"Latitudes" (Stepping Stones, 1987)
Aug. 1st, 2009 07:46 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
riptide_asylumTitle: Latitudes
Rating: PG
Summary: Murray's intriguing relationship with Charlene, Roboz and a cast of thousands causes ripples at Slip 7.
The Riptide Detective Agency was enjoying an early dinner at Straightaways, and mulling over plans for the weekend. Nick had a blown piston to contend with, and Cody wanted to go fishing. Then again, Cody always wanted to go fishing. Murray, however, had plans of his own.
"So Boz," Nick gestured with a fry. "You and Wes an item now, or what?"
Murray wiped his mouth with one corner of the napkin tucked into his collar. "Oh absolutely, Nick. And Kara, too!"
Cody choked on a bite of burger, and Nick thumped him soundly on the back with a warning look. He leaned over his own burger protectively. "How's that work with Charlene?"
Murray nodded, eyes wide and distant. "Well with Charlene spending the year in Taipei on her internship, she and I agreed we'd each have certain...latitudes, to--"
"'Latitudes'?" Cody asked Nick softly. Nick elbowed him in the ribs and glanced at Murray. Cody went back to his burger with an annoyed look.
"Yeah, you know, 'latitudes'," Murray explained eagerly. He mimed the word with open palms. "She and I are each free to pursue whatever um, pleasures of the flesh--"
This time both Nick and Cody choked. Murray's face fell.
"Keep going, Boz," Cody said apologetically. "I just took a breath at the wrong time. Went down the--" He cleared his throat. "--the wrong pipe. You were saying, 'pleasures of the flesh'..." Cody encouraged him with a handwave. Under the table, he kicked Nick's ankle.
Murray looked from one of his friends to the other suspiciously, then continued. "See, the way Charlene explained it, this way neither of us have to labor under the constraints of an outdated system of morals based on the a priori assumption--uh, Nick, that means--"
"I know what it means, Murray. I've assumed before." Nick sucked salt from his fingertips.
"--that neither partner would be interested in pursuing uh, positively focused, fleshbound activities."
"You mean sex, Murray. You're talking about having sex with other people." Nick frowned.
Murray tilted his head to one side, considering the issue. "Well, yes. Charlene and I get to have sex with whoever and however many people we choose."
Around them, several other diners looked up from their meals, and Cody smiled at them nervously.
"Doesn't that bother you, Murray? That she's off having sex with whoever she wants?" Nick narrowed his eyes.
Murray looked hurt. "Well no, not really. We darp each other a couple times a day, and talk to each other on the phone almost every night!"
Darp? Cody mouthed at Nick. Nick shrugged.
"Well I think it stinks, Murray. I think this girl might be using you, you know that?"
"Her using him?" Cody gestured with his burger, chewing rapidly. "Sounds like he's pretty happy with the deal. And so are Wes and Kara, right Murray?" He grinned and waggled his eyebrows.
Nick sat back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. "Oh you think so, Dr. Ruth?"
Cody swallowed with difficulty and reached for his soda. "I'm not saying it'd work for everyone, Nick, but it seems to work for Murray and Charlene all right." He took a long focused slurp of his drink.
"That's right, Cody, it does. Thank you for being so open-minded about the whole thing." Murray picked at his lasagna with wounded dignity. "Hey, you know, Cody? Maybe it would work for you and Tammy, too!"
Soda sprayed across the table and Nick giggled.
Murray gave him a curious look as he rose and helped Cody clean up the mess, offering the napkin from his collar. Cody held up a hand. "It's okay, Boz. Thanks. Boz, I think I've got it under control." He shot Nick a dark look.
"Are you sure, Cody? I think there might be some--" Murray pointed to the sleeve of Cody's sweater.
"I got it, Boz, okay? It's all under control." Cody mopped valiantly at his sleeve.
"Is that so?" Nick asked. He was sitting all the way back in his chair, eyes on Cody.
