A Thousand Oceans - Ch. 11

[whedonist]

Fandom: Nikki & Nora
Pairing: Nikki/Nora
Rating: PG-13 to R (depends on the chapter)
Title: A Thousand Oceans – Ch.11 – Give Me Cause

Disclaimer: These characters well, Nikki, Nora, Dan, Darius, Georgia, Charlie, Arthur, Bobby and Mrs. Delaney are so not mine (dammit!), but Ann and Jill and other characters not mentioned in the pilot are (Ha!). The ones in the “dammit!” category belong to Nancylee Myatt and other’s I don’t know. I’m here for a bit of fun, and for this story, angst. No profit is being made here, and if it is, I’m not seeing a dime.

A/N: INSANE Week. That’s pretty much all I got. Thank you all for reading and double to those leaving a note. Dirk gets another shout out…other than that, read and enjoy.

You've got a way to keep me on your side
You give me cause for love that I can't hide


Ch. 11 – Give Me Cause

I look over at Nikki. I’d vocalize my thoughts, but they’re clearly reflected in her body language. She steps in and saves us, “Laura, I just don’t think this is the right place either. I mean it’s nice, but it’s a little small.”

The woman clucks. I grit my teeth. We started today off all nice and easy like, slow morning, hot sex and a phone call from Dan saying we need to meet him for lunch in, I look down at my wrist, two hours. Since Nikki and I didn’t have to be in until later, we decided to use a friend of her aunt’s to help us in the apartment hunt. She’s dragged us to two up and coming neighborhood loft style, overpriced, yuppie apartments and the little patience I do have is trickling away.

The place we’re at now, apartment number three, is…stuffy. That’s the only thing that comes to mind. The walls are white or off white. The interior of the building doesn’t match the brick and feel of the outside. I’d be afraid to sit down on anything in a place like this. Nikki feels the same, I know. The slight frown she wears is indication enough.

“Well,” the realtor stammers a little, “When Peggy called she said it was for her niece.” She looks pointedly at me, and qualifies, “And her niece’s friend.”

I roll my eyes.

Nikki smiles. It’s a sexy look when not directed at me. If that happens, I run. “Aunt Peggy can be a dear and she’s right, but my tastes are not hers. And neither are Nora’s.”

Laura bobs her head at this. Finally stopping to take a look at us. She looks me over like you would an outfit a in display case that you hated. Her blood red, manicured nail taps gently on her chin as she spins towards Nikki. “Hmmm,” she hums.

Nikki’s eyebrow rises as one hand comes to rest casually on her hip.

“Well, then, I guess we’ll need to start fresh,” she finally says. She looks at her watch then. “We’re scheduled for another hour together. Why don’t we find a spot to sit and if ya’ll will answer some questions, I think I can find what you’re looking for.”

Nikki’s eyes flick to me and I quickly raise and lower my right shoulder.

“Sounds wonderful, Laura. Thank you,” Nikki purrs.

Laura actually blushes at this and I suppress the eye roll. I lead us outside and to a café that I noticed just up the street. The two sit as I offer to get the drinks. The line’s short and I come back to the two of them chatting like old friends. Laura leans toward my partner from across the table as she giggles at something Nikki said.

Setting the drinks down, my teeth grind together and Nikki shoots me a quick wink. Sucking my teeth, I manage a nice fake smile and sit down next to her. It’s going to be a long Q and A.

“So,” the woman across from us starts, “What do you two do?”

“We’re with the police department,” I offer.

“Partners in the Special Crimes Unit,” Nikki gives more detail.

I scowl and hurry up to qualify, “Work, uh, work partners.” Nikki’s thigh brushes against my leg right before I feel a sharp pinch to said thigh. I jump a little and Laura looks at me.

“So, we’ll need two bedrooms.” She looks us over again and asks Nikki, “Lots of closet space, I assume?”

“Or three rooms for her clothes,” I mutter as I take a sip of my drink.

Another pinch and another jump as Nikki glares.

“Two bedrooms would be good. Something open, warm,” my partner fills in.

