for Jairo

[talesuntold]

Maggie heard the station for the first time the day after Buffy died. A sudden friendly voice in the middle of all her supposedly talk-free satellite radio. Maggie could have been annoyed, but that day, it was just what she needed.

She didn't have the luxury of indulging her grief for long, however broken up she was over it. The news doesn't wait. Maggie might run the fiction and poetry division of After the End Times rather than factual reporting, but she's still a journalist. Buffy left big shoes to fill, when Maggie took over her department.

Since that day she's been a regular listener, and she's even gotten to know the DJ a bit.

Tonight is one of her storytelling nights. Maggie settles into the comfy chair in her office with a cup of tea and a laptop. Softly, she orders, "House, turn on the radio."

She doesn't specify a station, just waits. And sure enough, there's no need to scan through looking for something in particular. Jairo's voice is loud and clear, warming her up just as much as the tea she's drinking. An excellent way to spend the evening. After one more sip, Maggie sets down her mug and begins to type.

Hello, my dears!

You're in for a treat tonight. I'll be opening the floor to requests. Is there a story you've been itching to hear? A scene you wish I'd included in one of my ongoing serials? A feeling you need echoed in poetry or prose? I'm here to oblige. I'll fill in any gaps in the stream of inspiration with whatever comes to mind.

I have music playing, tea steeping, and all the time in the world. Or at least, as much time as any of us are guaranteed in these crazy times. Stick around. Let's create something together.

After all, where would all these stories be without someone to read them?

Comments

[transmittings]

"Thisisdumbthisisdumbthisisdumb." That's pretty much Jai's monologue as Alex does the routine check-up, and he shoots a slightly nervous glance to the guard and tries to play his nervous mantra off as something that totally happens all the time. He winds up waggling his eyebrows instead, and he's fairly certain he's unintentionally flirting with the other.

Holy shit, he really is nervous.

He makes his way, looking at the size of the place because damn, this isn't pirate radio, and it shows. Holy shit. This is Maggie's place, these are Maggie's things and he hates that it's been a year, almost, of him endlessly gushing about the pretty girl on the website.

What if he really is unattractive to her? He's never had any problems before but he doesn't exactly get out much in the first place. What if it's just his voice that's better than anything? What if he's too gangly and his hair is too long and his face is too puffy?

He smells chocolate and home cooking and to Jai, who lives on a steady diet of fast food and ramen, it smells pretty amazing. More than amazing--but he's distracted even from that, because Maggie is there, silhouetted like a fucking disney princess, and Jai is weak in the knees. This is it. This is happening. This is--

--this is a sea of dogs. "Holy--" he can't finish it because Maggie is laughing and it sounds like silver bells in the air and Jai is stunned enough to sort of let himself be guided into stooping down to pet one or two or six of the dogs. Holy shit.

"You have so many!" His nervousness is forgotten. He's laughing, smile bright.

[talesuntold]

Alex does a valiant job at keeping a straight face and remaining completely businesslike, as if strange men show up and babble and flirt with him every night of the week. (Granted, plenty of Maggie's regulars are eccentric.) There's a good chance, though, that if Jairo doesn't roll his window up fast enough as he pulls in past the gate, he'll hear a bark of laughter from a very amused Officer Weinstein.

Fortunately the dogs are good at getting out from underfoot, because the sea of them parts around her as she closes the distance between her and Jairo without slowing down at all. His face absolutely lights up when he smiles, she notes with a rush of affection. Lying to herself about how she feels definitely isn't going to be possible.

"It looks like a lot more when I don't just have a few of them on video at a time," she admits, grinning. Maggie always records her first meetings with new additions to her pack of mini bulldogs, and the she's pretty openly vocal about reading breed specifications before buying purebreds. All two dozen dogs are epileptic rescues. Still, two dozen are a lot all at once.

But by this point she's gotten to Jai, and her arms are around him as soon as he's in reach. She's just going to cling for a minute, appreciating how real and solid and here he is. "I'm so glad you came, Jairo," Maggie murmurs against the side of his neck.

Then she pulls back just enough to get another good look at him for a second before crushing her lips to his.

[transmittings]

"I didn't expect like, Jurassic Park," Jai confesses, and he's very close to singing (purposely off key) the theme to the old classic when Maggie touches him. He feels like he's on fire, but in a good way, because Maggie is real, look how she's hugging him?

Oh, wow. Maggie is hugging him, and he feels more than hot--he feels giddy and stupid and in love all at once, because this is the woman on the webcam, the beautiful girl with a mind to match, and Jai finds himself not regretting a goddamn thing. Not about this. especially not about this.

"Oh, me, too," he agrees. "I was going to chicken out, but I--"

He doesn't finish his sentence. HE doesn't because Maggie is kissing him, eager and stunning and she kisses as good as she looks, so much so it knocks the wind out of Jai. He can't believe he's actually here. That this is real.

Maybe he'll wake up tomorrow and it really will be a dream; Maggie and her stories and her army of pugs or bulldogs or shitzus or whatever they are. But for now, it's not, so he brings one hand to the side of her face, cupping it, and his thumb moves along her jawline as he kisses her right back. His other hand moves to the small of her back, gently pressing her closer.

It's one hell of a nice dream if it is one, at least.

[talesuntold]

Laughing at the comparison drawn between her tiny absurd dogs and a pack of velociraptors (Maggie is a Jurassic Park fan, it's a good movie to reference) she just shakes her head.

Maggie stopped hesitating the second his announcement tipped her over the edge. Jairo said how he felt, got in his car, and drove. Maggie got over her fears and her waiting. She works in words. Of course she can fall in love from a distance, but oh, is it nice to have a real, solid person here, in her arms, kissing her, pulling her closer. She obliges with another half step forward, her arms tightening around him.

Jai isn't the only person half-wondering if this is real. Calmer, lazier kisses are definitely on her agenda later, but this one has enough urgency in it that it's almost as if she's afraid he'll vanish.

She breaks the kiss just enough to rest her forehead against Jai's, her breath still brushing his lips when she speaks. "Thank you for being braver than I was. I needed that."