group of them, headed by Doctor Momby," he sighed. "Some of their procedures are a little... questionable, but, I guess a man has to have an affinity to working with brains."
Wyatt nodded, with false interest, as he and the rest of the group turned again to look at Lyle. "Is he from the East Side?" Wyatt asked before looking back to the doctor. The older man glanced up to the ceiling for a moment as he tried to remember if he knew that information.
"Is that Richard Donnegan's son?" one of the other men asked.
"Nephew," the second man replied with a nod. "He took the grandfather's name," he continued, seeing the look on confusion on his coworker's face.
"That's the Raynz boy?" the other man asked quietly as he turned back to catch another look at Lyle.
The first man nodded again and turned back to Wyatt. "They're north East Side. I believe all the children went to the North Side school, though." Wyatt's brow tightened slightly and he gave Lyle another look.
"That must be it, then," he added a moment later. Turning back to the group, Wyatt nodded to the three men and gave them a polite smile. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and say hello, offer my congratulations," he trailed off and nodded again.
The men all nodded and went back to their conversation as another man took Wyatt's place in the group.
AMBUSH
"...and I saved his life," Lyle said with an almost smug smirk. Adora was sure he was trying to look like he wasn't impressed with himself, but he really wasn't doing a very good job. She forced a smile, nodded and let her eyes wander to the dance floor, where Jack and Porter had managed to get two of Pearl's other sisters to dance.
As Adora turned back to Lyle, she spotted Wyatt Cain moving along the aisle, stopping to shake hands with an older gentleman, and then moving their way. Her breath caught slightly as she willed him to go anywhere else, and gave Lyle another polite smile as he laughed about... something.
She knew Wyatt would be there - it was the Policeman's Ball, after all - but, just knowing he was there was driving her crazy. Maybe it was what she'd learned about him the other night, or the fact that he was simply a pain in her ass.
How could anyone think they would ever get along; be friends? And, to even suggest that their grandfathers had hinted they should be married one day? That was just ridiculous. If she was going to get married - and that was a big 'if' - it would be to someone from the Eastern Guild.
Adora tried to stand still as Wyatt stepped up beside her, facing Lyle. 'Oh, Great Gale,' she thought, as Wyatt nodded to her, then Lyle, and held out his hand. "Lyle Donnegan, you're looking well." Lyle raised an eyebrow and took the offered hand. "Wyatt Cain, we went to school together," Wyatt continued with a grin.
"Of course," Lyle nodded. Honestly, he didn't actually recognize Wyatt, but he wasn't about to let on to that fact.
"Congratulations, by the way," Wyatt nodded. "I hear you're well on your way to head surgeon." Lyle laughed and, again, tried to look like he was embarrassed. Wyatt shifted to face Adora and gave her a quick nod, for the sake of anyone who might have witnessed his interruption. "Well, I'm sorry to interrupt," he offered the forced apology, "but I overheard a Doctor... Momby?" He shrugged, as if he was certain he'd mispronounced the name.
When Lyle's eyes widened, Wyatt continued: "Uh... he was asking if anyone had seen you, and I thought, 'Is that the same Lyle Donnegan from North?'" Wyatt gave Lyle a wide grin and even Adora had to admit that he was doing a good job of pulling that story out of wherever he'd pulled it from. Of course, who was to say that the two men did actually know each other?
"And, about five minutes later, I turn around and here you are!" Lyle gave Wyatt an 'Only in Central City'-shrug and looked across the room for a moment before looking back to Adora. He gave her a slight nod and opened his mouth to speak, but Adora beat him to it.
"Oh," she almost jumped, "please. It's quite all right," she added, inclining her head to the room behind her. Lyle gave her an almost questioning look, as if he was expecting it to be a trick and his mother would be standing behind him, ready to slap him for ignoring his manners. Adora gave him another smile and Lyle bowed slightly before facing Wyatt and nodding again.
As he stepped away, Wyatt shifted and took Lyle's place in front of Adora. "Probably a nice enough fella... once you get to know him," he shrugged as Adora turned back with a raised eyebrow. "Of course," Wyatt continued, ignoring the look she was giving him, "if he's anything like the kid I went to school with, you're probably better off." Finally, he looked at Adora and gave her a grin.
"Why did you do that?" Adora asked.
"Well," he started, resting a hand against Adora's elbow and nodding toward the dance floor, "I thought that, if the instructors saw that we could be civil with each other for five minutes... maybe, they'd stop teaming us up all the time. Besides," Wyatt forced a grin and shrugged before holding up his hand, "you looked like you could use some rescuing."