Laura again bobs her head. “Well, then, what about price range? Are you looking to rent, lease, buy?”

My eyes grow large and I nearly drop my coffee.

“Preferably, rent, but we’d be open to a lease.” Nikki bumps my shoulder with her own and jokes, “I’d say buy too, but my work partner has commitment issues.”

The coffee goes sloshing in my cup again. Some of it spilling out to burn my hand. I hiss and Nikki only hands me a napkin. Laura looks slightly amused.

I definitely don’t like the woman. And what’s this about buying? What, a house?

No, I don’t think so. I mean I know I’ve been pushing Nikki now and I know that I’d like to make this permanent, but…

That’s too much, too soon.

“I see,” the realtor says. “Well, I can start looking around. See if anything comes up.” She hands Nikki her card. “My cell is on the back. If you think of anything give me a call, anytime.” With a slight hand brush as Nikki takes the card, Laura the Skanky Realtor excuses herself and leaves.

My partner and I sit there. She sips her drink and I fume. Okay so, on the occasion I’ve been known to be jealous. But I mean really? Did she really have to pretty much throw herself at Nikki?

Would it have hurt Nikki to casually mention that she’s involved?

I go to take a sip and my stomach churns. Giving up, I set my cup down and push it away from me.

Finally, she sighs and snips, “You want to explain to me what that was all about?”

Do I wanna what!

My head snaps in her direction and she’s looking at me, her brow knitted together, arms crossed over her chest.

Instead of dignifying anything right now with an answer, I stand and stride out of the café. Nikki’s following me. Her heels have a distinct staccato beat on the concrete.

We reach June Lee, both of us yanking our doors open and throwing ourselves inside. Once the engine’s turns over, I turn to her, my knee coming to rest on the space between us. “I’ve nothing to explain. Do you want to tell me what Little Miss Skanks-A-Lot was trying to pull with the obnoxious giggle and ‘call me, anytime’ bullshit?”

Nikki rolls her eyes. “‘Work partners’? Really, Nora?”

Shit.

I deflate.

Fuck.

Trying to calm down, I run a hand through my hair and count to ten. Okay, she has a point. I just… “I panicked,” I mumble.

“I’m sorry, detective; your work partner didn’t hear that. Come again?” she snips from across June’s cab.

Deserved that too. “I panicked,” I state clearly. “I’m sorry. It was a knee-jerk reaction.”

“Hmmm, I’d say.” She leans against the passenger side door.

“But,” I try to say as unaccusingly as possible, “did you have to flirt with her?”

She looks at me from the corner of her eyes.

Maybe that was the wrong thing to say…

I scratch the back of my neck and slump against my door. “I didn’t mean…I…”

“I know,” Nikki says softly. “I know how you are and it just caught me off guard. I thought that…we’re two women getting a place together…” She sighs and turns towards me, our positions mirrored. “I thought that you’d loosen up a little. Especially about this,” she admits, “She has no ties to the department and I don’t see your mother running in the same circles. Peggy knows I’m gay, Nora. She knows who you are.”

I’m a tool. A great big, sucky tool.

---

Nora puts June Lee into park and kills the engine. It’s nearly time to meet Dan and for some reason he chose to meet us at Goody’s, a mom and pop style restaurant near Nora’s apartment.

My girl turns to me and again says, “I’m sorry.”

Deciding that some mercy is called for, I reach for her hand and pull us together. We meet somewhere in the middle and she hesitantly wraps her arms around me. Returning the embrace, I bury my face in her neck and rest there a minute. I think we’ve argued enough today. I see why she freaked out. I also will admit that I really didn’t stop Laura from making any advances.

“We’re okay,” I mumble into her hair.

She pushes me back by my shoulders. Tucking my hair behind my ears she kisses my nose and the corner of my mouth. “I’m going to eventually figure out why you’re with me.”

I smile at her and tap the tip of her nose with my finger. “I’m a sucker for closeted blondes that love me.” I give her a soft smile and she grins back at me.

