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Four years ago, she would have felt guilty by such an expression, even when faked. She supposed that she didn't spoke volumes of how much she too, had grown.
"Might as well make it one. Seems easy enough, don't you think?" Where she found all this newfound courage, she did not know. Perhaps his confidence was rubbing off on her, bit by bit. Perhaps it was something else entirely.
Det. Noah Cross
Tomorrow walks with the hopes you can't recall as the tears of December they begin to fall
The sort of day Detective Noah Cross had attempted to shield his family from since he first donned a uniform and badge. What had started as a quick peek into the office to go over a few files that, he hoped, would ultimately result in a lead to follow in the coming days had turned into an impromptu raid that quickly became violent. To most the incident would be nothing more than another segment on the evening news. A two minute, passive reassurance that the local police department was at least doing something. To the men and women who lived it, however, it would remain a harrowing example of how volatile their profession truly was.
As he'd done so many times, Noah used the short walk from the driveway to his front door to cast aside the still fresh memories etched into his mind of the incident that sent two of his companions to the hospital, one immediately into emergency surgery. He paused just outside the door and took a deep breath, clearing the stoic mask and replacing it with softer, more relaxed features. With a silent nod to himself he opened the door and stepped inside.
"Lux." He called, shrugging his jacket off, "Sorry I'm late. Got caught up at work."
"I'd put it on your resume for when you finally look for a new-" Carter continued on, more than willing to carry humour while it kept them busy. It mightn't have been as good as play-wrestling on her bed in a drunken, giddy haze, but he'd take what he could get.
Until he got cut off as the door opened.
Slowly, Carter drew himself to a stand, hands pulling at either side of his jacket once; natural reflexes to ensure his near-effortless perfection was still very much in tact. But rather than saying anything, he simply waited. After all, her father had only offered his greeting to his daughter. It only seemed right to let her speak first.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
It was hardly anything new for her father to be late. Even for something he'd arranged himself. In a way, she'd almost expected him not to show up at all, and she couldn't help but feel a little disappointed, which was probably what surprised her the most.
Her eyes followed Carter's movement as he rose. Disappointed was quickly replaced with a hint of amusement.
"We're in the living room." She remained seated, hand coming up to rest under her cheek. "At ease, soldier." She added, only for Carter's ears.
Det. Noah Cross
Tomorrow walks with the hopes you can't recall as the tears of December they begin to fall
Noah stifled a yawn as he made his way through the house toward the sound of his daughter's voice. He strode into the living room, a warm smile touching his features as he caught sight of Lux. He regarded her first, moving in to give what would seem to casual onlookers as a simple, one armed hug of a greeting but the innate weight the gesture held was one Lux was all to familiar with; as if her father was simply relieved to be seeing her again. "Hope I didn't keep you waiting too long."
With the small, yet impactful gesture out of the way Noah turned his attention to the young man standing nearby. He stepped toward him offering a courteous nod and extending a hand. "You must be Carter." He said, his tone light and relaxed. There was still something oddly amusing, yet charming about this whole situation despite not knowing much of what, if anything, was between the two. "I've heard..." Noah paused briefly, his eyes shifting toward Lux for just a moment as an amused smirk touched his lips. "Very little about you."
True to his own form, he liked very much to ensure he looked good, no matter who was going to look at him. Literally stepping up seemed natural; men shook hands, and Carter knew that already. Interest came from the way Lux interacted with her father. That was probably the best thing about this dinner, for him.
Reaching out, he took her father's hand without a second thought, shaking his hand as he knew he'd have to. "I'm the one." He declared, but surprised etched into his expression that he knew nothing about him. It wasn't that most people did - and they absolutely did - it was more that from how he understood it, this man had asked to have him over for dinner in the first place.
"Oh, well," Carter began, in turn; "I moved away after I graduated, and I've only really just moved back into town." It seemed like a good enough reason, right? He looked to Lux for confirmation.
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
The hug was returned with familiarity; She'd never considered herself a particular physical person, though, there was some comfort to always be found within those familiar arms. As if all her worries disappeared, if only just for a moment. "It's fine." She was used to it, after all.
Her father's statement, while true, had the brunette looking away. Pursing her lips to stop the small smile from forming, she suddenly found the wall decor immensely interesting. The conversation shifted and Carter handled himself nicely. The brunette's attention was brought back and she offered a simple nod. That was all there was to it, just like she'd told her father.
"Right." She agreed, suddenly eager to change the subject. "I didn't know when you'd be here, so I didn't put the food in the oven."