WALTZ
The words were out of his mouth before he even realized it. Adora clenched her jaw as Wyatt stepped back slightly and threw his hands up. He started to speak then stopped, closed his eyes and let out a resigned sigh. Adora decided to let the jab slide - she really was thankful to be rid of Lyle - and nodded as she took Wyatt's hand.
As she noticed the slight victory smile creeping up Wyatt's lips, Adora decided she didn't have to be that forgiving. "So, it has nothing to do with the brunette?" she asked, returning the forced smile.
Charlie had pointed the young woman out to Levi just before they’d approached Adora and Pearl, and Levi had asked Pearl who the girl was. It didn't take a Tin Man, a Viewer or the Mystic Man to see that Wyatt Cain was not as appreciative of the woman's attentions, but he just couldn't get away from her.
Wyatt dropped his chin, trying to hide the smile on his face and he nodded once. As he took Adora's other hand and nodded to let her know he was stepping forward, Wyatt cleared his throat and shook his head slightly. "Let's just say," he started slowly, "if you deck me... I probably deserved it. She," he nodded in the direction of the girl, "decks me, it'll be to drag me back to her house, lock me in the basement and keep me as a pet."
Adora laughed loudly and her eyes went wide a second later. Pressing her lips together tightly, Adora squeezed her eyes shut and tried to remain calm as she hoped no one was looking in her direction. Unfortunately, she was having trouble remaining calm, because the laugh was winning out. After a small snort, Adora turned her head away and willed herself to stop.
As she turned back, Adora immediately had to look away again, because his grin was making her smile even more. "You should do that more often," he said quietly. Adora blinked and looked at him with a confused expression. "Laugh," he explained after a quick swallow. Adora stared at him for a second before making herself look at the room as they continued to move around the dance floor.
After about a minute, the silence was becoming awkward, and it was too much for Wyatt Cain. "You look... nice," he stuttered. "I mean, you look like a... girl," he finally got out, cursing himself as he said the last word. Adora bit her lower lip to keep from smiling and nodded slowly.
"Would you like a shovel?" she asked, eyebrows raised and a smirk on her lips. Wyatt pressed he tongue to his teeth and nodded. "You, um..." Adora rolled her eyes and forced herself to say it - not that she wanted to, of course - "You look-" Wyatt's eyes widened, as did his smirk, and Adora's eyes narrowed. "Nice," she forced. "Also."
"Why, thanks," he replied with a cocky grin. "I just threw it together. I mean, come on. With this face?" he shrugged, "what can you do?" Adora rolled her eyes and looked away again to smile as Wyatt's eyes scanned the crowd as they turned.
"Ah," he breathed and nodded over her shoulder. As she started to turn, Wyatt turned with her so that she wouldn't look as obvious. Adora caught sight of the brunette in question, deep in conversation with Lyle Donnegan. "Well, that worked out real well, didn't it?" Wyatt asked with a victorious grin.
"You had your chance," Adora sighed and gave him a shrug as she turned back to face him. A moment later, the orchestra in the corner stopped playing and everyone applauded.
"Not bad, for your first party," Wyatt said, with a nod.
"Well, it's not the music we have at home," Adora shrugged.
As the orchestra began the next song, Wyatt groaned. "I hate the Waltz." Adora couldn't help but smile.
"Why?"
"Old people dance the Waltz," he told her, nodding to the older couples surrounding them on the floor, as if that was reason enough.
"Really?" Adora asked, holding her hands up and raising an eyebrow. Wyatt made a face and they began dancing again.
CARDS
Over on the far wall, Billy hit Levi in the chest and mumbled... something. "What?" Levi asked, leaning closer to Billy as he rubbed the spot his friend had just smacked. Billy mumbled again, a bit louder, but didn't look up. Levi was about to ask again when Porter - who was on his other side - reached around Levi and passed his drink to Billy before reaching up to turn Levi's head to the dance floor.
It took a second for Levi to realize just what - and who - he was looking at. His eyes caught sight of Jack and Charlie, some folks he'd spoken to at the dessert table and Wyatt, dancing with-
Charlie happened to look up and saw Levi across the room, catching flies, and looked behind him. When he spotted Wyatt and Adora, Charlie whispered to Jack and inclined his head. Jack glanced up, smiled and looked at Billy. "Five Platinums," he mouthed and raised his eyebrows as he grinned.
SCATTER
As the song ended, Adora had to fight to remember how to speak for a moment. "You should do that more often," she said quietly, then pulled back and cleared her throat. "With a little bit of practice," she added quickly, "you could be a pro."
