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Post by Margaret on Jul 7, 2005 15:12:15 GMT -5
Most of the time, I'm a definate Abby. Individualistic, slightly insane, but cheerful and helpful. Of course, get me in a bad mood and I can be scary. And while I'm not a goth, and have no desire to be one, I have a lot of friends who are, or are members of other fringe groups.
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Post by Margaret on Apr 8, 2005 9:50:00 GMT -5
Okay, since LJ is out of town, I'll put this week's part up here. It'll probably be up at ff.net either Sunday or Monday.
Ch. 8 – Confessions and Caviar
“Hey, Kate, you bringing anyone to the benefit tonight?”<br> “Just Grace,” Kate replied warily. “You?”<br> “Well, I can’t decide between the blonde I met yesterday and the redhead I took out last night. They’re both really hot,” he mused, “but the blonde has a temper problem and the redhead cost me most of this month’s paycheck. What do you think?”<br> “Tony, you are so immature!” Kate burst out, exasperated.
“Oh, Kate,” Tony sighed, shaking his head in mock pity, “you’re just figuring that out?”<br> “No,” she replied, glaring at him. “I’m just telling you. Why do you act like a horny thirteen-year-old every time a female is around?” Her question was not new and was born more of irritation than interest but Tony put on a thoughtful face and pretended to consider it seriously.
“Hmm.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “Maybe it’s because I’m looking for that ‘special someone’. How will I know if I don’t try?”<br> “What?” Kate added confusion to her frustration.
“Well, what if Miss Right is out there somewhere? I don’t want to miss her so I gotta try all the samples.”<br> “You must be joking.”<br> “Why? What’s wrong with that?”<br> “What about a serious relationship? What about commitment?”<br> A subtle change crossed Tony’s face, suggesting for the tiniest moment that he’d heard that argument for the last time. “Yeah, Kate, ’cause I’m the single parent,” he said nastily.
Kate’s face hardened and she turned away from Tony. She didn’t see the briefest look of regret flicker in his eyes before being replaced by a mask of indifference. The stony silence prevailed until Gibbs entered, sucking loudly at his near-empty coffee cup.
“What’d you do to DiNozzo, Kate?” he asked sarcastically. “He hasn’t been this quiet since Abby and Ducky told him about –”
Kate’s cell phone rang. She ripped it off her belt, perhaps a bit more forcefully than necessary, and answered, “Kate Todd.”<br> Gibbs raised an eyebrow, threw his now-empty cup in the trash, and slid behind his computer.
“Grace, I told you not to call me at work,” Kate hissed, sounding more worried than angry. “Are you all right?”<br> Tony threw the phone a dirty look, Gibbs frowned slightly, and Kate listened intently.
“Grace, I’ll take care of it when I get home. Love you,” Kate finished, slowly hanging up the phone. She was determinedly not looking at Gibbs.
“I need to talk to Ducky,” Gibbs muttered, standing. “You two keep working.”<br> As soon as Gibbs was out of earshot, Kate turned to Tony, eyes blazing. “You had no right to drag Grace into it.”<br> “Don’t you think it’s just a little hypocritical of you to say my relationships are shallow?” Tony argued. “You obviously had a little trouble committing, yourself.”<br> Kate’s face was a tormented mixture of anger and hurt. “Did you ever think,” she bit out, “that maybe it wasn’t my fault?”<br> Tony rolled his eyes and opened his mouth, presumably to give some sort of lecture on taking responsibility, but Kate cut him off.
“I didn’t choose to go that far!” she hissed, unconsciously echoing Gibbs’ earlier words to her.
“Kate, I,” Tony started, his surprise apparent. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.” If Kate hadn’t been so furious at him, she would have laughed at the almost overblown look of shock on his face. In her current mood, though, she decided that it was due recompense for his earlier words.
“Well, now you do,” Kate replied, unwilling to forgive him just yet.
“Why am I going to this, again?” Grace asked, struggling into a skirt.
“Because it’s for charity,” Kate answered, applying her makeup. “And because you need to get out of the house. And because I want you to.”<br> “Oh. Right.”<br> “Come on, Grace; it’ll be fun. You can see Abby again and maybe meet more of my coworkers.”<br> “Like your charming boss?” Grace quipped. Kate rolled her eyes.
“Behave,” she warned jokingly.
“Kate, Grace,” Tony greeted, grinning widely. “This is Brenda.”<br> Kate nodded in acknowledgement, watching Grace out of the corner of her eye. She hadn’t yet seen the girl in a social situation and wondered how she would act. She needn’t have worried.
“Pleased to meet you, ma’am,” Grace chirped, curtsying lightly. Kate wondered if anyone else noticed the faintest note of sarcasm in her voice.
“Oh, what a darling!” Brenda shrieked, startling everyone within earshot. “Did your mother teach you that?!”<br> Grace was caught briefly off-guard but recovered admirably. “No, ma’am. My dad did.” This greatly delighted Brenda (though this seemed to require rather little effort) and she took Grace aside, giggling.
“Went with the redhead, I see,” Kate muttered to Tony.
“Yeah. Isn’t she great?” Kate actually turned to look at him, sure he must have been joking, but his face showed nothing other than pleasure as he gazed at his date. Kate rolled her eyes and went to rescue Grace from the clutches of the red-headed-but-nonetheless-inwardly-blonde Brenda.