Cody pushed the rest of his burger away, uneaten, as Murray launched into another long description of Charlene's groundbreaking research on lasers. Nick didn't take his eyes off Cody for a long time.
---
The two of them walked side by side down the promenade towards the Riptide's slip in silence. After dinner, Murray had been picked up by a brunette in a Corolla. Neither of them had asked whether she was the mysterious Kara while securing the Roboz to her roof-rack, although she did shoot several inquiring glances their way. Murray'd managed a wave as the small sedan cleared the parking lot speedbumps.
Now the pier was nearly deserted, a line of locked and shuttered storefronts standing sentinel over the lightless boats bobbing at anchor. As they walked, they were accompanied by a chorus of intermittent, gentle thunks, hulls against seawater-swollen wood and the nameless, constant breathing of the ocean at night.
Cody cleared his throat. "You know, Nick, I been thinking."
"Yeah, Cody? What about?" Nick's eyes were on the ocean.
"About what Murray was saying at dinner tonight."
"Thought you might be. You thinking you might wanna give this latitude thing a try with Tammy?"
"No, Nick, I'm not." Cody said. He sighed and stopped in the middle of the concrete walkway. After a few more steps, Nick stopped too.
"Look buddy, all that stuff, over dinner, about...you know..."
"No, Cody, I don't know." Nick shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I thought I knew, but hell, turns out maybe I don't know as much as I thought. Or as much as you know."
Cody shook his head, clearing it. "Nick, when I said I thought it was great about Murray and Charlene...and Wes and Kara, I meant it. I'm really glad he's out there having fun. I mean, Charlene seems like a nice girl and all--"
"Uh huh."
"--and I don't wanna see the little guy get hurt--"
"Yeah me neither, man. Me neither."
"But look at him. He seems really happy, so maybe that latitude thing really does work for him."
Nick chewed his lip thoughtfully, watching Cody without speaking.
"But me, I don't think I could do it, Nick. I need..." Cody raked a hand through his hair and squinted off towards the ocean. Nick waited patiently.
"Maybe I don't know what I need, Nick."
"I'll say that again."
Cody's eyes grew large. "That's not what I'm saying."
Nick's shoulders rose in a shrug. "Then what are you saying, Cody? You wanna play around with other people, sow some more wild oats, play the field? Go for it, don't let me stop you. But for fuck's sake tell me, Cody, because that's not me, okay? I'm not that kind of guy. Once I'm with a person, really with them, that's it. I give it everything I've got, you know? No games, no latitudes. So you tell me, Cody, right now, if that's not what you want. "
"Nick...that's not what I'm saying."
"It isn't?" Nick's eyes flashed. "Sounded to me like that's exactly what you were saying, pal."
Cody groaned. "Look, I'm trying to tell you..."
Nick breathed heavily, the effort it took to keep silent written all over his face.
Cody started to speak again, then stopped. He raked a hand through his hair, eyes on Nick, then shook his head. "Forget it."
Nick's hand on his arm stopped him where he stood. "No. I won't forget it. But if you don't tell me what's going on, maybe we should both forget it."
"Nick..." Cody stepped in close, arms folded across his chest. "Look, if you were Tammy--"
"--I'd look a helluva lot better in a bikini for a start. Where are you going with this?"
"Nick, would you just let me finish?"
Nick held his hands up in surrender and hung his head, silent. He looked back up when Cody spoke again.
"If you were Tammy, Nick, this would be easy. All this--you and me and-and-and our respective latitudes would be a done deal, you know that. But Nick, you're you, and-and I'm me, and us together, we're...we're us."
"Together. Yeah, I think you mentioned that, Cody."
"Okay fine, forget it. I don't know what the hell I was thinking even bringing it up."
"No, no, look, man, I'm sorry--"
"Thank you, Nick--"
"--I'm sorry. Keep going."
Cody took a deep breath, looking down at his feet, then back off down the promenade, shifting slightly from side to side, arms still crossed across his chest.