"Maybe I could get on as backup for the Mystic Man," Wyatt nodded, also feeling rather awkward after the slow dance with Adora. "In case this Tin Man-thing doesn't work..." Adora laughed slightly and took another step back. They stood together for another moment, looking at everything but each other, before both of them spoke together, pointing in different directions.
"I should go say hello to-"
"I need to go-"
"Right," Adora amended and gave him a nod. "I'll... see you around." She stepped away before Wyatt could get another word in and he let out a held breath before moving off to his right, looking for anyone he knew.
Adora made her way past the tables and into the hallway, and aimed for one of the large chairs near the ladies parlor. As she fell into the chair, Adora let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. 'Can this evening get any worse?' she wondered. Holding up a hand, Adora raised her finger and said: "Not a word."
Behind her, Ethan Webber just smiled.
________________________________________
The scene that inspired most of this: HERE. Side note #1: I WANT HER DRESS. Side note #2: I WANT JOHN DAVIDSON. ♥
Author: Erin (erinm_4600)
Characters: Adora, the future Tin Men, some OCs and a not-so-OC (mention of Ethan and a handful of other OCs)
Rating: G
Summary: Just when Adora figured the party couldn't get more awkward, Wyatt Cain comes to her rescue.
Warning: pre-series *almost-promptly follows When in Central City, Part I. tm_challenge Big Damn Prompt Table prompts: Loquacious, Miscreant, Ambush, AC: Waltz, Cards and Scatter. My thanks for your patience... ♥
Disclaimer: The original characters belong to L. Frank Baum and their respective actors. The current characters belong to Sci-Fi, the movie folks and their respective actors. The OCs are mine. Partly inspired by my favorite scene in my favorite movie, EVER, The Happiest Millionaire, which belongs to Disney.
What is This Feeling? | Perfect | Every Little Trait, However Small | Special Delivery | Friday Night Dinner | Intimidation | Saturday | Shoes, Hair and Spoons... Oh My! | Frozen Reflections | When in Central City, Part I | When in Central City, Part II | Relocation | Lost Boy
LOQUACIOUS
The ball had been moving along at a snail's pace and Adora had been cornered, so to speak, by some 'young stud' of a doctor from Central City Hospital. He was telling her all about his great accomplishments since joining the staff and proceeded to go on and on about his family and his other attributes.
If Adora didn't know better, she'd think the young man was expecting her to be impressed. Granted, some of his accomplishments were impressive, but not enough for her to fall into his arms.
Manners, of course, dictated she stay and smile.
'Save me! Anyone...'
MISCREANT
Wyatt was standing along the back wall, with one of Central City Hospital's senior doctors and a few Central City businessmen, as he watched Adora and her new friend. "You all right, son?" the doctor asked as he noticed Wyatt's focus was no longer on the conversation regarding the bank's involvement in the upcoming Festival celebration.
"Hmm?" Wyatt hummed as he turned back to the group. "Oh, yes," he added with a nod. "My apologies. I was just trying to figure out how I know that man," he lied, pointing to Lyle. The old doctor glanced in the direction Wyatt had indicated and winced slightly. "Speaking to the young lady," Wyatt added.
"Ah," the doctor said, with a hint of something Wyatt guessed might be dislike, "that's Lyle Donnegan. He's just finished his medical studies and will be granted an under-surgeon title next week. He's fascinated with... heads."
"Heads?" Wyatt asked. The doctor nodded.
"There's a group of them, headed by Doctor Momby," he sighed. "Some of their procedures are a little... questionable, but, I guess a man has to have an affinity to working with brains."
Wyatt nodded, with false interest, as he and the rest of the group turned again to look at Lyle. "Is he from the East Side?" Wyatt asked before looking back to the doctor. The older man glanced up to the ceiling for a moment as he tried to remember if he knew that information.
"Is that Richard Donnegan's son?" one of the other men asked.
"Nephew," the second man replied with a nod. "He took the grandfather's name," he continued, seeing the look on confusion on his coworker's face.
"That's the Raynz boy?" the other man asked quietly as he turned back to catch another look at Lyle.
The first man nodded again and turned back to Wyatt. "They're north East Side. I believe all the children went to the North Side school, though." Wyatt's brow tightened slightly and he gave Lyle another look.
"That must be it, then," he added a moment later. Turning back to the group, Wyatt nodded to the three men and gave them a polite smile. "If you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and say hello, offer my congratulations," he trailed off and nodded again.
The men all nodded and went back to their conversation as another man took Wyatt's place in the group.
