In the Mood
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And then one Saturday, Nix asked Dick if he wanted to go to the movies, maybe get an ice cream cone. It was getting close to time by then. He added, off-handedly, that Rissa would be there, too. They’d meet Dick at the theater, he was just going to get her.
It was very much like the first time. Only this time, Nix didn’t let go of Rissa’s hand. Her smile was almost shy again until it wasn’t, and she and Nix grinned at him. Rissa still sat between them, but this time his arm was around her and his hand was on her ribs. Nix kissed the top of her head, she whispered in his ear. When the movie ended and the credits were rolling, Dick turned to say something, and Nix and Rissa were curled into one another, kissing the way you would in a bedroom. Neither had the grace to look embarrassed at all when Dick cleared his throat. Nix just kept kissing her and held up one finger in that universal ‘wait-a-minute’ gesture. Rissa saw and laughed into his mouth.
Series
- Part 1 of In the Mood
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For the time being, Nix is content on his own with his whiskey warming his belly. His eyes wander over the room, not really looking at anything. When they land on a girl perched at a small, high table near the window, they look no further. Behind the rim of his glass, Nix’s lips curl into an unconscious smile that goes all the way to his eyes.
The girl is playing with the stem of her wineglass, amused at whatever her friend is saying. Nix wishes he could have heard her laughter through the ambient noise. She sighs and dabs at her face with her napkin, struggling to get control of herself through the aftershocks of her giggles. It doesn’t work. As soon as she looks at her friend, they both succumb again. One lock of hair falls over her forehead when she hides her eyes behind her hand. Once she finally regains her composure, she tucks the disobedient strands behind her ear. Nix would’ve liked to do that--not that he could have, but the thought is nice. Roses bloom in her cheeks and her lips are stained purple. Not that Nix is paying that much attention, but he is observant, he has to be, that’s his job, isn’t it? So it’s only natural that he would notice details.Series
- Part 2 of In the Mood
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Nix wakes up bleary-eyed on Sunday morning. His coffee doesn’t help that much. He sits and stares at the telephone before picking it up. He can feel his heart beating; it’s almost audible over the whir of the rotary dial.
“Hello?” She can’t have been awake for long, her voice still has gravel in it.
“Do you like cookies?”
“What?”
“What kind? Tell me.”
“Sugar. With icing. Or macarons, but not with jam. Why?”
“I wanted to know. Oh, this is Lew.”
“I know. No one else would telephone me and ask such a strange question without even saying hello first.” She yawns and he does too. It’s contagious even over the phone. “Are you going to make cookies for me?”Series
- Part 3 of In the Mood
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 5,400
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Kudos:
- 10
- Hits:
- 428
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St. Valentine's Day, 1944
He takes a generous swallow from his flask before he tips it towards Rissy. Her first sip is delicate, the second one is less lady-like. Alcohol dribbles onto her chin. Nix wipes it away with bare fingers.
“Cold?”
She shakes her head, but it’s a noncommittal gesture, not a denial.
“We can go back in.”
“It’s too hot in there. And I like it better out here.”
Nix can agree with that. There’s a pleasant wistfulness in being outside looking in, when you’re with the right person. Music, laughter, and warmth fill the hall, and out here there are only dark, cold, and damp air, but the company makes up for that. Nix holds out his arm so Rissy can scoot under it.
“Damn! My stocking.”
A run ladders up from the crease behind her knee and disappears under her dress. Nix can’t stop himself, he drags his finger lightly along the rent, barely making contact with the ruined silk or the skin beneath it. Rissy looks like she’s made out of marble, but she’s soft and alive. She looks up from under his arm, mouth poised to speak but no words come. Kiss a girl for the first time on St. Valentine’s Day, schmaltzy, maybe, trite, definitely, but who cares.
Series
- Part 4 of In the Mood
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“We need to be quiet.”
Rissa pretends to lock her lips and throw away the key. The glance that accompanies the gesture is so deliciously arch that Nix feels a tug at his--not his heart this time, it’s an entirely different piece of his anatomy.
Series
- Part 5 of In the Mood
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Nix spreads his blanket out under a huge English oak. The blanket is blue gingham, perfect for a picnic; the food is in an ammunition box. The wine is decent, red so it doesn’t have to be chilled. He tried hard to find something sweet and light enough for Rissy to drink that he could still tolerate.
