capable_of | For Anatoly & Trip

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anatoly,
trip

For Anatoly & Trip

When Lex had been out walking Aeneas earlier, he saw someone moving into one of the nearby beach front huts. He'd waved politely, called Aeneas off when he scampered up to say hello to the man and walked on, putting it completely out of his mind except as something he might mention to Anatoly over dinner.

Now he was at home waiting for Anatoly to return, reading a book he thought he might introduce to his humanities class later on in the semester. He realized he could keep the same curriculum semester after semester but that just made it boring for himself. Might as well make the class interesting for both the teacher and the students.

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Freshly showered, Anatoly slipped back into the hut and greeted Lex with an affectionate kiss. What they were going to for the rest of the time until dinner, he wasn't quite sure. There was always chess but he was feeling blissfully relaxed enough to be amenable to any other suggestions Lex might have.

"Did you and Aeneas have a good walk?"

Lex was more then happy to close his book as Anatoly walked in and leaned his head back for a kiss. "Hmm...yes, we did. Ran into a new neighbor. Someone is moving into one of the huts on the beach on the other side of the path." He said mildly, recalling the only bit of interesting news from the day.

"A new neighbor?" Anatoly asked curiously as he sat next to Lex. "Who is he? Or she?"

"He," Lex said simply as put his book up on the table and turned towards Anatoly, "was a tall blond gentleman with a southern accent and the loudest shirt I've ever seen. Aeneas had to say hello but he seemed busy so I'm afraid all we traded were hellos."

Anatoly stared at Lex in shock. There was only one person who that description fit and now he was more convinced than ever that this Trip Tucker had to be Walter playing some sort of elaborate con. Why else would he have picked a hut so close to theirs?

"He calls himself Trip Tucker," he said slowly. "I fear that may not be his real name."

Well now...this was interesting. Lex's eyebrows went up as he leaned forward, his elbows on the table. "Oh really? Then who is he and why do you think that?"

"Walter de Courcey," Anatoly answered, picking at his sleeves in his anxiety. "He sounds just like him."

Well, that name certainly made Lex sit up straighter. "He sounds just like him but he doesn't look like him. You don't think he's just from the same area of the United States?" While it very well could be another case of Florence not looking the same, Lex was a tiny bit skeptical if an accent was all they had to go on.

It was, of course, completely possible that Lex was right and it was only a coincidence that Trip should sound so much like de Courcey but Anatoly couldn't bring himself to believe that. The island had been so cruel and capricious to him before, why would it not do so again?

"It is either that or the island is being evil again. I know which one feels more believable."

For Lex, it was more believable, and probable, that de Croucey and this Tucker were just both from the Southeastern United States but he knew better then to counter Anatoly when he was in one of these moods. He had very good reason to be paranoid after all and if even there was a hint of Lionel having returned to the island, he would no doubt be in the same state of mind.

"I'm assuming you've spoken to this man already?"

"I have," Anatoly nodded. "Aeneas and I were taking a walk the other day and ran into him. We did talk for awhile and he seemed all right... but now here he is, our new neighbor. That doesn't worry you?"

"Honestly? I'm still not hearing anything condemning." But Lex shook his head and reached across the table to squeeze Anatoly's hand before standing. "But if this is really going to eat at you, I would be happy to go have a chat with the man and feel him out."

Edited 2011-11-14 01:59 (UTC)

"I would like that," Anatoly said, clinging to Lex's hand as if it were a lifeline. If Trip was truly Walter in disguise, he had every bit of confidence that Lex would be able to discover it and bring him down with a few choice words.

Lex raised the clasped hand to his lips as he pulled Anatoly up. "Come on. Let's get this over with so you can stop worrying." Which was Lex's intended outcome, no matter what he discovered about their new neighbor. If this Trip was truly who he said he was, then it was would just calming Anatoly's paranoia. If Trip did turn out to be Walter deCourcey...well, Lex would deal with him by any means necessary.