AMBUSH
"...and I saved his life," Lyle said with an almost smug smirk. Adora was sure he was trying to look like he wasn't impressed with himself, but he really wasn't doing a very good job. She forced a smile, nodded and let her eyes wander to the dance floor, where Jack and Porter had managed to get two of Pearl's other sisters to dance.
As Adora turned back to Lyle, she spotted Wyatt Cain moving along the aisle, stopping to shake hands with an older gentleman, and then moving their way. Her breath caught slightly as she willed him to go anywhere else, and gave Lyle another polite smile as he laughed about... something.
She knew Wyatt would be there - it was the Policeman's Ball, after all - but, just knowing he was there was driving her crazy. Maybe it was what she'd learned about him the other night, or the fact that he was simply a pain in her ass.
How could anyone think they would ever get along; be friends? And, to even suggest that their grandfathers had hinted they should be married one day? That was just ridiculous. If she was going to get married - and that was a big 'if' - it would be to someone from the Eastern Guild.
Adora tried to stand still as Wyatt stepped up beside her, facing Lyle. 'Oh, Great Gale,' she thought, as Wyatt nodded to her, then Lyle, and held out his hand. "Lyle Donnegan, you're looking well." Lyle raised an eyebrow and took the offered hand. "Wyatt Cain, we went to school together," Wyatt continued with a grin.
"Of course," Lyle nodded. Honestly, he didn't actually recognize Wyatt, but he wasn't about to let on to that fact.
"Congratulations, by the way," Wyatt nodded. "I hear you're well on your way to head surgeon." Lyle laughed and, again, tried to look like he was embarrassed. Wyatt shifted to face Adora and gave her a quick nod, for the sake of anyone who might have witnessed his interruption. "Well, I'm sorry to interrupt," he offered the forced apology, "but I overheard a Doctor... Momby?" He shrugged, as if he was certain he'd mispronounced the name.
When Lyle's eyes widened, Wyatt continued: "Uh... he was asking if anyone had seen you, and I thought, 'Is that the same Lyle Donnegan from North?'" Wyatt gave Lyle a wide grin and even Adora had to admit that he was doing a good job of pulling that story out of wherever he'd pulled it from. Of course, who was to say that the two men did actually know each other?
"And, about five minutes later, I turn around and here you are!" Lyle gave Wyatt an 'Only in Central City'-shrug and looked across the room for a moment before looking back to Adora. He gave her a slight nod and opened his mouth to speak, but Adora beat him to it.
"Oh," she almost jumped, "please. It's quite all right," she added, inclining her head to the room behind her. Lyle gave her an almost questioning look, as if he was expecting it to be a trick and his mother would be standing behind him, ready to slap him for ignoring his manners. Adora gave him another smile and Lyle bowed slightly before facing Wyatt and nodding again.
As he stepped away, Wyatt shifted and took Lyle's place in front of Adora. "Probably a nice enough fella... once you get to know him," he shrugged as Adora turned back with a raised eyebrow. "Of course," Wyatt continued, ignoring the look she was giving him, "if he's anything like the kid I went to school with, you're probably better off." Finally, he looked at Adora and gave her a grin.
"Why did you do that?" Adora asked.
"Well," he started, resting a hand against Adora's elbow and nodding toward the dance floor, "I thought that, if the instructors saw that we could be civil with each other for five minutes... maybe, they'd stop teaming us up all the time. Besides," Wyatt forced a grin and shrugged before holding up his hand, "you looked like you could use some rescuing."
WALTZ
The words were out of his mouth before he even realized it. Adora clenched her jaw as Wyatt stepped back slightly and threw his hands up. He started to speak then stopped, closed his eyes and let out a resigned sigh. Adora decided to let the jab slide - she really was thankful to be rid of Lyle - and nodded as she took Wyatt's hand.
As she noticed the slight victory smile creeping up Wyatt's lips, Adora decided she didn't have to be that forgiving. "So, it has nothing to do with the brunette?" she asked, returning the forced smile.
Charlie had pointed the young woman out to Levi just before they’d approached Adora and Pearl, and Levi had asked Pearl who the girl was. It didn't take a Tin Man, a Viewer or the Mystic Man to see that Wyatt Cain was not as appreciative of the woman's attentions, but he just couldn't get away from her.
Wyatt dropped his chin, trying to hide the smile on his face and he nodded once. As he took Adora's other hand and nodded to let her know he was stepping forward, Wyatt cleared his throat and shook his head slightly. "Let's just say," he started slowly, "if you deck me... I probably deserved it. She," he nodded in the direction of the girl, "decks me, it'll be to drag me back to her house, lock me in the basement and keep me as a pet."
