The Hint Of A Spark • •

[Chase Logan McMahon]

It was pretty early in the day when Chase woke up and the sun was just peaking over the New York skyline as he poured himself a cup of strong coffee from the machine. Caffeine was always the first thing he needed when he woke up, regardless of the time, but maybe that was part of being a doctor and working around the clock if it was necessary. At least now he had a good long break from the hospital and his pager could be left in the drawer of the bedside table until his return. After a shower, Chase changed into his “travelling clothes”, throwing on his favourite hoodie too, purely for the sake of comfort; he’d probably throw it into the back of the car with Alfie once they got to the city limits and the four hour drive was ahead of them. He was leaving early to try and avoid getting caught in traffic jams on the interstate, but the hour didn’t bother him; he was used to being up around this time to get through his personal chores and errands before he was due at the hospital on the early shifts.

He had packed most of his things the night before, but added his toothbrush and toiletries once he was done with them, double checking his small suitcase and the duffle he had thrown Alfie’s things into. The St Bernard was docile enough on these trips and it was easier to take him home than find a sitter Chase felt like he could trust with the big softie. He would take up the entire back seat of Chase’s silver Volvo on the ride to Washington, but he was well trained enough that he would sleep pretty much the whole way, aside from the breaks when Chase would let him stretch his legs and do anything he needed to do. Right now, the friendly beast watched his master with a lazy eye as he checked over everything for a third time, before switching the plugs and appliances off in the sophisticated apartment he called home.

Once his phone and keys were in his pockets, Chase grabbed the case and bag, leashed Alfie and set the alarm before making his way down to the garage, pausing only to ask the older man at the front desk to hold his mail, rather than put it in his mailbox. At his car, he let Alfie take up residence in the backseat before throwing his bag and the case into the trunk, making sure there was plenty of room for Penny’s things when he collected her. His family seemed unusually excited to meet the brunette Chase was bringing home with him for the holiday, despite how much Chase told them it was just to let her see where most of his stories came from. He loved spending time with Penny, but he wasn’t bringing her home to meet his family in the romantic manner his mom seemed to think. He stopped to pick up another coffee for himself and one for Penny too, ignoring the dog already snoring on the backseat, legs in the air.

Soon, he was by her apartment and after parking his car safely, he jogged up the steps and inside, making his way to her door and knocking quietly, just so he didn’t disturb any of her neighbours. He pulled on the string of his medical hoodie and waited for her to answer the door. The coffees were settled in the cup holders of the car to play as a nice surprise when they got back down there. Obviously, a few snacks were also stashed in the glove compartment and they could stop for breakfast somewhere once they were out of the city and on their way. It was a similar routine to the one Chase had whenever he drove to the family home, the only difference this time being that he would have someone to talk to rather than just his dog! He knocked again, slightly louder, just in case she hadn’t heard him the first time; it had been rather quiet as a precaution.

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• • •

TAGGED! Penny
WORDS! 729!
OUTFIT! Medical Mess!
LYRICS! I Will Follow You Into The Dark - - - Death Cab For Cutie
NOTES! <3

[Penny Michaela Kendall]

Penny woke to the sound of her alarm barely two hours past her usual bed time. Her shifts were hectic at the restaurant and she found herself covering most of them time on the floor for bartenders, hosts and even the occasional waiter or waitress. When she’d booked the time off though, she’d made certain she took the entire day before off to pack and prepare. She didn’t know what to expect despite Chase’s every intention of trying to tell her. She didn’t want to be left hanging in a situation with nothing to wear. She settled on a few classic pieces and quite a few casual; this was technically, her vacation. By the time she was finished she’d gone from four bags down to two, up to three and back to two before finally closing the bags and hoping she hadn’t forgotten everything. That had taken her morning.

Her afternoon was spent trying to figure out who was going to watch over Frankie and bring in her mail. She didn’t subscribe to the paper, so calling them was unnecessary even with the reminders from her nosey neighbour across the hall. The older woman was harmless, aside from trying to set her up with her grandson who by all indications was gayer than Adam Lambert. The only difference being the grandson wore less makeup and was blonde. She’d only even mentioned going out of town for a couple weeks to the other woman because she didn’t want her calling the police when Lexi stopped by to grab her mail and check in on Frankie. She would have saved the time and energy of asking her fast friend to come over if it weren’t for the fact the older woman across the hall was terribly afraid of any rodent-like animal on the entire planet.

It took nearly an hour for her to fall asleep. Penny wasn’t used to being in bed so early. Usually she was still at work, behind the bar or in the office finishing off what paperwork she did have to do. And then morning came in a blink and she rolled out of bed, went straight to the kitchen and downed an entire cup of coffee, cleaned it and put it back in the cupboard before she had her shower and dug through the wardrobe she didn’t pack for something to wear. She dried her hair before knotting it up in braids and a bun. Her bags were already at the door, she just needed to put her shoes on, search her entire apartment for sunglasses and double check that her phone and wallet were in her bag. She was in her room when she heard the knocking and rushed to shove her feet into the flats she chose. The dress was probably too much, but she’d also packed the only few pairs of jeans in case they were needed. She hadn’t even though about keeping a pair out or sweats for the car ride. And though this wasn’t some romantically swayed meeting of the parent’s trip, she did want to give them a good impression of herself.

She pulled the door open, smiling at the casually dressed doctor. “Good Morning, Chase,” she said, opening the door wider to let him in. “I just have to make sure Frankie’s food is out so Lexi knows where to find it,” she said as she disappeared into the kitchen. She took the full bag of the specialty mix her Chinchilla liked so much from the cupboard and brought it around to the spare room, her office where she kept Frankie’s cage. She’d taken the time the day before to pick up an extra bag of food and anything else that might be required. She wasn’t taking any chances with her darling pet. She filled the bowl herself then and left the bag beside the closet door. She’d left Lexi the day before with her spare key, the mailbox key and the instructions though they were basic and probably overkill. She’d never left him alone to go on a trip before. If she even went anywhere in the last two years she took the completely out of the way trip home so her father could look out for him. He was like her little baby and she knew there would be a dozen text messages within the first couple days to Lexi checking in on her little baby.

Happy but nervous, Penny left the room, going straight back to the living room. “Alright, sorry, I should have done all that last night,” she said chuckling at herself. She looked around the living room once more, checking to see if she’d missed anything before picking her bag up and pushing it to rest on her shoulder. “Allons-y,” she added, moving her bags to the hallway. She ushered Chase out and locked the door when she followed him. She turned to grab her bags but Chase already had them in his hands and started down the hall. Penny smirked to herself as she tossed her keys into her purse, pulled her shades out and ran the handful of steps to catch up with Chase. “Thanks,” she said, nodding towards the bags she’d packed. At the car, Penny tried to help Chase with the bags but she was in the way more than she was helpful so after only a minute or so, she just stepped back and watched Chase work his magic. And before she knew it, she was sitting in the passenger seat.

Tag || Chase!
Words || 922
Clothes || Road Trip!
Music || When I'm With You by Faber Drive
Notes || <3

[Chase Logan McMahon]

Chase was looking forward to heading home again for this short break. He loved New York and his job, but he needed an escape from time to time that couldn’t be interrupted by his pager. He missed his old neighbourhood sometimes, his family antics and so heading back there helped balance everything out for the young haematologist. It was going to be different this time with Penny accompanying him on the trip, but he was more excited about that than he could even begin to explain. He didn’t quite know why, but he had told himself that it was because he never had been given the chance to show someone his life before; everyone he knew in Washington had extremely similar lifestyles to him and Penny was the first person in New York he really shared his tales with. He had other friends than the pretty brunette, but they were different and he would probably be looked at oddly if he invited some of them to the McMahon home as casually as he had done with Penny.

