Fic: A Late Night Visit | Pushing Daisies - Olive/Chuck | PG
Name: Shadower
Title: A Late Night Visit
Disclaimer: ABC owns it all. I only own the words. At least, when they are in this order...
Fandom: Pushing Daisies - Olive / Chuck
Rating: PG
Summary: Olive's attempt to put thoughts of the pie-maker behind her have unexpected results
Spoilers: Up until ep.8 of the season.
Authors Notes: First of all: I want to thatk my beta - llyfrgell. this wouldn't be here without you! I was thinking this has 'more than friends' potential, but pushing them together ion a short fic (that starts like I did this one) would be unrealistic. So if you like this one enough and you want me to build it into a series, let me know. My muse would be very pleased. You might notice I sent the three investigators out on a case that doesn't exist in the show - yes, I'm that creative ^_~
Also - Italics means she's thinking.
It was a cloudy night that found one Olive Snook sitting on the flowery couch in the apartment. In front of her, the TV was turned to a random news report, the anchor retelling the day's events. In her lap was a brown haired head. Namely, the head of one dog named Digby. A dog who belonged to the man she loved, but whom she was starting to realize she could not have.
It was one thing to want the man who lived alone, with only his dog for company. But it was quite another to continue dreaming of a man who lived with his girlfriend. True, there was a surprising lack of physical contact between them, but the love in their eyes as they looked at each other was unmistakable.
Sighing, Olive buried her hand deeper in the soft fur of Digby's coat. She knew what she was feeling was more than probably unhealthy for her, but after nursing her crush for the pie-maker for as long as she had, she couldn't just let it go. Could she?
Absent-mindedly, she began to scratch and stroke the dog in the places she knew he liked as she pondered this question. She was here tonight because the pie-maker, Emerson, and the girl - Chuck, such a silly name for a girl. Charlotte is practically regal. - were out on a case. Trying to figure out another murder. And she was here, in her apartment, alone. With Digby, but still alone. It was all that girl's fault. Ever since she faked her death, and came into their lives, nothing had stayed the same. The pie-maker's heart was Chuck's, and Olive knew she had better accept that fact before she turned into an image she had sworn long ago she would never be.
It would take hard work; she knew that from the moment she decided to let go of her dreams to one day be the one the pie-maker loved, but she was not afraid of hard work. The hours and the effort were meaningless to her if she could achieve her goal and stop hurting every time the man she loved in past tense! and the girl Chuck looked at each other from across the room. Every time two sets of light colored eyes, so clear you could drown, Olive, stop it this instant! met from across the room or mere paces away from one another.
As the news turned into commercials, which in turn faded to one of those late evening cop shows, Olive drew closer and closer to sleep, her heart content that she was, at least mentally, on the right path. Baby steps, she reminded herself, you need to learn to walk before you can gallop.
Moments, or maybe hours, later she woke up to the sound of someone knocking at her door. Muttering something unintelligible under her breath, she rose from her sitting position, rubbing her neck. It has to be him. Who else would be knocking at my door, at... what time is it anyway? Pulling her silk robe a bit tighter across her small frame, she stopped to look at the person outside the door through the peek-hole, but to her surprise it wasn't the pie-maker who stood there, but rather his girlfriend the girl named Chuck. She sighed, trying through that gesture to rid herself of the disappointment she felt at not seeing the tall man at her door.
When she opened the door, she was smiling at her late night visitor. But when the door was open enough to reveal the other woman she couldn't help but gasp in surprise: Chuck was practically covered in dirt and mud. Olive could clearly see the stains on her face, her arms, and legs, not to mention her coat and dress.
"What happened to you?" The intensity of her voice made her cringe, and she covered it by shivering slightly. Tired green eyes looked at her from under long lashes for a moment before the girl replied.
"I was on the bridge in Hyman's Creek when it gave out, and I fell in." Her voice sounded even more tired than the girl looked, and Olive couldn't help but hold the door a bit more open and offer the chilled woman in front of her some of the warmth her apartment provided. Warmth, which Chuck gratefully accepted as she stepped inside.
"We found the son, while we were there," Chuck stated rather randomly after Olive took her coat and returned from the bathroom where she decided to hang it, as it was still dripping mud.
"Well, that's good, isn't it? Do you want some tea?"
