Here's a short story I wrote last night as I was chatting with my sweetie

and avoiding working on the next part of " 'Till Death Do Us Part?' "

Feel free to send me feedback.

Rating: PG-13

Characters: M, OFC

Summary: instant chat with the ROG

Disclaimer: I don't own him. I'm not making any money off of this little creative writing venture. Please don't sue me. I'm sure somewhere these nicknames are being used, hence why I don't say what instant chat service they're using. You can blame one Australian boyfriend of mine who looks too much like PW for his own good for this story.

Midnight Conversation

By: Ekat

She walked into her apartment and immediately dropped her briefcase. Her heavy winter coat soon joined it in a pile on the floor. She absentmindedly stepped over the pile and walked further into the apartment. Realizing that she was still wearing her snow covered boots, she stopped and removed them.

As she bent down she was assaulted by a small blur of orange fluff. She reached over and scratched the kitten between her eyes. "Hello, Precious. I take it you want dinner?" As she spoke the magic word, 18 pounds of black feline bounded out of the bedroom. "Am I to understand that you want to be feed as well?" she asked the cat as he head-butted her shin.

"Mrrroooow!" he responded and ran into the kitchen. The kitten quickly followed him. The yowling of the cats grew louder.

"All right, alright, I'm coming. Gees, the way you two carry on people would think that I never feed you," she laughed as she followed the sound into the kitchen. She walked over to the pantry and pulled out a can of cat food. She then reached into a drawer and pulled out a fork. By this point she was almost deaf from the yowling that the black cat was making. "Yelling at me is not going to make me move any faster, you know."

She reached down and picked up both cats' food bowls. The two felines circled around the table like sharks, tails and ears up. She popped the top of the cat food can off. The large black cat reared up and put his front paws on the edge of the table. "Get your feet of the table. I've taught you better manners than that," she scolded him. He dropped back down to the floor.

Using the fork she divided the contents of the can between the two bowls. She picked the bowls up and stood over the cats. "Sit," she commanded. She could hear her mother laughing insider her head. Her mother had been trying for years to tell her you can't train a cat to sit. She was determined to prove mom wrong.

"Mmmmmowww!" the black cat yelled, refusing to sit.

"You know the rules, no food until you park your butt on the floor." The large feline finally sat down. She placed his food bowl in front of him. "Good boy." She turned to the orange one. "Now you. Sit."

The cat lowered her back end but it was a far cry from what she would call sitting. "Come on, all the way down." Eventually the tiger sat and was rewarded with her dinner. "Good girl."

She let the cats eat in peace and headed into the living room. The light on her answering machine blinked to tell her she had a message waiting. She pushed play.

"Hey it's Una. Um.. I forgot that I'm supposed to meet Kel tonight so I'm not going to be able to do dinner. Can I have a raincheck? Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow. Bye."

She sighed. "Figures," she mumbled. "I have a crappy day at work, look forward to going out with one of my best friends for dinner to cheer me up, and what happens, I get stood up so she can see her boyfriend." The black cat walked into the room, licking his whiskers. "Well Baby, it looks like it you, me and a rerun of 'Whose Line is it Anyway?'. Big excitement there, huh?" she asked the cat. He looked up with his huge orange eyes and yawned. She chuckled to herself. "My thoughts exactly."

She walked into the bedroom to change out of her work clothes. She flipped on the light and looked around. The orange cat came up behind her and rubbed against her legs. "You know what, Precious? It's a good thing I'm single. One look at my housekeeping skills would send any man running."

She stepped over a pile of clothes on the floor and switched on her computer. "Might as well use my sudden free time to catch up on my e-mail." As the computer kicked into life, she rummaged through the pile she had just stepped over to find a clean pair of leggings and a T-shirt. Eventually she ended up with a pair of bright neon purple leggings and a white T-shirt that had red writing on it that read "Stop me before I volunteer again!!" She still didn't know what possessed her to purchase the leggings. The shirt was a Christmas gift from her sister. It was actually her favorite shirt and it said so much about her personality.

She reached over and clicked the mouse of her computer on the Internet provider program. As it launched, she changed her clothes. She watched the computer connect with the all-powerful Internet and automatically log her into her instant chat program as well.

As she sat down at the desk, and she was greeted with a loud "ding" as the screen filled with a message screen.

ALTES: about time you got home.

She smiled. It had been a long time since she chatted with him.

TIAMUT: What do you mean? It's only 6

ALTES: It's after midnight here. Here I purposefully stay awake to chat with you and you take forever to log on.

TIAMUT: Stay awake? Where are you?

ALTES: Paris

TIAMUT: Paris! What the hell are you doing in Paris? Last time I spoke to you you were in Seacouver.