“You ready to go see Dan?” she asks.

I nod and follow her out of the driver’s side door. We step into the diner and Dan’s sitting at a booth already, a steaming cup of coffee sitting in front of him. My eyes narrow. I wasn’t really pleased that he wanted to meet before we started work today. Nora and I aren’t due in ‘till four this evening and the location, well…it’s close to Nora’s place, but farther away than he usually goes from the station.

Of course, Dan seems to be breaking a lot of rules for his ex-partner. I’d like to think that Nora wouldn’t lie to me about their shared past, but with this…

I can’t be sure.

If I were into men, which isn’t to say that I haven’t tried it once or twice over the years and if Nora weren’t in the picture, I may have even taken Dan up on the offer for drinks one of the many times he’d asked. He’s hot. I can admit that, with the body, attitude and smile, you would have to be dead from the waist down to not be attracted. Couple all of that with warm brown eyes and the skin tone and smoothness to match, well…

Also, my girl and her ex-partner have a certain chemistry; I can’t help but not think that she would give in to that. The two of them fall into an easy rhythm that goes beyond a work partnership.

I should know, I’m in one now.

I sigh as his face lights up as we approach. I run a hand through my hair, steeling myself for what he has to say. Sliding into the booth first, I say, “Afternoon, boss.”

“Good afternoon, detective.” He sips his coffee as Nora sits next to me then says, “Delaney.”

“Harney,” she grins back at him.

“Well, I must say, you two look very nice today. Did you get all prettied up for little ole me?” He wiggles his eyebrows at us, well more at Nora than me and we both roll our eyes.

“Cut the shit partner,” Nora snips, “what’s up?”

He sucks on his teeth, letting his tongue protrude from behind his bottom lip. He looks Nora over again and says, “You ain’t gonna let me have any fun with this are you?”

She shakes her head and he turns to me, “Should I bother asking?”

I smile at that. “Touchy feely realtor,” is what I give him and he nods.

“I take it the hunt for new digs isn’t going that well?” With my smirk and Nora’s glare he gets his answer. “Gotcha. Alright well, if this makes it any better, you two are cleared for field work. That should make it a little easier.”

I relax marginally, but the grin that lights up Nora’s face is priceless. I think she was starting to crack sitting at her desk so much.

“But,” he says, “He may have mentioned that follow up visits wouldn’t be a bad idea…”

“He can bite me and you can…” Nora interrupts him.

“Tah, tah, tah…lemme finish,” he holds his finger up to Nora’s lips and continues, “He said a follow up with you two wouldn’t be a bad idea, but that it wasn’t necessary.” Removing his finger, he winks at us and finishes, “He says there are things that you two could take some time to work through, but it won’t interfere with your work. He also says I should be glad to have detectives like you working for me.”

I scoff, “Damn right you should.”

Nora actually laughs and Dan just shrugs, saying, “I told him that I’d keep it in mind if there were any more outbursts such as the ones that landed you two in there to begin with.”

“Meagan Diea can kiss my…” Nora starts.

“Now, now, sugga,” I stop her from saying anything else.

“Listen to your partner, Delaney,” Dan warns.

We all stop talking as the waitress finally comes up and says, “Looks like you’re friends arrived. Sorry about that, I just saw you ladies sittin’ here.”

I can’t blame her. The place is packed. So like good, understanding people, the three of us wave off her apologies and place our order. She skitters off only to return a minute later with our waters and coffee and a refill for Dan.

“So,” Dan says, after our waitress leaves us, “Since you two are back out on the streets, you can continue the filing as time permits.” He laughs at his own joke and I grab Nora’s thigh to still her reaction.

I don’t need to be suspended again.

“Bite me, Harney,” she says instead. I’ll take it.

“I figured as much,” he sighs and looks over at me and then back to Nora.

I raise my eyebrow at the looks he’s giving as I try and figure out what other angle he’s trying to play. I mean don’t get me wrong, I’m happy to get back out there just as much as Nora, but he could have told us this when we saw each other at work.

