Christopher and J.X. from the HOLMES & MORIARITY series
**This holiday scene takes place between Somebody Killed His
Editor and All She Wrote
It rained Christmas day.
It had rained every day since I
arrived in San Francisco . It’s not
that I particularly minded the rain, but the wet, gray weather didn’t do a lot
for my mood – or for the headache I’d had ever since the plane had touched down
on the tarmac at San Francisco International
Airport .
“It’s the shift in barometric
pressure,” I told J.X. “It’s giving me a
migraine.”
He looked sympathetic – he had been
looking sympathetic for three days, so he was probably starting to run low on
milk of human kindness, though you’d never guess from the soft look in his dark
eyes. “Maybe you should call your doctor? Ask for a prescription for your
migraine medicine.”
I waved that idea off. “No, no. I’ll
be fine.”
“We could stop and fill the
prescription on the way.”
“It’ll be impossible to get hold of
anyone today.”
“You should try at least. You don’t
want to have the day spoiled by a migraine.”
“Ha. No fear of that!”
I felt a little guilty at the white,
relieved smile that greeted my words. Of course, what I was thinking was that
nothing, not even a raging migraine, could make this disaster of a day worse
than it was. Or would be.
It was my own fault. I’d wanted to
see J.X. We’d only had one chance to get
together since the murderous events at Blue Heron Lodge, but picking Christmas
weekend was a bad move. Our relationship – could you even call something this
new, this tentative a relationship? –
was not ready for the weight of all those expectations and comparisons that
inevitably came with the holiday season.
Not that our beginning romance –
could you call something this new, this tentative a romance? – would necessarily fare badly by comparisons to what
holidays had been like with David, my ex.
If it had just been me and J.X. it
might have worked out all right. But no. We were spending the day with his
family. His parents and his nephew and his ex-wife. J.X.’s ex-wife, not the
nephew’s. The nephew was just a kid. Six or seven or something. And the ex-wife
was because J.X. had felt duty bound to marry his dead brother’s pregnant
girlfriend in order to give the kid a name. It just didn’t get more soap
opera-ish than that.
He was a real idealist, J.X.
That’s what worried me. I’d already
disappointed him once. You only got so many chances with idealists.
* * * * *
“At least let me drive you back,” J.X.
said in an under voice.
“That would make me feel even worse!”
I looked past him to where his four year old nephew was peeking around the hall
corner. The kid looked like a miniature J.X. minus the van dyke beard. Gage
stuck his tongue out at me. I took the high road and ignored him, saying to J.X.,
“I don’t want to take you away from your family.”
The family that hated me on sight.
“Yeah, but the idea is for you and
me to spend the weekend together.”
“We did. We have.”
J.X.’s brows drew together. He
opened his mouth.
“Julian? Oh.” J.X.’s mother – “call
me Mrs. Moriarity” – stopped at the end of the hall. “We were just about to
serve pie.”
Laura Dolores Moriarity was of
Castilian Spanish descent, an icy blue-eyed blond. In looks, J.X. took after
his father who was what they used to call “black Irish.” Mr. Moriarity was
pleasantly distant. Then there was Nina, who was both pretty and pained. Maybe J.X.
thought that marriage had all been platonic on her side, but he was the only
one who did.
The only comfort was that they
probably would have hated me just as much if I’d been female. But I don’t think
being the gay boyfriend helped.
“Be right there,” J.X. said over
his shoulder.
Laura raised an eyebrow and
departed.
“Kit, are you going to be there
when I get home?” J.X. asked bluntly.
“The thing is,” I hedged
apologetically, “I’m afraid I’m coming down with the flu. I think maybe the
best thing I could do is grab a red-eye flight and go home.”
“Kit.” I felt that dark, hurt look right in my solar plexus.
“Julian? Gage is hoping you’ll help
him put his train se—oh.” Nina hastily backed up and disappeared around the
hall corner.
The door bell rang. “That’s my
taxi,” I said, and I don’t think I could quite hide my relief.
“To hell with the taxi,” J.X. said.
“Don’t go like this, Kit. Let me drive you back to my place. Maybe you’ll feel
better if you lie down. At least we can talk.”
Oh God. Not that. Not The Talk.
“I wouldn’t think of it!” I said
honestly. I dragged on my coat and fumbled with the door handle almost shaking it to get it open.
“I’ll call you!”
“Kit!” I closed the door on his
protest and ran down the rain slick steps to the waiting taxi.
I'm glad you placed it for us - will now have to go and re-read All She Wrote to reassure myself... They're an interesting pair!
ReplyDeleteThey're an interesting pair!