“Sorry about that,” Kate apologized, leading Grace toward the buffet line.
“Good thing I’m such a little socialite,” Grace teased, helping herself to the food.
“Ah, Caitlin!” a familiar British accent called. “And who is this lovely young lady?”<br> “Ducky!” Kate greeted enthusiastically. “This is Grace.”<br> “Ah, Grace,” Ducky said knowingly, “what a pleasure to finally meet you. Have you tried the pâté?”<br> “Ew,” Grace said simply.
Ducky chuckled. “Oh, my dear, it is entirely your loss. Pâté is an exquisite French delight, somewhat akin to caviar in its association with luxury. Speaking of caviar, did you know that while the delicacy itself is originally Russian, the word has quite the interesting etymology? Yes, it came into English by a, one might say, byzantine route. Ha, an appropriate adjective as Turkish played –” Ducky stopped, noting the slight glazing in Grace’s eyes. “But that is a history for another time. Caitlin, I believe Jethro was looking for you earlier.”<br> “Oh,” Kate said, shaking herself inwardly. “Um, will you two…”
“Yeah, Aunt Kate,” Grace assured her. “We’ll be fine.”<br> “Not to worry,” Ducky waved cheerfully. “So, Grace, how are you doing?”<br> Grace was a little surprised by the sudden change of subject and attitude but found herself trusting this man implicitly. He reminded her of Mr. Tompkins, who had been such a supportive character in the past weeks, and of her…well, Mrs. O’Neill’s father. His compassion was refreshing, too; no one besides Aunt Kate had yet asked how she was taking the entire situation. “Not too bad,” she replied honestly. “Considering.”<br> “Yes,” he nodded, eyes telling her that he really did understand. “I suppose so. I am sorry, Grace, that you had to experience such loss so early. I will not pretend to know your pain.”<br> “Thank you,” Grace said, trying to keep a lump from forming in her throat.
“I can’t say I’m not glad you’ve come to us, though,” he said with more of a smile. “You, my dear, are a wonderful addition to our small family. I look forward to getting to know you better.”<br> “You, too,” Grace replied sincerely as Kate reappeared.
“You guys seem to be getting along well.”<br> “Indeed, Caitlin. Your daughter is a delightful young woman.” Ducky smiled conspiratorially at Grace and gave her a small wink. Grace smiled back, knowing that she had found at least one confidante in this new world in which she now found herself.
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Post by Margaret on Nov 22, 2004 10:51:12 GMT -5
Again, nice job. I loved the pretender reference, I used to watch that show. I also liked Gibbs' take on the situation between Tony and McGee, it just seems to echo his stance on the show.
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Post by Margaret on Nov 6, 2004 18:01:00 GMT -5
Very nice work!
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Post by Margaret on Oct 25, 2004 21:49:43 GMT -5
Meg, you wrote one that didn't put anyone in a potentially lethal situtation! Are you feeling alright? Seriously, I loved it. Great characterization, and wonderful humor.
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Post by Margaret on Jun 9, 2005 16:16:34 GMT -5
That was good. I especially like how Ellie is so different from Kate, but in a good way. She doesn't come off as a Mary Sue, and she's not trying to be everything Kate was and either failing or succeeding at everything. She's human.
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Post by Margaret on Oct 29, 2004 12:08:02 GMT -5
Do we need the coffee tanker if Margaret is running our errands? We can probably travel faster without it. Maybe get to triple-digits on the SUV's speedometer? Errand girl, clone-teacher, heck, I'll even be the chief cook and bottle-washer. In fact, I insist on cooking, I need to get away from UE's idea that spices don't exist. Anybody have any favorite recipies they want me to cook up? Yeesh, next thing you know I'll be volunteering to babysit.
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Post by Margaret on Oct 28, 2004 11:11:39 GMT -5
i think margaret is shaping up nicely, isn't she, ladies? Thank you.
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Post by Margaret on Oct 28, 2004 10:58:24 GMT -5
I'm coming as gopher so the Gibblets don't have to leave Gibbs' presence if they forget anything. I also offer to teach the clones to give backrubs.
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Post by Margaret on Oct 27, 2004 10:17:09 GMT -5
If we go to Camp David, Kate was in the Secret Service, she'd know where to find us.
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Post by Margaret on Oct 27, 2004 7:26:41 GMT -5
Okay, I'll just stay out of the way and teach your clones how to give you backrubs.
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Post by Margaret on Oct 27, 2004 6:56:33 GMT -5
Sure, I don't mind being the trip gopher, and I thought you could have me help out as a decoy when you pick up Gibbs-I am a red-head.
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Post by Margaret on Oct 26, 2004 21:38:06 GMT -5
Can I come too? Even if I'm not really a Gibblet? I'll bring backrubs for everyone, especially those who are waiting their turn for ahem, some alone time with Gibbs.
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Post by Margaret on Oct 21, 2004 16:57:54 GMT -5
True, I was going more on the descriptions given, but you are probably right.
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Post by Margaret on Oct 21, 2004 6:54:37 GMT -5
I was on a website last night that gave descriptions of the Myers-Briggs personality types, and this one struck me as being Gibbs. Check it out and tell me if I'm right or delusional. typelogic.com/entj.html
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