“Morning to you, too.”

[/color] He closed the door after he stepped inside, his hands finding their way into his pockets while he waited for Penny to finish up what needed to be done before they left the city. “There’s no rush.”[/color] He said with a small smile. One of the great benefits of driving meant that there was no need to rush to keep on a certain schedule. He didn’t want to get stuck in traffic, but if it did happen then it wouldn’t be the end of the world or ruin any plans already made. Once they got to the McMahon home, it would probably be an afternoon of lazing around, unpacking, showing Penny the house and then a family meal. It wouldn’t matter if they arrived late or early! While she fussed over her own pet, Chase checked his phone for weather and traffic updates, just to be on the safe side. He liked to be in the know about his travelling plans and didn’t want to get stuck in traffic from road maintenance or a collision hold up. There were other routes to get home, though they did add more time to the overall journey it would probably be less stressful than getting held up on the Interstate. It was a clear ride though, according to the app on his phone. “No need to apologise.”[/color]

Being the gentleman he was, Chase grabbed her bags in the hall, slinging one over his shoulder and keeping the other clasped in hand, carried them down to where he had parked his car. There was more than enough room in the trunk and Alfie lazily watched as the two sat in the front, adjusting the belts and the seats before Chase pulled them out into the early hour traffic. “I was planning on stopping for breakfast just before we hit the main stretch, but if you need to stop before that then just holler. Feel free to fiddle with the seat and put it back a bit if you fancy a nap.”[/color] It was early still and he didn’t want Penny feeling exhausted when they arrived at the capitol. “I got you a coffee and there are some snacks in the glove compartment, so help yourself.”[/color] He flashed her a quick smile and steered his car in the direction necessary to get out of the city.

Once out on the road and away from the congested city streets, Chase felt like he could relax a bit and enjoy the journey and their little road trip. He stopped off at a small roadside café for some breakfast and a coffee refill. They had only been on the road for a little over an hour, but Chase knew that if they ate now then he could probably do the rest of the journey in one sweep, which would be easier for him if he didn’t have to keep checking the clock and pondering hunger issues. Once they were fed and Alfie found himself settled back on the backseat, Chase took off again, merging with the steady stream of traffic and turning the stereo on for some music. Their conversations took up most of the journey and there was only one moment when Alfie sensed another dog in the car one lane across and felt the need to tell the world about it with deep, gruff barks that almost deafened Chase in the small contained environment.

Soon, he started to see the familiar aspects of the place in which he had been raised. The landmarks stood out, the tourists were gathered in their little groups and there were more flashes of a camera than on any red carpet. There was beauty to not living in the centre of all of that, though any venture out of the house usually found them dodging tourists from around the world. He kept on driving away from the main streets of DC and eventually turned down a street that led to a quieter neighbourhood where the houses were noticeably pricey. There was a slight hill to drive up leading to a more elite branch of homes that Chase knew only too well to be the homes of those who had important roles to play in the upkeep of the state. Near the end of the street, he turned into a large drive, pausing to lean out of his window to key in the security code to unlock the high gate that kept his family home protected. Once it opened, he eased his car up the drive, past the lush garden at the front of the large Colonial style home that Chase had lived in right up until college. Parking his car next to the black convertible that was his sister’s, Chase took a second to stretch out before grinning at Penny. “Home sweet home.”[/color] He said, opening the car door and then letting Alfie out, the dog already bounding around the grass and up the steps to the house he recognised as the one where he would be spoilt rotten. He let Penny have a look around while he unloaded the car, taking all of the bags with relative ease before locking his vehicle up and guiding the brunette up the steps after Alfie. “I’ll give you the grand tour once my mom is through with fussing.”[/color] He promised with a small smile as one of the housekeepers opened the door to greet them. The family didn’t have much need for staff, but the upkeep of the home had always been a job they paid two women to share, simply because there was no time for his mom to take care of the home since she had her own job that took up plenty of her time. The second Chase was through the door, he felt the familiar arms of the small woman who had adopted him wrap around him. “Hey, mom! It’s good to see you. This is Penny.”[/color] He gestured to his friend and readjusted the bags that had been knocked by his mom’s enthusiastic greeting, which she repeated with Penny without hesistation.
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• • •

TAGGED! Penny
WORDS! 1,242!
OUTFIT! Medical Mess!
LYRICS! I Will Follow You Into The Dark - - - Death Cab For Cutie
NOTES! <3

[Penny Michaela Kendall]

Despite her nerves, Penny was actually looking forward to this trip to DC and Chase’s childhood home. She’d heard so many stories about the place and his family; she already felt like she’d been there and knew them all so well. That didn’t mean she was nervous about meeting them for the actual first time. Still, she was looking forward to the time away from New York. They were going from one major tourist town to another. But Penny loved big cities. She grew up in a quiet, upper middle class suburban neighbourhood before moving to a big house in a good neighbourhood in a small town. By the time she was old enough to get out, she was gone. She wanted the freedom of the fast city and bustling streets. To visit a small town was the only way she was going back now.

Settled in the passenger seat now, Penny turned in her seat for a minute to greet the St Bernard taking up the backseat. It was incredibly nice of Chase to invite her along on this road trip home with him and she did appreciate the time out of the city, seeing where he grew up. If she brought him back to Lafayette, he would be bored senseless. If you were retired, loved quaint little shops or were raising a family, it would be the perfect place, but to do anything or see anything, it was a nice drive up to Indianapolis to get any excitement. She had never thought about bringing any of her friends back home, because most of them came from big cities and thought the small towns were dull. She knew Chase wasn’t like that, he’d said as much. He was probably the only one she knew whom she’d even think about inviting to Lafayette with her.

She was tired, but she could never sleep in cars. When she was fifteen, her father took her and her brother to visit their grandparents in Florida. They didn’t stop since both guys had driver’s licenses and Penny stayed awake the entire trip. It wasn’t excitement or car sickness; it was just an inability to sleep in a moving vehicle. “Sounds good,” she said, before Chase continued. It always took her forever to eat in the mornings anyway and had a habit of being up for a couple hours before she realized she still hadn’t eaten yet. Her eyes brightened playfully as she picked up the extra coffee in the holder. “You are incredible. Thank you,” she said, taking a tentative sip since she didn’t know how long it had been cooling; though it was perfect.

Penny made herself comfortable for the long drive, smoothing out the skirt of her dress before slipping her sunglasses onto her nose. She loved car rides, the ridiculous conversations and games that came from them. They were easy fun to have to brighten an otherwise boring length of time. By the time they stopped for breakfast, Penny had been hungry and adored the little diner Chase had found. Before long they were back on the road and headed for the capitol. As they got closer, penny’s stomach tightened with the nerves of meeting his family. For most of the ride, she’d been able to forget their exact destination; pretend they were just a couple friends going on a road trip. Once that city limits sign went by in a whirl, she couldn’t quite keep the act up. And once started turning down neighbourhood streets, she knew the trip was almost over.

It shouldn’t have surprised her, or stun her but when the houses got nicer and they started sprouting gates, it was like she finally got the memo. Before, she had only ever seen Chase at the hospital and a handful of times at his apartment. It was easy to believe that that was all he’d been, the young doctor with his St Bernard. It was easy to forget he wasn’t just any doctor, any person. Seeing these big picturesque homes, those homes her mother and sister dreamed about, it made her remember it all. She perked up, sitting straighter to look out the window at the grounds, the house Chase grew up in and around. The space was beautiful and she could picture a younger Chase running around the yards, playing with his sisters and laughing about it all. She stepped out of the car, stretching her arms in the air as she continued to look around. “Your home is beautiful, Chase. I can absolutely see you here as a little kid, bobbing for apples or building snowmen,” she said, smiling over at the young doctor. She could see the appeal in the stunning home.