Series
- Part 6 of In the Mood
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 3,267
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Kudos:
- 3
- Hits:
- 243
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There’s a dim light shining behind her curtains. Nix bends to pick up a handful of pebbles and he lobs them upwards one by one. They hit the glass with tiny pings that seem much louder than they can be. He throws maybe three before Rissa appears in her window, leans out and she’s beautifully disheveled. Her hair is coming loose and her lipstick’s almost worn off; she’s still in her dress, but she must have been asleep. One side of her face is pink and creased. But she grins at him and beckons him up, not asking why he’s outside at three in the morning.
Nix climbs onto the railing; he has to pull himself up onto the roof that overhangs the porch. He feels drunk even though he isn’t, not even a little.
Series
- Part 7 of In the Mood
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 3,778
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Kudos:
- 23
- Hits:
- 846
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Nix is stuck pretending that Rissy is just a girl he brought along to keep the numbers roughly even. Why have the party if there aren’t enough women to go around? He and Rissy will smile for the cameras as if they both just happened to be in England on happy coincidence, and they are nothing other than friends, perhaps with a slightly-more-than-platonic undertone, but still only friends. For propriety’s sake, Rissy will stay at arm’s length and there will be no kissing or holding of hands or waists or hips or anything else. He’ll be careful not to stand too close or look too long.
Series
- Part 8 of In the Mood
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Now all he wants is to jump into bed, pull the covers up, and shut his eyes. After a shower. Maybe. The shower is negotiable. After he sleeps for about a hundred years, he’ll go off in search of Rissy and some Vat 69. In that order. Probably. He’ll definitely need a shower before he finds her. He’d be embarrassed to hug her, kiss her, smelling like this; it’d scare her off. The remnants of grease still stain the edges of his face. His armpits stink. He’s itchy.
She’s seen him in his dress uniform, clean and well-groomed, in his OD’s, maybe a little dirty, messy, or in careful disarray that she seems to find adorable. And she’s seen him first thing in the morning, but that’s different. She’s seen him drunk and sober, joking and thoughtful. He doesn’t need to put up a front for her, and it’s great. But she’s never seen him like this, and he’d rather keep it that way.
His thoughts aren’t really making sense and he could fall asleep standing up.
Series
- Part 9 of In the Mood
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 5,092
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Kudos:
- 7
- Hits:
- 665
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The way he kisses her on the dancefloor would be in compliance with the Hay’s Code. Technically, at least. (What’s more provocative, one kiss that lasts ten or so seconds or a series of them shorter than three? The answer is always the latter, especially when it seems like the girl wants another kiss before the last one ends.) He murmurs sweet nonsense into her hair, she sighs and holds him closer. Nix’s hand roams from her waist to the small of her back, and then a little farther south. Her hair tickles his nose when he drops his head to ask her a question. She nods in agreement, rubbing her cheek against his. Beneath her shampoo and perfume, she smells vaguely like a sundae, vanilla and caramel, good enough to eat.
“One more drink?”
Rissy indulges him. She sits as close to him as she can without climbing onto his chair. Nix’s hand rests on her knee. His whiskey is almost gone, only one swallow left, when she grabs the glass out of his hand and finishes it for him.
Rissy leans forward and whispers. “You’re taking too long. I want to go home, Lew.” How can he even pretend to scold her when she says something like that?
Series
- Part 10 of In the Mood
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 6,343
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Kudos:
- 9
- Hits:
- 568
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He points at the night sky. “See? That’s Taurus. And see that cluster?” Rissy eyes flick upwards fleetingly and she nods; after that her eyes don’t leave Nix’s face. “That’s the seven sisters, the pleiads. Daughters of Atlas and Pleione.” She only turns her glance skyward again when he stops talking.
“I only see six.”
“Merope was the seventh sister, the lost pleiad. She fell in love with a mortal man and she gave up her place amongst the gods to marry him.” Nix tugs Rissy’s hair free from the last of its pins and the long strands float around her, a dark veil.
“Maybe she doesn’t think she’s lost, Lew. Maybe she thinks she was found.” She pauses. “Were they happy? Merope and the mortal?”
“It’s Greek mythology. No one ends up happy.”
“It doesn’t have to be that way.”
Series
- Part 11 of In the Mood
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 3,382
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Kudos:
- 3
- Hits:
- 376
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Nix shivers constantly and sometimes his teeth chatter no matter how hard he tries to still them. Irregular red blotches cover waxy skin that clings too tightly to the bones beneath. His eyes water and the circles under them are so dark they could be bruises. His nose won’t stop running; he’s wiped it so much that the underside is sore and peeling. Nix’s chapped lips sting, his white-knuckled, dirty hands ache with cold; he’s even lost weight in his goddamn fingers. He didn’t know that was possible. In all this he is just like everyone else. None of them had any idea what cold could be until they ended up here.
