TITLE: Tête-à-Tête
FANDOM: Law and Order SVU
PAIRING: Alex Cabot / Olivia Benson
BEGINNING DATE: 02/00/2004
COMPLETION DATE: 08/02/2004
RATING: PG If same-sex relationships bother you, you might want to read something else. Otherwise, ENJOY!!!!!!!!!
LEGAL STUFF: Copyrighted 2004 by Adrienne Lee and Miranda Rafferty. Non-original characters, if applicable, are used without permission under "Fair Use" doctrine. The authors reserve all rights attached to all original aspects of this work. This is a work of fiction; any similarity to characters or persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.
SPOILER: Post "Loss". There also might be other bits and pieces from various episodes.
SUMMARY FOR STORY: Olivia one-upped Ling!
FEEDBACK: Yes, please, please, please feed us!!
AUTHORS' NOTE: We’re sort of giving bits and pieces of the puzzle with these little stories. It's our hope that these stories can be stand alone pieces without the timeline hindering your reading pleasure. If we're not doing a good job, please let us know.
Sometimes it’s just not “in character” for the characters to talk / act in a way that would clue the readers in on everything. So, if you don’t mind spoilers and if you just want to know, write us, and we’ll try to explain. Otherwise, everything will be revealed in due time. :)
Alternatively, years and years ago, there was a two-person Greek tragedy/vaudeville act named Euphe and Mism, and they became our muses… ;D
“Ling Szeto.
“Hi.
“Yeah, she’s still in a conference. We can talk.
“Let’s meet at the oyster bar downstairs. She’ll never look for us there.
“If you want. Otherwise, I can call in the reservation.
“Great. Thanks. Yeah, the usual’s fine.
“See you in 20 then. Don’t keep me waiting.” Ling hung up the phone, finished the file, and told her secretary she was heading out to a client meeting. By the time she got to the restaurant, Olivia and their food were already waiting for her at the table.
“Hey.” The detective jumped up, and pulled out a chair for the smaller woman. After they were both seated, she smiled hesitantly. “Thanks for agreeing to see me.”
“Well, Olivia, thanks for calling.”
“We really couldn’t avoid each other forever.”
“I know…”
“Look…” They both started to say.
“If you don’t mind, Liv, can I call you Liv?” She waited for the approval. “Okay, great. If you don’t mind, I’d like to go first.”
Ling asking for permission? Wow. Olivia checked around to make certain the world hadn’t stopped. “Sure.” She agreed, giving the other woman her best smile.
“I’m really sorry, Liv,” Ling began slowly, as if searching for words, or trying to get used to the familiar address. “For everything I had said and done…” She took a deep breath, looked past Olivia, and finished her statement. “I was just doing what I thought was best for her.”
“I know, Ling. It’s water under the bridge, okay?”
“I really didn’t want my best friend’s… um…” Uncharacteristically, she faltered. “You know, on my head. So thank you… for fighting me.”
Not wanting to revisit that past anymore than her table companion did, Olivia merely nodded, “Let’s just start fresh, okay?”
“If you insist!” Ling grinned mischievously, switching back to her normal mode. “So, what can I do you for?”
Why do I keep doing this to myself? The detective asked no one in particular. Letting out a silent breath, she countered, “Ling, you’re a married woman. What would Douglas say? Besides, I’m already taken.”
“Yes, but have you been taken today?”
Olivia sighed, loudly this time. “I need your input.”
“So, where would you like me to put it.”
“Come on, Ling,” she pleaded. “I need your expertise.”
“Flattery will get you everywhere.” Ling gave her companion a slow smile. “I know I’m good, but I don’t know if you’d call me an expert.”
“Really?” Let’s see how you’d like a dose of your own poison, Olivia decided, and grinned lasciviously. “I hear Douglas is buying apple futures.”
Almond eyes narrowed. “What have you and Douglas been talking about?”
“Ling! Douglas is my friend.” Olivia lifted her brows and shook her head. “It wouldn’t be fair for me to kiss and tell, so to speak.”
“What did he say?”
“It’s not so much what he said. But the way he acts when your name comes up.”
She almost sprayed Olivia with her water.
“Are you okay?” The detective asked, amused.
It took a while before the coughing stopped. Finally able to breathe, Ling gasped, “Sort of like the way you act when Alex walks in the room?”
“Oh no, how it affects Douglas is much more obvious.” She lifted a corner of her mouth, and gibed. “If you know what I mean.”
“He does not.”
“He doesn’t what, Ling?”
“He doesn’t, you know, have one.”
“Have one what?”
“You know!”
“Ling, I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Olivia put down her fork, and answered most sincerely. “I was just saying how Douglas would stop in the middle of a sentence and get a happy faraway look.”
“He does?” Picking up her glass, Ling smiled. “That’s actually kind of sweet.”
“Oh, yeah.” The detective nodded, then waited for a couple of beats. “And then he tells me just how really good you are.”
Ling inhaled her water again, and gave the other brunette a series of baleful looks as she coughed into her napkin.
“Are you okay? Is there something wrong with your water?” Olivia asked with mock concern.
“You’re doing this on purpose.”
“Doing what on purpose?”
“Embarrassing me in public.”
“First, I don’t think anybody could embarrass you, publicly or otherwise.” She pressed her hand to her chest as if to say, what, little me? “Second, I would never dream of taking you on.”
“I’m really not so fierce,” Ling smiled, mollified once again. “If you know how to handle me.”
Licking her fingers, Olivia bragged, “And I’ve got just the hands to do it. At least so I’ve been told.”
“Okay, Olivia, truce.”