She turned, grabbing her purse from the front seat before shutting the door now and walking up to the door with Chase. “I look forward to it,” she said, smiling. Her heart was racing a little but only because she knew that somewhere through those doors his parents would be waiting and though this meeting didn’t have any romantic ties to it, it was still a little nerve wracking. After all, she was a girl Chase was bringing home. However innocent the trip was, she knew parents would question it. Her own father would question her to the moon and back if she invited a soul over. When she’d lived at home and was in high school, it was perfectly normal to have her friends over all the time. They all often joked a few of them lived there, they were around so much. But this wasn’t that and it was setting Penny’s nerves off. She didn’t have much time to think about it though. Almost as soon as she walked through the door behind Chase, she saw a petite woman unwrap herself from Chase and move on to Penny herself. She wasn’t expecting a huge hug the second she walked through the front door, but it definitely helped to calm her down. She instantly felt welcomed and her nervous energy vanished. “It’s nice to finally meet you, Mrs. McMahon. You have a stunning home,” she said once the woman stepped back. Penny hadn’t really known what to expect. She’d heard stories of his childhood, but she still hadn’t thought there would be such enthusiastic greetings.

Tag || Chase!
Words || 1053
Clothes || Road Trip!
Music || When I'm With You by Faber Drive
Notes || <3

[Chase Logan McMahon]

Chase enjoyed his road trips back to DC, but he enjoyed driving up that driveway even more. There were too many memories in that old house for him to ever grow bored of returning there. There was a whole wonderful world of history in the family home and it was the place where Chase had become the person he was today. Returning home was more than just a family trip for him, he loved coming back to his childhood home, laughing with his sisters and discussing matters of life with his father while his mother mediated and made sure their passionate debate didn’t escalate into anything angrier. They might have been calm men, but when they clashed they really did clash. Now though, he got to make more happy memories there with Penny at his side. He knew his family would love having her around and she would probably return to New York with plenty of stories to use as blackmail against him.

Smirking across at Penny while he stretched out, he turned his attention to the grounds surrounding them. As a kid, Chase had knew nothing more than this to be the norm; he was one of the kids in the system who had received an extremely lucky situation and a life where he had everything he could possibly think of. Some might have called him spoilt, but Chase had been raised to appreciate everything that he had been given and act like a gentleman and not some spoilt little brat. He had known people like that in his school and they have drove him crazy; he could never understand why people thought that having money gave them a free pass to bitch and whine about everything that didn’t please them. “Wait until you see the inside.”

[/color] He told her, chuckling at the idea of her imagining him as a youngster running about through all the seasons.

This home made his apartment look like nothing in comparison, but it might explain why he had such a sophisticated little pad in the middle of New York when most people his age went for something a little funkier. He was used to grandeur and elegance and while his spacious apartment didn’t mimic this place in any way, he had tried to keep some element of it alive when he moved and bought all of his own furniture. Chase had never been just another college kid and he had struggled to fit in back then when most of his classmates were taking out loans or living off take-out from a few nights earlier. It was a life he had never lived and full of situations he couldn’t find the logic in. It was different for him and it was hard for him to explain. His father’s profile had kept him in the political spotlight growing up and even when he had moved to New York it wasn’t something that could escape him. Being adopted, being a doctor, being taken in that way…there were people fascinated with those stories and luckily he had managed to shake most of them off by now, but there were still a few people who thought of him as a higher contact. Whenever he came home there was usually something his father was putting on or doing just to get another moment of the happy family the McMahon’s actually were. It wasn’t like they staged some photo opportunity where they were all smiles and laughter; they often were like that. They were close, happy and believed in each other; the media seemed to like that around election time.

At this time of day, Chase’s father would still be at work and at least one of his sisters might be out. The car next to his in the drive right now belonged to Alicia, but Jenny’s car was nowhere to be seen, though the eighteen year old was probably out with friends. He knew his mom would be around to greet them, cancelling whatever appointments had originally been scheduled for this day months ago. He knew his mom wouldn’t hold up some prim and proper introduction with Penny; she was the friend of her son, and not some business associate of her husband’s. Abigail McMahon was a very friendly and loving person long before she had turned to adoption and those traits had only grown as she had aged. She had asked endless questions ever since Chase had called to tell her that he would be bringing Penny with him and by now she probably knew almost as much as he did about the brunette, save for the stories they shared with each other or the little lunch trips they had. “Thank you, and please, call me Abigail. I’ve heard so much about you from Chase.” He rolled his eyes but smiled across at the introduction. The older woman hugged Penny again and then turned her attention back to her son. “Your father’s at a meeting with his team about some new policy changes he wants to implement, but he’ll be back for dinner. Jenny and Alicia have gone shopping for some surprises for the weekend, so they could be back this time next week.” She joked with a shake of her head before looking between the two. “So much for a welcome party, eh? I have one more conference call to make and then I’m finished for the day so we can relax in the garden with some lemonade if you like? I baked some cakes last night too, so we can have a cheeky snack before your father gets home and eats the lot of them.” Chase laughed and readjusted the bags he was holding before nodding in understanding at his mom’s words. “That’s fine, mom. I’m going to give Penny the grand tour and some time to settle in. Looks like Alfie has already done that though.”[/color] The docile beast was resting on the stairs, panting and looking around, plotting where he could run off to next. Alfie loved the space in the house and no doubt would soon find the back door and make good use of the spacious back garden.

After Abigail left them to go about her business, Chase paused for a moment to shake his head. “Dad’s been telling her to switch to DeCaf for years.”[/color] He joked lightly, glancing towards the wide staircase. “Come on, I’ll show you where you’re staying and then give you the tour of the house.”[/color] He smiled and set off for the staircase, shaking his head at the amount of family portraits that graced the wall on the way up, starting from before any of the children had been adopted and ending with a photograph from last Christmas. At the top of the stairs he turned to face Penny and pointed to the left hallway. “Alicia and Jenny’s rooms are down there along with my parent’s.”[/color] There were a few more guest rooms and a large bathroom too, but he didn’t think it was important to detail every single room in the house to her. Following the hallway to the right, Chase came to the third door down and dumped his bags at the door before leading Penny to a door that was on the opposite side of the hall and slightly further along than his. “This is your room.”[/color] He pushed the door open to reveal the spacious bedroom. The walls were a pastel blue and the furniture solid oak. Gently he placed her bags on the floor and stepped further inside. “Hang whatever you like in the wardrobe or the drawers. This room is basically yours to do whatever with while you’re here.”[/color] He pushed open the other door in the room to reveal the en-suite complete with bath and separate shower, as well as a whole towel cupboard with more than enough towels to last. “And this last bit might sound ridiculous, but on the wall near the bed there’s an intercom. If you need me, my bedroom is number three. If you just press it, hold it down and speak it’ll come right through to me.”[/color] He shrugged and smiled awkwardly, pushing his hands back into the pockets of his jeans. “It’s the easier way of getting through to us than trying to shout or track us down.”[/color] He explained quietly. He stepped back to let Penny move around the room as she liked. “Do you want to unpack first?”[/color] He asked politely.
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• • •

TAGGED! Penny
WORDS! 1.464!
OUTFIT! Medical Mess!
LYRICS! I Will Follow You Into The Dark - - - Death Cab For Cutie
NOTES! <3

[Penny Michaela Kendall]

Penny had never wanted for anything, but she would hardly say her family was as well-known as Chase’s. Her father was on some committees in Lafayette but for the most part, he was just another single father who worked from home and took care of his kids. They lived in a good neighbourhood, which considering where they lived, didn’t say much. Still, it was nothing compared to this and though Penny knew Chase wasn’t his house or his money, it was still a little mind boggling. “Great, he lives in the TARDIS,” she said more to herself than to him with an eye roll. She hadn’t been a fan of the show she was referencing at first. She couldn’t have been with the hours she worked; she was hardly home when all the good shows came on. But one of the waiters wouldn’t stop talking about it when he was at work and Penny got so tired of it, she asked if she could borrow his copy of the first series. She spent nearly her entire day off wrapped up in the show and by the time she went back to work, she was completely invested and needed the next set.