Needing to at least start the conversation again, I ask, “Was that all?”

He shrugs while Nora offers me a look. I dip my chin hoping to relay my thoughts via telepathy.

I know that won’t work, but she has to at least see a little bit of what I do and that’s what I’m hoping for.

“I thought it was so Dan could buy us lunch,” Nora says.

Yeah, I always thought the telepathy thing was a load of horse manure anyhow.

“I just need to make sure we aren’t going to have any more of those problems, are we ladies?” Dan looks us over again.

“Those problems?” Nora asks.

“I think he’s talking about the two of us assaulting federal officers,” I supply and Nora’s lips purse.

“She’s smart,” Dan jokes.

I flip him off.

The waitress, Anna, comes by with our food. Cheeseburgers all around. No wonder we pay through the nose for health insurance. The three of us dig in and silently enjoy the meal. Goody’s has excellent burgers. I’m not sure why, it may be the catsup to mustard to mayo ratio that they use or the red onions…no, wait, it’s the Tabasco in the meat, that’s why they’re so damn good.

I look up as Dan takes a bite of a fry. He keeps skirting his eyes between Nora and me. We haven’t talked about him knowing about Nora and I. Not between the three of us and maybe that’s what this is about. Going off of the hunch I ask, “Dan, something wrong?”

Nora looks over to me, burger half raised to her lips and her eyes bulging. Laughing, I pat her on the head and explain, “Not that I don’t appreciate the free meal Harney, but you’ve been looking at us funny since we sat down. Now it could be argued that I like to finesse a situation and tease the information out of people, but…” I send a small smile to Nora, “I’m a little on edge and if I can’t be straight, pardon that pun, with my Leiu, than I’ve got problems.”

Nora’s burger lowers as Dan finally relaxes and settles into the booth, twisting the fork in his hand. It’s then that the first genuine smile graces his lips. “Yeah actually there was.” He winks at me and then looks at Nora, sobering slightly. “I do have an ulterior motive for getting you two out here. Nora, we were partners, but you always kept me at a distance. I’m your boss now, but that doesn’t detract from my desire to be a friend.”

I feel Nora tense, but do nothing to soothe her.

“Nikki yours too since I think it’s a package deal now,” he looks over at me and offers a lazy smirk. “I was thinking that we could go to dinner tomorrow. Drinks, play catch up and you two can tell me all about how in the hell this,” he waves that fork between the two of us, “happened. The cop in me’s dying to know.”

Nora’s eyes dart to me and I raise an eyebrow. “Uh, sure…” she answers.

---

Nikki pushes into my side and points to a listing towards the bottom of the page. I scan the ad and shrug, speaking softly by her ear, “If you wanna go look, we’ll go.” I take a quick look at the clock. We’ve about two and a half hours before we need to be at work.

“Hmm, ‘kay. You want to shower before we go or can we just get dressed so I can smell you on me the rest of the night?” she whispers, leaning up to place a few kisses along my jaw line.

Shivers and shocks of desire play a small game of tag along my spine before I can find my voice, “I say we just get dressed. It’s probably gonna be a slow night. We may even get to clear the crap on our desks tonight.”

She nods against me and slips away, leaving a cold front on my left side. Groaning I swing off the bed in the opposite direction, looking around the room for my discarded clothes. Let’s see, if I were Nikki and in a hurry to shed clothes…I would be…

I round the bed and pull open the half closed door. Aha! Lying in a small heap are my shoes, socks, underwear and pants. How she manages to divest me of four garments at once is still a mystery. I barely remember hitting the bedroom after she jumped me in the living room.

Gathering the items, I pad back to the bed and begin the process of getting dressed again. I can’t wait to get to work. No more desk, no more cold cases or closed cases while wondering who in the hell developed the department’s filing system ‘cause it is a cluster fuck of nonsense.

Nikki comes out of the bathroom, clad only in her bra and underwear. The sight sort of stops my movements and she smirks. “You can’t look at me like that sugga, if you want to get to work on time.”