It was moments like this that Anatoly knew with out a doubt that he was truly fortunate to have Lex in his life. If he hadn't already been deeply in love with the man, the way he had acknowledged his fears and didn't try to suggest he was paranoid would have been reason enough.

"All right," he said as he was pulled up to his feet. "Shall we take Aeneas too? Strange as it is, he does seem to like the man."

"Aeneas likes everyone who pays attention to him," Lex pointed out with amusement but he did motion to the small dog for him to follow them. Another run would do Aeneas good.

Then, before Anatoly could change his mind, Lex tugged him out the door to walk in the direction of their new neighbor.

Before Anatoly knew it, he was outside with Lex, Aeneas happily trotting alongside them. It seemed a bit frightening to be so casually visiting someone he was half-convinced was a spy, but he had Lex with him. One way or another, things would be all right.

The house was almost to Trip's liking. He'd cleaned out some of the older stuff and got some of the dirt and sand swept. Anyone on Enteprise would be shocked to see how clean he'd gotten it, since the messy state of his quarters was legendary.

Now it was just the main room and he'd just finish sweeping. Now, it was just getting the chairs and table back into the hut from where he'd dumped them out front while sweeping. He paused from hauling a chair to wipe the sweat from his forehead and it was then he glanced over and saw the two men walking toward him.

He stretched for a moment then stood up straight, a friendly grin on his face. "Hey there Anatoly. Whose yer friend?" Aeneas had run up to him and was already jumping up to be petted. "I don't mean you, boy o'course." He replied as he bent down to scratch the little dog's ears.

As they walked up to the hut, Lex got his first look at this Trip Tucker. The first impression was of one of the Smallville football players in 15 years. He certainly had that classic American look and the accent certainly didn't help, though it was slightly off from the Atlantian accent of Walter de Courcey. Granted, that didn't mean anything since the Walter from Anatoly's version and Trumper and Florence's version could be from different areas of the south east.

But there was a genuine openess about this man that the FBI agent lacked, even at his most charming.

Still not ready to draw a firm conclusion either way, Lex held out his hand when they got closer, doing his best not to make a face when shaking a sweat and sand covered hand. "Lex Luthor. I mentioned I'd seen you moving in earlier and Anatoly said he knew you and that we should meet, as we're practically neighbors."

"I did not realize we were going to be so close neighbors," Anatoply said, managing a smile. If he was de Courcey, he didn't want to give him the satisfaction of seeing any fear in his eyes or expression. If by some strange chance he wasn't, then he wanted to be a friendly neighbor. Anything else would be quite awkward.

Trip couldn't help it. Sure a Starfleet officer had to know when to be tactful but Trip would be the first to admit he had trouble with it sometimes. Now was one of those times as he stared at the bald man who just introduced himself as Lex Luthor. That...couldn't be a coincidence, could it?

"Uh....hi?" He glanced over at Anatoly but his eyes immediately went back to Lex, even as he answered Anatoly. "Uh...yeah. Yeah! I'm just movin' in. I said I wanted a place on the beach with some extra room and they gave me this place." Which was the truth, the extra room in the hopes of someone from home showing up. It seemed to be a common occurrence for Trip wanted to be ready.

On the other hand, Lex had had tact, or some semblance of it, beaten into him since birth and it was because of that that he only gave a small sigh when he recognized the look on the man's face after he introduced himself. He knew that look intimately after so long on the island. He'd been recognized as a comic book super villain.

Somehow, he really didn't think this Trip Tucker was Walter de Courcey in disguise.

"Yes, we live down the way, on the other side of the path. There is nothing quite like living on the beach." He said politely.

"Aeneas loves it," Anatoly added after a quick glance at Lex. He didn't seem worried or angry so perhaps it truly was safe to assume that Trip was who he said he was. "He runs around on the beach all day and happily comes home to put his sandy paws on the bed at night."