She didn’t say anything else until she was inside the house. She didn’t know what else to say. And inside she was equally shocked. She was calmer now though, than she was when they were driving to their destination. “I hope he told you something good,” she said, smiling warmly getting another hug that took the small brunette by surprise. His mom seemed like a wonderful person. Penny’s mother had never been any sort of mother and the only reason her little sister stayed behind when Penny and Reilly went with their father. Penny stayed quiet while mother and son spoke; though she looked out over at Alfie making himself quite at home. “Nothing fun comes from decaf,” Penny said, laughing. “Alright,” she agreed, following him up the staircase to the next floor.

She looked at the walls graced with happy family photos and smiled back at the memories frozen in time. The same photographs were lining the walls of her Lafayette home, only instead of five happy family members, there were three. Her eyes followed the direction Chase was pointing and nodded, making a mental note. This house could be compared- barely to the TARDIS. It was definitely bigger on the inside than it looked outside. “Good to know in case I’m dragged off for a pillow fight,” she said, smirking. She stopped just long enough for Chase to drop his bags, so she could only assume that the door held his room just behind it. Penny peeked into the door he opened for her, unable to wait to get a look until she was actually in the room. It was a beautiful room, just like the rest of the house that she’d seen in her few minutes past the front door. “Super not so secret spy equipment,” she said, just barely holding herself back from asking if there was laser tag equipment readily available. In her house, they all called out ‘Marco’ and followed the repeated “Polo” until they found whoever they were looking for at the time. “Beats the Marco Polo game we used to play,” she admitted laughing at their old antics. Penny looked back at the bags set on the floor and bit her lip. “How terrible would it be if I waited because I didn’t want to see the contents of those bags for a while?” she asked, looking up at Chase with that same expression still glued on her face. Besides that, she wanted to text Lexi and check on Frankie; even though she was well aware the other brunette wouldn’t have thought to check on the Chinchilla yet anyway. “Unless you want to unpack your things, of course. It would bring the surprise of finding out what I packed to me sooner,” she said, teasing, though honestly, she couldn’t remember what she packed and hoped it was all appropriate for whatever Chase had planned for their couple weeks away.

Tag || Chase!
Words || 688
Clothes || Road Trip!
Music || When I'm With You by Faber Drive
Notes || <3

[Chase Logan McMahon]

People who had previously accompanied Chase to the family home had been the kind of people who shared the status and the money as his family, so the building had never been overwhelming or daunting to them. They admired aspects of it and commented on how nice it was, but there had never been any jaw dropping moments or awkward silences as they stepped through the door. He knew Penny wouldn’t be quite as extreme as that, but this house really did make his ‘fancy’ apartment look like nothing in comparison. He had to grin at the reference she made though. As a slightly obsessed Whovian since his childhood he was forever finding himself thinking of references and little quips that he usually kept to himself, since no one he knew seemed to share the same passion as he did for the show in its entirety. “It’s funny you should say that…”

[/color] He trailed off, leaving her imagination to do the rest of the work for now. She would soon figure out exactly what he meant once he got around to showing her the rest of the house.

Laughing, Chase pushed his hands deeper into his pockets and shrugged. “I think you’d be playing Marco Polo for quite some time before you found someone in this place. The echoes can be very deceiving.”[/color] He said, remembering the amount of times as kids him and his sisters had bypassed the simple way of finding each other and just ran around screaming names only to find themselves in the totally wrong place for finding them. “You’d be pretty terrible, but I already knew that.”[/color] he teased lightly, glancing down at the bags he had carried in for her. He shrugged across at her, really not minding what they did first. “There’s no real rush. I can show you the rest of the house first.”[/color] Normally, his own unpacking was spared until the night time after everyone had calmed down from the family dinner, the reminiscing and his arrival. He had to move his bags out of the hall first though, before someone tripped over them or moaned at him about leaving them there.

Chase led her back out of the bedroom and pointed to a door across the hall, taking one stride to turn the handle and push it wide open for her to see inside. “Just in case you fancy something to read.”[/color] The room was a mini library of sorts and books from throughout Chase’s life were in there, along with the rest the family had collected. It was nothing too fancy or grand, just shelves lining the four walls and two elegant couches in the centre to curl up on with little side tables for hot chocolate or whatever else took their fancy when they chose to read in there at the end of a long day. He took a step back out of the room and then headed back towards the door where he had placed his own bags.

His room was still exactly the same as it had been when he was eighteen, right before he switched Washington for New York. The walls were a deep shade of blue, adorned with only a few posters. One was the periodic table of elements, another Doctor Who themed and the last one was an Albert Einstein quote. Overall, the room was kept quite simple with a built in wardrobe running along one portion of the wall opposite his bed, two beside tables and an organised desk by the window that still had a few of his old medical journals sitting on it. There was a photo of him with his sisters on the desk and then another of him with Alfie as a puppy, but that was as far as it went photography wise. The rest of the décor in the room gave away his obsession with Doctor Who. Figurines of the characters sat on a shelf next do the door, ranging from the original Doctor all the way to Matt Smith’s version, he had a variety of sonic screwdrivers and TARDIS models on the shelf too. The cork board on the wall held his old high school schedule and several tickets from past Doctor Who conventions that he had attended as a teenager, including a somewhat faded polaroid snap of him and three friends dressed as various forms of the Doctor, Chase styled as the fourth incarnation of the Time Lord. His old guitar was propped up on its stand in the corner of the room and the rest of the room had certificates or small trophies from science events he had competed in on occasion.

Chase tossed his bags onto the freshly made bed and crossed the room to open his window a little further, liking to have his room completely aired out when he came home so that it didn’t smell of the cleaning products he knew would’ve been used on it that morning. Citrus might have been an appealing scent to some people, but Chase was around the smell of disinfectant daily and he didn’t need anything of the sort lingering in his sinuses when he went to bed at night. Plus, the ensuite would have been bleached and scrubbed down, which never left an appealing scent in there either. “Okay, since upstairs is pretty much covered for what you need to know, I’ll show you the rest of the house now.”[/color] Downstairs was a lot bigger and probably had more rooms Penny would find herself in during her stay at the McMahon house.
[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/justify]

• • •

TAGGED! Penny
WORDS! 975!
OUTFIT! Medical Mess!
LYRICS! I Will Follow You Into The Dark - - - Death Cab For Cutie
NOTES! <3

[Penny Michaela Kendall]

Penny was taking a couple weeks in August to go back home. The most time she could spend there anymore. The big city had called her siren’s song and Penny had to follow where it led. The last time she’d gone home her trip had lasted a month before she was packing up, slipping behind the wheel of her car and waving to her father. Her trip in August was a week longer than she would have liked but only because her brother was finally getting married to his college sweetheart. Penny suspected the only reason they were taking that trip down the aisle was because Elle threatened to leave him. Reilly would live forever with Elle without marrying her if he could. Penny probably knew that better than anyone else. Coming from a separated family, it was easy to understand the hesitation Reilly had to tying the knot. That one person would have to mean an awful lot to either of them to go through the worries that something might happen years down the road. Neither of them knew what their sister was like. Farrah had stayed with their mother, she’d had a different upbringing; one where money and appearance meant everything, and you couldn’t afford to be nice.

