Jeepers Creepers

[Kira & Lee Norris]

And so, they were back to this.
Madeleine and Lee were back as Madeleine and Lee. They were Madelee. They were everything Lee had been dreaming of since... since they messed it up. But now it was fixed.
Lee sighed, staring up at the golden light as it streamed through the leaves above and danced around them. This was were they'd been before- it was their tree; sort of like their own special place in the forest. Madeleine sat at the twisted roots of the tree, leaning weakly against it and watching him. He on the other hand, was standing up, looking around him.
He loved how enclosed it felt in here- it was really like they'd been cut off from the world, and that felt nice. Smiling, he suddenly dropped to the ground and pulled off his jacket, and moved onto tug off his shoes and socks. Madeleine straightened up slightly, watching him curiously.
Lee ignored her, kicking his stuff to the side and jumping up onto his feet once more barefoot.
It was... a strange aspect of his earthly powers, to say the least. Because of his gift, Lee was acutely aware of the ground beneath his feet. His skin could sense layer upon layer of dirt beneath him- could feel every single slab of rock and uneven contour of the ground- and everything in it...
It was strangely relaxing, actually, once you were used to the sensation. The feeling of the earth beneath him... it felt like home. His powers meant that he was perfectly attuned to the land benath him- and he appreciated it a lot. It made him strangely nostalgic; memories of Ireland swept over him like heavy waves.
"You probably think I'm a complete weirdo," he said after a pause.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

It was amazing how different it all felt here.
The last time Madeleine had sat here, it was just after that day in the Battle Training room. It was the day that she had found out that Cecelia had killed herself. Happiness had been elusive that day, and she hadn't been able to see how it could come back. Her thoughts had been filled with dark moors, Heathcliff and death.
Now, it was completely different.
The sun was streaming down through the trees in golden shafts as it had been the first time Lee had taken her here. It was like time had frozen from that day - they were together. Like nothing had happened.
Together again.
It felt so good.
For November, it was oddly warm - though Nurse Gornray had warned her that she had better wrap up anyway, and Lee seemed to be taking her welfare very much to heart. Not that she minded him fussing over her, but it was kind of annoying that she had to be bundled up in her calf-length leather coat, woolly scarf and gloves.
She looked up at Lee, who was standing up and taking in the scene around him. The sunlight was shining oddly behind him, bathing him in a golden glow of pale sunlight. Suddenly wishing that she had her camera, she leaned back against a tree and gazed at him vaguely, losing herself in her thoughts.
Lee suddenly dropped to the ground beside her and started pulling off his jacket, shoes and socks. She stared at him curiously, wondering what on earth he was doing.
He stood up again, and she watched him with one eyebrow raised.
After a moment, he said, "You probably think I'm a complete weirdo."
Madeleine smiled. "I don't think, I know," she laughed. "No, I'm just wondering what on earth you're doing."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Lee smiled, and dropped to the ground, sitting cross-legged in front of her. "D'you get squeamish, Madeleine?"
It sounded completely ridiculous, the second he'd said it. Madeleine- Head of the Warriors- bearer of swords and blood-spiller (Ha! That sounded so weird...) get squeamish? Madeleine really wasn't the type for that sort of thing. She hardly was going to faint at the sight of blood.
Nah, he'd just be confirming what she already knew- that he was a weirdo.
It was pretty weird- or at least pretty random. But there was nothing wrong with acting on impulse. Except whenever he was talking to Chloe after just seeing Levi's tongue down Madeleine's throat.
He shuddered involuntarily at the thought.
Leave it. You gave him what he deserved anyway.
"D'you?" he prompted.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine frowned, before raising her eyebrow again. "Nooo... well, unless it comes to spiders," she shuddered. "Ugh, I hate those things. If one touches me, then I get really squeamish... like... things aren't meant to have eight legs!"
Okay, yes, she knew spiders were harmless, that arachnophobia was ridiculous, she was just being stupid, yadda yadda yadda... but she really, really, really hated them.
It was probably something to do with the time she was five years old and woke up with a giant spider on her neck. Things like that would tend to do it.
"Why?" she said, recovering herself and looking up at him, tilting her head.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

... Spiders?!
Lee had to struggled to contain his surprise at that. Spiders were probably his absolute favourite of all creepy crawlies. The very thing he liked best about them was their eight legs. There was nothing in this world quite like a spider- and besides, they kept the fly population thing down. If there was one bug he hated more than any other, it was flies.
"Right, well, you know about my powers... conjuring, my Hell's Angels wings... and earth." He watched her expression very carefully as he stood up again, and patted the ground with the heel of his foot.
"Over there, beside that log, I can feel a heck of a lot of woodlice scuttling about." He turned, and pointed at a tree a few yards from them. "And over there... well, let's not go into the details of what's living in that tree..."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine made a face and squirmed slightly, involuntarily imagining being able to feel things moving under her feet like that. "You can feel... that's disgusting, Lee!"
And he liked that?
Men!