ALTES: research. new lead on the horsemen myth

She smiled. She had met him the summer before at a medieval researchers' convention. They had literally reached for the same book at a merchant's table at the same time. After some friendly arguing, she conceded the book to him, in exchange for dinner. His name was Adam... something and he was a grad student doing research on the myth of the four horsemen of the apocalypse. Somehow he had managed to get her to give him her chat name and ever since they had chatted at least once every couple weeks..

TIAMUT: anything interesting?

ALTES: some, seems that there are carvings from the bronze age that describe ferocious warriors on horseback that rode out of the east and destroyed everything in their path. I may have to go to Iran to follow this up.

TIAMUT: sounds like you're in heaven. But then again, you're in Paris. That's close enough in my book.

ALTES: you don't have to deal with the French.

She laughed. She needed his dry sense of humor right now and that was exactly what he was giving her.

TIAMUT: LOL. I've NEVER had to deal with the French so you get no sympathy from me. When do you think you'll be heading to Iran?

ALTES: couple weeks. Want to finish following up this lead.

TIAMUT: You are such a geek. An adorable geek, but a geek none the same.

ALTES: I AM NOT!!! You're as much of a history buff as I am.

TIAMUT: Adam, love, I may enjoy the occasional dive into historical research, but I have not made a career out of traveling the world tracking down obscure references on a myth that no one really cares about.

ALTES: *snort* I care.

TIAMUT: I know you do and I find it cute. :)

ALTES: Hey, I've been meaning to ask you for a while, what does your nic mean?

TIAMUT: Nic?

ALTES: Your chat nickname. It looks familiar but I can't figure out where I've seen it before.

TIAMUT: Tiamut is the ancient Babylonian creation goddess.

ALTES: I knew I have seen that name before. Aren't you being a little egotistical to call yourself a goddess? Not that I am disagreeing mind you.

TIAMUT: *blush* actually, I picked it because it's the exact opposite of how I see myself. BRB, I need to get something to drink.

She got up and walked into the kitchen. She poured herself a glass of milk and grabbed an apple to munch on. She walked back into the bedroom and set down at the computer.

ALTES: I don't know why you think that. I think you are an absolutely charming and wonderful woman.

ALTES: Okay, I'll be here.

She sighed. He was always trying to convince her that she had a lousy self-image.

TIAMUT: *blush* Lets just say that I have very little experiences to make me think otherwise. The contents of my romantic life would not exactly make for much of a steamy reading.

ALTES: you don't give yourself enough credit.

TIAMUT: yeah right, I have a history of an ex who got off by beating up girls (namely me) an ex who's actions bordered on stalking and an ex who used my apartment as a place to get high. The last guy I showed any interest in basically turned tail and ran. I give myself plenty of credit.

TIAMUT: so enough about me, what about you? What does your name mean?

ALTES: it's German for "ancient one"

TIAMUT: and I don't give myself enough credit?!? Honey, you're not that much older than I am.

ALTES: LOL, you'd be surprised. There are days were I feel like I'm over 5000 years old.

TIAMUT: well you don't look a day over 200 if you ask me.

ALTES: thank you my lady.

TIAMUT: any time. So how is Paris?

ALTES: the same as it was the last time I was here. Dirty, noisy and French.

TIAMUT: but it's France. How can you not be in awe of it? I mean, the Eiffel Tower, the Sine, the Louvre, the Moulon Rouge, Versaille, the city of lights, the city of love, the history.

ALTES: *shrug* I guess I've just been here too many times to still be capitvated by it's wonder. Maybe if I had a pretty young woman on my arm to show around the town it'd be different.

TIAMUT: I could only dream.

ALTES: The only up side is that a friend of mine from the states is flying in tomorrow. I'll at least have a drinking buddy for a while.

She laughed out loud. She remembered the dinner she had shared with him at the convention. She had never seen anyone drink so much beer at one sitting and still be coherent enough to have an intelligent debate over the Roman-Gallic wars.

ALTES: so you never said why you got home so late.

TIAMUT: oh the usual, department can't survive without me, I had to fire 2/3 of my staff today for falsifying their timecards, boss' wife still hasn't delivered the baby yet so he's going insane, blew a tire, got stood up for dinner. You know, the usual.

ALTES: you're right, the usual. Of all the crappy days possible, you certainly have the crappiest.

TIAMUT: gee thanx.

ALTES: don't mention it.

She felt her back twinge from sitting in an odd position. As she leaned back to stretch, the large black cat jumped into her lap and laid across the keyboard.

TIAMUT: kjgfauaerfghs

ALTES: ?????

TIAMUT: oh sorry, the cat says hello.

ALTES: *smile* Hello kitty... I forgot you have a cat.

