Cal Chandler (
americas_son) wrote2011-06-23 08:47 pm
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Sunnydale AU: at the corner of your eye
The problem with Grahame being in LA and Mother spending most of her time in Sacramento is that, for all intents and purposes, the Chandler household has been whittled down from three (from four) to one. That makes less work to go around, and it's getting harder and harder to justify keeping on all the staff. Cal is combing intently through records and other paperwork, trying to find a balance between what's best for the Chandler finances and what will cause the least amount of difficulty for those who depend on the Chandlers for their wages.
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Now, on the other side of the room...
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Now, though, he slowly puts down the pen he'd been fiddling with, reaching down instead to open one of the desk drawers.
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"I don't think that's going to help you any," he says, smiling an unpleasantly familiar smile.
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It's occurred to him, more than once, that Stane could show up in Milliways. Cal would have been ready for that. But here? At home? In his room?
All he can do is stare.
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The cross, then, probably isn't any use. And Cal isn't doing himself any favors, sitting here gaping like an idiot.
He gets up and tosses the cross aside, casually, like it was his idea.
"Was there something I can help you with?" he asks coolly. (A lot cooler than he feels right now.)
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"I'm so glad you asked."
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But wait. How did he get past security to begin with?
"That is not an answer." Keeping his voice steady is hard, harder than it should be. He feels more like he felt in New York than how he did outside the Stark residence that day, telling Stane the new rules of the game. He's still trying to get his footing.
What the hell is going on?
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He curses himself even as he does it, but he can't help it.
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"You're too easy," he says affectionately.
(The words are right, the voice is right, but the cadence isn't. A little too fast. Obadiah was never in a hurry for his sentences to be over with.)
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Why did Stane back off? Why isn't he pressing his advantage?
(Why is this so unlike half the nightmares he's had, and too much like the beginnings of the other half?)
There are other things wrong, too, registering on a level Cal isn't listening to yet.
Whatever. Button or no, he's not going to let himself stay trapped against his desk. He grabs the chance, ducking around and away from Stane. (Not toward his bed.)
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"Even Tony did better than that."
Go on, Cal, think about the implications there for a second.
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"What are you doing here?"
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- cologne. He couldn't smell that cologne, or any cologne. Or anything. Shouldn't you be able to smell something when someone's that close?
What is going on?
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But he's still not making a move.
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"What are you doing here." His intonation is different now, sharper and less confused. He doesn't mean his home this time. He means here, in this dimension. What is Stane doing here.
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But his head is starting to clear and he's starting to think again and too many details aren't adding up.
"So you came here. And you magically got past the wards, the guards, and the door. Without anyone noticing."
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"Looks like your security isn't all it's cracked up to be."
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