She looked up at Chase with a brow raised to her hairline. She didn’t know what to say to that since she hadn’t thought he’d heard her but then again, she also hadn’t been whispering it either so obviously she hadn’t said it all that quietly in the first place. She laughed easily, shaking her head. “That would be a seriously long game,” she agreed. With all the rooms in his childhood home, they would be at it for hours on end. Penny knew she would have given up long before the game got that far. Rolling her eyes, Penny slapped Chase’s arm lightly. “You’re supposed to tell me what I want to hear, not the truth,” she said, mischief lighting her dark eyes. Penny tapped her foot against the one bag, pushing it down the list of things she needed to do. “I would love that,” she said, following him out of the pretty room again. She would probably have to ask Chase where it was again before she found it again for the night. Penny stepped up next to Chase and peeked around the doorframe into the room and just about melted against the wall before taking a quick trip around the room. It was like a dream come true for the linguist. She loved reading, her own collection back in New York having too many books in too many languages. “If this is a dream, please, please don’t wake me,” she said putting a hand lightly on Chase’s bicep when she returned to his side.

She sighed as he closed the door again, but the grand tour of the house couldn’t begin with her bedroom and end with the library; though if she could, that would be where anyone found her whenever she snuck off in the next couple weeks. Penny had meant to stay outside his bedroom and wait for him to toss his bags and show her the rest of the vast house but he was taking some time and her curiosity got the better of her. Penny peeked into the room and immediately her chocolate eyes fell on a poster of her new found love. Unable to help herself, her head moved further into the room until she saw the rest of the space and just about squealed. She walked into the room, moving straight to the collection of Doctor Who figurines and memorabilia. There were a couple pieces lining the shelf that she had in her own collection back in New York. “Wow,” she said, softly, her face lighting up with the realization that they had more in common than she had originally thought. Carefully, she reached up but did not touch a few of the pieces in his collection. She had that sonic screwdriver at home, along with a replica of the TARDIS and the last two Doctors. “Anymore secret Doctor Who collections?” she asked at last, turning to look at Chase with a new perspective. She could have stayed in his room, just going through the entire collections, but that curiosity of hers was calling to see the rest of the house. So, finally, Penny sighed, walking out of Chase’s bedroom and leaning against the door because she had absolutely no idea which way she was going.

Tag || Chase!
Words || 756
Clothes || Road Trip!
Music || When I'm With You by Faber Drive
Notes || <3

[Chase Logan McMahon]

Chase didn’t really think about his future in terms of a happily ever after for himself. He figured that he might like the family life one day, but he wasn’t going to be the kind of guy to chase a whirlwind romance or have a kid on his shoulders any time soon. The day his mom and dad told him that he was adopted and explained it all to him was the day that Chase understood how it felt to be unwanted. He might have lucked out into a family where he would never know poverty first hand or have to fight through a rough neighbourhood, but that didn’t change the thoughts that floated through his head when he couldn’t sleep at night. At some point, he had been a careless mistake, an unwanted accident. What made it worse was that he knew that his biological mother had carried him for nine months, probably held him in her arms and then still didn’t feel the tug on her heartstrings to keep her own baby. The thoughts made him all the more serious about life, not wanting to rush into anything or ruin something that could be so special.

He rarely dealt with similar situations at the hospital, but he did consult on a few maternity patients who had pre-existing problems or concerns. Once he had met a woman who was giving her child up for adoption once she was born and Chase struggled to hold it together. It was better than some options, but as an adopted child himself, it always felt personal and left him just wanting to know why he had been given up and why he wasn’t enough for his biological parents. Luckily, in that instance, one of his friends had pulled him away from the patient and helped him keep himself in check before he said something that crossed the line from professional to personal. He loved his job and he had no complaints about his upbringing or the way he had turned out, but there was still a raw spot somewhere inside him when it came to adoptions, broken families and contraceptive accidents.

Grinning, he glanced across at his pretty companion and then shook his head. “I’m a doctor and the truth always comes first.”

[/color] He teased lightly. His talents with charming women were certainly lacking and he would probably be the guy to say that something didn’t quite suit her rather than smiling and going along with whatever fashion choice had been made. Some may appreciate his honest nature, but he had landed himself in the dog house in the past with ex-girlfriends who had wanted to hear him say they looked amazing. This might not have been about fashion or appearance right now, but Chase was still the same guy, regardless of the topic at hand.

He had spent hours in the library himself over the years, whether it was to do some hard studying through the night when he was cramming for finals or simply to lose himself in some piece of fiction. Grinning mischievously, he reached out, his hand brushing against her side as he playfully pinched her. “It’s not a dream.”[/color] He stated matter-of-factly before chuckling at how excited she seemed to be by one room. Chase had a feeling he knew where to find the pretty brunette if she ever vanished from his sight during their stay in his family home.

To Chase, his bedroom was just the same as anyone else’s. The memorabilia had been there adorning the shelves and walls since he was a kid and he sort of took it for granted that everyone knew about his favourite TV show and fandom. Laughing, he took a step towards the built in wardrobe and reached up for the overhead storage space, pulling it open and nodding towards it. “In there is a history of the Time Lords.”[/color] He confessed proudly, knowing the dark space held all of the limited edition collectibles that were still safe in their packaging and the other bits he had collected over the years, like books and old cassette tapes of audio adventures in the TARDIS. A part of his wardrobe also held his various costume accessories from when dressing up for conventions had been a main part of his life. Chase was a geek to the core and not ashamed of it, though people always seemed surprised to see just how invested in the programme he really was.

Tickling her lightly as he stepped ahead of her, Chase led Penny back down the stairs and then to the left, taking her through to see the main family room with TV, couches and everything else you’d expect to find in such a place. The doors beyond that led to what Chase and his sisters used to call the rec area of the house. The next room was a more casual sitting area, with a pool table and entertainment system. “Needless to say, this is where the teenage years were spent.”[/color] He laughed, turning up a narrow hallway that led to the modest size heated pool and Jacuzzi. It wasn’t often used, but it had been part of the house for as long as Chase could remember and a few laps in the middle of the night or early in the morning often helped him relax when he was really stressed. It was all there for Penny to use if she wanted too though and his parents would only echo those sentiments once they sat down with her and really got to chatting.
Once that was all seen and admired, he led her back through to the entrance hall, going right this time and turning to look at Penny with a grin. “Follow the tiles and you’ll get to the kitchen. My dad’s study and my mom’s office are the only things further around.”[/color] He explained, showing her the route. The kitchen was big and as elegant as the rest of the house with a breakfast bar and all the appliances a family might need to function and host dinner parties when the mood called for one. Along from there was the dining room and the open patio doors that led to the extensive back garden.