Adora laughed loudly and her eyes went wide a second later. Pressing her lips together tightly, Adora squeezed her eyes shut and tried to remain calm as she hoped no one was looking in her direction. Unfortunately, she was having trouble remaining calm, because the laugh was winning out. After a small snort, Adora turned her head away and willed herself to stop.
As she turned back, Adora immediately had to look away again, because his grin was making her smile even more. "You should do that more often," he said quietly. Adora blinked and looked at him with a confused expression. "Laugh," he explained after a quick swallow. Adora stared at him for a second before making herself look at the room as they continued to move around the dance floor.
After about a minute, the silence was becoming awkward, and it was too much for Wyatt Cain. "You look... nice," he stuttered. "I mean, you look like a... girl," he finally got out, cursing himself as he said the last word. Adora bit her lower lip to keep from smiling and nodded slowly.
"Would you like a shovel?" she asked, eyebrows raised and a smirk on her lips. Wyatt pressed he tongue to his teeth and nodded. "You, um..." Adora rolled her eyes and forced herself to say it - not that she wanted to, of course - "You look-" Wyatt's eyes widened, as did his smirk, and Adora's eyes narrowed. "Nice," she forced. "Also."
"Why, thanks," he replied with a cocky grin. "I just threw it together. I mean, come on. With this face?" he shrugged, "what can you do?" Adora rolled her eyes and looked away again to smile as Wyatt's eyes scanned the crowd as they turned.
"Ah," he breathed and nodded over her shoulder. As she started to turn, Wyatt turned with her so that she wouldn't look as obvious. Adora caught sight of the brunette in question, deep in conversation with Lyle Donnegan. "Well, that worked out real well, didn't it?" Wyatt asked with a victorious grin.
"You had your chance," Adora sighed and gave him a shrug as she turned back to face him. A moment later, the orchestra in the corner stopped playing and everyone applauded.
"Not bad, for your first party," Wyatt said, with a nod.
"Well, it's not the music we have at home," Adora shrugged.
As the orchestra began the next song, Wyatt groaned. "I hate the Waltz." Adora couldn't help but smile.
"Why?"
"Old people dance the Waltz," he told her, nodding to the older couples surrounding them on the floor, as if that was reason enough.
"Really?" Adora asked, holding her hands up and raising an eyebrow. Wyatt made a face and they began dancing again.
CARDS
Over on the far wall, Billy hit Levi in the chest and mumbled... something. "What?" Levi asked, leaning closer to Billy as he rubbed the spot his friend had just smacked. Billy mumbled again, a bit louder, but didn't look up. Levi was about to ask again when Porter - who was on his other side - reached around Levi and passed his drink to Billy before reaching up to turn Levi's head to the dance floor.
It took a second for Levi to realize just what - and who - he was looking at. His eyes caught sight of Jack and Charlie, some folks he'd spoken to at the dessert table and Wyatt, dancing with-
Charlie happened to look up and saw Levi across the room, catching flies, and looked behind him. When he spotted Wyatt and Adora, Charlie whispered to Jack and inclined his head. Jack glanced up, smiled and looked at Billy. "Five Platinums," he mouthed and raised his eyebrows as he grinned.
SCATTER
As the song ended, Adora had to fight to remember how to speak for a moment. "You should do that more often," she said quietly, then pulled back and cleared her throat. "With a little bit of practice," she added quickly, "you could be a pro."
"Maybe I could get on as backup for the Mystic Man," Wyatt nodded, also feeling rather awkward after the slow dance with Adora. "In case this Tin Man-thing doesn't work..." Adora laughed slightly and took another step back. They stood together for another moment, looking at everything but each other, before both of them spoke together, pointing in different directions.
"I should go say hello to-"
"I need to go-"
"Right," Adora amended and gave him a nod. "I'll... see you around." She stepped away before Wyatt could get another word in and he let out a held breath before moving off to his right, looking for anyone he knew.
Adora made her way past the tables and into the hallway, and aimed for one of the large chairs near the ladies parlor. As she fell into the chair, Adora let out a heavy sigh and closed her eyes. 'Can this evening get any worse?' she wondered. Holding up a hand, Adora raised her finger and said: "Not a word."
Behind her, Ethan Webber just smiled.
________________________________________
The scene that inspired most of this: HERE. Side note #1: I WANT HER DRESS. Side note #2: I WANT JOHN DAVIDSON. ♥