"Cody." Nick's voice was soft, and his eyes large and liquid.
"Nick, you and me together," Cody said quietly, "that's it. I can't imagine it any other way. It's just...it's just different, that's all."
Nick pursed his lips, then a smile drew them upwards. "Well put," he said finally.
Cody stared at him uneasily from under his bangs, waiting.
"Okay, very well put. Look Cody, as far as I'm concerned, you and me are different, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Not for all the Karas and Tammys in the world."
Cody smiled cheerfully. "Not even for a couple of really good-looking Wes's?"
Nick tilted his head, giving Cody his best attempt at a dark look; it turned into a grin.
Cody's own smile brightened and he turned, bumping Nick's shoulder as they resumed walking. A round of muted applause sounded from Straightaway's, carrying perfectly across the water, and as it died away, the house band started in on a slow, jazzy waltz.
"That crack about Tammy, tonight." Cody shook his head. "You don't know how close it is to the truth. Nick, d'you have any idea how much she likes to party when she's off the boat?"
Nick didn't look over. "Get outta here."
"Scout's honor. I think this whole latitude thing'd be right up her alley. Hell, she might've been the one invented it. Do you know, she once told me this story about her and Bambi, back when they were pledging at Redondo State?" Cody shivered. "And this other one about when they were living in West Hollywood--"
"Cody..."
"--with some of their sorority sisters, and they hosted a cast party for the local dinner theatre people? I'm telling you, Nick, Tammy's a real broad-minded girl. You wouldn't believe some of the things she's done."
"I wouldn't, huh?" They reached the gate to their slip and Nick opened the padlock with a few deft movements. A smile played around the corners of his mouth. "Try me."
Cody put a hand on Nick's arm, smiling softly, staring up at Nick from under his long blond lashes, eyes desiring and lascivious. "I think that might be the best idea you've had all night, buddy."
Chuckling, Nick slapped his partner on the back, ushering him through the gateway and closing the door firmly behind them. He took a moment to reset the padlock, then followed Cody down the gangplank and back to the Riptide.
Rating: PG
Summary: Murray's intriguing relationship with Charlene, Roboz and a cast of thousands causes ripples at Slip 7.
The Riptide Detective Agency was enjoying an early dinner at Straightaways, and mulling over plans for the weekend. Nick had a blown piston to contend with, and Cody wanted to go fishing. Then again, Cody always wanted to go fishing. Murray, however, had plans of his own.
"So Boz," Nick gestured with a fry. "You and Wes an item now, or what?"
Murray wiped his mouth with one corner of the napkin tucked into his collar. "Oh absolutely, Nick. And Kara, too!"
Cody choked on a bite of burger, and Nick thumped him soundly on the back with a warning look. He leaned over his own burger protectively. "How's that work with Charlene?"
Murray nodded, eyes wide and distant. "Well with Charlene spending the year in Taipei on her internship, she and I agreed we'd each have certain...latitudes, to--"
"'Latitudes'?" Cody asked Nick softly. Nick elbowed him in the ribs and glanced at Murray. Cody went back to his burger with an annoyed look.
"Yeah, you know, 'latitudes'," Murray explained eagerly. He mimed the word with open palms. "She and I are each free to pursue whatever um, pleasures of the flesh--"
This time both Nick and Cody choked. Murray's face fell.
"Keep going, Boz," Cody said apologetically. "I just took a breath at the wrong time. Went down the--" He cleared his throat. "--the wrong pipe. You were saying, 'pleasures of the flesh'..." Cody encouraged him with a handwave. Under the table, he kicked Nick's ankle.
Murray looked from one of his friends to the other suspiciously, then continued. "See, the way Charlene explained it, this way neither of us have to labor under the constraints of an outdated system of morals based on the a priori assumption--uh, Nick, that means--"
"I know what it means, Murray. I've assumed before." Nick sucked salt from his fingertips.
"--that neither partner would be interested in pursuing uh, positively focused, fleshbound activities."