“And that is the grand tour complete, unless you want to see where we keep the tools.”[/color] He joked, pointing to the garage attached to the house. Outside, Alfie was already running around, chasing the ball that Chase’s mom tossed from where she was lounging in the afternoon sun. She had already placed another two chaise lounges out for Penny and Chase and a jug of icy fresh lemonade on the table, with a plate of cakes covered to keep the heat or Alfie from getting to the sweet treats. “Well, now our vacation can begin!”[/color] He laughed, stripping his hoodie off and almost his shirt with it before falling into the far lounger with a grin on his face.
[/blockquote][/blockquote][/size][/justify]

• • •

TAGGED! Penny
WORDS! 1,209!
OUTFIT! Medical Mess!
LYRICS! I Will Follow You Into The Dark - - - Death Cab For Cutie
NOTES! <3

[Penny Michaela Kendall]

Penny actually liked that Chase didn’t try to hide behind the fake nods and even fakers smiles. She would much rather know she looked good than only think it; though what others thought of her appearance hardly mattered to the brunette. She’d grown up with people teasing her about it, so when she’d turned from the ugly duckling to the pretty swan, Penny hadn’t changed her ways, or her wardrobe. The most she did was buy clothes in her size, but that was it. In the end, she wanted to be comfortable in what she had on; she wasn’t out to impress anyone. If Chase had told her what she wanted to hear, she probably would have genuinely been disappointed. But, he hadn’t and she liked that about it. It didn’t appear that he could lie to save his life anyway, and to Penny, that was a good trait. She was so sick of people lying just to get what they wanted in the long run. “I suppose I’ll have to get used to that, then,” she said, lightly on a sigh as if it were such a hardship to begin with.

Growing up, in the first house, they had had a library much like the one they were in now. There weren’t as many volumes adorning the walls but there were enough to keep the inquisitive mind Penny had happy. After the move, they had downgraded. They went from the lower levels of the upper class to the upper levels of the middle class. Penny hadn’t minded, neither had Reilly. They had both cared more about their father and each other to care where they ended up. It could have been a dive apartment somewhere and they would have been happy. That meant though, that they didn’t have a room dedicated only to books. In the new house, the collection of bound pages was house with the computers and desks used for studying. It made it more of a library in Penny’s eyes, since she had the hard copies at hand and a computer near by the gather any information she couldn’t find in the books surrounding her. She honestly thought they were better off without their money hungry mother. She let out a squeal, at the teasing pinch. She hadn’t been expecting it and he’d certainly caught her off guard. She swatted his hand away laughing, amused at his sudden playful nature. “Now, I have to admit, I’m a teeny bit jealous,” she said, grinning, still swatting at his hand just in case he tried that again.

Penny laughed, happily. “And I used to think Chris was obsessed, I think you have him beat,” she teased lightly, though she was quite impressed with the vast collection Chase had around his room. Penny would happily admit that she was very invested in the show. She had honestly bawled her eyes out when Rose “died” and squealed in delight every single time she came back, even if it was for a whole thirty seconds in an episode. And thinking about it, she was fairly certain she had actually packed a Doctor Who t-shirt; though it may have also found itself in the leave home pile. She wasn’t entirely sure and digging through the unpacked bags back in her room didn’t sound appealing, even if it was for a good cause. If she did pack it, it would be a pleasant surprise.

She giggled at Chase’s grab, her ticklish sides getting the better of her. Stepping into that first room though, she thought she might have gone slack jawed. The entire house was completely incredible. Penny could see all those stories Chase told her really happening in the grand space. “I officially don’t know which room I like more, the one with all the books or the one with the pool table,” she said, grinning. They had had one in the basement, and she was pretty sure her father still had it there. In their house, it was usually the basement everyone seemed to gather in; it was their rec area. They’d only had the pool table, TV and a couple couches at first, though the space had slowly started to fill with the eventual addition to numerous gaming systems, a poker table and the latest addition being the air hockey table her father had always wanted. “We’ll have to play a game some time,” she said, lightly, gauging to see if he was any good.

The next room had Penny going silent for a moment, awed. She could swim, but she hardly enjoyed the water unless it was an ocean or a lake. She wasn’t entirely sure if she was allergic to chlorine but she certainly had an unpleasant reaction to extended exposure and couldn’t swim in public areas because of it. It also meant the pool they’d had at home had to be cleaned with different products. Still, it was quite impressive, even if she probably wouldn’t be taking an extended dip. She could last a few laps before she had to pull herself from the water and rinse quickly. Penny kept up with Chase, looking this way and that when he mentioned something or pointed to another room. The kitchen was nice, but Penny couldn’t cook to save her life. She tried but the things she could toss together that were edible were hardly gourmet, so to her the kitchen was just a very nice, big kitchen. “I’m sure I could live without seeing where you keep the tools,” she said, rolling her eyes at him. Penny had noticed that the closer they got to DC and his home, the more playful he’d become; like he was finally comfortable to be himself or something. She didn’t know exactly what was causing this carefree side of Chase to emerge but she liked it. The gardens, like the rest of the house, were completely incredible. Penny loved every aspect of the place. “Stunning,” she said, as they stepped outside and she got the full view of the backyard. She sat in the free chaise, smoothing out the skirt of her dress.

Tag || Chase!
Words || 1 021
Clothes || Road Trip!
Music || When I'm With You by Faber Drive
Notes ||o.O <3

[Chase Logan McMahon]

Chase liked to approach life by treating people how he would like to be treated. This was why he was polite, friendly and respected everyone he met. He also despised liars, and was thankful that he couldn’t tell a lie to save his life, not even a little white one. His sisters always knew that he was the one to try and break when it was close to birthdays, because he’d panic and slip up sooner rather than later. He lived his life hoping that people would be decent enough to tell him the truth, especially if he asked a question. He’d rather hear the brutal honesty than a polite lie, no matter how much it hurt him. One of the most important things to Chase was knowing where he stood in life, with people, with his job…if he had that, then he rarely had a problem with anyone. “You mean you’re not already?”

[/color] He teased, feigning shock before a smirk crossed his face.

He had to admit, living in a place like this for almost all of his life had made the move to New York that little bit more difficult because he wanted an apartment that had everything he was used to. He didn’t need the pool or the large living spaces since it was just him and Alfie most of the time. However he did look for the sophisticated apartment and eventually settled on the three bedroom pad he had now. One of the spare rooms was an extra bedroom for whenever his sisters came to visit, usually to take advantage of the New York boutiques closer to Christmas, but the third he had turned into a miniature study. He had too many books to keep them all in the living room, so most of them took up shelf space in the third room. It was where he kept all of his medical journals and books too, so that his guests weren’t greeted by tomes of disease and blood. He may not have been the king of socialising, but he knew that one of the first rules was to not come across as a serial killer. He chuckled softly, pushing his hands into his pockets before looking down at the brunette beside him. “You suit green, darling, but envy doesn’t look so good on anyone.”[/color] He joked, with a slight flirtatious tone to his voice. He didn’t realise it, but he was a lot less tense now and seemed to have shed some of his inhibitions now that the pager was off his belt for at least two weeks and New York was another road trip away.

Laughing warmly, Chase closed the overhead storage and shrugged his shoulders. “We all have our little obsessions. What was yours? My Little Pony, perhaps?”[/color] He joked, not at all ashamed of his love for the sci-fi classic. It had been the thing he looked forward to as a little kid and had grown up with the old re-runs, desperately wishing he’d been alive to watch them when they had originally aired so that he had to have that week break where he wouldn’t know what would happen next. It was impossible to have that atmosphere when there were marathons on the cable channels and he, eventually, owned them all on DVD to watch whenever he felt like it. Most nights in New York there was a disc or two played, especially if Chase had had a bad day and needed an escape. He preferred to be alone on those days and let the old adventures wash away the bad news he had delivered or the thoughts of the patient he had lost.