Delete:-D
Noooo, Kit, nooo!! come on, it's Christmas, you idiot!
ReplyDeletempf... very glad he took his head out of his ass in All she wrote...
and btw, that was a low blow! now I'm in dire need of some Waylor love...
Waylor?
DeleteWill and Taylor, of course.
DeleteOw.
ReplyDeleteOw, ow, ow!
What Liz said! ;)
Oh well, come on! It would be so dull for you all if I just kept giving you happy endings. ;-P
Deletehmmmm I now need to add to my re-reads..... :) teaser
ReplyDeleteThese two are so intriguing. I need to reread the stories now.
ReplyDeletePoor J.X. - I think Kit will always keep him on his toes! ;) Glad they've (hopefully) moved past this stage and that they worked things out in All She Wrote! I absolutely love these guys - can't wait to read more on them! (^▽^)
ReplyDeleteMore is on the way. I'm eager to get back to these two.
DeleteOh, Kit!
ReplyDeleteAnother fab coda, Josh, with Kit acting very much in character. Do you find yourself wanting to shake him sometimes? I can't help loving him, though, insecurities and all.
Poor Kit. I feel for him!
DeleteThat hurt :)
ReplyDeleteTrue! True enough.
DeleteLuckily everybody here has read ''All She Wrote'', so we can feel better, although the end of this coda is slightly upsetting.
ReplyDeleteEhmmm... but are you sure about the tag ''holiday romance'' for this?
Thank you for writing!
Ciao
Antonella
Hey all Holiday Romance is not sunshine and sweetness! :-P Some holidays you wind up with your heart broken!
DeleteKit has got to be one of the most interesting characters for you to write. His ability to annoy us and J.X. is too funny. Thanks again for another delightful coda, Josh.
ReplyDeletePoor JX..poor Kit. So far out of his comfort zone. Luckily I know my second favorite boys will work things out. :-) I am not so patiently waiting for The Boy With the Painful Tattoo. You rock,J! Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you, M. I think they probably WILL work things out.
DeleteOuch! Now I see how all those beginnings in ASW happened. Ever so insecure Kit. But he just has such smart way with words, doesn't he? Go hold him tight, JX! :)
ReplyDeleteWait, so the nephew was six or four? Or maybe it's just that Kit really doesn't like kids;)? Nice to know something more about parents' descent. And yeah, you do like to torture people:D
ReplyDeleteYes! Quite a difference between six, seven, or something and FOUR. :-D
DeleteKit is not exactly a "kiddie" person.
Kit!!
ReplyDeleteAww Kit, he certainly shows his "complexities" here - although JX does as well, his are just not as....apparent ;-) The train wreck pic made me snort... Gleefully looking forward to more of them in The Boy With The Painful Tattoo. :-)
ReplyDeleteYes! Lots of built-in conflict for that pair. Not even counting all those inevitable murders!
DeleteOh...that was painful to read. Thank goodness we know things get better in "All She Wrote." I'm so happy that J.X. is so patient and loves Kit...otherwise, it would be a very short series. :-)
ReplyDeleteAgh! Kit! That man is exasperating.
ReplyDelete:-D
DeleteBut so fun to write.
There might be something seriously wrong with me, because Kit ALWAYS leaves me with the widest grin on my face... no matter how badly he behaves. :) And this coda sounded like Kit all right.
ReplyDeleteThank you for letting us meet J.X.'s family. For some reason it was awfully funny to read how they called him Julian! No one else seems to do that. ;)
I also loved the part where Kit worries about J.X. being a real idealist, because one only gets so many chances with idealists. And Kit was thinking that he had already disappointed J.X. once. ONCE!!! LOL. :)
Thank you so much for this one, Josh!
We share that same disturbed sense of humor. I was chuckling as I wrote that last line. :-D
DeleteI've been chuckling the whole day, since I've been coming back and reading todays coda several times now. It seems to be totally irresistible to me. :)
DeleteThat's because you can see what's going to happen when Kit and JX move in together. :-D
DeleteSo true. Oh I can't wait to witness them moving in together. You are such a tease!!! ;)
Delete(Is a person allowed to open the same Advent calendar "window" as many times as she wants? I usually have a bad habit of opening the windows in advance, but with your calendar I tend to visit the windows many times afterwards... especially this one...)
So that's where these thousands of hit are coming from! :-D
DeleteI swear I'm guilty for only a couple of thousand visits on this page... per day. ;)
DeleteHeh. Well, you know that is a LOT of extra family to contend with for someone who is already thinking he shouldn't be getting involved. :-D
ReplyDeleteGlad to see this one! So sad to see the date on the upcoming novel moved back.. waiting patiently.
