Work Text:
A Song In The Night
By Denise Craig
Jennifer passed Heyes. They turned around. Heyes passed Jennifer. It was making Kid crazy. He knew how his partner got when he was working on a plan, or in this instance, a puzzling case, but seeing Jennifer do the same pacing routine, at the same time as Heyes…he was getting dizzy.
He stood up to intercept his wife. Jennifer bumped into him and was shaken from her reverie. “Huh?”
“Honey, why don’t we go to town, have dinner. I’m sure you’ll be able to think better on a full stomach.” This wasn’t a completely altruistic statement. It was dinner time and Jennifer hadn’t fixed anything to eat. Margarita, their Spanish cook, had been given time off to see her sister in San Juan, and Kid Curry was hungry.
“How can you think of food at a time like this?” Jennifer asked accusingly and resumed her pacing.
“Because I’m hungry!” snapped Kid. Jennifer didn’t hear him as the song in her head continued to elude her. Kid reluctantly went to the kitchen to fix himself something to eat.
---oooOOOooo---
After he had sated his appetite, he felt better and decided to fix something for Jennifer and Heyes. He knew how to get Heyes to eat…goad him into it. But Jennifer was a different story. He had seen her working on a song before, but it hadn’t taken this long. It had been almost two days now, and she hadn’t eaten. He didn’t like that. She needed to eat or she was going to fall down. Kid reflected on this. At least he would be able to take her upstairs and put her to bed if she did. He sighed, first he would get Heyes to eat, then see to his wife.
He took the beans and biscuits into the library where, thankfully, Heyes had finally sat down at the desk. Kid put the plate in front of him. “Here Heyes, eat something, you’ll think better.”
“Thanks Kid, but I’m fine.”
“Heyes! You’re not fine. Eat!”
Heyes looked up confused and just a little hurt, “Sheesh Kid, no need to get proddy.”
Kid glared at him.
“Okay, okay.” Heyes lifted the fork to his mouth. It paused, then returned, still bean-laden, to the plate.
Kid waited for him to pick it up again. He didn’t. He sat with his chin in his hands, a far off look on his face.
“Heyes!”
Heyes jumped and then looked at his partner. “What?!”
Kid looked at him and then at the plate.
“Oh, yeah,” He took a bite, and just as Kid knew would happen, the fork hit the plate and was forgotten. He couldn’t count the times he and Heyes had done this back at Devil’s Hole. Heyes was oblivious to everything when he was planning. He had to be told to eat, to drink, to go to bed. Sometimes Kid wondered if he ought to remind him to breathe!
Heyes felt something. Something staring at him. He looked up. The steady glare of blue eyes met his. “You want something Kid?” he asked innocently.
Kid sighed, mightily. “Yeah Heyes, I want you to eat this plate of beans. I fixed it for ya. Now eat.”
“Why Kid, that was thoughtful of you. Thank you.”
Kid rolled his eyes. After a half hour of poking and prodding, Heyes finished his plate. Kid was exhausted, but still had to contend with his wife.
Jennifer sat at the piano, fingers laid gently on the keys as if willing the music to play itself. Her eyes were closed. A soft voice tickled her ear, ‘Open for me.’
Jennifer’s lids shot up, a blush rising in her face, her heart hammering. Kid stood before her, a fork in his hand. She opened her mouth to speak and found it suddenly full of beans.
“Whmm err oou ooin. Ouu oant eee errios”
“Yep, and if you don’t eat it all…” The sentence was left hanging as well as the implied threat. Jennifer looked and saw Kid Curry, gunslinger, staring steely-eyed at her.
“Jed….” Another mouthful was shoved in.
She glared at him. He glared back. “Chew!” She chewed.
“If you think…” another mouthful. How dare he treat her like a child? She stood up, hands on her hips and prepared to give him a piece of her mind. “How dare you…ooof!!!” The fork was, once again, between her lips. She thought about spitting it back in his face. One look at him, and she considered differently. She chewed.
By the time the plate was clean Jennifer was shooting daggers at Kid. He could only hope that she got so wrapped up in her music again, that she forgot what he had done. He left and Jennifer sat down at the piano, beating out a tune forcefully. Oh, yeah, he was in for it. He sighed. How in the world did this happen? He had gotten not only a partner, but a wife who got carried away in their work. He was only trying to do what was best for them and they didn’t appreciate it.
---oooOOOooo---
Two am and Kid rolled over; his arms instinctively reached out for the warm body that should be next to him. All he got were cold sheets. He opened his eyes, looking at the clock. He got up, put on his robe and went downstairs. From the banging of keys he heard, it wasn‘t going well. Heyes was nowhere to be found. Kid assumed he must have finally gone to bed.
By the sounds coming from the music room, he could tell his wife was tired, and upset. He mused on how even when she wasn’t exactly making music, her moods were expressed in the notes she played. He entered, and walking up behind her, put his hands on her shoulders, rubbing them gently.
Jennifer screamed. She had been so involved in what she was doing, she hadn’t heard him.
Kid quickly put his hand over her mouth until she had time to see it was only him. “Sorry I scared ya.”
“Jed!” she said, relieved. “What…?”
“I turned over and you weren’t there. Come to bed, Honey. Whatever you are working on can wait till morning.”
“Jed, I can’t. I won’t sleep with this…this…” she flailed her hands in the air, unsure how to tell him what was in her head.
“Maybe if you get some sleep, it will just pop in.”
“It won’t work, I…” Whatever she was about to say was kissed from her lips.
“Jed…” Another kiss, this time a little more demanding.
“Come upstairs. I’ll make it worth your while,” he whispered in her ear.
Jennifer shuddered as the reverberations of his voice traveled down her spine. “I…I can’t Jed, I…” Her mouth was captured in another kiss that had all thoughts, but those lips upon hers, leaving her mind. She turned and threw her arms around his neck. “You, Jed Curry, don’t fight fair,” she mumbled against his warm skin.
“All’s fair in love and war, Sweetheart, and this is war!” A gentle tongue trailed down her neck. Jennifer sighed. Kid swept her into his arms and carried her up to their room, then other music filled Jennifer’s soul.
---oooOOOooo---
When the sun came streaming through the window, Jennifer sat up and rubbed her sleepy eyes. Then, just as suddenly, something clicked in her mind. She threw on her robe and raced down the stairs. Moments later, wonderful music could be heard. Somewhere in the night, as she lay, warm and contented in the arms of love, Jennifer had found her song.
end
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.