Det. Noah Cross
Tomorrow walks with the hopes you can't recall as the tears of December they begin to fall
It may have been subtle enough to go unnoticed to an ignorant onlooker but given the circumstances it wouldn't be surprising to discover Noah was intensely scrutinizing every minute detail of the way Carter spoke and reacted. So far he was mildly impressed, nodding a bit at the brief, yet seemingly honest reply. "Well, welcome back." He said before Lux immediately went to change the subject. Noah glanced at his daughter, offering a half smirk and short nod. There was something almost... amusing about the way she was acting. Her connection with the young man standing in the middle of his living room may have been ambiguous, even to her, but a blind rabbit stuffed in a potato sack could see something.
After all. She never acted like this when Jack was around.
"Right." Noah answered before taking a couple backward steps in the direction of the kitchen. "I'll go get that started and if you'll excuse me, I'm going to run upstairs get out of my work clothes." And with that he turned toward the kitchen and headed out of the room, leaving the two along for the moment.
Carter was used to high impact meetings, but never with people's parents. Surely it wasn't so wrong to assume the same details applied here; being polite was so easy but so key. As he was welcomed back, he had absolutely no idea what this man thought of him. For all he knew, it could have been awful. "Thank you," He replied naturally.
Then he was gone, and they were together again. With nothing left to do, he sat back down again.
"He's nice." Carter said to her, finally. After all, he could have been a lot worse; "How did I do?"
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
She'd caught the way her father had looked at her and while he was a hard man to read, she could see something from within. Something she wasn't sure she liked.
She offered her father a smile and a nod. "Okay."
The room was returned to the two and her attention once fully captured by the blonde. She stared at him for a moment, at a loss of words. "You're actually..." She stopped, brows furrowed. Was he feeling uncertain? Her stare unintentionally intensified. "You really haven't met anyone's parent before." She finally added.
"You did fine." She promised. Still staring at him, curious green eyes taking notice, she sat down.
Carter Chevalier
Usually I hold the power with both my hands tied behind my back
Carter watched the way she was staring at him, like he had in fact done or said something wrong. It was such a short set of seconds in his life; he quirked his eyebrows up to ask her without letting the words leave his mouth for a second time.
He shook his head. He hadn't lied about the lack of parent-meeting. Formal dinners for his family hardly counted.
Relief washed his face as she praised him. It was as close to a compliment as he'd get, so he'd take it. "I fought against just about all my instincts." Carter joked then, a grin finding its way to his face again.
"What did you think I'd do?"
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
When he claimed to have fought against his instincts, the first image that popped into her mind was Carter hitting on her dad. The image, and partly his words, made her chuckle.
What did she think he'd do?
She wasn't entirely sure what she'd expected. "It was... a lot more mundane than I thought it would be." She offered. Had she expected more flare? She wasn't certain. She'd just thought there would be... More.
Carter Chevalier
Usually I hold the power with both my hands tied behind my back
Carter watched as her mind clearly went somewhere. He wanted to ask specifically, but he didn't. He figured his next question might pull the obvious answer from her. He could only be so lucky. This was Luxanna, after all. Subtle coercion hardly ever worked.
"Now I feel I've disappointed you." He replied then, exhaling the rest of the air in his lungs on a heavy sigh. Perhaps she really did deserve better. Or perhaps she was expecting a younger form of him to rear some ugly antics.
"I know this isn't what you asked for. This meeting, I mean." He could tell the second she asked him that it wasn't her idea; "I thought I'd make it as bearable as possible. For you."
Luxanna Cross
Never to touch, and never to keep. You loved too much, and you dived too deep.
"Oh, no. I'm not disappointed." She assured him. She might have expected something else entirely, but she wasn't about to say she was disappointed she'd been wrong. He handled it perfectly, after all. As he did with most things in life.
She started a shrug, but stopped. She found herself looking at him again. For someone who always carried themselves with such a stoic nature, he was being surprisingly sentimental - even for someone who'd grown over the last four years. Averting her gaze, she let her body sink further into the cushions while she pondered over his words; her brows furrowed.
She could ask him directly, but that hardly felt fair. "I don't mind. I like having you around." She settled on finally.
Carter Chevalier
Usually I hold the power with both my hands tied behind my back
Carter looked genuinely grateful that she wasn't disappointed with him. It would have been such an odd thing to be disappointed about, and a large part of him had been joking. But he'd take a scrap of a compliment where it was given, especially from her.
When she built on it, he hadn't expected her to. Part of Carter assumed they'd fall into some kind of silence and that would be it until her father came back. Even though she didn't look at him, he was studying her like he was waiting for the next joke to fill the air. That was what friends did, right?
Parting his lips, he took a slow breath in before he spoke; "Would you go on a date with me?"