Looking around the room they were in, Chase bumped Penny lightly and then shook his head. “You look like the kid who’s just found Narnia.”[/color] He said, finding the whole thing rather cute. He had never really thought about Penny’s reaction to his home, other than worrying she might think him some spoilt rich boy or judge him for living a good life. It was ridiculous to him now, but there had been one or two nurses in the hospital who had passed remark on living the “high life” as they called it, believing it made him less of a man, for some reason. Chase never got into it with them since he had more important things to be doing than arguing with a couple of grouchy nurses who almost always found an issue with something! “I’m sure you’ll have the chance to test both of them out before we leave.”[/color] He said, running his fingers along the edge of the table. “Name a date.”[/color] His lips twitched into a smirk, his dark eyes moving to find hers. He hadn’t played pool since he had been home last, but he was pretty decent with a cue and had spent many of his teenage days challenging his sisters and his dad.

Chase poured them both a glass of lemonade from the jug and then fixed his t-shirt, which had twisted around him somehow. Leaning back in the lounger, he let out a sigh of contentment and closed his eyes. Alfie brought the ball over to him and dropped it next to the doctor, waiting for him to throw it further down the garden for him again. Chase complied, wincing as it bounced into the bushes, knowing the large dog would bound right in without a care for his mom’s petunias. “Hey, mom, pass us a cake, would you?”[/color] He asked, sitting up. He was content to relax for a bit and give his mom and Penny time to chat a bit more; no doubt the embarrassing stories would surface in a few moments.
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• • •

TAGGED! Penny
WORDS! 1,001!
OUTFIT! Medical Mess!
LYRICS! I Will Follow You Into The Dark - - - Death Cab For Cutie
NOTES! <3

[Penny Michaela Kendall]

Penny would have jumped through hoops to be treated the way she treated others, but she’d opened her eyes. She realized she wouldn’t be treated the way she should have been because the people she knew were all about appearances and she wasn’t exactly a supermodel growing up. She tried it again when they’d moved, and she finally had friends who saw past her looks to the girl inside; she finally found a home. But because of her childhood, she’d developed a sarcastic streak a mile wide and walls higher than the Great Wall. She hadn’t wanted to let anyone in after that, but her walls were slowly crumbling. She just needed a little something for that final push. Penny shook her head. “You would think, wouldn’t you?” she remarked playfully. She liked that Chase was a terrible liar; she could always see through anything he tried and tease him playfully about it.

Penny hadn’t needed much when she went looking for an apartment in New York. She only needed a two bedroom in case her brother or her father decided to drop in for a visit; though it was really cramped when both of them showed up for a couple weeks of family reunion. Penny took the couch since she was the shortest of the trio and it was just easier for her, especially since she ended up falling asleep on the couch more often than she did her own bed after a long shift at work. “Careful, someone might think you’re flirting with me,” she said lightly, catching the cheeky tone in his voice. Since they’d hit the city limits, Penny had noticed a subtle change in Chase’s demeanour. He was more relaxed, laidback even. It was a nice side to see from the Doctor.

Penny looked up at Chase with a roll of her dark eyes. Of all the things in the world to be obsessed with, My Little Pony was so far down the list, it wasn’t even on it. She’d been obsessed with something else entirely; languages. She didn’t have friends, but she had books. “Lei ha perfettamente ragione!” she said first in Italian then, “Você me totalmente descoberto! Shall I go on?” she asked, teasing in Portuguese. She knew so many different languages, and could hold conversations in all of them, but writing things in some of them still gave her some troubles. These were her obsessions, the things she coveted growing up. Languages and shoes, but what girl didn’t love a fantastic pair of shoes.

“Now, now, Narnia’s in a cupboard… and a picture,” she teased, laughing. “Though I’d bet I could find in on a shelf upstairs, too.” She didn’t know if she’d be able to choose if asked, but Penny also didn’t think anyone was about to ask her either. The little library was right there outside the room she was staying in though, so the chances were, she would be found in there, curled up in the corner of the couch with one of the tomes opened in her hands. “I really hope so. I want to see how much of a shark you are,” she said, grinning. She was pretty good at the game herself, though it had been a while since she played. She was probably a little rusty at it. “Let’s see how things go,” she said evasively. She didn’t know if Chase had anything planned so she didn’t want to make some of her own, even if she was going to be with him, in case he’d had something thought up for them for then.

It was nice sitting out in the backyard. She hadn’t done that since last summer when she spent nearly a month lounging around Lafayette. “Thank you,” she said, smiling, accepting the glass of lemonade from Chase. She’d been too amazed by everything to realize she was thirsty. But she realized it once she took a sip of the delicious drinks. Being back in a family home, it made Penny realize how much she missed her own family. She spoke constantly to her father and Reilly and the siblings were always texting each other but it just wasn’t the same with them in Lafayette and her how many miles away in New York City. Sitting there now though, she didn’t have a clue what to say. For a fairly talkative person, Penny failed miserably at starting conversations unless she was behind the bar. And those techniques, she couldn’t use now.

Tag || Chase!
Words || 748
Clothes || Road Trip!
Music || When I'm With You by Faber Drive
Notes ||o.O <3

[Chase Logan McMahon]

Chase’s life in Washington had been defined by his family. Being adopted into wealth and power meant that very few people deliberately went out of their way to cause trouble with him, but it also meant that very few people were truly his friends. The people he went to school with either had parents who worked with Chase’s father or they were families who supported his cause and wanted to be closer to it. If there was anything Chase knew better than he let on, it was the game of politics and just how manipulative and fake it could be most of the time. There had only been one or two cruel remarks about being adopted fired at him, and at his age now, he could only assume they had been stopped by parents who were fearful of losing their jobs and the privileges that came with it. Chase knew that his dad wouldn’t fire someone just because their kid had a fight with his kid, but apparently people didn’t want to take a single risk when it came to William McMahon.

Being back in Washington though seemed to strip Chase of the responsibilities he worried far too much about when he was in New York. Here, he wasn’t another intern at the hospital trying to prove himself and his pager was a long way away. There were no patients to fuss about, no test results to stay behind and wait for and no worries about nurses and medications. Here, he could just be the man behind the lab coat and needles. He felt younger again and the playful side of his personality that was usually only something that his sisters saw during the holidays now. Chuckling, he decided to make another bold comment, stepping closer to the pretty brunette before meeting her eyes. “Then that person might be right.”

[/color] He said with a carefree smirk before turning around and walking away like nothing had just happened. He had never been a big flirt and on the times when it did slip out he often grew nervous very quickly and just found it best to move on almost immediately, as though it would remove any embarrassment he may be feeling.

He knew Penny liked her languages since it had been one of the first conversations they had shared in the hospital over a cup of coffee the day that they had met. Since it was one of the few reasons she worked at the hospital it seemed inevitable that it would get mentioned sooner or later. Still, Chase’s own skills at mastering a foreign language ended at German, which he had learnt in high school and kept it on for a few semesters at college after his dad endlessly reminded him how beneficial it was to be fluent in another language. Chase rarely had to use it now and when he did it still took him a bit of thought to pull it all together and get the right tenses again. “Alright, alright, I get the picture.”[/color] He said, waving Penny and her foreign tongue away.

“That’s what literature would have you think.”[/color] He said with a casual grin and a twinkle in his dark eyes. Narnia had, strangely, been the topic of debate one year when the McMahon’s had been driving up to their cabin for the holidays. It had eventually driven his parents crazy, but the children still mentioned it just to tease them from time to time. It had only happened because Alicia had finished reading the last book on the way up and had a million and ten questions about it, which then led to the ever curious Chase posing more questions about the possibilities of Narnia and opening up a whole deep, four hour discussion on the subject. “Oh, just you wait. There’s a hell of a lot more to me than blood.”[/color] He joked, not doubting that she’d soon see more about his life as their trip continued. There was a lot in the house that brought out a more childish and playful side to the young doctor; things that hadn’t moved to New York with him. The memories alone were enough to show that and his mom probably had photographs to prove some of the stories too.