Trip was still staring at Luthor and he really couldn't stop himself. It took everything he had, including imagining Jon and T'Pol's disapproval, to stop himself from asking if Clark Kent was here too. Because that would just be too cool.

Though why Luthor was living with such a nice guy like Anatoly, Trip didn't know. Maybe he'd get a chance to ask Anatoly in private sometime. Away from Luthor, for Trip's own safety.

"Well, it's always nice ta know that neighbors. And sounds like somethin' Porthos would get up to, if he didn't have to go through decon like the rest of us." He paused and then clarified, as he kept forgetting people didn't always know what he was talking about. It was hard after living with the same people in close quarters for months on end. "After we'd visit certain planets, we'd have to go through a decontamination cycle to get rid of anything that might be harmful to the rest of the ship. If Jon brought Porthos along for some free air, the dog had to ta do it too."

The man was staring. He might not be Walter de Courcey but he still was starting to get on Lex's nerves. He only hoped the shock wore off before he was forced to say something that would only embarass everyone.

And Lex already like Trip's friend Jon just from the name of his dog. "You worked on a star ship then?" He asked curiously, despite his annoyance.

Anatoly put a comforting hand on Lex's shoulder. It had taken him a little while to see that Trip was looking at Lex as though he recognized him. He knew how sensitive Lex was about such things, particularly as everyone seemed to think the worst of him without even coming to know him first.

"She is called Enterprise if I am remembering rightly," he said.

When Anatoly put that comforting hand on Luthor's shoulder, Trip suddenly figured out why a nice guy like Anatoly was living with Luthor. He could be dense at times but this was quite obvious.

Well, wasn't that interesting.

"Uh...yeah. Enterprise. First of her kind. First of, well, any kinda really. She was Earth's first warp capable star ship so we were makin' history." Trip didn't mean to sound boastful, but he was proud of Enterprise and her crew. Even after everything they'd had to do to defeat the Xindi that wasn't quite noble. They'd survived and Earth had survived. That was all that mattered.

Lex gave Anatoly a soft smile. While he knew it was going to happen over and over again, being recognized was a small price to pay as long as he had Anatoly behind him.

Though he wondered if Trip knew that the name of his star ship was pretty recognizable in of itself.

"I can imagine that would be quite the historical feat. I'm sure that make island like quite boring."

Anatoly listened politely though the flow of conversation was passing beyond his interest. It was all very exciting to know that in his future, cosmonauts would be able to sail in ships across the stars but his heart still irrevocably belonged to chess (and Lex).

"I fear that we have kept you too long from your moving in," Anatoly said after a few moments. "We should let you get back to your work."

Trip recognized a polite out when he heard one and smiled genuinely at Anatoly to show he didn't mind at all. He did have a lot of work left to do to make the hut the way he wanted it. "Oh well, don't be strangers now. It was nice meeting you," Pause because he still couldn't believe it, "Lex and always a pleasure seeing ya, Anatoly."

A sharp bark from his feet caused him to laugh and bend down again. "And of course, you too Aeneas."

Lex resisted rolling his eyes as he gave the man a polite goodbye. "I'm sure we'll be seeing each other around. It is a small island after all. Come Aeneas." He snapped his fingers for the dog to follow and then turned to lead the way back home.

Once they were far enough away to be out of earshot, Lex chuckled and shook his head. "Interesting man, this Mr. Tucker, but I don't think you have to worry about him, Tolya."

Anatoly nodded. He still wasn't entirely convinced but he would defer to Lex's judgment on the matter. He trusted in Lex's ability to see through anyone's attempts at deception and if he was convinced Trip was all right, then that simply was that.

"I believe you," he said then stopped for a moment so he could kiss Lex's cheek. "I know I can trust you to keep me safe."

It was something that Lex still marveled at. Anatoly complete and utter faith in him, probably the only person who had ever done so in Lex's whole life. That was how he could love this man, wholly and completely.

He gave Anatoly a small, purely fond smile. "With my life, Tolya. With my life."

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For Anatoly & Trip

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