TIAMUT: cats. I have two. Someday I'll be one of those spinster old

ladies you hear about who is living in a one room apartment with 200 cats.

*smile*

ALTES: you should smile more. You have a lovely one. Hey did I tell you

about the lady in the library today?

TIAMUT: no you didn't

She felt a twinge of jealousy at him mentioning another woman. She knew that they had nothing resembling a relationship but she had allowed her fantasy life to finally have a face and the thought of that face belonging to someone other than her hurt.

ALTES: this woman sat and stared at me for several hours while I was at the library today. I finally got fed up with the scrutiny and demanded to know why she was staring at me

TIAMUT: what did she say?

ALTES: that she had never seen anyone with my color eyes before.

TIAMUT: your eyes?

ALTES: yeah, I don't know if you noticed but I do have unusual colored eyes.

TIAMUT: <sheepish grin> I noticed.

ALTES: why sheepish?

TIAMUT: so what did you say to the woman?

ALTES: that it was rude and she should stop. And you, my dear, are changing the subject. Why a sheepish grin?

TIAMUT: what was her reaction?

ALTES: she swore at me but all the time looking at my eye color.

TIAMUT: her loss if all she could focus on was an unusual aspect of you and not bother to meet the person behind it.

ALTES: lets be real, how many people do I let see the 'real' me anyway.. not many. Why sheepish you skipped that one.

TIAMUT: damn you noticed that one.

She found herself blushing. "I haven't blushed like this since I was a teenager," she said to the cat still curled up in her lap.

ALTES: I thought we agreed that we could talk about anything. Don't you trust me?

She took a deep breath. He was right. They had agreed that they could talk about anything without fear of incrimination or teasing from the other person.

TIAMUT: I'm just embarrassed to admit to you that I had been checking you out enough to notice your eye color. *watch me blush now*

ALTES: embarassed? why are you blushing? I hate to do this but checking out? That's an American term. I'm not sure I understand? I don't want to take it one way if it meant another. Can you specify what you mean?

"Oh crap," she muttered. "What have I gotten myself into."

ALTES: hello, hello, you still there?

TIAMUT: *blush* you are enjoying this aren't you.

ALTES: not at all. Why are you blushing? I just want to make sure that I understand you.

TIAMUT: you never have told me where you're from.

ALTES: I've lived all over. And once again you are avoiding the question.

TIAMUT: oh alright, *very deep blush now* to check out: to look over appraisingly, usually in secret, usually connotes attraction. *watch me crawl into a corner and hide now*

She sat there with her heart beating in her chest. She looked at her two feline companions sitting at her feet. "I can't believe I just told him that." She was still blushing. She allowed her shoulder length auburn hair to fall into her face to hide the blush. She knew no one could see her but she still had the instinctive need to hide.

For almost a full minute there was not activity on the screen.

TIAMUT: oh great. I pour my heart out and I scare you away.

ALTES: *laugh* my dear, it takes a lot more than a woman opening up her heart to me to scare me away. Besides, the thought of you blushing and cringing makes me smile

She blushed again.

TIAMUT: *blush*

ALTES: You blush prettily. So, what was it then, the more you looked the worse it got? You were very reserved at dinner that night. Or was it the accent that turned you off?

TIAMUT: Dear, I'm a single American female. Trust me the accent only helped to may you even more attractive. I told you, I have a lousy history with men. I was kinda spooked that a man as good looking and intellegent as you would be interested in a wall flower like me.

ALTES: spooked? wary, frightened? You need to give yourself more credit. You're only a wallflower because that's how you want the world to see you. I saw a lovely, intelligent woman with a great sense of humor and I wanted to get to know her better. I still do.

TIAMUT: yes, spooked = wary or frightened. I forget that while we speak the same language, we speak totally different languages.

ALTES: lol, that is so true. Honey, I hate to do this but it's really late and I'm exhausted. Do you mind...

TIAMUT: not at all, sweet dreams, darling.

ALTES: you to.

The screen went blank as he signed out. She smiled, disconnected from the Internet and shut down her computer.

She wandered into the kitchen in search of some dinner. As she put a diet frozen dinner into the microwave, the telephone rang.

"Hello?" she asked into the receiver.

"I just wanted to wish you a pleasant evening," an accented voice said to her.

"Adam! What are you doing calling me?"

"I want y because you ou to know that justtold me how you feel doesn't change anything between us. I thought you should hear that instead of read it."

"Thank you. Sweet dreams."

"Oh they will be. Goodnight."

"Goodnight." She waited until she heard him hang up before she followed suit. As she went to wait for her dinner to finish cooking she thought to herself, *I might have had a crappy day, but the evening has certainly been a nice one.*

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