Nix certainly hadn’t. Nothing in his former life prepared him for the Army, let alone this.Series
- Part 12 of In the Mood
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Nix lets out another huff. “Thanks.” He pauses and this time the silence is companionable and not awkward. “You’re a good friend.” The last word is distorted by a yawn. “Now shove the hell over.”
Dick moves over, maybe a millimeter. He yawns, too, and then Nix yawns again and they both laugh in that way that’s more a movement in the shoulders than any kind of sound. You find humor where you can.
“You need a girl.”
“Someday. They’re in short supply here.”
Series
- Part 13 of In the Mood
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Light spills from an open doorway half-way down the hall, both wavering lamplight from the unreliable electricity and the flickering that indicates a fire. Music floats down the hall as well. The horns are from a big band, but sweet and slow, nothing for lifts or trick steps. It’s the kind of music you’d want playing if you were trying to sneak off into dimly lit corners with your sweetheart.
Series
- Part 14 of In the Mood
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 3,180
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Kudos:
- 6
- Hits:
- 359
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“Hello?”
“Hi.” The slur is apparent even in the one-syllable, two-letter word.
“Hey Lew, hey sweetheart.” Rissy tries as hard as she can to keep her voice steady and normal, but she starts to cry as soon as she hears him. She tries to at least cry quietly, but she can’t do that either.
“He told you, didn’t he?”
Series
- Part 15 of In the Mood
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Summary
The whites show all the way around Rissy’s enormous eyes. She can’t force the words out of her mouth. He’s ready to help her, to say something to make it easier, because no matter what’s about to happen, Nix loves her. She backs away as far as she can, until her bottom knocks against the desk and she can go no further. The silence pounds in Nix’s ears. He can’t find the words and neither can she, so they stare at each other from opposite sides of the room. Her fingers twist over the handles of her bag, she takes a deep breath and sets it down on the desktop without looking.
He double-takes when her palms settle on her belly, highlighting the slight but definite curve between them. Nix’s head swims, all the oxygen seems to have been sucked out of the room. His jaw literally drops and the thought that he must look like a trout flashes through his mind. What an odd thing to think. His teeth click together, he nearly bites his tongue.Series
- Part 16 of In the Mood
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Summary
Nix follows Rissa back into their bedroom. He shuts the door tightly behind them and Dick wonders if he’ll have to sit through another tryst. But Nix is back a few minutes later, explaining that he needed to kiss her good-night. Dick smirks and shakes his head. Nix tells him to shut up and Dick responds that he hasn’t said anything.
lyrics:
I'm just a fellow on a furlough
Out looking for a dream
The one who's in my dreams
Ev'ry nightA lonesome fellow on a furlough
In search of company
Somebody who will be my guiding lightOh pretty lady, you'll hear me say
Beautiful Lady, are you goin' my way?I'm just a fellow on a furlough
Whose hopes have all come true
The girl of my furlough dream
Is youSeries
- Part 17 of In the Mood
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 4,172
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Kudos:
- 9
- Hits:
- 461
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Summary
Nix looks like a man holding the most precious thing in the world. Much as Dick was loathe to interrupt that long-ago dance, he doesn’t want to interrupt this moment, either.
Series
- Part 18 of In the Mood
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 2,291
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Kudos:
- 13
- Hits:
- 668
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Summary
There is no possible way anyone could ever a pick a single girl out of the sea of waving people from this distance, but Nix scans the crowd anyway, craning his neck until it creaks. He can’t do much more than shuffle his feet in the press of men all trying to get down the gangplank at once. For most of them, this is one of the last acts they’ll perform as active members of the US Army. Soon they’ll be civilians instead of soldiers. That change will present its own challenges for all of them, but Nix is coming home to a woman who loves him and who has an idea of what it was like. That will make it easier. (It will, won’t it?) He doesn’t want to wait another second to find her and get his arms around her and their little boy and not let go of either one of them for about a hundred years.
Series
- Part 19 of In the Mood
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Summary
“Do you want to get out of here with me?”
“I just got married. My husband might not like that.”
“He’s a lucky man.”
“I’m a lucky girl.”
Series
- Part 20 of In the Mood
- Language:
- English
- Words:
- 3,621
- Chapters:
- 1/1
- Kudos:
- 7
- Hits:
- 597