[PRP] Malignant (Ami/Lex)

[chiickadee]

Ami was fond of reading in two places. The first was the small reading nook they'd built a half a year or so back, a little window alcove that was covered in lace (lace curatins, lace pillows, small porcelain knick-knacks). The second was the kitchen; it wasn't unusual to hear Ami stirring a cup of tea with a tiny spoon for two hours on end simply because she'd forgotten she was doing the action when lost in a book.

But now Ami was reading politely in the living room, in the large armchair facing the doorway. To anyone else it might have been seen as her simply wanting to sit somewhere else, but for Lex it would have set off some kind of flare. Ami was a person of monotony, of scheduled, unchanging monotony. She didn't just "sit in a different spot."

She had done it once before. Lex had chipped her favorite teapot and had tried to hide it (he was terrible at lying to her; he had eyes that gave away everything). If Lex was any part as intelligent as he boasted, he would know that Ami sitting with her legs crossed courteously in the living room meant one thing.

I know.

carhop cavalier

 

[Carhop Cavalier]

The teapot incident of 2014 was never going to be lived down. Lex cpilent so much as go near the new one he'd bought her without earning a scrutinizing glare and a small tut.

So it was not without much dread that Lex had opened the door to find Ami reading I'm the living room. It was unfortunate that he was as intelligent as he claimed, and his mind put two and two together near instantly. He'd ******** up. Playing Chicken with Maebe was not a good idea, he'd known, but surely no one had seen them. The training fields were empty that afternoon.

Lex sighed as he pulled his coat off and hung it on the coat rack, loosening his tie but keeping his collar down up. "I'd play dumb, but that would only infuriate you further." He said conversationally, moving to the kitchen to pour a glass of iced coffee he'd made that morning. "So is this about my public nudity, being somewhat close with Maebe, or are you an emissary of the Good Doctor and are here to berate me for human experimentation?" He smirked at the end of the sentence, sipping his drink. The last bit was worth at least a small chuckle.

chiickadee

 

[chiickadee]

Ami didn't lift her eyes from the book.

She didn't have to.  

[Carhop Cavalier]

For once, Lex wasn't going to give in to her domineering tactics. The day had been long, and he has no time for passive aggression.

So he too say on the armchair, on the arm rest specifically, and said nothing.  

[chiickadee]

A quiet turn of the page. Good, you're learning.

"You've been busy," she commented, stirring the cup of tea on the coffee table near her.  

[Carhop Cavalier]

"I can't stay at the Intermediate level for two more years." He spoke lightly, well aware of the mine field scattered at the feet of his words. Another sip of his drink, and Lex too picked up a book - The Old Man and The Sea - from the coffee table, only pretending to read it.

You'll have to broach this issue, love.  

[chiickadee]

"And why do you think that is?"

You will do it yourself.  

[Carhop Cavalier]

"Because I'd rather not be permanently retired." It was a matter of fact at this point. If Lex didn't prove himself an asset worth feeding, clothing, and paying, they would end him; put him on a suicide mission and never expect to see him again.

But, as always, Lex was only going to give out a partial truth.

Then you'll have to work for it.

If he could be stubborn enough for Marbe to get fed up and pants him, he could outlast Ami.  

[chiickadee]

"That would be a very terrible thing, wouldn't it?"

Go on.  

[Carhop Cavalier]

"No need to sound so enthralled by the thought."  

[chiickadee]

"Enthralled is not the emotion I would attach dear." There were very few emotions that Ami could attach to anything anymore.

"Well," Ami concluded, closing her book and stepping up onto her beige flats, stretching for a moment before reaching for her teacup. "If that's all, I do believe I have work to do."  

[Carhop Cavalier]

Oh, this now. Lex knew this tactic like the back of his hand. She'd pretend to not care, act like there was nothing and that this incident hadn't happened - yet a hurricane would be unleashed on him the second he toed the line. Ami was not one so easily broken, especially not by Lex; but she could easily break him.

There was a very pregnant pause, during which Lex slid into the now vacant armchair with his book and coffee, before he heaved a heavy sigh.

He'd play her damn game.

"It's about what you said earlier - being useless and lazy. I don't want to be defined that way any longer."  

[chiickadee]

Ami smiled pleasantly, fully aware she had won and then some.

"So you would rather be defined as negligent and careless?"

carhop cavalier

 

[Carhop Cavalier]

He loved and hated that smile, the same way someone loved their cat that spills the contents of a garbage bin all over the floor.

"No."
 

[chiickadee]

She sighed. Lex was dulling her interest quickly.

She might as well get to her point. "Then do tell why you're rotting your brain on questionable characters?"