AUTHOR: The Corrupter
RATING: G (imagine that)
CHARACTERS / PAIRING: Der. You know.
SUMMARY: An introspective moment. It's snowing; people are stranded; and the threat of cabin fever makes people do strange things.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Yes, Pooh can write a ficlet. Shaddup! Pooh's decided she's going to join the whole cliched "stranded in a snowstorm" bit, except that snow doesn't really play a big part, and you'd never know they were stranded if I didn't mention it briefly in the very beginning. And no... this also has nothing to do with cabin fever either (although Pooh's been reading naughty fics *grin* and thought that it would make a great title for one of those, but rest assured, this isn't one of them. DER). This was written at 5 am, after Pooh had rushed to get Awakenings: Part 5 finished for the Fectas, and then found that she couldn't sleep. Sorry, but she had to take it out on someone. Please send all flames (and you will want to send them) by fondling the HA.
DISCLAIMER: Not mine. How many times must I repeat myself?

Frustrated. Exasperated. Aggravated. Flustered. Annoyed.

It was nothing new.

Electricity had been lost over an hour ago. The snow had settled in, many feet deep, blocking passage outside. She was stuck. They were stuck. They would have to wait it out in the confines of the room. Surprisingly, no one felt like talking. Everyone did their own thing. The edict was simple: read a book; do homework; just keep yourselves occupied. Voices insisted on peace and calm, and the demands were met without objection.

She was restless and bored.

Bright sunlight, peeking through the thick cloud layer, seeped into the room through half-closed blinds. Mellow yellow met antiseptic white walls.

She was going to go crazy. Which would probably explain why she did what she did. She still wasn’t sure how it happened, just that it had.

Almost half an hour ago, she had sat down at the desk, opposite those familiar blue eyes, and tried to read her book, unperturbed. It was a moot exercise. After a few minutes, she lowered it to find the shimmery eyes laughing at her. She met them defiantly.

In hindsight, she should have looked away, but those blue eyes were the most interesting things in the room. She stared, unblinkingly, unflinchingly. Mesmerizing. Bright blue. Like rare china. Something from the Ming dynasty, perhaps. Flecks of gray. That surprised her, and she tried not to show it. Up until now, she never had the opportunity to examine them so closely. But if eyes were the windows to the soul, she now had an amazingly unobstructed view down to the clear blue depths of that burning spirit. Straight to a passionate, beating heart. She gasped lightly and averted her eyes, embarrassed.

So much want. So much need. So much… turbulent confusion. All clearly expressed right at the surface.

And when she returned the gaze, those eyes stared back, unhesitatingly. She pouted and the blues lit up, amused but curious and silently questioning. She stared right through the dancing blue eyes, again finding the edges of that unfamiliar essence, and the very same eyes returned the favor, probing her own face with their intense scrutiny. She flushed, but did not turn away this time.

Instead, she examined the changing gray and blue strands in those teasing irises. And silently asked questions that had been plaguing her for months. What is so special about you? What makes you better than others? What gives you permission to have such an attitude? Why do people find you so irresistible? What makes them look twice? What do you see and know that I don’t?

Those infuriating blue eyes only stared back. While the questions remained unasked, the answers were there. Unspoken. She turned her head, trying to evade the watchful gaze, but the blue eyes only followed obediently.

Restless. Exasperated. Disconcerted. Teasing. Mischievous.

All her emotions, reflected back.

She frowned, and the corners of those blue eyes crinkled in response. She stuck her tongue out, and those blue eyes only narrowed, gleaming brightly. She sighed, annoyed, and the blue eyes softened. Defeated, she smiled. And the dancing blue eyes smiled back.

Lorelai hefted a basket of handwashables. When faced with the possibility of cabin fever and insanity from being snowed in, she did the only other thing she hadn’t done in the past hour – clean. She crossed behind Rory on her way to the kitchen.

“Hey. Quit staring at yourself in the mirror. You’re freaking me out.”