Chase knew that this relaxing period would only last a short while before his sisters and father came home, asking questions, chatting away and striking up plans like there was no tomorrow. The family may not have been a chaotic one but they were chatty and they did like to keep busy and know what everyone was doing and when. Alfie bounded back up the garden with the ball for Chase to throw again and this time he made sure to aim it away from the flowerbeds. His mom, after passing the cake across to her adopted son, turned her attention to Penny, asking her about New York, her family, work and anything else that Abigail found interesting about her son’s pretty companion. Chase let them get on with it, chiming in every now and then to correct his mom’s stories or to save his own face whenever the conversation mentioned him. He’d let them get to know each other while he kept his big beast of a dog entertained with a now drool covered tennis ball.
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• • •

TAGGED! Penny
WORDS! 935!
OUTFIT! Medical Mess!
LYRICS! I Will Follow You Into The Dark - - - Death Cab For Cutie
NOTES! <3

[Penny Michaela Kendall]

Penny didn’t actually flirt well. For her it was all a show at work. Words were her thing, and knowing how to use them to suit her was easy. This was the only reason she was able to flirt, because she knew words, she could smile and since she tried so hard to lose the taunting of her childhood, she wasn’t the ugly duckling she had once been. She could see people flirting a mile away, could tell when someone was flirting with her, but it was rare she flirted back unless she was aiming for tips when she was working the bar. Knowing Chase was really flirting with her kind of threw her a bit. Since meeting the doctor, he’d hardly been anything more than serious and a little stiff. Penny tried every time they were together to get him to lighten up, even inviting him to the restaurant on a night she was tending bar to try and loosen him up, but it hadn’t really worked. She wanted to say something back, something flirty and bold but Chase walked away like it had all been in Penny’s imagination, even though she knew it had happened. Grinning, Penny followed him through the house on the tour. This new Side of Chase was fun; Penny didn’t want to lose this side of him when they finally returned to real life.

The brunette linguist laughed, rolling her eyes. It was amusing when she was able to show up Chase. It didn’t happen very often and languages were the only things that had her winning over him. She did a little happy dance at the win. She still taught herself languages and kept up on the ones she already knew so she wouldn’t get rusty. There were so many of them though that even she was a little shocked by it sometimes. She bumped her shoulder into his lightly, keeping up the light flirting from before. She wasn’t quite ready to give that up. “Literature’s a mysterious mistress,” she agreed. Books had been everything in her childhood and then some. Penny hadn’t had real friends, but she found some in the papers of the classics. Penny grinned, sliding closer to him. “I can’t wait to see this,” she said, grinning. When she was with Chase, she saw different sides of him, but they were mostly those serious and stiff sides. She wanted to see him lose a little bit of that calm that control. She wanted to see him relax, enjoying himself, teasing and being playful. Those things Penny didn’t see often.

Once Chase’s mom started their conversation off, Penny relaxed and kept up a steady conversation with the older woman. For a bartender, she was clueless when it came to starting conversations. She should have been used to talking to people, but she wasn’t. She could talk to them in at least 7 languages and yet, she had a habit of freezing whenever it came to actually putting all those words she knew to good use. Penny told Chase’s mom all about what she did in New York, her family back in Lafayette and how she had met the charming doctor; her take on that moment at any rate. Penny was sure Chase had mentioned how they’d met before, but it was different coming from another perspective. After all, her side of the story had Chase talking her down from an anger induced panic attack and possibly saving her from being charged for assault. She laughed easier now, agreeing for whatever reason to go shoe shopping with the other woman the first afternoon Chase had nothing planned. She was an addict, would happily admit to the title and wear it like a badge of honour. Penny hoped his mom didn’t mind her asking questions either. There were a few things Penny wanted to know about DC, about Chase as a kid. She had heard so many stories from him, but like her story about their meeting, she wanted to hear the stories from his mother’s perspective. Hopefully the older woman wouldn’t omit any embarrassing moments and just spill it all happily tormenting her beloved son.

Tag || Chase!
Words || 694
Clothes || Road Trip!
Music || When I'm With You by Faber Drive
Notes ||o.O <3

[Chase Logan McMahon]

Chase didn’t have to flirt in his line of work, which was a relief for countless reasons. He had never been good at charming people with a few words or romantic surprises. All of his girlfriends in the past had told him as much and so Chase didn’t exactly walk around trying to chat up the attractive nurses or even girls he met when he was out grocery shopping or jogging through Central Park. One or two tried it with him occasionally, but it just left him feeling uncomfortable for not knowing how to deal with something like that. He had tried to explain it to friends when they asked him about break-ups, but Chase simply had nothing that he could say about it. Sometimes he could pull it off and other times he was left looking like an idiot with egg on his face. He was a little bit proud of his recent flirting attempt, but put it down to being in comfort of his own home where he didn’t feel like he had to be anyone else, rather than it being Penny. If it was her then he would’ve been able to flirt like that sooner, right?

He would never understand what Penny was on about whenever she switched into another language and part of him thought that best. Speaking all those different languages was her thing in the same way that blood was his thing. He managed to avoid dropping it into conversations randomly, but the second there was a link mentioned he was there, more than often with a “did you know” fact. “And she’s had her wicked way with many of us.”

[/color] He added with a small laugh. There had been too many nights when he had sacrificed sleep for a good plotline or to find out what the shocking twist was going to be in his latest purchase from the bookstore. His life in New York did evolve around the hospital and it probably always would, but that didn’t mean it would be the only thing in his life by the time he reached retirement. Penny definitely would see a more playful side to him now that there was no beeper and no calls from the hospital to interrupt his life. Back in the city, Chase always kept his mind focused in case he was needed back there at the drop of a hat.

Chase paid some attention to his best friend on four legs while the women chatted away. The second the conversation switched to shopping and shoes, Chase switched out. Instead, he played tug with Alfie, the large animal almost pulling him off the lounger completely from time to time. The St Bernard always seemed to have more energy once that car ride was over, but normally his sisters were around to help tire the poor beast out. At the sound of the conversation switching to the more embarrassing moments of Chase’s life the young doctor switched back on and leaned across to address the two women. “Mom, remember what happened the last time you did this.”[/color] He teased, reminding his mom of the time he had managed to catch her out on a bunch of the stories she had told him and his sisters when they were just kids. It had ended up being her with the flushed cheeks and not him or his siblings.

The sound of someone behind him caught his attention next and he grinned at the entrance of the two girls, hopping up from his seat to grab each of them in turn and spin them around in a tight hug. They might have been his annoying little sisters, but he loved them all the same for it. “Penny, this is Alicia and Jen. Sisters, meet Penny.”[/color] He grinned, refilling his lemonade and leaning against the walls while the women got acquainted and his sisters spoke about their shopping adventure from earlier in the day. Once again, Chase found the excuse to switch his attention back to Alfie, keeping the dog entertained and occupied until once again he heard his name crop up. “What now?”[/color] He asked with an exaggerated sigh, his eyes fixed on Penny as he raised his eyebrow.
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TAGGED! Penny <3
WORDS! 749!
OUTFIT! Medical Mess!
LYRICS! I Will Follow You Into The Dark - - - Death Cab For Cutie
NOTES! <3