ReplyDeleteI hope to get back to it next week -- it's hard writing in December. I'd forgotten how busy the month is!
DeleteThis is my favourite Christmas Coda so far, ironically enough ;) I'm not sure if it's because I'm used to spend the holidays without a significant other or because Kit's personality is just awesome(ly complicated). Thank you!
ReplyDeleteSimona
I know! The shaking the door handle to get it open makes me laugh. NOT that I ever have been in quite the same situation. :-D
DeleteI've been really loving these codas. It's so amazing to revisit characters, old and new, I never thought I'd here from again. And it's exciting not knowing who the next coda will be about. :D Thanks so much for writing these, Josh!
ReplyDeleteKyra
I'm glad. That's the fun for me too. I just start writing whichever one I feel like I'm in the mood for next.
DeleteLoved it!... Because I read All she wrote. And really since I had read that Kit had interrupted a date with the excuse of a migraine, I had been curious about it. He can be a prick, but really he managed to grow in my heart and I'm quite eager to read the boy with the painful tattoo.
ReplyDeleteJ.X. has the patience of a saint :)
And still if I was in the house off people I had just met and they acted that unfriendly, I might want to leave too... So I can relate to Kit reaction
Yes, I think taking Kit to meet the folks on Christmas day was probably not JX's smartest move.
DeleteKit was the king of self preservation sometimes... Though one of the interesting things to look forward to in this series is to discover J.X.'s, erm, bad side...:-)
ReplyDeleteYes, I think JX's...well, maybe not DARK side, but his less charming side will start to show. Not that he's not lovable because we all have our less charming sides. And those are the obstacles to relationships.
DeleteAlthough I enjoyed the stories, I must say that J. X. always struck me as a bit of an arrogant jerk.
DeleteOh, I wanted to add that doesn't mean I dislike J. X. He also has a good, caring side. But I very much see the down side to his character that could be very trying in a relationship..
DeleteJosh - I'm loving all of these! It's so nice to visit old "friends" and anticipate meeting up with a few more! *g* Thank you so much for doing these - its quite a gift for us "Fanyons"
ReplyDelete-merentha13 (for some reason I don't seem to be able to post via my lj account...)
I don't know why it offers LJ as an ID option because I don't think it ever accepts them.
DeleteWith one exception - it works for me :-) although I have to confirm my LogIn 2-times. Fussy technology!
DeleteYou gots the magic touch!
DeleteI find it interesting that it is Kit that annoys most people, when it is J. X. who annoys me. You take your new boyfriend to your parents house where he is also expected to confront your ex-wife, allow them to be rude to him, and they you're surprised when he leaves? Really?
ReplyDeleteI agree! Completely!
DeleteHow could he not see, that would be a disaster?
But then J.X. is only sweet to some point. He has no qualms at showing Kit he despises his work, even if afterwards he tries to soften it by saying he just wants to raise Kit's potential. It can be a rocky relationship.
I think somewhere between Kit's anxious oversensitivity and JX's total obliviousness is the truth. Kit is prepared for them to detest him and it never really occurs to JX that there might be a problem.
DeleteWhich I think gives a little hint as to where JX might have a few flaws of his own. :-D
"He has no qualms at showing Kit he despises his work, even if afterwards he tries to soften it by saying he just wants to raise Kit's potential."
DeleteExactly. Kit isn't totally off the mark when he likens JX to those old conquistadors. ;-)
You are amazing, Mr. Lanyon.
ReplyDeleteThis made me chuckle. I love Holmes and Moriarity. This was an absolute treat. Hey, I got news... 4.0 GPA for my first semester of Grad School. :D :D :D
Now I have a break where I can read all the Josh Lanyon I want. In English. And I am not required to write a paper about it! How is that for holiday cheer? :D
Good for you! Congratulations! Happy Holidays indeed!
DeleteThank you so much for this one! All the codas are amazing, but I just LOVE Kit! He has such a unique voice and is one of my two absolute favorites (the other one being Adrien). I feel so with him, extended family can be too much and when they're rather hostile, not good. And ex-wife and new boyfriend? No-go! Really looking forward to reading part 3!
ReplyDeleteOh good! I'm happy you enjoyed it. I have a special fondness for Kit and JX.
DeleteI love Kit's voice.;~)
ReplyDeleteGlad that I've read the next book, so I know it came together in the end. Otherwise, would be sitting here, "No. No! No-no-no-no. It's Christmas. Let him drive you, Kit. Sheesh."
Kelly
I always love seeing the dynamics of this pair in action. Very much looking forward to the next book in the series.
ReplyDelete