I roll my eyes. “You shouldn’t be running around in your unmentionables if you don’t want me to look at you like that,” I retort.

Her big, brown eyes light up and she just smirks.

I ignore the smirk and finish getting ready. We manage to make it out the door with her reapplying both our lip gloss only twice. Luckily the listing she wants to go see is only a block and a half up from my place so by the time we get there we have some time to look around.

Small signs direct us down an ivy covered walkway that opens up into a well landscaped and quiet courtyard. A woman, with curly, short gray hair and glasses smiles up at us from behind a small folding table. “Good afternoon,” she greets us.

“Hello,” Nikki introduces us, “I’m Nikki. This is Nora. Are you showing the apartment?”

“I am. I was actually getting ready to close up.” She looks between the two of us and shrugs, “But, if you’d like to look around, I’m more than happy to stick around.” She stands and comes around the table.

She’s short, maybe five foot on a good day with heels. I shake her offered hand as she says, “Mary. Would you like me to show you around?”

“That would be wonderful,” Nikki answers for us.

By unspoken agreement, Nikki takes the lead as Mary leads us around. The place is huge, two stories, a staircase leading to the upper level is immediately to my left as we step through the French doors. The bottom floor is a kitchen, living room, second bathroom, small den and a spare bedroom.

I love it.

I look at Nikki as she looks around and see how much she’s falling in love with the place. It’s been renovated, but they’ve left things unfinished. The look just adds to the overall feeling of the place. The kitchen’s large and opens up into the living room. The spare bedroom isn’t anything to stick your nose up at; it’s the same size as my bedroom now. Mary leads us up the stairs and I hear Nikki suck in a breath.

The stairs open up into an open space, with another set of French doors leading into a large open bathroom with a fireplace. An old claw foot tub is the center piece and Nikki nearly squeals. Moving through the bathroom, through another set of doors, is the master bedroom. Expansive, it’s large enough to hold a king size bed and a few dressers. To my right is a decent sized walk in closet and to the left a balcony that opens up on to the courtyard.

I was sold on the place from a look at the downstairs, but the upstairs…I can see Nikki and I here and being very, very comfortable.

“Well, ladies, this is it,” Mary says, spinning around to us.

“It’s really very nice,” Nikki says, sticking her head in the closet again. She leans back out and asks, “How much are they asking for rent?”

“Oh, dear,” Mary fidgets for a moment and answers, “It’s to purchase. The owners of the complex are going co-op and each unit; six in total are being sold. Five have been bought and this is the last unit.”

“Oh,” Nikki’s mouth makes a cute little shape, “why was this last?”

“The contractors just finished up.” She looks between the two of us and goes for it, “The asking price is one-hundred-thirteen and I think for you two, perfect for a couple starting out.”

I start to sputter and say, “I…we’re…”

Nikki’s hand lands on my shoulder, giving me a small squeeze. I close my mouth with an audible clap and Mary just barely manages to stop her laugh. She does manage to grin and lays her hand on my forearm. “My granddaughter and her ‘friend’ just purchased their first home.” She smiles warmly at me then pats my cheek. “Whatever gets you through honey, but I’ll leave you and your friend to talk.”

I gape at her as she disappears through another set of I didn’t see then I turn to Nikki. She’s laughing silently and holding her stomach. “Oh, sugga,” she says, looking me over, “that was priceless.”

I scowl at her and then realize what I was about to do again…”I, uh, well, she…”

Nikki pats my other cheek and leans into me. “It doesn’t matter.” Her eyes light up as she teases me, “Although, this” she waves a finger at me, “will give my plenty of opportunity to tease you endlessly.”

I pout and fold my arms across my chest.

“Now, what about this place?” she asks, gathering me in her arms.

Slowly I relent and wrap my hands around her neck. “Nik, I would, but…”

“But what? We could you know,” she says gently.

“Nik, we can’t buy this place,” I try to reason; “It’s not in my budget.”

Her mouth twists to the side and my eyes narrow.

Oh boy.