"You mean sex, Murray. You're talking about having sex with other people." Nick frowned.
Murray tilted his head to one side, considering the issue. "Well, yes. Charlene and I get to have sex with whoever and however many people we choose."
Around them, several other diners looked up from their meals, and Cody smiled at them nervously.
"Doesn't that bother you, Murray? That she's off having sex with whoever she wants?" Nick narrowed his eyes.
Murray looked hurt. "Well no, not really. We darp each other a couple times a day, and talk to each other on the phone almost every night!"
Darp? Cody mouthed at Nick. Nick shrugged.
"Well I think it stinks, Murray. I think this girl might be using you, you know that?"
"Her using him?" Cody gestured with his burger, chewing rapidly. "Sounds like he's pretty happy with the deal. And so are Wes and Kara, right Murray?" He grinned and waggled his eyebrows.
Nick sat back in his chair, folding his arms across his chest. "Oh you think so, Dr. Ruth?"
Cody swallowed with difficulty and reached for his soda. "I'm not saying it'd work for everyone, Nick, but it seems to work for Murray and Charlene all right." He took a long focused slurp of his drink.
"That's right, Cody, it does. Thank you for being so open-minded about the whole thing." Murray picked at his lasagna with wounded dignity. "Hey, you know, Cody? Maybe it would work for you and Tammy, too!"
Soda sprayed across the table and Nick giggled.
Murray gave him a curious look as he rose and helped Cody clean up the mess, offering the napkin from his collar. Cody held up a hand. "It's okay, Boz. Thanks. Boz, I think I've got it under control." He shot Nick a dark look.
"Are you sure, Cody? I think there might be some--" Murray pointed to the sleeve of Cody's sweater.
"I got it, Boz, okay? It's all under control." Cody mopped valiantly at his sleeve.
"Is that so?" Nick asked. He was sitting all the way back in his chair, eyes on Cody.
Cody pushed the rest of his burger away, uneaten, as Murray launched into another long description of Charlene's groundbreaking research on lasers. Nick didn't take his eyes off Cody for a long time.
---
The two of them walked side by side down the promenade towards the Riptide's slip in silence. After dinner, Murray had been picked up by a brunette in a Corolla. Neither of them had asked whether she was the mysterious Kara while securing the Roboz to her roof-rack, although she did shoot several inquiring glances their way. Murray'd managed a wave as the small sedan cleared the parking lot speedbumps.
Now the pier was nearly deserted, a line of locked and shuttered storefronts standing sentinel over the lightless boats bobbing at anchor. As they walked, they were accompanied by a chorus of intermittent, gentle thunks, hulls against seawater-swollen wood and the nameless, constant breathing of the ocean at night.
Cody cleared his throat. "You know, Nick, I been thinking."
"Yeah, Cody? What about?" Nick's eyes were on the ocean.
"About what Murray was saying at dinner tonight."
"Thought you might be. You thinking you might wanna give this latitude thing a try with Tammy?"
"No, Nick, I'm not." Cody said. He sighed and stopped in the middle of the concrete walkway. After a few more steps, Nick stopped too.
"Look buddy, all that stuff, over dinner, about...you know..."
"No, Cody, I don't know." Nick shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I thought I knew, but hell, turns out maybe I don't know as much as I thought. Or as much as you know."
Cody shook his head, clearing it. "Nick, when I said I thought it was great about Murray and Charlene...and Wes and Kara, I meant it. I'm really glad he's out there having fun. I mean, Charlene seems like a nice girl and all--"
"Uh huh."
"--and I don't wanna see the little guy get hurt--"
"Yeah me neither, man. Me neither."
"But look at him. He seems really happy, so maybe that latitude thing really does work for him."
Nick chewed his lip thoughtfully, watching Cody without speaking.
"But me, I don't think I could do it, Nick. I need..." Cody raked a hand through his hair and squinted off towards the ocean. Nick waited patiently.
"Maybe I don't know what I need, Nick."