"Yes, please." Chuck followed Olive into the small kitchen and forced herself not to lean against the door frame, as was her habit in the previous few times she had been in the smaller woman's apartment. Noting the other woman's awareness of her muddied appearance, Olive couldn't help a slight smile. "It is, but he has no place to stay in the city and I offered him my bed at Ned's." my bed? "So, I was wondering if I could stay over tonight? I will sleep on the couch. Feel free to refuse, I don't want to be a bother." The last few sentences were blurted out so fast that Olive only understood about half the words. But it was enough in order to understand what the girl had asked. Oh... I...
"Sure!" She said with a bright smile "But first, go and shower, you are probably chilled to the bone. There are fresh towels in the closet, I'll get some for you. Now go." She waived her hand her hand, dismissing her guest, just as the kettle began to whistle. Making the tea was short work, as the two already knew how the other drank theirs after many shifts spent together in the Pie Hole. So after the two cups were prepared, she let them cool and went to the hallway closet to get the other woman a towel.
The bathroom was full of steam when she entered, after knocking with the towel, her eyes aimed at the floor of the pink hued room. Placing the large fluffy towel on the edge of the sink, she turned and left, not noticing twin jade eyes looking at her from behind the shower curtain the whole time, but replying with a curt nod to the 'thank you' which came from the other woman.
It was only after stepping out of the steamy room that a thought dawned on Olive - she will have to wear something when she comes out of there. Racing into her bedroom Olive wondered what she could give the girl Chuck to wear, as there was a good 4-inch difference between the two. It will have to be a nightgown. She looked for a nightgown that was longer then the mid-thigh length ones she tended to wear, knowing that it would probably be considerably shorter on the dark haired woman. When a pink garment caught her eye, she knew it was the right choice and she pulled it out, inspecting it. It was a spaghetti strapped gown in light smoky pink that flowed down to her knees. It had been a while since she wore it last and she knew the soft fabric would feel marvelous against the other woman's skin. It wasn't the silk and sateen that she has grown accustomed to sleeping in, but the fabric was pleasant enough.
"Olive?" came the voice from the bathroom doorway.
"I'm here," she replied, stepping out into the hallway "I was looking for something for you to sleep in." She handed the still slightly dripping towel-clad woman the nightdress. "When you are done getting dressed we should go to bed," Chuck opened her mouth "and I don't want to hear you talking about my couch." Chuck's mouth closed. Good. "The bed is large enough, and unless you have a problem sharing, we should both be fine in it."
As Olive turned to make sure the front door, and windows, were locked for the night Chuck dressed and came out of the bathroom again. This time the large towel draped over her shoulders like a cloak. The sight nearly robbed Olive of breath. Dark brown curls hung still wet, framing the other woman's face and bringing out the jade of her eyes, ironically more pronounced now then when she was wearing make-up. Her legs seemed longer in the sleep-wear, which accented the shape of her body better than it ever did Olive’s. And with the white towel over her shoulders Olive couldn’t help but compare her to a princess. Charlotte, indeed. Wait, what?
"Thank you so much for letting me use your shower. I really needed it." The girl, woman, named Chuck beamed at her hostess.
"No problem." She was trying to hide the confusion that came with her previous thought line, as she showed the other woman towards the bedroom and the plush queen bed in it. Did I just think of her as a princess? And a beautiful one, at that? I mean, I can't say she is ugly, but, a beautiful princess? I need to take a day off and go riding... Thoughts swirled around her head and it took her a moment to grasp that a hand was waving in front of her face, alternately blocking her view of a smiling Chuck.
"A penny for your thoughts?" was the offer.
"That would be a waste of a penny, I just spaced out because I'm tired," Olive replied with a smile. Chuck yawned as if triggered by that sentence, and she could hardly contain a chuckle. Soon both women were giggling.
"Do you have a preference?" was the next question as Olive gestured at the large bed; Chuck's reply was a shake of her head. "All right then, climb in, I will be there in a moment." While the dark haired woman got into bed, the blonde went through her night time ritual of brushing her teeth and disrobing, not conscious of the sleepy eyes that followed her until they could stay open no longer.
When Olive got into bed, the other woman was sleeping on her side, her front turned towards Olive. She sighed and pulled the blanket higher and tighter around them as she settled herself in for the night. Her head hadn’t even found the right spot on the pillow when she felt the weight behind her shift, and the woman Chuck closed some of the distance between them and wrapped an arm around Olive's midsection. The move caused the smaller woman to suck a startled breath. She's a cuddler? But when the first shock of surprise wore off, and the heat from the body next to her began to pulse into her consciousness, she couldn't help but sink back into it. Her last thought was - I feel safe.
I'm thinking that if I continue the series it will probably grow progressively not PG, so before I get started, I would appreciate any, and all, thoughts, comments, and... well, I live for comments. Especially if they're good.