That’s all it took? Sheesh. Let’s see… The detective decided to do some harassing of her own. “What? You don’t want to push the rest of my buttons.” Gazing with half-lidded eyes at Ling’s hands as if they were just what she needed, she continued, “I guarantee you, you’ll get some very interesting reactions.”
Outwardly, Ling tried hard not to twitch. “Why are you staring at my hands?”
“Douglas said how very good you were with them.”
“He did not.” Childishly, she defended, hoping against hope that Olivia was lying.
“On the contrary,” the detective winked, “He said you were very expressive.”
Ling blushed.
“You know?” Olivia pressed on. “I’ve never noticed before, but you’re just the right height.”
“For what?”
After a brief glance down her own chest, she pursued with a carnal smile, “You really should consider the fairer sex. I’m sure there would be a long line of…” she paused, “People, more than happy to be your tour-guide.”
Sinking lower in her chair, Ling warned with bravado, “Okay. Olivia. Stop it.”
“You sure?” She turned her charm on up another notch. ”I’m just beginning to enjoy myself.”
“Okay, okay. You win. Okay?”
“You know you really didn’t need to test me.”
Composing herself quickly, the lawyer asserted her own defense, “Yes I did.”
“Why?”
“You were so much fun to play with.”
“No doubt.” Olivia complained after wiping her mouth with her napkin, and laying it back down in her lap. “You had me between two huge boulders.”
“Aww… I’m flattered.” She thrust her shoulders forward and rested her breasts on the table. “But these really aren’t that big.”
“Ling… As you’ve seen, two can play this game.”
“All right, all right. You’re no fun.” She sighed loudly, properly chastised. “Yes, I know I haven’t been talking to the right person. So, what do you want?”
“I picked out a couple of rings…”
“Really? Let’s see!”
“I haven’t bought them yet.”
“Why not? What the hell are you waiting for?”
“I need help with the inscriptions. Your help.”
“I’m listening.”
“Years ago, I saw a watch ad in Chinatown. Strangely, it was for a Swiss watch…” Olivia explained, then elaborated, “Anyway, on the back, there were four characters. It meant something like as ceaseless as the heavens, as enduring as the earth, or something like that. Do you know what I’m talking about?”
Of course Ling knew, she was grinning ear to ear. “Did I tell you how glad I am that you’re the one? Here,” she scribbled the characters on the back of her business card.
“Great,” Olivia looked at the writing, turning the card around.
Finally, Ling reached over, and turned it right-side-up.
“Yes, I think this is exactly it.”
“Actually, if you want, my mom knows the owner of this place we can go. They can engrave them for you. Or, if you want them to make the rings, I’m sure we can get you a great deal.” She looked at her watch. “If you have time to spare, we can go after lunch.”
“Sure. My shift doesn’t start until this afternoon.”
“Tell me, who’s heaven and who’s earth?”
“Ling,” the detective winked, “I don’t think you can handle this apple.”
“So, where are you going to ask her?”
“I was thinking about a silent dharma retreat in New Hampshire.” Sitting back, Olivia revealed her plans, “You know, where she least suspects it.”
“Silent retreat? Silent?” Ling shook her head in disbelief. “You people are anything but.”
“We’ll just bring a lot of apples. Or something.”
“Apples? Silent?”
“Do you have a better idea?”
“Any idea is better than yours. Silent retreat.”
“Well?” Olivia waited impatiently, her mind drifting to their swiftly becoming routine lunch, where Alex had an apple, and Olivia had Alex…
“Snap! Snap!” Ling made popping sounds with her fingers in front of the other woman’s face to catch her attention. “How does a nice romantic getaway on the beautiful island of Maui sound?”
She downed her glass of water. Then responded with contained excitement and a smile. “Not roaring fires and hot rum toddies but it would certainly do.”
“Good, I’ll talk to Susan. I’m sure she’ll put you up for a couple of weeks.”
“I don’t know that we’re gonna be there that long…” Olivia demurred.
“What’s the point of going then? If you’re not going to stay long enough to enjoy it.” Ling allowed her inner Machiavelli to show. “And don’t you still have vacation time banked up until Doom’s Day?”
“I guess… You’re gonna get her out of the office, right?”
“Don’t worry, leave it to Auntie Ling and her lock down crew.”
“Auntie Ling? You’re younger than me.”
“And your point?”
“If I had aunts like you growing up,” Olivia decided to take another jab, “Somebody would have been arrested.”
Ling cringed, and stared at her empty plate.
Laughing softly, Olivia motioned the waiter for their check. “Douglas is right, you are so much fun to play with.”
“Keep that up and Alex and I are going to declare marshal law, and limit the time you and Douglas spend together.” She threatened, blushing fiercely.
“Come on now, Ling, then you’d have to let me tag along with you and Alex. Are you sure you’re up to that?” The detective kept on, wondering just how far she could take the limit. “I thought we give you glucose poisoning.”
“We’ve only been neighbors for a couple of months and you and Douglas are inseparable.” Ling put on a brave face, and demanded, “How did you get to be such good friends so fast?”
“Survival,” Olivia decided to curb her teasing, as the other woman seemed a little frayed around the edges. One more for the road though. “Besides, we can only sit around listening to the two of you talk nonsense for so long.”
Spluttering and looking appropriately outraged, Ling countered, “We do not talk nonsense. It’s better than exchanging recipes for Kung Pao Chicken and my mother’s hot sauce. Or going on and on about the latest video games you discovered on the PSII. You two are like a couple of overgrown kids.”
“Overgrown kids who keep our respective princesses very happy,” she maintained confidently.
“Whatever.” Ling stood up, and grabbed her purse. “I suppose we should get going. Did you drive or shall we grab a cab?”
“I have my car. Just lead the way.” Olivia stuck some bills in the holder and followed the other woman out the door.