---

Ya know, I love my girl, especially when she’s feeling guilty and wrapped up in my arms like she is now, but this, her stubborn streak about money, does wear thin on occasion. It’s been a small theme with us, her inability to allow me to pay for things that she can’t.

I usually let it go because I know my bank account makes her uncomfortable, but she’s not winning this time. Using a little pressure, I press us together and say, “You know that’s not really an issue, Nora. This place is perfect. The two of us together could make it work.”

“Nikki,” she half whines, “I know you don’t struggle and I really don’t know the size of that trust fund you have, but when we buy a place, it’s something I want to do together.”

I shake my head. “You don’t know because you never asked…”

“Why would I…” she tries to say, but I stop her.

“No, now just hear me out. You say these pretty words about us building a life. This place is perfect for us Nora.”

She pulls away from me and spits, “I’m not someone to be kept, Nikki. I won’t live off of you.”

Oh.

So that’s what this is. I roll my eyes. I take a deep breath and change tack, just a little, “I understand Nora and I don’t want you to do that. I want this to be our thing. Together.” I reach out and turn her towards me again, hooking my fingers in her belt loops. “But you keep saying you want me. You want in, then it’s all or nothin’ sugga. Which means what’s yours is mine and what’s mine is mine.” I smile at her, offering a small half grin that I know she likes. “So, if you’re in this with me, which is what you keep saying, you can show me yours and I will show you mine, but you can’t get all defensive about it when mine’s bigger than yours.”

I get an eye roll and press, “Get over it Delaney. If we’re in, we’re all in. Which means me and my trust fund are now yours.”

My girl huffs and I just bat my lashes at her. I draw her closer and peck her chin. “The only thing using my money means is that we don’t have to worry about the mortgage payments. If we do this, then afterwards, we’ll sit down, together and set up a budget, together and stick to it…”

“Together,” she finishes.

I nod. “Exactly,” I say, but feel the need to amend, “Unless they have shoe sale and I need a new pair. In which case, budget be damned I’m shopping.”

Laughing Nora shakes her head, rolling the ideas around in her head. She chews on the corner of her lower lip, letting me know that she’s thinking about. I decide to put the final nail in the coffin of resistance and plead, “Baby, it’s perfect. Please?”

For my pleasure, she huffs, blowing the bangs off her forehead. The huff is music to my ears. It’s the sound of my baby giving in. And like usual, she doesn’t disappoint, “Fine, we do this, but this is it. Budget. Nikki, you, me and very short strings on that purse of yours.”

I squeal. I can’t help it. I let her go and jump up and down and then wrap her up in a huge hug. She returns the embrace and I can’t believe it worked. She’s really gonna do this with me.

I grab her hand and tug her out of the bedroom and down the stairs. “Mary,” I call out and see the woman sitting her phone down to smile at us.

“Well,” she says, “What do you ladies think?”

I take one last look at Nora, who has a death grip on my hand, before saying, “We’d like to make an offer.”

The older woman’s face lights up and she gushes, “Oh, I’m so glad. There were a few others that came sniffing around today, but they just didn’t feel right.” She comes around the table and offers my Nora a genuine smile, one that I’d imagine a grandmother to possess as she beams at her grandkids. “You two feel right about this place. It’s off the beaten path and private, but not too much so. If my Bea and her Kristen hadn’t found that house, I would have just made them buy this one.”

I laugh and decide instantly that Mary is my new favorite person. “Well, I think we should get the ball rolling.”

“Eager, I see,” she jokes. “What about you, dear?”

“Uh, I…” Nora stumbles.

Laughing, Mary just shakes her head. “You are just too much.”

“She’s a bit shocked, I think,” trying to explain my lovers stuck tongue. “We weren’t really expecting this…”

“Well,” Mary waggles her finger between the two of us, “the best things usually come when you’re not looking. At least that’s always been my observation.” She shuffles some paperwork in a pile and motions for us to follow her inside.