[Kira & Lee Norris]

He laughed. "It's an earthy thing. An acquired sense- if you will. You wouldn't find it so gross if you didn't not like spiders... not not like spiders... wait..." He pulled a face. "Let's go with the first one."
He didn't really understand this whole arachnophobia thing. It was completely illogical. Sure, if they lived in Australia or something, then he would understand... but they were hardly getting any dangerous or overly big spiders here.
Spiders didn't like the wet. Although saying that, it was strangely dry for November. He eyed Madeleine's warm clothing with distaste. Still, it was for her own good.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"Yeah, but... things crawling under your feet... yuck," she shuddered. "You boys are totally gross. I really don't get how you can stand that... and I lived in a forest at one point..."
Well, at many points. Most of the camps that she had stayed in had been near or in forests. Lots of bugs and squirmy things, but she didn't mind those unless they crawled over her. But she really, really hated spiders.
Sometimes they were useful to transform into, but that was just plain disgusting. Having eight eyes and gooey stuff coming out of your... no, it was just awful.
She shivered, suddenly glad of her coat. "Seriously, how do you do it?

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Lee frowned at her as she shivered, and walked over to her, taking her in his arms. Really, he just took any excuse to hold her. If she was cold, he was there. And if she wasn't... well, there was nothing wrong with hanging about hopefully until she did get cold.
"What do you mean, you lived in a forest?" he laughed at her. "Like... camping?"
A spider was scuttling along the ground at the end of their feet. It wasn't overly big- but it wasn't exactly what you'd call mini either. Lee followed its progress along the dirt; knowing Madeleine would be able to see it through the blades of grass.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine curled into his arms, grateful of his warmth and knowing that she'd never take this for granted.
"Log cabin," she chuckled. "Just kidding. It wasn't exactly in a forest; it was right beside it..."
It was an awful lie, but she knew that he'd believe it. As much as she loved him, she had made a promise that she wouldn't reveal where she came from to him. Besides, people still had very negative images of gypsies - the stereotypes were endless. What if Lee shared these opinions, and that meant that he'd think differently of her? She hated lying to him - or anyone, but especially him - but she didn't want to risk telling him the truth.
"Like I said, we moved a lot - I've lived in loads of weird places," she added truthfully.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

He laughed. "I can't imagine that. I've lived in a total of two places... home and here."
Letting go of her suddenly, Lee leant forward, and swept up the spider that'd stopped to rest quietly by their feet. Cupping it in his palm, he let the little creature adjust to the sudden warmth of his hand, and soon, it began to tentatively scuttle across his hands and arms.
"Just think of it," Lee said, slightly wickedly, but he knew Jude would be proud of him for it. "These hands will be around your waist soon."

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

Madeleine shrank back against the tree. "No that's... don't do that..."
Oh, God... get it away... get it away... how does he do that... no, away, away!
"Don't you dare bring that anywhere near me," she said, her voice quavering. "Get it away, please."

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Laughing, he placed the grateful spider back down on the ground, and held up his hands.
"There," he said softly. "No big deal."
He reached out slowly, half-expecting her to shrink away, and placed his hands on her cheeks, bringing her lips up to his.

[Madeleine Baudelaire&Russ Ford]

"Yes, big deal," she muttered, before letting him kiss her.
She knew that he was laughing at her for being silly, but she didn't care. If it made him laugh, well, it didn't matter.
Though, she knew that Shaun was in stitches at that minute.
Last time that she had kissed Lee under this very tree, she'd thought that Shaun was looking out for her - now she knew that he was. And not only that, because he'd given her the choice - he was the reason that she was here today.
What would have happened if he hadn't been there to give her the choice?
Her reaction to that was to pull herself a little closer to Lee and kiss him a little harder.

[Kira & Lee Norris]

Apparently, Madeleine wasn't freaked out by his spider hands at all.
Running his hands down her back as each pulled the other closer, Lee's lips coaxing her's open. The warmth of her breath tickled him slightly, and he inhaled as her hands swept over his hair. As her lips parted, his tongue licked over her's, and the warmth of it dizzied him slightly. As their mouths moulded, she leant against him, and they slid down onto the ground; their arms around each other in the grass.
All of a sudden, Lee started laughing, destroying the moment beautifully.
"Madeleine," he chuckled, leaning forward to whisper in her ear. "The spider's back. Nosy parker."