as_damaged | ☎ voicemail

it's on the chart next to my schedule, cameron. thursday night?

all yours. i don't have any other plans. we could order something in?

is it your turn to pick?

japanese maybe?

i'll call you before i put in the order.

works for me.

[He's not usually nervous about seeing Cameron, although perhaps that's foolhardiness on his part, considering how quickly the simplest of things can fracture between them. Tonight though, he takes a couple of grounding breaths for himself, hand turning over a small box in his jacket pocket, before knocking on her door. The food order is bagged up, and he should be expected.]

[For once she isn't particularly nervous. They've got plans, she's not cursed, it's been a while since anything too hideously horrifying happened. Troubling, yes-- but it wouldn't be a day in the City without trouble, and sooner or later (she knows) everyone adapts, psychologically. So she's half-smiling when she opens the door.]

[He's smiling too, and pleased to see her, don't mistake that. Even when they're on the outs, there's usually some part of him pleased to see her, enough that he's given it up to fate by now.]

Hey.

[The smile warms as he moves in, past her.]

I had to substitute the beef teriyaki with salmon, they were all out.

I'm sure we'll survive in spite of it.

[She shuts the door behind him, doing up the locks before heading in towards the kitchen.]

I should have picked up a bottle of sake.

Luckily...

[Reaching into the bag, he pulls out the bottle first, holding it up as he joins her at the kitchen counter.]

Somebody else thought of that. I thought you were going to be piping in christmas carols for me?

It's a Christmas miracle.

[She fishes two small ceramic cups from a cabinet and steps back, folding her arms across her stomach.]

I figured I'd leave the carols for dinner.

[There are no carols, but there is a tree in the living room; it's a fairly dignified affair with white lights and classy ornaments, though scattered in among them are smaller, handmade ones. From last year, of course.]

Are you going to sing them to me?

[His tone is lightly teasing, though he focuses a little more than he needs to on getting the pouring of the sake right, rather than the usual preference of watching her reactions. Any effect he has on her is worth noting and keeping.]

Of course not, I want us to have a pleasant evening.

[Cameron knows her limits, and singing is beyond them.]

[He laughs and ducks his head.]

Me, too.

[So does he bring up what he needs to now, or later? Chase has always been a chicken when it comes to facing up to things - he serves the food and settles on later.]

So are we having this on the couch, tonight?

[Cameron's guilty herself of a hundred, but she dislikes lies of omission as much as any other sort. Of course, for as long as she doesn't know something, what she doesn't know can't hurt her.]

Why not? It seems more festive.

Quicker than laying a table, too.

[This time he flashes the smile back at her, scooping the plates into alignment along one arm like a seasoned waiter, and passing over her glass.]

Have you made any plans for the day itself, yet?

Actually, Mindy invited me ice skating.

[As ever her fun's scheduled in advance. Bottle in tow she heads for the sofa.]

Certainly seasonal.

She invited you?

[He'd be surprised if Cameron didn't at least have the same quiet interest he's taken in Mindy since that one particular curse. Not that he really knows what to make of the girl - she seems to have a huge imagination.]

I'd been wondering what she was going to be doing. Good.

[If they're together, that's good. None of the kids in the city should be stuck here alone. He delivers their dinner carefully onto each arm of the couch, and settles in next to her.]

Can you skate?

I'm not sure, I think I might be a chaperon for show.

[More than a little interest, Mindy qualifies as at least half a roommate by now. Or at least a quarter; Cameron doesn't much like her coming and going but it's surely better than her not coming by at all.]

I... think so? I haven't been skating in a long time.

[Chaperon... oh no, seriously? Chase has been keeping an eye out, and can't help grinning at the thought.]

Rudy? I'm not sure you've got enough hands for that handful. [He leans over his plate and scoops up a mouthful, talking through it.] I could have taken you for practice if I knew earlier.

He's something. But I think she'll keep him in line herself.

[She smiles, takes a moment to take a bite of her food.]

It hasn't been a plan for long, or I might have mentioned it.

If anyone can...

[Though Chase still doesn't know what it is that's different about Mindy, he's been attuned enough from the first to know she hides the same secrets almost everyone here does. Those that he'd class as 'ordinary' -- himself, Cameron, almost House, are few and far between. Rudy is closer to ordinary than Mindy is, as exceptional as he might be in certain ways.]

Still, if you're going to be busy on the day, maybe I should give you your Christmas present now. [As was always the intention, but it's as good a reason as any.]

[Cameron knows... more, but certainly not much; much more and she wouldn't have some vain hope of rehabilitation to cling to. It's not a matter of knowing what Mindy's capable of, so much as knowing what she's done already. Ignorance is bliss. Or at least functionality.]

I celebrate a secular Christmas anyway, so technically I don't think the date matters.

Well that's one way to make it feel special.

[The sarcasm is lightly teasing, one way to cover up anxious traces that might otherwise colour his tone. Maybe he should have waited until they were done with the meal, but he's reaching into his jacket pocket by now and bringing out a small jewellery box, though not small enough to be anything to worry about.]

Then again, I did buy this for you weeks ago.

[He holds it on his palm for her to open (http://www.alexmonroe.com/m2/Bracelets/p849/Flower-Burst-Bangle/product_info.html), worrying at the inner corner of his lip as he watches. It's both more, and perhaps less, than the little pot of snowdrops he'd bought last year.]

I've got something to say, after you open it.

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→ if you're offering me diamonds and rust i've already paid

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→ if you're offering me diamonds and rust i've already paid

→ if you're offering me diamonds and rust i've already paid

→ if you're offering me diamonds and rust i've already paid

→ if you're offering me diamonds and rust i've already paid

→ if you're offering me diamonds and rust i've already paid

→ if you're offering me diamonds and rust i've already paid

→ if you're offering me diamonds and rust i've already paid

Re: → if you're offering me diamonds and rust i've already paid

→ if you're offering me diamonds and rust i've already paid

→ if you're offering me diamonds and rust i've already paid

→ if you're offering me diamonds and rust i've already paid

→ if you're offering me diamonds and rust i've already paid

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