"I'll say that again."
Cody's eyes grew large. "That's not what I'm saying."
Nick's shoulders rose in a shrug. "Then what are you saying, Cody? You wanna play around with other people, sow some more wild oats, play the field? Go for it, don't let me stop you. But for fuck's sake tell me, Cody, because that's not me, okay? I'm not that kind of guy. Once I'm with a person, really with them, that's it. I give it everything I've got, you know? No games, no latitudes. So you tell me, Cody, right now, if that's not what you want. "
"Nick...that's not what I'm saying."
"It isn't?" Nick's eyes flashed. "Sounded to me like that's exactly what you were saying, pal."
Cody groaned. "Look, I'm trying to tell you..."
Nick breathed heavily, the effort it took to keep silent written all over his face.
Cody started to speak again, then stopped. He raked a hand through his hair, eyes on Nick, then shook his head. "Forget it."
Nick's hand on his arm stopped him where he stood. "No. I won't forget it. But if you don't tell me what's going on, maybe we should both forget it."
"Nick..." Cody stepped in close, arms folded across his chest. "Look, if you were Tammy--"
"--I'd look a helluva lot better in a bikini for a start. Where are you going with this?"
"Nick, would you just let me finish?"
Nick held his hands up in surrender and hung his head, silent. He looked back up when Cody spoke again.
"If you were Tammy, Nick, this would be easy. All this--you and me and-and-and our respective latitudes would be a done deal, you know that. But Nick, you're you, and-and I'm me, and us together, we're...we're us."
"Together. Yeah, I think you mentioned that, Cody."
"Okay fine, forget it. I don't know what the hell I was thinking even bringing it up."
"No, no, look, man, I'm sorry--"
"Thank you, Nick--"
"--I'm sorry. Keep going."
Cody took a deep breath, looking down at his feet, then back off down the promenade, shifting slightly from side to side, arms still crossed across his chest.
"Cody." Nick's voice was soft, and his eyes large and liquid.
"Nick, you and me together," Cody said quietly, "that's it. I can't imagine it any other way. It's just...it's just different, that's all."
Nick pursed his lips, then a smile drew them upwards. "Well put," he said finally.
Cody stared at him uneasily from under his bangs, waiting.
"Okay, very well put. Look Cody, as far as I'm concerned, you and me are different, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Not for all the Karas and Tammys in the world."
Cody smiled cheerfully. "Not even for a couple of really good-looking Wes's?"
Nick tilted his head, giving Cody his best attempt at a dark look; it turned into a grin.
Cody's own smile brightened and he turned, bumping Nick's shoulder as they resumed walking. A round of muted applause sounded from Straightaway's, carrying perfectly across the water, and as it died away, the house band started in on a slow, jazzy waltz.
"That crack about Tammy, tonight." Cody shook his head. "You don't know how close it is to the truth. Nick, d'you have any idea how much she likes to party when she's off the boat?"
Nick didn't look over. "Get outta here."
"Scout's honor. I think this whole latitude thing'd be right up her alley. Hell, she might've been the one invented it. Do you know, she once told me this story about her and Bambi, back when they were pledging at Redondo State?" Cody shivered. "And this other one about when they were living in West Hollywood--"
"Cody..."
"--with some of their sorority sisters, and they hosted a cast party for the local dinner theatre people? I'm telling you, Nick, Tammy's a real broad-minded girl. You wouldn't believe some of the things she's done."
"I wouldn't, huh?" They reached the gate to their slip and Nick opened the padlock with a few deft movements. A smile played around the corners of his mouth. "Try me."
Cody put a hand on Nick's arm, smiling softly, staring up at Nick from under his long blond lashes, eyes desiring and lascivious. "I think that might be the best idea you've had all night, buddy."
Chuckling, Nick slapped his partner on the back, ushering him through the gateway and closing the door firmly behind them. He took a moment to reset the padlock, then followed Cody down the gangplank and back to the Riptide.