She leads us into the kitchen and plops the stack of papers on the kitchen island. “Why, my Frankie, he came outta nowhere when we were young.” She gets this far off look in her eyes and then shakes it off. “He was something else. Had my daddy in knots on our first date.” She looks through the stack and hands over some forms. “I think we can get started, if you two would like to begin filling out the forms here, while I collect some information.”

I hand Nora the paperwork and she begins looking it over. I move behind her to peer over her shoulder. The forms are standard information that we'll need to provide. It does cause me to suppress the snicker. I guess the whole ‘show and tell’ I proposed is going to come sooner than I expected.

Not that I’m worried, but Nora wouldn’t be the first woman that’s been nervous about where I come from. What I don’t get is the need to feel defensive about it. I get that I grew up privileged and that the majority of folk didn’t.

Darius says that it’s just not something I’ll get. Maybe he’s right. It took Erica forever to open up to me about it. I know I’m going to need to tread lighter with Nora. Her pride gets in the way of logic something fierce and maybe somewhere along the way she’ll get to the point where I can begin to pamper her.

The need to want to take care of her and let her take care of me is near instinctual, she just needs to let the reigns go a little bit and trust me.

“You start filling these out,” I say, handing her my wallet, “and Mary, you can ask away.”

The older woman’s face lights up and she pats the space next to her. Nora just looks between the two of us and shakes her head. “I don’t think I like the idea of you two teaming up over there.” She punctuates her statement by waving her pen in our general direction.

“She speaks!” Mary exclaims. I watch as Mary beams and wags a finger at Nora. “You’re something else, dear.”

My snort of laughter earns me a glare and a look for us to get back to work. We still have to go to work today.

Next>>>

Comments

[wkgreen.livejournal.com]

hehe..Nora never had a chance! And I love Nikki's qualifier about shoe sales and budget! ;)

Waiting for more! :)

[whedonist]

*L* Nora never really does.

More is uh, being written... =0)

[onebridge.livejournal.com]

I simply love every single person in this Chapter, even Dan!
Well, Mary is just lovely, and her interactions with Nora are such fun to read.
I kinda like Laura, too, just because the jealous Nora is sooooo cute!
And I really glad to see that Dan is try to be a good friend with the couple, not with each of them, but together with THEM.

YOU ARE A GENIUS! The line -- "Let’s see, if I were Nikki and in a hurry to shed clothes…I would be…" is just GREAT, and I do think this is one of the best ways to put Nora's excellent detective skills in use！

[whedonist]

I'm glad that you're liking all of the character even though I'm still on the fence with Laura...it's a toss up. Thanks for keeping up and the comments...much appreciated.

[psychomonkey-29.livejournal.com]

Love the update! Nora and Nikki interaction finding a place is priceless. Nikki just knows when and how much to push to get Nora comfortable with the whole process.


Please update soon!

(Happy Veterans Day!)

[whedonist]

Thank you...updates are uh, well I'm supposed to be writing Ch. 12 now so...thanks again and I need to get to work.

[dollface79.livejournal.com]

Love the update, been really busy at work the last couple of weeks just caught up with this story. You told me to patient and I have to say it has been worth the wait, alot has happened. It was funny in the beginning with whole were partners thing and the flirting I thought they were going to break up again. Update soon

[whedonist]

No worries, work's been a pain here, actually part of the reason for the pre-warned, potential delay in updates, but I'm glad you're catching up and just so you know...I don't see break ups happening soon. =0)

[southie2.livejournal.com]

I'm just loving these long chapters :)

Hee, Nora. I so react like her sometimes, it's scary. And a jealous Nora is always a good thing to watch.

Thank you, thank you for keep writing for this pairing. It's just you and someone else writing for N&N (that I know of), so it's really appreciated.

Looking forward to the next one!

[pbwr.livejournal.com]

Problem with being late to the comment party is that all the good ones are taken so I'll just ditto all of the above.

Would love to see Nora trying to enforce her budget--like that's gonna happen.

[dr-willo.livejournal.com]

too cute! i love when they think of each other as "my girl," it just feels right and flows very well. Nikki knows just how to get through that stubborn streak of Nora's and she has fun doing it too! :)